text stringlengths 10 951k | source stringlengths 39 44 |
|---|---|
United States v. Microsoft Corp.
United States v. Microsoft Corporation, 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), was a noted American antitrust law case in which the U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally maintaining its monopoly position in the PC market primarily through the legal and technical restrictions it put on the abilities of PC manufacturers (OEMs) and users to uninstall Internet Explorer and use other programs such as Netscape and Java. At trial, the district court ruled that Microsoft's actions constituted unlawful monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed most of the district court's judgments.
The plaintiffs alleged that Microsoft had abused monopoly power on Intel-based personal computers in its handling of operating system and web browser integration. The issue central to the case was whether Microsoft was allowed to bundle its flagship Internet Explorer (IE) web browser software with its Windows operating system. Bundling them is alleged to have been responsible for Microsoft's victory in the browser wars as every Windows user had a copy of IE. It was further alleged that this restricted the market for competing web browsers (such as Netscape Navigator or Opera), since it typically took a while to download or purchase such software at a store. Underlying these disputes were questions over whether Microsoft had manipulated its application programming interfaces to favor IE over third-party web browsers, Microsoft's conduct in forming restrictive licensing agreements with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and Microsoft's intent in its course of conduct.
Microsoft stated that the merging of Windows and IE was the result of innovation and competition, that the two were now the same product and inextricably linked, and that consumers were receiving the benefits of IE free. Opponents countered that IE was still a separate product which did not need to be tied to Windows, since a separate version of IE was available for Mac OS. They also asserted that IE was not really free because its development and marketing costs may have inflated the price of Windows.
The case was tried before Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The DOJ was initially represented by David Boies. Compared to the European Decision against Microsoft, the DOJ case is focused less on interoperability and more on predatory strategies and market barriers to entry.
By 1984 Microsoft was one of the most successful software companies, with $55 million in 1983 sales. "InfoWorld" wrote:
The Federal Trade Commission began an inquiry in 1992 over whether Microsoft was abusing its monopoly on the PC operating system market. The commissioners deadlocked with a 2–2 vote in 1993 and closed the investigation, but the Department of Justice led by Janet Reno opened its own investigation on August 21 of that year, resulting in a settlement on July 15, 1994 in which Microsoft consented not to tie other Microsoft products to the sale of Windows but remained free to integrate additional features into the operating system. In the years that followed, Microsoft insisted that Internet Explorer (which, in addition to OEM versions of Windows 95, appeared in the Plus! Pack sold separately) was not a "product" but a "feature" which it was allowed to add to Windows, although the DOJ did not agree with this definition.
In its 2008 Annual Report, Microsoft stated:
The suit began on May 18, 1998, with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Attorneys General of twenty U.S. states (and the District of Columbia) suing Microsoft for illegally thwarting competition in order to protect and extend its software monopoly. In October 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice also sued Microsoft for violating a 1994 consent decree by forcing computer makers to include its Internet browser as a part of the installation of Windows software. While the DOJ was represented by David Boies, the States were separately represented by New York Attorneys General Alan Kusinitz, Gail Cleary and Steve Houck.
Bill Gates was called "evasive and nonresponsive" by a source present at his videotaped deposition. He argued over the definitions of words such as "compete", "concerned", "ask", and "we"; certain portions of the proceeding would later provoke laughter from the judge, when an excerpted version was shown in court. "Businessweek" reported that "early rounds of his deposition show him offering obfuscatory answers and saying 'I don't recall' so many times that even the presiding judge had to chuckle. Many of the technology chief's denials and pleas of ignorance have been directly refuted by prosecutors with snippets of email Gates both sent and received." Intel Vice-President Steven McGeady, called as a witness, quoted Paul Maritz, a senior Microsoft vice president, as having stated an intention to "extinguish" and "smother" rival Netscape Communications Corporation and to "cut off Netscape's air supply" by giving away a clone of Netscape's flagship product for free.
A number of videotapes were submitted as evidence by Microsoft during the trial, including one that demonstrated that removing Internet Explorer from Microsoft Windows caused slowdowns and malfunctions in Windows. In the videotaped demonstration of what then-Microsoft vice president Jim Allchin stated to be a seamless segment filmed on one PC, the plaintiff noticed that some icons mysteriously disappear and reappear on the PC's desktop, suggesting that the effects might have been falsified. Allchin admitted that the blame for the tape problems lay with some of his staff. "They ended up filming it—grabbing the wrong screen shot", he said of the incident. Later, Allchin re-ran the demonstration and provided a new videotape, but in so doing Microsoft dropped the claim that Windows is slowed down when Internet Explorer is removed. Mark Murray, a Microsoft spokesperson, berated the government attorneys for "nitpicking on issues like video production". Microsoft submitted a second inaccurate videotape into evidence later the same month as the first. The issue in question was how easy or hard it was for America Online users to download and install Netscape Navigator onto a Windows PC. Microsoft's videotape showed the process as being quick and easy, resulting in the Netscape icon appearing on the user's desktop. The government produced its own videotape of the same process, revealing that Microsoft's videotape had conveniently removed a long and complex part of the procedure and that the Netscape icon was not placed on the desktop, requiring a user to search for it. Brad Chase, a Microsoft vice president, verified the government's tape and conceded that Microsoft's own tape was falsified.
When the judge ordered Microsoft to offer a version of Windows which did not include Internet Explorer, Microsoft responded that the company would offer manufacturers a choice: one version of Windows that was obsolete, or another that did not work properly. The judge asked, "It seemed absolutely clear to you that I entered an order that required that you distribute a product that would not work?" David Cole, a Microsoft vice president, replied, "In plain English, yes. We followed that order. It wasn't my place to consider the consequences of that."
Gates and his successor as CEO Steve Ballmer were so worried about the outcome of the case that they discussed leaving Microsoft "if they really screw the company that badly, really just split it up in a totally irrational way", Gates recalled. Microsoft vigorously defended itself in the public arena, arguing that its attempts to "innovate" were under attack by rival companies jealous of its success, and that government litigation was merely their pawn (see public choice theory). A full-page ad run in "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" on June 2, 1999, by The Independent Institute delivered "An Open Letter to President Clinton From 240 Economists On Antitrust Protectionism." It said, in part, "Consumers did not ask for these antitrust actions – rival business firms did. Consumers of high technology have enjoyed falling prices, expanding outputs, and a breathtaking array of new products and innovations. ... Increasingly, however, some firms have sought to handicap their rivals by turning to government for protection. Many of these cases are based on speculation about some vaguely specified consumer harm in some unspecified future, and many of the proposed interventions will weaken successful U.S. firms and impede their competitiveness abroad."
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his findings of fact on November 5, 1999, which stated that Microsoft's dominance of the x86-based personal computer operating systems market constituted a monopoly, and that Microsoft had taken actions to crush threats to that monopoly, including Apple, Java, Netscape, Lotus Software, RealNetworks, Linux, and others. Judgment was split in two parts. On April 3, 2000, he issued his "conclusions of law", according to which Microsoft had committed monopolization, attempted monopolization, and tying in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Microsoft immediately appealed the decision.
On June 7, 2000, the court ordered a breakup of Microsoft as its remedy. According to that judgment, Microsoft would have to be broken into two separate units, one to produce the operating system, and one to produce other software components.
After a notice of appeal was filed in the intermediate appellate court, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the district (trial) court certified appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court under 15 U.S.C. §29(b), which gives the Supreme Court jurisdiction to hear direct appeals from the district court in certain antitrust cases initiated by the federal government if "the district judge who adjudicated the case enters an order stating that immediate consideration of the appeal by the Supreme Court is of general public importance in the administration of justice." The states also filed a petition for certiorari before judgment in the Supreme Court, which requested that the Supreme Court hear their appeals from the district court's decision without proceeding first through the district court of appeals. However, the Supreme Court declined to hear the federal government's appeal, remanding the case to the district court of appeals, and also denied the states' petition for certiorari before judgment.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Judge Jackson's rulings against Microsoft. This was partly because the appellate court had adopted a "drastically altered scope of liability" under which the remedies could be taken, and also partly due to the embargoed interviews Judge Jackson had given to the news media while he was still hearing the case, in violation of the Code of Conduct for US Judges. Judge Jackson did not attend the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing, in which the appeals court judges accused him of unethical conduct and determined he should have recused himself from the case.
Judge Jackson's response to this was that Microsoft's conduct itself was the cause of any "perceived bias"; Microsoft executives had, according to him, "proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive, and transparently false. ... Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both the truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect. It is also a company whose senior management is not averse to offering specious testimony to support spurious defenses to claims of its wrongdoing." However, the appeals court did not overturn the findings of fact. Although the D.C. Circuit found that it was possible to examine high-tech industries with traditional antitrust analysis, the court announced a new and permissive liability rule that repudiated the Supreme Court's dominant rule of per se illegality for tie-ins, due to the court's concern for the dynamic effects that a per se rule would have on innovation. The D.C. Circuit remanded the case for consideration of a proper remedy under a more limited scope of liability. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was chosen to hear the case.
The DOJ announced on September 6, 2001 that it was no longer seeking to break up Microsoft and would instead seek a lesser antitrust penalty. Microsoft decided to draft a settlement proposal allowing PC manufacturers to adopt non-Microsoft software.
On November 2, 2001, the DOJ reached an agreement with Microsoft to settle the case. The proposed settlement required Microsoft to share its application programming interfaces with third-party companies and appoint a panel of three people who would have full access to Microsoft's systems, records, and source code for five years in order to ensure compliance. However, the DOJ did not require Microsoft to change any of its code nor prevent Microsoft from tying other software with Windows in the future. On August 5, 2002, Microsoft announced that it would make some concessions towards the proposed final settlement ahead of the judge's verdict. On November 1, 2002, Judge Kollar-Kotelly released a judgment accepting most of the proposed DOJ settlement. Nine states (California, Connecticut, Iowa, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia and Massachusetts) and the District of Columbia (which had been pursuing the case together with the DOJ) did not agree with the settlement, arguing that it did not go far enough to curb Microsoft's anti-competitive business practices. On June 30, 2004, the U.S. appeals court unanimously approved the settlement with the Justice Department, rejecting objections that the sanctions were inadequate.
The dissenting states regarded the settlement as merely a slap on the wrist. Industry pundit Robert X. Cringely believed a breakup was not possible, and that "now the only way Microsoft can die is by suicide." Andrew Chin, an antitrust law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who assisted Judge Jackson in drafting the findings of fact, wrote that the settlement gave Microsoft "a special antitrust immunity to license Windows and other 'platform software' under contractual terms that destroy freedom of competition."
Law professor Eben Moglen noted that the way Microsoft was required to disclose its APIs and protocols was useful only for “interoperating with a Windows Operating System Product”, not for implementing support of those APIs and protocols in any competing operating system.
Microsoft's obligations under the settlement, as originally drafted, expired on November 12, 2007. However, Microsoft later "agreed to consent to a two-year extension of part of the Final Judgments" dealing with communications protocol licensing, and that if the plaintiffs later wished to extend those aspects of the settlement even as far as 2012, it would not object. The plaintiffs made clear that the extension was intended to serve only to give the relevant part of the settlement "the opportunity to succeed for the period of time it was intended to cover", rather than being due to any "pattern of willful and systematic violations".
Economist Milton Friedman believed that the antitrust case against Microsoft set a dangerous precedent that foreshadowed increasing government regulation of what was formerly an industry that was relatively free of government intrusion and that future technological progress in the industry will be impeded as a result. In the January 2007 edition of the "Journal of Business & Economic Research", Jenkins and Bing argue that, contrary to Friedman's concerns, the settlement actually had little effect on Microsoft's behavior. The fines, restrictions, and monitoring imposed were not enough to prevent it from "abusing its monopolistic power and too little to prevent it from dominating the software and operating system industry." They conclude that, remaining dominant and monopolistic after the trial, it had continued to stifle competitors and innovative technology.
Jean-Louis Gassée, CEO of Be Inc., claimed Microsoft was not really making any money from Internet Explorer, and its incorporation with the operating system was due to consumer expectation to have a browser packaged with the operating system. For example, BeOS comes packaged with its web browser, NetPositive. Instead, he argued, Microsoft's true anticompetitive clout was in the rebates it offered to OEMs preventing other operating systems from getting a foothold in the market. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20770 |
Mercator projection
The Mercator projection () is a cylindrical map projection presented by Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It became the standard map projection for navigation because of its unique property of representing any course of constant bearing as a straight segment. Such a course, known as a rhumb or, mathematically, a loxodrome, is preferred in marine navigation because ships can sail in a constant compass direction for long stretches, reducing the difficult, error-prone course corrections that otherwise would be needed frequently when sailing other kinds of courses. Linear scale is constant on the Mercator in every direction around any point, thus preserving the angles and the shapes of small objects and fulfilling the conditions of a conformal map projection. As a side effect, the Mercator projection inflates the size of objects away from the equator. This inflation is very small near the equator but accelerates with increasing latitude to become infinite at the poles. So, for example, landmasses such as Greenland and Antarctica appear far larger than they actually are relative to landmasses near the equator, such as Central Africa.
There is some controversy over the origins of the Mercator. German polymath Erhard Etzlaub engraved miniature "compass maps" (about 10×8 cm) of Europe and parts of Africa that spanned latitudes 0°–67° to allow adjustment of his portable pocket-size sundials. The projection found on these maps, dating to 1511, was stated by Snyder in 1987 to be the same projection as Mercator's. However, given the geometry of a sundial, these maps may well have been based on the similar central cylindrical projection, a limiting case of the gnomonic projection, which is the basis for a sundial. Snyder amends his assessment to "a similar projection" in 1994.
Joseph Needham, a historian of China, wrote that the Chinese developed the Mercator projection hundreds of years before Mercator did, using it in star charts during the Song Dynasty. However, this was a simple, and common, case of misidentification. The projection in use was the equirectangular projection.
Portuguese mathematician and cosmographer Pedro Nunes first described the mathematical principle of the loxodrome and its use in marine navigation. In 1537, he proposed constructing a nautical atlas composed of several large-scale sheets in the cylindrical equidistant projection as a way to minimize distortion of directions. If these sheets were brought to the same scale and assembled, they would approximate the Mercator projection.
In 1569, Gerhard Kremer, known by his trade name Gerardus Mercator, announced a new projection by publishing a large planispheric map measuring and printed in eighteen separate sheets. Mercator titled the map : "A new and augmented description of Earth corrected for the use of sailors". This title, along with an elaborate explanation for using the projection that appears as a section of text on the map, shows that Mercator understood exactly what he had achieved and that he intended the projection to aid navigation. Mercator never explained the method of construction or how he arrived at it. Various hypotheses have been tendered over the years, but in any case Mercator's friendship with Pedro Nunes and his access to the loxodromic tables Nunes created likely aided his efforts.
English mathematician Edward Wright published the first accurate tables for constructing the projection in 1599 and, in more detail, in 1610, calling his treatise "Certaine Errors in Navigation". The first mathematical formulation was publicized around 1645 by a mathematician named Henry Bond (c. 1600–1678). However, the mathematics involved were developed but never published by mathematician Thomas Harriot starting around 1589.
The development of the Mercator projection represented a major breakthrough in the nautical cartography of the 16th century. However, it was much ahead of its time, since the old navigational and surveying techniques were not compatible with its use in navigation. Two main problems prevented its immediate application: the impossibility of determining the longitude at sea with adequate accuracy and the fact that magnetic directions, instead of geographical directions, were used in navigation. Only in the middle of the 18th century, after the marine chronometer was invented and the spatial distribution of magnetic declination was known, could the Mercator projection be fully adopted by navigators.
Despite those position-finding limitations, the Mercator projection can be found in many world maps in the centuries following Mercator's first publication. However, it did not begin to dominate world maps until the 19th century, when the problem of position determination had been largely solved. Once the Mercator became the usual projection for commercial and educational maps, it came under persistent criticism from cartographers for its unbalanced representation of landmasses and its inability to usefully show the polar regions.
The criticisms leveled against inappropriate use of the Mercator projection resulted in a flurry of new inventions in the late 19th and early 20th century, often directly touted as alternatives to the Mercator. Due to these pressures, publishers gradually reduced their use of the projection over the course of the 20th century. However, the advent of Web mapping gave the projection an abrupt resurgence in the form of the Web Mercator projection.
Today, the Mercator can be found in marine charts, occasional world maps, and Web mapping services, but commercial atlases have largely abandoned it, and wall maps of the world can be found in many alternative projections. Google Maps, which relied on it since 2005, still uses it for local-area maps but dropped the projection from desktop platforms in 2017 for maps that are zoomed out of local areas. Many other online mapping services still exclusively use the Web Mercator.
As in all cylindrical projections, parallels and meridians on the Mercator are straight and perpendicular to each other. In accomplishing this, the unavoidable east-west stretching of the map, which increases as distance away from the equator increases, is accompanied in the Mercator projection by a corresponding north-south stretching, so that at every point location the east-west scale is the same as the north-south scale, making it a conformal map projection. Conformal projections preserve angles around all locations.
Because the linear scale of a Mercator map increases with latitude, it distorts the size of geographical objects far from the equator and conveys a distorted perception of the overall geometry of the planet. At latitudes greater than 70° north or south the Mercator projection is practically unusable, because the linear scale becomes infinitely large at the poles. A Mercator map can therefore never fully show the polar areas (as long as the projection is based on a cylinder centered on the Earth's rotation axis; see the transverse Mercator projection for another application).
The Mercator projection maps all lines with constant bearing (rhumbs or loxodromes—those making constant angles with the meridians) to straight lines. The two properties, conformality and straight rhumb lines, make this projection uniquely suited to marine navigation: courses and bearings are measured using wind roses or protractors, and the corresponding directions are easily transferred from point to point, on the map, with the help of a parallel ruler (for example).
As on all map projections, shapes or sizes are distortions of the true layout of the Earth's surface. The Mercator projection exaggerates areas far from the equator.
For example:
Practically every marine chart in print is based on the Mercator projection due to its uniquely favorable properties for navigation. It is also commonly used by street map services hosted on the Internet, due to its uniquely favorable properties for local-area maps computed on demand.
On the other hand, because of great land area distortions, it is not well suited for general world maps. Therefore, Mercator himself used the equal-area sinusoidal projection to show relative areas. However, despite such distortions, the Mercator projection was, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, perhaps the most common projection used in world maps, despite being much criticized for this use.
Because of its very common usage, the Mercator projection has been supposed to have influenced people's view of the world, and because it shows countries near the Equator as too small when compared to those of Europe and North America, it has been supposed to cause people to consider those countries as less important. As a result of these criticisms, modern atlases no longer use the Mercator projection for world maps or for areas distant from the equator, preferring other cylindrical projections, or forms of equal-area projection. The Mercator projection is still commonly used for areas near the equator, however, where distortion is minimal. It is also frequently found in maps of time zones.
Arno Peters stirred controversy beginning in 1972 when he proposed what is now usually called the Gall–Peters projection to remedy the problems of the Mercator. The projection he promoted is a specific parameterization of the cylindrical equal-area projection. In response, a 1989 resolution by seven North American geographical groups disparaged using cylindrical projections for general-purpose world maps, which would include both the Mercator and the Gall–Peters.
Many major online street mapping services (Bing Maps, Google Maps, MapQuest, OpenStreetMap, Yahoo! Maps, and others) use a variant of the Mercator projection for their map images called Web Mercator or Google Web Mercator. Despite its obvious scale variation at small scales, the projection is well-suited as an interactive world map that can be zoomed seamlessly to large-scale (local) maps, where there is relatively little distortion due to the variant projection's near-conformality.
The major online street mapping services' tiling systems display most of the world at the lowest zoom level as a single square image, excluding the polar regions by truncation at latitudes of "φ"max = ±85.05113°. (See below.) Latitude values outside this range are mapped using a different relationship that does not diverge at "φ" = ±90°.
Although the surface of Earth is best modelled by an oblate ellipsoid of revolution, for small scale maps the ellipsoid is approximated by a sphere of radius "a". Many different methods exist for calculating "a". The simplest include (a) the equatorial radius of the ellipsoid, (b) the arithmetic or geometric mean of the semi-axes of the ellipsoid, and (c) the radius of the sphere having the same volume as the ellipsoid. The range for "a" amongst the possible choices is about 35 km, but for small scale (large region) applications this variation may be ignored, and mean values of 6,371 km and 40,030 km may be taken for the radius and circumference respectively. These are the values used for numerical examples in later sections. Only high-accuracy cartography on large scale maps requires an ellipsoidal model.
The spherical approximation of Earth with radius "a" can be modelled by a smaller sphere of radius "R", called the "globe" in this section. The globe determines the scale of the map. The various cylindrical projections specify how the geographic detail is transferred from the globe to a cylinder tangential to it at the equator. The cylinder is then unrolled to give the planar map. The fraction is called the representative fraction (RF) or the principal scale of the projection. For example, a Mercator map printed in a book might have an equatorial width of 13.4 cm corresponding to a globe radius of 2.13 cm and an RF of approximately (M is used as an abbreviation for 1,000,000 in writing an RF) whereas Mercator's original 1569 map has a width of 198 cm corresponding to a globe radius of 31.5 cm and an RF of about .
A cylindrical map projection is specified by formulae linking the geographic coordinates of latitude "φ" and longitude "λ" to Cartesian coordinates on the map with origin on the equator and "x"-axis along the equator. By construction, all points on the same meridian lie on the same "generator" of the cylinder at a constant value of "x", but the distance "y" along the generator (measured from the equator) is an arbitrary function of latitude, "y"("φ"). In general this function does not describe the geometrical projection (as of light rays onto a screen) from the centre of the globe to the cylinder, which is only one of an unlimited number of ways to conceptually project a cylindrical map.
Since the cylinder is tangential to the globe at the equator, the scale factor between globe and cylinder is unity on the equator but nowhere else. In particular since the radius of a parallel, or circle of latitude, is "R" cos "φ", the corresponding parallel on the map must have been stretched by a factor of . This scale factor on the parallel is conventionally denoted by "k" and the corresponding scale factor on the meridian is denoted by "h".
The relations between "y"("φ") and properties of the projection, such as the transformation of angles and the variation in scale, follow from the geometry of corresponding "small" elements on the globe and map. The figure below shows a point P at latitude "φ" and longitude "λ" on the globe and a nearby point Q at latitude "φ" + "δφ" and longitude "λ" + "δλ". The vertical lines PK and MQ are arcs of meridians of length "Rδφ". The horizontal lines PM and KQ are arcs of parallels of length "R"(cos "φ")"δλ". The corresponding points on the projection define a rectangle of width "δx" and height "δy".
For small elements, the angle PKQ is approximately a right angle and therefore
The previously mentioned scaling factors from globe to cylinder are given by
Since the meridians are mapped to lines of constant "x", we must have and "δx" = "Rδλ", ("λ" in radians). Therefore, in the limit of infinitesimally small elements
The choice of the function "y"("φ") for the Mercator projection is determined by the demand that the projection be conformal, a condition which can be defined in two equivalent ways:
Integrating the equation
with "y"(0) = 0, by using integral tables or elementary methods, gives y(φ). Therefore,
In the first equation "λ"0 is the longitude of an arbitrary central meridian usually, but not always, that of Greenwich (i.e., zero). The difference ("λ" − "λ"0) is in radians.
The function "y"("φ") is plotted alongside "φ" for the case "R" = 1: it tends to infinity at the poles. The linear "y"-axis values are not usually shown on printed maps; instead some maps show the non-linear scale of latitude values on the right. More often than not the maps show only a graticule of selected meridians and parallels
The expression on the right of the second equation defines the Gudermannian function; i.e., "φ" = gd(): the direct equation may therefore be written as "y" = "R"·gd−1("φ").
There are many alternative expressions for "y"("φ"), all derived by elementary manipulations.
Corresponding inverses are:
For angles expressed in degrees:
The above formulae are written in terms of the globe radius "R". It is often convenient to work directly with the map width "W" = 2"R". For example, the basic transformation equations become
The ordinate "y" of the Mercator projection becomes infinite at the poles and the map must be truncated at some latitude less than ninety degrees. This need not be done symmetrically. Mercator's original map is truncated at 80°N and 66°S with the result that European countries were moved towards the centre of the map. The aspect ratio of his map is = 1.65. Even more extreme truncations have been used: a was truncated at approximately 76°N and 56°S, an aspect ratio of 1.97.
Much web based mapping uses a zoomable version of the Mercator projection with an aspect ratio of unity. In this case the maximum latitude attained must correspond to "y" = ±, or equivalently = . Any of the inverse transformation formulae may be used to calculate the corresponding latitudes:
The figure comparing the infinitesimal elements on globe and projection shows that when α=β the triangles PQM and P′Q′M′ are similar so that the scale factor in an arbitrary direction is the same as the parallel and meridian scale factors:
This result holds for an arbitrary direction: the definition of isotropy of the point scale factor. The graph shows the variation of the scale factor with latitude. Some numerical values are listed below.
Working from the projected map requires the scale factor in terms of the Mercator ordinate "y" (unless the map is provided with an explicit latitude scale). Since ruler measurements can furnish the map ordinate "y" and also the width "W" of the map then = 2 and the scale factor is determined using one of the alternative forms for the forms of the inverse transformation:
The variation with latitude is sometimes indicated by multiple bar scales as shown below and, for example, on a . The interpretation of such bar scales is non-trivial. See the discussion on distance formulae below.
The area scale factor is the product of the parallel and meridian scales . For Greenland, taking 73° as a median latitude, "hk" = 11.7. For Australia, taking 25° as a median latitude, "hk" = 1.2. For Great Britain, taking 55° as a median latitude, "hk" = 3.04.
The classic way of showing the distortion inherent in a projection is to use Tissot's indicatrix. Nicolas Tissot noted that the scale factors at a point on a map projection, specified by the numbers "h" and "k", define an ellipse at that point. For cylindrical projections, the axes of the ellipse are aligned to the meridians and parallels. For the Mercator projection, "h" = "k", so the ellipses degenerate into circles with radius proportional to the value of the scale factor for that latitude. These circles are rendered on the projected map with extreme variation in size, indicative of Mercator's scale variations.
One measure of a map's accuracy is a comparison of the length of corresponding line elements on the map and globe. Therefore, by construction, the Mercator projection is perfectly accurate, "k" = 1, along the equator and nowhere else. At a latitude of ±25° the value of sec "φ" is about 1.1 and therefore the projection may be deemed accurate to within 10% in a strip of width 50° centred on the equator. Narrower strips are better: sec 8° = 1.01, so a strip of width 16° (centred on the equator) is accurate to within 1% or 1 part in 100. Similarly sec 2.56° = 1.001, so a strip of width 5.12° (centred on the equator) is accurate to within 0.1% or 1 part in 1,000. Therefore, the Mercator projection is adequate for mapping countries close to the equator.
In a secant (in the sense of cutting) Mercator projection the globe is projected to a cylinder which cuts the sphere at two parallels with latitudes ±"φ"1. The scale is now true at these latitudes whereas parallels between these latitudes are contracted by the projection and their scale factor must be less than one. The result is that "deviation" of the scale from unity is reduced over a wider range of latitudes.
An example of such a projection is
The scale on the equator is 0.99; the scale is "k" = 1 at a latitude of approximately ±8° (the value of "φ"1); the scale is "k" = 1.01 at a latitude of approximately ±11.4°. Therefore, the projection has an accuracy of 1%, over a wider strip of 22° compared with the 16° of the normal (tangent) projection. This is a standard technique of extending the region over which a map projection has a given accuracy.
When the Earth is modelled by a spheroid (ellipsoid of revolution) the Mercator projection must be modified if it is to remain conformal. The transformation equations and scale factor for the non-secant version are
The scale factor is unity on the equator, as it must be since the cylinder is tangential to the ellipsoid at the equator. The ellipsoidal correction of the scale factor increases with latitude but it is never greater than "e"2, a correction of less than 1%. (The value of "e"2 is about 0.006 for all reference ellipsoids.) This is much smaller than the scale inaccuracy, except very close to the equator. Only accurate Mercator projections of regions near the equator will necessitate the ellipsoidal corrections.
Converting ruler distance on the Mercator map into true (great circle) distance on the sphere is straightforward along the equator but nowhere else. One problem is the variation of scale with latitude, and another is that straight lines on the map (rhumb lines), other than the meridians or the equator, do not correspond to great circles.
The distinction between rhumb (sailing) distance and great circle (true) distance was clearly understood by Mercator. (See Legend 12 on the 1569 map.) He stressed that the rhumb line distance is an acceptable approximation for true great circle distance for courses of short or moderate distance, particularly at lower latitudes. He even quantifies his statement: "When the great circle distances which are to be measured in the vicinity of the equator do not exceed 20 degrees of a great circle, or 15 degrees near Spain and France, or 8 and even 10 degrees in northern parts it is convenient to use rhumb line distances".
For a ruler measurement of a "short" line, with midpoint at latitude "φ", where the scale factor is "k" = sec "φ" = :
With radius and great circle circumference equal to 6,371 km and 40,030 km respectively an RF of , for which "R" = 2.12 cm and "W" = 13.34 cm, implies that a ruler measurement of 3 mm. in any direction from a point on the equator corresponds to approximately 900 km. The corresponding distances for latitudes 20°, 40°, 60° and 80° are 846 km, 689 km, 450 km and 156 km respectively.
Longer distances require various approaches.
Scale is unity on the equator (for a non-secant projection). Therefore, interpreting ruler measurements on the equator is simple:
For the above model, with RF = , 1 cm corresponds to 3,000 km.
On any other parallel the scale factor is sec "φ" so that
For the above model 1 cm corresponds to 1,500 km at a latitude of 60°.
This is not the shortest distance between the chosen endpoints on the parallel because a parallel is not a great circle. The difference is small for short distances but increases as "λ", the longitudinal separation, increases. For two points, A and B, separated by 10° of longitude on the parallel at 60° the distance along the parallel is approximately 0.5 km greater than the great circle distance. (The distance AB along the parallel is ("a" cos "φ") "λ". The length of the chord AB is 2("a" cos "φ") sin . This chord subtends an angle at the centre equal to 2arcsin(cos "φ" sin ) and the great circle distance between A and B is 2"a" arcsin(cos "φ" sin ).) In the extreme case where the longitudinal separation is 180°, the distance along the parallel is one half of the circumference of that parallel; i.e., 10,007.5 km. On the other hand, the geodesic between these points is a great circle arc through the pole subtending an angle of 60° at the center: the length of this arc is one sixth of the great circle circumference, about 6,672 km. The difference is 3,338 km so the ruler distance measured from the map is quite misleading even after correcting for the latitude variation of the scale factor.
A meridian of the map is a great circle on the globe but the continuous scale variation means ruler measurement alone cannot yield the true distance between distant points on the meridian. However, if the map is marked with an accurate and finely spaced latitude scale from which the latitude may be read directly—as is the case for the Mercator 1569 world map (sheets 3, 9, 15) and all subsequent nautical charts—the meridian distance between two latitudes "φ"1 and "φ"2 is simply
If the latitudes of the end points cannot be determined with confidence then they can be found instead by calculation on the ruler distance. Calling the ruler distances of the end points on the map meridian as measured from the equator "y"1 and "y"2, the true distance between these points on the sphere is given by using any one of the inverse Mercator formulæ:
where "R" may be calculated from the width "W" of the map by "R" = . For example, on a map with "R" = 1 the values of "y" = 0, 1, 2, 3 correspond to latitudes of "φ" = 0°, 50°, 75°, 84° and therefore the successive intervals of 1 cm on the map correspond to latitude intervals on the globe of 50°, 25°, 9° and distances of 5,560 km, 2,780 km, and 1,000 km on the Earth.
A straight line on the Mercator map at angle "α" to the meridians is a rhumb line. When "α" = or the rhumb corresponds to one of the parallels; only one, the equator, is a great circle. When "α" = 0 or it corresponds to a meridian great circle (if continued around the Earth). For all other values it is a spiral from pole to pole on the globe intersecting all meridians at the same angle, and is thus not a great circle. This section discusses only the last of these cases.
If "α" is neither 0 nor then the above figure of the infinitesimal elements shows that the length of an infinitesimal rhumb line on the sphere between latitudes "φ"; and "φ" + "δφ" is "a" sec "α" "δφ". Since "α" is constant on the rhumb this expression can be integrated to give, for finite rhumb lines on the Earth:
Once again, if Δ"φ" may be read directly from an accurate latitude scale on the map, then the rhumb distance between map points with latitudes "φ"1 and "φ"2 is given by the above. If there is no such scale then the ruler distances between the end points and the equator, "y"1 and "y"2, give the result via an inverse formula:
These formulæ give rhumb distances on the sphere which may differ greatly from true distances whose determination requires more sophisticated calculations. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20771 |
Midas
Midas (; ) is the name of one of at least three members of the royal house of Phrygia.
The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold. This came to be called the "golden touch", or the "Midas touch". The Phrygian city Midaeum was presumably named after him, and this is probably also the Midas that according to Pausanias founded Ancyra. According to Aristotle, legend held that Midas died of starvation as a result of his "vain prayer" for the gold touch. The legends told about this Midas and his father Gordias, credited with founding the Phrygian capital city Gordium and tying the Gordian Knot, indicate that they were believed to have lived sometime in the 2nd millennium BC, well before the Trojan War. However, Homer does not mention Midas or Gordias, while instead mentioning two other Phrygian kings, Mygdon and Otreus.
Another King Midas ruled Phrygia in the late 8th century BC, up until the sacking of Gordium by the Cimmerians, when he is said to have committed suicide. Most historians believe this Midas is the same person as the "Mita", called king of the Mushki in Assyrian texts, who warred with Assyria and its Anatolian provinces during the same period.
A third Midas is said by Herodotus to have been a member of the royal house of Phrygia and the grandfather of an Adrastus who fled Phrygia after accidentally killing his brother and took asylum in Lydia during the reign of Croesus. Phrygia was by that time a Lydian subject. Herodotus says that Croesus regarded the Phrygian royal house as "friends" but does not mention whether the Phrygian royal house still ruled as (vassal) kings of Phrygia.
There are many, and often contradictory, legends about the most ancient King Midas. In one, Midas was king of Pessinus, a city of Phrygia, who as a child was adopted by King Gordias and Cybele, the goddess whose consort he was, and who (by some accounts) was the goddess-mother of Midas himself. Some accounts place the youth of Midas in Macedonian Bermion (See Bryges). In Thracian Mygdonia, Herodotus referred to a wild rose garden at the foot of Mount Bermion as "the garden of Midas son of Gordias, where roses grow of themselves, each bearing sixty blossoms and of surpassing fragrance". Herodotus says elsewhere that Phrygians anciently lived in Europe where they were known as Bryges, and the existence of the garden implies that Herodotus believed that Midas lived prior to a Phrygian migration to Anatolia.
According to some accounts, Midas had a son, Lityerses, the demonic reaper of men, but in some variations of the myth he instead had a daughter, Zoë or "life". According to other accounts he had a son named Anchurus.
Arrian gives an alternative story of the descent and life of Midas. According to him, Midas was the son of Gordios, a poor peasant, and a Telmissian maiden of the prophetic race. When Midas grew up to be a handsome and valiant man, the Phrygians were harassed by civil discord, and consulting the oracle, they were told that a wagon would bring them a king, who would put an end to their discord. While they were still deliberating, Midas arrived with his father and mother, and stopped near the assembly, wagon and all. They, comparing the oracular response with this occurrence, decided that this was the person whom the god told them the wagon would bring. They therefore appointed Midas king and he, putting an end to their discord, dedicated his father’s wagon in the citadel as a thank-offering to Zeus the king. In addition to this the following saying was current concerning the wagon, that whosoever could loosen the cord of the yoke of this wagon, was destined to gain the rule of Asia. This someone was to be Alexander the Great. In other versions of the legend, it was Midas' father Gordias who arrived humbly in the cart and made the Gordian Knot.
Herodotus said that a "Midas son of Gordias" made an offering to the Oracle of Delphi of a royal throne "from which he made judgments" that were "well worth seeing", and that this Midas was the only foreigner to make an offering to Delphi before Gyges of Lydia. The historical Midas of the 8th century BC and Gyges are believed to have been contemporaries, so it seems most likely that Herodotus believed that the throne was donated by the earlier, legendary King Midas. However, some historians believe that this throne was donated by the later, historical King Midas.
One day, as Ovid relates in "Metamorphoses" XI, Dionysus found that his old schoolmaster and foster father, the satyr Silenus, was missing. The old satyr had been drinking wine and wandered away drunk, to be found by some Phrygian peasants who carried him to their king, Midas (alternatively, Silenus passed out in Midas' rose garden). Midas recognized him and treated him hospitably, entertaining him for ten days and nights with politeness, while Silenus delighted Midas and his friends with stories and songs. On the eleventh day, he brought Silenus back to Dionysus in Lydia. Dionysus offered Midas his choice of whatever reward he wished for. Midas asked that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold.
Midas rejoiced in his new power, which he hastened to put to the test. He touched an oak twig and a stone; both turned to gold. Overjoyed, as soon as he got home, he touched every rose in the rose garden, and all became gold. He ordered the servants to set a feast on the table. Upon discovering how even the food and drink turned into gold in his hands, he regretted his wish and cursed it. Claudian states in his "In Rufinum": "So Midas, king of Lydia, swelled at first with pride when he found he could transform everything he touched to gold; but when he beheld his food grow rigid and his drink harden into golden ice then he understood that this gift was a bane and in his loathing for gold, cursed his prayer."
In a version told by Nathaniel Hawthorne in "A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys" (1852), Midas' daughter came to him, upset about the roses that had lost their fragrance and become hard, and when he reached out to comfort her, found that when he touched his daughter, she turned to gold as well. Now, Midas hated the gift he had coveted. He prayed to Dionysus, begging to be delivered from starvation. Dionysus heard his prayer, and consented; telling Midas to wash in the river Pactolus. Then, whatever he put into the water would be reversed of the touch.
Midas did so, and when he touched the waters, the power flowed into the river, and the river sands turned into gold. This explained why the river Pactolus was so rich in gold and electrum, and the wealth of the dynasty of Alyattes of Lydia claiming Midas as its forefather no doubt the impetus for this origin myth. Gold was perhaps not the only metallic source of Midas' riches: "King Midas, a Phrygian, son of Cybele, first discovered black and white lead".
Midas, now hating wealth and splendor, moved to the country and became a worshipper of Pan, the god of the fields and satyrs. Roman mythographers asserted that his tutor in music was Orpheus.
Once, Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo, and challenged Apollo to a trial of skill (also see Marsyas). Tmolus, the mountain-god, was chosen as umpire. Pan blew on his pipes and, with his rustic melody, gave great satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but one agreed with the judgment. Midas dissented, and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and said "Must have ears of an ass!", which caused Midas's ears to become those of a donkey. The myth is illustrated by two paintings, ""Apollo and Marsyas"" by Palma il Giovane (1544–1628), one depicting the scene before, and one after, the punishment. Midas was mortified at this mishap. He attempted to hide his misfortune under an ample turban or headdress, but his barber of course knew the secret, so was told not to mention it. However, the barber could not keep the secret. He went out into a meadow, dug a hole in the ground, whispered the story into it, then covered the hole up. A thick bed of reeds later sprang up from the covered up hole, and began whispering the story, saying "King Midas has an ass' ears". Some sources said that Midas killed himself by drinking the blood of an ox.
Sarah Morris demonstrated (Morris, 2004) that donkeys' ears were a Bronze Age royal attribute, borne by King Tarkasnawa (Greek Tarkondemos) of Mira, on a seal inscribed in both Hittite cuneiform and Luwian hieroglyphs. In this connection, the myth would appear for Greeks to justify the exotic attribute.
The stories of the contests with Apollo of Pan and Marsyas were very often confused, so Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas" includes a figure of Midas (who may be a self-portrait), though his ears seem normal.
In pre-Islamic legend of Central Asia, the king of the Ossounes of the Yenisei basin had donkey's ears. He would hide them, and order each of his barbers murdered to hide his secret. The last barber among his people was counselled to whisper the heavy secret into a well after sundown, but he didn't cover the well afterwards. The well water rose and flooded the kingdom, creating the waters of Lake Issyk-Kul.
According to an Irish legend, the king Labraid Loingsech had horse's ears, something he was concerned to keep quiet. He had his hair cut once a year, and the barber, who was chosen by lot, was immediately put to death. A widow, hearing that her only son had been chosen to cut the king's hair, begged the king not to kill him, and he agreed, so long as the barber kept his secret. The burden of the secret was so heavy that the barber fell ill. A druid advised him to go to a crossroads and tell his secret to the first tree he came to, and he would be relieved of his burden and be well again. He told the secret to a large willow. Soon after this, however, a harper named Craiftine broke his instrument, and made a new one out of the very willow the barber had told his secret to. Whenever he played it, the harp sang "Labraid Lorc has horse's ears". Labraid repented of all the barbers he had put to death and admitted his secret.
In Ireland, at Loch Ine, West Cork, there is a similar story told of the inhabitant of its island, who had ass's ears. Anyone engaged to cut this King's hair was then put to death. But the reeds (in the form of a musical flute) spoke of them and the secret was out.
The myth is also known in Brittany where the king Mark of Cornwall is believed to have ruled the south-western region of Cornouaille. Chasing a white doe, he loses his best horse "Morvarc'h" ("Seahorse") when the doe kills it with an arrow thrown by Mark. Trying to kill the doe, he is cursed by Dahut, a magician who lives under the sea. She gives life to Morvarc'h back but switches his ears and mane with Mark's ears and hair. Worried that the word might get out, Mark hides in his castle and kills every barber that comes to cut his hair until his milk brother Yeun is the last barber alive in Cornouaille. He promises to let him live if Yeun keeps the secret and Yeun cuts his hairs with a magical pair of scissors. The secret is too heavy for Yeun though and he goes to a beach to dig a hole and tell his secret in it. When he leaves, three reeds appear. Years later, when Mark's sister marries, the musicians are unable to play for the reeds of their bagpipes and bombards have been stolen by korrigans. They find three reeds on the beach and use them to make new ones, but the music instruments, instead of playing music, only sing "The King Mark has the ears and the mane of his horse Morvarc'h on his head" and Mark departs never to be seen again.
The King Midas who ruled Phrygia in the late 8th century BC is known from Greek and Assyrian sources. According to the former, he married a Greek princess, Damodice daughter of Agamemnon of Cyme, and traded extensively with the Greeks. Damodice is credited with inventing coined money by Julius Pollux after she married Midas. Some historians believe this Midas donated the throne that Herodotus says was offered to the Oracle of Delphi by "Midas son of Gordias" (see above). Assyrian tablets from the reign of Sargon II record attacks by a "Mita", king of the Mushki, against Assyria's eastern Anatolian provinces. Some historians believe Assyrian texts called this Midas king of the "Mushki" because he had subjected the eastern Anatolian people of that name and incorporated them into his army. Greek sources including Strabo say that Midas committed suicide by drinking bull's blood during an attack by the Cimmerians, which Eusebius dated to around 695 BC and Julius Africanus to around 676 BC. Archeology has confirmed that Gordium was destroyed and burned around that time.
In 1957, Rodney Young and a team from the University of Pennsylvania opened a chamber tomb at the heart of the Great Tumulus (in Greek, Μεγάλη Τούμπα)—53 metres in height, about 300 metres in diameter—on the site of ancient Gordion (modern Yassıhüyük, Turkey), where there are more than 100 tumuli of different sizes and from different periods. They discovered a royal burial, its timbers dated as cut to about 740 BC complete with remains of the funeral feast and "the best collection of Iron Age drinking vessels ever uncovered". This inner chamber was rather large: 5.15 metres by 6.2 metres in breadth and 3.25 metres high. On the remains of a wooden coffin in the northwest corner of the tomb lay a skeleton of a man 1.59 metres in height and about 60 years old. In the tomb were found an ornate inlaid table, two inlaid serving stands, and eight other tables, as well as bronze and pottery vessels and bronze fibulae. Although no identifying texts were originally associated with the site, it was called Tumulus MM (for "Midas Mound") by the excavator. As this funerary monument was erected before the traditional date given for the death of King Midas in the early 7th century BC, it is now generally thought to have covered the burial of his father. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20775 |
Misandry
Misandry () is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against men or boys in general. Misandry may be manifested in numerous ways, including social exclusion, sex discrimination, hostility, gynocentrism, matriarchy, belittling of men, violence against men, and sexual objectification.
Misandry is formed from the Greek "misos" (μῖσος, "hatred") and "anēr", "andros" (ἀνήρ, gen. ἀνδρός; "man"). Use of the word can be found as far back as the 19th century, including an 1871 use in "The Spectator" magazine. It appeared in "Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary" (11th ed.) in 1952. Translation of the French ""misandrie"" to the German ""Männerhass"" (Hatred of Men) is recorded in 1803. "Misandrous" or "misandrist" can be used as adjectival forms of the word.
A term with a similar but distinct meaning is "androphobia", which constitutes fear of men. Writer Helen Pluckrose has argued that "androphobia" is the more propitious term in instances where aversion to men stems from a sense of fear.
Academic Alice Echols, in her 1989 book "Daring To Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967–1975", argued that the radical feminist Valerie Solanas, best known for her attempted murder of Andy Warhol in 1968, displayed an extreme level of misandry compared to other radical feminists of the time in her tract the "SCUM Manifesto". Echols stated:
Andrea Dworkin criticized the biological determinist strand in radical feminism that, in 1977, she found "with increasing frequency in feminist circles" which echoed the views of Valerie Solanas that males are biologically inferior to women and violent by nature, requiring a gendercide to allow for the emergence of a "new "Übermensch" Womon".
The author bell hooks has discussed the issue of "man hating" during the early period of women's liberation as a reaction to patriarchal oppression and women who have had bad experiences with men in non-feminist social movements. She has also criticized separatist strands of feminism as "reactionary" for promoting the notion that men are inherently immoral, inferior, and unable to help end sexist oppression or benefit from feminism. In "Feminism is For Everybody", hooks laments the fact that feminists who critiqued anti-male bias in the early women's movement never gained mainstream media attention and that "our theoretical work critiquing the demonization of men as the enemy did not change the perspective of women who were anti-male." hooks has theorized previously that this demonization led to an unnecessary rift between the men's movement and the women's movement.
Although hooks doesn't name individual separatist theorists, Mary Daly's utopian vision of a world in which men and heterosexual women have been eliminated is an extreme example of this tendency. Daly argued that sexual equality between men and women was not possible and that women, due to their superior capacities, should rule men. Yet later, in an interview, Daly argued "If life is to survive on this planet, there must be a decontamination of the Earth. I think this will be accompanied by an evolutionary process that will result in a drastic reduction of the population of males."
Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young argued that "ideological feminism" as opposed to "egalitarian feminism" has imposed misandry on culture. Their 2001 book, "Spreading Misandry", analyzed "pop cultural artifacts and productions from the 1990s" from movies to greeting cards for what they considered to be pervasive messages of hatred toward men. "Legalizing Misandry" (2005), the second in the series, gave similar attention to laws in North America.
Wendy McElroy, an individualist feminist, wrote in 2001 that some feminists "have redefined the view of the movement of the opposite sex" as "a hot anger toward men [that] seems to have turned into a cold hatred." She argued it was a misandrist position to consider men, as a class, to be irreformable or rapists.
In a 2016 article, author and journalist Cathy Young described a "current cycle of misandry" in feminism. This cycle, she explains, includes the use of the term "mansplaining" and other neologisms using "man" as a derogatory prefix. The term "mansplaining", according to feminist writer Rebecca Solnit, was coined soon after the appearance in 2008 of her essay "Men Explain Things to Me".
Professor of Sociology and author Anthony Synnott proposed the concept that misandry is further fueled and generated by misogyny and that the concept of challenging misandry can be viewed as opposing feminism itself. Due to the increasing number of female-exclusive clubs and female-empowerment campaigns, Synnott states that this can cause an environment of male exclusion and cause contempt of men.
Journalist and Media Lead of Green Party of England and Wales Miranda Larbi stated that feminists should make a larger effort of attempting to keep misandry out of feminism. According to Larbi, flaws of modern feminism include making issues such as sexual harassment gender-specific and valuing male experiences less than female experiences, which Larbi states undermines the objectives and intentions of feminism.
Sociologist Allan G. Johnson argues in "" that accusations of man-hating have been used to put down feminists and to shift attention onto men, reinforcing a male-centered culture. Johnson posits that culture offers no comparable anti-male ideology to misogyny and that "people often confuse men as individuals with men as a dominant and privileged category of people" and that "[given the] reality of women's oppression, male privilege, and men's enforcement of both, it's hardly surprising that "every" woman should have moments where she resents or even hates men".
Marc A. Ouellette argues in "International Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities" that "misandry lacks the systemic, transhistoric, institutionalized, and legislated antipathy of misogyny"; in his view, assuming a parallel between misogyny and misandry overly simplifies relations of gender and power.
Anthropologist David D. Gilmore also argues that misogyny is a "near-universal phenomenon" and that there is no male equivalent to misogyny, further defending manifestations of perceived misandry as not "hatred of men's traditional male role" and a "culture of machismo". He argues that misandry is "different from the intensely "ad feminam" aspect of misogyny that targets women no matter what they believe or do".
Men's rights activists and other masculinist groups have criticized modern laws concerning divorce, domestic violence, and rape as examples of institutional misandry.
Religious studies professors Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young examined the institutionalization of misandry in the public sphere in their 2001 three-book series "Beyond the Fall of Man", which refers to misandry as a "form of prejudice and discrimination that has become institutionalized in North American society", writing, "The same problem that long prevented mutual respect between Jews and Christians, the teaching of contempt, now prevents mutual respect between men and women."
Classics professor Froma Zeitlin of Princeton University discussed misandry in her article titled "Patterns of Gender in Aeschylean Drama: Seven against Thebes and the Danaid Trilogy". She writes:
Literary critic Harold Bloom argued that even though the word misandry is relatively unheard of in literature it is not hard to find implicit, even explicit, misandry. In reference to the works of Shakespeare Bloom argued "I cannot think of one instance of misogyny whereas I would argue that misandry is a strong element. Shakespeare makes perfectly clear that women in general have to marry down and that men are narcissistic and not to be trusted and so forth. On the whole, he gives us a darker vision of human males than human females."
Racialized misandry occurs in both "high" and "low" culture and literature. For instance, African-American men have often been disparagingly portrayed as either infantile or as eroticized and hyper-masculine, depending on prevailing cultural stereotypes.
Critic of mainstream feminism Christina Hoff Sommers has described Eve Ensler's play "The Vagina Monologues" as misandric in that "there are no admirable males ... the play presents a rogues’ gallery of male brutes, sadists, child-molesters, genital mutilators, gang rapists and hateful little boys" which she finds out of step with the reality that "most men are not brutes. They are not oppressors".
Julie M. Thompson, a feminist author, connects misandry with envy of men, in particular "penis envy", a term coined by Sigmund Freud in 1908, in his theory of female sexual development. Nancy Kang has discussed "the misandric impulse" in relation to the works of Toni Morrison.
In his book, "Gender and Judaism: The Transformation of Tradition", Harry Brod, a Professor of Philosophy and Humanities in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Northern Iowa, writes: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20778 |
Monoid ring
In abstract algebra, a monoid ring is a ring constructed from a ring and a monoid, just as a group ring is constructed from a ring and a group.
Let "R" be a ring and let "G" be a monoid. The monoid ring or monoid algebra of "G" over "R", denoted "R"["G"] or "RG", is the set of formal sums formula_1,
where formula_2 for each formula_3 and "r""g" = 0 for all but finitely many "g", equipped with coefficient-wise addition, and the multiplication in which the elements of "R" commute with the elements of "G". More formally, "R"["G"] is the set of functions such that } is finite, equipped with addition of functions, and with multiplication defined by
If "G" is a group, then "R"["G"] is also called the group ring of "G" over "R".
Given "R" and "G", there is a ring homomorphism sending each "r" to "r"1 (where 1 is the identity element of "G"),
and a monoid homomorphism (where the latter is viewed as a monoid under multiplication) sending each "g" to 1"g" (where 1 is the multiplicative identity of "R").
We have that α("r") commutes with β("g") for all "r" in "R" and "g" in "G".
The universal property of the monoid ring states that given a ring "S", a ring homomorphism , and a monoid homomorphism to the multiplicative monoid of "S",
such that α'("r") commutes with β'("g") for all "r" in "R" and "g" in "G", there is a unique ring homomorphism such that composing α and β with γ produces α' and β
The augmentation is the ring homomorphism defined by
The kernel of "η" is called the augmentation ideal. It is a free "R"-module with basis consisting of 1 – "g" for all "g" in "G" not equal to 1.
Given a ring "R" and the (additive) monoid of natural numbers N (or {"x""n"} viewed multiplicatively), we obtain the ring "R"[{"x""n"}] =: "R"["x"] of polynomials over "R".
The monoid N"n" (with the addition) gives the polynomial ring with "n" variables: "R"[N"n"] =: "R"["X"1, ..., "X""n"].
If "G" is a semigroup, the same construction yields a semigroup ring "R"["G"]. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20781 |
Magic lantern
The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name lanterna magica, is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. It was mostly developed in the 17th century and commonly used for entertainment purposes. It was increasingly used for education during the 19th century. Since the late 19th century, smaller versions were also mass-produced as a toy. The magic lantern was in wide use from the 18th century until the mid-20th century when it was superseded by a compact version that could hold many 35 mm photographic slides: the slide projector.
The magic lantern used a concave mirror in back of a light source to direct the light through a small rectangular sheet of glass—a "lantern slide" that bore the image—and onward into a lens at the front of the apparatus. The lens adjusted to focus the plane of the slide at the distance of the projection screen, which could be simply a white wall, and it therefore formed an enlarged image of the slide on the screen. Some lanterns, including those of Christiaan Huygens and Jan van Musschenbroek, used 3 lenses for the objective.
Biunial lanterns, with two objectives, became common during the 19th century and enabled a smooth and easy change of pictures. Stereopticons added more powerful light sources to optimize the projection of photographic slides.
Originally the pictures were hand painted on glass slides. Initially, figures were rendered with black paint but soon transparent colors were also used. Sometimes the painting was done on oiled paper. Usually black paint was used as a background to block superfluous light, so the figures could be projected without distracting borders or frames. Many slides were finished with a layer of transparent lacquer, but in a later period cover glasses were also used to protect the painted layer. Most handmade slides were mounted in wood frames with a round or square opening for the picture.
After 1820 the manufacturing of hand colored printed slides started, often making use of decalcomania transfers. Many manufactured slides were produced on strips of glass with several pictures on them and rimmed with a strip of glued paper.
The first photographic lantern slides, called "hyalotypes", were invented by the German-born brothers Ernst Wilhelm (William) and Friedrich (Frederick) Langenheim in 1848 in Philadelphia and patented in 1850.
Apart from sunlight, the only light sources available at the time of invention in the 17th century were candles and oil lamps, which were very inefficient and produced very dim projected images. The invention of the Argand lamp in the 1790s helped to make the images brighter. The invention of limelight in the 1820s made them very much brighter. The invention of the intensely bright electric arc lamp in the 1860s eliminated the need for combustible gases or hazardous chemicals, and eventually the incandescent electric lamp further improved safety and convenience, although not brightness.
Several types of projection systems existed before the invention of the magic lantern. Giovanni Fontana, Leonardo Da Vinci and Cornelis Drebbel described or drew image projectors that had similarities to the magic lantern.
In the 17th century, there was an immense interest in optics. The telescope and microscope were invented (in 1608 and the 1620s respectively) and apart from being useful to some scientists, such instruments were especially popular as entertaining curiosities with people who could afford them. The magic lantern would prove a perfect successor.
The magic lantern can be seen as a further development of camera obscura. This is a natural phenomenon that occurs when an image of a scene at the other side of a screen (or for instance a wall) is projected through a small hole in that screen as an inverted image (left to right and upside down) on a surface opposite to the opening. It was known at least since the 5th century BCE and experimented with in darkened rooms at least since circa 1000 CE. The use of a lens in the hole has been traced back to circa 1550. The portable camera obscura box with a lens was developed in the 17th century. Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel is thought to have sold one to Dutch poet, composer and diplomat Constantijn Huygens in 1622, while the oldest known clear description of a box-type camera is in German Jesuit scientist Gaspar Schott's 1657 book "Magia universalis naturæ et artis".
The 1645 first edition of German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher's book "Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae" included a description of his invention, the "Steganographic Mirror": a primitive projection system with a focusing lens and text or pictures painted on a concave mirror reflecting sunlight, mostly intended for long-distance communication. He saw limitations in the increase of size and diminished clarity over a long distance and expressed his hope that someone would find a method to improve on this.
In 1654, Belgian Jesuit mathematician André Tacquet used Kircher's technique to show the journey from China to Belgium of Italian Jesuit missionary Martino Martini. Some reports say that Martini lectured throughout Europe with a magic lantern, which he might have imported from China, but there's no evidence that it used anything other than Kircher's technique. However, Tacquet was a correspondent and friend of Christiaan Huygens and may thus have been a very early adapter of the magic lantern technique that Huygens developed around this period.
Prominent Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens, is nowadays widely accepted as the true inventor of the magic lantern. He knew Athanasius Kircher's 1645 edition of "Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae" which described a primitive projection system with a focusing lens and text or pictures painted on a concave mirror reflecting sunlight. Christiaan's father Constantijn had been acquainted with Cornelis Drebbel who used some unidentified optical techniques to transform himself and summon wonderful appearances in magical performances. Constantijn Huygens wrote very enthusiastically about a camera obscura device that he got from Drebbel in 1622.
The oldest known document concerning the magic lantern is a page on which Christiaan Huygens made ten small sketches of a skeleton taking off its skull, above which he wrote "for representations by means of convex glasses with the lamp" (translated from French). As this page was found between documents dated in 1659, it is believed to also have been made in 1659. Huygens soon seemed to regret this invention, as he thought it was too frivolous. In a 1662 letter to his brother Lodewijk he claimed he thought of it as some old "bagatelle" and seemed convinced that it would harm the family's reputation if people found out the lantern came from him. Christiaan had reluctantly sent a lantern to their father, but when he realized that Constantijn intended to show the lantern to the court of King Louis XIV of France at the Louvre, Christiaan asked Lodewijk to sabotage the lantern.
Christiaan initially referred to the magic lantern as "la lampe" and "la lanterne", but in the last years of his life he used the then common term "laterna magica" in some notes. In 1694, he drew the principle of a "laterna magica" with two lenses.
Thomas Rasmussen Walgensten (c. 1627 – 1681), a mathematician from Gotland, studied at the university of Leyden in 1657–58. He possibly met Christiaan Huygens during this time (and/or on several other occasions) and may have learned about the magic lantern from him. Correspondence between them is known from 1667. At least from 1664 until 1670, Walgensten demonstrated the magic lantern in Paris (1664), Lyon (1665), Rome (1665-66), and Copenhagen (1670). He "sold such lanterns to different Italian princes in such an amount that they now are almost everyday items in Rome" according to Athanasius Kircher in 1671. In 1670, Walgensten projected an image of Death at the court of King Frederick III of Denmark. This scared some courtiers, but the king dismissed their cowardice and requested to repeat the figure three times. The king died a few days later. After Walgensten died, his widow sold his lanterns to the Danish Royal collection, but they have not been preserved. Walgensten is credited with coining the term "Laterna Magica", assuming he communicated this name to Claude Dechales who, in 1674, published about the machine of the "erudite Dane" that he had seen in 1665 in Lyon.
There are many gaps and uncertainties in the magic lantern's recorded history. A separate early magic lantern tradition seems to have been developed in southern Germany and includes lanterns with horizontal cylindrical bodies, while Walgensten's lantern and probably Huygens' both had vertical bodies. This tradition dates at least to 1671, with the arrival of instrument maker Johann Franz Griendel in the city of Nürnberg, which Johann Zahn identified as one of the centers of magic lantern production in 1686. Griendel was indicated as the inventor of the magic lantern by Johann Christoph Kohlhans in a 1677 publication. It has been suggested that this tradition is older and that instrument maker Johann Wiesel (1583–1662) from Augsburg may have been making magic lanterns earlier on and possibly inspired Griendel and even Huygens. Huygens is known to have studied samples of Wiesel's lens-making and instruments since 1653. Wiesel did make a ship's lantern around 1640 that has much in common with the magic lantern design that Griendel would later apply: a horizontal cylindrical body with a rosette chimney on top, a concave mirror behind a fixture for a candle or lamp inside and a biconvex lens at the front. There is no evidence that Wiesel actually ever made a magic lantern, but in 1674, his successor offered a variety of magic lanterns from the same workshop. This successor is thought to have only continued producing Wiesel's designs after his death in 1662, without adding anything new.
Before 1671, only a small circle of people seemed to have knowledge of the magic lantern, and almost every known report of the device from this period had to do with people that were more or less directly connected to Christiaan Huygens. Despite the rejection expressed in his letters to his brother, Huygens must have familiarized several people with the lantern.
In 1664 Parisian engineer Pierre Petit wrote to Huygens to ask for some specifications of the lantern, because he was trying to construct one after seeing the lantern of "the dane" (probably Walgensten). The lantern that Petit was constructing had a concave mirror behind the lamp. This directed more light through the lens, resulting in a brighter projection, and it would become a standard part of most of the lanterns that were made later. Petit may have copied it from Walgensten, but he expressed that he made a lamp stronger than any he had ever seen.
Starting in 1661, Huygens corresponded with London optical instrument-maker Richard Reeve. Reeve was soon selling magic lanterns, demonstrated one in his shop on 17 May 1663 to Balthasar de Monconys and sold one to Samuel Pepys in August 1666.
One of Christiaan Huygens' contacts imagined how Athanasius Kircher would use the magic lantern: "If he would know about the invention of the Lantern he would surely frighten the cardinals with specters." Kircher would eventually learn about the existence of the magic lantern via Thomas Walgensten and introduced it as "Lucerna Magica" in the widespread 1671 second edition of his book "Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae". Kircher claimed that Thomas Walgensten reworked his ideas from the previous edition of this book into a better lantern. Kircher described this improved lantern, but it was illustrated in a confusing manner: the pictures seem technically incorrect—with both the projected image and the transparencies (H) shown upright (while the text states that they should be inverted), the hollow mirror is too high in one picture and absent in the other, and the lens (I) is at the wrong side of the slide. However, experiments with a construction as illustrated in Kircher's book proved that it could work as a point light-source projection system.
The projected image in one of the illustrations shows a person in purgatory or hellfire and the other depicts Death with a scythe and an hourglass. According to legend Kircher secretly used the lantern at night to project the image of Death on windows of apostates to scare them back into church. Kircher did suggest in his book that an audience would be more astonished by the sudden appearance of images if the lantern would be hidden in a separate room, so the audience would be ignorant of the cause of their appearance.
The earliest reports and illustrations of lantern projections suggest that they were all intended to scare the audience. Pierre Petit called the apparatus "lanterne de peur" (lantern of fear) in his 1664 letter to Huygens. Surviving lantern plates and descriptions from the next decades prove that the new medium was not just used for horror shows, but that all kinds of subjects were projected. Griendel didn't mention scary pictures when he described the magic lantern to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in December 1671: "An optical lantern which presents everything that one desires, figures, paintings, portraits, faces, hunts, even an entire comedy with all its lively colours." In 1675, Leibniz saw an important role for the magic lantern in his plan for a kind of world exhibition with projections of "attempts at flight, artistic meteors, optical effects, representations of the sky with the star and comets, and a model of the earth (...), fireworks, water fountains, and ships in rare forms; then mandrakes and other rare plants and exotic animals." In 1685–1686, Johannes Zahn was an early advocate for use of the device for educational purposes: detailed anatomical illustrations were difficult to draw on a chalkboard, but could easily be copied onto glass or mica.
By the 1730s the use of magic lanterns started to become more widespread when travelling showmen, conjurers and storytellers added them to their repertoire. The travelling lanternists were often called Savoyards (they supposedly came from the Savoy region in France) and became a common sight in many European cities.
In France in the 1770s François Dominique Séraphin used magic lanterns to perform his "Ombres Chinoises" (Chinese shadows), a form of shadow play.
Magic lanterns had also become a staple of science lecturing and museum events since Scottish lecturer Henry Moyes’s tour of America in 1785–86, when he recommended that all college laboratories procure one. French writer and educator Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis popularized the use of magic lanterns as an educational tool in the late 1700s when using projected images of plants to teach botany. Her educational methods were published in America in English translation during the early 1820s.
A type of lantern was constructed by Moses Holden between 1814 and 1815 for illustrating his astronomical lectures.
In 1821,m Philip Carpenter's London company, which became Carpenter and Westley after his death, started manufacturing a sturdy but lightweight and transportable "Phantasmagoria lantern" with an Argand style lamp. It produced high quality projections and was suitable for classrooms. Carpenter also developed a "secret" copper plate printing/burning process to mass-produce glass lantern slides with printed outlines, which were then easily and quickly hand painted ready for sale. These "copper-plate sliders" contained three or four very detailed 4" circular images mounted in thin hardwood frames. The first known set "The Elements of Zoology" became available in 1823, with over 200 images in 56 frames of zoological figures, classified according to the system of the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus. The same year many other slides appeared in the company's catalogue: "The Kings and Queens of England" (9 sliders taken from David Hume's History of England), "Astronomical Diagrams and Constellations" (9 sliders taken from Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel's textbooks), "Views and Buildings", Ancient and Modern Costume (62 sliders from various sources). Fifteen sliders of the category "Humorous" provided some entertainment, but the focus on education was obvious and very successful.
Mass production of slides also made the magic lantern affordable to the masses, opening a market for smaller lanterns with smaller glass sliders, which instead of wooden frames usually had colorful strips of paper glued around their edges.
The popularity of magic lanterns waned after the introduction of movies in the 1890s, but they remained a common medium until slide projectors became widespread during the 1950s.
The magic lantern was not only a direct ancestor of the motion picture projector as a means for visual storytelling, but it could itself be used to project moving images.
Some suggestion of movement could be achieved by alternating between pictures of different phases of a motion, but most magic lantern "animations" used two glass slides projected together - one with the stationary part of the picture and the other with the part that could be set in motion by hand or by a simple mechanism.
Motion in animated slides was mostly limited to either two phases of a movement or transformation, or a more gradual singular movement (e.g. a train passing through a landscape). These limitations made subjects with repetitive movements popular, like the sails on a windmill turning around or children on a seesaw. Movements could be repeated over and over and could be performed at different speeds.
A common technique that is comparable to the effect of a panning camera makes use of a long slide that is simply pulled slowly through the lantern and usually shows a landscape, sometimes with several phases of a story within the continuous backdrop.
Movement of projected images was also possible by moving the magic lantern itself. This became a staple technique in phantasmagoria shows in the late 18th century, often with the lantern sliding on rails or riding on small wheels and hidden from the view of the audience behind the projection screen.
In 1645, Kircher had already suggested projecting live insects and shadow puppets from the surface of the mirror in his Steganographic system to perform dramatic scenes.
Christiaan Huygens' 1659 sketches (see above) suggest he intended to animate the skeleton to have it take off its head and place it back on its neck. This can be seen as an indication that the very first magic lantern demonstrations may already have included projections of simple animations.
In 1668, Robert Hooke wrote about the effects of a type of magic lantern installation: "Spectators not well versed in optics, that should see the various apparitions and disappearances, the motions, changes and actions that may this way be represented, would readily believe them to be supernatural and miraculous."
In 1675, German polymath and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz proposed a kind of world exhibition that would show all kinds of new inventions and spectacles. In a handwritten document he supposed it should open and close with magic lantern shows, including subjects "which can be dismembered, to represent quite extraordinary and grotesque movements, which men would not be capable of making" (translated from French).
Several reports of early magic lantern screenings possibly described moving pictures, but are not clear enough to conclude whether the viewers saw animated slides or motion depicted in still images.
In 1698, German engraver and publisher Johann Christoph Weigel described several lantern slides with mechanisms that made glass parts move over one fixed glass slide, for instance by the means of a silk thread, or grooves in which the mobile part slides.
By 1709 a German optician and glass grinder named Themme (or Temme) made moving lantern slides, including a carriage with rotating wheels, a cupid with a spinning wheel, a shooting gun and falling bombs. Wheels were cut from the glass plate with a diamond and rotated by a thread that was spun around small brass wheels attached to the glass wheels. A paper slip mask would be quickly pulled away to reveal the red fiery discharge and the bullet from a shooting gun. Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach visited Themme's shop and liked the effects, but was disappointed about the very simple mechanisms. Nonetheless he bought seven moving slides, as well as twelve slides with four pictures each, which he thought were delicately painted.
Several types of mechanical slides were described and illustrated in Dutch professor of mathematics, physics, philosophy, medicine, and astronomy Pieter van Musschenbroek's second edition (1739) of "Beginsels Der Natuurkunde". Pieter was the brother of Jan van Musschenbroek, the maker of an outstanding magic lantern with excellent lenses and a diaphragm (see illustration above).
In 1770, Edmé-Gilles Guyot described a method of using two slides for the depiction of a storm at sea, with waves on one slide and ships and a few clouds on another. Lanternists could project the illusion of mild waves turning into a wild sea tossing the ships around by increasing the movement of the separate slides. Guyot also detailed how projection on smoke could be used to create the illusion of ghosts hovering in the air, which would become a technique commonly used in phantasmagoria.
An especially intricate multiple rackwork mechanism was developed to show the movements of the planets (sometimes accompanied by revolving satellites) revolving around the sun. In 1795, one M. Dicas offered an early magic lantern system, the Lucernal or Portable Eidouranian, that showed the orbiting planets. From around the 1820s mechanical astronomical slides became quite common.
Various types of mechanisms were commonly used to add movement to the projected image:
Mechanical slides with abstract special effects include:
The effect of a gradual transition from one image to another, known as a dissolve in modern filmmaking, became the basis of a popular type of magic lantern show in England in the 19th century. Typical dissolving views showed landscapes dissolving from day to night or from summer to winter. This was achieved by aligning the projection of two matching images and slowly diminishing the first image while introducing the second image. The subject and the effect of magic lantern dissolving views is similar to the popular Diorama theatre paintings that originated in Paris in 1822. 19th century magic lantern broadsides often used the terms "dissolving view", "dioramic view", or simply "diorama" interchangeably.
The effect was reportedly invented by phantasmagoria pioneer Paul de Philipsthal while in Ireland in 1803 or 1804. He thought of using two lanterns to make the spirit of Samuel appear out of a mist in his representation of the Witch of Endor. While working out the desired effect, he got the idea of using the technique with landscapes. An 1812 newspaper about a London performance indicates that De Philipsthal presented what was possibly a relatively early incarnation of a dissolving views show, describing it as a "a series of landscapes (in imitation of moonlight), which insensibly change to various scenes producing a very magical effect.”
Another possible inventor is Henry Langdon Childe, who purportedly once worked for De Philipsthal. He is said to have invented the dissolving views in 1807, and to have improved and completed the technique in 1818. The oldest known use of the term "dissolving views" occurs on playbills for Childe's shows at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1837. Childe further popularized the dissolving views at the Royal Polytechnic Institution in the early 1840s.
Despite later reports about the early invention, and apart from De Philipsthal's 1812 performance, no reports of dissolving view shows before the 1820s are known. Some cases may involve confusion with the Diorama or similar media. In 1826, Scottish magician and ventriloquist M. Henry's introduced what he described as "beautiful dissolvent scenes," "imperceptibly changing views," "dissolvent views," and "Magic Views"—created "by Machinery invented by M. Henry." In 1827, Henry Langdon Childe presented "Scenic Views, showing the various effects of light and shade," with a series of subjects that became classics for the dissolving views. In December 1827, De Philipsthal returned with a show that included "various splendid views (...) transforming themselves imperceptibly (as if it were by Magic) from one form into another."
Biunial lanterns, with two projecting optical sets in one apparatus, were produced to more easily project dissolving views. Possibly the first horizontal biunial lantern, dubbed the "Biscenascope" was made by the optician Mr. Clarke and presented at the Royal Adelaide Gallery in London on December 5, 1840. The earliest known illustration of a vertical biunial lantern, probably provided by E.G. Wood, appeared in Horne & Thornthwaite catalogue in 1857. Later on triple lanterns enabled additional effects, for instance the effect of snow falling while a green landscape dissolves into a snowy winter version.
A mechanical device could be fitted on the magic lantern, which locked up a diaphragm on the first slide slowly whilst a diaphragm on a second slide opened simultaneously.
Philip Carpenter's copper-plate printing process, introduced in 1823, may have made it much easier to create duplicate slides with printed outlines that could then be colored differently to create dissolving view slides. However, all early dissolving view slides seem to have been hand-painted.
There have been many different experiments involving sorts of movement with the magic lantern. These include:
Several of these experiments were publicly demonstrated at the Institution.
Versions of the magic lantern were used to project transparent variations of the phénakisticope. These were adapted with a mechanism that spins the disc and a shutter system. Duboscq produced some in the 1850s and Thomas Ross patented a version called "Wheel of life" in 1869 and 1870.
The Choreutoscope was invented around 1866 by the Greenwich engineer J. Beale and demonstrated at the Royal Polytechnic. It projected six pictures from a long slide and used a hand-cranked mechanism for intermittent movement of the slide and synchronized shutter action. The mechanism became a key to the development of the movie camera and projector. The Choreutoscope was used at the first professional public demonstration of the Kinetoscope to explain its principles.
An "Optical Instrument" was patented in the U.S. in 1869 by O.B. Brown, using a phenakistiscope-like disc with a technique very close to the later cinematograph; with Maltese Cross motion; a star-wheel and pin being used for intermittent motion, and a two-sector shutter.
John Arthur Roebuck Rudge built a lantern for William Friese-Greene with a mechanism to project a sequence of seven photographic slides. Reports say it was made in 1872, but also 1875 and (most likely) 1882. The surviving slides show a man removing his head with his hands and raising the loose head. The photographed body belonged to Rudge and Friese-Greene posed for the head. The slides probably provided the very first trick photography sequence projection. Friese-Greene's demonstrated the machine in his shop, until the police ordered him to remove it when it attracted too large a crowd.
Phantasmagoria was a form of horror theater that used one or more magic lanterns to project frightening images, especially of ghosts. Showmen used rear projection, mobile or portable projectors and all kinds of effects to produce convincing necromantic experiences. It was very popular in Europe from the late 18th century to well into the 19th century.
It is thought that optical devices like concave mirrors and the camera obscura have been used since antiquity to fool spectators into believing they saw real gods and spirits, but it was the magician "physicist" Phylidor who created what must have been the first true phantasmagoria show. He probably used mobile magic lanterns with the recently invented Argand lamp to create his successful "Schröpferischen, und Cagliostoischen Geister-Erscheinungen" (Schröpfer-esque and Cagiostro-esque Ghost Apparitions) in Vienna from 1790 to 1792. Phylidor stated that his show of perfected apparitions revealed how charlatans like Johann Georg Schröpfer and Cagliostro had fooled their audiences. As "Paul Filidort" he presented his "Phantasmagorie" in Paris From December 1792 to July 1793, probably using the term for the first time. As "Paul de Philipsthal" he performed "Phantasmagoria" shows in Britain since 1801 with great success.
One of many showmen who were inspired by Phylidor, Etienne-Gaspard Robert became very famous with his own "Fantasmagorie" show in Paris from 1798 to 1803 (later performing throughout Europe and returning to Paris for a triumphant comeback in Paris in 1814). He patented a mobile "Fantascope" lantern in 1798.
When it opened in 1838, The Royal Polytechnic Institution in London became a very popular and influential venue with all kinds of magic lantern shows as an important part of its program. At the main theatre, with 500 seats, lanternists would make good use of a battery of six large lanterns running on tracked tables to project the finely detailed images of extra large slides on the 648 square feet screen. The magic lantern was used to illustrate lectures, concerts, pantomimes and other forms of theatre. Popular magic lantern presentations included Henry Langon Childe's dissolving views, his chromatrope, phantasmagoria and mechanical slides.
Utushi-e is a type of magic lantern show that became popular in Japan in the 19th century. The Dutch probably introduced the magic lantern in Japan before the 1760s. A new style for magic lantern shows was introduced by Kameya Toraku I, who first performed in 1803 in Edo. Possibly the phantasmagoria shows (popular in the west at that moment) inspired the rear projection technique, moving images and ghost stories. Japanese showmen developed lightweight wooden projectors (furo) that were handheld so that several performers could move the projections of different colourful figures move around the screen at the same time. The Western techniques of mechanical slides were combined with traditional Japanese skills—especially from Karakuri puppets—to further animate the figures and for special effects.
Some enthusiasts claim that the brilliant quality of color in lantern slides is unsurpassed by successive projection media. The magic lantern and lantern slides are still popular with collectors and can be found in many museums. However, of the original lanterns from the first 150 years after its invention only 28 are known to still exist (as of 2009).
Museums usually prefer not to use their slides for projections, but often provide video representations of the slides.
A collaborative research project of several European universities called "A Million Pictures" started in June 2015 and lasted until May 2018. It addresses the sustainable preservation of the massive, untapped heritage resource of the tens of thousands of lantern slides in the collections of libraries and museums across Europe.
Genuine public lantern shows are relatively rare. Several regular performers claim they are the only one of their kind in their part of the world. These include Pierre Albanese and glass harmonica player Thomas Bloch live Magic Lantern/Phantasmagoria shows since 2008 in Europe and The American Magic-Lantern Theater. The Magic Lantern Society maintains a list of active lanternists, which contains more than 20 performers in the U.K. and circa eight performers in other parts of the world (Europe, U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand).
Dutch theatre group Lichtbende produces contemporary magical light spectacles and workshops with magic lanterns. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20783 |
Mulholland Drive (film)
Mulholland Drive (stylized as Mulholland Dr.) is a 2001 surreal neo-noir mystery film written and directed by David Lynch and starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Mark Pellegrino and Robert Forster. It tells the story of an aspiring actress named Betty Elms (Watts), newly arrived in Los Angeles, who meets and befriends an amnesiac woman (Harring) recovering from a car accident. The story follows several other vignettes and characters, including a Hollywood film director (Theroux).
The American-French co-production was originally conceived as a television pilot, and a large portion of the film was shot in 1999 with Lynch's plan to keep it open-ended for a potential series. After viewing Lynch's cut, however, television executives rejected it. Lynch then provided an ending to the project, making it a feature film. The half-pilot, half-feature result, along with Lynch's characteristic style, has left the general meaning of the film's events open to interpretation. Lynch has declined to offer an explanation of his intentions for the narrative, leaving audiences, critics, and cast members to speculate on what transpires. He gave the film the tagline "A love story in the city of dreams".
Categorized as a psychological thriller, "Mulholland Drive" earned Lynch the "Prix de la mise en scène" (Best Director Award) at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, sharing the prize with Joel Coen for "The Man Who Wasn't There". Furthermore, Lynch would also earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. The film launched Harring's career, boosted Watts' Hollywood profile considerably, and was the last feature film to star veteran Hollywood actress Ann Miller.
"Mulholland Drive" is now widely regarded as one of Lynch's finest works and one of the greatest films of the 21st century, ranking 28th in the 2012 "Sight & Sound" critics' poll of the best films ever made and topping a 2016 poll by BBC Culture of the best films since 2000. A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" writes that while some might consider the plot an "offense against narrative order ... the film is an intoxicating liberation from sense, with moments of feeling all the more powerful for seeming to emerge from the murky night world of the unconscious".
A dark-haired woman is the sole survivor of a car crash on Mulholland Drive, a winding road high in the Hollywood Hills. Injured and in shock, she makes her way down into Los Angeles and sneaks into an apartment. Later that morning, an aspiring actress named Betty Elms arrives at the apartment, which is normally occupied by her Aunt Ruth. Betty is startled to find the woman, who has amnesia and calls herself "Rita" after seeing a poster for the film "Gilda" starring Rita Hayworth. To help the woman remember her identity, Betty looks in Rita's purse, where she finds a large amount of money and an unusual blue key.
At a diner called Winkie's, a man tells his companion about a nightmare in which he dreamt about encountering a horrible figure behind the diner. When they investigate, the figure appears, causing the man with the nightmare to collapse in fright. Elsewhere, director Adam Kesher has his film commandeered by mobsters, who insist he cast an unknown actress named Camilla Rhodes as the lead in his film. Adam resists, but after being thrown out of his house when he finds his wife cheating on him, he learns that his bank has closed his line of credit and he is broke. He agrees to meet a mysterious figure called The Cowboy, who urges him to cast Camilla Rhodes for his own good. Meanwhile, a bungling hit man attempts to steal a book full of phone numbers and leaves three people dead.
While trying to learn more about Rita's accident, Betty and Rita go to Winkie's and are served by a waitress named Diane, which causes Rita to remember the name "Diane Selwyn." They find Diane Selwyn in the phone book and call her, but she does not answer. Betty goes to an audition, where her performance is highly praised. A casting agent takes her to a soundstage where a film called "The Sylvia North Story", directed by Adam, is being cast. When Camilla Rhodes auditions, Adam capitulates to casting her. Betty locks eyes with Adam, but she flees before she can meet him, saying she is late to meet a friend. Betty and Rita go to Diane Selwyn's apartment, where a neighbor answers the door and tells them she has switched apartments with Diane. They go to the neighbor's apartment and break in when no one answers the door. In the bedroom, they find the body of a woman who has been dead for several days. Terrified, they return to their apartment, where Rita disguises herself with a blonde wig. She and Betty have sex that night.
At 2 a.m., Rita awakes suddenly, insisting that they go to a theater called Club Silencio. The emcee explains in different languages that everything is an illusion; Rebekah Del Rio comes on stage and begins singing the Roy Orbison song "Crying" in Spanish, then collapses while her vocals continue—her performance was a recording. Betty finds a blue box in her purse that matches Rita's key. Upon returning to the apartment, Rita retrieves the key and finds that Betty has disappeared. Rita unlocks the box, and it falls to the floor with a thump.
Diane Selwyn wakes up in her bed in the same apartment that Betty and Rita investigated. She looks exactly like Betty, but is a failed actress driven into a deep depression by her failed affair with Camilla Rhodes, a successful actress who looks exactly like Rita. At Camilla's invitation, Diane attends a party at Adam's house on Mulholland Drive. At dinner, Diane states she came to Hollywood from Canada when her Aunt Ruth died and left her some money, and she met Camilla at an audition for "The Sylvia North Story". Another woman who looks like the "Camilla Rhodes" from earlier kisses Camilla, and they turn and smile at Diane. Adam and Camilla prepare to make an important announcement, but they dissolve into laughter and kiss while Diane watches, crying. Later, Diane meets the hit man at Winkie's, appearing to hire him to kill Camilla. He tells her she will find a blue key when the job is completed. In her apartment, Diane looks at the blue key on her coffee table. Distraught, she is terrorized by hallucinations and runs screaming to her bed, where she shoots herself. A woman at the theater whispers, "Silencio."
Originally conceived as a television series, "Mulholland Drive" began as a 90-minute pilot produced for Touchstone Television and intended for the ABC television network. Tony Krantz, the agent who was responsible for the development of Twin Peaks, was "fired up" about doing another television show. Ironically, Lynch wrote "I will never do television again" on a piece of plywood. It was originally a script for a pilot for ABC. David Lynch sold the idea to ABC executives based only on the story of Rita emerging from the car accident with her purse containing $125,000 in cash and the blue key, and Betty trying to help her figure out who she is. An ABC executive recalled, "I remember the creepiness of this woman in this horrible, horrible crash, and David teasing us with the notion that people are chasing her. She's not just 'in' trouble—she "is" trouble. Obviously, we asked, 'What happens next?' And David said, 'You have to buy the pitch for me to tell you.Lynch showed ABC a rough cut of the pilot. The person who saw it, according to Lynch, was watching it at six in the morning and was having coffee and standing up. He hated the pilot and ABC immediately cancelled it. Pierre Edleman, Lynch's friend from Paris, came to visit and started talking to him about the film being a feature. Edleman went back to Paris. Canal+ wanted to give Lynch money to make it into a feature and it took a year to negotiate.
Lynch described the attractiveness of the idea of a pilot, despite the knowledge that the medium of television would be constricting: "I'm a sucker for a continuing story ... Theoretically, you can get a very deep story and you can go so deep and open the world so beautifully, but it takes time to do that." The story included surreal elements, much like Lynch's earlier series "Twin Peaks". Groundwork was laid for story arcs, such as the mystery of Rita's identity, Betty's career and Adam Kesher's film project.
Actress Sherilyn Fenn stated in a 2014 interview that the original idea came during the filming of "Twin Peaks", as a spin-off film for her character of Audrey Horne.
Lynch cast Naomi Watts and Laura Harring by their photographs. He called them in separately for half-hour interviews and told them that he had not seen any of their previous works in film or television. Harring considered it fateful that she was involved in a minor car accident on the way to the first interview, only to learn her character would also be involved in a car accident in the film. Watts arrived wearing jeans for the first interview, direct from the airplane from New York City. Lynch asked her to return the next day "more glammed up". She was offered the part two weeks later. Lynch explained his selection of Watts, "I saw someone that I felt had a tremendous talent, and I saw someone who had a beautiful soul, an intelligence—possibilities for a lot of different roles, so it was a beautiful full package." Justin Theroux also met Lynch directly after his airplane flight. After a long flight with little sleep, Theroux arrived dressed all in black, with untidy hair. Lynch liked the look and decided to cast Adam wearing similar clothes and the same hairstyle.
Filming for the television pilot began on location in Los Angeles in February 1999 and took six weeks. Ultimately, the network was unhappy with the pilot and decided not to place it on its schedule. Objections included the nonlinear storyline, the ages of Harring and Watts (whom they considered too old), cigarette smoking by Ann Miller's character and a close-frame shot of dog feces in one scene. Lynch remembered, "All I know is, I loved making it, ABC hated it, and I don't like the cut I turned in. I agreed with ABC that the longer cut was too slow, but I was forced to butcher it because we had a deadline, and there wasn't time to finesse anything. It lost texture, big scenes and storylines, and there are 300 tape copies of the bad version circulating around. Lots of people have seen it, which is embarrassing, because they're bad-quality tapes, too. I don't want to think about it."
The script was later rewritten and expanded when Lynch decided to transform it into a feature film. Describing the transition from an open-ended pilot to a feature film with a resolution of sorts, Lynch said, "One night, I sat down, the ideas came in, and it was a most beautiful experience. Everything was seen from a different angle ... Now, looking back, I see that [the film] always wanted to be this way. It just took this strange beginning to cause it to be what it is." The result was an extra eighteen pages of material that included the romantic relationship between Rita and Betty and the events that occurred after the blue box was opened. Watts was relieved that the pilot was dropped by ABC. She found Betty too one-dimensional without the darker portion of the film that was put together afterward. Most of the new scenes were filmed in October 2000, funded with $7 million from French production company StudioCanal.
Theroux described approaching filming without entirely understanding the plot: "You get the whole script, but he might as well withhold the scenes you're not in, because the whole turns out to be more mystifying than the parts. David welcomes questions, but he won't answer any of them ... You work kind of half-blindfolded. If he were a first-time director and hadn't demonstrated any command of this method, I'd probably have reservations. But it obviously works for him." Theroux noted that the only answer Lynch did provide was that he was certain that Theroux's character, a Hollywood director, was not autobiographical of Lynch. Watts stated that she tried to bluff Lynch by pretending she had the plot figured out, and that he delighted in the cast's frustration.
Giving the film only the tagline "A love story in the city of dreams", David Lynch has refused to comment on "Mulholland Drive"s meaning or symbolism, leading to much discussion and multiple interpretations. "The Christian Science Monitor" film critic David Sterritt spoke with Lynch after the film screened at Cannes and wrote that the director "insisted that "Mulholland Drive" does tell a coherent, comprehensible story", unlike some of Lynch's earlier films like "Lost Highway". On the other hand, Justin Theroux said of Lynch's feelings on the multiple meanings people perceive in the film, "I think he's genuinely happy for it to mean anything you want. He loves it when people come up with really bizarre interpretations. David works from his subconscious."
An early interpretation of the film uses dream analysis to argue that the first part is a dream of the real Diane Selwyn, who has cast her dream-self as the innocent and hopeful "Betty Elms", reconstructing her history and persona into something like an old Hollywood film. In the dream, Betty is successful, charming, and lives the fantasy life of a soon-to-be-famous actress. The last one-fifth of the film presents Diane's real life, in which she has failed both personally and professionally. She arranges for Camilla, an ex-lover, to be killed, and unable to cope with the guilt, re-imagines her as the dependent, pliable amnesiac Rita. Clues to her inevitable demise, however, continue to appear throughout her dream.
This interpretation was similar to what Naomi Watts construed, when she said in an interview, "I thought Diane was the real character and that Betty was the person she wanted to be and had dreamed up. Rita is the damsel in distress and she's in absolute need of Betty, and Betty controls her as if she were a doll. Rita is Betty's fantasy of who she wants Camilla to be." Watts' own early experiences in Hollywood parallel those of Diane's. She endured some professional frustration before she became successful, auditioned for parts in which she did not believe, and encountered people who did not follow through with opportunities. She recalled, "There were a lot of promises, but nothing actually came off. I ran out of money and became quite lonely."
"The Guardian" asked six well-known film critics for their own perceptions of the overall meaning in "Mulholland Drive". Neil Roberts of "The Sun" and Tom Charity of "Time Out" subscribe to the theory that Betty is Diane's projection of a happier life. Roger Ebert and Jonathan Ross seem to accept this interpretation, but both hesitate to overanalyze the film. Ebert states, "There is no explanation. There may not even be a mystery." Ross observes that there are storylines that go nowhere: "Perhaps these were leftovers from the pilot it was originally intended to be, or perhaps these things are the non-sequiturs and subconscious of dreams." Philip French from "The Observer" sees it as an allusion to Hollywood tragedy, while Jane Douglas from the BBC rejects the theory of Betty's life as Diane's dream, but also warns against too much analysis.
Media theorist Siobhan Lyons similarly disagrees with the dream theory, arguing that it is a "superficial interpretation [which] undermines the strength of the absurdity of reality that often takes place in Lynch's universe". Instead, Lyons posits that Betty and Diane are in fact two different people who happen to look similar, a common motif among Hollywood starlets. In a similar interpretation, Betty and Rita and Diane and Camilla may exist in parallel universes that sometimes interconnect. Another theory offered is that the narrative is a Möbius strip, a twisted band that has no beginning and no end. Or the entire film is a dream, but whose dream is unknown. Repeated references to beds, bedrooms and sleeping symbolize the heavy influence of dreams. Rita falls asleep several times; in between these episodes, disconnected scenes such as the men having a conversation at Winkie's, Betty's arrival in Los Angeles and the bungled hit take place, suggesting that Rita may be dreaming them. The opening shot of the film zooms into a bed containing an unknown sleeper, instilling, according to film scholar Ruth Perlmutter, the necessity to ask if what follows is reality. Professor of dream studies Kelly Bulkeley argues that the early scene at the diner, as the only one in which dreams or dreaming are explicitly mentioned, illustrates "revelatory truth and epistemological uncertainty in Lynch's film". The monstrous being from the dream, who is the subject of conversation of the men in Winkie's, reappears at the end of the film right before and after Diane commits suicide. Bulkeley asserts that the lone discussion of dreams in that scene presents an opening to "a new way of understanding everything that happens in the movie".
Philosopher and film theorist Robert Sinnerbrink similarly notes that the images following Diane's apparent suicide undermine the "dream and reality" interpretation. After Diane shoots herself, the bed is consumed with smoke, and Betty and Rita are shown beaming at each other, after which a woman in the Club Silencio balcony whispers ""Silencio"" as the screen fades to black. Sinnerbrink writes that the "concluding images float in an indeterminate zone between fantasy and reality, which is perhaps the genuinely metaphysical dimension of the cinematic image", also noting that it might be that the "last sequence comprises the fantasy images of Diane's dying consciousness, concluding with the real moment of her death: the final "Silencio"". Referring to the same sequence, film theorist Andrew Hageman notes that "the ninety-second coda that follows Betty/Diane's suicide is a cinematic space that persists after the curtain has dropped on her living consciousness, and this persistent space is the very theatre where the illusion of illusion is continually unmasked".
Film theorist David Roche writes that Lynch films do not simply tell detective stories, but rather force the audience into the role of becoming detectives themselves to make sense of the narratives, and that "Mulholland Drive", like other Lynch films, frustrates "the spectator's need for a rational diegesis by playing on the spectator's mistake that narration is synonymous with diegesis". In Lynch's films, the spectator is always "one step behind narration" and thus "narration prevails over diegesis". Roche also notes that there are multiple mysteries in the film that ultimately go unanswered by the characters who meet dead ends, like Betty and Rita, or give in to pressures as Adam does. Although the audience still struggles to make sense of the stories, the characters are no longer trying to solve their mysteries. Roche concludes that "Mulholland Drive" is a mystery film not because it allows the audience to view the solution to a question, but the film itself is a mystery that is held together "by the spectator-detective's desire to make sense" of it.
Despite the proliferation of theories, critics note that no explanation satisfies all of the loose ends and questions that arise from the film. Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" writes, ""Mulholland Drive" has little to do with any single character's love life or professional ambition. The movie is an ever-deepening reflection on the allure of Hollywood and on the multiple role-playing and self-invention that the movie-going experience promises ... What greater power is there than the power to enter and to program the dream life of the culture?" J. Hoberman from "The Village Voice" echoes this sentiment by calling it a "poisonous valentine to Hollywood".
"Mulholland Drive" has been compared with Billy Wilder's film noir classic "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), another tale about broken dreams in Hollywood, and early in the film Rita is shown crossing Sunset Boulevard at night. Apart from both titles being named after iconic Los Angeles streets, "Mulholland Drive" is "Lynch's unique account of what held Wilder's attention too: human putrefaction (a term Lynch used several times during his press conference at the New York Film Festival 2001) in a city of lethal illusions". The title of the film is a reference to iconic Hollywood culture. David Lynch lives near Mulholland Drive, and stated in an interview, "At night, you ride on the top of the world. In the daytime you ride on top of the world, too, but it's mysterious, and there's a hair of fear because it goes into remote areas. You feel the history of Hollywood in that road." Watts also had experience with the road before her career was established: "I remember driving along the street many times sobbing my heart out in my car, going, 'What am I doing here?
Critic Gregory Weight cautions viewers against a cynical interpretation of the events in the film, stating that Lynch presents more than "the façade and that he believes only evil and deceit lie beneath it". As much as Lynch makes a statement about the deceit, manipulation and false pretenses in Hollywood culture, he also infuses nostalgia throughout the film and recognizes that real art comes from classic filmmaking as Lynch cast thereby paying tribute to veteran actors Ann Miller, Lee Grant and Chad Everett. He also portrays Betty as extraordinarily talented and that her abilities are noticed by powerful people in the entertainment industry. Commenting on the contrasting positions between film nostalgia and the putrefaction of Hollywood, Steven Dillon writes that "Mulholland Drive" is critical of the culture of Hollywood as much as it is a condemnation of "cinephilia" (the fascination of filmmaking and the fantasies associated with it).
Harring described her interpretation after seeing the film: "When I saw it the first time, I thought it was the story of Hollywood dreams, illusion and obsession. It touches on the idea that nothing is quite as it seems, especially the idea of being a Hollywood movie star. The second and third times I saw it, I thought it dealt with identity. Do we know who we are? And then I kept seeing different things in it ... There's no right or wrong to what someone takes away from it or what they think the film is really about. It's a movie that makes you continuously ponder, makes you ask questions. I've heard over and over, 'This is a movie that I'll see again' or 'This is a movie you've got to see again.' It intrigues you. You want to get it, but I don't think it's a movie to be gotten. It's achieved its goal if it makes you ask questions."
The relationships between Betty and Rita, and Diane and Camilla have been variously described as "touching", "moving", as well as "titillating". Film critic Glenn Kenny, in a review of the film for "Premiere", said that the relationship between Betty and Rita is "possibly the healthiest, most positive amorous relationship ever depicted in a Lynch movie", whereas the French critic Thierry Jousse, in his review for "Cahiers du cinéma", said that the love between the women depicted is "of lyricism practically without equal in contemporary cinema". In the pages of "Film Comment", Philip Lopate states that the pivotal romantic interlude between Betty and Rita was made poignant and tender by Betty's "understanding for the first time, with self-surprise, that all her helpfulness and curiosity about the other woman had a point: desire ... It is a beautiful moment, made all the more miraculous by its earned tenderness, and its distances from anything lurid." Stephanie Zacharek of "Salon" magazine stated that the scene's "eroticism [was] so potent it blankets the whole movie, coloring every scene that came before and every one that follows". Betty and Rita were chosen by the Independent Film Channel as the emblematic romantic couple of the 2000s. Writer Charles Taylor said, "Betty and Rita are often framed against darkness so soft and velvety it's like a hovering nimbus, ready to swallow them if they awake from the film's dream. And when they are swallowed, when smoke fills the frame as if the sulfur of hell itself were obscuring our vision, we feel as if not just a romance has been broken, but the beauty of the world has been cursed."
Some film theorists have argued that Lynch inserts queerness in the aesthetic and thematic content of the film. The non-linear film is "incapable of sustaining narrative coherence", as Lee Wallace argues that, "lesbianism dissolves the ideological conventions of narrative realism, operating as the switch point for the contesting storyworlds within Lynch’s elaborately plotted film". The presence of mirrors and doppelgangers throughout the film "are common representations of lesbian desire". The co-dependency in the relationship between Betty and Rita–which borders on outright obsession–has been compared to the female relationships in two similar films, Ingmar Bergman's "Persona" (1966) and Robert Altman's "3 Women" (1977), which also depict identities of vulnerable women that become tangled, interchanging and ultimately merge: "The female couples also mirror each other, with their mutual interactions conflating hero(ine) worship with same-sex desire". Lynch pays direct homage to "Persona" in the scene where Rita dons the blonde wig, styled exactly like Betty's own hair. Rita and Betty then gaze at each other in the mirror "drawing attention to their physical similarity, linking the sequence to theme of embrace, physical coupling and the idea of merging or doubling". Mirroring and doubles, which are prominent themes throughout the film, serve to further queer the form and content of the film.
Several theorists have accused Lynch of perpetuating stereotypes and clichés of lesbians, bisexuals and lesbian relationships. Rita (the femme fatale) and Betty (the school girl) represent two classic stock lesbian characters; Heather Love identifies two key clichés used in the film: "Lynch presents lesbianism in its innocent and expansive form: lesbian desire appears as one big adventure, an entrée into a glamorous and unknown territory". Simultaneously, he presents the tragic lesbian triangle, "in which an attractive but unavailable woman dumps a less attractive woman who is figured as exclusively lesbian", perpetuating the stereotype of the bisexual "ending up with a man". Maria San Filippo recognizes that Lynch relies on classic film noir archetypes to develop Camilla's eventual betrayal: these archetypes "become ingrained to such a degree that viewers are immediately cued that “Rita” is not what she seems and that it is only a matter of time before she reveals her duplicitous nature." For Love, Diane's exclusively lesbian desire is "between success and failure, between sexiness and abjection, even between life and death" if she is rejected. Diane is the tragic lesbian cliché pining after the bisexual in the heterosexual relationship. Love's analysis of the film notes the media's peculiar response to the film's lesbian content: "reviewers rhapsodized in particular and at length about the film's sex scenes, as if there were a contest to see who could enjoy this representation of female same-sex desire the most." She points out that the film used a classic theme in literature and film depicting lesbian relationships: Camilla as achingly beautiful and available, rejecting Diane for Adam. Popular reaction to the film suggests the contrasting relationships between Betty and Rita and Diane and Camilla are "understood as both the hottest thing on earth and, at the same time, as something fundamentally sad and not at all erotic" as "the heterosexual order asserts itself with crushing effects for the abandoned woman".
Heterosexuality as primary is important in the latter half of the film, as the ultimate demise of Diane and Camilla's relationship springs from the matrimony of the heterosexual couple. At Adam's party, they begin to announce that Camilla and Adam are getting married; through laughs and kisses, the declaration is delayed because it is obvious and expected. The heterosexual closure of the scene is interrupted by a scene change. As Lee Wallace suggests, by planning a hit against Camilla, "Diane circumvents the heterosexual closure of the industry story but only by going over to its storyworld, an act that proves fatal for both women, the cause and effect relations of the thriller being fundamentally incompatible with the plot of lesbianism as the film presents it". For Joshua Bastian Cole, Adam's character serves as Diane's foil, what she can never be, which is why Camilla leaves her. In her fantasy, Adam has his own subplot which leads to his humiliation. While this subplot can be understood as a revenge fantasy born from jealousy, Cole argues that this is an example of Diane's transgender gaze: "Adam functions like a mirror- a male object upon which Diane might project herself". Diane's prolonged eye-contact with Dan at Winkie's is another example of the trans gaze. For Cole, "Diane’s strange recognition of Dan, which is not quite identification but something else, feels trans in its oblique line, drawn between impossible doubles" and their similar names (Dan/Diane) which is no mistake. He stresses that the lesbian understanding of the film has overshadowed potential trans interpretations; his reading of Diane's trans gaze is a contribution to the queer narrative of the film"."
Media portrayals of Naomi Watts' and Laura Elena Harring's views of their onscreen relationships were varied and conflicting. Watts said of the filming of the scene, "I don't see it as erotic, though maybe it plays that way. The last time I saw it, I actually had tears in my eyes because I knew where the story was going. It broke my heart a little bit." However, in another interview Watts stated, "I was amazed how honest and real all this looks on screen. These girls look really in love and it was curiously erotic." While Harring was quoted saying, "The love scene just happened in my eyes. Rita's very grateful for the help Betty's given [her] so I'm saying goodbye and goodnight to her, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, I kiss her and then there's just an energy that takes us [over]. Of course I have amnesia so I don't know if I've done it before, but I don't think we're really lesbians." Heather Love agreed somewhat with Harring's perception when she stated that identity in "Mulholland Drive" is not as important as desire: "who we are does not count for much—what matters instead is what we are about to do, what we want to do."
Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) is the bright and talented newcomer to Los Angeles, described as "wholesome, optimistic, determined to take the town by storm", and "absurdly naïve". Her perkiness and intrepid approach to helping Rita because it is the right thing to do is reminiscent of Nancy Drew for reviewers. Her entire persona at first is an apparent cliché of small-town naïveté. But it is Betty's identity, or loss of it, that appears to be the focus of the film. For one critic, Betty performed the role of the film's consciousness and unconscious. Naomi Watts, who modeled Betty on Doris Day, Tippi Hedren and Kim Novak, observed that Betty is a thrill-seeker, someone "who finds herself in a world she doesn't belong in and is ready to take on a new identity, even if it's somebody else's". This has also led one theorist to conclude that since Betty had naïvely, yet eagerly entered the Hollywood system, she had become a "complicit actor" who had "embraced the very structure that" destroyed her. In an explanation of her development of the Betty character, Watts stated:
I had to therefore come up with my own decisions about what this meant and what this character was going through, what was dream and what was reality. My interpretation could end up being completely different, from both David and the audience. But I "did" have to reconcile all of that, and people seem to think it works.
Betty, however difficult to believe as her character is established, shows an astonishing depth of dimension in her audition. Previously rehearsed with Rita in the apartment, where Rita feeds her lines woodenly, the scene is "dreck" and "hollow; every line unworthy of a genuine actress's commitment", and Betty plays it in rehearsal as poorly as it is written. Nervous but plucky as ever at the audition, Betty enters the cramped room, but when pitted inches from her audition partner (Chad Everett), she turns it into a scene of powerful sexual tension that she fully controls and draws in every person in the room. The sexuality erodes immediately as the scene ends and she stands before them shyly waiting for their approval. One film analyst asserts that Betty's previously unknown ability steals the show, specifically, taking the dark mystery away from Rita and assigning it to herself, and by Lynch's use of this scene illustrates his use of deception in his characters. Betty's acting ability prompts Ruth Perlmutter to speculate if Betty is acting the role of Diane in either a dream or a parody of a film that ultimately turns against her.
Rita (Laura Elena Harring) is the mysterious and helpless apparent victim, a classic femme fatale with her dark, strikingly beautiful appearance. Roger Ebert was so impressed with Harring that he said of her "all she has to do is stand there and she is the first good argument in 55 years for a "Gilda" remake". She serves as the object of desire, directly oppositional to Betty's bright self-assuredness. She is also the first character with whom the audience identifies, and as viewers know her only as confused and frightened, not knowing who she is and where she is going, she represents their desire to make sense of the film through her identity. Instead of threatening, she inspires Betty to nurture, console and help her. Her amnesia makes her a blank persona, which one reviewer notes is "the vacancy that comes with extraordinary beauty and the onlooker's willingness to project any combination of angelic and devilish onto her". A character analysis of Rita asserts that her actions are the most genuine of the first portion of the film, since she has no memory and nothing to use as a frame of reference for how to behave. Todd McGowan, however, author of a book on themes in Lynch's films, states that the first portion of "Mulholland Drive" can be construed as Rita's fantasy, until Diane Selwyn is revealed; Betty is the object that overcomes Rita's anxiety about her loss of identity. According to film historian Steven Dillon, Diane transitions a former roommate into Rita: following a tense scene where the roommate collects her remaining belongings, Rita appears in the apartment, smiling at Diane.
After Betty and Rita find the decomposing body, they flee the apartment and their images are split apart and reintegrated. David Roche notes that Rita's lack of identity causes a breakdown that "occurs not only at the level of the character but also at the level of the image; the shot is subjected to special effects that fragment their image and their voices are drowned out in reverb, the camera seemingly writing out the mental state of the characters". Immediately they return to Betty's aunt's apartment where Rita dons a blonde wig—ostensibly to disguise herself—but making her look remarkably like Betty. It is this transformation that one film analyst suggests is the melding of both identities. This is supported by visual clues, like particular camera angles making their faces appear to be merging into one. This is further illustrated soon after by their sexual intimacy, followed by Rita's personality becoming more dominant as she insists they go to Club Silencio at 2 a.m., that eventually leads to the total domination by Camilla.
Diane Selwyn (Naomi Watts) is the palpably frustrated and depressed woman, who seems to have ridden the coattails of Camilla, whom she idolizes and adores, but who does not return her affection. She is considered to be the reality of the too-good-to-be-true Betty, or a later version of Betty after living too long in Hollywood. For Steven Dillon, the plot of the film "makes Rita the perfect empty vessel for Diane's fantasies", but because Rita is only a "blank cover girl" Diane has "invested herself in emptiness", which leads her to depression and apparently to suicide. Hence, Diane is the personification of dissatisfaction, painfully illustrated when she is unable to climax while masturbating, in a scene that indicates "through blurred, jerky, point of view shots of the stony wall—not only her tears and humiliation but the disintegration of her fantasy and her growing desire for revenge". One analysis of Diane suggests her devotion to Camilla is based on a manifestation of narcissism, as Camilla embodies everything Diane wants and wants to be. Although she is portrayed as weak and the ultimate loser, for Jeff Johnson, author of a book about morality in Lynch films, Diane is the only character in the second portion of the film whose moral code remains intact. She is "a decent person corrupted by the miscellaneous miscreants who populate the film industry". Her guilt and regret are evident in her suicide, and in the clues that surface in the first portion of the film. Rita's fear, the dead body and the illusion at Club Silencio indicate that something is dark and wrong in Betty and Rita's world. In becoming free from Camilla, her moral conditioning kills her.
Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George, Laura Elena Harring) is little more than a face in a photo and a name that has inspired many representatives of some vaguely threatening power to place her in a film against the wishes of Adam. Referred to as a "vapid moll" by one reviewer, she barely makes an impression in the first portion of the film, but after the blue box is opened and she is portrayed by Laura Elena Harring, she becomes a full person who symbolizes "betrayal, humiliation and abandonment", and is the object of Diane's frustration. Diane is a sharp contrast to Camilla, who is more voluptuous than ever, and who appears to have "sucked the life out of Diane". Immediately after telling Diane that she drives her wild, Camilla tells her they must end their affair. On a film set where Adam is directing Camilla, he orders the set cleared, except for Diane—at Camilla's request—where Adam shows another actor just how to kiss Camilla correctly. Instead of punishing Camilla for such public humiliation, as is suggested by Diane's conversation with the bungling hit man, one critic views Rita as the vulnerable representation of Diane's desire for Camilla.
Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) is established in the first portion of the film as a "vaguely arrogant", but apparently successful, director who endures one humiliation after another. Theroux said of his role, "He's sort of the one character in the film who doesn't know what the [hell's] going on. I think he's the one guy the audience says, 'I'm kind of like you right now. I don't know why you're being subjected to all this pain. After being stripped of creative control of his film, he is cuckolded by the pool cleaner (played by Billy Ray Cyrus), and thrown out of his own opulent house above Hollywood. After he checks into a seedy motel and pays with cash, the manager arrives to tell him that his credit is no good. Witnessed by Diane, Adam is pompous and self-important. He is the only character whose personality does not seem to change completely from the first part of the film to the second. One analysis of Adam's character contends that because he capitulated and chose Camilla Rhodes for his film, that is the end of Betty's cheerfulness and ability to help Rita, placing the blame for her tragedy on the representatives of studio power.
Minor characters include The Cowboy (Monty Montgomery), the Castigliani Brothers (Dan Hedaya and Angelo Badalamenti) and Mr. Roque (Michael J. Anderson), all of whom are somehow involved in pressuring Adam to cast Camilla Rhodes in his film. These characters represent the death of creativity for film scholars, and they portray a "vision of the industry as a closed hierarchical system in which the ultimate source of power remains hidden behind a series of representatives". Ann Miller portrays Coco, the landlady who welcomes Betty to her wonderful new apartment. Coco, in the first part of the film, represents the old guard in Hollywood, who welcomes and protects Betty. In the second part of the film, however, she appears as Adam's mother, who impatiently chastises Diane for being late to the party and barely pays attention to Diane's embarrassed tale of how she got into acting.
The filmmaking style of David Lynch has been written about extensively using descriptions like "ultraweird", "dark" and "oddball". Todd McGowan writes, "One cannot watch a Lynch film the way one watches a standard Hollywood film noir nor in the way that one watches most radical films." Through Lynch's juxtaposition of cliché and surreal, nightmares and fantasies, nonlinear story lines, camera work, sound and lighting, he presents a film that challenges viewers to suspend belief of what they are experiencing. Many of the characters in "Mulholland Drive" are archetypes that can only be perceived as cliché: the new Hollywood hopeful, the femme fatale, the maverick director and shady powerbrokers that Lynch never seems to explore fully. Lynch places these often hackneyed characters in dire situations, creating dream-like qualities. By using these characters in scenarios that have components and references to dreams, fantasies and nightmares, viewers are left to decide, between the extremes, what is reality. One film analyst, Jennifer Hudson, writes of him, "Like most surrealists, Lynch's language of the unexplained is the fluid language of dreams."
David Lynch uses various methods of deception in "Mulholland Drive". A shadowy figure named Mr. Roque, who seems to control film studios, is portrayed by dwarf actor Michael J. Anderson (also from "Twin Peaks"). Anderson, who has only two lines and is seated in an enormous wooden wheelchair, was fitted with oversized foam prosthetic arms and legs in order to portray his head as abnormally small. During Adam and Camilla's party, Diane watches Camilla (played by Harring) with Adam on one arm, lean over and deeply kiss the same woman who appeared as Camilla (Melissa George) before the blue box was opened. Both then turn and smile pointedly at Diane. Film critic Franklin Ridgway writes that the depiction of such a deliberate "cruel and manipulative" act makes it unclear if Camilla is as capricious as she seems, or if Diane's paranoia is allowing the audience only to see what she senses. In a scene immediately after Betty's audition, the film cuts to a woman singing without apparent accompaniment, but as the camera pulls backwards, the audience sees that it is a recording studio. In actuality, it is a sound stage where Betty has just arrived to meet Adam Kesher, that the audience realizes as the camera pulls back further. Ridgway insists that such deception through artful camera work sets the viewer full of doubt about what is being presented: "It is as if the camera, in its graceful fluidity of motion, reassures us that it (thinks it) sees everything, has everything under control, even if we (and Betty) do not."
According to Stephen Dillon, Lynch's use of different camera positions throughout the film, such as hand-held points of view, makes the viewer "identify with the suspense of the character in his or her particular space", but that Lynch at moments also "disconnects the camera from any particular point of view, thereby ungrounding a single or even a human perspective" so that the multiple perspectives keep contexts from merging, significantly troubling "our sense of the individual and the human". Andrew Hageman similarly notes that the camera work in the film "renders a very disturbing sense of place and presence", such as the scene in Winkie's where the "camera floats irregularly during the shot-reverse shot dialogue" by which the "spectator becomes aware that a set of normally objective shots have become disturbingly subjective". Scholar Curt Hersey recognizes several avant-garde techniques used in the film including lack of transitions, abrupt transitions, motion speed, nontraditional camera movement, computer-generated imagery, nondiegetic images, nonlinear narration and intertextuality.
The first portion of the film that establishes the characters of Betty, Rita and Adam presents some of the most logical filmmaking of Lynch's career. The later part of the film that represents reality to many viewers, however, exhibits a marked change in cinematic effect that gives it a quality just as surreal as the first part. Diane's scenes feature choppier editing and dirtier lighting that symbolize her physical and spiritual impoverishment, which contrasts with the first portion of the film where "even the plainest decor seems to sparkle", Betty and Rita glow with light and transitions between scenes are smooth. Lynch moves between scenes in the first portion of the film by using panoramic shots of the mountains, palm trees and buildings in Los Angeles. In the darker part of the film, sound transitions to the next scene without a visual reference where it is taking place. At Camilla's party, when Diane is most humiliated, the sound of crashing dishes is heard that carries immediately to the scene where dishes have been dropped in the diner, and Diane is speaking with the hit man. Sinnerbrink also notes that several scenes in the film, such as the one featuring Diane's hallucination of Camilla after Diane wakes up, the image of the being from behind Winkie's after Diane's suicide, or the "repetition, reversal and displacement of elements that were differently configured" in the early portion of the film, creates the uncanny effect where viewers are presented with familiar characters or situations in altered times or locations. Similarly, Hageman has identified the early scene at Winkie's as "extremely uncanny", because it is a scene where the "boundaries separating physical reality from the imaginary realities of the unconscious disintegrate". Author Valtteri Kokko has identified three groups of "uncanny metaphors"; the doppelgänger of multiple characters played by the same actors, dreams and an everyday object—primarily the blue box—that initiates Rita's disappearance and Diane's real life.
Another recurring element in Lynch's films is his experimentation with sound. He stated in an interview, "you look at the image and the scene silent, it's doing the job it's supposed to do, but the work isn't done. When you start working on the sound, keep working until it feels correct. There's so many wrong sounds and instantly you know it. Sometimes it's really magical." In the opening scene of the film, as the dark-haired woman stumbles off Mulholland Drive, silently it suggests she is clumsy. After Lynch added "a hint of the steam [from the wreck] and the screaming kids", however, it transformed Laura Elena Harring from clumsy to terrified. Lynch also infused subtle rumblings throughout portions of the film that reviewers noted added unsettling and creepy effects. Hageman also identifies "perpetual and uncanny ambient sound", and places a particular emphasis on the scene where the man collapses behind Winkie's as normal sound is drowned out by a buzzing roar, noting that the noise "creates a dissonance and suspense that draws in the spectator as detective to place the sound and reestablish order". "Mulholland Drive"s ending with the woman at Club Silencio whispering is an example of Lynch's aural deception and surreality, according to Ruth Perlmutter, who writes, "The acting, the dreams, the search for identity, the fears and terrors of the undefined self are over when the film is over, and therefore, there is only silence and enigma."
The soundtrack of "Mulholland Drive" was supervised by Angelo Badalamenti, who collaborated on previous Lynch projects "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks". Badalamenti, who was nominated for awards from the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for his work on the film, also has a cameo as an espresso aficionado and mobster.
Reviewers note that Badalamenti's ominous score, described as his "darkest yet", contributes to the sense of mystery as the film opens on the dark-haired woman's limousine, that contrasts with the bright, hopeful tones of Betty's first arrival in Los Angeles, with the score "acting as an emotional guide for the viewer". Film music journalist Daniel Schweiger remarks that Badalamenti's contribution to the score alternates from the "nearly motionless string dread to noir jazz and audio feedback", with "the rhythms building to an explosion of infinite darkness." Badalamenti described a particular technique of sound design applied to the film, by which he would provide Lynch with multiple ten- to twelve-minute tracks at slow tempo, that they called "firewood", from which Lynch "would take fragments and experiment with them resulting in a lot of film's eerie soundscapes."
Lynch uses two pop songs from the 1960s directly after one another, playing as two actresses are auditioning by lip synching them. According to an analyst of music used in Lynch films, Lynch's female characters are often unable to communicate through normal channels and are reduced to lip-synching or being otherwise stifled. Connie Stevens' "Sixteen Reasons" is the song being sung while the camera pans backwards to reveal several illusions, and Linda Scott's version of "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" is the audition for the first Camilla Rhodes, that film scholar Eric Gans considers a song of empowerment for Betty. Originally written by Jerome Kern as a duet, sung by Linda Scott in this rendition by herself, Gans suggests it takes on a homosexual overtone in "Mulholland Drive". Unlike "Sixteen Reasons", however, portions of "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" are distorted to suggest "a sonic split-identity" for Camilla. When the song plays, Betty has just entered the sound stage where Adam is auditioning actresses for his film, and she sees Adam, locks eyes with him and abruptly flees after Adam has declared "This is the girl" about Camilla, thereby avoiding his inevitable rejection.
At the hinge of the film is a scene in an unusual late night theater called Club Silencio where a performer announces ""No hay banda" (there is no band) ... but yet we hear a band", variated between English, Spanish and French. Described as "the most original and stunning sequence in an original and stunning film", Rebekah Del Rio's Spanish a cappella rendition of "Crying", named "Llorando", is praised as "show-stopping ... except that there's no show to stop" in the sparsely attended Club Silencio. Lynch wanted to use Roy Orbison's version of "Crying" in "Blue Velvet", but changed his mind when he heard Orbison's "In Dreams". Del Rio, who popularized the Spanish version and who received her first recording contract on the basis of the song, stated that Lynch flew to Nashville where she was living, and she sang the song for him once and did not know he was recording her. Lynch wrote a part for her in the film and used the version she sang for him in Nashville. The song tragically serenades the lovers Betty and Rita, who sit spellbound and weeping, moments before their relationship disappears and is replaced by Diane and Camilla's dysfunction. According to one film scholar, the song and the entire theater scene marks the disintegration of Betty's and Rita's personalities, as well as their relationship. With the use of multiple languages and a song to portray such primal emotions, one film analyst states that Lynch exhibits his distrust of intellectual discourse and chooses to make sense through images and sounds. The disorienting effect of the music playing although del Rio is no longer there is described as "the musical version of Magritte's painting "Ceci n'est pas une pipe"".
"Mulholland Drive" premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival in May to major critical acclaim. Lynch was awarded the Best Director prize at the festival, sharing it with co-winner Joel Coen for "The Man Who Wasn't There". It drew positive reviews from many critics and some of the strongest audience reactions of Lynch's career.
Universal Pictures released "Mulholland Drive" theatrically in 66 theaters in the United States on October 12, 2001, grossing $587,591 over its opening weekend. It eventually expanded to its widest release of 247 theaters, ultimately grossing $7,220,243 at the U.S. box office. TVA Films released the film theatrically in Canada on October 26, 2001. In other territories outside the United States, the film grossed $12,892,096 for a worldwide total of $20,112,339.
Since its release, "Mulholland Drive" has received "both some of the harshest epithets and some of the most lavish praise in recent cinematic history". On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 179 reviews, with an average rating of 7.62/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "David Lynch's dreamlike and mysterious "Mulholland Drive" is a twisty neo-noir with an unconventional structure that features a mesmerizing performance from Naomi Watts as a woman on the dark fringes of Hollywood." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times", who had previously been dismissive of Lynch's work, awarded the film four stars and said, "David Lynch has been working toward "Mulholland Drive" all of his career, and now that he's arrived there I forgive him for "Wild at Heart" and even "Lost Highway" ... the movie is a surrealist dreamscape in the form of a Hollywood film noir, and the less sense it makes, the more we can't stop watching it". Ebert subsequently added "Mulholland Drive" to his "Great Films" list. In "The New York Times", Stephen Holden wrote that the film "ranks alongside Fellini's "8½" and other auteurist fantasias as a monumental self-reflection" and added: "Looked at lightly, it is the grandest and silliest cinematic carnival to come along in quite some time ... on a more serious level, its investigation into the power of movies pierces a void from which you can hear the screams of a ravenous demon whose appetites can never be slaked." Edward Guthmann of the "San Francisco Chronicle" called it "exhilarating ... for its dreamlike images and fierce, frequently reckless imagination" and added, "there's a mesmerizing quality to its languid pace, its sense of foreboding and its lost-in-time atmosphere ... it holds us, spellbound and amused, for all of its loony and luscious, exasperating 146 minutes [and] proves that Lynch is in solid form—and still an expert at pricking our nerves".
In "Rolling Stone", Peter Travers observed, ""Mulholland Drive" makes movies feel alive again. This sinful pleasure is a fresh triumph for Lynch, and one of the best films of a sorry-ass year. For visionary daring, swooning eroticism and colors that pop like a whore's lip gloss, there's nothing like this baby anywhere." J. Hoberman of "The Village Voice" stated, "This voluptuous phantasmagoria ... is certainly Lynch's strongest movie since "Blue Velvet" and maybe "Eraserhead". The very things that failed him in the bad-boy rockabilly debacle of "Lost Highway"—the atmosphere of free-floating menace, pointless transmigration of souls, provocatively dropped plot stitches, gimcrack alternate universes—are here brilliantly rehabilitated."
"Mulholland Drive" was not without its detractors. Rex Reed of "The New York Observer" said that it was the worst film he had seen in 2001, calling it "a load of moronic and incoherent garbage". In "New York", Peter Rainer observed, "Although I like it more than some of his other dreamtime freakfests, it's still a pretty moribund ride ... Lynch needs to renew himself with an influx of the deep feeling he has for people, for outcasts, and lay off the cretins and hobgoblins and zombies for a while." In "The Washington Post", Desson Howe called it "an extended mood opera, if you want to put an arty label on incoherence". Todd McCarthy of "Variety" found much to praise—"Lynch cranks up the levels of bizarre humor, dramatic incident and genuine mystery with a succession of memorable scenes, some of which rank with his best"—but also noted, "the film jumps off the solid ground of relative narrative coherence into Lynchian fantasyland ... for the final 45 minutes, Lynch is in mind-twisting mode that presents a form of alternate reality with no apparent meaning or logical connection to what came before. Although such tactics are familiar from "Twin Peaks" and elsewhere, the sudden switcheroo to head games is disappointing because, up to this point, Lynch had so wonderfully succeeded in creating genuine involvement." James Berardinelli also criticized it, saying: "Lynch cheats his audience, pulling the rug out from under us. He throws everything into the mix with the lone goal of confusing us. Nothing makes any sense because it's not supposed to make any sense. There's no purpose or logic to events. Lynch is playing a big practical joke on us." Film theorist Ray Carney notes, "You wouldn't need all the emotional back-flips and narrative trap doors if you had anything to say. You wouldn't need doppelgangers and shadow-figures if your characters had souls."
Later, "Mulholland Drive" was named the best film of the decade by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, "Cahiers du cinéma", IndieWire, Slant Magazine, "Reverse Shot", "The Village Voice" and "Time Out New York", who asked rhetorically in a reference to the September 11 attacks, "Can there be another movie that speaks as resonantly—if unwittingly—to the awful moment that marked our decade? ... "Mulholland Drive" is the monster behind the diner; it's the self-delusional dream turned into nightmare." It was also voted best of the decade in a "Film Comment" poll of international "critics, programmers, academics, filmmakers and others", and by the magazine's readers. It appeared on lists among the ten best films of the decade, coming in third according to "The Guardian", "Rolling Stone" critic Peter Travers, the Canadian Press, "Access Hollywood" critic Scott Mantz, and eighth on critic Michael Phillips' list. In 2010 it was named the second best arthouse film ever by "The Guardian". The film was voted as the 11th best film set in Los Angeles in the last 25 years by a group of "Los Angeles Times" writers and editors with the primary criterion of communicating an inherent truth about the L.A. experience. "Empire" magazine placed "Mulholland Drive" at number 391 on their list of the five hundred greatest films ever. It has also been ranked number 38 on the Channel 4 program "50 Films to See Before You Die". In 2011, online magazine "Slate" named "Mulholland Drive" in its piece on "New Classics" as the most enduring film since 2000.
In the British Film Institute's 2012 "Sight & Sound" poll, "Mulholland Drive" was ranked the 28th greatest film ever made. Having received 40 critics' votes, it is one of only two films from the 21st century to be included in the list, along with 2000's "In the Mood for Love". In a 2015 BBC poll, it was ranked 21st among all American films. The following year, "Mulholland Drive" was named as the greatest film of the 21st century in a poll conducted by BBC Culture.
The film was released on VHS and DVD by Universal Studios Home Video on April 9, 2002, in the United States and Canada, with few special features. It was released without chapter stops, a feature that Lynch objects to on the grounds that it "demystifies" the film. In spite of Lynch's concerns, the DVD release included a cover insert that provided "David Lynch's 10 Clues to Unlocking This Thriller", although one DVD reviewer noted that the clues may be "big obnoxious red herrings". Nick Coccellato of Eccentric Cinema gave the film a rating of nine out of ten and the DVD release an eight out of ten, saying that the lack of special features "only adds to the mystery the film itself possesses, in abundance". Special features in later versions and overseas versions of the DVD include a Lynch interview at the Cannes Film Festival and highlights of the debut of the film at Cannes.
Optimum Home Entertainment released "Mulholland Drive" to the European market on Blu-ray as part of its StudioCanal Collection on September 13, 2010. New special features exclusive to this release include: an introduction by Thierry Jousse; "In the Blue Box", a retrospective documentary featuring directors and critics; two making-of documentaries: "On the Road to Mulholland Drive" and "Back to Mulholland Drive", and several interviews with people involved in making the film. It is the second David Lynch film in this line of Blu-rays after "The Elephant Man".
On July 15, 2015, The Criterion Collection announced that it would release "Mulholland Drive", newly restored through a 4K digital transfer, on DVD and Blu-ray on October 27, 2015, both of which include new interviews with the film's crew and the 2005 edition of Chris Rodley's book "Lynch on Lynch", along with the original trailer and other extras. It was Lynch's second film to receive a Criterion Collection release on DVD and Blu-ray, following "Eraserhead" which was released in September 2014.
Lynch was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for the film. From the Hollywood Foreign Press, the film received four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director and Best Screenplay. It was named Best Picture by the New York Film Critics Circle at the 2001 New York Film Critics Circle Awards and Online Film Critics Society. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20786 |
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene, sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine, was a Jewish woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and its aftermath. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other non-family woman in the Gospels. Mary's epithet "Magdalene" may mean that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The Gospel of Luke lists Mary Magdalene as one of the women who traveled with Jesus and helped support his ministry "out of their resources", indicating that she was probably relatively wealthy. The same passage also states that seven demons had been driven out of her, a statement which is repeated in the longer ending of Mark. In all four canonical gospels, Mary Magdalene is a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus and, in the Synoptic Gospels, she is also present at his burial. All four gospels identify her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women which includes Jesus's mother, as the first to witness the empty tomb, and the first to witness Jesus's resurrection.
For these reasons, Mary Magdalene is known in some Christian traditions as the apostle to the apostles. Mary Magdalene is a central figure in later Gnostic Christian writings, including the Dialogue of the Savior, the "Pistis Sophia", the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Mary which many scholars attribute to Mary Magdalene. These texts portray Mary Magdalene as an apostle, as Jesus's closest and most beloved disciple and the only one who truly understood his teachings. In the Gnostic texts, or Gnostic gospels, Mary Magdalene's closeness to Jesus results in tension with another disciple, particularly Peter due to her gender and Peter's jealousy of special teachings given to her. Scholars find claims Mary Magdalene was romantically involved with Jesus to be unsupported by evidence.
The inaccurate portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute began after a series of Easter sermons delivered in 591, when Pope Gregory I conflated Mary Magdalene, who is introduced in Luke 8:2, with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:39) and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anoints Jesus's feet in . This resulted in a widespread but inaccurate belief that she was a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman. Elaborate medieval legends from western Europe tell exaggerated tales of Mary Magdalene's wealth and beauty, as well as her alleged journey to southern France. The identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the unnamed "sinful woman" was a major controversy in the years leading up to the Reformation and some Protestant leaders rejected it. During the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church emphasized Mary Magdalene as a symbol of penance.
In 1969, the identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the "sinful woman" was removed from the General Roman Calendar by Pope Paul VI, but the view of her as a former prostitute has persisted in popular culture. Mary Magdalene is considered to be a saint by the Catholic, and by the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In 2016 Pope Francis raised the level of liturgical memory on July 22 from memorial to feast. Other Protestant churches honor her as a heroine of the faith. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, the Orthodox equivalent of one of the Western Three Marys traditions.
It is widely accepted among secular historians that, like Jesus, Mary Magdalene was a real historical figure. Nonetheless, very little is known about her life. Unlike Paul the Apostle, Mary Magdalene has left behind no writings of her own, nor were any works later forged under her name, as was common for the other disciples. She is never mentioned in any of the Pauline epistles or in any of the general epistles. The earliest and most reliable sources about her life are the three Synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, which were all written during the first century AD.
Mary Magdalene's epithet "Magdalene" (ἡ Μαγδαληνή; literally "the Magdalene") most likely means that she came from Magdala, a village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee that was primarily known in antiquity as a fishing town. "Mary" was, by far, the most common Jewish given name for females during the first century, so it was necessary for the authors of the gospels to call her "Magdalene" in order to distinguish her from the other women named Mary who followed Jesus. Although the Gospel of Mark, the earliest surviving gospel, does not mention Mary Magdalene until Jesus's crucifixion, the Gospel of Luke provides a brief summary of her role during his ministry:
The statement that Mary had been possessed by seven demons is repeated in , part of the "longer ending" of that gospel – this is not found in the earliest manuscripts, and is actually a second-century addition to the original text, possibly based on the Gospel of Luke. In the first century, demons were widely believed to be the cause of physical and psychological illness. Bruce Chilton, a scholar of early Christianity, states that the reference to the number of demons being "seven" may mean that Mary had to undergo "seven exorcisms", probably over a long period of time, due to the first six being partially or wholly unsuccessful. Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity, contends that the number seven may be merely symbolic, since, in Jewish tradition, seven was the number of completion, so the statement that Mary was possessed by seven demons may simply mean she was completely overwhelmed by their power. In either case, Mary must have suffered from severe emotional or psychological trauma in order for an exorcism of this kind to have been perceived as necessary. Consequently, her devotion to Jesus on account of this healing must have been very strong. The gospel-writers normally relish giving dramatic descriptions of Jesus's public exorcisms, with the possessed person wailing, thrashing, and tearing his or her clothes in front of a crowd. The fact that Mary's exorcism is given so little attention may indicate that it was either done in private or that it was not seen as particularly dramatic.
Because Mary is listed as one of the women who were supporting Jesus's ministry financially, she must have been relatively wealthy. The places where she and the other women are mentioned throughout the gospels strongly indicate that they were vital to Jesus's ministry and the fact that Mary Magdalene always appears first, whenever she is listed in the Synoptic Gospels as a member of a group of women, indicates that she was seen as the most important out of all of them. Carla Ricci notes that, in lists of the disciples, Mary Magdalene occupies a similar position among Jesus's female followers as Simon Peter does among the male apostles. The fact that women played such an active and important role in Jesus's ministry was not entirely radical or even unique; inscriptions from a synagogue in Aphrodisias in Asia Minor from around the same time period reveal that many of the major donors to the synagogue were women. Ehrman and Schaberg consider it highly improbable that the historical Jesus ever advocated complete equality between the sexes, considering that one of the best-attested facts of his life is that all twelve of his chosen apostles were male. Nonetheless, Jesus's ministry did bring women greater liberation than they would have typically held in mainstream Jewish society. Jesus taught that, in the imminent kingdom of God, there would be a reversal of roles and those who had been oppressed would be exalted. According to Ehrman, this idea would have probably been particularly appealing and empowering to women of the time, such as Mary Magdalene, who may have felt oppressed by traditional attitudes to gender roles.
All four canonical gospels agree that Mary Magdalene, along with several other women, watched Jesus's crucifixion from a distance. lists the names of the women present as Mary Magdalene; Mary, mother of James; and Salome. lists Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Joseph, and the unnamed mother of the sons of Zebedee (who may be the same person Mark calls Salome). mentions a group of women watching the crucifixion, but does not give any of their names. lists Mary, mother of Jesus, her sister, Mary wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene as witnesses to the crucifixion.
Virtually all reputable historians agree that Jesus was crucified by the Romans under the orders of Pontius Pilate. Nonetheless, the gospels' accounts of Jesus's crucifixion differ considerably and most secular historians agree that some of the details in the accounts have been altered to fit their authors' theological agendas. Ehrman states that the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other women at the cross is probably historical because Christians would have been unlikely to make up that the main witnesses to the crucifixion were women and also because their presence is independently attested in both the Synoptic Gospels and in the Gospel of John. Maurice Casey concurs that the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other women at the crucifixion of Jesus may be recorded as a historical fact. According to E. P. Sanders, the reason why the women watched the crucifixion even after the male disciples had fled may have been because they were less likely to be arrested, because they were braver than the men, or because of some combination thereof.
All four canonical gospels, as well as the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, agree that Jesus's body was taken down from the cross and buried by a man named Joseph of Arimathea. lists Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses as witnesses to the burial of Jesus. lists Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" as witnesses. mentions "the women who had followed him from Galilee", but does not list any of their names. does not mention any women present during Joseph's burial of Jesus, but does mention the presence of Nicodemus, a Pharisee with whom Jesus had a conversation near the beginning of the gospel. Ehrman, who previously accepted the story of Jesus's burial as historical, now rejects it as a later invention on the basis that Roman governors almost never allowed for executed criminals to be given any kind of burial and Pontius Pilate in particular was not "the sort of ruler who would break with tradition and policy when kindly asked by a member of the Jewish council to provide a decent burial for a crucified victim."
John Dominic Crossan has controversially argued that Jesus's body was probably eaten by wild dogs. Ehrman notes that this was the most common fate for victims of crucifixion, but states that it is impossible to know for certain what actually happened to Jesus's body once it was removed from the cross. Casey argues that Jesus really was given a proper burial by Joseph of Arimathea, noting that, on some very rare occasions, Roman governors did release the bodies of executed prisoners for burial. Nonetheless, he rejects that Jesus could have been interred in an expensive tomb with a stone rolled in front of it like the one described in the gospels, leading him to conclude that Mary and the other women must not have actually seen the tomb. Sanders affirms Jesus's burial by Joseph of Arimathea in the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other female followers as completely historical.
The earliest description of Jesus's post-resurrection appearances is a quotation of a pre-Pauline creed preserved by Paul the Apostle in , which was written roughly 20 years before any of the gospels. This passage makes no mention of Mary Magdalene, the other women, or the story of the empty tomb at all, but rather credits Simon Peter with having been the first to see the risen Jesus. Despite this, all four canonical gospels, as well as the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, agree that Mary Magdalene, either alone or as a member of a group, was the first person to discover that Jesus's tomb was empty. Nonetheless, the details of the accounts differ drastically.
According to , the earliest account of the discovery of the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb just after sunrise a day and half after Jesus's burial and found that the stone had already been rolled away. They went inside and saw a young man dressed in white, who told them that Jesus had risen from the dead and instructed them to tell the male disciples that he would meet them in Galilee. Instead, the women ran away and told no one, because they were too afraid. The original text of the gospel ends here, without the resurrected Jesus ever actually making an appearance to anyone. Casey argues that the reason for this abrupt ending may be because the Gospel of Mark is an unfinished first draft.
According to , Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" went to the tomb. An earthquake occurred and an angel dressed in white descended from Heaven and rolled aside the stone as the women were watching. The angel told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. Then the risen Jesus himself appeared to the women as they were leaving the tomb and told them to tell the other disciples that he would meet them in Galilee. According to a group of unnamed women went to the tomb and found the stone already rolled away, as in Mark. They went inside and saw two young men dressed in white who told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. Then they went and told the eleven remaining apostles, who dismissed their story as nonsense. In Luke's account, Jesus never appears to the women, but instead makes his first appearance to Cleopas and an unnamed "disciple" on the road to Emmaus. Luke's narrative also removes the injunction for the women to tell the disciples to return to Galilee and instead has Jesus tell the disciples "not" to return to Galilee, but rather to stay in the precincts of Jerusalem.
Mary Magdalene's role in the resurrection narrative is greatly increased in the account from the Gospel of John. According to , Mary Magdalene went to the tomb alone when it was still dark and saw that the stone had already been rolled away. She did not see anyone, but immediately ran to tell Peter and the "beloved disciple", who came with her to the tomb and confirmed that it was empty, but returned home without seeing the risen Jesus. According to , Mary, now alone in the garden outside the tomb, saw two angels sitting where Jesus's body had been. Then the risen Jesus approached her. She at first mistook him for the gardener, but, after she heard him say her name, she recognized him and cried out "Rabbouni!" (which is Aramaic for "teacher"). His next words may be translated, "Don't touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father" or "Stop clinging to me, [etc.]" the latter more probable in view of the grammar (negated present imperative: stop doing something already in progress) as well as Jesus' challenge to Thomas a week later (see Jesus then sent her to tell the other apostles the good news of his resurrection. The Gospel of John therefore portrays Mary Magdalene as the first apostle, the apostle sent "to" the apostles. She is the first to use the standard credential formula of the apostles, “I have seen the Lord” (John 20:18), which Paul uses in 1 Cor. 9:11 to claim apostolic status.
Because scribes were unsatisfied with the abrupt ending of the Gospel of Mark, they wrote several different alternative endings for it. In the "shorter ending", which is found in very few manuscripts, the women go to "those around Peter" and tell them what they had seen at the tomb, followed by a brief declaration of the gospel being preached from east to west. This "very forced" ending contradicts the last verse of the original gospel, stating that the women "told no one". The "longer ending", which is found in most surviving manuscripts, is an "amalgam of traditions" containing episodes derived from the other gospels. First, it describes an appearance by Jesus to Mary Magdalene alone (as in the Gospel of John), followed by brief descriptions of him appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (as in the Gospel of Luke) and to the eleven remaining disciples (as in the Gospel of Matthew).
In a book published in 2006, Ehrman states that "it appears virtually certain" that the stories of the empty tomb, regardless of whether or not they are accurate, can definitely be traced back to the historical Mary Magdalene, pointing out that, in Jewish society, women were regarded as unreliable witnesses and were forbidden from giving testimony in court, so early Christians would have had no motive to make up a story about a woman being the first to discover the empty tomb. In fact, if they had made the story up, they would have had strong motivation to make Peter, Jesus's closest disciple while he was alive, the discoverer of the tomb instead. He also points out that the story of Mary Magdalene discovering the empty tomb is independently attested in the Synoptics, the Gospel of John, and in the Gospel of Peter. N. T. Wright states that "it is, frankly, impossible to imagine that [the women at the tomb] were inserted into the tradition after Paul's day."
Casey challenges this argument, contending that the women at the tomb are not legal witnesses, but rather heroines in line with a long Jewish tradition. He contends that the story of the empty tomb was invented by either the author of the Gospel of Mark or by one of his sources, based on the historically genuine fact that the women really had been present at Jesus's crucifixion and burial. In a book published in 2014, Ehrman rejects his own previous argument, stating that the story of the empty tomb can only be a later invention because there is virtually no possibility that Jesus's body could have been placed in any kind of tomb and, if Jesus was never buried, then no one alive at the time could have claimed that his non-existent tomb had been found empty. He concludes that the idea that early Christians would have had "no motive" to make up the story simply "suffers from a poverty of imagination" and that they would have had all kinds of possible motives, especially since women were overrepresented in early Christian communities and women themselves would have had strong motivation to make up a story about other women being the first to find the tomb. He does conclude later, however, that Mary Magdalene must have been one of the people who had an experience in which she thought she saw the risen Jesus, citing her prominence in the gospel resurrection narratives and her absence everywhere else in the gospels as evidence.
New Testament apocrypha writings mention Mary Magdalene. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians. However, they were never admitted to the canon of the New Testament. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches generally do not view these writings as part of the Bible. In these apocryphal texts, Mary Magdalene is portrayed as a visionary and leader of the early movement whom Jesus loved more than he loved the other disciples. These texts were written long after the death of the historical Mary Magdalene. They are not regarded by bible scholars as reliable sources of information about her life. Sanders summarizes the scholarly consensus that: "... very, very little in the apocryphal gospels could conceivably go back to the time of Jesus. They are legendary and mythological. Of all the apocryphal material, only some of the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas are worth consideration."
Nonetheless, the texts have been frequently promoted in modern works as though they were reliable. Such works often support sensationalist claims about Jesus and Mary Magdalene's relationship.
The earliest dialogue between Jesus and Mary Magdalene is probably the Dialogue of the Savior, a badly damaged Gnostic text discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. The dialogue consists of a conversation between Jesus, Mary and two apostles - Thomas the Apostle and Matthew the Apostle. In saying 53, the "Dialogue" attributes to Mary three aphorisms that are attributed to Jesus in the New Testament: "The wickedness of each day [is sufficient]. Workers deserve their food. Disciples resemble their teachers." The narrator commends Mary stating "she spoke this utterance as a woman who understood everything."
The "Pistis Sophia", possibly dating as early as the second century, is the best surviving of the Gnostic writings. It was discovered in the eighteenth century in a large volume containing numerous early Gnostic treatises. The document takes the form of a long dialogue in which Jesus answers his followers' questions. Of the sixty-four questions, thirty-nine are presented by a woman who is referred to as Mary or Mary Magdalene. At one point, Jesus says, "Mary, thou blessed one, whom I will perfect in all mysteries of those of the height, discourse in openness, thou, whose heart is raised to the kingdom of heaven more than all thy brethren". At another point, he tells her, "Well done, Mary. You are more blessed than all women on earth, because you will be the fullness of fullness and the completion of completion." Simon Peter, annoyed at Mary's dominance of the conversation, tells Jesus, "My master, we cannot endure this woman who gets in our way and does not let any of us speak, though she talks all the time." Mary defends herself, saying, "My master, I understand in my mind that I can come forward at any time to interpret what Pistis Sophia [a female deity] has said, but I am afraid of Peter, because he threatens me and hates our gender." Jesus assures her, "Any of those filled with the spirit of light will come forward to interpret what I say: no one will be able to oppose them." Mainstream Christianity maintains that God is one and denies the existence of other deities.
The Gospel of Thomas, usually dated to the late first or early second century, was among the ancient texts discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. The Gospel of Thomas consists entirely of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Many of these sayings are similar to ones in the canonical gospels, but others are completely unlike anything found in the New Testament. Some scholars believe that at least a few of these sayings may authentically be traced back to the historical Jesus. Two of the sayings reference a woman named "Mary", who is generally regarded as Mary Magdalene. In saying 21, Mary herself asks Jesus the perfectly innocuous question, "Whom are your disciples like?" Jesus responds, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.' They (will) undress in their presence in order to let them have back their field and to give it back to them". Following this, Jesus continues his explanation with a parable about the owner of a house and a thief, ending with the common rhetoric, "Whoever has ears to hear let him hear".
Mary's mention in saying 114, however, has generated considerable controversy:
Simon Peter said to them: Let Mary go forth from among us, for women are not worthy of the life. Jesus said: Behold, I shall lead her, that I may make her male, in order that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who makes herself male shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
In the ancient world, it was almost universally believed that women were inferior to men and that they were, in essence, "imperfect men" who had not fully developed. When Peter challenges Mary's authority in this saying, he does so on the widely accepted premise that she is a woman and therefore an inferior human being. When Jesus rebukes him for this, he bases his response on the same premise, stating that Mary and all faithful women like her will "become" men and that salvation is therefore open to all, even those who are presently women.
The Gospel of Philip, dating from the second or third century, survives in part among the texts found in Nag Hammadi in 1945. In a manner very similar to , the Gospel of Philip presents Mary Magdalene among Jesus' female entourage, adding that she was his "koinônos", a Greek word variously translated in contemporary versions as partner, associate, comrade, companion:
There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, who was called his companion. His sister, his mother and his companion were each a Mary.
The Gospel of Philip uses cognates of "koinônos" and Coptic equivalents to refer to the literal pairing of men and women in marriage and sexual intercourse, but also metaphorically, referring to a spiritual partnership, and the reunification of the Gnostic Christian with the divine realm. The Gospel of Philip also contains another passage relating to Jesus's relationship with Mary Magdalene. The text is badly fragmented, and speculated but unreliable additions are shown in brackets:
And the companion of the saviour [was] Mary Magdalene. [Christ] loved Mary more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples [were offended by it and expressed disapproval]. They said to him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Saviour answered and said to them, "Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness."
For early Christians, kissing did not have a romantic connotation and it was common for Christians to kiss their fellow believers as a way of greeting. This tradition is still practiced in many Christian congregations today and is known as the "kiss of peace". Ehrman explains that, in the context of the Gospel of Philip, the kiss of peace is used as a symbol for the passage of truth from one person to another and that it is not in any way an act of "divine foreplay".
The Gospel of Mary is the only surviving apocryphal text named after a woman. It contains information about the role of women in the early church. The text was probably written over a century after the historical Mary Magdalene's death. The text does not claim to have been written by her and its author is, in fact, anonymous. Instead, it received its title because it is "about" her. The main surviving text comes from a Coptic translation preserved in a fifth-century manuscript ("Berolinensis Gnosticus" 8052,1) discovered in Cairo in 1896. As a result of numerous intervening conflicts, the manuscript was not published until 1955. Roughly half the text of the gospel in this manuscript has been lost; the first six pages and four from the middle are missing. In addition to this Coptic translation, two brief third-century fragments of the gospel in the original Greek (P. Rylands 463 and P. Oxyrhynchus 3525) have also been discovered, which were published in 1938 and 1983 respectively.
The first part of the gospel deals with Jesus's parting words to his followers after a post-resurrection appearance. Mary first appears in the second part, in which she tells the other disciples, who are all in fright for their own lives: "Do not weep or grieve or be in doubt, for his grace will be with you all and will protect you. Rather, let us praise his greatness, for he has prepared us and made us truly human." Unlike in the Gospel of Thomas, where women can only be saved by becoming men, in the Gospel of Mary, they can be saved just as they are. Peter approaches Mary and asks her:
"Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than the rest of woman. Tell us the words of the Savior which you remember which you know, but we do not, nor have we heard them". Mary answered and said, "What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you". And she began to speak to them these words: "I", she said, "I saw the Lord in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision".
Mary then proceeds to describe the Gnostic cosmology in depth, revealing that she is the only one who has understood Jesus's true teachings. Andrew the Apostle challenges Mary, insisting, "Say what you think about what she said, but I do not believe the savior said this. These teachings are strange ideas." Peter responds, saying, "Did he really speak with a woman in private, without our knowledge? Should we all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?" Andrew and Peter's responses are intended to demonstrate that they do not understand Jesus's teachings and that it is really only Mary who truly understands. Matthew the Apostle comes to Mary's defense, giving a sharp rebuke to Peter: "Peter, you are always angry. Now I see you arguing against this woman like an adversary. If the savior made her worthy, who are you to reject her? Surely the savior knows her well. That is why he loved her more than us."
The Borborites, also known as the Phibionites, were an early Christian Gnostic sect during the late fourth century who had numerous scriptures involving Mary Magdalene, including "The Questions of Mary", "The Greater Questions of Mary", "The Lesser Questions of Mary", and "The Birth of Mary". None of these texts have survived to the present, but they are mentioned by the early Christian heretic-hunter Epiphanius of Salamis in his "Panarion". Epiphanius claims that the "Greater Questions of Mary" contained an episode in which, during a post-resurrection appearance, Jesus took Mary to the top of a mountain, where he pulled a woman out of his side and engaged in sexual intercourse with her. Then, upon ejaculating, Jesus drank his own semen and told Mary, "Thus we must do, that we may live." Upon hearing this, Mary instantly fainted, to which Jesus responded by helping her up and telling her, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" This story was supposedly the basis for the Borborite Eucharist ritual in which they allegedly engaged in orgies and drank semen and menstrual blood as the "body and blood of Christ" respectively. Ehrman casts doubt on the accuracy of Epiphanius's summary, commenting that "the details of Epiphanius's description sound very much like what you can find in the ancient rumor mill about secret societies in the ancient world".
Most of the earliest Church Fathers do not mention Mary Magdalene at all, and those who do mention her usually only discuss her very briefly. In his anti-Christian polemic "The True Word", written between 170 and 180, the pagan philosopher Celsus declared that Mary Magdalene was nothing more than "a hysterical female... who either dreamt in a certain state of mind and through wishful thinking had a hallucination due to some mistaken notion (an experience which has happened to thousands), or, which is more likely, wanted to impress others by telling this fantastic tale, and so by this cock-and-bull story to provide a chance for other beggars." The Church Father Origen ( 184 – 253) defended Christianity against this accusation in his apologetic treatise "Against Celsus", pointing to , which lists Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" both seeing the resurrected Jesus, thus providing a second witness. Origen also preserves a statement from Celsus that some Christians in his day followed the teachings of a woman named "Mariamme", who is almost certainly Mary Magdalene. Origen merely dismisses this, remarking that Celsus "pours on us a heap of names".
Mary Magdalene has the reputation in Western Christianity as being a repentant prostitute or loose woman; however, these claims are not supported by the canonical gospels, which at no point imply that she had ever been a prostitute or in any way notable for a sinful way of life. The misconception likely arose due to a conflation between Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany (who anoints Jesus's feet in ), and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anoints Jesus's feet in . As early as the third century, the Church Father Tertullian ( 160 – 225) references the touch of "the woman which was a sinner" in effort to prove that Jesus "was not a phantom, but really a solid body." This may indicate that Mary Magdalene was already being conflated with the "sinful woman" in , though Tertullian never clearly identifies the woman of whom he speaks as Mary Magdalene. A sermon attributed to Hippolytus of Rome ( 170 – 235) refers to Mary of Bethany and her sister Martha seeking Jesus in the garden like Mary Magdalene in , indicating a conflation between Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene. The sermon describes the conflated woman as a "second Eve" who compensates for the disobedience of the first Eve through her obedience. The sermon also explicitly identifies Mary Magdalene and the other women as "apostles". The first clear identification of Mary Magdalene as a redeemed sinner comes from Ephrem the Syrian ( 306 – 373). Part of the reason for the identification of Mary Magdalene as a sinner may derive from the reputation of her birthplace, Magdala, which, by the late first century, was infamous for its inhabitants' alleged vice and licentiousness.
In one of his preserved sayings, Gregory of Nyssa ( 330 – 395) identifies Mary Magdalene as "the first witness to the resurrection, that she might set straight again by her faith in the resurrection, what was turned over in her transgression." Ambrose ( 340 – 397), by contrast, not only rejected the conflation of Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the anointing sinner, but even proposed that the authentic Mary Magdalene herself was, in fact, two separate people: one woman named Mary Magdalene who discovered the empty tomb and a different Mary Magdalene who saw the risen Christ. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430) entertained the possibility that Mary of Bethany and the unnamed sinner from Luke might be the same person, but did not associate Mary Magdalene with either of them. Instead, Augustine praised Mary Magdalene as "unquestionably... surpassingly more ardent in her love than these other women who had administered to the Lord".
The unnamed "sinful woman" in is never identified as a prostitute and, in Jewish society at the time the gospel was written, "sinful" could have simply meant that she "did not assiduously observe the law of Moses". The notion of Mary Magdalene specifically being a former prostitute or loose woman dates to a claim by Pope Gregory I ("Gregory the Great") made in an influential homily in around 591, in which he not only identifies Magdalene with the anonymous sinner with the perfume in Luke's gospel and with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, but also, for the first time, explicitly identifies her sins as ones of a sexual nature:
In Pope Gregory's interpretation, the seven demons expelled from Mary Magdalene by Jesus are transformed into the seven deadly sins of medieval Catholicism, leading Mary "to be condemned not only for lust, but for pride and covetousness as well." The aspect of the repentant sinner became almost equally significant as the disciple in her "persona" as depicted in Western art and religious literature, fitting well with the great importance of penitence in medieval theology. In subsequent religious legend, Mary's story became conflated with that of Mary of Egypt, a repentant prostitute who then lived as a hermit. With that, Mary's image was, according to Susan Haskins, author of "Mary Magdalene: Myth and Metaphor," "finally settled...for nearly fourteen hundred years," although in fact the most important late medieval popular accounts of her life describe her as a rich woman whose life of sexual freedom is purely for pleasure. This composite depiction of Mary Magdalene was carried into the Mass texts for her feast day: in the Tridentine Mass, the collect explicitly identifies her as Mary of Bethany by describing Lazarus as her brother, and the Gospel is the story of the penitent woman anointing Jesus' feet.
The "composite Magdalene" was never accepted by the Eastern Orthodox churches, who saw only Mary the disciple, and believed that after the Resurrection she lived as a companion to the Virgin Mary, and not even in the West was it universally accepted. The Benedictine Order always celebrated Mary of Bethany together with Martha and Lazarus of Bethany on July 29, while Mary Magdalene was celebrated on July 22. Not only John Chrysostom in the East ("Matthew, Homily 88"), but also Ambrose ("De virginitate" 3,14; 4,15) in the West, when speaking of Mary Magdalene after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, far from calling her a harlot, suggest she was a virgin. Starting in around the eighth century, Christian sources record mention of a church in Magdala purported to have been built on the site of Mary Magdalene's house, where Jesus exorcized her of the seven demons.
In an eastern tradition supported by the western bishop and historian Gregory of Tours ( 538 – 594), Mary Magdalene is said to have retired to Ephesus in Asia Minor with the virgin Mary, where they both lived out the rests of their lives. Gregory states that Mary Magdalene was buried in the city of Ephesus. Modestus, the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 630 until 634, describes a slightly different tradition that Mary Magdalene had come to Ephesus to live with the apostle John following the death of the Virgin Mary.
Starting in early High Middle Ages, writers in western Europe began developing elaborate fictional biographies of Mary Magdalene's life, in which they heavily embellished upon the vague details given in the gospels. Stories about noble saints were popular during this time period; accordingly, tales of Mary Magdalene's wealth and social status became heavily exaggerated. In the tenth century, Odo of Cluny ( 880 – 942) wrote a sermon in which he described Mary as an extraordinarily wealthy noblewoman of royal descent. Some manuscripts of the sermon record that Mary's parents were named Syrus and Eucharia and one manuscript goes into great detail describing her family's purported land holdings in Bethany, Jerusalem, and Magdala.
The theologian Honorius Augustodunensis ( 1080 – 1151) embellished this tale even further, reporting that Mary was a wealthy noblewoman who was married in "Magdalum", but that she committed adultery, so she fled to Jerusalem and became a "public sinner" ("vulgaris meretrix"). Honorius mentions that, out of love for Jesus, Mary repented and withdrew into a life of quiet isolation. Under the influence of stories about other female saints, such as Mary of Egypt and Pelagia, painters in Italy during the ninth and tenth centuries gradually began to develop the image of Mary Magdalene living alone in the desert as a penitent ascetic. This portrayal became so popular that it quickly spread to Germany and England. From the twelfth century, Abbot Hugh of Semur (died 1109), Peter Abelard (died 1142), and Geoffrey of Vendome (died 1132) all referred to Mary Magdalene as the sinner who merited the title "apostolorum apostola" (Apostle to the Apostles), with the title becoming commonplace during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
In western Europe, elaborate and conflicting legends began to develop, which claimed that Mary Magdalene had travelled to southern France and died there. Starting in around 1050, the monks of the Abbey of la Madaleine, Vézelay in Burgundy claimed to have discovered Mary Magdalene's actual skeleton. At first, the existence of the skeleton was merely asserted, but, in 1265, the monks made a spectacular, public show of "discovering" it and, in 1267, the bones were brought before the king of France himself, who venerated them. On December 9, 1279, an excavation ordered by Charles II, King of Naples at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Provence, led to the discovery of another purported burial of Mary Magdalene. The shrine was purportedly found intact, with an explanatory inscription stating why the relics had been hidden. Charles II commissioned the building of a new Gothic basilica on the site and, in return for providing accommodation for pilgrims, the town's residents were exempt from taxes. Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume gradually displaced Vézelay in popularity and acceptance.
The most famous account of Mary Magdalene's legendary life comes from "The Golden Legend", a collection of medieval saints stories compiled in around the year 1260 by the Italian writer and Dominican friar Jacobus de Voragine ( 1230 – 1298). In this account, Mary Magdalene is, in Ehrman's words, "fabulously rich, insanely beautiful, and outrageously sensual", but she gives up her life of wealth and sin to become a devoted follower of Jesus. Fourteen years after Jesus's crucifixion, some pagans throw Mary, Martha, Lazarus (who, in this account, is their brother due to a conflation with Mary of Bethany), and two other Christians named Maximin and Cedonius onto a rudderless boat in the Mediterranean Sea to die. Miraculously, however, the boat washes ashore at Marseille in southern France. Mary persuades the governor of the city not to offer sacrifices to a pagan god and later persuades him to convert to Christianity after she proves the Christian God's power by successfully praying to Him to make the governor's wife pregnant. The governor and his wife sail for Rome to meet the apostle Peter in person, but their ship is struck by a storm, which causes the wife to go into labor. The wife dies in childbirth and the governor leaves her on an island with the still-living infant at her breast. The governor spends two years with Peter in Rome and, on his way home, he stops at the same island to discover that, due to Mary Magdalene's miraculous long-distance intercession, his child has survived for two years on his dead mother's breast milk. Then the governor's wife rises from the dead and tells him that Mary Magdalene has brought her back. The whole family returns to Marseille, where they meet Mary again in person. Mary herself spends the last thirty years of her life alone as a penitent ascetic in a cave in a desert in the French region of Provence. At every canonical hour, the angels come and lift her up to hear their songs in Heaven. On the last day of her life, Maximin, now the bishop of Aix, comes to her and gives her the Eucharist. Mary cries tears of joy and, after taking it, she lies down and dies. De Voragine gives the common account of the transfer of Mary Magdalene's relics from her sepulchre in the oratory of Saint Maximin at Aix-en-Provence to the newly founded Vézelay; the transportation of the relics is entered as undertaken in 771 by the founder of the abbey, identified as Gerard, Duke of Burgundy.
The monk and historian Domenico Cavalca ( 1270 – 1342), citing Jerome, suggested that Mary Magdalene was betrothed to John the Evangelist: "I like to think that the Magdalene was the spouse of John, not affirming it... I am glad and blythe that St Jerome should say so". They were sometimes thought to be the couple at the Wedding at Cana, though the Gospel accounts say nothing of the ceremony being abandoned. In the "Golden Legend", De Voragine dismisses talk of John and Mary being betrothed and John leaving his bride at the altar to follow Jesus as nonsense.
The thirteenth-century Cistercian monk and chronicler Peter of Vaux de Cernay claimed it was part of Catharist belief that the earthly Jesus Christ had a relationship with Mary Magdalene, described as his concubine: "Further, in their secret meetings they said that the Christ who was born in the earthly and visible Bethlehem and crucified at Jerusalem was "evil", and that Mary Magdalene was his concubine – and that she was the woman taken in adultery who is referred to in the Scriptures." A document, possibly written by Ermengaud of Béziers, undated and anonymous and attached to his "Treatise against Heretics", makes a similar statement:
In the middle of the fourteenth century, a Dominican friar wrote a biography of Mary Magdalene in which he described her brutally mutilating herself after giving up prostitution, clawing at her legs until they bled, tearing out clumps of her hair, and beating her face with her fists and her breasts with stones. This portrayal of her inspired the sculptor Donatello ( 1386 – 1466) to portray her as a gaunt and beaten ascetic in his wooden sculpture "Penitent Magdalene" ( 1454) for the Florence Baptistery. In 1449, King René d'Anjou gave to Angers Cathedral the amphora from Cana in which Jesus changed water to wine, acquiring it from the nuns of Marseilles, who told him that Mary Magdalene had brought it with her from Judea, relating to the legend where she was the jilted bride at the wedding after which John the Evangelist received his calling from Jesus.
In 1517, on the brink of the Protestant Reformation, the leading French Renaissance humanist Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples published his book "De Maria Magdalena et triduo Christi disceptatio" ("Disputation on Mary Magdalene and the Three Days of Christ"), in which he argued against the conflation of Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the unnamed sinner in Luke. Various authors published a flurry of books and pamphlets in response, the vast majority of which opposed Lefèvre d'Étaples. In 1521, the theology faculty of the Sorbonne formally condemned the idea that the three women were separate people as heretical, and debate died down, overtaken by the larger issues raised by Martin Luther. Luther and Huldrych Zwingli (1484 – 1531) both supported the composite Magdalene. Luther, whose views on sexuality were much more liberal than those of his fellow reformers, reportedly once joked to a group of friends that "even pious Christ himself" had committed adultery three times: once with Mary Magdalene, once with the Samaritan woman at the well, and once with the adulteress he had let off so easily. Because the cult of Mary Magdalene was inextricably associated with the Catholic teaching of the intercession of saints, it came under particularly harsh criticism by Protestant leaders. Zwingli demanded for the cult of Mary Magdalene to be abolished and all images of her to be destroyed. John Calvin (1509 – 1564) not only rejected the composite Magdalene, but criticized Catholics as ignorant for having ever believed in it.
During the Counter-Reformation, Roman Catholicism began to strongly emphasize Mary Magdalene's role as a penitent sinner. Her medieval role as a patron and advocate became minimized and her penitence became regarded as her most important aspect, especially in France and in the Catholic portions of southern Germany. A massive number of Baroque paintings and sculptures depict the penitent Magdalene, often showing her naked or partially naked, with a strong emphasis on her erotic beauty. Poems about Mary Magdalene's repentance were also popular. Estates of nobles and royalty in southern Germany were equipped with so-called "Magdalene cells", small, modest hermitages that functioned as both chapels and dwellings, where the nobility could retreat to find religious solace. They were usually located away in wild areas away from the rest of the property and their exteriors were designed to suggest vulnerability.
Because of the legends claiming that Mary Magdalene had been a prostitute, she became the patroness of "wayward women", and, in the eighteenth century, moral reformers established Magdalene asylums to help save women from prostitution. Edgar Saltus's historical fiction novel "Mary Magdalene: A Chronicle" (1891) depicts her as a heroine living in a castle at Magdala, who moves to Rome becoming the "toast of the tetrarchy", telling John the Baptist she will "drink pearls... sup on peacock's tongues".
The common identification of Mary Magdalene with other New Testament figures was omitted in the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar, with the comment regarding her liturgical celebration on July 22: "No change has been made in the title of today's memorial, but it concerns only Saint Mary Magdalene, to whom Christ appeared after his resurrection. It is not about the sister of Saint Martha, nor about the sinful woman whose sins the Lord forgave ()." Elsewhere it said of the Roman liturgy of July 22 that "it will make mention neither of Mary of Bethany nor of the sinful woman of Luke 7:36–50, but only of Mary Magdalene, the first person to whom Christ appeared after his resurrection". According to historian Michael Haag, these changes were a quiet admission from the Vatican that the Church's previous teaching of Mary Magdalene as a repentant whore had been wrong. Mary of Bethany's feast day and that of her brother Lazarus is now on July 29, the memorial of their sister Martha.
Nonetheless, despite the Vatican's rejection of it, the view of Mary as a repentant prostitute only grew more prevalent in popular culture. She is portrayed as one in Nikos Kazantzakis's 1955 novel "The Last Temptation of Christ" and Martin Scorsese's 1988 film adaptation of it, in which Jesus, as he is dying on the cross, has a vision from Satan of what it would be like if he married Mary Magdalene and raised a family with her instead of dying for humanity's sins. Mary is likewise portrayed as a reformed prostitute in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's 1971 rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar". In "Superstar", Mary describes her sexual attraction to Jesus in the song "I Don't Know How to Love Him", which shocked many of the play's original viewers. Ki Longfellow's novel "The Secret Magdalene" (2005) draws on the Gnostic gospels and other sources to portray Mary as a brilliant and dynamic woman who studies at the fabled library of Alexandria, and shares her knowledge with Jesus. Lady Gaga's song "Judas" (2011) is sung from Mary's perspective, portraying her as a prostitute who is "beyond repentance".
The 2018 film "Mary Magdalene", starring Rooney Mara as the eponymous character, sought to reverse the centuries-old portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a repentant prostitute, while also combating the conspiracy claims of her being Jesus's wife or sexual partner. Instead, the film portrays her as Jesus's closest disciple and the only one who truly understands his teachings. This portrayal is partially based on the Gnostic "Gospel of Mary Magdalene". The film, which described as having a "strongly feminist bent", was praised for its music score and cinematography, its surprising faithfulness to the Biblical narrative, and its acting, but was criticized as slow-moving, overwritten, and too solemn to be believable. It was also criticized by many Christians, who were offended by the film's use of extracanonical source material.
The early notion of Mary Magdalene as a sinner and adulteress was reflected in Western medieval Christian art, where she was the most commonly depicted female figure after the Virgin Mary. She may be shown either as very extravagantly and fashionably dressed, unlike other female figures wearing contemporary styles of clothes, or alternatively as completely naked but covered by very long blonde or reddish-blonde hair. The latter depictions represent the "Penitent Magdalene", according to the medieval legend that she had spent a period of repentance as a desert hermit after leaving her life as a follower of Jesus. Her story became conflated in the West with that of Mary of Egypt, a fourth-century prostitute turned hermit, whose clothes wore out and fell off in the desert. The widespread artistic representations of Mary Magdalene in tears are the source of the modern English word "maudlin", meaning "sickeningly sentimental or emotional".
In medieval depictions Mary's long hair entirely covers her body and preserves her modesty (supplemented in some German versions such as one by Tilman Riemenschneider by thick body hair), but, from the sixteenth century, some depictions, like those by Titian, show part of her naked body, the amount of nudity tending to increase in successive periods. Even if covered, she often wears only a drape pulled around her, or an undergarment. In particular, Mary is often shown naked in the legendary scene of her "Elevation", where she is sustained in the desert by angels who raise her up and feed her heavenly manna, as recounted in the "Golden Legend".
Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross during the Crucifixion appears in an eleventh-century English manuscript "as an expressional device rather than a historical motif", intended as "the expression of an emotional assimilation of the event, that leads the spectator to identify himself with the mourners". Other isolated depictions occur, but, from the thirteenth century, additions to the Virgin Mary and John as the spectators at the Crucifixion become more common, with Mary Magdalene as the most frequently found, either kneeling at the foot of the cross clutching the shaft, sometimes kissing Christ's feet, or standing, usually at the left and behind Mary and John, with her arms stretched upwards towards Christ in a gesture of grief, as in a damaged painting by Cimabue in the upper church at Assisi of 1290. A kneeling Magdalene by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel ( 1305) was especially influential. As Gothic painted crucifixions became crowded compositions, the Magdalene became a prominent figure, with a halo and identifiable by her long unbound blonde hair, and usually a bright red dress. As the swooning Virgin Mary became more common, generally occupying the attention of John, the unrestrained gestures of Magdalene increasingly represented the main display of the grief of the spectators.
According to Robert Kiely, "No figure in the Christian Pantheon except Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and John the Baptist has inspired, provoked, or confounded the imagination of painters more than the Magdalene". Apart from the Crucifixion, Mary was often shown in scenes of the Passion of Jesus, when mentioned in the Gospels, such as the Crucifixion, Christ Carrying the Cross and Noli me Tangere, but usually omitted in other scenes showing the Twelve Apostles, such as the Last Supper. As Mary of Bethany, she is shown as present at the Resurrection of Lazarus, her brother, and in the scene with Jesus and her sister Martha, which began to be depicted often in the seventeenth century, as in "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary" by Velázquez.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has never identified Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany or the "sinful woman" who anoints Jesus in Luke 7:36–50 and has always taught that Mary was a virtuous woman her entire life, even before her conversion. They have never celebrated her as a penitent. Mary Magdalene's image did not become conflated with other women mentioned in Biblical texts until Pope Gregory the Great's sermon in the sixth century, and even then this only occurred in Western traditions. Instead, she has traditionally been honored as a "Myrrhbearer" (Μυροφόρος; the equivalent of the western Three Marys) and "Equal to the Apostles" (ἰσαπόστολος). For centuries, it has been the custom of many Eastern Orthodox Christians to share dyed and painted eggs, particularly on Easter Sunday. The eggs represent new life, and Christ bursting forth from the tomb. Among Eastern Orthodox Christians this sharing is accompanied by the proclamation "Christ is risen!" One folk tradition concerning Mary Magdalene says that following the death and resurrection of Jesus, she used her position to gain an invitation to a banquet given by the Roman Emperor Tiberius. When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed, "Christ is risen!" The Emperor laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house.
During the Counter Reformation and Baroque periods (late 16th and 17th centuries), the description "penitent" was added to the indication of her name on her feast day, July 22. It had not yet been added at the time of the Tridentine Calendar of 1569 and is no longer found in the present General Roman Calendar but, once added, it remained until the General Roman Calendar of 1960. The Gospel reading in the Tridentine Mass was (the sinful woman anointing the feet of Jesus), while in the present version of the Roman Rite of Mass it is (meeting of Mary Magdalene with Jesus after his resurrection).
According to Darrell Bock, the title of "apostola apostolorum" first appears in the 10th century, but Katherine Ludwig Jansen says she found no reference to it earlier than the 12th, by which time it was already commonplace. She mentions in particular Hugh of Cluny (1024–1109), Peter Abelard (1079–1142), and Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) among those who gave Mary Magdalene the title of "apostolorum apostola" (apostle of the apostles). Jane Schaberg adds Geoffrey of Vendôme (c. 1065/70–1132).
It is claimed that the equivalent of the phrase "apostolorum apostola" appeared already in the 9th century. Chapter XXVII of the "Life of Mary Magdalene" claiming to be written by Hrabanus Maurus (c. 780 – 4 February 856) is headed: "Ubi Magdalenam Christus ad apostolos mittit apostolam" (Wherein Christ sends Magdalene as an apostle to the apostles). The same chapter says she did not delay in exercising the office of apostolate with which he had been honoured ("apostolatus officio quo honorata fuerat fungi non distulit"). Raymond E. Brown, commenting on this fact, remarks that Hrabanus Maurus frequently applies the word "apostle" to Mary Magdalene in this work. However the work is actually no earlier than the 12th century. Because of Mary Magdalene's position as an apostle, though not one of those who became official witnesses to the resurrection, the Catholic Church honoured her by reciting the Gloria on her feast day, the only woman to be so honoured apart from Mary, the mother of Jesus. In his apostolic letter "Mulieris Dignitatem" ("On the dignity and vocation of women", parts 67–69) dated August 15, 1988, Pope John Paul II dealt with the Easter events in relation to the women being present at the tomb after the Resurrection, in a section entitled 'First Witnesses of the Resurrection':
The 1549 "Book of Common Prayer" had on July 22 a feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, with the same Scripture readings as in the Tridentine Mass and with a newly composed collect: "Merciful father geue us grace, that we neuer presume to synne through the example of anye creature, but if it shall chaunce vs at any tyme to offende thy dyuine maiestie: that then we maye truly repent, and lament the same, after the example of Mary Magdalene, and by lyuelye faythe obtayne remission of all oure sinnes: throughe the onely merites of thy sonne oure sauiour Christ." The 1552 edition omitted the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, which was restored to the Book of Common Prayer only after some 400 years.
Modern Protestants honor her as a disciple and friend of Jesus. Anglican Christians refer to her as a saint and may follow her example of repentance; While some interpret the Thirty-Nine Articles as forbidding them to call upon her for intercession, other Anglicans, citing the Episcopal burial service, say they can ask the saint to pray for them. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America honors Mary Magdalene on July 22 as an Apostle, albeit as a Lesser Festival. Presbyterians honor her as the "apostle to the apostles" and, in the book "Methodist Theology", Kenneth Wilson describes her as, "in effect", one of the "first missionaries".
There are many references to Mary Magdalene in the writings of the Bahá'í Faith, where she enjoys an exalted status as a heroine of faith and the "archetypal woman of all cycles". `Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, said that she was "the channel of confirmation" to Jesus' disciples, a "heroine" who "re-established the faith of the apostles" and was "a light of nearness in his kingdom". `Abdu'l-Bahá also wrote that "her reality is ever shining from the horizon of Christ", "her face is shining and beaming forth on the horizon of the universe forevermore" and that "her candle is, in the assemblage of the world, lighted till eternity". `Abdu'l-Bahá considered her to be the supreme example of how women are completely equal with men in the sight of God and can at times even exceed men in holiness and greatness. Indeed he claimed that she surpassed all the men of her time, and that "crowns studded with the brilliant jewels of guidance" were upon her head.
The Bahá'í writings also expand upon the scarce references to her life in the canonical Gospels, with a wide array of extra-canonical stories about her and sayings which are not recorded in any other extant historical sources. `Abdu'l-Bahá claimed that Mary traveled to Rome and spoke before the Emperor Tiberius, which is presumably why Pilate was later recalled to Rome for his cruel treatment of the Jews (a tradition also attested to in the Eastern Orthodox Church). Bahá'ís have noted parallels between Mary Magdalene and the Babí heroine-poet Táhirih. The two are similar in many respects, with Mary Magdalene often being viewed as a Christian antecedent of the latter, while Táhirih in her own right could be described as the spiritual return of the Magdalene; especially given their common, shared attributes of "knowledge, steadfastness, courage, virtue and will power", in addition to their importance within the religious movements of Christianity and the Bahá'í Faith as female leaders.
In 1998, Ramon K. Jusino proposed an unprecedented argument that the "Beloved Disciple" of the Gospel of John is Mary Magdalene. Jusino based his argument largely on the Nag Hammadi Gnostic books, rejecting the view of Raymond E. Brown that these books were later developments, and maintaining instead that the extant Gospel of John is the result of modification of an earlier text that presented Mary Magdalene as the Beloved Disciple. Richard J. Hooper does not make the Jusino thesis his own, but says: "Perhaps we should not altogether reject the possibility that some Johannine Christians considered Mary Magdalene to be 'the disciple whom Jesus loved'." Esther A. de Boer likewise presents the idea as "one possibility among others", not as a definitive solution to the problem of the identity of the anonymous disciple. There is a theological interpretation of Mary as the Magdala, "The Elegant Tower" and certain churches honor her as a heroine of the faith in their teachings.
Dan Brown's 2003 bestselling mystery thriller novel "The Da Vinci Code" popularized a number of erroneous ideas about Mary Magdalene, including that she was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, that she was Jesus's wife, that she was pregnant at the crucifixion, and that she gave birth to Jesus's child, who became the founder of a bloodline which survives to this very day. There is absolutely no historical evidence, from the canonical or apocryphal gospels, other early Christian writings, or any other ancient sources, to support any of these claims. "The Da Vinci Code" also purports that the figure of the "beloved disciple" to Jesus's right in Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" is Mary Magdalene, disguised as one of the male disciples; art historians maintain that the figure is, in reality, the apostle John, who only appears feminine due to Leonardo's characteristic fascination with blurring the lines between the sexes, a quality which is found in his other paintings, such as "St. John the Baptist" (painted 1513–1516). Furthermore, according to Ross King, an expert on Italian art, Mary Magdalene's appearance at the last supper would not have been controversial and Leonardo would have had no motive to disguise her as one of the other disciples, since she was widely venerated in her role as the "apostle to the apostles" and patron of the Dominican Order, for whom "The Last Supper" was painted. There would have even been precedent for it, since the earlier Italian Renaissance painter Fra Angelico had included her in his painting of the Last Supper. Numerous works were written in response to the historical inaccuracies in "The Da Vinci Code", but the novel still exerted massive influence on how members of the general public viewed Mary Magdalene.
In 2012, scholar Karen L. King published the Gospel of Jesus' Wife, a purported Coptic papyrus fragment in which Jesus says: "My wife ... she will be able to be my disciple." The overwhelming consensus of scholars, including King herself, is that the fragment is a modern forgery. If genuine, the papyrus would have dated to sometime between the sixth and ninth centuries. Although the fragment does not contain the name of Mary Magdalene, some authors speculated that she was the woman referred to.
Ehrman states that the historical sources reveal absolutely nothing about Jesus's sexuality and that there is no evidence whatsoever to support the idea that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married or that they had any kind of sexual or romantic relationship. None of the canonical gospels imply such a thing and, even in the late Gnostic gospels, where Mary is shown as Jesus's closest disciple, the love between them is not sexual. The extremely late "Greater Questions of Mary", which is not extant, allegedly portrayed Mary not as Jesus's wife or partner, but rather as an unwilling voyeur. Furthermore, Ehrman points out that the Essenes, a contemporary Jewish sect who shared many views with Jesus, and the apostle Paul, Jesus's later follower, both lived in unmarried celibacy, so it is not unreasonable to conclude that Jesus did as well.
Furthermore, according to , Jesus taught that marriage would not exist at all in the coming kingdom of God. Since Jesus taught that people should live as though the kingdom had already arrived, this teaching implied a life of unmarried celibacy. Finally, Ehrman points out that, if Jesus had been married to Mary Magdalene, the authors of the gospels would definitely have mentioned it, since they mention all his other family members, including his mother Mary, his father Joseph, his four brothers, and his at least two sisters. Casey rejects the idea of Mary Magdalene as Jesus's wife as nothing more than wild popular sensationalism. Kripal writes that "the historical sources are simply too contradictory and simultaneously too silent" to make absolute declarations regarding Jesus' sexuality. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20787 |
Mary of Bethany
Mary of Bethany (Judeo-Aramaic מרים, "Maryām", rendered Μαρία, Maria, in the Koine Greek of the New Testament; form of Hebrew , Miryām, or Miriam, "wished for child", "bitter" or "rebellious") is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of John and Luke in the Christian New Testament. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Martha, she is described by John as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem; in Luke only the two sisters, living in an unnamed village, are mentioned. Most Christian commentators have been ready to assume that the two sets of sisters named as Mary and Martha are the same, though this is not conclusively stated in the Gospels, and the proliferation of New Testament "Marys" is notorious.
Medieval Western Christianity identified Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene and with the sinful woman of . This influenced the Roman Rite liturgy of the feast of Mary Magdalene, with a Gospel reading about the sinful woman and a collect referring to Mary of Bethany. Since the 1969 revision of that liturgy, Mary Magdalene's feast day continues to be on 22 July, but Mary of Bethany is celebrated, together with her brother Lazarus, on 29 July, the memorial of their sister Martha. In Eastern Christianity and some Protestant traditions, Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene are considered separate people. The Orthodox Church has its own traditions regarding Mary of Bethany's life beyond the gospel accounts.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus visits the home of two sisters named Mary and Martha, living in an unnamed village. Mary is contrasted with her sister Martha, who was "cumbered about many things" while Jesus was their guest, while Mary had chosen "the better part," that of listening to the master's discourse. The name of their village is not recorded.
For Mary to sit at Jesus' feet, and for him to allow her to do so, was itself controversial. In doing so, as one commentator notes, Mary took "the place of a disciple by sitting at the feet of the teacher. It was unusual for a woman in first-century Judaism to be accepted by a teacher as a disciple."
In the Gospel of John, a Mary appears in connection to two incidents: the raising from the dead of her brother Lazarus and the anointing of Jesus. The identification of this being the same Mary in both incidents is given explicitly by the author: "Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair." The mention of her sister Martha suggests a connection with the aforementioned woman in Luke.
In the account of the raising of Lazarus, Jesus meets with the sisters in turn: Martha followed by Mary. Martha goes immediately to meet Jesus as he arrives, while Mary waits until she is called. As one commentator notes, "Martha, the more aggressive sister, went to meet Jesus, while quiet and contemplative Mary stayed home. This portrayal of the sisters agrees with that found in Luke 10:38–42." When Mary meets Jesus, she falls at his feet. In speaking with Jesus, both sisters lament that he did not arrive in time to prevent their brother's death: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." But where Jesus' response to Martha is one of teaching, calling her to hope and faith, his response to Mary is more emotional: "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. As the 17th century Welsh commentator Matthew Henry notes, "Mary added no more, as Martha did; but it appears, by what follows, that what she fell short in words she made up in tears; she said less than Martha, but wept more."
A narrative in which Mary of Bethany plays a central role is the anointing of Jesus, an event reported in the Gospel of John in which a woman pours the entire contents of an alabastron of very expensive perfume over the feet of Jesus. Only in this account is the woman identified as Mary, with the earlier reference in establishing her as the sister of Martha and Lazarus.
The woman's name is not given in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, but the event is likewise placed in Bethany, specifically at the home of one Simon the Leper, a man whose significance is not explained elsewhere in the gospels.
According to the Markan account, the perfume was the purest of spikenard. Some of the onlookers were angered because this expensive perfume could have been sold for a year's wages, which Mark enumerates as 300 denarii, and the money given to the poor. The Gospel of Matthew states that the "disciples were indignant" and John's gospel states that it was Judas Iscariot who was most offended (which is explained by the narrator as being because Judas was a thief and desired the money for himself). In the accounts, Jesus justifies Mary's action by stating that they would always have the poor among them and would be able to help them whenever they desired, but that he would not always be with them and says that her anointing was done to prepare him for his burial. As one commentator notes, "Mary seems to have been the only one who was sensitive to the impending death of Jesus and who was willing to give a material expression of her esteem for him. Jesus' reply shows his appreciation of her act of devotion." The accounts in Matthew and Mark adds these words of Jesus, "I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her".
Easton (1897) noted that it would appear from the circumstances that the family of Lazarus possessed a family vault and that a large number of Jews from Jerusalem came to console them on the death of Lazarus, that this family at Bethany belonged to the wealthier class of the people. This would help explain how Mary of Bethany could afford to possess quantities of expensive perfume.
A similar anointing is described in the Gospel of Luke as occurring at the home of one Simon the Pharisee in which a woman who had been sinful all her life, and who was crying, anointed Jesus' feet and, when her tears started to fall on his feet, she wiped them with her hair. Luke's account (as well as John's) differs from that of Matthew and Mark by relating that the anointing is to the feet rather than the head. Although it is a subject of considerable debate, many scholars hold that these actually describe two separate events.
Jesus' response to the anointing in Luke is completely different from that recorded in the other gospels to the anointing in their accounts. Rather than Jesus' above-mentioned comments on the "poor you will always have with you", in Luke he tells his host the Parable of the Two Debtors. As one commentator notes, "Luke is the only one to record the parable of the two debtors, and he chooses to preserve it in this setting. ...If one considers the other gospel accounts as a variation of the same event, it is likely that the parable is not authentically set. Otherwise, the powerful message from the parable located in this setting would likely be preserved elsewhere, too. However, if one considers the story historically accurate, happening in Jesus' life apart from the similar incidents recorded in the other gospels, the question of the authenticity of the parable receives a different answer. ...John Nolland, following Wilckens' ideas, writes: 'There can hardly be a prior form of the episode not containing the present parable, since this would leave the Pharisee's concerns of v 39 with no adequate response'."
In medieval Western Christian tradition, Mary of Bethany was identified as Mary Magdalene perhaps in large part because of a homily given by Pope Gregory the Great in which he taught about several women in the New Testament as though they were the same person. This led to a conflation of Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene as well as with another woman (beside Mary of Bethany who anointed Jesus), and the woman caught in adultery. Eastern Christianity never adopted this identification. In his article in the 1910 "Catholic Encyclopedia", Hugh Pope stated, "The Greek Fathers, as a whole, distinguish the three persons: the 'sinner' of ; the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and ; and Mary Magdalen."
Father Hugh Pope enumerated the accounts of each of these three persons (the unnamed "sinner", Mary Magdalene, and Mary of Bethany) in the Gospel of Luke and concluded that, based on these accounts, “there is no suggestion of an identification of the three persons, and if we had only Luke to guide us we should certainly have no grounds for so identifying them [as the same person].” He then explains first the position, at that time general among Catholics, equating Mary of Bethany with the sinful woman of Luke by referring to , where Mary is identified as the woman who anointed Jesus, and noting that this reference is given before John's account of the anointing in Bethany:
John, however, clearly identifies Mary of Bethany with the woman who anointed Christ's feet (12; cf. and ). It is remarkable that already in , John has spoken of Mary as "she that anointed the Lord's feet", "he aleipsasa". It is commonly said that he refers to the subsequent anointing which he himself describes in ; but it may be questioned whether he would have used "he aleipsasa" if another woman, and she a "sinner" in the city, had done the same. It is conceivable that John, just because he is writing so long after the event and at a time when Mary was dead, wishes to point out to us that she was really the same as the "sinner." In the same way Luke may have veiled her identity precisely because he did not wish to defame one who was yet living; he certainly does something similar in the case of St. Matthew whose identity with Levi the publican (5:27) he conceals. If the foregoing argument holds good, Mary of Bethany and the "sinner" are one and the same.
Hugh Pope then explained the identification of Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene by the presumption that, because of Jesus’ high praise of her deed of anointing him, it would be incredible that she should also not have been at his crucifixion and resurrection. Since Mary Magdalene is reported to have been present on those occasions, by this reasoning, she must therefore be the same person as Mary of Bethany:
An examination of John's Gospel makes it almost impossible to deny the identity of Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalen. From John we learn the name of the "woman" who anointed Christ's feet previous to the last supper. We may remark here that it seems unnecessary to hold that because Matthew and Mark say "two days before the Passover", while John says "six days" there were, therefore, two distinct anointings following one another. John does not necessarily mean that the supper and the anointing took place six days before, but only that Christ came to Bethany six days before the Passover. At that supper, then, Mary received the glorious encomium, "she hath wrought a good work upon Me. ...In pouring this ointment upon My body she hath done it for My burial. ...Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached ... that also which she hath done shall be told for a memory of her." Is it credible, in view of all this, that this Mary should have no place at the foot of the cross, nor at the tomb of Christ? Yet it is Mary Magdalen who, according to all the Evangelists, stood at the foot of the cross and assisted at the entombment and was the first recorded witness of the Resurrection. And while John calls her "Mary Magdalen" in 19:25, 20:1, and 20:18, he calls her simply "Mary" in 20:11 and 20:16.
French scholar Victor Saxer dates the identification of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute, and as Mary of Bethany, to a sermon by Pope Gregory the Great on 21 September 591 A.D., where he seemed to combine the actions of three women mentioned in the New Testament and also identified an unnamed woman as Mary Magdalene. In another sermon, Gregory specifically identified Mary Magdalene as the sister of Martha mentioned in Luke 10. But according to a view expressed more recently by theologian Jane Schaberg, Gregory only put the final touch to a legend that already existed before him.
Western Christianity's identification of Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany was reflected in the arrangement of the General Roman Calendar, until this was altered in 1969, reflecting the fact that by then the common interpretation in the Catholic Church was that Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene and the sinful woman who anointed the feet of Jesus were three distinct women.
In Orthodox Church tradition, Mary of Bethany is honored as a separate individual from Mary Magdalene. Though they are not specifically named as such in the gospels, the Orthodox Church counts Mary and Martha among the Myrrh-bearing Women. These faithful followers of Jesus stood at Golgotha during the Crucifixion of Jesus and later came to his tomb early on the morning following the Sabbath with myrrh (expensive oil), according to the Jewish tradition, to anoint their Lord's body. The Myrrhbearers became the first witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus, finding the empty tomb and hearing the joyful news from an angel.
Orthodox tradition also relates that Mary's brother Lazarus was cast out of Jerusalem in the persecution against the Jerusalem Church following the martyrdom of St. Stephen. His sisters Mary and Martha fled Judea with him, assisting him in the proclaiming of the Gospel in various lands. The three later moved to Cyprus, where Lazarus became the first Bishop of Kition (modern Larnaca). All three died in Cyprus.
In the Catholic Church, Mary of Bethany is celebrated, together with her brother Lazarus, on 29 July, the memorial of their sister Martha.
Also in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church, 29 July is the date of the commemoration of Mary (together with Martha and Lazarus), as is the case in the Calendar of saints of the Episcopal Church and the Church of England (together with Martha).
She is commemorated in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches with her sister Martha on 4 June, as well as on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers (the Third Sunday of Pascha). She also figures prominently in the commemorations on Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20788 |
Malcolm X
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (; born Malcolm Little; May 19, 1925February 21, 1965), better known as Malcolm X, was an African American minister, and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement. He is best known for his time spent as a vocal spokesman for the Nation of Islam.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm X spent his teenage years living in a series of foster homes after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization. He engaged in several illicit activities there, eventually being sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and breaking and entering. In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, adopted the name MalcolmX, and quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders after being paroled in 1952. MalcolmX then served as the public face of the organization for a dozen years, where he advocated for black supremacy, black empowerment, and the separation of black and white Americans, and publicly criticized the mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on nonviolence and racial integration. Malcolm X also expressed pride in some of the Nation's social welfare achievements, namely its free drug rehabilitation program. Throughout his life beginning in the 1950s, Malcolm X endured surveillance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the Nation's supposed links to communism.
In the 1960s, Malcolm X began to grow disillusioned with the Nation of Islam, as well as with its leader Elijah Muhammad. He subsequently embraced Sunni Islam and the civil rights movement after completing the Hajj to Mecca, and became known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. After a brief period of travel across Africa, he publicly renounced the Nation of Islam and founded the Islamic Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI) and the Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Throughout 1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, and he was repeatedly sent death threats. On February21, 1965, he was assassinated. Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given indeterminate life sentences. Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, have persisted for decades after the shooting.
A controversial figure accused of preaching racism and violence, Malcolm X is also a widely celebrated figure within African-American and Muslim American communities for his pursuit of racial justice. He was posthumously honored with Malcolm X Day, where he is commemorated in various cities across the United States. Hundreds of streets and schools in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, while the Audubon Ballroom, the site of his assassination, was partly redeveloped in 2005 to accommodate the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center.
Malcolm Little was born May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, the fourth of seven children of Grenada-born Louise Helen Little (née Norton) and Georgia-born Earl Little. Earl was an outspoken Baptist lay speaker, and he and Louise were admirers of Pan-African activist Marcus Garvey. Earl was a local leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and Louise served as secretary and "branch reporter", sending news of local UNIA activities to "Negro World"; they inculcated self-reliance and black pride in their children. MalcolmX later said that white violence killed four of his father's brothers.
Because of Ku Klux Klan threats, Earl's UNIA activities were said to be "spreading trouble" and the family relocated in 1926 to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and shortly thereafter to Lansing, Michigan. There, the family was frequently harassed by the Black Legion, a white racist group Earl accused of burning their family home in 1929.
When Malcolm was six, his father died in what has been officially ruled a streetcar accident, though his mother Louise believed Earl had been murdered by the Black Legion. Rumors that white racists were responsible for his father's death were widely circulated and were very disturbing to Malcolm X as a child. As an adult, he expressed conflicting beliefs on the question. After a dispute with creditors, Louise received a life insurance benefit (nominally $1,000about $,000 in 2019 dollars) in payments of $18 per month; the issuer of another, larger policy refused to pay, claiming her husband Earl had committed suicide. To make ends meet, Louise rented out part of her garden, and her sons hunted game.
In 1937, a man Louise had been datingmarriage had seemed a possibilityvanished from her life when she became pregnant with his child. In late 1938 she had a nervous breakdown and was committed to Kalamazoo State Hospital. The children were separated and sent to foster homes. Malcolm and his siblings secured her release 24 years later.
Malcolm Little attended West Junior High School in Lansing and then Mason High School in Mason, Michigan, but left high school in 1941, before graduating. He excelled in junior high school but dropped out of high school after a white teacher told him that practicing law, his aspiration at the time, was "no realistic goal for a nigger". Later, MalcolmX recalled feeling that the white world offered no place for a career-oriented black man, regardless of talent.
From age 14 to 21, Malcolm held a variety of jobs while living with his half-sister Ella Little-Collins in Roxbury, a largely African-American neighborhood of Boston.
After a short time in Flint, Michigan, he moved to New York City's Harlem neighborhood in 1943, where he engaged in drug dealing, gambling, racketeering, robbery, and pimping.
According to recent biographies, Malcolm also occasionally had sex with other men, usually for money, though this conjecture has been disputed by those who knew him. He befriended John Elroy Sanford, a fellow dishwasher at Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem who aspired to be a professional comedian. Both men had reddish hair, so Sanford was called "Chicago Red" after his hometown and Malcolm was known as "Detroit Red". Years later, Sanford became famous as Redd Foxx.
Summoned by the local draft board for military service in World WarII, he feigned mental disturbance by rambling and declaring: "I want to be sent down South. Organize them nigger soldiers... steal us some guns, and kill us [some] crackers". He was declared "mentally disqualified for military service".
In late 1945, Malcolm returned to Boston, where he and four accomplices committed a series of burglaries targeting wealthy white families. In 1946, he was arrested while picking up a stolen watch he had left at a shop for repairs, and in February began serving an eight-to-ten-year sentence at Charlestown State Prison for larceny and breaking and entering.
When Malcolm was in prison, he met fellow convict John Bembry, a self-educated man he would later describe as "the first man I had ever seen command total respect... with words". Under Bembry's influence, Little developed a voracious appetite for reading.
At this time, several of his siblings wrote to him about the Nation of Islam, a relatively new religious movement preaching black self-reliance and, ultimately, the return of the African diaspora to Africa, where they would be free from white American and European domination. He showed scant interest at first, but after his brother Reginald wrote in 1948, "Malcolm, don't eat any more pork and don't smoke any more cigarettes. I'll show you how to get out of prison", he quit smoking and began to refuse pork. After a visit in which Reginald described the group's teachings, including the belief that white people are devils, Malcolm concluded that every relationship he had had with whites had been tainted by dishonesty, injustice, greed, and hatred. Malcolm, whose hostility to religion had earned him the prison nickname "Satan", became receptive to the message of the Nation of Islam.
In late 1948, Malcolm wrote to Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad advised him to renounce his past, humbly bow in prayer to God, and promise never to engage in destructive behavior again. Though he later recalled the inner struggle he had before bending his knees to pray, Malcolm soon became a member of the Nation of Islam,
maintaining a regular correspondence with Muhammad.
In 1950, the FBI opened a file on Malcolm after he wrote a letter from prison to President Truman expressing opposition to the Korean War and declaring himself a communist. That year, he also began signing his name "MalcolmX". Muhammad instructed his followers to leave their family names behind when they joined the Nation of Islam and use "X" instead. When the time was right, after they had proven their sincerity, he said, he would reveal the Muslim's "original name". In his autobiography, MalcolmX explained that the "X" symbolized the true African family name that he could never know. "For me, my 'X' replaced the white slavemaster name of 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal forebears."
After his parole in August 1952, MalcolmX visited Elijah Muhammad in Chicago. In June 1953 he was named assistant minister of the Nation's Temple Number One in Detroit. Later that year he established Boston's Temple Number11; in March 1954, he expanded Temple Number12 in Philadelphia; and two months later he was selected to lead Temple Number7 in Harlem, where he rapidly expanded its membership.
In 1953, the FBI began surveillance of him, turning its attention from MalcolmX's possible communist associations to his rapid ascent in the Nation of Islam.
During 1955, MalcolmX continued his successful recruitment of members on behalf of the Nation of Islam. He established temples in Springfield, Massachusetts (Number13); Hartford, Connecticut (Number14); and Atlanta, Georgia (Number15). Hundreds of African Americans were joining the Nation of Islam every month.
Besides his skill as a speaker, MalcolmX had an impressive physical presence. He stood tall and weighed about . One writer described him as "powerfully built", and another as "mesmerizingly handsome... and always spotlessly well-groomed".
In 1955, Betty Sanders met MalcolmX after one of his lectures, then again at a dinner party; soon she was regularly attending his lectures. In 1956 she joined the Nation of Islam, changing her name to BettyX. One-on-one dates were contrary to the Nation's teachings, so the couple courted at social events with dozens or hundreds of others, and MalcolmX made a point of inviting her on the frequent group visits he led to New York City's museums and libraries.
MalcolmX proposed during a telephone call from Detroit in January 1958, and they married two days later. They had six daughters:
Attallah (b. 1958, named after Attila the Hun);
Qubilah (b. 1960, named after Kublai Khan); Ilyasah (b. 1962, named after Elijah Muhammad); Gamilah Lumumba (b. 1964, named after Gamal Abdel Nasser and Patrice Lumumba); and twins Malikah and Malaak (b. 1965 after their father's death, and named in his honor).
The American public first became aware of MalcolmX in 1957, after Hinton Johnson, a Nation of Islam member, was beaten by two New York City police officers. On April26, Johnson and two other passersbyalso Nation of Islam memberssaw the officers beating an African-American man with nightsticks. When they attempted to intervene, shouting, "You're not in Alabama... this is New York!" one of the officers turned on Johnson, beating him so severely that he suffered brain contusions and subdural hemorrhaging. All four African-American men were arrested. Alerted by a witness, MalcolmX and a small group of Muslims went to the police station and demanded to see Johnson. Police initially denied that any Muslims were being held, but when the crowd grew to about five hundred, they allowed MalcolmX to speak with Johnson. Afterward, MalcolmX insisted on arranging for an ambulance to take Johnson to Harlem Hospital.
Johnson's injuries were treated and by the time he was returned to the police station, some four thousand people had gathered outside. Inside the station, MalcolmX and an attorney were making bail arrangements for two of the Muslims. Johnson was not bailed, and police said he could not go back to the hospital until his arraignment the following day. Considering the situation to be at an impasse, MalcolmX stepped outside the station house and gave a hand signal to the crowd. Nation members silently left, after which the rest of the crowd also dispersed. One police officer told the "New York Amsterdam News": "No one man should have that much power." Within a month the New York City Police Department arranged to keep MalcolmX under surveillance; it also made inquiries with authorities in other cities in which he had lived, and prisons in which he had served time. A grand jury declined to indict the officers who beat Johnson. In October, MalcolmX sent an angry telegram to the police commissioner. Soon the police department assigned undercover officers to infiltrate the Nation of Islam.
By the late 1950s, MalcolmX was using a new name, Malcolm Shabazz or Malik el-Shabazz, although he was still widely referred to as MalcolmX. His comments on issues and events were being widely reported in print, on radio, and on television, and he was featured in a 1959 New York City television broadcast about the Nation of Islam, "The Hate That Hate Produced".
In September 1960, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, MalcolmX was invited to the official functions of several African nations. He met Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea, and Kenneth Kaunda of the Zambian African National Congress. Fidel Castro also attended the Assembly, and MalcolmX met publicly with him as part of a welcoming committee of Harlem community leaders. Castro was sufficiently impressed with MalcolmX to suggest a private meeting, and after two hours of talking, Castro invited MalcolmX to visit Cuba.
From his adoption of the Nation of Islam in 1952 until he broke with it in 1964, MalcolmX promoted the Nation's teachings. These included beliefs:
Many whites and some blacks were alarmed by MalcolmX and the statements he made during this period. He and the Nation of Islam were described as hatemongers, black supremacists, racists, violence-seekers, segregationists, and a threat to improved race relations. He was accused of being antisemitic. In 1961, Malcolm X spoke at a NOI rally alongside George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party; Rockwell claimed that there was overlap between black nationalism and white supremacy. One of the goals of the civil rights movement was to end disenfranchisement of African Americans, but the Nation of Islam forbade its members from participating in voting and other aspects of the political process. The NAACP and other civil rights organizations denounced him and the Nation of Islam as irresponsible extremists whose views did not represent the common interests of African Americans.
MalcolmX was equally critical of the civil rights movement. He called Martin Luther King Jr. a "chump", and said other civil rights leaders were "stooges" of the white establishment. He called the 1963 March on Washington "the farce on Washington", and said he did not know why so many black people were excited about a demonstration "run by whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn't like us when he was alive".
While the civil rights movement fought against racial segregation, MalcolmX advocated the complete separation of African Americans from whites. He proposed that African Americans should return to Africa and that, in the interim, a separate country for black people in America should be created. He rejected the civil rights movement's strategy of nonviolence, arguing that black people should defend and advance themselves "by any means necessary". His speeches had a powerful effect on his audiences, who were generally African Americans in northern and western cities. Many of themtired of being told to wait for freedom, justice, equality and respectfelt that he articulated their complaints better than did the civil rights movement.
MalcolmX is widely regarded as the second most influential leader of the Nation of Islam after Elijah Muhammad. He was largely credited with the group's dramatic increase in membership between the early 1950s and early 1960s (from 500 to 25,000 by one estimate; from 1,200 to 50,000 or 75,000 by another).
He inspired the boxer Cassius Clay to join the Nation, and the two became close.
In January 1964, Clay brought MalcolmX and his family to Miami to watch him train for his fight against Sonny Liston.
When MalcolmX left the Nation of Islam, he tried to convince Clay (who had just been renamed Muhammad Ali by Elijah Muhammad) to join him in converting to Sunni Islam, but Clay instead broke ties with himwhich he later described as one of his greatest regrets.
MalcolmX mentored and guided LouisX (later known as Louis Farrakhan), who eventually became the leader of the Nation of Islam. MalcolmX also served as a mentor and confidant to Elijah Muhammad's son, Wallace D. Muhammad; the son told Malcolm X about his skepticism toward his father's "unorthodox approach" to Islam. Wallace Muhammad was excommunicated from the Nation of Islam several times, although he was eventually readmitted.
During 1962 and 1963, events caused MalcolmX to reassess his relationship with the Nation of Islam, and particularly its leader, Elijah Muhammad.
In late 1961, there were violent confrontations between the Nation of Islam members and police in South Central Los Angeles, and numerous Muslims were arrested. They were acquitted, but tensions had been raised. Just after midnight on April27, 1962, two LAPD officers, unprovoked, shoved and beat several Muslims outside Temple Number 27. A large crowd of angry Muslims emerged from the mosque and the officers attempted to intimidate them. One officer was disarmed; his partner was shot in the elbow by a third officer. More than 70 backup officers arrived who then raided the mosque and randomly beat Nation of Islam members. Police officers shot seven Muslims, including William X Rogers, who was hit in the back and paralyzed for life, and Ronald Stokes, a Korean War veteran, who was shot from behind while raising his hands over his head to surrender, killing him.
A number of Muslims were indicted after the event, but no charges were laid against the police. The coroner ruled that Stokes's killing was justified. To MalcolmX, the desecration of the mosque and the associated violence demanded action, and he used what LouisX (later Louis Farrakhan) later called his "gangsterlike past" to rally the more hardened of the Nation of Islam members to take violent revenge against the police. MalcolmX sought Elijah Muhammad's approval which was denied, stunning MalcolmX. MalcolmX was again blocked by Elijah Muhammad when he spoke of the Nation of Islam starting to work with civil rights organizations, local black politicians, and religious groups. LouisX saw this as an important turning point in the deteriorating relationship between MalcolmX and Muhammad.
Rumors were circulating that Muhammad was conducting extramarital affairs with young Nation secretarieswhich would constitute a serious violation of Nation teachings. After first discounting the rumors, MalcolmX came to believe them after he spoke with Muhammad's son Wallace and with the women making the accusations. Muhammad confirmed the rumors in 1963, attempting to justify his behavior by referring to precedents set by Biblical prophets.
On December1, 1963, when asked to comment on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, MalcolmX said that it was a case of "." He added that "chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they've always made me glad." Likewise, according to "The New York Times":[I]n further criticism of Mr. Kennedy, the Muslim leader cited the murders of Patrice Lumumba, Congo leader, of Medgar Evers, civil rights leader, and of the Negro girls bombed earlier this year in a Birmingham church. These, he said, were instances of other 'chickens coming home to roost'.The remarks prompted widespread public outcry. The Nation of Islam, which had sent a message of condolence to the Kennedy family and ordered its ministers not to comment on the assassination, publicly censured their former shining star. MalcolmX retained his post and rank as minister, but was prohibited from public speaking for 90 days.
MalcolmX had by now become a media favorite, and some Nation members believed he was a threat to Muhammad's leadership. Publishers had shown interest in MalcolmX's autobiography, and when Louis Lomax wrote his 1963 book about the Nation, "When the Word Is Given", he used a photograph of MalcolmX on the cover. He also reproduced five of his speeches, but featured only one of Muhammad'sall of which greatly upset Muhammad and made him envious.
On March8, 1964, MalcolmX publicly announced his break from the Nation of Islam. Though still a Muslim, he felt that the Nation had "gone as far as it can" because of its rigid teachings. He said he was planning to organize a black nationalist organization to "heighten the political consciousness" of African Americans. He also expressed a desire to work with other civil rights leaders, saying that Elijah Muhammad had prevented him from doing so in the past.
After leaving the Nation of Islam, MalcolmX founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI), a religious organization, and the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), a secular group that advocated Pan-Africanism. On March26, 1964, he briefly met Martin Luther King Jr. for the first and only timeand only long enough for photographs to be takenin Washington, D.C., as both men attended the Senate's debate on the Civil Rights bill at the US Capitol building. In April, MalcolmX gave a speech titled "The Ballot or the Bullet", in which he advised African Americans to exercise their right to vote wisely but cautioned that if the government continued to prevent African Americans from attaining full equality, it might be necessary for them to take up arms.
In the weeks after he left the Nation of Islam, several Sunni Muslims encouraged MalcolmX to learn about their faith. He soon converted to the Sunni faith.
In April 1964, with financial help from his half-sister Ella Little-Collins, MalcolmX flew to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as the start of his Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca obligatory for every Muslim who is able to do so. He was delayed in Jeddah when his U.S. citizenship and inability to speak Arabic caused his status as a Muslim to be questioned. He had received Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam's book "The Eternal Message of Muhammad" with his visa approval, and he contacted the author. Azzam's son arranged for his release and lent him his personal hotel suite. The next morning MalcolmX learned that Prince Faisal had designated him as a state guest. Several days later, after completing the Hajj rituals, MalcolmX had an audience with the prince.
MalcolmX later said that seeing Muslims of "all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans," interacting as equals led him to see Islam as a means by which racial problems could be overcome.
MalcolmX had already visited the United Arab Republic (a short-lived political union between Egypt and Syria), Sudan, Nigeria, and Ghana in 1959 to make arrangements for a tour of Africa by Elijah Muhammad. After his journey to Mecca in 1964, he visited Africa a second time. He returned to the United States in late May and flew to Africa again in July. During these visits he met officials, gave interviews, and spoke on radio and television in Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanganyika, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Senegal, Liberia, Algeria, and Morocco. In Cairo, he attended the second meeting of the Organization of African Unity as a representative of the OAAU. By the end of this third visit, he had met with essentially all of Africa's prominent leaders; Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, and Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria had all invited MalcolmX to serve in their governments. After he spoke at the University of Ibadan, the Nigerian Muslim Students Association bestowed on him the honorary Yoruba name ('the son who has come home'). He later called this his most treasured honor.
On November23, 1964, on his way home from Africa, MalcolmX stopped in Paris, where he spoke in the Salle de la Mutualité. A week later, on November30, MalcolmX flew to the United Kingdom, and on December3 took part in a debate at the Oxford Union Society. The motion was taken from a statement made earlier that year by U.S. presidential candidate Barry Goldwater: "Extremism in the Defense of Liberty is No Vice; Moderation in the Pursuit of Justice is No Virtue". MalcolmX argued for the affirmative, and interest in the debate was so high that it was televised nationally by the BBC.
On February5, 1965, MalcolmX flew to Britain again, and on February8 he addressed the first meeting of the Council of African Organizations in London. The next day he tried to return to France, but was refused entry.
On February12, he visited Smethwick, near Birmingham, where the Conservative Party had won the parliamentary seat in the 1964 general election. The town had become a byword for racial division after the successful candidate, Peter Griffiths, was accused of using the slogan, "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Liberal or Labour." In Smethwick MalcolmX compared the treatment of ethnic minority residents with the treatment of Jews under Hitler, saying: "I would not wait for the fascist element in Smethwick to erect gas ovens."
After returning to the U.S., MalcolmX addressed a wide variety of audiences. He spoke regularly at meetings held by MMI and the OAAU, and was one of the most sought-after speakers on college campuses. One of his top aides later wrote that he "welcomed every opportunity to speak to college students." He also addressed public meetings of the Socialist Workers Party, speaking at their Militant Labor Forum. He was interviewed on the subjects of segregation and the Nation of Islam by Robert Penn Warren for Warren's 1965 book "Who Speaks for the Negro?"
Throughout 1964, as his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, MalcolmX was repeatedly threatened.
In February, a leader of Temple Number Seven ordered the bombing of MalcolmX's car. In March, Muhammad told Boston minister LouisX (later known as Louis Farrakhan) that "hypocrites like Malcolm should have their heads cut off;" the April10 edition of "Muhammad Speaks" featured a cartoon depicting MalcolmX's bouncing, severed head.
On June8, FBI surveillance recorded a telephone call in which Betty Shabazz was told that her husband was "as good as dead." Four days later, an FBI informant received a tip that "MalcolmX is going to be bumped off." That same month, the Nation sued to reclaim MalcolmX's residence in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York. His family was ordered to vacate but on February14, 1965the night before a hearing on postponing the evictionthe house was destroyed by fire.
On July9, Muhammad aide John Ali (suspected of being an undercover FBI agent) referred to MalcolmX by saying, "Anyone who opposes the Honorable Elijah Muhammad puts their life in jeopardy." In the December4 issue of "Muhammad Speaks", LouisX wrote that "such a man as Malcolm is worthy of death."
The September 1964 issue of "Ebony" dramatized MalcolmX's defiance of these threats by publishing a photograph of him holding an M1 carbine while peering out a window.
On February19, 1965, MalcolmX told interviewer Gordon Parks that the Nation of Islam was actively trying to kill him. On February21, 1965, he was preparing to address the OAAU in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom when someone in the 400-person audience yelled,
"Nigger! Get your hand outta my pocket!"
As MalcolmX and his bodyguards tried to quell the disturbance, a man rushed forward and shot him once in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun and two other men charged the stage firing semi-automatic handguns. MalcolmX was pronounced dead at 3:30pm, shortly after arriving at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. The autopsy identified 21 gunshot wounds to the chest, left shoulder, arms and legs, including ten buckshot wounds from the initial shotgun blast.
One gunman, Nation of Islam member Talmadge Hayer (also known as Thomas Hagan), was beaten by the crowd before police arrived. Witnesses identified the other gunmen as Nation members Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson. All three were convicted of murder in March 1966 and sentenced to life in prison.
At trial Hayer confessed, but refused to identify the other assailants except to assert that they were not Butler and Johnson.
In 1977 and 1978, he signed affidavits reasserting Butler's and Johnson's innocence, naming four other Nation members of Newark's Mosque No. 25 as participants in the murder or its planning. These affidavits did not result in the case being reopened. In 2020, the Netflix docuseries "Who Killed Malcolm X?" explored the assassination, which launched a new review of the murder by the office of the Manhattan District Attorney.
Butler, today known as Muhammad Abdul Aziz, was paroled in 1985 and became the head of the Nation's Harlem mosque in 1998; he maintains his innocence. In prison Johnson, who changed his name to Khalil Islam, rejected the Nation's teachings and converted to Sunni Islam. Released in 1987, he maintained his innocence until his death in August 2009. Hayer, who also rejected the Nation's teachings while in prison and converted to Sunni Islam, is known today as Mujahid Halim. He was paroled in 2010.
A CNN Special Report, "Witnessed: The Assassination of MalcolmX", was broadcast on February17, 2015. It featured interviews with several people who worked with him, including A. Peter Bailey and Earl Grant, as well as the daughter of MalcolmX, Ilyasah Shabazz.
The public viewing, February2326 at Unity Funeral Home in Harlem, was attended by some 14,000 to 30,000 mourners.
For the funeral on February27, loudspeakers were set up for the overflow crowd outside Harlem's thousand-seat Faith Temple of the Church of God in Christ, and a local television station carried the service live.
Among the civil rights leaders attending were John Lewis, Bayard Rustin, James Forman, James Farmer, Jesse Gray, and Andrew Young. Actor and activist Ossie Davis delivered the eulogy, describing MalcolmX as "our shining black prince... who didn't hesitate to die because he loved us so":
There are those who will consider it their duty, as friends of the Negro people, to tell us to revile him, to flee, even from the presence of his memory, to save ourselves by writing him out of the history of our turbulent times. Many will ask what Harlem finds to honor in this stormy, controversial and bold young captainand we will smile. Many will say turn awayaway from this man, for he is not a man but a demon, a monster, a subverter and an enemy of the black manand we will smile. They will say that he is of hatea fanatic, a racistwho can only bring evil to the cause for which you struggle! And we will answer and say to them: Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever touch him, or have him smile at you? Did you ever really listen to him? Did he ever do a mean thing? Was he ever himself associated with violence or any public disturbance? For if you did you would know him. And if you knew him you would know why we must honor him.… And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves.
MalcolmX was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Friends took up the gravediggers' shovels to complete the burial themselves.
Actor and activist Ruby Dee and Juanita Poitier (wife of Sidney Poitier) established the Committee of Concerned Mothers to raise money for a home for his family and for his children's educations.
Reactions to MalcolmX's assassination were varied. In a telegram to Betty Shabazz, Martin Luther King Jr. expressed his sadness at "the shocking and tragic assassination of your husband." He said:
While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had a great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem. He was an eloquent spokesman for his point of view and no one can honestly doubt that Malcolm had a great concern for the problems that we face as a race.
Elijah Muhammad told the annual Savior's Day convention on February26 that "MalcolmX got just what he preached," but denied any involvement with the murder. "We didn't want to kill Malcolm and didn't try to kill him," Muhammad said, adding "We know such ignorant, foolish teachings would bring him to his own end."
Writer James Baldwin, who had been a friend of MalcolmX's, was in London when he heard the news of the assassination. He responded with indignation towards the reporters interviewing him, shouting, "You did it! It is because of you—the men that created this white supremacy—that this man is dead. You are not guilty, but you did it.… Your mills, your cities, your rape of a continent started all this."
The "New York Post" wrote that "even his sharpest critics recognized his brillianceoften wild, unpredictable and eccentric, but nevertheless possessing promise that must now remain unrealized." "The New York Times" wrote that MalcolmX was "an extraordinary and twisted man" who "turn[ed] many true gifts to evil purpose" and that his life was "strangely and pitifully wasted." "Time" called him "an unashamed demagogue" whose "creed was violence."
Outside of the U.S., particularly in Africa, the press was sympathetic. The "Daily Times of Nigeria" wrote that MalcolmX would "have a place in the palace of martyrs/" The "Ghanaian Times" likened him to John Brown, Medgar Evers, and Patrice Lumumba, and counted him among "a host of Africans and Americans who were martyred in freedom's cause." In China, the "People's Daily" described MalcolmX as a martyr killed by "ruling circles and racists" in the United States; his assassination, the paper wrote, demonstrated that "in dealing with imperialist oppressors, violence must be met with violence." The "Guangming Daily", also published in Beijing, stated that "Malcolm was murdered because he fought for freedom and equal rights." In Cuba, "El Mundo" described the assassination as "another racist crime to eradicate by violence the struggle against discrimination."
In a weekly column he wrote for the "New York Amsterdam News", King reflected on MalcolmX and his
assassination:
MalcolmX was clearly a product of the hate and violence invested in the Negro's blighted existence in this nation.…
In his youth, there was no hope, no preaching, teaching or movements of non-violence.…
It is a testimony to Malcolm's personal depth and integrity that he could not become an underworld Czar, but turned again and again to religion for meaning and destiny. Malcolm was still turning and growing at the time of his brutal and meaningless assassination.…
Like the murder of Lumumba, the murder of MalcolmX deprives the world of a potentially great leader. I could not agree with either of these men, but I could see in them a capacity for leadership which I could respect, and which was just beginning to mature in judgment and statesmanship.
Within days, the question of who bore responsibility for the assassination was being publicly debated. On February23, James Farmer, leader of the Congress of Racial Equality, announced at a news conference that local drug dealers, and not the Nation of Islam, were to blame. Others accused the NYPD, the FBI, or the CIA, citing the lack of police protection, the ease with which the assassins entered the Audubon Ballroom, and the failure of the police to preserve the crime scene. Earl Grant, one of MalcolmX's associates who was present at the assassination, later wrote:
[A]bout five minutes later, a most incredible scene took place. Into the hall sauntered about a dozen policemen. They were strolling at about the pace one would expect of them if they were patrolling a quiet park. They did not seem to be at all excited or concerned about the circumstances.I could hardly believe my eyes. Here were New York City policemen, entering a room from which at least a dozen shots had been heard, and yet not one of them had his gun out! As a matter of absolute fact, some of them even had their hands in their pockets.
In the 1970s, the public learned about COINTELPRO and other secret FBI programs established to infiltrate and disrupt civil rights organizations during the 1950s and 1960s. Louis Lomax wrote that John Ali, national secretary of the Nation of Islam, was a former FBI agent. MalcolmX had confided to a reporter that Ali exacerbated tensions between him and Elijah Muhammad and that he considered Ali his "archenemy" within the Nation of Islam leadership. Ali had a meeting with Talmadge Hayer, one of the men convicted of killing MalcolmX, the night before the assassination.
The Shabazz family are among those who have accused Louis Farrakhan of involvement in MalcolmX's assassination. In a 1993 speech Farrakhan seemed to acknowledge the possibility that the Nation of Islam was responsible:
Was Malcolm your traitor or ours? And if we dealt with him like a nation deals with a traitor, what the "hell" business is it of yours? A nation has to be able to deal with traitors and cutthroats and turncoats.
In a "60 Minutes" interview that aired during May 2000, Farrakhan stated that some things he said may have led to the assassination of MalcolmX. "I may have been complicit in words that I spoke," he said, adding "I acknowledge that and regret that any word that I have said caused the loss of life of a human being." A few days later Farrakhan denied that he "ordered the assassination" of MalcolmX, although he again acknowledged that he "created the atmosphere that ultimately led to MalcolmX's assassination."
No consensus has been reached on who was responsible for the assassination. In August 2014, an online petition was started using the White House online petition mechanism to call on the government to release, without alteration, any files they still held relating to the murder of MalcolmX. In January 2019, members of the families of MalcolmX, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy were among dozens of Americans who signed a public statement calling for a truth and reconciliation commission to persuade Congress or the Justice Department to review the assassinations of all four leaders during the 1960s.
Except for his autobiography, MalcolmX left no published writings. His philosophy is known almost entirely from the many speeches and interviews he gave from 1952 until his death. Many of those speeches, especially from the last year of his life, were recorded and have been published.
While he was a member of the Nation of Islam, MalcolmX taught its beliefs, and his statements often began with the phrase "The Honorable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that..." It is virtually impossible now to discern whether MalcolmX's personal beliefs at the time diverged from the teachings of the Nation of Islam. After he left the Nation in 1964, he compared himself to a ventriloquist's dummy who could only say what Elijah Muhammad told him to say.
MalcolmX taught that black people were the original people of the world, and that whites were a race of devils who were created by an evil scientist named Yakub. The Nation of Islam believed that black people were superior to white people and that the demise of the white race was imminent. When questioned concerning his statements that white people were devils, MalcolmX said: "history proves the white man is a devil." "Anybody who rapes, and plunders, and enslaves, and steals, and drops hell bombs on people ... anybody who does these things is nothing but a devil."
MalcolmX said that Islam was the "true religion of black mankind" and that Christianity was "the white man's religion" that had been imposed upon African Americans by their slave-masters. He said that the Nation of Islam followed Islam as it was practiced around the world, but the Nation's teachings varied from those of other Muslims because they were adapted to the "uniquely pitiful" condition of black people in the United States. He taught that Wallace Fard Muhammad, the founder of the Nation, was God incarnate, and that Elijah Muhammad was his Messenger, or Prophet.
While the civil rights movement fought against racial segregation, MalcolmX advocated the complete separation of blacks from whites. The Nation of Islam proposed the establishment of a separate country for African Americans in the southern or southwestern United States as an interim measure until African Americans could return to Africa. MalcolmX suggested the United States government owed reparations to black people for the unpaid labor of their ancestors. He also rejected the civil rights movement's strategy of nonviolence, advocating instead that black people should defend themselves.
After leaving the Nation of Islam, MalcolmX announced his willingness to work with leaders of the civil rights movement, though he advocated some changes to their policies. He felt that calling the movement a struggle for "civil rights" would keep the issue within the United States while changing the focus to "human rights" would make it an international concern. The movement could then bring its complaints before the United Nations, where MalcolmX said the emerging nations of the world would add their support.
MalcolmX argued that if the U.S. government was unwilling or unable to protect black people, black people should protect themselves. He said that he and the other members of the OAAU were determined to defend themselves from aggressors, and to secure freedom, justice and equality "by whatever means necessary".
MalcolmX stressed the global perspective he gained from his international travels. He emphasized the "direct connection" between the domestic struggle of African Americans for equal rights with the independence struggles of Third World nations. He said that African Americans were wrong when they thought of themselves as a minority; globally, black people were the majority.
In his speeches at the Militant Labor Forum, which was sponsored by the Socialist Workers Party, MalcolmX criticized capitalism. After one such speech, when he was asked what political and economic system he wanted, he said he did not know, but that it was no coincidence the newly independent countries in the Third World were turning toward socialism. When a reporter asked him what he thought about socialism, MalcolmX asked whether it was good for black people. When the reporter told him it seemed to be, MalcolmX told him, "Then I'm for it."
Although he no longer called for the separation of black people from white people, MalcolmX continued to advocate black nationalism, which he defined as self-determination for the African-American community. In the last months of his life, however, MalcolmX began to reconsider his support for black nationalism after meeting northern African revolutionaries who, to all appearances, were white.
After his Hajj, MalcolmX articulated a view of white people and racism that represented a deep change from the philosophy he had supported as a minister of the Nation of Islam. In a famous letter from Mecca, he wrote that his experiences with white people during his pilgrimage convinced him to "rearrange" his thinking about race and "toss aside some of [his] previous conclusions". In a conversation with Gordon Parks, two days before his assassination, Malcolm said:
[L]istening to leaders like Nasser, Ben Bella, and Nkrumah awakened me to the dangers of racism. I realized racism isn't just a black and white problem. It's brought bloodbaths to about every nation on earth at one time or another.
Brother, remember the time that white college girls came into the restaurantthe one who wanted to help the [Black] Muslims and the whites get togetherand I told her there wasn't a ghost of a chance and she went away crying? Well, I've lived to regret that incident. In many parts of the African continent, I saw white students helping black people. Something like this kills a lot of argument. I did many things as a [Black] Muslim that I'm sorry for now. I was a zombie thenlike all [Black] MuslimsI was hypnotized, pointed in a certain direction and told to march. Well, I guess a man's entitled to make a fool of himself if he's ready to pay the cost. It cost me 12 years.
That was a bad scene, brother. The sickness and madness of those daysI'm glad to be free of them.
Malcolm X has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. He is credited with raising the self-esteem of black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage. He is largely responsible for the spread of Islam in the black community in the United States. Many African Americans, especially those who lived in cities in the Northern and Western United States, felt that MalcolmX articulated their complaints concerning inequality better than did the mainstream civil rights movement. One biographer says that by giving expression to their frustration, MalcolmX "made clear the price that white America would have to pay if it did not accede to black America's legitimate demands."
In the late 1960s, increasingly radical black activists based their movements largely on MalcolmX and his teachings. The Black Power movement, the Black Arts Movement, and the widespread adoption of the slogan "Black is beautiful" can all trace their roots to MalcolmX.
In 1963, Malcolm X began a collaboration with Alex Haley on his life story, "The Autobiography of Malcolm X". He told Haley, "If I'm alive when this book comes out, it will be a miracle." Haley completed and published it some months after the assassination.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a resurgence of interest in his life among young people. Hip-hop groups such as Public Enemy adopted MalcolmX as an icon, and his image was displayed in hundreds of thousands of homes, offices, and schools, as well as on T-shirts and jackets. This wave peaked in 1992 with the release of the film "MalcolmX", an adaptation of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X".
In 1998, "Time" named "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" one of the ten most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century.
Malcolm X was an inspiration for several fictional characters. The Marvel Comics writer Chris Claremont confirmed that Malcolm X was an inspiration for the "X-Men" character Magneto, while Martin Luther King was an inspiration for Professor X. Malcolm X also inspired the character Erik Killmonger in the film "Black Panther".
The house that once stood at 3448 Pinkney Street in North Omaha, Nebraska, was the first home of Malcolm Little with his birth family. The house was torn down in 1965 by new owners who did not know of its connection with MalcolmX. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
In Lansing, Michigan, a Michigan Historical Marker was erected in 1975 on Malcolm Little's childhood home. The city is also home to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz Academy, a public charter school with an Afrocentric focus. The school is located in the building where Little attended elementary school.
In cities across the United States, MalcolmX's birthday (May19) is commemorated as Malcolm X Day. The first known celebration of MalcolmX Day took place in Washington, D.C., in 1971. The city of Berkeley, California, has recognized MalcolmX's birthday as a citywide holiday since 1979.
Many cities have renamed streets after MalcolmX. In 1987, New York mayor Ed Koch proclaimed Lenox Avenue in Harlem to be MalcolmX Boulevard. The name of Reid Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, was changed to MalcolmX Boulevard in 1985. Brooklyn also has El Shabazz Playground that was named after him. New Dudley Street, in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, was renamed Malcolm X Boulevard in the 1990s. In 1997, Oakland Avenue in Dallas, Texas, was renamed MalcolmX Boulevard. Main Street in Lansing, Michigan, was renamed MalcolmX Street in 2010. In 2016, Ankara, Turkey, renamed the street on which the U.S. is building its new embassy after MalcolmX.
Dozens of schools have been named after MalcolmX, including Malcolm X Shabazz High School in Newark, New Jersey, Malcolm Shabazz City High School in Madison, Wisconsin, and Malcolm X College in Chicago, Illinois. Malcolm X Liberation University, based on the Pan-Africanist ideas of MalcolmX, was founded in 1969 in North Carolina.
In 1996, the first library named after MalcolmX was opened, the MalcolmX Branch Library and Performing Arts Center of the San Diego Public Library system.
The U.S. Postal Service issued a MalcolmX postage stamp in 1999. In 2005, Columbia University announced the opening of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. The memorial is located in the Audubon Ballroom, where MalcolmX was assassinated. Collections of MalcolmX's papers are held by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Robert W. Woodruff Library.
Arnold Perl and Marvin Worth attempted to create a drama film based on "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" but, when people close to the subject declined to talk to them, they decided to make a documentary instead. The result was the 1972 documentary film "Malcolm X".
Denzel Washington played the title role in the 1992 motion picture "MalcolmX".
Critic Roger Ebert and film director Martin Scorsese included the film among their lists as one of the ten best films of the 1990s. Washington had previously played the part of MalcolmX in the 1981 Off-Broadway play "When the Chickens Came Home to Roost".
Other portrayals include: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20796 |
MusicBrainz
MusicBrainz is a project which aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for software applications to look up audio CD (compact disc) information on the Internet. MusicBrainz has expanded its goals to reach beyond a compact disc metadata (this is information about the performers, artists, songwriters, etc.) storehouse to become a structured online database for music.
MusicBrainz captures information about artists, their recorded works, and the relationships between them. Recorded works entries capture at a minimum the album title, track titles, and the length of each track. These entries are maintained by volunteer editors who follow community written . Recorded works can also store information about the release date and country, the CD ID, cover art, acoustic fingerprint, free-form annotation text and other metadata. , MusicBrainz contained information about roughly 1.4 million artists, 2 million releases, and 19 million recordings. End-users can use software that communicates with MusicBrainz to add metadata tags to their digital media files, such as ALAC, FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis or AAC.
MusicBrainz allows contributors to upload cover art images of releases to the database; these images are hosted by Cover Art Archive (CAA), a joint project between Internet Archive and MusicBrainz started in 2012. Internet Archive provides the bandwidth, storage and legal protection for hosting the images, while MusicBrainz stores metadata and provides public access through the web and via an API for third parties to use. As with other contributions, the MusicBrainz community is in charge of maintaining and reviewing the data. Cover art is also provided for items on sale at Amazon.com and some other online resources, but CAA is now preferred because it gives the community more control and flexibility for managing the images.
Besides collecting metadata about music, MusicBrainz also allows looking up recordings by their acoustic fingerprint. A separate application, such as MusicBrainz Picard, must be used for this.
In 2000, MusicBrainz started using Relatable's patented TRM (a recursive acronym for TRM Recognizes Music) for acoustic fingerprint matching. This feature attracted many users and allowed the database to grow quickly. However, by 2005 TRM was showing scalability issues as the number of tracks in the database had reached into the millions. This issue was resolved in May 2006 when MusicBrainz partnered with MusicIP (now AmpliFIND), replacing TRM with MusicDNS. TRMs were phased out and replaced by MusicDNS in November 2008.
In October 2009 MusicIP was acquired by AmpliFIND. Some time after the acquisition, the MusicDNS service began having intermittent problems.
Since the future of the free identification service was uncertain, a replacement for it was sought. The Chromaprint acoustic fingerprinting algorithm, the basis for AcoustID identification service, was started in February 2010 by a long-time MusicBrainz contributor Lukáš Lalinský. While AcoustID and Chromaprint are not officially MusicBrainz projects, they are closely tied with each other and both are open source. Chromaprint works by analyzing the first two minutes of a track, detecting the strength in each of 12 pitch classes, storing these 8 times per second. Additional post-processing is then applied to compress this fingerprint while retaining patterns. The AcoustID search server then searches from the database of fingerprints by similarity and returns the AcoustID identifier along with MusicBrainz recording identifiers if known.
Since 2003, MusicBrainz's core data (artists, recordings, releases, and so on) are in the public domain, and additional content, including moderation data (essentially every original content contributed by users and its elaborations), is placed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0 license. The relational database management system is PostgreSQL. The server software is covered by the GNU General Public License.
The MusicBrainz client software library, "libmusicbrainz", is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, which allows use of the code by proprietary software products. In December 2004, the MusicBrainz project was turned over to the MetaBrainz Foundation, a non-profit group, by its creator Robert Kaye. On 20 January 2006, the first commercial venture to use MusicBrainz data was the Barcelona, Spain-based Linkara in their Linkara Música service. On 28 June 2007, BBC announced that it has licensed MusicBrainz's live data feed to augment their music Web pages. The BBC online music editors will also join the MusicBrainz community to contribute their knowledge to the database. On 28 July 2008, the beta of the new BBC Music site was launched, which publishes a page for each MusicBrainz artist.
Freedb clients could also access MusicBrainz data through the freedb protocol by using the MusicBrainz to FreeDB gateway service, mb2freedb. The gateway was shutdown on March 18, 2019. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20797 |
Mennonites
The Mennonites are members of certain Christian groups belonging to the church communities of Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland (which today is a province of the Netherlands). Through his writings, Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders. The early teachings of the Mennonites were founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus, which the original Anabaptist followers held to with great conviction despite persecution by the various Roman Catholic and Protestant states. An early set of Mennonite beliefs was codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632, but the various groups do not hold to a common confession or creed. Rather than fight, the majority of these followers survived by fleeing to neighboring states where ruling families were tolerant of their belief in believer's baptism. Over the years, Mennonites have become known as one of the historic peace churches because of their commitment to pacifism.
In contemporary 21st-century society, Mennonites either are described only as a religious denomination with members of different ethnic origins or as both an ethnic group and a religious denomination. There is controversy among Mennonites about this issue, with some insisting that they are simply a religious group while others argue that they form a distinct ethnic group. Historians and sociologists have increasingly started to treat Mennonites as an ethno-religious group, while others have begun to challenge that perception. There is also a discussion about the term "ethnic Mennonite". Conservative Mennonite groups, who speak Pennsylvania German, Plautdietsch (Low German), or Bernese German fit well into the definition of an ethnic group, while more liberal groups and converts in developing countries do not.
There are about 2.1 million Anabaptists worldwide as of 2015 (including Mennonites, Amish, Mennonite Brethren, Hutterites and many other Anabaptist groups formally part of the Mennonite World Conference). Mennonite congregations worldwide embody the full scope of Mennonite practice from "plain people" to those who are indistinguishable in dress and appearance from the general population. Mennonites can be found in communities in 87 countries on six continents. The largest populations of Mennonites are in Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, and the United States. There are Mennonite colonies in Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Today, fewer than 500 Mennonites remain in Ukraine. A relatively small Mennonite presence, known as the Algemene Doopsgezinde Societeit, still continues in the Netherlands, where Simons was born.
The early history of the Mennonites starts with the Anabaptists in the German and Dutch-speaking parts of central Europe. The German term is ""Täufer"" or ""Wiedertäufer"" ("Again-Baptists" or "Anabaptists" using the Greek "ana" ["again"]). These forerunners of modern Mennonites were part of the Protestant Reformation, a broad reaction against the practices and theology of the Roman Catholic Church. Its most distinguishing feature is the rejection of infant baptism, an act that had both religious and political meaning since almost every infant born in western Europe was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church. Other significant theological views of the Mennonites developed in opposition to Roman Catholic views or to the views of other Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli.
Some of the followers of Zwingli's Reformed church thought that requiring church membership beginning at birth was inconsistent with the New Testament example. They believed that the church should be completely removed from government (the proto–free church tradition), and that individuals should join only when willing to publicly acknowledge belief in Jesus and the desire to live in accordance with his teachings. At a small meeting in Zurich on January 21, 1525, Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock, along with twelve others, baptized each other. This meeting marks the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. In the spirit of the times, other groups came to be, preaching about reducing hierarchy, relations with the state, eschatology, and sexual license, running from utter abandon to extreme chastity. These movements are together referred to as the "Radical Reformation".
Many government and religious leaders, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, considered voluntary church membership to be dangerous—the concern of some deepened by reports of the Münster Rebellion, led by a violent sect of Anabaptists. They joined forces to fight the movement, using methods such as banishment, torture, burning, drowning or beheading.
Despite strong repressive efforts of the state churches, the movement spread slowly around western Europe, primarily along the Rhine. Officials killed many of the earliest Anabaptist leaders in an attempt to purge Europe of the new sect. By 1530, most of the founding leaders had been killed for refusing to renounce their beliefs. Many believed that God did not condone killing or the use of force for any reason and were, therefore, unwilling to fight for their lives. The non-resistant branches often survived by seeking refuge in neutral cities or nations, such as Strasbourg. Their safety was often tenuous, as a shift in alliances or an invasion could mean resumed persecution. Other groups of Anabaptists, such as the Batenburgers, were eventually destroyed by their willingness to fight. This played a large part in the evolution of Anabaptist theology. They believed that Jesus taught that any use of force to get back at anyone was wrong, and taught to forgive.
In the early days of the Anabaptist movement, Menno Simons, a Catholic priest in the Low Countries, heard of the movement and started to rethink his Catholic faith. He questioned the doctrine of transubstantiation but was reluctant to leave the Roman Catholic Church. His brother, a member of an Anabaptist group, was killed when he and his companions were attacked and refused to defend themselves. In 1536, at the age of 40, Simons left the Roman Catholic Church. He soon became a leader within the Anabaptist movement and was wanted by authorities for the rest of his life. His name became associated with scattered groups of nonviolent Anabaptists whom he helped to organize and consolidate.
During the 16th century, the Mennonites and other Anabaptists were relentlessly persecuted. This period of persecution has had a significant impact on Mennonite identity. "Martyrs Mirror", published in 1660, documents much of the persecution of Anabaptists and their predecessors, including accounts of over 4,000 burnings of individuals, and numerous stonings, imprisonments, and live burials. Today, the book is still the most important book besides the Bible for many Mennonites and Amish, in particular for the Swiss-South German branch of the Mennonites. Persecution was still going on until 1710 in various parts of Switzerland.
In 1693 Jakob Ammann led an effort to reform the Mennonite church in Switzerland and South Germany to include shunning, to hold communion more often, and other differences. When the discussions fell through, Ammann and his followers split from the other Mennonite congregations. Ammann's followers became known as the Amish Mennonites or just Amish. In later years, other schisms among Amish resulted in such groups as the Old Order Amish, New Order Amish, Kauffman Amish Mennonite, Swartzentruber Amish, Conservative Mennonite Conference and Biblical Mennonite Alliance. For instance, near the beginning of the 20th century, some members in the Amish church wanted to begin having Sunday Schools and participate in progressive Protestant-style para-church evangelism. Unable to persuade the rest of the Amish, they separated and formed a number of separate groups including the Conservative Mennonite Conference. Mennonites in Canada and other countries typically have independent denominations because of the practical considerations of distance and, in some cases, language. Many times these divisions took place along family lines, with each extended family supporting its own branch.
Political rulers often admitted the Menists or Mennonites into their states because they were honest, hardworking and peaceful. When their practices upset the powerful state churches, princes would renege on exemptions for military service, or a new monarch would take power, and the Mennonites would be forced to flee again, usually leaving everything but their families behind. Often, another monarch in another state would grant them welcome, at least for a while.
While Mennonites in Colonial America were enjoying considerable religious freedom, their counterparts in Europe continued to struggle with persecution and temporary refuge under certain ruling monarchs. They were sometimes invited to settle in areas of poor soil that no one else could farm. By contrast, in The Netherlands, the Mennonites (nl: "Doopsgezinden") enjoyed a relatively high degree of tolerance. Because the land still needed to be tended, the ruler would not drive out the Mennonites but would pass laws to force them to stay, while at the same time severely limiting their freedom. Mennonites had to build their churches facing onto back streets or alleys, and they were forbidden from announcing the beginning of services with the sound of a bell.
A strong emphasis on "community" was developed under these circumstances. It continues to be typical of Mennonite churches. As a result of frequently being required to give up possessions in order to retain individual freedoms, Mennonites learned to live very simply. This was reflected both in the home and at church, where their dress and their buildings were plain. The music at church, usually simple German chorales, was performed "a cappella". This style of music serves as a reminder to many Mennonites of their simple lives, as well as their history as a persecuted people. Some branches of Mennonites have retained this "plain" lifestyle into modern times.
The Mennonite World Conference was founded at the first conference in Basel, in Switzerland, in 1925 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Anabaptism.
The "Russian Mennonites" (German: "Russlandmennoniten") today are descended from Dutch Anabaptists, who came from the Netherlands and started around 1530 to settle around Danzig and in West Prussia, where they lived for about 250 years. During that time they mixed with German Mennonites from different regions. Starting in 1791 they established colonies in the south-west of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) and beginning in 1854 also in Volga region and Orenburg Governorate (present-day Russia). Their ethno-language is Plautdietsch, a German dialect of the East Low German group, with some Dutch admixture. Today, many traditional Russian Mennonites use Standard German in church and for reading and writing.
In the 1770s Catherine the Great of the Russian Empire acquired a great deal of land north of the Black Sea (in present-day Ukraine) following the Russo-Turkish War and the takeover of the Ottoman vassal, the Crimean Khanate. Russian government officials invited Mennonites living in the Kingdom of Prussia to farm the Ukrainian steppes depopulated by Tatar raids in exchange for religious freedom and military exemption. Over the years Mennonite farmers and businesses were very successful.
In 1854, according to the new Russian government official invitation, Mennonites from Prussia established colonies in Russia's Volga region, and later in Orenburg Governorate (Neu Samara Colony).
Between 1874 and 1880 some 16,000 Mennonites of approximately 45,000 left Russia. About nine thousand departed for the United States (mainly Kansas and Nebraska) and seven thousand for Canada (mainly Manitoba). In the 1920s, Russian Mennonites from Canada started to migrate to Latin America (Mexico and Paraguay), soon followed by Mennonite refugees from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Further migrations of these Mennonites led to settlements in Brazil, Uruguay, Belize, Bolivia and Argentina.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the Mennonites in Russia owned large agricultural estates and some had become successful as industrial entrepreneurs in the cities, employing wage labor. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War (1917–1921), all of these farms (whose owners were called Kulaks) and enterprises were expropriated by local peasants or the Soviet government. Beyond expropriation, Mennonites suffered severe persecution during the course of the Civil War, at the hands of workers, the Bolsheviks and, particularly, the Anarcho-Communists of Nestor Makhno, who considered the Mennonites to be privileged foreigners of the upper class and targeted them. During expropriation, hundreds of Mennonite men, women and children were murdered in these attacks. After the Ukrainian–Soviet War and the takeover of Ukraine by the Soviet Bolsheviks, people who openly practiced religion were in many cases imprisoned by the Soviet government. This led to a wave of Mennonite emigration to the Americas (U.S., Canada and Paraguay).
When the German army invaded the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 during World War II, many in the Mennonite community perceived them as liberators from the communist regime under which they had suffered. When the tide of war turned, many of the Mennonites fled with the German army back to Germany where they were accepted as "Volksdeutsche". The Soviet government believed that the Mennonites had "collectively collaborated" with the Germans. After the war, many Mennonites in the Soviet Union were forcibly relocated to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Many were sent to gulags as part of the Soviet program of mass internal deportations of various ethnic groups whose loyalty was seen as questionable. Many German-Russian Mennonites who lived to the east (not in Ukraine) were deported to Siberia before the German army's invasion and were also often placed in labor camps. In the decades that followed, as the Soviet regime became less brutal, a number of Mennonites returned to Ukraine and Western Russia where they had formerly lived. In the 1990s the governments of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine gave these people the opportunity to emigrate, and the vast majority emigrated to Germany. The Russian Mennonite immigrants in Germany from the 1990s outnumber the pre-1989 community of Mennonites by three to one.
By 2015, the majority of Russian Mennonites and their descendants live in Latin America, Germany and Canada.
The world's most conservative Mennonites (in terms of culture and technology) are the Mennonites affiliated with the Lower and Upper Barton Creek Colonies in Belize. Lower Barton is inhabited by Plautdietsch speaking Russian Mennonites, whereas Upper Barton Creek is mainly inhabited by Pennsylvania German speaking Mennonites from North America. Neither group uses motors or paint.
Persecution and the search for employment forced Mennonites out of the Netherlands eastward to Germany in the 17th century. As Quaker Evangelists moved into Germany they received a sympathetic audience among the larger of these German-Mennonite congregations around Krefeld, Altona, Hamburg, Gronau and Emden. It was among this group of Quakers and Mennonites, living under ongoing discrimination, that William Penn solicited settlers for his new colony. The first permanent settlement of Mennonites in the American colonies consisted of one Mennonite family and twelve Mennonite-Quaker families of German extraction who arrived from Krefeld, Germany, in 1683 and settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Among these early settlers was William Rittenhouse, a lay minister and owner of the first American paper mill. Jacob Gottschalk was the first bishop of this Germantown congregation. This early group of Mennonites and Mennonite-Quakers wrote the first formal protest against slavery in the United States. The treatise was addressed to slave-holding Quakers in an effort to persuade them to change their ways.
In the early 18th century, 100,000 Germans from the Palatinate emigrated to Pennsylvania, where they became known collectively as the Pennsylvania Dutch (from the Anglicization of "Deutsch" or German.) The Palatinate region had been repeatedly overrun by the French in religious wars, and Queen Anne had invited the Germans to go to the British colonies. Of these immigrants, around 2,500 were Mennonites and 500 were Amish. This group settled farther west than the first group, choosing less expensive land in the Lancaster area. The oldest Mennonite meetinghouse in the United States is the Hans Herr House in West Lampeter Township. A member of this second group, Christopher Dock, authored "Pedagogy", the first American monograph on education. Today, Mennonites also reside in Kishacoquillas Valley (also known as Big Valley), a valley in Huntingdon and Mifflin counties in Pennsylvania.
During the Colonial period, Mennonites were distinguished from other Pennsylvania Germans in three ways: their opposition to the American Revolutionary War, which other German settlers participated in on both sides; resistance to public education; and disapproval of religious revivalism. Contributions of Mennonites during this period include the idea of separation of church and state and opposition to slavery.
From 1812 to 1860, another wave of Mennonite immigrants settled farther west in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. These Swiss-German speaking Mennonites, along with Amish, came from Switzerland and the Alsace-Lorraine area. These immigrants, along with the Amish of northern New York State, formed the nucleus of the Apostolic Christian Church in the United States.
There were also Mennonite settlements in Canada, who emigrated there chiefly from the United States (Upstate New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania):
During the 1880s, smaller Mennonite groups settled as far west as California, especially around the Paso Robles area.
The Swiss-German Mennonites who immigrated to North America in the 18th and 19th centuries and settled first in Pennsylvania, then across the midwestern states (initially Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas), are the root of the former Mennonite Church denomination (MC), colloquially called the "Old Mennonite Church". This denomination had offices in Elkhart, Indiana, and was the most populous progressive Mennonite denomination before merging with the General Conference Mennonite Church (GCMC) in 2002.
The Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA) and the Mennonite Church Canada are the resulting denominations of the 2002 merger of the (General Assembly) Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Total membership in Mennonite Church USA denominations decreased from about 133,000, before the merger in 1998, to a total membership of 120,381 in the Mennonite Church USA in 2001. In 2013 membership had fallen to 97,737 members in 839 congregations. In 2016 it had fallen to 78,892 members after the withdrawal of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference.
Pennsylvania remains the hub of the denomination but there are also large numbers of members in Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, and Illinois.
In 1983 the "General Assembly of the Mennonite Church" met jointly with the "General Conference Mennonite Church" in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in celebration of 300 years of Mennonite witness in the Americas. Beginning in 1989, a series of consultations, discussions, proposals, and sessions (and a vote in 1995 in favor of merger) led to the unification of these two major North American Mennonite bodies into one denomination organized on two fronts – the Mennonite Church USA and the Mennonite Church Canada. The merger was "finalized" at a joint session in St. Louis, Missouri in 1999, and the Canadian branch moved quickly ahead. The United States branch did not complete their organization until the meeting in Nashville, Tennessee in 2001, which became effective February 1, 2002.
The merger of 1999–2002 at least partially fulfilled the desire of the founders of the General Conference Mennonite Church to create an organization under which all Mennonites could unite. Yet not all Mennonites favored the merger. The Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations represents one expression of the disappointment with the merger and the events that led up to it.
Mennonite Church Canada is a conference of Mennonites in Canada, with head offices in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As of 2003, the body had about 35,000 members in 235 churches. Beginning in 1989, a series of consultations, discussions, proposals, and sessions led to the unification of two North American bodies (the "Mennonite Church & General Conference Mennonite Church") and the related Canadian Conference of Mennonites in Canada into the Mennonite Church USA and the Mennonite Church Canada in 2000.
The organizational structure is divided into five regional conferences. Denominational work is administered through a board elected by the delegates to the annual assembly. The MCC participates in the Canadian Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and the Mennonite World Conference.
Conservative Mennonites include numerous groups that identify with the more conservative or traditional element among Mennonite or Anabaptist groups but not necessarily Old Order groups. The majority of Conservative Mennonite churches historically has an Amish and not a Mennonite background. They emerged mostly from the middle group between the Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites. For more, see Amish Mennonite: Division 1850–1878.
Those identifying with this group drive automobiles, have telephones and use electricity, and some may have personal computers. They also have Sunday school, hold revival meetings, and operate their own Christian schools/parochial schools.
The Old Order Mennonite are living a lifestyle similar or a bit more liberal than the Old Order Amish. There were more than 27,000 adult, baptized members of Old Order Mennonites in North America and Belize in 2008/9. The total population of Old Order Mennonites groups including children and adults not yet baptized normally is two to three times larger than the number of baptized, adult members, which indicates that the population of Old Order Mennonites was roughly between 60,000 and 80,000 in 2008/9.
During World War II, Mennonite conscientious objectors were given the options of noncombatant military service, serving in the medical or dental corps under military control, or working in parks and on roads under civilian supervision. Over 95% chose the latter and were placed in Alternative Service camps. Initially the men worked on road building, forestry and firefighting projects. After May 1943, as a labour shortage developed within the nation, men were shifted into agriculture, education and industry. The 10,700 Canadian objectors were mostly Mennonites (63%) and Doukhobors (20%).
In the United States, Civilian Public Service (CPS) provided an alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, 4,665 Mennonites, Amish and Brethren in Christ were among nearly 12,000 conscientious objectors who performed "work of national importance" in 152 CPS camps throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The draftees worked in areas such as soil conservation, forestry, fire fighting, agriculture, social services and mental health.
The CPS men served without wages and with minimal support from the federal government. The cost of maintaining the CPS camps and providing for the needs of the men was the responsibility of their congregations and families. Mennonite Central Committee coordinated the operation of the Mennonite camps. CPS men served longer than regular draftees, not being released until well past the end of the war. Initially skeptical of the program, government agencies learned to appreciate the men's service and requested more workers from the program. CPS made significant contributions to forest fire prevention, erosion and flood control, medical science and reform of the mental health system.
Prior to emigration to America, Anabaptists in Europe were divided between those of Dutch/North German and Swiss/South German background. At first, the Dutch/North German group took their name from Menno Simons, who led them in their early years. Later the Swiss/South German group also adopted the name "Mennonites". A third group of early Anabaptists, mainly from south-east Germany and Austria were organized by Jakob Hutter and became the Hutterites. The vast majority of Anabaptists of Swiss/South German ancestry today lives in the US and Canada, while the largest group of Dutch/North German Anabaptists are the Russian Mennonites, who live today mostly in Latin America.
A trickle of North German Mennonites began the migration to America in 1683, followed by a much larger migration of Swiss/South German Mennonites beginning in 1707. The Amish are an early split from the Swiss/South German, that occurred in 1693. Over the centuries many Amish individuals and whole churches left the Amish and became Mennonites again.
After immigration to America, many of the early Mennonites split from the main body of North American Mennonites and formed their own separate and distinct churches. The first schism in America occurred in 1778 when Bishop Christian Funk's support of the American Revolution led to his excommunication and the formation of a separate Mennonite group known as Funkites. In 1785 the Orthodox Reformed Mennonite Church was formed, and other schisms occurred into the 21st century. Many of these churches were formed as a response to deep disagreements about theology, doctrine, and church discipline as evolution both inside and outside the Mennonite faith occurred. Many of the modern churches are descended from those groups that abandoned traditional Mennonite practices.
Larger groups of Dutch/North German Mennonites came to North America from the Russian Empire after 1873, especially to Kansas and Manitoba. While the more progressive element of these Mennonites assimilated into mainstream society, the more conservative element emigrated to Latin America. Since then there has been a steady flow of Mennonite emigrants from Latin America to North America.
These historical schisms have had an influence on creating the distinct Mennonite denominations, sometimes using mild or severe shunning to show its disapproval of other Mennonite groups.
Some expelled congregations were affiliated both with the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. The latter did not expel the same congregations. When these two Mennonite denominations formally completed their merger in 2002 to become the new Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada denominations, it was still not clear, whether the congregations that were expelled from one denomination, yet included in the other, are considered to be "inside" or "outside" of the new merged denomination. Some Mennonite conferences have chosen to maintain such "disciplined" congregations as "associate" or "affiliate" congregations in the conferences, rather than to expel such congregations. In virtually every case, a dialogue continues between the disciplined congregations and the denomination, as well as their current or former conferences.
Several Mennonite groups have their own private or parochial schools. Conservative groups, like the Holdeman, have not only their own schools, but their own curriculum and teaching staff (usually, but not exclusively, young unmarried women).
This list of secondary Mennonite Schools is not an exhaustive list. Most are members of the Mennonite Schools Council, endorsed by the Mennonite Education Agency.
As of 2007, the Quebec government imposed a standard curriculum on all schools (public and private). While private schools may add optional material to the compulsory curriculum, they may not replace it. The Quebec curriculum is unacceptable to the parents of the only Mennonite school in the province. They said they would leave Quebec after the Education Ministry threatened legal actions. The Province threatened to invoke Youth Protection services if the Mennonite children were not registered with the Education Ministry; they either had to be home-schooled using the government approved material, or attend a "sanctioned" school. The local population and its mayor supported the local Mennonites. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada wrote that year to the Quebec government to express its concerns about this situation. By September 2007, some Mennonite families had already left Quebec.
The beliefs of the movement are those of the Believers' Church.
One of the earliest expressions of Mennonite faith was the Schleitheim Confession, adopted on February 24, 1527. Its seven articles covered:
The Dordrecht Confession of Faith was adopted on April 21, 1632, by Dutch Mennonites, by Alsatian Mennonites in 1660, and by North American Mennonites in 1725. There is no official creed or catechism of which acceptance is required by congregations or members. However, there are structures and traditions taught as in the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective of Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA.
In 1911 the Mennonite church in the Netherlands () was the first Dutch church to have a female pastor authorized; she was Anna Zernike.
There is a wide scope of worship, doctrine and traditions among Mennonites today. This section shows the "main" types of Mennonites as seen from North America. It is far from a specific study of all Mennonite classifications worldwide but it does show a somewhat representative sample of the complicated classifications within the Mennonite faith worldwide.
Moderate Mennonites include the largest denominations, the Mennonite Brethren and the Mennonite Church. In most forms of worship and practice, they differ very little from other Protestant congregations. There is no special form of dress and no restrictions on use of technology. Worship styles vary greatly between different congregations. There is no formal liturgy; services typically consist of singing, scripture reading, prayer and a sermon. Some churches prefer hymns and choirs; others make use of contemporary Christian music with electronic instruments. Mennonite congregations are self-supporting and appoint their own ministers. There is no requirement for ministers to be approved by the denomination, and sometimes ministers from other denominations will be appointed. A small sum, based on membership numbers, is paid to the denomination, which is used to support central functions such as publication of newsletters and interactions with other denominations and other countries. The distinguishing characteristics of moderate Mennonite churches tend to be ones of emphasis rather than rule. There is an emphasis on peace, community and service. However, members do not live in a separate community—they participate in the general community as "salt and light" to the world (Matt 5:13,14). The main elements of Menno Simons' doctrine are retained but in a moderated form. Banning is rarely practiced and would, in any event, have much less effect than those denominations where the community is more tight-knit. Excommunication can occur and was notably applied by the Mennonite Brethren to members who joined the military during the Second World War. Service in the military is generally not permitted, but service in the legal profession or law enforcement is acceptable. Outreach and help to the wider community at home and abroad is encouraged. The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a leader in foreign aid provision.
Traditionally, very modest dress was expected, particularly in conservative Mennonite circles. As the Mennonite population has become urbanized and more integrated into the wider culture, this visible difference has disappeared outside of conservative Mennonite groups.
The Reformed Mennonite Church, with members in the United States and Canada, represents the first division in the original North American Mennonite body. Called the "First Keepers of the Old Way" by author Stephen Scott, the Reformed Mennonite Church formed in the very early 19th century. Reformed Mennonites see themselves as true followers of Menno Simons' teachings and of the teachings of the New Testament. They have no church rules, but they rely solely on the Bible as their guide. They insist on strict separation from all other forms of worship and dress in conservative plain garb that preserves 18th century Mennonite details. However, they refrain from forcing their Mennonite faith on their children, allow their children to attend public schools, and have permitted the use of automobiles. They are notable for being the church of Milton S. Hershey's mother and famous for the long and bitter ban of Robert Bear, a Pennsylvania farmer who rebelled against what he saw as dishonesty and disunity in the leadership.
The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, a group often called Holdeman Mennonites after their founder John Holdeman, was founded from a schism in 1859. They emphasize Evangelical conversion and strict church discipline. They stay separate from other Mennonite groups because of their emphasis on the one-true-church doctrine and their use of avoidance toward their own excommunicated members. The Holdeman Mennonites do not believe that the use of modern technology is a sin in itself, but they discourage too intensive a use of the Internet and avoid television, cameras and radio. The group had 24,400 baptized members in 2013.
Old Order Mennonites cover several distinct groups. Some groups use horse and buggy for transportation and speak German while others drive cars and speak English. What most Old Orders share in common is conservative doctrine, dress, and traditions, common roots in 19th-century and early 20th-century schisms, and a refusal to participate in politics and other so-called "sins of the world". Most Old Order groups also school their children in Mennonite-operated schools.
Stauffer Mennonites, or Pike Mennonites, represent one of the first and most conservative forms of North American Horse and Buggy Mennonites. They were founded in 1845, following conflicts about how to discipline children and spousal abuse by a few Mennonite Church members. They almost immediately began to split into separate churches themselves. Today these groups are among the most conservative of all Swiss Mennonites outside the Amish. They stress strict separation from "the world", adhere to "strict withdrawal from and shunning of apostate and separated members", forbid and limit cars and technology and wear plain clothing.
Conservative Mennonites are generally considered those Mennonites who maintain somewhat conservative dress, although carefully accepting other technology. They are not a unified group and are divided into various independent conferences and fellowships such as the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church Conference. Despite the rapid changes that precipitated the Old Order schisms in the last quarter of the 19th century, most Mennonites in the United States and Canada retained a core of traditional beliefs based on a literal interpretation of the New Testament scriptures as well as more external "plain" practices into the beginning of the 20th century. However, disagreements in the United States and Canada between conservative and progressive (i.e. less emphasis on literal interpretation of scriptures) leaders began in the first half of the 20th century and continue to some extent today. Following WWII, a conservative movement emerged from scattered separatist groups as a reaction to the Mennonite churches drifting away from their historical traditions. "Plain" became passé as open criticisms of traditional beliefs and practices broke out in the 1950s and 1960s. The first conservative withdrawals from the progressive group began in the 1950s. These withdrawals continue to the present day in what is now the growing Conservative Movement formed from Mennonite schisms and from combinations with progressive Amish groups. While moderate and progressive Mennonite congregations have dwindled in size, the Conservative Movement congregations continue to exhibit considerable growth. Other conservative Mennonite groups descended from the former Amish-Mennonite churches which split, like the Wisler Mennonites, from the Old Order Amish in the latter part of the 19th century. (The Wisler Mennonites are a grouping descended from the Old Mennonite Church.) There are also other Conservative Mennonite churches that descended from more recent groups that have left the Amish like the Beachy Amish or the Tennessee Brotherhood Churches.
Progressive Mennonite churches allow LGBT members to worship as church members and have been banned from membership in some cases in the moderate groups as a result. The Germantown Mennonite Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania is one example of such a progressive Mennonite church.
Some progressive Mennonite Churches place a great emphasis on the Mennonite tradition's teachings on peace and non-violence. Some progressive Mennonite Churches are part of moderate Mennonite denominations (such as the Mennonite Church USA) while others are independent congregations.
The Mennonite church has no formal celibate religious order similar to monasticism, but recognizes the legitimacy of and honours both the single state and the sanctity of marriage of its members. Single persons are expected to be chaste, and marriage is held to be a lifelong, monogamous and faithful covenant between a man and a woman. In conservative groups, divorce is discouraged, and it is believed that the "hardness of the heart" of people is the ultimate cause of divorce. Some conservative churches have disciplined members who have unilaterally divorced their spouses outside of cases of sexual unfaithfulness or acute abuse. Until approximately the 1960s or 1970s, before the more widespread urbanization of the Mennonite demographic, divorce was quite rare. In recent times, divorce is more common, and also carries less stigma, particularly in cases where abuse was known.
Mennonite Church USA continues to discuss homosexuality, and member churches hold many stances; a 2015 denominational resolution calls for "grace and forbearance among churches with different views on same-sex unions." Outside of the US, Mennonites in the Netherlands are fully inclusive of gay individuals, while other Mennonites around the world condemn homosexuality outright. Many North American Mennonite churches identify as LGBT-affirming churches. Congregations have been disciplined by or expelled from their regional conferences for taking such a stance, while other congregations have been allowed to remain "at variance" with official Mennonite Church USA policy. Some pastors who performed same-sex unions have had their credentials revoked by their conference, and some within the Mennonite Church USA have had their credentials reviewed without any disciplinary actions taken. Most recently, the Mountain States Mennonite Conference ordained openly gay pastors in December 2016 and February 2019, and has called into ministerial service and credentialed two openly LGBTQ pastors.
The Mennonite Disaster Service, based in North America, is a volunteer network of Anabaptist churches which provide both immediate and long-term responses to hurricanes, floods, and other disasters in the U.S. and Canada.
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), founded on September 27, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois, provides disaster relief around the world alongside their long-term international development programs. Other programs offer a variety of relief efforts and services throughout the world. In 1972, Mennonites in Altona, Manitoba, established the MCC Thrift Shops which has grown to become a worldwide source of assistance to the needy.
Since the latter part of the 20th century, some Mennonite groups have become more actively involved with peace and social justice issues, helping to found Christian Peacemaker Teams and Mennonite Conciliation Service.
In 2009, there were 1,616,126 Mennonites in 82 countries. The United States had the highest number of Mennonites with 387,103 members, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 220,444 members. The third largest concentration of Mennonites was in Ethiopia with 172,306 members, while the fourth largest population was in India with 156,922 members. Europe, the birthplace of Mennonites, had 64,740 members.
Africa has the highest membership growth rate by far, with an increase of 10% to 12% every year, particularly in Ethiopia due to new conversions. African Mennonite churches underwent a dramatic 228% increase in membership during the 1980s and 1990s, attracting thousands of new converts in Tanzania, Kenya, and the Congo. Programs were also founded in Botswana and Swaziland during the 1960s. Mennonite organizations in South Africa, initially stifled under apartheid due to the Afrikaner government's distrust of foreign pacifist churches, have expanded substantially since 1994. In recognition of the dramatic increase in the proportion of African adherents, the Mennonite World Conference held its assembly in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in 2003.
In Latin America growth is not a high as in Africa, but strong because of the high birth rates of traditional Mennonites of German ancestry. Growth in Mennonite membership is slow but steady in North America, the Asia/Pacific region and Caribbean region. Europe has seen a slow and accelerating decline in Mennonite membership since about 1980.
The most basic unit of organization among Mennonites is the church. There are hundreds or thousands of Mennonite churches and groups, many of which are separate from all others. Some churches are members of regional or area conferences. And some regional or area conferences are affiliated with larger national or international conferences. Thus, there is no single authorized organization that includes all Mennonite peoples worldwide.
For the most part, there is a host of independent Mennonite churches along with a myriad of separate conferences with no particular responsibility to any other group. Independent churches can contain as few as fifty members or as many as 20,000 members. Similar size differences occur among separate conferences. Worship, church discipline and lifestyles vary widely between progressive, moderate, conservative, Old Order and orthodox Mennonites in a vast panoply of distinct, independent, and widely dispersed classifications. For these reasons, no single group of Mennonites anywhere can credibly claim to represent, speak for, or lead all Mennonites worldwide.
The twelve largest Mennonite/Anabaptist groups are:
The Mennonite World Conference is a global community of 95 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Mennonite national churches from 51 countries on six continents. It exists to "facilitate community between Anabaptist-related churches worldwide, and relate to other Christian world communions and organizations", but it is not a governing body of any kind. It is a voluntary community of faith whose decisions are not binding on member churches. The member churches of Mennonite World Conference include the Mennonite Brethren, the Mennonite Church USA, and the Mennonite Church Canada, with a combined total membership of at least 400,000, or about 30% of Mennonites worldwide.
In 2015, there were 538,839 baptized members organized into 41 bodies in United States, according to the Mennonite World Conference. The largest group of that number is the Old Order Amish, perhaps numbering as high as 300,000. The U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches comprises 34,500 members. 27,000 are part of a larger group known collectively as Old Order Mennonites. Another 78,892 of that number are from the Mennonite Church USA.
Total membership in Mennonite Church USA denominations decreased from about 133,000, before the MC-GC merger in 1998, to about 114,000 after the merger in 2003. In 2016 it had fallen to under 79,000. Membership of the Mennonite Church USA is on the decline.
Canada had 143,720 Mennonites in 16 organized bodies as of 2015. Of that number, the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches had 37,508 baptized members and the Mennonite Church Canada had 31,000 members.
As of 2012, there were an estimated 100,000 Old Colony Mennonites in Mexico. These Mennonites descend from a mass migration in the 1920s of roughly 6,000 Old Colony Mennonites from the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In 1921, a Canadian Mennonite delegation arriving in Mexico received a "privilegium", a promise of non-interference, from the Mexican government. This guarantee of many freedoms was the impetus that created the two original Old Colony settlements near Patos Nuevo Ideal, Durango, Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua and La Honda, Zacatecas as well as many communities in Aguascalientes.
On the other hand, the Mennonite World Conference cites only 33,881 Mennonites organized into 14 bodies in Mexico.
Germany has the largest contingent of Mennonites in Europe. The Mennonite World Conference counts 47,202 baptized members within 7 organized bodies in 2015. The largest group is the "Bruderschaft der Christengemeinde in Deutschland" (Mennonite Brethren), which had 20,000 members in 2010. Another such body is the Union of German Mennonite Congregations or "Vereinigung der Deutschen Mennonitengemeinden". Founded in 1886, it has 27 Congregations with 5,724 members and is part of the larger "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mennonitischer Gemeinden in Deutschland" or AMG (Assembly/Council of Mennonite Churches in Germany), which claims 40,000 overall members from various groups. Other AMG member groups include: "Rußland-Deutschen Mennoniten", "Mennoniten-Brüdergemeinden"(Independent Mennonite Brethren congregations), "WEBB-Gemeinden", and the "Mennonitischen Heimatmission". However, not all German Mennonites belong to this larger AMG body. Upwards of 40,000 Mennonites emigrated from Russia to Germany starting in the 1970s.
The Mennonite presence remaining in the Netherlands, "Algemene Doopsgezinde Societeit" or ADS (translated as "General Mennonite Society"), maintains a seminary, as well as organizing relief, peace, and mission work, the latter primarily in Central Java and New Guinea. They have 121 congregations with 10,200 members according to the World Council of Churches, although the Mennonite World Conference cites only 7680 members.
Switzerland had 2350 Mennonites belonging to 14 Congregations which are part of the "Konferenz der Mennoniten der Schweiz (Alttäufer), Conférence mennonite suisse (Anabaptiste)" (Swiss Mennonite Conference).
In 2015, there were 2078 Mennonites in France. The country's 32 autonomous Mennonite congregations have formed the "Association des Églises Évangéliques Mennonites de France".
Once home to tens of thousands of Mennonites, the number of Mennonites in Ukraine in 2015 totaled just 499. They are organized among three denominations: "Association of Mennonite Brethren Churches of Ukraine", "Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Ukraine)", and "Evangelical Mennonite Churches of Ukraine (Beachy Amish Church – Ukraine)".
The U.K. had but 326 members within two organized bodies as of 2015. There is the Nationwide Fellowship Churches (UK) and the larger Brethren in Christ Church United Kingdom. Additionally, there is the registered charity, "The Mennonite Trust" (formerly known as "London Mennonite Centre"), which seeks to promote understanding of Mennonite and Anabaptist practices and values.
Mennonites have been portrayed in many areas of popular culture, especially literature, film, and television. Notable novels about or written by Mennonites include "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews, "Peace Shall Destroy Many" by Rudy Wiebe and A Year of Lesser by David Bergen. Rhoda Janzen's memoire "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" was a best-seller. In 2007, Mexican director Carlos Reygadas directed Silent Light, the first ever feature film in the Russian Mennonite dialect of Plautdietsch. Mennonites have also been depicted on television, including in episodes of "Letterkenny" and "The Simpsons", which was created by Matt Groening, himself of Russian Mennonite descent. Andrew Unger’s satire site The Daily Bonnet pokes fun at Mennonite culture and traditions. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20798 |
MMIX
MMIX (pronounced "em-mix") is a 64-bit reduced instruction set computing (RISC) architecture designed by Donald Knuth, with significant contributions by John L. Hennessy (who contributed to the design of the MIPS architecture) and Richard L. Sites (who was an architect of the Alpha architecture). Knuth has said that "MMIX is a computer intended to illustrate machine-level aspects of programming. In my books "The Art of Computer Programming", it replaces MIX, the 1960s-style machine that formerly played such a role… I strove to design MMIX so that its machine language would be simple, elegant, and easy to learn. At the same time I was careful to include all of the complexities needed to achieve high performance in practice, so that MMIX could in principle be built and even perhaps be competitive with some of the fastest general-purpose computers in the marketplace."
The processed is numbered as "2009" with Knuth explaining that this is the arithmetic mean from the numbers of other computer architectures; as well as being "MMIX" in Roman numerals.
MMIX is a big-endian 64-bit reduced instruction set computer (RISC), with 256 64-bit general-purpose registers, 32 64-bit special-purpose registers, fixed-length 32-bit instructions and a 64-bit virtual address space. The MMIX instruction set comprises 256 opcodes, one of which is reserved for future expansion. MMIX uses IEEE 754 floating-point numbers.
All instructions have an associated mnemonic. For example, instruction #20 (32) is associated with ADD. Most instructions have the symbolic form "OP X,Y,Z", where OP specifies the sort of instruction, X specifies the register used to store the result of the instruction and the rest specify the operands of the instruction. Each of these fields is eight bits wide. For example, ADD $0,$1,3 means "Set $0 to the sum of $1 and 3."
Most instructions can take either immediate values or register contents; thus a single instruction mnemonic may correspond to one of two opcodes.
MMIX programs are typically constructed using the MMIXAL assembly language. The below is a simple MMIXAL program, which prints the string "Hello, world!":
Main GETA $255,string % Put the address of the string
string BYTE "Hello, world!",#a,0 % String to be printed. #a is
There are 256 directly addressable general-purpose architectural registers in an MMIX chip, designated by $0 through $255, and 32 special-purpose architectural registers. The special-purpose registers can be accessed with the GET and PUT instructions.
Two of the special registers, rL and rG, determine which of the general registers are local and which are global. All registers from $0... are local registers, and represent a window into an internal stack of registers. Registers from [rL]... are "marginal registers", they always return 0 if they are used as a source in an operation. Using a marginal register as the destination of an operation will cause the machine to automatically increase rL to include that register. All registers [rG]... $255 are called global registers, and are not part of the register stack.
The local register stack provides each subroutine with its own rL local registers, designated by $0 through . Whenever a subroutine is called, a number of local registers are pushed down the stack (by shifting the start of the window). The arguments of the called subroutine are left in the remaining local registers. When a subroutine finishes it pops the previously pushed registers. Because the internal stack can contain only a finite number of registers, it may be necessary to store a part of the stack in memory. This is implemented with the special registers rO and rS which record which part of the local register stack is in memory and which part is still in local physical registers. The register stack provides for fast subroutine linkage.
The 32 special physical architectural registers are as follows:
Like programs running on almost all other CPUs,
MMIX programs can be interrupted in several ways.
External hardware, such as timers, are a common source of preemption (computing) interrupts.
Many instructions cause an interrupts in certain exceptional cases; such as the memory protection page fault exceptions used to implement virtual memory, and floating point exception handling.
MMIX has 2 kinds of interrupts: "trips" and "traps".
The main difference between "trips" and "traps" is that
traps send control to a "trap handler" program in the operating system (trapping), but
trips send control to a "trip handler" program in the user application (tripping).
Users can also force any interrupt handler to run with explicit software interrupt instructions TRIP and TRAP, similar to some kinds of trap in other computer systems.
In particular, a system call from a user program to the operating system uses a TRAP instruction.
, no known hardware implementations of the MMIX instruction set architecture exist. However, the fpgammix project implements MMIX in Verilog, making it possible to implement using a field-programmable gate array.
The MMIX instruction set architecture is supported by a number of software tools for computer architecture research and software development.
The GNU Compiler Collection includes an MMIX back-end for its C/C++ compilers, contributed by Hans-Peter Nilsson and part of the main GCC distribution since late 2001. , the MMIX back-end to GCC continues to be actively developed and maintained by volunteers.
The above tools could theoretically be used to compile, build, and bootstrap an entire FreeBSD, Linux, or other similar operating system kernel onto MMIX hardware, were such hardware to exist. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20799 |
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty (officially the Treaty on European Union) was a treaty signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Communities in Maastricht, Netherlands, to further European integration. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty. The treaty founded the European Union and established its pillar structure which stayed in place until the Lisbon Treaty came into force in 2009. The treaty also greatly expanded the competences of the EEC/EU and led to the creation of the single European currency, the euro.
The Maastricht Treaty reformed and amended the treaties establishing the European Communities, the EU's first pillar. It renamed European Economic Community to European Community to reflect its expanded competences beyond economic matters. The Maastricht Treaty also created two new pillars of the EU on Common Foreign and Security Policy and Cooperation in the Fields of Justice and Home Affairs (respectively the second and third pillars), which replaced the former informal intergovernmental cooperation bodies named TREVI and European Political Cooperation on EU Foreign policy coordination.
The Maastricht Treaty (TEU) and all pre-existing treaties has subsequently been further amended by the treaties of Amsterdam (1997), Nice (2001) and Lisbon (2007). Today it is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
While the current version of the TEU entered into force in 2009, following the Treaty of Lisbon (2007), the older form of the same document was implemented by the Treaty of Maastricht (1992).
The signing of the Treaty of Maastricht took place in Maastricht, Netherlands, on 7 February 1992. The Dutch government, by virtue of holding Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the negotiations in the second half of 1991, arranged a ceremony inside the government buildings of the Limburg province on the river Maas (Meuse). Representatives from the twelve member states of the European Communities were present, and signed the treaty as plenipotentiaries, marking the conclusion of the period of negotiations.
Only three countries held referendums (France, Denmark and Ireland – all required by their respective constitutions). In Ireland, the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution, allowing the state to ratify the Treaty, was approved in a referendum held on 18 June 1992 with the support of 69.1% of votes cast.
In Denmark, the first Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum was held on 2 June 1992 and ratification of the treaty was rejected by a margin of 50.7% to 49.3%. Subsequently, alterations were made to the treaty through the addition of the Edinburgh Agreement which lists four Danish exceptions, and this treaty was ratified the following year on 18 May 1993 after a second referendum was held in Denmark, where it received the support of 56.7% of votes cast, with legal effect after the formally granted royal assent on 9 June 1993.
In September 1992, a referendum in France narrowly supported the ratification of the treaty, with 50.8% in favour. This narrow vote for ratification in France, known at the time as the ", led Jacques Delors to comment that "Europe began as an elitist project in which it was believed that all that was required was to convince the decision-makers. That phase of benign despotism is over."
In the United Kingdom, an opt-out from the treaty's social provisions was opposed in Parliament by the opposition Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs and the treaty itself by the Maastricht Rebels within the governing Conservative Party. The number of rebels exceeded the Conservative majority in the House of Commons, and thus the government of John Major came close to losing the confidence of the House. In accordance with British constitutional convention, specifically that of parliamentary sovereignty, ratification in the UK was not subject to approval by referendum. Despite this, the British constitutional historian Vernon Bogdanor suggests that there was "a clear constitutional rationale for requiring a referendum" based on the allocation of legislative power.
The TEU entered into force on 1 November 1993.
At the end of January 2020, the UK left the EU and so withdrew from this Treaty.
Treaties amending the TEU:
The treaty led to the creation of the euro. One of the obligations of the treaty for the members was to keep "sound fiscal policies, with debt limited to 60% of GDP and annual deficits no greater than 3% of GDP". This obligation has not been met, with debt to GDP levels increasing steadily in most countries in eurozone since the treaty was signed with the average for the zone standing at 85%, and much higher for some countries, e.g. France, where debt to GDP ratios reached 98% in 2019, or Greece at 181%.
The treaty also created what was commonly referred to as the pillar structure of the European Union.
The treaty established the three pillars of the European Union—one supranational pillar created from three European Communities (which included the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community), the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar, and the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) pillar. The first pillar was where the EU's supra-national institutions—the Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice—had the most power and influence. The other two pillars were essentially more intergovernmental in nature with decisions being made by committees composed of member states' politicians and officials.
All three pillars were the extensions of existing policy structures. The European Community pillar was the continuation of the European Economic Community with the "Economic" being dropped from the name to represent the wider policy base given by the Maastricht Treaty. Coordination in foreign policy had taken place since the beginning of the 1970s under the name of European Political Cooperation (EPC), which had been first written into the treaties by the Single European Act but not as a part of the EEC. While the Justice and Home Affairs pillar extended cooperation in law enforcement, criminal justice, asylum, and immigration and judicial cooperation in civil matters, some of these areas had already been subject to intergovernmental cooperation under the Schengen Implementation Convention of 1990.
The creation of the pillar system was the result of the desire by many member states to extend the European Economic Community to the areas of foreign policy, military, criminal justice, and judicial cooperation. This desire was set off against the misgivings of other member states, notably the United Kingdom, over adding areas which they considered to be too sensitive to be managed by the supra-national mechanisms of the European Economic Community. The agreed compromise was that instead of renaming the European Economic Community as the European Union, the treaty would establish a legally separate European Union comprising the renamed European Economic Community, and the inter-governmental policy areas of foreign policy, military, criminal justice, judicial cooperation. The structure greatly limited the powers of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice to influence the new intergovernmental policy areas, which were to be contained with the second and third pillars: foreign policy and military matters (the CFSP pillar) and criminal justice and cooperation in civil matters (the JHA pillar).
In addition, the treaty established the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). CoR is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, municipalities, cities, etc.) with a direct voice within the EU's institutional framework.
The Maastricht criteria (also known as the convergence criteria) are the criteria for European Union member states to enter the third stage of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and adopt the euro as their currency. The four criteria are defined in article 121 of the treaty establishing the European Community. They impose control over inflation, public debt and the public deficit, exchange rate stability and the convergence of interest rates.
1. Inflation rates:
No more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average of the three best performing (lowest inflation) member states of the EU.
2. Government finance:
3. Exchange rate:
Applicant countries should have joined the exchange-rate mechanism (ERM II) under the European Monetary System (EMS) for two consecutive years and should not have devalued its currency during the period.
4. Long-term interest rates:
The nominal long-term interest rate must not be more than 2 percentage points higher than in the three lowest inflation member states.
The purpose of setting the criteria is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone even with the inclusion of new member states. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20803 |
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; Low Saxon: "Meideborg", ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated on the Elbe River.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the archbishopric of Magdeburg, was buried in the town's cathedral after his death. Magdeburg's version of German town law, known as Magdeburg rights, spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Until 1631, Magdeburg was one of the largest and most prosperous German cities and a notable member of the Hanseatic League.
Magdeburg has been destroyed twice in its history. The Catholic League sacked Magdeburg in 1631, resulting in the death of 25,000 non-combatants, the largest loss of the Thirty Years' War. Allies bombed the city in 1945, destroying much of it.
Magdeburg is the site of two universities, the Otto-von-Guericke University and the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences.
Magdeburg is situated on autobahn route 2, and hence is at the connection point of the East (Berlin and beyond) with the West of Europe, as well as the North and South of Germany. As a modern manufacturing center, the production of chemical products, steel, paper, and textiles are of particular economic significance, along with mechanical engineering and plant engineering, ecotechnology and life-cycle management, health management and logistics.
In 2005 Magdeburg celebrated its 1200th anniversary. In June 2013 the city was hit by record breaking flooding.
Founded by Charlemagne in 805 as Magadoburg (probably from Old High German "magado" for "big", "mighty" and "burga" for "fortress"), the town was fortified in 919 by King Henry the Fowler against the Magyars and Slavs. In 929 King Otto I granted the city to his English-born wife Edith as dower. Queen Edith loved the town and often resided there; at her death she was buried in the crypt of the Benedictine abbey of Saint Maurice, later rebuilt as the cathedral. In 937, Magdeburg was the seat of a royal assembly. Otto I repeatedly visited Magdeburg and was also buried in the cathedral. He granted the abbey the right to income from various tithes and to corvée labour from the surrounding countryside.
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was founded in 968 at the synod of Ravenna; Adalbert of Magdeburg was consecrated as its first archbishop. The archbishopric under Adalbert included the bishoprics of Havelberg, Brandenburg, Merseburg, Meissen and Naumburg-Zeitz. The archbishops played a prominent role in the German colonisation of the Slavic lands east of the Elbe river.
In 1035 Magdeburg received a patent giving the city the right to hold trade exhibitions and conventions, which form the basis of the later family of city laws known as the Magdeburg rights. These laws were adopted and modified throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Visitors from many countries began to trade with Magdeburg.
In the 13th century, Magdeburg became a member of the Hanseatic League. With more than 20,000 inhabitants Magdeburg was one of the largest cities in the Holy Roman Empire. The town had active maritime commerce on the west (towards Flanders), with the countries of the North Sea, and maintained traffic and communication with the interior (for example Brunswick).
The citizens constantly struggled against the archbishop, becoming nearly independent from him by the end of the 15th century. Around Easter 1497, the then twelve-year-old Martin Luther attended school in Magdeburg, where he was exposed to the teachings of the Brethren of the Common Life. In 1524, he was called to Magdeburg, where he preached and caused the city's defection from Roman Catholicism. The Protestant Reformation had quickly found adherents in the city, where Luther had been a schoolboy. Emperor Charles V repeatedly outlawed the unruly town, which had joined the League of Torgau and the Schmalkaldic League.
As it had not accepted the Augsburg Interim decree (1548), the city, by the emperor's commands, was besieged (1550–1551) by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, but it retained its independence. The rule of the archbishop was replaced by that of various administrators belonging to Protestant dynasties. In the following years, Magdeburg gained a reputation as a stronghold of Protestantism and became the first major city to publish the writings of Martin Luther. In Magdeburg, Matthias Flacius and his companions wrote their anti-Catholic pamphlets and the "Magdeburg Centuries", in which they argued that the Roman Catholic Church had become the kingdom of the Antichrist.
In 1631, during the Thirty Years' War, imperial troops under Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, stormed the city and massacred the inhabitants, killing about 20,000 and burning the town.
The city had withstood the first siege in 1629 by Albrecht von Wallenstein, a Protestant convert to Catholicism. After the war, a population of only 4,000 remained. Under the Peace of Westphalia (1648), Magdeburg was to be assigned to Brandenburg-Prussia after the death of the administrator August of Saxe-Weissenfels, as the semi-autonomous Duchy of Magdeburg. This occurred in 1680.
In the course of the Napoleonic Wars, the fortress surrendered to French troops in 1806. The city was annexed to the French-controlled Kingdom of Westphalia in the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit. King Jérôme appointed Count Heinrich von Blumenthal as mayor. In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, Magdeburg was made the capital of the new Prussian Province of Saxony. In 1912, the old fortress was dismantled, and in 1908, the municipality Rothensee became part of Magdeburg.
Magdeburg was heavily bombed by British and American air forces during the Second World War. The RAF bombing raid on the night of 16 January 1945, destroyed much of the city. The death toll is estimated at 2,000–2,500. Near the end of World War II, the city of about 340,000 became capital of the Province of Magdeburg. Brabag's Magdeburg/Rothensee plant that produced synthetic oil from lignite coal was a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II. The impressive "Gründerzeit" suburbs north of the city, called the Nordfront, were destroyed as well as the city's main street with its Baroque buildings. It was occupied by 9th US Army troops on 18 April 1945 and was left to the Red Army on 1 July 1945. Post-war the area was part of the Soviet Zone of Occupation and many of the remaining pre-World War II city buildings were destroyed, with only a few buildings near the cathedral and in the southern part of the old city being restored to their pre-war state. Before the reunification of Germany, many surviving "Gründerzeit" buildings were left uninhabited and, after years of degradation, waiting for demolition. From 1949 until German reunification on 3 October 1990, Magdeburg belonged to the German Democratic Republic.
In 1990 Magdeburg became the capital of the new state of Saxony-Anhalt within reunified Germany. Huge parts of the city and its centre were also rebuilt in a modern style. Its economy is one of the fastest-growing in the former East German states.
In 2005 Magdeburg celebrated its 1200th anniversary.
The city was hit by 2013 European floods. Authorities declared a state of emergency and said they expected the Elbe river to rise higher than in 2002. In Magdeburg, with water levels of above normal, about 23,000 residents had to leave their homes on 9 June.
Magdeburg is one of the major towns along the Elbe Cycle Route (Elberadweg).
Magdeburg has a Humid continental climate (Dfb) bordering on an oceanic climate (Cfb) according to Köppen climate classification.
Population change since 1400:
The Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (German: Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg) was founded in 1993 and is one of the youngest universities in Germany. The university in Magdeburg has about 13,000 students in nine faculties. There are 11,700 papers published in international journals from this institute.
The Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1991. There are 30 direct study programs in five departments in Magdeburg and two departments in Stendal. The university has more than 130 professors and approximately 4,500 students at Magdeburg and 1,900 at Stendal.
Magdeburg has a municipal theatre, Theater Magdeburg.
Magdeburg is well known for its Christmas market, which is an attraction for 1.5 million visitors every year. Other events are the "Stadtfest", "Christopher Street Day", "Elbe in Flames", and the "Europafest Magdeburg". The autumn fair (formerly men's fair) of Magdeburg goes back to Germany's oldest folk festival. The tradition dates back to September 1010, when the holy feast of the Theban Legion was celebrated in Magdeburg (then called Magathaburg).
One of Magdeburg's most impressive buildings is the Lutheran Cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice with a height of , making it the tallest church building of eastern Germany. It is notable for its beautiful and unique sculptures, especially the "Twelve Virgins" at the Northern Gate, the depictions of Otto I the Great and his wife Editha as well as the statues of St Maurice and St Catherine.
The predecessor of the cathedral was a church built in 937 within an abbey, called St. Maurice. Emperor Otto I the Great was buried here beside his wife in 973. St. Maurice burnt to ashes in 1207. The exact location of that church remained unknown for a long time. The foundations were rediscovered in May 2003, revealing a building long and wide.
The construction of the new church lasted 300 years. The cathedral of Saints Catherine and Maurice was the first Gothic church building in Germany. The building of the steeples was completed as late as 1520.
While the cathedral was virtually the only building to survive the massacres of the Thirty Years' War, it suffered damage in World War II. It was soon rebuilt and completed in 1955.
The square in front of the cathedral (also called the "Neuer Markt", or "new marketplace") was occupied by an imperial palace ("Kaiserpfalz"), which was destroyed in the fire of 1207. The stones from the ruin were used for the building of the cathedral. The presumed remains of the palace were excavated in the 1960s.
Magdeburg has a proud history of sports teams, with football proving the most popular. 1. FC Magdeburg currently play in the 3. Liga, the third division of German football. They are the only East German football club to have won a European club football competition. The now defunct clubs SV Victoria 96 Magdeburg and Cricket Viktoria Magdeburg were among the first football clubs in Germany.
There is also the very successful handball team, SC Magdeburg who are the first German team to win the EHF Champions League.
The discus was re-discovered in Magdeburg in the 1870s by Christian Georg Kohlrausch, a gymnastics teacher.
Magdeburg is twinned with: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20804 |
Motet
In western music, a motet is a mainly vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from the late medieval era to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margaret Bent, "a piece of music in several parts with words" is as precise a definition of the motet as will serve from the 13th to the late 16th century and beyond. The late 13th-century theorist Johannes de Grocheo believed that the motet was "not to be celebrated in the presence of common people, because they do not notice its subtlety, nor are they delighted in hearing it, but in the presence of the educated and of those who are seeking out subtleties in the arts".
In the early 20th century, it was generally believed the name came from the Latin "movere" (to move), though a derivation from the French "mot" ("word", or "phrase"), had also been suggested. The Medieval Latin for "motet" is "motectum", and the Italian "mottetto" was also used. If the word is from Latin, the name describes the movement of the different voices against one another. Today, however, the French etymology is favoured by reference books, as the word "motet" in 13th-century French had the sense of "little word". In fact, the troped clausulas that were the forerunner of the motet were originally called "motelli" (from the French "mot", "word"), soon replaced by the term "moteti".
The earliest motets arose in the 13th century from the "organum" tradition exemplified in the Notre-Dame school of Léonin and Pérotin. The motet probably arose from clausula sections in a longer sequence of organum. Clausulae represent brief sections of longer polyphonic settings of chant with a note-against-note texture. In some cases, these sections were composed independently and "substituted" for existing setting. These clausulae could then be "troped," or given new text in the upper part(s), creating motets. From these first motets arose a medieval tradition of secular motets. These were two- to four-part compositions in which different texts, sometimes in different vernacular languages, were sung simultaneously over a (usually Latin-texted) "cantus firmus" that once again was usually adapted from a passage of Gregorian chant. It is also increasingly argued that the term "motet" could in fact include certain brief single-voice songs. The texts of upper voices include subjects as diverse as courtly love odes, pastoral encounters with shepherdesses, political attacks, and many Christian devotion, especially to the Virgin Mary. The vast majority of medieval motets are anonymous compositions, and there is significant re-use of music and text. They are transmitted in a number of contexts, but were most popular in northern France and Paris; the largest surviving collection is in the Montpellier Codex.
Increasingly in the 14th and 15th centuries, motets made use of repetitive patters often termed panisorhythmic; that is, they employed repeated rhythmic patterns in all voices—not only the "cantus firmus"—which did not necessarily coincide with repeating melodic patterns. Philippe de Vitry was one of the earliest composers to use this technique, and his work evidently had an influence on that of Guillaume de Machaut, one of the most famous named composers of late medieval motets.
Other medieval motet composers include:
The motet was preserved in the transition from medieval to Renaissance music, but the character of the composition was entirely changed. While it grew out of the medieval isorhythmic motet, the Renaissance composers of the motet generally abandoned the use of a repeated figure as a "cantus firmus". Guillaume Dufay was a transitional figure in this regard; he wrote one of the last important motets in the medieval, isorhythmic style, "Nuper rosarum flores" (1436), written to commemorate the completion of Filippo Brunelleschi's dome in the Cathedral of Florence. During the second half of the fifteenth century, motets came to adopt the "cantus firmus" technique found in contemporary "tenor masses," in which the "cantus firmus" was stretched out to great lengths compared to the multivoice counterpoint surrounding it. This tended to obscure the rhythm supplied by the "cantus firmus" that had been apparent in the medieval isorhythmic motet. The cascading, passing chords created by the interplay between multiple voices, and the absence of a strong or obvious beat, are the features that distinguish medieval and renaissance motet styles. Instead, the Renaissance motet is a polyphonic musical setting, sometimes in imitative counterpoint, for chorus, of a Latin text, usually sacred, not specifically connected to the liturgy of a given day, and therefore suitable for use in any service. The texts of antiphons were frequently used as motet texts. This is the sort of composition that is most familiarly designated by the term "motet", and the Renaissance period marked the flowering of the form.
In essence, these motets were sacred madrigals. The relationship between the two forms is most obvious in the composers who concentrated on sacred music, especially Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose "motets" setting texts from the "Canticum Canticorum", the biblical "Song of Solomon", are among the most lush and madrigal-like of Palestrina's compositions, while his "madrigals" that set poems of Petrarch in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary would not be out of place in church. The language of the text was the decisive feature: if it is Latin, it is a motet; if the vernacular, a madrigal. Religious compositions in vernacular languages were often called "madrigali spirituali", "spiritual madrigals". Like their madrigal cousins, Renaissance motets developed in episodic format, with separate phrases of the source text being given independent melodic treatment and contrapuntal development; contrapuntal passages often alternate with monody.
Secular (non-religious) motets continued to be written, however. These motets typically set a Latin text in praise of a monarch, commemorating some public triumph, or even praising music itself. Nevertheless, the themes of courtly love often found in the medieval secular motet were banished from the Renaissance motet. Many secular motets are known as "ceremonial motets". Characteristic of ceremonial motets was a clarity of diction, for the audience was not presumed to be familiar already with the text (as would have been true with Latin hymns) and also a clear articulation of formal structure, for example a setting apart of successive portions of text with sharp contrasts of texture or rhythm. Adrian Willaert, Ludwig Senfl, and Cipriano de Rore were among the most prominent composers of ceremonial motets during the first half of the 16th century.
The motet was one of the preeminent forms of Renaissance music. Important composers of Renaissance motets include:
In the latter part of the 16th century, Giovanni Gabrieli and other composers developed a new style, the polychoral motet, in which two or more choirs of singers (or instruments) alternated. This style of motet was sometimes called the "Venetian motet" to distinguish it from the "Netherlands" or "Flemish" motet written elsewhere. "If Ye Love Me" by Thomas Tallis serves the demand of the Church of England for English texts, and a focus on understanding the words, beginning in homophony.
In Baroque music, especially in France, there were two distinct, and very different types of motet: "petits motets", sacred choral or chamber compositions whose only accompaniment was a basso continuo; and "grands motets", which included massed choirs and instruments up to and including a full orchestra. Jean-Baptiste Lully was an important composer of this sort of motet. Lully's motets often included parts for soloists as well as choirs; they were longer, including multiple movements in which different soloist, choral, or instrumental forces were employed. Lully's motets also continued the Renaissance tradition of semi-secular Latin motets in works such as "Plaude Laetare Gallia", written to celebrate the baptism of King Louis XIV's son; its text by Pierre Perrin begins:
"Plaude laetare Gallia"
"Rore caelesti rigantur lilia,"
"Sacro Delphinus fonte lavatur"
"Et christianus Christo dicatur."
In Germany, too, pieces called motets were written in the new musical languages of the Baroque. Heinrich Schütz wrote many motets in series of publications, for example three books of Symphoniae sacrae, some in Latin and some in German. Hans Leo Hassler composed motets such as "Dixit Maria", on which he also based a mass composition.
Johann Sebastian Bach wrote works he called motets, relatively long pieces in German on sacred themes for choir and "basso continuo", with instruments playing colla parte, several of them composed for funerals. Six motets certainly composed by Bach are:
The funeral cantata "O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht", BWV 118 (1736–37?) is regarded as a motet. The motet "Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren", BWV 231 is an arrangement of a movement from Bach's Cantata 28, and the authenticity of the arrangement is not certain. For a few more motets, such as "Ich lasse dich nicht", BWV Anh 159, Bach's authorship is debated.
Later 18th-century composers wrote few motets, but for example his son Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach composed an extended chorale motet "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme", combining Baroque techniques with the galant style. Mozart's well-known Ave verum corpus (K. 618) is in this genre.
In the 19th century, some German composers continued to write motets. Felix Mendelssohn composed motets such as "Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt" and "Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen". Johannes Brahms composed for example three motets on biblical verses, "Fest- und Gedenksprüche". Josef Rheinberger composed motets such as "Abendlied". Anton Bruckner composed about 40 motets, mainly in Latin, including "Locus iste". French composers of motets included Camille Saint-Saëns, and César Franck. Similar compositions in the English language are called anthems, but some later English composers, such as Charles Villiers Stanford, wrote motets in Latin. The majority of these compositions are a cappella, but some are accompanied by organ, for example Edward Elgar's three motets Op. 2.
In the 20th century, composers of motets have often consciously imitated earlier styles. In 1920, Ralph Vaughan Williams composed "O clap your hands", a setting of verses from Psalm 47 for a four-part choir, organ, brass, and percussion, called a motet. Carl Nielsen set in "Tre Motetter" three verses from different psalms as motets, first performed in 1930. Francis Poulenc set several Latin texts as motets, first "Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence" (1938). Maurice Duruflé composed "Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens" in 1960, and "Notre Père" in 1977. Other examples include works by Richard Strauss, Charles Villiers Stanford, Edmund Rubbra, Lennox Berkeley, Morten Lauridsen, Edward Elgar, Hugo Distler, Ernst Krenek, Michael Finnissy, Karl Jenkins and Igor Stravinsky.
Arvo Pärt composed motets, such as "Da pacem Domine" in 2006. also Sven-David Sandström, Enjott Schneider, Ludger Stühlmeyer and Pierre Pincemaille. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20805 |
Merlin
Merlin (, , ) is a legendary figure best known as an enchanter or wizard featured in Arthurian legend and medieval Welsh poetry. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae", written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures. Geoffrey combined existing stories of Myrddin Wyllt (or Merlinus Caledonensis), a North Brythonic prophet and madman with no connection to King Arthur, with tales of the Romano-British war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus to form the composite figure he called Merlinus Ambrosius (, ).
Geoffrey's rendering of the character was immediately popular, especially in Wales. Later writers in France and elsewhere expanded the account to produce a fuller image, creating one of the most important figures in the imagination and literature of the Middle Ages. Merlin's traditional biography casts him as a cambion: born of a mortal woman, sired by an incubus, the non-human from whom he inherits his supernatural powers and abilities. Merlin matures to an ascendant sagehood and engineers the birth of Arthur through magic and intrigue. Later authors have Merlin serve as the king's advisor and mentor until he disappears from the story after having been bewitched and forever sealed or killed by the Lady of the Lake after falling madly in love with her. He is popularly said to be buried in the magical forest of Brocéliande.
The name "Merlin" is derived from the Welsh "Myrddin", the name of the bard who was one of the chief sources for the later legendary figure. Geoffrey of Monmouth Latinised the name to "Merlinus" in his works. Medievalist Gaston Paris suggests that Geoffrey chose the form "Merlinus" rather than the regular "Merdinus" to avoid a resemblance to the Anglo-Norman word "merde" (from Latin "merda") for feces. Other suggestions are that 'Merlin' is an adjective, from the French "merle" meaning 'blackbird', or that the 'many names' deriving from Myrddin stem from the : myriad.
Clas Myrddin or "Merlin's Enclosure" is an early name for Great Britain stated in the Third Series of Welsh Triads. Celticist A. O. H. Jarman suggests that the Welsh name "" () was derived from the toponym "Caerfyrddin", the Welsh name for the town known in English as Carmarthen. This contrasts with the popular folk etymology that the town was named after the bard. The name Carmarthen is derived from the town's previous Roman name Moridunum, in turn derived from Celtic Brittonic "moridunon", 'sea fortress'.
Geoffrey's composite Merlin is based primarily on the madman, poet and seer Myrddin Wyllt ("Myrddin the Wild", sometimes called "Merlinus Caledonensis" in later sources influenced by Geoffrey), as well as on Emrys (Old Welsh: "Embreis"), a character based in part on the 5th-century historical war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus who was mentioned in one of Geoffrey's primary sources, the early 9th-century "Historia Brittonum". In British poetry, Myrddin was a bard driven mad after witnessing the horrors of war, who fled civilization to become a wild man of the wood in the 6th century. This madman, also known as Lailoken, who has parallels with the Irish Suibhne (Sweeney), roams the Caledonian Forest, until cured of his madness by Kentigern (Saint Mungo). Geoffrey had Myrddin in mind when he wrote his earliest surviving work, the "Prophetiae Merlini" ("Prophecies of Merlin"), which he claimed were the actual words of the legendary poet and madman.
Geoffrey's "Prophetiae" do not reveal much about Merlin's background. He included the prophet in his next work, "Historia Regum Britanniae", supplementing the characterisation by attributing to him stories about Aurelius Ambrosius, taken from Nennius' "Historia Brittonum". According to Nennius, Ambrosius was discovered when the British king Vortigern was trying to erect a tower at Dinas Emrys. The tower always collapsed before completion, and his wise men told him that the only solution was to sprinkle the foundation with the blood of a child born without a father. Ambrosius was rumoured to be such a child but, when brought before the king, he revealed the real reason for the tower's collapse: below the foundation was a lake containing two dragons who fought a battle representing the struggle between the invading Saxons and the native Celtic Britons. Geoffrey retells this story in his "Historia Regum Britanniæ" with some embellishments, and gives the fatherless child the name of the prophetic bard Merlin. He goes on to add new episodes that tie Merlin with King Arthur and his predecessors. Geoffrey keeps this new figure separate from Aurelius Ambrosius and, with regard to his changing of the original Nennian character, he states that Ambrosius was also called 'Merlin'—that is, Ambrosius Merlinus.
Geoffrey's account of Merlin Ambrosius' early life is based on the tale of Ambrosius in the "Historia Brittonum". He adds his own embellishments to the tale, which he sets in Carmarthen, Wales (Welsh: Caerfyrddin). While Nennius' Ambrosius eventually reveals himself to be the son of a Roman consul, Geoffrey's Merlin is begotten on a king's daughter by an incubus demon. The name of Merlin's mother is not usually stated, but is given as Adhan in the oldest version of the Prose "Brut". The story of Vortigern's tower is essentially the same; the underground dragons, one white and one red, represent the Saxons and the Britons, and their final battle is a portent of things to come. At this point Geoffrey inserts a long section of Merlin's prophecies, taken from his earlier "Prophetiae Merlini". He tells only two further tales of the character. In the first, Merlin creates Stonehenge as a burial place for Aurelius Ambrosius, bringing the stones from Ireland (the stones actually came from the Preseli Hills in south-west Wales). In the second, Merlin's magic enables the new British king Uther Pendragon to enter into Tintagel Castle in disguise and father his son Arthur with his enemy's wife, Igerna (Igraine). These episodes appear in many later adaptations of Geoffrey's account. As Lewis Thorpe notes, Merlin disappears from the narrative after this; he does not tutor and advise Arthur as in later versions.
Geoffrey dealt with Merlin again in his third work, "Vita Merlini". He based it on stories of the original 6th-century Myrddin, set long after his time frame for the life of Merlin Ambrosius. Geoffrey tried to assert that the characters are the same with references to King Arthur and his death, as told in the "Historia Regum Britanniae". Here, Merlin survives Arthur, marries a woman named Guendoloena (inspired by the male Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio), and eventually spends his time observing stars from his "" with seventy windows, in the remote woods in the land of Rhydderch. There, he is often visited by his sister Ganieda (based on Myrddin's sister Gwenddydd) who has become queen of the Cumbrians and is also endowed with prophetic powers.
Nikolai Tolstoy hypothesizes that Merlin is based on a historical personage, probably a 6th-century druid living in southern Scotland. His argument is based on the fact that early references to Merlin describe him as possessing characteristics which modern scholarship (but not that of the time the sources were written) would recognize as druidical—the inference being that those characteristics were not invented by the early chroniclers, but belonged to a real person. If so, the hypothetical Merlin would have lived about a century after the hypothetical historical Arthur. A late version of the "Annales Cambriae" (dubbed the "B-text", written at the end of the 13th century) and influenced by Geoffrey, records for the year 573, that after "the battle of Arfderydd, between the sons of Eliffer and Gwenddolau son of Ceidio; in which battle Gwenddolau fell; Merlin went mad." The earliest version of the "Annales Cambriae" entry (in the "A-text", written c. 1100), as well as a later copy (the "C-text", written towards the end of the 13th century) do not mention Merlin. Myrddin/Merlin also shares similarities with the shamanic bard figure of Taliesin, alongside whom he appears in the Welsh Triads and in "Vita Merlini".
Several decades later, Robert de Boron retold and expanded on this material in his influential Old French poem "Merlin". Only a few lines of the poem have survived, but a prose version became popular and was later incorporated into Arthurian chivalric romance literature. In Robert's account, as in Geoffrey's "Historia", Merlin is created as a demon spawn, here to become the Antichrist and reverse the effect of the Harrowing of Hell. However, this plot is thwarted when a priest named immediately baptizes the boy at birth, thus freeing him from the power of Satan and his intended destiny. The demonic legacy invests Merlin with a preternatural knowledge of the past and present, which is supplemented by God, who gives the boy a prophetic knowledge of the future. Robert lays great emphasis on Merlin's power to shapeshift, on his joking personality, and on his connection to the Holy Grail, the quest for which he foretells. Inspired by Wace's "Roman de Brut", an Anglo-Norman adaptation of Geoffrey's "Historia", "Merlin" was originally a part of a cycle of Robert's poems telling the story of the Grail over the centuries. The narrative of "Merlin" includes Geoffrey's episodes of Vortigern's Tower, of Uther's war against the Saxons, and of Arthur's conception, but follows it with the new episode of the drawing of the sword from the stone, an event orchestrated by Merlin just as he earlier instructs Uther to establish the original order of the Round Table after creating the table itself.
The prose version of Robert's poem was then continued in the 13th-century "Merlin Continuation" or the "Suite de Merlin", describing King Arthur's early wars and Merlin's role in them as he predicts and influences the course of the battles. Here, Merlin's shapeshifting powers are also featured prominently, with him often appearing as a "wild man" figure evoking that of his prototype, Myrddin Wyllt. The extended prose rendering became the foundation for the vast Lancelot-Grail cyclical series of Old French prose works also known as the Vulgate Cycle. Eventually, it was directly incorporated into the Vulgate Cycle as the "Estoire de Merlin", also known as the Vulgate "Merlin" or the Prose "Merlin". A further reworking and continuation of the Prose "Merlin" was included within the subsequent Post-Vulgate Cycle as the Post-Vulgate "Suite du Merlin" also known as the Huth "Merlin". All these versions have been adapted and translated into several other languages. Notably, the Post-Vulgate "Suite" was the main source for the early parts of Thomas Malory's English-language compilation work "Le Morte d'Arthur" that is an iconic version of the legend today.
Later medieval works also deal with the Merlin legend, including through unusual stories such as "Le Roman de Silence". As the Arthurian myths were retold, Merlin's prophetic aspects were sometimes de-emphasised in favour of portraying him as a wizard and an advisor to the young Arthur, sometimes in struggle between good and evil sides of his character, and living in forests connected with nature. In the "Perceval en prose" (also known as the Didot "Perceval" and too attributed to Robert), where Merlin is the initiator of the Grail Quest, he eventually retires by turning himself into a bird. In the Vulgate Cycle's version of "Merlin", his acts include arranging consummation of Arthur's desire for "the most beautiful maiden ever born," Lady Lisanor of Cardigan, resulting in the birth of Arthur's illegitimate son Lohot from before the marriage to Guinevere. But fate cannot always be changed: the Post-Vulgate Cycle has Merlin warn Arthur of how the birth of his other son Mordred will bring great misfortune and ruin to his kingdom, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The earliest English verse romance concerning Merlin is "Of Arthour and of Merlin", which drew from the chronicles and the Vulgate Cycle. In English-language medieval texts that conflate Britain with the Kingdom of England, the Anglo-Saxon enemies against whom Merlin aids first Uther and then Arthur tend to be replaced by the Saracens or simply just invading pagans. Meanwhile, some of the many Welsh works predicting the Celtic revenge and victory over the Saxons have been reinterpreted as Merlin's (Myrddin's) prophecies, later used by propaganda of the Welsh-descent king Henry VIII of England. The "Prophéties de Merlin" (c. 1276) contains long prophecies of Merlin (mostly concerned with 11th to 13th-century Italian history and contemporary politics), some by his ghost after his death, interspersed with episodes relating Merlin's deeds and with assorted Arthurian adventures in which Merlin does not appear at all. Even more political Italian text was Joachim of Fiore's "Expositio Sybillae et Merlini", directed against Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor whom the author regarded as the Antichrist. The earliest Merlin text in German was Caesarius of Heisterbach's "Dialogus Miraculorum" (1220), originally in Latin. Ulrich Füetrer's 15th-century "Buch der Abenteuer" presents Merlin as Uter's father, effectively making his grandson Arthur a part-devil too.
In chivalric romance tradition, Merlin has a major weakness that eventually leads him to his doom: young beautiful women of "femme fatale" archetype. His apprentice is often Arthur's half-sister Morgan le Fay (in the "Prophéties de Merlin" along with Sebile and two other witch queens), who is sometimes depicted as Merlin's lover and sometimes as just an unrequited love interest. While Merlin does share his magic with them, his prophetic powers cannot be passed on. Contrary to the many modern works in which they are archenemies, Merlin and Morgan are never opposed to each other in any medieval tradition, other than Morgan forcibly rejecting him in some texts; in fact, his love for Morgan is so great that he even lies to the king in order to save her in the Huth "Merlin", which is the only instance of him ever intentionally misleading Arthur. Instead, Merlin's eventual undoing comes from his lusting after another of his female students, named Viviane (among other names and spellings, including Malory's popular Nimue); also called a fairy (French "fee") like Morgan, Viviane is first found in the Lancelot-Grail cycle, having been inserted into the legend by either de Boron or his continuator. Merlin's fate of either demise or eternal imprisonment, along with his destroyer or captor's motivation (from her fear of Merlin and protecting her own virginity, to her jealously for his relationship with Morgan), is recounted differently in variants of this motif but is usually placed within the enchanted forest of Brocéliande. The form of his prison or grave can be variably a crystal cave, a hole under a large rock (as in "Le Morte d'Arthur"), a magic tower, or a tree. In some texts, including in "Le Morte d'Arthur", she then replaces Merlin in the role of Arthur's court mage and adviser as a Lady of the Lake (the chief Lady in case of Malory's Nimue) following the "last enchantement". Malory's telling of this episode would later become a major inspiration for Romantic authors and artists of the 19th century.
There are many different versions of their story; a common theme in most of them is Merlin usually having the prior prophetic knowledge of her plot against him, but lacking either ability or will to counteract it in any way, along with her usually using one of his own spells against him. Niniane, as the Lady is known in the "Livre d'Artus" continuation of "Merlin", breaks his heart prior to his later second relationship with Morgan, but here the text actually does not tell how exactly Merlin did vanish, other than relating his farewell to Blaise. In the Post-Vulgate "Suite", the young King Bagdemagus manages to find the rock under which Merlin is entombed alive by Niviene; he communicates with Merlin, but cannot lift it. What follows next is supposedly narrated in the mysterious text "Conte del Brait" ("Tale of the Cry"). In the "Prophéties de Merlin" version, his tomb is unsuccessfully searched for by various parties, including by Morgan and her enchantresses, but cannot be accessed due to the deadly magic traps around it, while the Lady of the Lake comes to taunt Merlin by asking did he rot there yet. In the Vulgate "Lancelot", which predated the later Vulgate "Merlin", she (aged just 12 at the time) instead makes Merlin sleep forever in a pit in the forest of Darnantes, "and that is where he remained, for never again did anyone see or hear of him or have news to tell of him." In a version with a happier ending, contained within the "Premiers Faits" section of the "Livre du Graal" and evoking the final scenes from "Vita Merlini", Niniane peacefully confines him in Brocéliande with walls of air, visible only as a mist to others but as a beautiful yet unbreakable crystal tower to him, where they then spend almost every night together.
The legendary Brocéliande is often identified as the real-life Paimpont forest in Brittany. Other purported sites of Merlin's burial include a cave deep inside Merlin's Hill (), outside Carmarthen. Carmarthen is also associated with Merlin more generally, including through the 13th-century manuscript known as the "Black Book of Carmarthen" and the local lore of Merlin's Oak.
In North Welsh tradition, Merlin retires to Bardsey Island (), where he lives in a house of glass () with the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain (). One site of his tomb is said to be Marlborough Mound in Wiltshire, known in medieval times as "Merlebergia". Another site associated with Merlin's burial, in his 'Merlin Silvestris' aspect, is the confluence of the Pausalyl Burn and River Tweed in Drumelzier, Scotland. The 15th-century "Scotichronicon" tells that Merlin himself underwent a triple-death, at the hands of some shepherds of the under-king Meldred: stoned and beaten by the shepherds, he falls over a cliff and is impaled on a stake, his head falls forward into the water, and he drowns. The fulfilment of another prophecy, ascribed to Thomas the Rhymer, came about when a spate of the Tweed and Pausayl occurred during the reign of the Scottish James VI and I on the English throne: "When Tweed and Pausayl meet at Merlin's grave, / Scotland and England one king shall have."
The subject of Merlin has continued to be popular through the Renaissance and afterwards, especially since the renewed interest in the legend of Arthur in modern times. As noted by Arthurian scholar Alan Lupack, "numerous novels, poems and plays center around Merlin. In American literature and popular culture, Merlin is perhaps the most frequently portrayed Arthurian character." Diverting from his traditional role in the legends, sometimes Merlin is a villain, such as in Mark Twain's satire of the legend, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1889). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20807 |
Merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry, commerce, and trade have existed. In 16th-century Europe, two different terms for merchants emerged: "meerseniers" referred to local traders (such as bakers and grocers) and "koopman" () referred to merchants who operated on a global stage, importing and exporting goods over vast distances and offering added-value services such as credit and finance.
The status of the merchant has varied during different periods of history and among different societies. In ancient Rome and Greece merchants could become wealthy, but lacked high social status. In contrast, in the Middle East, where markets were an integral part of the city, merchants enjoyed high status. In modern times, the term "merchant" has occasionally been used to refer to a businessperson or someone undertaking activities (commercial or industrial) for the purpose of generating profit, cash flow, sales, and revenue utilizing a combination of human, financial, intellectual and physical capital with a view to fueling economic development and growth.
Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated in ancient Babylonia and Assyria, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Phoenicia, and Rome. During the European medieval period, a rapid expansion in trade and commerce led to the rise of a wealthy and powerful merchant class. The European age of discovery opened up new trading routes and gave European consumers access to a much broader range of goods. From the 1600s, goods began to travel much further distances as they found their way into geographically dispersed market-places. Following the opening of Asia to European trade and the discovery of the New World, merchants imported goods over very long distances: calico cloth from India, porcelain, silk and tea from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World. By the eighteenth century, a new type of manufacturer-merchant had started to emerge and modern business practices were becoming evident.
The English term, "merchant" comes from the Middle English, "marchant", which itself originated from the Vulgar Latin "mercatant" or "mercatans", formed from present participle of "mercatare" ('to trade, to traffic or to deal in'). The term refers to any type of reseller, but can also be used with a specific qualifier to suggest a person who deals in a given characteristic such as "speed merchant", which refer to someone who enjoys fast driving; "noise merchant", which refers to a group of musical performers; "dream merchant", which refers to someone who peddles idealistic visionary scenarios; "merchant of war", which refers disparagingly to proponents of war.
Elizabeth Honig has argued that concepts relating to the role of a merchant began to change in the mid-16th century. The Dutch term, "koopman", became rather more fluid during the 16th century when Antwerp was the most global market town in Europe. Two different terms, for a merchant, began to be used, "meerseniers" referred to local merchants including bakers, grocers, sellers of dairy products and stall-holders, while the alternate term, "koopman," referred to those who traded in goods or credit on a large scale. This distinction was necessary to separate the daily trade that the general population understood from the rising ranks of traders who took up their places on a world stage and were seen as quite distant from everyday experience.
Broadly, merchants can be classified into two categories:
However, the term 'merchant' is often used in a variety of specialised contexts such as in "merchant banker", "merchant navy" or "merchant services".
Merchants have existed as long as humans have conducted business, trade or commerce. A merchant class operated in many pre-modern societies. Open-air, public markets, where merchants and traders congregated, functioned in ancient Babylonia and Assyria, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Phoenicia and Rome. These markets typically occupied a place in the town's centre. Surrounding the market, skilled artisans, such as metal-workers and leather workers, occupied premises in alley ways that led to the open market-place. These artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, but also prepared goods for sale on market days. In ancient Greece markets operated within the agora (open space), and in ancient Rome in the forum. Rome's forums included the Forum Romanum, the Forum Boarium and Trajan's Forum. The Forum Boarium, one of a series of "fora venalia" or food markets, originated, as its name suggests, as a cattle market.
Trajan's Forum was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with shops on four levels. The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shop-front.
In antiquity, exchange involved direct selling through permanent or semi-permanent retail premises such as stall-holders at market places or shop-keepers selling from their own premises or through door-to-door direct sales via merchants or peddlers. The nature of direct selling centred around transactional exchange, where the goods were on open display, allowing buyers to evaluate quality directly through visual inspection. Relationships between merchant and consumer were minimal often playing into public concerns about the quality of produce.
The Phoenicians became well known amongst contemporaries as "traders in purple" – a reference to their monopoly over the purple dye extracted from the murex shell. The Phoenicians plied their ships across the Mediterranean, becoming a major trading power by the 9th century BCE. Phoenician merchant traders imported and exported wood, textiles, glass and produce such as wine, oil, dried fruit and nuts. Their trading necessitated a network of colonies along the Mediterranean coast, stretching from modern-day Crete through to Tangiers (in present-day Morocco) and northward to Sardinia. The Phoenicians not only traded in tangible goods, but were also instrumental in transporting the trappings of culture. The Phoenicians' extensive trade networks necessitated considerable book-keeping and correspondence. In around 1500 BCE, the Phoenicians developed a script which was much easier to learn that the pictographic systems used in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Phoenician traders and merchants were largely responsible for spreading their alphabet around the region. Phoenician inscriptions have been found in archaeological sites at a number of former Phoenician cities and colonies around the Mediterranean, such as Byblos (in present-day Lebanon) and Carthage in North Africa.
The social status of the merchant class varied across cultures; ranging from high status (the members even eventually achieving titles such as that of Merchant Prince or Nabob) to low status, as in China, Greece and Roman cultures, owing to the presumed distastefulness of profiting from "mere" trade rather than from labor or the labor of others as in agriculture and craftsmanship. The Romans defined merchants or traders in a very narrow sense. Merchants were those who bought and sold goods, while landowners who sold their own produce were not classed as merchants. Being a landowner was a "respectable" occupation. On the other hand, the Romans did not consider the activities of merchants "respectable". In the ancient cities of the Middle East, where the bazaar was the city's focal point and heartbeat, merchants who worked in bazaar were considered to be among the high-ranking members of the society. In Medieval Western Europe, the Christian church, which closely associated merchants' activities with the sin of usury, criticised the merchant class, strongly influencing attitudes towards them.
In Greco-Roman society, merchants typically did not have high social status, though they may have enjoyed great wealth. Umbricius Scauras, for example, was a manufacturer and trader of fish sauce (also known as garum) in Pompeii, circa 35 C.E. His villa, situated in one of the wealthier districts of Pompeii, was very large and ornately decorated in a show of substantial personal wealth. Mosaic patterns in the floor of his atrium were decorated with images of amphorae bearing his personal brand and inscribed with quality claims. One of the inscriptions on the mosaic amphora reads "G(ari) F(los) SCO[m]/ SCAURI/ EX OFFI[ci]/NA SCAU/RI" which translates as "The flower of garum, made of the mackerel, a product of Scaurus, from the shop of Scaurus". Scauras' fish sauce had a reputation for very high quality across the Mediterranean; its fame travelled as far away as modern southern France. Other notable Roman merchants included: Marcus Julius Alexander (16 - 44 CE), Sergius Orata (fl. c. 95 BCE) and Annius Plocamus (1st century CE).
In the Roman world, local merchants served the needs of the wealthier landowners. While the local peasantry, who were generally poor, relied on open-air market places to buy and sell produce and wares, major producers such as the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates. The very wealthy landowners managed their own distribution, which may have involved exporting. Markets were also important centres of social life, and merchants helped to spread news and gossip.
The nature of export markets in antiquity is well documented in ancient sources and in archaeological case-studies. Both Greek and Roman merchants engaged in long-distance trade. A Chinese text records that a Roman merchant named Lun reached southern China in 226 CE. Archaeologists have recovered Roman objects dating from the period 27 BCE to 37 CE from excavation sites as far afield as the Kushan and Indus ports. The Romans sold purple and yellow dyes, brass and iron; they acquired incense, balsam, expensive liquid myrrh and spices from the Near East and India, fine silk from China and fine white marble destined for the Roman wholesale market from Arabia.
For Roman consumers, the purchase of goods from the East was a symbol of social prestige.
Medieval England and Europe witnessed a rapid expansion in trade and the rise of a wealthy and powerful merchant class. Blintiff has investigated the early Medieval networks of market towns and suggests that by the 12th century there was an upsurge in the number of market towns and the emergence of merchant circuits as traders bulked up surpluses from smaller regional, different day markets and resold them at the larger centralised market towns. Peddlers or itinerant merchants filled any gaps in the distribution system. From the 11th century, the Crusades helped to open up new trade routes in the Near East, while the adventurer and merchant, Marco Polo stimulated interest in the far East in the 12th and 13th centuries. Medieval merchants began to trade in exotic goods imported from distant shores including spices, wine, food, furs, fine cloth (notably silk), glass, jewellery and many other luxury goods. Market towns began to spread across the landscape during the medieval period.
Merchant guilds began to form during the Medieval period. A fraternity formed by the merchants of Tiel in Gelderland (in present-day Netherlands) in 1020 is believed to be the first example of a guild. The term, "guild" was first used for "gilda mercatoria" and referred to body of merchants operating out of St. Omer, France in the 11th century. Similarly, London's "Hanse" was formed in the 12th century. These guilds controlled the way that trade was to be conducted and codified rules governing the conditions of trade. Rules established by merchant guilds were often incorporated into the charters granted to market towns. In the early 12th century, a confederation of merchant guilds, formed out the German cities of Lubeck and Hamburg, known as "The Hanseatic League" came to dominate trade around the Baltic Sea. By the 13th and 14th centuries, merchant guilds had sufficient resources to have erected guild halls in many major market towns.
During the thirteenth century, European businesses became more permanent and were able to maintain sedentary merchants and a system of agents. Merchants specialised in financing, organisation and transport while agents were domiciled overseas and acted on behalf of a principal. These arrangements first appeared on the route from Italy to the Levant, but by the end of the thirteenth century merchant colonies could be found from Paris, London, Bruges, Seville, Barcelona and Montpellier. Over time these partnerships became more commonplace and led to the development of large trading companies. These developments also triggered innovations such as double-entry book-keeping, commercial accountancy, international banking including access to lines of credit, marine insurance and commercial courier services. These developments are sometimes known as the "commercial revolution."
Luca Clerici has made a detailed study of Vicenza's food market during the sixteenth century. He found that there were many different types of merchants operating out of the markets. For example, in the dairy trade, cheese and butter was sold by the members of two craft guilds (i.e., cheesemongers who were shopkeepers) and that of the so-called ‘resellers’ (hucksters selling a wide range of foodstuffs), and by other sellers who were not enrolled in any guild. Cheesemongers’ shops were situated at the town hall and were very lucrative. Resellers and direct sellers increased the number of sellers, thus increasing competition, to the benefit of consumers. Direct sellers, who brought produce from the surrounding countryside, sold their wares through the central market place and priced their goods at considerably lower rates than cheesemongers.
From 1300 through to the 1800s a large number of European chartered and merchant companies were established to exploit international trading opportunities. The Company of Merchant Adventurers of London, chartered in 1407, controlled most of the fine cloth imports while the Hanseatic League controlled most of the trade in the Baltic Sea. A detailed study of European trade between the thirteenth and fifteenth century demonstrates that the European age of discovery acted as a major driver of change. In 1600, goods travelled relatively short distances: grain 5–10 miles; cattle 40–70 miles; wool and wollen cloth 20–40 miles. However, in the years following the opening up of Asia and the discovery of the New World, goods were imported from very long distances: calico cloth from India, porcelain, silk and tea from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World.
In Mesoamerica, a tiered system of traders developed independently. The local markets, where people purchased their daily needs were known as "tianguis" while "pochteca" referred to long-distance, professional merchants traders who obtained rare goods and luxury items desired by the nobility. This trading system supported various levels of pochteca – from very high status merchants through to minor traders who acted as a type of peddler to fill in gaps in the distribution system. The Spanish conquerors commented on the impressive nature of the local and regional markets in the 15th century. The Mexica (Aztec) market of Tlatelolco was the largest in all the Americas and said to be superior to those in Europe.
In much of Renaissance Europe and even after, merchant trade remained seen as a lowly profession and it was often subject to legal discrimination or restrictions, although in a few areas its status began to improve.
The "modern era" is generally understood to refer to period that coincides with the rise of consumer culture in seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe. As standards of living improved in the 17th century, consumers from a broad range of social backgrounds began to purchase goods that were in excess of basic necessities. An emergent middle class or bourgeoisie stimulated demand for luxury goods and the act of shopping came to be seen as a pleasurable pass-time or form of entertainment.
As Britain embarked on colonial expansion, large commercial organisations were much in need of sophisticated information about trading conditions in foreign lands. Daniel Defoe, a London merchant, published information on trade and economic resources of England, Scotland and India. Defoe was a prolific pamphleteer and among his many publications are titles devoted to trade including; "Trade of Britain Stated," 1707; "Trade of Scotland with France," 1713; "The Trade to India Critically and Calmly Considered," 1720 and "A Plan of the English Commerce" 1731; all pamphlets that were highly popular with contemporary merchants and business houses.
Eighteenth century merchants, who traded in foreign markets, developed a network of relationships which crossed national boundaries, religious affiliations, family ties, and gender. The historian, Vannneste, has argued that a new "cosmopolitan merchant mentality" based on trust, reciprosity and a culture of communal support developed and helped to unify the early modern world. Given that these cosmopolitan merchants were embedded within their societies and participated in the highest level of exchange, they transferred a more outward-looking mindset and system of values to their commercial exchange transactions, and also helped to disseminate a more global awareness to broader society and therefore acted as agents of change for local society. Successful, open-minded cosmopolitan merchants began to acquire a more esteemed social position with the political elites. They were often sought as advisors for high-level political agents
By the eighteenth century, a new type of manufacturer-merchant was emerging and modern business practices were becoming evident. Many merchants held showcases of goods in their private homes for the benefit of wealthier clients. Samuel Pepys, for example, writing in 1660, describes being invited to the home of a retailer to view a wooden jack. McKendrick, Brewer and Plumb found extensive evidence of eighteenth century English entrepreneurs and merchants using 'modern' marketing techniques, including product differentiation, sales promotion and loss leader pricing. English industrialists, Josiah Wedgewood and Matthew Boulton, are often portrayed as pioneers of modern mass marketing methods. Wedgewood was known to have used marketing techniques such as direct mail, travelling salesmen and catalogues in the eighteenth century. Wedgewood also carried out serious investigations into the fixed and variable costs of production and recognised that increased production would lead to lower unit costs. He also inferred that selling at lower prices would lead to higher demand and recognised the value of achieving scale economies in production. By cutting costs and lowering prices, Wedgewood was able to generate higher overall profits. Similarly, one of Wedgewood's contemporaries, Matthew Boulton, pioneered early mass production techniques and product differentiation at his Soho Manufactory in the 1760s. He also practiced planned obsolescence and understood the importance of "celebrity marketing" – that is supplying the nobility, often at prices below cost and of obtaining royal patronage, for the sake of the publicity and kudos generated. Both Wedgewood and Boulton staged expansive showcases of their wares in their private residences or in rented halls.
Eighteenth-century American merchants, who had been operating as importers and exporters, began to specialise in either wholesale or retail roles. They tended not to specialise in particular types of merchandise, often trading as general merchants, selling a diverse range of product types. These merchants were concentrated in the larger cities. They often provided high levels of credit financing for retail transactions.
Elizabeth Honig has argued that artists, especially the Dutch painters of Antwerp, developed a fascination with merchants from the mid-16th century. At this time, the economy was undergoing profound changes – capitalism emerged as the dominant social organisation replacing earlier modes of production. Merchants were importing produce from afar – grain from the Baltic, textiles from England, wine from Germany and metals from various countries. Antwerp was the centre of this new commercial world. The public began to distinguish between two types of merchant, the "meerseniers" which were local merchants including bakers, grocers, sellers of dairy products and stall-holders, and the "koopman," which were a new, emergent class of trader who dealt in goods or credit on a large scale. With the rise of a European merchant class, this distinction was necessary to separate the daily trade that the general population understood from the rising ranks of traders who operated on a world stage and were seen as quite distant from everyday experience. The wealthier merchants also had the means to commission artworks with the result that individual merchants and their families became important subject matter for artists. For instance, Hans Holbein, the younger painted a series of portraits of Hanseatic merchants working out of London's Steelyard in the 1530s. These included including Georg Giese of Danzig; Hillebrant Wedigh of Cologne; Dirk Tybis of Duisburg; Hans of Antwerp, Hermann Wedigh, Johann Schwarzwald, Cyriacus Kale, Derich Born and Derick Berck. Paintings of groups of merchants, notably officers of the merchant guilds, also became subject matter for artists and documented the rise of important mercantile organisations.
In recent art: Dutch photographer Loes Heerink spend hours on bridges in Hanoi to take pictures of Vietnamese street Merchants. She published a book called Merchants in Motion: the art of Vietnamese Street Vendors.
Although merchant halls were known in antiquity, they fell into disuse and were not reinvented until Europe's Medieval period. During the 12th century, powerful guilds which controlled the way that trade was conducted were established and were often incorporated into the charters granted to market towns. By the 13th and 14th centuries, merchant guilds had acquired sufficient resources to erect guild halls in many major market towns. Many buildings have retained the names derived from their former use as the home or place of business of merchants: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20810 |
Hamas
Hamas (Arabic: حماس "Ḥamās", an acronym of حركة المقاومة الاسلامية "Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah" [Islamic Resistance Movement]) is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. It has been the "de facto" governing authority of the Gaza Strip since its takeover of that area in 2007. During this period it fought several wars with Israel. Israel, the United States and the European Union classify, either in whole or in part, Hamas as a terrorist organization. This classification is one among various and diverse international positions on the nature of Hamas. Russia, China, and Turkey are some countries who view Hamas in a positive light.
Hamas was founded in 1987, soon after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which in its Gaza branch had previously been non-confrontational towards Israel and hostile to the PLO. Co-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin stated in 1987, and the Hamas Charter affirmed in 1988, that Hamas was founded to liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation and to establish an Islamic state in the area that is now Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The group has stated that it may accept a 10-year truce if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders and allows Palestinian refugees from 1948, including their descendants, to return to what is now Israel, although clarifying that this does not mean recognition of Israel or the end of the conflict. Hamas's military wing objected to the truce offer.
The military wing of Hamas has launched attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, often describing them as retaliatory, in particular for assassinations of the upper echelon of their leadership. Tactics have included suicide bombings and, since 2001, rocket attacks. Hamas's rocket arsenal, though mainly consisting of short-range homemade Qassam rockets, also includes long-range weapons that have reached major Israeli cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa. The attacks on civilians have been condemned as war crimes and crimes against humanity by human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch. A 2017 Palestinian Center for Public Opinion poll in the Palestinian territories revealed that Hamas violence and rhetoric against Israelis are unpopular and that a majority of Palestinians would rather Hamas "accept a permanent two-state solution based on the 1967 borders."
In the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas won a plurality in the Palestinian Parliament, defeating the PLO-affiliated Fatah party. Following the elections, the Quartet (the United States, Russia, United Nations, and European Union) made future foreign assistance to the PA conditional upon the future government's commitment to non-violence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements. Hamas rejected those changes, which led to the Quartet suspending its foreign assistance program and Israel imposing economic sanctions on the Hamas-led administration. In March 2007, a national unity government headed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was briefly formed, but this failed to restart international financial assistance. Tensions over control of Palestinian security forces soon erupted in the 2007 Battle of Gaza, after which Hamas took control of Gaza, while its officials were ousted from government positions in the West Bank. Israel and Egypt then imposed an economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, on the grounds that Fatah forces were no longer providing security there.
"Hamas" is an acronym of the Arabic phrase حركة المقاومة الاسلامية or "Harakat al-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya", meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement". The Arabic word 'hamas' (حماس) means "courage" or "zeal". The Hamas covenant interprets its name to mean "strength and bravery".
Hamas, as its name (Islamic Resistance Movement) implies, aims to liberate Palestine from the Israeli occupation by resisting it. And according to Hamas armed branch Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades:
Al-Qassam Brigades aims to liberate all of Palestine from what they describe as Zionist occupation, and to achieve the rights of the Palestinian people that were robbed by the occupation, and it consider itself part of the movement of a project of national liberation.
Hamas inherited from its predecessor a tripartite structure that consisted in the provision of social services, of religious training and military operations under a Shura Council. Traditionally it had four distinct functions: (a) a charitable social welfare division ("dawah"); (b) a military division for procuring weapons and undertaking operations ("al-Mujahideen al Filastinun"); (c) a security service ("Jehaz Aman"); and (d) a media branch ("A'alam"). Hamas has both an internal leadership within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and an external leadership, split between a Gaza group directed by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook from his exile first in Damascus and then in Egypt, and a Kuwaiti group ("Kuwaidia") under Khaled Mashal. The Kuwaiti group of Palestinian exiles began to receive extensive funding from the Gulf States after its leader Mashal broke with Yasser Arafat's decision to side with Saddam Hussein in the Invasion of Kuwait, with Mashal insisting that Iraq withdraw. On May 6, 2017, Hamas' Shura Council chose Ismail Haniya to become the new leader, to replace Mashal.
The exact nature of the organization is unclear, secrecy being maintained for fear of Israeli assassinations and to conceal operational activities. Formally, Hamas maintains the wings are separate and independent. Matthew Levitt maintains this is a public myth. Davis argues that they are both separate and combined for reasons of internal and external political necessity. Communication between the political and military wings of Hamas is difficult, owing to the thoroughness of Israeli intelligence surveillance and the existence of an extensive base of informants. After the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi the occasional political direction of the militant wing diminished, with field commanders given discretional autonomy on operations.
The governing body is the Majlis al-Shura. The principle behind the council is based on the Qur'anic concept of consultation and popular assembly ("shura"), which Hamas leaders argue provides for democracy within an Islamic framework. As the organization grew more complex and Israeli pressure increased it needed a broader base for decisions, the Shura Council was renamed the 'General Consultative Council', elected from members of local council groups and this in turn elected a 15-member Politburo ("al-Maktab al-Siyasi") that made decisions at the highest level. Representatives come from Gaza, the West Bank, leaders in exile and Israeli prisons. This organ was located in Damascus until the Syrian Civil War led it to transfer to Qatar in January 2012, when Hamas sided with the civil opposition against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Hamas developed its social welfare programme by replicating the model established by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.For them, charity and the development of one's community are prescribed by religion, and, at the same time, are to be understood as forms of resistance. In Islamic tradition "dawah" (lit.'the call to God') obliges the faithful to reach out to others by both proselytising and by charitable works, and typically the latter centre on the mosques which make use of both waqf endowment resources and charitable donations (zakat) to fund grassroots services like nurseries, schools, orphanages, soup kitchens, women's activities, library services and even sporting clubs within a larger context of preaching and political discussions. In the 1990s, some 85% of its budget was allocated to the provision of social services. It has been called perhaps the most significant social services actor in Palestine. By 2000 it or its affiliated charities ran roughly 40% of the social institutions in the West Bank and Gaza and, with other Islamic charities, by 2005 was supporting 120,000 individuals with monthly financial support in Gaza. Part of the appeal of these institutions is that they fill a vacuum in the administration by the PLO of the Palestinian territories, which had failed to cater to the demand for jobs and broad social services, and is widely viewed as corrupt. As late as 2005, the budget of Hamas, drawing on global charity contributions, was mostly tied up in covering running expenses for its social programmes, which extended from the supply of housing, food and water for the needy to more general functions like financial aid, medical assistance, educational development and religious instruction. A certain accounting flexibility allowed these funds to cover both charitable causes and military operations, permitting transfer from one to the other.
The "dawah" infrastructure itself was understood, within the Palestinian context, as providing the soil from which a militant opposition to the occupation would flower. In this regard it differs from the rival Palestinian Islamic Jihad which lacks any social welfare network, and relies on spectacular terrorist attacks to recruit adherents. In 2007, through funding from Iran, Hamas managed to allocate at a cost of $60 million, monthly stipends of $100 for 100,000 workers, and a similar sum for 3,000 fishermen laid idle by Israel's imposition of restrictions on fishing offshore, plus grants totalling $45 million to detainees and their families. Matthew Levitt argues that Hamas grants to people are subject to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis of how beneficiaries will support Hamas, with those linked to terrorist activities receiving more than others. Israel holds the families of suicide bombers accountable and bulldozes their homes, whereas the families of Hamas activists who have been killed or wounded during militant operations are given an initial, one-time grant varying between $500–$5,000, together with a $100 monthly allowance. Rent assistance is also given to families whose homes have been destroyed by Israeli bombing though families unaffiliated with Hamas are said to receive less.
Until 2007, these activities extended to the West Bank, but, after a PLO crackdown, now continue exclusively in the Gaza Strip. After the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état deposed the elected Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Hamas found itself in a financial straitjacket and has since endeavoured to throw the burden of responsibility for public works infrastructure in the Gaza Strip back onto the Palestinian National Authority, but without success.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing was formed in either mid-1991 or 1992, under the direction of Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas field-commander and bomb-maker assassinated by Israel in 1996. It was constituted from units associated with the earlier "al-Jihad wa Da'wa", an umbrella group that had gathered in militants from various Islamic resistance cells like the "Al-Mujahidun al-Filastiniun" (Palestinian fighters). established by Salah Shehade in 1986.
The wing takes its name from the prewar militant Palestinian nationalist Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, though Hamas cells sometimes refer to themselves as "Students of Ayyash", "Students of the Engineer", or "Yahya Ayyash Units". At the outset, weapons were hard to come by, and the organization began to resort to intermittent kidnappings of soldiers to secure arms and munitions. This approach had been justified two years earlier when, in the wake of the killing of some 20 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces dispersing protestors at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1990, Hamas had declared every Israeli soldier a legitimate target.
Ayyash, with a degree in electrical engineering, quickly improved Hamas's strike capacity by developing IEDs and promoting the tactic of suicide bombings. By the time of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Hamas's laboratories had devised a primitive form of rocketry, the Qassam 1, which they first launched in October 2000, carrying a 500 gram warhead with a throw range of 4 kilometres. Both propellant and the explosive were manufactured from chemical fertilizers, though TNT was also tried. Over the next five years of the conflict, a 3-kilogram-warhead-armed version with a strike range of 6–8 kilometres, the Qassam 2, was also produced and in an incremental rise, these rocket types were fired towards Israeli settlements along the Gaza Strip: 4 in 2001, 35 in 2002, 155 in 2003, 281 in 2004, and 179 in 2005. By 2005, the Qassam 3 had been engineered with a 12–14 kilometre range and a 15 kilo warhead. By 2006, 942 such rockets were launched into southern Israel. During the War with Israel in 2008–2009, Hamas deployed 122-mm Grad rocketry with a 20–40 kilometre range and a 30 kilogram warhead and a variety of guided Kornet antitank missiles. By 2012 Hamas had engineered a version of the Fajr-5 rocket, which was capable of reaching as far as Tel Aviv, as was shown after the assassination of Ahmed Jabari in that year. In the 2014 war its advanced rocketry reached Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Hamas deployed its increasingly sophisticated rocketry to replace its martyrdom operations.
While the number of members is known only to the Brigades leadership, Israel estimates the Brigades have a core of several hundred members who receive military style training, including training in Iran and in Syria (before the Syrian Civil War). Additionally, the brigades have an estimated 10,000–17,000 operatives, forming a backup force whenever circumstances call for reinforcements for the Brigade. Recruitment training lasts for two years.
The group's ideology outlines its aim as the liberation of Palestine and the restoration of Palestinian rights under the dispensations set forth in the Qur'an, and this translates into three policy priorities:
To evoke the spirit of Jihad (Resistance) among Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims; to defend Palestinians and their land against the Zionist occupation and its manifestations; to liberate Palestinians and their land that was usurped by the Zionist occupation forces and settlers.
According to its official stipulations, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades' military operations are to be restricted to operating only inside Palestine, engaging with Israeli soldiers, and in exercising the right of self-defense against armed settlers. They are to avoid civilian targets, to respect the enemy's humanity by refraining from mutilation, defacement or excessive killing, and to avoid targeting Westerners either in the occupied zones or beyond.
In practice, Hamas altered its approach restricting actions to 'legitimate military targets' by extended them to Israeli civilians after 7 years. Though between 1996 and 2001 it generally refrained from targeting Israeli civilians, it adopted sporadic suicide bombings in the wake of the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, when an Israeli settler in military fatigues, Baruch Goldstein, shot dead 29 Muslims at prayer in 1993. After the Al Aqsa revolt, the Brigades were behind most of the suicide bombings in Israel, a measure it defended as a form of "reciprocity".
Down to 2007, the Brigades are estimated to have lost some 800 operatives in conflicts with Israeli forces. The leadership has been consistently undermined by targeted assassinations. Aside from Yahya Ayyash (January 5, 1996), it has lost Emad Akel (November 24, 1993) Salah Shehade, (July 23, 2002), Ibrahim al-Makadmeh, (March 8, 2003) Ismail Abu Shanab, (August 21, 2003) Ahmed Yassin (March 22, 2004) and Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi,( April 17, 2004).,
After Israel arrested hundreds of its members in May 1989, Hamas regionalized its command system to make its operative structure more diffuse, and minimize the chances of being detected. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades groups its fighters in 4–5 man cells, which in turn are integrated into companies and battalions. Unlike the political section, which is split between an internal and external structure, the Brigades are under a local Palestinian leadership, and disobedience with the decisions taken by the political leadership have been relatively rare.
Although the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, the exact nature of the relationship is hotly debated. They appear to operate at times independently of Hamas, exercising a certain autonomy. Some cells have independent links with the external leadership, enabling them to bypass the hierarchical command chain and political leadership in Gaza. Ilana Kass and Bard O'Neill, likening Hamas's relationship with the Brigades to the political party Sinn Féin's relationship to the military arm of the Irish Republican Army. quote a senior Hamas official as stating: "The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigade is a separate armed military wing, which has its own leaders who do not take their orders from Hamas and do not tell us of their plans in advance." Matthew Levitt on the other hand argues vocally for the idea that Hamas's welfare institutions act as a mere façade or front for the financing of terrorism, and dismisses the idea of two wings as a 'myth'. He cites Sheikh Ahmad Yassin stating in 1998: "We can not separate the wing from the body. If we do so, the body will not be able to fly. Hamas is one body."
The Israeli government funded Hamas in the early 1980s as part of a "divide and rule" strategy: to sow division among the Palestinian population by fueling the fringe Islamists and thus to forestall the ascendancy of Fatah and communist parties. In the early 1980s, Brigadier General Yitzhak Segev was the Israeli military governor of Gaza, who explained that “The Israeli government gave me a budget,” some of which was given "to the mosques". "Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation,” according to Avner Cohen, Israeli religious affairs official who served for over 20 years in Gaza, who said he wrote an official report warning his government superiors against backing Palestinian Islamists against secularists.
At the 1993 Philadelphia conference, Hamas leaders' statements indicated that they read George H. W. Bush's outline of a New World Order as embodying a tacit aim to destroy Islam, and that therefore funding should focus on enhancing the Islamic roots of Palestinian society and promoting jihad in the occupying territories.
Hamas's budget, calculated to be roughly US$70 million (2011), is derived in large part (85%) from foreign, rather than internal Palestinian, sources. Only two Israeli-Palestinian sources figure in a list seized in 2004, while the other contributors were donor bodies located in Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Germany, the United States, United Arab Emirates, Italy and France. Much of the money raised comes from sources that direct their assistance to what Hamas describes as its charitable work for Palestinians, but investments in support of its ideological position are also relevant, with Persian Gulf States and Saudi Arabia prominent in the latter. Matthew Levitt states that Hamas also taps money from corporations, criminal organizations and financial networks that support terror, and is believed to engage in cigarette and drug smuggling, multimedia copyright infringement and credit card fraud. Vittori states that, more than other similar organizations, it is particularly careful about keeping resources for its militant, political and public works activities separate. The United States, Israel and the EU have shut down many charities and organs that channel money to Hamas, such as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief. Between 1992 and 2001 this group is said to have provided $6.8 million to Palestinian charities of the $57 million collected. By 2001 it was alleged to have given Hamas $13 million, and was shut down shortly afterwards.
About half of Hamas's funding came from states in the Persian Gulf down to the mid 2000s. Saudi Arabia supplied half of the Hamas budget of $50 million in the early 2000s, but, under U.S. pressure, began cut its funding by cracking down on Islamic charities and private donor transfers to Hamas in 2004, which by 2006 drastically reduced the flow of money from that area. Iran and Syria, in the aftermath of Hamas's 2006 electoral victory, stepped in to fill the shortfall. Saudi funding, negotiated with third parties like Egypt, remained supportive of Hamas as a Sunni group but chose to provide more assistance to the PNA, the electoral loser, when the EU responded to the outcome by suspending its monetary aid. Iran in the 1980s began by providing 10% of Hamas's funding, which it increased annually until by the 1990s it supplied $30 million. It accounted for $22 million, over a quarter of Hamas's budget, by the late 2000s. According to Matthew Levitt, Iran preferred direct financing to operative groups rather than charities, requiring video proof of attacks. Much of the Iran funding is said to be channeled through Hezbollah.
After 2006 Iran's willingness to take over the burden of the shortfall created by the drying up of Saudi funding also reflected the geopolitical tensions between the two, since, though Shiite, Iran was supporting a Sunni group traditionally closely linked with the Saudi kingdom. The US imposed sanctions on Iran's Bank Saderat, alleging it had funneled hundreds of millions to Hamas. The US has expressed concerns that Hamas obtains funds through Palestinian and Lebanese sympathizers of Arab descent in the Foz do Iguaçu area of the tri-border region of Latin America, an area long associated with arms trading, drug trafficking, contraband, the manufacture of counterfeit goods, money-laundering and currency fraud. The State Department adds that confirmatory information of a Hamas operational presence there is lacking.
After 2009, sanctions on Iran made funding difficult, forcing Hamas to rely on religious donations by individuals in the West Bank, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Funds amounting to tens of millions of dollars raised in the Gulf states were transferred through the Rafah Border Crossing. These were not sufficient to cover the costs of governing the Strip and running the al Qassam Brigades, and when tensions arose with Iran over support of President Assad in Syria, Iran dropped its financial assistance to the government, restricting its funding to the military wing, which meant a drop from $150 million in 2012 to $60 million the following year. A further drop occurred in 2015 when Hamas expressed its criticisms of Iran's role in the Yemeni Civil War.
In 2017, the PA government imposed its own sanctions against Gaza, including, among other things, cutting off salaries to thousands of PA employees, as well as financial assistance to hundreds of families in the Gaza Strip. The PA initially said it would stop paying for the electricity and fuel that Israel supplies to the Gaza Strip, but after a year partially backtracked. The Israeli government has allowed millions of dollars from Qatar to be funneled on a regular basis through Israel to Hamas, to replace the millions of dollars the PA had stopped transferring to Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that letting the money go through Israel meant that it couldn't be used for terrorism, saying "Now that we are supervising, we know it’s going to humanitarian causes".
Hamas rose as an offshoot of the Gaza Mujama al-Islamiya branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which had been actively encouraged by Israel to expand as a counterweight to the influence of the secular Palestine Liberation Organization and had since 1973 been quiescent and non-confrontational towards Israel. Aside from developing Islamic charities to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians, it emphasized social justice ("adala") and the subordination of the world to the sovereignty of God ("hakmiyya").
Hamas was founded in 1987, soon after the outbreak of the First Intifada, the first popular uprising against the Israeli occupation.
Creating Hamas to participate in the revolt was regarded as a survival measure to enable the Brotherhood itself, which refused to fight against Israel, to hold its own against other competing Palestinian nationalist groups. By forming a military wing distinct from its social charity organizations, it was hoped that the latter would be insulated from being targeted by Israel.
Co-founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin was convinced that Israel was endeavouring to destroy Islam, and concluded that loyal Muslims had a religious obligation to destroy Israel. The short-term goal of Hamas was to liberate Palestine, including modern-day Israel, from Israeli occupation. The long-term aim sought to establish an Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
The foundational document, the Hamas Charter ("mīthāq ḥarakat"), is dated August 18, 1988, and contains both antisemitic passages, characterizations of Israeli society as Nazi-like in its cruelty, and irredentist claims that have never been revoked despite what some observers say are later policy changes in the organization regarding Israel and the Jews. It declares all of Palestine waqf property endowed by God to Muslims, with religious coexistence under Islam's wing. The charter rejects a two-state solution, envisaging no peaceful settlement of the conflict apart from jihad. It states that the movement's aim is to
raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned' (Article 6)
and adds that, 'when our enemies usurp some Islamic lands, jihad becomes a duty binding on all Muslims', for which the whole of the land is non-negotiable, a position likened, without the racist sentiments present in the Hamas charter, to that in the Likud party platform and in movements like Gush Emunim. For Hamas, to concede territory is seen as equivalent to renouncing Islam itself.
Decades down the line, Hamas's official position changed with regard to a two-state solution. Khaled Mashaal, its leader, has publicly affirmed the movement's readiness to accept such a division. When Hamas won a majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Haniyeh, then president-elect, sent messages to both George Bush and Israel's leaders asking to be recognized and offering a long-term truce (hudna), along the 1967 border lines. No response was forthcoming.
Mousa Marzook said in 2007 that the charter could not be altered because it would look like a compromise not acceptable to the 'street' and risk fracturing the party's unity. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has stated that the Charter is "a piece of history and no longer relevant, but cannot be changed for internal reasons". Ahmed Yousef, senior adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, added in 2011 that it reflected the views of the Elders in the face of a 'relentless occupation.' The details of its religious and political language had not been examined within the framework of international law, and an internal committee review to amend it was shelved out of concern not to offer concessions to Israel, as had Fatah, on a silver platter. While Hamas representatives recognize the problem, one official notes that Arafat got very little in return for changing the PLO Charter under the Oslo Accords, and that there is agreement that little is gained from a non-violent approach. Richard Davis says the dismissal by contemporary leaders of its relevance and yet the suspension of a desire to rewrite it reflects the differing constituencies Hamas must address, the domestic audience and international relations. The charter itself is considered an 'historical relic.'
In March 2006, Hamas released its official legislative program. The document clearly signaled that Hamas could refer the issue of recognizing Israel to a national referendum. Under the heading "Recognition of Israel," it stated simply (AFP, 3/11/06): "The question of recognizing Israel is not the jurisdiction of one faction, nor the government, but a decision for the Palestinian people." This was a major shift away from their 1988 charter. A few months later, via University of Maryland's Jerome Segal, the group sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush stating they "don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders", and asked for direct negotiations: "Segal emphasized that a state within the 1967 borders and a truce for many years could be considered Hamas's "de facto" recognition of Israel."
In an April 2008 meeting between Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, an understanding was reached in which Hamas agreed it would respect the creation of a Palestinian state in the territory seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, provided this were ratified by the Palestinian people in a referendum. Hamas later publicly offered a long-term truce with Israel if Israel agreed to return to its 1967 borders and grant the "right of return" to all Palestinian refugees. In November 2008, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh re-stated that Hamas was willing to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and offered Israel a long-term truce "if Israel recognized the Palestinians' national rights". In 2009, in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Haniyeh repeated his group's support for a two-state settlement based on 1967 borders: "We would never thwart efforts to create an independent Palestinian state with borders [from] June 4, 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital." On December 1, 2010, Ismail Haniyeh again repeated, "We accept a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the resolution of the issue of refugees," and "Hamas will respect the results [of a referendum] regardless of whether it differs with its ideology and principles."
In February 2012, according to the Palestinian authority, Hamas forswore the use of violence. Evidence for this was provided by an eruption of violence from Islamic Jihad in March 2012 after an Israeli assassination of a Jihad leader, during which Hamas refrained from attacking Israel. "Israel –– despite its mantra that because Hamas is sovereign in Gaza it is responsible for what goes on there – almost seems to understand," wrote Israeli journalists Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, "and has not bombed Hamas offices or installations".
Israel has rejected some truce offers by Hamas because it contends the group uses them to prepare for more fighting rather than peace. "The Atlantic" magazine columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, along with other analysts, believes Hamas may be incapable of permanent reconciliation with Israel. Mkhaimer Abusada, a political scientist at Al Azhar University, writes that Hamas talks "of hudna [temporary ceasefire], not of peace or reconciliation with Israel. They believe over time they will be strong enough to liberate all historic Palestine."
Hamas carried out its first attack against Israel in 1989, abducting and killing two soldiers. The Israel Defense Forces immediately arrested Yassin and sentenced him to life in prison, and deported 400 Hamas activists, including Zahar, to South Lebanon, which at the time was occupied by Israel. During this time Hamas built a relationship with Hezbollah.
Hamas's military branch, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was created in 1991. During the 1990s the al-Qassam Brigades conducted numerous attacks on Israel, with both civilian and military victims. In April 1993, suicide bombings in the West Bank began. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13913 |
History of the graphical user interface
The history of the graphical user interface, understood as the use of graphic icons and a pointing device to control a computer, covers a five-decade span of incremental refinements, built on some constant core principles. Several vendors have created their own windowing systems based on independent code, but with basic elements in common that define the WIMP "window, icon, menu and pointing device" paradigm.
There have been important technological achievements, and enhancements to the general interaction in small steps over previous systems. There have been a few significant breakthroughs in terms of use, but the same organizational metaphors and interaction idioms are still in use. Desktop computers are often controlled by computer mice and/or keyboards while laptops often have a pointing stick or touchpad, and smartphones and tablet computers have a touchscreen. The influence of game computers and joystick operation has been omitted.
Early dynamic information devices such as radar displays, where input devices were used for direct control of computer-created data, set the basis for later improvements of graphical interfaces. Some early cathode-ray-tube (CRT) screens used a light pen, rather than a mouse, as the pointing device.
The concept of a multi-panel windowing system was introduced by the first real-time graphic display systems for computers: the SAGE Project and Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad.
In the 1960s, Douglas Engelbart's project at the Augmentation Research Center at SRI International in Menlo Park, California developed the oN-Line System (NLS). This computer incorporated a mouse-driven cursor and multiple windows used to work on hypertext. Engelbart had been inspired, in part, by the memex desk-based information machine suggested by Vannevar Bush in 1945.
Much of the early research was based on how young children learn. So, the design was based on the childlike primitives of eye-hand coordination, rather than use of command languages, user-defined macro procedures, or automated transformations of data as later used by adult professionals.
led to the advances at Xerox PARC. Several people went from SRI to Xerox PARC in the early 1970s.
In 1973, Xerox PARC developed the Alto personal computer. It had a bitmapped screen, and was the first computer to demonstrate the desktop metaphor and graphical user interface (GUI). It was not a commercial product, but several thousand units were built and were heavily used at PARC, as well as other XEROX offices, and at several universities for many years. The Alto greatly influenced the design of personal computers during the late 1970s and early 1980s, notably the Three Rivers PERQ, the Apple Lisa and Macintosh, and the first Sun workstations.
The GUI was first developed at Xerox PARC by Alan Kay, Larry Tesler, Dan Ingalls, David Smith, Clarence Ellis and a number of other researchers. It used windows, icons, and menus (including the first fixed drop-down menu) to support commands such as opening files, deleting files, moving files, etc. In 1974, work began at PARC on Gypsy, the first bitmap What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) cut & paste editor. In 1975, Xerox engineers demonstrated a Graphical User Interface "including icons and the first use of pop-up menus".
In 1981 Xerox introduced a pioneering product, Star, a workstation incorporating many of PARC's innovations. Although not commercially successful, Star greatly influenced future developments, for example at Apple, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems.
The Blit, a graphics terminal, was developed at Bell Labs in 1982.
Lisp machines originally developed at MIT and later commercialized by Symbolics and other manufacturers, were early high-end single user computer workstations with advanced graphical user interfaces, windowing, and mouse as an input device. First workstations from Symbolics came to market in 1981, with more advanced designs in the subsequent years.
Beginning in 1979, started by Steve Jobs and led by Jef Raskin, the Apple Lisa and Macintosh teams at Apple Computer (which included former members of the Xerox PARC group) continued to develop such ideas. The Lisa, released in 1983, featured a high-resolution stationery-based (document-centric) graphical interface atop an advanced hard disk based OS that featured such things as preemptive multitasking and graphically oriented inter-process communication. The comparatively simplified Macintosh, released in 1984 and designed to be lower in cost, was the first commercially successful product to use a multi-panel window interface. A desktop metaphor was used, in which files looked like pieces of paper. File directories looked like file folders. There were a set of desk accessories like a calculator, notepad, and alarm clock that the user could place around the screen as desired; and the user could delete files and folders by dragging them to a trash-can icon on the screen. The Macintosh, in contrast to the Lisa, used a program-centric rather than document-centric design. Apple revisited the document-centric design, in a limited manner, much later with OpenDoc.
There is still some controversy over the amount of influence that Xerox's PARC work, as opposed to previous academic research, had on the GUIs of the Apple Lisa and Macintosh, but it is clear that the influence was extensive, because first versions of Lisa GUIs even lacked icons. These prototype GUIs are at least mouse-driven, but completely ignored the WIMP ( "window, icon, menu, pointing device") concept. Screenshots of first GUIs of Apple Lisa prototypes show the early designs. Apple engineers visited the PARC facilities (Apple secured the rights for the visit by compensating Xerox with a pre-IPO purchase of Apple stock) and a number of PARC employees subsequently moved to Apple to work on the Lisa and Macintosh GUI. However, the Apple work extended PARC's considerably, adding manipulatable icons, and drag and drop manipulation of objects in the file system (see Macintosh Finder) for example. A list of the improvements made by Apple, beyond the PARC interface, can be read at Folklore.org. Jef Raskin warns that many of the reported facts in the history of the PARC and Macintosh development are inaccurate, distorted or even fabricated, due to the lack of usage by historians of direct primary sources.
In 1984, Apple released a television commercial which introduced the Apple Macintosh during the telecast of Super Bowl XVIII by CBS, with allusions to George Orwell's noted novel, "Nineteen Eighty-Four". The commercial was aimed at making people think about computers, identifying the user-friendly interface as a personal computer which departed from previous business-oriented systems, and becoming a signature representation of Apple products.
In 1986, the Apple IIgs was launched. The IIgs was a very advanced model of the successful Apple II series, based on 16-bit technology (in fact, virtually two machines into one). It came with a new operating system, the Apple GS/OS, which features a Finder-like GUI, very similar to that of the Macintosh series, able to deal with the advanced graphic abilities of its Video Graphics Chip (VGC).
Released in 1983, the Soviet Union Agat PC featured a graphical interface and a mouse device.
Founded 1982, SGI introduced the IRIS 1000 Series in 1983. The first graphical terminals (IRIS 1000) shipped in late 1983, and the corresponding workstation model (IRIS 1400) was released in mid-1984. The machines used an early version of the MEX windowing system on top of the GL2 Release 1 operating environment. Examples of the MEX user interface can be seen in a 1988 article in the journal "Computer Graphics", while earlier screenshots can not be found. The first commercial GUI-based systems, these did not find widespread use as to their (discounted) academic list price of $22,500 and $35,700 for the IRIS 1000 and IRIS 1400, respectively. However, these systems were commercially successful enough to start SGI's business as one of the main graphical workstation vendors. In later revisions of graphical workstations, SGI switched to the X window system, which had been developed starting at MIT since 1984 and which became the standard for UNIX workstations.
VisiCorp's Visi On was a GUI designed to run on DOS for IBM PCs. It was released in December 1983. Visi On had many features of a modern GUI, and included a few that did not become common until many years later. It was fully mouse-driven, used a bit-mapped display for both text and graphics, included on-line help, and allowed the user to open a number of programs at once, each in its own window, and switch between them to multitask. Visi On did not, however, include a graphical file manager. Visi On also demanded a hard drive in order to implement its virtual memory system used for "fast switching", at a time when hard drives were very expensive.
Digital Research (DRI) created GEM as an add-on program for personal computers. GEM was developed to work with existing CP/M and DOS operating systems on business computers such as IBM PC compatibles. It was developed from DRI software, known as GSX, designed by a former PARC employee. Its similarity to the Macintosh desktop led to a copyright lawsuit from Apple Computer, and a settlement which involved some changes to GEM. This was to be the first of a series of "look and feel" lawsuits related to GUI design in the 1980s.
GEM received widespread use in the consumer market from 1985, when it was made the default user interface built into the Atari TOS operating system of the Atari ST line of personal computers. It was also bundled by other computer manufacturers and distributors, such as Amstrad. Later, it was distributed with the best-sold Digital Research version of DOS for IBM PC compatibles, the DR-DOS 6.0. The GEM desktop faded from the market with the withdrawal of the Atari ST line in 1992 and with the popularity of the Microsoft Windows 3.0 in the PC front around the same period of time. The Falcon030, released in 1993 was the last computer from Atari to use GEM.
Tandy's DeskMate appeared in the early 1980s on its TRS-80 machines and was ported to its Tandy 1000 range in 1984. Like most PC GUIs of the time, it depended on a disk operating system such as TRSDOS or MS-DOS. The application was popular at the time and included a number of programs like Draw, Text and Calendar, as well as attracting outside investment such as Lotus 1-2-3 for DeskMate.
MSX-View was developed for MSX computers by ASCII Corporation and HAL Laboratory. MSX-View contains software such as Page Edit, Page View, Page Link, VShell, VTed, VPaint and VDraw. An external version of the built-in MSX View of the Panasonic FS-A1GT was released as an add-on for the Panasonic FS-A1ST on disk instead of 512 kB ROM DISK.
The Amiga computer was launched by Commodore in 1985 with a GUI called Workbench. Workbench was based on an internal engine developed mostly by RJ Mical, called Intuition, which drove all the input events. The first versions used a blue/orange/white/black default palette, which was selected for high contrast on televisions and composite monitors. Workbench presented directories as drawers to fit in with the "workbench" theme.
Intuition was the widget and graphics library that made the GUI work. It was driven by user events through the mouse, keyboard, and other input devices.
Due to a mistake made by the Commodore sales department, the first floppies of AmigaOS (released with the Amiga1000) named the whole OS "Workbench". Since then, users and CBM itself referred to "Workbench" as the nickname for the whole AmigaOS (including Amiga DOS, Extras, etc.). This common consent ended with release of version 2.0 of AmigaOS, which re-introduced proper names to the installation floppies of AmigaDOS, Workbench, Extras, etc.
Starting with Workbench 1.0, AmigaOS treated the Workbench as a backdrop, borderless window sitting atop a blank screen. With the introduction of AmigaOS 2.0, however, the user was free to select whether the main Workbench window appeared as a normally layered window, complete with a border and scrollbars, through a menu item.
Amiga users were able to boot their computer into a command-line interface (also known as the CLI or Amiga Shell). This was a keyboard-based environment without the Workbench GUI. Later they could invoke it with the CLI/SHELL command "LoadWB" which loaded Workbench GUI.
One major difference between other OS's of the time (and for some time after) was the Amiga's fully multi-tasking operating system, a powerful built-in animation system using a hardware blitter and copper and 4 channels of 26 kHz 8-bit sampled sound. This made the Amiga the first multi-media computer years before other OS's.
Like most GUIs of the day, Amiga's Intuition followed Xerox's, and sometimes Apple's, lead. But a CLI was included which dramatically extended the functionality of the platform. However, the CLI/Shell of Amiga is not just a simple text-based interface like in MS-DOS, but another graphic process driven by Intuition, and with the same gadgets included in Amiga's graphics.library. The CLI/Shell interface integrates itself with the Workbench, sharing privileges with the GUI.
The Amiga Workbench evolved over the 1990s, even after Commodore's 1994 bankruptcy.
Acorn's 8-bit BBC Master Compact shipped with Acorn's first public GUI interface in 1986. Little commercial software, beyond that included on the Welcome disk, was ever made available for the system, despite the claim by Acorn at the time that "the major software houses have worked with Acorn to make over 100 titles available on compilation discs at launch". The most avid supporter of the Master Compact appeared to be Superior Software, who produced and specifically labelled their games as 'Master Compact' compatible.
RISC OS is a series of graphical user interface-based computer operating systems (OSes) designed for ARM architecture systems. It takes its name from the RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) architecture supported. The OS was originally developed by Acorn Computers for use with their 1987 range of Archimedes personal computers using the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors. It comprises a command-line interface and desktop environment with a windowing system.
Originally branded as the "Arthur 1.20" the subsequent "Arthur 2" release was shipped under the name RISC OS 2.
The WIMP interface incorporates three mouse buttons (named "Select", "Menu" and "Adjust"), context-sensitive menus, window order control (i.e. send to back) and dynamic window focus (a window can have input focus at any position on the stack). The Icon bar (Dock) holds icons which represent mounted disc drives, RAM discs, running applications, system utilities and docked: Files, Directories or inactive Applications. These icons have context-sensitive menus and support drag-and-drop behaviour. They represent the running application as a whole, irrespective of whether it has open windows.
The GUI is centred around the concept of files. The Filer displays the contents of a disc. Applications are run from the Filer view and files can be dragged to the Filer view from applications to perform saves. Application directories are used to store applications. The OS differentiates them from normal directories through the use of a pling (exclamation mark, also called shriek) prefix. Double-clicking on such a directory launches the application rather than opening the directory. The application's executable files and resources are contained within the directory, but normally they remain hidden from the user. Because applications are self-contained, this allows drag-and-drop installation and removal.
The "Style Guide" encourages a consistent look and feel across applications. This was introduced in and specifies application appearance and behaviour. Acorn's own main bundled applications were not updated to comply with the guide until 's "Select" release in 2001.
The outline fonts manager provides spatial anti-aliasing of fonts, the OS being the first operating system to include such a feature, having included it since before January 1989. Since 1994, in RISC OS 3.5, it has been possible to use an outline anti-aliased font in the WindowManager for UI elements, rather than the bitmap system font from previous versions.
Because most of the very early IBM PC and compatibles lacked any common true graphical capability (they used the 80-column basic text mode compatible with the original MDA display adapter), a series of file managers arose, including Microsoft's DOS Shell, which features typical GUI elements as menus, push buttons, lists with scrollbars and mouse pointer. The name text-based user interface was later invented to name this kind of interface. Many MS-DOS text mode applications, like the default text editor for MS-DOS 5.0 (and related tools, like QBasic), also used the same philosophy. The IBM DOS Shell included with IBM DOS 5.0 (circa 1992) supported both text display modes and actual graphics display modes, making it both a TUI and a GUI, depending on the chosen mode.
Advanced file managers for MS-DOS were able to redefine character shapes with EGA and better display adapters, giving some basic low resolution icons and graphical interface elements, including an arrow (instead of a coloured cell block) for the mouse pointer. When the display adapter lacks the ability to change the character's shapes, they default to the CP437 character set found in the adapter's ROM. Some popular utility suites for MS-DOS, as Norton Utilities (pictured) and PC Tools used these techniques as well.
DESQview was a text mode multitasking program introduced in July 1985. Running on top of MS-DOS, it allowed users to run multiple DOS programs concurrently in windows. It was the first program to bring multitasking and windowing capabilities to a DOS environment in which existing DOS programs could be used. DESQview was not a true GUI but offered certain components of one, such as resizable, overlapping windows and mouse pointing.
Before the MS-Windows age, and with the lack of a true common GUI under MS-DOS, most graphical applications which worked with EGA, VGA and better graphic cards had proprietary built-in GUIs. One of the best known such graphical applications was Deluxe Paint, a popular painting software with a typical WIMP interface.
The original Adobe Acrobat Reader executable file for MS-DOS was able to run on both the standard Windows 3.x GUI and the standard DOS command prompt. When it was launched from the command prompt, on a machine with a VGA graphics card, it provided its own GUI.
Windows 1.0, a GUI for the MS-DOS operating system was released in 1985. The market's response was less than stellar. Windows 2.0 followed, but it wasn't until the 1990 launch of Windows 3.0, based on Common User Access that its popularity truly exploded. The GUI has seen minor redesigns since, mainly the networking enabled Windows 3.11 and its Win32s 32-bit patch. The 16-bit line of MS Windows were discontinued with the introduction of Windows 95 and Windows NT 32-bit based architecture in the 1990s. See the next section.
The main window of a given application can occupy the full screen in "maximized" status. The users must then to switch between maximized applications using the Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut; no alternative with the mouse except for de-maximize. When none of the running application windows are maximized, switching can be done by clicking on a partially visible window, as is the common way in other GUIs.
In 1988, Apple sued Microsoft for copyright infringement of the Lisa and Apple Macintosh GUI. The court case lasted 4 years before almost all of Apple's claims were denied on a contractual technicality. Subsequent appeals by Apple were also denied. Microsoft and Apple apparently entered a final, private settlement of the matter in 1997.
GEOS was launched in 1986. Originally written for the 8-bit home computer Commodore 64 and shortly after, the Apple II series. The name was later used by the company as PC/Geos for IBM PC systems, then Geoworks Ensemble. It came with several application programs like a calendar and word processor, and a cut-down version served as the basis for America Online's DOS client. Compared to the competing Windows 3.0 GUI it could run reasonably well on simpler hardware, but its developer had a restrictive policy towards third-party developers that prevented it from becoming a serious competitor. And it was targeted at 8-bit machines and the 16-bit computer age was dawning.
The standard windowing system in the Unix world is the X Window System (commonly X11 or X), first released in the mid-1980s. The W Window System (1983) was the precursor to X; X was developed at MIT as Project Athena. Its original purpose was to allow users of the newly emerging graphic terminals to access remote graphics workstations without regard to the workstation's operating system or the hardware. Due largely to the availability of the source code used to write X, it has become the standard layer for management of graphical and input/output devices and for the building of both local and remote graphical interfaces on virtually all Unix, Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, with the notable exceptions of macOS and Android.
X allows a graphical terminal user to make use of remote resources on the network as if they were all located locally to the user by running a single module of software called the X server. The software running on the remote machine is called the client application. X's network transparency protocols allow the display and input portions of any application to be separated from the remainder of the application and 'served up' to any of a large number of remote users. X is available today as free software.
The PostScript-based NeWS (Network extensible Window System) was developed by Sun Microsystems in the mid-1980s. For several years SunOS included a window system combining NeWS and the X Window System. Although NeWS was considered technically elegant by some commentators, Sun eventually dropped the product. Unlike X, NeWS was always proprietary software.
The widespread adoption of the PC platform in homes and small businesses popularized computers among people with no formal training. This created a fast-growing market, opening an opportunity for commercial exploitation and of easy-to-use interfaces and making economically viable the incremental refinement of the existing GUIs for home systems.
Also, the spreading of high-color and true-color capabilities of display adapters providing thousands and millions of colors, along with faster CPUs and accelerated graphic cards, cheaper RAM, storage devices orders of magnitude larger (from megabytes to gigabytes) and larger bandwidth for telecom networking at lower cost helped to create an environment in which the common user was able to run complicated GUIs which began to favor aesthetics.
After Windows 3.11, Microsoft began to develop a new consumer-oriented version of the operating system. Windows 95 was intended to integrate Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows products and included an enhanced version of DOS, often referred to as MS-DOS 7.0. It also featured a significant redesign of the GUI, dubbed "Cairo". While Cairo never really materialized, parts of Cairo found their way into subsequent versions of the operating system starting with Windows 95. Both Win95 and WinNT could run 32-bit applications, and could exploit the abilities of the Intel 80386 CPU, as the preemptive multitasking and up to 4 GiB of linear address memory space. Windows 95 was touted as a 32-bit based operating system but it was actually based on a hybrid kernel (VWIN32.VXD) with the 16-bit user interface (USER.EXE) and graphic device interface (GDI.EXE) of Windows for Workgroups (3.11), which had 16-bit kernel components with a 32-bit subsystem (USER32.DLL and GDI32.DLL) that allowed it to run native 16-bit applications as well as 32-bit applications. In the marketplace, Windows 95 was an unqualified success, promoting a general upgrade to 32-bit technology, and within a year or two of its release had become the most successful operating system ever produced.
Accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign, Windows 95 was a major success in the marketplace at launch and shortly became the most popular desktop operating system.
Windows 95 saw the beginning of the browser wars, when the World Wide Web began receiving a great deal of attention in popular culture and mass media. Microsoft at first did not see potential in the Web, and Windows 95 was shipped with Microsoft's own online service called The Microsoft Network, which was dial-up only and was used primarily for its own content, not internet access. As versions of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer were released at a rapid pace over the following few years, Microsoft used its desktop dominance to push its browser and shape the ecology of the web mainly as a monoculture.
Windows 95 evolved through the years into Windows 98 and Windows ME. Windows ME was the last in the line of the Windows 3.x-based operating systems from Microsoft. Windows underwent a parallel 32-bit evolutionary path, where Windows NT 3.1 was released in 1993. Windows NT (for New Technology) was a native 32-bit operating system with a new driver model, was unicode-based, and provided for true separation between applications. Windows NT also supported 16-bit applications in an NTVDM, but it did not support VxD based drivers. Windows 95 was supposed to be released before 1993 as the predecessor to Windows NT. The idea was to promote the development of 32-bit applications with backward compatibility – leading the way for more successful NT release. After multiple delays, Windows 95 was released without unicode and used the VxD driver model. Windows NT 3.1 evolved to Windows NT 3.5, 3.51 and then 4.0 when it finally shared a similar interface with its Windows 9x desktop counterpart and included a Start button. The evolution continued with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, then Windows 7. Windows XP and higher were also made available in 64-bit modes. Windows server products branched off with the introduction of Windows Server 2003 (available in 32-bit and 64-bit IA64 or x64), then Windows Server 2008 and then Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows 2000 and XP shared the same basic GUI although XP introduced Visual Styles. With Windows 98, the Active Desktop theme was introduced, allowing an HTML approach for the desktop, but this feature was coldly received by customers, who frequently disabled it. At the end, Windows Vista definitively discontinued it, but put a new SideBar on the desktop.
The Macintosh's GUI has been revised multiple times since 1984, with major updates including System 7 and Mac OS 8. It underwent its largest revision to date with the introduction of the "Aqua" interface in 2001's Mac OS X. It was a new operating system built primarily on technology from NeXTStep with UI elements of the original Mac OS grafted on. macOS uses a technology known as Quartz, for graphics rendering and drawing on-screen. Some interface features of macOS are inherited from NeXTStep (such as the Dock, the automatic wait cursor, or double-buffered windows giving a solid appearance and flicker-free window redraws), while others are inherited from the old Mac OS operating system (the single system-wide menu-bar). Mac OS X 10.3 introduced features to improve usability including Exposé, which is designed to make finding open windows easier.
With Mac OS X 10.4 released in April 2005, new features were added, including Dashboard (a virtual alternate desktop for mini specific-purpose applications) and a search tool called Spotlight, which provides users with an option for searching through files instead of browsing through folders.
With Mac OS X 10.7 released in July 2011, included support for full screen apps and Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) released in September 2015 support creating a full screen split view by pressing the green button on left upper corner of the window or Control+Cmd+F keyboard shortcut.
of X Window development, Sun Microsystems and AT&T attempted to push for a GUI standard called OPEN LOOK in competition with Motif. OPEN LOOK was developed from scratch in conjunction with Xerox, while Motif was a collective effort. Motif prevailed in the UNIX GUI battles and became the basis for the Common Desktop Environment (CDE). CDE was based on Visual User Environment (VUE), a proprietary desktop from Hewlett-Packard that in turn was based on the Motif look and feel.
In the late 1990s, there was significant growth in the Unix world, especially among the free software community. New graphical desktop movements grew up around Linux and similar operating systems, based on the X Window System. A new emphasis on providing an integrated and uniform interface to the user brought about new desktop environments, such as KDE Plasma 5, GNOME and Xfce which have supplanted CDE in popularity on both Unix and Unix-like operating systems. The Xfce, KDE and GNOME look and feel each tend to undergo more rapid change and less codification than the earlier OPEN LOOK and Motif environments.
Later releases added improvements over the original Workbench, like support for high-color Workbench screens, context menus, and embossed 2D icons with pseudo-3D aspect. Some Amiga users preferred alternative interfaces to standard Workbench, such as Directory Opus Magellan.
The use of improved, third-party GUI engines became common amongst users who preferred more attractive interfaces – such as Magic User Interface (MUI), and ReAction. These object-oriented graphic engines driven by user interface classes and methods were then standardized into the Amiga environment and changed Amiga Workbench to a complete and modern guided interface, with new standard gadgets, animated buttons, true 24-bit-color icons, increased use of wallpapers for screens and windows, alpha channel, transparencies and shadows as any modern GUI provides.
Modern derivatives of Workbench are Ambient for MorphOS, Scalos, Workbench for AmigaOS 4 and Wanderer for AROS.
There is a brief article on Ambient and descriptions of MUI icons, menus and gadgets at aps.fr and images of Zune stay at main AROS site.
Use of object oriented graphic engines dramatically changes the look and feel of a GUI to match actual styleguides.
Originally collaboratively developed by Microsoft and IBM to replace DOS, OS/2 version 1.0 (released in 1987) had no GUI at all. Version 1.1 (released 1988) included Presentation Manager (PM), an implementation of IBM Common User Access, which looked a lot like the later Windows 3.1 UI. After the split with Microsoft, IBM developed the Workplace Shell (WPS) for version 2.0 (released in 1992), a quite radical, object-oriented approach to GUIs. Microsoft later imitated much of this look in Windows 95.
The NeXTSTEP user interface was used in the NeXT line of computers. NeXTSTEP's first major version was released in 1989. It used Display PostScript for its graphical underpinning. The NeXTSTEP interface's most significant feature was the Dock, carried with some modification into Mac OS X, and had other minor interface details that some found made it easier and more intuitive to use than previous GUIs. NeXTSTEP's GUI was the first to feature opaque dragging of windows in its user interface, on a comparatively weak machine by today's standards, ideally aided by high performance graphics hardware.
BeOS was developed on custom AT&T Hobbit-based computers before switching to PowerPC hardware by a team led by former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée as an alternative to Mac OS. BeOS was later ported to Intel hardware. It used an object-oriented kernel written by Be, and did not use the X Window System, but a different GUI written from scratch. Much effort was spent by the developers to make it an efficient platform for multimedia applications. Be Inc. was acquired by PalmSource, Inc. (Palm Inc. at the time) in 2001. The BeOS GUI still lives in Haiku, an open source software reimplementation of the BeOS.
General Magic is the apparent parent of all modern smartphone GUI, i.e. touch-screen based including the iPhone et al.
In 2007 with the iPhone and later in 2010 with the introduction of the iPad, Apple popularized the post-WIMP style of interaction for multi-touch screens, with those devices considered to be milestones in the development of mobile devices.
Other portable devices such as MP3 players and cell phones have been a burgeoning area of deployment for GUIs in recent years. Since the mid-2000s, a vast majority of portable devices have advanced to having high-screen resolutions and sizes. (The Galaxy Note 4's 2,560 × 1,440 pixel display is an example). Because of this, these devices have their own famed user interfaces and operating systems that have large homebrew communities dedicated to creating their own visual elements, such as icons, menus, wallpapers, and more. Post-WIMP interfaces are often used in these mobile devices, where the traditional pointing devices required by the desktop metaphor are not practical.
As high-powered graphics hardware draws considerable power and generates significant heat, many of the 3D effects developed between 2000 and 2010 are not practical on this class of device. This has led to the development of simpler interfaces making a design feature of two dimensionality such as exhibited by the Metro (Modern) UI first used in Windows 8 and the 2012 Gmail redesign.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the rapid development of GPUs led to a trend for the inclusion of 3D effects in window management. It is based in experimental research in User Interface Design trying to expand the expressive power of the existing toolkits in order to enhance the physical cues that allow for direct manipulation. New effects common to several projects are scale resizing and zooming, several windows transformations and animations (wobbly windows, smooth minimization to system tray...), composition of images (used for window drop shadows and transparency) and enhancing the global organization of open windows (zooming to virtual desktops, desktop cube, Exposé, etc.) The proof-of-concept BumpTop desktop combines a physical representation of documents with tools for document classification possible only in the simulated environment, like instant reordering and automated grouping of related documents.
These effects are popularized thanks to the widespread use of 3D video cards (mainly due to gaming) which allow for complex visual processing with low CPU use, using the 3D acceleration in most modern graphics cards to render the application clients in a 3D scene. The application window is drawn off-screen in a pixel buffer, and the graphics card renders it into the 3D scene.
This can have the advantage of moving some of the window rendering to the GPU on the graphics card and thus reducing the load on the main CPU, but the facilities that allow this must be available on the graphics card to be able to take advantage of this.
Examples of 3D user-interface software include XGL and Compiz from Novell, and AIGLX bundled with Red Hat Fedora. Quartz Extreme for macOS and Windows 7 and Vista's Aero interface use 3D rendering for shading and transparency effects as well as Exposé and Windows Flip and Flip 3D, respectively. Windows Vista uses Direct3D to accomplish this, whereas the other interfaces use OpenGL.
Introduced in 1988 with the release of Wolfram Mathematica, and then Maple a few years later, the notebook interface has been gaining popularity in recent years due to its widespread use in data science and other areas of research. Notebooks allow users to mix text, calculations, and graphs in the same interface which was previously impossible with a command-line interface.
Virtual reality devices such as the Oculus Rift and Sony's PlayStation VR (formerly Project Morpheus) aim to provide users with presence, a perception of full immersion into a virtual environment. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13914 |
Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ', literally "Party of Allah" or "Party of God"—also transliterated Hizbullah, Hizballah"', etc.) is a Shia Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese parliament. Since the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the group has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General. The organization or its military wing are considered terrorist organizations in eighteen countries, as well as by the Arab League and the European Union (see section below).
Hezbollah was founded in the early 1980s as part of an Iranian effort to aggregate a variety of militant Lebanese Shia groups into a unified organization. Hezbollah acts as a proxy for Iran in the ongoing Iran–Israel proxy conflict. Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran primarily to harass Israel. Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards that arrived from Iran with permission from the Syrian government, which was in occupation of Lebanon at the time. Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its objectives as the expulsion of "the Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land", submission of the Christian Phalangists to "just power" and bringing them to justice "for the crimes they have perpetrated against Muslims and Christians" and permitting "all the sons of our people" to choose the form of government they want, while calling on them to "pick the option of Islamic government".
Hezbollah waged a guerilla campaign in South Lebanon, and as a result Israel withdrew from Lebanon on 24 May 2000, and the South Lebanon Army (SLA) collapsed and surrendered. Hezbollah organised volunteers who fought on the Bosnian side during the Bosnian War. Hezbollah's military strength has grown so significantly since 2006 that its paramilitary wing is considered more powerful than the Lebanese Army. Hezbollah has been described as a "state within a state" and has grown into an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon's borders. Hezbollah is part of the March 8 Alliance within Lebanon, in opposition to the March 14 Alliance. Hezbollah maintains strong support among Lebanon's Shi'a population, while Sunnis have disagreed with the group's agenda. Hezbollah also finds support from within some Christian areas of Lebanon that are Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran and political support from Syria. Hezbollah and Israel fought each other in the 2006 Lebanon War.
After the 2006–08 Lebanese protests and clashes, a national unity government was formed in 2008, with Hezbollah and its opposition allies' obtaining eleven of thirty cabinets seats, enough to give them veto power. In August 2008, Lebanon's new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement that recognized Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" (such as the Shebaa Farms). Since 2012, Hezbollah has helped the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a "Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy" to destroy its alliance with Assad against Israel. It has deployed its militia in both Syria and Iraq to fight or train local forces to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The group's legitimacy is considered to have been severely damaged due to the sectarian nature of the Syrian Civil War in which it has become embroiled.
After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Israel occupied a strip of south Lebanon, which was controlled by the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a militia supported by Israel. Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran primarily to harass the Israeli occupation. Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards that arrived from Iran with permission from the Syrian government, which was in occupation of Lebanon at the time.
Scholars differ as to when Hezbollah came to be a distinct entity. Various sources list the official formation of the group as early as 1982 whereas Diaz and Newman maintain that Hezbollah remained an amalgamation of various violent Shi'a extremists until as late as 1985. Another version states that it was formed by supporters of Sheikh Ragheb Harb, a leader of the southern Shia resistance killed by Israel in 1984. Regardless of when the name came into official use, a number of Shi'a groups were slowly assimilated into the organization, such as Islamic Jihad, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth and the Revolutionary Justice Organization . These designations are considered to be synonymous with Hezbollah by the US, Israel and Canada.
Hezbollah emerged in South Lebanon during a consolidation of Shia militias as a rival to the older Amal Movement. Hezbollah played a significant role in the Lebanese civil war, opposing American forces in 1982–83 and opposing Amal and Syria during the 1985–88 War of the Camps. However, Hezbollah's early primary focus was ending Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon following Israel's 1982 invasion and siege of Beirut. Amal, the main Lebanese Shia political group, initiated guerrilla warfare. In 2006, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak stated, "When we entered Lebanon … there was no Hezbollah. We were accepted with perfumed rice and flowers by the Shia in the south. It was our presence there that created Hezbollah".
Hezbollah waged an asymmetric war using suicide attacks against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli targets outside of Lebanon. Hezbollah is reputed to have been among the first Islamic resistance groups in the Middle East to use the tactics of suicide bombing, assassination, and capturing foreign soldiers, as well as murders and hijackings. Hezbollah also employed more conventional military tactics and weaponry, notably Katyusha rockets and other missiles. At the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, despite the Taif Agreement asking for the "disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias," Syria, which controlled Lebanon at that time, allowed Hezbollah to maintain their arsenal and control Shia areas along the border with Israel.
In the 1990s, Hezbollah transformed from a revolutionary group into a political one, in a process which is described as the Lebanonisation of Hezbollah. Unlike its uncompromising revolutionary stance in the 1980s, Hezbollah conveyed a lenient stance towards the Lebanese state.
In 1992 Hezbollah decided to participate in elections, and Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, endorsed it. Former Hezbollah secretary general, Subhi al-Tufayli, contested this decision, which led to a schism in Hezbollah. Hezbollah won all twelve seats which were on its electoral list. At the end of that year, Hezbollah began to engage in dialog with Lebanese Christians. Hezbollah regards cultural, political, and religious freedoms in Lebanon as sanctified, although it does not extend these values to groups who have relations with Israel.
In 1997 Hezbollah formed the multi-confessional Lebanese Brigades to Fighting the Israeli Occupation in an attempt to revive national and secular resistance against Israel, thereby marking the "Lebanonisation" of resistance.
Whether the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) was a "nom de guerre" used by Hezbollah or a separate organization, is disputed. According to certain sources, IJO was identified as merely a "telephone organization", and whose name was "used by those involved to disguise their true identity." Hezbollah reportedly also used another name, "Islamic Resistance" ("al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya"), for attacks against Israel.
A 2003 American court decision found IJO was the name used by Hezbollah for its attacks in Lebanon, parts of the Middle East and Europe. The US, Israel and Canada consider the names "Islamic Jihad Organization", "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization" to be synonymous with Hezbollah.
The ideology of Hezbollah has been summarized as Shi'i radicalism; Hezbollah follows the Islamic Shi'a theology developed by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Hezbollah was largely formed with the aid of the Ayatollah Khomeini's followers in the early 1980s in order to spread Islamic revolution and follows a distinct version of Islamic Shi'a ideology ( or Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists) developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the "Islamic Revolution" in Iran. Although Hezbollah originally aimed to transform Lebanon into a formal Faqihi Islamic republic, this goal has been abandoned in favor of a more inclusive approach.
On 16 February 1985, Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin issued Hezbollah's manifesto. The ideology presented in it was described as radical. Its first objective was to fight against what Hezbollah described as American and Israeli imperialism, including the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon and other territories. The second objective was to gather all Muslims into an "ummah", under which Lebanon would further the aims of the 1979 Revolution of Iran. It also declared it would protect all Lebanese communities, excluding those that collaborated with Israel, and support all national movements—both Muslim and non-Muslim—throughout the world. The ideology has since evolved, and today Hezbollah is a left-wing political entity focused on social injustice.
Translated excerpts from Hezbollah's original 1985 manifesto read:
From the inception of Hezbollah to the present, the elimination of the State of Israel has been one of Hezbollah's primary goals. Some translations of Hezbollah's 1985 Arabic-language manifesto state that "our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated". According to Hezbollah's Deputy-General, Naim Qassem, the struggle against Israel is a core belief of Hezbollah and the central rationale of Hezbollah's existence.
Hezbollah says that its continued hostilities against Israel are justified as reciprocal to Israeli operations against Lebanon and as retaliation for what they claim is Israel's occupation of Lebanese territory. Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, and their withdrawal was verified by the United Nations as being in accordance with resolution 425 of 19 March 1978, however Lebanon considers the Shebaa farms—a 26-km² (10-mi²) piece of land captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 war and considered by the UN to be Syrian territory occupied by Israel—to be Lebanese territory. Finally, Hezbollah consider Israel to be an illegitimate state. For these reasons, they justify their actions as acts of defensive jihad.
Hezbollah officials have said, on rare occasions, that it is only "anti-Zionist" and not anti-Semitic. However, according to scholars, "these words do not hold up upon closer examination". Among other actions, Hezbollah actively engages in Holocaust denial and spreads anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Various antisemitic statements have been attributed to Hezbollah officials. Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese political analyst, argues that although Zionism has influenced Hezbollah's anti-Judaism, "it is not contingent upon it "because Hezbollah's hatred of Jews is more religiously motivated than politically motivated. Robert S. Wistrich, a historian specializing in the study of anti-Semitism, described Hezbollah's ideology concerning Jews:
The anti-Semitism of Hezbollah leaders and spokesmen combines the image of seemingly invincible Jewish power ... and cunning with the contempt normally reserved for weak and cowardly enemies. Like the Hamas propaganda for holy war, that of Hezbollah has relied on the endless vilification of Jews as 'enemies of mankind,' 'conspiratorial, obstinate, and conceited' adversaries full of 'satanic plans' to enslave the Arabs. It fuses traditional Islamic anti-Judaism with Western conspiracy myths, Third Worldist anti-Zionism, and Iranian Shiite contempt for Jews as 'ritually impure' and corrupt infidels. Sheikh Fadlallah typically insists ... that Jews wish to undermine or obliterate Islam and Arab cultural identity in order to advance their economic and political domination.
Conflicting reports say Al-Manar, the Hezbollah-owned and operated television station, accused either Israel or Jews of deliberately spreading HIV and other diseases to Arabs throughout the Middle East. Al-Manar was criticized in the West for airing "anti-Semitic propaganda" in the form of a television drama depicting a Jewish world domination conspiracy theory. The group has been accused by American analysts of engaging in Holocaust denial. In addition, during its 2006 war, it apologized only for killing Israel's Arabs (i.e., non-Jews).
In November 2009, Hezbollah pressured a private English-language school to drop reading excerpts from "The Diary of Anne Frank", a book of the writings from the diary kept by the Jewish child Anne Frank while she was in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. This was after Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel complained, asking how long Lebanon would "remain an open arena for the Zionist invasion of education?"
At the beginning many Hezbollah leaders have maintained that the movement was "not an organization, for its members carry no cards and bear no specific responsibilities," and that the movement does not have "a clearly defined organizational structure." Nowadays, as Hezbollah scholar Magnus Ranstorp reports, Hezbollah does indeed have a formal governing structure, and in keeping with the principle of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists ("velayat-e faqih"), it "concentrate[s] ... all authority and powers" in its religious leaders, whose decisions then "flow from the ulama down the entire community."
The supreme decision-making bodies of the Hezbollah were divided between the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Assembly) which was headed by 12 senior clerical members with responsibility for tactical decisions and supervision of overall Hizballah activity throughout Lebanon, and the Majlis al-Shura al-Karar (the Deciding Assembly), headed by Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah and composed of eleven other clerics with responsibility for all strategic matters. Within the Majlis al-Shura, there existed seven specialized committees dealing with ideological, financial, military and political, judicial, informational and social affairs. In turn, the Majlis al-Shura and these seven committees were replicated in each of Hizballah's three main operational areas (the Beqaa, Beirut, and the South).
Since the Supreme Leader of Iran is the ultimate clerical authority, Hezbollah's leaders have appealed to him "for guidance and directives in cases when Hezbollah's collective leadership [was] too divided over issues and fail[ed] to reach a consensus." After the death of Iran's first Supreme Leader, Khomeini, Hezbollah's governing bodies developed a more "independent role" and appealed to Iran less often. Since the Second Lebanon War, however, Iran has restructured Hezbollah to limit the power of Hassan Nasrallah, and invested billions of dollars "rehabilitating" Hezbollah.
Structurally, Hezbollah does not distinguish between its political/social activities within Lebanon and its military/"jihad" activities against Israel. "Hezbollah has a single leadership," according to Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's second in command. "All political, social and jihad work is tied to the decisions of this leadership ... The same leadership that directs the parliamentary and government work also leads jihad actions in the struggle against Israel."
In 2010, Iran's parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said, "Iran takes pride in Lebanon's Islamic resistance movement for its steadfast Islamic stance. Hezbollah nurtures the original ideas of Islamic Jihad." He also instead charged the West with having accused Iran with support of terrorism and said, "The real terrorists are those who provide the Zionist regime with military equipment to bomb the people."
Funding of Hezbollah comes from Lebanese business groups, private persons, businessmen, the Lebanese diaspora involved in African diamond exploration, other Islamic groups and countries, and the taxes paid by the Shia Lebanese. Hezbollah says that the main source of its income comes from its own investment portfolios and donations by Muslims.
Western sources maintain that Hezbollah actually receives most of its financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from Iran and Syria. Iran is said to have given $400 million between 1983 and 1989 through donation. Due to economic problems, Iran temporarily limited funds to humanitarian actions carried on by Hezbollah. According to reports released in February 2010, Hezbollah received $400 million from Iran. In 2011 Iran earmarked $7 million to Hezbollah's activities in Latin American.
Hezbollah has relied also on funding from the Shi'ite Lebanese Diaspora in West Africa, the United States and, most importantly, the Triple Frontier, or tri-border area, along the junction of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. U.S. law enforcement officials have identified an illegal multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling fund raising operation and a drug smuggling operation. However, Nasrallah has repeatedly denied any links between the South American drug trade and Hezbollah, calling such accusations "propaganda" and attempts "to damage the image of Hezbollah".
As of 2018, Iranian monetary support for Hezbollah is estimated at $700 million per annum according to US estimates.
The United States has accused members of the Venezuelan government of providing financial aid to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah organizes and maintains an extensive social development program and runs hospitals, news services, educational facilities, and encouragement of Nikah mut'ah. One of its established institutions, Jihad Al Binna's Reconstruction Campaign, is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructure development projects in Lebanon. Hezbollah controls the Martyr's Institute (Al-Shahid Social Association), which pays stipends to "families of fighters who die" in battle. An IRIN news report of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted:
Hezbollah not only has armed and political wings – it also boasts an extensive social development program. Hezbollah currently operates at least four hospitals, twelve clinics, twelve schools and two agricultural centres that provide farmers with technical assistance and training. It also has an environmental department and an extensive social assistance program. Medical care is also cheaper than in most of the country's private hospitals and free for Hezbollah members.
According to CNN, "Hezbollah did everything that a government should do, from collecting the garbage to running hospitals and repairing schools." In July 2006, during the war with Israel, when there was no running water in Beirut, Hezbollah was arranging supplies around the city. Lebanese Shiites "see Hezbollah as a political movement and a social service provider as much as it is a militia." Hezbollah also rewards its guerilla members who have been wounded in battle by taking them to Hezbollah-run amusement parks.
Hezbollah is, therefore, deeply embedded in the Lebanese society.
Hezbollah along with Amal is one of two major political parties in Lebanon that represent Shiite Muslims. Unlike Amal, whose support is predominantly in the south of the country, Hezbollah maintains broad-based support in all three areas of Lebanon with a majority Shia Muslim population: in the south, in Beirut and its surrounding area, and in the northern Beqaa valley and Hirmil region. It holds 14 of the 128 seats in the Parliament of Lebanon and is a member of the Resistance and Development Bloc. According to Daniel L. Byman, it is "the most powerful single political movement in Lebanon." Hezbollah, along with the Amal Movement, represents most of Lebanese Shi'a. However, unlike Amal, Hezbollah has not disarmed. Hezbollah participates in the Parliament of Lebanon.
Hezbollah has been one of the main parties of the March 8 Alliance since March 2005. Although Hezbollah had joined the new government in 2005, it remained staunchly opposed to the March 14 Alliance. On 1 December 2006, these groups began a series of political protests and sit-ins in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
On 7 May 2008, Lebanon's 17-month-long political crisis spiraled out of control. The fighting was sparked by a government move to shut down Hezbollah's telecommunication network and remove Beirut Airport's security chief over alleged ties to Hezbollah. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the government's decision to declare the group's military telecommunications network illegal was a "declaration of war" on the organization, and demanded that the government revoke it. Hezbollah-led opposition fighters seized control of several West Beirut neighborhoods from Future Movement militiamen loyal to the backed government, in street battles that left 11 dead and 30 wounded. The opposition-seized areas were then handed over to the Lebanese Army. The army also pledged to resolve the dispute and has reversed the decisions of the government by letting Hezbollah preserve its telecoms network and re-instating the airport's security chief. At the end, rival Lebanese leaders reached consensus over Doha Agreement on 21 May 2008, to end the 18-month political feud that exploded into fighting and nearly drove the country to a new civil war. On the basis of this agreement, Hezbollah and its opposition allies were effectively granted veto power in Lebanon's parliament. At the end of the conflicts, National unity government was formed by Fouad Siniora on 11 July 2008, with Hezbollah controlling one ministerial and eleven of thirty cabinet places.
Hezbollah currently sits in the opposition March 8 alliance. However, they withdrew from the government citing inability to discuss issues over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Hezbollah operates a satellite television station, Al-Manar TV ("the Lighthouse"), and a radio station, al-Nour ("the Light"). Al-Manar broadcasts from Beirut, Lebanon. Hezbollah launched the station in 1991 with the help of Iranian funds. Al-Manar, the self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance," ("qanat al-muqawama") is a key player in what Hezbollah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy" and an integral part of Hezbollah's plan to spread its message to the entire Arab world. In addition, Hezbollah has a weekly publication, "Al Ahd", which was established in 1984. It is the only media outlet which is openly affiliated with the organization.
Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar airs programming designed to inspire suicide attacks in Gaza, the West Bank, and Iraq. Al-Manar's transmission in France is prohibited due to its promotion of Holocaust denial, a criminal offense in France. The United States lists Al-Manar television network as a terrorist organization. Al-Manar was designated as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity," and banned by the United States in December 2004. It has also been banned by France, Spain and Germany.
Materials aimed at instilling principles of nationalism and Islam in children are an aspect of Hezbollah's media operations. The Hezbollah Central Internet Bureau released a video game in 2003 entitled "Special Force" and a sequel in 2007 in which players are rewarded with points and weapons for killing Israelis. In 2012, Al-Manar aired a television special praising an 8-year-old boy who raised money for Hezbollah and said: "When I grow up, I will be a communist resistance warrior with Hezbollah, fighting the United States and Israel, I will tear them to pieces and drive them out of Lebanon, the Golan and Palestine, which I love very dearly."
Hezbollah's secret services have been described as "one of the best in the world", and have even infiltrated the Israeli army. Hezbollah's secret services collaborate with the .
In the summer of 1982, Hezbollah's Special Security Apparatus was created by Hussein al-Khalil, now a "top political adviser to Nasrallah"; while Hezbollah's counterintelligence was initially managed by Iran's Quds Force, the organization continued to grow during the 1990s. By 2008, scholar Carl Anthony Wege writes, "Hizballah had obtained complete dominance over Lebanon's official state counterintelligence apparatus, which now constituted a Hizballah asset for counterintelligence purposes." This close connection with Lebanese intelligence helped bolster Hezbollah's financial counterintelligence unit.
According to Ahmad Hamzeh, Hezbollah's counterintelligence service is divided into "Amn al-Muddad", responsible for "external" or "encounter" security; and "Amn al-Hizb", which protects the organization's integrity and its leaders. According to Wege, "Amn al-Muddad" "may have received specialized intelligence training in Iran and possibly North Korea". The organization also includes a military security component, as well as an External Security Organization ("al-Amn al-Khariji" or Unit 910) that operates covertly outside Lebanon.
Successful Hezbollah counterintelligence operations include thwarting the CIA's attempted kidnapping of foreign operations chief Hassan Ezzeddine in 1994; the 1997 manipulation of a double agent that led to the Ansariya Ambush; and the 2000 kidnapping of alleged Mossad agent Elhanan Tannenbaum. Hezbollah also collaborated with the Lebanese government in 2006 to detect Adeeb al-Alam, a former colonel, as an Israeli spy. Also, the organization recruited IDF Lieutenant Colonel Omar al-Heib, who was convicted in 2006 of conducting surveillance for Hezbollah. In 2009, Hezbollah apprehended Marwan Faqih, a garage owner who installed tracking devices in Hezbollah-owned vehicles.
Hezbollah's counterintelligence apparatus also uses electronic surveillance and intercept technologies. By 2011, Hezbollah counterintelligence began to use software to analyze cellphone data and detect espionage; suspicious callers were then subjected to conventional surveillance. In the mid-1990s, Hezbollah was able to "download unencrypted video feeds from Israeli drones," and Israeli SIGINT efforts intensified after the 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon. With possible help from Iran and the Russian FSB, Hezbollah augmented its electronic counterintelligence capabilities, and succeeded by 2008 in detecting Israeli bugs near Mount Sannine and in the organization's fiber optic network.
Hezbollah does not reveal its armed strength. The Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre estimated that Hezbollah's armed wing comprises 1,000 full-time Hezbollah members, along with a further 6,000–10,000 volunteers. According to the Iranian Fars News Agency, Hezbollah has up to 65,000 fighters. It is often described as more militarily powerful than the Lebanese Army. Israeli commander Gui Zur called Hezbollah "by far the greatest guerrilla group in the world".
In 2010, Hezbollah was believed to have 45,000 rockets. In 2017, Hezbollah had 130,000 rockets and missiles in place targeting Israel, according to Israeli Minister Naftali Bennett. Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot acknowledged that Hezbollah possesses "tens of thousands" of long- and short-range rockets, drones, advanced computer encryption capabilities, as well as advanced defense capabilities like the SA-6 anti-aircraft missile system.
Hezbollah possesses the Katyusha-122 rocket, which has a range of 29 km (18 mi) and carries a 15-kg (33-lb) warhead. Hezbollah also possesses about 100 long-range missiles. They include the Iranian-made Fajr-3 and Fajr-5, the latter with a range of , enabling it to strike the Israeli port of Haifa, and the Zelzal-1, with an estimated range, which can reach Tel Aviv. Fajr-3 missiles have a range of and a 45-kg (99-lb) warhead, and Fajr-5 missiles, which extend to , also hold 45-kg (99-lb) warheads. It was reported that Hezbollah is in possession of Scud missiles that were provided to them by Syria. Syria denied the reports.
According to various reports, Hezbollah is armed with anti-tank guided missiles, namely, the Russian-made AT-3 Sagger, AT-4 Spigot, AT-5 Spandrel, AT-13 Saxhorn-2 'Metis-M', АТ-14 Spriggan 'Kornet'; Iranian-made Ra'ad (version of AT-3 Sagger), Towsan (version of AT-5 Spandrel), Toophan (version of BGM-71 TOW); and European-made MILAN missiles. These weapons have been used against IDF soldiers, causing many of the deaths during the 2006 Lebanon War. A small number of Saeghe-2s (Iranian-made version of M47 Dragon) were also used in the war.
For air defense, Hezbollah has anti-aircraft weapons that include the ZU-23 artillery and the man-portable, shoulder-fired SA-7 and SA-18 surface-to-air missile (SAM). One of the most effective weapons deployed by Hezbollah has been the C-802 anti-ship missile.
In April 2010, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates claimed that the Hezbollah has far more missiles and rockets than the majority of countries, and said that Syria and Iran are providing weapons to the organization. Israel also claims that Syria is providing the organization with these weapons. Syria has denied supplying these weapons and views these claims as an Israeli excuse for an attack. Leaked cables from American diplomats suggest that the United States has been trying unsuccessfully to prevent Syria from "supplying arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon", and that Hezbollah has "amassed a huge stockpile (of arms) since its 2006 war with Israel"; the arms were described as "increasingly sophisticated." Gates added that Hezbollah is possibly armed with chemical or biological weapons, as well as anti-ship missiles that could threaten U.S. ships.
, the Israeli government believe Hezbollah had an arsenal of nearly 150,000 rockets stationed on its border with Lebanon. Some of these missiles are said to be capable of penetrating cities as far away as Eilat. The IDF has accused Hezbollah of storing these rockets beneath hospitals, schools, and civilian homes. Hezbollah has also used drones against Israel, by penetrating air defense systems, in a report verified by Nasrallah, who added, "This is only part of our capabilities".
Israeli military officials and analysts have also drawn attention to the experience and weaponry the group would have gained from the involvement of thousands of its fighters in the Syrian Civil War. "This kind of experience cannot be bought," said Gabi Siboni, director of the military and strategic affairs program at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. "It is an additional factor that we will have to deal with. There is no replacement for experience, and it is not to be scoffed at."
On 13 July 2019 Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, in an interview broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television, said “Our weapons have been developed in both quality and quantity, we have precision missiles and drones,” he illustrated strategic military and civilian targets on the map of Israel and stated, Hezbollah is able to launch Ben Gurion Airport, arms depots, petrochemical, and water desalinization plants, and the Ashdod port, Haifa's ammonia storage which would cause "tens of thousands of casualties".
Hezbollah has a military branch known as the Jihad Council, one component of which is "Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya" ("The Islamic Resistance"), and is the possible sponsor of a number of lesser-known militant groups, some of which may be little more than fronts for Hezbollah itself, including the Organization of the Oppressed, the Revolutionary Justice Organization, the Organization of Right Against Wrong, and Followers of the Prophet Muhammad.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 called for the disarmament of militia with the Taif agreement at the end of the Lebanese civil war. Hezbollah denounced, and protested against, the resolution. The 2006 military conflict with Israel has increased the controversy. Failure to disarm remains a violation of the resolution and agreement as well as subsequent United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. Since then both Israel and Hezbollah have asserted that the organization has gained in military strength. A Lebanese public opinion poll taken in August 2006 shows that most of the Shia did not believe that Hezbollah should disarm after the 2006 Lebanon war, while the majority of Sunni, Druze and Christians believed that they should. The Lebanese cabinet, under president Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, guidelines state that Hezbollah enjoys the right to "liberate occupied lands." In 2009, a Hezbollah commander (speaking on condition of anonymity) said, "[W]e have far more rockets and missiles [now] than we did in 2006."
The Lebanese Resistance Brigades ( "Saraya al-Moukawama al-Lubnaniyya"), also known as the Lebanese Brigades to Resist the Israeli Occupation, were formed by Hezbollah in 1997 as a multifaith (Christian, Druze, Sunni and Shia) volunteer force to combat the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. With the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, the organization was disbanded.
In 2009, the Resistance Brigades were reactivated, mainly comprising Sunni supporters from the southern city of Sidon. Its strength was reduced in late 2013 from 500 to 200–250 due to residents complaints about some fighters of the group exacerbating tensions with the local community.
Between 1982 and 1986, there were 36 suicide attacks in Lebanon directed against American, French and Israeli forces by 41 individuals, killing 659. Hezbollah denies involvement in some of these attacks, though it has been accused of being involved or linked to some or all of these attacks:
Since 1990, terror acts and attempts of which Hezbollah has been blamed include the following bombings and attacks against civilians and diplomats:
Hezbollah provided fighters to fight on the Bosnian Muslim side during the Bosnian War, as part of the broader Iranian involvement. "The Bosnian Muslim government is a client of the Iranians," wrote Robert Baer, a CIA agent stationed in Sarajevo during the war. "If it’s a choice between the CIA and the Iranians, they’ll take the Iranians any day." By war's end, public opinion polls showed some 86 percent Bosnian Muslims had a positive opinion of Iran. In conjunction, Hezbollah initially sent 150 fighters to fight against the Bosnian Serb Army, the Bosnian Muslims' main opponent in the war. All Shia foreign advisors and fighters withdrew from Bosnia at the end of conflict.
Hezbollah has been involved in several cases of armed conflict with Israel:
On 7 October 2000, three Israeli soldiers – Adi Avitan, Staff Sgt. Benyamin Avraham, and Staff Sgt. Omar Sawaidwere – were abducted by Hezbollah while patrolling the Israeli side of the Israeli-Lebanese border. The soldiers were killed either during the attack or in its immediate aftermath. Israel Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has, however, said that Hezbollah abducted the soldiers and then killed them. The bodies of the slain soldiers were exchanged for Lebanese prisoners in 2004.
The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. The conflict was precipitated by a cross-border raid during which Hezbollah kidnapped and killed Israeli soldiers. The conflict began on 12 July 2006 when Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Israeli border towns as a diversion for an anti-tank missile attack on two armored Humvees patrolling the Israeli side of the border fence, killing three, injuring two, and seizing two Israeli soldiers.
Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon that damaged Lebanese infrastructure, including Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport (which Israel said that Hezbollah used to import weapons and supplies), an air and naval blockade, and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah then launched more rockets into northern Israel and engaged the Israel Defense Forces in guerrilla warfare from hardened positions. The war continued until 14 August 2006. Hezbollah was responsible for thousands of Katyusha rocket attacks against Israeli civilian towns and cities in northern Israel, which Hezbollah said were in retaliation for Israel's killing of civilians and targeting Lebanese infrastructure. The conflict is believed to have killed 1,191–1,300 Lebanese citizens including combatants and 165 Israelis including soldiers.
In 2010, Hezbollah claimed that the Dalit and Tamar gas field, discovered by Noble Energy roughly west of Haifa in Israeli exclusive economic zone, belong to Lebanon, and warned Israel against extracting gas from them. Senior officials from Hezbollah warned that they would not hesitate to use weapons to defend Lebanon's natural resources. Figures in the March 14 Forces stated in response that Hezbullah was presenting
another excuse to hold on to its arms. Lebanese MP Antoine Zahra said that the issue is another item "in the endless list of excuses" meant to justify the continued existence of Hezbullah's arsenal.
In July 2011, Italian newspaper "Corierre della Sera" reported, based on American and Turkish sources, that Hezbollah was behind a bombing in Istanbul in May 2011 that wounded eight Turkish civilians. The report said that the attack was an assassination attempt on the Israeli consul to Turkey, Moshe Kimchi. Turkish intelligence sources denied the report and said "Israel is in the habit of creating disinformation campaigns using different papers."
In July 2012, a Lebanese man was detained by Cyprus police on possible charges relating to terrorism laws for planning attacks against Israeli tourists. According to security officials, the man was planning attacks for Hezbollah in Cyprus and admitted this after questioning. The police were alerted about the man due to an urgent message from Israeli intelligence. The Lebanese man was in possession of photographs of Israeli targets and had information on Israeli airlines flying back and forth from Cyprus, and planned to blow up a plane or tour bus. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Iran assisted the Lebanese man with planning the attacks.
Following an investigation into the 2012 Burgas bus bombing terrorist attack against Israeli citizens in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian government officially accused the Lebanese-militant movement Hezbollah of committing the attack. Five Israeli citizens, the Bulgarian bus driver, and the bomber were killed. The bomb exploded as the Israeli tourists boarded a bus from the airport to their hotel.
Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Bulgaria's interior minister, reported that the two suspects responsible were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah; he said the suspected terrorists entered Bulgaria on 28 June and remained until 18 July. Israel had already previously suspected Hezbollah for the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the report "further corroboration of what we have already known, that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons are orchestrating a worldwide campaign of terror that is spanning countries and continents." Netanyahu said that the attack in Bulgaria was just one of many that Hezbollah and Iran have planned and carried out, including attacks in Thailand, Kenya, Turkey, India, Azerbaijan, Cyprus and Georgia.
John Brennan, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has said that "Bulgaria's investigation exposes Hezbollah for what it is – a terrorist group that is willing to recklessly attack innocent men, women and children, and that poses a real and growing threat not only to Europe, but to the rest of the world." The result of the Bulgarian investigation comes at a time when Israel has been petitioning the European Union to join the United States in designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
In response to an attack against a military convoy comprising Hezbollah and Iranian officers on 18 January 2015 at Quneitra in south of Syria, Hezbollah launched an ambush on 28 January against an Israeli military convoy in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms with anti-tank missiles against two Israeli vehicles patrolling the border, killing 2 and wounding 7 Israeli soldiers and officers, as confirmed by Israeli military.
On 14 February 2005, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was killed, along with 21 others, when his motorcade was struck by a roadside bomb in Beirut. He had been PM during 1992–1998 and 2000–2004. In 2009, the United Nations special tribunal investigating the murder of Hariri reportedly found evidence linking Hezbollah to the murder.
In August 2010, in response to notification that the UN tribunal would indict some Hezbollah members, Hassan Nasrallah said Israel was looking for a way to assassinate Hariri as early as 1993 in order to create political chaos that would force Syria to withdraw from Lebanon, and to perpetuate an anti-Syrian atmosphere [in Lebanon] in the wake of the assassination. He went on to say that in 1996 Hezbollah apprehended an agent working for Israel by the name of Ahmed Nasrallah – no relation to Hassan Nasrallah – who allegedly contacted Hariri's security detail and told them that he had solid proof that Hezbollah was planning to take his life. Hariri then contacted Hezbollah and advised them of the situation. Saad Hariri responded that the UN should investigate these claims.
On 30 June 2011, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, established to investigate the death of Hariri, issued arrest warrants against four senior members of Hezbollah, including Mustafa Badr Al Din. On 3 July, Hassan Nasrallah rejected the indictment and denounced the tribunal as a plot against the party, vowing that the named persons would not be arrested under any circumstances.
Hezbollah has long been an ally of the Ba'ath government of Syria, led by the Al-Assad family. Hezbollah has helped the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot to destroy its alliance with al-Assad against Israel. Geneive Abdo opined that Hezbollah's support for al-Assad in the Syrian war has "transformed" it from a group with "support among the Sunni for defeating Israel in a battle in 2006" into a "strictly Shia paramilitary force".
In August 2012, the United States sanctioned Hezbollah for its alleged role in the war. General Secretary Nasrallah denied Hezbollah had been fighting on behalf of the Syrian government, stating in a 12 October 2012, speech that "right from the start the Syrian opposition has been telling the media that Hizbullah sent 3,000 fighters to Syria, which we have denied". However, according to the Lebanese "Daily Star" newspaper, Nasrallah said in the same speech that Hezbollah fighters helped the Syrian government "retain control of some 23 strategically located villages [in Syria] inhabited by Shiites of Lebanese citizenship". Nasrallah said that Hezbollah fighters have died in Syria doing their "jihadist duties".
In 2012, Hezbollah fighters crossed the border from Lebanon and took over eight villages in the Al-Qusayr District of Syria. On 16–17 February 2013, Syrian opposition groups claimed that Hezbollah, backed by the Syrian military, attacked three neighboring Sunni villages controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA). An FSA spokesman said, "Hezbollah's invasion is the first of its kind in terms of organisation, planning and coordination with the Syrian regime's air force". Hezbollah said three Lebanese Shiites, "acting in self-defense", were killed in the clashes with the FSA. Lebanese security sources said that the three were Hezbollah members. In response, the FSA allegedly attacked two Hezbollah positions on 21 February; one in Syria and one in Lebanon. Five days later, it said it destroyed a convoy carrying Hezbollah fighters and Syrian officers to Lebanon, killing all the passengers.
In January 2013, a weapons convoy carrying SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah was destroyed allegedly by the Israeli Air Force. A nearby research center for chemical weapons was also damaged. A similar attack on weapons destined for Hezbollah occurred in May of the same year.
The leaders of the March 14 alliance and other prominent Lebanese figures called on Hezbollah to end its involvement in Syria and said it is putting Lebanon at risk. Subhi al-Tufayli, Hezbollah's former leader, said "Hezbollah should not be defending the criminal regime that kills its own people and that has never fired a shot in defense of the Palestinians". He said "those Hezbollah fighters who are killing children and terrorizing people and destroying houses in Syria will go to hell". The Consultative Gathering, a group of Shia and Sunni leaders in Baalbek-Hermel, also called on Hezbollah not to "interfere" in Syria. They said, "Opening a front against the Syrian people and dragging Lebanon to war with the Syrian people is very dangerous and will have a negative impact on the relations between the two". Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, also called on Hezbollah to end its involvement and claimed that "Hezbollah is fighting inside Syria with orders from Iran". Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi condemned Hezbollah by saying, "We stand against Hezbollah in its aggression against the Syrian people. There is no space or place for Hezbollah in Syria".
Support for Hezbollah among the Syrian public has weakened since the involvement of Hezbollah and Iran in propping up the Assad regime during the civil war.
On 12 May 2013, Hezbollah with the Syrian army attempted to retake part of Qusayr. In Lebanon, there has been "a recent increase in the funerals of Hezbollah fighters" and "Syrian rebels have shelled Hezbollah-controlled areas."
On 25 May 2013, Nasrallah announced that Hezbollah is fighting in the Syrian Civil War against Islamic extremists and "pledged that his group will not allow Syrian militants to control areas that border Lebanon". He confirmed that Hezbollah was fighting in the strategic Syrian town of Al-Qusayr on the same side as Assad's forces. In the televised address, he said, "If Syria falls in the hands of America, Israel and the takfiris, the people of our region will go into a dark period."
Beginning in July 2014, Hezbollah sent an undisclosed number of technical advisers and intelligence analysts to Baghdad in support of the Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present). Shortly thereafter, Hezbollah commander Ibrahim al-Hajj was reported killed in action near Mosul.
Hezbollah operations in South America began in the late 20th century, centered around the Arab population which had moved there following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the 1985 Lebanese Civil War. In 2002, Hezbollah was operating openly in Ciudad del Este. Beginning in 2008 the United States Drug Enforcement Agency began with Project Cassandra to work against Hezbollah activities in regards to Latin American drug trafficking. The investigation by the DEA found that Hezbollah made about a billion dollars a year and trafficked thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States. Another destination for cocaine trafficking done by Hezbollah are nations within the Gulf Cooperation Council. In 2013, Hezbollah was accused of infiltrating South America and having ties with Latin American drug cartels. One area of operations is in the region of the Triple Frontier, where Hezbollah has been alleged to be involved in the trafficking of cocaine; officials with the Lebanese embassy in Paraguay have worked to counter American allegations and extradition attempts. In 2016, it was alleged that money gained from drug sales was used to purchase weapons in Syria. In 2018, "Infobae" reported that Hezbollah was operating in Colombia under the name Organization of External Security. That same year, Argentine police made arrest to individuals alleged to be connected to Hezbollah's criminal activities within the nation. It is also alleged that Venezuela aids Hezbollah in its operations in the region. One particular form of involvement is money laundering.
In 2010, Ahbash and Hezbollah members were involved in a street battle which was perceived to be over parking issues, both groups later met to form a joint compensation fund for the victims of the conflict.
Hezbollah has also been the target of bomb attacks and kidnappings. These include:
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hezbollah condemned al-Qaeda for targeting civilians in the World Trade Center, but remained silent on the attack on The Pentagon. Hezbollah also denounced the massacres in Algeria by Armed Islamic Group, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya attacks on tourists in Egypt, the murder of Nick Berg, and ISIL attacks in Paris.
Although Hezbollah has denounced certain attacks on civilians, some people accuse the organization of the bombing of an Argentine synagogue in 1994. Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, Marcelo Martinez Burgos, and their "staff of some 45 people" said that Hezbollah and their contacts in Iran were responsible for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina, in which "[e]ighty-five people were killed and more than 200 others injured." In June 2002, shortly after the Israeli government launched Operation Defensive Shield, Nasrallah gave a speech in which he defended and praised suicide bombings of Israeli targets by members of Palestinian groups for "creating a deterrence and equalizing fear." Nasrallah stated that "in occupied Palestine, there is no difference between a soldier and a civilian, for they are all invaders, occupiers and usurpers of the land."
In August 2012, the United States State Department's counter-terrorism coordinator Daniel Benjamin warned that Hezbollah may attack Europe at any time without any warning. Benjamin said, "Hezbollah maintains a presence in Europe and its recent activities demonstrate that it is not constrained by concerns about collateral damage or political fallout that could result from conducting operations there ... We assess that Hezbollah could attack in Europe or elsewhere at any time with little or no warning" and that Hezbollah has "stepped up terrorist campaigns around the world."
Hezbollah has close relations with Iran. It also has ties with the leadership in Syria, specifically President Hafez al-Assad (until his death in 2000) supported it. It is also a close Assad ally, and its leader pledged support to the embattled Syrian leader. Although Hezbollah and Hamas are not organizationally linked, Hezbollah provides military training as well as financial and moral support to the Sunni Palestinian group. Furthermore, Hezbollah is a strong supporter of the ongoing Al-Aqsa Intifada.
American and Israeli counter-terrorism officials claim that Hezbollah has (or had) links to Al Qaeda, although Hezbollah's leaders deny these allegations. Also, some al-Qaeda leaders, like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Wahhabi clerics, consider Hezbollah to be apostate. But United States intelligence officials speculate that there has been contact between Hezbollah and low-level al-Qaeda figures who fled Afghanistan for Lebanon. However, Michel Samaha, Lebanon's former minister of information, has said that Hezbollah has been an important ally of the government in the war against terrorist groups, and described the "American attempt to link Hezbollah to al-Qaeda" to be "astonishing".
According to Michel Samaha, Lebanon's minister of information, Hezbollah is seen as a legitimate resistance organization that has defended its land against an Israeli occupying force and has consistently stood up to the Israeli army.
According to a survey released by the "Beirut Center for Research and Information" on 26 July during the 2006 Lebanon War, 87 percent of Lebanese support Hezbollah's "retaliatory attacks on northern Israel", a rise of 29 percentage points from a similar poll conducted in February. More striking, however, was the level of support for Hezbollah's resistance from non-Shiite communities. Eighty percent of Christians polled supported Hezbollah, along with 80 percent of Druze and 89 percent of Sunnis.
In a poll of Lebanese adults taken in 2004, 6% of respondents gave unqualified support to the statement "Hezbollah should be disarmed". 41% reported unqualified disagreement. A poll of Gaza Strip and West Bank residents indicated that 79.6% had "a very good view" of Hezbollah, and most of the remainder had a "good view". Polls of Jordanian adults in December 2005 and June 2006 showed that 63.9% and 63.3%, respectively, considered Hezbollah to be a legitimate resistance organization.In the December 2005 poll, only 6% of Jordanian adults considered Hezbollah to be terrorist.
A July 2006 "USA Today"/Gallup poll found that 83% of the 1,005 Americans polled blamed Hezbollah, at least in part, for the 2006 Lebanon War, compared to 66% who blamed Israel to some degree. Additionally, 76% disapproved of the military action Hezbollah took in Israel, compared to 38% who disapproved of Israel's military action in Lebanon. A poll in August 2006 by ABC News and the "Washington Post" found that 68% of the 1,002 Americans polled blamed Hezbollah, at least in part, for the civilian casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon War, compared to 31% who blamed Israel to some degree. Another August 2006 poll by CNN showed that 69% of the 1,047 Americans polled believed that Hezbollah is unfriendly towards, or an enemy of, the United States.
In 2010, a survey of Muslims in Lebanon showed that 94% of Lebanese Shia supported Hezbollah, while 84% of the Sunni Muslims held an unfavorable opinion of the group.
Some public opinion has started to turn against Hezbollah for their support of Syrian President Assad's attacks on the opposition movement in Syria. Crowds in Cairo shouted out against Iran and Hezbollah, at a public speech by Hamas President Ismail Haniya in February 2012, when Hamas changed its support to the Syrian opposition.
Hezbollah's status as a legitimate political party, a terrorist group, a resistance movement, or some combination thereof is a contentious issue.
There is a "wide difference" between American and Arab perception of Hezbollah. Several Western countries officially classify Hezbollah or its external security wing as a terrorist organization, and some of their violent acts have been described as terrorist attacks. However, throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is referred to as a resistance movement, engaged in national defense. Even within Lebanon, sometimes Hezbollah's status as either a "militia" or "national resistance" has been contentious. In Lebanon, although not universally well-liked, Hezbollah is widely seen as a legitimate national resistance organization defending Lebanon, and actually described by the Lebanese information minister as an important ally in fighting terrorist groups. In the Arab world, Hezbollah is generally seen either as a destabilizing force that functions as Iran's pawn by rentier states like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, or as a popular sociopolitical guerilla movement that exemplifies strong leadership, meaningful political action, and a commitment to social justice.
The United Nations Security Council has never listed Hezbollah as a terrorist organization under its sanctions list, although some of its members have done so individually. The United Kingdom listed Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization until May 2019 when the entire organisation was proscribed, and the United States lists the entire group as such. Russia has considered Hezbollah a legitimate sociopolitical organization, and the People's Republic of China remains neutral and maintains contacts with Hezbollah.
In May 2013, France and Germany released statements that they will join other European countries in calling for an EU-blacklisting of Hezbollah as a terror group. In April 2020 Germany designated the organization - including its political wing - as a terrorist organization, and banned any activity in support of Hezbollah.
The following entities have listed Hezbollah as a terror group:
The following countries do not consider Hezbollah a terror organization:
The United States Department of State has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization since 1995. The group remains on Foreign Terrorist Organization and
Specially Designated Terrorist lists. According to the Congressional Research Service, "The U.S. government holds Hezbollah responsible for a number of attacks and hostage takings targeting Americans in Lebanon during the 1980s, including the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in April 1983 and the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in October 1983, which together killed 258 Americans. Hezbollah's operations outside of Lebanon, including its participation in bombings of Israeli and Jewish targets in Argentina during the 1990s and more recent training and liaison activities with Shiite insurgents in Iraq, have cemented the organization's reputation among U.S. policy makers as a capable and deadly adversary with potential global reach."
The United Kingdom was the first government to attempt to make a distinction between Hezbollah's political and military wings, declaring the latter a terrorist group in July 2008 after Hezbollah confirmed its association with Imad Mughniyeh. In 2012, British "Foreign Minister William Hague urged the European Union to place Hezbollah's military wing on its list of terrorist organizations." The United States also urged the EU to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. In light of findings implicating Hezbollah in the bus bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria in 2012, there was renewed discussion within the European Union to label Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist group. On 22 July 2013, the European Union agreed to blacklist Hezbollah's military wing over concerns about its growing role in the Syrian conflict.
In the midst of the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Russia's government declined to include Hezbollah in a newly released list of terrorist organizations, with Yuri Sapunov, the head of anti-terrorism for the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, saying that they list only organizations which represent "the greatest threat to the security of our country". Prior to the release of the list, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov called "on Hezbollah to stop resorting to any terrorist methods, including attacking neighboring states."
The Quartet's fourth member, the United Nations, does not maintain such a list, however, the United Nations has made repeated calls for Hezbollah to disarm and accused the group of destabilizing the region and causing harm to Lebanese civilians. Human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Hezbollah of committing war crimes against Israeli civilians.
Argentine prosecutors hold Hezbollah and their financial supporters in Iran responsible for the 1994 AMIA Bombing of a Jewish cultural center, described by the Associated Press as "the worst terrorist attack on Argentine soil," in which "[e]ighty-five people were killed and more than 200 others injured." During the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin condemned attacks by Hezbollah fighters on Israeli forces in south Lebanon, saying they were "terrorism" and not acts of resistance. "France condemns Hezbollah's attacks, and all types of terrorist attacks which may be carried out against soldiers, or possibly Israel's civilian population." Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema differentiated the wings of Hezbollah: "Apart from their well-known terrorist activities, they also have political standing and are socially engaged." Germany does not maintain its own list of terrorist organizations, having chosen to adopt the common EU list. However, German officials have indicated they would likely support designating Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The Netherlands regards Hezbollah as terrorist discussing it as such in official reports of their general intelligence and security service and in official answers by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 22 July 2013, the European Union declared the military wings of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization; effectively blacklisting the entity.
The United States, France, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Canada, the Netherlands, and Israel have classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. In early 2015, the US Director of National Intelligence removed Hezbollah from the list of "active terrorist threats" against the United States while Hezbollah remained designated as terrorist by the US, and by mid 2015 several Hezbollah officials were sanctioned by the US for their role in facilitating military activity in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. The European Union, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Australia have proscribed Hezbollah's military wing, but do not list Hezbollah as a whole as a terrorist organization.
In 2006, Hezbollah was regarded as a legitimate resistance movement throughout most of the Arab and Muslim world. Furthermore, most of the Sunni Arab world sees Hezbollah as an agent of Iranian influence, and therefore, would like to see their power in Lebanon diminished. Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have condemned Hezbollah's actions, saying that "the Arabs and Muslims can't afford to allow an irresponsible and adventurous organization like Hezbollah to drag the region to war" and calling it "dangerous adventurism",
After an alleged 2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt, the Egyptian regime of Hosni Mubarak officially classified Hezbollah as a terrorist group. Following the 2012 Presidential elections the new government recognized Hezbollah as a "real political and military force" in Lebanon. The Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon, Ashraf Hamdy, stated that "Resistance in the sense of defending Lebanese territory ... That's their primary role. We ... think that as a resistance movement they have done a good job to keep on defending Lebanese territory and trying to regain land occupied by Israel is legal and legitimate."
During the Bahraini uprising, Bahrain foreign minister Khalid ibn Ahmad Al Khalifah labeled Hezbollah a terrorist group and accused them of supporting the protesters. On 10 April 2013, Bahrain blacklisted Hezbollah as a terrorist group, being the first Arab state in this regard.
During the 2011 Syrian uprising Hezbollah's has voiced support for Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, which has prompted criticism from anti-government Syrians. As Hezbollah supported other movements in the context of the Arab Spring, anti-government Syrians have stated that they feel "betrayed" by a double standard allegedly applied by the movement. Following Hezbollah's aid in Assad government's victory in Qusair, anti-Hezbollah editorials began regularly appearing in the Arabic media and anti-Hezbollah graffiti has been seen in southern Lebanon.
In March 2016, Gulf Cooperation Council designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization due to its alleged attempts to undermine GCC states, and Arab League followed the move, with reservation by Iraq and Lebanon. In the summit, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said that "Hezbollah enjoys wide representation and is an integral faction of the Lebanese community", while Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said PMF and Hezbollah "have preserved Arab dignity" and those who accuse them of being terrorists are terrorists themselves. Saudi delegation walked out of the meeting. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the step "important and even amazing".
A day before the move by the Arab League, Hezbollah leader Nsarallah said that "Saudi Arabia is angry with Hezbollah since it is daring to say what only a few others dare to say against its royal family".
In an interview during the 2006 Lebanon War, then-President Emile Lahoud stated "Hezbollah enjoys utmost prestige in Lebanon, because it freed our country ... even though it is very small, it stands up to Israel." Following the 2006 War, other Lebanese including members of the government were resentful of the large damage sustained by the country and saw Hezbollah's actions as unjustified "dangerous adventurism" rather than legitimate resistance. They accused Hezbollah of acting on behalf of Iran and Syria.
An official of the Future Movement, part of the March 14 Alliance, warned that Hezbollah "has all the characteristics of a terrorist party", and that Hezbollah is moving Lebanon toward the Iranian Islamic system of government.
In August 2008, Lebanon's cabinet completed a policy statement which recognized "the right of Lebanon's people, army, and resistance to liberate the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, Kafar Shuba Hills, and the Lebanese section of Ghajar village, and defend the country using all legal and possible means."
Gebran Tueni, a late conservative Orthodox Christian editor of an-Nahar, referred to Hezbollah as an "Iranian import" and said "they have nothing to do with Arab civilization." Tuení believed that Hezbollah's evolution is cosmetic, concealing a sinister long-term strategy to Islamicize Lebanon and lead it into a ruinous war with Israel.
While Hezbollah has supported popular uprisings in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Tunisia, Hezbollah publicly sided with Iran and Syria in their own violent repressions of dissent. In August 2010, 800 people demonstrated in Beirut against Syrian President Bashar Assad, and police were called in to contain the smaller pro-Syrian rallies that followed. Demonstrators were shouting, "Syria wants freedom," "Anyone who kills his people is a murderer and a coward," and "the people want an end to the regime."
By 2017, a poll showed that 62 percent of Lebanese Christians believed that Hezbollah was doing a "better job than anyone else in defending Lebanese interests in the region, and they trust it more than other social institutions."
Academics specializing in a wide variety of the social sciences believe that Hezbollah is an example of an Islamic terrorist organization. Such scholars and research institutes include the following:
J. Gresham Barrett brought up legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives which, among other things, referred to Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Congress members Tom Lantos, Jim Saxton, Thad McCotter, Chris Shays, Charles Boustany, Alcee Hastings, and Robert Wexler referred to Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in their speeches supporting the legislation. Shortly before a speech by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, U.S. Congressman Dennis Hastert said, "He [Maliki] denounces terrorism, and I have to take him at his word. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization."
In 2011, a bipartisan group of members of Congress introduced the Hezbollah Anti-Terrorism Act. The act ensures that no American aid to Lebanon will enter the hands of Hezbollah. On the day of the act's introduction, Congressman Darrell Issa said, "Hezbollah is a terrorist group and a cancer on Lebanon. The Hezbollah Anti-Terrorism Act surgically targets this cancer and will strengthen the position of Lebanese who oppose Hezbollah."
In a Sky News interview during the 2006 Lebanon war, British MP George Galloway said that Hezbollah is: "not a terrorist organization".
Former Swiss member of parliament, Jean Ziegler, said in 2006: "I refuse to describe Hezbollah as a terrorist group. It is a national movement of resistance." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13919 |
Hani Hanjour
Hani Saleh Hasan Hanjour (, ; August 30, 1972September 11, 2001) was the Saudi Arabian hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, crashing the plane into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks.
Hanjour first came to the United States in 1991, enrolling at the University of Arizona, where he studied English for a few months before returning to Saudi Arabia early the next year. He came back to the United States in 1996, studying English in California before he began taking flying lessons in Arizona. He received his commercial pilot certificate in 1999, and went back to his native Saudi Arabia to find a job as a commercial pilot. Hanjour applied to civil aviation school in Jeddah, but was turned down. Hanjour left his family in late 1999, telling them that he would be traveling to the United Arab Emirates to find work. According to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden or Mohammed Atef identified Hanjour at an Afghanistan training camp as a trained pilot and selected him to participate in the September 11 attacks.
Hanjour arrived back in the United States in December 2000. He joined up with Nawaf al-Hazmi in San Diego, and they immediately left for Arizona where Hanjour took refresher pilot training. In April 2001, they relocated to Falls Church, Virginia and then Paterson, New Jersey in late May where Hanjour took additional flight training.
Hanjour returned to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area on September 2, 2001, checking into a motel in Laurel, Maryland. On September 11, Hanjour boarded American Airlines Flight 77, took control of the aircraft after his team of hijackers helped subdue the pilots, passengers, and crew, and flew the plane into the Pentagon as part of the September 11 attacks. The crash killed all 64 passengers onboard the aircraft and 125 people in the Pentagon.
Hanjour was one of seven children, born to a food-supply businessman in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca. During his youth, Hanjour wanted to drop out of school to become a flight attendant, although his brother Abdulrahman discouraged this route, and tried to help him focus on his studies.
According to his eldest brother, Hanjour traveled to Afghanistan in the late 1980s as a teenager to participate in the conflict against the Soviet Union. The Soviets had already withdrawn by the time he arrived in the country and he instead worked for a relief agency.
Hanjour first came to the United States in 1991 to study English at the University of Arizona's Center for English as a Second Language. Hanjour's eldest brother Abdulrahman helped him apply to the eight-week program, and found a room in Tucson, Arizona for Hanjour near the Islamic Center of Tucson. Hanjour arrived for the English language program on October 3, 1991, and stayed until early February 1992, when he returned to Saudi Arabia. Hanjour shared a three-bedroom home on the corner of 4th Avenue and 4th Street owned and managed by a father-son team, who made a living renovating and renting rooms to international students and devoting their energies to spreading a born-again Christian influence; Bob, the oldest son, lived in this house and rented the room directly to Hanjour. Hanjour was a model housemate; he was extremely respectful of others, apolitical in his points of view, enjoyed his Turkish coffee, and appeared as a nonchalant happy-go-lucky teenager with very weak English-speaking skills. Hanjour claimed that he was interested in being an airplane mechanic and claimed that such a position was considered highly in Saudi Arabia. Hanjour participated in morning, noon, and evening prayers at the local mosque. As early as Hanjour moved into this house, he was under the constant watch of two "uncles" who would pick him up for the weekends so that he would spend time with them within their circle, thereby minimizing his contact with his American housemates and friends from the university. In December 1991 Hanjour informed Bob that he missed Saudi Arabia and would be leaving the United States due to homesickness. Hanjour was the only hijacker to visit the United States prior to any intentions for a large-scale attack and he was not part of the Hamburg cell in Germany.
Over the next five years, Hanjour remained in Saudi Arabia, helping the family manage a lemon and date farm near Ta'if. His family often reminded Hanjour that he was getting past the age where he ought to get married and start a family, but Hanjour insisted he wanted to settle down more. While in Saudi Arabia, Hanjour applied for a job with Saudi Arabian Airlines, but was turned down due to poor grades. The airline told Hanjour they would consider him if he obtained a commercial pilot's license in the United States.
In April 1996, Hanjour returned to the United States, staying with family friends, Susan and Adnan Khalil, in Miramar, Florida for a month before heading to Oakland, California to study English and attend flight school. Hanjour was admitted to the Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, but before beginning flight training, the academy arranged for Hanjour to take intensive English courses at ESL Language Center in Oakland. The flight school also arranged for Hanjour to stay with a host family, with whom he moved in on May 20, 1996. Hanjour completed the English program in August, and in early September 1996, he attended a single day of ground school courses at the Sierra Academy of Aeronautics before withdrawing, citing financial worries about the $35,000 cost.
Hanjour left Oakland in September and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, paying $4,800 for lessons at CRM Flight Cockpit Resource Management in Scottsdale. Receiving poor marks, Hanjour dropped out of flight school, and returned to Saudi Arabia at the end of November 1996.
Hanjour re-entered the United States on November 16, 1997, taking additional English courses in Florida, then returning to Phoenix where he shared an apartment with Nawaf al-Hazmi. In December, he resumed training at CRM Flight Cockpit Resource Management for a few weeks, before pursuing training at Arizona Aviation.
Bandar al-Hazmi and Hanjour stayed in Arizona, continued taking flight lessons at Arizona Aviation throughout 1998 and early 1999. After moving out of Bandar's place in March, Hanjour lived in several apartments in Tempe, Mesa and Phoenix.
In February, financial records showed that Hanjour had taken a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to flight training at Arizona Aviation, Hanjour enrolled in flight simulator classes at the Sawyer School of Aviation where he made only three or four visits. Lotfi Raissi would begin taking lessons at the same school a month after Hanjour quit, part of what piqued the FBI's interest in Raissi.
An FBI informant named Aukai Collins claims he told the FBI about Hanjour's activities during 1998, giving them Hanjour's name and phone number, and warning them that more and more foreign-born Muslims seem to be taking flying lessons. The FBI admits it paid Collins to monitor the Islamic and Arab communities in Phoenix at the time, but denies Collins told them anything about Hanjour.
Hanjour gained his FAA commercial pilot certificate in April 1999, getting a "satisfactory" rating from the examiner. Hanjour's bank records indicate that he travelled to Ontario, Canada in March 1999 for an unknown reason.
He traveled to Saudi Arabia to get a job working with Saudi Arabian Airlines as a commercial pilot but was rejected by a civil aviation school in Jeddah. His brother, Yasser, relayed that Hanjour, frustrated, "turned his attention toward religious texts and cassette tapes of militant Islamic preachers." He told his family in late 1999 he was heading to the United Arab Emirates to find work. However, it is likely that he headed to Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.
In May 2000, a third person accompanied Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar to Sorbi's Flying Club where he waited on the ground as they took a flight lesson. It has been theorized this may have been Hanjour.
In September Hanjour again sent his $110 registration to the ELS Language Center, which leased space on Holy Names College campus in Oakland, California, to continue his English studies. He also applied for another U.S. student visa. Although he was accepted, after the attacks, it would be reported that his visa application was 'suspicious'. Granted an F-1 student visa in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, September 2000, he failed to reveal that he had previously traveled to the U.S. He never turned up for classes at the ELS Language Center, and when the school contacted its Saudi representative, he reported that he could not find Hanjour either.
On December 5, Hanjour opened a CitiBank account in Deira, Dubai. On the 8th Hanjour is recorded flying into the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and was thought to be later meeting with Nawaf al-Hazmi in San Diego.
Hanjour came back to San Diego in December 2000, frequently visiting Abdussattar Shaikh's house, which was shared with Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid Almihdhar. During this time Hanjour may have visited the San Diego Zoo in February, as a security guard recalls having to page his name to reclaim a lost briefcase containing cash and Arabic documents and later recognized his photograph. Shortly afterwards, the three hijackers moved out of Shaikh's house to Falls Church, Virginia.
The ELS Language Center at Oakland University said Hanjour reached a level of proficiency sufficient to "survive very well in the English language". However, in January 2001, Arizona JetTech flight school managers reported him to the FAA at least five times because his English was inadequate for the commercial pilot's certificate he had already obtained. It took him five hours to complete an oral exam meant to last just two hours, said Peggy Chevrette. Hanjour failed UA English classes with a 0.26 GPA and a JetTech manager said "He could not fly at all." The certificate was a requirement for him to join the Saudi Arabian pilot's academy. His FAA certificate had become invalid late in 1999 when he failed to take a mandatory medical examination. In February, Hanjour began advanced simulator training in Mesa, Arizona.
He and Hazmi moved out of Mesa at the end of March, and they were in Falls Church, Virginia by April 4. Falls Church was the location of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Anwar Al-Awlaki was the recently appointed new Imam who Hazmi had met with in San Diego.
At the mosque, Hanjour and Hazmi soon met Eyad Alrababah, a Jordanian who later pleaded guilty to document fraud and was deported. They had told him that they were looking for an apartment to rent, and he found a friend who rented them an apartment in Alexandria where they stayed. On April 4, 2001, Hanjour asked to forward his utility deposits to 3159 Row Street, Falls Church, Virginia, which was the same address as the mosque.
When police raided the Hamburg apartment of Ramzi bin al-Shibh (the "20th hijacker") while investigating the 9/11 attacks, Awlaki's telephone number was found among Binalshibh's personal contact information.
On May 2, 2001, two new roommates joined them in Virginia: Majed Moqed and Ahmed al-Ghamdi, both of whom had just flown into the United States from the Middle East.
Alrababah later suggested they all go together to look at apartments in Fairfield, Connecticut. On May 8, Alrababah, Hanjour, Hazmi, Moqed and Ghamdi traveled to Fairfield to look for housing. While there, they also called several local flight schools. They then travelled briefly to Paterson to look at that area as well. Rababah has contended that, after this trip, he never saw any of the men again.
Sometime at the end of May 2001, Hanjour rented a one-bedroom apartment in Paterson, New Jersey. He lived there with at least one roommate and was visited by several other hijackers, including Mohamed Atta. During his time in New Jersey, he and Hazmi rented three different cars including a sedan in June that Hanjour cosigned with the alias "Hani Saleh Hassan". He later made his last phone call to his family back in Saudi Arabia, during which he claimed to be phoning from a payphone in the United Arab Emirates, where he was supposedly still working.
Hanjour, along with at least five other future hijackers, is thought to have traveled to Las Vegas several times in mid-2001, where they reportedly drank alcohol, gambled, and visited lap dancing clubs.
On July 20, Hanjour flew to the Montgomery County Airpark in Maryland from New Jersey on a practice flight with fellow hijacker Nawaf Alhazmi.
On August 1, Hanjour and Almihdhar returned to Falls Church to obtain fraudulent documentation at a 7-Eleven convenience store where an illegal side business operated for such a service. There they met Luis Martinez-Flores, himself also an illegal immigrant, who agreed to help them for a $100 fee. They drove together to a DMV office at a mall in nearby Springfield, Virginia, where Martinez-Flores gave them a false address in Falls Church to use, and signed legal forms attesting that they lived there. Hanjour and Almihdhar were then granted state identity cards. (Martinez-Flores was later sentenced to 21 months in prison for aiding them, and giving false testimony to police). On that same day, Hanjour was stopped by police for driving a Toyota Corolla in a zone in Arlington, Virginia, for which he paid a $70 fine.
Employees at Advance Travel Service in Totowa, New Jersey later claimed that Moqed and Hanjour had both purchased tickets there. They claimed that Hanjour spoke very little English, and Moqed did most of the speaking. Hanjour requested a seat in the front row of the airplane. Their credit card failed to authorize, and after being told the agency did not accept personal checks, the pair left to withdraw cash. They returned shortly afterwards and paid the $1,842.25 total in cash.
Hanjour began making cross-country flights in August to test security, and tried to rent a plane from Freeway Airport in Maryland; though he was declined after exhibiting difficulty controlling and landing a single-engine Cessna 172. He moved out of his New Jersey apartment on September 1, and was photographed four days later using an ATM with fellow hijacker Majed Moqed in Laurel, Maryland, where all five Flight 77 hijackers had purchased a 1-week membership in a local Gold's Gym. There, Hanjour claimed that his first name translated as "warrior" when a gym employee asked if there was an English translation of their Arabic names. ("Hani" actually translates as "contented.")
On September 10, 2001, Hanjour, Mihdhar, and Hazmi checked into the Marriott Residence Inn in Herndon, Virginia where Saleh Ibn Abdul Rahman Hussayen, a prominent Saudi government official, was staying. No evidence was ever uncovered that they had met, or knew of each other's presence.
At 7:35 a.m. on September 11, 2001, Hanjour arrived at the passenger security checkpoint at Washington Dulles International Airport, west of Washington, D.C., en route to board American Airlines Flight 77. Some earlier reports stated he may not have had a ticket or appeared on any manifest, however he was documented by the 9/11 Commission as having been assigned to seat 1B in first class, and reported to have bought a single first-class ticket from Advance Travel Service in Totowa. In the security tape footage released in 2004, Hanjour appears to walk through the metal detector without setting it off.
The flight was scheduled to depart at 8:10, but ended up departing 10 minutes late from Gate D26 at Dulles. The last normal radio communications from the aircraft to air traffic control occurred at 08:50:51. At 08:54, Flight 77 began to deviate from its normal, assigned flight path and turned south, and then hijackers set the flight's autopilot heading for Washington, D.C. Passenger Barbara Olson called her husband, United States Solicitor General Ted Olson, and reported that the plane had been hijacked and that the assailants had box cutters and knives. Using the flight intercom, Hanjour announced the flight was hijacked. As Flight 77 was 5 miles (8.0 km) west-southwest of the Pentagon, it made a 330-degree turn. At the end of the turn, it was descending through 2,200 feet (670 m), pointed toward the Pentagon and downtown Washington. Hanjour advanced the throttles to maximum power and dove towards the Pentagon at a speed of over . At 09:37:46, Hanjour crashed the Boeing 757 into the west facade of the Pentagon, killing all 64 aboard (including himself and the other hijackers), along with 125 on the ground in the Pentagon. While level above the ground and seconds from the crash, the airplane's wings knocked over light poles and its right engine smashed into a power generator, creating a smoke trail seconds before smashing into the Pentagon. In the recovery process at the Pentagon, remains of all five Flight 77 hijackers were identified through a process of elimination, as not matching any DNA samples for the victims, and put into custody of the FBI.
After the September 11 attacks, Hanjour's family in Saudi Arabia vehemently stated that they could not, and would not, believe he had been involved as one of the hijacker pilots, and also stated that he had phoned them just eight hours prior to the hijackings and his voice did not sound strange or unusual at all. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13924 |
Hyena
Hyenas or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (in three genera), it is the fifth-smallest biological family in the Carnivora, and one of the smallest in the class Mammalia. Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and vital components of most African ecosystems.
Although phylogenetically they are closer to felines and viverrids, and belong to the feliform category, hyenas are behaviourally and morphologically similar to canines in several elements of convergent evolution; both hyenas and canines are non-arboreal, cursorial hunters that catch prey with their teeth rather than claws. Both eat food quickly and may store it, and their calloused feet with large, blunt, nonretractable claws are adapted for running and making sharp turns. However, the hyenas' grooming, scent marking, defecating habits, mating and parental behaviour are consistent with the behaviour of other feliforms.
Spotted hyenas may kill as many as 95% of the animals they eat, while striped hyenas are largely scavengers. Generally, hyenas are known to drive off larger predators, like lions, from their kills, despite having a reputation in popular culture for being cowardly. Hyenas are primarily nocturnal animals, but sometimes venture from their lairs in the early-morning hours. With the exception of the highly social spotted hyena, hyenas are generally not gregarious animals, though they may live in family groups and congregate at kills.
Hyenas first arose in Eurasia during the Miocene period from viverrid-like ancestors, and diversified into two distinct types: lightly built dog-like hyenas and robust bone-crushing hyenas. Although the dog-like hyenas thrived 15 million years ago (with one taxon having colonised North America), they became extinct after a change in climate along with the arrival of canids into Eurasia. Of the dog-like hyena lineage, only the insectivorous aardwolf survived, while the bone-crushing hyenas (including the extant spotted, brown and striped hyenas) became the undisputed top scavengers of Eurasia and Africa.
Hyenas feature prominently in the folklore and mythology of human cultures that live alongside them. Hyenas are commonly viewed as frightening and worthy of contempt. In some cultures, hyenas are thought to influence people's spirits, rob graves, and steal livestock and children. Other cultures associate them with witchcraft, using their body parts in traditional African medicine.
Hyenas originated in the jungles of Miocene Eurasia 22 million years ago, when most early feliform species were still largely arboreal. The first ancestral hyenas were likely similar to the modern African civet; one of the earliest hyena species described, "Plioviverrops", was a lithe, civet-like animal that inhabited Eurasia 20–22 million years ago, and is identifiable as a hyaenid by the structure of the middle ear and dentition. The lineage of "Plioviverrops" prospered, and gave rise to descendants with longer legs and more pointed jaws, a direction similar to that taken by canids in North America.
The descendants of "Plioviverrops" reached their peak 15 million years ago, with more than 30 species having been identified. Unlike most modern hyena species, which are specialised bone-crushers, these dog-like hyenas were nimble-bodied, wolfish animals; one species among them was "Ictitherium viverrinum", which was similar to a jackal. The dog-like hyenas were very numerous; in some Miocene fossil sites, the remains of "Ictitherium" and other dog-like hyenas outnumber those of all other carnivores combined. The decline of the dog-like hyenas began 5–7 million years ago during a period of climate change, which was exacerbated when canids crossed the Bering land bridge to Eurasia. One species, "Chasmaporthetes ossifragus", managed to cross the land bridge into North America, being the only hyena to do so. "Chasmaporthetes" managed to survive for some time in North America by deviating from the cursorial and bone-crushing niches monopolised by canids, and developing into a cheetah-like sprinter. Most of the dog-like hyenas had died off by 1.5 million years ago.
By 10–14 million years ago, the hyena family had split into two distinct groups: dog-like hyenas and bone-crushing hyenas. The arrival of the ancestral bone-crushing hyenas coincided with the decline of the similarly built family Percrocutidae. The bone-crushing hyenas survived the changes in climate and the arrival of canids, which wiped out the dog-like hyenas, though they never crossed into North America, as their niche there had already been taken by the dog subfamily Borophaginae. By 5 million years ago, the bone-crushing hyenas had become the dominant scavengers of Eurasia, primarily feeding on large herbivore carcasses felled by sabre-toothed cats. One genus, "Pachycrocuta", was a 200 kg (440 lb) mega-scavenger that could splinter the bones of elephants . With the decline of large herbivores by the late ice age, "Pachycrocuta" was replaced by the smaller "Crocuta".
The four extant species are the striped hyena ("Hyaena hyeana"), the brown hyena ("Hyaena brunnea"), the spotted hyena ("Crocuta crocuta"), and the aardwolf ("Proteles cristata").
The aardwolf can trace its lineage directly back to "Plioviverrops" 15 million years ago, and is the only survivor of the dog-like hyena lineage. Its success is partly attributed to its insectivorous diet, for which it faced no competition from canids crossing from North America. Its unrivaled ability to digest the terpene excretions from soldier termites is likely a modification of the strong digestive system its ancestors used to consume fetid carrion.
The striped hyena may have evolved from "H. namaquensis" of Pliocene Africa. Striped hyena fossils are common in Africa, with records going back as far as the Villafranchian. As fossil striped hyenas are absent from the Mediterranean region, it is likely that the species is a relatively late invader to Eurasia, having likely spread outside Africa only after the extinction of spotted hyenas in Asia at the end of the Ice Age. The striped hyena occurred for some time in Europe during the Pleistocene, having been particularly widespread in France and Germany. It also occurred in Montmaurin, Hollabrunn in Austria, the Furninha Cave in Portugal and the Genista Caves in Gibraltar. The European form was similar in appearance to modern populations, but was larger, being comparable in size to the brown hyena.
The spotted hyena ("Crocuta crocuta") diverged from the striped and brown hyena 10 million years ago. Its direct ancestor was the Indian "Crocuta sivalensis", which lived during the Villafranchian. Ancestral spotted hyenas probably developed social behaviours in response to increased pressure from rivals on carcasses, thus forcing them to operate in teams. Spotted hyenas evolved sharp carnassials behind their crushing premolars, therefore they did not need to wait for their prey to die, and thus became pack hunters as well as scavengers. They began forming increasingly larger territories, necessitated by the fact that their prey was often migratory, and long chases in a small territory would have caused them to encroach into another clan's turf. Spotted hyenas spread from their original homeland during the Middle Pleistocene, and quickly colonised a very wide area from Europe, to southern Africa and China. With the decline of grasslands 12,500 years ago, Europe experienced a massive loss of lowland habitats favoured by spotted hyenas, and a corresponding increase in mixed woodlands. Spotted hyenas, under these circumstances, would have been outcompeted by wolves and humans, who were as much at home in forests as in open lands—and in highlands as in lowlands. Spotted hyena populations began to shrink after roughly 20,000 years ago, completely disappearing from Western Europe between 11 and 14 thousand years ago, and earlier in some areas.
The list follows McKenna and Bell's "Classification of Mammals" for prehistoric genera (1997) and Wozencraft (2005) in Wilson and Reeders "Mammal Species of the World" for extant genera. The percrocutids are, in contrast to McKenna and Bell's classification, not included as a subfamily into the Hyaenidae, but as the separate family Percrocutidae (though they are generally grouped as sister-taxa to hyenas). Furthermore, the living brown hyena and its closest extinct relatives are not included in the genus "Pachycrocuta", but in the genus "Hyaena". The Protelinae (aardwolves) are not treated as a separate subfamily, but included in the Hyaeninae.
The following cladogram illustrates the phylogenetic relationships between extant and extinct hyaenids based on the morphological analysis by Werdelin & Solounias (1991), as updated by Turner et al. (2008).
A more recent molecular analysis agrees on the phylogenetic relationship between the four extant hyaenidae species (Koepfli "et al", 2006).
Hyenas have relatively short torsos and are fairly massive and wolf-like in build, but have lower hind quarters, high withers and their backs slope noticeably downward toward their rumps. The forelegs are high, while the hind legs are very short and their necks are thick and short. Their skulls superficially resemble those of large canids, but are much larger and heavier, with shorter facial portions. Hyenas are digitigrade, with the fore and hind paws having four digits each and sporting bulging pawpads. Like canids, hyenas have short, blunt, non-retractable claws. Their pelage is sparse and coarse with poorly developed or absent underfur. Most species have a rich mane of long hair running from the withers or from the head. With the exception of the spotted hyena, hyaenids have striped coats, which they likely inherited from their viverrid ancestors. Their ears are large and have simple basal ridges and no marginal bursa. Their vertebral column, including the cervical region are of limited mobility. Hyenas have no baculum. Hyenas have one more pair of ribs than canids do, and their tongues are rough like those of felids and viverrids. Males in most hyena species are larger than females, though the spotted hyena is exceptional, as it is the female of the species that outweighs and dominates the male. Also, unlike other hyenas, the female spotted hyena's external genitalia closely resembles that of the male.
Their dentition is similar to that of the canid, but is more specialised for consuming coarse food and crushing bones. The carnassials, especially the upper, are very powerful and are shifted far back to the point of exertion of peak pressure on the jaws. The other teeth, save for the underdeveloped upper molars, are powerful, with broad bases and cutting edges. The canines are short, but thick and robust. Labiolingually, their mandibles are much stronger at the canine teeth than in canids, reflecting the fact that hyenas crack bones with both their anterior dentition and premolars, unlike canids, which do so with their post-carnassial molars. The strength of their jaws is such that both striped and spotted hyenas have been recorded to kill dogs with a single bite to the neck without breaking the skin. The spotted hyena is renowned for its strong bite proportional to its size, but a number of other animals (including the Tasmanian devil) are proportionately stronger. The aardwolf has greatly reduced cheek teeth, sometimes absent in the adult, but otherwise has the same dentition as the other three species. The dental formula for all hyena species is:
Although Hyenas lack perineal scent glands, they have a large pouch of naked skin located at the anal opening. Large anal glands above the anus open into this pouch. Several sebaceous glands are present between the openings of the anal glands and above them. These glands produce a white, creamy secretion that the hyenas paste onto grass stalks. The odour of this secretion is very strong, smelling of boiling cheap soap or burning, and can be detected by humans several metres downwind. The secretions are primarily used for territorial marking, though both the aardwolf and the striped hyena will spray them when attacked.
Hyenas groom themselves often like felids and viverrids, and their way of licking their genitals is very cat-like (sitting on the lower back, legs spread with one leg pointing vertically upward). However, unlike other feliforms, they do not "wash" their faces. They defecate in the same manner as other Carnivora, though they never raise their legs as canids do when urinating, as urination serves no territorial function for them. Instead, hyenas mark their territories using their anal glands, a trait found also in viverrids and mustelids, but not canids and felids. When attacked by lions or dogs, striped and brown hyenas will feign death, though the spotted hyena will defend itself ferociously. The spotted hyena is very vocal, producing a number of different sounds consisting of whoops, grunts, groans, lows, giggles, yells, growls, laughs and whines. The striped hyena is comparatively silent, its vocalisations being limited to a chattering laugh and howling.
Mating between hyenas involves a number of short copulations with brief intervals, unlike canids, who generally engage in a single, drawn out copulation. Spotted hyena cubs are born almost fully developed, with their eyes open and erupting incisors and canines, though lacking adult markings. In contrast, striped hyena cubs are born with adult markings, closed eyes and small ears. Hyenas do not regurgitate food for their young and male spotted hyenas play no part in raising their cubs, though male striped hyenas do so.
The striped hyena is primarily a scavenger, though it will also attack and kill any animals it can overcome, and will supplement its diet with fruit. The spotted hyena, though it also scavenges occasionally, is an active pack hunter of medium to large sized ungulates, which it catches by wearing them down in long chases and dismembering them in a canid-like manner. The aardwolf is primarily an insectivore, specialised for feeding on termites of the genus "Trinervitermes" and "Hodotermes", which it consumes by licking them up with its long, broad tongue. An aardwolf can eat 300,000 "Trinervitermes" on a single outing.
Spotted hyenas vary in their folkloric and mythological depictions, depending on the ethnic group from which the tales originate. It is often difficult to know whether spotted hyenas are the specific hyena species featured in such stories, particularly in West Africa, as both spotted and striped hyenas are often given the same names. In western African tales, spotted hyenas are sometimes depicted as bad Muslims who challenge the local animism that exists among the Beng in Côte d’Ivoire. In East Africa, Tabwa mythology portrays the spotted hyena as a solar animal that first brought the sun to warm the cold earth, while West African folklore generally shows the hyena as symbolising immorality, dirty habits, the reversal of normal activities, and other negative traits. In Tanzania, there is a belief that witches use spotted hyenas as mounts. In the Mtwara Region of Tanzania, it is believed that a child born at night while a hyena is crying will likely grow up to be a thief. In the same area, hyena faeces are believed to enable a child to walk at an early age, thus it is not uncommon in that area to see children with hyena dung wrapped in their clothes. The Kaguru of Tanzania and the Kujamaat of Southern Senegal view hyenas as inedible and greedy hermaphrodites. A mythical African tribe called the Bouda is reputed to house members able to transform into hyenas. A similar myth occurs in Mansôa. These "werehyenas" are executed when discovered, but do not revert to their human form when killed.
Striped hyenas are often referred to in Middle Eastern literature and folklore, typically as symbols of treachery and stupidity. In the Near and Middle East, striped hyenas are generally regarded as physical incarnations of jinns. Arab writer al-Qazwīnī (1204–1283) spoke of a tribe of people called "al-Ḍabyūn" meaning "hyena people". In his book "‘Ajā’ib Al-Makhlūqāt" he wrote that should one of this tribe be in a group of 1000 people, a hyena could pick him out and eat him. A Persian medical treatise written in 1376 tells how to cure cannibalistic people known as "kaftar", who are said to be “half-man, half-hyena”. al-Damīrī in his writings in "Ḥawayān al-Kubrā" (1406) wrote that striped hyenas were vampiric creatures that attacked people at night and sucked the blood from their necks. He also wrote that hyenas only attacked brave people. Arab folklore tells of how hyenas can mesmerise victims with their eyes or sometimes with their pheromones. In a similar vein to al-Damīrī, the Greeks, until the end of the 19th century, believed that the bodies of werewolves, if not destroyed, would haunt battlefields as vampiric hyenas that drank the blood of dying soldiers. The image of striped hyenas in Afghanistan, India and Palestine is more varied. Though feared, striped hyenas were also symbolic of love and fertility, leading to numerous varieties of love medicine derived from hyena body parts. Among the Baluch and in northern India, witches or magicians are said to ride striped hyenas at night.
The striped hyena is mentioned in the Bible. The Arab word for the hyena, "ḍab`" or "ḍabu`" (plural "ḍibā`"), is alluded to in a valley in Israel known as Shaqq-ud-Diba` (meaning "cleft of the hyenas") and Wadi-Abu-Diba` (meaning "valley of the hyenas"). Both places have been interpreted by some scholars as being the Biblical Valley of Tsebo`im mentioned in 1 Samuel 13:18. The modern Hebrew word for hyena is "tzavoa`", which is similar to the word "tsavua`" meaning "colored". Though the Authorized King James Version of the Bible interprets the term "`ayit tsavua`" (which appears in Jeremiah 12:9) as "speckled bird", Henry Baker Tristram argued that it was most likely a hyena being mentioned.
The vocalisation of the spotted hyena resembling hysterical human laughter has been alluded to in numerous works of literature: "to laugh like a hyæna" was a common simile, and is featured in "The Cobbler's Prophecy" (1594), "Webster's Duchess of Malfy" (1623) and Shakespeares "As You Like It", Act IV. Sc.1.
"Die Strandjutwolf" (The brown hyena) is an allegorical poem by the renowned South African poet, N. P. van Wyk Louw, which evokes a sinister and ominous presence.
Bud and Lou, from the DC Comics, are also hyenas and are pets of Harley Quinn.
Among hyenas, only the spotted and striped hyenas have been known to become man-eaters. Hyenas are known to have preyed on humans in prehistory: Human hair has been found in fossilised hyena dung dating back 195,000 to 257,000 years. Some paleontologists believe that competition and predation by cave hyenas ("Crocuta crocuta spelaea") in Siberia was a significant factor in delaying human colonisation of Alaska. Hyenas may have occasionally stolen human kills, or entered campsites to drag off the young and weak, much like modern spotted hyenas in Africa. The oldest Alaskan human remains coincide with roughly the same time cave hyenas became extinct, leading certain paleontologists to infer that hyena predation was what prevented humans crossing the Bering strait earlier. Hyenas readily scavenge from human corpses; in Ethiopia, hyenas were reported to feed extensively on the corpses of victims of the 1960 attempted coup and the Red Terror. Hyenas habituated to scavenging on human corpses may develop bold behaviours towards living people; hyena attacks on people in southern Sudan increased during the Second Sudanese Civil War, when human corpses were readily available to them.
Although spotted hyenas do prey on humans in modern times, such incidents are rare. However, according to the SGDRN ("Sociedade para a Gestão e Desenvolvimento da Reserva do Niassa Moçambique"), attacks on humans by spotted hyenas are likely to be underreported. According to hyena expert Dr. Hans Kruuk, man-eating spotted hyenas tend to be very large specimens: A pair of man-eating hyenas, responsible for killing 27 people in Mulanje (Mlanje), Malawi in 1962, were weighed at 72 kg (159 lb) and 77 kg (170 lb) after being shot. In 1903, Hector Duff wrote of how spotted hyenas in the Mzimba district of Angoniland would wait at dawn outside people's huts and attack them when they opened their doors. Victims of spotted hyenas tend to be women, children and sick or infirm men: Theodore Roosevelt wrote on how in 1908–1909 in Uganda, spotted hyenas regularly killed sufferers of African sleeping sickness as they slept outside in camps. Spotted hyenas are widely feared in Malawi, where they have been known to occasionally attack people at night, particularly during the hot season when people sleep outside. Hyena attacks were widely reported in Malawi's Phalombe plain, to the north of Michesi Mountain. Five deaths were recorded in 1956, five in 1957 and six in 1958. This pattern continued until 1961 when eight people were killed. Attacks occurred most commonly in September, when people slept outdoors, and bush fires made the hunting of wild game difficult for the hyenas. An anecdotal news report from the World Wide Fund for Nature 2004 indicates that 35 people were killed by spotted hyenas in a 12-month period in Mozambique along a 20 km stretch of road near the Tanzanian border.
In ordinary circumstances, striped hyenas are extremely timid around humans, though they may show bold behaviours toward people at night. On rare occasions, striped hyenas have preyed on humans. In the 1880s, a hyena was reported to have attacked humans, especially sleeping children, over a three-year period in the Iğdır Province, with 25 children and 3 adults being wounded in one year. The attacks provoked local authorities into announcing a reward of 100 rubles for every hyena killed. Further attacks were reported later in some parts of Transcaucasia, particularly in 1908. Instances are known in Azerbaijan of striped hyenas killing children sleeping in courtyards during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1942, a sleeping guard was mauled in his hut by a hyena in Qalıncaq (Golyndzhakh). Cases of children being taken by hyenas by night are known in southeast Turkmenia's Bathyz Nature Reserve. A further attack on a child was reported around Serakhs in 1948. Several attacks have occurred in India; in 1962, nine children were thought to have been taken by hyenas in the town of Bhagalpur in the Bihar State in a six-week period and 19 children up to the age of four were killed by hyenas in Karnataka in 1974. A consensus on wild animal attacks during a five-year period in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh showed that hyenas had only attacked three people, the lowest figure when compared to deaths caused by wolves, gaur, boar, elephants, tigers, leopards and sloth bears.
Hyenas are used for food and medicinal purposes in Somalia although it is considered haraam in Islam. This practice dates back to the times of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, who believed that different parts of the hyena's body were effective means to ward off evil and to ensure love and fertility. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13926 |
Hershey–Chase experiment
The Hershey–Chase experiments were a series of experiments conducted in 1952 by Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase that helped to confirm that DNA is genetic material. While DNA had been known to biologists since 1869, many scientists still assumed at the time that proteins carried the information for inheritance because DNA appeared to be an inert molecule, and, since it is located in the nucleus, its role was considered to be phosphorus storage. In their experiments, Hershey and Chase showed that when bacteriophages, which are composed of DNA and protein, infect bacteria, their DNA enters the host bacterial cell, but most of their protein does not. Hershey and Chase and subsequent discoveries all served to prove that DNA is the hereditary material.
Hershey shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Max Delbrück and Salvador Luria for their “discoveries concerning the genetic structure of viruses.”
In the early twentieth century, biologists thought that proteins carried genetic information. This was based on the belief that proteins were more complex than DNA. Phoebus Levene's influential "tetranucleotide hypothesis", which incorrectly proposed that DNA was a repeating set of identical nucleotides, supported this conclusion. The results of the Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment, published in 1944, suggested that DNA was the genetic material, but there was still some hesitation within the general scientific community to accept this, which set the stage for the Hershey–Chase experiment.
Hershey and Chase, along with others who had done related experiments, confirmed that DNA was the biomolecule that carried genetic information. Before that, Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod, and Maclyn McCarty had shown that DNA led to the transformation of one strain of "Streptococcus pneumoniae" to another. The results of these experiments provided evidence that DNA was the biomolecule that carried genetic information.
Hershey and Chase needed to be able to examine different parts of the phages they were studying separately, so they needed to distinguish the phage subsections. Viruses were known to be composed of a protein shell and DNA, so they chose to uniquely label each with a different elemental isotope. This allowed each to be observed and analyzed separately. Since phosphorus is contained in DNA but not amino acids, radioactive phosphorus-32 was used to label the DNA contained in the T2 phage. Radioactive sulfur-35 was used to label the protein sections of the T2 phage, because sulfur is contained in protein but not DNA.
Hershey and Chase inserted the radioactive elements in the bacteriophages by adding the isotopes to separate media within which bacteria were allowed to grow for 4 hours before bacteriophage introduction. When the bacteriophages infected the bacteria, the progeny contained the radioactive isotopes in their structures. This procedure was performed once for the sulfur-labeled phages and once for phosphorus-labeled phages.
The labeled progeny were then allowed to infect unlabeled bacteria. The phage coats remained on the outside of the bacteria, while genetic material entered. Disruption of phage from the bacteria by agitation in a blender followed by centrifugation allowed for the separation of the phage coats from the bacteria. These bacteria were lysed to release phage progeny. The progeny of the phages that were labeled with radioactive phosphorus remained labeled, whereas the progeny of the phages labeled with radioactive sulfur were unlabeled. Thus, the Hershey–Chase experiment helped to confirm that DNA, not protein, is the genetic material.
Hershey and Chase showed that the introduction of deoxyribonuclease (referred to as DNase), an enzyme that breaks down DNA, into a solution containing the labeled bacteriophages did not introduce any 32P into the solution. This demonstrated that the phage is resistant to the enzyme while intact. Additionally, they were able to plasmolyze the bacteriophages so that they went into osmotic shock, which effectively created a solution containing most of the 32P and a heavier solution containing structures called "ghosts" that contained the 35S and the protein coat of the virus. It was found that these “ghosts” could adsorb to bacteria that were susceptible to T2, although they contained no DNA and were simply the remains of the original bacterial capsule. They concluded that the protein protected the DNA from DNAse, but that once the two were separated and the phage was inactivated, the DNAse could hydrolyze the phage DNA.
Hershey and Chase were also able to prove that the DNA from the phage is inserted into the bacteria shortly after the virus attaches to its host. Using a high-speed blender they were able to force the bacteriophages from the bacterial cells after adsorption. The lack of 32P-labeled DNA remaining in the solution after the bacteriophages had been allowed to adsorb to the bacteria showed that the phage DNA was transferred into the bacterial cell. The presence of almost all the radioactive 35S in the solution showed that the protein coat that protects the DNA before adsorption stayed outside the cell.
Hershey and Chase concluded that DNA, not protein, was the genetic material. They determined that a protective protein coat was formed around the bacteriophage, but that the internal DNA is what conferred its ability to produce progeny inside a bacterium. They showed that, in growth, protein has no function, while DNA has some function. They determined this from the amount of radioactive material remaining outside of the cell. Only 20% of the 32P remained outside the cell, demonstrating that it was incorporated with DNA in the cell's genetic material. All of the 35S in the protein coats remained outside the cell, showing it was not incorporated into the cell, and that protein is not the genetic material.
Hershey and Chase's experiment concluded that little sulfur-containing material entered the bacterial cell. However no specific conclusions can be made regarding whether material that is sulfur-free enters the bacterial cell after phage adsorption. Further research was necessary to conclude that it was solely bacteriophages' DNA that entered the cell and not a combination of protein and DNA where the protein did not contain any sulfur.
Hershey and Chase concluded that protein was not likely to be the hereditary genetic material. However, they did not make any conclusions regarding the specific function of DNA as hereditary material, and only said that it must have some undefined role.
Confirmation and clarity came a year later in 1953, when James D. Watson and Francis Crick correctly hypothesized, in their journal article "", the double helix structure of DNA, and suggested the copying mechanism by which DNA functions as hereditary material. Furthermore, Watson and Crick suggested that DNA, the genetic material, is responsible for the synthesis of the thousands of proteins found in cells. They had made this proposal based on the structural similarity that exists between the two macromolecules: both protein and DNA are linear sequences of monomers (amino acids and nucleotides, respectively).
Once the Hershey–Chase experiment was published, the scientific community generally acknowledged that DNA was the genetic code material. This discovery led to a more detailed investigation of DNA to determine its composition as well as its 3D structure. Using X-ray crystallography, the structure of DNA was discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick with the help of previously documented experimental evidence by Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin.
Knowledge of the structure of DNA led scientists to examine the nature of genetic coding and, in turn, understand the process of protein synthesis. George Gamow proposed that the genetic code was composed of sequences of three DNA base pairs known as triplets or codons which represent one of the twenty amino acids. Genetic coding helped researchers to understand the mechanism of gene expression, the process by which information from a gene is used in protein synthesis. Since then, much research has been conducted to modulate steps in the gene expression process. These steps include transcription, RNA splicing, translation, and post-translational modification which are used to control the chemical and structural nature of proteins. Moreover, genetic engineering gives engineers the ability to directly manipulate the genetic materials of organisms using recombinant DNA techniques. The first recombinant DNA molecule was created by Paul Berg in 1972 when he combined DNA from the monkey virus SV40 with that of the lambda phage.
Experiments on hereditary material during the time of the Hershey–Chase experiment often used bacteriophages as a model organism. Bacteriophages lend themselves to experiments on hereditary material because they incorporate their genetic material into their host cell's genetic material (making them useful tools), they multiply quickly, and they are easily collected by researchers.
The Hershey–Chase experiment, its predecessors, such as the Avery–MacLeod–McCarty experiment, and successors served to unequivocally establish that hereditary information was carried by DNA. This finding has numerous applications in forensic science, crime investigation and genealogy. It provided the background knowledge for further applications in DNA forensics, where DNA fingerprinting uses data originating from DNA, not protein sources, to deduce genetic variation. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13928 |
History of religion
The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious experiences and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,220 years ago (3200 BC). The prehistory of religion involves the study of religious beliefs that existed prior to the advent of written records. One can also study comparative religious chronology through a timeline of religion. Writing played a major role in standardizing religious texts regardless of time or location, and making easier the memorization of prayers and divine rules. A small part of the Bible involves the collation of oral texts handed down over the centuries.
The concept of "religion" was formed in the 16th and 17th centuries, despite the fact that ancient sacred texts like the Bible, the Quran, and others did not have a word or even a concept of religion in the original languages and neither did the people or the cultures in which these sacred texts were written.
The word "religion" as used in the 21st century does not have an obvious pre-colonial translation into non-European languages. The anthropologist Daniel Dubuisson writes that "what the West and the history of religions in its wake have objectified under the name 'religion' is ... something quite unique, which could be appropriate only to itself and its own history". The history of other cultures' interaction with the "religious" category is therefore their interaction with an idea that first developed in Europe under the influence of Christianity.
The school of religious history called the "Religionsgeschichtliche Schule", a late 19th-century German school of thought, originated the systematic study of religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon. It depicted religion as evolving with human culture, from primitive polytheism to ethical monotheism.
The "Religionsgeschichtliche Schule" emerged at a time when scholarly study of the Bible and of church history flourished in Germany and elsewhere (see higher criticism, also called the "historical-critical method"). The study of religion is important: religion and similar concepts have often shaped civilizations' law and moral codes, social structure, art and music.
The 19th century saw a dramatic increase in knowledge about a wide variety of cultures and religions, and also the establishment of economic and social histories of progress. The "history of religions" school sought to account for this religious diversity by connecting it with the social and economic situation of a particular group.
Typically, religions were divided into stages of progression from simple to complex societies, especially from polytheistic to monotheistic and from extempore to organized. One can also classify religions as circumcising and non-circumcising, proselytizing (attempting to convert people of other religion) and non-proselytizing. Many religions share common beliefs.
The earliest archeological evidence of religious ideas dates back several hundred thousand years to the Middle and Lower Paleolithic periods. Archaeologists take apparent intentional burials of early "Homo sapiens" from as early as 300,000 years ago as evidence of religious ideas. Other evidence of religious ideas includes symbolic artifacts from Middle Stone Age sites in Africa. However, the interpretation of early paleolithic artifacts, with regard to how they relate to religious ideas, remains controversial. Archeological evidence from more recent periods is less controversial. Scientists generally interpret a number of artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic (50,000-13,000 BCE) as representing religious ideas. Examples of Upper Paleolithic remains associated with religious beliefs include the lion man, the Venus figurines, cave paintings from Chauvet Cave and the elaborate ritual burial from Sungir.
In the 19th century researchers proposed various theories regarding the origin of religion, challenging earlier claims of a Christianity-like urreligion. Early theorists Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917) and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) emphasised the concept of animism, while archaeologist John Lubbock (1834-1913) used the term "fetishism". Meanwhile, religious scholar Max Müller (1823-1900) theorized that religion began in hedonism and folklorist Wilhelm Mannhardt (1831-1880) suggested that religion began in "naturalism" - by which he meant mythological explanation of natural events. All of these theories have since been widely criticized; there is no broad consensus regarding the origin of religion.
Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) Göbekli Tepe, the oldest religious site yet discovered anywhere includes circles of erected massive T-shaped stone pillars, the world's oldest known megaliths decorated with abstract, enigmatic pictograms and carved-animal reliefs. The site, near the home place of original wild wheat, was built before the so-called Neolithic Revolution, i.e., the beginning of agriculture and animal husbandry around 9000 BCE. But the construction of Göbekli Tepe implies organization of an advanced order not hitherto associated with Paleolithic, PPNA, or PPNB societies. The site, abandoned around the time the first agricultural societies started, is still being excavated and analyzed, and thus might shed light on the significance it had had for the region's of older, foraging communities, as well as for the general history of religions.
The Pyramid Texts from ancient Egypt, the oldest known religious texts in the world, date to between 2400-2300 BCE.
Surviving early copies of religious texts include:
these scrolls were copied approximately 2000 years ago.
Historians have labelled the period from 900 to 200 BCE as the "axial age", a term coined by German-Swiss philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883-1969). According to Jaspers, in this era of history "the spiritual foundations of humanity were laid simultaneously and independently... And these are the foundations upon which humanity still subsists today." Intellectual historian Peter Watson has summarized this period as the foundation time of many of humanity's most influential philosophical traditions, including monotheism in Persia and Canaan, Platonism in Greece, Buddhism and Jainism in India, and Confucianism and Taoism in China. These ideas would become institutionalized in time - note for example Ashoka's role in the spread of Buddhism, or the role of platonic philosophy in Christianity at its foundation.
The historical roots of Jainism in India date back to the 9th-century BCE with the rise of Parshvanatha and his non-violent philosophy.
World religions of the present day established themselves throughout Eurasia during the Middle Ages by:
During the Middle Ages, Muslims came into conflict with Zoroastrians during the Islamic conquest of Persia (633-654); Christians fought against Muslims during the Byzantine-Arab Wars (7th to 11th centuries), the Crusades (1095 onward), the Reconquista (718-1492), the Ottoman wars in Europe (13th century onwards) and the Inquisition; Shamanism was in conflict with Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims and Christians during the Mongol invasions (1206-1337); and Muslims clashed with Hindus and Sikhs during the Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent (8th to 16th centuries).
Many medieval religious movements emphasized mysticism, such as the Cathars and related movements in the West, the Jews in Spain (see Zohar), the Bhakti movement in India and Sufism in Islam. Monotheism reached definite forms in Christian Christology and in Islamic Tawhid. Hindu monotheist notions of Brahman likewise reached their classical form with the teaching of Adi Shankara (788-820).
European colonisation during the 15th to 19th centuries resulted in the spread of Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to the Americas, Australia and the Philippines. The invention of the printing press in the 15th century played a major role in the rapid spread of the Protestant Reformation under leaders such as Martin Luther (1483-1546) and John Calvin (1509-1564). Wars of religion broke out, culminating in the Thirty Years War which ravaged central Europe between 1618 and 1648. The 18th century saw the beginning of secularisation in Europe, gaining momentum after the French Revolution of 1789 and following. By the late 20th century religion had declined in most of Europe.
By 2001 people began to use the internet to discover or adhere to their religious beliefs. In January 2000 the website beliefnet was established, and the following year, every month it had over 1.7 million visitors. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13929 |
House music
House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat and a tempo of 120 to 130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the 1980s, as DJs from the subculture began altering disco dance tracks to give them a more mechanical beat and deeper basslines.
The genre was pioneered by DJs and producers mainly from Chicago and New York such as Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, Ron Hardy, Jesse Saunders, Chip E., Steve "Silk" Hurley, Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Mr. Fingers, Marshall Jefferson, Phuture, and many others. Its origins derive from within the Black American LGBT communities but has since spread to the mainstream. From its beginnings in the Chicago club and local radio scene, the genre expanded internationally to London, then to other American cities such as New York City and Detroit, and has become a worldwide phenomenon ever since. It has spawned numerous subgenres, such as acid house, deep house, hip house, ghetto house, progressive house, tech house, electro house, and many more.
House has had and still has a huge impact on pop music in general and dance music in particular. It was picked up by major pop artists like Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Kylie Minogue, but also produced some mainstream hits on its own, such as "French Kiss" by Lil Louis (1989), "Show Me Love" by Robin S. (1992), or "Push the Feeling On" by Nightcrawlers (1992/1995). Many house producers also did and do remixes for pop artists. Until today, house music has remained popular on radio and in clubs while retaining a foothold on the underground scenes across the globe.
In its most typical form, the genre is characterized by repetitive 4/4 rhythms including bass drums, off-beat hi-hats, snare drums and/or claps at a tempo between 120 and 130 beats per minute (bpm), synthesizer riffs, deep basslines, and often, but not necessarily, sung, spoken or sampled vocals. In house, the bass drum is sounded on beats one and three, and the snare drum, claps, or other higher-pitched percussion on beats two and four. The drum beats in house music are almost always provided by an electronic drum machine, often a Roland TR-808, TR-909, or a TR-707 rather than by a live drummer. Claps, shakers, snare drum, or hi-hat sounds are used to add syncopation. One of signature rhythm riffs, especially in early (Chicago) house, is built on the clave pattern. Congas and bongos may be added for an African sound, or metallic percussion for a Latin feel.
Sometimes, the drum sounds are "saturated" by boosting the gain to create a more aggressive edge. One classic subgenre, acid house, is defined through the squelchy sounds created by the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer. House music could be produced on "cheap and consumer-friendly electronic equipment" and used sound gear, which made it easier for independent labels and DJs to create tracks. The electronic drum machines and other gear used by house DJs and producers was formerly considered "too cheap-sounding" by "proper" musicians. House music producers typically use sampled instruments, rather than bringing in session musicians into a recording studio. Even though a key element of house production is layering sounds, such as drum machine beats, samples, synth basslines, and so on, the overall "texture...is relatively sparse". Unlike pop songs, which emphasize higher-pitched sounds, such as melody, in house music, the lower-pitched bass register is most important.
The structure of house music songs — or "tracks", as they are more commonly called — typically involves an intro, a chorus, various verse sections, a midsection and a brief outro. Some tracks do not have a verse, taking a vocal part from the chorus and repeating the same cycle. House music tracks are often based on eight-bar sections which are repeated. They are often built around bass-heavy loops or basslines produced by a synthesizer and/or around samples of disco, soul, jazz-funk or funk songs. DJs and producers creating a house track to be played in clubs edit a "seven or eight-minute 12-inch mix"; if the track is intended to be played on radio, a "three-and-a-half-minute" radio edit is used. Unlike trance music, which is designed to keep building in intensity, house music tracks are "more consistent" and rather based on "playing with the constituent parts and bringing them in and out" in a subtle way. House tracks build up slowly, by adding layers of sound and texture, and by increasing the volume.
House tracks may have vocals like a pop song, but some are "completely minimal instrumental music", as vocals are not required for the house genre. If a house track does have vocals, the vocal lines may also be simple "words or phrases" that are repeated.
One of the main influences of house was disco; house music has been defined as a genre which "...picked up where disco left off in the late 1970's." Like disco DJs, house DJs used a "slow mix" to "lin[k] records together" into a mix. In the post-disco club culture during the early 1980s, DJs from the gay scene made their tracks "less pop-oriented," with a more mechanical, repetitive beat and deeper basslines, and many tracks were made without vocals, or with wordless melodies. Disco became so popular by the late 1970s that record companies pushed even non-disco artists (R&B bands, for example) to produce disco songs. When the backlash against disco started, known as "Disco sucks" dance music went from being produced by major label studios to being created by DJs in the underground club scene.
While disco was associated with lush orchestration, with string orchestra, flutes and horn sections, various disco songs incorporated sounds produced with synthesizers and electronic drum machines, and some compositions were entirely electronic; examples include Italian composer Giorgio Moroder's late 1970s productions such as Donna Summer's hit single "I Feel Love" from 1977, Cerrone's "Supernature" (1977), Yellow Magic Orchestra's synth-disco-pop productions from "Yellow Magic Orchestra" (1978) or "Solid State Survivor" (1979), and several early 1980s productions by Hi-NRG groups like Lime, Trans-X and Bobby O.
Also important for the development of house were audio mixing and editing techniques earlier explored by disco, garage music and post-disco DJs, record producers, and audio engineers such as Walter Gibbons, Tom Moulton, Jim Burgess, Larry Levan, M & M, and others.
While most post-disco disc jockeys primarily stuck to playing their conventional ensemble and playlist of dance records, Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy, two influential DJs of house music, were known for their unusual and non-mainstream playlists and mixing. Knuckles was influenced by and worked with New York City club Paradise Garage resident Larry Levan. Knuckles, often credited as "the Godfather of House" and resident DJ at the Warehouse from 1977 to 1982, worked primarily with early disco music with a hint of new and different music (whether it was post-punk or post-disco). Knuckles started out as a disco DJ, but when he moved from New York City to Chicago, he changed from the typical disco mixing style of playing records one after another; instead, he mixed different songs together, including Philadelphia soul, New York club tracks, and Euro disco. As well, he explored adding a drum machine and a reel-to-reel tape player so he could create new tracks, often with a boosted deep register and faster tempos.
Ron Hardy produced unconventional DIY mixtapes which he later played straight-on in the successor of the Warehouse, the Music Box (reopened and renamed in 1983 after Knuckles left). Like Frankie Knuckles, Hardy "combined certain sounds, remixing tracks with added synths and drum machines", all "refracted through the futurist lens of European music." Marshall Jefferson, who would later appear with the 1986 house classic "Move Your Body (The House Music Anthem)" (originally released on Trax Records), describes how he got involved in house music after hearing Ron Hardy's music in the Music Box:
Rachel Cain, better known as Screamin Rachael, co-founder of the highly influential house label Trax Records, was previously involved in the burgeoning punk scene. Cain cites industrial music (another genre pioneered in Chicago) and post-punk record store Wax Trax! Records (later a record label) as an important connection between the ever-changing underground sounds of Chicago.
The electronic instrumentation and minimal arrangement of Charanjit Singh's "" (1982), an album of Indian ragas performed in a disco style, anticipated the sounds of acid house music, but it is not known to have had any influence on the genre prior to the album's rediscovery in the 21st century. According to Hillegonda C. Rietveld, "elements of hip hop and rap can be found in contemporary house tracks", with hop hop acting as an "accent or inflection" that is inserted into the house sound.
The constant bass drum in house music may have arisen from DJs experimenting with adding drum machines to their live mixes at clubs, underneath the records they were playing.
In the early 1980s, Chicago radio jocks Hot Mix 5 from WBMX radio station (among them Farley "Jackmaster" Funk), and club DJs Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles played a range of styles of dance music, including older disco records (mostly Philly disco and Salsoul tracks), electro funk tracks by artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, newer Italo disco, Arthur Baker, and John Robie, and electronic pop. Some DJs made and played their own edits of their favorite songs on reel-to-reel tape, and sometimes mixed in electronic effects, drum machines, synthesizers and other rhythmic electronic instrumentation.
The hypnotic electronic dance song "On and On", produced in 1984 by Chicago DJ Jesse Saunders and co-written by Vince Lawrence, had typical elements of the early house sound, such as the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer and minimal vocals as well as a Roland TR-808 drum machine and a Korg Poly-61 synthesizer. It also utilized the bassline from Player One's disco record "Space Invaders" (1979). "On and On" is sometimes cited as the 'first house record', even though it was a remake of a Disco Bootleg "On and On" by Florida producer Mach. Other examples from around that time, such as J.M. Silk's "Music is the Key" (1985), have also been cited to be the first house tracks.
Starting in 1985 and 1986, more and more Chicago DJs began producing and releasing original compositions. These compositions used newly affordable electronic instruments and enhanced styles of disco and other dance music they already favored. These homegrown productions were played on Chicago radio stations and in local clubs catering mainly to Black, Hispanic, and gay audiences. By 1985, house music encompassed these locally produced recordings. Subgenres of house, including deep house and acid house, quickly emerged and gained traction.
Deep house's origins can be traced to Chicago producer Mr Fingers's relatively jazzy, soulful recordings "Mystery of Love" (1985) and "Can You Feel It?" (1986). According to author Richie Unterberger, it moved house music away from its "posthuman tendencies back towards the lush" soulful sound of early disco music.
Acid house, a rougher and more abstract subgenre, arose from Chicago artists' experiments with the squelchy sounds of the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer that define the genre. Its origin on vinyl is generally cited as Phuture's "Acid Tracks" (Trax Records, 1987). Phuture, a group founded by Nathan "DJ Pierre" Jones, Earl "Spanky" Smith Jr., and Herbert "Herb J" Jackson, is credited with having been the first to use the TB-303 in the house music context. The group's 12-minute "Acid Tracks" was recorded to tape and played by DJ Ron Hardy at the Music Box, supposedly already in 1985. Hardy once played it four times over the course of an evening until the crowd responded favorably.
Club play of house tracks by pioneering Chicago DJs such as Ron Hardy and Lil Louis, local dance music record shops such as Importes Etc., State Street Records, Loop Records, Gramaphone Records and the popular Hot Mix 5 shows on radio station WBMX-FM helped popularize house music in Chicago. Later, visiting DJs and producers from Detroit fell into the genre. Trax Records and DJ International Records, Chicago labels with wider distribution, helped popularize house music inside and outside of Chicago.
The first major success of house music outside the U.S. is considered to be Farley "Jackmaster" Funk's "Love Can't Turn Around" (feat. Jesse Saunders and performed by Darryl Pandy), which peaked at #10 in the UK singles chart in 1986. Around that time, UK record labels started releasing house music by Chicago acts, but as the genre grew popular, the UK itself became one of the new hot spots for house, acid house and techno music, experiencing the so-called second summer of love between 1988 and 1989.
One 2009 book states the name house music originated from a Chicago club called the "Warehouse", which existed from 1977 to 1983. Clubbers to the "Warehouse" were primarily black, who came to dance to music played by the club's resident DJ Frankie Knuckles, who fans refer to as the "godfather of house". Frankie began the trend of splicing together different records when he found that the records he had weren't long enough to satisfy his audience of dancers. After the Warehouse closed in 1983, the crowds went to Knuckles' new club, "The Power Plant", while the club was renamed into Music Box with Ron Hardy being resident DJ.
In the Channel 4 documentary "Pump Up The Volume", Knuckles remarks that the first time he heard the term "house music" was upon seeing "we play house music" on a sign in the window of a bar on Chicago's South Side. One of the people in the car with him joked, "you know that's the kind of music you play down at the Warehouse!". South-Side Chicago DJ Leonard "Remix" Rroy, in self-published statements, claims he put such a sign in a tavern window because it was where he played music that one might find in one's home; in his case, it referred to his mother's soul and disco records, which he worked into his sets. The documentary also explored how house music was something that anyone could do. Mostly the documentary looks at some of the DJs from that genre, and how they stumbled into the music.
Farley "Jackmaster" Funk was quoted as saying "In 1982, I was DJing at a club called The Playground and there was this kid named Leonard 'Remix' Rroy who was a DJ at a rival club called The Rink. He came over to my club one night, and into the DJ booth and said to me, 'I've got the gimmick that's gonna take all the people out of your club and into mine – it's called House music.' Now, where he got that name from or what made him think of it I don't know, so the answer lies with him."
Chip E.'s 1985 recording "It's House" may also have helped to define this new form of electronic music. However, Chip E. himself lends credence to the Knuckles association, claiming the name came from methods of labeling records at the Importes Etc. record store, where he worked in the early 1980s: bins of music that DJ Knuckles played at the Warehouse nightclub were labelled in the store "As Heard At The Warehouse", which was shortened to simply "House". Patrons later asked for new music for the bins, which Chip E. implies was a demand the shop tried to meet by stocking newer local club hits.
In a 1986 interview, when Rocky Jones, the club DJ who ran the D.J. International record label, was asked about the "house" moniker, he did not mention Importes Etc., Frankie Knuckles, or the Warehouse by name. However, he agreed that "house" was a regional catch-all term for dance music, and that it was once synonymous with older disco music, before it became a way to refer to "new" dance music.
Larry Heard, a.k.a. "Mr. Fingers", claims that the term "house" became popular due to many of the early DJs creating music in their own home studios using affordable synthesizers and drum machines, such as the Roland TR-808, TR-909, and the Roland TB-303 bassline synth. These synthesizers were used to create a house subgenre called acid house.
Juan Atkins, an originator of Detroit techno music, claims the term "house" reflected the exclusive association of particular tracks with particular clubs and DJs; those records helped differentiate the clubs and DJs, and thus were considered to be their "house" records. In an effort to maintain such exclusives, the DJs were inspired to create their own "house" records.
Early house lyrics contained positive, uplifting messages for all people, from every different walk of life but spoke especially to those who were considered to be outsiders, especially African-Americans, Latinos, and the gay subculture. As well, house music lyrics encouraged unity and called for people of all ethnic groups and backgrounds to come together. The house music dance scene was one of the most integrated and progressive spaces in the 1980s; gays, blacks, and other minority groups were able to dance together in a positive environment.
House music DJs aimed to create a "dream world of emotions" with "stories, keywords and sounds", which helped to "glue" communities together. Many house tracks encourage the audience to "release yourself" or "let yourself go", which is further encouraged by the continuous dancing, "incessant beat", and use of club drugs, which can create a trance-like effect on dancers. Frankie Knuckles once said that the Warehouse club in Chicago was like "church for people who have fallen from grace". House record producer Marshall Jefferson compared it to "old-time religion in the way that people just get happy and screamin'". The role of a house DJ has been compared to a "secular type of priest".
Some house lyrics contained messages calling for equality, unity and freedom of expression beyond racial or sexual differences (e.g. "Can You Feel It" by Fingers Inc., 1987, or "Follow Me" by Aly-Us, 1992). However, not all house music songs had vocals, and in many cases, the vocals were quite meaningless, as the most important element in house was the beat and rhythm. Later on in the 1990s, but autonomous from the Chicago scene, the idea of Peace, Love, Unity & Respect (PLUR) became a widespread set of principles for the rave culture which developed out of house.
In Detroit a proto-techno music sound began to emerge with the DJ recordings and mixes of Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson in the early and mid-1980s. Detroit techno fused eclectic sounds into the signature Detroit techno sound, including the early form of house music: Chicago house.
Atkins, a former member of Cybotron, released "No UFOs" as Model 500 in 1985, which became a regional hit. Atkins followed this by dozens of tracks on Transmat, Metroplex and Fragile. One of the most unusual songs was "Strings of Life" by Derrick May (under the name Rhythm Is Rhythm), a darker, more intellectual strain of early Detroit techno. One of the earliest hits was "Big Fun" by Inner City.
With house music already important in the 1980s dance club scene, eventually house penetrated the UK pop charts. London DJ "Evil" Eddie Richards spun at dance parties as resident at the Clink Street club. Richards' approach to house focuses on the deep basslines. Nicknamed the UK's "Godfather of House", he and Clink co-residents Kid Batchelor and Mr. C played a key role in early UK house. House first charted in the UK in Wolverhampton following on from the success of the Northern Soul scene. The record generally credited as the first house hit in the UK was Farley "Jackmaster" Funk's "Love Can't Turn Around", which reached #10 in the UK singles chart in September 1986.
In January 1987, Chicago DJ/artist Steve "Silk" Hurley's "Jack Your Body" reached number one in the UK, showing it was possible for house music to achieve crossover success in the pop charts. The same month also saw Raze enter the top 20 with "Jack the Groove", and several further house hits reached the top ten that year. Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) expensively-produced productions for Mel and Kim, including the number-one hit "Respectable", added elements of house to their previous Europop sound. SAW session group Mirage scored top-ten hits with "Jack Mix II" and "Jack Mix IV", medleys of previous electro and Europop hits rearranged in a house music style. Key labels in the rise of house music in the UK included:
In March 1987, the UK tour of influential US DJs such as Knuckles, Jefferson, Fingers Inc. (Heard) and Adonis, on the DJ International Tour boosted house's popularity in the UK. Following the number-one success of MARRS' "Pump Up The Volume" in October, in 1987 to 1989, UK acts such as The Beatmasters, Krush, Coldcut, Yazz, Bomb The Bass, S-Express, and Italy's Black Box opened the doors to house music success on the UK charts. Early British house music quickly set itself apart from the original Chicago house sound. Many of the early hits were based on sample montage, and unlike the US soulful vocals,
in UK house, rap was often used for vocals (far more than in the US), and humor and wit was an important element.
The second best-selling British single of 1988 was an acid house record, the Coldcut-produced "The Only Way Is Up" by Yazz. One of the early club anthems, "Promised Land" by Joe Smooth, was covered and charted within a week by UK band The Style Council. Europeans embraced house, and began booking important American house DJs to play at the big clubs, such as Ministry of Sound, whose resident, Justin Berkmann brought in US pioneer Larry Levan.
The house music club scene in cities such as Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Wolverhampton and London were provided with dance tracks by many underground Pirate Radio stations. Club DJs also brought in new house styles, which helped bolster this music genre. The earliest UK house and techno record labels such as Warp Records and Network Records (otherwise known as Kool Kat records) helped introduce American and later Italian dance music to Britain. These labels also promoted UK dance music acts. By the end of the 1980s, UK DJs Jenö, Thomas, Markie and Garth moved to San Francisco, and called their group the Wicked Crew. The Wicked Crew's dance sound transmitted UK styles to the US, which helped to trigger the birth of the US west coast's rave scene.
House was also being developed by DJs and record producers in the booming dance club scene in Ibiza. While no house artists or labels came from this tiny island at the time, mixing experiments and innovations done by Ibiza DJs helped to influence the house style. By the mid-1980s a distinct Balearic mix of house was discernible. Several influential clubs in Ibiza, such as Amnesia, with DJ Alfredo at the decks, were playing a mix of rock, pop, disco and house. These clubs, fuelled by their distinctive sound and copious consumption of the club drug Ecstasy (MDMA), began to influence the British scene. By late 1987, DJs such as Trevor Fung, Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling were bringing the Ibiza sound to key UK clubs such as the Haçienda in Manchester. Ibiza influences also spread to DJs working London clubs such as Shoom in Southwark, Heaven, Future and Spectrum.
In the U.S., house music developed into more sophisticated sound, moving beyond the rudimentary drum machine loops and short samples that had characterized early US house. In Chicago, Marshall Jefferson formed the house group Ten City with Byron Burke, Byron Stingily and Herb Lawson (from "Intensity"). New York City–based performers such as Mateo & Matos and Blaze had slickly produced disco-infused house tracks. In Detroit a proto-techno music sound began to emerge with the DJ recordings and mixes of Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson.
Atkins, a former member of Cybotron, released "No UFOs" as Model 500 in 1985, which became a regional hit. Atkins follow this by dozens of tracks on Transmat, Metroplex and Fragile. One of the most unusual songs was "Strings of Life" by Derrick May (under the name Rhythm Is Rhythm), a darker, more intellectual strain of house. "Techno-Scratch" was released by the Knights Of The Turntable in 1984 which had a similar techno sound to Cybotron. The manager of the Factory nightclub and co-owner of the Haçienda, Tony Wilson, also promoted acid house culture on his weekly TV show. The UK midlands also embraced the late 1980s house scene with illegal parties and raves and more legal dance clubs such as The Hummingbird.
Back in America the scene had still not progressed beyond a small number of clubs in Chicago, Detroit, Newark and New York City. Newark-area DJ Tony Humphries was influenced the sounds of disco pioneer David Mancuso, the host of the disco-era's underground gay subculture loft parties. Humphries played his mixes in Newark NJ's Club Zanzibar, where he developed his signature "Jersey Sound", which mixed a soulful element with a rawer edge.
DJ Tony Humphries began his residency at the Club Zanzibar in Newark, New Jersey in 1982 and, along with others, helped "spawn the sometimes raw but always soulful, gospel-infused subgenre" of deep house music known as the Jersey Sound. The club scene also gave rise to the ball culture scene in Newark hotels and nightclubs. "Queen of House" Crystal Waters and other house luminaries performed on the Newark scene.
Abigail Adams's house-music record label and store, Movin' Records in Newark's neighbor East Orange, New Jersey, was another contributor to the Jersey Sound.
Many independent Chicago-based record labels were also getting their artists on the dance charts. Detroit DJ Terrence Parker uses his advanced turntablism skills and his focus on precision to blend hip hop music DJing styles, such as rhythmic scratching, in his house mixes. Fellow Detroit spinner DJ Minx is a notable woman house DJ. Her records on her Women on Wax label blend Parker-influenced turntablism precision with a funky style.
In the UK, any house song released by a Chicago-based label was routinely considered a "must-play" at UK house music clubs. Paradise Garage in New York City was still a top club in the house era, just as it had been during the disco age. The emergence of Todd Terry, a pioneer of the genre, demonstrated the continuum from the underground disco approach which moved to a new house sound. Terry's cover of Class Action's "Weekend" (mixed by Larry Levan) shows how Terry drew on newer hip-hop influences, such as the quicker sampling and the more rugged basslines.
In the late 1980s, Nu Groove Records launched and nurtured the careers of Rheji Burrell and Rhano Burrell, collectively known as Burrell (after a brief stay on Virgin America via Timmy Regisford and Frank Mendez). Nu Groove also had a stable of other NYC underground scene DJs. The Burrell's created the "New York Underground" sound of house, and they did 30+ releases on this label featuring this sound. In the 2010s, Nu Groove Record releases like the Burrells' enjoy a cult status among "crate diggers" and DJs. Mint-condition vinyl records by the Burrells from the 1980s can fetch high prices.
By the late 1980s, house DJing and production had moved to the US's west coast, particularly to San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Diego and Seattle. Los Angeles saw am explosion of underground raves, where DJs mixed dance tracks. L.A. DJs Marques Wyatt and Billy Long spun at Jewel's Catch One. In 1989, the L.A.-based, former EBN-OZN singer/rapper Robert Ozn started indie house label One Voice Records. Ozn released the Mike "Hitman" Wilson remix of Dada Nada's "Haunted House", which garnered club and mix show radio play in Chicago, Detroit and New York as well as in the U.K. and France. The record went up to number five on the Billboard Club Chart, marking it as the first house record by a white (Caucasian) artist to chart in the U.S. Dada Nada, the moniker for Ozn's solo act, did his first releases in 1990, using a jazz-based Deep House style. The Frankie Knuckles and David Morales remix of Dada Nada's "Deep Love" (One Voice Records in the US, Polydor in the UK), featuring Ozn's lush, crooning vocals and jazzy improvisational solos by muted trumpet, underscored Deep House's progression into a genre that integrated jazz and pop songwriting and song forms (unlike acid house and techno).
In 1989 and going into the early 1990s, house music became more popular in the US. The Belgian group Technotronic scored an international hit with the song "Pump Up the Jam."
Pop singer Madonna's 1990 house song "Vogue" became an international hit as well and topped the US charts. The single is credited as helping to bring house music to the US mainstream. The gospel/R&B-influenced "Time Passes On" in 1993 (Strictly Rhythm), then later, "Follow Me" received radio airplay and club plays. Another U.S. hit which received radio play was the single "Time for the Perculator" by Cajmere, which became the prototype for the emerging ghetto house subgenre. Cajmere started the Cajual and Relief labels (amongst others). By the early 1990s, artists of note included Cajmere (under that name as well as Green Velvet and as producer for Dajae), DJ Sneak, and Glenn Underground. The 1990s saw new Chicago house artists emerge, such as DJ Funk, who operates a Chicago house record label called Dance Mania. Ghetto house and acid house were other house music styles that started in Chicago.
In Britain, further experiments in the genre boosted its appeal. House and rave clubs such as Lakota and Cream emerged across Britain, hosting house and dance scene events. The 'chilling out' concept developed in Britain with ambient house albums such as The KLF's "Chill Out" and "Analogue Bubblebath" by Aphex Twin. The Godskitchen superclub brand also began in the midst of the early 1990s rave scene. After initially hosting small nights in Cambridge and Northampton, the associated events scaled up at the Sanctuary Music Arena in Milton Keynes, in Birmingham and in Leeds. A new indie dance scene also emerged in the 1990s. In New York, bands such as Deee-Lite furthered house's international influence. Two distinctive tracks from this era were the Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds" (with a distinctive vocal sample from Rickie Lee Jones) and the Happy Mondays' "Wrote for Luck" ("WFL") which was transformed into a dance hit by Vince Clarke.
In England, one of the few licensed venues was The Eclipse, which attracted people from up and down the country as it was open until the early hours. Due to the lack of licensed, legal dance event venues, house music promoters began organising illegal events in unused warehouses, aeroplane hangars and in the countryside. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was a government attempt to ban large rave dance events featuring music with "repetitive beats", due to law enforcement allegations that these events were associated with illegal club drugs. There were a number of "Kill the Bill" demonstrations by rave and electronic dance music fans. The Spiral Tribe dance event at Castle Morten was the last of these illegal raves, as the bill, which became law, in November 1994, made unauthorised house music dance events illegal in the UK. Despite the new law, the music continued to grow and change, as typified by Leftfield with "Release the Pressure", which introduced dub and reggae into the house sound. Leftfield's prior releases, such as "Not Forgotten" released in 1990 on Sheffield's Outer Rhythm records used a more typical sound.
A new generation of clubs such as Liverpool's Cream and the Ministry of Sound were opened to provide a venue for more commercial house sounds. Major record companies began to open "superclubs" promoting their own groups and acts. These superclubs entered into sponsorship deals initially with fast food, soft drink, and clothing companies. Flyers in clubs in Ibiza often sported many corporate logos from sponsors. A new subgenre, Chicago hard house, was developed by DJs such as Bad Boy Bill, DJ Lynnwood, and DJ Irene, Richard "Humpty" Vission, mixing elements of Chicago house, funky house and hard house. Additionally, producers such as George Centeno, Darren Ramirez, and Martin O. Cairo developed the Los Angeles Hard House sound. Similar to gabber or hardcore techno from the Netherlands, this was associated with the "rebel", underground club subculture of the time. These three producers introduced new production approaches and sounds in late 20th century became more prominent and widely used during first decade of the 21st century.
Towards the end of the 1990s and into the 2000s, French DJ/producers such as Daft Punk, Bob Sinclar, Stardust, Cassius, St. Germain and DJ Falcon began producing a new sound in Paris' club scene. Together, they laid the groundwork for what would be known as the French house movement. They combined the harder-edged-yet-soulful philosophy of Chicago house with the melodies of obscure funk records. As well, by using state-of-the-art digital production techniques blended with the retro sound of old-school analog synthesizers, they created a new sound and style which influenced house music around the world.
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley proclaimed August 10, 2005 to be "House Unity Day" in Chicago, in celebration of the "21st anniversary of house music" (actually the 21st anniversary of the founding of Trax Records, an independent Chicago-based house label). The proclamation recognized Chicago as the original home of house music and that the music's original creators "were inspired by the love of their city, with the dream that someday their music would spread a message of peace and unity throughout the world". DJs such as Frankie Knuckles, Marshall Jefferson, Paul Johnson and Mickey Oliver celebrated the proclamation at the Summer Dance Series, an event organized by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs.
It was during this decade that vocal house became firmly established, both in the underground and as part of the pop market, and labels such as Defected Records, Roulé and Om were at the forefront of championing the emerging sound. In the mid-2000s, fusion genres such as electro house and fidget house emerged. This fusion is apparent in the crossover of musical styles by artists such as Dennis Ferrer and Booka Shade, with the former's production style having evolved from the New York soulful house scene and the latter's roots in techno. Numerous live performance events dedicated to house music were founded during the course of the decade, including Shambhala Music Festival and major industry sponsored events like Miami's Winter Music Conference. The genre even gained popularity through events like Creamfields. In the late 2000s, house style witnessed renewed chart success thanks to acts such as Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Fedde Le Grand, David Guetta, and Calvin Harris.
During the 2010s multiple new sounds in house music were developed by DJs, producers and artists. Sweden had "Swedish progressive house" with the emergence of Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell, and Steve Angello. While all three artists had solo careers, when they formed a trio called Swedish House Mafia, it showed that house could still produce chart-topping hits, such as their 2013 single "Don't You Worry Child", which cracked the Billboard top 10. Avicii was a Swedish DJ/artist known for his hits such as "Hey Brother", "Addicted to You", "The Days", "The Nights", "Levels", "Waiting for Love", and "Without You". Fellow Swedish DJ/artist Alesso collaborated with Calvin Harris, Usher, and David Guetta. In France, Justice blended garage and alternative rock influences into their pop-infused house tracks, creating a big and funky sound. Skrillex, a former alternative rock singer, mixed dubstep and pop into his UK house music.
During the 2010s, in the UK and in the US, many records labels stayed true to the original house music sound from the 1980s. It includes labels like Dynamic Music, Defected Records, Dirtybird, Fuse London, Exploited, Pampa, Cajual Records, Hot Creations, Get Physical, and Pets Recordings.
Netherlands brought together a concept of "Dirty Dutch", an electro house subgenre characterized by abrasive lead synths and darker arpeggios, with prominent DJs being Chuckie, Hardwell, Laidback Luke, Afrojack, R3hab, Bingo Players, Quintino, Alvaro, Cedric Gervais and 2G. Elsewhere, fusion genres derivative of 2000s progressive house returned, especially with the help of DJs/artists Calvin Harris, Eric Prydz, Mat Zo, Above & Beyond and Fonzerelli in Europe.
Diplo, a DJ/producer from Tupelo, Mississippi, was able to blend underground sounds with mainstream styles. As he came from the Southern US, Diplo fused house music with rap and dance/pop, while also integrating more obscure Southern US genres. Other North Americans playing house music include the Canadian Deadmau5 (known for his unusual mask and unique musical style), Kaskade, Steve Aoki, Porter Robinson and Wolfgang Gartner. The growing popularity of such artists led to the emergence of electro house and progressive house sounds in popular music, such as singles like David Guetta" feat. Avicii "Sunshine" and Axwell's remix of "In The Air."
Big room house was increasingly popular since 2010, through international dance music festivals such as Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, and Electric Daisy Carnival. In addition to these popular examples of house, there has also been a reunification of contemporary house and its roots. Many hip hop and R&B artists also turned to house music to add a mass appeal and dance floor energy to the music they produce. Tropical house went onto the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart in 2015 with artists such as Kygo and Jonas Blue. In the mid-2010s, the influences of house began to also be seen in Korean K-pop music, examples of this being f(x)'s single "4 Walls" and SHINee's title track "View."
Later in the 2010s, a more traditional house sound came to the forefront of the mainstream in the UK, with Calvin Harris's singles "One Kiss" and "Promises", with the latter also incorporating elements of nu-disco and Italo house. These singles both went to No.1 in the UK, showing that a classic house sound could still have great success in the modern day.
At least three styles of dancing are associated with house music: Jacking, Footwork, and Lofting. These styles include a variety of techniques and sub-styles, including skating, stomping, Vosho, Pouting Cat and shuffle steps (also see Melbourne Shuffle). House music dancing styles can include movements from many other forms of dance, such as waacking, voguing, African, Latin, Brazilian (including Capoeira), jazz dance, Lindy Hop, tap dance, and even modern dance. House dancing is concerned with the sensuality of the body and setting oneself free in ecstasy — without the worry of outside barriers.
One of the primary elements in house dancing is "the jack" or "jacking" — a style created in the early days of Chicago house that left its trace in numerous record titles such as "Time to Jack" by Chip E. from the "Jack Trax" EP (1985), "Jack’n the House" (1985) by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk (1985) or "Jack Your Body" by Steve "Silk" Hurley (1986). It involves moving the torso forward and backward in a rippling motion matching the beat of the music, as if a wave were passing through it. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13930 |
Hanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. Dartmouth College and the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory are located in Hanover. The Appalachian Trail crosses the town.
The main village of the town, where 8,636 people resided at the 2010 census, is defined as the Hanover census-designated place (CDP), and is located at the junctions of New Hampshire routes 10, 10A, and 120. The town also contains the villages of Etna and Hanover Center.
Hanover was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth on July 4, 1761, and in 1765–1766 its first European inhabitants arrived, the majority from Connecticut. Although the surface is uneven, the town developed into an agricultural community. Dartmouth College was established in 1769 beside the Common at a village called "the Plain"—an extensive and level tract of land a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Connecticut River, and about above it.
At one point in its history, the southwest corner of Hanover was known as "Dresden", which in the 1780s joined other disgruntled New Hampshire towns along the Connecticut River that briefly defected to what was then the independent Vermont Republic. After various political posturings, however, the towns returned to New Hampshire at the heated insistence of George Washington. One remnant of this era is that the name "Dresden" is still used in the Dresden School District, an interstate school district serving both Hanover and Norwich, Vermont—the first and one of the few interstate school districts in the nation.
The film "Winter Carnival" (1939) was shot in Hanover.
"Hannover" (as it was spelled in the 1761 charter and in its German original form as well) was named either after a local parish in Sprague, Connecticut, or after the German House of Hanover in honor of the reigning British-Hanoverian king, George III.
Originally Han(n)over is a city (capital) in Lower Saxony, North Germany. The name of the German city derives from the Low German form of what is "hohes Ufer" in German, which translates into "high shore" in English, and describes the high shore of the Leine river. (see ; in German).
While it is likely that the name "Dresden" derived from Dresden in Germany, it has also been suggested that it could derive directly from the old Sorbian word "drezg" ("forest") or "Drezd'ane", for an inhabitant of a forest.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water, comprising 2.52% of the town. The primary settlement in Hanover, where over 75% of the town's population resides, is defined as the Hanover census-designated place (CDP) and contains the areas around Dartmouth College and the intersections of New Hampshire Routes 10, 10A, and 120. The CDP has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Hanover borders the towns of Lyme, Canaan, and Enfield, New Hampshire; Norwich, Vermont; and the city of Lebanon, New Hampshire. Inside the limits of Hanover are the small rural villages of Etna and Hanover Center.
The highest point in Hanover is the north peak of Moose Mountain, at above sea level. Hanover lies fully within the Connecticut River watershed.
There are a number of trails and nature preserves in Hanover, and the majority of these trails are suitable for snowshoes and cross-country skis. The Velvet Rocks Trail, located on the Appalachian Trail, has a number of rock climbing and bouldering spots.
Hanover experiences a warm summer continental climate (Köppen "Dfb"), with long, cold, snowy winters, and warm, humid summers. Temperatures average in January to in July, and the annual mean is . Extremes range from , recorded on February 16, 1943, to 103 °F (39 °C), recorded on August 2, 1975.
As of the census of 2010, there were 11,260 people, 3,119 households, and 1,797 families residing in the town. The population density was 220 people per square mile (86/km2). There were 3,278 housing units at an average density of 65.2 per square mile (25.2/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 81.0% White, 3.4% Black, 0.8% Native American, 10.8% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.9% of the population.
There were 3,119 households out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 4.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.4% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the town, the population was spread out with 27.8% at or under the age of 19, 25.5% from 20 to 24, 14.4% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years.
For the period 2010-14, the estimated median income for a household in the town was $94,063, and the median income for a family was $129,000. Male full-time workers had a median income of $87,550 versus $53,141 for females. The per capita income for the town was $34,140. About 2.0% of families and 12.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.
In the New Hampshire Senate, Hanover is included in the 5th District and is represented by Democrat Martha S. Hennessey. On the New Hampshire Executive Council, Hanover is in the 1st District and is represented by Democrat Michael J. Cryans. In the United States House of Representatives, Hanover is a part of New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district and is currently represented by Democrat Ann McLane Kuster.
Like most other college towns, Hanover is a liberal bastion and a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections. No Republican presidential nominee has managed to receive over 32 percent of the vote in the town in the past two decades. Hanover backed Hillary Rodham Clinton with 85 percent of the vote in 2016, providing the former Secretary of State and U.S. Senator from New York with her largest margin of victory in the state of New Hampshire, which she narrowly won by 2,736 votes statewide. Her margin of victory in Hanover was by over twice that amount, allowing attribution that her margin in Hanover was what ultimately allowed her to carry the Granite State. However, Hanover did not back Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary (supporting Barack Obama with 58.15 percent of the vote to Clinton's 26.11 percent) nor did it support her in the 2016 Democratic primary when voters opted for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders from neighboring Vermont with 53.04 percent of the vote.
Hypertherm, White Mountains Insurance Group, and Daat Research Corp. are based in Hanover.
The Hanover Water Company supplies water for downtown Hanover from several local reservoirs. The company is owned by Dartmouth College (52.8%) and the Town of Hanover (47.2%), with management by the Town of Hanover under a contract. In 2000, all full-time company employees became town employees. In recent years, the town has spent over $20 million to upgrade main water lines, and will undergo another $6 million project to build a new water treatment plant. Outside the downtown area, residents rely on private wells that are not maintained by the town.
FairPoint Communications furnishes telephone communication. The municipality provides sewage treatment.
CNN and "Money" magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007. "This just might be the best college town," read the headline of a story in the January–February 2017 issue of "Yankee". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13937 |
HMS Beagle
HMS "Beagle" was a 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803 (£ in today's currency), was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on the River Thames. Later reports say the ship took part in celebrations of the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom, passing through the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge. There was no immediate need for "Beagle" so she "lay in ordinary", moored afloat but without masts or rigging. She was then adapted as a survey barque and took part in three survey expeditions.
The second voyage of HMS "Beagle" is notable for carrying the recently graduated naturalist Charles Darwin around the world. While the survey work was carried out, Darwin travelled and researched geology, natural history and ethnology onshore. He gained fame by publishing his diary journal, best known as "The Voyage of the Beagle", and his findings played a pivotal role in the formation of his scientific theories on evolution and natural selection.
The of 10-gun brig-sloops was designed by Sir Henry Peake in 1807, and eventually over 100 were constructed. The working drawings for HMS "Beagle" and HMS "Barracouta" were issued to the Woolwich Dockyard on 16 February 1817, and amended in coloured ink on 16 July 1817 with modifications to increase the height of the bulwarks (the sides of the ship extended above the upper deck) by an amount varying from at the stem to at the stern. "Beagle"s keel was laid in June 1818, construction cost £7,803, and the ship was launched on 11 May 1820.
The first reported task of the ship was a part in celebrations of the coronation of King George IV of the United Kingdom; in his 1846 "Journal", John Lort Stokes said that the ship was taken up the River Thames to salute the coronation, passing through the old London Bridge, and was the first rigged man-of-war afloat upriver of the bridge.
Captain Pringle Stokes was appointed captain of "The Beagle" on 7 September 1825, and the ship was allocated to the surveying section of the Hydrographic Office. On 27 September 1825 "The Beagle" docked at Woolwich to be repaired and fitted out for her new duties. Her guns were reduced from ten cannon to six and a mizzen mast was added to improve her handling, thereby changing her from a brig to a bark (or barque).
" The Beagle" set sail from Plymouth on 22 May 1826 on her first voyage, under the command of Captain Stokes. The mission was to accompany the larger ship HMS "Adventure" (380 tons) on a hydrographic survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, under the overall command of the Australian Captain Phillip Parker King, commander and surveyor.
Faced with the more difficult part of the survey in the desolate waters of Tierra del Fuego, Captain Stokes fell into a deep depression. At Port Famine on the Strait of Magellan he locked himself in his cabin for 14 days, then after getting over-excited and talking of preparing for the next cruise, shot himself on 2 August 1828. Following four days of delirium Stokes recovered slightly, but then his condition deteriorated and he died on 12 August 1828. Captain Parker King then replaced Stokes with the First Lieutenant of "Beagle", Lieutenant William George Skyring as commander, and both ships sailed to Montevideo. On 13 October King sailed "Adventure" to Rio de Janeiro for refitting and provisions. During this work Rear Admiral Sir Robert Otway, commander in chief of the South American station, arrived aboard and announced his decision that "Beagle" was also to be brought to Montevideo for repairs, and that he intended to supersede Skyring. When "Beagle" arrived, Otway put the ship under the command of his aide, Flag Lieutenant Robert FitzRoy.
The 23-year-old aristocrat FitzRoy proved an able commander and meticulous surveyor. In one incident a group of Fuegians stole a ship's boat, and FitzRoy took their families on board as hostages. Eventually he held two men, a girl and a boy, who was given the name of Jemmy Button, and these four native Fuegians were taken back with them when "Beagle" returned to England on 14 October 1830. During their brief sojourn in England, Boat Memory, the most promising of the four, died of smallpox.
During this survey, the Beagle Channel was identified and named after the ship.
The log book from the first voyage, in Captain FitzRoy's handwriting, was acquired at auction at Sotheby's by the "Museo Naval de la Nación" (under the administration of the Argentine Navy) located in Tigre, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, where it is now preserved.
FitzRoy had been given reason to hope that the South American Survey would be continued under his command, but when the Lords of the Admiralty appeared to abandon the plan, he made alternative arrangements to return the Fuegians. A kind uncle heard of this and contacted the Admiralty. Soon afterwards FitzRoy heard that he was to be appointed commander of to go to Tierra del Fuego, but due to her poor condition "Beagle" was substituted for the voyage. FitzRoy was re-appointed as commander on 27 June 1831 and "Beagle" was commissioned on 4 July 1831 under his command, with Lieutenants John Clements Wickham and Bartholomew James Sulivan.
"Beagle" was immediately taken into dock at Devonport for extensive rebuilding and refitting. As she required a new deck, FitzRoy had the upper-deck raised considerably, by aft and forward. The "Cherokee"-class ships had the reputation of being "coffin" brigs, which handled badly and were prone to sinking. Apart from increasing headroom below, the raised deck made "Beagle" less liable to top-heaviness and possible capsize in heavy weather by reducing the volume of water that could collect on top of the upper deck, trapped aboard by the gunwales. Additional sheathing added to the hull added about seven tons to her burthen and perhaps fifteen to her displacement.
The ship was one of the first to be fitted with the lightning conductor invented by William Snow Harris. FitzRoy spared no expense in her fitting out, which included 22 chronometers, and five examples of the "Sympiesometer", a kind of mercury-free barometer patented by Alexander Adie which was favoured by FitzRoy as giving the accurate readings required by the Admiralty. To reduce magnetic interference with the navigational instruments, FitzRoy proposed replacing the iron guns with brass guns, but the Admiralty turned this request down. (When the ship reached Rio de Janeiro in April 1832, he used his own funds for replacements: the ship now had a "six-pound boat-carronade" on a turntable on the forecastle, two brass six-pound guns before the main-mast, and aft of it another four brass guns; two of these were nine-pound, and the other two six-pound.)
FitzRoy had found a need for expert advice on geology during the first voyage, and had resolved that if on a similar expedition, he would "endeavour to carry out a person qualified to examine the land; while the officers, and myself, would attend to hydrography." Command in that era could involve stress and loneliness, as shown by the suicide of Captain Stokes, and FitzRoy's own uncle Viscount Castlereagh had committed suicide under stress of overwork. His attempts to get a friend to accompany him fell through, and he asked his friend and superior, Captain Francis Beaufort, to seek a gentleman naturalist as a self-financing passenger who would give him company during the voyage. A sequence of inquiries led to Charles Darwin, a young gentleman on his way to becoming a rural clergyman, joining the voyage. Fitzroy was influenced by the physiognomy of Lavater, and Darwin recounted in his autobiography that he was nearly "rejected, on account of the shape of my nose! He was an ardent disciple of Lavater, & was convinced that he could judge a man's character by the outline of his features; & he doubted whether anyone with my nose could possess sufficient energy & determination for the voyage."
"Beagle" was originally scheduled to leave on 24 October 1831 but because of delays in her preparations the departure was delayed until December. Setting forth on what was to become a ground-breaking scientific expedition she departed from Devonport on 10 December. Due to bad weather her first stop was just a few miles ahead, at Barn Pool, on the west side of Plymouth Sound. "Beagle" left anchorage from Barn Pool on 27 December, passing the nearby town of Plymouth. After completing extensive surveys in South America she returned via New Zealand, Sydney, Hobart Town (6 February 1836), to Falmouth, Cornwall, England, on 2 October 1836.
Darwin had kept a diary of his experiences, and rewrote this as the book titled "Journal and Remarks", published in 1839 as the third volume of the official account of the expedition. This travelogue and scientific journal was widely popular, and was reprinted many times with various titles, becoming known as "The Voyage of the Beagle". This diary is where Darwin drew most of the ideas for his publications. Darwin attributes his first real training in natural history to his voyage on the "Beagle".
In the six months after returning from the second voyage, some light repairs were made and "Beagle" was commissioned to survey large parts of the coast of Australia under the command of Commander John Clements Wickham, who had been a lieutenant on the second voyage, with assistant surveyor Lieutenant John Lort Stokes who had been a midshipman on the first voyage of "Beagle", then mate and assistant surveyor on the second voyage (no relation to Pringle Stokes). They left Woolwich on 9 June 1837, towed by HM Steamer "Boxer", and after reaching Plymouth spent the remainder of the month adjusting their instruments. They set off from Plymouth Sound on the morning of 5 July 1837, and sailed south with stops for observations at Tenerife, Bahia and Cape Town.
They reached the Swan River (modern Perth, Australia) on 15 November 1837. Their survey started with the western coast between there and the Fitzroy River, Western Australia, then surveyed both shores of the Bass Strait at the southeast corner of the continent. To aid "Beagle" in her surveying operations in Bass Strait, the Colonial cutter "Vansittart", of Van Diemen's Land, was most liberally lent by His Excellency Sir John Franklin, and placed under the command of Mr Charles Codrington Forsyth, the senior mate, assisted by Mr Pasco, another of her mates. In May 1839, they sailed north to survey the shores of the Arafura Sea opposite Timor. When Wickham fell ill and resigned, the command was taken over in March 1841 by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes who continued the survey. The third voyage was completed in 1843.
Numerous places around the coast were named by Wickham, and subsequently by Stokes when he became captain, often honouring eminent people or the members of the crew. On 9 October 1839 Wickham named Port Darwin, which was first sighted by Stokes, in honour of their former shipmate Charles Darwin. They were reminded of him (and his "geologising") by the discovery there of a new fine-grained sandstone. A settlement there became the town of Palmerston in 1869, and was renamed Darwin in 1911 (not to be confused with the present day city of Palmerston near Darwin).
During this survey, the Beagle Gulf was named after the ship.
"Nicotiana benthamiana", a species of tobacco being used as a platform for the production of recombinant pharmaceutical proteins, was first collected for scientific study on the north coast of Australia by Benjamin Bynoe during this voyage.
In 1845, "Beagle" was refitted as a static coastguard watch vessel like many similar watch ships stationed in rivers and harbours throughout the nation. She was transferred to HM Customs and Excise to control smuggling on the Essex coast in the navigable waterways beyond the north bank of the Thames Estuary. She was moored mid-river in the River Roach which forms part of an extensive maze of waterways and marshes known as The River Crouch and River Roach Tidal River System, located around and to the south and west of Burnham-on-Crouch. This large maritime area has a tidal coastline of , part of Essex's of coastline – the largest coastline in the United Kingdom. In 1851, oyster companies and traders who cultivated and harvested the "Walflete" or "Walfleet" oyster "Ostrea edulis", petitioned for the Customs and Excise watch vessel "WV-7" (ex HMS "Beagle") to be removed as she was obstructing the river and its oyster-beds. In the 1851 Navy List dated 25 May, it showed her renamed "Southend "W.V. No. 7" at Paglesham". In 1870, she was sold to "Messrs Murray and Trainer" to be broken up.
Investigations started in 2000 by a team led by Dr Robert Prescott of the University of St Andrews found documents confirming that ""W.V. 7"" was "Beagle", and noted a vessel matching her size shown midstream on the River Roach (in Paglesham Reach) on the 1847 hydrographic survey chart. A later chart showed a nearby indentation to the north bank of Paglesham Reach near the Eastend Wharf and near Waterside Farm. This could have been a dock for "W.V. 7" – "Beagle". Site investigations found an area of marshy ground some deep on the tidal river-bank, about 150 metres west of the boat-house. This discovery matched the chart position and many fragments of pottery of the correct period were found in the same area.
An atomic dielectric resonance survey carried out in November 2003 found traces of timbers forming the size and shape of the lower hull, indicating a substantial amount of timbers from below the waterline still in place. An old anchor of 1841 pattern was excavated. It was also found that the 1871 census recorded a new farmhouse in the name of William Murray and Thomas Rainer, leading to speculation that the merchant's name was a misprint for T. Rainer. The farmhouse was demolished in the 1940s, but a nearby boathouse incorporated timbers matching knee timbers used in "Beagle". Two more large anchors similar to the one excavated from the ship's present location are known to have been found in neighbouring villages. It is believed that there were four anchors in the ship.
Their investigations featured in a BBC television programme which showed how each watch ship would have accommodated seven coastguard officers, drawn from other areas to minimise collusion with the locals. Each officer had about three rooms to house his family, forming a small community. They would use small boats to intercept smugglers, and the investigators found a causeway giving access at low tide across the soft mud of the river bank. Apparently the next coastguard station along was "Kangaroo", a sister ship of "Beagle".
On 31 December 2011, the Nao Victoria Museum in Punta Arenas, Chile, announced the building of the first full-scale replica of HMS "Beagle". Construction began on 1 November 2012, using "Nothofagus dombeyi" timber from the local rainforest. In 2013, the Chilean national press started to take an interest in the work in progress. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13942 |
History of St Albans
The Roman city of Verulamium, the third largest town in Roman Britain after Londinium and Colchester, was built alongside the Celtic settlement in the valley of the River Ver nearer to the present city centre. The settlement was granted the rank of "municipium" around AD 50, meaning that its citizens had what were known as "Latin Rights", a lesser citizenship status than a "colonia" possessed. It grew to a significant town, and as such received the attentions of Boudica of the Iceni in 61, when Verulamium was sacked and burnt on her orders: a black ash layer has been recorded by archaeologists, thus confirming the Roman written record. It grew steadily; by the early 3rd century, it covered an area of about , behind a deep ditch and wall. It was encircled by gated walls in AD 275. Verulamium contained a forum, basilica and a theatre, much of which were damaged during two fires, one in 155 and the other in around 250. One of the few extant Roman inscriptions in Britain is found on the remnants of the forum (see Verulamium Forum inscription). The town was rebuilt in stone rather than timber at least twice over the next 150 years.
The city is named after St Alban, who is thought to have lived in the town and to have been martyred in either the third or fourth century AD. He was probably buried outside the city walls in a Roman cemetery near the present Cathedral and his hillside grave is said to have become a place of pilgrimage. The site of Alban's burial is unknown and remains a topic for investigation. The site of a Roman burial was uncovered near the Cathedral in the late 20th century, in the area of demolished medieval cloisters, probably extending beneath the present building, but there is no evidence of a connection with Alban.
In the eighth century, Bede referred to a Roman church dedicated to St Alban, built "when peaceable Christian times were restored" (possibly the fourth century) and still in use in Bede's time. In 429 Germanus of Auxerre visited the church and subsequently promoted the cult of St Alban. John Morris argued that the church was probably built in 396–8. It has been suggested that several unearthed remains might have been Roman churches but there is no certain archaeological evidence. An archaeological excavation in 1978, directed by Martin Biddle, failed to find Roman remains on the site of the medieval chapter house, but recent investigation has uncovered a basilica near the Cathedral, indicating that it is "the oldest continuous site of Christian worship in Great Britain".
Some historians doubt the historicity of St Alban and argue that his cult was invented by Germanus.
In 1553, following the dissolution, the Abbey was sold to the town for £400 and became a parish church. The Lady Chapel became part of St Albans School and the Great Gatehouse was used as a prison until the 19th century, when the school took it over.
In response to a petition, King Edward VI granted the town a charter making it a borough with a mayor. The mayor, assisted by ten burgesses and serving for up to three years, had executive and judicial powers. The first mayor was John Lockey.
In 1555, during the reign of Queen Mary I, a Protestant baker from Yorkshire, George Tankerfield, was brought from London and burnt to death on Romeland for his refusal to accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.
During the English Civil War (1642–45) the town sided with parliament but was largely unaffected by the conflict.
The bridge over the River Ver in St Michael's Street, adjacent to Kingsbury Watermill and not far from St Michael's Church, dates from 1765 and is believed to be the oldest extant bridge in Hertfordshire. It is Grade II listed. According to a contemporary account of the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461, another bridge existed on this site previously (recorded in 1505 as "Pons de la Maltemyll" - Malt Mill Bridge). It is thought that the Romans had built a bridge here by the 3rd century AD. The ford alongside the current bridge, which is known to have existed for 2,000 years, is traditionally believed to be Alban's crossing point on his way to his execution.
Before the 20th century, St Albans was a rural market town, a Christian pilgrimage site, and the first coaching stop of the route to and from London, accounting for its numerous old inns. Victorian St Albans was small and had little industry. It grew slowly, 8-9% per decade between 1801 and 1861, compared to the 31% per decade growth of London in the same period. The railway arrived relatively late. In 1869 the extension of the city boundaries was opposed by the Earl of Verulam and many of the townsfolk, but there was rapid expansion and much building at the end of the century, and between 1891 and 1901 the population grew by 37%.
Population of St Albans in the Nineteenth Century
Three main roads date from the medieval period - Holywell Hill, St Peter's Street, and Fishpool Street - each of which had a pilgrim church founded in the tenth century by Abbot Ulsinus at the entrance to the town: St Stephen's, St Peter's and St Michael's respectively. These remained the only major streets until the late 18th and 19th centuries when the modern road pattern was defined. London Road was constructed in 1754, Hatfield Road in 1824 and Verulam Road in 1833. Verulam Road was created (as part of Thomas Telford's large-scale improvement of sections of the London to Holyhead road) specifically to aid the movement of stage coaches, since St Albans was the first major stop on the coaching route north from London. Victoria Street was called Sweetbriar Lane until 1876.
There were three railway stations in the town, two of which are still active: and . The first, St Albans Abbey, was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 5 May 1858 as the terminus of the Abbey Line, a branch line from . This was followed by the Midland Railway Company's station, now known as St Albans City, which opened on 1 October 1868 on the main line from Bedford to London. There was also a third railway station in the city centre, , which was opened on 16 October 1865 by the Great Northern Railway on its Hatfield and St Albans branch. This branch line closed to passengers in 1951.
In 1877, in response to a public petition, Queen Victoria issued the second royal charter, which granted city status to the borough and Cathedral status to the former Abbey Church. The new diocese was established in the main from parts of the large Diocese of Rochester. The Abbey Church of St Alban had fallen into disrepair, despite work done on it under Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1860–1877, and some thought it ought to be allowed to decline into romantic ruin, but in the latter year, under the chairmanship of the Earl of Verulam, a restoration committee was formed, of which Edmund Beckett (later Lord Grimthorpe) became the dominant member. Grimthorpe put up £130,000 of his own money and by sheer force of personality brought about a restoration of the church (1880–1883) in Neo-Gothic style, sparking the ire of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Nicholas Pevsner said that the Abbey "is the only one of the major churches of England that has a West Front completely, or almost completely, Victorian." However, it seems reasonable to assume that, without Grimthorpe's money the Abbey Church would now be a ruin like many other former monastic churches.
The original St Albans Football Club was founded in October 1881, if folded in 1904. The present day St Albans City Football Club was founded on 13 April 1908. The club's home ground is Clarence Park, which was donated to the city by Sir John Blundell and opened on 23 July 1894.
The aforementioned transport links attracted a seed merchant, Samuel Ryder, to locate his business in St Albans, which eventually moved to offices and a large purpose-built packing seed hall on Holywell Hill, which is now a Café Rouge restaurant. He served as Mayor of St Albans in 1905, and remained a councillor for several years after his term of office. In later life, Ryder began to suffer from poor health and was advised to take up golf as exercise. He joined the local Verulam Golf Club, making large donations to the club including the famous Ryder Cup and sponsorship of the tournament.
Ralph Chubb, the poet and printer, lived on College Street in St Albans from 1892 to 1913, and attended St Albans School. His work frequently references the Abbey of St Albans, and he ascribed mystical significance to the geography and history of the town.
Another St Albans writer, Charles Williams, lived as boy and young man in Victoria Street from 1894 to 1917. He also attended St Albans School.
The pioneering filmmaker Arthur Melbourne-Cooper was born in St Albans in 1874 at 99 London Road. He became a noted figure in the history of film when he began to explore the new art of moving photography in the mid-1900s. By 1908, he had set up a production base, the Alpha Production Works in Bedford Park Road, later moving to larger premises at Alma Road. Among the pioneering films he shot in St Albans was the animated fantasy, "Dreams of Toyland" (1908). He also established a film theatre on London Road to present his productions to the paying public, the Alpha Picture House, which opened on 27 July 1908, Hertfordshire's first permanent cinema. The cinema changed hands several times, variously known as the Poly, the Regent, the Capitol and the Odeon. It was replaced by a new Art Deco building in 1931, and the cinema continued in operation until 1995. In 2014 the building was restored and re-opened as the Odyssey Cinema.
During World War I in September 1916, following an attack on St Albans, the German Airship SL 11 became the first airship to be brought down over England. But when London Colney was attacked, the nation was so angered it became united in its battle.
In the inter-war years St Albans, in common with much of the surrounding area, became a centre for emerging high-technology industries, most notably aerospace. Nearby Radlett was the base for Handley Page Aircraft Company, while Hatfield became home to de Havilland. St Albans itself became a centre for the Marconi plc company, specifically, Marconi Instruments. Marconi (later part of the General Electric Company) remained the city's largest employer (with two main plants) until the 1990s. A third plant - working on top secret defence work - also existed. Even Marconi staff only found out about this when it closed down. All of these industries are now gone from the area.
In 1936 St Albans was the last but one stop for the Jarrow Crusade.
The City expanded rapidly after World War II, as government policy promoted the creation of New Towns and the expansion of existing towns around London. The local authority built large housing estates at Cottonmill (to the south), Mile House (to the south-east) and New Greens (to the north). The Marshalswick area to the north-east was also expanded, completing a programme of mainly private house building begun before the war.
In 1974 St Albans City Council, St Albans Rural District Council and Harpenden Town Council were merged, as part of a major national re-organisation of local government in the UK, to form St Albans District Council.
In 2011 the population of the St Albans City and District was 140,664, up 9% on the 2001 population of 129,005. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13945 |
Hitachi 6309
The 6309 is Hitachi's CMOS version of the Motorola 6809 microprocessor. While in "Emulation Mode" it is fully compatible with the 6809. To the 6809 specifications it adds higher clock rates, enhanced features, new instructions, and additional registers. Most new instructions were added to support the additional registers, as well as up to 32-bit math, hardware division, bit manipulations, and block transfers. The 6309 is generally 30% faster in native mode than the 6809.
Surprisingly, this information was never published by Hitachi. The April 1988 issue of "Oh! FM", a Japanese magazine for Fujitsu personal computer users, contained the first description of the 6309's additional capabilities. Later, Hirotsugu Kakugawa posted details of the 6309's new features and instructions to comp.sys.m6809. This led to the development of NitrOS9 for the Tandy Color Computer 3.
The 6309 differs from the 6809 in several key areas.
The 6309 is fabricated in CMOS technology, while the 6809 is an NMOS device. As a result, the 6309 requires less power to operate than the 6809.
It can be used with external DMA without needing refresh after a maximum of 15 cycles as the 6809 does. It is a dynamic design. The datasheet specifies a minimum clocking frequency and it will lose its state when the clock speed is too low.
The 6309 has B (2 MHz) versions as the 6809 does. However, a "C" speed rating was produced with either a 3.0 or 3.5 MHz maximum clock rate, depending on which datasheet is referenced. (Several Japanese computers had 63C09 CPUs clocked at 3.58 MHz, the NTSC colorburst frequency, so the 3.5 rating seems most likely). Anecdotal and individual reports indicate that the 63C09 variant can be clocked at 5 MHz with no ill effects. Like the 6809, the Hitachi CPU comes in both internal and external clock versions (HD63B/C09 and HD63B/C09E respectively)
When switched into 6309 Native Mode (as opposed to the default 6809-compatible mode) many key instructions will complete in fewer clock cycles. This often improves execution speeds by up to 30%.
Most of the new instructions are modifications of existing instructions to handle the existence of the additional registers, such as load, store, add, and the like. Genuine 6309 additions include inter-register arithmetic, block transfers, hardware division, and bit-level manipulations.
Despite the user-friendliness of the additional instructions, analysis by 6809 programming gurus indicates that many of the new instructions are actually slower than the equivalent 6809 code, especially in tight loops. Careful analysis should be done to ensure that the programmer uses the most efficient code for the particular application.
It is possible to change the mode of operation for the FIRQ interrupt. Instead of stacking the PC and CC registers (normal 6809 behavior) the FIRQ interrupt can be set to stack the entire register set, as the IRQ interrupt does. In addition, the 6309 has two possible trap modes, one for an illegal instruction fetch and one for division by zero. The illegal instruction fetch is not maskable, and many TRS-80 Color Computer users reported that their 6309's were "buggy" when in reality it was an indicator of enhanced and unknown features. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13951 |
Hominy
Hominy is a food produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization ( is the Nahuatl word for "hominy"). "Lye hominy" is a type of hominy made with lye.
The process of nixtamalization is fundamental to ancient Mesoamerican cuisine. The lime used to treat the maize can be obtained from a few different materials. Among the Lacandon Maya who inhabited the tropical lowland regions of eastern Chiapas the caustic powder was obtained by toasting freshwater shells over a fire for several hours. In the highland areas of Chiapas and throughout much of the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize Valley and Petén Basin, limestone was used to make slaked lime for steeping the shelled kernels. The Maya used nixtamal to produce beers that more resembled "chicha" than "pulque". When bacteria was introduced to nixtamal it created a type of sourdough.
Hominy is made in a process called nixtamalization. To make hominy, field corn (maize) grain is dried, then treated by soaking and cooking the mature (hard) grain in a dilute solution of lye (sodium hydroxide) (which can be produced from water and wood ash) or of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide from limestone). The maize is then washed thoroughly to remove the bitter flavor of the lye or lime. Alkalinity helps dissolve hemicellulose, the major glue-like component of the maize cell walls, loosens the hulls from the kernels, and softens the corn. Also, soaking the corn in lye kills the seed's germ, which keeps it from sprouting while in storage. Finally, in addition to providing a source of dietary calcium, the lye or lime reacts with the corn so that the nutrient niacin can be assimilated by the digestive tract. People consume hominy in intact kernels, grind it into sand-sized particles for grits, or into flour.
In Mexican cooking, hominy is finely ground to make masa. Fresh masa that has been dried and powdered is called "masa seca" or "masa harina". Some of the corn oil breaks down into emulsifying agents (monoglycerides and diglycerides), and facilitates bonding the corn proteins to each other. The divalent calcium in lime acts as a cross-linking agent for protein and polysaccharide acidic side chains. Cornmeal from untreated ground corn cannot form a dough with the addition of water, but the chemical changes in masa (aka "masa nixtamalera") make dough formation possible, for tortillas and other food.
Previously, consuming untreated corn was thought to cause pellagra (niacin deficiency)—either from the corn itself or some infectious element in untreated corn. However, further advancements showed that it is a correlational, not causal, relationship. In the 1700s and 1800s, areas that depended highly on corn as a diet staple were more likely to have pellagra. This is because humans cannot absorb niacin in untreated corn. The nixtamalization process frees niacin into a state where the intestines can absorb it. This was discovered primarily by exploring why Mexican people who depended on maize did not develop pellagra. One reason was that Mayans treated corn in an alkaline solution to soften it, in the process now called nixtamalization, or used limestone to grind the corn. The earliest known use of nixtamalization was in what is present-day southern Mexico and Guatemala around 1500–1200 BC.
In Mexican and Central American cuisine, people cook masa nixtamalera with water and milk to make a thick, gruel-like beverage called . When they make it with chocolate and sugar, it becomes . Adding anise and piloncillo to this mix creates , a popular breakfast drink.
The English term "hominy" derives from the Powhatan language word for prepared maize (cf. Chickahominy). Many other indigenous American cultures also made hominy, and integrated it into their diet. Cherokees, for example, made hominy grits by soaking corn in a weak lye solution produced by leaching hardwood ash with water, and then beating it with a (), or corn beater. They used grits to make a traditional hominy soup ( ) that they let ferment ( ), cornbread, dumplings ( ), or, in post-contact times, fried with bacon and green onions.
Hominy recipes include (a Mexican stew of hominy and pork, chicken, or other meat), hominy bread, hominy chili, hog 'n' hominy, casseroles and fried dishes. In Latin America there are a variety of dishes referred to as . Hominy can be ground coarsely for grits, or into a fine mash dough () used extensively in Latin American cuisine. Many islands in the West Indies, notably Jamaica, also use hominy (known as cornmeal or "polenta", though different from Italian polenta) to make a sort of porridge with corn starch or flour to thicken the mixture and condensed milk, vanilla, and nutmeg.
Rockihominy, a popular trail food in the 19th and early 20th centuries, is dried corn roasted to a golden brown, then ground to a very coarse meal, almost like hominy grits. Hominy is also used as animal feed. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13953 |
W. Heath Robinson
William Heath Robinson (31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944) was an English cartoonist, illustrator and artist, best known for drawings of whimsically elaborate machines to achieve simple objectives.
In the UK, the term "Heath Robinson" entered the popular language during the 1914–1918 First World War as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contrivance, much as "Rube Goldberg machines" came to be used in the United States from the 1920s onwards as a term for similar efforts. "Heath Robinson contraption" is perhaps more often used in relation to temporary fixes using ingenuity and whatever is to hand, often string and tape, or unlikely cannibalisations. Its continuing popularity was undoubtedly linked to Britain's shortages and the need to "make do and mend" during the Second World War.
William Heath Robinson was born at 25 Ennis Road on 31 May 1872 into a family of artists in an area of London known as Stroud Green, Finsbury Park, North London. His father Thomas Robinson (1838–1902) and brothers Thomas Heath Robinson (1869–1954) and Charles Robinson (1870–1937) all worked as illustrators.
His early career involved illustrating books – among others: Hans Christian Andersen's "Danish Fairy Tales and Legends" (1897), "The Arabian Nights" (1899), "Tales from Shakespeare" (1902), "Gargantua and Pantagruel" (1904), "Twelfth Night" (1908), "Andersen's Fairy Tales" (1913), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1914), Charles Kingsley's "The Water-Babies" (1915) and Walter de la Mare's "Peacock Pie" (1916).
In the course of his work, Robinson also wrote and illustrated three children's books, "The Adventures of Uncle Lubin" (1902), "Bill the Minder" (1912) and "Peter Quip in Search of a Friend" (1922). "Uncle Lubin" is regarded as the start of his career in the depiction of unlikely machines.
During the First World War, he drew large numbers of cartoons, depicting ever-more-unlikely secret weapons being used by the combatants. He also depicted the American Expeditionary Force in France.
He also produced a steady stream of humorous drawings for magazines and advertisements. In 1934 he published a collection of his favourites as "Absurdities", such as:
Most of his cartoons have since been reprinted many times in multiple collections.
The machines he drew were frequently powered by steam boilers or kettles, heated by candles or a spirit lamp and usually kept running by balding, bespectacled men in overalls. There would be complex pulley arrangements, threaded by lengths of knotted string. Robinson's cartoons were so popular that in Britain the term "Heath Robinson" is used to refer to an improbable, rickety machine barely kept going by incessant tinkering. (The corresponding term in the U.S. is "Rube Goldberg", after the American cartoonist born just over a decade later, with an equal devotion to odd machinery. Similar "inventions" have been drawn by cartoonists in many countries, with the Danish Storm Petersen being on par with Robinson and Goldberg.)
One of his most famous series of illustrations was that which accompanied the first "Professor Branestawm" book written by Norman Hunter. The stories told of the eponymous professor who was brilliant, eccentric and forgetful and provided a perfect backdrop for Robinson's drawings.
The last project Robinson worked on shortly before he died was illustrations for Lilian M. Clopet's short story collection "Once Upon a Time", which was published in 1944.
One of the automatic analysis machines built for Bletchley Park during the Second World War to assist in the decryption of German message traffic was named "Heath Robinson" in his honour. It was a direct predecessor to the Colossus, the world's first programmable digital electronic computer.
In 1903 he married Josephine Latey, the daughter of newspaper editor John Latey. Heath Robinson moved to Pinner, Middlesex, in 1908. His house in Moss Lane is commemorated by a blue plaque.
He died in September 1944, during the Second World War, and is buried in East Finchley Cemetery.
The Heath Robinson Museum opened in October 2016 to house a collection of nearly 1,000 original artworks owned by The William Heath Robinson Trust. The museum is in Memorial Park, Pinner, close to where the artist lived and worked. A nearby branch of the PizzaExpress restaurants features designs inspired by the artist's work.
The name "Heath Robinson" became part of common parlance in the UK for complex inventions that achieved absurdly simple results following its use as services slang during the 1914–1918 First World War.
In the "Wallace and Gromit" films, Wallace often invents Heath Robinson-like machines, with some inventions being direct references.
During the Falklands War (1982), British Harrier aircraft lacked their conventional "chaff"-dispensing mechanism.
Therefore, Royal Navy engineers designed an impromptu delivery system of welding rods, split pins and string which allowed six packets of chaff to be stored in the speedbrake well and deployed in flight. Due to its improvised and ramshackle nature it was often referred to as the "Heath Robinson chaff modification". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13955 |
Henry the Fowler
Henry the Fowler ( or ""; ) (876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he established the Ottonian dynasty of kings and emperors, and he is generally considered to be the founder of the medieval German state, known until then as East Francia. An avid hunter, he obtained the epithet "the Fowler" because he was allegedly fixing his birding nets when messengers arrived to inform him that he was to be king.
He was born into the Liudolfing line of Saxon dukes. His father Otto I of Saxony died in 912 and was succeeded by Henry. The new duke launched a rebellion against the king of East Francia, Conrad I of Germany, over the rights to lands in the Duchy of Thuringia. They reconciled in 915 and on his deathbed in 918, Conrad recommended Henry as the next king, considering the duke the only one who could hold the kingdom together in the face of internal revolts and external Magyar raids.
Henry was elected and crowned king in 919. He went on to defeat the rebellious dukes of Bavaria and Swabia, consolidating his rule. Through successful warfare and a dynastic marriage, Henry acquired Lotharingia as a vassal in 925. Unlike his Carolingian predecessors, Henry did not seek to create a centralized monarchy, ruling through federated autonomous stem duchies instead. Henry built an extensive system of fortifications and mobile heavy cavalry across Germany to neutralize the Magyar threat and in 933 routed them at the Battle of Riade, ending Magyar attacks for the next 21 years and giving rise to a sense of German nationhood. Henry greatly expanded German hegemony in Europe with his defeat of the Slavs in 929 at the Battle of Lenzen along the Elbe river, by compelling the submission of Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia through an invasion of the Duchy of Bohemia the same year and by conquering Danish realms in Schleswig in 934. Henry's hegemonic status north of the Alps was acknowledged by the kings Rudolph of West Francia and Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy, who both accepted a place of subordination as allies in 935. Henry planned an expedition to Rome to be crowned emperor by the pope, but the design was thwarted by his death. Henry prevented a collapse of royal power, as had happened in West Francia, and left a much stronger kingdom to his successor Otto I. He was buried at Quedlinburg Abbey, established by his wife Matilda in his honour.
Born in Memleben, in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Henry was the son of Otto the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, and his wife Hedwiga, daughter of Henry of Franconia and Ingeltrude and a great-great-granddaughter of Charlemagne. In 906 he married Hatheburg of Merseburg, daughter of the Saxon count Erwin. She had previously been a nun. The marriage was annulled in 909 because her vows as a nun were deemed by the church to remain valid. She had already given birth to Henry's son Thankmar. The annulment placed a question mark over Thankmar's legitimacy. Later that year he married Matilda, daughter of Dietrich of Ringelheim, Count in Westphalia. Matilda bore him three sons, one called Otto, and two daughters, Hedwig and Gerberga, and founded many religious institutions, including the Quedlinburg Abbey where Henry is buried. She was later canonized.
Henry became Duke of Saxony after his father's death in 912. An able ruler, he continued to strengthen the position of his duchy within the weakening kingdom of East Francia, and was frequently in conflict with his neighbors to the South in the Duchy of Franconia.
On 23 December 918 Conrad I, king of East Francia and Franconian duke, died. Although Henry had rebelled against Conrad I between 912 and 915 over the lands in Thuringia, Conrad recommended Henry as his successor. Kingship now changed from the Franks to the Saxons, who had suffered greatly during the conquests of Charlemagne and were proud of their identity. Henry, as Saxon, was the first non-Frank on the throne.
Conrad's choice was conveyed by his brother, duke Eberhard III of Franconia at the Imperial Diet of Fritzlar in 919. The assembled Franconian and Saxon nobles elected Henry to be king with other regional dukes not participating in the election. Archbishop Heriger of Mainz offered to anoint Henry according to the usual ceremony, but he refused – the only king of his time not to undergo that rite – allegedly because he wished to be king not by the church's but by the people's acclaim.
Henry, who was elected to kingship by only the Saxons and Franconians at Fritzlar, had to subdue the other dukes.
Duke Burchard II of Swabia soon swore fealty to the new king, but when he died, Henry appointed a noble from Franconia to be the new duke.
Duke Arnulf of Bavaria, lord over a realm of impressive extent, with "de facto" powers of a king and at times even named so in documents, proved a much harder nut to crack. He would not submit until Henry defeated him in two campaigns in 921.
In the short remnant of a more lengthy text, "Fragmentum de Arnulfo duce Bavariae ()", the author gives a very lively impression of the disconcert Henry's claims caused in Bavaria:
The piece abruptly starts with a clause. It relates that Henry I ("Saxo Heimricus"), following the advice of an unnamed bishop, had invaded the Bavarian kingdom ("regnum Baioariae") in a hostile way. Decidedly, it hints at the unlawfulness of this encroachment, namely in that Bavaria was a territory in which none of Henry’s forefathers had ever possessed even a foot (gressum pedis) of land. This was also the reason - by God's will (Dei nutu) - for him having been defeated in this first campaign. This can be seen as proof that Henry did campaign against Bavaria, and Arnulf, more than once.
In the second chapter, the unknown chronicler hints that Henry's predecessor on the throne, Conrad I, had also invaded Bavaria in an equally unlawful and hostile (non regaliter, sed hostiliter) fashion. Conrad is said to have marauded through the land, murdering and pillaging, having made many children orphans (orphanos) and women widows (viduas). Ratisbon, the duke's seat, was set to light and looted. After Conrad committed all these crimes (peccatis), it reports that divine providence (divino nutu) forced him to withdraw. The reason for this is not mentioned.
The last section is a eulogy to Duke Arnulf who is described as a glorious leader (gloriosus dux), being blessed by heaven (ex alto) with all kinds of virtues, brave and dynamic. He alone had saved his people from the scourge of the Saxons (de sevienti gladio paganorum) and given them back their freedom.
This panegyric to the Bavarian duke is unparalleled for its time and underlines his position of power in the southeast of the East Frankish realm, so endangered by disintegration, so that "Arnulf ... nearly [found] the same resonance in the scarce historiography of his time, as did King Henry".
Henry besieged Arnulf's residence at Ratisbon and forced the duke into submission. Arnulf had crowned himself as king of Bavaria in 919, but in 921 renounced the crown and submitted to Henry while maintaining significant autonomy and the right to mint his own coins.
Henry was too weak to impose absolutist rule, and regarded his kingdom as a confederation of stem duchies rather than a feudal monarchy and saw himself as "primus inter pares (first among equals)". Instead of seeking to administer the empire through counts, as Charlemagne had done and as his successors had attempted, Henry allowed the local dukes in the Franconia, Swabia, and Bavaria to maintain significant internal autonomy.
In 920, the king of West Francia, Charles the Simple, invaded and marched as far as Pfeddersheim near Worms, but retreated when he learned that Henry was organizing an army. On 7 November 921, Henry and Charles met and concluded the Treaty of Bonn, in which Henry was recognized as the east Frankish king and Charles rule in Lotharingia was recognized. Henry then saw an opportunity to take Lotharingia when a civil war over royal succession began in West Francia after the coronation of King Robert I. In 923 Henry crossed the Rhine twice, capturing a large part of the duchy. The eastern part of Lotharingia was left in Henry's possession until October 924.
In 925 Duke Gilbert of Lotharingia rebelled. Henry invaded the duchy and besieged Gilbert at Zülpich (Tolbiac), captured the town, and became master of a large portion of his lands. Allowing Gilbert to remain in power as duke, Henry arranged the marriage of his daughter Gerberga to his new vassal in 928. Thus he brought that realm, which had been lost in 910, back into the kingdom as the fifth stem duchy.
The threat of Magyar raiders improved his situation, as all the dukes and nobles realized that only a strong state could defend their lands against barbarian incursions.
In 919 Henry was defeated by the Magyars in the Battle of Püchen, hardly escaping from being killed in battle, managing to take refuge in the town of Püchen.
In 921 the Magyars once again invaded East Francia and Italy. Although a sizable Magyar force was defeated near Bleiburg in the Bavarian March of Carinthia by Eberhard and the Count of Meran and another group was routed by Liutfried, count of Elsass (French reading: Alsace), the Magyars continued raiding East Francia.
Henry, having captured a Hungarian prince, managed to arrange a ten-year truce in 924, though he agreed to pay annual tribute. By doing so he and the dukes gained time to build new fortified towns and to train a new elite cavalry force. Henry built fortified settlements as a defense against Magyar and Slav invaders. In 932 Henry refused to pay the annual tribute to the Magyars. When they began raiding again, Henry, with his improved army in 933 at the Battle of Riade, crushed the Magyars so completely that they never returned to the northern lands of Henry's kingdom.
During the truce with the Magyars, Henry subdued the Polabian Slavs who lived on his eastern borders. In the winter of 928 he marched against the Slavic Hevelli tribes and seized their capital, Brandenburg. He then invaded the Glomacze lands on the middle Elbe river, conquering the capital Gana (Jahna) after a siege, and had a fortress (the later Albrechtsburg) built at Meissen. In 929, with the help of Arnulf of Bavaria, Henry entered the Duchy of Bohemia and forced Duke Wenceslaus I to resume the annual payment of tribute to the king.
Meanwhile, the Slavic Redarii had driven away their chief, captured the town of Walsleben and massacred its inhabitants. Counts Bernard and Thietmar marched against the fortress of Lenzen beyond the Elbe, and, after fierce fighting, completely routed the enemy on 4 September 929. The Lusatians and the Ukrani on the lower Oder were subdued and made tributary in 932 and 934, respectively. In conquered lands Henry did not create march administration, which was implemented by his successor Otto I.
Henry also pacified territories to the north, where the Danes had been harrying the Frisians by sea. The monk and chronicler Widukind of Corvey in his "Res gestae Saxonicae" reports that the Danes were subjects of Henry the Fowler. Henry incorporated into his kingdom territories held by the Wends, who together with the Danes had attacked Germany, and also conquered Schleswig in 934.
As the first Saxon king of East Francia, Henry was the founder of the Ottonian dynasty. He and his descendants ruled East Francia, and later the Holy Roman Empire, from 919 until 1024.
Henry had two wives and at least six children.
Henry returned to public attention as a character in Richard Wagner's opera, "Lohengrin" (1850), trying to gain the support of the Brabantian nobles against the Magyars. After the attempts to achieve German national unity failed with the Revolutions of 1848, Wagner strongly relied on the picture of Henry as the actual ruler of all German tribes as advocated by pan-Germanist activists like Friedrich Ludwig Jahn.
There are indications that Heinrich Himmler saw himself as the reincarnation of Henry, who was proclaimed to be the first king of Germany.
Himmler travelled to Quedlinburg several times to hold a ceremony in the crypt on the anniversary of the king's death, 2 July. This started in 1936, 1,000 years after Henry died. Himmler considered him to be the "first German king" and declared his tomb a site of pilgrimage for Germans. In 1937, the king's remains were reinterred in a new sarcophagus. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13957 |
Hannibal
Hannibal (; , ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded Carthage's main army against Rome during the Second Punic War (218–201 BC). He is widely considered one of the greatest military commanders in world history. His father, Hamilcar Barca, was a leading Carthaginian commander during the First Punic War (264–241 BC). His younger brothers were Mago and Hasdrubal, and he was brother-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair; all also commanded Carthaginian armies.
Hannibal lived during a period of great tension in the western Mediterranean Basin, triggered by the emergence of the Roman Republic as a great power after it had established its supremacy over Italy. Although Rome had won the First Punic War, revanchism prevailed in Carthage, symbolised by the alleged pledge that Hannibal made to his father never to be a friend of Rome. The Second Punic War broke out in 218 after Hannibal's attack on Saguntum, an ally of Rome in Hispania. He then made his famous military exploit of carrying war to Italy by crossing the Alps with his African elephants. In his first few years in Italy, he won a succession of dramatic victories at the Trebia, Lake Trasimene, and Cannae. He distinguished himself for his ability to determine his and his opponent's respective strengths and weaknesses, and to plan battles accordingly. Hannibal's well-planned strategies allowed him to conquer several Italian cities allied to Rome. Hannibal occupied most of southern Italy for 15 years, but could not win a decisive victory, as the Romans led by Fabius Maximus avoided confrontation with him, instead waging a war of attrition. A counter-invasion of North Africa led by Scipio Africanus forced him to return to Carthage. Scipio eventually defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama, having previously driven Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal out of the Iberian Peninsula.
After the war, Hannibal successfully ran for the office of sufet. He enacted political and financial reforms to enable the payment of the war indemnity imposed by Rome; however, those reforms were unpopular with members of the Carthaginian aristocracy and in Rome, and he fled into voluntary exile. During this time, he lived at the Seleucid court, where he acted as military advisor to Antiochus III the Great in his war against Rome. Antiochus met defeat at the Battle of Magnesia and was forced to accept Rome's terms, and Hannibal fled again, making a stop in the Kingdom of Armenia. His flight ended in the court of Bithynia. He was afterwards betrayed to the Romans and committed suicide by poisoning himself.
Hannibal is often regarded as one of the greatest military tacticians in history and one of the greatest generals of Mediterranean antiquity, together with Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Scipio Africanus and Pyrrhus. Plutarch states that Scipio supposedly asked Hannibal "who the greatest general was", to which Hannibal replied "either Alexander or Pyrrhus, then himself". Military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge called Hannibal the "father of strategy", because Roman armies adopted elements of his military tactics into their own strategic arsenal.
"Hannibal" was a common Carthaginian personal name. It is recorded in Carthaginian sources as (). It is a combination of the common Carthaginian masculine given name Hanno with the Northwest Semitic Canaanite deity Baal (lit."lord"). Its precise vocalization remains a matter of debate. Suggested readings include "Ḥannobaʿal", "Ḥannibaʿl", or "Ḥannibaʿal", meaning "Baʿal/The lord is gracious", "Baʿal Has Been Gracious", or "The Grace of Baʿal". Greek historians rendered the name as "Anníbas" ().
The Carthaginians did not use hereditary surnames, but were typically distinguished from others bearing the same name using patronymics or epithets. Although he is by far the most famous Hannibal, when further clarification is necessary he is usually referred to as "Hannibal, son of Hamilcar", or Hannibal the Barcid, the latter term applying to the family of his father, Hamilcar Barca. "Barca" (, ) is a Semitic cognomen meaning "lightning" or "thunderbolt", a surname acquired by Hamilcar on account of the swiftness and ferocity of his attacks. Although they did not inherit the surname from their father, Hamilcar's progeny are collectively known as the Barcids. Modern historians occasionally refer to Hannibal's brothers as "Hasdrubal Barca" and "Mago Barca" to distinguish them from the multitudes of other Carthaginians named "Hasdrubal" and "Mago", but this practice is ahistorical, and is rarely applied to Hannibal.
Hannibal was one of the sons of Hamilcar Barca, a Carthaginian leader. He was born in what is present day northern Tunisia, one of many Mediterranean regions colonised by the Canaanites from their homelands in Phoenicia. He had several sisters and two brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago. His brothers-in-law were Hasdrubal the Fair and the Numidian king Naravas. He was still a child when his sisters married, and his brothers-in-law were close associates during his father's struggles in the Mercenary War and the Punic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.
After Carthage's defeat in the First Punic War, Hamilcar set out to improve his family's and Carthage's fortunes. With that in mind and supported by Gades, Hamilcar began the subjugation of the tribes of the Iberian Peninsula. Carthage at the time was in such a poor state that it lacked a navy able to transport his army; instead, Hamilcar had to march his forces across Numidia towards the Pillars of Hercules and then cross the Strait of Gibraltar.
According to Polybius, Hannibal much later said that when he came upon his father and begged to go with him, Hamilcar agreed and demanded that he swear that as long as he lived he would never be a friend of Rome. There is even an account of him at a very young age (9 years old) begging his father to take him to an overseas war. In the story, Hannibal's father took him up and brought him to a sacrificial chamber. Hamilcar held Hannibal over the fire roaring in the chamber and made him swear that he would never be a friend of Rome. Other sources report that Hannibal told his father, "I swear so soon as age will permit...I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome." According to the tradition, Hannibal's oath took place in the town of Peñíscola, today part of the Valencian Community, Spain.
Hannibal's father went about the conquest of Hispania. When his father drowned in battle, Hannibal's brother-in-law Hasdrubal the Fair succeeded to his command of the army with Hannibal (then 18 years old) serving as an officer under him. Hasdrubal pursued a policy of consolidation of Carthage's Iberian interests, even signing a treaty with Rome whereby Carthage would not expand north of the Ebro so long as Rome did not expand south of it. Hasdrubal also endeavoured to consolidate Carthaginian power through diplomatic relationships with native tribes.
Upon the assassination of Hasdrubal in 221 BC, Hannibal (now 26 years old) was proclaimed commander-in-chief by the army and confirmed in his appointment by the Carthaginian government. The Roman scholar Livy gives a depiction of the young Carthaginian: "No sooner had he arrived...the old soldiers fancied they saw Hamilcar in his youth given back to them; the same bright look; the same fire in his eye, the same trick of countenance and features. Never was one and the same spirit more skillful to meet opposition, to obey, or to command[.]"
Livy also records that Hannibal married a woman of Castulo, a powerful Spanish city closely allied with Carthage. The Roman epic poet Silius Italicus names her as Imilce. Silius suggests a Greek origin for Imilce, but Gilbert Charles-Picard argued for a Punic heritage based on an etymology from the Semitic root m-l-k ('chief, the 'king'). Silius also suggests the existence of a son, who is otherwise not attested by Livy, Polybius, or Appian.
After he assumed command, Hannibal spent two years consolidating his holdings and completing the conquest of Hispania, south of the Ebro. In his first campaign, Hannibal attacked and stormed the Olcades' strongest centre, Alithia, which promptly led to their surrender, and brought Punic power close to the River Tagus. His following campaign in 220 BC was against the Vaccaei to the west, where he stormed the Vaccaen strongholds of Helmantice and Arbucala. On his return home, laden with many spoils, a coalition of Spanish tribes, led by the Carpetani, attacked, and Hannibal won his first major battlefield success and showed off his tactical skills at the battle of the River Tagus. However, Rome, fearing the growing strength of Hannibal in Iberia, made an alliance with the city of Saguntum, which lay a considerable distance south of the River Ebro and claimed the city as its protectorate. Hannibal not only perceived this as a breach of the treaty signed with Hasdrubal, but as he was already planning an attack on Rome, this was his way to start the war. So he laid siege to the city, which fell after eight months.
Hannibal sent the booty from Saguntum to Carthage, a shrewd move which gained him much support from the government; Livy records that only Hanno II the Great spoke against him. In Rome, the Senate reacted to this apparent violation of the treaty by dispatching a delegation to Carthage to demand whether Hannibal had destroyed Saguntum in accordance with orders from Carthage. The Carthaginian Senate responded with legal arguments observing the lack of ratification by either government for the treaty alleged to have been violated. The delegation's leader, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, demanded Carthage chose between war and peace, to which his audience replied that Rome could choose. Fabius chose war.
This journey was originally planned by Hannibal's brother-in-law Hasdrubal the Fair, who became a Carthaginian general in the Iberian Peninsula in 229 BC. He maintained this post for eight years until 221 BC. Soon the Romans became aware of an alliance between Carthage and the Celts of the Po Valley in Northern Italy. The Celts were amassing forces to invade farther south in Italy, presumably with Carthaginian backing. Therefore, the Romans preemptively invaded the Po region in 225 BC. By 220 BC, the Romans had annexed the area as Cisalpine Gaul. Hasdrubal was assassinated around the same time (221 BC), bringing Hannibal to the fore. It seems that the Romans lulled themselves into a false sense of security, having dealt with the threat of a Gallo-Carthaginian invasion, and perhaps knowing that the original Carthaginian commander had been killed.
Hannibal departed New Carthage in late spring of 218 BC. He fought his way through the northern tribes to the foothills of the Pyrenees, subduing the tribes through clever mountain tactics and stubborn fighting. He left a detachment of 20,000 troops to garrison the newly conquered region. At the Pyrenees, he released 11,000 Iberian troops who showed reluctance to leave their homeland. Hannibal reportedly entered Gaul with 40,000-foot soldiers and 12,000 horsemen.
Hannibal recognized that he still needed to cross the Pyrenees, the Alps, and many significant rivers. Additionally, he would have to contend with opposition from the Gauls, whose territory he passed through. Starting in the spring of 218 BC, he crossed the Pyrenees and reached the Rhône by conciliating the Gaulish chiefs along his passage before the Romans could take any measures to bar his advance, arriving at the Rhône in September. Hannibal's army numbered 38,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 38 elephants, almost none of which would survive the harsh conditions of the Alps.
Hannibal outmaneuvered the natives who had tried to prevent his crossing, then evaded a Roman force marching from the Mediterranean coast by turning inland up the valley of the Rhône. His exact route over the Alps has been the source of scholarly dispute ever since (Polybius, the surviving ancient account closest in time to Hannibal's campaign, reports that the route was already debated). The most influential modern theories favor either a march up the valley of the Drôme and a crossing of the main range to the south of the modern highway over the Col de Montgenèvre or a march farther north up the valleys of the Isère and Arc crossing the main range near the present Col de Mont Cenis or the Little St Bernard Pass. Recent numismatic evidence suggests that Hannibal's army may have passed within sight of the Matterhorn. Stanford geoarchaeologist Patrick Hunt argues that Hannibal took the Col de Clapier mountain pass, claiming the Clapier most accurately met ancient depictions of the route: wide view of Italy, pockets of year-round snow, and a large campground. Other scholars have doubts, proposing that Hannibal took the easier route across Petit Mount Cenis. Hunt responds to this by proposing that Hannibal's Celtic guides purposefully misguided the Carthaginian general.
Most recently, W. C. Mahaney has argued Col e la Traversette closest fits the records of ancient authors. Biostratigraphic archaeological data has reinforced the case for Col de la Traversette; analysis of peat bogs near watercourses on both sides of the pass's summit showed that the ground was heavily disturbed "by thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of animals and humans" and that the soil bore traces of unique levels of "Clostridia" bacteria associated with the digestive tract of horses and mules. Radiocarbon dating secured dates of 2168BP or c.218BC, the year of Hannibal's march. Mahaney "et al". have concluded that this and other evidence strongly supports the Col de la Traversette as being the 'Hannibalic Route' as had been argued by Gavin de Beer in 1974. De Beer was one of only three interpreters – the others being John Lazenby and Jakob Seibert – to have visited all the Alpine high passes and presented a view on which was most plausible. Both De Beer and Siebert had selected the Col de la Traversette as the one most closely matching the ancient descriptions. Polybius wrote that Hannibal had crossed the highest of the Alpine passes: Col de la Traversette, between the upper Guil valley and the upper Po river is the highest pass. It is moreover the most southerly, as Varro in his "De re rustica" relates, agreeing that Hannibal's Pass was the highest in Western Alps and the most southerly. Mahaney "et al". argue that factors used by De Beer to support Col de la Traversette including "gauging ancient place names against modern, close scrutiny of times of flood in major rivers and distant viewing of the Po plains" taken together with "massive radiocarbon and microbiological and parasitical evidence" from the alluvial sediments either side of the pass furnish "supporting evidence, proof if you will" that Hannibal's invasion went that way. If Hannibal had ascended the Col de la Traversette, the Po Valley would indeed have been visible from the pass's summit, vindicating Polybius's account.
By Livy's account, the crossing was accomplished in the face of huge difficulties. These Hannibal surmounted with ingenuity, such as when he used vinegar and fire to break through a rockfall. According to Polybius, he arrived in Italy accompanied by 20,000-foot soldiers, 4,000 horsemen, and only a few elephants. The fired rockfall event is mentioned only by Livy; Polybius is mute on the subject and there is no evidence of carbonized rock at the only two-tier rockfall in the Western Alps, located below the Col de la Traversette (Mahaney, 2008). If Polybius is correct in his figure for the number of troops that he commanded after the crossing of the Rhône, this would suggest that he had lost almost half of his force. Historians such as Serge Lancell have questioned the reliability of the figures for the number of troops that he had when he left Hispania. From the start, he seems to have calculated that he would have to operate without aid from Hispania.
Hannibal's vision of military affairs was derived partly from the teaching of his Greek tutors and partly from experience gained alongside his father, and it stretched over most of the Hellenistic World of his time. Indeed, the breadth of his vision gave rise to his grand strategy of conquering Rome by opening a northern front and subduing allied city-states on the peninsula, rather than by attacking Rome directly. Historical events which led to the defeat of Carthage during the First Punic War when his father commanded the Carthaginian Army also led Hannibal to plan the invasion of Italy by land across the Alps.
The task was daunting, to say the least. It involved the mobilization of between 60,000 and 100,000 troops and the training of a war-elephant corps, all of which had to be provisioned along the way. The alpine invasion of Italy was a military operation that would shake the Mediterranean World of 218 BC with repercussions for more than two decades.
Hannibal's perilous march brought him into the Roman territory and frustrated the attempts of the enemy to fight out the main issue on foreign ground. His sudden appearance among the Gauls of the Po Valley, moreover, enabled him to detach those tribes from their new allegiance to the Romans before the Romans could take steps to check the rebellion. Publius Cornelius Scipio was the consul who commanded the Roman force sent to intercept Hannibal (he was also the father of Scipio Africanus). He had not expected Hannibal to make an attempt to cross the Alps, since the Romans were prepared to fight the war in the Iberian Peninsula. With a small detachment still positioned in Gaul, Scipio made an attempt to intercept Hannibal. He succeeded, through prompt decision and speedy movement, in transporting his army to Italy by sea in time to meet Hannibal. Hannibal's forces moved through the Po Valley and were engaged in the Battle of Ticinus. Here, Hannibal forced the Romans to evacuate the plain of Lombardy, by virtue of his superior cavalry. The victory was minor, but it encouraged the Gauls and Ligurians to join the Carthaginian cause, whose troops bolstered his army back to around 40,000 men. Scipio was severely injured, his life only saved by the bravery of his son who rode back onto the field to rescue his fallen father. Scipio retreated across the Trebia to camp at Placentia with his army mostly intact.
The other Roman consular army was rushed to the Po Valley. Even before news of the defeat at Ticinus had reached Rome, the Senate had ordered Consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus to bring his army back from Sicily to meet Scipio and face Hannibal. Hannibal, by skillful maneuvers, was in position to head him off, for he lay on the direct road between Placentia and Arminum, by which Sempronius would have to march to reinforce Scipio. He then captured Clastidium, from which he drew large amounts of supplies for his men. But this gain was not without loss, as Sempronius avoided Hannibal's watchfulness, slipped around his flank, and joined his colleague in his camp near the Trebia River near Placentia. There Hannibal had an opportunity to show his masterful military skill at the Trebia in December of the same year, after wearing down the superior Roman infantry, when he cut it to pieces with a surprise attack and ambush from the flanks.
Hannibal quartered his troops for the winter with the Gauls, whose support for him had abated. In the spring of 217 BC, Hannibal decided to find a more reliable base of operations farther south. Gnaeus Servilius and Gaius Flaminius (the new consuls of Rome) were expecting Hannibal to advance on Rome, and they took their armies to block the eastern and western routes that Hannibal could use.
The only alternative route to central Italy lay at the mouth of the Arno. This area was practically one huge marsh, and happened to be overflowing more than usual during this particular season. Hannibal knew that this route was full of difficulties, but it remained the surest and certainly the quickest way to central Italy. Polybius claims that Hannibal's men marched for four days and three nights, "through a land that was under water", suffering terribly from fatigue and enforced want of sleep. He crossed without opposition over both the Apennines (during which he lost his right eye because of conjunctivitis) and the seemingly impassable Arno, but he lost a large part of his force in the marshy lowlands of the Arno.
He arrived in Etruria in the spring of 217 BC and decided to lure the main Roman army under Flaminius into a pitched battle by devastating the region that Flaminius had been sent to protect. As Polybius recounts, "he [Hannibal] calculated that, if he passed the camp and made a descent into the district beyond, Flaminius (partly for fear of popular reproach and partly of personal irritation) would be unable to endure watching passively the devastation of the country but would spontaneously follow him... and give him opportunities for attack." At the same time, Hannibal tried to break the allegiance of Rome's allies by proving that Flaminius was powerless to protect them. Despite this, Flaminius remained passively encamped at Arretium. Hannibal marched boldly around Flaminius' left flank, unable to draw him into battle by mere devastation, and effectively cut him off from Rome (thus executing the first recorded turning movement in military history). He then advanced through the uplands of Etruria, provoking Flaminius into a hasty pursuit and catching him in a defile on the shore of Lake Trasimenus. There Hannibal destroyed Flaminius' army in the waters or on the adjoining slopes, killing Flaminius as well (see Battle of Lake Trasimene). This was the most costly ambush that the Romans ever sustained until the Battle of Carrhae against the Parthian Empire.
Hannibal had now disposed of the only field force that could check his advance upon Rome, but he realized that, without siege engines, he could not hope to take the capital. He preferred to exploit his victory by entering into central and southern Italy and encouraging a general revolt against the sovereign power.
The Romans appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus as their dictator. Departing from Roman military traditions, Fabius adopted the strategy named after him, avoiding open battle while placing several Roman armies in Hannibal's vicinity in order to watch and limit his movements.
Hannibal ravaged Apulia but was unable to bring Fabius to battle, so he decided to march through Samnium to Campania, one of the richest and most fertile provinces of Italy, hoping that the devastation would draw Fabius into battle. Fabius closely followed Hannibal's path of destruction, yet still refused to let himself be drawn out of the defensive. This strategy was unpopular with many Romans, who believed that it was a form of cowardice.
Hannibal decided that it would be unwise to winter in the already devastated lowlands of Campania, but Fabius had ensured that all the passes were blocked out of Campania. To avoid this, Hannibal deceived the Romans into thinking that the Carthaginian army was going to escape through the woods. As the Romans moved off towards the woods, Hannibal's army occupied the pass, and then made their way through the pass unopposed. Fabius was within striking distance but in this case his caution worked against him. Smelling a stratagem (rightly), he stayed put. For the winter, Hannibal found comfortable quarters in the Apulian plain. What Hannibal achieved in extricating his army was, as Adrian Goldsworthy puts it, "a classic of ancient generalship, finding its way into nearly every historical narrative of the war and being used by later military manuals". This was a severe blow to Fabius' prestige and soon after this his period of dictatorial power ended.
In the spring of 216 BC, Hannibal took the initiative and seized the large supply depot at Cannae in the Apulian plain. By capturing Cannae, Hannibal had placed himself between the Romans and their crucial sources of supply. Once the Roman Senate resumed their consular elections in 216 BC, they appointed Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus as consuls. In the meantime, the Romans hoped to gain success through sheer strength and weight of numbers, and they raised a new army of unprecedented size, estimated by some to be as large as 100,000 men, but more likely around 50–80,000.
The Romans and allied legions resolved to confront Hannibal and marched southward to Apulia. They eventually found him on the left bank of the Aufidus River, and encamped away. On this occasion, the two armies were combined into one, the consuls having to alternate their command on a daily basis. Varro was in command on the first day, a man of reckless and hubristic nature (according to Livy) and determined to defeat Hannibal. Hannibal capitalized on the eagerness of Varro and drew him into a trap by using an envelopment tactic. This eliminated the Roman numerical advantage by shrinking the combat area. Hannibal drew up his least reliable infantry in a semicircle in the center with the wings composed of the Gallic and Numidian horse. The Roman legions forced their way through Hannibal's weak center, but the Libyan mercenaries on the wings, swung around by the movement, menaced their flanks. The onslaught of Hannibal's cavalry was irresistible. Hannibal's chief cavalry commander Maharbal led the mobile Numidian cavalry on the right, and they shattered the Roman cavalry opposing them. Hannibal's Iberian and Gallic heavy cavalry, led by Hanno on the left, defeated the Roman heavy cavalry, and then both the Carthaginian heavy cavalry and the Numidians attacked the legions from behind. As a result, the Roman army was hemmed in with no means of escape.
Due to these brilliant tactics, Hannibal managed to surround and destroy all but a small remnant of his enemy, despite his own inferior numbers. Depending upon the source, it is estimated that 50,000–70,000 Romans were killed or captured. Among the dead were Roman Consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus, as well as two consuls for the preceding year, two quaestors, twenty-nine out of the forty-eight military tribunes, and an additional eighty senators (at a time when the Roman Senate was composed of no more than 300 men, this constituted 25%–30% of the governing body). This makes the battle one of the most catastrophic defeats in the history of Ancient Rome, and one of the bloodiest battles in all of human history (in terms of the number of lives lost within a single day).
After Cannae, the Romans were very hesitant to confront Hannibal in pitched battle, preferring instead to weaken him by attrition, relying on their advantages of interior lines, supply, and manpower. As a result, Hannibal fought no more major battles in Italy for the rest of the war. It is believed that his refusal to bring the war to Rome itself was due to a lack of commitment from Carthage of men, money, and material — principally siege equipment. Whatever the reason, the choice prompted Maharbal to say, "Hannibal, you know how to gain a victory, but not how to use one."
As a result of this victory, many parts of Italy joined Hannibal's cause. As Polybius notes, "How much more serious was the defeat of Cannae, than those that preceded it can be seen by the behavior of Rome's allies; before that fateful day, their loyalty remained unshaken, now it began to waver for the simple reason that they despaired of Roman Power." During that same year, the Greek cities in Sicily were induced to revolt against Roman political control, while Macedonian King Philip V pledged his support to Hannibal – thus initiating the First Macedonian War against Rome. Hannibal also secured an alliance with newly appointed tyrant Hieronymus of Syracuse. It is often argued that, if Hannibal had received proper material reinforcements from Carthage, he might have succeeded with a direct attack upon Rome. Instead, he had to content himself with subduing the fortresses that still held out against him, and the only other notable event of 216 BC was the defection of certain Italian territories, including Capua, the second largest city of Italy, which Hannibal made his new base. However, only a few of the Italian city-states that he had expected to gain as allies defected to him.
The war in Italy settled into a strategic stalemate. The Romans used the attritional strategy that Fabius had taught them, and which, they finally realized, was the only feasible means of defeating Hannibal. Indeed, Fabius received the name "Cunctator" ("the Delayer") because of his policy of not meeting Hannibal in open battle but through attrition.
The Romans deprived Hannibal of a large-scale battle and instead assaulted his weakening army with multiple smaller armies in an attempt to both weary him and create unrest in his troops. For the next few years, Hannibal was forced to sustain a scorched earth policy and obtain local provisions for protracted and ineffectual operations throughout southern Italy. His immediate objectives were reduced to minor operations centered mainly round the cities of Campania.
The forces detached to his lieutenants were generally unable to hold their own, and neither his home government nor his new ally Philip V of Macedon helped to make up his losses. His position in southern Italy, therefore, became increasingly difficult and his chance of ultimately conquering Rome grew ever more remote. Hannibal still won a number of notable victories: completely destroying two Roman armies in 212 BC, and killing two consuls (including the famed Marcus Claudius Marcellus) in a battle in 208 BC. However, Hannibal slowly began losing ground—inadequately supported by his Italian allies, abandoned by his government (either because of jealousy or simply because Carthage was overstretched), and unable to match Rome's resources. He was never able to bring about another grand decisive victory that could produce a lasting strategic change.
Carthaginian political will was embodied in the ruling oligarchy. There was a Carthaginian Senate, but the real power was with the inner "Council of 30 Nobles" and the board of judges from ruling families known as the "Hundred and Four". These two bodies came from the wealthy, commercial families of Carthage. Two political factions operated in Carthage: the war party, also known as the "Barcids" (Hannibal's family name); and the peace party led by Hanno II the Great. Hanno had been instrumental in denying Hannibal's requested reinforcements following the battle at Cannae.
Hannibal started the war without the full backing of Carthaginian oligarchy. His attack of Saguntum had presented the oligarchy with a choice of war with Rome or loss of prestige in Iberia. The oligarchy, not Hannibal, controlled the strategic resources of Carthage. Hannibal constantly sought reinforcements from either Iberia or North Africa. Hannibal's troops who were lost in combat were replaced with less well-trained and motivated mercenaries from Italy or Gaul. The commercial interests of the Carthaginian oligarchy dictated the reinforcement and supply of Iberia rather than Hannibal throughout the campaign.
In March 212 BC, Hannibal captured Tarentum in a surprise attack but he failed to obtain control of its harbour. The tide was slowly turning against him, and in favor of Rome.
The Roman consuls mounted a siege of Capua in 212 BC. Hannibal attacked them, forcing their withdrawal from Campania. He moved to Lucania and destroyed a 16,000-man Roman army at the Battle of the Silarus, with 15,000 Romans killed. Another opportunity presented itself soon after, a Roman army of 18,000 men being destroyed by Hannibal at the first battle of Herdonia with 16,000 Roman dead, freeing Apulia from the Romans for the year. The Roman consuls mounted another siege of Capua in 211 BC, conquering the city. Hannibal attempted to lift the siege with an assault on the Roman siege lines but failed. He marched on Rome to force the recall of the Roman armies. He drew off 15,000 Roman soldiers, but the siege continued and Capua fell. In 212 BC, Marcellus conquered Syracuse and the Romans destroyed the Carthaginian army in Sicily in 211–210 BC. In 210 BC, the Romans entered into an alliance with the Aetolian League to counter Philip V of Macedon. Philip, who attempted to exploit Rome's preoccupation in Italy to conquer Illyria, now found himself under attack from several sides at once and was quickly subdued by Rome and her Greek allies.
In 210 BC, Hannibal again proved his superiority in tactics by inflicting a severe defeat at the Battle of Herdonia (modern Ordona) in Apulia upon a proconsular army and, in 208 BC, destroyed a Roman force engaged in the siege of Locri at the Battle of Petelia. But with the loss of Tarentum in 209 BC and the gradual reconquest by the Romans of Samnium and Lucania, his hold on south Italy was almost lost. In 207 BC, he succeeded in making his way again into Apulia, where he waited to concert measures for a combined march upon Rome with his brother Hasdrubal. On hearing, however, of his brother's defeat and death at the battle of the Metaurus, he retired to Calabria, where he maintained himself for the ensuing years. His brother's head had been cut off, carried across Italy, and tossed over the palisade of Hannibal's camp as a cold message of the iron-clad will of the Roman Republic. The combination of these events marked the end to Hannibal's success in Italy. With the failure of his brother Mago in Liguria (205–203 BC) and of his own negotiations with Phillip V, the last hope of recovering his ascendancy in Italy was lost. In 203 BC, after nearly fifteen years of fighting in Italy, and with the military fortunes of Carthage rapidly declining, Hannibal was recalled to Carthage to direct the defense of his native country against a Roman invasion under Scipio Africanus.
In 203 BC, Hannibal was recalled from Italy by the war party in Carthage. After leaving a record of his expedition engraved in Punic and Greek upon bronze tablets in the temple of Juno Lacinia at Crotona, he sailed back to Africa. His arrival immediately restored the predominance of the war party, which placed him in command of a combined force of African levies and his mercenaries from Italy. In 202 BC, Hannibal met Scipio in a fruitless peace conference. Despite mutual admiration, negotiations floundered due to Roman allegations of "Punic Faith," referring to the breach of protocols that ended the First Punic War by the Carthaginian attack on Saguntum, and a Carthaginan attack on a stranded Roman fleet. Scipio and Carthage had worked out a peace plan, which was approved by Rome. The terms of the treaty were quite modest, but the war had been long for the Romans. Carthage could keep its African territory but would lose its overseas empire. Masinissa (Numidia) was to be independent. Also, Carthage was to reduce its fleet and pay a war indemnity. But Carthage then made a terrible blunder. Its long-suffering citizens had captured a stranded Roman fleet in the Gulf of Tunis and stripped it of supplies, an action that aggravated the faltering negotiations. Meanwhile, Hannibal, recalled from Italy by the Carthaginian Senate, had returned with his army. Fortified by both Hannibal and the supplies, the Carthaginians rebuffed the treaty and Roman protests. The decisive battle of Zama soon followed; the defeat removed Hannibal's air of invincibility.
Unlike most battles of the Second Punic War, at Zama, the Romans were superior in cavalry and the Carthaginians had the edge in infantry. This Roman cavalry superiority was due to the betrayal of Masinissa, who had earlier assisted Carthage in Iberia, but changed sides in 206 BC with the promise of land and due to his personal conflicts with Syphax, a Carthaginian ally. Although the aging Hannibal was suffering from mental exhaustion and deteriorating health after years of campaigning in Italy, the Carthaginians still had the advantage in numbers and were boosted by the presence of 80 war elephants.
The Roman cavalry won an early victory by swiftly routing the Carthaginian horse, and standard Roman tactics for limiting the effectiveness of the Carthaginian war elephants were successful, including playing trumpets to frighten the elephants into running into the Carthaginian lines. Some historians say that the elephants routed the Carthaginian cavalry and not the Romans, whilst others suggest that it was actually a tactical retreat planned by Hannibal. Whatever the truth, the battle remained closely fought. At one point, it seemed that Hannibal was on the verge of victory, but Scipio was able to rally his men, and his cavalry, having routed the Carthaginian cavalry, attacked Hannibal's rear. This two-pronged attack caused the Carthaginian formation to collapse.
With their foremost general defeated, the Carthaginians had no choice but to surrender. Carthage lost approximately 20,000 troops with an additional 15,000 wounded. In contrast, the Romans suffered only 2,500 casualties. The last major battle of the Second Punic War resulted in a loss of respect for Hannibal by his fellow Carthaginians. The conditions of defeat were such that Carthage could no longer battle for Mediterranean supremacy.
Hannibal was still only 46 at the conclusion of the Second Punic War in 201 BC and soon showed that he could be a statesman as well as a soldier. Following the conclusion of a peace that left Carthage saddled with an indemnity of ten thousand talents, he was elected suffete (chief magistrate) of the Carthaginian state. After an audit confirmed Carthage had the resources to pay the indemnity without increasing taxation, Hannibal initiated a reorganization of state finances aimed at eliminating corruption and recovering embezzled funds.
The principal beneficiaries of these financial peculations had been the oligarchs of the Hundred and Four. In order to reduce the power of the oligarchs, Hannibal passed a law stipulating the Hundred and Four be chosen by direct election rather than co-option. He also used citizen support to change the term of office in the Hundred and Four from life to a year, with none permitted to "hold office for two consecutive years."
Seven years after the victory of Zama, the Romans, alarmed by Carthage's renewed prosperity and suspicious that Hannibal had been in contact with Antiochus III of Syria, sent a delegation to Carthage alleging Hannibal was helping an enemy of Rome. Aware that he had many enemies, not least of which due to his financial reforms eliminating opportunities for oligarchical graft, Hannibal fled into voluntary exile before the Romans could demand that Carthage surrender him into their custody.
He journeyed first to Tyre, the mother city of Carthage, and then to Antioch, before he finally reached Ephesus, where he was honorably received by Antiochus. Livy states that the Seleucid king consulted Hannibal on the strategic concerns of making war on Rome. The Carthaginian general advised equipping a fleet and landing a body of troops in the south of Italy, offering to take command himself. According to Cicero, while at the court of Antiochus, Hannibal attended a lecture by Phormio, a philosopher, that ranged through many topics. When Phormio finished a discourse on the duties of a general, Hannibal was asked his opinion. He replied, "I have seen during my life many old fools; but this one beats them all." Another story, according to Aulus Gellius, is that when Antiochus III showed off the gigantic and elaborately equipped army he had created to invade Greece to Hannibal, he asked him if they would be enough for the Roman Republic, to which Hannibal replied, "I think all this will be enough, yes, quite enough, for the Romans, even though they are most avaricious." In 191 BC, the Romans under Manius Acilius Glabrio routed Antiochus at the battle of Thermopylae and obliged him to withdraw to Asia. The Romans followed up their success by attacking Antiochus in Anatolia and the Seleucid Empire was decisively defeated at the battle of Magnesia in 190 BC by Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus.
In 190 BC, Hannibal was placed in command of a Seleucid fleet but was defeated in the battle of the Eurymedon. According to Strabo and Plutarch, Hannibal also received hospitality at the Armenian royal court of Artaxias I. The authors add an apocryphal story of how Hannibal planned and supervised the building of the new royal capital Artaxata. Suspicious that Antiochus was prepared to surrender him to the Romans, Hannibal fled to Crete, but he soon went back to Anatolia and sought refuge with Prusias I of Bithynia, who was engaged in warfare with Rome's ally, King Eumenes II of Pergamon. Hannibal went on to serve Prusias in this war. During one of the naval victories he gained over Eumenes, Hannibal had large pots filled with venomous snakes thrown onto Eumenes' ships. Hannibal also went on to defeat Eumenes in two other battles on land.
At this stage, the Romans intervened and threatened Bithynia into giving up Hannibal. Prusias agreed, but the general was determined not to fall into his enemy's hands. The precise year and cause of Hannibal's death are unknown. Pausanias wrote that Hannibal's death occurred after his finger was wounded by his drawn sword while mounting his horse, resulting in a fever and then his death three days later. Cornelius Nepos and Livy, however, tell a different story, namely that the ex-consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus, on discovering that Hannibal was in Bithynia, went there in an embassy to demand his surrender from King Prusias. Hannibal, discovering that the castle where he was living was surrounded by Roman soldiers and he could not escape, took poison.
Pliny the Elder and Plutarch, in his life of Flamininus, record that Hannibal's tomb was at Libyssa on the coast of the Sea of Marmara. According to some, Libyssa was sited at Gebze (between Bursa and Üskudar), but W. M. Leake, identifying Gebze with ancient Dakibyza, placed it further west. Before dying, Hannibal is said to have left behind a letter declaring, "Let us relieve the Romans from the anxiety they have so long experienced, since they think it tries their patience too much to wait for an old man's death".
In his "Annales", Titus Pomponius Atticus reports that Hannibal's death occurred in 183 BC, and Livy implies the same. Polybius, who wrote nearest the event, gives 182 BC. Sulpicius Blitho records the death under 181 BC.
Hannibal caused great distress to many in Roman society. He became such a figure of terror that whenever disaster struck, the Roman senators would exclaim "" ("Hannibal is at the gates!") to express their fear or anxiety. This famous Latin phrase became a common expression that is often still used when a client arrives through the door or when one is faced with calamity.
The works of Roman writers such as Livy (64 or 59 BC – AD 12 or 17), Frontinus ( AD 40 – 103), and Juvenal (1st to 2nd century AD) show a grudging admiration for Hannibal. The Romans even built statues of the Carthaginian in the very streets of Rome to advertise their defeat of such a worthy adversary. It is plausible to suggest that Hannibal engendered the greatest fear Rome had towards an enemy. Nevertheless, the Romans grimly refused to admit the possibility of defeat and rejected all overtures for peace; they even refused to accept the ransom of prisoners after Cannae.
During the war there are no reports of revolutions among the Roman citizens, no factions within the Senate desiring peace, no pro-Carthaginian Roman turncoats, no coups. Indeed, throughout the war Roman aristocrats ferociously competed with each other for positions of command to fight against Rome's most dangerous enemy. Hannibal's military genius was not enough to really disturb the Roman political process and the collective political and military capacity of the Roman people. As Lazenby states,
It says volumes, too, for their political maturity and respect for constitutional forms that the complicated machinery of government continued to function even amidst disaster—there are few states in the ancient world in which a general who had lost a battle like Cannae would have dared to remain, let alone would have continued to be treated respectfully as head of state.
According to the historian Livy, the Romans feared Hannibal's military genius, and during Hannibal's march against Rome in 211 BC
"a messenger who had travelled from Fregellae for a day and a night without stopping created great alarm in Rome, and the excitement was increased by people running about the City with wildly exaggerated accounts of the news he had brought. The wailing cry of the matrons was heard everywhere, not only in private houses but even in the temples. Here they knelt and swept the temple-floors with their dishevelled hair and lifted up their hands to heaven in piteous entreaty to the gods that they would deliver the City of Rome out of the hands of the enemy and preserve its mothers and children from injury and outrage." In the Senate the news was "received with varying feelings as men's temperaments differed," so it was decided to keep Capua under siege, but to send 15,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry as reinforcements to Rome.
According to Livy, the land occupied by Hannibal's army outside Rome in 211 BC was sold at the very time of its occupation and for the same price. This may not be true, but as Lazenby states, "could well be, exemplifying as it does not only the supreme confidence felt by the Romans in ultimate victory, but also the way in which something like normal life continued." After Cannae the Romans showed a considerable steadfastness in adversity. An undeniable proof of Rome's confidence is demonstrated by the fact that after the Cannae disaster she was left virtually defenseless, but the Senate still chose not to withdraw a single garrison from an overseas province to strengthen the city. In fact, they were reinforced and the campaigns there maintained until victory was secured; beginning first in Sicily under the direction of Claudius Marcellus, and later in Hispania under Scipio Africanus. Although the long-term consequences of Hannibal's war are debatable, this war was undeniably Rome's "finest hour".
Most of the sources available to historians about Hannibal are from Romans. They considered him the greatest enemy Rome had ever faced. Livy gives us the idea that Hannibal was extremely cruel. Even Cicero, when he talked of Rome and its two great enemies, spoke of the "honourable" Pyrrhus and the "cruel" Hannibal. Yet a different picture sometimes emerges. When Hannibal's successes had brought about the death of two Roman consuls, he vainly searched for the body of Gaius Flaminius on the shores of Lake Trasimene, held ceremonial rituals in recognition of Lucius Aemilius Paullus, and sent Marcellus' ashes back to his family in Rome. Any bias attributed to Polybius, however, is more troublesome. Ronald Mellor considered the Greek scholar a loyal partisan of Scipio Aemilianus, while H. Ormerod does not view him as an 'altogether unprejudiced witness' when it came to his pet peeves, the Aetolians, the Carthaginians, and the Cretans. Nonetheless, Polybius did recognize that the reputation for cruelty the Romans attached to Hannibal might in reality have been due to mistaking him for one of his officers, Hannibal Monomachus.
Hannibal is generally regarded as one of the best military strategists and tacticians of all time, with the double envelopment at Cannae an enduring legacy of tactical brilliance. According to Appian, several years after the Second Punic War, Hannibal served as a political advisor in the Seleucid Kingdom and Scipio arrived there on a diplomatic mission from Rome.
Military academies all over the world continue to study Hannibal's exploits, especially his victory at Cannae.
Maximilian Otto Bismarck Caspari, in his article in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910-1911), praises Hannibal in these words:
Even the Roman chroniclers acknowledged Hannibal's supreme military leadership, writing that "he never required others to do what he could and would not do himself".
According to Polybius 23, 13, p. 423:
Count Alfred von Schlieffen developed his eponymously titled "Schlieffen Plan" (1905/1906) from his military studies, with a particularly heavy emphasis on the envelopment technique which Hannibal employed to surround and destroy the Roman army in the Battle of Cannae. George S. Patton believed himself a reincarnation of Hannibal – as well as of many other people, including a Roman legionary and a Napoleonic soldier. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., the commander of the Coalition of the Gulf War of 1990-1991, claimed, "The technology of war may change, the sophistication of weapons certainly changes. But those same principles of war that applied to the days of Hannibal apply today."
According to the military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge,
Hannibal is the "hero" of teenager Sigmund Freud. His idealized image is reflected in the analysis by the founder of psychoanalysis of his "dreams of Rome" in "The Interpretation of Dreams". Freud then associates it with the adage "All roads lead to Rome". He writes indeed in The Interpretation of Dreams: "Hannibal and Rome symbolized for the adolescent that I was the opposition between the tenacity of Judaism and the organizing spirit of the Catholic Church".
Some qualities have been recognized by Hannibal since Antiquity: audacity, courage and pugnacity. They are notably implemented during an adventure racing starting from Lyon and leading to Turin through the Alps and bearing his name: the Hannibal raid.
Hannibal covers most of North Africa with olive groves thanks to the work of his soldiers, whose rest he considers prejudicial to the State and their generals.
Hannibal's profile appears on the Tunisian five dinar bill issued on 8 November 1993, as well as on another new bill put into circulation on 20 March 2013. His name is also given to a private television channel, Hannibal TV. A street in Carthage, located near the Punic ports, bears his name as well as a stop of the Carthage metro, the TGM "Carthage Hannibal".
Since 2011, Hannibal is one of the main characters, with Scipio Africanus, of the "Ad Astra" manga in which Mihachi Kagano traces the course of the Second Punic War. They are also present as allies in the Drifters manga, where they were teleported to another dimension to wage war together.
A mausoleum and colossus Hannibal, 17 meters high, is projected to be built on the Byrsa, the highest point of Carthage overlooking Tunis. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13959 |
Hansie Cronje
Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (25 September 1969 – 1 June 2002) was a South African international cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s. He was voted the 11th greatest South African in 2004 despite having been banned from cricket for life due to his role in a match-fixing scandal. He died in a plane crash in 2002.
Cronje was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa to Ewie Cronje and San-Marie Cronje on 25 September 1969. He graduated in 1987 from Grey College in Bloemfontein, where he was the head boy. An excellent all round sportsman, he represented the then Orange Free State Province in cricket and rugby at schools level. He was the captain of his school's cricket and rugby teams. Cronje earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Free State. He had an older brother, Frans Cronje, and a younger sister, Hester Parsons.
His father Ewie had played for Orange Free State in the 1960s, and Frans had also played first-class cricket.
Cronje made his first-class debut for Orange Free State against Transvaal at Johannesburg in January 1988 at the age of 18. In the following season, he was a regular, appearing in all eight Currie Cup matches plus being part of the Benson and Hedges Series winning team, scoring 73 as an opener in the final. In 1989–90, despite playing all the Currie Cup matches, he failed to make a century, and averaged only 19.76; however, in one-day games he averaged 60.12. During that season he scored his maiden century for South African Universities against Mike Gatting's rebels.
Despite having just turned 21, Cronje was made captain of Orange Free State for the 1990–91 season. He scored his maiden century for them against Natal in December 1990, and finished the season with another century and a total of 715 runs at 39.72. That season he also scored 159* in a 40-over match against Griqualand West.
In 1992–93, he captained Orange Free State to the Castle Cup/Total Power Series double.
In 1995, Cronje appeared for Leicestershire where he scored 1301 runs at 52.04 finishing the season as the county's leading scorer.
In 1995–96, he finished the season top of the batting averages in the Currie Cup, his top score of 158 helped Free State chase down 389 to beat Northern Transvaal.
In 1997, Cronje played for Ireland as an overseas player in the Benson and Hedges Cup and helped them to a 46-run win over Middlesex by scoring 94 not out and taking three wickets. This was Ireland's first ever win against English county opposition. Later in the same competition, he scored 85 and took one wicket against Glamorgan.
Cronje's form in 1991/92 was impressive especially in the one-day format where he averaged 61.40. He earned an international call up for the 1992 World Cup, making his One Day International debut against Australia at Sydney. During the tournament he played in eight of the team's nine games, averaging 34.00 with the bat, while his medium pace was used in bowling 20 overs.
After the World Cup Cronje was part of the tour to the West Indies; he featured in the three ODI's, and in the Test match at Bridgetown that followed, he made his Test debut. This was South Africa's first Test since readmission and they came close to beating a strong West Indian side, going into the final day at 122/2 chasing 200 they collapsed to 148.
India toured South Africa in 1992/93. In the first one-day international, he hit the famous six when his team needed 6 runs off only 4 balls, and was awarded Man of the match for his bowling. In the one-day series, Cronje managed just one fifty but with the ball he was economical and took his career best figures of 5/32, becoming the second South African to take five wickets in an ODI. In the Test series that followed he scored his maiden test century, 135 off 411 balls, after coming in at 0–1 in the second over he was last man out, after eight and three-quarter hours, in a total of 275. This contributed to South Africa's first Test win since readmission. At the end of the season in a triangular tournament with Pakistan and West Indies he scored 81 off 70 balls against Pakistan.
In South Africa's next Test series against Sri Lanka, Cronje scored his second Test century, 122 in the second Test in Colombo; the victory margin of an innings and 208 runs is a South African record. He finished the series with 237 runs at 59.25 after scoring 73* in the drawn third Test.
In 1993–94, there was another Castle Cup/Total Power Series double for Orange Free State. In international cricket, he was named as vice-captain for the tour of Australia despite being the youngest member of the squad. In the first ODI of the triangular tournament with New Zealand and Australia, he guided South Africa to victory against Australia at the MCG with 91*, which won him the man of the match award. He scored 71 in a rain-affected first test at Melbourne before a tense second test that South Africa won by 5 runs. An injury to captain Kepler Wessels meant Cronje was captain for the final day of the match. Between the second and third tests, the one-day tournament continued, now with Cronje as captain, South Africa made the final series but lost it 2–1 to Australia. He became South Africa's second youngest Test captain, after Murray Bisset in 1898–99, when he led the team for the third test at Adelaide but it was an unsuccessful start to his captaincy career as the series was squared.
In February 1994, there was the return series as Australia toured South Africa. Cronje started the ODI series with scores of 112, 97, 45 and 50* and when Australia played Orange Free State in their final match before the first Test, Cronje hit 251 off 306 balls, 200 of these came on the final day in which 294 runs were added. Despite this, Orange Free State lost the match. In the first test at Johannesburg, he added another century as South Africa won by 197 runs. This innings was the end of a 14-day period in which he'd scored 721 runs against the Aussies. However, he failed to reach fifty in the next two tests and four ODIs as both series were drawn.
There was another drawn series when South Africa toured England in 1994. Cronje scored only one century on the whole tour and scored only 90 runs in the three-test series. In October 1994, South Africa again came up against Australia in a triangular one day series also featuring Pakistan. Cronje scored 354 runs at an average of 88.50. Despite this, South Africa lost all their matches. This series was Bob Woolmer's first as coach and Kepler Wessels' last as captain. Cronje, who'd previously been vice-captain, was named as captain for the test series with New Zealand in 1994–95.
South Africa lost the first Test in Johannesburg but before the second test the two teams plus Pakistan and Sri Lanka competed for the Mandela Trophy, New Zealand failed to gain a win in the six match round robin stage while South Africa beat Pakistan in the final. This changed the momentum as South Africa secured wins in Durban and Cape Town, where Cronje scored his fourth test century, he was the first captain since W. G. Grace to win a three-match rubber after being one down.
In early 1995, South Africa won one-off tests against both Pakistan and New Zealand, in Auckland Cronje scored the only century of the match before a final day declaration left his bowlers barely enough time to dismiss the Kiwis.
In October 1995, South Africa won a one-off Test with Zimbabwe. Cronje scored a second innings 54* to guide them to a seven wicket win. In two one-dayers that followed, he took five wickets as South Africa comfortably won both. South Africa won the five Test series against England 1–0 despite Cronje struggling, scoring 113 runs at 18.83. However, he top scored in the one-day series that they won 6–1.
In the 1996 World Cup, he scored 78 and 45* against New Zealand and Pakistan respectively as South Africa won their group but in the Quarter final with West Indies a Brian Lara century ended their ten-game winning streak.
The 1996–97 season featured back-to-back series with India. The first away was lost 2–1. The home series was won 2–0. In the six tests combined, Cronje managed one fifty. Cronje produced better form against Australia, averaging over 50 in both test and ODI series although both were lost.
Cronje started 1997–98 by leading South Africa to their first series victory in Pakistan, his batting continued to struggle with his biggest contribution being taking the wickets of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Moin Khan in the Third Test.
Cronje once again came up against Australia and once again ended on the losing side. In the triangular one day series they won the group with Australia just scraping through, they also won the first 'final' but South Africa lost the last two finals. During the group matches Cronje had threatened to lead his team off after Pat Symcox had missiles thrown at him, Symcox had the last laugh ending the match with 4/24. Before the Test series started he scored consecutive centuries against Tasmania and Australia A these were his first in two years.
In the first Test, Cronje scored 70 as South Africa saved the match; in the second Test, he lasted 335 minutes for his 88. Despite this, they lost by an innings. In the third Test, they scored 517 and although Mark Taylor carried his bat for 169, Australia needed to bat 109 overs to save the match. Mark Waugh batted 404 minutes, and, despite controversy when Waugh hit one of his bails off (under Law 35 he was adjudged to have finished his stroke and therefore given not out), South Africa fell three wickets short. Cronje put a stump through the umpires' dressing room door after the match and was lucky to avoid a ban.
Cronje missed the first Test of the series with Pakistan because of a knee injury. The second Test at Durban was lost, but he top scored at Port Elizabeth with 85, to help square the three Test series 1–1. There was still time in the season for a two-Test series with Sri Lanka. The first was won with Cronje scoring 49 and 74; in the second Test, he took 3/14, his best bowling in Tests, and smashed 82 off 63 balls, his fifty being brought up with three consecutive sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan, and was reached off just 31 balls; at the time, it was the second fastest in Tests after Kapil Dev's. In the triangular series, which South Africa won, he scored only one fifty at East London where he also took 2/17 off 10 overs.
During the 1998 Test series against England, Cronje scored five consecutive fifties, having failed to score one in the nine previous Tests against them. In his fiftieth Test, at Trent Bridge he scored 126, his sixth and last Test century and his first in 29 matches. During his second innings of 67, he passed 3,000 runs – only the second South African to do so. However, England won the Test, and the one at Headingley, to win the series 2–1, Cronje finished the series as South Africa's top scorer with 401 runs at 66.83.
In the West Indies series of 1998–99, Cronje captained South Africa to their only whitewash in a five Test series. His best batting against West Indies came when playing for Free State; he scored 158* as they chased down 438 and made up a first innings deficit of 249. In the ODI series he was South Africa's top scorer and took 11 wickets at 14.72 as South Africa won 6–1.
In March 1999, they toured New Zealand, beating them 1–0 in the Test series and 3–2 in the one-dayers.
At the 1999 World Cup, Cronje finished with 98 runs at 12.25 as South Africa were eliminated after the famous tied semi-final against Australia at Edgbaston. In the first match of the tournament versus India, Cronje came onto the field with an earpiece wired to coach Bob Woolmer, but at the first drinks break match referee Talat Ali ordered him to remove it.
In October 1999, Cronje became South Africa's highest Test run scorer during the first Test against Zimbabwe. The two Test series was won 2–0 thanks to innings victories. South Africa won the series with England in the fourth Test at Cape Town, Cronje's fiftieth as captain.
The fifth test of the 1999–2000 South Africa versus England series at Centurion was ruined by rain, entering the final day only 45 overs had been possible with South Africa 155/6. On the final morning as they batted on, news filtered through that the captains had met and were going to "make a game of it". A target of 250 from 70 overs was agreed. When South Africa reached 248/8, Cronje declared; both teams then forfeited an innings leaving England a target of 249 to win the Test, which they did with two wickets left and only five balls remaining. It ended South Africa's 14-game unbeaten streak in Test cricket. It was later learnt Cronje accepted money and a gift from a bookmaker in return for making an early declaration in this Test. (See below).
Cronje top scored with 56 after South Africa were left reeling at 21–5 in the Final of the triangular tournament which featured England and Zimbabwe.
On 31 March 2000, his cricket career finished with a 73-ball 79 against Pakistan in the final of Sharjah Cup 1999/2000.
Under Cronje's captaincy, South Africa won 27 Tests and lost 11, completing series victories against every team except Australia.
He captained the One Day International team to 99 wins out of 138 matches with one tied match and three no results. He holds the South African record for matches won as captain, and his record of captaining his side in 138 matches stands bettered only by Graeme Smith's 149 matches as ODI captain. His 99 wins as captain makes him the fourth most successful captain worldwide in terms of matches won, behind Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and in terms of percentage of wins (73.70), behind Ponting and Clive Lloyd.
Between September 1993 and March 2000, he played in 162 consecutive ODIs, a South African record.
Cronje has the record for playing the most consecutive ODI matches as captain (130) and is the only player to play in 100+ consecutive ODI matches as captain.
On 7 April 2000, it was revealed there was a conversation between Cronje and Sanjay Chawla, a representative of an Indian betting syndicate, over match-fixing allegations. Three other players, Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje, and Pieter Strydom, were also implicated. After an enquiry by the King Commission, Cronje was banned from any involvement in cricket for life. He challenged his life ban in September 2001 but on 17 October 2001, his application was dismissed.
After 13 years, on 22 July 2013, the Indian Police registered a First Information Report for match-fixing in 2000; the charge sheet in the case involving a few South African cricketers including its former captain Hansie Cronje, was finally filed. The scandal was one of the biggest ever to have hit international cricket until the Pakistan cricket spot-fixing scandal.
On 1 June 2002, Cronje's scheduled flight home from Johannesburg to George was grounded. He then hitched a ride as the only passenger aboard a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprop aircraft. Near George airport, the pilots lost visibility in clouds and were unable to land, partly due to unusable navigational equipment. While circling, the plane crashed into the Outeniqua Mountains northeast of the airport. Cronje, aged 32, and the two pilots were killed instantly.
In August 2006, an inquest into the plane crash was opened by South Africa's High Court. The inquest concluded that "the death of the deceased Wessel Johannes Cronje was brought about by an act or omission prima facie amounting to an offence on the part of pilots."
Theories that Cronje was murdered on the orders of a cricket betting syndicate flourished after his death and were most recently re-floated by former Nottinghamshire coach Clive Rice in the wake of the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer in March 2007. It was alleged that he was murdered to hide the truths behind match-fixing.
Hansie Cronje married Bertha Hans on 8 April 1995. They had no children. Hansie's widow later married Jacques Du Plessis, a financial auditor, in 2003. It was reported that the private ceremony was attended by Hansie's parents and siblings. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13961 |
Hultsfred Municipality
Hultsfred Municipality ("Hultsfreds kommun") is a municipality in Kalmar County, in south-eastern Sweden. The seat is in the town of Hultsfred.
The present municipality was created in 1971 through the amalgamation of the market town ("köping") of Hultsfred (instituted in 1927) with a number of surrounding municipalities. In 1863 there were eight entities in the area.
Hultsfred is known as the site of a major rock festival in Sweden, the Hultsfred Festival.
Basically every one of the localities of Hultsfred Municipality are situated on the railway. Besides Hultsfred, in the mid north of the municipality, there are the towns of Virserum in the south-west and other ever smaller settlements such as Lönneberga, Silverdalen and Målilla. The population of the municipality has however been decreasing with some 2,000 people in the last 10 years, as many people move to larger cities, causing a decrease in nativity.
Much of the geography is taken up with forests, a notability for the entire province of Småland, with some few scattered areas suitable for agriculture.
In the age known as the Nordic Bronze Age, the area had some shipping of furs to northern Germany and the Roman army, but not much is known from that time other than the area being inhabited; there has also been older finds from 3000-4000 BC. However, from the medieval age, around 1100 AD, there still remains a few churches.
The area continued to be inhabited mainly by farmers until the 20th century. In the 17th and 18th there was some production of iron in Kalmar County, totalling about 10 mines; of those 2 were located to the municipality of Hultsfred. Hultsfred was a center for some military exercising companies during the 19th century, and some remaining building can be visited in the vicinity of Silverån. When the railroads through Sweden were built late in that century, Hultsfred received a population boost.
There are several folks museums around the area that keeps trace of its history.
There are eight urban areas (also called a Tätort or locality) in Hultsfred Municipality.
In the table the localities are listed according to the size of the population as of December 31, 2005. The municipal seat is in bold characters.
Hultsfred Municipality is twinned with: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13963 |
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies and the British overseas territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the sovereign (Crown-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons (the primary chamber). The two houses meet in the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the inner boroughs of the capital city, London.
The House of Lords includes two different types of members: the Lords Spiritual, consisting of the most senior bishops of the Church of England; and the Lords Temporal, consisting mainly of life peers, appointed by the sovereign, and of 92 hereditary peers, sitting either by virtue of holding a royal office, or by being elected by their fellow hereditary peers. Prior to the opening of the Supreme Court in October 2009, the House of Lords also performed a judicial role through the Law Lords.
The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections to 650 single member constituencies held at least every five years under the first-past-the-post system. The two houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the prime minister, are members of the House of Commons or, less commonly, the House of Lords and are thereby accountable to the respective branches of the legislature. Most cabinet ministers are from the Commons, whilst junior ministers can be from either house.
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Treaty of Union by Acts of Union passed by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland, both Acts of Union stating, "That the United Kingdom of Great Britain be represented by one and the same Parliament to be styled The Parliament of Great Britain." At the start of the 19th century, Parliament was further enlarged by Acts of Union ratified by the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland that abolished the latter and added 100 Irish MPs and 32 Lords to the former to create the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 formally amended the name to the "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", five years after the secession of the Irish Free State.
With the global expansion of the British Empire, the UK Parliament has shaped the political systems of many countries as ex-colonies and so it has been called the "Mother of Parliaments."
In theory, the UK's supreme legislative power is officially vested in the Crown-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation; thus power is "de facto" vested in the House of Commons.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created on 1 January 1801, by the merger of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union 1800. The principle of ministerial responsibility to the lower House did not develop until the 19th century—the House of Lords was superior to the House of Commons both in theory and in practice. Members of the House of Commons (MPs) were elected in an antiquated electoral system, under which constituencies of vastly different sizes existed. Thus, the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, could elect two members, as could the borough of Dunwich, which had almost completely disappeared into the sea due to land erosion.
Many small constituencies, known as pocket or rotten boroughs, were controlled by members of the House of Lords, who could ensure the election of their relatives or supporters. During the reforms of the 19th century, beginning with the Reform Act 1832, the electoral system for the House of Commons was progressively regularised. No longer dependent on the Lords for their seats, MPs grew more assertive.
The supremacy of the British House of Commons was reaffirmed in the early 20th century. In 1909, the Commons passed the so-called "People's Budget," which made numerous changes to the taxation system which were detrimental to wealthy landowners. The House of Lords, which consisted mostly of powerful landowners, rejected the Budget. On the basis of the Budget's popularity and the Lords' consequent unpopularity, the Liberal Party narrowly won two general elections in 1910.
Using the result as a mandate, the Liberal Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, introduced the Parliament Bill, which sought to restrict the powers of the House of Lords. (He did not reintroduce the land tax provision of the People's Budget.) When the Lords refused to pass the bill, Asquith countered with a promise extracted from the King in secret before the second general election of 1910 and requested the creation of several hundred Liberal peers, so as to erase the Conservative majority in the House of Lords. In the face of such a threat, the House of Lords narrowly passed the bill.
The Parliament Act 1911, as it became, prevented the Lords from blocking a money bill (a bill dealing with taxation), and allowed them to delay any other bill for a maximum of three sessions (reduced to two sessions in 1949), after which it could become law over their objections. However, regardless of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, the House of Lords has always retained the unrestricted power to veto any bill outright which attempts to extend the life of a parliament.
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland and reduced the representation of both parts at Westminster. The number of Northern Ireland seats was increased again after the introduction of direct rule in 1973. The Irish Free State became independent in 1922, and in 1927 parliament was renamed the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Further reforms to the House of Lords were made in the 20th century. The Life Peerages Act 1958 authorised the regular creation of life peerage dignities. By the 1960s, the regular creation of hereditary peerage dignities had ceased; thereafter, almost all new peers were life peers only.
The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, although it made an exception for 92 of them to be elected to life-terms by the other hereditary peers, with by-elections upon their death. The House of Lords is now a chamber that is subordinate to the House of Commons. Additionally, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 led to abolition of the judicial functions of the House of Lords with the creation of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in October 2009.
The legislative authority, the Crown-in-Parliament, has three separate elements: the Monarch, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. No individual may be a member of both Houses, and members of the House of Lords are legally barred from voting in elections for members of the House of Commons. Formerly, no-one could be a member of Parliament while holding an office of profit under the Crown, thus maintaining the separation of powers, but the principle has been gradually eroded. Until 1919, Members of Parliament who were appointed to ministerial office lost their seats in the House of Commons and had to seek re-election; the rule was abolished in 1926. Holders of offices are ineligible to serve as a Member of Parliament under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975.
Royal Assent of the Monarch is required for all Bills to become law, and certain delegated legislation must be made by the Monarch by Order in Council. The Crown also has executive powers which do not depend on Parliament, through prerogative powers, including the power to make treaties, declare war, award honours, and appoint officers and civil servants. In practice these are always exercised by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister and the other ministers of HM Government. The Prime Minister and government are directly accountable to Parliament, through its control of public finances, and to the public, through the election of members of parliament.
The Monarch also appoints the Prime Minister, who then forms a government from members of the Houses of Parliament. This must be someone who could command a majority in a confidence vote in the House of Commons. In the past the monarch has occasionally had to make a judgement, as in the appointment of Alec Douglas-Home in 1963 when it was thought that the incumbent Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, had become ill with terminal cancer. However, today the monarch is advised by the outgoing Prime Minister as to whom he or she should offer the position to next.
The House of Lords is known formally as, "The Right Honourable The Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled," the Lords Spiritual being bishops of the Church of England and the Lords Temporal being Peers of the Realm. The Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal are considered separate "estates," but they sit, debate and vote together.
Since the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the powers of the House of Lords have been very much less than those of the House of Commons. All bills except money bills are debated and voted upon in the House of Lords; however, by voting against a bill, the House of Lords can only delay it for a maximum of two parliamentary sessions over a year. After that time, the House of Commons can force the Bill through without the Lords' consent, under the Parliament Acts. The House of Lords can also hold the government to account through questions to government ministers and the operation of a small number of select committees. The highest court in England & Wales and in Northern Ireland used to be a committee of the House of Lords, but it became an independent supreme court in 2009.
The Lords Spiritual formerly included all of the senior clergymen of the Church of England—archbishops, bishops, abbots and mitred priors. Upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII the abbots and mitred priors lost their positions in Parliament. All diocesan bishops continued to sit in Parliament, but the Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847, and later Acts, provide that only the 26 most senior are Lords Spiritual. These always include the incumbents of the "five great sees," namely the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Winchester. The remaining 21 Lords Spiritual are the most senior diocesan bishops, ranked in order of consecration, although the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 makes time-limited provision for vacancies to be filled by women who are bishops.
The Lords Temporal are life peers created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 and the Life Peerages Act 1958, in addition to 92 hereditary peers under the House of Lords Act 1999. Formerly, the Lords Temporal were exclusively hereditary peers. The right of some hereditary peers to sit in Parliament was not automatic: after Scotland and England united into Great Britain in 1707, it was provided that all peers whose dignities had been created by English kings could sit in Parliament, but those whose dignities had been created by Scottish kings were to elect a limited number of "representative peers." A similar arrangement was made in respect of Ireland when it was united with Great Britain in 1801, but when southern Ireland left the United Kingdom in 1922 the election of Irish representative peers ceased. By the Peerage Act 1963, the election of Scottish representative peers also ended, and all Scottish peers were granted the right to sit in Parliament. Under the House of Lords Act 1999, only life peerages (that is to say, peerage dignities which cannot be inherited) automatically entitle their holders to seats in the House of Lords. Of the hereditary peers, only 92—the Earl Marshal, the Lord Great Chamberlain and the 90 elected by other peers—retain their seats in the House.
The Commons, the last of the "estates" of the Kingdom, are represented in the House of Commons, which is known formally as, "The Honourable The Commons in Parliament Assembled" ("commons" coming not from the term "commoner," but from "", the old French term for a district). As of 2019, the House consists of 650 members, however one seat is left vacant by the Speaker of the House, who must remain politically impartial, and so does not get a vote on the passing of bills. Each Member of Parliament (MP) is chosen by a single constituency by the First-Past-the-Post electoral system. There are 650 constituencies in the United Kingdom, each made up of an average of 65,925 voters. The First-Past-the-Post system means that every constituency elects one MP each (except the constituency of the Speaker, whose seat is uncontested). Each voter assigns one vote for one candidate, and the candidate with the most votes in each constituency is elected as MP to represent their constituency. A party needs win 326 constituencies (known as "seats") to win a majority in the House of Commons. In the event that no party achieves a majority, a situation of no overall control occurs - commonly known as a Hung Parliament. In the event of a Hung Parliament, the party with the most seats has the opportunity to form a coalition with other parties, so their combined seat tally extends past the 326 seat majority. Universal adult suffrage exists for those 18 and over; citizens of the United Kingdom, and those of the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth nations resident in the United Kingdom, are qualified to vote, unless they are in prison at the time of the election. The term of members of the House of Commons depends on the term of Parliament, a maximum of five years; a general election, during which all the seats are contested, occurs after each dissolution (see below).
All legislation must be passed by the House of Commons to become law and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government. Government ministers (including the Prime Minister) must regularly answer questions in the House of Commons and there are a number of select committees that scrutinise particular issues and the workings of the government. There are also mechanisms that allow members of the House of Commons to bring to the attention of the government particular issues affecting their constituents.
The State Opening of Parliament is an annual event that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is held in the House of Lords Chamber. Before 2012, it took place in November or December, or, in a general election year, when the new Parliament first assembled. From 2012 onwards, the ceremony has taken place in May or June.
Upon the signal of the Monarch, the Lord Great Chamberlain raises their wand of office to signal to Black Rod, who is charged with summoning the House of Commons and has been waiting in the Commons lobby. Black Rod turns and, under the escort of the Door-keeper of the House of Lords and an inspector of police, approaches the doors to the Chamber of the Commons. In 1642, King Charles I stormed into the House of Commons in an unsuccessful attempt to arrest the Five Members, who included the celebrated English patriot and leading Parliamentarian John Hampden. This action sparked the English Civil War. The wars established the constitutional rights of Parliament, a concept legally established in the Glorious Revolution in 1688 and the subsequent Bill of Rights 1689. Since then, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is in session. On Black Rod's approach, the doors are slammed shut against them, symbolising the rights of parliament and its independence from the monarch. They then strike, with the end of their ceremonial staff (the Black Rod), three times on the closed doors of the Commons Chamber. They are then admitted, and announce the command of the monarch for the attendance of the Commons.
The monarch reads a speech, known as the Speech from the Throne, which is prepared by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, outlining the Government's agenda for the coming year. The speech reflects the legislative agenda for which the Government intends to seek the agreement of both Houses of Parliament.
After the monarch leaves, each Chamber proceeds to the consideration of an "Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Gracious Speech." But, first, each House considers a bill "pro forma" to symbolise their right to deliberate independently of the monarch. In the House of Lords, the bill is called the Select Vestries Bill, while the Commons equivalent is the Outlawries Bill. The Bills are considered for the sake of form only, and do not make any actual progress.
Both houses of the British Parliament are presided over by a speaker, the Speaker of the House for the Commons and the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords.
For the Commons, the approval of the Sovereign is theoretically required before the election of the Speaker becomes valid, but it is, by modern convention, always granted. The Speaker's place may be taken by the Chairman of Ways and Means, the First Deputy Chairman, or the Second Deputy Chairman. (The titles of those three officials refer to the Committee of Ways and Means, a body which no longer exists.)
Prior to July 2006, the House of Lords was presided over by a Lord Chancellor (a Cabinet member), whose influence as Speaker was very limited (whilst the powers belonging to the Speaker of the House of Commons are vast). However, as part of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the position of Speaker of the House of Lords (as it is termed in the Act) was separated from the office of Lord Chancellor (the office which has control over the judiciary as a whole), though the Lords remain largely self-governing. Decisions on points of order and on the disciplining of unruly members are made by the whole body, but by the Speaker alone in the Lower House. Speeches in the House of Lords are addressed to the House as a whole (using the words "My Lords"), but those in the House of Commons are addressed to the Speaker alone (using "Mr Speaker" or "Madam Speaker"). Speeches may be made to both Houses simultaneously.
Both Houses may decide questions by voice vote; members shout out "Aye!" and "No!" in the Commons—or "Content!" and "Not-Content!" in the Lords—and the presiding officer declares the result. The pronouncement of either Speaker may be challenged, and a recorded vote (known as a division) demanded. (The Speaker of the House of Commons may choose to overrule a frivolous request for a division, but the Lord Speaker does not have that power.) In each House, a division requires members to file into one of the two lobbies alongside the Chamber; their names are recorded by clerks, and their votes are counted as they exit the lobbies to re-enter the Chamber. The Speaker of the House of Commons is expected to be non-partisan, and does not cast a vote except in the case of a tie; the Lord Speaker, however, votes along with the other Lords.
Both Houses normally conduct their business in public, and there are galleries where visitors may sit.
Originally there was no fixed limit on the length of a Parliament, but the Triennial Act 1694 set the maximum duration at three years. As the frequent elections were deemed inconvenient, the Septennial Act 1715 extended the maximum to seven years, but the Parliament Act 1911 reduced it to five. During the Second World War, the term was temporarily extended to ten years by Acts of Parliament. Since the end of the war the maximum has remained five years. Modern Parliaments, however, rarely continued for the maximum duration; normally, they were dissolved earlier. For instance, the 52nd, which assembled in 1997, was dissolved after four years. The Septennial Act was repealed by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, which established a presumption that a Parliament will last for five years, unless two thirds of the House of Commons votes for an early general election, or the government loses the confidence of the House.
Summary history of terms of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Following a general election, a new Parliamentary session begins. Parliament is formally summoned 40 days in advance by the Sovereign, who is the source of parliamentary authority. On the day indicated by the Sovereign's proclamation, the two Houses assemble in their respective chambers. The Commons are then summoned to the House of Lords, where Lords Commissioners (representatives of the Sovereign) instruct them to elect a Speaker. The Commons perform the election; on the next day, they return to the House of Lords, where the Lords Commissioners confirm the election and grant the new Speaker the royal approval in the Sovereign's name.
The business of Parliament for the next few days of its session involves the taking of the oaths of allegiance. Once a majority of the members have taken the oath in each House, the State Opening of Parliament may take place. The Lords take their seats in the House of Lords Chamber, the Commons appear at the Bar (at the entrance to the Chamber), and the Sovereign takes his or her seat on the throne. The Sovereign then reads the Speech from the Throne—the content of which is determined by the Ministers of the Crown—outlining the Government's legislative agenda for the upcoming year. Thereafter, each House proceeds to the transaction of legislative business.
By custom, before considering the Government's legislative agenda, a bill is introduced "pro forma" in each House—the Select Vestries Bill in the House of Lords and the Outlawries Bill in the House of Commons. These bills do not become laws; they are ceremonial indications of the power of each House to debate independently of the Crown. After the "pro forma" bill is introduced, each House debates the content of the Speech from the Throne for several days. Once each House formally sends its reply to the Speech, legislative business may commence, appointing committees, electing officers, passing resolutions and considering legislation.
A session of Parliament is brought to an end by a prorogation. There is a ceremony similar to the State Opening, but much less well known to the general public. Normally, the Sovereign does not personally attend the prorogation ceremony in the House of Lords; he or she is represented by Lords Commissioners. The next session of Parliament begins under the procedures described above, but it is not necessary to conduct another election of a Speaker or take the oaths of allegiance afresh at the beginning of such subsequent sessions. Instead, the State Opening of Parliament proceeds directly. To avoid the delay of opening a new session in the event of an emergency during the long summer recess, Parliament is no longer prorogued beforehand, but only after the Houses have reconvened in the autumn; the State Opening follows a few days later.
Each Parliament comes to an end, after a number of sessions, in anticipation of a general election. Parliament is dissolved by virtue of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Prior to that, dissolution was effected by the Sovereign, always on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister could seek dissolution at a time politically advantageous to his or her party. If the Prime Minister loses the support of the House of Commons, Parliament will dissolve and a new election will be held. Parliaments can also be dissolved if two-thirds of the House of Commons votes for an early election.
Formerly, the demise of the Sovereign automatically brought a Parliament to an end, the Crown being seen as the "" (beginning, basis and end) of the body, but this is no longer the case. The first change was during the reign of William and Mary, when it was seen to be inconvenient to have no Parliament at a time when succession to the Crown could be disputed, and an Act was passed that provided that a Parliament was to continue for six months after the death of a Sovereign, unless dissolved earlier. Under the Representation of the People Act 1867 Parliament can now continue for as long as it would otherwise have done in the event of the death of the Sovereign.
After each Parliament concludes, the Crown issues writs to hold a general election and elect new members of the House of Commons, though membership of the House of Lords does not change.
Laws can be made by Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament. While Acts can apply to the whole of the United Kingdom including Scotland, due to the continuing separation of Scots law many Acts do not apply to Scotland and may be matched either by equivalent Acts that apply to Scotland alone or, since 1999, by legislation set by the Scottish Parliament relating to devolved matters.
This has led to a paradox known as the West Lothian question. The existence of a devolved Scottish Parliament means that while Westminster MPs from Scotland may vote directly on matters that affect English constituencies, they may not have much power over their laws affecting their own constituency. Since there is no devolved "English Parliament," the converse is not true. While any Act of the Scottish Parliament may be overturned, amended or ignored by Westminster, in practice this has yet to happen. Legislative Consent Motions enables the UK Parliament to vote on issues normally devolved to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, as part of United Kingdom legislation.
Laws, in draft form known as bills, may be introduced by any member of either House. A bill introduced by a Minister is known as a "Government Bill"; one introduced by another member is called a "Private Member's Bill." A different way of categorising bills involves the subject. Most bills, involving the general public, are called "public bills." A bill that seeks to grant special rights to an individual or small group of individuals, or a body such as a local authority, is called a "Private Bill." A Public Bill which affects private rights (in the way a Private Bill would) is called a "Hybrid Bill," although those that draft bills take pains to avoid this.
Private Members' Bills make up the majority of bills, but are far less likely to be passed than government bills. There are three methods for an MP to introduce a Private Member's Bill. The Private Members' Ballot (once per Session) put names into a ballot, and those who win are given time to propose a bill. The Ten Minute Rule is another method, where MPs are granted ten minutes to outline the case for a new piece of legislation. Standing Order 57 is the third method, which allows a bill to be introduced without debate if a day's notice is given to the Table Office. Filibustering is a danger, as an opponent of a bill can waste much of the limited time allotted to it. Private Members' Bills have no chance of success if the current government opposes them, but they are used in moral issues: the bills to decriminalise homosexuality and abortion were Private Members' Bills, for example. Governments can sometimes attempt to use Private Members' Bills to pass things it would rather not be associated with. "Handout bills" are bills which a government hands to MPs who win Private Members' Ballots.
Each Bill goes through several stages in each House. The first stage, called the first reading, is a formality. At the second reading, the general principles of the bill are debated, and the House may vote to reject the bill, by not passing the motion "That the Bill be now read a second time." Defeats of Government Bills in the Commons are extremely rare, the last being in 2005, and may constitute a motion of no confidence. (Defeats of Bills in the Lords never affect confidence and are much more frequent.)
Following the second reading, the bill is sent to a committee. In the House of Lords, the Committee of the Whole House or the Grand Committee are used. Each consists of all members of the House; the latter operates under special procedures, and is used only for uncontroversial bills. In the House of Commons, the bill is usually committed to a Public Bill Committee, consisting of between 16 and 50 members, but the Committee of the Whole House is used for important legislation. Several other types of committees, including Select Committees, may be used, but rarely. A committee considers the bill clause by clause, and reports the bill as amended to the House, where further detailed consideration ("consideration stage" or "report stage") occurs. However, a practice which used to be called the "kangaroo" (Standing Order 32) allows the Speaker to select which amendments are debated. This device is also used under Standing Order 89 by the committee chairman, to restrict debate in committee. The Speaker, who is impartial as between the parties, by convention selects amendments for debate which represent the main divisions of opinion within the House. Other amendments can technically be proposed, but in practice have no chance of success unless the parties in the House are closely divided. If pressed they would normally be casually defeated by acclamation.
Once the House has considered the bill, the third reading follows. In the House of Commons, no further amendments may be made, and the passage of the motion "That the Bill be now read a third time" is passage of the whole bill. In the House of Lords further amendments to the bill may be moved. After the passage of the third reading motion, the House of Lords must vote on the motion "That the Bill do now pass." Following its passage in one House, the bill is sent to the other House. If passed in identical form by both Houses, it may be presented for the Sovereign's Assent. If one House passes amendments that the other will not agree to, and the two Houses cannot resolve their disagreements, the bill will normally fail.
Since the passage of the Parliament Act 1911 the power of the House of Lords to reject bills passed by the House of Commons has been restricted, with further restrictions were placed by the Parliament Act 1949. If the House of Commons passes a public bill in two successive sessions, and the House of Lords rejects it both times, the Commons may direct that the bill be presented to the Sovereign for his or her Assent, disregarding the rejection of the Bill in the House of Lords. In each case, the bill must be passed by the House of Commons at least one calendar month before the end of the session. The provision does not apply to Private bills or to Public bills if they originated in the House of Lords or if they seek to extend the duration of a Parliament beyond five years. A special procedure applies in relation to bills classified by the Speaker of the House of Commons as "Money Bills." A Money Bill concerns "solely" national taxation or public funds; the Speaker's certificate is deemed conclusive under all circumstances. If the House of Lords fails to pass a Money Bill within one month of its passage in the House of Commons, the Lower House may direct that the Bill be submitted for the Sovereign's Assent immediately.
Even before the passage of the Parliament Acts, the Commons possessed pre-eminence in cases of financial matters. By ancient custom, the House of Lords may not introduce a bill relating to taxation or Supply, nor amend a bill so as to insert a provision relating to taxation or Supply, nor amend a Supply Bill in any way. The House of Commons is free to waive this privilege, and sometimes does so to allow the House of Lords to pass amendments with financial implications. The House of Lords remains free to reject bills relating to Supply and taxation, but may be over-ruled easily if the bills are Money Bills. (A bill relating to revenue and Supply may not be a Money Bill if, for example, it includes subjects other than national taxation and public funds).
The last stage of a bill involves the granting of the Royal Assent. Theoretically, the Sovereign may either grant or withhold Royal Assent (make the bill a law or veto the bill). In modern times the Sovereign always grants the Royal Assent, using the Norman French words "La Reyne le veult" (the Queen wishes it; "Le Roy" instead in the case of a king). The last refusal to grant the Assent was in 1708, when Queen Anne withheld her Assent from a bill "for the settling of Militia in Scotland," in the words "" (the Queen will think it over).
Thus, every bill obtains the assent of all three components of Parliament before it becomes law (except where the House of Lords is over-ridden under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949). The words "BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's [King's] most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-," or, where the House of Lords' authority has been over-ridden by use of the Parliament Acts, the words "BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's [King's] most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-" appear near the beginning of each Act of Parliament. These words are known as the enacting formula.
Prior to the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009, Parliament was the highest court in the realm for most purposes, but the Privy Council had jurisdiction in some cases (for instance, appeals from ecclesiastical courts). The jurisdiction of Parliament arose from the ancient custom of petitioning the Houses to redress grievances and to do justice. The House of Commons ceased considering petitions to reverse the judgements of lower courts in 1399, effectively leaving the House of Lords as the court of last resort. In modern times, the judicial functions of the House of Lords were performed not by the whole House, but by the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (judges granted life peerage dignities under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876) and by Lords of Appeal (other peers with experience in the judiciary). However, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, these judicial functions were transferred to the newly created Supreme Court in 2009, and the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary became the first Justices of the Supreme Court. Peers who hold high judicial office are no longer allowed to vote or speak in the Lords until they retire as justices.
In the late 19th century, Acts allowed for the appointment of "Scottish Lords of Appeal in Ordinary" and ended appeal in Scottish criminal matters to the House of Lords, so that the High Court of Justiciary became the highest criminal court in Scotland. There is an argument that the provisions of Article XIX of the Union with England Act 1707 prevent any Court outside Scotland from hearing any appeal in criminal cases: "And that the said Courts or any other of the like nature after the Unions shall have no power to Cognosce Review or Alter the Acts or Sentences of the Judicatures within Scotland or stop the Execution of the same." The House of Lords judicial committee usually had a minimum of two Scottish Judges to ensure that some experience of Scots law was brought to bear on Scottish appeals in civil cases, from the Court of Session. The Supreme Court now usually has at least two Scottish judges, together with at least one from Northern Ireland. As Wales is developing its own judicature, it is likely that the same principle will be applied.
Certain other judicial functions have historically been performed by the House of Lords. Until 1948, it was the body in which peers had to be tried for felonies or high treason; now, they are tried by normal juries. The last occasion of the trial of a peer in the House of Lords was in 1935. When the House of Commons impeaches an individual, the trial takes place in the House of Lords. Impeachments are now possibly defunct, as the last one occurred in 1806. In 2006, a number of MPs attempted to revive the custom, having signed a motion for the impeachment of Tony Blair, but this was unsuccessful.
The British Government is answerable to the House of Commons. However, neither the Prime Minister nor members of the Government are elected by the House of Commons. Instead, the Queen requests the person most likely to command the support of a majority in the House, normally the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons, to form a government. So that they may be accountable to the Lower House, the Prime Minister and most members of the Cabinet are, by convention, members of the House of Commons. The last Prime Minister to be a member of the House of Lords was Alec Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home, who became Prime Minister in 1963. To adhere to the convention under which he was responsible to the Lower House, he disclaimed his peerage and procured election to the House of Commons within days of becoming Prime Minister.
Governments have a tendency to dominate the legislative functions of Parliament, by using their in-built majority in the House of Commons, and sometimes using their patronage power to appoint supportive peers in the Lords. In practice, governments can pass any legislation (within reason) in the Commons they wish, unless there is major dissent by MPs in the governing party.
But even in these situations, it is highly unlikely a bill will be defeated, though dissenting MPs may be able to extract concessions from the government. In 1976, Quintin Hogg, Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone created a now widely used name for this behaviour, in an academic paper called "elective dictatorship."
Parliament controls the executive by passing or rejecting its Bills and by forcing Ministers of the Crown to answer for their actions, either at "Question Time" or during meetings of the parliamentary committees. In both cases, Ministers are asked questions by members of their Houses, and are obliged to answer.
Although the House of Lords may scrutinise the executive through Question Time and through its committees, it cannot bring down the Government. A ministry must always retain the confidence and support of the House of Commons. The Lower House may indicate its lack of support by rejecting a Motion of Confidence or by passing a Motion of No Confidence. Confidence Motions are generally originated by the Government to reinforce its support in the House, whilst No Confidence Motions are introduced by the Opposition. The motions sometimes take the form "That this House has [no] confidence in Her Majesty's Government" but several other varieties, many referring to specific policies supported or opposed by Parliament, are used. For instance, a Confidence Motion of 1992 used the form, "That this House expresses the support for the economic policy of Her Majesty's Government." Such a motion may theoretically be introduced in the House of Lords, but, as the Government need not enjoy the confidence of that House, would not be of the same effect as a similar motion in the House of Commons; the only modern instance of such an occurrence involves the 'No Confidence' motion that was introduced in 1993 and subsequently defeated.
Many votes are considered votes of confidence, although not including the language mentioned above. Important bills that form part of the Government's agenda (as stated in the Speech from the Throne) are generally considered matters of confidence. The defeat of such a bill by the House of Commons indicates that a Government no longer has the confidence of that House. The same effect is achieved if the House of Commons "withdraws Supply," that is, rejects the budget.
Where a Government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons, in other words has lost the ability to secure the basic requirement of the authority of the House of Commons to tax and to spend Government money, the Prime Minister is obliged either to resign, or seek the dissolution of Parliament and a new general election. Otherwise the machinery of government grinds to a halt within days. The third choice – to mount a coup d'état or an anti-democratic revolution – is hardly to be contemplated in the present age. Though all three situations have arisen in recent years even in developed economies, international relations have allowed a disaster to be avoided.
Where a Prime Minister has ceased to retain the necessary majority and requests a dissolution, the Sovereign can in theory reject his or her request, forcing a resignation and allowing the Leader of the Opposition to be asked to form a new government. This power is used extremely rarely. The conditions that should be met to allow such a refusal are known as the Lascelles Principles. These conditions and principles are constitutional conventions arising from the Sovereign's reserve powers as well as longstanding tradition and practice, not laid down in law.
In practice, the House of Commons' scrutiny of the Government is very weak. Since the first-past-the-post electoral system is employed in elections, the governing party tends to enjoy a large majority in the Commons; there is often limited need to compromise with other parties. Modern British political parties are so tightly organised that they leave relatively little room for free action by their MPs. In many cases, MPs may be expelled from their parties for voting against the instructions of party leaders. During the 20th century, the Government has lost confidence issues only three times—twice in 1924, and once in 1979.
In the United Kingdom, question time in the House of Commons lasts for an hour each day from Monday to Thursday (2:30 to 3:30 pm on Mondays, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 9:30 to 10:30 am on Thursdays). Each Government department has its place in a rota which repeats every five weeks. The exception to this sequence are the Business Questions (Questions to the Leader of House of Commons), in which questions are answered each Thursday about the business of the House the following week. Also, Questions to the Prime Minister takes place each Wednesday from noon to 12:30 pm.
In addition to government departments, there are also questions to the Church commissioners. Additionally, each Member of Parliament is entitled to table questions for written answer. Written questions are addressed to the Ministerial head of a government department, usually a Secretary of State, but they are often answered by a Minister of State or Parliamentary Under Secretary of State. Written Questions are submitted to the Clerks of the Table Office, either on paper or electronically, and answers are recorded in "The Official Report (Hansard)" so as to be widely available and accessible.
In the House of Lords, a half-hour is set aside each afternoon at the start of the day's proceedings for Lords' oral questions. A peer submits a question in advance, which then appears on the Order Paper for the day's proceedings. The peer shall say: ""My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper"." The Minister responsible then answers the question. The peer is then allowed to ask a supplementary question and other peers ask further questions on the theme of the original put down on the order paper. (For instance, if the question regards immigration, peers can ask the Minister any question related to immigration during the allowed period.)
Several different views have been taken of Parliament's sovereignty. According to the jurist Sir William Blackstone, "It has sovereign and uncontrollable authority in making, confirming, enlarging, restraining, abrogating, repealing, reviving, and expounding of laws, concerning matters of all possible denominations, ecclesiastical, or temporal, civil, military, maritime, or criminal ... it can, in short, do every thing that is not naturally impossible."
A different view has been taken by the Scottish judge Thomas Cooper, 1st Lord Cooper of Culross. When he decided the 1953 case of "MacCormick v. Lord Advocate" as Lord President of the Court of Session, he stated, "The principle of unlimited sovereignty of Parliament is a distinctively English principle and has no counterpart in Scottish constitutional law." He continued, "Considering that the Union legislation extinguished the Parliaments of Scotland and England and replaced them by a new Parliament, I have difficulty in seeing why the new Parliament of Great Britain must inherit all the peculiar characteristics of the English Parliament but none of the Scottish." Nevertheless, he did not give a conclusive opinion on the subject.
Thus, the question of Parliamentary sovereignty appears to remain unresolved. Parliament has not passed any Act defining its own sovereignty. The European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 states "It is recognised that the Parliament of the United Kingdom is sovereign." without qualification or definition. A related possible limitation on Parliament relates to the Scottish legal system and Presbyterian faith, preservation of which were Scottish preconditions to the creation of the unified Parliament. Since the Parliament of the United Kingdom was set up in reliance on these promises, it may be that it has no power to make laws that break them.
Parliament's power has often been eroded by its own Acts. Acts passed in 1921 and 1925 granted the Church of Scotland complete independence in ecclesiastical matters. From 1973 to 2020, its power had been restricted by membership of the European Union, which has the power to make laws enforceable in each member state. In the Factortame case, the European Court of Justice ruled that British courts could have powers to overturn British legislation contravening European law.
Parliament has also created national devolved parliaments and assemblies with differing degrees of legislative authority in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Parliament still has the power over areas for which responsibility lies with the devolved institutions, but would ordinarily gain the agreement of those institutions to act on their behalf. Similarly, it has granted the power to make regulations to Ministers of the Crown, and the power to enact religious legislation to the General Synod of the Church of England. (Measures of the General Synod and, in some cases proposed statutory instruments made by ministers, must be approved by both Houses before they become law.)
In every case aforementioned, authority has been conceded by Act of Parliament and may be taken back in the same manner. It is entirely within the authority of Parliament, for example, to abolish the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, or — as happened in 2020 — to leave the EU. However, Parliament also revoked its legislative competence over Australia and Canada with the Australia and Canada Acts: although the Parliament of the United Kingdom could pass an Act reversing its action, it would not take effect in Australia or Canada as the competence of the Imperial Parliament is no longer recognised there in law.
One well-recognised consequence of Parliament's sovereignty is that it cannot bind future Parliaments; that is, no Act of Parliament may be made secure from amendment or repeal by a future Parliament. For example, although the Act of Union 1800 states that the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland are to be united "forever," Parliament permitted southern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom in 1922.
Each House of Parliament possesses and guards various ancient privileges. The House of Lords relies on inherent right. In the case of the House of Commons, the Speaker goes to the Lords' Chamber at the beginning of each new Parliament and requests representatives of the Sovereign to confirm the Lower House's "undoubted" privileges and rights. The ceremony observed by the House of Commons dates to the reign of King Henry VIII. Each House is the guardian of its privileges, and may punish breaches thereof. The extent of parliamentary privilege is based on law and custom. Sir William Blackstone states that these privileges are "very large and indefinite," and cannot be defined except by the Houses of Parliament themselves.
The foremost privilege claimed by both Houses is that of freedom of speech in debate; nothing said in either House may be questioned in any court or other institution outside Parliament. Another privilege claimed is that of freedom from arrest; at one time this was held to apply for any arrest except for high treason, felony or breach of the peace but it now excludes any arrest on criminal charges; it applies during a session of Parliament, and 40 days before or after such a session. Members of both Houses are no longer privileged from service on juries.
Both Houses possess the power to punish breaches of their privilege. Contempt of Parliament—for example, disobedience of a subpoena issued by a committee—may also be punished. The House of Lords may imprison an individual for any fixed period of time, but an individual imprisoned by the House of Commons is set free upon prorogation. The punishments imposed by either House may not be challenged in any court, and the Human Rights Act does not apply.
Until at least 2015, members of the House of Commons also had the privilege of a separate seating area in the Palace of Westminster canteen, protected by a false partition labelled "MPs only beyond this point," so that they did not have to sit with canteen staff taking a break. This provoked mockery from a newly elected 20-year-old MP who described it as "ridiculous" snobbery.
The quasi-official emblem of the Houses of Parliament is a crowned portcullis. The portcullis was originally the badge of various English noble families from the 14th century. It went on to be adopted by the kings of the Tudor dynasty in the 16th century, under whom the Palace of Westminster became the regular meeting place of Parliament. The crown was added to make the badge a specifically royal symbol.
The portcullis probably first came to be associated with the Palace of Westminster through its use as decoration in the rebuilding of the Palace after the fire of 1512. However, at the time it was only one of many symbols. The widespread use of the portcullis throughout the Palace dates from the 19th century, when Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin used it extensively as a decorative feature in their designs for the new Palace built following the disastrous 1834 fire.
The crowned portcullis came to be accepted during the 20th century as the emblem of both houses of parliament. This was simply a result of custom and usage rather than a specific decision. The emblem now appears on official stationery, publications and papers, and is stamped on various items in use in the Palace of Westminster, such as cutlery, silverware and china. Various shades of red and green are used for visual identification of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
UK Parliament debates can be viewed in the related YouTube channel. They are also broadcast live by the independent Euronews English channel. In the UK the BBC has its own dedicated parliament channel, BBC Parliament, which broadcasts 24 hours a day and is also available on BBC iPlayer. It shows live coverage from the House of Commons, House of Lords, the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Welsh Assembly.
Lists of MPs elected: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13964 |
Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith (February 29, 1860 – November 17, 1929) was an American businessman, inventor, and statistician who developed an electromechanical tabulating machine for punched cards to assist in summarizing information and, later, in accounting. His invention of the punched card tabulating machine, patented in 1884, marks the beginning of the era of semiautomatic data processing systems, and his concept dominated that landscape for nearly a century.
Hollerith founded a company that was amalgamated in 1911 with several other companies to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. In 1924, the company was renamed "International Business Machines" (IBM) and became one of the largest and most successful companies of the 20th century. Hollerith is regarded as one of the seminal figures in the development of data processing.
Herman Hollerith was born the son of German immigrant Prof. Georg Hollerith from Großfischlingen (near Neustadt an der Weinstraße) in Buffalo, New York, where he spent his early childhood. He entered the City College of New York in 1875, graduated from the Columbia University School of Mines with an "Engineer of Mines" degree in 1879 at age 19, and in 1890 asked for (and was awarded) a PhD based on his development of the tabulating system. In 1882 Hollerith joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he taught mechanical engineering and conducted his first experiments with punched cards. He eventually moved to Washington, D.C., living in Georgetown, with a home on 29th Street and a business building at 31st Street and the C&O Canal, where today there is a commemorative plaque installed by IBM. He died in Washington D.C. of a heart attack.
At the suggestion of John Shaw Billings, Hollerith developed a mechanism using electrical connections to increment a counter, recording information. A key idea was that a datum could be recorded by the presence or absence of a hole at a specific location on a card. For example, if a specific hole location indicates "marital status", then a hole there can indicate "married" while not having a hole indicates "single". Hollerith determined that data in specified locations on a card, arranged in rows and columns, could be counted or sorted electromechanically. A description of this system, "An Electric Tabulating System (1889)", was submitted by Hollerith to Columbia University as his doctoral thesis, and is reprinted in Randell's book. On January 8, 1889, Hollerith was issued U.S. Patent 395,782, claim 2 of which reads:
The herein-described method of compiling statistics, which consists in recording separate statistical items pertaining to the individual by holes or combinations of holes punched in sheets of electrically non-conducting material, and bearing a specific relation to each other and to a standard, and then counting or tallying such statistical items separately or in combination by means of mechanical counters operated by electro-magnets the circuits through which are controlled by the perforated sheets, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Hollerith had left teaching and begun working for the United States Census Bureau in the year he filed his first patent application. Titled "Art of Compiling Statistics", it was filed on September 23, 1884; U.S. Patent 395,782 was granted on January 8, 1889.
Hollerith initially did business under his own name, as "The Hollerith Electric Tabulating System", specializing in punched card data processing equipment. He provided tabulators and other machines under contract for the Census Office, which used them for the 1890 census. The net effect of the many changes from the 1880 census: the larger population, the data items to be collected, the Census Bureau headcount, the scheduled publications, and the use of Hollerith's electromechanical tabulators, was to reduce the time required to process the census from eight years for the 1880 census to six years for the 1890 census.
In 1896 Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company (in 1905 renamed The Tabulating Machine Company). Many major census bureaus around the world leased his equipment and purchased his cards, as did major insurance companies. Hollerith's machines were used for censuses in England, Italy, Germany, Russia, Austria, Canada, France, Norway, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines, and again in the 1900 census.
He invented the first automatic card-feed mechanism and the first keypunch. The 1890 Tabulator was hardwired to operate on 1890 Census cards. A control panel in his 1906 Type I Tabulator simplified rewiring for different jobs. The 1920s removable control panel supported prewiring and near instant job changing. These inventions were among the foundations of the data processing industry and Hollerith's punched cards (later used for computer input/output) continued in use for almost a century.
In 1911 four corporations, including Hollerith's firm, were amalgamated to form a fifth company, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). Under the presidency of Thomas J. Watson, CTR was renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1924. By 1933 The Tabulating Machine Company name had disappeared as subsidiary companies were subsumed by IBM.
Hollerith is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Hollerith cards were named after Herman Hollerith,
as were Hollerith strings and Hollerith constants.
His great-grandson, the Rt. Rev. Herman Hollerith IV, was the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, and another great-grandson, Randolph Marshall Hollerith, is an Episcopal priest and the dean of Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13969 |
History of painting
The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts from pre-historic humans, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted, tradition from Antiquity. Across cultures, and spanning continents and millennia, the history of painting is an ongoing river of creativity, that continues into the 21st century. Until the early 20th century it relied primarily on representational, religious and classical motifs, after which time more purely abstract and conceptual approaches gained favor.
Developments in Eastern painting historically parallel those in Western painting, in general, a few centuries earlier. African art, Jewish art, Islamic art, Indian art, Chinese art, and Japanese art each had significant influence on Western art, and vice versa.
Initially serving utilitarian purpose, followed by imperial, private, civic, and religious patronage, Eastern and Western painting later found audiences in the aristocracy and the middle class. From the Modern era, the Middle Ages through the Renaissance painters worked for the church and a wealthy aristocracy. Beginning with the Baroque era artists received private commissions from a more educated and prosperous middle class. Finally in the West the idea of "art for art's sake" began to find expression in the work of the Romantic painters like Francisco de Goya, John Constable, and J. M. W. Turner. The 19thcentury saw the rise of the commercial art gallery, which provided patronage in the 20th century.
The oldest known paintings are approximately 40,000 years old. José Luis Sanchidrián at the University of Cordoba, Spain, believes the paintings are more likely to have been painted by Neanderthals than early modern humans. Images at the Chauvet cave in France are thought to be about 32,000 years old. They are engraved and painted using red ochre and black pigment and show horses, rhinoceros, lions, buffalo, mammoth or humans often hunting. There are examples of cave paintings all over the world—in France, India, Spain, Southern Africa, China, Australia etc.
Various conjectures have been made as to the meaning these paintings had to the people that made them. Prehistoric artists may have painted animals to "catch" their soul or spirit in order to hunt them more easily or the paintings may represent an animistic vision and homage to surrounding nature. They may be the result of a basic need of expression that is innate to human beings, or they could have been for the transmission of practical information.
In Paleolithic times, the representation of humans in cave paintings was rare. Mostly, animals were painted, not only animals that were used as food but also animals that represented strength like the rhinoceros or large Felidae, as in the Chauvet Cave. Signs like dots were sometimes drawn. Rare human representations include handprints and stencils, and figures depicting human / animal hybrids. The Chauvet Cave in the Ardèche Departments of France contains the most important preserved cave paintings of the Paleolithic era, painted around 31,000 BC. The Altamira cave paintings in Spain were done 14,000 to 12,000 BC and show, among others, bisons. The hall of bulls in Lascaux, Dordogne, France, is one of the best known cave paintings and dates to about 15,000 to 10,000 BC.
If there is meaning to the paintings, it remains unknown. The caves were not in an inhabited area, so they may have been used for seasonal rituals. The animals are accompanied by signs which suggest a possible magic use. Arrow-like symbols in Lascaux are sometimes interpreted as being used as calendars or almanacs, but the evidence remains inconclusive. The most important work of the Mesolithic era were the "marching warriors", a rock painting at Cingle de la Mola, Castellón, Spain dated to about 7000 to 4000 BC. The technique used was probably spitting or blowing the pigments onto the rock. The paintings are quite naturalistic, though stylized. The figures are not three-dimensional, even though they overlap.
The earliest known Indian paintings were the rock paintings of prehistoric times, the petroglyphs as found in places like the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, and some of them are older than 5500 BC. Such works continued and after several millennia, in the 7th century, carved pillars of Ajanta, Maharashtra state present a fine example of Indian paintings. The colors, mostly various shades of red and orange, were derived from minerals.
The history of Eastern painting includes a vast range of influences from various cultures and religions. Developments in Eastern painting historically parallel those in Western painting, in general a few centuries earlier. African art, Jewish art, Islamic art, Indian art, Chinese art, Korean Art, and Japanese art each had significant influence on Western art, and, vice versa.
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals. It was only during the Warring States period (403–221 B.C.) that artists began to represent the world around them. Japanese painting is one of the oldest and most highly refined of the Japanese arts, encompassing a wide variety of genre and styles. The history of Japanese painting is a long history of synthesis and competition between native Japanese aesthetics and adaptation of imported ideas. Korean painting, as an independent form, began around 108 B.C., around the fall of Gojoseon, making it one of the oldest in the world. The artwork of that time period evolved into the various styles that characterized the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, most notably the paintings and frescoes that adorn the tombs of Goguryeo's royalty. During the Three Kingdoms period and through the Goryeo dynasty, Korean painting was characterized primarily by a combination of Korean-style landscapes, facial features, Buddhist-centered themes, and an emphasis on celestial observation that was facilitated by the rapid development of Korean astronomy.
"See also Chinese painting, Japanese painting, Korean painting."
China, Japan and Korea have a strong tradition in painting which is also highly attached to the art of calligraphy and printmaking (so much that it is commonly seen as painting). Far east traditional painting is characterized by water based techniques, less realism, "elegant" and stylized subjects, graphical approach to depiction, the importance of white space (or negative space) and a preference for landscape (instead of the human figure) as a subject. Beyond ink and color on silk or paper scrolls, gold on lacquer was also a common medium in painted East Asian artwork. Although silk was a somewhat expensive medium to paint upon in the past, the invention of paper during the 1st century AD by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun provided not only a cheap and widespread medium for writing, but also a cheap and widespread medium for painting (making it more accessible to the public).
The ideologies of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism played important roles in East Asian art. Medieval Song dynasty painters such as Lin Tinggui and his "Luohan Laundering" (housed in the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art) of the 12th century are excellent examples of Buddhist ideas fused into classical Chinese artwork. In the latter painting on silk (image and description provided in the link), bald-headed Buddhist Luohan are depicted in a practical setting of washing clothes by a river. However, the painting itself is visually stunning, with the Luohan portrayed in rich detail and bright, opaque colors in contrast to a hazy, brown, and bland wooded environment. Also, the tree tops are shrouded in swirling fog, providing the common "negative space" mentioned above in East Asian Art.
In Japonisme, late 19th-century Post-Impressionists like Van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and tonalists such as James McNeill Whistler, admired early 19th-century Japanese Ukiyo-e artists like Hokusai (1760–1849) and Hiroshige (1797–1858) and were influenced by them.
The earliest surviving examples of Chinese painted artwork date to the Warring States Period (481 – 221 BC), with paintings on silk or tomb murals on rock, brick, or stone. They were often in simplistic stylized format and in more-or-less rudimentary geometric patterns. They often depicted mythological creatures, domestic scenes, labor scenes, or palatial scenes filled with officials at court. Artwork during this period and the subsequent Qin Dynasty (221 – 207 BC) and Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) was made not as a means in and of itself or for higher personal expression; rather artwork was created to symbolize and honor funerary rites, representations of mythological deities or spirits of ancestors, etc. Paintings on silk of court officials and domestic scenes could be found during the Han Dynasty, along with scenes of men hunting on horseback or partaking in military parade. There was also painting on three dimensional works of art like figurines and statues, such as the original-painted colors covering the soldier and horse statues of the Terracotta Army. During the social and cultural climate of the ancient Eastern Jin Dynasty (316 – 420 AD) based at Nanjing in the south, painting became one of the official pastimes of Confucian-taught bureaucratic officials and aristocrats (along with music played by the guqin zither, writing fanciful calligraphy, and writing and reciting of poetry). Painting became a common form of artistic self-expression, and during this period painters at court or amongst elite social circuits were judged and ranked by their peers.
The establishment of classical Chinese landscape painting is accredited largely to the Eastern Jin Dynasty artist Gu Kaizhi (344 – 406 AD), one of the most famous artists of Chinese history. Like the elongated scroll scenes of Kaizhi, Tang dynasty (618 – 907 AD) Chinese artists like Wu Daozi painted vivid and highly detailed artwork on long horizontal handscrolls (which were very popular during the Tang), such as his "Eighty Seven Celestial People". Painted artwork during the Tang period pertained the effects of an idealized landscape environment, with sparse numbers of objects, persons, or amount of activity, as well as monochromatic in nature (example: the murals of Price Yide's tomb in the Qianling Mausoleum). There were also figures such as early Tang-era painter Zhan Ziqian, who painted superb landscape paintings that were well ahead of his day in portrayal of realism. However, landscape art did not reach greater level of maturity and realism in general until the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907 – 960 AD). During this time, there were exceptional landscape painters like Dong Yuan (refer to this article for an example of his artwork), and those who painted more vivid and realistic depictions of domestic scenes, like Gu Hongzhong and his "Night Revels of Han Xizai".
During the Chinese Song dynasty (960 – 1279 AD), not only landscape art was improved upon, but portrait painting became more standardized and sophisticated than before (for example, refer to Emperor Huizong of Song), and reached its classical age maturity during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD). During the late 13th century and first half of the 14th century, Chinese under the Mongol-controlled Yuan Dynasty were not allowed to enter higher posts of government (reserved for Mongols or other ethnic groups from Central Asia), and the Imperial examination was ceased for the time being. Many Confucian-educated Chinese who now lacked profession turned to the arts of painting and theatre instead, as the Yuan period became one of the most vibrant and abundant eras for Chinese artwork. An example of such would be Qian Xuan (1235–1305 AD), who was an official of the Song dynasty, but out of patriotism, refused to serve the Yuan court and dedicated himself to painting. Examples of superb art from this period include the rich and detailed painted murals of the Yongle Palace, or "Dachunyang Longevity Palace", of 1262 AD, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Within the palace, paintings cover an area of more than 1000 square meters, and hold mostly Daoist themes. It was during the Song dynasty that painters would also gather in social clubs or meetings to discuss their art or others' artwork, the praising of which often led to persuasions to trade and sell precious works of art. However, there were also many harsh critics of others art as well, showing the difference in style and taste amongst different painters. In 1088 AD, the polymath scientist and statesman Shen Kuo once wrote of the artwork of one Li Cheng, who he criticized as follows:
Although high level of stylization, mystical appeal, and surreal elegance were often preferred over realism (such as in shan shui style), beginning with the medieval Song dynasty there were many Chinese painters then and afterwards who depicted scenes of nature that were vividly real. Later Ming Dynasty artists would take after this Song dynasty emphasis for intricate detail and realism on objects in nature, especially in depictions of animals (such as ducks, swans, sparrows, tigers, etc.) amongst patches of brightly colored flowers and thickets of brush and wood (a good example would be the anonymous Ming Dynasty painting "Birds and Plum Blossoms", housed in the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.). There were many renowned Ming Dynasty artists; Qiu Ying is an excellent example of a paramount Ming era painter (famous even in his own day), utilizing in his artwork domestic scenes, bustling palatial scenes, and nature scenes of river valleys and steeped mountains shrouded in mist and swirling clouds. During the Ming Dynasty there were also different and rivaling schools of art associated with painting, such as the Wu School and the Zhe School.
Classical Chinese painting continued on into the early modern Qing Dynasty, with highly realistic portrait paintings like seen in the late Ming Dynasty of the early 17th century. The portraits of Kangxi Emperor, Yongzheng Emperor, and Qianlong Emperor are excellent examples of realistic Chinese portrait painting. During the Qianlong reign period and the continuing 19th century, European Baroque styles of painting had noticeable influence on Chinese portrait paintings, especially with painted visual effects of lighting and shading. Likewise, East Asian paintings and other works of art (such as porcelain and lacquerware) were highly prized in Europe since initial contact in the 16th century.
Western techniques of oil paintings began entering China in the 19th century, becoming prevalent among Chinese artists and art students in the early 20th century, coinciding with China's growing engagement with the West. Artists such as Li Tiefu, Hong Yi, Xu Beihong, Yan Wenliang, Lin Fengmian, Fang Ganmin, Pang Yuliang went abroad, predominantly to Paris and Tokyo, to learn Western art. Through them, artistic movements such as Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism, Post-impressionism grew and thrived in China, only halted by the Second World War and the birth of the People's Republic of China, when modernistic artistic styles were seen as being inconsistent with the prevailing political ideals and realism was the only acceptable artistic form. Nonetheless, the legacy of the close engagement with Western art in the early 20th century endured. Oil paintings survived as a important medium in Chinese artistic scenes; traditional Chinese ink paintings were also changed as a result.
Japanese painting (絵画) is one of the oldest and most highly refined of the Japanese arts, encompassing a wide variety of genres and styles. As with Japanese arts in general, Japanese painting developed through a long history of synthesis and competition between native Japanese aesthetics and adaptation of imported ideas. Ukiyo-e, or "pictures of the floating world," is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or "woodcuts") and paintings produced between the 17th and 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, theater, and courtesan districts. It is the main artistic genre of Japanese woodblock printing. Japanese printmaking, especially from the Edo period, exerted enormous influence on French painting over the 19th century.
Korean painting, as an independent form, began around 108 B.C., around the fall of Gojoseon, making it one of the oldest in the world. The artwork of that time period evolved into the various styles that characterized the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, most notably the paintings and frescoes that adorn the tombs of Goguryeo's royalty. During the Three Kingdoms period and through the Goryeo dynasty, Korean painting was characterized primarily by a combination of Korean-style landscapes, facial features, Buddhist-centered themes, and an emphasis on celestial observation that was facilitated by the rapid development of Korean astronomy. It wasn't until the Joseon dynasty that Confucian themes began to take root in Korean paintings, used in harmony with indigenous aspects.
The history of Korean painting has been characterized by the use monochromatic works of black brushwork, often on mulberry paper or silk. This style is evident in "Min-Hwa", or colorful folk art, tomb paintings, and ritual and festival arts, both of which incorporated an extensive use of colour.
Indian paintings historically revolved around the religious deities and kings. Indian art is a collective term for several different schools of art that existed in the Indian subcontinent. The paintings varied from large frescoes of Ajanta to the intricate Mughal miniature paintings to the metal embellished works from the Tanjore school. The paintings from the Gandhar–Taxila are influenced by the Persian works in the west. The eastern style of painting was mostly developed around the Nalanda school of art. The works are mostly inspired by various scenes from Indian mythology.
The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of prehistoric times, the petroglyphs as found in places like the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, and some of them are older than 5500 BC. Such works continued and after several millennia, in the 7th century, carved pillars of Ajanta, Maharashtra state present a fine example of Indian paintings, and the colors, mostly various shades of red and orange, were derived from minerals.
Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra, India are rock-cut cave monuments dating back to the 2nd century BCE and containing paintings and sculpture considered to be masterpieces of both Buddhist religious art and universal pictorial art.
Madhubani painting is a style of Indian painting, practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state, India. The origins of Madhubani painting are shrouded in antiquity.
Mughal painting is a particular style of Indian painting, generally confined to illustrations on the book and done in miniatures, and which emerged, developed and took shape during the period of the Mughal Empire 16th −19th centuries.
Rajput painting evolved and flourished during the 18th century, in the royal courts of Rajputana, India. Each Rajput kingdom evolved a distinct style, but with certain common features. Rajput paintings depict a number of themes, events of epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Krishna's life, beautiful landscapes, and humans. Miniatures were the preferred medium of Rajput painting, but several manuscripts also contain Rajput paintings, and paintings were even done on the walls of palaces, inner chambers of the forts, havelies, particularly, the havelis of Shekhawait.
The colors extracted from certain minerals, plant sources, conch shells, and were even derived by processing precious stones, gold and silver were used. The preparation of desired colors was a lengthy process, sometimes taking weeks. Brushes used were very fine.
Tanjore painting is an important form of classical South Indian painting native to the town of Tanjore in Tamil Nadu. The art form dates back to the early 9th century, a period dominated by the Chola rulers, who encouraged art and literature. These paintings are known for their elegance, rich colors, and attention to detail. The themes for most of these paintings are Hindu Gods and Goddesses and scenes from Hindu mythology. In modern times, these paintings have become a much sought after souvenir during festive occasions in South India.
The process of making a Tanjore painting involves many stages. The first stage involves the making of the preliminary sketch of the image on the base. The base consists of a cloth pasted over a wooden base. Then chalk powder or zinc oxide is mixed with water-soluble adhesive and applied on the base. To make the base smoother, a mild abrasive is sometimes used. After the drawing is made, decoration of the jewellery and the apparels in the image is done with semi-precious stones. Laces or threads are also used to decorate the jewellery. On top of this, the gold foils are pasted. Finally, dyes are used to add colors to the figures in the paintings.
During British rule in India, the crown found that Madras had some of the most talented and intellectual artistic minds in the world. As the British had also established a huge settlement in and around Madras, Georgetown was chosen to establish an institute that would cater to the artistic expectations of the royal family in London. This has come to be known as the Madras School. At first traditional artists were employed to produce exquisite varieties of furniture, metal work, and curios and their work was sent to the royal palaces of the Queen.
Unlike the Bengal School where 'copying' is the norm of teaching, the Madras School flourishes on 'creating' new styles, arguments and trends.
The Bengal school of art was an influential style of art that flourished in India during the British Raj in the early 20th century. It was associated with Indian nationalism, but was also promoted and supported by many British arts administrators.
The Bengal School arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the academic art styles previously promoted in India, both by Indian artists such as Raja Ravi Varma and in British art schools. Following the widespread influence of Indian spiritual ideas in the West, the British art teacher Ernest Binfield Havel attempted to reform the teaching methods at the Calcutta School of Art by encouraging students to imitate Mughal miniatures. This caused immense controversy, leading to a strike by students and complaints from the local press, including from nationalists who considered it to be a retrogressive move. Havel was supported by the artist Abanindranath Tagore, a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore painted a number of works influenced by Mughal art, a style that he and Havel believed to be expressive of India's distinct spiritual qualities, as opposed to the "materialism" of the West. Tagore's best-known painting, "Bharat Mata" (Mother India), depicted a young woman, portrayed with four arms in the manner of Hindu deities, holding objects symbolic of India's national aspirations. Tagore later attempted to develop links with Japanese artists as part of an aspiration to construct a pan-Asianist model of art.
The Bengal School's influence in India declined with the spread of modernist ideas in the 1920s. In the post-independence period, Indian artists showed more adaptability as they borrowed freely from European styles and amalgamated them freely with the Indian motifs to new forms of art. While artists like Francis Newton Souza and Tyeb Mehta were more western in their approach, there were others like Ganesh Pyne and Maqbool Fida Husain who developed thoroughly indigenous styles of work. Today after the process of liberalization of market in India, the artists are experiencing more exposure to the international art-scene which is helping them in emerging with newer forms of art which were hitherto not seen in India. Jitish Kallat had shot to fame in the late 1990s with his paintings which were both modern and beyond the scope of generic definition. However, while artists in India in the new century are trying out new styles, themes and metaphors, it would not have been possible to get such quick recognition without the aid of the business houses which are now entering the art field like they had never before.
Amrita Sher-Gil was an Indian painter, sometimes known as India's Frida Kahlo, and today considered an important woman painter of 20th-century India, whose legacy stands at par with that of the Masters of Bengal Renaissance; she is also the 'most expensive' woman painter of India.
Today, she is amongst "Nine Masters", whose work was declared as "art treasures" by The Archaeological Survey of India, in 1976 and 1979, and over 100 of her paintings are now displayed at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
During the colonial era, Western influences started to make an impact on Indian art. Some artists developed a style that used Western ideas of composition, perspective and realism to illustrate Indian themes. Others, like Jamini Roy, consciously drew inspiration from folk art.
By the time of Independence in 1947, several schools of art in India provided access to modern techniques and ideas. Galleries were established to showcase these artists. Modern Indian art typically shows the influence of Western styles, but is often inspired by Indian themes and images. Major artists are beginning to gain international recognition, initially among the Indian diaspora, but also among non-Indian audiences.
The Progressive Artists' Group, established shortly after India became independent in 1947, was intended to establish new ways of expressing India in the post-colonial era. The founders were six eminent artists – K. H. Ara, S. K. Bakre, H. A. Gade, M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza and F. N. Souza, though the group was dissolved in 1956, it was profoundly influential in changing the idiom of Indian art. Almost all India's major artists in the 1950s were associated with the group. Some of those who are well-known today are Bal Chabda, Manishi Dey, Mukul Dey, V. S. Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, and Akbar Padamsee. Other famous painters like Jahar Dasgupta, Prokash Karmakar, John Wilkins, Narayanan Ramachandran, and Bijon Choudhuri enriched the art culture of India. They have become the icons of modern Indian art. Art historians like Prof. Rai Anand Krishna have also referred to those works of modern artistes that reflect Indian ethos. Geeta Vadhera has had acclaim in translating complex, Indian spiritual themes onto canvas like Sufi thought, the Upanishads and the Bhagwad Geeta.
Indian art got a boost with the economic liberalization of the country since the early 1990s. Artists from various fields now started bringing in varied styles of work. In post-liberalization India, many artists have established themselves in the international art market like the abstract painter Natvar Bhavsar, figurative artist Devajyoti Ray and sculptor Anish Kapoor whose mammoth postminimalist artworks have acquired attention for their sheer size. Many art houses and galleries have also opened in USA and Europe to showcase Indian artworks.
Filipino painting as a whole can be seen as an amalgamation of many cultural influences, though it tends to be more Western in its current form with Eastern roots.
Early Filipino painting can be found in red slip (clay mixed with water) designs embellished on the ritual pottery of the Philippines such as the acclaimed Manunggul Jar. Evidence of Philippine pottery-making dated as early as 6000BC has been found in Sanga-sanga Cave, Sulu and Laurente Cave, Cagayan. It has been proven that by 5000BC, the making of pottery was practiced throughout the country. Early Filipinos started making pottery before their Cambodian neighbors and at about the same time as the Thais as part of what appears to be a widespread Ice Age development of pottery technology. Further evidences of painting are manifested in the tattoo tradition of early Filipinos, whom the Portuguese explorer referred to as "Pintados" or the 'Painted People' of the Visayas. Various designs referencing flora and fauna with heavenly bodies decorate their bodies in various colored pigmentation. Perhaps, some of the most elaborate painting done by early Filipinos that survive to the present day can be manifested among the arts and architecture of the Maranao who are well known for the Nāga Dragons and the Sarimanok carved and painted in the beautiful Panolong of their Torogan or King's House.
Filipinos began creating paintings in the European tradition during the 17th-century Spanish period. The earliest of these paintings were Church frescoes, religious imagery from Biblical sources, as well as engravings, sculptures and lithographs featuring Christian icons and European nobility. Most of the paintings and sculptures between the 19th, and 20th century produced a mixture of religious, political, and landscape art works, with qualities of sweetness, dark, and light. Early modernist painters such as Damián Domingo was associated with religious and secular paintings. The art of Juan Luna and Félix Hidalgo showed a trend for political statement. Artist such as Fernando Amorsolo used post-modernism to produce paintings that illustrated Philippine culture, nature, and harmony. While other artists such as Fernando Zóbel used realities and abstract on his work.
Ancient Egypt, a civilization with very strong traditions of architecture and sculpture (both originally painted in bright colours) also had many mural paintings in temples and buildings, and painted illustrations on papyrus manuscripts. Egyptian wall painting and decorative painting is often graphic, sometimes more symbolic than realistic. Egyptian painting depicts figures in bold outline and flat silhouette, in which symmetry is a constant characteristic. Egyptian painting has close connection with its written language – called Egyptian hieroglyphs. Painted symbols are found amongst the first forms of written language. The Egyptians also painted on linen, remnants of which survive today. Ancient Egyptian paintings survived due to the extremely dry climate. The ancient Egyptians created paintings to make the afterlife of the deceased a pleasant place. The themes included journey through the afterworld or their protective deities introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld. Some examples of such paintings are paintings of the gods and goddesses Ra, Horus, Anubis, Nut, Osiris and Isis. Some tomb paintings show activities that the deceased were involved in when they were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity. In the New Kingdom and later, the "Book of the Dead" was buried with the entombed person. It was considered important for an introduction to the afterlife.
To the north of Egypt was the Minoan civilization centered on the island of Crete. The wall paintings found in the palace of Knossos are similar to that of the Egyptians but much more free in style. Mycenaean Greece, beginning around 1600 BC, produced similar art to that of Minoan Crete. Ancient Greek art during the Greek Dark Age became far less complex, but the renewal of Greek civilization throughout the Mediterranean during Archaic Greece brought about new forms of Greek art with the Orientalizing style.
Ancient Greece had skilled painters, sculptors (though both endeavours were regarded as mere manual labour at the time), and architects. The Parthenon is an example of their architecture that has lasted to modern days. Greek marble sculpture is often described as the highest form of Classical art. Painting on pottery of Ancient Greece and ceramics gives a particularly informative glimpse into the way society in Ancient Greece functioned. Black-figure vase painting and Red-figure vase painting gives many surviving examples of what Greek painting was. Some famous Greek painters on wooden panels who are mentioned in texts are Apelles, Zeuxis and Parrhasius, however no examples of Ancient Greek panel painting survive, only written descriptions by their contemporaries or later Romans. Zeuxis lived in 5–6BC and was said to be the first to use sfumato. According to Pliny the Elder, the realism of his paintings was such that birds tried to eat the painted grapes. Apelles is described as the greatest painter of Antiquity for perfect technique in drawing, brilliant color and modeling.
Roman art was influenced by Greece and can in part be taken as a descendant of ancient Greek painting. However, Roman painting does have important unique characteristics. Surviving Roman paintings include wall paintings and frescoes, many from villas in Campania, in Southern Italy at sites such as Pompeii and Herculaneum. Such painting can be grouped into four main "styles" or periods and may contain the first examples of "trompe-l'œil", pseudo-perspective, and pure landscape. Almost the only painted portraits surviving from the Ancient world are a large number of coffin-portraits of bust form found in the Late Antique cemetery of Al-Fayum. Although these were neither of the best period nor the highest quality, they are impressive in themselves, and give an idea of the quality that the finest ancient work must have had. A very small number of miniatures from Late Antique illustrated books also survive, and a rather larger number of copies of them from the Early Medieval period.
The rise of Christianity imparted a different spirit and aim to painting styles. Byzantine art, once its style was established by the 6th century, placed great emphasis on retaining traditional iconography and style, and gradually evolved during the thousand years of the Byzantine Empire and the living traditions of Greek and Russian Orthodox icon-painting. Byzantine painting has a hieratic feeling and icons were and still are seen as a representation of divine revelation. There were many frescos, but fewer of these have survived than mosaics.
Byzantine art has been compared to contemporary abstraction, in its flatness and highly stylised depictions of figures and landscape. Some periods of Byzantine art, especially the so-called Macedonian art of around the 10th century, are more flexible in approach. Frescos of the Palaeologian Renaissance of the early 14th century survive in the Chora Church in Istanbul.
In post-Antique Catholic Europe the first distinctive artistic style to emerge that included painting was the Insular art of the British Isles, where the only surviving examples are miniatures in Illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells. These are most famous for their abstract decoration, although figures, and sometimes scenes, were also depicted, especially in Evangelist portraits. Carolingian and Ottonian art also survives mostly in manuscripts, although some wall-painting remain, and more are documented. The art of this period combines Insular and "barbarian" influences with a strong Byzantine influence and an aspiration to recover classical monumentality and poise.
Walls of Romanesque and Gothic churches were decorated with frescoes as well as sculpture and many of the few remaining murals have great intensity, and combine the decorative energy of Insular art with a new monumentality in the treatment of figures. Far more miniatures in Illuminated manuscripts survive from the period, showing the same characteristics, which continue into the Gothic period.
Panel painting becomes more common during the Romanesque period, under the heavy influence of Byzantine icons. Towards the middle of the 13th century, Medieval art and Gothic painting became more realistic, with the beginnings of interest in the depiction of volume and perspective in Italy with Cimabue and then his pupil Giotto. From Giotto on, the treatment of composition by the best painters also became much more free and innovative. They are considered to be the two great medieval masters of painting in western culture. Cimabue, within the Byzantine tradition, used a more realistic and dramatic approach to his art. His pupil, Giotto, took these innovations to a higher level which in turn set the foundations for the western painting tradition. Both artists were pioneers in the move towards naturalism.
Churches were built with more and more windows and the use of colorful stained glass become a staple in decoration. One of the most famous examples of this is found in the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. By the 14th century Western societies were both richer and more cultivated and painters found new patrons in the nobility and even the bourgeoisie. Illuminated manuscripts took on a new character and slim, fashionably dressed court women were shown in their landscapes. This style soon became known as International style and tempera panel paintings and altarpieces gained importance.
The Renaissance (French for 'rebirth'), a cultural movement roughly spanning the 14th through the mid-17th century, heralded the study of classical sources, as well as advances in science which profoundly influenced European intellectual and artistic life. In the Low Countries, especially in modern day Flanders, a new way of painting was established in the beginning of the 15th century. In the footsteps of the developments made in the illumination of manuscripts, especially by the Limbourg Brothers, artists became fascinated by the tangible in the visible world and began representing objects in an extremely naturalistic way. The adoption of oil painting whose invention was traditionally, but erroneously, credited to Jan van Eyck, made possible a new verisimilitude in depicting this naturalism. The medium of oil paint was already present in the work of Melchior Broederlam, but painters like Jan van Eyck and Robert Campin brought its use to new heights and employed it to represent the naturalism they were aiming for. With this new medium the painters of this period were capable of creating richer colors with a deep intense tonality. The illusion of glowing light with a porcelain-like finish characterized Early Netherlandish painting and was a major difference to the matte surface of tempera paint used in Italy. Unlike the Italians, whose work drew heavily from the art of Ancient Greece and Rome, the northerners retained a stylistic residue of the sculpture and illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages (especially its naturalism). The most important artist of this time was Jan van Eyck, whose work ranks among the finest made by artists who are now known as Early Netherlandish painters or Flemish Primitives (since most artists were active in cities in modern day Flanders). The first painter of this period was the Master of Flémalle, nowadays identified as Robert Campin, whose work follows the art of the International Gothic. Another important painter of this period was Rogier van der Weyden, whose compositions stressed human emotion and drama, demonstrated for instance in his Descent from the Cross, which ranks among the most famous works of the 15th century and was the most influential Netherlandish painting of Christ's crucifixion. Other important artists from this period are Hugo van der Goes (whose work was highly influential in Italy), Dieric Bouts (who was among the first northern painters to demonstrate the use of a single vanishing point), Petrus Christus, Hans Memling and Gerard David.
In Italy, the art of Classical antiquity inspired a style of painting that emphasized the ideal. Artists such as Paolo Uccello, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna, Filippo Lippi, Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Raphael took painting to a higher level through the use of perspective, the study of human anatomy and proportion, and through their development of an unprecedented refinement in drawing and painting techniques. A somewhat more naturalistic style emerged in Venice. Painters of the Venetian school, such as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese, were less concerned with precision in their drawing than with the richness of color and unity of effect that could be achieved by a more spontaneous approach to painting.
Flemish, Dutch and German painters of the Renaissance such as Hans Holbein the Younger, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Matthias Grünewald, Hieronymous Bosch, and Pieter Bruegel represent a different approach from their Italian colleagues, one that is more realistic and less idealized. Genre painting became a popular idiom amongst the Northern painters like Pieter Bruegel.
Renaissance painting reflects the revolution of ideas and science (astronomy, geography) that occurred in this period, the Reformation, and the invention of the printing press. Dürer, considered one of the greatest of printmakers, states that painters are not mere artisans but thinkers as well. With the development of easel painting in the Renaissance, painting gained independence from architecture. Easel paintings—movable pictures which could be hung easily on walls—became a popular alternative to paintings fixed to furniture, walls or other structures. Following centuries dominated by religious imagery, secular subject matter slowly returned to Western painting. Artists included visions of the world around them, or the products of their own imaginations in their paintings. Those who could afford the expense could become patrons and commission portraits of themselves or their family.
The High Renaissance gave rise to a stylized art known as Mannerism. In place of the balanced compositions and rational approach to perspective that characterized art at the dawn of the 16th century, the Mannerists sought instability, artifice, and doubt. The unperturbed faces and gestures of Piero della Francesca and the calm Virgins of Raphael are replaced by the troubled expressions of Pontormo and the emotional intensity of El Greco. Restless and unstable compositions, often extreme or disjunctive effects of perspective, and stylized poses are characteristic of Italian Mannerists such as Tintoretto, Pontormo, and Bronzino, and appeared later in the work of Northern Mannerists such as Hendrick Goltzius, Bartholomeus Spranger, and Joachim Wtewael.
Baroque painting is associated with the Baroque cultural movement, a movement often identified with Absolutism and the Counter Reformation or Catholic Revival; the existence of important Baroque painting in non-absolutist and Protestant states also, however, underscores its popularity, as the style spread throughout Western Europe.
Baroque painting is characterized by great drama, rich, deep color, and intense light and dark shadows. Baroque art was meant to evoke emotion and passion instead of the calm rationality that had been prized during the Renaissance. During the period beginning around 1600 and continuing throughout the 17th century, painting is characterized as Baroque. Among the greatest painters of the Baroque are Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Rubens, Velázquez, Poussin, and Johannes Vermeer. Caravaggio is an heir of the humanist painting of the High Renaissance. His realistic approach to the human figure, painted directly from life and dramatically spotlit against a dark background, shocked his contemporaries and opened a new chapter in the history of painting.
Baroque painting often dramatizes scenes using light effects; this can be seen in works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Le Nain, La Tour, and Jusepe de Ribera.
In Italy, the Baroque style is epitomized by religious and mythological paintings in the Grand Manner by artists such as the Carracci, Guido Reni, and Luca Giordano. Illusionistic church ceiling frescoes by Pietro da Cortona seemed to open to the sky. A much quieter type of Baroque emerged in the Dutch Republic, where easel paintings of everyday subjects were popular with middle-class collectors, and many painters became specialists in genre, others in landscape or seascape or still life. Vermeer, Gerard ter Borch, and Pieter de Hooch brought great technical refinement to the painting of domestic scenes, as did Willem Claesz. Heda to still life. In contrast, Rembrandt excelled in painting every type of subject, and developed an individual painterly style in which the chiaroscuro and dark backgrounds derived from Caravaggio and the Utrecht Caravaggists lose their theatrical quality.
During the 18th century, Rococo followed as a lighter extension of Baroque, often frivolous and erotic. Rococo developed first in the decorative arts and interior design in France. Louis XV's succession brought a change in the court artists and general artistic fashion. The 1730s represented the height of Rococo development in France exemplified by the works of Antoine Watteau and François Boucher. Rococo still maintained the Baroque taste for complex forms and intricate patterns, but by this point, it had begun to integrate a variety of diverse characteristics, including a taste for Oriental designs and asymmetric compositions.
The Rococo style spread with French artists and engraved publications. It was readily received in the Catholic parts of Germany, Bohemia, and Austria, where it was merged with the lively German Baroque traditions. German Rococo was applied with enthusiasm to churches and palaces, particularly in the south, while Frederician Rococo developed in the Kingdom of Prussia.
The French masters Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard represent the style, as do Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin who was considered by some as the best French painter of the 18th century – the "Anti-Rococo". Portraiture was an important component of painting in all countries, but especially in England, where the leaders were William Hogarth, in a blunt realist style, and Francis Hayman, Angelica Kauffman (who was Swiss), Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds in more flattering styles influenced by Anthony van Dyck. In France during the Rococo era Jean-Baptiste Greuze (the favorite painter of Denis Diderot), excelled in portraits and history paintings, and Maurice Quentin de La Tour and Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun were highly accomplished portrait painters. La Tour specialized in pastel painting, which became a popular medium during this period.
William Hogarth helped develop a theoretical foundation for Rococo beauty. Though not intentionally referencing the movement, he argued in his "Analysis of Beauty" (1753) that the undulating lines and S-curves prominent in Rococo were the basis for grace and beauty in art or nature (unlike the straight line or the circle in Classicism). The beginning of the end for Rococo came in the early 1760s as figures like Voltaire and Jacques-François Blondel began to voice their criticism of the superficiality and degeneracy of the art. Blondel decried the "ridiculous jumble of shells, dragons, reeds, palm-trees and plants" in contemporary interiors.
By 1785, Rococo had passed out of fashion in France, replaced by the order and seriousness of Neoclassical artists like Jacques-Louis David.
After Rococo there arose in the late 18th century, in architecture, and then in painting severe neo-classicism, best represented by such artists as David and his heir Ingres. Ingres' work already contains much of the sensuality, but none of the spontaneity, that was to characterize Romanticism.
This movement turned its attention toward landscape and nature as well as the human figure and the supremacy of natural order above mankind's will. There is a pantheist philosophy (see Spinoza and Hegel) within this conception that opposes Enlightenment ideals by seeing mankind's destiny in a more tragic or pessimistic light. The idea that human beings are not above the forces of Nature is in contradiction to Ancient Greek and Renaissance ideals where mankind was above all things and owned his fate. This thinking led romantic artists to depict the sublime, ruined churches, shipwrecks, massacres and madness.
By the mid-19th-century painters became liberated from the demands of their patronage to only depict scenes from religion, mythology, portraiture or history. The idea "art for art's sake" began to find expression in the work of painters like Francisco de Goya, John Constable, and J.M.W. Turner. Romantic painters saw landscape painting as an important genre to express the vanity of mankind in opposition to the grandeur of nature. Until then, landscape painting wasn't considered the most important genre for painters (like portraiture or history painting). But painters like J.M.W. Turner and Caspar David Friedrich managed to elevate landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting.
Some of the major painters of this period are Eugène Delacroix, Théodore Géricault, J. M. W. Turner, Caspar David Friedrich and John Constable. Francisco de Goya's late work demonstrates the Romantic interest in the irrational, while the work of Arnold Böcklin evokes mystery and the paintings of Aesthetic movement artist James McNeill Whistler evoke both sophistication and decadence. In the United States the Romantic tradition of landscape painting was known as the Hudson River School: exponents include Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, and John Frederick Kensett. Luminism was a movement in American landscape painting related to the Hudson River School.
The leading Barbizon School painter Camille Corot painted in both a romantic and a realistic vein; his work prefigures Impressionism, as does the paintings of Eugène Boudin who was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was also an important influence on the young Claude Monet, whom in 1857 he introduced to Plein air painting. A major force in the turn towards Realism at mid-century was Gustave Courbet. In the latter third of the century Impressionists like Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, and Edgar Degas worked in a more direct approach than had previously been exhibited publicly. They eschewed allegory and narrative in favor of individualized responses to the modern world, sometimes painted with little or no preparatory study, relying on deftness of drawing and a highly chromatic pallette. Manet, Degas, Renoir, Morisot, and Cassatt concentrated primarily on the human subject. Both Manet and Degas reinterpreted classical figurative canons within contemporary situations; in Manet's case the re-imaginings met with hostile public reception. Renoir, Morisot, and Cassatt turned to domestic life for inspiration, with Renoir focusing on the female nude. Monet, Pissarro, and Sisley used the landscape as their primary motif, the transience of light and weather playing a major role in their work. While Sisley most closely adhered to the original principals of the Impressionist perception of the landscape, Monet sought challenges in increasingly chromatic and changeable conditions, culminating in his series of monumental works of Water Lilies painted in Giverny.
Pissarro adopted some of the experiments of Post-Impressionism. Slightly younger Post-Impressionists like Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Georges Seurat, along with Paul Cézanne led art to the edge of modernism; for Gauguin Impressionism gave way to a personal symbolism; Seurat transformed Impressionism's broken color into a scientific optical study, structured on frieze-like
compositions; Van Gogh's turbulent method of paint application, coupled with a sonorous use of color, predicted Expressionism and Fauvism, and Cézanne, desiring to unite classical composition with a revolutionary abstraction of natural forms, would come to be seen as a precursor of 20th-century art.
The spell of Impressionism was felt throughout the world, including in the United States, where it became integral to the painting of American Impressionists such as Childe Hassam, John Twachtman, and Theodore Robinson; and in Australia where painters of the Heidelberg School such as Arthur Streeton, Frederick McCubbin and Charles Conder painted "en plein air" and were particularly interested in the Australian landscape and light. It also exerted influence on painters who were not primarily Impressionistic in theory, like the portrait and landscape painter John Singer Sargent. At the same time in America at the turn of the 20th century there existed a native and nearly insular realism, as richly embodied in the figurative work of Thomas Eakins, the Ashcan School, and the landscapes and seascapes of Winslow Homer, all of whose paintings were deeply invested in the solidity of natural forms. The visionary landscape, a motive largely dependent on the ambiguity of the nocturne, found its advocates in Albert Pinkham Ryder and Ralph Albert Blakelock.
In the late 19th century there also were several, rather dissimilar, groups of Symbolist painters whose works resonated with younger artists of the 20th century, especially with the Fauvists and the Surrealists. Among them were Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Henri Fantin-Latour, Arnold Böcklin, Edvard Munch, Félicien Rops, and Jan Toorop, and Gustave Klimt amongst others including the Russian Symbolists like Mikhail Vrubel.
Symbolist painters mined mythology and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul, seeking evocative paintings that brought to mind a static world of silence. The symbols used in Symbolism are not the familiar emblems of mainstream iconography but intensely personal, private, obscure and ambiguous references. More a philosophy than an actual style of art, the Symbolist painters influenced the contemporary Art Nouveau movement and Les Nabis. In their exploration of dreamlike subjects, symbolist painters are found across centuries and cultures, as they are still today; Bernard Delvaille has described René Magritte's surrealism as "Symbolism plus Freud".
The heritage of painters like Van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin, and Seurat was essential for the development of modern art. At the beginning of the 20th century Henri Matisse and several other young artists revolutionized the Paris art world with "wild", multi-colored, expressive, landscapes and figure paintings that the critics called Fauvism. Pablo Picasso made his first cubist paintings based on Cézanne's idea that all depiction of nature can be reduced to three solids: cube, sphere and cone.
The heritage of painters like Van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin, and Seurat was essential for the development of modern art. At the beginning of the 20th century Henri Matisse and several other young artists including the pre-cubist Georges Braque, André Derain, Raoul Dufy and Maurice de Vlaminck revolutionized the Paris art world with "wild", multi-colored, expressive, landscapes and figure paintings that the critics called Fauvism. Henri Matisse's second version of "The Dance" signifies a key point in his career and in the development of modern painting. It reflects Matisse's incipient fascination with primitive art: the intense warm colors against the cool blue-green background and the rhythmical succession of dancing nudes convey the feelings of emotional liberation and hedonism. Pablo Picasso made his first cubist paintings based on Cézanne's idea that all depiction of nature can be reduced to three solids: cube, sphere and cone. With the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 1907, Picasso dramatically created a new and radical picture depicting a raw and primitive brothel scene with five prostitutes, violently painted women, reminiscent of African tribal masks and his own new Cubist inventions. analytic Cubism was jointly developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, exemplified by "Violin and Candlestick, Paris", from about 1908 through 1912. Analytic cubism, the first clear manifestation of cubism, was followed by synthetic cubism, practised by Braque, Picasso, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Albert Gleizes, Marcel Duchamp and countless other artists into the 1920s. Synthetic cubism is characterized by the introduction of different textures, surfaces, collage elements, papier collé and a large variety of merged subject matter.
Les Fauves (French for "The Wild Beasts") were early-20th-century painters, experimenting with freedom of expression through color. The name was given, humorously and not as a compliment, to the group by art critic Louis Vauxcelles. Fauvism was a short-lived and loose grouping of early-20th-century artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities, and the imaginative use of deep color over the representational values. Fauvists made the subject of the painting easy to read, exaggerated perspectives and an interesting prescient prediction of the Fauves was expressed in 1888 by Paul Gauguin to Paul Sérusier,
""How do you see these trees? They are yellow. So, put in yellow; this shadow, rather blue, paint it with pure ultramarine; these red leaves? Put in vermilion.""
The leaders of the movement were Henri Matisse and André Derain – friendly rivals of a sort, each with his own followers. Ultimately Matisse became the "yang" to Picasso's "yin" in the 20th century. Fauvist painters included Albert Marquet, Charles Camoin, Maurice de Vlaminck, Raoul Dufy, Othon Friesz, the Dutch painter Kees van Dongen, and Picasso's partner in Cubism, Georges Braque amongst others.
Fauvism, as a movement, had no concrete theories, and was short lived, beginning in 1905 and ending in 1907, they only had three exhibitions. Matisse was seen as the leader of the movement, due to his seniority in age and prior self-establishment in the academic art world. His 1905 portrait of Mme. Matisse "The Green Line", (above), caused a sensation in Paris when it was first exhibited. He said he wanted to create art to delight; art as a decoration was his purpose and it can be said that his use of bright colors tries to maintain serenity of composition. In 1906 at the suggestion of his dealer Ambroise Vollard, André Derain went to London and produced a series of paintings like "Charing Cross Bridge, London" (above) in the Fauvist style, paraphrasing the famous series by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Masters like Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard continued developing their narrative styles independent of any movement throughout the 20th century.
By 1907 Fauvism no longer was a shocking new movement, soon it was replaced by Cubism on the critics' radar screen as the latest new development in Contemporary Art of the time.
In 1907 Appolinaire, commenting about Matisse in an article published in La Falange, said, "We are not here in the presence of an extravagant or an extremist undertaking: Matisse's art is eminently reasonable."
Analytic cubism was jointly developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque from about 1908 through 1912. Analytic cubism, the first clear manifestation of cubism, was followed by Synthetic cubism, practised by Braque, Picasso, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Albert Gleizes, Marcel Duchamp and countless other artists into the 1920s. Synthetic cubism is characterized by the introduction of different textures, surfaces, collage elements, papier collé and a large variety of merged subject matter.
During the years between 1910 and the end of World War I and after the heyday of cubism, several movements emerged in Paris. Giorgio De Chirico moved to Paris in July 1911, where he joined his brother Andrea (the poet and painter known as Alberto Savinio). Through his brother he met Pierre Laprade a member of the jury at the Salon d'Automne, where he exhibited three of his dreamlike works: "Enigma of the Oracle", "Enigma of an Afternoon" and "Self-Portrait". During 1913 he exhibited his work at the Salon des Indépendants and Salon d'Automne, his work was noticed by Pablo Picasso and Guillaume Apollinaire and several others. His compelling and mysterious paintings are considered instrumental to the early beginnings of Surrealism. During the first half of the 20th century in Europe masters like Georges Braque, André Derain, and Giorgio De Chirico continued painting independent of any movement.
In the first two decades of the 20th century and after Cubism, several other important movements emerged; futurism (Balla), abstract art (Kandinsky), Der Blaue Reiter), Bauhaus, (Kandinsky) and (Klee), Orphism, (Robert Delaunay and František Kupka), Synchromism (Morgan Russell), De Stijl (Mondrian), Suprematism (Malevich), Constructivism (Tatlin), Dadaism (Duchamp, Picabia, Arp) and Surrealism (De Chirico, André Breton, Miró, Magritte, Dalí, Ernst). Modern painting influenced all the visual arts, from Modernist architecture and design, to avant-garde film, theatre and modern dance and became an experimental laboratory for the expression of visual experience, from photography and concrete poetry to advertising art and fashion. Van Gogh's painting exerted great influence upon 20th-century Expressionism, as can be seen in the work of the Fauves, Die Brücke (a group led by German painter Ernst Kirchner), and the Expressionism of Edvard Munch, Egon Schiele, Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine and others..
Wassily Kandinsky a Russian painter, printmaker and art theorist, one of the most famous 20th-century artists is generally considered the first important painter of modern abstract art. As an early Modernist, in search of new modes of visual expression, and spiritual expression, he theorized as did contemporary occultists and theosophists, that pure visual abstraction had corollary vibrations with sound and music. They posited that pure abstraction could express pure spirituality. His earliest abstractions were generally titled as the example in the (above gallery) "Composition VII", making connection to the work of the composers of music. Kandinsky included many of his theories about abstract art in his book "Concerning the Spiritual in Art." Robert Delaunay was a French artist who is associated with Orphism, (reminiscent of a link between pure abstraction and cubism). His later works were more abstract, reminiscent of Paul Klee. His key contributions to abstract painting refer to his bold use of color, and a clear love of experimentation of both depth and tone. At the invitation of Wassily Kandinsky, Delaunay and his wife the artist Sonia Delaunay, joined The Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter), a Munich-based group of abstract artists, in 1911, and his art took a turn to the abstract.
Other major pioneers of early abstraction include Russian painter Kasimir Malevich, who after the Russian Revolution in 1917, and after pressure from the Stalinist regime in 1924 returned to painting imagery and "Peasants and Workers in the field", and Swiss painter Paul Klee whose masterful color experiments made him an important pioneer of abstract painting at the Bauhaus. Still other important pioneers of abstract painting include the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, Czech painter František Kupka as well as American artists Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell who, in 1912, founded Synchromism, an art movement that closely resembles Orphism.
"Expressionism" and "Symbolism" are broad rubrics that involve several important and related movements in 20th-century painting that dominated much of the avant-garde art being made in Western, Eastern and Northern Europe. Expressionist works were painted largely between World War I and World War II, mostly in France, Germany, Norway, Russia, Belgium, and Austria. Expressionist artists are related to both Surrealism and Symbolism and are each uniquely and somewhat eccentrically personal. Fauvism, Die Brücke, and Der Blaue Reiter are three of the best known groups of Expressionist and Symbolist painters.
Artists as interesting and diverse as Marc Chagall, whose painting "I and the Village", (above) tells an autobiographical story that examines the relationship between the artist and his origins, with a lexicon of artistic Symbolism. Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Chaim Soutine, James Ensor, Oskar Kokoschka, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Beckmann, Franz Marc, Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz, Georges Rouault, Amedeo Modigliani and some of the Americans abroad like Marsden Hartley, and Stuart Davis, were considered influential expressionist painters. Although Alberto Giacometti is primarily thought of as an intense Surrealist sculptor, he made intense expressionist paintings as well.
Piet Mondrian's art was also related to his spiritual and philosophical studies. In 1908 he became interested in the theosophical movement launched by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in the late 19th century. Blavatsky believed that it was possible to attain a knowledge of nature more profound than that provided by empirical means, and much of Mondrian's work for the rest of his life was inspired by his search for that spiritual knowledge.
De Stijl also known as neoplasticism, was a Dutch artistic movement founded in 1917. The term "De Stijl" is used to refer to a body of work from 1917 to 1931 founded in the Netherlands.
"De Stijl" is also the name of a journal that was published by the Dutch painter, designer, writer, and critic Theo van Doesburg propagating the group's theories. Next to van Doesburg, the group's principal members were the painters Piet Mondrian, Vilmos Huszár, and Bart van der Leck, and the architects Gerrit Rietveld, Robert van 't Hoff, and J. J. P. Oud. The artistic philosophy that formed a basis for the group's work is known as "neoplasticism" – the new plastic art (or "Nieuwe Beelding" in Dutch).
Proponents of De Stijl sought to express a new utopian ideal of spiritual harmony and order. They advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour; they simplified visual compositions to the vertical and horizontal directions, and used only primary colors along with black and white. Indeed, according to the Tate Gallery's online article on neoplasticism, Mondrian himself sets forth these delimitations in his essay "Neo-Plasticism in Pictorial Art". He writes, "... this new plastic idea will ignore the particulars of appearance, that is to say, natural form and colour. On the contrary, it should find its expression in the abstraction of form and colour, that is to say, in the straight line and the clearly defined primary colour." The Tate article further summarizes that this art allows "only primary colours and non-colours, only squares and rectangles, only straight and horizontal or vertical line." The Guggenheim Museum's online article on De Stijl summarizes these traits in similar terms: "It [De Stijl] was posited on the fundamental principle of the geometry of the straight line, the square, and the rectangle, combined with a strong asymmetricality; the predominant use of pure primary colors with black and white; and the relationship between positive and negative elements in an arrangement of non-objective forms and lines."
De Stijl movement was influenced by Cubist painting as well as by the mysticism and the ideas about "ideal" geometric forms (such as the "perfect straight line") in the neoplatonic philosophy of mathematician M. H. J. Schoenmaekers. The works of De Stijl would influence the Bauhaus style and the international style of architecture as well as clothing and interior design. However, it did not follow the general guidelines of an "ism" (Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism), nor did it adhere to the principles of art schools like Bauhaus; it was a collective project, a joint enterprise.
Marcel Duchamp, came to international prominence in the wake of his notorious success at the New York City Armory Show in 1913, (soon after he denounced artmaking for chess). After Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase became the international cause celebre at the 1913 Armory show in New York he created "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, Large Glass". The "Large Glass" pushed the art of painting to radical new limits being part painting, part collage, part construction. Duchamp became closely associated with the Dada movement that began in neutral Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1920. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature (poetry, art manifestoes, art theory), theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti war politic through a rejection of the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Kurt Schwitters, Tristan Tzara, Hans Richter, Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, along with Duchamp and many others are associated with the Dadaist movement. Duchamp and several Dadaists are also associated with Surrealism, the movement that dominated European painting in the 1920s and 1930s.
In 1924 André Breton published the "Surrealist Manifesto." The Surrealist movement in painting became synonymous with the avant-garde and which featured artists whose works varied from the abstract to the super-realist. With works on paper like "Machine Turn Quickly", (above) Francis Picabia continued his involvement in the Dada movement through 1919 in Zurich and Paris, before breaking away from it after developing an interest in Surrealist art. Yves Tanguy, René Magritte and Salvador Dalí are particularly known for their realistic depictions of dream imagery and fantastic manifestations of the imagination. Joan Miró's "The Tilled Field" of 1923–1924 verges on abstraction, this early painting of a complex of objects and figures, and arrangements of sexually active characters; was Miró's first Surrealist masterpiece. Miró's "The Tilled Field" also contains several parallels to Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights": similar flocks of birds; pools from which living creatures emerge; and oversize disembodied ears all echo the Dutch master's work that Miró saw as a young painter in The Prado. The more abstract Joan Miró, Jean Arp, André Masson, and Max Ernst were very influential, especially in the United States during the 1940s.
Throughout the 1930s, Surrealism continued to become more visible to the public at large. A Surrealist group developed in Britain and, according to Breton, their 1936 London International Surrealist Exhibition was a high water mark of the period and became the model for international exhibitions. Surrealist groups in Japan, and especially in Latin America, the Caribbean and in Mexico produced innovative and original works.
Dalí and Magritte created some of the most widely recognized images of the movement. The 1928/1929 painting "This Is Not A Pipe", by Magritte is the subject of a Michel Foucault 1973 book, "This is not a Pipe" (English edition, 1991), that discusses the painting and its paradox. Dalí joined the group in 1929, and participated in the rapid establishment of the visual style between 1930 and 1935.
Surrealism as a visual movement had found a method: to expose psychological truth by stripping ordinary objects of their normal significance, in order to create a compelling image that was beyond ordinary formal organization, and perception, sometimes evoking empathy from the viewer, sometimes laughter and sometimes outrage and bewilderment.
1931 marked a year when several Surrealist painters produced works which marked turning points in their stylistic evolution: in one example, liquid shapes become the trademark of Dalí, particularly in his "The Persistence of Memory", which features the image of watches that sag as if they are melting. Evocations of time and its compelling mystery and absurdity.
The characteristics of this style – a combination of the depictive, the abstract, and the psychological – came to stand for the alienation which many people felt in the modernist period, combined with the sense of reaching more deeply into the psyche, to be "made whole with one's individuality."
Max Ernst whose 1920 painting "Murdering Airplane", studied philosophy and psychology in Bonn and was interested in the alternative realities experienced by the insane. His paintings may have been inspired by the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's study of the delusions of a paranoiac, Daniel Paul Schreber. Freud identified Schreber's fantasy of becoming a woman as a "castration complex." The central image of two pairs of legs refers to Schreber's hermaphroditic desires. Ernst's inscription on the back of the painting reads: "The picture is curious because of its symmetry. The two sexes balance one another."
During the 1920s André Masson's work was enormously influential in helping the newly arrived in Paris and young artist Joan Miró find his roots in the new Surrealist painting. Miró acknowledged in letters to his dealer Pierre Matisse the importance of Masson as an example to him in his early years in Paris.
Long after personal, political and professional tensions have fragmented the Surrealist group into thin air and ether, Magritte, Miró, Dalí and the other Surrealists continue to define a visual program in the arts. Other prominent surrealist artists include Giorgio de Chirico, Méret Oppenheim, Toyen, Grégoire Michonze, Roberto Matta, Kay Sage, Leonora Carrington, Dorothea Tanning, and Leonor Fini among others.
Der Blaue Reiter was a German movement lasting from 1911 to 1914, fundamental to Expressionism, along with Die Brücke which was founded the previous decade in 1905 and was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905. Founding members of Die Brücke were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members included Max Pechstein, Otto Mueller and others. The group was one of the seminal ones, which in due course had a major impact on the evolution of modern art in the 20th century and created the style of Expressionism.
Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, August Macke, Alexej von Jawlensky, whose psychically expressive painting of the Russian dancer "Portrait of Alexander Sakharoff", 1909 is in the gallery above, Marianne von Werefkin, Lyonel Feininger and others founded the Der Blaue Reiter group in response to the rejection of Kandinsky's painting "Last Judgement" from an exhibition. Der Blaue Reiter lacked a central artistic manifesto, but was centered around Kandinsky and Marc. Artists Gabriele Münter and Paul Klee were also involved.
The name of the movement comes from a painting by Kandinsky created in 1903. It is also claimed that the name could have derived from Marc's enthusiasm for horses and Kandinsky's love of the colour blue. For Kandinsky, "blue" is the colour of spirituality: the darker the blue, the more it awakens human desire for the eternal.
In the USA during the period between World War I and World War II painters tended to go to Europe for recognition. Artists like Marsden Hartley, Patrick Henry Bruce, Gerald Murphy and Stuart Davis, created reputations abroad. In New York City, Albert Pinkham Ryder and Ralph Blakelock were influential and important figures in advanced American painting between 1900 and 1920. During the 1920s photographer Alfred Stieglitz exhibited Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Alfred Henry Maurer, Charles Demuth, John Marin and other artists including European Masters Henri Matisse, Auguste Rodin, Henri Rousseau, Paul Cézanne, and Pablo Picasso, at his gallery "the 291."
During the 1920s and the 1930s and the Great Depression, Surrealism, late Cubism, the Bauhaus, De Stijl, Dada, German Expressionism, Expressionism, and modernist and masterful color painters like Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard characterized the European art scene. In Germany Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz and others politicized their paintings, foreshadowing the coming of World War II. While in America American Scene painting and the social realism and regionalism movements that contained both political and social commentary dominated the art world. Artists like Ben Shahn, Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, George Tooker, John Steuart Curry, Reginald Marsh, and others became prominent. In Latin America besides the Uruguayan painter Joaquín Torres García and Rufino Tamayo from Mexico, the muralist movement with Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros, José Orozco, Pedro Nel Gómez and Santiago Martinez Delgado and the Symbolist paintings by Frida Kahlo began a renaissance of the arts for the region, with a use of color and historic, and political messages. Frida Kahlo's Symbolist works also relate strongly to Surrealism and to the Magic Realism movement in literature. The psychological drama in many of Kahlo's self portraits (above) underscore the vitality and relevance of her paintings to artists in the 21st century.
"American Gothic" is a painting by Grant Wood from 1930. Portraying a pitchfork-holding farmer and a younger woman in front of a house of Carpenter Gothic style, it is one of the most familiar images in 20th-century American art. Art critics had favorable opinions about the painting, like Gertrude Stein and Christopher Morley, they assumed the painting was meant to be a satire of rural small-town life. It was thus seen as part of the trend towards increasingly critical depictions of rural America, along the lines of Sherwood Anderson's "1919 Winesburg, Ohio", Sinclair Lewis' 1920 "Main Street", and Carl Van Vechten's "The Tattooed Countess" in literature. However, with the onset of the Great Depression, the painting came to be seen as a depiction of steadfast American pioneer spirit.
Diego Rivera is perhaps best known by the public world for his 1933 mural, "Man at the Crossroads", in the lobby of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center. When his patron Nelson Rockefeller discovered that the mural included a portrait of Vladimir Lenin and other communist imagery, he fired Rivera, and the unfinished work was eventually destroyed by Rockefeller's staff. The film "Cradle Will Rock" includes a dramatization of the controversy. Frida Kahlo (Rivera's wife's) works are often characterized by their stark portrayals of pain. Of her 143 paintings 55 are self-portraits, which frequently incorporate symbolic portrayals of her physical and psychological wounds. Kahlo was deeply influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, which is apparent in her paintings' bright colors and dramatic symbolism. Christian and Jewish themes are often depicted in her work as well; she combined elements of the classic religious Mexican tradition—which were often bloody and violent—with surrealist renderings. While her paintings are not overtly Christian they certainly contain elements of the macabre Mexican Christian style of religious paintings.
Political activism was an important piece of David Siqueiros' life, and frequently inspired him to set aside his artistic career. His art was deeply rooted in the Mexican Revolution, a violent and chaotic period in Mexican history in which various social and political factions fought for recognition and power. The period from the 1920s to the 1950s is known as the Mexican Renaissance, and Siqueiros was active in the attempt to create an art that was at once Mexican and universal. He briefly gave up painting to focus on organizing miners in Jalisco.
During the 1930s radical leftist politics characterized many of the artists connected to Surrealism, including Pablo Picasso. On 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the Basque town of Gernika was the scene of the "Bombing of Gernika" by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe. The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overthrow the Basque Government and the Spanish Republican government. The town was devastated, though the Biscayan assembly and the Oak of Gernika survived. Pablo Picasso painted his mural sized "Guernica" to commemorate the horrors of the bombing.
In its final form, "Guernica" is an immense black and white, tall and wide mural painted in oil. The mural presents a scene of death, violence, brutality, suffering, and helplessness without portraying their immediate causes. The choice to paint in black and white contrasts with the intensity of the scene depicted and invokes the immediacy of a newspaper photograph.
Picasso painted the mural sized painting called "Guernica" in protest of the bombing. The painting was first exhibited in Paris in 1937, then Scandinavia, then London in 1938 and finally in 1939 at Picasso's request the painting was sent to the United States in an extended loan (for safekeeping) at MoMA. The painting went on a tour of museums throughout the USA until its final return to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City where it was exhibited for nearly thirty years. Finally in accord with Pablo Picasso's wish to give the painting to the people of Spain as a gift, it was sent to Spain in 1981.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the years of World War II American art was characterized by Social Realism and American Scene Painting in the work of Grant Wood, Edward Hopper, Ben Shahn, Thomas Hart Benton, and several others. "Nighthawks" (1942) is a painting by Edward Hopper that portrays people sitting in a downtown diner late at night. It is not only Hopper's most famous painting, but one of the most recognizable in American art. It is currently in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The scene was inspired by a diner (since demolished) in Greenwich Village, Hopper's home neighborhood in Manhattan. Hopper began painting it immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After this event there was a large feeling of gloominess over the country, a feeling that is portrayed in the painting. The urban street is empty outside the diner, and inside none of the three patrons is apparently looking or talking to the others but instead is lost in their own thoughts. This portrayal of modern urban life as empty or lonely is a common theme throughout Hopper's work.
The Dynamic for artists in Europe during the 1930s deteriorated rapidly as the Nazi's power in Germany and across Eastern Europe increased. The climate became so hostile for artists and art associated with Modernism and abstraction that many left for the Americas. "Degenerate art" was a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany for virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were subjected to sanctions. These included being dismissed from teaching positions, being forbidden to exhibit or to sell their art, and in some cases being forbidden to produce art entirely.
"Degenerate Art" was also the title of an exhibition, mounted by the Nazis in Munich in 1937, consisting of modernist artworks chaotically hung and accompanied by text labels deriding the art. Designed to inflame public opinion against modernism, the exhibition subsequently traveled to several other cities in Germany and Austria. German artist Max Beckmann and scores of others fled Europe for New York. In New York City a new generation of young and exciting Modernist painters led by Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, and others were just beginning to come of age.
Arshile Gorky's portrait of someone who might be Willem de Kooning (above) is an example of the evolution of abstract expressionism from the context of figure painting, cubism and surrealism. Along with his friends de Kooning and John D. Graham Gorky created bio-morphically shaped and abstracted figurative compositions that by the 1940s evolved into totally abstract paintings. Gorky's work seems to be a careful analysis of memory, emotion and shape, using line and color to express feeling and nature.
The 1940s in New York City heralded the triumph of American abstract expressionism, a modernist movement that combined lessons learned from Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Surrealism, Joan Miró, Cubism, Fauvism, and early Modernism via great teachers in America like Hans Hofmann and John D. Graham. American artists benefited from the presence of Piet Mondrian, Fernand Léger, Max Ernst and the André Breton group, Pierre Matisse's gallery, and Peggy Guggenheim's gallery "The Art of This Century", as well as other factors. The figurative work of Francis Bacon, Frida Kahlo, Edward Hopper, Lucian Freud, Andrew Wyeth and others served as a kind of alternative to abstract expressionism.
Post-Second World War American painting called Abstract expressionism included artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Clyfford Still, Franz Kline, Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Tobey, Barnett Newman, James Brooks, Philip Guston, Robert Motherwell, Conrad Marca-Relli, Jack Tworkov, William Baziotes, Richard Pousette-Dart, Ad Reinhardt, Hedda Sterne, Jimmy Ernst, Esteban Vicente, Bradley Walker Tomlin, and Theodoros Stamos, among others. American Abstract expressionism got its name in 1946 from the art critic Robert Coates. It is seen as combining the emotional intensity and self-denial of the German Expressionists with the anti-figurative aesthetic of the European abstract schools such as futurism, the Bauhaus and synthetic cubism. Abstract expressionism, action painting, and Color Field painting are synonymous with the New York School.
Technically Surrealism was an important predecessor for abstract expressionism with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic or subconscious creation. Jackson Pollock's dripping paint onto a canvas laid on the floor is a technique that has its roots in the work of André Masson. Another important early manifestation of what came to be abstract expressionism is the work of American Northwest artist Mark Tobey, especially his "white writing" canvases, which, though generally not large in scale, anticipate the "all over" look of Pollock's drip paintings.
Additionally, Abstract expressionism has an image of being rebellious, anarchic, highly idiosyncratic and, some feel, rather nihilistic. In practice, the term is applied to any number of artists working (mostly) in New York who had quite different styles, and even applied to work which is not especially abstract nor expressionist. Pollock's energetic "action paintings", with their "busy" feel, are different both technically and aesthetically, to the violent and grotesque "Women" series of Willem de Kooning. As seen above in the gallery "Woman V" is one of a series of six paintings made by de Kooning between 1950 and 1953 that depict a three-quarter-length female figure. He began the first of these paintings, "Woman I" collection: The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, in June 1950, repeatedly changing and painting out the image until January or February 1952, when the painting was abandoned unfinished. The art historian Meyer Schapiro saw the painting in de Kooning's studio soon afterwards and encouraged the artist to persist. De Kooning's response was to begin three other paintings on the same theme; "Woman II" collection: The Museum of Modern Art, New York City, "Woman III", Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, "Woman IV", Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. During the summer of 1952, spent at East Hampton, de Kooning further explored the theme through drawings and pastels. He may have finished work on "Woman I" by the end of June, or possibly as late as November 1952, and probably the other three women pictures were concluded at much the same time. The "Woman series" are decidedly figurative paintings. Another important artist is Franz Kline, as demonstrated by his painting "High Street", 1950 as with Jackson Pollock and other Abstract Expressionists, was labelled an "action painter" because of his seemingly spontaneous and intense style, focusing less, or not at all, on figures or imagery, but on the actual brush strokes and use of canvas.
Clyfford Still, Barnett Newman, Adolph Gottlieb, and the serenely shimmering blocks of color in Mark Rothko's work (which is not what would usually be called expressionist and which Rothko denied was abstract), are classified as abstract expressionists, albeit from what Clement Greenberg termed the Color Field direction of abstract expressionism. Both Hans Hofmann and Robert Motherwell (gallery) can be comfortably described as practitioners of action painting and Color Field painting.
Abstract expressionism has many stylistic similarities to the Russian artists of the early 20th century such as Wassily Kandinsky. Although it is true that spontaneity or of the impression of spontaneity characterized many of the abstract expressionists works, most of these paintings involved careful planning, especially since their large size demanded it. An exception might be the drip paintings of Pollock.
Why this style gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s is a matter of debate. American Social realism had been the mainstream in the 1930s. It had been influenced not only by the Great Depression but also by the Social Realists of Mexico such as David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera. The political climate after World War II did not long tolerate the social protests of those painters. Abstract expressionism arose during World War II and began to be showcased during the early 1940s at galleries in New York like "The Art of This Century Gallery". The late 1940s through the mid-1950s ushered in the McCarthy era. It was after World War II and a time of political conservatism and extreme artistic censorship in the United States. Some people have conjectured that since the subject matter was often totally abstract, Abstract expressionism became a safe strategy for artists to pursue this style. Abstract art could be seen as apolitical. Or if the art was political, the message was largely for the insiders. However, those theorists are in the minority. As the first truly original school of painting in America, Abstract expressionism demonstrated the vitality and creativity of the country in the post-war years, as well as its ability (or need) to develop an aesthetic sense that was not constrained by the European standards of beauty.
Although Abstract expressionism spread quickly throughout the United States, the major centers of this style were New York City and California, especially in the New York School, and the San Francisco Bay area. Abstract expressionist paintings share certain characteristics, including the use of large canvases, an "all-over" approach, in which the whole canvas is treated with equal importance (as opposed to the center being of more interest than the edges). The canvas as the "arena" became a credo of action painting, while the "integrity of the picture plane" became a credo of the Color Field painters. Many other artists began exhibiting their abstract expressionist related paintings during the 1950s including Alfred Leslie, Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Cy Twombly, Milton Resnick, Michael Goldberg, Norman Bluhm, Ray Parker, Nicolas Carone, Grace Hartigan, Friedel Dzubas, and Robert Goodnough among others.
During the 1950s Color Field painting initially referred to a particular type of abstract expressionism, especially the work of Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell and Adolph Gottlieb. It essentially involved abstract paintings with large, flat expanses of color that expressed the sensual, and visual feelings and properties of large areas of nuanced surface. Art critic Clement Greenberg perceived Color Field painting as related to but different from Action painting. The overall expanse and gestalt of the work of the early color field painters speaks of an almost religious experience, awestruck in the face of an expanding universe of sensuality, color and surface. During the early-to-mid-1960s, "Color Field painting" came to refer to the styles of artists like Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, and Helen Frankenthaler, whose works were related to second-generation abstract expressionism, and to younger artists like Larry Zox, and Frank Stella, – all moving in a new direction. Artists like Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Morris Louis, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, Larry Zox, and others often used greatly reduced references to nature, and they painted with a highly articulated and psychological use of color. In general these artists eliminated recognizable imagery. In "Mountains and Sea", from 1952, a seminal work of Color Field painting by Helen Frankenthaler the artist used the stain technique for the first time.
In Europe there was the continuation of Surrealism, Cubism, Dada and the works of Matisse. Also in Europe, Tachisme (the European equivalent to Abstract expressionism) took hold of the newest generation. Serge Poliakoff, Nicolas de Staël, Georges Mathieu, Vieira da Silva, Jean Dubuffet, Yves Klein and Pierre Soulages among others are considered important figures in post-war European painting.
Eventually abstract painting in America evolved into movements such as Neo-Dada, Color Field painting, Post painterly abstraction, Op art, hard-edge painting, Minimal art, shaped canvas painting, Lyrical Abstraction, Neo-expressionism and the continuation of Abstract expressionism. As a response to the tendency toward abstraction imagery emerged through various new movements, notably Pop art.
Earlier in England in 1956 the term "Pop Art" was used by Lawrence Alloway for paintings that celebrated consumerism of the post World War II era. This movement rejected abstract expressionism and its focus on the hermeneutic and psychological interior, in favor of art which depicted, and often celebrated material consumer culture, advertising, and iconography of the mass production age. The early works of David Hockney and the works of Richard Hamilton Peter Blake and Eduardo Paolozzi were considered seminal examples in the movement.
Pop art in America was to a large degree initially inspired by the works of Jasper Johns, Larry Rivers, and Robert Rauschenberg. Although the paintings of Gerald Murphy, Stuart Davis and Charles Demuth during the 1920s and 1930s set the table for pop art in America. In New York City during the mid-1950s Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns created works of art that at first seemed to be continuations of Abstract expressionist painting. Actually their works and the work of Larry Rivers, were radical departures from abstract expressionism especially in the use of banal and literal imagery and the inclusion and the combining of mundane materials into their work. The innovations of Johns' specific use of various images and objects like chairs, numbers, targets, beer cans and the American flag; Rivers paintings of subjects drawn from popular culture such as George Washington crossing the Delaware, and his inclusions of images from advertisements like the camel from Camel cigarettes, and Rauschenberg's surprising constructions using inclusions of objects and pictures taken from popular culture, hardware stores, junkyards, the city streets, and taxidermy gave rise to a radical new movement in American art. Eventually by 1963 the movement came to be known worldwide as pop art.
American pop art is exemplified by artists: Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Wayne Thiebaud, James Rosenquist, Jim Dine, Tom Wesselmann and Roy Lichtenstein among others. Lichtenstein's most important work is arguably "Whaam!" (1963, Tate Modern, London), one of the earliest known examples of pop art, adapted a comic-book panel from a 1962 issue of DC Comics' "All-American Men of War". The painting depicts a fighter aircraft firing a rocket into an enemy plane, with a red-and-yellow explosion. The cartoon style is heightened by the use of the onomatopoeic lettering ""Whaam!"" and the boxed caption ""I pressed the fire control... and ahead of me rockets blazed through the sky..."" Pop art merges popular and mass culture with fine art, while injecting humor, irony, and recognizable imagery and content into the mix. In October 1962 the Sidney Janis Gallery mounted "The New Realists" the first major pop art group exhibition in an uptown art gallery in New York City. Sidney Janis mounted the exhibition in a 57th Street storefront near his gallery at 15 E. 57th Street. The show sent shockwaves through the New York School and reverberated worldwide. Earlier in the fall of 1962 an historically important and ground-breaking "New Painting of Common Objects" exhibition of pop art, curated by Walter Hopps at the Pasadena Art Museum sent shock waves across the Western United States.
While in the downtown scene in New York City's East Village 10th Street galleries artists were formulating an American version of Pop Art. Claes Oldenburg had his storefront and made painted objects, and the Green Gallery on 57th Street began to show Tom Wesselmann and James Rosenquist. Later Leo Castelli exhibited other American artists including the bulk of the careers of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and his use of Benday dots, a technique used in commercial reproduction. There is a connection between the radical works of Duchamp, and Man Ray, the rebellious Dadaists – with a sense of humor; and pop artists like Alex Katz (who became known for his parodies of portrait photography and suburban life), Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and the others.
While throughout the 20th century many painters continued to practice landscape and figurative painting with contemporary subjects and solid technique, like Milton Avery, John D. Graham, Fairfield Porter, Edward Hopper, Balthus, Francis Bacon, Nicolas de Staël, Andrew Wyeth, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach, Philip Pearlstein, David Park, Nathan Oliveira, David Hockney, Malcolm Morley, Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Audrey Flack, Chuck Close, Susan Rothenberg, Eric Fischl, Vija Celmins and Richard Diebenkorn.
During the 1930s through the 1960s abstract painting in America and Europe evolved into movements such as abstract expressionism, Color Field painting, Post painterly abstraction, Op art, hard-edge painting, Minimal art, shaped canvas painting, and Lyrical Abstraction. Other artists reacted as a response to the tendency toward abstraction, allowing figurative imagery to continue through various new contexts like the Bay Area Figurative Movement in the 1950s and new forms of expressionism from the 1940s through the 1960s. In Italy during this time, Giorgio Morandi was the foremost still life painter, exploring a wide variety of approaches to depicting everyday bottles and kitchen implements. Throughout the 20th century many painters practiced Realism and used expressive imagery; practicing landscape and figurative painting with contemporary subjects and solid technique, and unique expressivity like still-life painter Giorgio Morandi, Milton Avery, John D. Graham, Fairfield Porter, Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, Balthus, Francis Bacon, Leon Kossoff, Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, Philip Pearlstein, Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Grace Hartigan, Robert De Niro, Sr., Elaine de Kooning and others. Along with Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Pierre Bonnard, Georges Braque, and other 20th-century masters. In particular Milton Avery through his use of color and his interest in seascape and landscape paintings connected with the Color field aspect of Abstract expressionism as manifested by Adolph Gottlieb and Mark Rothko as well as the lessons American painters took from the work of Henri Matisse.
"Head VI", 1949 is a painting by the Irish born artist Francis Bacon and is an example of Post World War II European Expressionism. The work shows a distorted version of the Portrait of Innocent X painted by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez in 1650. The work is one of a series of variants of the Velázquez painting which Bacon executed throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, over a total of forty-five works. When asked why he was compelled to revisit the subject so often, Bacon replied that he had nothing against the Popes, that he merely "wanted an excuse to use these colours, and you can't give ordinary clothes that purple colour without getting into a sort of false fauve manner." The Pope in this version seethes with anger and aggression, and the dark colors give the image a grotesque and nightmarish appearance. The pleated curtains of the backdrop are rendered transparent, and seem to fall through the Pope's face.
Italian painter Giorgio Morandi was an important 20th-century early pioneer of Minimalism. Born in Bologna, Italy, in 1890, throughout his career, Morandi concentrated almost exclusively on still lifes and landscapes, except for a few self-portraits. With great sensitivity to tone, color, and compositional balance, he would depict the same familiar bottles and vases again and again in paintings notable for their simplicity of execution. Morandi executed 133 etchings, a significant body of work in its own right, and his drawings and watercolors often approach abstraction in their economy of means. Through his simple and repetitive motifs and economical use of color, value and surface, Morandi became a prescient and important forerunner of Minimalism. He died in Bologna in 1964.
After World War II the term School of Paris often referred to Tachisme, the European equivalent of American Abstract expressionism and those artists are also related to Cobra. Important proponents being Jean Dubuffet, Pierre Soulages, Nicholas de Staël, Hans Hartung, Serge Poliakoff, and Georges Mathieu, among several others. During the early 1950s Dubuffet (who was always a figurative artist), and de Staël, abandoned abstraction, and returned to imagery via figuration and landscape. De Staël 's work was quickly recognised within the post-war art world, and he became one of the most influential artists of the 1950s. His return to representation (seascapes, footballers, jazz musicians, seagulls) during the early 1950s can be seen as an influential precedent for the American Bay Area Figurative Movement, as many of those abstract painters like Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Wayne Thiebaud, Nathan Oliveira, Joan Brown and others made a similar move; returning to imagery during the mid-1950s. Much of de Staël 's late work – in particular his thinned, and diluted oil on canvas abstract landscapes of the mid-1950s predicts Color Field painting and Lyrical Abstraction of the 1960s and 1970s. Nicolas de Staël's bold and intensely vivid color in his last paintings predict the direction of much of contemporary painting that came after him including Pop art of the 1960s.
During the 1950s and 1960s as abstract painting in America and Europe evolved into movements such as Color Field painting, post-painterly abstraction, op art, hard-edge painting, minimal art, shaped canvas painting, Lyrical Abstraction, and the continuation of Abstract expressionism. Other artists reacted as a response to the tendency toward abstraction with art brut, as seen in "Court les rues," 1962, by Jean Dubuffet, fluxus, neo-Dada, New Realism, allowing imagery to re-emerge through various new contexts like pop art, the Bay Area Figurative Movement (a prime example is Diebenkorn's "Cityscape I, (Landscape No. 1)," 1963, Oil on canvas, 60 1/4 x 50 1/2 inches, collection: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) and later in the 1970s Neo-expressionism. The Bay Area Figurative Movement of whom David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Nathan Oliveira and Richard Diebenkorn whose painting "Cityscape 1", 1963 is a typical example were influential members flourished during the 1950s and 1960s in California. Although throughout the 20th century painters continued to practice Realism and use imagery, practicing landscape and figurative painting with contemporary subjects and solid technique, and unique expressivity like Milton Avery, Edward Hopper, Jean Dubuffet, Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, Philip Pearlstein, and others. Younger painters practiced the use of imagery in new and radical ways. Yves Klein, Martial Raysse, Niki de Saint Phalle, Wolf Vostell, David Hockney, Alex Katz, Malcolm Morley, Ralph Goings, Audrey Flack, Richard Estes, Chuck Close, Susan Rothenberg, Eric Fischl, John Baeder and Vija Celmins were a few who became prominent between the 1960s and the 1980s. Fairfield Porter was largely self-taught, and produced representational work in the midst of the Abstract Expressionist movement. His subjects were primarily landscapes, domestic interiors and portraits of family, friends and fellow artists, many of them affiliated with the New York School of writers, including John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, and James Schuyler. Many of his paintings were set in or around the family summer house on Great Spruce Head Island, Maine.
Also during the 1960s and 1970s, there was a reaction against painting. Critics like Douglas Crimp viewed the work of artists like Ad Reinhardt, and declared the "death of painting". Artists began to practice new ways of making art. New movements gained prominence some of which are: Fluxus, Happening, Video art, Installation art Mail art, the situationists, Conceptual art, Postminimalism, Earth art, arte povera, performance art and body art among others.
Neo-Dada is also a movement that started 1n the 1950s and 1960s and was related to Abstract expressionism only with imagery. Featuring the emergence of combined manufactured items, with artist materials, moving away from previous conventions of painting. This trend in art is exemplified by the work of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, whose "combines" in the 1950s were forerunners of Pop Art and Installation art, and made use of the assemblage of large physical objects, including stuffed animals, birds and commercial photography. Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Larry Rivers, John Chamberlain, Claes Oldenburg, George Segal, Jim Dine, and Edward Kienholz among others were important pioneers of both abstraction and Pop Art; creating new conventions of art-making; they made acceptable in serious contemporary art circles the radical inclusion of unlikely materials as parts of their works of art.
Color Field painting clearly pointed toward a new direction in American painting, away from abstract expressionism. Color Field painting is related to post-painterly abstraction, suprematism, abstract expressionism, hard-edge painting and Lyrical Abstraction.
During the 1960s and 1970s abstract painting continued to develop in America through varied styles. Geometric abstraction, Op art, hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimal painting, were some interrelated directions for advanced abstract painting as well as some other new movements. Morris Louis was an important pioneer in advanced Color Field painting, his work can serve as a bridge between abstract expressionism, Color Field painting, and minimal art. Two influential teachers Josef Albers and Hans Hofmann introduced a new generation of American artists to their advanced theories of color and space. Josef Albers is best remembered for his work as a Geometric abstractionist painter and theorist. Most famous of all are the hundreds of paintings and prints that make up the series "Homage to the Square". In this rigorous series, begun in 1949, Albers explored chromatic interactions with flat colored squares arranged concentrically on the canvas. Albers' theories on art and education were formative for the next generation of artists. His own paintings form the foundation of both hard-edge painting and Op art.
Josef Albers, Hans Hofmann, Ilya Bolotowsky, Burgoyne Diller, Victor Vasarely, Bridget Riley, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Frank Stella, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Ellsworth Kelly, Barnett Newman, Larry Poons, Ronald Davis, Larry Zox, Al Held and some others like Mino Argento, are artists closely associated with Geometric abstraction, Op art, Color Field painting, and in the case of Hofmann and Newman Abstract expressionism as well.
In 1965, an exhibition called "The Responsive Eye", curated by William C. Seitz, was held at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City. The works shown were wide-ranging, encompassing the Minimalism of Frank Stella, the Op art of Larry Poons, the work of Alexander Liberman, alongside the masters of the Op Art movement: Victor Vasarely, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Bridget Riley and others. The exhibition focused on the perceptual aspects of art, which result both from the illusion of movement and the interaction of color relationships. Op art, also known as optical art, is a style present in some paintings and other works of art that use optical illusions. Op art is also closely akin to geometric abstraction and hard-edge painting. Although sometimes the term used for it is perceptual abstraction.
Op art is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing. Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made in only black and white. When the viewer looks at them, the impression is given of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibration, patterns, or alternatively, of swelling or warping.
Color Field painting sought to rid art of superfluous rhetoric. Artists like Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Morris Louis, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, John Hoyland, Larry Zox, and others often used greatly reduced references to nature, and they painted with a highly articulated and psychological use of color. In general these artists eliminated recognizable imagery. Certain artists quoted references to past or present art, but in general color field painting presents abstraction as an end in itself. In pursuing this direction of modern art, artists wanted to present each painting as one unified, cohesive, monolithic image.
Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland, Ellsworth Kelly, Barnett Newman, Ronald Davis, Neil Williams, Robert Mangold, Charles Hinman, Richard Tuttle, David Novros, and Al Loving are examples of artists associated with the use of the shaped canvas during the period beginning in the early 1960s. Many Geometric abstract artists, minimalists, and Hard-edge painters elected to use the edges of the image to define the shape of the painting rather than accepting the rectangular format. In fact, the use of the shaped canvas is primarily associated with paintings of the 1960s and 1970s that are coolly abstract, formalistic, geometrical, objective, rationalistic, clean-lined, brashly sharp-edged, or minimalist in character. The Andre Emmerich Gallery, the Leo Castelli Gallery, the Richard Feigen Gallery, and the Park Place Gallery were important showcases for Color Field painting, shaped canvas painting and Lyrical Abstraction in New York City during the 1960s. There is a connection with post-painterly abstraction, which reacted against abstract expressionisms' mysticism, hyper-subjectivity, and emphasis on making the act of painting itself dramatically visible – as well as the solemn acceptance of the flat rectangle as an almost ritual prerequisite for serious painting. During the 1960s Color Field painting and Minimal art were often closely associated with each other. In actuality by the early 1970s both movements became decidedly diverse.
Another related movement of the late 1960s, Lyrical Abstraction (the term being coined by Larry Aldrich, the founder of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield Connecticut), encompassed what Aldrich said he saw in the studios of many artists at that time. It is also the name of an exhibition that originated in the Aldrich Museum and traveled to the Whitney Museum of American Art and other museums throughout the United States between 1969 and 1971.
Lyrical Abstraction in the late 1960s is characterized by the paintings of Dan Christensen, Ronnie Landfield, Peter Young and others, and along with the fluxus movement and postminimalism (a term first coined by Robert Pincus-Witten in the pages of "Artforum" in 1969) sought to expand the boundaries of abstract painting and minimalism by focusing on process, new materials and new ways of expression. Postminimalism often incorporating industrial materials, raw materials, fabrications, found objects, installation, serial repetition, and often with references to Dada and Surrealism is best exemplified in the sculptures of Eva Hesse. Lyrical Abstraction, conceptual art, postminimalism, Earth art, video, performance art, installation art, along with the continuation of fluxus, abstract expressionism, Color Field painting, hard-edge painting, minimal art, op art, pop art, photorealism and New Realism extended the boundaries of contemporary art in the mid-1960s through the 1970s. Lyrical Abstraction is a type of freewheeling abstract painting that emerged in the mid-1960s when abstract painters returned to various forms of painterly, pictorial, expressionism with a predominate focus on process, gestalt and repetitive compositional strategies in general.
Lyrical Abstraction shares similarities with color field painting and abstract expressionism, Lyrical Abstraction as exemplified by the 1968 Ronnie Landfield painting "For William Blake", (above) especially in the freewheeling usage of paint – texture and surface. Direct drawing, calligraphic use of line, the effects of brushed, splattered, stained, squeegeed, poured, and splashed paint superficially resemble the effects seen in abstract expressionism and color field painting. However, the styles are markedly different. Setting it apart from abstract expressionism and action painting of the 1940s and 1950s is the approach to composition and drama. As seen in action painting there is an emphasis on brushstrokes, high compositional drama, dynamic compositional tension. While in Lyrical Abstraction there is a sense of compositional randomness, all over composition, low key and relaxed compositional drama and an emphasis on process, repetition, and an all over sensibility.,
Agnes Martin, Robert Mangold, Brice Marden, Jo Baer, Robert Ryman, Richard Tuttle, Neil Williams, David Novros, Paul Mogenson, Charles Hinman are examples of artists associated with Minimalism and (exceptions of Martin, Baer and Marden) the use of the shaped canvas also during the period beginning in the early 1960s. Many Geometric abstract artists, minimalists, and hard-edge painters elected to use the edges of the image to define the shape of the painting rather than accepting the rectangular format. In fact, the use of the shaped canvas is primarily associated with paintings of the 1960s and 1970s that are coolly abstract, formalistic, geometrical, objective, rationalistic, clean-lined, brashly sharp-edged, or minimalist in character. The Bykert Gallery, and the Park Place Gallery were important showcases for Minimalism and shaped canvas painting in New York City during the 1960s.
During the 1960s and 1970s artists such as Robert Motherwell, Adolph Gottlieb, Phillip Guston, Lee Krasner, Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Richard Diebenkorn, Josef Albers, Elmer Bischoff, Agnes Martin, Al Held, Sam Francis, Ellsworth Kelly, Morris Louis, Helen Frankenthaler, Gene Davis, Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland, Joan Mitchell, Friedel Dzubas, and younger artists like Brice Marden, Robert Mangold, Sam Gilliam, John Hoyland, Sean Scully, Pat Steir, Elizabeth Murray, Larry Poons, Walter Darby Bannard, Larry Zox, Ronnie Landfield, Ronald Davis, Dan Christensen, Joan Snyder, Ross Bleckner, Archie Rand, Susan Crile, and dozens of others produced a wide variety of paintings.
During the 1960s and 1970s, there was a reaction against abstract painting. Some critics viewed the work of artists like Ad Reinhardt, and declared the 'death of painting'. Artists began to practice new ways of making art. New movements gained prominence some of which are: postminimalism, Earth art, video art, installation art, arte povera, performance art, body art, fluxus, happening, mail art, the situationists and conceptual art among others.
However still other important innovations in abstract painting took place during the 1960s and the 1970s characterized by monochrome painting and hard-edge painting inspired by Ad Reinhardt, Barnett Newman, Milton Resnick, and Ellsworth Kelly. Artists as diverse as Agnes Martin, Al Held, Larry Zox, Frank Stella, Larry Poons, Brice Marden and others explored the power of simplification. The convergence of Color Field painting, minimal art, hard-edge painting, Lyrical Abstraction, and postminimalism blurred the distinction between movements that became more apparent in the 1980s and 1990s. The neo-expressionism movement is related to earlier developments in abstract expressionism, neo-Dada, Lyrical Abstraction and postminimal painting.
In the late 1960s the abstract expressionist painter Philip Guston helped to lead a transition from abstract expressionism to Neo-expressionism in painting, abandoning the so-called "pure abstraction" of abstract expressionism in favor of more cartoonish renderings of various personal symbols and objects. These works were inspirational to a new generation of painters interested in a revival of expressive imagery. His painting "Painting, Smoking, Eating" 1973, seen above in the gallery is an example of Guston's final and conclusive return to representation.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was also a return to painting that occurred almost simultaneously in Italy, Germany, France and Britain. These movements were called Transavantguardia, Neue Wilde, Figuration Libre, Neo-expressionism, the school of London, and in the late 1980s the Stuckists respectively. These painting were characterized by large formats, free expressive mark making, figuration, myth and imagination. All work in this genre came to be labeled neo-expressionism. Critical reaction was divided. Some critics regarded it as driven by profit motivations by large commercial galleries. This type of art continues in popularity into the 21st century, even after the art crash of the late 1980s. Anselm Kiefer is a leading figure in European Neo-expressionism by the 1980s, Kiefer's themes widened from a focus on Germany's role in civilization to the fate of art and culture in general. His work became more sculptural and involves not only national identity and collective memory, but also occult symbolism, theology and mysticism. The theme of all the work is the trauma experienced by entire societies, and the continual rebirth and renewal in life.
During the late 1970s in the United States painters who began working with invigorated surfaces and who returned to imagery like Susan Rothenberg gained in popularity, especially as seen above in paintings like "Horse 2", 1979. During the 1980s American artists like Eric Fischl, David Salle, Jean-Michel Basquiat (who began as a graffiti artist), Julian Schnabel, and Keith Haring, and Italian painters like Mimmo Paladino, Sandro Chia, and Enzo Cucchi, among others defined the idea of Neo-expressionism in America.
Neo-expressionism was a style of modern painting that became popular in the late 1970s and dominated the art market until the mid-1980s. It developed in Europe as a reaction against the conceptual and minimalistic art of the 1960s and 1970s. Neo-expressionists returned to portraying recognizable objects, such as the human body (although sometimes in a virtually abstract manner), in a rough and violently emotional way using vivid colours and banal colour harmonies. The veteran painters Philip Guston, Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Gerhard Richter, A. R. Penck and Georg Baselitz, along with slightly younger artists like Anselm Kiefer, Eric Fischl, Susan Rothenberg, Francesco Clemente, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, Keith Haring, and many others became known for working in this intense expressionist vein of painting.
Painting still holds a respected position in contemporary art. Art is an open field no longer divided by the objective versus non-objective dichotomy. Artists can achieve critical success whether their images are representational or abstract. What has currency is content, exploring the boundaries of the medium, and a refusal to recapitulate the works of the past as an end goal.
At the beginning of the 21st century Contemporary painting and Contemporary art in general continues in several contiguous modes, characterized by the idea of pluralism. The "crisis" in painting and current art and current art criticism today is brought about by pluralism. There is no consensus, nor need there be, as to a representative style of the age. There is an "anything goes" attitude that prevails; an "everything going on", and consequently "nothing going on" syndrome; this creates an aesthetic traffic jam with no firm and clear direction and with every lane on the artistic superhighway filled to capacity. Consequently magnificent and important works of art continue to be made albeit in a wide variety of styles and aesthetic temperaments, the marketplace being left to judge merit.
Hard-edge painting, geometric abstraction, appropriation, hyperrealism, photorealism, expressionism, minimalism, Lyrical Abstraction, pop art, op art, abstract expressionism, Color Field painting, monochrome painting, neo-expressionism, collage, intermedia painting, assemblage painting, digital painting, postmodern painting, neo-Dada painting, shaped canvas painting, environmental mural painting, traditional figure painting, landscape painting, portrait painting, are a few continuing and current directions in painting at the beginning of the 21st century.
During the period before and after European exploration and settlement of the Americas, including North America, Central America, South America and the Islands of the Caribbean, the Antilles, the Lesser Antilles and other island groups, indigenous native cultures produced creative works including architecture, pottery, ceramics, weaving, , sculpture, painting and murals as well as other religious and utilitarian objects. Each continent of the Americas hosted societies that were unique and individually developed cultures; that produced totems, works of religious symbolism, and decorative and expressive painted works. African influence was especially strong in the art of the Caribbean and South America. The arts of the indigenous people of the Americas had an enormous impact and influence on European art and vice versa during and after the Age of Exploration. Spain, Portugal, France, The Netherlands, and England were all powerful and influential colonial powers in the Americas during and after the 15th century. By the 19th century cultural influence began to flow both ways across the Atlantic
The depiction of humans, animals or any other figurative subjects is forbidden within Islam to prevent believers from idolatry so there is no religiously motivated painting (or sculpture) tradition within Muslim culture. Pictorial activity was reduced to Arabesque, mainly abstract, with geometrical configuration or floral and plant-like patterns. Strongly connected to architecture and calligraphy, it can be widely seen as used for the painting of tiles in mosques or in illuminations around the text of the Koran and other books. In fact, abstract art is not an invention of modern art but it is present in pre-classical, barbarian and non-western cultures many centuries before it and is essentially a decorative or applied art. Notable illustrator M. C. Escher was influenced by this geometrical and pattern-based art. Art Nouveau (Aubrey Beardsley and the architect Antonio Gaudí) re-introduced abstract floral patterns into western art.
Note that despite the taboo of figurative visualization, some Muslim countries did cultivate a rich tradition in painting, though not in its own right, but as a companion to the written word. Iranian or Persian art, widely known as Persian miniature, concentrates on the illustration of epic or romantic works of literature. Persian illustrators deliberately avoided the use of shading and perspective, though familiar with it in their pre-Islamic history, in order to abide by the rule of not creating any lifelike illusion of the real world. Their aim was not to depict the world as it is, but to create images of an ideal world of timeless beauty and perfect order.
In present days, painting by art students or professional artists in Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries follows the same tendencies of Western culture art.
Oriental historian Basil Gray believes "Iran has offered a particularly unique art to the world which is excellent in its kind". Caves in Iran's Lorestan province exhibit painted imagery of animals and hunting scenes. Some such as those in Fars Province and Sialk are at least 5,000 years old. Painting in Iran is thought to have reached a climax during the Tamerlane era, when outstanding masters such as Kamaleddin Behzad gave birth to a new style of painting.
Paintings of the Qajar period are a combination of European influences and Safavid miniature schools of painting such as those introduced by Reza Abbasi and classical works by Mihr 'Ali. Masters such as Kamal-ol-molk further pushed forward the European influence in Iran. It was during the Qajar era when "Coffee House painting" emerged. Subjects of this style were often religious in nature depicting scenes from Shia epics and the like.
African traditional culture and tribes do not seem to have great interest in two-dimensional representations in favour of sculpture and relief. However, decorative painting in African culture is often abstract and geometrical. Another pictorial manifestation is body painting, and face painting present for example in Maasai and Kĩkũyũ culture in their ceremony rituals. Ceremonial cave painting in certain villages can be found to be still in use. Note that Pablo Picasso and other modern artists were influenced by African sculpture and masks in their varied styles.
Contemporary African artists follow western art movements and their paintings have little difference from occidental art works.
The Kingdom of Kush in ancient Nubia (i.e. modern Sudan), bordering Ancient Egypt, produced a wide variety of arts, including wall paintings and painted objects. At the Sudanese site of Kerma, center of the Kerma culture that predated the Kingdom of Kush, a circa 1700 BC fragmentary painting from a royal tomb depicts a sailing ship and houses with ladders that are similar to scenes in reliefs from the reign of Egyptian queen Hatshepsut (c. 1479–1458 BC). The ancient tradition of wall paintings, first described by Abu Salih during the 12th century AD, continued into the period of medieval Nubia.
The Christian tradition of painting in Ethiopia dates back to the 4th century AD, during the ancient Kingdom of Aksum. During their exile to Axum, the 7th-century followers of Muhammad described paintings decorating the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. However, the earliest surviving examples of church paintings in Ethiopia come from the church of Debre Selam Mikael in the Tigray Region, dated to the 11th century AD. Ethiopian paintings in illuminated manuscripts predate the earliest surviving church paintings. For instance, the Ethiopian Garima Gospels of the 4th-6th centuries AD contain illuminated scenes imitating the contemporary Byzantine illuminated style.
At the start of the 20th century, artists like Picasso, Matisse, Paul Gauguin and Modigliani became aware of, and were inspired by, African art. In a situation where the established avant garde was straining against the constraints imposed by serving the world of appearances, African Art demonstrated the power of supremely well organised forms; produced not only by responding to the faculty of sight, but also and often primarily, the faculty of imagination, emotion and mystical and religious experience. These artists saw in African art a formal perfection and sophistication unified with phenomenal expressive power. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13971 |
Hungarian language
Hungarian () is a Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Outside Hungary it is also spoken by communities of Hungarians in the countries that today make up Slovakia, western Ukraine (Subcarpathia), central and western Romania (Transylvania), northern Serbia (Vojvodina), northern Croatia and northeastern Slovenia (Mur region).
It is also spoken by Hungarian diaspora communities worldwide, especially in North America (particularly the United States and Canada) and Israel. With 13 million speakers, it is the Uralic family's largest member by number of speakers.
Hungarian is a member of the Uralic language family. Linguistic connections between Hungarian and other Uralic languages were noticed in the 1670s, and the family itself (then called Finno-Ugric) was established in 1717. Hungarian has traditionally been assigned to the Ugric branch within the Finno-Ugric group, along with the Mansi and Khanty languages of western Siberia (Khanty–Mansia region), but it is no longer clear that it is a valid group. When the Samoyed languages were determined to be part of the family, it was thought at first that Finnic and Ugric (Finno-Ugric) were closer to each other than to the Samoyed branch of the family, but that is now frequently questioned.
The name of Hungary could be a result of regular sound changes of "Ungrian/Ugrian", and the fact that the Eastern Slavs referred to Hungarians as "Ǫgry/Ǫgrove" (sg. "Ǫgrinŭ") seemed to confirm that. Current literature favors the hypothesis that it comes from the name of the Turkic tribe Onoğur (which means "ten arrows" or "ten tribes").
There are numerous regular sound correspondences between Hungarian and the other Ugric languages. For example, Hungarian corresponds to Khanty in certain positions, and Hungarian corresponds to Khanty , while Hungarian final corresponds to Khanty final . For example, Hungarian "ház" "house" vs. Khanty "xot" "house", and Hungarian "száz" "hundred" vs. Khanty "sot" "hundred". The distance between the Ugric and Finnic languages is greater, but the correspondences are also regular.
The traditional view holds that the Hungarian language diverged from its Ugric relatives in the first half of the 1st millennium BC, in western Siberia east of the southern Urals. The Hungarians gradually changed their lifestyle from being settled hunters to being nomadic pastoralists, probably as a result of early contacts with Iranian (Scythians and Sarmatians) or Turkic nomads. In Hungarian, Iranian loanwords date back to the time immediately following the breakup of Ugric and probably span well over a millennium. Among these include "tehén" ‘cow’ (cf. Avestan "daénu"); "tíz" ‘ten’ (cf. Avestan "dasa"); "tej" ‘milk’ (cf. Persian "dáje" ‘wet nurse’); and "nád" ‘reed’ (from late Middle Iranian; cf. Middle Persian "nāy").
Archaeological evidence from present day southern Bashkortostan confirms the existence of Hungarian settlements between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. The Onoğurs (and Bulgars) later had a great influence on the language, especially between the 5th and 9th centuries. This layer of Turkic loans is large and varied (e.g. "szó" "word", from Turkic; and "daru" "crane", from the related Permic languages), and includes words borrowed from Oghur Turkic; e.g. "borjú" "calf" (cf. Chuvash "păru", "părăv" vs. Turkish "buzağı"); "dél" ‘noon; south’ (cf. Chuvash "tĕl" vs. Turkish dial. "düš"). Many words related to agriculture, state administration and even family relationships show evidence of such backgrounds. Hungarian syntax and grammar were not influenced in a similarly dramatic way over these three centuries.
After the arrival of the Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin, the language came into contact with a variety of speech communities, among them Slavic, Turkic, and German. Turkic loans from this period come mainly from the Pechenegs and Cumanians, who settled in Hungary during the 12th and 13th centuries: e.g. "koboz" "cobza" (cf. Turkish "kopuz" ‘lute’); "komondor" "mop dog" (< *"kumandur" < "Cuman"). Hungarian borrowed many words from neighbouring Slavic languages: e.g. "tégla" ‘brick’; "mák" ‘poppy’; "karácsony" ‘Christmas’). These languages in turn borrowed words from Hungarian: e.g. Serbo-Croatian "ašov" from Hungarian "ásó" ‘spade’. About 1.6 percent of the Romanian lexicon is of Hungarian origin.
Recent studies support an origin of the Uralic languages, including early Hungarian, in eastern or central Siberia, somewhere between the Ob and Yenisei river or near the Sayan mountains in the Russian–Mongolian borderregion. A 2019 study based on genetics, archaeology and linguistics, found that early Uralic speakers arrived in Europe from the east, specifically from eastern Siberia.
Hungarian historian and archaeologist Gyula László claims that geological data from pollen analysis seems to contradict the placing of the ancient Hungarian homeland near the Urals.
There have been attempts to show that Hungarian is related to other languages, such as Hebrew, Hunnic, Sumerian, Egyptian, Etruscan, Basque, Persian, Pelasgian, Greek, Chinese, Sanskrit, English, Tibetan, Magar, Quechua, Armenian, Japanese, and at least 40 other languages. Mainstream linguists dismiss these attempts as pseudoscientific comparisons with no merit.
Today the consensus among linguists is that Hungarian is a member of the Uralic family of languages.
The classification of Hungarian as a Uralic/Finno-Ugric rather than a Turkic language continued to be a matter of impassioned political controversy throughout the 18th and into the 19th centuries. During the latter half of the 19th century, a competing hypothesis proposed a Turkic affinity of Hungarian, or, alternatively, that both the Uralic and the Turkic families formed part of a superfamily of Ural–Altaic languages. Following an academic debate known as "Az ugor-török háború" ("the Ugric-Turkic war"), the Finno-Ugric hypothesis was concluded the sounder of the two, mainly based on work by the German linguist .
Hungarians did in fact absorb some Turkic influences during several centuries of cohabitation. For example, the Hungarians appear to have learned animal husbandry techniques from the Turkic Chuvash people, as a high proportion of words specific to agriculture and livestock are of Chuvash origin. A strong Chuvash influence was also apparent in Hungarian burial customs.
The first written accounts of Hungarian date to the 10th century, such as mostly Hungarian personal names and place names in "De Administrando Imperio", written in Greek by Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. No significant texts written in Old Hungarian script have survived, as wood, the medium of writing in use at the time, was perishable.
A more extensive body of Hungarian literature arose after 1300. The earliest known example of Hungarian religious poetry is the 14th-century "Lamentations of Mary". The first Bible translation was the Hussite Bible in the 1430s.
The standard language lost its diphthongs, and several postpositions transformed into suffixes, including "reá" "onto" (the phrase "utu rea "onto the way" found in the 1055 text would later become "útra). There were also changes in the system of vowel harmony. At one time, Hungarian used six verb tenses, while today only two or three are used.
In 1533, Kraków printer Benedek Komjáti published the first Hungarian-language book set in movable type, a translation of the letters of Saint Paul entitled "Az zenth Paal leueley magyar nyeluen" (modern orthography: "Az Szent Pál levelei magyar nyelven").
By the 17th century, the language already closely resembled its present-day form, although two of the past tenses remained in use. German, Italian and French loans also began to appear. Further Turkish words were borrowed during the period of Ottoman rule (1541 to 1699).
In the 19th century a group of writers, most notably Ferenc Kazinczy, spearheaded a process of "nyelvújítás" (language revitalization). Some words were shortened ("győzedelem" > "győzelem", 'triumph' or 'victory'); a number of dialectal words spread nationally ("e.g.", "cselleng" 'dawdle'); extinct words were reintroduced ("dísz", 'décor'); a wide range of expressions were coined using the various derivative suffixes; and some other, less frequently used methods of expanding the language were utilized. This movement produced more than ten thousand words, most of which are used actively today.
The 19th and 20th centuries saw further standardization of the language, and differences between mutually comprehensible dialects gradually diminished.
In 1920, Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon, losing 71 percent of its territory and one-third of the ethnic Hungarian population along with it.
Today the language holds official status nationally in Hungary and regionally in Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Austria and Slovenia.
Hungarian has about 13 million native speakers, of whom more than 9.8 million live in Hungary. According to the 2011 Hungarian census, 9,896,333 people (99.6% of the total population) speak Hungarian, of whom 9,827,875 people (98.9%) speak it as a first language, while 68,458 people (0.7%) speak it as a second language. About 2.2 million speakers live in other areas that were part of the Kingdom of Hungary before the Treaty of Trianon (1920). Of these, the largest group lives in Transylvania, the western half of present-day Romania, where there are approximately 1.25 million Hungarians. There are large Hungarian communities also in Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine, and Hungarians can also be found in Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia, as well as about a million additional people scattered in other parts of the world. For example, there are more than one hundred thousand Hungarian speakers in the Hungarian American community and 1.5 million with Hungarian ancestry in the United States.
Hungarian is the official language of Hungary, and thus an official language of the European Union. Hungarian is also one of the official languages of Vojvodina and an official language of three municipalities in Slovenia: Hodoš, Dobrovnik and Lendava, along with Slovene. Hungarian is officially recognized as a minority or regional language in Austria, Croatia, Romania, Zakarpattia in Ukraine, and Slovakia. In Romania it is a recognized minority language used at local level in communes, towns and municipalities with an ethnic Hungarian population of over 20%.
The dialects of Hungarian identified by Ethnologue are: Alföld, West Danube, Danube-Tisza, King's Pass Hungarian, Northeast Hungarian, Northwest Hungarian, Székely and West Hungarian. These dialects are, for the most part, mutually intelligible. The Hungarian Csángó dialect, which is mentioned but not listed separately by Ethnologue, is spoken primarily in Bacău County in eastern Romania. The Csángó Hungarian group has been largely isolated from other Hungarian people, and they therefore preserved features that closely resemble earlier forms of Hungarian.
Hungarian has 14 vowel phonemes and 25 consonant phonemes. The vowel phonemes can be grouped as pairs of short and long vowels such as "o" and "ó". Most of the pairs have a similar pronunciation and vary significantly only in their duration. However, pairs "a"/"á" and "e"/"é" differ both in closedness and length.
Consonant length is also distinctive in Hungarian. Most consonant phonemes can occur as geminates.
The sound voiced palatal plosive , written , sounds similar to 'd' in British English 'duty'. It occurs in the name of the country, "Magyarország" (Hungary), pronounced . It is one of three palatalised consonants, the others being and . Historically a fourth palatalized consonant existed, still written .
A single 'r' is pronounced as an alveolar tap ("akkora" 'of that size'), but a double 'r' is pronounced as an alveolar trill ("akkorra" 'by that time'), like in Spanish.
Primary stress is always on the first syllable of a word, as in Finnish and the neighbouring Slovak and Czech. There is a secondary stress on other syllables in compounds: "viszontlátásra" ("goodbye") is pronounced . Elongated vowels in non-initial syllables may seem to be stressed to an English-speaker, as length and stress correlate in English.
Hungarian is an agglutinative language. It uses various affixes, mainly suffixes but also some prefixes and a circumfix, to change a word's meaning and its grammatical function.
Hungarian uses vowel harmony to attach suffixes to words. That means that most suffixes have two or three different forms, and the choice between them depends on the vowels of the head word. There are some minor and unpredictable exceptions to the rule.
Nouns have 18 cases, which are formed regularly with suffixes. The nominative case is unmarked ("az alma" 'the apple') and, for example, the accusative is marked with the suffix "–t" ("az almát" '[I eat] the apple'). Half of the cases express a combination of the source-location-target and surface-inside-proximity ternary distinctions (three times three cases); there is a separate case ending –"ból"/"–ből" meaning a combination of source and insideness: 'from inside of'.
Possession is expressed by a possessive suffix on the possessed object, rather than the possessor as in English (Peter's apple becomes "Péter almája", literally 'Peter apple-his'). Noun plurals are formed with"–k" ("az almák" ‘the apples’), but after a numeral, the singular is used ("két alma" ‘two apples’, literally ‘two apple’; not "*két almák").
Unlike English, Hungarian uses case suffixes and nearly always postpositions instead of prepositions.
There are two types of articles in Hungarian, definite and indefinite, which roughly correspond to the equivalents in English.
Adjectives precede nouns ("a piros alma" 'the red apple') and have three degrees: positive ("piros" 'red'), comparative ("pirosabb" 'redder') and superlative ("a legpirosabb" 'the reddest').
If the noun takes the plural or a case, an attributive adjective is invariable: "a piros almák" 'the red apples'. However, a predicative adjective agrees with the noun: "az almák pirosak" 'the apples are red'. Adjectives by themselves can behave as nouns (and so can take case suffixes): "Melyik almát kéred? – A pirosat." 'Which apple would you like? – The red one'.
The neutral word order is subject–verb–object (SVO). However, Hungarian is a topic-prominent language, and so has a word order that depends not only on syntax but also on the topic–comment structure of the sentence (for example, what aspect is assumed to be known and what is emphasized).
A Hungarian sentence generally has the following order: topic, comment (or focus), verb and the rest.
The topic shows that the proposition is only for that particular thing or aspect, and it implies that the proposition is not true for some others. For example, in ""Az almát János látja"." ('It is John who sees the apple'. Literally 'The apple John sees.'), the apple is in the topic, implying that other objects may be seen by not him but other people (the pear may be seen by Peter). The topic part may be empty.
The focus shows the new information for the listeners that may not have been known or that their knowledge must be corrected. For example, "Én vagyok az apád". ('I am your father'. Literally, 'It is I who am your father'.), from the movie "The Empire Strikes Back", the pronoun I ("én") is in the focus and implies that it is new information, and the listener thought that someone else is his father.
Although Hungarian is sometimes described as having free word order, different word orders are generally not interchangeable, and the neutral order is not always correct to use. Also, the intonation is also different with different topic-comment structures. The topic usually has a rising intonation, the focus having a falling intonation. In the following examples, the topic is marked with italics, and the focus (comment) is marked with boldface.
Hungarian has a four-tiered system for expressing levels of politeness. From highest to lowest:
The four-tiered system has somewhat been eroded due to the recent expansion of ""tegeződés"".
Some anomalies emerged with the arrival of multinational companies who have addressed their customers in the "te" (least polite) form right from the beginning of their presence in Hungary. A typical example is the Swedish furniture shop IKEA, whose web site and other publications address the customers in "te" form. When a news site asked IKEA—using the "te" form—why they address their customers this way, IKEA's PR Manager explained in his answer—using the "ön" form—that their way of communication reflects IKEA's open-mindedness and the Swedish culture. However IKEA in France uses the polite ("vous") form. Another example is the communication of Telenor (a mobile network operator) towards its customers. Telenor chose to communicate towards business customers in the polite "ön" form while all other customers are addressed in the less polite "te" form.
During the first early phase of Hungarian language reforms (late 18th and early 19th centuries) more than ten thousand words were coined, several thousand of which are still actively used today (see also Ferenc Kazinczy, the leading figure of the Hungarian language reforms.) Kazinczy's chief goal was to replace existing words of German and Latin origins with newly-created Hungarian words. As a result, Kazinczy and his later followers (the reformers) significantly reduced the formerly high ratio of words of Latin and German origins in the Hungarian language, which were related to social sciences, natural sciences, politics and economics, institutional names, fashion etc.
Giving an accurate estimate for the total word count is difficult, since it is hard to define "a word" in agglutinating languages, due to the existence of affixed words and compound words. To obtain a meaningful definition of compound words, we have to exclude such compounds whose meaning is the mere sum of its elements. The largest dictionaries giving translations from Hungarian to another language contain 120,000 words and phrases (but this may include redundant phrases as well, because of translation issues). The new desk lexicon of the Hungarian language contains 75,000 words and the Comprehensive Dictionary of Hungarian Language (to be published in 18 volumes in the next twenty years) is planned to contain 110,000 words. The default Hungarian lexicon is usually estimated to comprise 60,000 to 100,000 words. (Independently of specific languages, speakers actively use at most 10,000 to 20,000 words, with an average intellectual using 25,000 to 30,000 words.) However, all the Hungarian lexemes collected from technical texts, dialects etc. would total up to 1,000,000 words.
Parts of the lexicon can be organized using word-bushes. (See an example on the right.) The words in these bushes share a common root, are related through inflection, derivation and compounding, and are usually broadly related in meaning.
The basic vocabulary shares several hundred word roots with other Uralic languages like Finnish, Estonian, Mansi and Khanty. Examples are the verb "él" "live" (Finnish "elää"), the numbers "kettő" (2), "három" (3), "négy" (4) (cf. Mansi китыг "kitig", хурум "khurum", нила "nila", Finnish "kaksi, kolme, neljä", Estonian "kaks, kolm, neli", ), as well as "víz" 'water', "kéz" 'hand', "vér" 'blood', "fej" 'head' (cf. Finnish and Estonian "vesi, käsi, veri", Finnish "pää", Estonian "pea" or "pää").
Words for elementary kinship and nature are more Ugric, less r-Turkic and less Slavic. Agricultural words are about 50% r-Turkic and 50% Slavic; pastoral terms are more r-Turkic, less Ugric and less Slavic. Finally, Christian and state terminology is more Slavic and less r-Turkic. The Slavic is most probably proto-Slovakian and/or -Slovenian. This is easily understood in the Uralic paradigm, proto-Magyars were first similar to Ob-Ugors who were mainly hunters, fishers & gatherers, but with some horses, too. Then they accultured to Bulgarian r-Turks, so the older layer of agriculture words (wine, beer, wheat, barley &c.) are purely r-Turkic, and also lots of termini of statesmanship & religion were, too.
Except for a few Latin and Greek loan-words, these differences are unnoticed even by native speakers; the words have been entirely adopted into the Hungarian lexicon. There are an increasing number of English loan-words, especially in technical fields.
Another source differs in that loanwords in Hungarian are held to constitute about 45% of bases in the language. Although the lexical percentage of native words in Hungarian is 55%, their use accounts for 88.4% of all words used (the percentage of loanwords used being just 11.6%). Therefore, the history of Hungarian has come, especially since the 19th century, to favor neologisms from original bases, whilst still having developed as many terms from neighboring languages in the lexicon.
Words can be compounds or derived. Most derivation is with suffixes, but there is a small set of derivational prefixes as well.
Compounds have been present in the language since the Proto-Uralic era. Numerous ancient compounds transformed to base words during the centuries. Today, compounds play an important role in vocabulary.
A good example is the word "arc":
Compounds are made up of two base words: the first is the prefix, the latter is the suffix. A compound can be "subordinative": the prefix is in logical connection with the suffix. If the prefix is the subject of the suffix, the compound is generally classified as a subjective one. There are objective, determinative, and adjunctive compounds as well. Some examples are given below:
According to current orthographic rules, a subordinative compound word has to be written as a single word, without spaces; however, if the length of a compound of three or more words (not counting one-syllable verbal prefixes) is seven or more syllables long (not counting case suffixes), a hyphen must be inserted at the appropriate boundary to ease the determination of word boundaries for the reader.
Other compound words are "coordinatives": there is no concrete relation between the prefix and the suffix. Subcategories include reduplication (to emphasise the meaning; "olykor-olykor"
'really occasionally'), twin words (where a base word and a distorted form of it makes up a compound: "gizgaz", where the suffix 'gaz' means 'weed' and the prefix "giz" is the distorted form; the compound itself means 'inconsiderable weed'), and such compounds which have meanings, but neither their prefixes, nor their suffixes make sense (for example, "hercehurca" 'complex, obsolete procedures').
A compound also can be made up by multiple (i.e., more than two) base words: in this case, at least one word element, or even both the prefix and the suffix is a compound. Some examples:
Hungarian words for the points of the compass are directly derived from the position of the Sun during the day in the Northern Hemisphere.
There are two basic words for "red" in Hungarian: "piros" and "vörös" (variant: "veres"; compare with Estonian "verev" or Finnish "punainen"). (They are basic in the sense that one is not a sub-type of the other, as the English "scarlet" is of "red".) The word "vörös" is related to "vér", meaning "blood" (Finnish and Estonian "veri"). When they refer to an actual difference in colour (as on a colour chart), "vörös" usually refers to the deeper (darker and/or more red and less orange) hue of red. In English similar differences exist between "scarlet" and "red". While many languages have multiple names for this colour, often Hungarian scholars assume this is unique in recognizing two shades of red as separate and distinct "folk colours".
However, the two words are also used independently of the above in collocations. "Piros" is learned by children first, as it is generally used to describe inanimate, artificial things, or things seen as cheerful or neutral, while "vörös" typically refers to animate or natural things (biological, geological, physical and astronomical objects), as well as serious or emotionally charged subjects.
When the rules outlined above are in contradiction, typical collocations usually prevail. In some cases where a typical collocation does not exist, the use of either of the two words may be equally adequate.
Examples:
The Hungarian words for brothers and sisters are differentiated based upon relative age. There is also a general word for "sibling": "testvér", from "test" "body" and "vér" "blood"; "i.e.", originating from the same body and blood.
In addition, there are separate prefixes for several ancestors and descendants:
The words for "boy" and "girl" are applied with possessive suffixes. Nevertheless, the terms are differentiated with different declension or lexemes:
"Fia" is only used in this, irregular possessive form; it has no nominative on its own (see inalienable possession). However, the word "fiú" can also take the regular suffix, in which case the resulting word "(fiúja)" will refer to a lover or partner (boyfriend), rather than a male offspring.
The word "fiú" (boy) is also often noted as an extreme example of the ability of the language to add suffixes to a word, by forming "fiaiéi", adding vowel-form suffixes only, where the result is quite a frequently used word:
The above word is often considered to be the longest word in Hungarian, although there are longer words like:
Words of such length are not used in practice, but when spoken they are easily understood by natives. They were invented to show, in a somewhat facetious way, the ability of the language to form long words (see agglutinative language). They are not compound words—they are formed by adding a series of one and two-syllable suffixes (and a few prefixes) to a simple root ("szent", saint or holy).
There is virtually no limit for the length of words, but when too many suffixes are added, the meaning of the word becomes less clear, and the word becomes hard to understand, and will work like a riddle even for native speakers.
The English word best known as being of Hungarian origin is probably "paprika", from Serbo-Croatian "papar" "pepper" and the Hungarian diminutive "-ka". The most common however is "coach", from "kocsi", originally "kocsi szekér" "car from/in the style of Kocs". Others are:
The Hungarian language was originally written in right-to-left Old Hungarian runes, superficially similar in appearance to the better-known futhark runes but unrelated. When Stephen I of Hungary established the Kingdom of Hungary in the year 1000, the old system was gradually discarded in favour of the Latin alphabet and left-to-right order. Although now not used at all in everyday life, the old script is still known and practised by some enthusiasts.
Modern Hungarian is written using an expanded Latin alphabet, and has a phonemic orthography, i.e. pronunciation can generally be predicted from the written language. In addition to the standard letters of the Latin alphabet, Hungarian uses several modified Latin characters to represent the additional vowel sounds of the language. These include letters with acute accents "(á, é, í, ó, ú)" to represent long vowels, and umlauts ("ö" and "ü") and their long counterparts "ő" and "ű" to represent front vowels. Sometimes (usually as a result of a technical glitch on a computer) or is used for , and for . This is often due to the limitations of the Latin-1 / ISO-8859-1 code page. These letters are not part of the Hungarian language, and are considered misprints. Hungarian can be properly represented with the Latin-2 / ISO-8859-2 code page, but this code page is not always available. (Hungarian is the only language using both and .) Unicode includes them, and so they can be used on the Internet.
Additionally, the letter pairs , , and represent the palatal consonants , , and (roughly analogous to the "d+y" sounds in British ""du"ke" or American "woul"d y"ou")—produced using a similar mechanism as the letter "d" when pronounced with the tongue pointing to the palate.
Hungarian uses for and for , which is the reverse of Polish usage. The letter is and is . These digraphs are considered single letters in the alphabet. The letter is also a "single letter digraph", but is pronounced like (English ), and appears mostly in old words. The letters and are exotic remnants and are hard to find even in longer texts. Some examples still in common use are "madzag" ("string"), "edzeni" ("to train (athletically)") and "dzsungel" ("jungle").
Sometimes additional information is required for partitioning words with digraphs: házszám ("street number") = "ház" ("house") + "szám" ("number"), not an unintelligible "házs" + "zám".
Hungarian distinguishes between long and short vowels, with long vowels written with acutes. It also distinguishes between long and short consonants, with long consonants being doubled. For example, "lenni" ("to be"), "hozzászólás" ("comment"). The digraphs, when doubled, become trigraphs: + = , e.g. "művésszel" ("with an artist"). But when the digraph occurs at the end of a line, all of the letters are written out. For example, ("with a bus"):
When the first lexeme of a compound ends in a digraph and the second lexeme starts with the same digraph, both digraphs are written out: "jegy" + "gyűrű" = "jegygyűrű" ("engagement/wedding ring", "jegy" means "sign", "mark". The term "jegyben lenni/járni" means "to be engaged"; "gyűrű" means "ring").
Usually a trigraph is a double digraph, but there are a few exceptions: "tizennyolc" ("eighteen") is a concatenation of "tizen" + "nyolc". There are doubling minimal pairs: "tol" ("push") vs. "toll" ("feather" or "pen").
While to English speakers they may seem unusual at first, once the new orthography and pronunciation are learned, written Hungarian is almost completely phonemic (except for etymological spellings and "ly, j" representing ).
The word order is basically from general to specific. This is a typical analytical approach and is used generally in Hungarian.
The Hungarian language uses the so-called eastern name order, in which the surname (general, deriving from the family) comes first and the given name comes last. If a second given name is used, this follows the first given name.
For clarity, in foreign languages Hungarian names are usually represented in the western name order. Sometimes, however, especially in the neighbouring countries of Hungary – where there is a significant Hungarian population – the Hungarian name order is retained, as it causes less confusion there.
For an example of foreign use, the birth name of the Hungarian-born physicist called the "father of the hydrogen bomb" was Teller Ede, but he immigrated to the United States in the 1930s and thus became known as Edward Teller. Prior to the mid-20th century, given names were usually translated along with the name order; this is no longer as common. For example, the pianist uses "András Schiff" when abroad, not "Andrew Schiff" (in Hungarian "Schiff András"). If a second given name is present, it becomes a middle name and is usually written out in full, rather than truncated to an initial.
In modern usage, foreign names retain their order when used in Hungarian. Therefore:
Before the 20th century, not only was it common to reverse the order of foreign personalities, they were also "Hungarianised": "Goethe János Farkas" (originally Johann Wolfgang Goethe). This usage sounds odd today, when only a few well-known personalities are referred to using their Hungarianised names, including "Verne Gyula" (Jules Verne), "Marx Károly" (Karl Marx), "Kolumbusz Kristóf" (Christopher Columbus; note that the last of these is also translated in English from the original Italian or possibly Ligurian).
Some native speakers disapprove of this usage; the names of certain historical religious personalities (including popes), however, are always Hungarianised by practically all speakers, such as "Luther Márton" (Martin Luther), "Husz János" (Jan Hus), "Kálvin János" (John Calvin); just like the names of monarchs, for example the king of Spain, Juan Carlos I is referred to as "I. János Károly" or the queen of the UK, Elizabeth II is referred to as "II. Erzsébet".
Japanese names, which are usually written in western order in the rest of Europe, retain their original order in Hungarian, e. g. "Kuroszava Akira" instead of Akira Kurosawa.
The Hungarian convention for date and time is to go from the generic to the specific: 1. year, 2. month, 3. day, 4. hour, 5. minute, (6. second)
The year and day are always written in Arabic numerals, followed by a full stop. The month can be written by its full name or can be abbreviated, or even denoted by Roman or Arabic numerals. Except for the first case (month written by its full name), the month is followed by a full stop. Usually, when the month is written in letters, there is no leading zero before the day. On the other hand, when the month is written in Arabic numerals, a leading zero is common, but not obligatory. Except at the beginning of a sentence, the name of the month always begins with a lower-case letter.
Hours, minutes, and seconds are separated by a colon (H:m:s). Fractions of a second are separated by a full stop from the rest of the time. Hungary generally uses the 24-hour clock format, but in verbal (and written) communication 12-hour clock format can also be used. See below for usage examples.
Date and time may be separated by a comma or simply written one after the other.
Date separated by hyphen is also spreading, especially on datestamps. Here – just like the version separated by full stops – leading zeros are in use.
When only hours and minutes are written in a sentence (so not only "displaying" time), these parts can be separated by a full stop (e.g. "Találkozzunk 10.35-kor." – "Let's meet at 10.35."), or it is also regular to write hours in normal size, and minutes put in superscript (and not necessarily) underlined (e.g. "A találkozó 1035-kor kezdődik." "or" "A találkozó 1035-kor kezdődik." – "The meeting begins at 10.35.").
Also, in verbal and written communication it is common to use "délelőtt" (literally "before noon") and "délután" (lit. "after noon") abbreviated as "de." and "du." respectively. Délelőtt and délután is said or written before the time, e.g. "Délután 4 óra van." – "It's 4 p.m.". However e.g. "délelőtt 5 óra" (should mean "5 a.m.") or "délután 10 óra" (should mean "10 p.m.") are never used, because at these times the sun is not up, instead "hajnal" ("dawn"), "reggel" ("morning"), "este" ("evening") and "éjjel" ("night") is used, however there are no exact rules for the use of these, as everybody uses them according to their habits (e.g. somebody may have woken up at 5 a.m. so he/she says "Reggel 6-kor ettem." – "I had food at "*morning" 6.", and somebody woke up at 11 a.m. so he/she says "Hajnali 6-kor még aludtam." – "I was still sleeping at "*dawn" 6."). Roughly, these expressions mean these times:
Although address formatting is increasingly being influenced by standard European conventions, the traditional Hungarian style is:
Budapest, Deák Ferenc tér 1. 1052
So the order is: 1) settlement (most general), 2) street/square/etc. (more specific), 3) house number (most specific) 4)(HU-)postcode. The house number may be followed by the storey and door numbers. The HU- part before the postcode is only for incoming postal traffic from foreign countries. Addresses on envelopes and postal parcels should be formatted and placed on the right side as follows:
Name of the recipient
Settlement
Street address (up to door number if necessary)
(HU-)postcode
"Note: The stress is always placed on the first syllable of each word. The remaining syllables all receive an equal, lesser stress. All syllables are pronounced clearly and evenly, even at the end of a sentence, unlike in English."
Source: Wiktionary
Source: Wiktionary
Source:"Wiktionary" | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13972 |
Hymenoptera
Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. The ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism (complete metamorphosis)—that is, they have a worm-like larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature.
The name Hymenoptera refers to the wings of the insects, but the original derivation is ambiguous. All references agree that the derivation involves the Ancient Greek πτερόν ("pteron") for wing. The Ancient Greek ὑμήν ("hymen") for membrane provides a plausible etymology for the term because species in this order have membranous wings. However, a key characteristic of this order is that the hind wings are connected to the fore wings by a series of hooks. Thus, another plausible etymology involves Hymen, the Ancient Greek god of marriage, as these insects have "married wings" in flight.
The cladogram of external relationships, based on a 2008 DNA and protein analysis, shows the order as a clade, most closely related to endopterygote orders including the Diptera (true flies) and Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).
Hymenoptera originated in the Triassic, with the oldest fossils belonging to the family Xyelidae. Social hymenopterans appeared during the Cretaceous. The evolution of this group has been intensively studied by Alex Rasnitsyn, Michael S. Engel, and others.
This clade has been studied by examining the mitochondrial DNA. Although this study was unable to resolve all the ambiguities in this clade, some relationships could be established. The Aculeata, Ichneumonomorpha, and Proctotrupomorpha were monophyletic. The Megalyroidea and Trigonalyoidea are sister clades as are the Chalcidoidea+Diaprioidea. The Cynipoidea was generally recovered as the sister group to Chalcidoidea and Diaprioidea which are each other's closest relations.
The cladogram is based on Schulmeister 2003.
Hymenopterans range in size from very small to large insects, and usually have two pairs of wings. Their mouthparts are adapted for chewing, with well-developed mandibles (ectognathous mouthparts). Many species have further developed the mouthparts into a lengthy proboscis, with which they can drink liquids, such as nectar. They have large compound eyes, and typically three simple eyes, ocelli.
The forward margin of the hind wing bears a number of hooked bristles, or "hamuli", which lock onto the fore wing, keeping them held together. The smaller species may have only two or three hamuli on each side, but the largest wasps may have a considerable number, keeping the wings gripped together especially tightly. Hymenopteran wings have relatively few veins compared with many other insects, especially in the smaller species.
In the more ancestral hymenopterans, the ovipositor is blade-like, and has evolved for slicing plant tissues. In the majority, however, it is modified for piercing, and, in some cases, is several times the length of the body. In some species, the ovipositor has become modified as a stinger, and the eggs are laid from the base of the structure, rather than from the tip, which is used only to inject venom. The sting is typically used to immobilise prey, but in some wasps and bees may be used in defense.
Hymenopteran larvae typically have a distinct head region, three thoracic segments, and usually nine or 10 abdominal segments. In the suborder Symphyta, the larvae resemble caterpillars in appearance, and like them, typically feed on leaves. They have large chewing mandibles, three pairs of thoracic limbs, and, in most cases, six or eight abdominal prolegs. Unlike caterpillars, however, the prolegs have no grasping spines, and the antennae are reduced to mere stubs. Symphytan larvae that are wood borers or stem borers have no abdominal legs and the thoracic legs are smaller than those of non-borers.
With rare exceptions, larvae of the suborder Apocrita have no legs and are maggotlike in form, and are adapted to life in a protected environment. This may be the body of a host organism, or a cell in a nest, where the adults will care for the larva. In parasitic forms, the head is often greatly reduced and partially withdrawn into the prothorax (anterior part of the thorax). Sense organs appear to be poorly developed, with no ocelli, very small or absent antennae, and toothlike, sicklelike, or spinelike mandibles. They are also unable to defecate until they reach adulthood due to having an incomplete digestive tract (a blind sac), presumably to avoid contaminating their environment. The larvae of stinging forms (Aculeata) generally have 10 pairs of spiracles, or breathing pores, whereas parasitic forms usually have nine pairs present.
Among most or all hymenopterans, sex is determined by the number of chromosomes an individual possesses. Fertilized eggs get two sets of chromosomes (one from each parent's respective gametes) and develop into diploid females, while unfertilized eggs only contain one set (from the mother) and develop into haploid males. The act of fertilization is under the voluntary control of the egg-laying female, giving her control of the sex of her offspring. This phenomenon is called haplodiploidy.
However, the actual genetic mechanisms of haplodiploid sex determination may be more complex than simple chromosome number. In many Hymenoptera, sex is actually determined by a single gene locus with many alleles. In these species, haploids are male and diploids heterozygous at the sex locus are female, but occasionally a diploid will be homozygous at the sex locus and develop as a male, instead. This is especially likely to occur in an individual whose parents were siblings or other close relatives. Diploid males are known to be produced by inbreeding in many ant, bee, and wasp species. Diploid biparental males are usually sterile but a few species that have fertile diploid males are known.
One consequence of haplodiploidy is that females on average actually have more genes in common with their sisters than they do with their own daughters. Because of this, cooperation among kindred females may be unusually advantageous, and has been hypothesized to contribute to the multiple origins of eusociality within this order. In many colonies of bees, ants, and wasps, worker females will remove eggs laid by other workers due to increased relatedness to direct siblings, a phenomenon known as worker policing.
Another consequence is that hymenopterans may be more resistant to the deleterious effects of inbreeding. As males are haploid, any recessive genes will automatically be expressed, exposing them to natural selection. Thus, the genetic load of deleterious genes is purged relatively quickly.
Some hymenopterans take advantage of parthenogenesis, the creation of embryos without fertilization. Thelytoky is a particular form of parthenogenesis in which female embryos are created (without fertilisation). The form of thelytoky in hymenopterans is a kind of automixis in which two haploid products (proto-eggs) from the same meiosis fuse to form a diploid zygote. This process tends to maintain heterozygosity in the passage of the genome from mother to daughter. It is found in several ant species including the desert ant "Cataglyphis cursor", the clonal raider ant "Cerapachys biroi", the predaceous ant "Platythyrea punctata", and the electric ant (little fire ant) "Wasmannia auropunctata". It also occurs in the Cape honey bee "Apis mellifera capensis".
Oocytes that undergo automixis with central fusion often have a reduced rate of crossover recombination, which helps to maintain heterozygosity and avoid inbreeding depression. Species that display central fusion with reduced recombination include the ants "Platythyrea punctata" and " Wasmannia auropunctata" and the honey bee "Apis mellifera capensis". In "A. m. capensis", the recombination rate during meiosis is reduced more than tenfold. In "W. auropunctata" the reduction is 45 fold.
Single queen colonies of the narrow headed ant "Formica exsecta" illustrate the possible deleterious effects of increased homozygosity. Colonies of this species which have more homozygous queens will age more rapidly, resulting in reduced colony survival.
Different species of Hymenoptera show a wide range of feeding habits. The most primitive forms are typically herbivorous, feeding on leaves or pine needles. Stinging wasps are predators, and will provision their larvae with immobilised prey, while bees feed on nectar and pollen.
A huge number of species are parasitoids as larvae. The adults inject the eggs into a host, which they begin to consume after hatching. For example, the eggs of the endangered "Papilio homerus" are parasitized at a rate of 77%, mainly by Hymenoptera species. Some species are even hyperparasitoid, with the host itself being another parasitoid insect. Habits intermediate between those of the herbivorous and parasitoid forms are shown in some hymenopterans, which inhabit the galls or nests of other insects, stealing their food, and eventually killing and eating the occupant.
The Hymenoptera are divided into two groups; the Symphyta which have no waist, and the Apocrita which have a narrow waist.
The suborder Symphyta includes the sawflies, horntails, and parasitic wood wasps. The group may be paraphyletic, as it has been suggested that the family Orussidae may be the group from which the Apocrita arose. They have an unconstricted junction between the thorax and abdomen. The larvae are herbivorous, free-living, and eruciform, with three pairs of true legs, prolegs (on every segment, unlike Lepidoptera) and ocelli. The prolegs do not have crochet hooks at the ends unlike the larvae of the Lepidoptera.
The wasps, bees, and ants together make up the suborder (and clade) Apocrita, characterized by a constriction between the first and second abdominal segments called a wasp-waist (petiole), also involving the fusion of the first abdominal segment to the thorax. Also, the larvae of all Apocrita lack legs, prolegs, or ocelli. The hindgut of the larvae also remains closed during development, with feces being stored inside the body, with the exception of some bee larvae where the larval anus has reappeared through developmental reversion. In general, the anus only opens at the completion of larval growth. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13974 |
Hannibal Hamlin
Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American attorney and politician from the state of Maine. In a public service career that spanned over 50 years, he served as the 15th vice president of the United States. The first Republican to hold the office, Hamlin served from 1861 to 1865. He is considered among the most influential politicians to have come from Maine.
A native of Paris, Maine (part of Massachusetts until 1820), Hamlin managed his father's farm before becoming a newspaper editor. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1833, and began to practice in Hampden, Maine. Originally a Democrat, Hamlin began his political career with election to the Maine House of Representatives in 1835 and an appointment to the military staff of the Governor of Maine. As an officer in the militia, he took part in the 1839 negotiations that helped end the Aroostook War. In the 1840s Hamlin was elected to and served in the United States House of Representatives. In 1848 the state house elected him to the United States Senate, where he served until January 1857. He served temporarily as governor for six weeks in the beginning of 1857, after which he returned to the Senate. Hamlin was an active opponent of slavery; he supported the Wilmot Proviso and opposed the Compromise Measures of 1850. In 1854, he strongly opposed passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Hamlin's increasingly anti-slavery views caused him to leave the Democratic Party for the newly formed Republican Party in 1856.
In the 1860 election, Hamlin was the Republican nominee for Vice President. Selected to run with Abraham Lincoln, who was from Illinois, Hamlin was chosen in part to bring geographic balance to the ticket and in part because as a former Democrat, he could work to convince other anti-slavery Democrats that their future lay with the Republican Party. The Lincoln and Hamlin ticket was successful, and Hamlin served as Vice President from 1861 to 1865, which included all but the last month of the American Civil War. The first Republican Vice President, Hamlin held the office in an era when the office was considered more a part of the legislative branch than the executive; he was not personally close to Lincoln and did not play a major role in his administration. Even so, Hamlin supported the administration's legislative program in his role as presiding officer of the Senate, and he looked for other ways to demonstrate his support for the Union, including a term of service in a Maine militia unit during the war.
For the 1864 election, Hamlin was replaced as Vice Presidential nominee by Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat chosen for his appeal to Southern Unionists. After leaving the vice presidency, Hamlin served as Collector of the Port of Boston, a lucrative post to which he was appointed by Johnson after the latter succeeded to the presidency following Lincoln's assassination. However, Hamlin later resigned as Collector because of his disagreement with Johnson over Reconstruction of the former Confederacy.
In 1869, Hamlin was elected again to the U.S. Senate, and he served two terms. After leaving the Senate in 1881, he served briefly as United States Ambassador to Spain before returning to Maine in late 1882. In retirement, Hamlin was a resident of Bangor, Maine, where he died in 1891. He was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor.
Hamlin was born to Cyrus Hamlin and his wife Anna, née Livermore, in Paris (now in Maine, then a part of Massachusetts). He was a descendant in the sixth generation of English colonist James Hamlin, who had settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639. He was a grandnephew of U.S. Senator Samuel Livermore II of New Hampshire.
According to folklore, Hamlin's life was saved when he was an infant by a Native American medicine woman named Molly Ockett. Hamlin was gravely ill and Molly Ockett prescribed that he be given warm cow's milk after which he recovered.
Hamlin attended the district schools and Hebron Academy and later managed his father's farm. From 1827 to 1830 he published the "Oxford Jeffersonian" newspaper in partnership with Horatio King.
He studied law with the firm headed by Samuel Fessenden, was admitted to the bar in 1833, and began practicing in Hampden, Maine, where he lived until 1848.
Hamlin married Sarah Jane Emery of Paris Hill in 1833. Her father was Stephen Emery, who was appointed as Maine's Attorney General in 1839–1840. Hamlin and Sarah had four children together: George, Charles, Cyrus and Sarah.
His wife died in 1855. The next year, Hamlin married his half-sister, Ellen Vesta Emery in 1856. They had two children together: Hannibal E. and Frank. Ellen Hamlin died in 1925.
Hamlin's political career began in 1835, when he was elected to the Maine House of Representatives. Appointed a Major on the staff of Governor John Fairfield, he served with the militia in the bloodless Aroostook War of 1839. He facilitated negotiations between Fairfield and Lieutenant Governor John Harvey of New Brunswick, which helped reduce tensions and make possible the Webster–Ashburton Treaty, which ended the war.
Hamlin unsuccessfully ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1840 and left the State House in 1841. He later was elected to two terms in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1843 to 1847. He was elected by the state legislature to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy in 1848, and to a full term in 1851. A Democrat at the beginning of his career, Hamlin supported the candidacy of Franklin Pierce in 1852.
From the very beginning of his service in Congress, Hamlin was prominent as an opponent of the extension of slavery. He was a conspicuous supporter of the Wilmot Proviso and spoke against the Compromise Measures of 1850. In 1854, Hamlin strongly opposed the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise. After the Democratic Party endorsed that repeal at the 1856 Democratic National Convention, on June 12, 1856, he withdrew from the Democratic Party and joined the newly organized Republican Party, causing a national sensation.
The Republicans nominated Hamlin for Governor of Maine in the same year. He carried the election by a large majority and was inaugurated on January 8, 1857. In the latter part of February 1857, however, he resigned the governorship. He returned to the United States Senate, serving from 1857 to January 1861.
Hamlin was nominated by the Republican Party to serve as Vice President of the United States in the 1860 presidential election on a ticket with former Representative Abraham Lincoln. Given that Lincoln was from Illinois, a vice presidential nominee from Maine made sense in terms of regional balance. As a former Democrat, Hamlin could persuade other anti-slavery Democrats that joining the Republican Party was the only way to ensure slavery's demise.
Hamlin and Lincoln were not close personally but had a good working relationship. At the time, the Vice President was part of the legislative branch in his role as President of the Senate and did not attend cabinet meetings; Hamlin did not regularly visit the White House. Mary Todd Lincoln and Hamlin disliked each other. For his part, Hamlin complained, "I am only a fifth wheel of a coach and can do little for my friends."
He had little influence in the Lincoln Administration, although he urged both the Emancipation Proclamation and the arming of Black Americans. He strongly supported Joseph Hooker's appointment as commander of the Army of the Potomac, which ended in failure at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
Beginning in 1860, Hamlin was a member of Company A of the Maine State Guard, a militia unit. When the company was called up in the summer of 1864, Hamlin was told that because of his position as Vice President, he did not have to take part in the muster. He opted to serve, arguing that he could set an example by doing the duty expected of any citizen, and the only concession made because of his office was that he was quartered with the officers. He reported to Fort McClary in July, initially taking part in routine assignments including guard duty, and later taking over as the company cook. He was promoted to corporal during his service, and mustered out with the rest of his unit in mid-September.
In June 1864, the Republicans and War Democrats joined to form the National Union Party. Although Lincoln was renominated, War Democrat Andrew Johnson of Tennessee was named to replace Hamlin as Lincoln's running mate. Lincoln was seeking to broaden his base of support and was also looking ahead to Southern Reconstruction, at which Johnson had proven himself adept as military governor of occupied Tennessee. Hamlin, by contrast, was an ally of the Northern "Radical Republicans" (who would later impeach Johnson). Lincoln and Johnson were elected in November 1864, and Hamlin's term expired on March 4, 1865.
After leaving the vice presidency Hamlin served briefly as Collector of the Port of Boston. Appointed to the post by Johnson, Hamlin resigned in protest over Johnson's Reconstruction policy and accompanying efforts to build a political following loyal to him after he had been repudiated by the Republicans. Republicans had supported Johnson as part of the National Union ticket during the war, but opposed him after he became President and his position on Reconstruction deviated from theirs.
Although Hamlin narrowly missed becoming President, his vice presidency would usher in a half-century of sustained national influence for the Maine Republican Party. In the period 1861–1911, Maine Republicans occupied the offices of Vice President, Secretary of the Treasury (twice), Secretary of State, President pro tempore of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (twice), and would field a presidential nominee in James G. Blaine, a level of influence in national politics unmatched by subsequent Maine political delegations.
Not content with private life, Hamlin returned to the U.S. Senate in 1869 to serve two more 6-year terms before declining to run for re-election in 1880 because of an ailing heart. His last duty as a public servant came in 1881 when Secretary of State James G. Blaine convinced President James A. Garfield to name Hamlin as United States Ambassador to Spain. Hamlin received the appointment on June 30, 1881, and held the post until October 17, 1882.
Upon returning from Spain, Hamlin retired from public life to his home in Bangor, Maine, which he had purchased in 1851. The Hannibal Hamlin House – as it is known today – is located in central Bangor at 15 5th Street; incorporating Victorian, Italianate, and Mansard-style architecture, the mansion was posted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Hamlin was elected as a Third Class Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Third Class was the MOLLUS division created to recognize civilians who had contributed outstanding service to the Union during the war.
On Independence Day, July 4, 1891, Hamlin collapsed and fell unconscious while playing cards at the Tarratine Club he founded in downtown Bangor. He was then placed on one of the club's couches. He died a few hours later, likely due to a stroke. He was 81. The couch is preserved at the Bangor Public Library. Hannibal Hamlin was buried in the Hamlin family plot at Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor, Maine. Hamlin survived six of his successors in the vice presidency: Andrew Johnson, Schuyler Colfax, Henry Wilson, William A. Wheeler, Chester A. Arthur, and Thomas A. Hendricks.
Hamlin had four sons who grew to adulthood: Charles Hamlin, Cyrus Hamlin, Hannibal Emery and Frank Hamlin. Charles and Cyrus served in the Union forces during the Civil War, both becoming generals, Charles by brevet. Cyrus was among the first Union officers to argue for the enlistment of black troops, and himself commanded a brigade of freedmen in the Mississippi River campaign. Charles and sister Sarah were present at Ford's Theater the night of Lincoln's assassination. Hannibal Emery Hamlin was Maine Attorney General from 1905 to 1908. Hannibal Hamlin's great-granddaughter Sally Hamlin was a child actor who made many spoken word recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company in the early years of the 20th century.
Hannibal's older brother, Elijah Livermore Hamlin, was president of the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Bangor, and the Bangor Institution for Savings. He was twice an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Maine in the late 1840s, though he did serve as Mayor of Bangor in 1851–52. The brothers were members of different political parties (Hannibal a Democrat, and Elijah a Whig) before both becoming Republican in the later 1850s.
Hannibal's nephew (Elijah's son) Augustus Choate Hamlin was a physician, artist, mineralogist, author, and historian. He was also Mayor of Bangor in 1877–78, and a founding member of the Bangor Historical Society.
Augustus served as surgeon in the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, eventually becoming a U.S. Army Medical Inspector, and later the Surgeon General of Maine. He wrote books about Andersonville Prison and the Battle of Chancellorsville. Hannibal's grand-nephew (Elijah's grandson) Isaiah K. Stetson was Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives in 1899–1900, and owned a large company in Bangor which manufactured and shipped lumber and ice and ran a shipyard and marine railway.
Hannibal's first cousin Cyrus Hamlin, who was a graduate of the Bangor Theological Seminary, became a missionary in Turkey, where he founded Robert College. He later became president of Middlebury College in Vermont. His son, A. D. F. Hamlin, Hannibal's first cousin once removed, became a professor of architecture at Columbia University and a noted architectural historian. There are biographies of Hamlin by his grandson Charles E. Hamlin (published 1899, reprinted 1971) and by H. Draper Hunt (published 1969)
Hamlin County, South Dakota is named in his honor, as are Hamlin, Kansas; Hamlin, New York; Hamlin, West Virginia; Hamlin Township; Hamlin Lake in Mason County, Michigan; and, Hamlin, a small Maine village that is a U.S.–Canada border crossing with Grand Falls, New Brunswick. There are statues in Hamlin's likeness in the United States Capitol and in a public park (Norumbega Mall) in Bangor, Maine.
There is also a building on the University of Maine Campus, in Orono, named Hannibal Hamlin Hall. This burned down in 1945, in a fire that killed two students, but was subsequently rebuilt. Hannibal Hamlin Memorial Library is next to his birthplace in Paris, Maine.
The Hampden Maine Historical Society exhibit a restoration of his first law office at their Kinsley House Museum grounds.
Hamlin's house in Bangor subsequently housed the Presidents of the adjacent Bangor Theological Seminary. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as is Hamlin's birthplace in Paris, Maine (as part of the Paris Hill Historic District).
Hamlin Park in Chicago is named in his honor.
Hamlin appears briefly in three alternate history writings by Harry Turtledove: "The Guns of the South", "Must and Shall", and "How Few Remain".
"Fallout 3" features a character named Hannibal Hamlin. He is shown to be an admirer of Abraham Lincoln and was a former slave who now leads an anti-slavery militia of sorts composed of other former slaves. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13976 |
Hopwood Award
The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood.
Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the Class of 1905 of The University of Michigan, one-fifth of Mr. Hopwood's estate was given to the Regents for the encouragement of creative work in writing. The first awards were made in 1931, and today the Hopwood Program offers approximately $120,000 in prizes every year to aspiring writers at the University of Michigan. According to Nicholas Delbanco, UM English Professor and former Director of the Hopwood Awards Program, "This is the oldest and best known series of writing prizes in the country and it is a very good indicator of future success."
Awards are offered in the following genres: drama/screenplay, essay, the novel, short fiction, Nonfiction, and poetry. These awards are classified under two categories, Graduate or Undergraduate, except the novel and drama/screenplay, which are combined categories. Award amounts for this contest vary, but usually fall in the range of $1000 to $6000.
The Summer Hopwood Contest was discontinued in 2017, but archives of winning Summer Hopwood manuscripts will continue to be held in the Hopwood Room. When it ran, the contest was open only to students who took writing courses during spring and summer terms. Awards were given in the categories of Drama or Screenplay, Nonfiction, Short Fiction, and Poetry. Novels were not eligible for the Summer Hopwood Contest.
This contest is open only to freshmen and sophomores who are enrolled in writing courses. Awards are given in the categories of Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry.
The Hopwood Program administers the Hopwood Award, as well as several other awards in writing. It is located in the Hopwood Room at the University of Michigan and serves the needs and interests of Hopwood contestants. The Room was established by Professor Roy W. Cowden, Director of the Hopwood Awards from 1933 to 1952, who generously contributed a part of his library, which has grown through the addition of many volumes of contemporary literature. In addition to housing the winning manuscripts from the past years of the contests, the Hopwood Room has a lending library of twentieth -century literature, a generous supply of non-circulating current periodicals, some reference
books on how to get published, information on graduate and summer writing
programs, and a collection of screen plays donated by former Hopwood winner
Lawrence Kasdan.
The Hopwood Program also administers the following writing contests: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13978 |
Homeostasis
In biology, homeostasis is the state of steady internal, physical, and chemical conditions maintained by living systems. This is the condition of optimal functioning for the organism and includes many variables, such as body temperature and fluid balance, being kept within certain pre-set limits (homeostatic range). Other variables include the pH of extracellular fluid, the concentrations of sodium, potassium and calcium ions, as well as that of the blood sugar level, and these need to be regulated despite changes in the environment, diet, or level of activity. Each of these variables is controlled by one or more regulators or homeostatic mechanisms, which together maintain life.
Homeostasis is brought about by a natural resistance to change when already in the optimal conditions, and equilibrium is maintained by many regulatory mechanisms. All homeostatic control mechanisms have at least three interdependent components for the variable being regulated: a receptor, a control centre, and an effector. The receptor is the sensing component that monitors and responds to changes in the environment, either external or internal. Receptors include thermoreceptors, and mechanoreceptors. Control centres include the respiratory centre, and the renin–angiotensin system. An effector is the target acted on, to bring about the change back to the normal state. At the cellular level, receptors include nuclear receptors that bring about changes in gene expression through up-regulation or down-regulation, and act in negative feedback mechanisms. An example of this is in the control of bile acids in the liver.
Some centers, such as the renin–angiotensin system, control more than one variable. When the receptor senses a stimulus, it reacts by sending action potentials to a control center. The control center sets the maintenance range—the acceptable upper and lower limits—for the particular variable, such as temperature. The control center responds to the signal by determining an appropriate response and sending signals to an effector, which can be one or more muscles, an organ, or a gland. When the signal is received and acted on, negative feedback is provided to the receptor that stops the need for further signaling.
The cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), located at the presynaptic neuron, is a receptor that can stop stressful neurotransmitter release to the postsynaptic neuron; it is activated by endocannabinoids (ECs) such as anandamide ("N"-arachidonoylethanolamide; AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) via a retrograde signaling process in which these compounds are synthesized by and released from postsynaptic neurons, and travel back to the presynaptic terminal to bind to the CB1 receptor for modulation of neurotransmitter release to obtain homeostasis.
The polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are lipid derivatives of omega-3 (docosahexaenoic acid, DHA, and eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA) or of omega-6 (arachidonic acid, ARA) are synthesized from membrane phospholipids and used as a precursor for endocannabinoids (ECs) mediate significant effects in the fine-tune adjustment of body homeostasis.
The concept of the regulation of the internal environment was described by French physiologist Claude Bernard in 1849, and the word "homeostasis" was coined by Walter Bradford Cannon in 1926. In 1932, Joseph Barcroft a British physiologist, was the first to say that higher brain function required the most stable internal environment. Thus, to Barcroft homeostasis was not only organized by the brain—homeostasis served the brain. Homeostasis is an almost exclusively biological term, referring to the concepts described by Bernard and Cannon, concerning the constancy of the internal environment in which the cells of the body live and survive. The term cybernetics is applied to technological control systems such as thermostats, which function as homeostatic mechanisms, but is often defined much more broadly than the biological term of homeostasis.
The word "homeostasis" () uses combining forms of "homeo-" and "-stasis", New Latin from Greek: ὅμοιος "homoios", "similar" and στάσις "stasis", "standing still", yielding the idea of "staying the same".
The metabolic processes of all organisms can only take place in very specific physical and chemical environments. The conditions vary with each organism, and with whether the chemical processes take place inside the cell or in the interstitial fluid bathing the cells. The best known homeostatic mechanisms in humans and other mammals are regulators that keep the composition of the extracellular fluid (or the "internal environment") constant, especially with regard to the temperature, pH, osmolality, and the concentrations of sodium, potassium, glucose, carbon dioxide, and oxygen. However, a great many other homeostatic mechanisms, encompassing many aspects of human physiology, control other entities in the body. Where the levels of variables are higher or lower than those needed, they are often prefixed with "hyper-" and "hypo-", respectively such as hyperthermia and hypothermia or hypertension and hypotension.
If an entity is homeostatically controlled it does not imply that its value is necessarily absolutely steady in health. Core body temperature is, for instance, regulated by a homeostatic mechanism with temperature sensors in, amongst others, the hypothalamus of the brain. However, the set point of the regulator is regularly reset. For instance, core body temperature in humans varies during the course of the day (i.e. has a circadian rhythm), with the lowest temperatures occurring at night, and the highest in the afternoons. Other normal temperature variations include those related to the menstrual cycle. The temperature regulator's set point is reset during infections to produce a fever. Organisms are capable of adjusting somewhat to varied conditions such as temperature changes or oxygen levels at altitude, by a process of acclimatisation.
Homeostasis does not govern every activity in the body. For instance the signal (be it via neurons or hormones) from the sensor to the effector is, of necessity, highly variable in order to convey information about the direction and magnitude of the error detected by the sensor. Similarly the effector's response needs to be highly adjustable to reverse the error – in fact it should be very nearly in proportion (but in the opposite direction) to the error that is threatening the internal environment. For instance, the arterial blood pressure in mammals is homeostatically controlled, and measured by stretch receptors in the walls of the aortic arch and carotid sinuses at beginnings of the internal carotid arteries. The sensors send messages via sensory nerves to the medulla oblongata of the brain indicating whether the blood pressure has fallen or risen, and by how much. The medulla oblongata then distributes messages along motor or efferent nerves belonging to the autonomic nervous system to a wide variety of effector organs, whose activity is consequently changed to reverse the error in the blood pressure. One of the effector organs is the heart whose rate is stimulated to rise (tachycardia) when the arterial blood pressure falls, or to slow down (bradycardia) when the pressure rises above set point. Thus the heart rate (for which there is no sensor in the body) is not homeostatically controlled, but is one of effector responses to errors in the arterial blood pressure. Another example is the rate of sweating. This is one of the effectors in the homeostatic control of body temperature, and therefore highly variable in rough proportion to the heat load that threatens to destabilize the body's core temperature, for which there is a sensor in the hypothalamus of the brain.
Mammals regulate their core temperature using input from thermoreceptors in the hypothalamus, brain, spinal cord, internal organs, and great veins. Apart from the internal regulation of temperature, a process called allostasis can come into play that adjusts behaviour to adapt to the challenge of very hot or cold extremes (and to other challenges). These adjustments may include seeking shade and reducing activity, or seeking warmer conditions and increasing activity, or huddling.
Behavioural thermoregulation takes precedence over physiological thermoregulation since necessary changes can be affected more quickly and physiological thermoregulation is limited in its capacity to respond to extreme temperatures.
When core temperature falls, the blood supply to the skin is reduced by intense vasoconstriction. The blood flow to the limbs (which have a large surface area) is similarly reduced, and returned to the trunk via the deep veins which lie alongside the arteries (forming venae comitantes). This acts as a counter-current exchange system which short-circuits the warmth from the arterial blood directly into the venous blood returning into the trunk, causing minimal heat loss from the extremities in cold weather. The subcutaneous limb veins are tightly constricted, not only reducing heat loss from this source, but also forcing the venous blood into the counter-current system in the depths of the limbs.
The metabolic rate is increased, initially by non-shivering thermogenesis, followed by shivering thermogenesis if the earlier reactions are insufficient to correct the hypothermia.
When core temperature rises are detected by thermoreceptors, the sweat glands in the skin are stimulated via cholinergic sympathetic nerves to secrete sweat onto the skin, which, when it evaporates, cools the skin and the blood flowing through it. Panting is an alternative effector in many vertebrates, which cools the body also by the evaporation of water, but this time from the mucous membranes of the throat and mouth.
Blood sugar levels are regulated within fairly narrow limits. In mammals the primary sensors for this are the beta cells of the pancreatic islets. The beta cells respond to a rise in the blood sugar level by secreting insulin into the blood, and simultaneously inhibiting their neighboring alpha cells from secreting glucagon into the blood. This combination (high blood insulin levels and low glucagon levels) act on effector tissues, chief of which are the liver, fat cells and muscle cells. The liver is inhibited from producing glucose, taking it up instead, and converting it to glycogen and triglycerides. The glycogen is stored in the liver, but the triglycerides are secreted into the blood as very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particles which are taken up by adipose tissue, there to be stored as fats. The fat cells take up glucose through special glucose transporters (GLUT4), whose numbers in the cell wall are increased as a direct effect of insulin acting on these cells. The glucose that enters the fat cells in this manner is converted into triglycerides (via the same metabolic pathways as are used by the liver) and then stored in those fat cells together with the VLDL-derived triglycerides that were made in the liver. Muscle cells also take glucose up through insulin-sensitive GLUT4 glucose channels, and convert it into muscle glycogen.
A fall in blood glucose, causes insulin secretion to be stopped, and glucagon to be secreted from the alpha cells into the blood. This inhibits the uptake of glucose from the blood by the liver, fats cells and muscle. Instead the liver is strongly stimulated to manufacture glucose from glycogen (through glycogenolysis) and from non-carbohydrate sources (such as lactate and de-aminated amino acids) using a process known as gluconeogenesis. The glucose thus produced is discharged into the blood correcting the detected error (hypoglycemia). The glycogen stored in muscles remains in the muscles, and is only broken down, during exercise, to glucose-6-phosphate and thence to pyruvate to be fed into the citric acid cycle or turned into lactate. It is only the lactate and the waste products of the citric acid cycle that are returned to the blood. The liver can take up only the lactate, and by the process of energy consuming gluconeogenesis convert it back to glucose.
Changes in the levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and plasma pH are sent to the respiratory center, in the brainstem where they are regulated.
The partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the arterial blood is monitored by the peripheral chemoreceptors (PNS) in the carotid artery and aortic arch. A change in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide is detected as altered pH in the cerebrospinal fluid by central chemoreceptors (CNS) in the medulla oblongata of the brainstem. Information from these sets of sensors is sent to the respiratory center which activates the effector organs – the diaphragm and other muscles of respiration. An increased level of carbon dioxide in the blood, or a decreased level of oxygen, will result in a deeper breathing pattern and increased respiratory rate to bring the blood gases back to equilibrium.
Too little carbon dioxide, and, to a lesser extent, too much oxygen in the blood can temporarily halt breathing, a condition known as apnea, which freedivers use to prolong the time they can stay underwater.
The partial pressure of carbon dioxide is more of a deciding factor in the monitoring of pH. However, at high altitude (above 2500 m) the monitoring of the partial pressure of oxygen takes priority, and hyperventilation keeps the oxygen level constant. With the lower level of carbon dioxide, to keep the pH at 7.4 the kidneys secrete hydrogen ions into the blood, and excrete bicarbonate into the urine. This is important in the acclimatization to high altitude.
The kidneys measure the oxygen content rather than the partial pressure of oxygen in the arterial blood. When the oxygen content of the blood is chronically low, oxygen-sensitive cells secrete erythropoietin (EPO) into the blood. The effector tissue is the red bone marrow which produces red blood cells (RBCs)(erythrocytes). The increase in RBCs leads to an increased hematocrit in the blood, and subsequent increase in hemoglobin that increases the oxygen carrying capacity. This is the mechanism whereby high altitude dwellers have higher hematocrits than sea-level residents, and also why persons with pulmonary insufficiency or right-to-left shunts in the heart (through which venous blood by-passes the lungs and goes directly into the systemic circulation) have similarly high hematocrits.
Regardless of the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood, the amount of oxygen that can be carried, depends on the hemoglobin content. The partial pressure of oxygen may be sufficient for example in anemia, but the hemoglobin content will be insufficient and subsequently as will be the oxygen content. Given enough supply of iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid, EPO can stimulate RBC production, and hemoglobin and oxygen content restored to normal.
The brain can regulate blood flow over a range of blood pressure values by vasoconstriction and vasodilation of the arteries.
High pressure receptors called baroreceptors in the walls of the aortic arch and carotid sinus (at the beginning of the internal carotid artery) monitor the arterial blood pressure. Rising pressure is detected when the walls of the arteries stretch due to an increase in blood volume. This causes heart muscle cells to secrete the hormone atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) into the blood. This acts on the kidneys to inhibit the secretion of renin and aldosterone causing the release of sodium, and accompanying water into the urine, thereby reducing the blood volume.
This information is then conveyed, via afferent nerve fibers, to the solitary nucleus in the medulla oblongata. From here motor nerves belonging to the autonomic nervous system are stimulated to influence the activity of chiefly the heart and the smallest diameter arteries, called arterioles. The arterioles are the main resistance vessels in the arterial tree, and small changes in diameter cause large changes in the resistance to flow through them. When the arterial blood pressure rises the arterioles are stimulated to dilate making it easier for blood to leave the arteries, thus deflating them, and bringing the blood pressure down, back to normal. At the same time the heart is stimulated via cholinergic parasympathetic nerves to beat more slowly (called bradycardia), ensuring that the inflow of blood into the arteries is reduced, thus adding to the reduction in pressure, and correction of the original error.
Low pressure in the arteries, causes the opposite reflex of constriction of the arterioles, and a speeding up of the heart rate (called tachycardia). If the drop in blood pressure is very rapid or excessive, the medulla oblongata stimulates the adrenal medulla, via "preganglionic" sympathetic nerves, to secrete epinephrine (adrenaline) into the blood. This hormone enhances the tachycardia and causes severe vasoconstriction of the arterioles to all but the essential organ in the body (especially the heart, lungs, and brain). These reactions usually correct the low arterial blood pressure (hypotension) very effectively.
The plasma ionized calcium (Ca2+) concentration is very tightly controlled by a pair of homeostatic mechanisms. The sensor for the first one is situated in the parathyroid glands, where the chief cells sense the Ca2+ level by means of specialized calcium receptors in their membranes. The sensors for the second are the parafollicular cells in the thyroid gland. The parathyroid chief cells secrete parathyroid hormone (PTH) in response to a fall in the plasma ionized calcium level; the parafollicular cells of the thyroid gland secrete calcitonin in response to a rise in the plasma ionized calcium level.
The effector organs of the first homeostatic mechanism are the bones, the kidney, and, via a hormone released into the blood by the kidney in response to high PTH levels in the blood, the duodenum and jejunum. Parathyroid hormone (in high concentrations in the blood) causes bone resorption, releasing calcium into the plasma. This is a very rapid action which can correct a threatening hypocalcemia within minutes. High PTH concentrations cause the excretion of phosphate ions via the urine. Since phosphates combine with calcium ions to form insoluble salts (see also bone mineral), a decrease in the level of phosphates in the blood, releases free calcium ions into the plasma ionized calcium pool. PTH has a second action on the kidneys. It stimulates the manufacture and release, by the kidneys, of calcitriol into the blood. This steroid hormone acts on the epithelial cells of the upper small intestine, increasing their capacity to absorb calcium from the gut contents into the blood.
The second homeostatic mechanism, with its sensors in the thyroid gland, releases calcitonin into the blood when the blood ionized calcium rises. This hormone acts primarily on bone, causing the rapid removal of calcium from the blood and depositing it, in insoluble form, in the bones.
The two homeostatic mechanisms working through PTH on the one hand, and calcitonin on the other can very rapidly correct any impending error in the plasma ionized calcium level by either removing calcium from the blood and depositing it in the skeleton, or by removing calcium from it. The skeleton acts as an extremely large calcium store (about 1 kg) compared with the plasma calcium store (about 180 mg). Longer term regulation occurs through calcium absorption or loss from the gut.
Another example are the most well-characterised endocannabinoids like anandamide ("N"-arachidonoylethanolamide; AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), whose synthesis occurs through the action of a series of intracellular enzymes activated in response to a rise in intracellular calcium levels to introduce homeostasis and prevention of tumor development through putative protective mechanisms that prevent cell growth and migration by activation of CB1 and/or CB2 and adjoining receptors.
The homeostatic mechanism which controls the plasma sodium concentration is rather more complex than most of the other homeostatic mechanisms described on this page.
The sensor is situated in the juxtaglomerular apparatus of kidneys, which senses the plasma sodium concentration in a surprisingly indirect manner. Instead of measuring it directly in the blood flowing past the juxtaglomerular cells, these cells respond to the sodium concentration in the renal tubular fluid after it has already undergone a certain amount of modification in the proximal convoluted tubule and loop of Henle. These cells also respond to rate of blood flow through the juxtaglomerular apparatus, which, under normal circumstances, is directly proportional to the arterial blood pressure, making this tissue an ancillary arterial blood pressure sensor.
In response to a lowering of the plasma sodium concentration, or to a fall in the arterial blood pressure, the juxtaglomerular cells release renin into the blood. Renin is an enzyme which cleaves a decapeptide (a short protein chain, 10 amino acids long) from a plasma α-2-globulin called angiotensinogen. This decapeptide is known as angiotensin I. It has no known biological activity. However, when the blood circulates through the lungs a pulmonary capillary endothelial enzyme called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) cleaves a further two amino acids from angiotensin I to form an octapeptide known as angiotensin II. Angiotensin II is a hormone which acts on the adrenal cortex, causing the release into the blood of the steroid hormone, aldosterone. Angiotensin II also acts on the smooth muscle in the walls of the arterioles causing these small diameter vessels to constrict, thereby restricting the outflow of blood from the arterial tree, causing the arterial blood pressure to rise. This, therefore, reinforces the measures described above (under the heading of "Arterial blood pressure"), which defend the arterial blood pressure against changes, especially hypotension.
The angiotensin II-stimulated aldosterone released from the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal glands has an effect on particularly the epithelial cells of the distal convoluted tubules and collecting ducts of the kidneys. Here it causes the reabsorption of sodium ions from the renal tubular fluid, in exchange for potassium ions which are secreted from the blood plasma into the tubular fluid to exit the body via the urine. The reabsorption of sodium ions from the renal tubular fluid halts further sodium ion losses from the body, and therefore preventing the worsening of hyponatremia. The hyponatremia can only be "corrected" by the consumption of salt in the diet. However, it is not certain whether a "salt hunger" can be initiated by hyponatremia, or by what mechanism this might come about.
When the plasma sodium ion concentration is higher than normal (hypernatremia), the release of renin from the juxtaglomerular apparatus is halted, ceasing the production of angiotensin II, and its consequent aldosterone-release into the blood. The kidneys respond by excreting sodium ions into the urine, thereby normalizing the plasma sodium ion concentration. The low angiotensin II levels in the blood lower the arterial blood pressure as an inevitable concomitant response.
The reabsorption of sodium ions from the tubular fluid as a result of high aldosterone levels in the blood does not, of itself, cause renal tubular water to be returned to the blood from the distal convoluted tubules or collecting ducts. This is because sodium is reabsorbed in exchange for potassium and therefore causes only a modest change in the osmotic gradient between the blood and the tubular fluid. Furthermore, the epithelium of the distal convoluted tubules and collecting ducts is impermeable to water in the absence of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) in the blood. ADH is part of the control of fluid balance. Its levels in the blood vary with the osmolality of the plasma, which is measured in the hypothalamus of the brain. Aldosterone's action on the kidney tubules prevents sodium loss to the extracellular fluid (ECF). So there is no change in the osmolality of the ECF, and therefore no change in the ADH concentration of the plasma. However, low aldosterone levels cause a loss of sodium ions from the ECF, which could potentially cause a change in extracellular osmolality and therefore of ADH levels in the blood.
High potassium concentrations in the plasma cause depolarization of the zona glomerulosa cells' membranes in the outer layer of the adrenal cortex. This causes the release of aldosterone into the blood.
Aldosterone acts primarily on the distal convoluted tubules and collecting ducts of the kidneys, stimulating the excretion of potassium ions into the urine. It does so, however, by activating the basolateral Na+/K+ pumps of the tubular epithelial cells. These sodium/potassium exchangers pump three sodium ions out of the cell, into the interstitial fluid and two potassium ions into the cell from the interstitial fluid. This creates an ionic concentration gradient which results in the reabsorption of sodium (Na+) ions from the tubular fluid into the blood, and secreting potassium (K+) ions from the blood into the urine (lumen of collecting duct).
The total amount of water in the body needs to be kept in balance. Fluid balance involves keeping the fluid volume stabilized, and also keeping the levels of electrolytes in the extracellular fluid stable. Fluid balance is maintained by the process of osmoregulation and by behavior. Osmotic pressure is detected by osmoreceptors in the median preoptic nucleus in the hypothalamus. Measurement of the plasma osmolality to give an indication of the water content of the body, relies on the fact that water losses from the body, (through unavoidable water loss through the skin which is not entirely waterproof and therefore always slightly moist, water vapor in the exhaled air, sweating, vomiting, normal feces and especially diarrhea) are all hypotonic, meaning that they are less salty than the body fluids (compare, for instance, the taste of saliva with that of tears. The latter has almost the same salt content as the extracellular fluid, whereas the former is hypotonic with respect to the plasma. Saliva does not taste salty, whereas tears are decidedly salty). Nearly all normal and abnormal losses of body water therefore cause the extracellular fluid to become hypertonic. Conversely, excessive fluid intake dilutes the extracellular fluid causing the hypothalamus to register hypotonic hyponatremia conditions.
When the hypothalamus detects a hypertonic extracellular environment, it causes the secretion of an antidiuretic hormone (ADH) called vasopressin which acts on the effector organ, which in this case is the kidney. The effect of vasopressin on the kidney tubules is to reabsorb water from the distal convoluted tubules and collecting ducts, thus preventing aggravation of the water loss via the urine. The hypothalamus simultaneously stimulates the nearby thirst center causing an almost irresistible (if the hypertonicity is severe enough) urge to drink water. The cessation of urine flow prevents the hypovolemia and hypertonicity from getting worse; the drinking of water corrects the defect.
Hypo-osmolality results in very low plasma ADH levels. This results in the inhibition of water reabsorption from the kidney tubules, causing high volumes of very dilute urine to be excreted, thus getting rid of the excess water in the body.
Urinary water loss, when the body water homeostat is intact, is a "compensatory" water loss, "correcting" any water excess in the body. However, since the kidneys cannot generate water, the thirst reflex is the all-important second effector mechanism of the body water homeostat, "correcting" any water deficit in the body.
The plasma pH can be altered by respiratory changes in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide; or altered by metabolic changes in the carbonic acid to bicarbonate ion ratio. The bicarbonate buffer system regulates the ratio of carbonic acid to bicarbonate to be equal to 1:20, at which ratio the blood pH is 7.4 (as explained in the Henderson–Hasselbalch equation). A change in the plasma pH gives an acid–base imbalance.
In acid–base homeostasis there are two mechanisms that can help regulate the pH. Respiratory compensation a mechanism of the respiratory center, adjusts the partial pressure of carbon dioxide by changing the rate and depth of breathing, to bring the pH back to normal. The partial pressure of carbon dioxide also determines the concentration of carbonic acid, and the bicarbonate buffer system can also come into play. Renal compensation can help the bicarbonate buffer system.
The sensor for the plasma bicarbonate concentration is not known for certain. It is very probable that the renal tubular cells of the distal convoluted tubules are themselves sensitive to the pH of the plasma. The metabolism of these cells produces carbon dioxide, which is rapidly converted to hydrogen and bicarbonate through the action of carbonic anhydrase. When the ECF pH falls (becoming more acidic) the renal tubular cells excrete hydrogen ions into the tubular fluid to leave the body via urine. Bicarbonate ions are simultaneously secreted into the blood that decreases the carbonic acid, and consequently raises the plasma pH. The converse happens when the plasma pH rises above normal: bicarbonate ions are excreted into the urine, and hydrogen ions released into the plasma.
When hydrogen ions are excreted into the urine, and bicarbonate into the blood, the latter combines with the excess hydrogen ions in the plasma that stimulated the kidneys to perform this operation. The resulting reaction in the plasma is the formation of carbonic acid which is in equilibrium with the plasma partial pressure of carbon dioxide. This is tightly regulated to ensure that there is no excessive build-up of carbonic acid or bicarbonate. The overall effect is therefore that hydrogen ions are lost in the urine when the pH of the plasma falls. The concomitant rise in the plasma bicarbonate mops up the increased hydrogen ions (caused by the fall in plasma pH) and the resulting excess carbonic acid is disposed of in the lungs as carbon dioxide. This restores the normal ratio between bicarbonate and the partial pressure of carbon dioxide and therefore the plasma pH.
The converse happens when a high plasma pH stimulates the kidneys to secrete hydrogen ions into the blood and to excrete bicarbonate into the urine. The hydrogen ions combine with the excess bicarbonate ions in the plasma, once again forming an excess of carbonic acid which can be exhaled, as carbon dioxide, in the lungs, keeping the plasma bicarbonate ion concentration, the partial pressure of carbon dioxide and, therefore, the plasma pH, constant.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) allows for regulation of the distribution of substances between cells of the brain, and neuroendocrine factors, to which slight changes can cause problems or damage to the nervous system. For example, high glycine concentration disrupts temperature and blood pressure control, and high CSF pH causes dizziness and syncope.
Inhibitory neurons in the central nervous system play a homeostatic role in the balance of neuronal activity between excitation and inhibition. Inhibitory neurons using GABA, make compensating changes in the neuronal networks preventing runaway levels of excitation. An imbalance between excitation and inhibition is seen to be implicated in a number of neuropsychiatric disorders.
The neuroendocrine system is the mechanism by which the hypothalamus maintains homeostasis, regulating metabolism, reproduction, eating and drinking behaviour, energy utilization, osmolarity and blood pressure.
The regulation of metabolism, is carried out by hypothalamic interconnections to other glands.
Three endocrine glands of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis (HPG axis) often work together and have important regulatory functions. Two other regulatory endocrine axes are the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis) and the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis (HPT axis).
The liver also has many regulatory functions of the metabolism. An important function is the production and control of bile acids. Too much bile acid can be toxic to cells and its synthesis can be inhibited by activation of FXR a nuclear receptor.
At the cellular level, homeostasis is carried out by several mechanisms including transcriptional regulation that can alter the activity of genes in response to changes.
The amount of energy taken in through nutrition needs to match the amount of energy used. To achieve energy homeostasis appetite is regulated by two hormones, grehlin and leptin. Grehlin stimulates hunger and the intake of food and leptin acts to signal satiety (fullness).
A 2019 review of weight-change interventions, including dieting, exercise and overeating, found that body weight homeostasis could not precisely correct for "energetic errors", the loss or gain of calories, in the short-term.
Many diseases are the result of a homeostatic failure. Almost any homeostatic component can malfunction either as a result of an inherited defect, an inborn error of metabolism, or an acquired disease. Some homeostatic mechanisms have inbuilt redundancies, which ensures that life is not immediately threatened if a component malfunctions; but sometimes a homeostatic malfunction can result in serious disease, which can be fatal if not treated. A well-known example of a homeostatic failure is shown in type 1 diabetes mellitus. Here blood sugar regulation is unable to function because the beta cells of the pancreatic islets are destroyed and cannot produce the necessary insulin. The blood sugar rises in a condition known as hyperglycemia.
The plasma ionized calcium homeostat can be disrupted by the constant, unchanging, over-production of parathyroid hormone by a parathyroid adenoma resulting in the typically features of hyperparathyroidism, namely high plasma ionized Ca2+ levels and the resorption of bone, which can lead to spontaneous fractures. The abnormally high plasma ionized calcium concentrations cause conformational changes in many cell-surface proteins (especially ion channels and hormone or neurotransmitter receptors) giving rise to lethargy, muscle weakness, anorexia, constipation and labile emotions.
The body water homeostat can be compromised by the inability to secrete ADH in response to even the normal daily water losses via the exhaled air, the feces, and insensible sweating. On receiving a zero blood ADH signal, the kidneys produce huge unchanging volumes of very dilute urine, causing dehydration and death if not treated.
As organisms age, the efficiency of their control systems becomes reduced. The inefficiencies gradually result in an unstable internal environment that increases the risk of illness, and leads to the physical changes associated with aging.
Various chronic diseases are kept under control by homeostatic compensation, which masks a problem by compensating for it (making up for it) in another way. However, the compensating mechanisms eventually wear out or are disrupted by a new complicating factor (such as the advent of a concurrent acute viral infection), which sends the body reeling through a new cascade of events. Such decompensation unmasks the underlying disease, worsening its symptoms. Common examples include decompensated heart failure, kidney failure, and liver failure.
In the Gaia hypothesis, James Lovelock stated that the entire mass of living matter on Earth (or any planet with life) functions as a vast homeostatic superorganism that actively modifies its planetary environment to produce the environmental conditions necessary for its own survival. In this view, the entire planet maintains several homeostasis (the primary one being temperature homeostasis). Whether this sort of system is present on Earth is open to debate. However, some relatively simple homeostatic mechanisms are generally accepted. For example, it is sometimes claimed that when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rise, certain plants may be able to grow better and thus act to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, warming has exacerbated droughts, making water the actual limiting factor on land. When sunlight is plentiful and the atmospheric temperature climbs, it has been claimed that the phytoplankton of the ocean surface waters, acting as global sunshine, and therefore heat sensors, may thrive and produce more dimethyl sulfide (DMS). The DMS molecules act as cloud condensation nuclei, which produce more clouds, and thus increase the atmospheric albedo, and this feeds back to lower the temperature of the atmosphere. However, rising sea temperature has stratified the oceans, separating warm, sunlit waters from cool, nutrient-rich waters. Thus, nutrients have become the limiting factor, and plankton levels have actually fallen over the past 50 years, not risen. As scientists discover more about Earth, vast numbers of positive and negative feedback loops are being discovered, that, together, maintain a metastable condition, sometimes within a very broad range of environmental conditions.
Predictive homeostasis is an anticipatory response to an expected challenge in the future, such as the stimulation of insulin secretion by gut hormones which enter the blood in response to a meal. This insulin secretion occurs before the blood sugar level rises, lowering the blood sugar level in anticipation of a large influx into the blood of glucose resulting from the digestion of carbohydrates in the gut. Such anticipatory reactions are open loop systems which are based, essentially, on "guess work", and are not self-correcting. Anticipatory responses always require a closed loop negative feedback system to correct the 'over-shoots' and 'under-shoots' to which the anticipatory systems are prone.
The term has come to be used in other fields, for example:
An actuary may refer to "risk homeostasis", where (for example) people who have anti-lock brakes have no better safety record than those without anti-lock brakes, because the former unconsciously compensate for the safer vehicle via less-safe driving habits. Previous to the innovation of anti-lock brakes, certain maneuvers involved minor skids, evoking fear and avoidance: Now the anti-lock system moves the boundary for such feedback, and behavior patterns expand into the no-longer punitive area. It has also been suggested that ecological crises are an instance of risk homeostasis in which a particular behavior continues until proven dangerous or dramatic consequences actually occur.
Sociologists and psychologists may refer to "stress homeostasis", the tendency of a population or an individual to stay at a certain level of stress, often generating artificial stresses if the "natural" level of stress is not enough.
Jean-François Lyotard, a postmodern theorist, has applied this term to societal 'power centers' that he describes in "The Postmodern Condition", as being 'governed by a principle of homeostasis,' for example, the scientific hierarchy, which will sometimes ignore a radical new discovery for years because it destabilizes previously accepted norms.
Familiar technological homeostatic mechanisms include: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13980 |
Hockey
Hockey is a sport in which two teams play against each other by trying to manoeuvre a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick. There are many types of hockey such as bandy, field hockey, ice hockey and rink hockey.
In most of the world, the term "hockey" by itself refers to field hockey, while in Canada, the United States, Russia and most of Eastern and Northern Europe, the term usually refers to ice hockey.
The first recorded use of the word "hockey" is in the 1773 book "Juvenile Sports and Pastimes, to Which Are Prefixed, Memoirs of the Author: Including a New Mode of Infant Education" by Richard Johnson (Pseud. Master Michel Angelo), whose chapter XI was titled "New Improvements on the Game of Hockey". The belief that hockey was mentioned in a 1363 proclamation by King Edward III of England is based on modern translations of the proclamation, which was originally in Latin and explicitly forbade the games "Pilam Manualem, Pedivam, & Bacularem: & ad Canibucam & Gallorum Pugnam". The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word "hockey" when he translated the proclamation in 1720, instead translating "Canibucam" as "Cambuck"; this may have referred to either an early form of hockey or a game more similar to golf or croquet.
The word "hockey" itself is of unknown origin. One supposition is that it is a derivative of "hoquet", a Middle French word for a shepherd's stave. The curved, or "hooked" ends of the sticks used for hockey would indeed have resembled these staves. Another supposition derives from the known use of cork bungs, (stoppers) in place of wooden balls to play the game. The stoppers came from barrels containing "hock" ale, also called "hocky".
Games played with curved sticks and a ball can be found in the histories of many cultures. In Egypt, 4000-year-old carvings feature teams with sticks and a projectile, hurling dates to before 1272 BC in Ireland, and there is a depiction from approximately 600 BC in Ancient Greece, where the game may have been called "kerētízein" or (κερητίζειν) because it was played with a horn or horn-like stick ("kéras", κέρας). In Inner Mongolia, the Daur people have been playing "beikou", a game similar to modern field hockey, for about 1,000 years.
Most evidence of hockey-like games during the Middle Ages is found in legislation concerning sports and games. The Galway Statute enacted in Ireland in 1527 banned certain types of ball games, including games using "hooked" (written "hockie", similar to "hooky") sticks.
By the 19th century, the various forms and divisions of historic games began to differentiate and coalesce into the individual sports defined today. Organizations dedicated to the codification of rules and regulations began to form, and national and international bodies sprang up to manage domestic and international competition.
Bandy is played with a ball on a football pitch-sized ice arena (bandy rink), typically outdoors, and with many rules similar to association football. It is played professionally in Russia and Sweden. The sport is recognized by the IOC; its international governing body is the Federation of International Bandy.
Bandy has its roots in England in the 19th century, was originally called "hockey on the ice", and spread from England to other European countries around 1900; a similar Russian sport can also be seen as a predecessor and in Russia, bandy is sometimes called "Russian hockey". Bandy World Championships have been played since 1957 and Women's Bandy World Championships since 2004. There are national club championships in many countries and the top clubs in the world play in the Bandy World Cup every year.
Field hockey is played on gravel, natural grass, or sand-based or water-based artificial turf, with a small, hard ball approximately 73 mm (2.9 in) in diameter. The game is popular among both males and females in many parts of the world, particularly in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina. In most countries, the game is played between single-sex sides, although they can be mixed-sex.
The governing body is the 126-member International Hockey Federation (FIH). Men's field hockey has been played at each Summer Olympic Games since 1908 except for 1912 and 1924, while women's field hockey has been played at the Summer Olympic Games since 1980.
Modern field hockey sticks are constructed of a composite of wood, glass fibre or carbon fibre (sometimes both) and are J-shaped, with a curved hook at the playing end, a flat surface on the playing side and a curved surface on the rear side. All sticks are right-handed – left-handed sticks are not permitted.
While field hockey in its current form appeared in mid-18th century England, primarily in schools, it was not until the first half of the 19th century that it became firmly established. The first club was created in 1849 at Blackheath in south-east London. Field hockey is the national sport of Pakistan. It was the national sport of India until the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports declared in August 2012 that India has no national sport.
Ice hockey is played between two teams of skaters on a large flat area of ice, using a three-inch-diameter (76.2 mm) vulcanized rubber disc called a puck. This puck is often frozen before high-level games to decrease the amount of bouncing and friction on the ice. The game is played all over North America, Europe and to varying extents in many other countries around the world. It is the most popular sport in Canada, Finland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Ice hockey is the national sport of Latvia and the national winter sport of Canada. Ice hockey is played at a number of levels, by all ages.
The governing body of international play is the 77-member International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Men's ice hockey has been played at the Winter Olympics since 1924, and was in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Women's ice hockey was added to the Winter Olympics in 1998. North America's National Hockey League (NHL) is the strongest professional ice hockey league, drawing top ice hockey players from around the globe. The NHL rules are slightly different from those used in Olympic ice hockey over many categories. International ice hockey rules were adopted from Canadian rules in the early 1900s.
The contemporary sport developed in Canada from European and native influences. These included various stick and ball games similar to field hockey, bandy and other games where two teams push a ball or object back and forth with sticks. These were played outdoors on ice under the name "hockey" in England throughout the 19th century, and even earlier under various other names. In Canada, there are 24 reports of hockey-like games in the 19th century before 1875 (five of them using the name "hockey"). The first organized and recorded game of ice hockey was played indoors in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on March 3, 1875, and featured several McGill University students.
Ice hockey sticks are long L-shaped sticks made of wood, graphite, or composites with a blade at the bottom that can lie flat on the playing surface when the stick is held upright and can legally curve either way, for left- or right-handed players.
Ice sledge hockey or para ice hockey is a form of ice hockey designed for players with physical disabilities affecting their lower bodies. Players sit on double-bladed sledges and use two sticks; each stick has a blade at one end and small picks at the other. Players use the sticks to pass, stickhandle and shoot the puck, and to propel their sledges. The rules are very similar to IIHF ice hockey rules.
Canada is a recognized international leader in the development of sledge hockey, and much of the equipment for the sport was first developed there, such as sledge hockey sticks laminated with fiberglass, as well as aluminum shafts with hand-carved insert blades and special aluminum sledges with regulation skate blades.
Based on ice sledge hockey, inline sledge hockey is played to the same rules as inline puck hockey (essentially ice hockey played off-ice using inline skates). There is no classification point system dictating who can play inline sledge hockey, unlike the situation with other team sports such as wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. Inline sledge hockey is being developed to allow everyone, regardless of whether they have a disability or not, to complete up to world championship level based solely on talent and ability. The first game of inline sledge hockey was played at Bisley, England, on 19 December 2009 between the Hull Stingrays and the Grimsby Redwings. Matt Lloyd is credited with inventing inline sledge hockey, and Great Britain is seen as the international leader in the game's development.
Inline hockey is a variation of roller hockey very similar to ice hockey, from which it is derived. Inline hockey is played by two teams, consisting of four skaters and one goalie, on a dry rink divided into two halves by a center line, with one net at each end of the rink. The game is played in three 15-minute periods with a variation of the ice hockey off-side rule. Icings are also called, but are usually referred to as illegal clearing. The governing body is the IIHF, as for ice hockey, but some leagues and competitions do not follow the IIHF regulations, in particular USA Inline and Canada Inline.
Roller hockey, also known as quad hockey, international-style ball hockey, rink hockey and Hoquei em Patins, is an overarching name for a roller sport that has existed since long before inline skates were invented. This sport is played in over sixty countries and has a worldwide following. Roller hockey was a demonstration sport at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
Also known as road hockey, this is a dry-land variant of ice and roller hockey played year-round on a hard surface (usually asphalt). A ball is usually used instead of a puck, and protective equipment is not usually worn.
Other games derived from hockey or its predecessors include the following: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13981 |
Hawick
Hawick ( ; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. Hawick's architecture is distinctive in that it has many sandstone buildings with slate roofs. The town is at the
confluence of the Slitrig Water with the River Teviot. Hawick is known for its yearly Common Riding, for its rugby team Hawick Rugby Football Club and for its knitwear industry.
At the 2001 census Hawick had a resident population of 14,801. By 2011, this had reduced to 14,294.
The west end of the town contains "the Mote", the remains of a Norman motte-and-bailey. In the centre of the High Street is the Scots baronial style town hall, built in 1886, and the east end has an equestrian statue, known as "the Horse", erected in 1914. Drumlanrig's Tower, now a museum, dates largely from the mid-16th century.
In 2009 another monument the "Turning of the Bull" (artist, Angela Hunter, Innerleithen, Scotland) was unveiled in Hawick. This monument depicts William Rule turning the wild bull as it was charging King Robert the Bruce, thus saving the king's life and beginning the Scottish Clan of Turnbull. A poem written by John Leyden commemorates this historical event. "His arms robust the hardy hunter flung around his bending horns, and upward wrung, with writhing force his neck retorted round, and rolled the panting monster to the ground, crushed, with enormous strength, his bony skull; and courtiers hailed the man who turned the bull."
Companies: Hawick Cashmere, Hawick Knitwear, Johnstons of Elgin, Lyle & Scott, Peter Scott, Pringle of Scotland, and Scott and Charters, have had and in many cases still have manufacturing plants in Hawick, producing luxury cashmere and merino wool knitwear. The first knitting machine was brought to Hawick in 1771 by John Hardie, building on an existing carpet manufacturing trade. Originally based on linen, this quickly moved to wool and factories multiplied, driving the growth of the town. Engineering firm Turnbull and Scott had their headquarters in an Elizabethan-style listed building on Commercial Road before moving to Burnfoot.
In recent times, unemployment has been an issue in Hawick, and the unemployment claimant rate remained ahead of the overall Scottish Borders between 2014 and 2017. The closure of once significant employers including mills like Peter Scott and Pringle have impacted job availability in the town over the last few decades, and the population has declined partly because of this, at 13,730 in 2016, the lowest level since the 1800s. Despite efforts to improve the economic situation, employment and poverty remain relatively important in the context of the Scottish Borders, with the number of children living in poverty in the town 10% higher than the average for the region in 2017. Developments such as a new central business hub, Aldi supermarket, and distillery, all set for opening in 2018/19, are expected to benefit Hawick. Despite this, continued business closures, for example Homebase and the Original Factory Store in 2018, suggest continued economic decline for the town.
Hawick lies in the centre of the valley of the Teviot. The A7 Edinburgh to Carlisle road passes through the town, with main roads also leading to Berwick-upon-Tweed (the A698) and Newcastle upon Tyne (the A6088, which joins the A68 at the Carter Bar, south-east of Hawick).
The town lost its rail service in 1969, when as part of the Beeching Axe the 'Waverley Route' from Carlisle to Edinburgh via Hawick was closed. It was said to be the farthest large town from a railway station in the United Kingdom, but this changed as a result of the opening of the Borders Railway, which in 2015 reopened part of the former Waverley Route to Tweedbank, near Galashiels. Regular buses serve the railway station at Carlisle, away. Reconnecting Hawick to the Borders Railway would require reinstatement of a further approximately 17 miles of the former Waverley Route from Hawick to Tweedbank station via Hassendean, St Boswells, and Melrose, and refurbishment of the four arch Ale Water viaduct near New Belses. Hawick station was on the north bank of the river Teviot, below Wilton Hill Terrace, with a now demolished viaduct (near the Mart Street bridge) carrying the route south towards Carlisle. Waverley Walk in Hawick is footpath along the former railway route, north-eastward from the former station site near Teviotdale Leisure Centre.
The nearest major airports are at Edinburgh, away, and Newcastle, away.
The town hosts the annual Common Riding, which combines the annual riding of the boundaries of the town's common land with the commemoration of a victory of local youths over an English raiding party in 1514. In March 2007, this was described by the "Rough Guide" publication "World Party" as one of the best parties in the world.
People from Hawick call themselves "Teries", after a traditional song which includes the line "Teribus ye teri odin".
Many Hawick residents speak the local dialect of Border Scots which is informally known as "Teri Talk". It is similar (but not identical by any means) to the dialects spoken in surrounding towns, especially Jedburgh, Langholm and Selkirk. The speech of this general area was described in "Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland" (1873) by James Murray, considered the first systematic study of any dialect. The Hawick tongue retains many elements of Old English, together with particular vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Its distinctiveness arose from the relative isolation of the town.
The town is the home of Hawick Rugby Football Club and a senior football team, Hawick Royal Albert, who currently play in the East of Scotland Football League.
Rivalry between the small Border towns is generally played out on the rugby union field. The historical competition continues to this day, as Hawick's main rival is the similarly-sized town of Galashiels.
The Hawick Baw game was once played here by the 'uppies' and the 'doonies' on the first Monday after the new moon in the month of February. The river of the town formed an important part of the pitch. Although no longer played at Hawick, it is still played at nearby Jedburgh.
"Hawick balls" or "baws", also known as Hills Balls or taffy rock bools, are a peppermint-flavoured boiled sweet that originated in the town. They are particularly associated with rugby commentator Bill McLaren who was known to offer them from a bag that he always carried. They are now produced in Greenock.
The Borders Abbeys Way passes through Hawick. A statue of Bill McLaren the late popular rugby commentator is in Wilton Lodge Park to the west of the town centre.
Hawick's villages: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13983 |
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, and 39,201 at the 2011 Census. The settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, home of the Marquess of Salisbury, forms the nucleus of the old town. From the 1930s when de Havilland opened a factory until the 1990s when British Aerospace closed it, aircraft design and manufacture employed more people there than any other industry. Hatfield was one of the post-war New Towns built around London and has much modernist architecture from the period. The University of Hertfordshire is based there.
Hatfield lies north of London beside the A1(M) motorway and has direct trains to London King's Cross railway station, Finsbury Park and Moorgate. There has been a strong increase in commuters who work in London moving into the area.
In the Saxon period Hatfield was known as Hetfelle, but by the year 970, when King Edgar gave to the monastery of Ely, it had become known as Haethfeld. Hatfield is recorded in the Domesday Book as the property of the Abbey of Ely, and unusually, the original census data which compilers of Domesday used survives, giving us slightly more information than in the final Domesday record. No other records remain until 1226, when Henry III granted the Bishops of Ely rights to an annual four-day fair and a weekly market. The town was then called Bishop's Hatfield.
Hatfield House is the seat of the Cecil family, the Marquesses of Salisbury. Elizabeth Tudor was confined there for three years in what is now known as The Old Palace in Hatfield Park. Legend has it that she learnt here of her accession as queen in 1558, while sitting under an oak tree in the Park. She held her first Council in the Great Hall (The Old Palace) of Hatfield. In 1851, the route of the Great North Road (now the A1000) was altered to avoid cutting through the grounds of Hatfield House.
The town grew up around the gates of Hatfield House. Old Hatfield retains many historic buildings, notably the Old Palace, St Etheldreda's Church and Hatfield House. The Old Palace was built by the Bishop of Ely, Cardinal Morton, in 1497, during the reign of Henry VII, and the only surviving wing is still used today for Elizabethan-style banquets.
St Etheldreda's Church was founded by the monks from Ely, and the first wooden church, built in 1285, was probably sited where the existing building stands overlooking the old town.
The church of St Etheldreda, well situated towards the top of the hill, contains an Early English round arch with the dog-tooth moulding, but for the rest is Decorated and Perpendicular, and largely restored. The chapel north of the chancel is known as the Salisbury chapel, and was erected by Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, who was buried here. It is in a mixture of classic and Gothic styles. In a private portion of the churchyard is buried, among others of the family, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury.
In 1930 the de Havilland airfield and aircraft factory was opened at Hatfield and by 1949 it had become the largest employer in the town, with almost 4,000 staff. It was taken over by Hawker Siddeley in 1960 and merged into British Aerospace in 1978. In the 1930s it produced a range of small biplanes. During the Second World War it produced the Mosquito fighter bomber and developed the Vampire, the second British production jet aircraft after the Gloster Meteor. After the war, facilities were expanded and it developed the Comet airliner (the world's first production jet liner), the Trident airliner, and an early bizjet, the DH125.
British Aerospace closed the Hatfield site in 1993 having moved the BAe 146 production line to Woodford Aerodrome. The land was used as a film set for Steven Spielberg's movie "Saving Private Ryan" and most of the BBC/HBO television drama "Band of Brothers". It was later developed for housing, higher education, commerce and retail.
Today, Hatfield's aviation history is remembered by the names of certain local streets and pubs (e. g. Comet Way, The Airfield, Dragon Road) as well as "The Comet Hotel" (now owned by Ramada) built in the 1930s. "The Harrier Pub" (formerly "The Hilltop") is actually named after the Harrier bird, not the aircraft, hence the original pub sign showing the bird. The de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, at Salisbury Hall in nearby London Colney, preserves and displays many historic de Havilland aeroplanes and related archives.
The Abercrombie Plan for London in 1944 proposed a New Town in Hatfield. It was designated in the New Towns Act 1946, forming part of the initial Hertfordshire group with nearby Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth. The Government allocated for Hatfield New Town, with a population target of 25,000. (By 2001 the population had reached 27,833.) The Hatfield Development Corporation, tasked with creating the New Town, chose to build a new town centre, rejecting Old Hatfield because it was on the wrong side of the railway, without space for expansion and "with its intimate village character, out of scale with the town it would have to serve." They chose instead St Albans Road on the town's east-west bus route. A road pattern was planned that offered no temptation to through traffic to take short cuts through the town and which enabled local traffic to move rapidly.
Hatfield retains New Town characteristics, including much modernist architecture of the 1950s and the trees and open spaces that were outlined in the original design. As of 2017, a redevelopment of the town centre was planned.
Hatfield Town F.C. plays Non-League football at Gosling Sports Park.
Hatfield Athletic Football Club competes in the Herts Senior County League and plays its games at Lemsford.
The town has a public swimming pool and four sports/leisure centres (two with indoor swimming pools).
Hatfield is part of Welwyn Hatfield borough council in the county of Hertfordshire. It is a civil parish and has a town council. It is twinned with the Dutch port town of Zierikzee. Hatfield is part of the Welwyn Hatfield constituency, which also includes Welwyn Garden City. The MP for Welwyn Hatfield is Grant Shapps, a Conservative.
Hatfield experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfb") like most of the United Kingdom.
Hatfield has a nine-screen Odeon cinema, a stately home (Hatfield House), a museum (Mill Green Museum), a contemporary art gallery (Art and Design Gallery), a theatre (The Weston Auditorium) and a music venue (The Forum Hertfordshire). There are shopping centres in the new town: the Galleria (indoor shopping centre), The Stable Yard (Hatfield House), and at two supermarkets (ASDA and Tesco).
Hatfield contains numerous primary and secondary schools, including The Ryde School, St Philip Howard Catholic Primary School, Countess Anne School, Onslow St Audrey's School and Bishops Hatfield Girls School and the independent day and boarding girls' school Queenswood School.
The University of Hertfordshire is based in Hatfield. A large section of the airfield site was purchased by the University and the £120-million de Havilland Campus, incorporating a £15-million Sports Village, was opened in September 2003. The university has closed its sites at Watford and Hertford; faculties situated there have been moved to the de Havilland Campus.
The equine branch of the Royal Veterinary College is based in Hatfield.
Hatfield is to the north of London. It is from London Luton Airport. The A1(M) runs through a tunnel beneath the town, which is also close to the M25.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was the northern terminus of the Hatfield and Reading Turnpike that allowed travelers from the north to continue their journey to the west without going through the congestion of London.
The East Coast railway line from London to York runs through the town, separating the old and new parts. A commuter service connects Hatfield railway station to London King's Cross. A new railway station and car park opened in late 2015. The frequent train service runs direct from Hatfield Station to London King's Cross (21 minutes) via Finsbury Park (16 minutes, Victoria Underground Line) on fast trains running two or three times an hour. An additional train service calls at all stations to Moorgate in the City of London.
There was a fatal rail crash at Hatfield in 2000, which brought track-maintenance deficiencies to public attention. A garden beside the East Coast Main Line was built as a memorial to the crash victims. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13985 |
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire (; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It is bordered by Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For government statistical purposes, it is placed in the East of England region.
In 2013, the county had a population of 1,140,700 in an area of . The four towns that have between 50,000 and 100,000 residents are Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford and the only city in the county, St Albans. Hertford, once the main market town for the medieval agricultural county, derives its name from a hart (stag) and a ford, used as the components of the county's coat of arms and flag. Elevations are high for the region in the north and west. These reach over in the western projection around Tring which is in the Chilterns. The county's borders are approximately the watersheds of the Colne and Lea; both flowing to the south; each accompanied by a canal. Hertfordshire's undeveloped land is mainly agricultural and much is protected by green belt.
The county's landmarks span many centuries, ranging from the Six Hills in the new town of Stevenage built by local inhabitants during the Roman period, to Leavesden Film Studios. The volume of intact medieval and Tudor buildings surpasses London, in places in well-preserved conservation areas, especially in St Albans which includes some remains of Verulamium, the town where in the 3rd century an early recorded British martyrdom took place. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill. His martyr's cross of a yellow saltire on a blue field is reflected in the flag and coat of arms of Hertfordshire.
Hertfordshire is well-served with motorways and railways, providing good access to London. The largest sector of the economy of the county is in services.
Hertfordshire was the area assigned to a fortress constructed at Hertford under the rule of Edward the Elder in 913. Hertford is derived from the Anglo-Saxon "heort ford," meaning deer crossing (of a watercourse). The name Hertfordshire is first recorded in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" in 1011. Deer feature in many county emblems. Many of the names of the current settlements date back to the Anglo-Saxon period, with many featuring standard placename suffixes attributed to the Anglo-Saxons: "ford", "ton", "den", "bourn", "ley", "stead", "ing", "lett", "wood", and "worth", are represented in this county by Hertford, Royston, Harpenden, Redbourn, Cuffley, Wheathampstead, Tring, Radlett, Borehamwood, and Rickmansworth.
There is evidence of human life in Hertfordshire from the Mesolithic period. It was first farmed during the Neolithic period and permanent habitation appeared at the beginning of the Bronze Age. This was followed by tribes settling in the area during the Iron Age.
Following the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, the aboriginal Catuvellauni quickly submitted and adapted to the Roman life; resulting in the development of several new towns, including Verulamium (St Albans) where in c. 293 the first recorded British martyrdom is traditionally believed to have taken place. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill. His martyr's cross of a yellow saltire on a blue field is reflected in the flag and coat of arms of Hertfordshire as the yellow field to the stag or Hart representing the county. He is the Patron Saint of Hertfordshire.
With the departure of the Roman Legions in the early 5th century, the now unprotected territory was invaded and colonised by the Anglo-Saxons. By the 6th century the majority of the modern county was part of the East Saxon kingdom. This relatively short-lived kingdom collapsed in the 9th century, ceding the territory of Hertfordshire to the control of the West Anglians of Mercia. The region finally became an English shire in the 10th century, on the merger of the West Saxon and Mercian kingdoms.
In the midst of the Norse invasions, Hertfordshire was on the front lines of much of the fighting. King Edward the Elder, in his reconquest of Norse-held lands in what was to become England, established a "burh" or fort in Hertford, which was to curb Norse activities in the area. His father, King Alfred the Great, established the River Lea as a boundary between his kingdom and that of the Norse lord Guthrum, with the north and eastern parts of the county being within the Danelaw. There is little evidence however of Norse placenames within this region, and many of the Anglo-Saxon features remained intact to this day. The county however suffered from renewed Norse raids in the late 10th to early 11th centuries, as armies led by Danish kings Swein Forkbeard and Cnut the Great harried the country as part of their attempts to undermine and overthrow English king Athelred the Unready.
A century later, William of Normandy received the surrender of the surviving senior English Lords and Clergy at Berkhamsted, resulting in a new Anglicised title of William the Conqueror before embarking on an uncontested entry into London and his coronation at Westminster. Hertfordshire was used for some of the new Norman castles at Bishop's Stortford, and at King's Langley, a staging post between London and the royal residence of Berkhamsted.
The Domesday Book recorded the county as having nine hundreds. Tring and Danais became oneDacorumfrom Danis Corum or Danish rule harking back to a Viking not Saxon past. The other seven were Braughing, Broadwater, Cashio, Edwinstree, Hertford, Hitchin and Odsey.
In the later Plantagenet period, St. Albans Abbey was an initial drafting place of what was to become the Magna Carta. And in the later Wars of the Roses, St. Albans staged two major battles featuring the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.
In Tudor times, Hatfield House was often frequented by Queen Elizabeth I. Stuart kings such as James VI/I of Scotland and England used the locale as a hunting lodge, and Charles II facilitated the construction of the New River running from the county as a supply of drinking water into London.
The first shooting-down of a zeppelin over Great Britain during WW1 happened in Cuffley.
As London grew, Hertfordshire became conveniently close to the English capital; much of the area was owned by the nobility and aristocracy, this patronage helped to boost the local economy. However, the greatest boost to Hertfordshire came during the Industrial Revolution, after which the population rose dramatically. In 1903, Letchworth became the world's first garden city and Stevenage became the first town to redevelop under the New Towns Act 1946.
From the 1920s until the late 1980s, the town of Borehamwood was home to one of the major British film studio complexes, including the MGM-British Studios. Many well-known films were made here including the first three "Star Wars" movies (IV, V, & VI). The studios generally used the name of Elstree. American director Stanley Kubrick not only used to shoot in those studios but also lived in the area until his death. "Big Brother UK" and "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" have been filmed there. "EastEnders" is filmed at Elstree. Hertfordshire has seen development at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden; the "Harry Potter" series was filmed here and the 1995 James Bond film "GoldenEye".
On 17 October 2000, the Hatfield rail crash killed four people with over 70 injured. The crash exposed the shortcomings of Railtrack, which consequently saw speed restrictions and major track replacement. On 10 May 2002, the second of the Potters Bar rail accidents occurred killing seven people; the train was at high speed when it derailed and flipped into the air when one of the carriages slid along the platform where it came to rest.
In early December 2005, the 2005 Hemel Hempstead fuel depot explosions occurred at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal.
In 2012, the canoe and kayak slalom events of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place in Waltham Cross, Broxbourne.
Hertfordshire is the county immediately north of London and is part of the East of England region, a mainly statistical unit. A significant minority of the population across all districts are City of London commuters. To the east is Essex, to the west is Buckinghamshire and to the north are Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
The county's boundaries were roughly fixed by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 which eliminated exclaves; amended when, in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, East Barnet Urban District and Barnet Urban District were abolished, their area was transferred to form part of the present-day London Borough of Barnet and the Potters Bar Urban District of Middlesex was transferred to Hertfordshire.
The highest point in the county is at (AOD) on the Ridgeway long distance national path, on the border of Hastoe near Tring with Drayton Beauchamp, Buckinghamshire.
As at the 2011 census of the ten Districts, East Hertfordshire had the minimal, 290 people per km2, whereas Watford had the maximal 4210 people per km2. Compared to nearby Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire has far less large towns or cities, such as Luton and Milton Keynes respectively, which have roughly 200,000 or more residents apiece. The overall population of Hertfordshire is higher than the two aforementioned counties (approximately 1,000,000), but featuring many small to medium-sized towns. The larger communities in the county, such as Stevenage, Watford, Letchworth and Hemel Hempstead, all have populations ranging from 70,000 to 150,000, and thus not overly large in the grand scheme of British locales.
The River Lea near Harpenden runs through Wheathampstead, Welwyn Garden City, Hertford, Ware, and Broxbourne before reaching Cheshunt and ultimately the River Thames. The far west of the county is the most hilly, with the Chiltern Hills surrounding Tring, Berkhamsted and the Ashridge estate. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty runs from near Hitchin in the north to Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
Many of the county's major settlements are in the central, northern and southern areas, such as Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, Rickmansworth, St. Albans, Harpenden, Radlett, Borehamwood, Potters Bar, Stevenage, Hatfield, Welwyn and Welwyn Garden City, Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock. These are all small to medium-sized locations, featuring a mix of post-WWII new towns and older/more historical locales. The City of St. Albans is an example of a historical settlement, as its cathedral and abbey date to the Norman period, and there are ruins from the Roman settlement of Verulamium nearby the current city centre. Stevenage is a mix of post-WWII new town planning amidst its prior incarnation as a smaller town. The Old Town in Stevenage represents this historic core and has many shops and buildings reflecting its pre-WWII heritage. Hitchin also has a historic centre, with many Tudor and Stuart era buildings interspersed amongst more contemporary structures.
Hertfordshire's eastern regions are predominantly rural and arable, intermixed with villages and small to medium-sized towns. Royston, Buntingford and Bishops Stortford, along with Ware and the county town of Hertford are major settlements in this regard. The physical geography of eastern Hertfordshire is less elevated than the far west, but with lower rising hills and prominent rivers such as the Stort. This river rises in Essex and terminates via a confluence with the Lea near to Ware.
Apart from the Lea and Stort, the River Colne is the major watercourse in the county's west. This runs near Watford and Radlett, and has a complex system/drainage area running south into both Greater London and Buckinghamshire.
An unofficial status, the purple star-shaped flower with yellow stamens, the Pasqueflower is among endemic county flowers.
The rocks of Hertfordshire belong to the great shallow syncline known as the London Basin. The beds dip in a south-easterly direction towards the syncline's lowest point roughly under the River Thames. The most important formations are the Cretaceous Chalk, exposed as the high ground in the north and west of the county, forming the Chiltern Hills and the younger Palaeocene, Reading Beds and Eocene, London Clay which occupy the remaining southern part. The eastern half of the county was covered by glaciers during the Ice Age and has a superficial layer of glacial boulder clays.
Much of the county is given over to agriculture. One product, now largely defunct, was water-cress, based in Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted supported by reliable, clean chalk rivers.
Some quarrying of sand and gravel occurs in the St Albans area. In the past, clay has supplied local brick-making and still does in Bovingdon, just south-west of Hemel Hempstead. The chalk that is the bedrock of much of the county provides an aquifer that feeds streams and is also exploited to provide water supplies for much of the county and beyond. Chalk has also been used as a building material and, once fired, the resultant lime was spread on agricultural land to improve fertility. The mining of chalk since the early 18th century has left unrecorded underground galleries that occasionally collapse unexpectedly and endanger buildings.
Fresh water is supplied to London from Ware, using the New River built by Hugh Myddleton and opened in 1613. Local rivers, although small, supported developing industries such as paper production at Nash Mills.
Hertfordshire affords habitat for a variety of flora and fauna. One bird previously common in the shire is the Hooded Crow, the old name of which is the eponymous name of the regional newspaper, the "Royston Crow" published in Royston.
In November 2013, the uSwitch Quality of Life Index listed Hertfordshire as the third-best place to live in the UK.
This is a table of trends of regional gross value added of Hertfordshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Hertfordshire has headquarters of many large well-known UK companies. Hemel Hempstead is home to DSG International. Welwyn Garden City hosts Tesco, as well as Roche UK's headquarters (subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Hoffman-La Roche) and Cereal Partners production facilities, Pure the DAB radio maker is based in Kings Langley. JD Wetherspoon is in Watford. Skanska is in Rickmansworth, GlaxoSmithKline has plants in Ware and Stevenage. Hatfield used to be connected with the aircraft industry, as it was where de Havilland developed the world's first commercial jet liner, the Comet. Now the site is a business park and new campus for the University of Hertfordshire. This major new employment site is home to, among others, EE, Computacenter and Ocado. A subsidiary of BAE Systems, Airbus and Finmeccanica in Stevenage, MBDA, develops missiles. In the same town Airbus (Defence & Space Division) produces satellites. The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the trade association for all of the UK's community pharmacies, is based in St Albans. Warner Bros. also owns and runs Warner Studios in Leavesden.
As of the 2019–20 season, there are three professional football teams in Hertfordshire: Watford F.C., Stevenage F.C., and Arsenal W.F.C..
Since 1922, Watford play their home games at Vicarage Road. The club joined the Football League in 1920 as a founding member of the Third Division and first played in the First Division of English football in 1982, finishing as runners-up to champions Liverpool. Watford have played in the Premier League since their promotion from the EFL Championship following the 2014-15 season.
Stevenage F.C. was formed in 1976 as Stevenage Borough and have played at Broadhall Way since 1980. Stevenage was the first club to win a competitive match at the new Wembley Stadium, beating Kidderminster Harriers 3–2 in the 2007 FA Trophy Final. The club currently play in the EFL League Two and have been managed by former player Dino Maamria since March 2018.
Arsenal F.C., whilst based at the Emirates Stadium in the London Borough of Islington, has long held a training ground in the county. Until 1999, it held the London Colney University of London facility, until it built a new purpose-built compound adjacent to it. Watford FC currently utilises the old Arsenal training area as its training facility.
Arsenal W.F.C. play at Meadow Park in Borehamwood. The club was formed in 1987 and have played in the FA Women's Super League since its inaugural season in 2011.
Hertfordshire has many semi-professional and amateur clubs. The highest placed of these is Boreham Wood who play in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. The next highest placed are Hemel Hempstead Town and St Albans City, who play one division lower in the National League South.
Hemel Stags are a rugby league team based in Hemel Hempstead. Hemel Stags have played at Pennine Way Stadium since the club's founding in 1981. The club plays in league 1, the of the British rugby league system.
The Hertfordshire Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in Hertfordshire; responsible for any interested parties involved in rugby.
Tring Rugby play matches at Cow Lane, Tring. The first XV currently play in the London & South East Premier, a league.
Below is a list of notable visitor attractions in Hertfordshire:
Hertfordshire is a home county with many towns forming part of the London commuter belt and has some of the principal roads in England including the A1, A1(M), A41, A414, M1, M11, and the M25.
Four principal national railway lines pass through the county:
A number of other local rail routes also cross Hertfordshire:
Three commuter lines operated by Transport for London enter the county:
Stansted Airport and Luton Airport are both within of the county's borders. The commercial airfield at Elstree is for light aircraft.
The Grand Union Canal passes through Rickmansworth, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring.
Hertfordshire has 26 independent schools and 73 state secondary schools.
The state secondary schools are entirely comprehensive, although 7 schools in the south and southwest of the county are partially selective (see Education in Watford).
All state schools have sixth forms, and there are no sixth form colleges.
The tertiary colleges, each with multiple campuses, are Hertford Regional College, North Hertfordshire College, Oaklands College and West Herts College.
The University of Hertfordshire is a modern university based largely in Hatfield. It has more than 23,000 students.
Hertfordshire is the location of Jack Worthing's country house in Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance of Being Earnest".
Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice" is primarily set in Hertfordshire.
The location of Mr Jarndyce's Bleak House in Charles Dickens's "Bleak House" is near St Albans.
The eponymous residence in E. M. Forster's novel "Howards End" was based on Rooks Nest House just outside Stevenage.
George Orwell based "Animal Farm" on Wallington, Hertfordshire where he lived between 1936 and 1940. Manor Farm and The Great Barn both feature in the novel. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13986 |
Helene Kröller-Müller
Helene Kröller-Müller (11 February 1869 – 14 December 1939) was one of the first European women to put together a major art collection. She is credited with being one of the first collectors to recognise the genius of Vincent van Gogh. She donated her entire collection to the Dutch people, along with her and her husband, Anton Kröller's, large forested country estate. Today it is the Kröller-Müller Museum and sculpture garden and Hoge Veluwe National Park, the largest national park in the Netherlands.
She was born Helene Emma Laura Juliane Müller at , Essen, Germany, into a wealthy industrialist family. Her father, Wilhelm Müller, owned Wm. H. Müller & Co., a prosperous supplier of raw materials to the mining and steel industries. She married Dutch shipping and mining tycoon Anton Kröller in 1888 and used both surnames in accordance with Dutch tradition.
She studied under Henk Bremmer in 1906–1907. As she was one of the wealthiest women in the Netherlands at the time, Bremmer recommended that she form an art collection. In 1907, she began her collection with the painting "Train in a Landscape" by Paul Gabriël. Subsequently, Helene Kröller-Müller became an avid art collector, and one of the first people to recognise the genius of Vincent van Gogh. She eventually amassed more than 90 van Gogh paintings and 185 drawings, one of the world's largest collections of the artist's work, second only to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. She also bought more than 400 works by Dutch artist Bart van der Leck, but his popularity did not take off like van Gogh's.
Kröller-Müller also collected works by modern artists, such as Picasso, Georges Braque, Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Fernand Léger, Diego Rivera, Juan Gris, Piet Mondrian, Gino Severini, Joseph Csaky, Auguste Herbin, Georges Valmier, María Blanchard, Léopold Survage and Tobeen. However, Bremmer advised her not to buy "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat, which turned out to be an important icon of 20th-century art. She did purchase however "Le Chahut" by Seurat, another icon in the history of modern art. Also, she steered away from artists of her native Germany, whose work she found "insufficiently authoritative."
On a trip to Florence in June 1910, she conceived the idea of creating a museum-house. From 1913 onwards parts of her collection were open to the public; until the mid-1930s her exhibition hall in The Hague was one of the very rare places where one could see more than a few works of modern art. In 1928, Anton and Helene created the Kröller-Müller Foundation to protect the collection and the estates. In 1935, they donated to the Dutch people their entire collection totaling approximately 12,000 objects, on condition that a large museum be built in the gardens of her park. Held in the care of the Dutch government, the Kröller-Müller Museum was opened in 1938.
The Kröller-Müller Museum is nestled in their 75-acre (300,000 m2) forested country estate, today the largest national park in the Netherlands, the Hoge Veluwe National Park near the town of Otterlo and Arnhem. A lavish art gallery was planned near their iconic lakeside Jachthuis Sint Hubertus hunting lodge and landscape statue of their close personal friend, the South African Boer General Christian de Wet on the estate. Due to threat of war the plans were never implemented in their lifetime but once the war was over a large forest sculpture garden and understated open exhibition extension was opened, housing statues by Rodin and the second largest collection of van Gogh paintings in the world, including the famous Sunflowers. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13987 |
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 "magnum opus" "Truth and Method" ("Wahrheit und Methode") on hermeneutics.
Gadamer was born in Marburg, Germany, the son of Johannes Gadamer (1867–1928), a pharmaceutical chemistry professor who later also served as the rector of the University of Marburg. He was raised a Protestant Christian. Gadamer resisted his father's urging to take up the natural sciences and became more and more interested in the humanities. His mother, Emma Karoline Johanna Geiese (1869–1904) died of diabetes while Hans-Georg was four years old, and he later noted that this may have had an effect on his decision to not pursue scientific studies. Jean Grondin describes Gadamer as finding in his mother "a poetic and almost religious counterpart to the iron fist of his father". Gadamer did not serve during World War I for reasons of ill health and similarly was exempted from serving during World War II due to polio.
He later studied classics and philosophy in the University of Breslau under Richard Hönigswald, but soon moved back to the University of Marburg to study with the Neo-Kantian philosophers Paul Natorp (his doctoral thesis advisor) and Nicolai Hartmann. He defended his dissertation "The Essence of Pleasure in Plato's Dialogues" () in 1922.
Shortly thereafter, Gadamer moved to Freiburg University and began studying with Martin Heidegger, who was then a promising young scholar who had not yet received a professorship. He became close to Heidegger, and when Heidegger received a position at Marburg, Gadamer followed him there, where he became one of a group of students such as Leo Strauss, Karl Löwith, and Hannah Arendt. It was Heidegger's influence that gave Gadamer's thought its distinctive cast and led him away from the earlier neo-Kantian influences of Natorp and Hartmann. Gadamer studied Aristotle both under Edmund Husserl and under Heidegger.
Gadamer habilitated in 1929 and spent most of the early 1930s lecturing in Marburg. Unlike Heidegger, who joined the Nazi Party in May 1933 and continued as a member until the party was dissolved following World War II, Gadamer was silent on Nazism, and he was not politically active during the Third Reich. Gadamer did not join the Nazis, and he did not serve in the army because of the polio he had contracted in 1922. He joined the National Socialist Teachers League in August 1933.
In 1933 Gadamer signed the "Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State".
In April 1937 he became a temporary professor at Marburg, then in 1938 he received a professorship at Leipzig University. From an SS-point of view Gadamer was classified as neither supportive nor disapproving in the ""SD-Dossiers über Philosophie-Professoren"" (i.e. SD-files concerning philosophy professors) that were set up by the SS-Security-Service (SD). In 1946, he was found by the American occupation forces to be untainted by Nazism and named rector of the university.
The level of Gadamer's involvement with the Nazis has been disputed in the works of Richard Wolin and Teresa Orozco. Orozco alleges, with reference to Gadamer's published works, that Gadamer had supported the Nazis more than scholars had supposed. Gadamer scholars have rejected these assertions: Jean Grondin has said that Orozco is engaged in a "witch-hunt" while Donatella Di Cesare said that "the archival material on which Orozco bases her argument is actually quite negligible". Cesare and Grondin have argued that there is no trace of antisemitism in Gadamer's work, and that Gadamer maintained friendships with Jews and provided shelter for nearly two years for the philosopher Jacob Klein in 1933 and 1934. Gadamer also reduced his contact with Heidegger during the Nazi era.
The communist DDR was no more to Gadamer's liking than the Third Reich, and he left for West Germany, accepting first a position in Goethe University Frankfurt and then the succession of Karl Jaspers in the University of Heidelberg in 1949. He remained in this position, as emeritus, until his death in 2002 at the age of 102. He was also an Editorial Advisor of the journal Dionysius. It was during this time that he completed his "magnum opus", "Truth and Method" (1960), and engaged in his famous debate with Jürgen Habermas over the possibility of transcending history and culture in order to find a truly objective position from which to critique society. The debate was inconclusive, but marked the beginning of warm relations between the two men. It was Gadamer who secured Habermas's first professorship in the University of Heidelberg.
In 1968, Gadamer invited Tomonobu Imamichi for lectures at Heidelberg, but their relationship became very cool after Imamichi alleged that Heidegger had taken his concept of "Dasein" out of Okakura Kakuzo's concept of "das in-der-Welt-sein" (to be in the being in the world) expressed in "The Book of Tea", which Imamichi's teacher had offered to Heidegger in 1919, after having followed lessons with him the year before. Imamichi and Gadamer renewed contact four years later during an international congress.
In 1981, Gadamer attempted to engage with Jacques Derrida at a conference in Paris but it proved less enlightening because the two thinkers had little in common. A last meeting between Gadamer and Derrida was held at the Stift of Heidelberg in July 2001, coordinated by Derrida's students Joseph Cohen and Raphael Zagury-Orly. This meeting marked, in many ways, a turn in their philosophical encounter. After Gadamer's death, Derrida called their failure to find common ground one of the worst debacles of his life and expressed, in the main obituary for Gadamer, his great personal and philosophical respect. Richard J. Bernstein said that "[a] genuine dialogue between Gadamer and Derrida has never taken place. This is a shame because there are crucial and consequential issues that arise between hermeneutics and deconstruction".
Gadamer received honorary doctorates from the University of Bamberg, the University of Wrocław, Boston College, Charles University in Prague, Hamilton College, the University of Leipzig, the University of Marburg (1999) the University of Ottawa, Saint Petersburg State University (2001), the University of Tübingen and University of Washington.
On February 11, 2000, the University of Heidelberg celebrated Gadamer's one hundredth birthday with a ceremony and conference. Gadamer's last academic engagement was in the summer of 2001 at an annual symposium on hermeneutics that two of Gadamer's American students had organised. On March 13, 2002, Gadamer died at Heidelberg's University Clinic at the age of 102. He is buried in the Köpfel cemetery in Ziegelhausen.
Gadamer's philosophical project, as explained in "Truth and Method", was to elaborate on the concept of "philosophical hermeneutics", which Heidegger initiated but never dealt with at length. Gadamer's goal was to uncover the nature of human understanding. In "Truth and Method", Gadamer argued that "truth" and "method" were at odds with one another. For Gadamer, "the experience of art is exemplary in its provision of truths that are inaccessible by scientific methods, and this experience is projected to the whole domain of human sciences." He was critical of two approaches to the human sciences ("Geisteswissenschaften"). On the one hand, he was critical of modern approaches to humanities that modeled themselves on the natural sciences, which simply sought to “objectively” observe and analyze texts and art. On the other hand, he took issue with the traditional German approaches to the humanities, represented for instance by Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm Dilthey, who believed that meaning, as an object, could be found within a text through a particular process that allowed for a connection with the author's thoughts that led to the creation of a text (Schleiermacher), or the situation that led to an expression of human inner life (Dilthey).
However, Gadamer argued meaning and understanding are not objects to be found through certain methods, but are inevitable phenomena. Hermeneutics is not a process in which an interpreter finds a particular meaning, but “a philosophical effort to account for understanding as an ontological—the ontological—process of man.” Thus, Gadamer is not giving a prescriptive method on how to understand, but rather he is working to examine how understanding, whether of texts, artwork, or experience, is possible at all. Gadamer intended "Truth and Method" to be a description of what we always do when we interpret things (even if we do not know it): "My real concern was and is philosophic: not what we do or what we ought to do, but what happens to us over and above our wanting and doing".
As a result of Martin Heidegger’s temporal analysis of human existence, Gadamer argued that people have a so-called historically-effected consciousness ("wirkungsgeschichtliches Bewußtsein"), and that they are embedded in the particular history and culture that shaped them. However the historical consciousness is not an object over and against our existence, but “a stream in which we move and participate, in every act of understanding.” Therefore, people do not come to any given thing without some form of preunderstanding established by this historical stream. The tradition in which an interpreter stands establishes "prejudices" that affect how he or she will make interpretations. For Gadamer, these prejudices are not something that hinders our ability to make interpretations, but are both integral to the reality of being, and “are the basis of our being able to understand history at all.” Gadamer criticized Enlightenment thinkers for harboring a "prejudice against prejudices".
For Gadamer, interpreting a text involves a fusion of horizons ("Horizontverschmelzung"). Both the text and the interpreter find themselves within a particular historical tradition, or “horizon.” Each horizon is expressed through the medium of language, and both text and interpreter belong to and participate in history and language. This “belongingness” to language is the common ground between interpreter and text that makes understanding possible. As an interpreter seeks to understand a text, a common horizon emerges. This fusion of horizons does not mean the interpreter now fully understands some kind of objective meaning, but is “an event in which a world opens itself to him.” The result is a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
Gadamer further explains the hermeneutical experience as a dialogue. To justify this, he uses Plato's dialogues as a model for how we are to engage with written texts. To be in conversation, one must take seriously “the truth claim of the person with whom one is conversing.” Further, each participant in the conversation relates to one another insofar as they belong to the common goal of understanding one another. Ultimately, for Gadamer, the most important dynamic of conversation as a model for the interpretation of a text is “the give-and-take of question and answer.” In other words, the interpretation of a given text will change depending on the questions the interpreter asks of the
text. The "meaning" emerges not as an object that lies in the text or in the interpreter, but rather an event that results from the interaction of the two.
"Truth and Method" was published twice in English, and the revised edition is now considered authoritative. The German-language edition of Gadamer's Collected Works includes a volume in which Gadamer elaborates his argument and discusses the critical response to the book. Finally, Gadamer's essay on Celan (entitled "Who Am I and Who Are You?") has been considered by many—including Heidegger and Gadamer himself—as a "second volume" or continuation of the argument in "Truth and Method".
Gadamer's "Truth and Method" has become an authoritative work in the communication ethics field, spawning several prominent ethics theories and guidelines. The most profound of these is the formulation of the dialogic coordinates, a standard set of prerequisite communication elements necessary for inciting dialogue. Adhering to Gadamer's theories regarding bias, communicators can better initiate dialogic transaction, allowing biases to merge and promote mutual understanding and learning.
Gadamer also added philosophical substance to the notion of human health. In "The Enigma of Health", Gadamer explored what it means to heal, as a patient and a provider. In this work the practice and art of medicine are thoroughly examined, as is the inevitability of any cure.
In addition to his work in hermeneutics, Gadamer is also well known for a long list of publications on Greek philosophy. Indeed, while "Truth and Method" became central to his later career, much of Gadamer's early life centered on studying Greek thinkers, Plato and Aristotle specifically. In the Italian introduction to "Truth and Method", Gadamer said that his work on Greek philosophy was "the best and most original part" of his career. His book "Plato's Dialectical Ethics" looks at the "Philebus" dialogue through the lens of phenomenology and the philosophy of Martin Heidegger.
Weinsheimer. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13988 |
Harold Kushner
Harold Samuel Kushner is a prominent American rabbi aligned with the progressive wing of Conservative Judaism, and a popular author.
Born in Brooklyn, Kushner was educated at Columbia University and later obtained his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in 1960. The same institution awarded him a doctoral degree in Bible in 1972. Kushner has also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, taught at Clark University and the Rabbinical School of the JTS, and received six honorary doctorates.
He served as the congregational rabbi of Temple Israel of Natick, in Natick, Massachusetts for 24 years and belongs to the Rabbinical Assembly.
He is the author of a best selling book on the problem of evil, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." Written following the death of his son, Aaron, from the premature aging disease progeria, the book deals with questions about human suffering, God, omnipotence and theodicy. Aaron was born in 1963 and died in 1977; the book was published in 1981.
Kushner has written a number of other popular theological books, such as "How Good Do We Have to Be?" (Dedicated to his grandson, Carl), "To Life!" and many others. In collaboration with the late Chaim Potok, Kushner co-edited "Etz Hayim: A Torah Commentary", the new official Torah commentary of the Conservative movement, which was jointly published in 2001 by the Rabbinical Assembly and the Jewish Publication Society. His "Living a Life That Matters" became a best seller in the fall of 2001. Kushner's book, "The Lord Is My Shepherd", was a meditation on the Twenty-Third Psalm released in 2003. Kushner also wrote a response to Simon Wiesenthal's question of forgiveness in the book "." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13992 |
Heapsort
In computer science, heapsort is a comparison-based sorting algorithm. Heapsort can be thought of as an improved selection sort: like selection sort, heapsort divides its input into a sorted and an unsorted region, and it iteratively shrinks the unsorted region by extracting the largest element from it and inserting it into the sorted region. Unlike selection sort, heapsort does not waste time with a linear-time scan of the unsorted region; rather, heap sort maintains the unsorted region in a heap data structure to more quickly find the largest element in each step.
Although somewhat slower in practice on most machines than a well-implemented quicksort, it has the advantage of a more favorable worst-case runtime. Heapsort is an in-place algorithm, but it is not a stable sort.
Heapsort was invented by J. W. J. Williams in 1964. This was also the birth of the heap, presented already by Williams as a useful data structure in its own right. In the same year, R. W. Floyd published an improved version that could sort an array in-place, continuing his earlier research into the treesort algorithm.
The heapsort algorithm can be divided into two parts.
In the first step, a heap is built out of the data (see ). The heap is often placed in an array with the layout of a complete binary tree. The complete binary tree maps the binary tree structure into the array indices; each array index represents a node; the index of the node's parent, left child branch, or right child branch are simple expressions. For a zero-based array, the root node is stored at index 0; if codice_1 is the index of the current node, then
In the second step, a sorted array is created by repeatedly removing the largest element from the heap (the root of the heap), and inserting it into the array. The heap is updated after each removal to maintain the heap property. Once all objects have been removed from the heap, the result is a sorted array.
Heapsort can be performed in place. The array can be split into two parts, the sorted array and the heap. The storage of heaps as arrays is diagrammed here. The heap's invariant is preserved after each extraction, so the only cost is that of extraction.
The Heapsort algorithm involves preparing the list by first turning it into a max heap. The algorithm then repeatedly swaps the first value of the list with the last value, decreasing the range of values considered in the heap operation by one, and sifting the new first value into its position in the heap. This repeats until the range of considered values is one value in length.
The steps are:
The buildMaxHeap() operation is run once, and is in performance. The siftDown() function is , and is called times. Therefore, the performance of this algorithm is .
The following is a simple way to implement the algorithm in pseudocode. Arrays are zero-based and codice_2 is used to exchange two elements of the array. Movement 'down' means from the root towards the leaves, or from lower indices to higher. Note that during the sort, the largest element is at the root of the heap at codice_3, while at the end of the sort, the largest element is in codice_4.
The sorting routine uses two subroutines, codice_5 and codice_6. The former is the common in-place heap construction routine, while the latter is a common subroutine for implementing codice_5.
The codice_5 procedure can be thought of as building a heap from the bottom up by successively sifting downward to establish the heap property. An alternative version (shown below) that builds the heap top-down and sifts upward may be simpler to understand. This codice_9 version can be visualized as starting with an empty heap and successively inserting elements, whereas the codice_6 version given above treats the entire input array as a full but "broken" heap and "repairs" it starting from the last non-trivial sub-heap (that is, the last parent node).
Also, the codice_6 version of heapify has time complexity, while the codice_9 version given below has time complexity due to its equivalence with inserting each element, one at a time, into an empty heap.
This may seem counter-intuitive since, at a glance, it is apparent that the former only makes half as many calls to its logarithmic-time sifting function as the latter; i.e., they seem to differ only by a constant factor, which never affects asymptotic analysis.
To grasp the intuition behind this difference in complexity, note that the number of swaps that may occur during any one siftUp call "increases" with the depth of the node on which the call is made. The crux is that there are many (exponentially many) more "deep" nodes than there are "shallow" nodes in a heap, so that siftUp may have its full logarithmic running-time on the approximately linear number of calls made on the nodes at or near the "bottom" of the heap. On the other hand, the number of swaps that may occur during any one siftDown call "decreases" as the depth of the node on which the call is made increases. Thus, when the codice_6 codice_5 begins and is calling codice_6 on the bottom and most numerous node-layers, each sifting call will incur, at most, a number of swaps equal to the "height" (from the bottom of the heap) of the node on which the sifting call is made. In other words, about half the calls to siftDown will have at most only one swap, then about a quarter of the calls will have at most two swaps, etc.
The heapsort algorithm itself has time complexity using either version of heapify.
The most important variation to the basic algorithm, which is included in all practical implementations, is a heap-construction algorithm by Floyd which runs in time and uses siftdown rather than siftup, avoiding the need to implement siftup at all.
Rather than starting with a trivial heap and repeatedly adding leaves, Floyd's algorithm starts with the leaves, observing that they are trivial but valid heaps by themselves, and then adds parents. Starting with element and working backwards, each internal node is made the root of a valid heap by sifting down. The last step is sifting down the first element, after which the entire array obeys the heap property.
The worst-case number of comparisons during the Floyd's heap-construction phase of Heapsort is known to be equal to , where is the number of 1 bits in the binary representation of and is number of trailing 0 bits.
The standard implementation of Floyd's heap-construction algorithm causes a large number of cache misses once the size of the data exceeds that of the CPU cache. Much better performance on large data sets can be obtained by merging in depth-first order, combining subheaps as soon as possible, rather than combining all subheaps on one level before proceeding to the one above.
Bottom-up heapsort is a variant which reduces the number of comparisons required by a significant factor. While ordinary heapsort requires comparisons worst-case and on average, the bottom-up variant requires comparisons on average, and in the worst case.
If comparisons are cheap (e.g. integer keys) then the difference is unimportant, as top-down heapsort compares values that have already been loaded from memory. If, however, comparisons require a function call or other complex logic, then bottom-up heapsort is advantageous.
This is accomplished by improving the codice_6 procedure. The change improves the linear-time heap-building phase somewhat, but is more significant in the second phase. Like ordinary heapsort, each iteration of the second phase extracts the top of the heap, , and fills the gap it leaves with , then sifts this latter element down the heap. But this element comes from the lowest level of the heap, meaning it is one of the smallest elements in the heap, so the sift-down will likely take many steps to move it back down. In ordinary heapsort, each step of the sift-down requires two comparisons, to find the minimum of three elements: the new node and its two children.
Bottom-up heapsort instead finds the path of largest children to the leaf level of the tree (as if it were inserting −∞) using only one comparison per level. Put another way, it finds a leaf which has the property that it and all of its ancestors are greater than or equal to their siblings. (In the absence of equal keys, this leaf is unique.) Then, from this leaf, it searches "upward" (using one comparison per level) for the correct position in that path to insert . This is the same location as ordinary heapsort finds, and requires the same number of exchanges to perform the insert, but fewer comparisons are required to find that location.
Because it goes all the way to the bottom and then comes back up, it is called heapsort with bounce by some authors.
The return value of the codice_17 is used in the modified codice_6 routine:
Bottom-up heapsort was announced as beating quicksort (with median-of-three pivot selection) on arrays of size ≥16000.
A 2008 re-evaluation of this algorithm showed it to be no faster than ordinary heapsort for integer keys, presumably because modern branch prediction nullifies the cost of the predictable comparisons which bottom-up heapsort manages to avoid.
A further refinement does a binary search in the path to the selected leaf, and sorts in a worst case of comparisons, approaching the information-theoretic lower bound of comparisons.
A variant which uses two extra bits per internal node ("n"−1 bits total for an "n"-element heap) to cache information about which child is greater (two bits are required to store three cases: left, right, and unknown) uses less than compares.
Heapsort primarily competes with quicksort, another very efficient general purpose nearly-in-place comparison-based sort algorithm.
Quicksort is typically somewhat faster due to some factors, but the worst-case running time for quicksort is , which is unacceptable for large data sets and can be deliberately triggered given enough knowledge of the implementation, creating a security risk. See quicksort for a detailed discussion of this problem and possible solutions.
Thus, because of the upper bound on heapsort's running time and constant upper bound on its auxiliary storage, embedded systems with real-time constraints or systems concerned with security often use heapsort, such as the Linux kernel.
Heapsort also competes with merge sort, which has the same time bounds. Merge sort requires auxiliary space, but heapsort requires only a constant amount. Heapsort typically runs faster in practice on machines with small or slow data caches, and does not require as much external memory. On the other hand, merge sort has several advantages over heapsort:
Introsort is an alternative to heapsort that combines quicksort and heapsort to retain advantages of both: worst case speed of heapsort and average speed of quicksort.
Let { 6, 5, 3, 1, 8, 7, 2, 4 } be the list that we want to sort from the smallest to the largest. (NOTE, for 'Building the Heap' step: Larger nodes don't stay below smaller node parents. They are swapped with parents, and then recursively checked if another swap is needed, to keep larger numbers above smaller numbers on the heap binary tree.) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13995 |
Heap (data structure)
In computer science, a heap is a specialized tree-based data structure which is essentially an almost complete tree that satisfies the heap property: in a "max heap", for any given node C, if P is a parent node of C, then the "key" (the "value") of P is greater than or equal to the key of C. In a "min heap", the key of P is less than or equal to the key of C. The node at the "top" of the heap (with no parents) is called the "root" node.
The heap is one maximally efficient implementation of an abstract data type called a priority queue, and in fact, priority queues are often referred to as "heaps", regardless of how they may be implemented. In a heap, the highest (or lowest) priority element is always stored at the root. However, a heap is not a sorted structure; it can be regarded as being partially ordered. A heap is a useful data structure when it is necessary to repeatedly remove the object with the highest (or lowest) priority.
A common implementation of a heap is the binary heap, in which the tree is a binary tree (see figure). The heap data structure, specifically the binary heap, was introduced by J. W. J. Williams in 1964, as a data structure for the heapsort sorting algorithm. Heaps are also crucial in several efficient graph algorithms such as Dijkstra's algorithm. When a heap is a complete binary tree, it has a smallest possible height—a heap with "N" nodes and for each node "a" branches always has log"a" "N" height.
Note that, as shown in the graphic, there is no implied ordering between siblings or cousins and no implied sequence for an in-order traversal (as there would be in, e.g., a binary search tree). The heap relation mentioned above applies only between nodes and their parents, grandparents, etc. The maximum number of children each node can have depends on the type of heap.
The common operations involving heaps are:
Heaps are usually implemented with an implicit heap data structure, which is an implicit data structure consisting of an array (fixed size or dynamic array) where each element represents a tree node whose parent/children relationship is defined implicitly by their index. After an element is inserted into or deleted from a heap, the heap property may be violated and the heap must be balanced by swapping elements within the array.
In an implicit heap data structure, the first (or last) element will contain the root. The next two elements of the array contain its children. The next four contain the four children of the two child nodes, etc. Thus the children of the node at position "n" would be at positions 2n and 2n + 1 in a one-based array, or 2n + 1 and 2n + 2 in a zero-based array. Computing the index of the parent node of n-th element is also straightforward. For one-based arrays the parent of element n is located at position n/2. Similarly, for zero-based arrays, is the parent is located at position (n-1)/2 (floored). This allows moving up or down the tree by doing simple index computations. Balancing a heap is done by sift-up or sift-down operations (swapping elements which are out of order). As we can build a heap from an array without requiring extra memory (for the nodes, for example), heapsort can be used to sort an array in-place.
Different types of heaps implement the operations in different ways, but notably, insertion is often done by adding the new element at the end of the heap in the first available free space. This will generally violate the heap property, and so the elements are then shifted up until the heap property has been reestablished. Similarly, deleting the root is done by removing the root and then putting the last element in the root and sifting down to rebalance. Thus replacing is done by deleting the root and putting the "new" element in the root and sifting down, avoiding a sifting up step compared to pop (sift down of last element) followed by push (sift up of new element).
Construction of a binary (or "d"-ary) heap out of a given array of elements may be performed in linear time using the classic Floyd algorithm, with the worst-case number of comparisons equal to 2"N" − 2"s"2("N") − "e"2("N") (for a binary heap), where "s"2("N") is the sum of all digits of the binary representation of "N" and "e"2("N") is the exponent of 2 in the prime factorization of "N". This is faster than a sequence of consecutive insertions into an originally empty heap, which is log-linear.
The heap data structure has many applications. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13996 |
Hierarchy
A hierarchy (from the Greek ἱεραρχία "hierarkhia", "rule of a high priest", from "hierarkhes", "president of sacred rites") is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) in which the items are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important concept in a wide variety of fields, such as philosophy, mathematics, computer science, organizational theory, systems theory, and the social sciences (especially political philosophy).
A hierarchy can link entities either directly or indirectly, and either vertically or diagonally. The only direct links in a hierarchy, insofar as they are hierarchical, are to one's immediate superior or to one of one's subordinates, although a system that is largely hierarchical can also incorporate alternative hierarchies. Hierarchical links can extend "vertically" upwards or downwards via multiple links in the same direction, following a path. All parts of the hierarchy that are not linked vertically to one another nevertheless can be "horizontally" linked through a path by traveling up the hierarchy to find a common direct or indirect superior, and then down again. This is akin to two co-workers or colleagues; each reports to a common superior, but they have the same relative amount of authority. Organizational forms exist that are both alternative and complementary to hierarchy. Heterarchy is one such form.
Hierarchies have their own special vocabulary. These terms are easiest to understand when a hierarchy is diagrammed (see below).
In an organizational context, the following terms are often used related to hierarchies:
In a mathematical context (in graph theory), the general terminology used is different.
Most hierarchies use a more specific vocabulary pertaining to their subject, but the idea behind them is the same. For example, with data structures, objects are known as nodes, superiors are called parents and subordinates are called children. In a business setting, a superior is a supervisor/boss and a peer is a colleague.
Degree of branching refers to the number of direct subordinates or children an object has (in graph theory, equivalent to the number of other vertices connected to via outgoing arcs, in a directed graph) a node has. Hierarchies can be categorized based on the "maximum degree", the highest degree present in the system as a whole. Categorization in this way yields two broad classes: "linear" and "branching".
In a linear hierarchy, the maximum degree is 1. In other words, all of the objects can be visualized in a line-up, and each object (excluding the top and bottom ones) has exactly one direct subordinate and one direct superior. Note that this is referring to the "objects" and not the "levels"; every hierarchy has this property with respect to levels, but normally each level can have an infinite number of objects. An example of a linear hierarchy is the hierarchy of life.
In a branching hierarchy, one or more objects has a degree of 2 or more (and therefore the minimum degree is 2 or higher). For many people, the word "hierarchy" automatically evokes an image of a branching hierarchy. Branching hierarchies are present within numerous systems, including organizations and classification schemes. The broad category of branching hierarchies can be further subdivided based on the degree.
A flat hierarchy is a branching hierarchy in which the maximum degree approaches infinity, i.e., that has a wide span. Most often, systems intuitively regarded as hierarchical have at most a moderate span. Therefore, a flat hierarchy is often not viewed as a hierarchy at all. For example, diamonds and graphite are flat hierarchies of numerous carbon atoms that can be further decomposed into subatomic particles.
An overlapping hierarchy is a branching hierarchy in which at least one object has two parent objects. For example, a graduate student can have two co-supervisors to whom the student reports directly and equally, and who have the same level of authority within the university hierarchy (i.e., they have the same position or tenure status).
Possibly the first use of the English word "hierarchy" cited by the "Oxford English Dictionary" was in 1881, when it was used in reference to the three orders of three angels as depicted by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (5th–6th centuries). Pseudo-Dionysius used the related Greek word (ἱεραρχία "hierarchia") both in reference to the celestial hierarchy and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The Greek term ἱεραρχία means "rule of a high priest" (from ἱεράρχης "hierarches", meaning "president of sacred rites, high-priest" and that from ἱερεύς "hiereus", "priest" and ἀρχή "arche", amongst others "first place or power, rule"), and Dionysius is credited with first use of it as an abstract noun. Since hierarchical churches, such as the Roman Catholic (see Catholic Church hierarchy) and Eastern Orthodox churches, had tables of organization that were "hierarchical" in the modern sense of the word (traditionally with God as the pinnacle or head of the hierarchy), the term came to refer to similar organizational methods in secular settings.
A hierarchy is typically depicted as a pyramid, where the height of a level represents that level's status and width of a level represents the quantity of items at that level relative to the whole. For example, the few Directors of a company could be at the apex, and the base could be thousands of people who have no subordinates.
These pyramids are typically diagrammed with a tree or triangle diagram (but note that not all triangle/pyramid diagrams are hierarchical; for example, the 1992 USDA food guide pyramid), both of which serve to emphasize the size differences between the levels. An example of a triangle diagram appears to the right. An organizational chart is the diagram of a hierarchy within an organization, and is depicted in tree form in , below.
More recently, as computers have allowed the storage and navigation of ever larger data sets, various methods have been developed to represent hierarchies in a manner that makes more efficient use of the available space on a computer's screen. Examples include fractal maps, TreeMaps and Radial Trees.
In the design field, mainly graphic design, successful layouts and formatting of the content on documents are heavily dependent on the rules of visual hierarchy. Visual hierarchy is also important for proper organization of files on computers.
An example of visually representing hierarchy is through the Nested clusters. The Nested clusters represents hierarchical relationships by using layers of information. The child element is within the parent element, such as in a Venn diagram. This structure of representing hierarchy is most effective in representing simple relationships. For example, when directing someone to open a file on a computer desktop, one may first direct them towards the main folder, then the subfolders within the main folder. They will keep opening files within the folders until the designated file is located.
For more complicated hierarchies, the stair structure represents hierarchical relationships through the use of visual stacking. Visually imagine the top of a downward staircase beginning at the left and descending on the right. The child elements are towards the bottom of the stairs and the parent elements are at the top. This structure is effective when representing more complicated hierarchies where steps are not placed in obvious sequences. Further steps are concealed unless all of the steps are revealed in sequence. In the computer desktop example, a file that is being sought after can only be found once another file is opened. The link for the desired file is within another document. All the steps must be completed until the final destination is reached.
In plain English, a hierarchy can be thought of as a set in which:
The first requirement is also interpreted to mean that a hierarchy can have no circular relationships; the association between two objects is always transitive.
The second requirement asserts that a hierarchy must have a leader or root that is common to all of the objects.
Mathematically, in its most general form, a hierarchy is a partially ordered set or "poset". The system in this case is the entire poset, which is constituted of elements. Within this system, each element shares a particular unambiguous property. Objects with the same property value are grouped together, and each of those resulting levels is referred to as a class.
"Hierarchy" is particularly used to refer to a poset in which the classes are organized in terms of increasing complexity.
Operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are often performed in a certain sequence or order. Usually, addition and subtraction are performed after multiplication and division has already been applied to a problem. The use of parenthesis is also a representation of hierarchy, for they show which operation is to be done prior to the following ones. For example:
(2 + 5) × (7 - 4).
In this problem, typically one would multiply 5 by 7 first, based on the rules of mathematical hierarchy. But when the parentheses are placed, one will know to do the operations within the parentheses first before continuing on with the problem. These rules are largely dominant in algebraic problems, ones that include several steps to solve. The use of hierarchy in mathematics is beneficial to quickly and efficiently solve a problem without having to go through the process of slowly dissecting the problem. Most of these rules are now known as the proper way into solving certain equations.
A nested hierarchy or "inclusion hierarchy" is a hierarchical ordering of nested sets. The concept of nesting is exemplified in Russian matryoshka dolls. Each doll is encompassed by another doll, all the way to the outer doll. The outer doll holds all of the inner dolls, the next outer doll holds all the remaining inner dolls, and so on. Matryoshkas represent a nested hierarchy where each level contains only one object, i.e., there is only one of each size of doll; a generalized nested hierarchy allows for multiple objects within levels but with each object having only one parent at each level. The general concept is both demonstrated and mathematically formulated in the following example:
A square can always also be referred to as a quadrilateral, polygon or shape. In this way, it is a hierarchy. However, consider the set of polygons using this classification. A square can "only" be a quadrilateral; it can never be a triangle, hexagon, etc.
Nested hierarchies are the organizational schemes behind taxonomies and systematic classifications. For example, using the original Linnaean taxonomy (the version he laid out in the 10th edition of "Systema Naturae"), a human can be formulated as:
Taxonomies may change frequently (as seen in biological taxonomy), but the underlying concept of nested hierarchies is always the same.
In many programming taxonomies and syntax models (as well as fractals in mathematics), nested hierarchies, including Russian dolls, are also used to illustrate the properties of self-similarity and recursion. Recursion itself is included as a subset of hierarchical programming, and recursive thinking can be synonymous with a form of hierarchical thinking and logic.
A containment hierarchy is a direct extrapolation of the nested hierarchy concept. All of the ordered sets are still nested, but every set must be "strict"—no two sets can be identical. The shapes example above can be modified to demonstrate this:
The notation formula_4 means "x" is a subset of "y" but is not equal to "y".
A general example of a containment hierarchy is demonstrated in class inheritance in object-oriented programming.
Two types of containment hierarchies are the "subsumptive" containment hierarchy and the "compositional" containment hierarchy. A subsumptive hierarchy "subsumes" its children, and a compositional hierarchy is "composed" of its children. A hierarchy can also be both subsumptive "and" compositional.
A "subsumptive" containment hierarchy is a classification of object classes from the general to the specific. Other names for this type of hierarchy are "taxonomic hierarchy" and "IS-A hierarchy". The last term describes the relationship between each level—a lower-level object "is a" member of the higher class. The taxonomical structure outlined above is a subsumptive containment hierarchy. Using again the example of Linnaean taxonomy, it can be seen that an object that is part of the level "Mammalia" "is a" member of the level "Animalia"; more specifically, a human "is a" primate, a primate "is a" mammal, and so on. A subsumptive hierarchy can also be defined abstractly as a hierarchy of "concepts". For example, with the Linnaean hierarchy outlined above, an entity name like "Animalia" is a way to group all the species that fit the conceptualization of an animal.
A "compositional" containment hierarchy is an ordering of the parts that make up a system—the system is "composed" of these parts. Most engineered structures, whether natural or artificial, can be broken down in this manner.
The compositional hierarchy that every person encounters at every moment is the hierarchy of life. Every person can be reduced to organ systems, which are composed of organs, which are composed of tissues, which are composed of cells, which are composed of molecules, which are composed of atoms. In fact, the last two levels apply to all matter, at least at the macroscopic scale. Moreover, each of these levels inherit all the properties of their children.
In this particular example, there are also "emergent properties"—functions that are not seen at the lower level (e.g., cognition is not a property of neurons but is of the brain)—and a scalar quality (molecules are bigger than atoms, cells are bigger than molecules, etc.). Both of these concepts commonly exist in compositional hierarchies, but they are not a required general property. These "level hierarchies" are characterized by bi-directional causation. "Upward causation" involves lower-level entities causing some property of a higher level entity; children entities may interact to yield parent entities, and parents are composed at least partly by their children. "Downward causation" refers to the effect that the incorporation of entity "x" into a higher-level entity can have on "x"'s properties and interactions. Furthermore, the entities found at each level are "autonomous".
According to Kulish, V. V. (2002), almost every system of organization applied to the world is arranged hierarchically. By their common definitions, every nation has a government and every government is hierarchical. Socioeconomic systems are stratified into a social hierarchy (the social stratification of societies), and all systematic classification schemes (taxonomies) are hierarchical. Most organized religions, regardless of their internal governance structures, operate as a hierarchy under God. Many Christian denominations have an autocephalous ecclesiastical hierarchy of leadership. Families are viewed as a hierarchical structure in terms of cousinship (e.g., first cousin once removed, second cousin, etc.), ancestry (as depicted in a family tree) and inheritance (succession and heirship). All the requisites of a well-rounded life and lifestyle can be organized using Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. Learning must often follow a hierarchical scheme—to learn differential equations one must first learn calculus; to learn calculus one must first learn elementary algebra; and so on. Even nature itself has its own hierarchies, as numerous schemes such as Linnaean taxonomy, the organization of life, and biomass pyramids attempt to document. Hierarchies are so infused into daily life that they are viewed as trivial.
While the above examples are often clearly depicted in a hierarchical form and are classic examples, hierarchies exist in numerous systems where this branching structure is not immediately apparent. For example, most postal code systems are hierarchical. Using the Canadian postal code system as an example, the top level's binding concept is the "postal district", and consists of 18 objects (letters). The next level down is the "zone", where the objects are the digits 0–9. This is an example of an overlapping hierarchy, because each of these 10 objects has 18 parents. The hierarchy continues downward to generate, in theory, 7,200,000 unique codes of the format "A0A 0A0" (the second and third letter position allow 20 objects each). Most library classification systems are also hierarchical. The Dewey Decimal System is regarded as infinitely hierarchical because there is no finite bound on the number of digits can be used after the decimal point.
Organizations can be structured as a dominance hierarchy. In an organizational hierarchy, there is a single person or group with the most power and authority, and each subsequent level represents a lesser authority. Most organizations are structured in this manner, including governments, companies, militia and organized religions. The units or persons within an organization are depicted hierarchically in an organizational chart.
In a reverse hierarchy, the conceptual pyramid of authority is turned upside-down, so that the apex is at the bottom and the base is at the top. This mode represents the idea that members of the higher rankings are responsible for the members of the lower rankings.
Empirically, we observe in nature a large proportion of the (complex) biological systems, they exhibit hierarchic structure. On theoretical grounds we could expect complex systems to be hierarchies in a world in which complexity had to evolve from simplicity. System hierarchies analysis performed in the 1950s, laid the empirical foundations for a field that would be, from the 1980s, hierarchical ecology.
The theoretical foundations are summarized by Thermodynamics.
When biological systems are modeled as physical systems, in its most general abstraction, they are thermodynamic open systems that exhibit self-organised behavior, and the set/subset relations between dissipative structures can be characterized in a hierarchy.
CGI and computer animation programs mostly use hierarchies for models. On a 3D model of a human for example, the chest is a parent of the upper left arm, which is a parent of the lower left arm, which is a parent of the hand. This is used in modeling and animation for almost everything built as a 3D digital model.
Many grammatical theories, such as phrase-structure grammar, involve hierarchy.
Direct–inverse languages such as Cree and Mapudungun distinguish subject and object on verbs not by different subject and object markers, but via a hierarchy of persons.
In this system, the three (or four with Algonquian languages) persons are placed in a hierarchy of salience. To distinguish which is subject and which object, "inverse markers" are used if the object outranks the subject.
On the other hand, languages include a variety of phenomena that are not hierarchical. For example, the relationship between a pronoun and a prior noun phrase to which it refers, commonly crosses grammatical boundaries in non-hierarchical ways.
The structure of a musical composition is often understood hierarchically (for example by Heinrich Schenker (1768–1835, see Schenkerian analysis), and in the (1985) Generative Theory of Tonal Music, by composer Fred Lerdahl and linguist Ray Jackendoff). The sum of all notes in a piece is understood to be an all-inclusive surface, which can be reduced to successively more sparse and more fundamental types of motion. The levels of structure that operate in Schenker's theory are the foreground, which is seen in all the details of the musical score; the middle ground, which is roughly a summary of an essential contrapuntal progression and voice-leading; and the background or Ursatz, which is one of only a few basic "long-range counterpoint" structures that are shared in the gamut of tonal music literature.
The pitches and form of tonal music are organized hierarchically, all pitches deriving their importance from their relationship to a tonic key, and secondary themes in other keys are brought back to the tonic in a recapitulation of the primary theme. Susan McClary connects this specifically in the sonata-allegro form to the feminist hierarchy of gender (see above) in her book "Feminine Endings", even pointing out that primary themes were often previously called "masculine" and secondary themes "feminine."
In the work of diverse theorists such as William James (1842–1910), Michel Foucault (1926–1984) and Hayden White, important critiques of hierarchical epistemology are advanced. James famously asserts in his work "Radical Empiricism" that clear distinctions of type and category are a constant but unwritten goal of scientific reasoning, so that when they are discovered, success is declared. But if aspects of the world are organized differently, involving inherent and intractable ambiguities, then scientific questions are often considered unresolved.
Hierarchy in ethics emerged in Western Europe, West Asia and North Africa around the 1600s. In this aspect, the term hierarchy refers to how distinguishable they are from real to unreal. Feminists, Marxists, anarchists, communists, critical theorists and others, all of whom have multiple interpretations, criticize the hierarchies commonly found within human society, especially in social relationships. Hierarchies are present in all parts of society: in businesses, schools, families, etc. These relationships are often viewed as necessary. Entities that stand in hierarchical arrangements are animals, humans, plants, etc.
In ethics, various virtues are enumerated and sometimes organized hierarchically according to certain brands of virtue theory.
In some of these random examples, there is an asymmetry of 'compositional' significance between levels of structure, so that small parts of the whole hierarchical array depend, for their meaning, on their membership in larger parts. There is a hierarchy of activities in human life: productive activity serves or is guided by the moral life; the moral life is guided by practical reason; practical reason (used in moral and political life) serves contemplative reason (whereby we contemplate God). Practical reason sets aside time and resources for contemplative reason.
"(For example, in )" | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13998 |
Outline of health sciences
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences:
Health sciences – are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Because these two subject matter relates to multiple academic disciplines, both STEM disciplines as well as emerging patient safety disciplines (such as social care research) are relevant to current health science knowledge.
Health sciences knowledge bases are currently diverse, with intellectual foundations that are sometimes mutually-inconsistent. There is currently an existing bias in the field, towards high valuation of knowledge deriving from controlling views on the human agency (as epitomized by the epistemological basis of Randomized Control Trial designs); compare this against the more naturalistic views on human agency taken by research based on Ethnography for example).
Mental health
Social health
Physical health
Medicine – applied science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness. Some of its branches are: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=14002 |
Hour
An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time conventionally reckoned as of a day and scientifically reckoned as 3,599–3,601 seconds, depending on conditions. There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day.
The hour was initially established in the ancient Near East as a variable measure of of the night or daytime. Such seasonal, temporal, or unequal hours varied by season and latitude.
Equal or equinoctial hours were taken as of the day as measured from noon to noon; the minor seasonal variations of this unit were eventually smoothed by making it of the mean solar day. Since this unit was not constant due to long term variations in the Earth's rotation, the hour was finally separated from the Earth's rotation and defined in terms of the atomic or physical second.
In the modern metric system, hours are an accepted unit of time defined as 3,600 atomic seconds. However, on rare occasions an hour may incorporate a positive or negative leap second, making it last 3,599 or 3,601 seconds, in order to keep it within 0.9 seconds of UT1, which is based on measurements of the mean solar day.
"Hour" is a development of the Anglo-Norman ' and Middle English ', first attested in the 13th century.
It displaced tide tīd, "time" and stound stund, "span of time". The Anglo-Norman term was a borrowing of Old French ', a variant of ', which derived from Latin "" and Greek "hṓrā" ().
Like Old English ' and ', "hṓrā" was originally a vaguer word for any span of time, including seasons and years. Its Proto-Indo-European root has been reconstructed as "" ("year, summer"), making "hour" distantly cognate with "year".
The time of day is typically expressed in English in terms of hours. Whole hours on a 12-hour clock are expressed using the contracted phrase "o'clock", from the older "of clock". (10 am and 10 pm are both read as "ten o'clock".)
Hours on a 24-hour clock ("military time") are expressed as "hundred" or "hundred hours". (1000 is read "ten hundred" or "ten hundred hours"; 10 pm would be "twenty-two hundred".)
Fifteen and thirty minutes past the hour is expressed as "a quarter past" or "after" and "half past", respectively, from their fraction of the hour. Fifteen minutes before the hour may be expressed as "a quarter to", "of", "till", or "before" the hour. (9:45 may be read "nine forty-five" or "a quarter till ten".)
The ancient Greeks and Romans originally divided the day into 12 hours and the night into 3 or 4 night watches.
The Greek astronomer Andronicus of Cyrrhus oversaw the construction of a horologion called the Tower of the Winds in Athens during the first century. This structure tracked a 24-hour day using both sundials and mechanical hour indicators. The night was eventually also divided into 12 hours.
The canonical hours were introduced to early Christianity from Second Temple Judaism.
By AD 60, the Didache, recommends disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer three times a day; this practice found its way into the canonical hours as well. By the second and third centuries, such Church Fathers as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Tertullian wrote of the practice of Morning and Evening Prayer, and of the prayers at the third, sixth and ninth hours.
In the early church, during the night before every feast, a vigil was kept. The word "Vigils", at first applied to the Night Office, comes from a Latin source, namely the "Vigiliae" or nocturnal watches or guards of the soldiers. The night from six o'clock in the evening to six o'clock in the morning was divided into four watches or vigils of three hours each, the first, the second, the third, and the fourth vigil.
The "Horae" were originally personifications of seasonal aspects of nature, not of the time of day.
The list of twelve "Horae" representing the twelve hours of the day is recorded only in Late Antiquity, by Nonnus. The first and twelfth of the "Horae" were added to the original set of ten:
Medieval astronomers such as al-Biruni and Sacrobosco, divided the hour into 60 minutes, each of 60 seconds; this derives from Babylonian astronomy, where the corresponding terms denoted the time required for the Sun's apparent motion through the ecliptic to describe one minute or second of arc, respectively.
In present terms, the Babylonian degree of time was thus four minutes long, the "minute" of time was thus four seconds long and the "second" 1/15 of a second.)
In medieval Europe, the Roman hours continued to be marked on sundials but the more important units of time were the canonical hours of the Orthodox and Catholic Church. During daylight, these followed the pattern set by the three-hour bells of the Roman markets, which were succeeded by the bells of local churches. They rang prime at about 6am, terce at about 9am, sext at noon, nones at about 3pm, and vespers at either 6pm or sunset. Matins and lauds precede these irregularly in the morning hours; compline follows them irregularly before sleep; and the midnight office follows that. Vatican II ordered their reformation for the Catholic Church in 1963, though they continue to be observed in the Orthodox churches.
When mechanical clocks began to be used to show hours of daylight or nighttime, their period needed to be changed every morning and evening (for example, by changing the length of their pendula). The use of 24 hours for the entire day meant hours varied much less and the clocks needed to be adjusted only a few times a month.
The minor irregularities of the apparent solar day were smoothed by measuring time using the mean solar day, using the Sun's movement along the celestial equator rather than along the ecliptic. The irregularities of this time system were so minor that most clocks reckoning such hours did not need adjustment. However, scientific measurements eventually became precise enough to note the effect of tidal deceleration of the Earth by the Moon, which gradually lengthens the Earth's days.
During the French Revolution, a general decimalization of measures was enacted, including decimal time between 1793 and 1795. Under its provisions, the French hour () was of the day and divided formally into 100 decimal minutes (') and informally into 10 tenths ('). This hour was only briefly in official use, being repealed by the same 1795 legislation that first established the metric system.
The metric system bases its measurements of time upon the second, defined since 1952 in terms of the Earth's rotation in 1900. Its hours are a secondary unit computed as precisely 3,600 seconds. However, an hour of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), used as the basis of most civil time, has lasted 3,601 seconds 27 times since 1972 in order to keep it within 0.9 seconds of universal time, which is based on measurements of the mean solar day at 0° longitude. The addition of these seconds accommodates the very gradual slowing of the rotation of the Earth.
In modern life, the ubiquity of clocks and other timekeeping devices means that segmentation of days according to their hours is commonplace. Most forms of employment, whether wage or salaried labour, involve compensation based upon measured or expected hours worked. The fight for an eight-hour day was a part of labour movements around the world. Informal rush hours and happy hours cover the times of day when commuting slows down due to congestion or alcoholic drinks being available at discounted prices. The hour record for the greatest distance travelled by a cyclist within the span of an hour is one of cycling's greatest honours.
Many different ways of counting the hours have been used. Because sunrise, sunset, and, to a lesser extent, noon, are the conspicuous points in the day, starting to count at these times was, for most people in most early societies, much easier than starting at midnight. However, with accurate clocks and modern astronomical equipment (and the telegraph or similar means to transfer a time signal in a split-second), this issue is much less relevant.
Astrolabes, sundials, and astronomical clocks sometimes show the hour length and count using some of these older definitions and counting methods.
In ancient and medieval cultures, the counting of hours generally started with sunrise. Before the widespread use of artificial light, societies were more concerned with the division between night and day, and daily routines often began when light was sufficient.
"Babylonian hours" divide the day and night into 24 equal hours, reckoned from the time of sunrise. They are so named from the false belief of ancient authors that the Babylonians divided the day into 24 parts, beginning at sunrise. In fact, they divided the day into 12 parts (called "kaspu" or "double hours") or into 60 equal parts.
Sunrise marked the beginning of the first hour, the middle of the day was at the end of the sixth hour and sunset at the end of the twelfth hour. This meant that the duration of hours varied with the season. In the Northern hemisphere, particularly in the more northerly latitudes, summer daytime hours were longer than winter daytime hours, each being one twelfth of the time between sunrise and sunset. These variable-length hours were variously known as temporal, unequal, or seasonal hours and were in use until the appearance of the mechanical clock, which furthered the adoption of equal length hours.
This is also the system used in Jewish law and frequently called "Talmudic hour" ("Sha'a Zemanit") in a variety of texts. The Talmudic hour is one twelfth of time elapsed from sunrise to sunset, day hours therefore being longer than night hours in the summer; in winter they reverse.
The Indic day began at sunrise. The term "hora" was used to indicate an hour. The time was measured based on the length of the shadow at day time. A "hora" translated to 2.5 "pe". There are 60 "pe" per day, 60 minutes per "pe" and 60 "kshana" (snap of a finger or instant) per minute. "Pe" was measured with a bowl with a hole placed in still water. Time taken for this graduated bowl was one "pe". Kings usually had an officer in charge of this clock.
In so-called "Italian time", "Italian hours", or "old Czech time", the first hour started with the sunset Angelus bell (or at the end of dusk, i.e., half an hour after sunset, depending on local custom and geographical latitude). The hours were numbered from 1 to 24. For example, in Lugano, the sun rose in December during the 14th hour and noon was during the 19th hour; in June the sun rose during the 7th hour and noon was in the 15th hour. Sunset was always at the end of the 24th hour. The clocks in church towers struck only from 1 to 12, thus only during night or early morning hours.
This manner of counting hours had the advantage that everyone could easily know how much time they had to finish their day's work without artificial light. It was already widely used in Italy by the 14th century and lasted until the mid-18th century; it was officially abolished in 1755, or in some regions customary until the mid-19th century.
The system of Italian hours can be seen on a number of clocks in Europe, where the dial is numbered from 1 to 24 in either Roman or Arabic numerals. The St Mark's Clock in Venice, and the Orloj in Prague are famous examples. It was also used in Poland and Bohemia until the 17th century.
The Islamic day begins at sunset. The first prayer of the day (maghrib) is to be performed between just after sunset and the end of twilight. Until 1968 Saudi Arabia used the system of counting 24 equal hours with the first hour starting at sunset.
For many centuries, up to 1925, astronomers counted the hours and days from noon, because it was the easiest solar event to measure accurately. An advantage of this method (used in the Julian Date system, in which a new Julian Day begins at noon) is that the date doesn't change during a single night's observing.
In the modern 12-hour clock, counting the hours starts at midnight and restarts at noon. Hours are numbered 12, 1, 2, ..., 11. Solar noon is always close to 12 noon (ignoring artificial adjustments due to time zones and daylight saving time), differing according to the equation of time by as much as fifteen minutes either way. At the equinoxes sunrise is around 6 a.m. (, before noon), and sunset around 6 p.m. (, after noon).
In the modern 24-hour clock, counting the hours starts at midnight, and hours are numbered from 0 to 23. Solar noon is always close to 12:00, again differing according to the equation of time. At the equinoxes sunrise is around 06:00, and sunset around 18:00.
The ancient Egyptians began dividing the night into "" at some time before the compilation of the Dynasty V Pyramid Texts in the 24thcentury. By 2150 (Dynasty IX), diagrams of stars inside Egyptian coffin lids—variously known as "diagonal calendars" or "star clocks"—attest that there were exactly 12 of these. Clagett writes that it is "certain" this duodecimal division of the night followed the adoption of the Egyptian civil calendar, usually placed on the basis of analyses of the Sothic cycle, but a lunar calendar presumably long predated this and also would have had twelve months in each of its years. The coffin diagrams show that the Egyptians took note of the heliacal risings of 36 stars or constellations (now known as "decans"), one for each of the ten-day "weeks" of their civil calendar. (12 sets of alternate "triangle decans" were used for the 5 epagomenal days between years.) Each night, the rising of eleven of these decans were noted, separating the night into twelve divisions whose middle terms would have lasted about 40minutes each. (Another seven stars were noted by the Egyptians during the twilight and predawn periods, although they were not important for the hour divisions.) The original decans used by the Egyptians would have fallen noticeably out of their proper places over a span of several centuries. By the time of (), the priests at Karnak were using water clocks to determine the hours. These were filled to the brim at sunset and the hour determined by comparing the water level against one of its twelve gauges, one for each month of the year. During the New Kingdom, another system of decans was used, made up of 24 stars over the course of the year and 12 within any one night.
The later division of the day into 12 hours was accomplished by sundials marked with ten equal divisions. The morning and evening periods when the sundials failed to note time were observed as the first and last hours.
The Egyptian hours were closely connected both with the priesthood of the gods and with their divine services. By the New Kingdom, each hour was conceived as a specific region of the sky or underworld through which Ra's solar barge travelled. Protective deities were assigned to each and were used as the names of the hours. As the protectors and resurrectors of the sun, the goddesses of the night hours were considered to hold power over all lifespans and thus became part of Egyptian funerary rituals. Two fire-spitting cobras were said to guard the gates of each hour of the underworld, and Wadjet and the rearing cobra (uraeus) were also sometimes referenced as ' from their role protecting the dead through these gates. The Egyptian word for astronomer, used as a synonym for priest, was ', "one of the "wnwt"", as it were "one of the hours". The earliest forms of "" include one or three stars, with the later solar hours including the determinative hieroglyph for "sun".
Ancient China divided its day into 100 "marks" running from midnight to midnight. The system is said to have been used since remote antiquity, credited to the legendary Yellow Emperor, but is first attested in Han-era water clocks and in the 2nd-century history of that dynasty. It was measured with sundials and water clocks. Into the Eastern Han, the Chinese measured their day schematically, adding the 20-"ke" difference between the solstices evenly throughout the year, one every nine days. During the night, time was more commonly reckoned during the night by the "watches" of the guard, which were reckoned as a fifth of the time from sunset to sunrise.
Imperial China continued to use "ke" and "geng" but also began to divide the day into 12 "double hours" named after the earthly branches and sometimes also known by the name of the corresponding animal of the Chinese zodiac. The first "shi" originally ran from 11pm to 1am but was reckoned as starting at midnight by the time of the History of Song, compiled during the early Yuan. These apparently began to be used during the Eastern Han that preceded the Three Kingdoms era, but the sections that would have covered them are missing from their official histories; they first appear in official use in the Tang-era Book of Sui. Variations of all these units were subsequently adopted by Japan and the other countries of the Sinosphere.
The 12 "shi" supposedly began to be divided into 24 hours under the Tang, although they are first attested in the Ming-era Book of Yuan. In that work, the hours were known by the same earthly branches as the "shi", with the first half noted as its "starting" and the second as "completed" or "proper" "shi". In modern China, these are instead simply numbered and described as "little "shi"". The modern "ke" is now used to count quarter-hours, rather than a separate unit.
As with the Egyptian night and daytime hours, the division of the day into twelve "shi" has been credited to the example set by the rough number of lunar cycles in a solar year, although the 12-year Jovian orbital cycle was more important to traditional Chinese and Babylonian reckoning of the zodiac.
In Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, the traditional system of noting hours is the six-hour clock. This reckons each of a day's 24 hours apart from noon as part of a fourth of the day. 7 am was the first hour of the first half of daytime; 1 pm the first hour of the latter half of daytime; 7 pm the first hour of the first half of nighttime; and 1 am the first hour of the latter half of nighttime. This system existed in the Ayutthaya Kingdom, deriving its current phrasing from the practice of publicly announcing the daytime hours with a gong and the nighttime hours with a drum. It was abolished in Laos and Cambodia during their French occupation and is uncommon there now. The Thai system remains in informal use in the form codified in 1901 by King Chulalongkorn.
The Vedas and Puranas employed units of time based on the sidereal day ("nakṣatra ahorātram"). This was variously divided into 30 "muhūtras" of 48 minutes each or 60 "dandas" or "nadís" of 24 minutes each. The solar day was later similarly divided into 60 "ghaṭikás" of about the same duration, each divided in turn into 60 "vinadis". The Sinhalese followed a similar system but called their sixtieth of a day a "peya". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=14004 |
Jet engine
A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term typically refers to an airbreathing jet engine such as a turbojet, turbofan, ramjet, or pulse jet. In general, jet engines are combustion engines.
Airbreathing jet engines typically feature a rotating air compressor powered by a turbine, with the leftover power providing thrust through the propelling nozzle – this process is known as the Brayton thermodynamic cycle. Jet aircraft use such engines for long-distance travel. Early jet aircraft used turbojet engines that were relatively inefficient for subsonic flight. Most modern subsonic jet aircraft use more complex high-bypass turbofan engines. They give higher speed and greater fuel efficiency than piston and propeller aeroengines over long distances. A few air-breathing engines made for high speed applications (ramjets and scramjets) use the ram effect of the vehicle's speed instead of a mechanical compressor.
The thrust of a typical jetliner engine went from (de Havilland Ghost turbojet) in the 1950s to (General Electric GE90 turbofan) in the 1990s, and their reliability went from 40 in-flight shutdowns per 100,000 engine flight hours to less than 1 per 100,000 in the late 1990s. This, combined with greatly decreased fuel consumption, permitted routine transatlantic flight by twin-engined airliners by the turn of the century, where previously a similar journey would have required multiple fuel stops.
A rudimentary form of jet power dates back to the aeolipile, a device described by Hero of Alexandria in 1st-century Roman Egypt. This device directed steam power through two nozzles to cause a sphere to spin rapidly on its axis. It was seen as a curiosity.
The first practical applications of jet propulsion appeared with the invention of the gunpowder-powered rocket by the Chinese in the 13th century. It was initially a type of firework, and gradually progressed to propel formidable weaponry. The principles used by the Chinese to send their rockets and fireworks was similar to that of a jet engine.
In 1551, Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf in Ottoman Egypt invented a steam jack, driven by a steam turbine, describing a method for rotating a spit by means of a jet of steam playing on rotary vanes around the periphery of a wheel. It was the first practical steam jet device. A similar device was later described by John Wilkins in 1648.
The earliest report of an attempted jet flight also dates back to the Ottoman Empire. In 1633, the Ottoman soldier Lagâri Hasan Çelebi reportedly used a cone-shaped rocket.
The earliest attempts at airbreathing jet engines were hybrid designs in which an external power source first compressed air, which was then mixed with fuel and burned for jet thrust. The Caproni Campini N.1, and the Japanese Tsu-11 engine intended to power Ohka kamikaze planes towards the end of World War II were unsuccessful.
Even before the start of World War II, engineers were beginning to realize that engines driving propellers were approaching limits due to issues related to propeller efficiency, which declined as blade tips approached the speed of sound. If aircraft performance were to increase beyond such a barrier, a different propulsion mechanism was necessary. This was the motivation behind the development of the gas turbine engine, the most common form of jet engine.
The key to a practical jet engine was the gas turbine, extracting power from the engine itself to drive the compressor. The gas turbine was not a new idea: the patent for a stationary turbine was granted to John Barber in England in 1791. The first gas turbine to successfully run self-sustaining was built in 1903 by Norwegian engineer Ægidius Elling. Such engines did not reach manufacture due to issues of safety, reliability, weight and, especially, sustained operation.
The first patent for using a gas turbine to power an aircraft was filed in 1921 by Maxime Guillaume. His engine was an axial-flow turbojet, but was never constructed, as it would have required considerable advances over the state of the art in compressors. Alan Arnold Griffith published "An Aerodynamic Theory of Turbine Design" in 1926 leading to experimental work at the RAE.
In 1928, RAF College Cranwell cadet Frank Whittle formally submitted his ideas for a turbojet to his superiors. In October 1929, he developed his ideas further. On 16 January 1930, in England, Whittle submitted his first patent (granted in 1932). The patent showed a two-stage axial compressor feeding a single-sided centrifugal compressor. Practical axial compressors were made possible by ideas from A.A.Griffith in a seminal paper in 1926 ("An Aerodynamic Theory of Turbine Design"). Whittle would later concentrate on the simpler centrifugal compressor only. Whittle was unable to interest the government in his invention, and development continued at a slow pace.
In 1935, Hans von Ohain started work on a similar design in Germany, both compressor and turbine being radial, on opposite sides of the same disc, initially unaware of Whittle's work. Von Ohain's first device was strictly experimental and could run only under external power, but he was able to demonstrate the basic concept. Ohain was then introduced to Ernst Heinkel, one of the larger aircraft industrialists of the day, who immediately saw the promise of the design. Heinkel had recently purchased the Hirth engine company, and Ohain and his master machinist Max Hahn were set up there as a new division of the Hirth company. They had their first HeS 1 centrifugal engine running by September 1937. Unlike Whittle's design, Ohain used hydrogen as fuel, supplied under external pressure. Their subsequent designs culminated in the gasoline-fuelled HeS 3 of , which was fitted to Heinkel's simple and compact He 178 airframe and flown by Erich Warsitz in the early morning of August 27, 1939, from Rostock-Marienehe aerodrome, an impressively short time for development. The He 178 was the world's first jet plane. Heinkel applied for a US patent covering the Aircraft Power Plant by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain in May 31, 1939; patent number US2256198, with M Hahn referenced as inventor.
Austrian Anselm Franz of Junkers' engine division ("Junkers Motoren" or "Jumo") introduced the axial-flow compressor in their jet engine. Jumo was assigned the next engine number in the RLM 109-0xx numbering sequence for gas turbine aircraft powerplants, "004", and the result was the Jumo 004 engine. After many lesser technical difficulties were solved, mass production of this engine started in 1944 as a powerplant for the world's first jet-fighter aircraft, the Messerschmitt Me 262 (and later the world's first jet-bomber aircraft, the Arado Ar 234). A variety of reasons conspired to delay the engine's availability, causing the fighter to arrive too late to improve Germany's position in World War II, however this was the first jet engine to be used in service.
Meanwhile, in Britain the Gloster E28/39 had its maiden flight on 15 May 1941 and the Gloster Meteor finally entered service with the RAF in July 1944. These were powered by turbojet engines from Power Jets Ltd., set up by Frank Whittle. The first two operational turbojet aircraft, the Messerschmitt Me 262 and then the Gloster Meteor entered service within three months of each other in 1944.
Following the end of the war the German jet aircraft and jet engines were extensively studied by the victorious allies and contributed to work on early Soviet and US jet fighters. The legacy of the axial-flow engine is seen in the fact that practically all jet engines on fixed-wing aircraft have had some inspiration from this design.
By the 1950s, the jet engine was almost universal in combat aircraft, with the exception of cargo, liaison and other specialty types. By this point, some of the British designs were already cleared for civilian use, and had appeared on early models like the de Havilland Comet and Avro Canada Jetliner. By the 1960s, all large civilian aircraft were also jet powered, leaving the piston engine in low-cost niche roles such as cargo flights.
The efficiency of turbojet engines was still rather worse than piston engines, but by the 1970s, with the advent of high-bypass turbofan jet engines (an innovation not foreseen by the early commentators such as Edgar Buckingham, at high speeds and high altitudes that seemed absurd to them), fuel efficiency was about the same as the best piston and propeller engines.
Jet engines power jet aircraft, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. In the form of rocket engines they power fireworks, model rocketry, spaceflight, and military missiles.
Jet engines have propelled high speed cars, particularly drag racers, with the all-time record held by a rocket car. A turbofan powered car, ThrustSSC, currently holds the land speed record.
Jet engine designs are frequently modified for non-aircraft applications, as industrial gas turbines or marine powerplants. These are used in electrical power generation, for powering water, natural gas, or oil pumps, and providing propulsion for ships and locomotives. Industrial gas turbines can create up to 50,000 shaft horsepower. Many of these engines are derived from older military turbojets such as the Pratt & Whitney J57 and J75 models. There is also a derivative of the P&W JT8D low-bypass turbofan that creates up to 35,000 HP.
Jet engines are also sometimes developed into, or share certain components such as engine cores, with turboshaft and turboprop engines, which are forms of gas turbine engines that are typically used to power helicopters and some propeller-driven aircraft.
There are a large number of different types of jet engines, all of which achieve forward thrust from the principle of "jet propulsion".
Commonly aircraft are propelled by airbreathing jet engines. Most airbreathing jet engines that are in use are turbofan jet engines, which give good efficiency at speeds just below the speed of sound.
Gas turbines are rotary engines that extract energy from a flow of combustion gas. They have an upstream compressor coupled to a downstream turbine with a combustion chamber in-between. In aircraft engines, those three core components are often called the "gas generator". There are many different variations of gas turbines, but they all use a gas generator system of some type.
A turbojet engine is a gas turbine engine that works by compressing air with an inlet and a compressor (axial, centrifugal, or both), mixing fuel with the compressed air, burning the mixture in the combustor, and then passing the hot, high pressure air through a turbine and a nozzle. The compressor is powered by the turbine, which extracts energy from the expanding gas passing through it. The engine converts internal energy in the fuel to kinetic energy in the exhaust, producing thrust. All the air ingested by the inlet is passed through the compressor, combustor, and turbine, unlike the turbofan engine described below.
Turbofans differ from turbojets in that they have an additional fan at the front of the engine, which accelerates air in a duct bypassing the core gas turbine engine. Turbofans are the dominant engine type for medium and long-range airliners.
Turbofans are usually more efficient than turbojets at subsonic speeds, but at high speeds their large frontal area generates more drag. Therefore, in supersonic flight, and in military and other aircraft where other considerations have a higher priority than fuel efficiency, fans tend to be smaller or absent.
Because of these distinctions, turbofan engine designs are often categorized as low-bypass or high-bypass, depending upon the amount of air which bypasses the core of the engine. Low-bypass turbofans have a bypass ratio of around 2:1 or less.
Ram compression jet engines are airbreathing engines similar to gas turbine engines and they both follow the Brayton cycle. Gas turbine and ram powered engines differ, however, in how they compress the incoming airflow. Whereas gas turbine engines use axial or centrifugal compressors to compress incoming air, ram engines rely only on air compressed through the inlet or diffuser. A ram engine thus requires a substantial initial forward airspeed before it can function. Ram powered engines are considered the most simple type of air breathing jet engine because they can contain no moving parts.
Ramjets are ram powered jet engines. They are mechanically simple, and operate less efficiently than turbojets except at very high speeds.
Scramjets differ mainly in the fact that the air does not slow to subsonic speeds. Rather, they use supersonic combustion. They are efficient at even higher speed. Very few have been built or flown.
The rocket engine uses the same basic physical principles of thrust as a form of reaction engine, but is distinct from the jet engine in that it does not require atmospheric air to provide oxygen; the rocket carries all components of the reaction mass. However some definitions treat it as a form of jet propulsion.
Because rockets do not breathe air, this allows them to operate at arbitrary altitudes and in space.
This type of engine is used for launching satellites, space exploration and manned access, and permitted landing on the moon in 1969.
Rocket engines are used for high altitude flights, or anywhere where very high accelerations are needed since rocket engines themselves have a very high thrust-to-weight ratio.
However, the high exhaust speed and the heavier, oxidizer-rich propellant results in far more propellant use than turbofans. Even so, at extremely high speeds they become energy-efficient.
An approximate equation for the net thrust of a rocket engine is:
Where formula_2 is the net thrust, formula_3 is the specific impulse, formula_4 is a standard gravity, formula_5 is the propellant flow in kg/s, formula_6 is the cross-sectional area at the exit of the exhaust nozzle, and formula_7 is the atmospheric pressure.
Combined-cycle engines simultaneously use two or more different principles of jet propulsion.
A water jet, or pump-jet, is a marine propulsion system that utilizes a jet of water. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller with nozzle, or a centrifugal compressor and nozzle. The pump-jet must be driven by a separate engine such as a Diesel or gas turbine.
All jet engines are reaction engines that generate thrust by emitting a jet of fluid rearwards at relatively high speed. The forces on the inside of the engine needed to create this jet give a strong thrust on the engine which pushes the craft forwards.
Jet engines make their jet from propellant stored in tanks that are attached to the engine (as in a 'rocket') as well as in duct engines (those commonly used on aircraft) by ingesting an external fluid (very typically air) and expelling it at higher speed.
The propelling nozzle is the key component of all jet engines as it creates the exhaust jet. Propelling nozzles turn internal and pressure energy into high velocity kinetic energy. The total pressure and temperature don't change through the nozzle but their static values drop as the gas speeds up.
The velocity of the air entering the nozzle is low, about Mach 0.4, a prerequisite for minimizing pressure losses in the duct leading to the nozzle. The temperature entering the nozzle may be as low as sea level ambient for a fan nozzle in the cold air at cruise altitudes. It may be as high as the 1000K exhaust gas temperature for a supersonic afterburning engine or 2200K with afterburner lit. The pressure entering the nozzle may vary from 1.5 times the pressure outside the nozzle, for a single stage fan, to 30 times for the fastest manned aircraft at mach 3+.
Convergent nozzles are only able to accelerate the gas up to local sonic (Mach 1) conditions. To reach high flight speeds, even greater exhaust velocities are required, and so a convergent-divergent nozzle is often used on high-speed aircraft.
The nozzle thrust is highest if the static pressure of the gas reaches the ambient value as it leaves the nozzle. This only happens if the nozzle exit area is the correct value for the nozzle pressure ratio (npr). Since the npr changes with engine thrust setting and flight speed this is seldom the case. Also at supersonic speeds the divergent area is less than required to give complete internal expansion to ambient pressure as a trade-off with external body drag. Whitford gives the F-16 as an example. Other underexpanded examples were the XB-70 and SR-71.
The nozzle size, together with the area of the turbine nozzles, determines the operating pressure of the compressor.
This overview highlights where energy losses occur in complete jet aircraft powerplants or engine installations.
A jet engine at rest, as on a test stand, sucks in fuel and generates thrust. How well it does this is judged by how much fuel it uses and what force is required to restrain it. This is a measure of its efficiency. If something deteriorates inside the engine (known as performance deterioration) it will be less efficient and this will show when the fuel produces less thrust. If a change is made to an internal part which allows the air/combustion gases to flow more smoothly the engine will be more efficient and use less fuel. A standard definition is used to assess how different things change engine efficiency and also to allow comparisons to be made between different engines. This definition is called specific fuel consumption, or how much fuel is needed to produce one unit of thrust. For example, it will be known for a particular engine design that if some bumps in a bypass duct are smoothed out the air will flow more smoothly giving a pressure loss reduction of x% and y% less fuel will be needed to get the take-off thrust, for example. This understanding comes under the engineering discipline Jet engine performance. How efficiency is affected by forward speed and by supplying energy to aircraft systems is mentioned later.
The efficiency of the engine is controlled primarily by the operating conditions inside the engine which are the pressure produced by the compressor and the temperature of the combustion gases at the first set of rotating turbine blades. The pressure is the highest air pressure in the engine. The turbine rotor temperature is not the highest in the engine but is the highest at which energy transfer takes place ( higher temperatures occur in the combustor). The above pressure and temperature are shown on a Thermodynamic cycle diagram.
The efficiency is further modified by how smoothly the air and the combustion gases flow through the engine, how well the flow is aligned (known as incidence angle) with the moving and stationary passages in the compressors and turbines. Non-optimum angles, as well as non-optimum passage and blade shapes can cause thickening and separation of Boundary layers and formation of Shock waves. It is important to slow the flow (lower speed means less pressure losses or Pressure drop) when it travels through ducts connecting the different parts. How well the individual components contribute to turning fuel into thrust is quantified by measures like efficiencies for the compressors, turbines and combustor and pressure losses for the ducts. These are shown as lines on a Thermodynamic cycle diagram.
The engine efficiency, or thermal efficiency, known as formula_8. is dependent on the Thermodynamic cycle parameters, maximum pressure and temperature, and on component efficiencies, formula_9, formula_10 and formula_11 and duct pressure losses.
The engine needs compressed air for itself just to run successfully. This air comes from its own compressor and is called secondary air. It does not contribute to making thrust so makes the engine less efficient. It is used to preserve the mechanical integrity of the engine, to stop parts overheating and to prevent oil escaping from bearings for example. Only some of this air taken from the compressors returns to the turbine flow to contribute to thrust production. Any reduction in the amount needed improves the engine efficiency. Again, it will be known for a particular engine design that a reduced requirement for cooling flow of x% will reduce the specific fuel consumption by y%. In other words, less fuel will be required to give take-off thrust, for example. The engine is more efficient.
All of the above considerations are basic to the engine running on its own and, at the same time, doing nothing useful, i.e. it is not moving an aircraft or supplying energy for the aircraft's electrical, hydraulic and air systems. In the aircraft the engine gives away some of its thrust-producing potential, or fuel, to power these systems. These requirements, which cause installation losses, reduce its efficiency. It is using some fuel that does not contribute to the engine's thrust.
Finally, when the aircraft is flying the propelling jet itself contains wasted kinetic energy after it has left the engine. This is quantified by the term propulsive, or Froude, efficiency formula_12 and may be reduced by redesigning the engine to give it bypass flow and a lower speed for the propelling jet, for example as a turboprop or turbofan engine. At the same time forward speed increases the formula_8 by increasing the Overall pressure ratio.
The overall efficiency of the engine at flight speed is defined as formula_14.
The formula_15 at flight speed depends on how well the intake compresses the air before it is handed over to the engine compressors. The intake compression ratio, which can be as high as 32:1 at Mach 3, adds to that of the engine compressor to give the Overall pressure ratio and formula_8 for the Thermodynamic cycle. How well it does this is defined by its pressure recovery or measure of the losses in the intake. Mach 3 manned flight has provided an interesting illustration of how these losses can increase dramatically in an instant. The North American XB-70 Valkyrie and Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird at Mach 3 each had pressure recoveries of about 0.8, due to relatively low losses during the compression process, i.e. through systems of multiple shocks. During an 'unstart' the efficient shock system would be replaced by a very inefficient single shock beyond the inlet and an intake pressure recovery of about 0.3 and a correspondingly low pressure ratio.
The propelling nozzle at speeds above about Mach 2 usually has extra internal thrust losses because the exit area is not big enough as a trade-off with external afterbody drag.
Although a bypass engine improves propulsive efficiency it incurs losses of its own inside the engine itself. Machinery has to be added to transfer energy from the gas generator to a bypass airflow. The low loss from the propelling nozzle of a turbojet is added to with extra losses due to inefficiencies in the added turbine and fan. These may be included in a transmission, or transfer, efficiency formula_17. However, these losses are more than made up by the improvement in propulsive efficiency. There are also extra pressure losses in the bypass duct and an extra propelling nozzle.
With the advent of turbofans with their loss-making machinery what goes on inside the engine has been separated by Bennett, for example, between gas generator and transfer machinery giving formula_18.
The energy efficiency (formula_15) of jet engines installed in vehicles has two main components:
Even though overall energy efficiency formula_15 is:
for all jet engines the "propulsive efficiency" is highest as the exhaust jet velocity gets closer to the vehicle speed as this gives the smallest residual kinetic energy. For an airbreathing engine an exhaust velocity equal to the vehicle velocity, or a formula_12 equal to one, gives zero thrust with no net momentum change. The formula for air-breathing engines moving at speed formula_25 with an exhaust velocity formula_26, and neglecting fuel flow, is:
And for a rocket:
In addition to propulsive efficiency, another factor is "cycle efficiency"; a jet engine is a form of heat engine. Heat engine efficiency is determined by the ratio of temperatures reached in the engine to that exhausted at the nozzle. This has improved constantly over time as new materials have been introduced to allow higher maximum cycle temperatures. For example, composite materials, combining metals with ceramics, have been developed for HP turbine blades, which run at the maximum cycle temperature. The efficiency is also limited by the overall pressure ratio that can be achieved. Cycle efficiency is highest in rocket engines (~60+%), as they can achieve extremely high combustion temperatures. Cycle efficiency in turbojet and similar is nearer to 30%, due to much lower peak cycle temperatures.
The combustion efficiency of most aircraft gas turbine engines at sea level takeoff conditions
is almost 100%. It decreases nonlinearly to 98% at altitude cruise conditions. Air-fuel ratio ranges from 50:1 to 130:1. For any type of combustion chamber there is a "rich" and "weak limit" to the air-fuel ratio, beyond which the flame is extinguished. The range of air-fuel ratio between the rich and weak limits is reduced with an increase of air velocity. If the
increasing air mass flow reduces the fuel ratio below certain value, flame extinction occurs.
A closely related (but different) concept to energy efficiency is the rate of consumption of propellant mass. Propellant consumption in jet engines is measured by Specific Fuel Consumption, Specific impulse or Effective exhaust velocity. They all measure the same thing. Specific impulse and effective exhaust velocity are strictly proportional, whereas specific fuel consumption is inversely proportional to the others.
For airbreathing engines such as turbojets, energy efficiency and propellant (fuel) efficiency are much the same thing, since the propellant is a fuel and the source of energy. In rocketry, the propellant is also the exhaust, and this means that a high energy propellant gives better propellant efficiency but can in some cases actually give "lower" energy efficiency.
It can be seen in the table (just below) that the subsonic turbofans such as General Electric's CF6 turbofan use a lot less fuel to generate thrust for a second than did the Concorde's Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 turbojet. However, since energy is force times distance and the distance per second was greater for the Concorde, the actual power generated by the engine for the same amount of fuel was higher for the Concorde at Mach 2 than the CF6. Thus, the Concorde's engines were more efficient in terms of energy per mile.
The thrust-to-weight ratio of jet engines with similar configurations varies with scale, but is mostly a function of engine construction technology. For a given engine, the lighter the engine, the better the thrust-to-weight is, the less fuel is used to compensate for drag due to the lift needed to carry the engine weight, or to accelerate the mass of the engine.
As can be seen in the following table, rocket engines generally achieve much higher thrust-to-weight ratios than duct engines such as turbojet and turbofan engines. This is primarily because rockets almost universally use dense liquid or solid reaction mass which gives a much smaller volume and hence the pressurization system that supplies the nozzle is much smaller and lighter for the same performance. Duct engines have to deal with air which is two to three orders of magnitude less dense and this gives pressures over much larger areas, which in turn results in more engineering materials being needed to hold the engine together and for the air compressor.
Propeller engines handle larger air mass flows, and give them smaller acceleration, than jet engines. Since the increase in air speed is small, at high flight speeds the thrust available to propeller-driven aeroplanes is small. However, at low speeds, these engines benefit from relatively high propulsive efficiency.
On the other hand, turbojets accelerate a much smaller mass flow of intake air and burned fuel, but they then reject it at very high speed. When a de Laval nozzle is used to accelerate a hot engine exhaust, the outlet velocity may be locally supersonic. Turbojets are particularly suitable for aircraft travelling at very high speeds.
Turbofans have a mixed exhaust consisting of the bypass air and the hot combustion product gas from the core engine. The amount of air that bypasses the core engine compared to the amount flowing into the engine determines what is called a turbofan's bypass ratio (BPR).
While a turbojet engine uses all of the engine's output to produce thrust in the form of a hot high-velocity exhaust gas jet, a turbofan's cool low-velocity bypass air yields between 30% and 70% of the total thrust produced by a turbofan system.
The net thrust (FN) generated by a turbofan can also be expanded as:
where:
Rocket engines have extremely high exhaust velocity and thus are best suited for high speeds (hypersonic) and great altitudes. At any given throttle, the thrust and efficiency of a rocket motor improves slightly with increasing altitude (because the back-pressure falls thus increasing net thrust at the nozzle exit plane), whereas with a turbojet (or turbofan) the falling density of the air entering the intake (and the hot gases leaving the nozzle) causes the net thrust to decrease with increasing altitude. Rocket engines are more efficient than even scramjets above roughly Mach 15.
With the exception of scramjets, jet engines, deprived of their inlet systems can only accept air at around half the speed of sound. The inlet system's job for transonic and supersonic aircraft is to slow the air and perform some of the compression.
The limit on maximum altitude for engines is set by flammability – at very high altitudes the air becomes too thin to burn, or after compression, too hot. For turbojet engines altitudes of about 40 km appear to be possible, whereas for ramjet engines 55 km may be achievable. Scramjets may theoretically manage 75 km. Rocket engines of course have no upper limit.
At more modest altitudes, flying faster compresses the air at the front of the engine, and this greatly heats the air. The upper limit is usually thought to be about Mach 5–8, as above about Mach 5.5, the atmospheric nitrogen tends to react due to the high temperatures at the inlet and this consumes significant energy. The exception to this is scramjets which may be able to achieve about Mach 15 or more, as they avoid slowing the air, and rockets again have no particular speed limit.
The noise emitted by a jet engine has many sources. These include, in the case of gas turbine engines, the fan, compressor, combustor, turbine and propelling jet/s.
The propelling jet produces jet noise which is caused by the violent mixing action of the high speed jet with the surrounding air. In the subsonic case the noise is produced by eddies and in the supersonic case by Mach waves. The sound power radiated from a jet varies with the jet velocity raised to the eighth power for velocities up to 2,000 ft/sec and varies with the velocity cubed above 2,000 ft/sec. Thus, the lower speed exhaust jets emitted from engines such as high bypass turbofans are the quietest, whereas the fastest jets, such as rockets, turbojets, and ramjets, are the loudest. For commercial jet aircraft the jet noise has reduced from the turbojet through bypass engines to turbofans as a result of a progressive reduction in propelling jet velocities. For example, the JT8D, a bypass engine, has a jet velocity of 1450 ft/sec whereas the JT9D, a turbofan, has jet velocities of 885 ft/sec (cold) and 1190 ft/sec (hot).
The advent of the turbofan replaced the very distinctive jet noise with another sound known as "buzz saw" noise. The origin is the shockwaves originating at the supersonic fan blades at takeoff thrust.
Adequate heat transfer away from the working parts of the jet engine is critical to maintaining strength of engine materials and ensuring long life for the engine.
After 2016, research is ongoing in the development of transpiration cooling techniques to jet engine components.
In a jet engine, each major rotating section usually has a separate gauge devoted to monitoring its speed of rotation.
Depending on the make and model, a jet engine may have an N gauge that monitors the low-pressure compressor section and/or fan speed in turbofan engines. The gas generator section may be monitored by an N gauge, while triple spool engines may have an N gauge as well. Each engine section rotates at many thousands RPM. Their gauges therefore are calibrated in percent of a nominal speed rather than actual RPM, for ease of display and interpretation. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15944 |
Jack L. Chalker
Jack Laurence Chalker (December 17, 1944 – February 11, 2005) was an American science fiction author. Chalker was also a Baltimore City Schools history teacher in Maryland for 12 years, retiring during 1978 to write full-time. He also was a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association and was involved in the founding of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society.
Chalker was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake; he attended high school at the Baltimore City College. Chalker earned a BA degree in English from Towson University in Towson, Maryland, where he was a theater critic for the school newspaper, The Towerlight. During 2003, Towson University named Chalker their Liberal Arts Alumnus of the Year. He received a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Chalker intended to become a lawyer, but financial problems caused him to become a teacher instead. He taught history and geography in the Baltimore City Public Schools from 1966 to 1978, most notably at Baltimore City College and the now defunct Southwest Senior High School. Chalker lectured on science fiction and technology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and numerous universities.
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two children, David, a game designer, and Samantha, a computer security consultant.
Chalker's hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He also had a great interest in ferryboats; at his fiancée's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull boat, part of the Millersburg Ferry, in the middle of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.
Chalker joined the Washington Science Fiction Association during 1958, and during 1963 he and two friends founded the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Chalker attended every World Science Fiction Convention, except one, from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, "Mirage", from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee during 1963 for Best Fanzine), producing ten issues. Another journal, "Interjection", was published 1968–1987 in association with the Fantasy Amateur Press Association. Chalker also initiated a publishing house, Mirage Press, Ltd., for releasing nonfiction and bibliographic works concerning science fiction and fantasy.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1980), and the Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979). He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. Chalker was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
Chalker was a three-term treasurer of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Chalker was also the co-author (with Mark Owings) of "The Science Fantasy Publishers" (third edition during 1991, updated annually), published by Mirage Press, Ltd, a bibliographic guide to genre small press publishers which was a Hugo Award nominee during 1992. The Maryland Young Writers Contest, sponsored by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, was renamed "'The Jack L. Chalker Young Writers Contest" effective April 8, 2006.
Chalker is best known for his "Well World" series of novels, but he also wrote many other novels (most, but not all, part of a series, or large novels which were split into 'series' by the publishers), and at least nine short stories.
Many of Chalker's works involve some physical transformation of the main characters. For instance, in the "Well World" novels, immigrants to the Well World are transformed from their original form to become a member of one of the 1,560 sentient species that inhabit that artificial planet. Another example would be that the "Wonderland Gambit" series resembles traditional Buddhist jataka-type reincarnation stories set in a science fiction environment. Samantha Chalker announced that "Wonderland Gambit" might be made into a movie, but supposedly its close resemblance to "The Matrix" resulted in the project being canceled.
At the time of his death, Chalker left one unfinished novel, "Chameleon". He was planning to write another novel, "Ripsaw", after "Chameleon".
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a coronary occlusion. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a pneumothorax. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable condition on December 9, though he did not regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, Chalker died on February 11, 2005, of kidney failure and sepsis at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Some of Chalker's remains are interred in the family plot at Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore. The remainder were distributed off a ferry near Hong Kong, the ferry between Hainan Island and the Chinese mainland, a ferry in Vietnam, White's Ferry on the Potomac River in Virginia on Father's Day 2007, and on author H. P. Lovecraft's grave in Providence, Rhode Island on December 17, 2005.
Besides the short stories included in "Dance Band on the Titanic", Chalker wrote at least one other short story: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15948 |
James Blish
James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his "Cities in Flight" novels, and his series of "Star Trek" novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. He is credited with creating the term "gas giant" to refer to large planetary bodies.
Blish was a member of the Futurians. His first published stories appeared in "Super Science Stories" and "Amazing Stories".
Blish wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen name William Atheling Jr. His other pen names included Donald Laverty, John MacDougal, and Arthur Lloyd Merlyn.
Blish was born on May 23, 1921 at East Orange, New Jersey. While in high school, Blish self-published a fanzine using a hectograph, called "The Planeteer". The fanzine ran for six issues. Blish attended meetings of the Futurian Science Fiction Society in New York City during this period.
Futurian members Damon Knight and Cyril M. Kornbluth became close friends. However, Blish's relationships with other members were often bitter. A personal target was fellow member Judith Merril, with whom he would debate politics. Merril would frequently dismiss Blish's self-description of being a "paper fascist". She wrote in "Better to Have Loved" (2002), "Of course [Blish] was not fascist, antisemitic, or any of those terrible things, but every time he used the phrase, I saw red."
Blish studied microbiology at Rutgers University, graduating in 1942. He was drafted into Army service, and he served briefly as a medical laboratory technician. The United States Army discharged him for refusing orders to clean a grease trap in 1944. Following discharge, Blish entered Columbia University as a masters student of zoology. He did not complete the program, opting to write fiction full-time.
In 1947, he married Virginia Kidd, a fellow Futurian. They divorced in 1963. Blish then married artist J. A. Lawrence in 1964, moving to England that same year.
From 1962 to 1968, Blish worked for the Tobacco Institute, as a writer and critic. Much of his work for the institute went uncredited.
Blish died on July 30, 1975 from complications related to lung cancer. He was buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford. The Bodleian Library at Oxford is the custodian of Blish's papers. The library also has a complete catalog of Blish's published works.
Throughout the 1940s, Blish published most of his stories in the few pulp magazines still in circulation. His first story was sold to fellow Futurian Frederik Pohl for "Super Science Stories" (1940), called "Emergency Refueling". Other stories were published intermittently, but with little circulation. Blish's "Chaos, Co-Ordinated", co-written with Robert A. W. Lowndes, was sold to "Astounding Science Fiction", appearing in the October 1946 issue, earning Blish national circulation for the first time.
Blish was what Andrew Litpack called a "practical writer". He would revisit, revise, and often expand on previously written stories. An example is "Sunken Universe" published in "Super Science Stories" in 1942. The story reappeared in "Galaxy Science Fiction" as "Surface Tension", in an altered form in 1952. The premise emphasised Blish's understanding of microbiology, and featured microscopic humans engineered to live on a hostile planet's shallow pools of water. The story proved to be among Blish's more popular, and was anthologized in "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964", edited by Robert Silverberg. It was also anthologized in "The Big Book of Science Fiction" (2016), edited by Ann VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer.
The world of microscopic humans continued in "The Thing in the Attic" in 1954, and "Watershed" the following year. The fourth entry, "A Time to Survive", was published by "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" in 1957. The stories were collected, edited together, and published as the fix-up "The Seedling Stars" (1956), by Gnome Press. John Clute said of all of Blish's "deeply felt work" explored "confronting the Faustian (or Frankensteinian) man".
"The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" asserts that it was not until the 1950s, and the Okie sequence of stories beginning their run, "did it become clear [Blish] would become a [science fiction] writer of unusual depth". The stories were loosely based on the Okie migration following the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and were influenced by Oswald Spengler's two-part "Der Untergang des Abendlandes" ("The Decline of the West")"."
The stories detail the life of the Okies, humans who migrate throughout space looking for work in vast city-ships, powered by spindizzies, a type of anti-gravity engine. The premise and plot reflected Blish's feelings on the state of western civilization, and his personal politics. The first two stories, "Okie", and "Bindlestiff", were published in 1950, by "Astounding". "Sargasso of Lost Cities" appeared in "Two Complete Science-Adventure Books" in April 1953. "Earthman, Come Home" followed a few months later, published by "Astounding". In 1955, Blish collected the four stories together into an omnibus titled "Earthman, Come Home", published by Putnam.
More stories followed: In 1956, "They Shall Have Stars", which edited together "Bridge" and "At Death’s End", and in 1958, Blish published "The Triumph of Time". Four years later, he published a new Okies novel, "A Life for the Stars". The Okies sequence was edited together and published as "Cities In Flight" (1970).
Clute notes, "the brilliance of "Cities in Flight" does not lie in the assemblage of its parts, but in the momentum of the ideas embodied in it (albeit sometimes obscurely)."
Blish continued to rework older stories, and did so for one of his best known works, "A Case of Conscience" (1958). The novel originated as a novella, originally published in an issue of "If", in 1953. The story follows a Jesuit priest, Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez, who visits the planet Lithia as a technical member of an expedition. While on the planet they discover a race of bipedal reptilians that have perfected morality in what Ruiz-Sanchez says is "the absence of God", and theological complications ensue. The book is one of the first major works in the genre to explore religion and its implications. It was the first of a series including "Doctor Mirabilis" (1964) and the two-part story "Black Easter" (1968), and "The Day After Judgment" (1971). The latter two were collected as "The Devil's Day" (1980). An omnibus of all four entries in the series was published by Legend in 1991, titled "After Such Knowledge".
"A Case of Conscience" won the 1959 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was collected as part of Library of America’s omnibus "American Science Fiction: Five Classic Novels 1956-1958".
Blish was commissioned by Bantam Books to adapt episodes of "". The adapted short stories were generally based on draft scripts, and contained differing plot elements, and situations present in the aired television episodes.
The stories were collected into twelve volumes, and published as a title series of the same name from 1967 to 1977. The adaptations were largely written by Blish; however, his declining health during this period proved problematic. His wife, J. A. Lawrence, wrote a number of installments; however, her work remained uncredited until the final volume, "Star Trek 12" published in 1977, two years after Blish's death.
The original novel based on the television series, "Spock Must Die!" (1970), was also written by Blish, and he planned to release more. According to Lawrence, two episodes featuring popular character Harry Mudd, "I, Mudd" and "Mudd's Women", were held back by Blish for adaptation to be included in the follow-up to "Spock Must Die!". However, Blish died before a novel could be completed. Lawrence did eventually adapt the two episodes, as "Mudd's Angels" (1978), which included an original novella "Business, as Usual, During Altercations" by Lawrence.
Blish credited his financial stability later in life to the "Star Trek" commission, and the advance he received for "Spock Must Die!".
Blish was among the first literary critics of science fiction, and he judged works in the genre by the standards applied to "serious" literature. He took to task his fellow authors for deficiencies, such as bad grammar and a misunderstanding of scientific concepts, and the magazine editors, who accepted and published such material without editorial intervention. His critiques were published in "fanzines" in the 1950s under the pseudonym William Atheling Jr.
The essays were collected in "The Issue at Hand" (1964) and "More Issues at Hand" (1970). Reviewing "The Issue at Hand", Algis Budrys said that Atheling had, along with Damon Knight, "transformed the reviewer's trade in this field". He described the persona of Atheling as "acidulous, assertive, categorical, conscientious and occasionally idiosyncratic".
Blish was a fan of the works of James Branch Cabell, and for a time edited "Kalki", the journal of the Cabell Society.
In his works of science fiction, Blish developed many ideas and terms which have influenced other writers and on occasion have been adopted more widely, such as faster than light communication via the dirac communicator, introduced in the short story "Beep" (1954). The dirac is comparable to Ursula K. Le Guin's ansible.
Blish is also credited with coining the term gas giant, first used in the story "Solar Plexus", collected in the anthology "Beyond Human Ken", edited by Judith Merril. The story was originally published in 1941, but did not contain the term. Blish reworked the story, changing the description of a large magnetic field to "a magnetic field of some strength nearby, one that didn't belong to the invisible "gas giant" revolving half a million miles away".
The British Science Fiction Foundation inaugurated the James Blish Award for science fiction criticism in 1977, recognizing Brian W. Aldiss. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 2002.
Blish's work was published by a variety of publishers in the United Kingdom and the United States, often with variations between editions, and with different titles. Blish also expanded and re-published his older work on numerous occasions. His works continued to be re-published after his death.
Note: Very few of Blish's first editions were assigned ISBN numbers.
Novels published in complete form, or serialized, in fiction magazines are included for completeness, and to avoid confusion. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15949 |
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, expansionist, philosopher and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the United States Bill of Rights. He co-wrote "The Federalist Papers", co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party, and served as the fifth United States secretary of State from 1801 to 1809.
Born into a prominent Virginia planter family, Madison served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and the Continental Congress during and after the American Revolutionary War. He became dissatisfied with the weak national government established by the Articles of Confederation and helped organize the Constitutional Convention, which produced a new constitution to supplant the Articles of Confederation. Madison's Virginia Plan served as the basis for the Constitutional Convention's deliberations, and he was one of the most influential individuals at the convention. Madison became one of the leaders in the movement to ratify the Constitution, and he joined with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in writing "The Federalist Papers", a series of pro-ratification essays that was one of the most influential works of political science in American history.
After the ratification of the Constitution, Madison emerged as an important leader in the United States House of Representatives and served as a close adviser to President George Washington. He was the main force behind the ratification of the United States Bill of Rights, which enshrines guarantees of personal freedoms and rights within the Constitution. During the early 1790s, Madison came to oppose the economic program and accompanying centralization of power favored by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party, which was, alongside Hamilton's Federalist Party, one of the nation's first major political parties. After Jefferson won the 1800 presidential election, Madison served as Secretary of State from 1801 to 1809. In that position, he supervised the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States.
Madison succeeded Jefferson with a victory in the 1808 presidential election. After diplomatic protests and a trade embargo failed to end British attacks against American shipping, he led the United States into the War of 1812. The war was an administrative morass and ended inconclusively, but many Americans saw it as a successful "second war of independence" against Britain. The war convinced Madison of the necessity of a stronger federal government, and he presided over the creation of the Second Bank of the United States and the enactment of the protective Tariff of 1816. Madison's presidency, by treaty or war, added 23 million acres of American Indian land to the United States. He retired from public office in 1817 and died in 1836. Madison was never able to privately reconcile his Republican beliefs and his slave ownership. Madison is considered to be one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States, and historians have generally ranked him as an above-average president.
James Madison Jr. was born on March 16, 1751, (March 5, 1750, Old Style) at Belle Grove Plantation near Port Conway, Virginia, to James Madison Sr. and Nelly Conway Madison. His family had lived in Virginia since the mid-1600s. Madison grew up as the oldest of twelve children, with seven brothers and four sisters, though only six of his siblings would live to adulthood. His father was a tobacco planter who grew up on a plantation, then called Mount Pleasant, which he had inherited upon reaching adulthood. With an estimated 100 slaves and a plantation, Madison's father was the largest landowner and a leading citizen in the Piedmont. Madison's maternal grandfather was a prominent planter and tobacco merchant. In the early 1760s, the Madison family moved into a newly built house, which they named Montpelier.
From age 11 to 16, Madison was sent to study under Donald Robertson, a Scottish instructor who served as a tutor for a number of prominent planter families in the South. Madison learned mathematics, geography, and modern and classical languages—he became especially proficient in Latin. At age 16, Madison returned to Montpelier, where he began a two-year course of study under the Reverend Thomas Martin in preparation for college. Unlike most college-bound Virginians of his day, Madison did not attend the College of William and Mary, where the lowland Williamsburg climate – thought to be more likely to harbor infectious disease – might have strained his delicate health. Instead, in 1769, he enrolled at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).
His studies at Princeton included Latin, Greek, theology, and the works of the Enlightenment. Great emphasis was placed on both speech and debate; Madison was a leading member of the American Whig Society, in direct competition to the Cliosophian Society. During his time at Princeton, his closest friend was future Attorney General William Bradford. Along with another classmate, Madison undertook an intense program of study and completed Princeton's three-year bachelor of arts degree in just two years, graduating in 1771. Madison had contemplated entering into either the clergy or lawyer professions, but declined. He remained at Princeton to study Hebrew and political philosophy under President John Witherspoon before returning home to Montpelier in early 1772. His ideas on philosophy and morality were strongly shaped by Witherspoon, who converted Madison to the philosophy, values, and modes of thinking of the Age of Enlightenment. Biographer Terence Ball says that at Princeton:
After returning to Montpelier, without a chosen career, Madison served as a tutor to his younger siblings. Madison began to study law books on his own in 1773. Madison asked a Princeton friend William Bradford, a law apprentice under Edward Shippen in Philadelphia, to send him an ordered written plan on reading law books. At the age of 22, there was no evidence that Madison, himself, made any effort to apprentice under any lawyer in Virginia. By 1783, he had acquired a good sense of legal publications. Madison saw himself as a law student but never as a lawyer – he never joined the bar or practiced. In his elder years, Madison was sensitive to the phrase "demi-Lawyer", or "half-Lawyer", a derisive term used to describe someone who read law books, but did not practice law.
In 1765, after the passage of the Stamp Act, the British-American colonies of North America broke from the British Empire, demanding proper representation and independence, known as the American Revolution. The British Crown, however, declined to grant the British-American colonies representation in Parliament or independence, after aiding the colonists fight the costly French and Indian War. By the early 1770s the relationship between the British-American colonies and Britain deteriorated over the issue of British taxation, culminating in the American Revolutionary War, which began in 1775. The American colonists split between two factions, the Loyalists to King George III, and the Patriots, that Madison joined, under control of the Continental Congress. Madison believed that Parliament had overstepped its bounds by imposing taxation on the British-American colonies, and he sympathized with those who resisted British rule. He also favored de-establishing the Anglican Church in Virginia; Madison believed that an established religion was detrimental not only for restricting freedom of religion, but also because it encouraged closed-mindedness and unquestioning obedience to the authority of the state.
In 1774, Madison, took a seat on the local Committee of Safety, a pro-revolution group that oversaw the local Patriot militia. In October 1775, he was commissioned as the colonel of the Orange County militia, serving as his father's second-in-command until his election as a delegate to the Fifth Virginia Convention, which was charged with producing Virginia's first constitution. Of short stature and frequently in poor health, Madison never saw battle in the Revolutionary War, but he rose to prominence in Virginia politics as a wartime leader.
At the Virginia constitutional convention, he convinced delegates to alter the Virginia Declaration of Rights to provide for "equal entitlement," rather than mere "tolerance," in the exercise of religion. With the enactment of the Virginia constitution, Madison became part of the Virginia House of Delegates, and he was subsequently elected to the Virginia governor's Council of State. In that role, he became a close ally of Governor Thomas Jefferson. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was published formally declaring 13 American states an independent nation, no longer under the Crown or British rule.
Madison served on the Council of State from 1777 to 1779, when he was elected to the Second Continental Congress, the governing body of the United States. The country faced a difficult war against Great Britain, as well as runaway inflation, financial troubles, and lack of cooperation between the different levels of government. Madison worked to make himself an expert on financial issues, becoming a legislative workhorse and a master of parliamentary coalition building. Frustrated by the failure of the states to supply needed requisitions, Madison proposed to amend the Articles of Confederation to grant Congress the power to independently raise revenue through tariffs on foreign imports.
Though General George Washington, Congressman Alexander Hamilton, and other influential leaders also favored the amendment, it was defeated because it failed to win the ratification of all thirteen states. While a member of Congress, Madison was an ardent supporter of a close alliance between the United States and France, and, as an advocate of westward expansion, he insisted that the new nation had to assure its right to navigation on the Mississippi River and control of all lands east of it in the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. After serving Congress from 1780 to 1783, Madison won election to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1784.
As a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Madison continued to advocate for religious freedom, and, along with Jefferson, drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. That amendment, which guaranteed freedom of religion and disestablished the Church of England, was passed in 1786. Madison also became a land speculator, purchasing land along the Mohawk River in a partnership with another Jefferson protege, James Monroe.
Throughout the 1780s, Madison advocated for reform of the Articles of Confederation. He became increasingly worried about the disunity of the states and the weakness of the central government after the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783. He believed that "excessive democracy" caused social decay, and was particularly troubled by laws that legalized paper money and denied diplomatic immunity to ambassadors from other countries. He was also deeply concerned about the inability of Congress to capably conduct foreign policy, protect American trade, and foster the settlement of the lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. As Madison wrote, "a crisis had arrived which was to decide whether the American experiment was to be a blessing to the world, or to blast for ever the hopes which the republican cause had inspired." He committed to an intense study of law and political theory, and was heavily influenced by Enlightenment texts sent by Jefferson from France. He especially sought out works on international law and the constitutions of "ancient and modern confederacies" such as the Dutch Republic, the Swiss Confederation, and the Achaean League. He came to believe that the United States could improve upon past republican experiments by virtue of its size; with so many distinct interests competing against each other, Madison hoped to minimize the abuses of majority rule. Additionally, navigation rights to the Mississippi River highly concerned Madison. He disdained a proposal by John Jay that the United States acquiesce claims to the river for twenty-five years, and his desire to fight the proposal played a major role in motivating Madison to return to Congress in 1787.
Madison helped arrange the 1785 Mount Vernon Conference, which settled disputes regarding navigation rights on the Potomac River and also served as a model for future interstate conferences. At the 1786 Annapolis Convention, he joined with Alexander Hamilton and other delegates in calling of another convention to consider amending the Articles. After winning election to another term in Congress, Madison helped convince the other Congressmen to authorize the Philadelphia Convention for the purposes of proposing new amendments. Though many members of Congress were wary of the changes the convention might bring, nearly all agreed that the existing government needed some sort of reform. Madison ensured that George Washington, who was popular throughout the country, and Robert Morris, who was influential in the critical state of Pennsylvania, would both broadly support Madison's plan to implement a new constitution. The outbreak of Shays' Rebellion in 1786 reinforced the necessity for constitutional reform in the eyes of Washington and other American leaders.
Before a quorum was reached at the Philadelphia Convention on May 25, 1787, Madison worked with other members of the Virginia delegation, especially Edmund Randolph and George Mason, to create and present the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan was an outline for a new federal constitution; it called for three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial), a bicameral Congress (consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives) apportioned by population, and a federal Council of Revision that would have the right to veto laws passed by Congress. Reflecting the centralization of power envisioned by Madison, the Virginia Plan granted the U.S. Senate the power to overturn any law passed by state governments. The Virginia Plan did not explicitly lay out the structure of the executive branch, but Madison himself favored a single executive. Many delegates were surprised to learn that the plan called for the abrogation of the Articles and the creation of a new constitution, to be ratified by special conventions in each state rather than by the state legislatures. Nonetheless, with the assent of prominent attendees such as Washington and Benjamin Franklin, the delegates went into a secret session to consider a new constitution.
Though the Virginia Plan was an outline rather than a draft of a possible constitution, and though it was extensively changed during the debate, its use at the convention has led many to call Madison the "Father of the Constitution." During the course of the convention, Madison spoke over two hundred times, and his fellow delegates rated him highly. Delegate William Pierce wrote that "in the management of every great question he evidently took the lead in the Convention ... he always comes forward as the best informed man of any point in debate." Madison believed that the constitution produced by the convention "would decide for ever the fate of republican government" throughout the world, and he kept copious notes to serve as an historical record of the convention.
Madison had hoped that a coalition of Southern states and populous Northern states would ensure the approval of a constitution largely similar to the one proposed in the Virginia Plan. However, delegates from small states successfully argued for more power for state governments and presented the New Jersey Plan as an alternative. In response, Roger Sherman proposed the Connecticut Compromise, which sought to balance the interests of small and large states. During the course of the convention, Madison's Council of Revision was jettisoned, each state was given equal representation in the Senate, and the state legislatures, rather than the House of Representatives, were given the power to elect members of the Senate. Madison was able to convince his fellow delegates to have the Constitution ratified by ratifying conventions rather than state legislatures, which he distrusted. He also helped ensure that the president of the United States would have the ability to veto federal laws and would be elected independently of Congress through the Electoral College. By the end of the convention, Madison believed that the new constitution failed to give enough power to the federal government compared to the state governments, but he still viewed the document as an improvement on the Articles of Confederation.
The ultimate question before the convention, Wood notes, was not how to design a government but whether the states should remain sovereign, whether sovereignty should be transferred to the national government, or whether the constitution should settle somewhere in between. Most of the delegates at the Philadelphia Convention wanted to empower the federal government to raise revenue and protect property rights. Those, like Madison, who thought democracy in the state legislatures was excessive and insufficiently "disinterested", wanted sovereignty transferred to the national government, while those who did not think this a problem, wanted to fix the Articles of Confederation. Even many delegates who shared Madison's goal of strengthening the central government reacted strongly against the extreme change to the "status quo" envisioned in the Virginia Plan. Though Madison lost most of his battles over how to amend the Virginia Plan, in the process he increasingly shifted the debate away from a position of pure state sovereignty. Since most disagreements over what to include in the constitution were ultimately disputes over the balance of sovereignty between the states and national government, Madison's influence was critical. Wood notes that Madison's ultimate contribution was not in designing any particular constitutional framework, but in shifting the debate toward a compromise of "shared sovereignty" between the national and state governments.
After the Philadelphia Convention ended in September 1787, Madison convinced his fellow Congressmen to remain neutral in the ratification debate and allow each state to vote upon the Constitution. Throughout the United States, opponents of the Constitution, known as Anti-Federalists, began a public campaign against ratification. In response, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay began publishing a series of pro-ratification newspaper articles in New York. After Jay dropped out from the project, Hamilton approached Madison, who was in New York on congressional business, to write some of the essays. Altogether, Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote the 85 essays of what became known as "The Federalist Papers" in the span of six months, with Madison writing 29 of the essays. The articles were also published in book form and became a virtual debater's handbook for the supporters of the Constitution in the ratifying conventions. Historian Clinton Rossiter called "The Federalist Papers" "the most important work in political science that ever has been written, or is likely ever to be written, in the United States." Federalist No. 10, Madison's first contribution to "The Federalist Papers", became highly regarded in the 20th century for its advocacy of representative democracy. In Federalist No. 51, Madison explained how the separation of powers between three branches of the federal government, as well as between state governments and the federal government, established a system of checks and balances that ensured that no one institution would become too powerful.
While Madison and Hamilton continued to write "The Federalist Papers", Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and several smaller states voted to ratify the Constitution. After finishing his last contributions to "The Federalist Papers", Madison returned to Virginia. Initially, Madison did not want to stand for election to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, but he was persuaded to do so by the strength of the Anti-Federalists. Virginians were divided into three main camps: Washington and Madison led the faction in favor of ratification of the Constitution, Edmund Randolph and George Mason headed a faction that wanted ratification but also sought amendments to the Constitution, and Patrick Henry was the most prominent member of the faction opposed to the ratification of the Constitution. When the Virginia Ratifying Convention began on June 2, 1788, the Constitution had been ratified by the eight of the required nine states. New York, the second largest state and a bastion of anti-federalism, would likely not ratify it without Virginia, and Virginia's exclusion from the new government would disqualify George Washington from being the first president.
At the start of the convention, Madison knew that most delegates had already made up their mind about how to vote, and he focused his efforts on winning the support of the relatively small number of undecided delegates. His long correspondence with Edmund Randolph paid off at the convention as Randolph announced that he would support unconditional ratification of the Constitution, with amendments to be proposed after ratification. Though Henry gave several effective speeches arguing against ratification, Madison's expertise on the subject he had long argued for allowed him to respond with rational arguments to Henry's emotional appeals. In his final speech to the ratifying convention, Madison implored his fellow delegates to ratify the Constitution as it had been written, arguing that the failure to do so would lead to the collapse of the entire ratification effort as each state would seek favorable amendments. On June 25, 1788, the convention voted 89–79 to ratify the Constitution, making it the tenth state to do so. New York ratified the constitution the following month, and Washington won the country's first presidential election.
After Virginia ratified the constitution, Madison returned to New York to resume his duties in the Congress of the Confederation. At the request of Washington, Madison sought a seat in the U.S. Senate, but the state legislature instead elected two Anti-Federalist allies of Patrick Henry. Now deeply concerned both for his own political career and over the possibility that Henry and his allies would arrange for a second constitutional convention, Madison ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. At Henry's behest, the Virginia legislature created congressional districts designed to deny Madison a seat, and Henry recruited a strong challenger to Madison in the person of James Monroe. Locked in a difficult race against Monroe, Madison promised to support a series of constitutional amendments to protect individual liberties. In an open letter, Madison wrote that, while he had opposed requiring alterations to the Constitution prior to ratification, he now believed that "amendments, if pursued with a proper moderation and in a proper mode ... may serve the double purpose of satisfying the minds of well-meaning opponents, and of providing additional guards in favor of liberty." Madison's promise paid off, as he won election to Congress with 57 percent of the vote.
Madison became a key adviser to President Washington, who looked to Madison as the person who best understood the constitution. Madison helped Washington write his first inaugural address, and also prepared the official House response to Washington's address. He played a major role in establishing and staffing the three Cabinet departments, and his influence helped Thomas Jefferson become the inaugural Secretary of State. At the start of the 1st Congress, he introduced a tariff bill similar to the one he had advocated for under the Articles of the Confederation, and Congress established a federal tariff on foreign imports through the Tariff of 1789. The following year, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton introduced an ambitious economic program that called for the federal assumption of state debts and the funding of that debt through the issuance of federal securities. Hamilton's plan favored Northern speculators and was disadvantageous to states such as Virginia that had already paid off most of their debt, and Madison emerged as one of the principal congressional opponents of the plan. After prolonged legislative deadlock, Madison, Jefferson, and Hamilton agreed to the Compromise of 1790, which provided for the enactment of Hamilton's assumption plan through the Funding Act of 1790. In return, Congress passed the Residence Act, which established the federal capital district of Washington, D.C. on the Potomac River.
During the 1st Congress, Madison took the lead in pressing for the passage of several constitutional amendments that would form the United States Bill of Rights. His primary goals were to fulfill his 1789 campaign pledge and to prevent the calling of a second constitutional convention, but he also hoped to protect individual liberties against the actions of the federal government and state legislatures. He believed that the enumeration of specific rights would fix those rights in the public mind and encourage judges to protect them. After studying over two hundred amendments that had been proposed at the state ratifying conventions, Madison introduced the Bill of Rights on June 8, 1789. His amendments contained numerous restrictions on the federal government and would protect, among other things, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful assembly. While most of his proposed amendments were drawn from the ratifying conventions, Madison was largely responsible for proposals to guarantee freedom of the press, protect property from government seizure, and ensure jury trials. He also proposed an amendment to prevent states from abridging "equal rights of conscience, or freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases."
Madison's Bill of Rights faced little opposition; he had largely co-opted the Anti-Federalist goal of amending the Constitution, but had avoided proposing amendments that would alienate supporters of the Constitution. Madison's proposed amendments were largely adopted by the House of Representatives, but the Senate made several changes. Madison's proposal to apply parts of the Bill of Rights to the states was eliminated, as was his final proposed change to the Constitution's preamble. Madison was disappointed that the Bill of Rights did not include protections against actions by state governments, but passage of the document mollified some critics of the original constitution and shored up Madison's support in Virginia. Of the twelve amendments formally proposed by Congress to the states, ten amendments were ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, becoming known as the Bill of Rights.
After 1790, the Washington administration became polarized among two main factions. One faction was led by Jefferson and Madison, broadly represented Southern interests, and sought close relations with France. The other faction was led by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, broadly represented Northern financial interests, and favored close relations with Britain. In 1791, Hamilton introduced a plan that called for the establishment of a national bank to provide loans to emerging industries and oversee the money supply. Madison believed that, by empowering financial interests, the bank posed a threat to the republican nature of the U.S. government, and he argued that the Constitution did not grant the federal government the authority to create such an institution. Despite Madison's opposition, Congress passed a bill to create the First Bank of the United States; after a period of consideration, Washington signed the banking bill into law in February 1791. As Hamilton implemented his economic program and Washington continued to enjoy immense prestige as president, Madison became increasingly concerned that Hamilton would seek to abolish the federal republic in favor of a centralized monarchy.
When Hamilton submitted his "Report on Manufactures", which called for federal action to stimulate the development of a diversified economy, Madison once again challenged Hamilton's proposal on constitutional grounds. He sought to mobilize public opinion by forming a political party based on opposition to Hamilton's policies. Along with Jefferson, Madison helped Philip Freneau establish the "National Gazette", a Philadelphia newspaper that attacked Hamilton's proposals. In an essay published in the "National Gazette" in September 1792, Madison wrote that the country had divided into two factions: his own faction, which believed in "the doctrine that mankind are capable of governing themselves," and Hamilton's faction, which allegedly sought the establishment of aristocratic monarchy and was biased towards the wealthy. Those opposed to Hamilton's economic policies, including many former Anti-Federalists, coalesced into Democratic-Republican Party, while those who supported the administration's policies coalesced into the Federalist Party. In the 1792 United States presidential election, both major parties supported Washington's successful bid for re-election, but the Democratic-Republicans sought to unseat Vice President John Adams. Because the Constitution's rules essentially precluded Jefferson from challenging Adams, the party backed New York Governor George Clinton for the vice presidency, but Adams won re-election by a comfortable electoral vote margin.
With Jefferson out of office after 1793, Madison became the de facto leader of the Democratic-Republican Party. When Britain and France went to war in 1793, the U.S. was caught in the middle. While the differences between the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists had previously centered on economic matters, foreign policy became an increasingly important issue as Madison and Jefferson favored France and Hamilton favored Britain. War with Britain became imminent in 1794 after the British seized hundreds of American ships that were trading with French colonies. Madison believed that a trade war with Britain would probably succeed, and would allow Americans to assert their independence fully. The British West Indies, Madison maintained, could not live without American foodstuffs, but Americans could easily do without British manufactures. Washington avoided a trade war and instead secured friendly trade relations with Britain through the Jay Treaty of 1794. Madison and his Democratic-Republican allies were outraged by the treaty; one Democratic-Republican wrote that the treaty "sacrifices every essential interest and prostrates the honor of our country." Madison's strong opposition to the treaty led to a permanent break with Washington, ending a long friendship.
Washington chose to retire after serving two terms and, in advance of the 1796 presidential election, Madison helped convince Jefferson to run for the presidency. Despite Madison's efforts, Federalist candidate John Adams defeated Jefferson, taking a narrow majority of the electoral vote. Under the rules of the Electoral College then in place, Jefferson became vice president because he finished with the second-most electoral votes. Madison, meanwhile, had declined to seek re-election, and he returned to his home at Montpelier. On Jefferson's advice, President Adams considered appointing Madison to an American delegation charged with ending French attacks on American shipping, but Adams's Cabinet members strongly opposed the idea. After a diplomatic incident between France and the United States known as the XYZ Affair took place, the two countries engaged in an undeclared naval war known as the Quasi-War.
Though he was out of office, Madison remained a prominent Democratic-Republican leader in opposition to the Adams administration. During the Quasi-War, the Federalists created a standing army and passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were directed at French refugees engaged in American politics and against Republican editors. Madison and Jefferson believed that the Federalists were using the war to justify the violation of constitutional rights, and they increasingly came to view Adams as a monarchist. In response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson wrote the Kentucky Resolutions, which argued that the states had the power to nullify federal law on the basis that the Constitution was a compact among the states. Madison rejected this view of a compact among the states, and his Virginia Resolutions instead urged states to respond to unjust federal laws through interposition, a process in which a state legislature declared a law to be unconstitutional but did not take steps to actively prevent its enforcement. Jefferson's doctrine of nullification was widely rejected, and the incident damaged the Democratic-Republican Party as attention was shifted from the Alien and Sedition Acts to the unpopular nullification doctrine.
In 1799, after Patrick Henry announced that he would return to politics as a member of the Federalist Party, Madison won election to the Virginia legislature. At the same time, he and Jefferson planned for Jefferson's campaign in the 1800 presidential election. Madison issued the Report of 1800, which attacked the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional but disregarded Jefferson's theory of nullification. The Report of 1800 held that Congress was limited to legislating on its enumerated powers, and that punishment for sedition violated freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Jefferson embraced the report, and it became the unofficial Democratic-Republican platform for the 1800 election. With the Federalists badly divided between supporters of Hamilton and Adams, and with news of the end of the Quasi-War not reaching the United States until after the election, Jefferson and his ostensible running mate, Aaron Burr, defeated Adams. Because Jefferson and Burr tied in the electoral vote, the Federalist-controlled House of Representatives held a contingent election to choose between the two candidates. After the House conducted dozens of inconclusive ballots, Hamilton, who despised Burr even more than he did Jefferson, convinced several Federalist congressmen to cast blank ballots, giving Jefferson the victory.
On September 15, 1794, Madison married Dolley Payne Todd, a 26-year-old widow, previously wife of John Todd, a Quaker farmer who died during a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Aaron Burr introduced Madison to her, at his request, after Dolley had stayed in the same boardinghouse as Burr in Philadelphia. After an arranged meeting in spring 1794, the two quickly became romantically engaged and prepared for a wedding that summer, but Dolley suffered recurring illnesses because of her exposure to yellow fever in Philadelphia. They eventually traveled to Harewood, Virginia for their wedding. Only a few close family members attended, and Winchester Reverend Alexander Balmain pronounced them a wedded couple. Madison enjoyed a strong relationship with his wife, and she became his political partner. She was widely popular in the capital of Washington, and she excelled at dinners and other important political occasions. Her actions helped establish the First Lady of the United States as an important social host in Washington.
Madison never had children, but he adopted Dolley's one surviving son, John Payne Todd (known as Payne), after the marriage. Some of Madison's colleagues, such as Monroe and Burr, alleged that Madison was infertile and that his lack of offspring weighed on his thoughts, but Madison never spoke of any distress on this matter.
Throughout his life, Madison maintained a close relationship with his father, James Madison Sr, who died in 1801. At age 50, Madison inherited the large plantation of Montpelier and other possessions, including his father's numerous slaves. He had three brothers, Francis, Ambrose, and William, and three sisters, Nelly, Sarah, and Frances, who lived to adulthood. Ambrose helped manage Montpelier for both his father and older brother until his death in 1793.
Despite lacking foreign policy experience, Madison was appointed as Secretary of State by Jefferson. Along with Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, Madison became one of the two major influences in Jefferson's Cabinet. As the ascent of Napoleon in France had dulled Democratic-Republican enthusiasm for the French cause, Madison sought a neutral position in the ongoing Coalition Wars between France and Britain. Domestically, the Jefferson administration and the Democratic-Republican Congress rolled back many Federalist policies; Congress quickly repealed the Alien and Sedition Act, abolished internal taxes, and reduced the size of the army and navy. Gallatin did, however, convince Jefferson to retain the First Bank of the United States. Though the Federalists were rapidly fading away at the national level, Chief Justice John Marshall ensured that Federalist ideology retained an important presence in the judiciary. In the case of "Marbury v. Madison", Marshall simultaneously ruled that Madison had unjustly refused to deliver federal commissions to individuals who had been appointed to federal positions by President Adams but who had not yet taken office, but that the Supreme Court did not have jurisdiction over the case. Most importantly, Marshall's opinion established the principle of judicial review.
By the time Jefferson took office, Americans had settled as far west as the Mississippi River, though vast pockets of American land remained vacant or inhabited only by Native Americans. Jefferson believed that western expansion played an important role in furthering his vision of a republic of yeoman farmers, and he hoped to acquire the Spanish territory of Louisiana, which was located to the west of the Mississippi River. Early in Jefferson's presidency, the administration learned that Spain planned to retrocede the Louisiana to France, raising fears of French encroachment on U.S. territory. In 1802, Jefferson and Madison dispatched James Monroe to France to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans, which controlled access to the Mississippi River and thus was immensely important to the farmers of the American frontier. Rather than selling merely New Orleans, Napoleon's government, having already given up on plans to establish a new French empire in the Americas, offered to sell the entire Territory of Louisiana. Despite lacking explicit authorization from Jefferson, Monroe and ambassador Robert R. Livingston negotiated the Louisiana Purchase, in which France sold over of land in exchange for $15 million.
Despite the time-sensitive nature of negotiations with the French, Jefferson was concerned about the constitutionality of the Louisiana Purchase, and he privately favored introducing a constitutional amendment explicitly authorizing Congress to acquire new territories. Madison convinced Jefferson to refrain from proposing the amendment, and the administration ultimately submitted the Louisiana Purchase without an accompanying constitutional amendment. Unlike Jefferson, Madison was not seriously concerned with the Louisiana Purchase's constitutionality. He believed that the circumstances did not warrant a strict interpretation of the Constitution because the expansion was in the country's best interest. The Senate quickly ratified the treaty providing for the purchase, and the House, with equal alacrity, passed enabling legislation. The Jefferson administration argued that the purchase had included the Spanish territory of West Florida, but France and Spain both held that West Florida was not included in the purchase. Monroe attempted to purchase clear title to West Florida and East Florida from Spain, but the Spanish, outraged by Jefferson's claims to West Florida, refused to negotiate.
Early in his tenure, Jefferson was able to maintain cordial relations with both France and Britain, but relations with Britain deteriorated after 1805. The British ended their policy of tolerance towards American shipping and began seizing American goods headed for French ports. They also impressed American sailors, some of whom had originally defected from the British navy, and some of whom had never been British subjects. In response to the attacks, Congress passed the Non-importation Act, which restricted many, but not all, British imports. Tensions with Britain heightened due to the Chesapeake–Leopard affair, a June 1807 naval confrontation between American and British naval forces, while the French also began attacking American shipping. Madison believed that economic pressure could force the British to end attacks on American shipping, and he and Jefferson convinced Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807, which totally banned all exports to foreign nations. The embargo proved ineffective, unpopular, and difficult to enforce, especially in New England. In March 1809, Congress replaced the embargo with the Non-Intercourse Act, which allowed trade with nations other than Britain and France.
Speculation regarding Madison's potential succession of Jefferson commenced early in Jefferson's first term. Madison's status in the party was damaged by his association with the embargo, which was unpopular throughout the country and especially in the Northeast. With the Federalists collapsing as a national party after 1800, the chief opposition to Madison's candidacy came from other members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Madison became the target of attacks from Congressman John Randolph, a leader of a faction of the party known as the tertium quids. Randolph recruited James Monroe, who had felt betrayed by the administration's rejection of the proposed Monroe–Pinkney Treaty with Britain, to challenge Madison for leadership of the party. Many Northerners, meanwhile, hoped that Vice President George Clinton could unseat Madison as Jefferson's successor. Despite this opposition, Madison won his party's presidential nomination at the January 1808 congressional nominating caucus. The Federalist Party mustered little strength outside New England, and Madison easily defeated Federalist candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. At a height of only five feet, four inches (163 cm), and never weighing more than 100 pounds (45 kg), Madison became the most diminutive president.
On March 4, 1809 Madison took the oath of office and was inaugurated President of the United States. Unlike Jefferson, who enjoyed political unity and support, Madison faced political opposition from his rival and friend, James Monroe, and by Vice President George Clinton. Additionally, the Federalist Party had resurged, under opposition to the embargo. Madison's Cabinet was very weak.
Madison immediately faced opposition to his planned nomination of Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin as Secretary of State. Madison chose not to fight Congress for the nomination but kept Gallatin in the Treasury Department. With Gallatin's nomination declined by the Senate, Madison settled for Robert Smith, the brother of Maryland Senator Samuel Smith, to be Secretary of State. For the next two years, Madison did most of the job of Secretary of State, due to Robert Smith's incompetence. After bitter party contention, Madison finally replaced Smith with Monroe in April 1811.
The remaining members of Madison's Cabinet were chosen for the purposes of national interest and political harmony, and were largely unremarkable or incompetent. With a Cabinet full of those he distrusted, Madison rarely called Cabinet meetings and instead frequently consulted with Gallatin alone. Early in his presidency, Madison sought to continue Jefferson's policies of low taxes and a reduction of the national debt. In 1811, Congress allowed the charter of the First Bank of the United States to lapse after Madison declined to take a strong stance on the issue.
Congress had repealed the embargo shortly before Madison became president, but troubles with the British and French continued. Madison settled on a new strategy designed to pit the British and French against each other, offering to trade with whichever country would end their attacks against American shipping. The gambit almost succeeded, but negotiations with the British collapsed in mid-1809. Seeking to split the Americans and British, Napoleon offered to end French attacks on American shipping so long as the United States punished any countries that did not similarly end restrictions on trade. Madison accepted Napoleon's proposal in the hope that it would convince the British to finally end their policy of commercial warfare, but the British refused to change their policies, and the French reneged on their promise and continued to attack American shipping.
With sanctions and other policies having failed, Madison determined that war with Britain was the only remaining option. Many Americans called for a "second war of independence" to restore honor and stature to the new nation, and an angry public elected a "war hawk" Congress, led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. With Britain in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, many Americans, Madison included, believed that the United States could easily capture Canada, at which point the U.S. could use Canada as a bargaining chip for all other disputes or simply retain control of it. On June 1, 1812, Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war, stating that the United States could no longer tolerate Britain's "state of war against the United States." The declaration of war was passed along sectional and party lines, with opposition to the declaration coming from Federalists and from some Democratic-Republicans in the Northeast. In the years prior to the war, Jefferson and Madison had reduced the size of the military, leaving the country with a military force consisting mostly of poorly trained militia members. Madison asked Congress to quickly put the country "into an armor and an attitude demanded by the crisis," specifically recommending expansion of the army and navy.
Madison and his advisers initially believed the war would be a quick American victory, while the British were occupied fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Madison ordered an invasion of Canada at Detroit, designed to defeat British control around American held Fort Niagara and destroy the British supply lines from Montreal. These actions would give leverage for British concessions on the Atlantic high seas. Madison believed state militias would rally to the flag and invade Canada, but the governors in the Northeast failed to cooperate, and the militias either sat out the war or refused to leave their respective states. As a result, Madison's first Canadian campaign ended in dismal failure. On August 16, Major General William Hull surrendered to British and Native American forces at Detroit. On October 13, a separate U.S. force was defeated at Queenton Heights. Commanding General Henry Dearborn, hampered by mutinous New England infantry, retreated to winter quarters near Albany, after failing to destroy Montreal's vulnerable British supply lines.
Lacking adequate revenue to fund the war, the Madison administration was forced to rely on high-interest loans furnished by bankers based in New York City and Philadelphia. In the 1812 presidential election, held during the early stages of the War of 1812, Madison faced a challenge from DeWitt Clinton, who led a coalition of Federalists and disaffected Democratic-Republicans. Clinton won most of the Northeast, but Madison won the election by sweeping the South and the West and winning the key state of Pennsylvania.
After the disastrous start to the War of 1812, Madison accepted Russia's invitation to arbitrate the war, and he sent a delegation led by Gallatin and John Quincy Adams to Europe to negotiate a peace treaty. While Madison worked to end the war, the U.S. experienced some impressive naval successes, boosting American morale, by the , and other warships. With a victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, the U.S. crippled the supply and reinforcement of British military forces in the western theater of the war. In the aftermath of the Battle of Lake Erie, General William Henry Harrison defeated the forces of the British and of Tecumseh's Confederacy at the Battle of the Thames. The death of Tecumseh in that battle marked the permanent end of armed Native American resistance in the Old Northwest. In March 1814, General Andrew Jackson broke the resistance of the British-allied Muscogee in the Old Southwest with his victory at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Despite those successes, the British continued to repel American attempts to invade Canada, and a British force captured Fort Niagara and burned the American city of Buffalo in late 1813.
The British agreed to begin peace negotiations in the town of Ghent in early 1814, but at the same time, they shifted soldiers to North America following Napoleon's defeat in the Battle of Paris. Under General George Izard and General Jacob Brown, the U.S. launched another invasion of Canada in mid-1814. Despite an American victory at the Battle of Chippawa, the invasion stalled once again.
Making matters worse, Madison had failed to muster his new Secretary of War John Armstrong to fortify Washington D.C., while Madison had put in command, to stop an impending British invasion, an "inexperienced and incompetent" Brig. General William Winder. In August 1814, the British landed a large force off the Chesapeake Bay and routed Winder's army at the Battle of Bladensburg. The Madisons escaped capture, fleeing to Virginia by horseback, in the aftermath of the battle, but the British burned Washington and other buildings. The charred remains of the capital by the British were a humiliating defeat for Madison and America. The British army next moved on Baltimore, but the U.S. repelled the British attack in the Battle of Baltimore, and the British army departed from the Chesapeake region in September. That same month, U.S. forces repelled a British invasion from Canada with a victory at the Battle of Plattsburgh. The British public began to turn against the war in North America, and British leaders began to look for a quick exit from the conflict.
In January 1815, an American force under General Jackson defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans. Just over a month later, Madison learned that his negotiators had reached the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war without major concessions by either side. Madison quickly sent the Treaty of Ghent to the Senate, and the Senate ratified the treaty on February 16, 1815. To most Americans, the quick succession of events at the end of the war, including the burning of the capital, the Battle of New Orleans, and the Treaty of Ghent, appeared as though American valor at New Orleans had forced the British to surrender. This view, while inaccurate, strongly contributed to a feeling of post-war euphoria that bolstered Madison's reputation as president. Napoleon's defeat at the June 1815 Battle of Waterloo brought a final close to the Napoleonic Wars, ending the danger of attacks on American shipping by British and French forces.
The postwar period of Madison's second term saw the transition into the "Era of Good Feelings," as the Federalists ceased to act as an effective opposition party. During the war, delegates from the states of New England held the Hartford Convention, where the delegates asked for several amendments to the Constitution. Though the Hartford Convention did not explicitly call for the secession of New England, the Hartford Convention became a political millstone around the Federalist Party as Americans celebrated what they saw as a successful "second war of independence" from Britain. Madison hastened the decline of the Federalists by adopting several programs he had previously opposed, weakening the ideological divisions between the two major parties.
Recognizing the difficulties of financing the war and the necessity of an institution to regulate the currency, Madison proposed the re-establishment of a national bank. He also called for increased spending on the army and the navy, a tariff designed to protect American goods from foreign competition, and a constitutional amendment authorizing the federal government to fund the construction of internal improvements such as roads and canals. His initiatives were opposed by strict constructionists such as John Randolph, who stated that Madison's proposals "out-Hamiltons Alexander Hamilton." Responding to Madison's proposals, the 14th Congress compiled one of the most productive legislative records up to that point in history. Congress granted the Second Bank of the United States a twenty-five-year charter and passed the Tariff of 1816, which set high import duties for all goods that were produced in the United States. Madison approved federal spending on the Cumberland Road, which provided a link to the country's western lands, but in his last act before leaving office, he blocked further federal spending on internal improvements by vetoing the Bonus Bill of 1817. In making the veto, Madison argued that the General Welfare Clause did not broadly authorize federal spending on internal improvements.
Upon becoming president, Madison said the federal government's duty was to convert the American Indians by the "participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized state". Within six months of his first term of office, on September 30, 1809, Madison, by Indiana Territory Governor William Henry Harrison, agreed to the Treaty of Fort Wayne. The treaty began with "James Madison, President of the United States," on the first sentence of the first paragraph. The American Indian tribes were compensated $5,200 ("$109,121.79 for year 2020") in goods and $500 and $250 annual subsidies to the various tribes, for 3 million acres of land. The treaty angered Shawnee leader Tecumseh, who said, "Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the clouds and the great sea, as well as the earth?" William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory, responded that the Miami tribe was the owner of the land and could sell to whom the Miami tribe wished.
Like Jefferson, Madison had a paternalistic attitude toward American Indians, encouraging the men to give up hunting and become farmers. Madison believed the adoption of European-style agriculture would help Native Americans assimilate the values of British-U.S. civilization. As pioneers and settlers moved West into large tracts of Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw territory, Madison ordered the U.S. Army to protect Native lands from intrusion by settlers, to the chagrin of his military commander Andrew Jackson, who wanted Madison to ignore Indian pleas to stop the invasion of their lands. Tensions mounted between the United States and Temcuseh over the 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne, that ultimately led to Tecumseh's alliance with the British and the Battle of Tippecanoe, on November 7, 1811, in the Northwest Territory. Tecumseh was defeated and Indians were pushed off their tribal lands, replaced entirely by white settlers.
In addition to the Battle of the Thames and the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, other American Indian battles took place, including the Peoria War, and the Creek War. Settled by General Jackson, the Creek War added 20 million acres of land to the United States, in Georgia and Alabama, by the Treaty of Fort Jackson on August 9, 1814.
Privately, Madison did not believe American Indians could be civilized. Madison believed that American Indians were unwilling to "transition from the hunter, or even the herdsman state, to the agriculture." Madison viewed that American Indians were in a "savage state", characterized by "complete liberty", absent of any cohesive bonds, obligations, or public duties. Madison believed settlers who comingled with American Indians were attracted to the American Indian lifestyle. In March 1816, Madison's Secretary of War William Crawford advocated that Congress encourage intermarriages between American Indians and whites. This prompted public outrage, including hostile letters sent to Madison, who remained publicly silent. During Madison's presidency, white Americans became more hostile to American Indians.
In 1810, the House investigated Commanding General James Wilkinson for misconduct over his ties with Spain. Wilkinson was a hold-over of the Jefferson Administration, who at that time in 1806, Jefferson was told Wilkinson was under a financial retainer with Spain. Wilkinson had also been rumored to have been tied with Spain during both the Washington and Adams administrations. Jefferson removed Wilkinson from his position of Governor of the Louisiana territory in 1807, for his ties with the Burr conspiracy. The 1810 House investigation was not a formal report but documents incriminating Wilkinson were given to Madison. Wilkinson's military request for a court-martial was denied by Madison. Wilkinson then asked for 14 officers to testify on his behalf, in Washington, but Madison refused, in essence, clearing Wilkinson of malfeasance.
Later in 1810 the House investigated Wilkinson's public record, and charged him with a high casualty rate among soldiers. Wilkinson was cleared again. However, in 1811, Madison launched a formal court-martial of Wilkinson, that suspended Wilkinson of active duty. The military court in December 1811, cleared Wilkinson of misconduct. Madison approved of the Wilkinson's acquittal, and restored Wilkinson to active duty. After Wilkinson failed a command during the War of 1812, Madison dismissed Wilkinson from command of the Army for incompetence. Madison, however, retained Wilkinson in the Army, but replaced Wilkinson with Henry Dearborn, as Commander of the Army. Not until 1815, when Wilkinson was court-martialled and acquitted again, did Madison finally remove him from the Army. Historical evidence brought forth later in the Twentieth Century proved Wilkinson was under the pay of Spain.
In the 1816 presidential election, Madison and Jefferson both favored the candidacy of Secretary of State James Monroe. With the support of Madison and Jefferson, Monroe defeated Secretary of War William H. Crawford in the party's congressional nominating caucus. As the Federalist Party continued to collapse as a national party, Monroe easily defeated Federalist candidate Rufus King in the 1816 election. Madison left office as a popular president; former president Adams wrote that Madison had "acquired more glory, and established more union, than all his three predecessors, Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, put together."
When Madison left office in 1817 at age 65, he retired to Montpelier, his tobacco plantation in Orange County, Virginia, not far from Jefferson's Monticello. As with both Washington and Jefferson, Madison left the presidency a poorer man than when elected. His plantation experienced a steady financial collapse, due to the continued price declines in tobacco and also due to his stepson's mismanagement.
In his retirement, Madison occasionally became involved in public affairs, advising Andrew Jackson and other presidents. He remained out of the public debate over the Missouri Compromise, though he privately complained about the North's opposition to the extension of slavery. Madison had warm relations with all four of the major candidates in the 1824 presidential election, but, like Jefferson, largely stayed out of the race. During Jackson's presidency, Madison publicly disavowed the Nullification movement and argued that no state had the right to secede.
Madison helped Jefferson establish the University of Virginia, though the university was primarily Jefferson's initiative. In 1826, after the death of Jefferson, Madison was appointed as the second rector of the university. He retained the position as college chancellor for ten years until his death in 1836.
In 1829, at the age of 78, Madison was chosen as a representative to the Virginia Constitutional Convention for revision of the commonwealth's constitution. It was his last appearance as a statesman. The issue of greatest importance at this convention was apportionment. The western districts of Virginia complained that they were underrepresented because the state constitution apportioned voting districts by county. The increased population in the Piedmont and western parts of the state were not proportionately represented by delegates in the legislature. Western reformers also wanted to extend suffrage to all white men, in place of the prevailing property ownership requirement. Madison tried in vain to effect a compromise. Eventually, suffrage rights were extended to renters as well as landowners, but the eastern planters refused to adopt citizen population apportionment. They added slaves held as property to the population count, to maintain a permanent majority in both houses of the legislature, arguing that there must be a balance between population and property represented. Madison was disappointed at the failure of Virginians to resolve the issue more equitably.
In his later years, Madison became highly concerned about his historic legacy. He resorted to modifying letters and other documents in his possession, changing days and dates, adding and deleting words and sentences, and shifting characters. By the time he had reached his late seventies, this "straightening out" had become almost an obsession. As an example, he edited a letter written to Jefferson criticizing Lafayette—Madison not only inked out original passages, but even forged Jefferson's handwriting as well. Historian Drew R. McCoy writes that, "During the final six years of his life, amid a sea of personal [financial] troubles that were threatening to engulf him ... At times mental agitation issued in physical collapse. For the better part of a year in 1831 and 1832 he was bedridden, if not silenced ... Literally sick with anxiety, he began to despair of his ability to make himself understood by his fellow citizens."
Madison's health slowly deteriorated. He died of congestive heart failure at Montpelier on the morning of June 28, 1836, at the age of 85. By one common account of his final moments, he was given his breakfast, which he tried eating but was unable to swallow. His favorite niece, who sat by to keep him company, asked him, "What is the matter, Uncle James?" Madison died immediately after he replied, "Nothing more than a change of "mind", my dear." He is buried in the family cemetery at Montpelier. He was one of the last prominent members of the Revolutionary War generation to die. His will left significant sums to the American Colonization Society, the University of Virginia, and Princeton, as well as $30,000 to his wife, Dolley. Left with a smaller sum than Madison had intended, Dolley suffered financial troubles until her own death in 1849.
During his first stint in Congress in the 1780s, Madison came to favor amending the Articles of Confederation to provide for a stronger central government. In the 1790s, he led the opposition to Hamilton's centralizing policies and the Alien and Sedition Acts. According to Chernow, Madison's support of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in the 1790s "was a breathtaking evolution for a man who had pleaded at the Constitutional Convention that the federal government should possess a veto over state laws." The historian Gordon S. Wood says that Lance Banning, as in his "Sacred Fire of Liberty" (1995), is the "only present-day scholar to maintain that Madison did not change his views in the 1790s." During and after the War of 1812, Madison came to support several policies he had opposed in the 1790s, including the national bank, a strong navy, and direct taxes.
Wood notes that many historians struggle to understand Madison, but Wood looks at him in the terms of Madison's own times—as a nationalist but one with a different conception of nationalism from that of the Federalists. Gary Rosen and Banning use other approaches to suggest Madison's consistency.
Although baptized as an Anglican and educated by Presbyterian clergymen, young Madison was an avid reader of English deist tracts. As an adult, Madison paid little attention to religious matters. Though most historians have found little indication of his religious leanings after he left college, some scholars indicate he leaned toward deism. Others maintain that Madison accepted Christian tenets and formed his outlook on life with a Christian world view.
Regardless of his own religious beliefs, Madison believed in religious liberty, and he advocated for Virginia's disestablishment of the Anglican Church throughout the late 1770s and 1780s. He also opposed the appointments of chaplains for Congress and the armed forces, arguing that the appointments produce religious exclusion as well as political disharmony. In 1819, Madison said, "The number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State."
Madison grew up on a plantation that made use of slave labor and he viewed the institution as a necessary part of the Southern economy, though he was troubled by the instability of a society that depended on a large enslaved population. At the Philadelphia Convention, Madison favored an immediate end to the importation of slaves, though the final document barred Congress from interfering with the international slave trade until 1808. (The domestic trade in slaves was expressly permitted by the constitution.) He also proposed that apportionment in the United States Senate be allocated by the sum of each state's free population and slave population, eventually leading to the adoption of the Three-Fifths Compromise. Madison supported the extension of slavery into the West during the Missouri crisis of 1819–1821. Madison believed that former slaves were unlikely to successfully integrate into Southern society, and in the late 1780s, he became interested in the idea of African-Americans establishing colonies in Africa. Madison was president of the American Colonization Society, which founded the settlement of Liberia for former slaves.
Madison was unable to separate himself from the institution of domestic slavery. Although Madison had championed a Republican form of government, he believed that slavery had caused the South to become aristocratic. Madison believed that slaves were human property, while he opposed slavery intellectually. Along with his colonization plan for blacks, Madison, believed that slavery would naturally diffuse with western expansion. Madison's political views landed somewhere between John C. Calhoun's separation nullification and Daniel Webster's nationalism consolidation. Madison's Virginian "legatees" including Edward Coles, Nicolas P. Trist, and William Cabel Rives promoted Madison's moderate views on slavery into the 1840s and 1850s, but their campaign failed due to sectionalism, economic, and abolitionism forces. Madison was never able to reconcile his advocacy of Republican government and his lifelong reliance on the slave system.
Madison's treatment of his enslaved people was known to be moderate. In 1790, Madison ordered an overseer to treat slaves with "all the humanity and kindness of consistent with their necessary subordination and work." Visitors noted slaves were well housed and fed. According to Paul Jennings, one of Madison's younger slaves, Madison never lost his temper or had his slaves whipped, preferring to reprimand. One slave, Billey, attempted to escape Madison while in Philadelphia during the American Revolution, but was caught. Rather than free him, or return him to Virginia, Madison sold Billey in Philadelphia, under a gradual emancipation law adopted in Pennsylvania. Billey soon earned his freedom and worked for a Philadelphia merchant. Billey, however, was drowned on a voyage to New Orleans. Madison never outwardly expressed blacks were inferior, but he presumably held such a belief. He tended to express open-mindedness on the question of race.
By 1801, Madison's slave population at Montpelier was slightly over 100. During the 1820s and 1830s, Madison was forced to sell land and slaves, caused by debts. In 1836, at the time of Madison's death, Madison owned 36 taxable slaves. Madison's conservatism prevailed, due to finances, while he failed to free any of his slaves either during his lifetime or in his will. Upon Madison's death, he left his remaining slaves to his wife Dolley, asking her only to sell her slaves with their consent. However, Dolley, sold many of her slaves without their consent. The remaining slaves, after Dolley's death, were given to her son, Payne Todd, who freed them upon his death. However, Todd had debts, and likely only a few slaves were actually freed.
Madison was small in stature, had bright blue eyes, a strong demeanor, and was known to be humorous at small gatherings. Madison suffered from serious illnesses, nervousness, and was often exhausted after periods of stress. Madison often feared for the worst and was a hypochondriac. However, Madison was in good health, while he lived a long life, without the common maladies of his times.
Madison is widely regarded as one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States. Historian J.C.A. Stagg writes that "in some ways—because he was on the winning side of every important issue facing the young nation from 1776 to 1816—Madison was the most successful and possibly the most influential of all the Founding Fathers." Though he helped found a major political party and served as the fourth president of the United States, his legacy has largely been defined by his contributions to the Constitution; even in his own life he was hailed as the "Father of the Constitution." Law professor Noah Feldman writes that Madison "invented and theorized the modern ideal of an expanded, federal constitution that combines local self-government with an overarching national order." Feldman adds that Madison's "model of liberty-protecting constitutional government" is "the most influential American idea in global political history."
Polls of historians and political scientists tend to rank Madison as an above average president. A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Madison as the twelfth best president. Wood commends Madison for his steady leadership during the war and resolve to avoid expanding the president's power, noting one contemporary's observation that the war was conducted "without one trial for treason, or even one prosecution for libel." Nonetheless, many historians have criticized Madison's tenure as president. Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris in 1968 said the conventional view of Madison was as an "incapable President" who "mismanaged an unnecessary war." A 2006 poll of historians ranked Madison's failure to prevent the War of 1812 as the sixth-worst mistake made by a sitting president.
The historian Garry Wills wrote, "Madison's claim on our admiration does not rest on a perfect consistency, any more than it rests on his presidency. He has other virtues. ... As a framer and defender of the Constitution he had no peer. ... The finest part of Madison's performance as president was his concern for the preserving of the Constitution. ... No man could do everything for the country—not even Washington. Madison did more than most, and did some things better than any. That was quite enough."
In 2002, historian Ralph Ketcham was critical of Madison as a wartime President during the War of 1812. Ketchum blamed Madison for the events that led up to the burning of the nation's capital by the British. Ketchum said: "The events of the summer of 1814 illustrate all too well the inadequacy in wartime of Madison's habitual caution and tendency to let complexities remain unresolved...Although such inclinations are ordinarily virtues, in crisis they are calamitous." Ketchum said "it was, ironically, Madison's very republican virtue that in part unsuited him to be a wartime president."
In 1974, historian James Banner criticized Madison for his protection of a corrupt General James Wilkinson in the Army. Wilkinson had been involved in the Aaron Burr Conspiracy during the Jefferson Administration, was on retainer of Spain, and had a high mortality rate among soldiers. Wilkinson had also botched a campaign during the War of 1812. Madison finally mustered Wilkinson out of the Army in 1815.
Montpelier, his family's plantation, has been designated a National Historic Landmark. The James Madison Memorial Building is a building of the United States Library of Congress and serves as the official memorial to Madison. In 1986, Congress created the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation as part of the bicentennial celebration of the Constitution. Several counties and communities have been named for Madison, including Madison County, Alabama and Madison, Wisconsin. Other things named for Madison include Madison Square, James Madison University, and the USS "James Madison". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15950 |
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for certain British territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few UK bodies. Established on 13 August 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King-in-Council, the Privy Council formerly acted as the court of last resort for the entire British Empire (other than for the United Kingdom itself), and continues to act as the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth nations, the Crown Dependencies, and the British Overseas Territories.
Formally a statutory committee of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, the Judicial Committee consists of senior judges who are Privy Councillors: they are predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and senior judges from the Commonwealth. It is often referred to as the Privy Council. In Commonwealth realms, appeals are nominally made to "Her Majesty in Council" (i.e. the British monarch as formally advised by her Privy Counsellors), who then refers the case to the Judicial Committee for "advice", while in Commonwealth republics retaining the JCPC as their final court of appeal, appeals are made directly to the Judicial Committee itself. The panel of judges (typically five in number) hearing a particular case is known as "the Board". The "report" of the Board is always accepted by the Queen in Council as judgment.
The origins of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council can be traced back to the , or royal council. In theory, the King was the fount of justice, and petitions for redress of wrongs arising from his courts were addressed to him. That power was gradually taken over by Parliament (which evolved out of the ) within England, but the King-in-Council (which also evolved out of the "") retained jurisdiction to hear petitions from the King's non-English possessions, such as the Channel Islands and, later on, from England's colonies.
The task of hearing appeals was given to a series of short-lived committees of the Privy Council. In 1679, appellate jurisdiction was given to the Board of Trade, before being transferred to a standing Appeals Committee in 1696. By the nineteenth century, the growth of the British Empire, which had greatly expanded the appellate jurisdiction of the Privy Council (despite the loss of appeals from the American colonies), had put great strains on the existing arrangements. In particular, the Appeals Committee had to hear cases in a variety of legal systems, such as Hindu law, with which its members were unfamiliar.
In 1833, at the instigation of Lord Brougham, the Lord Chancellor, Parliament passed the Judicial Committee Act 1833. The Act established a statutory committee of the Privy Council, known as The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, to hear appeals to the King-in-Council. In addition to colonial appeals, later legislation gave the Judicial Committee appellate jurisdiction over a range of miscellaneous matters, such as patents, ecclesiastical matters, and prize suits. At its height, the Judicial Committee was said to be the court of final appeal for over a quarter of the world.
In the twentieth century, the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council shrank considerably, as British Dominions established their own courts of final appeal and as British colonies became independent, although many retained appeals to the Privy Council post-independence. Canada abolished Privy Council appeals in 1949, India and South Africa in 1950, and New Zealand in 2003. Currently, twelve Commonwealth countries outside of the United Kingdom retain Privy Council appeals, in addition to various British and New Zealand territories. The Judicial Committee also retains jurisdiction over a small number of domestic matters in the United Kingdom, reduced by the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2009.
The United Kingdom does not have a single highest national court; the Judicial Committee is the highest court of appeal in some cases, while in most others the highest court of appeal is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. (In Scotland the highest court in criminal cases is the High Court of Justiciary; the Supreme Court is the highest court in civil cases and matters arising from Scottish devolution, the latter previously having been dealt with by the Judicial Committee.)
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has jurisdiction in the following domestic matters:
Additionally, the government may (through the Queen) refer any issue to the committee for "consideration and report" under section 4 of the Judicial Committee Act 1833.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the Court of Final Appeal for the Church of England. It hears appeals from the Arches Court of Canterbury and the Chancery Court of York, except on matters of doctrine, ritual or ceremony, which go to the Court for Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved. By the Church Discipline Act 1840 and the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 all archbishops and bishops of the Church of England became eligible to be members of the Judicial Committee.
Prior to the coming into force of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Privy Council was the court of last resort for devolution issues. On 1 October 2009 this jurisdiction was transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Judgments of the Judicial Committee are not generally binding on courts within the United Kingdom, having only persuasive authority, but are binding on all courts within any other Commonwealth country from which an appeal is heard. Where a binding precedent of the UK Supreme Court, or of the House of Lords, or of the Court of Appeal conflicts with that of a decision of the Judicial Committee on English law, English courts are required to follow the domestic decision over that of the Judicial Committee except when the Judicial Committee has in its decision expressly directed the domestic court to follow its new decision. However, given the overlap between the membership of the Judicial Committee and of the Supreme Court, the decisions of the former are extremely persuasive and usually followed.
The Judicial Committee holds jurisdiction in appeals from the following 32 jurisdictions (including twelve independent nations):
Judicial appeal of final resort has been assumed by other bodies in some current and former Commonwealth realms as well as in some Commonwealth monarchies:
The following are members of the Judicial Committee:
The bulk of the Committee's work is done by the Supreme Court Justices, who are paid to work full-time in both the Supreme Court and the Privy Council. Overseas judges may not sit when certain UK domestic matters are being heard, but will often sit when appeals from their own countries are being heard.
Until 1904 the Registrar of the Admiralty court was also Registrar to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in ecclesiastical and maritime causes.
Most appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are formally appeals to "Her Majesty in Council". Appeals from Brunei are formally to the Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan, while appeals from republics within the Commonwealth are directly to the Judicial Committee. Appeals are generally by leave of the local Court of Appeal, although the Judicial Committee retains discretionary power to grant leave to appeal as well.
After hearing an appeal, the panel of judges which heard the case (known as "the Board") issues its decision in writing. For appeals to Her Majesty in Council, the decision is framed in the form of advice to Her Majesty, which is inevitably followed and given effect by being embodied in an Order in Council. Formerly, the Judicial Committee could only give a unanimous report, but since the Judicial Committee (Dissenting Opinions) Order 1966, dissenting opinions have been allowed.
The Judicial Committee is not bound by its own previous decisions, but may depart from them in exceptional circumstances if following its previous decisions would be unjust or contrary to public policy.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is based in London. From its establishment to 2009, it mainly met in the Privy Council Chamber in Downing Street, although increase in the Judicial Committee's business in the twentieth century required it to sit simultaneously in several panels, which met elsewhere. The Chamber, designed by John Soane, was often criticised for its interior design, and was extensively remodelled in 1845 by Sir Charles Barry. On 1 October 2009, the Judicial Committee moved to the former Middlesex Guildhall building, which had been refurbished in 2007 to provide a home for both the JCPC and the newly created Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. In this renovated building, Court 3 is used for Privy Council sittings.
In recent years, the Judicial Committee has occasionally sat outside of London. Between 2005 and 2010 it sat twice in Mauritius and three times in the Bahamas.
Initially, all Commonwealth realms and their territories maintained a right of appeal to the Privy Council. Many of those Commonwealth countries that became republics, or which had indigenous monarchies, preserved the Judicial Committee's jurisdiction by agreement with the United Kingdom. However, retention of a right of appeal to a court located overseas, made up mostly of British judges who may be out of tune with local values, has often come to be seen as incompatible with notions of an independent nation's sovereign status, and so a number of Commonwealth members have ended the right of appeal from their jurisdiction. The Balfour Declaration of 1926, while not considered to be "lex scripta", severely limited the conditions under which the Judicial Committee might hear cases:
From these discussions it was clear that it was no part of the policy of His Majesty's Government in Great Britain that questions affecting judicial appeals should be determined otherwise than in accordance with the wishes of the part of the Empire primarily affected ...
In 1901, the Constitution of Australia limited appeals from the new federal High Court of Australia to the Privy Council, by prohibiting appeals on constitutional matters unless leave is granted by the High Court on "inter se" questions. Appeals on non-constitutional matters were not prohibited, but the federal Parliament of Australia had the power to legislate to limit them. The right of appeal from federal courts (including territory supreme courts) was abolished through the "Privy Council (Limitation of Appeals) Act 1968". Appeals from state courts, a continuation of the right to appeal decisions of colonial courts before 1901, continued, until they were also abolished by the Australia Act 1986, which was enacted by both the UK and Australian parliaments, on the request of all the state governments. The Australian Constitution retains the provision allowing the High Court of Australia to permit appeals to the Privy Council on "inter se" questions. However, the High Court has stated that it will not give such permission, that the jurisdiction to do so "has long since been spent", and that it is obsolete.
Canada created its own Supreme Court in 1875 and abolished appeals to the Privy Council in criminal cases in 1933. Despite this, some decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada went on to appeal in the JCPC, including notably the Persons Case ("Edwards v Canada (AG)"), which established that women were "persons" under the British North America Act (Canada's early Constitution) eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada. It also established what came to be known as the "living tree doctrine" in Canadian Constitutional law, which says that a constitution is organic and must be read in a broad and liberal manner so as to adapt it to changing times.
In 1949, all appeals to the Privy Council were abolished, but prior to this, there were several factors that served to limit the effectiveness of measures to reduce appeals:
"Nadan", together with the King–Byng Affair, was a major irritant for Canada and provoked the discussion at the 1926 Imperial Conference which led to the Balfour Declaration, which declared the United Kingdom and the Dominions to be
With that Declaration and its statutory confirmation in the Statute of Westminster 1931 (Imp, 22–23 Geo 5, c.4) the impediment to abolishing appeals to the Privy Council, whether or not it had been legitimate, was comprehensively removed. Criminal appeals to the Privy Council were ended in 1933. Moves to extend the abolition to civil matters were shelved during the growing international crisis of the 1930s but re-tabled after the Second World War, and civil appeals ended in 1949, with an amendment of the Supreme Court Act. Cases begun before 1949 were still allowed to appeal after 1949, and the final case to make it to the Council was not until 1959 with the case of "Ponoka-Calmar Oils v Wakefield".
The JCPC played a controversial role in the evolution of Canadian federalism in that, whereas most Fathers of Confederation in negotiating the union of the British North American colonies against the backdrop of the American Civil War wished to ensure a strong central government vis-à-vis relatively weak provinces, appeals to the JCPC in constitutional matters progressively shifted the balance in favour of the provinces. While a few commentators have suggested that Canadian First Nations retain the right to appeal to the Privy Council because their treaties predate their relationship to Canada, the JCPC has not entertained any such appeal since 1867 and the dominant view is that no such appeal right exists.
The nations of the Caribbean Community voted in 2001 to abolish the right of appeal to the Privy Council in favour of a Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Some debate between member countries and also the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council had repeatedly delayed the court's date of inauguration. As of 2005, Barbados replaced the process of appeals to Her Majesty in Council with the CCJ, which had then come into operation. The Co-operative Republic of Guyana also enacted local legislation allowing the CCJ to have jurisdiction over their sovereign final court of appeals system. Belize acceded to the Appellate Jurisdiction of the CCJ on 1 June 2010. As it stands, a few other CARICOM states appear to be ready for the abolition of appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the immediate future. The government of Jamaica in particular had come close and attempted to abolish appeals to the Judicial Committee without the support of the opposition in Parliament; however, it was ruled by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that the procedure used in Jamaica to bypass the opposition was incorrect and unconstitutional. Another attempt will also be forthcoming.
Caribbean governments have been coming under increased pressure from their electorates to devise ways to override previous rulings by the JCPC such as "Pratt v A-G" (Jamaica, 1993), "R v Hughes" (Saint Lucia, 2002), "Fox v R" (Saint Kitts and Nevis, 2002), "Reyes v R" (2002, Belize), "Boyce v R" (Barbados, 2004), and "Matthew v S" (Trinidad and Tobago, 2004), all of which are Privy Council judgments concerning the death penalty in the Caribbean region.
The then President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, has voiced displeasure with Caribbean and other Commonwealth countries continuing to rely on the British JCPC. During an interview Lord Phillips was quoted by the "Financial Times" as saying that in an ideal world' Commonwealth countries—including those in the Caribbean—would stop using the Privy Council and set up their own final courts of appeal instead".
On 18 December 2006, the Judicial Committee made history when for the first time in more than 170 years it ventured outside London, holding a five-day sitting in the Bahamas. Lords Bingham, Brown, Carswell, and Scott, and Baroness Hale of Richmond, travelled to the Bahamas for the special sitting at the invitation of Dame Joan Sawyer, then the President of the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas; the Committee returned to the Bahamas in December 2007 for a second sitting. On the latter occasion, Lords Hope, Rodger, Walker, and Mance, and Sir Christopher Rose, heard several cases. At the end of the sitting, Lord Hope indicated that there may be future sittings of the Committee in the Bahamas, and the Committee has indeed sat in the Bahamas again, in 2009.
The 2018 Antiguan constitutional referendum saw the proposal to replace the JCPC with the CCJ rejected by a 52.04% majority.
Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, abolished appeals to the Privy Council in 1972, on becoming a republic. Previously, the Privy Council had ruled in "Ibralebbe v The Queen" that it remained the highest court of appeal in Ceylon notwithstanding the country's independence as a Dominion in 1948.
The Gambia retained the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council under the Gambia Independence Act 1964, even after The Gambia became a Commonwealth republic in April 1970 under Sir Dawda Jawara. Appeals were still taken to the J.C.P.C. from 1994 to 1998, when Yahya Jammeh, the then dictator and President of the Gambia decided to restructure the Gambian judiciary under the 1997 Constitution of the Gambia to replace the J.C.P.C. with the Supreme Court of the Gambia.
The last case from The Gambia to the J.C.P.C. was West Coast Air Limited v. Gambia Civil Aviation Authority and Others UKPC 39 (15 September 1998)
Grenadian appeals to the Privy Council were temporarily abolished from 1979 until 1991, as a result of the Grenadian Revolution, which brought Prime Minister Maurice Bishop to power. People's Law 84 was enacted to this effect. In 1985, "Mitchell v DPP" affirmed Grenada's right to unilaterally abolish appeals to the Privy Council. In 1991, Grenada restored the JCPC's jurisdiction.
In 2016, there was a proposal in the Grenadian constitutional referendum, 2016 to terminate appeals from Grenada to the JCPC and to replace the JCPC with the Caribbean Court of Justice. This was rejected by a 56.73% majority, which means the JCPC remains Grenada's highest court.
Another referendum, the 2018 Grenadian constitutional referendum also rejected terminating appeals to the JCPC by a 55.2% majority.
Guyana retained the right of appeal to the Privy Council until the government of Prime Minister Forbes Burnham passed the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (Termination of Appeals) Act 1970.
Hong Kong's court system changed following the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to China on 1 July 1997, with the Court of Final Appeal serving as the highest judicial authority of the Special Administrative Region (SAR), and (pursuant to Article 158 of the Basic Law) the power of final interpretation vested not in the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong but in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China.
Decisions of the Privy Council on Hong Kong appeals before the 1 July 1997 remain binding on the courts of Hong Kong. This accords with the principle of continuity of the legal system enshrined in Article 8 of the Basic Law. Decisions of the Privy Council on non-Hong Kong appeals are of persuasive authority only. Such decisions were not binding on the courts in Hong Kong under the doctrine of precedent before 1 July 1997 and are not binding today. Decisions of the House of Lords before 1 July 1997 stand in a similar position. It is of the greatest importance that the courts of Hong Kong should derive assistance from overseas jurisprudence, particularly from the final appellate courts of other common law jurisdictions. This is recognised by Article 84 of the Basic Law.
Pursuant to Article 158 of the Basic Law (the constitutional instrument of the SAR), the power of final interpretation of the Basic Law is vested not in the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong but in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, which, unlike the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, is a political body rather than an independent and impartial tribunal of last resort.
India retained the right of appeal from the Federal Court of India to the Privy Council after the establishment of the Dominion of India. Following the replacement of the Federal Court with the Supreme Court of India in January 1950, the Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act 1949 came into effect, ending the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
The right of appeal to the Privy Council was provided for in the Constitution of the Irish Free State until its abolition in 1933 by an Act of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State, amending said constitution.
In "Moore v Attorney-General of the Irish Free State" the right of the Oireachtas to abolish appeals to the Privy Council was challenged as a violation of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. The then Attorney General for England and Wales (Sir Thomas Inskip) is reported to have warned the then Attorney-General of the Irish Free State (Conor Maguire) that the Irish Free State had no right to abolish appeals to the Privy Council. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council itself ruled that the Irish Free State Government had that right under the Statute of Westminster 1931 (Imp.).
In May 2015, the Jamaican House of Representatives approved, with the necessary two-thirds majority, bills to end legal appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and make the Caribbean Court of Justice Jamaica's final court of appeal. The reform will be debated by the Jamaican Senate; however, the government needed the support of at least one opposition Senator for the measures to be approved by the required two-thirds majority. The 2016 general election was called before the reforms could be brought to the Senate for a final vote. The Jamaican Labour Party, which opposed the changes, won the election and has promised to hold a referendum on the issue.
Malaysia abolished appeals to the Privy Council in criminal and constitutional matters in 1978, and in civil matters in 1985.
Proposals to abolish appeals to the Privy Council in New Zealand date back to the early 1980s. It was not until October 2003 that New Zealand law was changed to abolish appeals to the Privy Council in respect of all cases heard by the Court of Appeal of New Zealand after the end of 2003, in favour of a Supreme Court of New Zealand. In 2008, Prime Minister John Key ruled out any abolition of the Supreme Court and return to the Privy Council.
Judgment was delivered on 3 March 2015 in the last appeal from New Zealand to be heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
The Dominion of Pakistan retained the right of appeal to the Privy Council from the Federal Court of Pakistan until the Privy Council (Termination of Jurisdiction) Act 1950 was passed. The Federal Court of Pakistan remained the highest court until 1956, when the Supreme Court of Pakistan was established.
Despite the Rhodesian Constitution of 1965 coming into effect as a result of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, appeals continued to be accepted by the Privy Council as late as 1969 due to the fact that under international law, Rhodesia remained a British colony until gaining its independence as Zimbabwe in April 1980.
Singapore abolished Privy Council appeals in all cases save those involving the death penalty, or in civil cases where the parties had agreed to such a right of appeal, in 1989. The remaining rights of appeal were abolished in April 1994.
One notable case in Singapore where an appeal against the death sentence was allowed by the Privy Council was a murder case that occurred in Pulau Ubin between 22 and 23 April 1972. In this case, Mohamed Yasin bin Hussein, who was 19 at the time of the murder, was sentenced to death by the High Court for murdering and raping a 58-year-old elderly woman named Poon Sai Imm, while his 25-year-old accomplice Harun bin Ripin went to ransack the elderly woman's house for items to rob (Harun, who also stood trial for murder together with Yasin, was instead sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment and received 12 strokes of the cane for a lesser charge of robbery at night). The Privy Council found that there was no evidence to show that Yasin had intended to cause death or any fatal bodily injury when he caused the fatal rib fractures on Poon while forcibly performing sexual intercourse with the struggling victim. As such, they found him guilty of committing a rash/negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide and sentenced him to 2 years' imprisonment. As an aftermath of this appeal, Yasin was brought back to court to be charged with rape, and he was eventually jailed for another 8 years for attempted rape of the elderly victim.
South Africa abolished the right of appeal to the Privy Council from the Appellate Division of the then Supreme Court of South Africa in 1950 under the terms of the Privy Council Appeals Act, 1950. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15960 |
Jötunheimr
In Norse cosmology, Jötunheimr (or Jǫtunheimr in Old Norse orthography; often anglicized as Jotunheim or Udgård) is a location associated with the Jötnar, entities in Norse mythology.
From Jötunheimr, the giants menace the humans in Midgard and the gods in Asgard. The river Ifing (Old Norse, "Ífingr") separates Asgard, the realm of the gods, from Jötunheimr, the land of giants. Gastropnir, the protection wall for the home of Menglad, and Þrymheimr, home of Þjazi, were both located in Jötunheimr, which was ruled by King Thrym. Glæsisvellir was a location in Jötunheimr, where lived the giant Gudmund, father of Höfund. Utgard was a stronghold surrounding the land of the giants, but in Nordic languages, “Jötunheimr” is also simply a name for the realm of giants (Jötun).
The protection wall for the dwelling of Menglöð, lover of the human Svipdagr.
Located under the second root of the world tree Yggdrasil in Jötunheim, guarded by the jötunn Mímir. The well is the source of Mímir's wisdom. Odin, wanting to possess great wisdom, journeys through the land of the giants to acquire it.
Often anglicized as Thrymheim, it was the home of the jötunn Þjazi (anglicized as Thiazi). Þjazi once tricked Loki into aiding him on kidnapping Iðunn, the goddess who grants magic apples of youth to gods. This act would be the cause of Þjazi's death.
Útgarðar (often anglicized as Utgard) is the capital of Jotunheim, serving as the stronghold of the giants. Útgarða-Loki, also known as Skrýmir, rules the place. The god Thor challenged him, only to get fooled by the trickster giant who then disappeared.
The river where the giantess Gjálp tried to drown Thor.
Svipdagr was given a task by his stepmother to woo the maiden Menglöð. He summoned his mother, Gróa, a völva in life, to seek her advice on how to woo the maiden Menglöð. Gróa cast a series of charms to protect him on his quest. Upon arriving at Jötunheim, Svipdagr is blocked by a castle gate guarded by the jötunn Fjölsviðr, who dismisses him before asking for his name. Svipdagr, giving a false name, answers a series of questions, in which he learned about the castle, its residents, and its environments. Svipdagr learns that the gate will only open up to one person: Svipdagr. The gates opens when he reveals his identity, where he is met by his expected lover, Menglöð.
The popular myth of how Thor killed the jötunn Geirröd has many variations, but all of them are caused by the trickster god Loki. Donning a suit of falcon feathers, Loki paid a visit to the jötunn's castle. When Geirröd saw the falcon, he knew right away that it was not a real falcon. Locked in a cage and starving, Loki revealed his identity. Geirröd released him on the condition that he bring Thor without his hammer to his castle. Loki readily agreed.
Back in Asgard, Loki openly discussed the giant's eagerness to meet Thor to introduce his two beautiful daughters, Gjálp and Greip. Simple-minded Thor couldn't resist the temptation of meeting beautiful maidens. He agreed to Loki's suggestion of leaving his hammer behind. On the way to the castle, Thor and Loki had to stay overnight with a gentle giantess, Gríðr, who warned Thor of the danger Geirröd possessed. The giantess lent him her belt and her magic staff.
Seeing the giantess Gjálp causing the water on Vimur river to rise, Thor used the magic staff to escape drowning, and then threw a rock at the giantess who fled. Thor and Loki arrived at the castle, where he was placed in a room with one chair. Weary from the travel, he sat down and closed his eyes. All at once, Thor was closing in on the ceiling. He thrust Gríðr's staff against the roof beam and pushed down. With the heavy weight and force of their guest, the giantess sisters, Gjálp and Greip, were crushed to death.
Thor, displeased with everything that had happened, went to confront Geirröd. The giant raised his hand and threw a hot lump of iron at the thunder god. Using the iron gloves lent to him by Gríðr, Thor caught the hot iron and threw it back at the giant who hid behind a pillar. The hot ball went straight into the pillar, into the head of Geirröd, and finally rested deep into the earth.
Thor, the god of thunder and storm, once lost his hammer, Mjölnir. With the loss of the mighty weapon, the only absolute defense of the Aesir against the giants, Asgard would be in much danger. Thor's angered shouts were heard by the trickster god, Loki, who knew that he must help this time. Thor and Loki sought out Freyja, a beautiful goddess, to borrow her suit of falcon feathers. Putting on the feathered coat, Loki flew to Jötunheim.
Loki met the king of the jötnar, Þrymr (often anglicized as Thrym), who had admitted to the theft of Thor's hammer. Mjölnir was hidden deep beneath the earth. Loki flew back to Asgard and relayed the information to Thor. The gods convened a meeting to discuss how to get back the hammer. Heimdallr offered the solution to their problem. Thor was to be dressed in bridal clothes and meet Þrymr as Freyja.
Upon hearing that Freyja was on her way, Þrymr ordered a grand feast in her honor. Seeing his bride consume large servings of food after food, Thrym was astounded by the fact. Loki reasoned "she" had not eaten or drunk for eight days due to her anxiety in meeting him. Elated, Thrym reached over to kiss his bride, but seeing the glaring eyes of Thor through the thin veil, he withdrew in disappointment. Loki explained that "Freyja" had not slept for eight nights in her excitement to come to Jötunheim. Wanting the marriage to be done quickly, Thrym ordered for Mjölnir to be brought to his bride. Once Mjölnir was placed on his lap, Thor grabbed the hammer by its handle and slew every jötunn in sight.
The tale of how Thor was outwitted by the giant Útgarða-Loki (often anglicized as Utgard-Loki) was one of the best known myths of Norse mythology. Thor, wanting to go to Utgard, the stronghold of the jötunn, traveled with Asgard's trickster god, Loki. Utgard was guarded by Útgarða-Loki, a known master of trickery.
Thor and Loki were traveling to Jötunheimr, accompanied by Þjálfi (anglicized as Thialfi) and his sister, Röskva. They arrived to a vast forest and continued their journey through the woods until dark. The four seek shelter for the night and discover an immense building. Finding shelter in a side room, they experience earthquakes through the night. The earthquakes cause all four to be fearful, except Thor, who grips his hammer in defense. The building turns out to be the huge glove of Skrýmir, who has been snoring throughout the night, causing what seemed to be earthquakes. The next night, all four sleep beneath an oak tree near Skrýmir in fear.
Thor wakes up in the middle of the night, and a series of events occur where Thor twice attempts to destroy the sleeping Skrýmir with his hammer. Skrýmir awakes after each attempt, only to say that he detected an acorn falling on his head or that he wonders if bits of tree from the branches above have fallen on top of him. The second attempt awakes Skrýmir. Skrýmir gives them advice; if they are going to be cocky at the castle of Útgarðr it would be better for them to turn back now, for Útgarða-Loki's men there won't put up with it. Skrýmir throws his knapsack onto his back and abruptly goes into the forest and "there is no report that the Æsir expressed hope for a happy reunion".
The four travelers continue their journey until midday. They find themselves facing a massive castle in an open area. The castle is so tall that they must bend their heads back to their spines to see above it. At the entrance to the castle is a shut gate, and Thor finds that he cannot open it. Struggling, all four squeeze through the bars of the gate, and continue to a large hall. Inside the great hall are two benches, where many generally large people sit on two benches. The four see Útgarða-Loki, the king of the castle, sitting.
Útgarða-Loki says that no visitors are allowed to stay unless they can perform a feat. Loki, standing in the rear of the party, is the first to speak, claiming that he can eat faster than anyone. Loki competes with a being named Logi to consume a trencher full of meat but loses. Útgarða-Loki asks what feat the "young man" can perform, referring to Þjálfi. Þjálfi says that he will attempt to run a race against anyone Útgarða-Loki chooses. Útgarða-Loki says that this would be a fine feat yet that Þjálfi had better be good at running, for he is about to be put to the test. Útgarða-Loki and the group go outside to a level-grounded course.
At the course, Útgarða-Loki calls for a small figure by the name of Hugi to compete with Þjálfi. The first race begins and Þjálfi runs, but Hugi runs to the end of the course and then back again to meet Þjálfi. Útgarða-Loki comments to Þjálfi that he will have to run faster than that, yet notes that he has never seen anyone who has come to his hall run faster than that. Þjálfi and Hugi run a second race. Þjálfi loses by an arrow-shot. Útgarða-Loki comments that Þjálfi has again ran a fine race but that he has no confidence that Þjálfi will be able to win a third. A third race between the two commences and Þjálfi again loses to Hugi. Everyone agrees that the contest between Þjálfi and Hugi has been decided.
Thor agrees to compete in a drinking contest but after three immense gulps fails. Thor agrees to lift a large, gray cat in the hall but finds that it arches his back no matter what he does, and that he can only raise a single paw. Thor demands to fight someone in the hall, but the inhabitants say doing so would be demeaning, considering Thor's weakness. Útgarða-Loki then calls for his nurse Elli, an old woman. The two wrestle but the harder Thor struggles the more difficult the battle becomes. Thor is finally brought down to a single knee. Útgarða-Loki said to Thor that fighting anyone else would be pointless. Now late at night, Útgarða-Loki shows the group to their rooms and they are treated with hospitality.
The next morning the group gets dressed and prepares to leave the keep. Útgarða-Loki appears, has his servants prepare a table, and they all merrily eat and drink. As they leave, Útgarða-Loki asks Thor how he thought he fared in the contests. Thor says that he is unable to say he did well, noting that he is particularly annoyed that Útgarða-Loki will now speak negatively about him. Útgarða-Loki, once the group has left his keep, points out that he hopes that they never return to it, for if he had an inkling of what he was dealing with he would never have allowed the group to enter in the first place. Útgarða-Loki reveals that all was not what it seemed to the group. Útgarða-Loki was in fact the immense Skrýmir, and that if the three blows Thor attempted to land had hit their mark, the first would have killed Skrýmir. In reality, Thor's blows were so powerful that they had resulted in three square valleys.
The contests, too, were an illusion. Útgarða-Loki reveals that Loki had actually competed against wildfire itself ("Logi", Old Norse "flame"), Þjálfi had raced against thought ("Hugi", Old Norse "thought"), Thor's drinking horn had actually reached to the ocean and with his drinks he lowered the ocean level (resulting in tides). The cat that Thor attempted to lift was in actuality the world serpent, Jörmungandr, and everyone was terrified when Thor was able to lift the paw of this "cat", for Thor had actually held the great serpent up to the sky. The old woman Thor wrestled was in fact old age ("Elli", Old Norse "old age"), and there is no one that old age cannot bring down. Útgarða-Loki tells Thor that it would be better for "both sides" if they did not meet again. Upon hearing this, Thor takes hold of his hammer and swings it at Útgarða-Loki but he is gone and so is his castle. Only a wide landscape remains.
Unlike the Greek gods, the gods of Norse mythology were prone to aging. One day, the jötnar Þjazi, disguised as an eagle, swooped down and tricked Loki into bringing him Iðunn, the goddess who supplied magic apples to the gods and goddesses to stay young, in exchange for his life. Fearful of what the ancient giant would do to him, Loki agreed to the bargain.
As soon as Loki reached Asgard, he went straight to the orchard tended by Iðunn and her husband, Bragi. He spun a lie of having found some apples in Midgard that looked the same as hers. Urging her to bring her own basket of apples to compare the two fruits, they departed for the world. When they crossed Bifrost, Þjazi swooped down and carried Iðunn away. The giant had locked her up in the highest tower in Þrymheimr. The gods and goddesses started aging. Summoning a meeting where every god was present except for Loki, the gods knew that Loki was up to no good. Upon finding the trickster god, he was ordered by Odin to bring back Iðunn and her apples or his life would be forfeited.
Fleeing in terror, Loki sought out Freyja to borrow her suit of falcon feathers. Loki flew to Þrymheimr, where he found Iðunn alone and unguarded. Loki turned the goddess and her basket of apples into a nut and held her in his claws. At this time, Þjazi, in his eagle disguise, was following them. Odin, who saw everything, immediately ordered the gods to build a bonfire at the gates of Asgard. When Þjazi reached the walls, his body caught on fire, and he fell to the ground. The gods slew him with no mercy. Releasing Iðunn from the spell, the gods and goddesses were once again youthful.
Mimir was an ancient being, notorious for his unparalleled wisdom. His dwelling was Mímisbrunnr ("Mímir's well"), a sacred well situated under one of the roots of the tree Yggdrasil in Jötunheim. Odin, wanting to gain immense knowledge and wisdom, consulted all living beings. He ventured to the land of the giants and asked for a drink from the well. Mimir, knowing the value of the water, refused unless Odin offered one of his eyes. The chief god was ready to pay any price for the wisdom he desired, and so he agreed to the deal and sacrificed his eye. The eye was then placed in Mímisbrunnr. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15962 |
Johann Friedrich Agricola
Johann Friedrich Agricola (4 January 1720 – 2 December 1774) was a German composer, organist, singer, pedagogue, and writer on music. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Flavio Anicio Olibrio.
Agricola was born in Dobitschen, Thuringia.
While a student of law at Leipzig (1738–41) he studied music under Johann Sebastian Bach.
In 1741 Agricola went to Berlin, where he studied musical composition under Johann Joachim Quantz. He was soon generally recognized as one of the most skillful organists of his time. The success of his comic opera, "Il filosofo convinto in amore", performed at Potsdam in 1750, led to an appointment as court composer to Frederick the Great. In 1759, on the death of Carl Heinrich Graun, he was appointed conductor of the royal orchestra. He married the noted court operatic soprano Benedetta Emilia Molteni, despite the king's prohibition of court employees marrying each other. Because of this trespass, the king reduced Molteni's and Agricola's combined salaries to a single annual salary of 1,000 "Thalers" (Agricola's annual salary alone had been 1,500 "Thalers"). Agricola died in Berlin at age 54.
Agricola wrote a number of Italian operas, as well as "Lieder," chorale preludes, various other keyboard pieces and church music, especially oratorios and cantatas. His reputation chiefly rests, however, on his theoretical and critical writings on musical subjects.
In 1754 he co-authored, with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, J. S. Bach's obituary. His 1757 "Anleitung zur Singekunst" ("Introduction to the Art of Singing") is a translation of Pier Francesco Tosi's 1723 treatise "Opinioni de' cantori antichi e moderni" with Agricola's own extensive comments. He edited and added extensive commentary to the 1768 (posthumous) edition of Jakob Adlung's "Musica mechanica organoedi" (English translation). His annotations are considered an important source of information on J. S. Bach's views on the fortepiano designs of Gottfried Silbermann, on the lute-harpsichord, and on organ building.
Agricola is also noted in Bach studies as one of the copyists for both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the St. Matthew Passion.
Attribution | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15963 |
James Hutton
James Hutton (; 3 June 1726 – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, experimental agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the ‘father’ of modern geology, his work played a key role in establishing geology as a modern science.
Through reasoned study of features in the coastlines and landscape of his native Scottish lowlands, Hutton developed the theory that geological features were not static but underwent perpetual transformation over long periods of time. He argued that the earth could not be young and advanced the idea that its remote history can be inferred from evidence in present-day rocks. He was thus an early proponent of what came later to be called uniformitarianism, the science which explains features of the Earth's crust by means of natural processes over the long geologic time scale.
Hutton also put forward the thesis of a ‘system of the habitable Earth’ viewed as a deistic mechanism designed to keep the world eternally suitable for humans, an early attempt to formulate what today might be called the anthropic principle. Though some of his ideas were also considered by other contemporaries such as the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, it is chiefly from Hutton's pioneering work in geology that we derive our present-day understanding of deep time.
Hutton was born in Edinburgh on 3 June 1726, as one of five children of Sarah Balfour and William Hutton, a merchant who was Edinburgh City Treasurer. Hutton's father died in 1729, when he was three.
He was educated at the High School of Edinburgh (as were most Edinburgh children) where he was particularly interested in mathematics and chemistry, then when he was 14 he attended the University of Edinburgh as a "student of humanity", studying the classics. He was apprenticed to the lawyer George Chalmers WS when he was 17, but took more interest in chemical experiments than legal work. At the age of 18, he became a physician's assistant, and attended lectures in medicine at the University of Edinburgh. After three years he went to the University of Paris to continue his studies, taking the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Leiden University in 1749 with a thesis on blood circulation.
After his degree Hutton went to London, then in mid-1750 returned to Edinburgh and resumed chemical experiments with close friend, James Davie. Their work on production of sal ammoniac from soot led to their partnership in a profitable chemical works, manufacturing the crystalline salt which was used for dyeing, metalworking and as smelling salts and had been available only from natural sources and had to be imported from Egypt. Hutton owned and rented out properties in Edinburgh, employing a factor to manage this business.
Hutton inherited from his father the Berwickshire farms of "Slighhouses", a lowland farm which had been in the family since 1713, and the hill farm of "Nether Monynut". In the early 1750s he moved to "Slighhouses" and set about making improvements, introducing farming practices from other parts of Britain and experimenting with plant and animal husbandry. He recorded his ideas and innovations in an unpublished treatise on "The Elements of Agriculture".
This developed his interest in meteorology and geology. In a 1753 letter he wrote that he had "become very fond of studying the surface of the earth, and was looking with anxious curiosity into every pit or ditch or bed of a river that fell in his way". Clearing and draining his farm provided ample opportunities. The mathematician John Playfair described Hutton as having noticed that "a vast proportion of the present rocks are composed of materials afforded by the destruction of bodies, animal, vegetable and mineral, of more ancient formation". His theoretical ideas began to come together in 1760. While his farming activities continued, in 1764 he went on a geological tour of the north of Scotland with George Maxwell-Clerk, ancestor of the famous James Clerk Maxwell.
In 1768 Hutton returned to Edinburgh, letting his farms to tenants but continuing to take an interest in farm improvements and research which included experiments carried out at "Slighhouses". He developed a red dye made from the roots of the madder plant.
He had a house built in 1770 at St John's Hill, Edinburgh, overlooking Salisbury Crags. This later became the Balfour family home and, in 1840, the birthplace of the psychiatrist James Crichton-Browne. Hutton was one of the most influential participants in the Scottish Enlightenment, and fell in with numerous first-class minds in the sciences including mathematician John Playfair, philosopher David Hume and economist Adam Smith. Hutton held no position in the University of Edinburgh and communicated his scientific findings through the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was particularly friendly with physician and chemist Joseph Black, and together with Adam Smith they founded the "Oyster Club" for weekly meetings.
Between 1767 and 1774 Hutton had close involvement with the construction of the Forth and Clyde canal, making full use of his geological knowledge, both as a shareholder and as a member of the committee of management, and attended meetings including extended site inspections of all the works. At this time he is listed as living on Bernard Street in Leith. In 1777 he published a pamphlet on "Considerations on the Nature, Quality and Distinctions of Coal and Culm" which successfully helped to obtain relief from excise duty on carrying small coal.
In 1783 he was a joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
From 1791 Hutton suffered extreme pain from stones in the bladder and gave up field work to concentrate on finishing his books. A dangerous and painful operation failed to resolve his illness. He died in Edinburgh and was buried in the vault of Andrew Balfour, opposite the vault of his friend Joseph Black, in the now sealed south-west section of Greyfriars Kirkyard commonly known as the Covenanter's Prison.
Hutton did not marry and had no legitimate children. Around 1747 he had a son by a Miss Edington, and though he gave his child James Smeaton Hutton financial assistance, he had little to do with the boy who went on to become a post-office clerk in London.
Hutton developed several hypotheses to explain the rock formations he saw around him, but according to Playfair he "was in no haste to publish his theory; for he was one of those who are much more delighted with the contemplation of truth, than with the praise of having discovered it". After some 25 years of work, his "Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe" was read to meetings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in two parts, the first by his friend Joseph Black on 7 March 1785, and the second by himself on 4 April 1785. Hutton subsequently read an abstract of his dissertation "Concerning the System of the Earth, its Duration and Stability" to Society meeting on 4 July 1785, which he had printed and circulated privately. In it, he outlined his theory as follows;
In the summer of 1785 at Glen Tilt in the Cairngorm mountains in the Scottish Highlands, Hutton found granite penetrating metamorphic schists, in a way which indicated that the granite had been molten at the time. This demonstrated to him that granite formed from the cooling of molten rock rather than it precipitating out of water as others at the time believed, and therefore the granite must be younger than the schists. Hutton presented his theory of the earth on March 4 and April 7, 1785 at the Royal Society of Edinburg.
He went on to find a similar penetration of volcanic rock through sedimentary rock in Edinburgh, at Salisbury Crags, adjoining Arthur's Seat – this area of the Crags is now known as Hutton's Section. He found other examples in Galloway in 1786, and on the Isle of Arran in 1787.
The existence of angular unconformities had been noted by Nicolas Steno and by French geologists including Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who interpreted them in terms of Neptunism as "primary formations". Hutton wanted to examine such formations himself to see "particular marks" of the relationship between the rock layers. On the 1787 trip to the Isle of Arran he found his first example of Hutton's Unconformity to the north of Newton Point near Lochranza, but the limited view meant that the condition of the underlying strata was not clear enough for him, and he incorrectly thought that the strata were conformable at a depth below the exposed outcrop.
Later in 1787 Hutton noted what is now known as the Hutton or "Great" Unconformity at Inchbonny, Jedburgh, in layers of sedimentary rock. As shown in the illustrations to the right, layers of greywacke in the lower layers of the cliff face are tilted almost vertically, and above an intervening layer of conglomerate lie horizontal layers of Old Red Sandstone. He later wrote of how he "rejoiced at my good fortune in stumbling upon an object so interesting in the natural history of the earth, and which I had been long looking for in vain." That year, he found the same sequence in Teviotdale.
In the Spring of 1788 he set off with John Playfair to the Berwickshire coast and found more examples of this sequence in the valleys of the Tour and Pease Burns near Cockburnspath. They then took a boat trip from Dunglass Burn east along the coast with the geologist Sir James Hall of Dunglass. They found the sequence in the cliff below St. Helens, then just to the east at Siccar Point found what Hutton called "a beautiful picture of this junction washed bare by the sea". Playfair later commented about the experience, "the mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time". Continuing along the coast, they made more discoveries including sections of the vertical beds showing strong ripple marks which gave Hutton "great satisfaction" as a confirmation of his supposition that these beds had been laid horizontally in water. He also found conglomerate at altitudes that demonstrated the extent of erosion of the strata, and said of this that "we never should have dreamed of meeting with what we now perceived".
Hutton reasoned that there must have been innumerable cycles, each involving deposition on the seabed, uplift with tilting and erosion then undersea again for further layers to be deposited. On the belief that this was due to the same geological forces operating in the past as the very slow geological forces seen operating at the present day, the thicknesses of exposed rock layers implied to him enormous stretches of time.
Though Hutton circulated privately a printed version of the abstract of his Theory ("Concerning the System of the Earth, its Duration, and Stability") which he read at a meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 4 July 1785; the full account of his theory as read at 7 March 1785 and 4 April 1785 meetings did not appear in print until 1788. It was titled "Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe" and appeared in "Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh", vol. I, Part II, pp. 209–304, plates I and II, published 1788. He put forward the view that "from what has actually been, we have data for concluding with regard to that which is to happen thereafter." This restated the Scottish Enlightenment concept which David Hume had put in 1777 as "all inferences from experience suppose ... that the future will resemble the past", and Charles Lyell memorably rephrased in the 1830s as "the present is the key to the past". Hutton's 1788 paper concludes; "The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,–no prospect of an end." His memorably phrased closing statement has long been celebrated. (It was quoted in the 1989 song “No Control" by songwriter and professor Greg Graffin.)
Following criticism, especially the arguments from Richard Kirwan who thought Hutton's ideas were atheistic and not logical, Hutton published a two volume version of his theory in 1795, consisting of the 1788 version of his theory (with slight additions) along with a lot of material drawn from shorter papers Hutton already had to hand on various subjects such as the origin of granite. It included a review of alternative theories, such as those of Thomas Burnet and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.
The whole was entitled "An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge and of the Progress of Reason, from Sense to Science and Philosophy" when the third volume was completed in 1794. Its 2,138 pages prompted Playfair to remark that "The great size of the book, and the obscurity which may justly be objected to many parts of it, have probably prevented it from being received as it deserves.”
His new theories placed him into opposition with the then-popular Neptunist theories of Abraham Gottlob Werner, that all rocks had precipitated out of a single enormous flood. Hutton proposed that the interior of the Earth was hot, and that this heat was the engine which drove the creation of new rock: land was eroded by air and water and deposited as layers in the sea; heat then consolidated the sediment into stone, and uplifted it into new lands. This theory was dubbed "Plutonist" in contrast to the flood-oriented theory.
As well as combating the Neptunists, he also opened up the concept of deep time for scientific purposes, in opposition to Catastrophism. Rather than accepting that the earth was no more than a few thousand years old, he maintained that the Earth must be much older, with a history extending indefinitely into the distant past. His main line of argument was that the tremendous displacements and changes he was seeing did not happen in a short period of time by means of catastrophe, but that processes still happening on the Earth in the present day had caused them. As these processes were very gradual, the Earth needed to be ancient, to allow time for the changes. Before long, scientific inquiries provoked by his claims had pushed back the age of the earth into the millions of yearsstill too short when compared with the accepted 4.6 billion year age in the 21st century, but a distinct improvement.
It has been claimed that the prose of "Principles of Knowledge" was so obscure that it also impeded the acceptance of Hutton's geological theories. Restatements of his geological ideas (though not his thoughts on evolution) by John Playfair in 1802 and then Charles Lyell in the 1830s popularised the concept of an infinitely repeating cycle, though Lyell tended to dismiss Hutton's views as giving too much credence to catastrophic changes.
It was not merely the earth to which Hutton directed his attention. He had long studied the changes of the atmosphere. The same volume in which his "Theory of the Earth" appeared contained also a "Theory of Rain". He contended that the amount of moisture which the air can retain in solution increases with temperature, and, therefore, that on the mixture of two masses of air of different temperatures a portion of the moisture must be condensed and appear in visible form. He investigated the available data regarding rainfall and climate in different regions of the globe, and came to the conclusion that the rainfall is regulated by the humidity of the air on the one hand, and mixing of different air currents in the higher atmosphere on the other.
Hutton taught that biological and geological processes are interlinked. James Lovelock, who developed the Gaia hypothesis in the 1970s, cites Hutton as saying that the Earth was a superorganism and that its proper study should be physiology. Lovelock writes that Hutton’s view of the Earth was rejected because of the intense reductionism among 19th-century scientists.
Hutton also advocated uniformitarianism for living creatures evolution, in a senseand even suggested natural selection as a possible mechanism affecting them:
Hutton gave the example that where dogs survived through "swiftness of foot and quickness of sight... the most defective in respect of those necessary qualities, would be the most subject to perish, and that those who employed them in greatest perfection... would be those who would remain, to preserve themselves, and to continue the race". Equally, if an acute sense of smell became "more necessary to the sustenance of the animal... the same principle [would] change the qualities of the animal, and.. produce a race of well scented hounds, instead of those who catch their prey by swiftness". The same "principle of variation" would influence "every species of plant, whether growing in a forest or a meadow". He came to his ideas as the result of experiments in plant and animal breeding, some of which he outlined in an unpublished manuscript, the "Elements of Agriculture". He distinguished between heritable variation as the result of breeding, and non-heritable variations caused by environmental differences such as soil and climate.
Though he saw his "principle of variation" as explaining the development of varieties, Hutton rejected the idea that evolution might originate species as a "romantic fantasy", according to palaeoclimatologist Paul Pearson. Influenced by deism, Hutton thought the mechanism allowed species to form varieties better adapted to particular conditions and provided evidence of benevolent design in nature. Studies of Charles Darwin's notebooks have shown that Darwin arrived separately at the idea of natural selection which he set out in his 1859 book "On the Origin of Species", but it has been speculated that he had some half-forgotten memory from his time as a student in Edinburgh of ideas of selection in nature as set out by Hutton, and by William Charles Wells and Patrick Matthew who had both been associated with the city before publishing their ideas on the topic early in the 19th century. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15965 |
Jakob Abbadie
Jakob Abbadie (; 25 September 1727), also known as Jacques or James Abbadie, was a French Protestant minister and writer. He became Dean of Killaloe, in Ireland.
Jacques Abbadie was born at Nay, Béarn, probably in 1654, although 1657 and 1658 have been given; he is "most probably the Jacques Abbadie who was the third child of Violente de Fortaner and Pierre Abbadie, baptized on 27 April 1654." Samuel Smiles stated that he was "the scion of a distinguished Béarnese family"; although it is probable that the poverty of his parents would have excluded him from a learned career if some of the leading Protestants of the district had not charged themselves with the expenses of his education, which was begun under M. Jean de la Placette, the minister of Nay, He studied at Puylaurens, the Academy of Saumur, and the Academy of Sedan, receiving the degree of doctor in theology, it is said, at the age of seventeen. An obituary notice, however, which appeared in the "Daily Courant" for 5 October 1727, says: "He was not above twenty-two when he undertook of himself his admirable treatise on the "Truth of the Christian Religion"".
About the same time he was sent for by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, to be minister of the French church at Berlin; the electoral summons found Abbadie at Paris, and it was conveyed through the Count d'Espense, who had been commissioned by his master to make the selection. The congregation of refugees, small enough at first to be accommodated in an apartment of the Count d'Espense's residence, grew gradually from increased emigration to Brandenburg, caused by the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685. The elector ordered the ancient chapel of his palace to be prepared for the congregation, and the services were frequently attended by the younger members of his family. Abbadie's arrival in Berlin has been variously assigned to the years 1680 and 1681. During seven or eight years he used his increasing favour with the elector to relieve the distress of the refugees from France, and especially from his native province of Béarn. Abbadie continued to occupy his pastorate at Berlin until the death of the great elector, which took place 29 April 1688.
He then accompanied Marshal Schomberg to England in 1688, and the following year became minister of the French Church of the Savoy, London. In the autumn of 1689 he went to Ireland with the marshal.
After the Battle of the Boyne, Abbadie returned to London. He subsequently published a revised version of the French translation of the English liturgy used at this church, with an epistle dedicatory to George I. He was often appointed to deliver occasional discourses, both in London and Dublin, but his lack of facility in English prevented his preferment in England, and also excluded him from the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin, to which William III wished to promote him. Abbadie's health suffered from devotion to his duties in the Savoy and from the English climate. He therefore settled in Ireland, and in 1699 the deanery of Killaloe was conferred on him by the king. whose favour he had attracted by a vindication of the Revolution of 1688.
The remainder of Abbadie's life was spent in writing and preaching, and in the performance—not too sedulous, for he was frequently absent from his benefice—of the ordinary duties of his office, varied by visits to England and to Holland, where most of his books were printed. Abbadie visited Holland to see his "La Vérité" through the press, and stayed more than three years in Amsterdam, 1720–23, during the preparation of "Le Triomphe" and other works. He returned to Ireland in 1723. Abbadie's income as dean of Killaloe was so small that he could not afford a literary amanuensis; and Hugh Boulter, archbishop of Armagh, having appealed in vain to Lord Carteret, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on Abbadie's behalf, gave him a letter of introduction to Dr. Edmund Gibson, bishop of London, and Abbadie left Ireland. He established himself at Marylebone. He died at his lodgings at Marylebone on Monday, 25 September 1727, aged 73.
Abbadie is best known by his religious treatises, several of which were translated from the original French into other languages and had a wide circulation throughout Europe. The most important of these are "Traite de la verité de la religion chrétienne" (1684); its continuation, "Traité de la divinité de Jesus-Christ" (1689); and "L'Art de se connaitre soi-meme" (1692).
While at Berlin, he made several visits to the Netherlands, in 1684, 1686, and 1688, chiefly for the purpose of superintending the printing of several of his works, including the "Traité de la Vérité", 1684. The book went through a vast number of editions and was translated into several languages, an English version, by Henry Lussan, appearing in 1694. Completed by a third volume, the "Traité de la Divinité de Nôtre Seigneur Jésus-Christ", it appeared at Rotterdam, 1689. An English translation, entitled "A Sovereign Antidote against Arian Poyson", appeared in London, 1719, and again "revised, corrected, and, in a few places, abridged", by Abraham Booth, under the title of "The Deity of Jesus Christ essential to the Christian Religion", 1777. The entire apology for Christianity formed by the three volumes of the "Traité", which combated severally the heresies of atheism, deism, and Socinianism, was received with praise. "La Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne Réformée" (1717) was a controversial treatise which in its four parts attacks the characteristic doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church; it was translated into English, for the use of the Roman Catholics of his diocese of Dromore, by Dr. Ralph Lambert, afterwards bishop of Meath. The work was completed in 1723 in "Le Triomphe de la Providence et de la Religion; ou, l'Ouverture des sept Seaux par le Fils de Dieu, où l'on trouvera la première partie de l'Apocalypse clairement expliquée par ce qu'il y a de plus connu dans l'Histoire et de moins contesté dans la Parole de Dieu. Avec une nouvelle et très-sensible Démonstration de la Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne".
It was in the Irish camp with Schomberg that Abbadie commenced one of his most successful works, which was published at Rotterdam in 1692, as "L'Art de se connoître soi-même; ou, La Recherche des Sources de la Morale", and went through many editions and amplifications. Translations of this work into other languages include a popular English version by the Rev. Thomas Woodcock, "The Art of Knowing One-self", 1694. The last 50 pages of this 274-page work deals with pride, which he divided into five branches: love of esteem, presumptuousness, vanity, ambition and arrogance.
Among the early writings of Abbadie were four "Sermons sur divers Textes de l'Ecriture", 1680; "Réflexions sur la Présence réelle du Corps de Jésus-Christ dans l'Eucharistie", 1685; and two highly adulatory addresses on persons in high stations, entitled respectively "Panégyrique de Monseigneur l'Electeur de Brandebourg", 1684; and "Panégyrique de Marie Stuart, Reine d'Angleterre, d'Ecosse, de France, et d'Irlande, de glorieuse et immortelle mémoire, décédée à Kensington le 28 décembre 1694", 1695, also published in England as "A Panegyric on our late Sovereign Lady", 1695. These four productions, with other occasional sermons, were in 1760 republished collectively, in three volumes, at Amsterdam, and preceded by an "Essai historique sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de M. Abbadie". The pamphlet on the Eucharist was also reprinted at Toulouse, in 1835, under the title of "Quatre Lettres sur la Trans-substantiation", and appeared in an English translation, by John W. Hamersley, as the "Chemical Change in the Eucharist", 1867.
"Défense de la Nation Britannique", 1693 was an elaborate defence of the Glorious Revolution, written in answer to Pierre Bayle's "Avis important aux Réfugiés", 1690. He gave a funeral oration on Queen Mary. Abbadie had also written, at the request of the king, "Histoire de la dernière Conspiration d'Angleterre", 1696, a history of the conspiracy of 1696, which was reprinted in Holland and translated into English, and for which the Earl of Portland and Secretary Sir William Trumbull placed original documents at the author's disposal. This work helped Abbadie's preferment. After its production, "his majesty sent him to Ireland, with an order to the lords justices to confer upon him some dignity in the church, which order was complied with by his promotion to the deanery of Killalow" ("Daily Courant," 5 October 1727).
He revised his works for a complete edition in four volumes, in which were also to be included two unpublished treatises, "Nouvelle Manière de prouver l'Immortalité de l'Ame", and "Notes sur le Commentaire philosophique de M. Bayle". No trace of them could be found after his death. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15966 |
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker, and humanitarian, dubbed "The King of Comedy". He gained his career breakthrough with singer Dean Martin, becoming Martin & Lewis in 1946 and performed together for ten years until their acrimonious breakup in 1956. Lewis then pursued a solo career. He starred in theatrical movies, worked behind-the-scenes as director, producer and screenwriter, appeared in numerous television programs, performed comedy routines on stage, and released many albums as a singer. He raised awareness for muscular dystrophy during his fifty-five years with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, most notably through his annual Labor Day telethon.
Lewis was born on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey to Daniel "Danny" Levitch (1902–1980), a master of ceremonies and vaudevillian who performed under the stage name Danny Lewis, from New York whose parents immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire, and Rachael "Rae" Levitch (née Brodsky; 1903–1983), a WOR pianist and Danny's music director, from Warsaw. Reports as to his birth name are conflicting; in Lewis' 1982 autobiography, he claimed his birth name was Joseph, after his maternal grandfather, but his birth certificate, the 1930 U. S. Census, and the 1940 U. S. Census all name him as Jerome.
Lewis said that he ceased using the names Joseph and Joey as an adult to avoid being confused with Joe E. Lewis and Joe Louis. Reports as to the hospital in which he was born conflict as well, with biographer Shawn Levy claiming he was born at Clinton Private Hospital and others claiming Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Other claims of his early life also conflict with accounts made by family members, burial records, and vital records.
He was a "character" even in his teenage years, pulling pranks in his neighborhood including sneaking into kitchens to steal fried chicken and pies. He dropped out of Irvington High School in the tenth grade. By age 15, he had developed his "Record Act" miming lyrics to songs while a phonograph played offstage. He landed a gig at a burlesque house in Buffalo, but his performance fell flat and was unable to book any more shows. Lewis worked as a soda jerk and a theater usher for Suzanne Pleshette's father Gene at the Paramount Theatre as well as at Loew's Capitol Theatre, both in New York City, to make ends meet.
A veteran burlesque comedian, Max Coleman, who had worked with Lewis' father years before, persuaded him to try again. Irving Kaye, a Borscht Belt comedian, saw Lewis' mime act at Brown's Hotel in Loch Sheldrake, New York, the following summer, and the audience was so enthusiastic that Kaye became Lewis' manager and guardian for Borscht Belt appearances. During World War II, he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur.
Lewis initially gained attention as part of a double act with singer Dean Martin, who served as straight man to Lewis' zany antics as the Martin and Lewis comedy team. They were different from other duo acts of the time because they played to each other and had ad-libbed improvisational segments within their planned routines.
After forming in 1946, they quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, then as stars of their NBC radio program "The Martin and Lewis Show". The two made appearances on early live television on their June 20, 1948 debut broadcast on "Toast of the Town" (later renamed as "The Ed Sullivan Show" on September 25, 1955) on CBS.
This was followed by a guest stint on "The Milton Berle Show", then their appearance on NBC's "Welcome Aboard" on October 3, 1948.
In 1950, Martin and Lewis signed with NBC to be one of a series of weekly rotating hosts of "The Colgate Comedy Hour", a live Sunday evening broadcast. Lewis, writer for the team's nightclub act, hired Norman Lear and Ed Simmons as regular writers for their "Comedy Hour" material. Their "Comedy Hour" shows consisted of stand-up dialogue, song and dance from their nightclub act and movies, backed by Dick Stabile's big band, slapstick and satirical sketch comedy, Martin's solo songs, and Lewis' solo pantomimes or physical numbers.
Martin and Lewis often broke character, ad-libbing and breaking the fourth wall. While not completely capturing the orchestrated mayhem of their nightclub act, the "Comedy Hour" displayed charismatic energy between the team and established their popularity nationwide. By 1951, with an appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York, they were a cultural phenomenon, attracting crowds rivaled only by Frank Sinatra earlier and later by Elvis Presley and The Beatles. The duo began their film careers at Paramount Pictures as ensemble players, in a 1949 film adaptation of the radio series "My Friend Irma" and its sequel "My Friend Irma Goes West" (1950).
Soon after, Martin and Lewis starred in their own vehicles of fourteen new feature movies, "At War with the Army" (1950), "That's My Boy" (1951), "Sailor Beware" (1952), "Jumping Jacks" (1952), "The Stooge" (1952), "Scared Stiff" (1953), "The Caddy" (1953), "Money from Home" (1953), "Living It Up" (1954), "3 Ring Circus" (1954), "You're Never Too Young" (1955), "Artists and Models" (1955), "Pardners" (1956) and "Hollywood or Bust" (1956), all produced by Hal B. Wallis.
In 1952, Martin and Lewis appeared on Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's Olympic Fund Telethon, cameoed in their film "Road to Bali" (1952) and then Hope and Crosby would do the same thing in Lewis and Martin's "Scared Stiff" a year later. Attesting to the duo's popularity, DC Comics published "The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis" from 1952 to 1957. In 1954, the team appeared on episode 191 of "What's My Line?" as mystery guests, appeared on the 27th annual Academy Awards in 1955 and appeared on "The Steve Allen Show" and "The Today Show" in 1956.
Their films were reliable financial successes for Paramount and hugely popular with audiences. In later years, both Lewis and Martin admitted frustration with Wallis for his formulaic and trite film choices, restricting them to narrow, repetitive roles. As Martin's roles in their films became less important over time and Lewis received the majority of critical acclaim, the partnership came under strain. Martin's participation became an embarrassment in 1954 when "Look" magazine published a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover but cropped Martin out.
After their partnership ended with their final nightclub act on July 24, 1956, both Martin and Lewis went on to highly successful solo careers and neither would comment on the split nor consider a reunion. However, they would occasionally be seen at the same public events, though never together. On two occasions, in 1958 and 1961, Martin invited Lewis on stage, but the split was too serious for them to reconcile. Sinatra surprised Lewis by bringing Martin on stage on the MDA telethon in September 1976, and in 1989 Lewis attended Martin's 72nd birthday.
After his partnership with Martin ended in 1956, Lewis and his wife Patty took a vacation in Las Vegas to consider the direction of his career. He felt his life was in a crisis state: "I was unable to put one foot in front of the other with any confidence. I was completely unnerved to be alone". While there, he received an urgent request from his friend Sid Luft, who was Judy Garland's husband and manager, saying that she couldn't perform that night in Las Vegas because of strep throat, and asking Lewis to fill in.
Lewis had not sung alone on stage since he was five years old, twenty-five years before, but he appeared before the audience of a thousand nonetheless, delivering jokes and clowning with the audience while Garland sat off-stage, watching. He then sang a rendition of a song he'd learned as a child, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" along with "Come Rain or Come Shine." Lewis recalled, "When I was done, the place exploded. I walked off the stage knowing I could make it on my own".
At his wife's pleading, Lewis used his own money to record the songs on a single. Decca Records heard it, liked it and insisted he record an album for them. The single of "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby" went to #10 and the album "Jerry Lewis Just Sings" went to #3 on the "Billboard" charts, staying near the top for four months and selling a million and a half copies.
With the success of that album he recorded the additional albums "More Jerry Lewis" (an EP of songs from this release was released as "Somebody Loves Me"), and "Jerry Lewis Sings Big Songs For Little People" (later reissued with fewer tracks as "Jerry Lewis Sings For Children"). Non-album singles were released, and "It All Depends On You", hit the charts in April and May 1957, but peaked at only #68. Further singles were recorded and released by Lewis into the mid-1960s.
But these were not Lewis's first foray into recording, nor his first appearance on the hit charts. During his partnership with Martin, they made several recordings together, charting at #22 in 1948 with the 1920s chestnut "That Certain Party" and later mostly re-recording songs highlighted in their films. Also during the time of their partnership, but without Martin, he recorded numerous novelty-comedy numbers for adults as well as records specifically intended for the children's market.
Having proven he could sing and do live shows, he began performing regularly at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, beginning in late 1956, which marked a turning point in his life and career. The Sands signed him for five years, to perform six weeks each year and paid him the same amount they had paid Martin and Lewis as a team. The critics gave him positive reviews: "Jerry was wonderful. He has proved that he can be a success by himself," wrote one. He continued with club performances in Miami, New York, Chicago and Washington.
Such live performances became a staple of his career and over the years he performed at casinos, theaters and state fairs coast-to-coast. In February 1957, he followed Garland at the Palace Theater in New York and Martin called on the phone during this period to wish him the best of luck. "I've never been happier," said Lewis. "I have peace of mind for the first time." Lewis established himself as a solo act on TV starting with the first of six appearances on "What's My Line?" from 1956 to 1966.
He appeared on both "Tonight Starring Jack Paar" and "The Ed Sullivan Show" and beginning in January 1957, in a number of solo TV specials for NBC. He starred in his adaptation of "The Jazz Singer" for "Startime". Lewis hosted the Academy Awards three times, in 1956, 1957 and the 31st Academy Awards in 1959, which ran twenty minutes short, forcing Lewis to improvise to fill time. DC Comics, switching from Martin and Lewis, published a new comic book series titled "The Adventures of Jerry Lewis", running from 1957 to 1971.
Lewis would remain at Paramount, becoming a comedy star in his own right and his first solo movie was "The Delicate Delinquent" (1957), marking Lewis' debut as film producer. It originally had been planned as the next Martin and Lewis film. He and Martin had made two films with director Frank Tashlin, whose background as a "Looney Tunes" cartoon director suited Lewis' brand of humor. After starring in "The Sad Sack" (1957), Lewis made more films with Tashlin starting with "Rock-A-Bye Baby" (1958) and "The Geisha Boy" (1958). Lewis was asked by Billy Wilder to play the lead role of Jerry, an uptight jazz musician who winds up on the run from the mob, in his film "Some Like It Hot" but turned it down.
Lewis starred in "Don't Give Up The Ship" (1959) and then cameo appeared in "Li'l Abner" (1959). After his contract with Wallis ended, Lewis had several movies under his belt and was eager to flex his creative muscle. He was free to deepen his comedy with pathos, believing, "Funny without pathos is a pie in the face. And a pie in the face is funny, but I wanted more." In 1959, a contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions was signed specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over seven years.
This contract made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut and the return of film rights after 30 years. Lewis' clout and box office were so strong (his films had already earned Paramount $100 million in rentals) that Barney Balaban, head of production at Paramount at that time, told the press, "If Jerry wants to burn down the studio I'll give him the match!"
Using the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami as his setting — on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule — Lewis shot the film during the day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond collaborated with him on many of the sight gags. Lewis later revealed that Paramount was not happy about financing a "silent movie" and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the movie's $950,000 budget.
Lewis would follow that film by directing several more new movies he co-wrote with Richmond, including "The Ladies Man" (1961), where Lewis constructed a three-story dollhouse-like set spanning two sound stages. The set was equipped with state of the art lighting and sound, eliminating the need for boom mics in each room.
His next feature "The Errand Boy" (1961), was one of the earliest films about moviemaking, utilizing all of the Paramount backlot and offices. On air, Lewis then starred in his first special in three years "The Wacky World of Jerry Lewis", then appeared in an episode of "Celebrity Golf" followed by a guest spot on an episode of "The Garry Moore Show". He then starred in Tashlin's "It's Only Money" (1962).
Lewis guest hosted "The Tonight Show" during the transition from Jack Paar to Johnny Carson in 1962. His appearance on the show scored the highest ratings thus far in late night, surpassing other guest hosts and Paar. The three major networks began a bidding war, wooing Lewis for his own talk show, which debuted the following year. Lewis then directed, co-wrote and starred in the smash hit "The Nutty Professor" (1963).
A parody of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", it featured him as a socially awkward professor inventing a serum that turns him into a handsome but obnoxious ladies man. It is largely considered to be Lewis' finest and most memorable film (being selected in 2004 for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"). Lewis then appeared in a cameo role in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963).
He starred next in Tashlin's "Who's Minding the Store?" (1963) and then hosted "The Jerry Lewis Show", a lavish 13-week, big-budget show for ABC, airing from September to December in 1963. The show suffered in the ratings, beleaguered by technical and other difficulties, including the assassination of then U.S. president John F. Kennedy, which left the country in a somber mood. Lewis next co-wrote and starred in "The Patsy" (1964), his satire about the Hollywood star-making industry.
His last film collaboration with Tashlin was "The Disorderly Orderly" (1964), which Lewis not only starred in but executive produced. After that, he then directed, co-wrote and appeared in "The Family Jewels" (1965) about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. Lewis played all six uncles and the bodyguard. This Diamond Ring, a song sung by Lewis' son Gary Lewis and his band was featured in the film.
In 1965, Lewis was interviewed on "The David Susskind Show", then co-starred in "Boeing Boeing" (1965), his last film for Paramount, based on the French stage play, in which he received a Golden Globe nomination. Lewis directed and appeared on an episode of "Ben Casey", an early dramatic role, appeared on "The Andy Williams Show" and "Hullabaloo" with his son Gary Lewis. In 1966, after 17 years, Lewis left Paramount, which changed ownership while its new executives declined to renew his 1959 profit sharing contract and went to other studios.
He directed and starred in "Three on a Couch" (1966), appeared as guest on "The Merv Griffin Show" alongside Richard Pryor, starred in "Way...Way Out" (1966), came on "The Sammy Davis Jr. Show", had cameos in "Batman" and "Laugh In", was a panelist on "Password" and starred in a pilot for "Sheriff Who". Lewis returned with a new version of "The Jerry Lewis Show", this time as a one-hour variety show for NBC, which ran from 1967 to 1969. He would next direct and star in "The Big Mouth" (1967) and guest starred in an episode of "Run for Your Life".
Lewis made an appearance on "The Danny Thomas Hour", starred in "Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River" (1968) and then appeared as a guest on "Playboy After Dark", surprising friend Sammy Davis Jr. in 1968. Lewis went on to star in and produce "Hook, Line & Sinker" (1969) and afterwards, guest starred in an episode of "Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters Hour".
In 1970, Lewis guest starred on "The Red Skelton Show", then contributed to some scripts for Filmation's animated series "Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down". He guest hosted "The Mike Douglas Show", directed an episode of "The Bold Ones" and made guest spots on "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour", "The Hollywood Palace", "The Engelbert Humperdinck Show", "The Irv Kupcinet Show", "The Linkletter Show", "The Real Tom Kennedy Show" and "A Christmas Night with the Stars".
Lewis then directed "One More Time" (1970), a sequel to the 1968 film "Salt and Pepper", in which Lewis did his first (and only) offscreen voice performance as a bandleader. His next film was "Which Way to the Front?" (1970) and new guest spots on "The Carol Burnett Show", "The Rolf Harris Show" and "The Kraft Music Hall" in 1971.
Lewis' next feature was the partly unreleased "The Day the Clown Cried" (1972), a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp, which he starred in and directed. The film was rarely discussed by Lewis, but he said that litigation over post-production finances and copyright prevented the film's completion and theatrical release. During his book tour for "Dean and Me" he also said a factor for the film's burial was that he was not proud of the effort.
Lewis explained his reason for choosing the project and the emotional difficulty of the subject matter in an interview with an Australian documentary film crew. A 31-minute version was shown on the German television station ARD, in the documentary Der Clown. It was later put on DVD and shown at Deutsches Filminstitute.
Within historical context, the movie was the earliest attempt by an American motion picture director to address the subject of The Holocaust, preceding by thirteen years Claude Lanzmann's groundbreaking film "Shoah", and by more than twenty years, Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and "Life is Beautiful", dealing with similar themes. Significant speculation continues to surround the film. Following this, Lewis would take a break from the movie business for several years.
Lewis did more new guest star spots on "The Dick Cavett Show", "NBC Follies", "Celebrity Sportsman", "Cher", "Dinah!" and "Tony Orlando and Dawn". Lewis surprised Sinatra and Martin after walking onto the Aladdin stage in Las Vegas during their show and exchanged jokes for several minutes. He then starred in a revival of "Hellzapoppin" with Lynn Redgrave, but closed on the road before reaching Broadway. In 1979, he guest hosted as ringmaster of "Circus of the Stars".
Lewis returned to the big screen and directed and starred in "Hardly Working" (1981), after an 11-year absence from film and despite being panned by critics, it eventually earned $50 million. In 1982, Lewis was a guest on "Late Night with David Letterman". In 1983, Lewis co-starred in Martin Scorsese's film "The King of Comedy", as a late-night TV host, plagued by two obsessive fans, played by Robert De Niro and Sandra Bernhard. He received wide critical acclaim and a BAFTA nomination for this serious dramatic role.
Lewis guest hosted "Saturday Night Live", then starred in "Cracking Up" a.k.a. "Smorgasbord" (1983, his final directed film), "Slapstick (Of Another Kind)" (1984), "To Catch a Cop" a.k.a. "The Defective Detective" (1984) and "How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave" (1984), the latter two films from France which had their distribution under Lewis' control and stated that they would never be released in American movie theaters and on home media.
He then hosted a syndicated talk show for Metromedia, which was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. In 1985, Lewis directed an episode of the Showtime series "Brothers". In 1986, Lewis appeared at the first Comic Relief, where he was the only performer to receive a standing ovation and after that, he was interviewed on "Classic Treasures". Lewis also starred in the ABC televised movie "Fight For Life" (1987).
In 1987, Lewis performed a second double act with Davis Jr. at Bally's in Las Vegas, then after learning of the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin, he attended his funeral, which lead to a more substantial reconciliation with Martin. In 1988, Lewis hosted "America's All-Time Favorite Movies", then was interviewed by Howard Cosell on "Speaking of Everything." He then starred in five episodes of the CBS program "Wiseguy".
The filming schedule of the show forced Lewis to miss the Museum of the Moving Image's opening with a retrospective of his work. In 1989, Lewis joined Martin on stage, for what would be Martin's final live performance, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Lewis wheeled out a cake on Martin's 72nd birthday, sang "Happy Birthday" to him and joked, "Why we broke up, I'll never know". Again, their appearance together made headlines. He then appeared in "Cookie" (1989).
In 1991, Lewis guest starred in and directed an episode of the FOX series "Good Grief". In 1992, Lewis had a cameo in "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992), appeared as a guest on "The Arsenio Hall Show", "The Whoopi Goldberg Show" and "Inside The Comedy Mind". Lewis did a three-part retrospective for The Disney Channel entitled "Martin & Lewis: Their Golden Age of Comedy", using previously unseen kinescopes from his personal archive, highlighting his years as part of a team with Martin and as a soloist.
In 1993, he was the first of a series of 'classic' comedians to guest star in "Mad About You", playing an eccentric billionaire. He appearanced on "Larry King Live" many times and co-starred in the film "Arizona Dream" (1993) as a car salesman and uncle to a young nephew, then starred as the 'Comedy Legend' father of a young comic in "Funny Bones" (1995).
Lewis' role serves as the metaphorical pivot in 20th Century comedy, from slapstick anarchists to clever storytellers. Both "Arizona Dream" and "Funny Bones" were tongue-in-cheek roles for independent films. In 1995, realizing a lifelong ambition, Lewis made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member, in a revival of "Damn Yankees". Playing the devil, he was reportedly paid the highest sum in Broadway history at the time.
He performed in both the national and London runs of the musical. Lewis missed three performances of the live show in four-plus years, one being Martin's funeral. He was then interviewed by James Lipton on "Inside the Actors Studio". In 1996, Lewis served as executive producer of "The Nutty Professor" remake, starring Eddie Murphy. Lewis would next appear on the 12th annual American Comedy Awards in 1998.
In 2000, Lewis appeared as a guest on "The Martin Short Show", then on "Russell Gilbert Live" and executive produced "". In 2003, Lewis did guest appearances on "Your World with Neil Cavuto" and did a guest voice as Professor Frink's father in a "Treehouse of Horror" episode of "The Simpsons". He then made a cameo in "Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls" in 2004. In 2005, Lewis went on make guest appearances on "Late Night with Conan O' Brien" and "Live with Kelly".
In 2006, Lewis guest starred in an episode of "" as Munch's uncle, then sang and recorded the duet song "Time After Time" with Dean Martin's daughter, Deana Martin, for her album "Memories Are Made of This", next in 2008, he starred in a computer animated direct sequel to his 1963 film "The Nutty Professor" and then appeared on the 81st Academy Awards in 2009.
Lewis made a musical theatre play of "The Nutty Professor" at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville in 2012. In Brazil, Lewis appeared in "Till Luck Do Us Part 2" (2013), a sequel to the 2012 film "Till Luck Do Us Part". In 2014, Lewis was guest on "The Talk" and on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon". In 2015, Lewis guest appeared on "The World Over with Raymond Arroyo".
Lewis starred in a small role in "The Trust" (2016) and a serious lead role in his final film "Max Rose" (2016), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. He was a guest on "WTF with Marc Maron" and in December, expressed interest in another movie. Lewis' last appearance was in an episode of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee".
During production of "The Bellboy", Lewis pioneered the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. This was necessary since he was acting as well as directing. His techniques and methods of filmmaking, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget since reshoots could take place immediately instead of waiting for the dailies.
"Man in Motion", a featurette for "Three on a Couch", features the video system, named "Jerry's Noisy Toy" and shows Lewis receiving the Golden Light Technical Achievement award for its development. Lewis stated he worked with the head of Sony to produce the prototype. While he initiated its practice and use, and was instrumental in its development, he did not hold a patent. This practice is now commonplace in filmmaking.
Starting in 1967, Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for a number of years. His students included George Lucas, whose friend Steven Spielberg sometimes sat in on classes. Lewis screened Spielberg's early film "Amblin'" and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." The class covered all topics related to filmmaking, including pre and post production, marketing and distribution and filming comedy with rhythm and timing.
His book "The Total Film Maker" (1971), was based on 480 hours of his class lectures. Lewis traveled to medical schools for seminars on laughter and healing with Dr. Clifford Kuhn and also did corporate and college lectures, motivational speaking and promoted the pain-treatment company Medtronic.
While Lewis was popular in France for his duo films with Dean Martin and his solo comedy films, his reputation and stature increased after the Paramount contract, when he began to exert total control over all aspects of his films. His involvement in directing, writing, editing and art direction coincided with the rise of auteur theory in French intellectual film criticism and the French New Wave movement. He earned consistent praise from French critics in the influential magazines "Cahiers du Cinéma" and "Positif", where he was hailed as an ingenious auteur.
His singular "mise-en-scène", and skill behind the camera, were aligned with Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray. Appreciated too, was the complexity of his also being in front of the camera. The new French criticism viewed cinema as an art form unto itself, and comedy as part of this art. Lewis is then fitted into a historical context and seen as not only worthy of critique, but as an innovator and satirist of his time. Jean-Pierre Coursodon states in a 1975 "Film Comment" article, "The merit of the French critics, auteurist excesses notwithstanding, was their willingness to look at what Lewis was doing as a filmmaker for what it was, rather than with some preconception of what film comedy should be."
Not yet curricula at universities or art schools, film studies and film theory were avant-garde in early 1960s America. Mainstream movie reviewers such as Pauline Kael, were dismissive of auteur theory, and others, seeing only absurdist comedy, criticized Lewis for his ambition and "castigated him for his self-indulgence" and egotism. "The total film-maker, so admired in France, made Hollywood uncomfortable, since the system has always operated otherwise."
Appreciation of Lewis became a misunderstood stereotype about "the French", and it was often the object of jokes in American pop culture. "That Americans can't see Jerry Lewis' genius is bewildering," says N. T. Binh, a French film magazine critic. Such bewilderment was the basis of the book "Why the French Love Jerry Lewis". In response to the lingering perception that French audiences adored him, Lewis stated in interviews he was more popular in Germany, Japan and Australia.
In addition to his years as an entertainer and filmmaker, Lewis was also a world-renowned humanitarian, philanthropist and "number one volunteer" who supported fundraising for research into muscular dystrophy. In 1951, Lewis and Martin made their first appeal for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (formerly the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America) in early December during the finale of "The Colgate Comedy Hour". In 1952, after another appeal, Lewis hosted New York area telethons until 1959 and in 1954, fought Rocky Marciano in a boxing bout for MDA's fund drive.
Lewis was named national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 1956 and then in late 1966, the live annual Labor Day event of "The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon" (also referred to as "Jerry Lewis Extra Special Special", "Jerry Lewis Super Show" and "Jerry Lewis Stars Across America" in the 1980s and 1990s) debuted in syndication and would air each year for decades, starting with the first show, which had aired on one TV station, New York-based WNEW.
In 1968, Ed McMahon (announcer, second banana and sidekick to Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show") began his involvement in the telethon, and co-anchored the event with Lewis every year from 1973 to 2008. The program was seen on all local TV stations (known as the MDA "Love Network") throughout the United States. The broadcast originated from different locations including New York, Las Vegas and Hollywood and was the most successful fundraising event in the history of television. In 1977, Lewis was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work with MDA.
The telethon was the first to raise over $1 million in 1966, the first to shown entirely in color in 1967, becoming a networked telethon in 1968, going coast-to-coast in 1970, the first to be seen outside continental U.S. in 1972, the largest sum ever raised in a single event for humanitarian purposes in 1974, the greatest amount ever pledged to a televised charitable event (Guinness Book of World Records) in 1980, watched by 100 million people in 1985, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1990, had its highest pledge in history in 1992 and was the first to be seen worldwide via internet simulcast on MDA's website by RealNetworks in 1998.
By 1990, pop culture had shifted its view of disabled individuals and the telethon format. Lewis and the telethon's methods were criticized by disabled-rights activists who believed the show was "designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled." The activists said the telethon perpetuated prejudices and stereotypes, that Lewis treated those he claimed to be helping with little respect, and that he used offensive language when describing them. "Smile", "What the World Needs Now Is Love" and "You'll Never Walk Alone" were forever associated with the program as the first song served as the intro, the second for the timpani and tote board cues and the third to close the show.
Lewis rebutted the criticism and defended his methods saying, "If you don't tug at their heartstrings, then you're on the air for nothing."
The activist protests represented a very small minority of countless MDA patients and clients who had directly benefitted from Lewis' MDA fundraising. He received a Governors Award in 2005 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2009, in recognition of his fight for the cause and his efforts for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host the MDA telethons and that he was no longer associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The children assisted by MDA are referred to as Jerry's Kids and a tribute to Lewis was held during the 2011 telethon (which originally was to be Lewis' final show bearing his name with the Muscular Dystrophy Association). On May 1, 2015, it was announced that in view of "the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving", the telethon was being discontinued.
In early 2016, Lewis broke a five-year silence during a special taped message at MDA's brand re-launch event at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the organization on its website in honor of its rebranding marking his first (and as it turned out, his final) appearance in support of MDA since his final telethon in 2010 and the end of his tenure as national chairman in 2011. Lewis raised an estimated $2.6 billion in donations for the cause.
MDA's website states, "Jerry's love, passion and brilliance are woven throughout this organization, which he helped build from the ground up, courted sponsors for MDA, appeared at openings of MDA care and research centers, addressed meetings of civic organizations, volunteers and the MDA Board of Directors, successfully lobbied Congress for federal neuromuscular disease research funds, made countless phone calls and visits to families served by MDA.
During Lewis' lifetime, MDA-funded scientists discovered the causes of most of the diseases in the Muscular Dystrophy Association's program, developing treatments, therapies and standards of care that have allowed many people living with these diseases to live longer and grow stronger." Over 200 research and treatment facilities were built with donations raised by the Jerry Lewis Telethons.
Lewis opened a camera shop in 1950, then in 1969, Lewis agreed to lend his name to "Jerry Lewis Cinemas", offered by National Cinema Corporation as a franchise business opportunity for those interested in theatrical movie exhibition. Jerry Lewis Cinemas stated that their theaters could be operated by a staff of as few as two with the aid of automation and support provided by the franchiser in booking film and other aspects of film exhibition. A forerunner of the smaller rooms typical of later multi-screen complexes, a Jerry Lewis Cinema was billed in franchising ads as a "mini-theatre" with a seating capacity of between 200 and 350.
In addition to Lewis's name, each Jerry Lewis Cinemas bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. Initially 158 territories were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000 depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area directorship", in which investors controlled franchising opportunities in a territory as well as their own cinemas. The success of the chain was hampered by a policy of only booking second-run, family-friendly films.
Eventually the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to show more competitive movies. But after a decade the chain failed and both Lewis and National Cinema Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1980. In 1973, Lewis appeared on the 1st annual 20-hour Highway Safety Foundation telethon, hosted by Davis Jr. and Monty Hall. In 1990, Lewis wrote and directed a short film for UNICEF's "How Are The Children?" anthology exploring the rights of children worldwide. The eight-minute segment, titled "Boy", was about a young white child in a black world and being subjected to quiet, insidious racism, and outright racist bullying.
In 2010, Lewis met with seven-year-old Lochie Graham, who shared his idea for "Jerry's House", a place for vulnerable and traumatized children. Lewis and Graham entered into a joint partnership for an Australian and a U.S.-based charity and began raising funds to build the facility in Melbourne. On September 12, 2016, Lewis lent his name and star power to Criss Angel's HELP (Heal Every Life Possible) charity event.
Lewis kept a low political profile for many years, having taken advice reportedly given to him by President John F. Kennedy, who told him "Don't get into anything political. Don't do that because they will usurp your energy". Nevertheless, he campaigned and performed on behalf of both JFK and Robert F. Kennedy. Lewis was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. For his 1957 NBC special, Lewis held his ground when southern affiliates objected to his stated friendship with Sammy Davis Jr. In a 1971 "Movie Mirror" magazine article, Lewis came out against the Vietnam War, when his son Gary returned from service traumatized. He vowed to leave the country rather than send another of his sons.
Lewis once stated political speeches should not be at the Oscars. "I think we are the most dedicated industry in the world. And I think that we have to present ourselves that night as hard-working, caring and important people to the industry. We need to get more self-respect as an industry".
In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Lewis was asked what he was least proud of, to which he answered, "Politics". Not his politics, but the world's politics – the madness, the destruction, the general lack of respect.
He lamented citizens' lack of pride in their country, stating, "President Bush is my president. I will not say anything negative about the president of the United States. I don't do that. And I don't allow my children to do that. Likewise when I come to England don't you do any jokes about 'Mum' to me. That is the Queen of England, you moron." "Do you know how tough a job it is to be the Queen of England?"
In a December 2015 interview on EWTN's "World Over" with Raymond Arroyo, Lewis expressed opposition to the United States letting in Syrian refugees, saying "No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they're not part of the human condition if 11 guys in that group of 10,000 are ISIS. How can I take that chance?" In the same interview, he criticized President Barack Obama for not being prepared for ISIS, while expressing support for Donald Trump, saying he would make a good president because he was a good "showman". He also added that he admired Ronald Reagan's presidency.
In 1998, at the Aspen U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, when asked which women comics he admired, Lewis answered, "I don't like any female comedians." "A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit." He later clarified his statements saying, "Seeing a woman project the kind of aggression that you have to project as a comic just rubs me wrong." "I cannot sit and watch a lady diminish her qualities to the lowest common denominator." Lewis explained his attitude as that of an older generation and said women are funny, but not when performing 'broad' or 'crude' humor.
He went on to praise Lucille Ball as "brilliant" and said Carol Burnett is "the greatest female entrepreneur of comedy." On other occasions Lewis expressed admiration for female comedians Totie Fields, Phyllis Diller, Kathleen Freeman, Elayne Boosler, Whoopi Goldberg and Tina Fey. During the 2007 MDA Telethon, Lewis used the word "fag" in a joke, for which he apologized. Lewis used the same word the following year on Australian television. In 2017, Lewis invited the world's most influential minds of comedy to join him at the inaugural Legionnaires of Laughter.
Lewis wed Patti Palmer (later Lewis, née Esther Grace Calonico; born 1922), an Italian American singer with Ted Fio Rito, on October 3, 1944, and the two had six children together—five biological: Gary Levitch (later Lewis) (born 1946); Scott (born 1956); Christopher (born 1957); Anthony (born 1959); and Joseph (1964–2009) – and one adopted, Ronald (born 1949). It was an interfaith marriage; Lewis was Jewish and Palmer was Catholic. Palmer filed for divorce from Lewis in 1980, after 35 years of marriage, citing Lewis' extravagant spending and infidelity on his part, and it was finalized in 1983. All of Lewis' children and grandchildren from his marriage to Palmer were excluded from inheriting any part of his estate. While married to Palmer, Lewis openly pursued relationships with other women and gave unapologetic interviews about his infidelity, revealing his affairs with Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich to "People" in 2011. His eldest son, Gary, publicly called his father a "mean and evil person" and said that Lewis never showed him or his siblings any love or care.
Lewis' second wife was Sandra "SanDee" Pitnick, a stewardess who met Lewis after winning a bit part in his film, "Hardly Working". They were wed on February 13, 1983, in Key Biscayne, Florida and had one child together, an adopted daughter named Danielle (born 1992).
In February 1994, a man named Gary Benson was revealed to have been stalking Lewis and his family. Benson subsequently served four years in prison.
Lewis suffered from a number of chronic health problems, illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall. The fall has been stated as being either from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965, or during an appearance on "The Andy Williams Show". In its aftermath, Lewis became addicted to the painkiller Percodan for thirteen years. He said he had been off the drug since 1978. In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back, which helped reduce the discomfort. He was one of the company's leading spokesmen.
Lewis suffered numerous heart problems throughout his life; he revealed in the 2011 documentary "Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis," that he suffered his first heart attack at age 34 while filming "Cinderfella" in 1960. In December 1982, he had another heart attack. Several months later, in February 1983, Lewis underwent emergency open-heart double-bypass surgery. En route to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight on June 11, 2006, Lewis suffered his third heart attack. It was discovered that he had pneumonia, as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization days after the heart attack, and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which was 90 percent blocked. The surgery resulted in increased blood flow to his heart and allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.
In 1999, Lewis' Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills. However, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.
In addition to his decades-long heart problems, Lewis had prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, and pulmonary fibrosis. Prednisone treatment in the late 1990s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in considerable weight gain and a startling change in his appearance. In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event at the London Palladium. He was the headlining act, and he was introduced but did not appear. He had suddenly become unwell, apparently with heart problems.
He was subsequently taken to the hospital. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy that weaned him off prednisone and he lost much of the weight gained while on the drug. The treatment enabled him to return to work. On June 12, 2012, he was treated and released from a hospital after collapsing from hypoglycemia at a New York Friars Club event. This latest health issue forced him to cancel a show in Sydney. In an October 2016 interview with "Inside Edition", Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films, given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection.
Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, at 9:15 a.m. (PDT) on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91. The cause was end-stage cardiac disease and peripheral artery disease. In his will, Lewis left his estate to his second wife of 34 years, SanDee Pitnick, and their daughter, and intentionally excluded his sons from his first marriage as well as their descendants.
Lewis "single-handedly created a style of humor that was half anarchy, half excruciation. Even comics who never took a pratfall in their careers owe something to the self-deprecation Jerry introduced into American show business." His self-deprecating humor can be found in Larry David or David Letterman.
Lewis' comedy style was physically uninhibited, expressive, and potentially volatile. He was known especially for his distinctive voice, facial expressions, pratfalls, and physical stunts. His improvisations and ad-libbing, especially in nightclubs and early television were revolutionary among performers. It was "marked by a raw, edgy energy that would distinguish him within the comedy landscape." Will Sloan, of "Flavorwire" wrote, "In the late '40s and early '50s, nobody had ever seen a comedian as wild as Jerry Lewis." Placed in the context of the conservative era, his antics were radical and liberating, paving the way for future comedians Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Andy Kaufman, Paul Reubens, and Jim Carrey. Carrey wrote: "Through his comedy, Jerry would stretch the boundaries of reality so far that it was an act of anarchy ... I learned from Jerry", and "I am because he was".
Acting the bumbling and stammering 'everyman', Lewis used tightly choreographed, sophisticated sight gags, physical routines, verbal double-talk and malapropisms. "You cannot help but notice Lewis' incredible sense of control in regards to performing—they may have looked at times like the ravings of a madman but his best work had a genuine grace and finesse behind it that would put most comedic performers of any era to shame." They are "choreographed as exactly as any ballet, each movement and gesture coming on natural beats and conforming to the overall rhythmic form which is headed to a spectacular finale: absolute catastrophe."
Drawing from his childhood traumas, Lewis crafted a complex comedic persona that involved four social aspects: sexuality, gender, race/ethnicity, and disability. Through these social aspects, he challenged norms, was misrepresented, and was heavily criticized. During his Martin and Lewis years, he challenged what it meant to be a heterosexual male. Not afraid to display sensitivity and a childlike innocence, he pushed aside heterosexual normality and embraced distorted conventions. This did not sit well with some critics who thought his actions were appalling and what they considered gay. Lewis' feminine movements is what placed the stereotypes of what a gay man was, during that time, on his comedic persona with disregard to the girl crazy, sexual panic youth that his character represented.
In the Martin and Lewis duo, Lewis' comedic persona was viewed as effeminate, weak, and inexperienced, which in turn made the Martin persona look masculine, strong, and experienced. The Lewis character was unconventional, in regards to gender, and that challenged what masculinity was. There are a couple of Martin and Lewis films that present the Lewis character in gender-swapped roles, but it was Lewis' solo films that posed questions about gender and gender roles. Aside from Cinderfella (1960) that cast him in the Cinderella role, films such as Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and The Geisha Boy (1958) showed his interactions with children that put him less in the authoritative father role and placed him more in the nurturing mother role. In the 1965 film The Family Jewels, Lewis takes on the dual role as protector, the father role, and nurturer, the mother role. Through his comedic persona and films, he showed that a man can take on what are considered feminine traits without that being a threat to his masculinity.
Lewis made it no secret that he was Jewish, yet he was criticized for hiding his Jewish heritage. Although Lewis' films, with Martin and as a solo act, have moments where it hints at him being Jewish, it is never the thing that truly defines his character. Aside from the 1959 television movie The Jazz Singer and the unreleased 1972 film The Day the Clown Cried, Lewis has never had a film or film role that had any ties to his Jewish heritage. When asked about this lack of Jewish portrayal in a 1984 interview, Lewis stated, "I never hid it, but I wouldn’t announce it and I wouldn’t exploit it. Plus the fact it had no room in the visual direction I was taking in my work."
His physical movements received criticism because it was seen as him imitating those with a physical disability. Through the years, the disability that has been attached to his comedic persona has not been physical, but mental. Neuroticism and schizophrenia have been a part of Lewis' persona since his partnership with Dean Martin; however, it was in his solo career that these disabilities became the basis of his films and the character. In films such as The Ladies Man (1961), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Patsy (1964), and Cracking Up (1983), there is either neuroticism, schizophrenia, or both that drive the plot. Lewis was able to explore and dissect the psychological side of his persona, which provided a depth to the character and the films that was not present in his previous efforts.
From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, "Lewis was a virtually unprecedented force in American popular culture." Widely acknowledged as a comic genius, Lewis influenced successive generations of comedians, comedy writers, performers and filmmakers. As Lewis was often referred to as the bridge from Vaudeville to modern comedy, Carl Reiner wrote after Lewis' death, "All comedians watch other comedians, and every generation of comedians going back to those who watched Jerry on the "Colgate Comedy Hour" were influenced by Jerry. They say that mankind goes back to the first guy ... which everyone tries to copy. In comedy that guy was Jerry Lewis."
Lewis' work, specifically his self-directed films, have warranted steady reappraisal. Richard Brody in "The New Yorker" said, Lewis was "one of the most original, inventive, ... profound directors of the time." and "one of the most skilled and original comic performers, verbal and physical, ever to appear on screen." Film critic and film curator for the Museum of Modern Art, Dave Kehr wrote in "The New York Times" of Lewis' "fierce creativity", "the extreme formal sophistication of his direction" and, Lewis was ". ... one of the great American filmmakers."
"Lewis was an explosive experimenter with a dazzling skill, and an audacious, innovatory flair for the technique of the cinema. He knew how to frame and present his own adrenaline-fuelled, instinctive physical comedy for the camera."
Lewis was in the forefront in the transition to independent filmmaking, which came to be known as New Hollywood in the late 1960s. Writing for the "Los Angeles Times" in 2005, screenwriter David Weddle lauded Lewis' audacity in 1959 "daring to declare his independence from the studio system." Lewis came along to a studio system in which the industry was regularly stratified between players and coaches. The studios tightly controlled the process and they wanted their people directing. Yet Lewis regularly led, often flouting the power structure to do so.
Steven Zeitchik of the LA Times wrote of Lewis, "Control over material was smart business, and it was also good art. Neither the entrepreneur nor the auteur were common types among actors in mid-20th century Hollywood. But there Lewis was, at a time of strict studio control, doing both."
No other comedic star, with the exceptions of Chaplin and Keaton in the silent era, dared to direct himself. "Not only would Lewis' efforts as a director pave the way for the likes of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, but it would reveal him to be uncommonly skilled in that area as well." "Most screen comedies until that time were not especially cinematic—they tended to plop down the camera where it could best capture the action and that was it. Lewis, on the other hand, was interested in exploring the possibilities of the medium by utilizing the tools he had at his disposal in formally innovative and oftentimes hilarious ways." "In Lewis' work the way the scene is photographed is an integral part of the joke. His purposeful selection of lenses, for example, expands and contracts space to generate laughs that aren't necessarily inherent in the material, and he often achieves his biggest effects via what he leaves off screen, not just visually but structurally."
As a director, Lewis advanced the film comedy genre with innovations in the areas of fragmented narrative, experimental use of music and sound technology, and near surrealist use of color and art direction. This prompted his peer, filmmaker Jean Luc Godard to proclaim, "Jerry Lewis ... is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. ... Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films. He's been able to do it because of his personal genius". Jim Hemphill for "American Cinematheque" wrote, "They are films of ambitious visual and narrative experimentation, provocative and sometimes conflicted commentaries on masculinity in post-war America, and unsettling self-critiques and analyses of the performer's neuroses."
Intensely personal and original, Lewis' films were groundbreaking in their use of dark humor for psychological exploration. Justin Chang of the "Los Angeles Times" said, "The idea of comedians getting under the skin and tapping into their deepest, darkest selves is no longer especially novel, but it was far from a universally accepted notion when Lewis first took the spotlight. Few comedians before him had so brazenly turned arrested development into art, or held up such a warped fun house mirror to American identity in its loudest, ugliest, vulgarest excesses. Fewer still had advanced the still-radical notion that comedy doesn't always have to be funny, just fearless, in order to strike a nerve".
Before 1960, Hollywood comedies were screwball or farce. Lewis, from his earliest 'home movies, such as "How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border", made in his playhouse in the early 1950s, was one of the first to introduce satire as a full-length film. This "sharp-eyed" satire continued in his mature work, commenting on the cult of celebrity, the machinery of 'fame', and "the dilemma of being true to oneself while also fitting into polite society." Stephen Dalton in "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, Lewis had "an agreeably bitter streak, offering self-lacerating insights into celebrity culture which now look strikingly modern. Even post-modern in places." Speaking of "The King of Comedy", "More contemporary satirists like Garry Shandling, Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais owe at least some of their self-deconstructing chops to Lewis' generously unappetizing turn in Scorsese's cult classic."
Lewis was an early master of deconstruction to enhance comedy. From the first "Comedy Hour"s he exposed the artifice of on-stage performance by acknowledging the lens, sets, malfunctioning props, failed jokes, and tricks of production. As Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: Lewis had "the impulse to deconstruct and even demolish the fictional "givens" of any particular sketch, including those that he might have dreamed up himself, a kind of perpetual auto-destruction that becomes an essential part of his filmmaking as he steadily gains more control over the writing and direction of his features." His self directed films abound in behind-the-scene reveals, demystifying movie-making. Daniel Fairfax writes in "Deconstructing Jerry: Lewis as a Director", "Lewis deconstructs the very functioning of the joke itself". ... quoting Chris Fujiwara, ""The Patsy" is a film so radical that it makes comedy out of the situation of a comedian who isn't funny." The final scene of "The Patsy" is famous for revealing to the audience the movie as a movie, and Lewis as actor/director. Lewis wrote in "The Total Filmmaker", his belief in breaking the fourth wall, actors looking directly into the camera, despite industry norms. More contemporary comedies such as "The Larry Sanders Show", "Curb Your Enthusiasm", and "The Office" continue this method.
Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhard (both of whom starred with Lewis in "The King of Comedy") reflected on his death, Bernhard said, "It was one of the great experiences of my career, he was tough but one of a kind". De Niro said, "Jerry was a pioneer in comedy and film. And he was a friend. I was fortunate to have seen him a few times over the past couple of years. Even at 91, he didn't miss a beat ... or a punchline. You'll be missed." There was also a New York Friars Club roast in honor of Lewis with Sarah Silverman and Amy Schumer. Martin Scorsese recalls working with him on "The King of Comedy", "It was like watching a virtuoso pianist at the keyboard". Lewis was the subject of a documentary "Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness".
Peter Chelsom, director of "Funny Bones" wrote, "Working with him was a masterclass in comic acting – and in charm. From the outset he was generous." "There's a very thin line between a talent for being funny and being a great actor. Jerry Lewis epitomized that. Jerry embodied the term "funny bones": a way of differentiating between comedians who "tell" funny and those who "are" funny." Director Daniel Noah recalling his relationship with Lewis during production of "Max Rose" wrote, "He was kind and loving and patient and limitlessly generous with his genius. He was unbelievably complicated and shockingly self-aware."
Actor and comedian Jeffrey Tambor wrote after Lewis' death, "You invented the whole thing. Thank you doesn't even get close."
There have been numerous retrospectives of Lewis' films in the U.S. and abroad, most notably "Jerry Lewis: A Film and Television Retrospective" at Museum of the Moving Image, the 2013 Viennale, the 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival, "The Innovator: Jerry Lewis at Paramount", at American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, and "Happy Birthday Mr. Lewis: The Kid Turns 90", at MOMA.
Lewis is one of the few performers to have touched every aspect of 20th Century American entertainment, appearing in vaudeville, burlesque, the 'borsht belt', nightclubs, radio, Classical Hollywood Cinema (The 'Golden Age'), Las Vegas, television: variety, drama, sit-coms and talk shows, Broadway and independent films.
On August 21, 2017, multiple hotel marquees on the Las Vegas Strip honored Lewis with a coordinated video display of images of his career as a Las Vegas performer and resident. From 1949, as part of Martin and Lewis, and from 1956 as a solo, Lewis was a casino showroom headliner, playing numerous dates over the decades. It was also the home for the annual Labor Day MDA telethon.
On June 25, 2019, "The New York Times Magazine" listed Jerry Lewis among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
Between 1952 and 1971, DC Comics published a 124-issues comic book series with Lewis as one (later, the only) main protagonist, titled "The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis". In "The Simpsons", the character of Professor Frink is based on Lewis' Julius Kelp from "The Nutty Professor." In "Family Guy," Peter recreates Lewis' 'Chairman of the Board' scene from "The Errand Boy". Comedian, actor and friend of Lewis, Martin Short satirized him on the series "SCTV" in the sketches "The Nutty Lab Assistant", "Martin Scorsese presents Jerry Lewis Live on the Champs Elysees!", "The Tender Fella", and "Scenes From an Idiots Marriage", as well as on "Saturday Night Live"s "Celebrity Jeopardy!".
Also on "SNL", the Martin and Lewis reunion on the 1976 MDA Telethon is reported by Chevy Chase on "Weekend Update". Comedians Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo both parodied Lewis when he hosted SNL in 1983. Piscopo also channeled Jerry Lewis while performing as a 20th-century stand-up comedian in ""; in the second-season episode "The Outrageous Okona", Piscopo's Holodeck character, The Comic, tutors android Lieutenant Commander Data on humor and comedy. Comedian and actor Jim Carrey satirized Lewis on "In Living Color" in the sketch "Jheri's Kids Telethon". Carrey had an uncredited cameo playing Lewis in the series "Buffalo Bill" on the episode "Jerry Lewis Week". He also played Lewis, with impersonator Rich Little as Dean Martin, on stage. Actor Sean Hayes portrayed Lewis in the made-for-TV movie "Martin and Lewis", with Jeremy Northam as Dean Martin. Actor Kevin Bacon plays the Lewis character in the 2005 film "Where The Truth Lies," based on a fictionalized version of Martin and Lewis. In the satiric novel, "Funny Men", about singer/wild comic double act, the character Sigmund "Ziggy" Blissman, is based on Lewis.
John Saleeby, writer for "National Lampoon" has a humor piece "Ten Things You Should Know About Jerry Lewis".
In the animated cartoon "Popeye's 20th Anniversary", Martin and Lewis are portrayed on the dais. The animated series "Animaniacs" satirized Lewis in several episodes. The voice and boyish, naive cartoon character "SpongeBob SquarePants" is partially based on Lewis, with particular inspiration from his film "The Bellboy".
In 1998, The MTV animated show "Celebrity Deathmatch" had a clay-animated fight to the death between Dean Martin and Lewis. In a 1975 re-issue of "MAD Magazine" the contents of Lewis' wallet is satirized in their on-going feature "Celebrities' Wallets".
Lewis, and Martin & Lewis, as himself or his films, have been referenced by directors and performers of differing genres spanning decades, including, Blake Edwards's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1960), Andy Warhol's Soap Opera (1964), John Frankenheimer's "I Walk the Line" (1970), Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" (1972), Randal Kleiser's "Grease" (1978), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "In a Year of 13 Moons" (1978), Christopher Lloyd's Back to the Future (1985), Quentin Tarantino's Four Rooms (1995), Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" (2002), Hitchcock (2012), Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013), Jay Roach's "Trumbo" (2015), "The Comedians" (2015), "Baskets" (2016) and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (2017, 2018).
Similarly, varied musicians have mentioned Lewis in song lyrics including, Ice Cube, The Dead Milkmen, Queen Latifah, and Frank Zappa. The hip hop music band Beastie Boys have an unreleased single "The Jerry Lewis", which they mention, and danced to, on stage in Asheville, North Carolina in 2009. In their film "Paul's Boutique — A Visual Companion", clips from "The Nutty Professor" play to . In 1986, the comedy radio show "Dr. Demento" aired a parody of "Rock Me Amadeus", "Rock Me Jerry Lewis".
Apple iOS 10 includes an auto-text emoji for 'professor' with a Lewis lookalike portrayal from "The Nutty Professor".
The word "flaaaven!", with its many variations and rhymes, is a Lewis-ism often used as a misspoken word or a person's mis-pronounced name. In a 2016 episode of the podcast "West Wing Weekly", Joshua Malina is heard saying "flaven" when trying to remember a character's correct last name. Lewis' signature catchphrase "Hey, Laaady!" is ubiquitously used by comedians and laypersons alike.
Sammy Petrillo bore a coincidental resemblance to Lewis, so much so that Lewis at first tried to catch and kill Petrillo's career by signing him to a talent contract and then not giving him any work. When that failed (as Petrillo was under 18 at the time), Lewis tried to blackball Petrillo by pressuring television outlets and then nightclubs, also threatening legal action after Petrillo used his Lewis impersonation in the film "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15967 |
Johannes Agricola
Johann or Johannes Agricola (originally Schneider, then Schnitter) (April 20, 1494 – September 22, 1566) was a German Protestant Reformer in the Lutheran tradition during the Protestant Reformation. He was a follower and friend of Martin Luther, who became his antagonist in the matter of the binding obligation of the law on Christians.
Agricola was born at Eisleben, whence he is sometimes called Magister Islebius. He studied at Wittenberg, where he soon gained the friendship of Martin Luther. In 1519 he accompanied Luther to the great assembly of German divines at Leipzig, and acted as recording secretary. After teaching for some time in Wittenberg, he went to Frankfurt in 1525 to establish the Protestant mode of worship. He had resided there only a month when he was called to Eisleben, where he remained till 1526 as teacher in the school of St Andrew, and preacher in the Nicolai church.
In 1536 he was recalled to teach in Wittenberg, and was welcomed by Luther. Almost immediately, however, a controversy, which had been begun ten years before and been temporarily silenced, broke out more violently than ever. Agricola was the first to teach the views which Luther was the first to stigmatize by the name Antinomian, maintaining that while non-Christians were still held to the Mosaic law, Christians were entirely free from it, being under the gospel alone. (See also: Law and Gospel). After he wrote an attack on Luther shortly after Luther had given him shelter when he was fleeing persecution, Luther had nothing further to do with him.
As a consequence of the bitter controversy with Luther, in 1540 Agricola left Wittenberg secretly for Berlin, where he published a letter addressed to Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, which was generally interpreted as a recantation of his prior views. Luther, however, seems not to have so accepted it, and Agricola remained at Berlin.
Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg, having taken Agricola into his favour, appointed him court preacher and general superintendent. He held both offices until his death in 1566, and his career in Brandenburg was one of great activity and influence.
Along with Julius von Pflug, bishop of Naumburg-Zeitz, and Michael Helding, titular bishop of Sidon, he prepared the Augsburg Interim of 1548, a proposed settlement under which Protestants would accept all Catholic authority, being permitted to retain the Protestant teaching on justification but otherwise compelled to accept Catholic doctrine and practice. From that time, he was an outcast among Protestant theologians. It was an irony that one of the most radical Reformers ended his life viewed as having capitulated to Catholics.
He endeavored in vain to appease the Adiaphoristic controversy.
He died during an epidemic of plague on September 22, 1566 in Berlin.
Agricola wrote a number of theological works. He was among the first to make a commentated collection of German proverbs. The first volume contains 300 proverbs and was published in 1529 ("Drey hundert Gemeyner Sprichworter, der wir Deutschen vns gebrauchen, vnd doch nicht wissen woher sie kommen"; first published in Low German the year before); the second volume contains 450 proverbs and was published in 1530 ("Das ander teyl gemainer Tewtscher Sprichwörter, mit jhrer außlegung : hat fünffthalb hundert newer Wörtter"). A revised edition containing the seven hundred and fifty proverbs of the previous two volumes was published in 1534 ("Sybenhundert und fünfftzig teütscher Sprichwörter, verneüwert und gebessert") and later republished with updated orthography, for example, in Wittenberg in 1592.
In 1836, Robert Browning used him as the subject of an early poetic soliloquy, "Johannes Agricola in Meditation". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15970 |
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger
Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3 February 1736 – 7 March 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist and one of the teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Albrechtsberger was born at Klosterneuburg, near Vienna. He originally studied music at Melk Abbey and philosophy at a Benedictine seminary in Vienna and became one of the most learned and skillful contrapuntists of his age. Albrechtsberger's earliest classmates included Michael Haydn and Franz Joseph Aumann. After being employed as organist at Raab in 1755 and Maria Taferl in 1757, he was appointed Thurnermeister back at Melk Abbey. In 1772 he was appointed organist to the court of Vienna, and in 1792 Kapellmeister of St. Stephen's Cathedral.
His fame as a theorist attracted to him in the Austrian capital a large number of pupils, some of whom afterwards became eminent musicians. Among these were Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ignaz Moscheles, Josef Weigl (1766–1846), Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson (1768after 1824), Antonio Casimir Cartellieri, Ludwig van Beethoven, Anton Reicha and Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart. Beethoven had arrived in Vienna in 1792 to study with Joseph Haydn but quickly became infuriated when his work was not being given attention or corrected. Haydn recommended his friend Albrechtsberger, with whom Beethoven then studied harmony and counterpoint. On completion of his studies, the young student noted, "Patience, diligence, persistence, and sincerity will lead to success," which reflects upon Albrechtsberger's own compositional philosophy.
When Beethoven was finished studying with Albrechtsberger he decided to get a few more tips and pointers, so to speak, from Haydn. From there Beethoven possibly studied with Antonio Salieri, but this is unknown as a fact. It is also quite possible that Beethoven went off on his own to make a living, and only then returned after he had a stable career.
Albrechtsberger died in Vienna; his grave is in St. Marx cemetery.
His published compositions consist of preludes, fugues and sonatas for the piano and organ, string quartets, etc.; but the greater proportion of his works, vocal and instrumental, exists only in manuscript. They are in the library of the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Around 1765, he wrote at least seven concerti for Jew's harp and strings (three survive in the Hungarian National Library in Budapest). They are pleasant, well written works in the galant style. One of his most notable works is his Concerto for Alto Trombone and Orchestra in B Major. As the trombone has few works dating back to the classical period, his concerto is often highlighted by the trombone community. He also wrote a Concerto for the Mandola, Op. 27, written positively about in the 1914 book "The Guitar and Mandolin".
Probably the most valuable service he rendered to music was in his theoretical works. In 1790 he published at Leipzig a treatise on composition, of which a third edition appeared in 1821. A collection of his writings on harmony, in three volumes, was published under the care of his pupil Ignaz von Seyfried (1776–1841) in 1826. An English version of this was published by Novello in 1855. His compositional style derives from Johann Joseph Fux's counterpoint, who was Kapellmeister at St Stephen's Cathedral 1713–1741, a position that Albrechtsberger would hold 52 years later.
A continuous thread can be traced from his teaching through that of his pupil Reicha, who went on to become the first Professor of Counterpoint and Fugue at the Paris Conservatoire from 1818 to his death in 1836, and who in turn reached a wide audience through both his own teaching and his theoretical writings, which were standard reference at the Conservatoire for most of the 19th century and translated into German by Czerny. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15974 |
John Alden
John Alden ( 15981687) was a crew member on the historic 1620 voyage of the "Mayflower" which brought the English settlers commonly known as Pilgrims to Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts. He was hired in Southampton, England, as the ship's cooper, responsible for maintaining the ship's barrels. Although he was a member of the ship's crew and not a settler, Alden decided to remain in Plymouth Colony when the "Mayflower" returned to England, opting to remain with the Pilgrims as a colonist. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact.
He married fellow "Mayflower" passenger Priscilla Mullins, whose entire family perished in the first winter in Plymouth Colony. The marriage of the young couple became prominent in Victorian popular culture after the 1858 publication of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's fictitious narrative poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish." The book inspired widespread depictions of John and Priscilla Alden in art and literature during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Alden was one of Plymouth Colony's most active public servants and played a prominent role in colonial affairs. He was annually elected to the Governor's Council nearly every year from 1640 to 1686. He served as Treasurer of Plymouth Colony, Deputy to the General Court of Plymouth, a member of the colony's Council of War, and a member of the colony's Committee on Kennebec Trade, among other posts.
He was the last surviving signer of the Mayflower Compact upon his death in 1687. The approximate location of his grave in the Myles Standish Burial Ground was marked with a memorial stone in 1930. The site of his first house in Duxbury is preserved and marked with interpretative signage. The Alden Kindred of America, which began as a society of John and Priscilla's descendants, maintains the Alden House Historic Site in Duxbury, Massachusetts—a home likely built by Alden's son Capt. Jonathan Alden.
Historians and genealogists have advanced many theories as to the English origins of John Alden. According to the "American Ancestors" project of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Alden genealogical expert Alicia Crane Williams has called two of the hypothesized origins "tempting", however she asserts that none are definitively proven.
The only definite primary source evidence regarding John Alden's background comes from Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford's history, "Of Plymouth Plantation". Bradford wrote that Alden "was hired for a cooper, at South-Hampton, wher the ship victuled; and being a hopefull yong man, was much desired, but left to his owne liking to go or stay when he came here; but he stayed, and maryed here" (spelling is Bradford's original). Author Charles Edward Banks states that the employment of Alden "at Southampton" does not necessarily mean that he was a resident of the seaport and may have only been there to work temporarily when the "Mayflower" arrived.
Banks cited research by certain historians and genealogists who offered theories as to Alden's origins based on inconclusive but possibly relevant evidence. One such theory was proposed by historian and genealogist B. Carlyon-Hughes who found evidence of an Alden family living in Harwich in Essex, England during the 17th century. Harwich is an ancient North Sea port, northeast of London, which was the home port of the ship "Mayflower" and home of its captain, Christopher Jones. Carlyon-Hughes asserted that the Aldens of Harwich were related to Jones and also that a young John Alden of the Harwich Aldens was about the same age as the Mayflower passenger. A prior association with the captain of the "Mayflower" (although not definitively proven) could account, according to Banks, for Alden joining the crew. Historian George F. Willison subscribed to the Harwich origin theory and wrote that Alden's children "remembered him as tall, blond, and very powerful in physique". Willison, however, offers no specific source material for this description.
Another theory cited by Banks, which he called "a fair presumption", involves a John Alden of Southampton who "may have been the son of George Alden the fletcher, who disappeared – probably dying in that year – leaving John, an orphan, free to take employment overseas. Jane, the widow, may have been his mother and Richard and Avys his grandparents". The tax list of Holyrood Ward, Southampton in 1602 list the names of George Alden and John's future father-in-law William Mullins. Banks even went so far as to postulate that if the Alden and Mullins families both originated from Southampton, then perhaps the courtship between John Alden and Priscilla Mullins began in Southampton.
Alicia Crane Williams analyzed these and several other theories in "The Mayflower Descendant", a scholarly journal of Pilgrim history and genealogy. She pointed out that some genealogists have connected John Alden of the Mayflower with John Alden, a gentleman, "son and heir of John Alden of Swanscomb, Kent", who obtained a Patent of Arms in 1607. There is no evidence that John Alden of the "Mayflower" was connected to this family or inherited this coat of arms. Williams states, "This Alden coat of arms was published in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" and has led many unsuspecting [genealogists] astray."
Alden was hired by Capt. Christopher Jones in Southampton when he was about 21 years old to work as the ship's cooper during the "Mayflower's" voyage to America. According to historian Nathaniel Philbrick, due to Alden's useful skills as a barrel-maker and carpenter, the colonists encouraged him to remain with them in America during the voyage.
The "Mayflower" departed Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620. The 100-foot ship had aboard 102 passengers and a crew of about 20 to 30 in extremely cramped conditions. A lack of proper rations and unsanitary conditions for months caused illnesses that would eventually be fatal for many, particularly to women and children. During the voyage to North America, there were two deaths, a crew member and a passenger, but the worst was yet to come.
On November 9, 1620, after a month of delays in England and about two months at sea, they spotted Cape Cod. Their original destination had been the mouth of the Hudson River, which was then part of the Colony of Virginia. Capt. Jones made an attempt to round the southern end of Cape Cod but he lacked an adequate chart of the area known as Pollock's Rip and the strong currents and dangerous shoals there forced him to turn back. Due to widespread illness among the passengers and dwindling supplies, Jones determined that the colonists would have to disembark and settle in New England rather than the Hudson River. The "Mayflower" eventually came to anchor on November 11 in Provincetown Harbor at the northern tip of Cape Cod.
The decision to settle outside of Virginia Colony raised some problems. The group carried a patent which granted authority to their elected leaders and entitled them to establish their own plantation within the bounds of Virginia Colony. Because they would be settling in New England, the patent became irrelevant and some members began to question the authority of their leaders. To settle these questions, the colony's leadership drew up the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that they would work together, acting as "a civil body politic" in obedience to such laws as the colony might enact. The Mayflower Compact was signed by all free male settlers on November 11, the same day they set anchor at Provincetown. John Alden signed the document, which is an indication that he had already made the decision to remain with the settlers.
After exploring the inner shoreline of Cape Cod, the colonists chose to settle in Plymouth. The site offered a good harbor, several fresh water springs, and a large hill overlooking the harbor (which they would later name Burial Hill) suitable for a fort. A tribe known as the Patuxet (part of the Wampanoag peoples) had settled the site and cleared a large area of land for planting corn. By the time the "Mayflower" arrived, the Patuxet tribe had been wiped out by plagues, likely as a result of contact with English fishermen.
During their first winter in Plymouth, most of the settlers fell ill and half died of disease. Priscilla Mullins (John Alden's future wife) lost her entire family—her father William, her mother Alice, and her brother Joseph. The fifty colonists who survived began building a fort atop Burial Hill and small wooden houses on either side of a "street" now known as Leyden Street, named in 1823 after the town in Holland where the Pilgrims lived for several years. A small plot of land at the foot of Burial Hill near the top of the street was designated for John Alden. He built a primitive house in this location and lived there for about seven years with his wife Priscilla and his growing family. The site of Alden's first house in Plymouth was marked in 1930 with a boulder and bronze plaque placed by the Alden Kindred of America. A recreation of this house stands today at Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum which replicates the original Pilgrim settlement.
The exact date of John Alden's marriage to Priscilla Mullins was not noted in colonial records. According to the Pilgrim Society, it was likely in 1622 as Priscilla Mullins is not listed separately in the 1623 Division of Land. It was either the second or third marriage to take place in the colony.
The marriage of the two young colonists has been widely depicted in art and literature primarily due to the extraordinary popularity of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish," published in 1858. The fictionalized story tells of a love triangle involving John Alden, Priscilla Mullins, and Myles Standish (the captain of the colony's militia). In the story, Standish is too timid to express his feelings to Priscilla Mullins and therefore asks Alden to speak for him. Alden's words of courtship on Standish's behalf prompt Mullins to offer an often-quoted quip, "Why don't you speak for yourself, John?" The book sold 10,000 copies in London in a single day. In the United States, the story brought the Pilgrims to the forefront of American culture, contributing to the establishment of a national Thanksgiving holiday in 1863. The book made John and Priscilla Alden, according to historian Jim Baker, "the most celebrated Pilgrim couple in history".
While some historians state that the courtship story is "loosely based" on Alden family oral history, others dismiss it as complete fiction. A brief account of a rivalry between John Alden and Myles Standish for Priscilla's hand was first published in "A Collection of American Epitaphs and Inscriptions" by Timothy Alden in 1814. Longfellow, therefore, was not the originator of the story but he greatly embellished it. No part of the tale is supported by 17th century documentation. Historian John Goodwin pointed out several anachronisms and inconsistencies, asserting, there was no "reason for believing any part of it."
In 1626, the colony's financial backers in London, known as the Merchant Adventurers, disbanded. This left the colonists with no means of settling their significant debts to those who had funded the effort. Eight of the Plymouth colonists, including John Alden, agreed to collectively assume, or undertake, the debt in exchange for a monopoly on the fur trade from the colony. These men who averted financial ruin for the colony became known as the "Undertakers". This agreement to grant the Undertakers a monopoly was signed by the 37 freemen of Plymouth Colony. The fact that Alden was among the Undertakers is indicative of his growing stature in the colony.
Alden was elected Governor's Assistant (one of a small council of advisors to the Governor) in 1632 and was regularly reelected to that office until 1640 and then again from 1650 to 1686. He also served as Deputy Governor on two occasions in the absence of the Governor in 1665 and 1677. The colonists elected him Treasurer annually from 1656 to 1658. Alden served on the colony's Council of War, an important committee to decide on matters pertaining to the defense of the colony, in 1642, 1643, 1646, 1653, 1658 and 1667. The Plymouth General Court appointed Alden to a number of important committees including the Committee to Revise Laws, the Committee on the Kennebec Trade, and a number of additional minor posts.
Plymouth Colony held a patent entitling them to a monopoly on the fur trade at the Kennebec River in what would later become Maine. In 1634, a man named John Hocking from Piscataqua Plantation in New Hampshire interloped in the trade provoking a confrontation between him and traders from Plymouth Colony at Kennebec. Hocking shot a Plymouth colonist named Moses Talbot and, in turn, a Plymouth man shot Hocking. When the Plymouth traders arrived by boat at Boston, authorities there decided to imprison John Alden who was aboard the Plymouth vessel, even though he had not been present during the violence. It was only through the intervention of William Bradford that Alden was eventually released.
In January 1628, the land along Plymouth Bay was divided up into farm lots with each individual receiving 20 acres plus an additional 20 acres for each family member. John and Priscilla Alden, who had three children at that time, received 100 acres along the Bluefish River in the area known as Duxbury (sometimes spelled Duxburough or Duxborrow at that time). Grants were drawn by lot, so the location of Alden's farm was not his selection. By chance, as historian Dorothy Wentworth observed, the location was ideal as it included upland that had been partially cleared by Native Americans, woodland, and salt marshes (a good source of hay). Alden built their first small house in 1628. As they were required to travel to Plymouth every Sunday for Sabbath services (10 miles away), they lived seasonally on their Duxbury farm for the first few years, staying in Plymouth during the winter to avoid long travels in harsh weather. The site was professionally excavated by Roland Wells Robbins in 1960, unearthing many artifacts including a halberd blade which is now exhibited at Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth. The site is now part of the Duxbury school campus and is located next to a playing field. The footprint of the house is evident as a depression in the ground and is marked by a boulder, plaque, and other interpretive signage.
In 1632, Alden was one of several men who petitioned the colony to have Duxbury set off as a separate church congregation with their own minister. This would allow those with Duxbury grants to reside on their farms year-round. William Bradford and other colonial officials were reluctant to break apart the "mother" church congregation in Plymouth but nonetheless gave permission. Duxbury was incorporated as a separate town in 1637. John Alden became one of the leading men of the new town of Duxbury and a key figure in the colony. He served as Deputy from Duxbury to the General Court for most of the 1640s.
Local historians of the 19th and 20th centuries asserted that a later Alden house in Duxbury was the second home of John and Priscilla Alden and was constructed in 1653. As local historian Dorothy Wentworth wrote, the tradition "has been accepted for so long that there seems no point in doubting it." This house is now owned by the Alden Kindred of America and maintained as a museum known as the Alden House Historic Site. Long-standing assumptions about the house turned out to be incorrect as Dendrochronological and architectural analysis conducted in 2003 suggest that the house was likely built about 1700 and therefore was not the home of John and Priscilla Alden. It was likely built by one of their children (possibly Jonathan Alden) or grandchildren.
The Alden's first Duxbury home site and the Alden House Historic Site were together granted National Historic Landmark status in 2008.
John and Priscilla Alden had ten children. The first, Elizabeth, was born in 1623 in Plymouth and died in Little Compton, Rhode Island, on May 31, 1717. She married William Pabodie on December 26, 1644 in Duxbury and had thirteen children. Her grave and that of her husband are in the Old Commons Cemetery in Little Compton.
John Jr. was born about 1626 in Plymouth and died in Boston on March 14, 1701/2. He married Elizabeth (Phillips) Everill on April 1, 1660, and had fourteen children. He became a prosperous maritime merchant. He also played a controversial role in dealings with Native Americans in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia during King William's War. In 1692, he was accused of being a witch during the Salem witch trials and jailed, though he later escaped and fled to Duxbury.
Joseph was born about 1628 and died in Bridgewater, Massachusetts on February 8, 1696/7. He married Mary Simmons about 1660 and had seven children.
Priscilla was born about 1630. Little is known about her life except for a record which indicates she was alive and unmarried in 1688.
Jonathan was born about 1632 and died in Duxbury on February 14, 1697. He married Abigail Hallett on December 10, 1672, and had six children. Jonathan was buried in the Old Burying Ground in Duxbury. He was captain of the Plymouth Colony militia and documentation indicates that at his burial, the militia company attended in formation. During his burial, Rev. Ichabod Wiswall of Duxbury delivered a sermon. It is the first known instance of a sermon being delivered at a Plymouth Colony burial indicated changing religious customs. Prior to this, burials were simple affairs without religious ritual.
Sarah was born about 1634 and died before the settlement of her father's estate in 1688. She married Alexander Standish, son of Myles Standish, about 1660 and had eight children.
Ruth was born about 1636 and died in Braintree, Massachusetts on October 12, 1674. She married John Bass in Braintree on February 3, 1658, and had seven children. Among her children was Hannah Bass, paternal grandmother of future United States President John Adams.
Mary was born about 1638. She was alive and unmarried in 1688.
Rebecca was born about 1640. She married Thomas Delano in 1677 and had nine children. She died between June 12, 1696 and October 5, 1722. She is buried in Old Burying Ground in Duxbury.
David was born about 1642 and died in Duxbury between July 2, 1718, and April 1, 1719. He married Mary Southworth by 1674 and had six children.
John Alden was the last survivor of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. He died in Duxbury on September 12, 1687. Both he and his wife Priscilla were buried in the Old Burying Ground in Duxbury. The precise location of their graves is not known as markers either were not placed or have crumbled away. In 1930, the Alden Kindred of America placed commemorative slate stones at the estimated location of their graves near the headstone of their son, Capt. Jonathan Alden.
Several artifacts attributed to John Alden are exhibited at major museums. These include the halberd blade discovered in the 1960 archaeological dig at the Alden first house site in Duxbury, the Alden family bible, and a mortar and pestle attributed to John and Priscilla Alden, all of which are displayed at Pilgrim Hall Museum. A wheel-lock carbine attributed to John Alden is housed at the National Firearms Museum. Of early 17th century Italian make, the carbine was found in the Alden House during a 1924 restoration.
The Alden Kindred of America, initially a society composed strictly of Alden descendants, was established in 1906. It is now an incorporated non-profit organization welcoming both Alden descendants and non-descendants to its membership. The organization manages the Alden House Historic Site in Duxbury, Massachusetts. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15975 |
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes.
The traditional cuisine of Japan, , lit. "Japanese eating" (or ), is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes; there is an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Side dishes often consist of fish, pickled vegetables, and vegetables cooked in broth. Seafood is common, often grilled, but also served raw as sashimi or in sushi. Seafood and vegetables are also deep-fried in a light batter, as tempura. Apart from rice, staples include noodles, such as soba and udon. Japan also has many simmered dishes such as fish products in broth called oden, or beef in sukiyaki and nikujaga.
Historically influenced by Chinese cuisine, Japanese cuisine has opened up to influence from Western cuisines in the modern era. Dishes inspired by foreign food—in particular Chinese food—like ramen and gyōza, as well as foods like spaghetti, curry, and hamburgers have become adopted with variants for Japanese tastes and ingredients. Traditionally, the Japanese shunned meat due to Buddhism, but with the modernization of Japan in the 1880s, meat-based dishes such as tonkatsu and yakiniku have become common. Japanese cuisine, particularly sushi, has become popular throughout the world.
In 2011, Japan overtook France to become the country with the most 3-starred Michelin restaurants; as of 2018, the capital Tokyo has maintained the title of the city with the most 3-starred restaurants in the world.
The word is now the common word for traditional Japanese cooking.
The term is actually synonymous with "cooking", but became a reference to mostly Japanese cooking, or restaurants, and was much used in the Meiji and Taishō eras. It has come to connote a certain standard, perhaps even of the highest caliber, a restaurant with the most highly trained chefs. But "kappo" is generally seen as an eating establishment which is slightly more casual or informal compared to the ,
The is tied with the Japanese tea ceremony. The "kaiseki" is considered a (simplified) form of , which was formal banquet dining where several trays of food was served.
There is also the homophone . The "kaiseki" referred to a gathering of composers of haiku or renga, and the simplified version of the "honzen" dishes served at the poem parties became "kaiseki ryōri". However, the meaning of "kaiseki ryōri" degenerated to become just another term for a sumptuous carousing banquet, or .
Japanese cuisine is based on combining the staple food, which is steamed white rice or , with one or more "okazu" or main dishes and side dishes. This may be accompanied by a clear or miso soup and "tsukemono" (pickles). The phrase refers to the makeup of a typical meal served, but has roots in classic "kaiseki", "honzen," and "yūshoku" cuisine. The term is also used to describe the first course served in standard "kaiseki" cuisine nowadays.
Rice is served in its own small bowl ("chawan"), and each main course item is placed on its own small plate ("sara") or bowl ("hachi") for each individual portion. This is done even in Japanese homes. It contrasts with the Western-style dinners at home, where each individual takes helpings from the large serving dishes of food presented at the middle of the dining table. Japanese style traditionally abhors different-flavored dishes touching each other on a single plate, so different dishes are given their own individual plates as mentioned, or are partitioned using, for example, leaves. Placing main dishes on top of rice and "soiling" is also frowned upon by old-fashioned etiquette.
Though this tradition originated from Classical Chinese dining formalities, especially after the adoption of Buddhism with its tea ceremony, it became most popular and common during and after the 'Kamakura period, such as the "kaiseki". Japanese cuisine keeps such tradition still, whereas in modern times such practice is in sharp contrast to present day Chinese cuisine, where placing food on rice is standard. However, an exception is the popular "donburi".
The small rice bowl or "chawan" (lit. "tea bowl") doubles as a word for the large tea bowls in tea ceremonies. Thus in common speech, the drinking cup is referred to as "yunomi-jawan" or "yunomi" for the purpose of distinction. In the olden days, among the nobility, each course of a full-course Japanese meal would be brought on serving napkins called , which were originally platformed trays or small dining tables. In the modern age, faldstool trays or stackup-type legged trays may still be seen used in "zashiki", i.e. tatami-mat rooms, for large banquets or at a ryokan type inn. Some restaurants might use the suffix as a more sophisticated though dated synonym to the more familiar , since the latter basically is a term for a combo meal served at a "taishū-shokudō", akin to a diner. "Teishoku" means a meal of fixed menu (for example, grilled fish with rice and soup), a dinner "à prix fixe" served at or , which is somewhat vague ("shokudō" can mean a diner-type restaurant or a corporate lunch hall); writer on Japanese popular culture Ishikawa Hiroyoshi defines it as fare served at , and comparable diner-like establishments.
Rice is a staple in Japanese cuisine. Wheat and soybeans were introduced shortly after rice. All three act as staple foods in Japanese cuisine today. During the Kofun period, Buddhism became the official religion of the country. Therefore, eating meat and fish were prohibited. In 675 AD, Emperor Tenmu prohibited the eating of horses, dogs, monkeys, and chickens. In the 8th and 9th century, many emperors continued to prohibit killing many types of animals. The number of regulated meats increased significantly, leading to the banning of all mammals except whale, which were categorized as fish. During this period, chopsticks were introduced to Japan. Initially they were only used by nobility. The general population used their hands, as utensils were quite expensive.
Due to the lack of meat products Japanese people minimized spice utilization. Spices were rare to find at the time. Spices like pepper and garlic were only used in a minimalist amount. In the absence of meat, fish was served as the main protein, as Japan is an island nation. Fish has influenced many iconic Japanese dishes today. In the 9th century, grilled fish and sliced raw fish were widely popular. Japanese people who could afford it would eat fish at every meal; others would have to make do without animal protein for many of their meals. In traditional Japanese cuisine, oil and fat are usually avoided within the cooking process, because Japanese people were trying to keep a healthy lifestyle.
Preserving fish became a sensation; sushi was originated as means of preserving fish by fermenting it in boiled rice. Fish that are salted and then placed in rice are preserved by lactic acid fermentation, which helps prevent proliferation of the bacteria that bring about putrefaction. During the 15th century, advancement and development helped shorten the fermentation of sushi to about one to two weeks. Sushi thus became a popular snack food and main entrée, combining fish with rice. During the Edo period (mid-15th century), sushi without fermentation was introduced. Sushi was still being consumed without fermentation till the end of 18th century, when the hand-rolled and nigri-type sushi was invented.
In 1854, Japan started to gain new trade deals with Western countries when a new Japanese ruling order took over (known as the Meiji Restoration). Emperor Meiji, the new ruler, staged a New Years feast designed to embrace the Western world and countries in 1872. The feast contained food that had a lot of European emphasis. For the first time in a thousand years, people were allowed to consume meat in public. After this New Years feast, the general population from Japan started to consume meat again.
Emphasis is placed on seasonality of food or , and dishes are designed to herald the arrival of the four seasons or calendar months.
Seasonality means taking advantage of the (for example, bamboo shoots in spring, chestnuts in the autumn) as well as the as they come into season. Thus that arrives with the Kuroshio Current has traditionally been greatly prized.
If something becomes available rather earlier than what is usual for the item in question, the first crop or early catch is called "hashiri".
Use of tree leaves and branches as decor is also characteristic of Japanese cuisine. Maple leaves are often floated on water to exude coolness or ; sprigs of nandina are popularly used. The "haran" ("Aspidistra") and sasa bamboo leaves were often cut into shapes and placed underneath or used as separators.
A characteristic of traditional Japanese food is the sparing use of red meat, oils and fats, and dairy products. Use of ingredients such as soy sauce, miso, and umeboshi tends to result in dishes with high salt content, though there are low-sodium versions of these available.
As Japan is an island nation surrounded by an ocean, its people have always taken advantage of the abundant seafood supply. It is the opinion of some food scholars that the Japanese diet always relied mainly on "grains with vegetables or seaweeds as main, with poultry secondary, and red meat in slight amounts" even before the advent of Buddhism which placed an even stronger taboo. The eating of was spoken of as taboo, unclean or something to be avoided by personal choice through the Edo period. The consumption of whale and terrapin meat were not forbidden under this definition. Despite this, the consumption of red meat did not completely disappear in Japan. Eating wild game—as opposed to domesticated livestock—was tolerated; in particular, trapped hare was counted using the measure word , a term normally reserved for birds.
In 1872 of the Meiji restoration, as part of the opening up of Japan to Western influence, Emperor Meiji lifted the ban on the consumption of red meat. The removal of the ban encountered resistance and in one notable response, ten monks attempted to break into the Imperial Palace. The monks asserted that due to foreign influence, large numbers of Japanese had begun eating meat and that this was "destroying the soul of the Japanese people." Several of the monks were killed during the break-in attempt, and the remainder were arrested.
Vegetable consumption has dwindled while processed foods have become more prominent in Japanese households due to the rising costs of general foodstuffs. Nonetheless, Kyoto vegetables, or Kyoyasai, are rising in popularity and different varieties of Kyoto vegetables are being revived.
Generally speaking, traditional Japanese cuisine is prepared with little cooking oil. A major exception is the deep-frying of foods. This cooking method was introduced during the Edo period due to influence from Western (formerly called ) and Chinese cuisine, and became commonplace with the availability of cooking oil due to increased productivity. Dishes such as tempura, aburaage, and satsuma age are now part of established traditional Japanese cuisine. Words such as "tempura" or "hiryōzu" (synonymous with ganmodoki) are said to be of Portuguese origin.
Also, certain rustic sorts of traditional Japanese foods such as kinpira, hijiki, and "kiriboshi" daikon usually involve stir-frying in oil before stewing in soy sauce. Some standard "osōzai" or obanzai dishes feature stir-fried Japanese greens with either age or , dried sardines.
Traditional Japanese food is typically seasoned with a combination of dashi, soy sauce, sake and mirin, vinegar, sugar, and salt. These are typically the only seasonings used when grilling or braising an item. A modest number of herbs and spices may be used during cooking as a hint or accent, or as a means of neutralizing fishy or gamy odors present. Examples of such spices include ginger and red pepper. This contrasts conceptually with barbecue or stew, where a blend of seasonings is used before and during cooking.
Once a main dish has been cooked, spices such as minced ginger and various pungent herbs may be added as a garnish, called "tsuma". With certain milder items, a dollop of wasabi and grated daikon ("daikon-oroshi"), or Japanese mustard are provided as condiments. A sprig of mitsuba or a piece of yuzu rind floated on soups are called "ukimi". Minced shiso leaves and myoga often serve as "yakumi", a type of condiment paired with tataki of katsuo or soba. Finally, a dish may be garnished with minced seaweed in the form of crumpled nori or flakes of aonori. Shichimi is also a very popular spice mixture often added to soups, noodles and rice cakes. Shichimi is a chilli-based spice mix which contains seven spices: chilli, sansho, orange peel, black sesame, white sesame, hemp, ginger, and nori.
In the aforementioned stock phrase , the word has the basic meaning of "vegetable", but secondarily means any accompanying dish (whether it uses fish or meat), with the more familiar combined form , which is a term for any side dish, such as the vast selections sold at Japanese supermarkets or .
It figures in the Japanese word for appetizer, ; main dish, ; or (formal synonym for "okazu", but the latter is considered somewhat of a ladies' term or "nyōbō kotoba".
The is boiled green-leaf vegetables bunched and cut to size, steeped in dashi broth, eaten with dashes of soy sauce. Another item is , which could be made with wakame seaweed, or be something like a made from thin toothpick slices of daikon and carrot. The so-called vinegar that is blended with the ingredient here is often which is a blend of vinegar, mirin, and soy sauce. A adds katsuo dashi to this. Note sparing use of oil, compared with Western salads.
An is another group of items, describable as a sort of "tossed salad" or "dressed" (though "aemono" also includes thin strips of squid or fish sashimi ("itozukuri") etc. similarly prepared). One types are where usually vegetables such as green beans are tossed with white or black sesame seeds ground in a suribachi mortar bowl, flavored additionally with sugar and soy sauce. adds tofu (bean curd) in the mix. An "aemono" is tossed with vinegar-white miso mix and uses "wakegi" scallion and as standard.
Different cooking techniques are applied to each of the three "okazu"; they may be raw (sashimi), grilled, simmered (sometimes called boiled), steamed, deep-fried, vinegared, or dressed.
Below are listed some of the most common dishes:
"Kaiseki", closely associated with tea ceremony ("chanoyu"), is a high form of hospitality through cuisine. The style is minimalist, extolling the aesthetics of wabi-sabi. Like the tea ceremony, appreciation of the diningware and vessels is part of the experience. In the modern standard form, the first course consists of "ichijū-sansai" (one soup, three dishes), followed by the serving of sake accompanied by dish(es) plated on a square wooden bordered tray of sorts called . Sometimes another element called is served to complement the sake, for guests who are heavier drinkers.
Strictly vegetarian food is rare since even vegetable dishes are flavored with the ubiquitous dashi stock, usually made with katsuobushi (dried skipjack tuna flakes), and are therefore pescetarian more often than carnivorous. An exception is "shōjin-ryōri" (精進料理), vegetarian dishes developed by Buddhist monks. However, the advertised "shōjin-ryōri" at public eating places includes some non-vegetarian elements. Vegetarianism, was introduced from China by the Ōbaku sect (a sub-sect of Zen Buddhism), and which some sources still regard as part of "Japanese cuisine". The sect in Japan was founded by the priest Ingen (d. 1673), and is headquartered in Uji, Kyoto. The Japanese name for the common green bean takes after this priest who allegedly introduced the New World crop via China. One aspect of the fucha-ryōri practiced at the temple is the wealth of , one example being mock-eel, made from strained tofu, with nori seaweed used expertly to mimic the black skin. The secret ingredient used is grated "gobō" (burdock) roots.
Dr. Masakazu Tada, Honorary Vice-President of the International Vegetarian Union for 25 years from 1960, stated that "Japan was vegetarian for 1,000 years". The taboo against eating meat was lifted in 1872 by the Meiji Emperor as part of an effort towards westernizing Japan. British journalist J. W. Robertson Scott reported in the 1920s that the society was still 90% vegetarian. 50–60% of the population ate fish only on festive occasions, probably more because of poverty than for any other reason.
Rice has been the staple food for the Japanese historically. Its fundamental importance is evident from the fact that the word for cooked rice, "gohan" and "meshi", also stands for a "meal". While rice has a long history of cultivation in Japan, its use as a staple has not been universal. Notably, in northern areas (northern Honshū and Hokkaidō), other grains such as wheat were more common into the 19th century.
In most of Japan, rice used to be consumed for almost every meal, and although a 2007 survey showed that 70% of Japanese still eat it once or twice a day, its popularity is now declining. In the 20th century there has been a shift in dietary habits, with an increasing number of people choosing wheat-based products (such as bread and noodles) over rice.
Japanese rice is short-grained and becomes sticky when cooked. Most rice is sold as "hakumai" (白米, "white rice"), with the outer portion of the grains (糠, "nuka") polished away. Unpolished brown rice (玄米, "genmai") is considered less desirable, but its popularity has been increasing.
Japanese noodles often substitute for a rice-based meal. "Soba" (thin, grayish-brown noodles containing buckwheat flour) and "udon" (thick wheat noodles) are the main traditional noodles, while ramen is a modern import and now very popular. There are also other, less common noodles.
Japanese noodles, such as soba and udon, are eaten as a standalone, and usually not with a side dish, in terms of general custom. It may have toppings, but they are called . The fried battered shrimp tempura sitting in a bowl of tempura-soba would be referred to as "the shrimp" or "the tempura", and not so much be referred to as a topping ("gu"). The identical toppings, if served as a dish to be eaten with plain white rice could be called "okazu", so these terms are context-sensitive.
Hot noodles are usually served in a bowl already steeped in their broth and are called "kakesoba" or "kakeudon". Cold soba arrive unseasoned and heaped atop a "zaru" or "seiro", and are picked up with a chopstick and dunked in their dip sauce. The broth is a soy-dashi-mirin type of mix; the dip is similar but more concentrated (heavier on soy sauce).
In the simple form, "yakumi" (condiments and spices) such as shichimi, nori, finely chopped scallions, wasabi, etc. are added to the noodles, besides the broth/dip sauce.
Udon may also be eaten in "kama-age" style, piping hot straight out of the boiling pot, and eaten with plain soy sauce and sometimes with raw egg also.
Japanese noodles are traditionally eaten by bringing the bowl close to the mouth, and sucking in the noodles with the aid of chopsticks. The resulting loud slurping noise is considered normal in Japan, although in the 2010s concerns began to be voiced about the slurping being offensive to others, especially tourists. The word "nuuhara" (ヌーハラ, from "nuudoru harasumento", noodle harassment) was coined to describe this.
Traditional Japanese sweets are known as "wagashi". Ingredients such as red bean paste and mochi are used. More modern-day tastes includes green tea ice cream, a very popular flavor. Almost all manufacturers produce a version of it. Kakigōri is a shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup or condensed milk. It is usually sold and eaten at summer festivals. A dessert very popular among the children in Japan are dorayaki. They are sweet pancakes filled with a sweet red bean paste. They are mostly eaten at room temperature but are also considered very delicious hot.
Green tea may be served to most Japanese dishes. It is produced in Japan and prepared in various forms such as matcha, the tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony.
Beer production started in Japan in the 1860s. The most commonly consumed beers in Japan are pale-colored light lagers, with an alcohol strength of around 5.0% ABV. Lager beers are the most commonly produced beer style in Japan, but beer-like beverages, made with lower levels of malts called "Happoshu" (発泡酒, literally, "bubbly alcohol") or non-malt Happousei (発泡性, literally "effervescence") have captured a large part of the market as tax is substantially lower on these products. Beer and its varieties have a market share of almost 2/3 of alcoholic beverages.
Small local microbreweries have also gained increasing popularity since the 1990s, supplying distinct tasting beers in a variety of styles that seek to match the emphasis on craftsmanship, quality, and ingredient provenance often associated with Japanese food.
Sake is a brewed rice beverage that typically contains 15–17% alcohol and is made by multiple fermentation of rice. At traditional formal meals, it is considered an equivalent to rice and is not simultaneously taken with other rice-based dishes, although this notion is typically no longer applied to modern, refined, premium ("ginjo") sake, which bear little resemblance to the sakes of even 100 years ago. Side dishes for sake are particularly called "sakana" or "otsumami".
Sake is brewed in a highly labor-intensive process more similar to beer production than winemaking, hence, the common description of sake as rice "wine" is misleading.
Sake is made with, by legal definition, strictly just four ingredients: special rice, water, koji, and special yeast.
As of 2014, Japan has some 1500 registered breweries, which produce thousands of different sakes. Sake characteristics and flavor profiles vary with regionality, ingredients, and the styles (maintained by brewmaster guilds) that brewery leaders want to produce.
Sake flavor profiles lend extremely well to pairing with a wide variety of cuisines, including non-Japanese cuisines.
"Shōchū" is a distilled spirit that is typically made from barley, sweet potato, buckwheat, or rice. "Shōchū" is produced everywhere in Japan, but its production started in Kyushu.
Japanese whisky began commercial production in the early 20th century, and is now extremely popular, primarily consumed in . It is produced in the Scottish style, with malt whisky produced since the 1980s, and has since won top international awards, since the 2000s.
A domestic wine production exists since the 1860s yet most wine is imported. The total market share of wine on alcoholic beverages is about 3%.
Japanese cuisine offers a vast array of regional specialties known as "kyōdo-ryōri" (郷土料理), many of them originating from dishes prepared using traditional recipes with local ingredients. Foods from the Kantō region taste very strong. For example, the dashi-based broth for serving udon noodles is heavy on dark soy sauce, similar to soba broth. On the other hand, Kansai region foods are lightly seasoned, with clear udon noodles. made with light soy sauce.
The traditional Japanese table setting has varied considerably over the centuries, depending primarily on the type of table common during a given era. Before the 19th century, small individual box tables ("hakozen", 箱膳) or flat floor trays were set before each diner. Larger low tables ("chabudai", ちゃぶ台) that accommodated entire families were gaining popularity by the beginning of the 20th century, but these gave way to Western-style dining tables and chairs by the end of the 20th century.
Traditional Japanese table setting is to place a bowl of rice on the diner’s left and to place a bowl of miso soup on the diner’s right side at the table. Behind these, each "okazu" is served on its own individual plate. Based on the standard three "okazu" formula, behind the rice and soup are three flat plates to hold the three "okazu"; one to far back left, one at far back right, and one in the center. Pickled vegetables are often served on the side but are not counted as part of the three "okazu". Chopsticks are generally placed at the very front of the tray near the diner with pointed ends facing left and supported by a chopstick rest, or "hashioki".
Many restaurants and homes in Japan are equipped with Western-style chairs and tables. However, traditional Japanese low tables and cushions, usually found on tatami floors, are also very common. Tatami mats, which are made of straw, can be easily damaged and are hard to clean, thus shoes or any type of footwear are always taken off when stepping on tatami floors.
When dining in a traditional tatami room, sitting upright on the floor is common. In a casual setting, men usually sit with their feet crossed and women sit with both legs to one side. Only men are supposed to sit cross-legged. The formal way of sitting for both sexes is a kneeling style known as "seiza". To sit in a "seiza" position, one kneels on the floor with legs folded under the thighs and the buttocks resting on the heels.
When dining out in a restaurant, the customers are guided to their seats by the host. The honored or eldest guest will usually be seated at the center of the table farthest from the entrance. In the home, the most important guest is also seated farthest away from the entrance. If there is a tokonoma, or alcove, in the room, the guest is seated in front of it. The host sits next to or closest to the entrance.
In Japan, it is customary to say "itadakimasu" ("I [humbly] receive") before starting to eat a meal. When saying "itadakimasu", both hands are put together in front of the chest or on the lap. "Itadakimasu" is preceded by complimenting the appearance of food. The Japanese attach as much importance to the aesthetic arrangement of the food as its actual taste. Before touching the food, it is polite to compliment the host on his artistry. It is also a polite custom to wait for the eldest guest at the table to start eating before the other diners start. Another customary and important etiquette is to say "go-chisō-sama deshita" ("It was a feast") to the host after the meal and the restaurant staff when leaving.
In Japanese tradition some dishes are strongly tied to a festival or event. These dishes include:
In some regions, on every first and fifteenth day of the month,people eat a mixture of rice and azuki ("azuki meshi" (小豆飯); see Sekihan).
Japan has a long history of importing food from other countries, some of which are now part of Japan's most popular cuisine. Ramen is considered an important part to their culinary history, to the extent where in survey of 2,000 Tokyo residents, instant ramen came up many times as a product they thought was an outstanding Japanese invention. Believed to have originated in China, ramen became popular in Japan after the Second Sino-Japanese war (1937–1945), when many Chinese students were displaced to Japan.
Curry is another popular imported dish and is ranked near the top of nearly all Japanese surveys for favorite foods. The average Japanese person eats curry at least once a week. The origins of curry, as well many other foreign imports such as "pan" or bread, are linked to the emergence of "yōshoku", or western cuisine. "Yōshoku" can be traced as far back as the late Muromachi period (1336–1573) during a culinary revolution called "namban ryori" (南蛮料理), which means “Southern barbarian cooking”, as it is rooted in European cuisine. This cuisine style was first seen in Nagasaki, which served as the point of contact between Europe and Japan at that point in time. Food items such as potatoes, corn, dairy products, as well as the hard candy "kompeito" (金平糖), spread during this time. This cuisine became popular in the Meiji period, which is considered by many historians to be when Japan first opened itself to the outside world. Today, many of these imported items still hold a heavy presence in Japan.
Japan today abounds with home-grown, loosely Western-style food. Many of these were invented in the wake of the 1868 Meiji Restoration and the end of national seclusion, when the sudden influx of foreign (in particular, Western) culture led to many restaurants serving Western food, known as "yōshoku" (洋食), a shortened form of "seiyōshoku" (西洋食, "Western cuisine"), opening up in cities. Restaurants that serve these foods are called "yōshokuya" (洋食屋, "Western cuisine restaurants").
Many "yōshoku" items from that time have been adapted to a degree that they are now considered Japanese and are an integral part of any Japanese family menu. Many are served alongside rice and miso soup, and eaten with chopsticks. Yet, due to their origins these are still categorized as "yōshoku" as opposed to the more traditional "washoku" (和食, "Japanese cuisine").
Okonomiyaki is a savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients.
Tonkatsu is a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet.
Curry was introduced to Japan by the British in the Meiji period. Japanese versions of curry can be found in foods such as curry udon, curry bread, and "katsukarē", tonkatsu served with curry. They very commonly come with rice beside the curry on the dish. This can be eaten during dinner most of the time.
Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat stock broth known as ramen have become extremely popular over the last century.
Hamburger chains active in Japan include McDonald's, Burger King, First Kitchen, Lotteria and MOS Burger. Many chains developed uniquely Japanese versions of American fast food such as the teriyaki burger, kinpira (sauté) rice burger, fried shrimp burgers, and green tea milkshakes.
High-class Japanese chefs have preserved many Italian seafood dishes that are forgotten in other countries. These include pasta with prawns, lobster (a specialty known in Italy as pasta all'aragosta), crab (an Italian specialty; in Japan it is served with a different species of crab), and pasta with sea urchin sauce (sea urchin pasta being a specialty of the Puglia region).
Many countries have imported portions of Japanese cuisine. Some may adhere to the traditional preparations of the cuisines, but in some cultures the dishes have been adapted to fit the palate of the local populace. In 1970s sushi travelled from Japan to Canada and the United States, it was modified to suit the American palate, and re-entered the Japanese market as "American Sushi". An example of this phenomenon is the California roll, which was created in North America in the 1970s, rose in popularity across the United States through the 1980s, and thus sparked Japanese food's – more precisely, sushi's – global popularity.
In 2014, Japanese Restaurant Organization has selected potential countries where Japanese food is becoming increasingly popular, and conducted research concerning the Japanese restaurants abroad. These key nations or region are Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. This was meant as an effort to promote Japanese cuisine and to expand the market of Japanese ingredients, products and foodstuffs. Numbers of Japanese foodstuff and seasoning brands such as Ajinomoto, Kikkoman, Nissin and Kewpie mayonnaise, are establishing production base in other Asian countries, such as China, Thailand and Indonesia.
The California roll has been influential in sushi's global popularity; its invention often credited to a Japanese-born chef working in Los Angeles, with dates assigned to 1973, or even 1964. The dish has been snubbed by some purist sushi chefs, and also likened to the America-born chop suey by one scholar.
Two of the first Japanese restaurants in the United States were Saito and Nippon. Restaurants such as these popularized dishes such as sukiyaki and tempura, while Nippon was the first restaurant in Manhattan to have a dedicated sushi bar. Nippon was also one of the first Japanese restaurants in the U.S. to grow and process their own soba and responsible for creation of the now standard beef negimayaki dish.
In the U.S., the teppanyaki "iron hot plate" cooking restaurant took foothold. Such restaurants featured steak, shrimp and vegetables (including bean sprouts), cooked in front of the customer on a "teppanyaki grill" (teppan) by a personal chef who turns cooking into performance art, twirling and juggling cutting knives like batons. The meal would be served with steamed rice and Japanese soup. This style of cooking was made popular in the U.S. when Rocky Aoki founded his popular restaurant chain Benihana in 1964. In Japan this type of cooking is thought to be American food, but in the U.S. it is thought to be Japanese. Aoki thought this would go over better in the U.S. than traditional Japanese cuisine because he felt that Americans enjoyed "eating in exotic surroundings, but are deeply mistrustful of exotic foods”.
In Canada, Japanese cuisine has become quite popular. Sushi, sashimi, and instant ramen are highly popular at opposite ends of the income scale, with instant ramen being a common low-budget meal. Sushi and sashimi takeout began in Vancouver and Toronto, and is now common throughout Canada. The largest supermarket chains all carry basic sushi and sashimi, and Japanese ingredients and instant ramen are readily available in most supermarkets. Most mid-sized mall food courts feature fast-food teppan cooking. Izakaya restaurants have surged in popularity.
Japanese cuisine is very popular in Australia, and Australians are becoming increasingly familiar with traditional Japanese foods. Restaurants serving Japanese cuisine feature prominently in popular rankings, including Gourmet Traveller and The Good Food Guide.
Sushi in particular has been described as being "as popular as sandwiches", particularly in large cities like Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane. As such, sushi bars are a mainstay in shopping centre food courts, and are extremely common in cities and towns all over the country.
Japanese food restaurant chains in the UK include Wagamama, YO! Sushi, Nudo Sushi Box, Wasabi and Kokoro.
Japan and Taiwan have shared close historical and cultural relations. Dishes such as sushi, ramen, and donburi are very popular among locals. Japanese chain restaurants such as Coco Ichibanya, Ippudo, Kura Sushi, Marugame Seimen, Mister Donut, MOS Burger, Ootoya, Ramen Kagetsu Arashi, Saizeriya, Sukiya, Sushiro, Tonkatsu Shinjuku Saboten, Yayoi Ken, and Yoshinoya, can all be found in Taiwan, among others. Taiwan has adapted many Japanese food items. Tianbula ("Taiwanese tempura") is actually satsuma-age and was introduced to Taiwan during Japanese rule by people from Kyushu, where the word "tempura" is commonly used to refer to satsuma-age. It is popular as a night market snack and as an ingredient for oden, hot pot and lu wei. Taiwanese versions of oden are sold locally as olen or, more recently, as guandongzhu (from Japanese Kantō-ni) in convenience stores.
In Southeast Asia, Thailand is the largest market for Japanese food. This is partly because Thailand is a popular tourist destination, having large numbers of Japanese expatriates, as well as the local population having developed a taste for authentic Japanese cuisine. According to the Organisation that Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad (JRO), the number of Japanese restaurants in Thailand jumped about 2.2-fold from 2007's figures to 1,676 in June 2012. In Bangkok, Japanese restaurants accounts for 8.3 percent of all restaurants, following those that serve Thai. Numbers of Japanese chain restaurants has established their business in Thailand, such as Yoshinoya gyūdon restaurant chain, Gyu-Kaku yakiniku restaurant chain and Kourakuen ramen restaurant chain.
In the ASEAN region, Indonesia is the second largest market for Japanese food, after Thailand. Japanese cuisine has been increasingly popular as the growth of the Indonesian middle-class expecting higher quality foods. This is also contributed to the fact that Indonesia has large numbers of Japanese expatriates. The main concern is the halal issue. As a Muslim majority country, Indonesians expected that Japanese food served there are halal according to Islamic dietary law, which means no pork and alcohol allowed. Japanese restaurants in Indonesia often offer a set menu which include rice served with an array of Japanese favourites in a single setting. A set menu might include a choice of yakiniku or sukiyaki, including a sample of sushi, tempura, gyoza and miso soup. Quite authentic Japanese style izakaya and ramen shops can be found in Little Tokyo (Melawai) area in Blok M, South Jakarta, serving both Japanese expats and local clienteles. Today, Japanese restaurants can be found in most of Indonesian major cities, with high concentration in Greater Jakarta area, Bandung, Surabaya and Bali.
In some cases, Japanese cuisine in Indonesia is often slanted to suit Indonesian taste. Hoka Hoka Bento in particular is an Indonesian-owned Japanese fast food restaurant chain that cater to the Indonesian clientele. As a result the foods served there have been adapted to suit Indonesians' taste. Examples of the change include stronger flavours compared to the authentic subtle Japanese taste, the preference for fried food, as well as the addition of sambal to cater to the Indonesians' preference for hot and spicy food.
Japanese food popularity also had penetrated street food culture, as modest "Warjep" or "Warung Jepang" (Japanese food stall) offer Japanese food such as tempura, okonomiyaki and takoyaki, at very moderately low prices. Today, okonomiyaki and takoyaki are popular street fare in Jakarta and other Indonesian cities. This is also pushed further by the Japanese convenience stores operating in Indonesia, such as 7-Eleven and Lawson offering Japanese favourites such as oden, chicken katsu (deep-fried chicken cutlet), chicken teriyaki and onigiri.
Some chefs in Indonesian sushi establishment has created a Japanese-Indonesian fusion cuisine, such as krakatau roll, gado-gado roll, rendang roll and gulai ramen. The idea of fusion cuisine between spicy Indonesian Padang and Japanese cuisine was thought because both cuisine traditions are well-liked by Indonesians. Nevertheless, some of these Japanese eating establishments might strive to serve authentic Japanese cuisine abroad. Numbers of Japanese chain restaurants has established their business in Indonesia, such as Yoshinoya gyūdon restaurant chain, Gyu-Kaku yakiniku restaurant chain and Ajisen Ramen restaurant chain.
In the Philippines, Japanese cuisine is also popular among the local population. The Philippines have been exposed to the influences from the Japanese, Indian and Chinese. The cities of Davao and Metro Manila probably have the most Japanese influence in the country. The popular dining spots for Japanese nationals are located in Makati City, which is called as "Little Tokyo", a small area filled with restaurants specializing in different types of Japanese food. Some of the best Japanese no-frills restaurants in the Philippines can be found in Makati's "Little Tokyo" area.
In Mexico, certain Japanese restaurants have created what is known as "sushi Mexicano", in which spicy sauces and ingredients accompany the dish or are integrated in sushi rolls. The habanero and serrano chiles have become nearly standard and are referred to as chiles toreados, as they are fried, diced and tossed over a dish upon request.
In Brazil, Japanese food is widespread due to the large Japanese-Brazilian population living in the country, which represents the largest Japanese community living outside Japan. Over the past years, many restaurant chains such as Koni Store have opened, selling typical dishes such as the popular temaki. Yakisoba, which is readily available in all supermarkets, and often included in non-Japanese restaurant menus.
In February 2012, the Agency for Cultural Affairs recommended that 'Washoku: Traditional Dietary Cultures of the Japanese' be added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. On December 4, 2013, "Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, notably for the celebration of New Year" was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, bringing the number of Japanese assets listed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list to 22.
Japanese obsession with fresh food—which manifested in certain aspect of Japanese cuisine traditions of eating live seafood, which includes Ikizukuri and Odori ebi, has gained criticism—condemned as a form of animal cruelty.
Japanese cuisine is heavily dependent on seafood products. Compared to other developed countries, the Japanese eat more fish than any of them, consuming about 27 kilograms of seafood per capita annually. An aspect of environmental concern is Japanese appetite for seafood, which might lead to depletion of natural ocean resources through overfishing. For example, Japan consumes 80% of the global supply of blue fin tuna, a popularly sought sushi and sashimi ingredient, which might lead to its extinction due to commercial overfishing. Another environmental concern is commercial whaling and the consumption of whale meat, since Japan is the world's largest market for whale meat. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15976 |
James Monroe
James Monroe (; April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was the last president of the Virginia dynasty; his presidency coincided with the Era of Good Feelings. He is perhaps best known for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas. He also served as the governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, the U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, the seventh Secretary of State, and the eighth Secretary of War.
Born into a planter family in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After studying law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, he served as a delegate in the Continental Congress. As a delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Monroe opposed the ratification of the United States Constitution. In 1790, he won election to the Senate, where he became a leader of the Democratic-Republican Party. He left the Senate in 1794 to serve as President George Washington's ambassador to France, but was recalled by Washington in 1796. Monroe won election as Governor of Virginia in 1799 and strongly supported Jefferson's candidacy in the 1800 presidential election.
As President Jefferson's special envoy, Monroe helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, through which the United States nearly doubled in size. Monroe fell out with his longtime friend James Madison after Madison rejected the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty that Monroe negotiated with Britain. He unsuccessfully challenged Madison in the 1808 presidential election, but in April 1811 he joined Madison's administration as Secretary of State. During the later stages of the War of 1812, Monroe simultaneously served as Madison's Secretary of State and Secretary of War. His wartime leadership established him as Madison's heir apparent, and he easily defeated Federalist Party candidate Rufus King in the 1816 presidential election.
Monroe's presidency was coterminous with the Era of Good Feelings, as the Federalist Party collapsed as a national political force. As president, Monroe signed the Missouri Compromise, which admitted Missouri as a slave state and banned slavery from territories north of the parallel 36°30′ north. In foreign affairs, Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams favored a policy of conciliation with Britain and a policy of expansionism against the Spanish Empire. In the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty with Spain, the United States secured Florida and established its western border with New Spain. In 1823, Monroe announced the United States' opposition to any European intervention in the recently independent countries of the Americas with the Monroe Doctrine, which became a landmark in American foreign policy. Monroe was a member of the American Colonization Society, which supported the colonization of Africa by freed slaves, and Liberia's capital of Monrovia is named in his honor. Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties, and died on July 4, 1831 in New York City. He has been generally ranked as an above-average president by historians.
James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758, in his parents' house in a wooded area of Westmoreland County, Virginia. The marked site is one mile from the unincorporated community known today as Monroe Hall, Virginia. The James Monroe Family Home Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. His father Spence Monroe (1727–1774) was a moderately prosperous planter who also practiced carpentry. His mother Elizabeth Jones (1730–1772) married Spence Monroe in 1752 and they had five children: Elizabeth, James, Spence, Andrew, and Joseph Jones.
His paternal great-great-grandfather Patrick Andrew Monroe emigrated to America from Scotland in the mid-17th century, and was part of an ancient Scottish clan known as Clan Munro. In 1650 he patented a large tract of land in Washington Parish, Westmoreland County, Virginia. Monroe's mother was the daughter of James Jones, who immigrated from Wales and settled in nearby King George County, Virginia. Jones was a wealthy architect. Also among James Monroe's ancestors were French Huguenot immigrants, who came to Virginia in 1700.
At age 11, Monroe was enrolled in the lone school in the county. He attended this school only 11 weeks a year, as his labor was needed on the farm. During this time, Monroe formed a lifelong friendship with an older classmate, John Marshall. Monroe's mother died in 1772, and his father two years later. Though he inherited property from both of his parents, the 16-year-old Monroe was forced to withdraw from school to support his younger brothers. His childless maternal uncle, Joseph Jones, became a surrogate father to Monroe and his siblings. A member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Jones took Monroe to the capital of Williamsburg, Virginia, and enrolled him in the College of William and Mary. Jones also introduced Monroe to important Virginians such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and George Washington. In 1774, opposition to the British government grew in the Thirteen Colonies in reaction to the "Intolerable Acts," and Virginia sent a delegation to the First Continental Congress. Monroe became involved in the opposition to Lord Dunmore, the colonial governor of Virginia, and took part in the storming of the Governor's Palace.
In early 1776, about a year and a half after his enrollment, Monroe dropped out of college and joined the 3rd Virginia Regiment in the Continental Army. As the fledgling army valued literacy in its officers, Monroe was commissioned with the rank of lieutenant, serving under Captain William Washington. After months of training, Monroe and 700 Virginia infantrymen were called north to serve in the New York and New Jersey campaign. Shortly after the Virginians arrived, George Washington led the army in a retreat from New York City into New Jersey and then across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. In late December, Monroe took part in a surprise attack on a Hessian encampment at the Battle of Trenton. Though the attack was successful, Monroe suffered a severed artery in the battle and nearly died. In the aftermath, Washington cited Monroe and William Washington for their bravery, and promoted Monroe to captain. After his wounds healed, Monroe returned to Virginia to recruit his own company of soldiers. His participation in the battle was memorialized in John Trumbull's painting "The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, December 26, 1776" as well as Emanuel Leutze's 1851 "Washington Crossing the Delaware."
Lacking the wealth to induce soldiers to join his company, Monroe instead asked his uncle to return him to the front. Monroe was assigned to the staff of General William Alexander, Lord Stirling. During this time he formed a close friendship with the Marquis de Lafayette, a French volunteer who encouraged him to view the war as part of a wider struggle against religious and political tyranny. Monroe served in the Philadelphia campaign and spent the winter of 1777–78 at the encampment of Valley Forge, sharing a log hut with Marshall. After serving in the Battle of Monmouth, the destitute Monroe resigned his commission in December 1778 and joined his uncle in Philadelphia. After the British captured Savannah, the Virginia legislature decided to raise four regiments, and Monroe returned to his native state, hoping to receive his own command. With letters of recommendation from Washington, Stirling, and Alexander Hamilton, Monroe received a commission as a lieutenant colonel and was expected to lead one of the regiments, but recruitment again proved to be a problem. On Jones's advice, Monroe returned to Williamsburg to study law, becoming a protege of Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson.
With the British increasingly focusing their operations in the Southern colonies, the Virginians moved the capital to the more defensible city of Richmond, and Monroe accompanied Jefferson to the new capital. As governor of Virginia, Jefferson held command over its militia, and made Monroe a colonel. Monroe established a messenger network to coordinate with the Continental Army and other state militias. Still unable to raise an army due to a lack of interested recruits, Monroe traveled to his home in King George County, and thus was not present for the British raid of Richmond. As both the Continental Army and the Virginia militia had an abundance of officers, Monroe did not serve during the Yorktown campaign, and, much to his frustration, did not take part in the Siege of Yorktown. Although Andrew Jackson served as a courier in a militia unit at age 13, Monroe is regarded as the last U.S. president who was a Revolutionary War veteran, since he served as an officer of the Continental Army and took part in combat. As a result of his service, Monroe became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
Monroe resumed studying law under Jefferson and continued until 1783. He was not particularly interested in legal theory or practice, but chose to take it up because he thought it offered "the most immediate rewards" and could ease his path to wealth, social standing, and political influence. Monroe was admitted to the Virginia bar and practiced in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
On February 16, 1786, Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright (1768–1830) in New York City. She was the daughter of Hannah Aspinwall Kortright and Laurence Kortright, a wealthy trader and former British officer. Monroe met her while serving in the Continental Congress.
After a brief honeymoon on Long Island, New York, the Monroes returned to New York City to live with her father until Congress adjourned. They then moved to Virginia, settling in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1789. They bought an estate in Charlottesville known as Ash Lawn–Highland, settling on the property in 1799. The Monroes had three children.
Monroe sold his small Virginia plantation in 1783 to enter law and politics. He later fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming the owner of a large plantation and wielding great political power, but his plantation was never profitable. Although he owned much more land and many more slaves, and speculated in property, he was rarely on site to oversee the operations. Overseers treated the slaves harshly to force production, but the plantations barely broke even. Monroe incurred debts by his lavish and expensive lifestyle and often sold property (including slaves) to pay them off. Overseers moved or separated slave families from different Monroe plantations in accordance with production and maintenance needs of each satellite plantation. One of Monroe's slaves, Daniel, often ran away from his plantation in Albermarle County, to visit other slaves or separated family members. Monroe commonly called Daniel a "scoundrel" and described his "worthlessness" as a runaway slave. The practice of moving and separating slave families was common in the South.
Monroe was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782. After serving on Virginia's Executive Council, he was elected to the Congress of the Confederation in November 1783 and served in Annapolis until Congress convened in Trenton, New Jersey in June 1784. He had served a total of three years when he finally retired from that office by the rule of rotation. By that time, the government was meeting in the temporary capital of New York City. In 1784, Monroe undertook an extensive trip through Western New York and Pennsylvania to inspect the conditions in the Northwest. The tour convinced him that the United States had to pressure Britain to abandon its posts in the region and assert control of the Northwest. While serving in Congress, Monroe became an advocate for western expansion, and played a key role in the writing and passage of the Northwest Ordinance. The ordinance created the Northwest Territory, providing for federal administration of the territories West of Pennsylvania and North of the Ohio River. During this period, Jefferson continued to serve as a mentor to Monroe, and, at Jefferson's prompting, he befriended another prominent Virginian, James Madison.
Monroe resigned from Congress in 1786 to focus on his legal career, and he became an attorney for the state. In 1787, Monroe won election to another term in the Virginia House of Delegates. Though he had become outspoken in his desire to reform the Articles, he was unable to attend the Philadelphia Convention due to his work obligations. In 1788, Monroe became a delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention. In Virginia, the struggle over the ratification of the proposed Constitution involved more than a simple clash between federalists and anti-federalists. Virginians held a full spectrum of opinions about the merits of the proposed change in national government. Washington and Madison were leading supporters; Patrick Henry and George Mason were leading opponents. Those who held the middle ground in the ideological struggle became the central figures. Led by Monroe and Edmund Pendleton, these "federalists who are for amendments," criticized the absence of a bill of rights and worried about surrendering taxation powers to the central government. After Madison reversed himself and promised to pass a bill of rights, the Virginia convention ratified the constitution by a narrow vote, though Monroe himself voted against it. Virginia was the tenth state to ratify the Constitution, and all thirteen states eventually ratified the document.
Henry and other anti-federalists hoped to elect a Congress that would amend the Constitution to take away most of the powers it had been granted ("commit suicide on [its] own authority," as Madison put it). Henry recruited Monroe to run against Madison for a House seat in the First Congress, and he had the Virginia legislature draw a congressional district designed to elect Monroe. During the campaign, Madison and Monroe often traveled together, and the election did not destroy their friendship. Madison prevailed over Monroe, taking 1,308 votes compared to Monroe's 972 votes. Following his defeat, Monroe returned to his legal duties and developed his farm in Charlottesville. After the death of Senator William Grayson in 1790, Monroe was elected to serve the remainder of Grayson's term.
During the presidency of George Washington, U.S. politics became increasingly polarized between the supporters of Secretary of State Jefferson and
the Federalists, led by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Monroe stood firmly with Jefferson in opposing Hamilton's strong central government and strong executive. The Democratic-Republican Party coalesced around Jefferson and Madison, and Monroe became one of the fledgling party's leaders in the Senate. He also helped organize opposition to John Adams in the 1792
election, though Adams defeated George Clinton to win re-election. As the 1790s progressed, the French Revolutionary Wars came to dominate U.S. foreign policy, with British and French raids both threatening U.S. trade with Europe. Like most other Jeffersonians, Monroe supported the French Revolution, but Hamilton's followers tended to sympathize more with Britain. In 1794, hoping to find a way to avoid war with both countries, Washington appointed Monroe as his minister (ambassador) to France. At the same time, he appointed the anglophile Federalist John Jay as his minister to Britain.
After arriving in France, Monroe addressed the National Convention, receiving a standing ovation for his speech celebrating republicanism. He experienced several early diplomatic successes, including the protection of U.S. trade from French attacks. He also used his influence to win the release of Thomas Paine and Adrienne de La Fayette, the wife of the Marquis de Lafayette. Months after Monroe arrived in France, the U.S. and Great Britain concluded the Jay Treaty, outraging both the French and Monroe—not fully informed about the treaty prior to its publication. Despite the undesirable effects of the Jay Treaty on Franco-American relations, Monroe won French support for U.S. navigational rights on the Mississippi River—the mouth of which was controlled by Spain—and in 1795 the U.S. and Spain signed Pinckney's Treaty. The treaty granted the U.S. limited rights to use the port of New Orleans.
Washington decided Monroe was inefficient, disruptive, and failed to safeguard the national interest. He recalled Monroe in November 1796. Returning to his home in Charlottesville, he resumed his dual careers as a farmer and lawyer. Jefferson and Madison urged Monroe to run for Congress, but Monroe chose to focus on state politics instead.
In 1798 Monroe published "A View of the Conduct of the Executive, in the Foreign Affairs of the United States: Connected with the Mission to the French Republic, During the Years 1794, 5, and 6 ". It was a long defence of his term as Minister to France. He followed the advice of his friend Robert Livingston who cautioned him to "repress every harsh and acrimonious" comment about Washington. However, he did complain that too often the U.S. government had been too close to Britain, especially regarding the Jay Treaty. Washington made notes on this copy, writing, "The truth is, Mr. Monroe was cajoled, flattered, and made to believe strange things. In return he did, or was disposed to do, whatever was pleasing to that nation, reluctantly urging the rights of his own."
Back in 1792, then-Senator Monroe was investigating charges of corruption and misuse of Federal funds earmarked as pay for Revolutionary War veterans, when he encountered claims that Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton was involved. Monroe, Frederick Muhlenberg, and Abraham Venable determined that Hamilton had been making payments to James Reynolds, a co-conspirator in the financial scheme using government money. The investigating committee prepared a report for George Washington, but confronted Hamilton before sending it. Hamilton confessed not to the corruption charge, but instead to an affair with Reynolds' wife, Maria. He claimed Reynolds had found out and was blackmailing him, and offered letters to prove his story. The investigators immediately dropped the matter, and Monroe promised Hamilton he would keep the matter private.
When another suspect in that investigation, Jacob Clingman, told Maria Reynolds about the claim she'd had an affair with Hamilton, she denied it, claiming the letters had been forged to help cover up the corruption. Clingman went to Monroe about this. Monroe added that interview to his notes, and sent the entire set to a friend, possibly Thomas Jefferson, for safekeeping. Unfortunately, the secretary who was involved in managing the notes of the investigation made copies and gave them to scandal writer James Callender.
Five years later, shortly after Monroe was recalled from France, Callender published accusations against Hamilton based on those notes. Hamilton and his wife thought this was retaliation on the part of Monroe for the recall, and confronted by Hamilton via letter. In a subsequent meeting between the two of them, where Hamilton had suggested each bring a "second," Hamilton accused Monroe of lying, and challenged him to a duel. While such challenges were usually hot air, in this case Monroe replied "I am ready, get your pistols." Their seconds interceded, and an arrangement was made to give Hamilton documentation on what had occurred with the investigation.
Hamilton was not satisfied with the subsequent explanations, and at the end of an exchange of letters the two were threatening duels, again. Monroe chose Aaron Burr as his second. Burr worked as a negotiator between the two parties, believing they were both being "childish," and eventually helped settle matters.
On a party-line vote, the Virginia legislature elected Monroe as Governor of Virginia in 1799. He would serve as governor until 1802. The constitution of Virginia endowed the governor with very few powers aside from commanding the militia when the Assembly called it into action. But Monroe used his stature to convince legislators to enhance state involvement in transportation and education and to increase training for the militia. Monroe also began to give State of the Commonwealth addresses to the legislature, in which he highlighted areas in which he believed the legislature should act. Monroe also led an effort to create the state's first penitentiary, and imprisonment replaced other, often harsher, punishments. In 1800, Monroe called out the state militia to suppress Gabriel's Rebellion, a slave rebellion originating on a plantation six miles from the capital of Richmond. Gabriel and 27 other enslaved people who participated were all hanged for treason.
Monroe thought that foreign and Federalist elements had created the Quasi War of 1798–1800, and he strongly supported Thomas Jefferson's candidacy for president in 1800. Federalists were likewise suspicious of Monroe, some viewing him at best as a French dupe and at worst a traitor. With the power to appoint election officials in Virginia, Monroe exercised his influence to help Jefferson win Virginia's presidential electors. He also considered using the Virginia militia to force the outcome in favor of Jefferson. Jefferson won the 1800 election, and he appointed Madison as his Secretary of State. As a member of Jefferson's party and the leader of the largest state in the country, Monroe emerged as one of Jefferson's two most likely successors, alongside Madison.
Shortly after the end of Monroe's gubernatorial tenure, President Jefferson sent Monroe back to France to assist Ambassador Robert R. Livingston in negotiating the Louisiana Purchase. In the 1800 Treaty of San Ildefonso, France had acquired the territory of Louisiana from Spain; at the time, many in the U.S. believed that France had also acquired West Florida in the same treaty. The American delegation originally sought to acquire West Florida and the city of New Orleans, which controlled the trade of the Mississippi River. Determined to acquire New Orleans even if it meant war with France, Jefferson also authorized Monroe to form an alliance with the British if the French refused to sell the city.
Meeting with François Barbé-Marbois, the French foreign minister, Monroe and Livingston agreed to purchase the entire territory of Louisiana for $15 million; the purchase became known as the Louisiana Purchase. In agreeing to the purchase, Monroe violated his instructions, which had only allowed $9 million for the purchase of New Orleans and West Florida. The French did not acknowledge that West Florida remained in Spanish possession, and the United States would claim that France had sold West Florida to the United States for several years to come. Though he had not ordered the purchase of the entire territory, Jefferson strongly supported Monroe's actions, which ensured that the United States would continue to expand to the West. Overcoming doubts about whether the Constitution authorized the purchase of foreign territory, Jefferson won congressional approval for the Louisiana Purchase, and the acquisition doubled the size of the United States. Monroe would travel to Spain in 1805 to try to win the cession of West Florida, but, with the support of France, Spain refused to consider relinquishing the territory.
After the resignation of Rufus King, Monroe was appointed as the ambassador to Great Britain in 1803. The greatest issue of contention between the United States and Britain was that of the impressment of U.S. sailors. Many U.S. merchant ships employed British seamen who had deserted or dodged conscription, and the British frequently impressed sailors on U.S. ships in hopes of quelling their manpower issues. Many of the sailors they impressed had never been British subjects, and Monroe was tasked with persuading the British to stop their practice of impressment. Monroe found little success in this endeavor, partly due to Jefferson's alienation of the British minister to the United States, Anthony Merry. Rejecting Jefferson's offer to serve as the first governor of Louisiana Territory, Monroe continued to serve as ambassador to Britain until 1807.
In 1806 he negotiated the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty with Great Britain. It would have extended the Jay Treaty of 1794 which had expired after ten years. Jefferson had fought the Jay Treaty intensely in 1794–95 because he felt it would allow the British to subvert American republicanism. The treaty had produced ten years of peace and highly lucrative trade for American merchants, but Jefferson was still opposed. When Monroe and the British signed the new treaty in December 1806, Jefferson refused to submit it to the Senate for ratification. Although the treaty called for ten more years of trade between the United States and the British Empire and gave American merchants guarantees that would have been good for business, Jefferson was unhappy that it did not end the hated British practice of impressment, and refused to give up the potential weapon of commercial warfare against Britain. The president made no attempt to obtain another treaty, and as a result, the two nations drifted from peace toward the War of 1812. Monroe was severely pained by the administration's repudiation of the treaty, and he fell out with Secretary of State James Madison.
On his return to Virginia in 1807, Monroe received a warm reception, and many urged him to run in the 1808 presidential election. After Jefferson refused to submit the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty, Monroe had come to believe that Jefferson had snubbed the treaty out of the desire to avoid elevating Monroe above Madison in 1808. Out of deference to Jefferson, Monroe agreed to avoid actively campaigning for the presidency, but he did not rule out accepting a draft effort. The Democratic-Republican Party was increasingly factionalized, with "Old Republicans" or "Quids" denouncing the Jefferson administration for abandoning what they considered to be true republican principles. The Quids tried to enlist Monroe in their cause. The plan was to run Monroe for president in the 1808 election in cooperation with the Federalist Party, which had a strong base in New England. John Randolph of Roanoke led the Quid effort to stop Jefferson's choice of Madison. The regular Democratic-Republicans overcame the Quids in the nominating caucus, kept control of the party in Virginia, and protected Madison's base. Monroe did not publicly criticize Jefferson or Madison during Madison's campaign against Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, but he refused to support Madison. Madison defeated Pinckney by a large margin, carrying all but one state outside of New England. Monroe won 3,400 votes in Virginia, but received little support elsewhere. After the election Monroe quickly reconciled with Jefferson, but their friendship endured further strains when Jefferson did not promote Monroe's candidacy to Congress in 1809. Monroe did not speak with Madison until 1810. Returning to private life, he devoted his attentions to farming at his Charlottesville estate.
Monroe returned to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was elected to another term as governor in 1811, but served only four months. In April 1811, Madison appointed Monroe as Secretary of State in hopes of shoring up the support of the more radical factions of the Democratic-Republicans. Madison also hoped that Monroe, an experienced diplomat with whom he had once been close friends, would improve upon the performance of the previous Secretary of State, Robert Smith. Madison assured Monroe that their differences regarding the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty had been a misunderstanding, and the two resumed their friendship. On taking office, Monroe hoped to negotiate treaties with the British and French to end the attacks on American merchant ships. While the French agreed to reduce the attacks and release seized American ships, the British were less receptive to Monroe's demands. Monroe had long worked for peace with the British, but he came to favor war with Britain, joining with "war hawks" such as Speaker of the House Henry Clay. With the support of Monroe and Clay, Madison asked Congress to declare war upon the British, and Congress complied on June 18, 1812, thus beginning the War of 1812.
The war went very badly, and the Madison administration quickly sought peace, but were rejected by the British. The U.S. Navy did experience several successes after Monroe convinced Madison to allow the Navy's ships to set sail rather than remaining in port for the duration of the war. After the resignation of Secretary of War William Eustis, Madison asked Monroe to serve in dual roles as Secretary of State and Secretary of War, but opposition from the Senate limited Monroe to serving as acting Secretary of War until Brigadier General John Armstrong won Senate confirmation. Monroe and Armstrong clashed over war policy, and Armstrong blocked Monroe's hopes of being appointed to lead an invasion of Canada. As the war dragged on, the British offered to begin negotiations in Ghent, and the United States sent a delegation led by John Quincy Adams to conduct negotiations. Monroe allowed Adams leeway in setting terms, so long as he ended the hostilities and preserved American neutrality.
When the British burned the U.S. Capitol and the White House on August 24, 1814, Madison removed Armstrong as Secretary of War and turned to Monroe for help, appointing him Secretary of War on September 27. Monroe resigned as Secretary of State on October 1, 1814, but no successor was ever appointed and thus from October 1814 to February 28, 1815, Monroe effectively held both Cabinet posts. Now in command of the war effort, Monroe ordered General Andrew Jackson to defend against a likely attack on New Orleans by the British, and he asked the governors of nearby states to send their militias to reinforce Jackson. He also called on Congress to draft an army of 100,000 men, increase compensation to soldiers, and establish a new national bank to ensure adequate funding for the war effort. Months after Monroe took office as Secretary of War, the war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The treaty resulted in a return to the status quo ante bellum, and many outstanding issues between the United States and Britain remained. But Americans celebrated the end of the war as a great victory, partly due to the news of the treaty reaching the United States shortly after Jackson's victory in the Battle of New Orleans. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the British also ended the practice of impressment. After the war, Congress authorized the creation a national bank in the form of the Second Bank of the United States.
Monroe decided to seek the presidency in the 1816 election, and his war-time leadership had established him as Madison's heir apparent. Monroe had strong support from many in the party, but his candidacy was challenged at the 1816 Democratic-Republican congressional nominating caucus. Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford had the support of numerous Southern and Western Congressmen, while Governor Daniel D. Tompkins was backed by several Congressmen from New York. Crawford appealed especially to many Democratic-Republicans who were wary of Madison and Monroe's support for the establishment of the Second Bank of the United States. Despite his substantial backing, Crawford decided to defer to Monroe on the belief that he could eventually run as Monroe's successor, and Monroe won his party's nomination. Tompkins won the party's vice presidential nomination. The moribund Federalists nominated Rufus King as their presidential nominee, but the party offered little opposition following the conclusion of a popular war that they had opposed. Monroe received 183 of the 217 electoral votes, winning every state but Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Delaware.
Monroe largely ignored old party lines in making federal appointments, which reduced political tensions and augmented the sense of "oneness" that pervaded the United States. He made two long national tours to build national trust. At Boston, a newspaper hailed his 1817 visit as the beginning of an "Era of Good Feelings". Frequent stops on his tours included ceremonies of welcome and expressions of good-will. The Federalist Party continued to fade during his administration; it maintained its vitality and organizational integrity in Delaware and a few localities, but lacked influence in national politics. Lacking serious opposition, the Democratic-Republican Party's Congressional caucus stopped meeting, and for practical purposes the party stopped operating.
Monroe appointed a geographically-balanced cabinet, through which he led the executive branch. At Monroe's request, Crawford continued to serve as Treasury Secretary. Monroe also chose to retain Benjamin Crowninshield of Massachusetts as Secretary of the Navy and Richard Rush of Pennsylvania as Attorney General. Recognizing Northern discontent at the continuation of the Virginia dynasty, Monroe chose John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts as Secretary of State, making Adams the early favorite to eventually succeed Monroe. An experienced diplomat, Adams had abandoned the Federalist Party in 1807 in support of Thomas Jefferson's foreign policy, and Monroe hoped that the appointment would encourage the defection of more Federalists. After General Andrew Jackson declined appointment as Secretary of War, Monroe turned to South Carolina Congressman John C. Calhoun, leaving the Cabinet without a prominent Westerner. In late 1817 Rush became the ambassador to Britain, and William Wirt succeeded him as Attorney General. With the exception of Crowninshield, the rest of Monroe's initial cabinet appointees remained in place for the remainder of his presidency.
In February 1819, a bill to enable the people of the Missouri Territory to draft a constitution and form a government preliminary to admission into the Union came before the House of Representatives. During these proceedings, Congressman James Tallmadge, Jr. of New York "tossed a bombshell into the Era of Good Feelings" by offering the Tallmadge Amendment, which prohibited the further introduction of slaves into Missouri and required that all future children of slave parents therein should be free at the age of twenty-five years. After three days of rancorous and sometimes bitter debate, the bill, with Tallmadge's amendments, passed. The measure then went to the Senate, where both amendments were rejected. A House–Senate conference committee was unable to resolve the disagreements on the bill, and so the entire measure failed. The ensuing debates pitted the northern "restrictionists" (antislavery legislators who wished to bar slavery from the Louisiana territories) against southern "anti-restrictionists" (proslavery legislators who rejected any interference by Congress inhibiting slavery expansion).
During the following session, the House passed a similar bill with an amendment, introduced on January 26, 1820, by John W. Taylor of New York, allowing Missouri into the union as a slave state. The question had been complicated by the admission in December of Alabama, a slave state, making the number of slave and free states equal. In addition, there was a bill in passage through the House (January 3, 1820) to admit Maine as a free state. The Senate decided to connect the two measures. It passed a bill for the admission of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. Before the bill was returned to the House, a second amendment was adopted on the motion of Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, excluding slavery from the Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30′ north (the southern boundary of Missouri), except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri. The House then approved the bill as amended by the Senate. The legislation passed, which became known as the Missouri Compromise, won the support of Monroe and both houses of Congress, and compromise temporarily settled the issue of slavery in the territories.
As the United States continued to grow, many Americans advocated a system of internal improvements to help the country develop. Federal assistance for such projects evolved slowly and haphazardly—the product of contentious congressional factions and an executive branch generally concerned with avoiding unconstitutional federal intrusions into state affairs. Monroe believed that the young nation needed an improved infrastructure, including a transportation network to grow and thrive economically, but did not think that the Constitution authorized Congress to build, maintain, and operate a national transportation system. Monroe repeatedly urged Congress to pass an amendment allowing Congress the power to finance internal improvements, but Congress never acted on his proposal, in part because many congressmen believed that the Constitution did in fact authorize the federal financing of internal improvements. In 1822, Congress passed a bill authorizing the collection of tolls on the Cumberland Road, with the tolls being used to finance repairs on the road. Adhering to stated position regarding internal improvements, Monroe vetoed the bill. In an elaborate essay, Monroe set forth his constitutional views on the subject. Congress might appropriate money, he admitted, but it might not undertake the actual construction of national works nor assume jurisdiction over them.
In 1824, the Supreme Court ruled in "Gibbons v. Ogden" that the Constitution's Commerce Clause gave the federal government the authority to regulate interstate commerce. Shortly thereafter, Congress passed two important laws that, together, marked the beginning of the federal government's continuous involvement in civil works. The General Survey Act authorized the president to have surveys made of routes for roads and canals "of national importance, in a commercial or military point of view, or necessary for the transportation of public mail." The president assigned responsibility for the surveys to the Army Corps of Engineers. The second act, passed a month later, appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers by removing sandbars, snags, and other obstacles. Subsequently, the act was amended to include other rivers such as the Missouri. This work, too, was given to the Corps of Engineers—the only formally trained body of engineers in the new republic and, as part of the nation's small army, available to serve the wishes of Congress and the executive branch.
Two years into his presidency, Monroe faced an economic crisis known as the Panic of 1819, the first major depression to hit the country since the ratification of the Constitution in 1788. The panic stemmed from declining imports and exports, and sagging agricultural prices as global markets readjusted to peacetime production and commerce in the aftermath of the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars. The severity of the economic downturn in the U.S. was compounded by excessive speculation in public lands, fueled by the unrestrained issue of paper money from banks and business concerns. Monroe lacked the power to intervene directly in the economy, as banks were largely regulated by the states, and he could do little to stem the economic crisis.
Before the onset of the Panic of 1819, some business leaders had called on Congress to increase tariff rates to address the negative balance of trade and help struggling industries. As the panic spread, Monroe declined to call a special session of Congress to address the economy. When Congress finally reconvened in December 1819, Monroe requested an increase in the tariff but declined to recommend specific rates. Congress would not raise tariff rates until the passage of the Tariff of 1824. The panic resulted in high unemployment and an increase in bankruptcies and foreclosures, and provoked popular resentment against banking and business enterprises.
According to historian William E. Weeks, "Monroe evolved a comprehensive strategy aimed at expanding the Union externally while solidifying it internally". He expanded trade and pacified relations with Great Britain while expanding the United States at the expense of the Spanish Empire, from which he obtained Florida and the recognition of a border across the continent. Faced with the breakdown of the expansionist consensus over the question of slavery, the president tried to provide both North and South with guarantees that future expansion would not tip the balance of power between slave and free states, a system that, Weeks remarks, did indeed allow the continuation of American expansion for the best of four decades.
Monroe pursued warmer relations with Britain in the aftermath of the War of 1812. In 1817 the United States and Britain signed the Rush–Bagot Treaty, which regulated naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain and demilitarized the border between the U.S. and British North America. The Treaty of 1818, also with Great Britain, was concluded October 20, 1818, and fixed the present Canada–United States border from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains at the 49th parallel. The accords also established a joint U.S.–British occupation of Oregon Country for the next ten years. Though they did not solve every outstanding issue between the U.S. and Britain, the treaties allowed for greater trade between the United States and the British Empire and helped avoid an expensive naval arms race in the Great Lakes. Late in Monroe's second term, the U.S. concluded the Russo-American Treaty of 1824 with the Russian Empire, setting the southern limit of Russian sovereignty on the Pacific coast of North America at the 54°40′ parallel (the present southern tip of the Alaska Panhandle).
Spain had long rejected repeated American efforts to purchase Florida. But by 1818, Spain was facing a troubling colonial situation in which the cession of Florida made sense. Spain had been exhausted by the Peninsular War in Europe and needed to rebuild its credibility and presence in its colonies. Revolutionaries in Central America and South America were beginning to demand independence. Spain was unwilling to invest further in Florida, encroached on by American settlers, and it worried about the border between New Spain and the United States. With only a minor military presence in Florida, Spain was not able to restrain the Seminole warriors who routinely crossed the border and raided American villages and farms, as well as protected southern slave refugees from slave owners and traders of the southern United States.
In response to these Seminole attacks, Monroe ordered a military expedition to cross into Spanish Florida and attack the Seminoles. The expedition, led by Andrew Jackson, defeated numerous Seminoles but also seized the Spanish territorial capital of Pensacola. With the capture of Pensacola, Jackson established de facto American control of the entire territory. While Monroe supported Jackson's actions, many in Congress harshly criticized what they saw as an undeclared war. With the support of Secretary of State Adams, Monroe defended Jackson against domestic and international criticism, and the United States began negotiations with Spain.
Spain faced revolt in all her American colonies and could neither govern nor defend Florida. On February 22, 1819, Spain and the United States signed the Adams–Onís Treaty, which ceded the Floridas in return for the assumption by the United States of claims of American citizens against Spain to an amount not exceeding $5,000,000. The treaty also contained a definition of the boundary between Spanish and American possessions on the North American continent. Beginning at the mouth of the Sabine River the line ran along that river to the 32nd parallel, then due north to the Red River, which it followed to the 100th meridian, due north to the Arkansas River, and along that river to its source, then north to the 42nd parallel, which it followed to the Pacific Ocean. As the United States renounced all claims to the west and south of this boundary (Texas), so Spain surrendered any title she had to the Northwest (Oregon Country).
Monroe was deeply sympathetic to the Latin American revolutionary movements against Spain. He was determined that the United States should never repeat the policies of the Washington administration during the French Revolution, when the nation had failed to demonstrate its sympathy for the aspirations of peoples seeking to establish republican governments. He did not envisage military involvement but only the provision of moral support, as he believed that a direct American intervention would provoke other European powers into assisting Spain. Monroe initially refused to recognize the Latin American governments due to ongoing negotiations with Spain over Florida.
In March 1822, Monroe officially recognized the countries of Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico, all of which had won independence from Spain. Secretary of State Adams, under Monroe's supervision, wrote the instructions for the ministers to these new countries. They declared that the policy of the United States was to uphold republican institutions and to seek treaties of commerce on a most-favored-nation basis. The United States would support inter-American congresses dedicated to the development of economic and political institutions fundamentally differing from those prevailing in Europe. Monroe took pride as the United States was the first nation to extend recognition and to set an example to the rest of the world for its support of the "cause of liberty and humanity".
For their part, the British also had a strong interest in ensuring the demise of Spanish colonialism, with all the trade restrictions mercantilism imposed. In October 1823, Richard Rush, the American minister in London, advised that Foreign Secretary George Canning was proposing that the U.S. and Britain issue a joint declaration to deter any other power from intervening in Central and South America. Adams vigorously opposed cooperation with Great Britain, contending that a statement of bilateral nature could limit United States expansion in the future. He also argued that the British were not committed to recognizing the Latin American republics and must have had imperial motivations themselves.
Two months later, the bilateral statement proposed by the British became a unilateral declaration by the United States. While Monroe thought that Spain was unlikely to re-establish its colonial empire on its own, he feared that France or the Holy Alliance might seek to establish control over the former Spanish possessions. On December 2, 1823, in his annual message to Congress, Monroe articulated what became known as the Monroe Doctrine. He first reiterated the traditional U.S. policy of neutrality with regard to European wars and conflicts. He then declared that the United States would not accept the recolonization of any country by its former European master, though he also avowed non-interference with existing European colonies in the Americas. Finally, he stated that European countries should no longer consider the Western Hemisphere open to new colonization, a jab aimed primarily at Russia, which was attempting to expand its colony on the northern Pacific Coast.
The collapse of the Federalists left Monroe with no organized opposition at the end of his first term, and he ran for reelection unopposed, the only president other than Washington to do so. A single elector from New Hampshire, William Plumer, cast a vote for John Quincy Adams, preventing a unanimous vote in the Electoral College. He did so because he thought Monroe was incompetent. Later in the century, the story arose that he had cast his dissenting vote so that only George Washington would have the honor of unanimous election. Plumer never mentioned Washington in his speech explaining his vote to the other New Hampshire electors.
Five new states were admitted to the Union while Monroe was in office:
When his presidency ended on March 4, 1825, James Monroe resided at Monroe Hill, what is now included in the grounds of the University of Virginia. He served on the university's Board of Visitors under Jefferson and under the second rector James Madison, both former presidents, almost until his death. He and his wife lived at Oak Hill in Aldie, Virginia, until Elizabeth's death at age 62 on September 23, 1830. In August 1825, the Monroes had received the Marquis de Lafayette and President John Quincy Adams as guests there.
Monroe incurred many unliquidated debts during his years of public life. He sold off his Highland Plantation. It is now owned by his "alma mater", the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public as a historic site. Throughout his life, he was financially insolvent, which was exacerbated by his wife's poor health.
Monroe was elected as a delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830. He was one of four delegates elected from the senatorial district made up of his home district of Loudoun and Fairfax County. In October 1829, he was elected by the Convention to serve as the presiding officer, until his failing health required him to withdraw on December 8, after which Philip Pendleton Barbour of Orange County was elected presiding officer.
Upon Elizabeth's death in 1830, Monroe moved to 63 Prince Street at Lafayette Place in New York City to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur, who had married Samuel L. Gouverneur. Monroe's health began to slowly fail by the end of the 1820s. On July 4, 1831, Monroe died at age 73 from heart failure and tuberculosis, thus becoming the third president to have died on Independence Day. His death came 55 years after the United States Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and five years after the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. His last words were, "I regret that I should leave this world without again beholding him." He referred to James Madison, who in fact was one of his best friends. Monroe was originally buried in New York at the Gouverneur family's vault in the New York City Marble Cemetery. 27 years later, in 1858, his body was re-interred at the President's Circle in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The James Monroe Tomb is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
"When it comes to Monroe's thoughts on religion," historian Bliss Isely notes, "less is known than that of any other President." No letters survive in which he discussed his religious beliefs. Nor did his friends, family or associates comment on his beliefs. Letters that do survive, such as ones written after the death of his son, contain no discussion of religion.
Monroe was raised in a family that belonged to the Church of England when it was the state church in Virginia before the Revolution. As an adult, he attended Episcopal churches. Some historians see "deistic tendencies" in his few references to an impersonal God. Unlike Jefferson, Monroe was rarely attacked as an atheist or infidel. In 1832 James Renwick Willson, a Reformed Presbyterian minister in Albany, New York, criticized Monroe for having "lived and died like a second-rate Athenian philosopher."
Monroe owned dozens of slaves. He took several slaves with him to Washington to serve at the White House from 1817 to 1825. This was typical of other slaveholders, as Congress did not provide for domestic staff of the presidents at that time.
As president of Virginia's constitutional convention in the fall of 1829, Monroe reiterated his belief that slavery was a blight which, even as a British colony, Virginia had attempted to eradicate. "What was the origin of our slave population?" he rhetorically asked. "The evil commenced when we were in our Colonial state, but acts were passed by our Colonial Legislature, prohibiting the importation, of more slaves, into the Colony. These were rejected by the Crown." To the dismay of states' rights proponents, he was willing to accept the federal government's financial assistance to emancipate and transport freed slaves to other countries. At the convention, Monroe made his final public statement on slavery, proposing that Virginia emancipate and deport its bondsmen with "the aid of the Union."
When Monroe was Governor of Virginia in 1800, hundreds of slaves from Virginia planned to kidnap him, take Richmond, and negotiate for their freedom. Gabriel's slave conspiracy was discovered. Monroe called out the militia; the slave patrols soon captured some slaves accused of involvement. Sidbury says some trials had a few measures to prevent abuses, such as an appointed attorney, but they were "hardly 'fair'". Slave codes prevented slaves from being treated like whites, and they were given quick trials without a jury. Monroe influenced the Executive Council to pardon and sell some slaves instead of hanging them. Historians say the Virginia courts executed between 26 and 35 slaves. None of the executed slaves had killed any whites because the uprising had been foiled before it began.
Monroe was active in the American Colonization Society, which supported the establishment of colonies outside of the United States for free African-Americans. The society helped send several thousand freed slaves to the new colony of Liberia in Africa from 1820 to 1840. Slave owners like Monroe and Andrew Jackson wanted to prevent free blacks from encouraging slaves in the South to rebel. Liberia's capital, Monrovia, was named after President Monroe.
Polls of historians and political scientists tend to rank Monroe as an above average president. Monroe presided over a period in which the United States began to turn away from European affairs and towards domestic issues. His presidency saw the United States settle many of its longstanding boundary issues through an accommodation with Britain and the acquisition of Florida. Monroe also helped resolve sectional tensions through his support of the Missouri Compromise and by seeking support from all regions of the country. Political scientist Fred Greenstein argues that Monroe was a more effective executive than some of his better-known predecessors, including Madison and John Adams.
The capital of Liberia is named Monrovia after Monroe; it is the only national capital other than Washington, D.C. named after a U.S. president. Monroe is the namesake of seventeen Monroe counties. Monroe, Maine, Monroe, Michigan, Monroe, Georgia, Monroe, Connecticut, both Monroe Townships in New Jersey, and Fort Monroe are all named for him. Monroe has been depicted on U.S. currency and stamps, including a 1954 United States Postal Service 5¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp.
Monroe was the last U.S. president to wear a powdered wig tied in a queue, a tricorne hat and knee-breeches according to the style of the late 18th century. That earned him the nickname "The Last Cocked Hat". He is also the last president to have never been photographed. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15978 |
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and governor of Tennessee (1839–1841). A protégé of Andrew Jackson, he was a member of the Democratic Party and an advocate of Jacksonian democracy. Polk is chiefly known for extending the territory of the United States during the Mexican–American War; during his presidency, the United States expanded significantly with the annexation of the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory, and the Mexican Cession following the American victory in the Mexican–American War.
After building a successful law practice in Tennessee, Polk was elected to the state legislature (1823) and then to the United States House of Representatives in 1825, becoming a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson. After serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he became Speaker in 1835, the only president to have been Speaker. Polk left Congress to run for governor of Tennessee; he won in 1839, but lost in 1841 and 1843. He was a dark horse candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1844; he entered his party's convention as a potential nominee for vice president, but emerged as a compromise to head the ticket when no presidential candidate could secure the necessary two-thirds majority. In the general election, Polk defeated Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party.
Historians have praised Polk for having met during his four-year term every major domestic and foreign policy goal he had set. After a negotiation fraught with risk of war, he reached a settlement with Great Britain over the disputed Oregon Country, the territory for the most part being divided along the 49th parallel. Polk achieved a sweeping victory in the Mexican–American War, which resulted in the cession by Mexico of nearly all the American Southwest. He secured a substantial reduction of tariff rates with the Walker tariff of 1846. The same year, he achieved his other major goal, re-establishment of the Independent Treasury system. Historian Thomas A. Bailey says that during the Mexican war, "Polk was an energetic and indefatigable war leader, and he emerged, partly through rare good luck, with uninterrupted success. He kept the sole direction of the war in his own hands, from grand strategy to the procurement of mules." True to his campaign pledge to serve only one term, Polk left office in 1849 and returned to Tennessee where he died three months after leaving the White House.
Though he is relatively obscure today, scholars have ranked Polk favorably for his ability to promote and achieve the major items on his presidential agenda. However, he has also been criticized for leading the country into an unnecessary war against Mexico and for exacerbating sectional divides. A slaveholder for most of his adult life, he owned a plantation in Mississippi and bought slaves while president. A major legacy of Polk's presidency is territorial expansion, as the United States reached the Pacific coast and became poised to be a world power. However, sectional divisions in the U.S. were exacerbated by the territorial expansion and the Civil War is considered a direct consequence of Polk's policy.
James Knox Polk was born on November 2, 1795, in a log cabin in Pineville, North Carolina. He was the first of 10 children born into a family of farmers. His mother Jane named him after her father, James Knox. His father Samuel Polk was a farmer, slaveholder, and surveyor of Scots-Irish descent. The Polks had immigrated to America in the late 1600s, settling initially on the Eastern Shore of Maryland but later moving to south-central Pennsylvania and then to the Carolina hill country.
The Knox and Polk families were Presbyterian. While Polk's mother remained a devout Presbyterian, his father, whose own father Ezekiel Polk was a deist, rejected dogmatic Presbyterianism. He refused to declare his belief in Christianity at his son's baptism, and the minister refused to baptize young James. Nevertheless, James' mother "stamped her rigid orthodoxy on James, instilling lifelong Calvinistic traits of self-discipline, hard work, piety, individualism, and a belief in the imperfection of human nature", according to James A. Rawley's "American National Biography" article.
In 1803, Ezekiel Polk led four of his adult children and their families to the Duck River area in what is now Maury County, Tennessee; Samuel Polk and his family followed in 1806. The Polk clan dominated politics in Maury County and in the new town of Columbia. Samuel became a county judge, and the guests at his home included Andrew Jackson, who had already served as a judge and in Congress. James learned from the political talk around the dinner table; both Samuel and Ezekiel were strong supporters of President Thomas Jefferson and opponents of the Federalist Party.
Polk suffered from frail health as a child, a particular disadvantage in a frontier society. His father took him to see prominent Philadelphia physician Dr. Philip Syng Physick for urinary stones. The journey was broken off by James's severe pain, and Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky, operated to remove them. No anesthetic was available except brandy. The operation was successful, but it might have left James impotent or sterile, as he had no children. He recovered quickly, and became more robust. His father offered to bring him into one of his businesses, but he wanted an education and enrolled at a Presbyterian academy in 1813. He became a member of the Zion Church near his home in 1813, and enrolled in the Zion Church Academy. He then entered Bradley Academy in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he proved a promising student.
In January 1816, Polk was admitted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a second-semester sophomore. The Polk family had connections with the university, then a small school of about 80 students; Samuel was its land agent in Tennessee and his cousin William Polk was a trustee. Polk's roommate was William Dunn Moseley, who became the first Governor of Florida. Polk joined the Dialectic Society where he took part in debates, became its president, and learned the art of oratory. In one address, he warned that some American leaders were flirting with monarchical ideals, singling out Alexander Hamilton, a foe of Jefferson. Polk graduated with honors in May 1818.
After graduation, Polk returned to Nashville, Tennessee to study law under renowned trial attorney Felix Grundy, who became his first mentor. On September 20, 1819, he was elected clerk of the Tennessee State Senate, which then sat in Murfreesboro and to which Grundy had been elected. He was re-elected clerk in 1821 without opposition, and continued to serve until 1822. In June 1820, he was admitted to the Tennessee bar, and his first case was to defend his father against a public fighting charge; he secured his release for a one-dollar fine. He opened an office in Maury County and was successful as a lawyer, due largely to the many cases arising from the Panic of 1819, a severe depression. His law practice subsidized his political career.
By the time the legislature adjourned its session in September 1822, Polk was determined to be a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives. The election was in August 1823, almost a year away, allowing him ample time for campaigning. Already involved locally as a member of the Masons, he was commissioned in the Tennessee militia as a captain in the cavalry regiment of the 5th Brigade. He was later appointed a colonel on the staff of Governor William Carroll, and was afterwards often referred to as "Colonel". Although many of the voters were members of the Polk clan, the young politician campaigned energetically. People liked Polk's oratory, which earned him the nickname "Napoleon of the Stump." At the polls, where Polk provided alcoholic refreshments for his voters, he defeated incumbent William Yancey.
Beginning in early 1822, Polk courted Sarah Childress—they were engaged the following year and married on January 1, 1824 in Murfreesboro. Educated far better than most women of her time, especially in frontier Tennessee, Sarah Polk was from one of the state's most prominent families. During James's political career Sarah assisted her husband with his speeches, gave him advice on policy matters, and played an active role in his campaigns. Rawley noted that Sarah Polk's grace, intelligence and charming conversation helped compensate for her husband's often austere manner.
Polk's first mentor was Grundy, but in the legislature, Polk came increasingly to oppose him on such matters as land reform, and came to support the policies of Andrew Jackson, by then a military hero for his victory at the Battle of New Orleans (1815). Jackson was a family friend to both the Polks and the Childresses—there is evidence Sarah Polk and her siblings called him "Uncle Andrew"—and James Polk quickly came to support his presidential ambitions for 1824. When the Tennessee Legislature deadlocked on whom to elect as U.S. senator in 1823 (until 1913, legislators, not the people, elected senators), Jackson's name was placed in nomination. Polk broke from his usual allies, casting his vote as a member of the state House of Representatives for the general in Jackson's victory. This boosted Jackson's presidential chances by giving him recent political experience to match his military accomplishments. This began an alliance that would continue until Jackson's death early in Polk's presidency. Polk, through much of his political career, was known as "Young Hickory", based on the nickname for Jackson, "Old Hickory". Polk's political career was as dependent on Jackson as his nickname implied.
In the 1824 United States presidential election, Jackson got the most electoral votes (he also led in the popular vote) but as he did not receive a majority in the Electoral College, the election was thrown into the U.S. House of Representatives, which chose Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who had received the second-most of each. Polk, like other Jackson supporters, believed that Speaker of the House Henry Clay had traded his support as fourth-place finisher (the House may only choose from among the top three) to Adams in a Corrupt Bargain in exchange for being the new Secretary of State. Polk had in August 1824 declared his candidacy for the following year's election to the House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th congressional district. The district stretched from Maury County south to the Alabama line, and extensive electioneering was expected of the five candidates. Polk campaigned so vigorously that Sarah began to worry about his health. During the campaign, Polk's opponents said that at the age of 29 Polk was too young for the responsibility of a seat in the House, but he won the election with 3,669 votes out of 10,440 and took his seat in Congress later that year.
When Polk arrived in Washington, D.C. for Congress' regular session in December 1825, he roomed in Benjamin Burch's boarding house with other Tennessee representatives, including Sam Houston. Polk made his first major speech on March 13, 1826, in which he said that the Electoral College should be abolished and that the president should be elected by popular vote. Remaining bitter at the alleged Corrupt Bargain between Adams and Clay, Polk became a vocal critic of the administration, frequently voting against its policies. Sarah Polk remained at home in Columbia during her husband's first year in Congress, but accompanied him to Washington beginning in December 1826; she assisted him with his correspondence, and came to hear James's speeches.
Polk won re-election in 1827 and continued to oppose the Adams administration. He remained in close touch with Jackson, and when Jackson ran for president in 1828, Polk was a corresponding advisor on his campaign. Following Jackson's victory over Adams, Polk became one of the new President's most prominent and loyal supporters in the House. Working on Jackson's behalf, Polk successfully opposed federally-funded "internal improvements" such as a proposed Buffalo-to-New Orleans road, and he was pleased by Jackson's Maysville Road veto in May 1830, when Jackson blocked a bill to finance a road extension entirely within one state, Kentucky, deeming it unconstitutional. Jackson opponents alleged that the veto message, which strongly complained about Congress' penchant for passing pork barrel projects, was written by Polk, but he denied this, stating that the message was entirely the President's.
Polk served as Jackson's most prominent House ally in the "Bank War" that developed over Jackson's opposition to the re-authorization of the Second Bank of the United States. The Second Bank, headed by Nicholas Biddle of Philadelphia, not only held federal dollars, but controlled much of the credit in the United States, as it could present currency issued by local banks for redemption in gold or silver. Some Westerners, including Jackson, opposed the Second Bank, deeming it a monopoly acting in the interest of Easterners. Polk, as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, conducted investigations of the Second Bank, and though the committee voted for a bill to renew the bank's charter (scheduled to expire in 1836), Polk issued a strong minority report condemning the bank. The bill passed Congress in 1832, but Jackson vetoed it and Congress failed to override the veto. Jackson's action was highly controversial in Washington, but had considerable public support, and he won easy re-election in 1832.
Like many Southerners, Polk favored low tariffs on imported goods, and initially sympathized with John C. Calhoun's opposition to the Tariff of Abominations during the Nullification Crisis of 1832–1833, but came over to Jackson's side as Calhoun moved towards advocating secession. Thereafter, Polk remained loyal to Jackson as the President sought to assert federal authority. Polk condemned secession and supported the Force Bill against South Carolina, which had claimed the authority to nullify federal tariffs. The matter was settled by Congress passing a compromise tariff.
In December 1833, after being elected to a fifth consecutive term, Polk, with Jackson's backing, became the chairman of Ways and Means, a powerful position in the House. In that position, Polk supported Jackson's withdrawal of federal funds from the Second Bank. Polk's committee issued a report questioning the Second Bank's finances, and another supporting Jackson's actions against it. In April 1834, the Ways and Means Committee reported a bill to regulate state deposit banks, which, when passed, enabled Jackson to deposit funds in pet banks, and Polk got legislation passed to allow the sale of the government's stock in the Second Bank.
In June 1834, Speaker of the House Andrew Stevenson resigned from Congress to become Minister to the United Kingdom. With Jackson's support, Polk ran for Speaker against fellow Tennessean John Bell, Calhoun disciple Richard Henry Wilde, and Joel Barlow Sutherland of Pennsylvania. After ten ballots, Bell, who had the support of many opponents of the administration, defeated Polk. Jackson called in political debts to try to get Polk elected Speaker at the start of the next Congress in December 1835, assuring Polk in a letter he meant him to burn that New England would support him for Speaker. They were successful; Polk defeated Bell to take the Speakership.
According to Thomas M. Leonard in his book on Polk, "by 1836, while serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Polk approached the zenith of his congressional career. He was at the center of Jacksonian Democracy on the House floor, and, with the help of his wife, he ingratiated himself into Washington's social circles." The prestige of the Speakership caused them to abandon life in a Washington boarding house for their own residence on Pennsylvania Avenue. In the 1836 presidential election, Vice President Martin Van Buren, Jackson's chosen successor, defeated multiple Whig candidates, including Tennessee Senator Hugh Lawson White. Greater Whig strength in Tennessee helped White carry his state, though Polk's home district went for Van Buren. Ninety percent of Tennessee voters had supported Jackson in 1832, but many in the state disliked the destruction of the Second Bank, or were unwilling to support Van Buren.
As Speaker, Polk worked for the policies of Jackson and later Van Buren. Polk appointed committees with Democratic chairs and majorities, including the New York radical C. C. Cambreleng as the new Ways and Means chair, although he tried to maintain the Speaker's traditional nonpartisan appearance. The two major issues during Polk's speakership were slavery and, after the Panic of 1837, the economy. Polk firmly enforced the "gag rule", by which the House of Representatives would not accept or debate citizen petitions regarding slavery. This ignited fierce protests from John Quincy Adams, who was by then a congressman from Massachusetts and an abolitionist. Instead of finding a way to silence Adams, Polk frequently engaged in useless shouting matches, leading Jackson to conclude that the Speaker should have shown better leadership. Van Buren and Polk faced pressure to rescind the Specie Circular, Jackson's 1836 order that payment for government lands be in gold and silver. Some believed this had led to the crash by causing a lack of confidence in paper currency issued by banks. Despite such arguments, with support from Polk and his cabinet, Van Buren chose to back the Specie Circular. Polk and Van Buren attempted to establish an Independent Treasury system that would allow the government to oversee its own deposits (rather than using pet banks), but the bill was defeated in the House. It eventually passed in 1840.
Using his thorough grasp of the House's rules, Polk attempted to bring greater order to its proceedings. Unlike many of his peers, he never challenged anyone to a duel no matter how much they insulted his honor. The economic downturn cost the Democrats seats, so that when he faced re-election as Speaker in December 1837, he won by only 13 votes, and he foresaw defeat in 1839. Polk by then had presidential ambitions, but was well aware that no Speaker had ever become president (Polk is still the only one to have held both offices). After seven terms in the House, two as Speaker, he announced that he would not seek re-election, choosing instead to run for Governor of Tennessee in the 1839 election.
In 1835, the Democrats had lost the governorship of Tennessee for the first time in their history, and Polk decided to return home to help the party. Polk returned to a Tennessee afire for White and Whiggism; the state had changed greatly in its political loyalties since the days of Jacksonian domination. Polk undertook his first statewide campaign, against the Whig incumbent, Newton Cannon, who sought a third two-year term as governor. The fact that Polk was the one called upon to "redeem" Tennessee from the Whigs tacitly acknowledged him as head of the state Democratic Party.
Polk campaigned on national issues, whereas Cannon stressed matters local to Tennessee. After being bested by Polk in the early debates, the governor retreated to Nashville, by then the state capital, alleging important official business. Polk made speeches across the state, seeking to become known more widely than in his native Middle Tennessee. When Cannon came back on the campaign trail in the final days, Polk pursued him, hastening the length of the state to be able to debate the governor again. On Election Day, August 1, 1839, Polk defeated Cannon, 54,102 to 51,396, as the Democrats recaptured the state legislature and won back three congressional seats in Tennessee.
Tennessee's governor had limited power—there was no gubernatorial veto, and the small size of the state government limited any political patronage. But Polk saw the office as a springboard for his national ambitions, seeking to be nominated as Van Buren's vice presidential running mate at the 1840 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore in May. Polk hoped to be the replacement if Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson was dumped from the ticket; Johnson was disliked by many Southern whites for fathering two daughters by a biracial mistress, and attempting to introduce them into white society. Johnson was from Kentucky, so Polk's Tennessee residence would keep the New Yorker Van Buren's ticket balanced. The convention chose to endorse no one for vice president, stating that a choice would be made once the popular vote was cast. Three weeks after the convention, recognizing that Johnson was too popular in the party to be ousted, Polk withdrew his name. The Whig presidential candidate, General William Henry Harrison, conducted a rollicking campaign with the motto "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", easily winning both the national vote and that in Tennessee. Polk campaigned in vain for Van Buren and was embarrassed by the outcome; Jackson, who had returned to his home, the Hermitage, near Nashville, was horrified at the prospect of a Whig administration. Harrison's death after a month in office in 1841 left the presidency to Vice President John Tyler, who soon broke with the Whigs.
Polk's three major programs during his governorship; regulating state banks, implementing state internal improvements, and improving education all failed to win the approval of the legislature. His only major success as governor was his politicking to secure the replacement of Tennessee's two Whig U.S. senators with Democrats. Polk's tenure was hindered by the continuing nationwide economic crisis that had followed the Panic of 1837 and which had caused Van Buren to lose the 1840 election.
Encouraged by the success of Harrison's campaign, the Whigs ran a freshman legislator from frontier Wilson County, James C. Jones against Polk in 1841. "Lean Jimmy" had proven one of their most effective gadflies against Polk, and his lighthearted tone at campaign debates was very effective against the serious Polk. The two debated the length of Tennessee, and Jones's support of distribution to the states of surplus federal revenues, and of a national bank, struck a chord with Tennessee voters. On election day in August 1841, Polk was defeated by 3,000 votes, the first time he had been beaten at the polls. Polk returned to Columbia and the practice of law, and prepared for a rematch against Jones in 1843, but though the new governor took less of a joking tone, it made little difference to the outcome, as Polk was beaten again, this time by 3,833 votes. In the wake of his second statewide defeat in three years, Polk faced an uncertain political future.
Despite his loss, Polk was determined to become the next vice president of the United States, seeing it as a path to the presidency. Van Buren was the frontrunner for the 1844 Democratic nomination, and Polk engaged in a careful campaign to become his running mate. The former president faced opposition from Southerners who feared his views on slavery, while his handling of the Panic of 1837—he had refused to rescind the Specie Circular—aroused opposition from some in the West (today's Midwest) who believed his hard money policies had hurt their section of the country. Many Southerners backed Calhoun's candidacy, Westerners rallied around Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, and former Vice President Johnson also maintained a strong following among Democrats. Jackson assured Van Buren by letter that Polk in his campaigns for governor had "fought the battle well and fought it alone". Polk hoped to gain Van Buren's support, hinting in a letter that a Van Buren/Polk ticket could carry Tennessee, but found him unconvinced.
The biggest political issue in the United States at that time was territorial expansion. The Republic of Texas had successfully revolted against Mexico in 1836. With the republic largely populated by American emigres, those on both sides of the Sabine River border between the U.S. and Texas deemed it inevitable that Texas would join the United States, but this would anger Mexico, which considered Texas a breakaway province, and threatened war if the United States annexed it. Jackson, as president, had recognized Texas independence, but the initial momentum toward annexation had stalled. Britain was seeking to expand her influence in Texas: Britain had abolished slavery, and if Texas did the same, it would provide a western haven for runaways to match one in the North. A Texas not in the United States would also stand in the way of what was deemed America's Manifest Destiny to overspread the continent.
Clay was nominated for president by acclamation at the April 1844 Whig National Convention, with New Jersey's Theodore Frelinghuysen his running mate. A Kentucky slaveholder at a time when opponents of Texas annexation argued that it would give slavery more room to spread, Clay sought a nuanced position on the issue. Jackson, who strongly supported a Van Buren/Polk ticket, was delighted when Clay issued a letter for publication in the newspapers opposing Texas annexation, only to be devastated when he learned Van Buren had done the same thing. Van Buren did this because he feared losing his base of support in the Northeast, but his supporters in the old Southwest were stunned at his action. Polk, on the other hand, had written a pro-annexation letter that had been published four days before Van Buren's. Jackson wrote sadly to Van Buren that no candidate who opposed annexation could be elected, and decided Polk was the best person to head the ticket. Jackson met with Polk at the Hermitage on May 13, 1844 and explained to his visitor that only an expansionist from the South or Southwest could be elected—and, in his view, Polk had the best chance. Polk was at first startled, calling the plan "utterly abortive", but he agreed to accept it. Polk immediately wrote to instruct his lieutenants at the convention to work for his nomination as president.
Despite Jackson's quiet efforts on his behalf, Polk was skeptical that he could win. Nevertheless, because of the opposition to Van Buren by expansionists in the West and South, Polk's key lieutenant at the 1844 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore, Gideon Johnson Pillow, believed Polk could emerge as a compromise candidate. Publicly, Polk, who remained in Columbia during the convention, professed full support for Van Buren's candidacy, and was believed to be seeking the vice presidency. Polk was one of the few major Democrats to have declared for the annexation of Texas.
The convention opened on May 27, 1844. A crucial question was whether the nominee needed two-thirds of the delegate vote, as had been the case at previous Democratic conventions, or merely a majority. A vote for two-thirds would doom Van Buren's candidacy due to the opposition to him. With the support of the Southern states, the two-thirds rule was passed. Van Buren won a majority on the first presidential ballot, but failed to win the necessary two-thirds, and his support slowly faded on subsequent ballots. Cass, Johnson, Calhoun and James Buchanan had also received votes on the first ballot, and Cass took the lead on the fifth ballot. After seven ballots, the convention remained deadlocked: Cass could not attract the support necessary to reach two-thirds, and Van Buren's supporters were more and more discouraged about the former president's chances. Delegates were ready to consider a new candidate who might break the stalemate.
When the convention adjourned after the seventh ballot, Pillow, who had been waiting for an opportunity to press Polk's name, conferred with George Bancroft of Massachusetts, a politician and historian who was a longtime Polk correspondent, and who had planned to nominate Polk for vice president. Bancroft had supported Van Buren's candidacy, and was willing to see New York Senator Silas Wright head the ticket, but Wright would not consider taking a nomination that Van Buren wanted. Pillow and Bancroft decided if Polk were nominated for president, Wright might accept the second spot. Before the eighth ballot, former Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler, head of the New York delegation, read a pre-written letter from Van Buren to be used if he could not be nominated, withdrawing in Wright's favor. But Wright (who was in Washington) had also entrusted a pre-written letter to a supporter, in which he refused to be considered as a presidential candidate, and stated in the letter that he agreed with Van Buren's position on Texas. Had Wright's letter not been read he most likely would have been nominated, but without him, Butler began to rally Van Buren supporters for Polk as the best possible candidate, and Bancroft placed Polk's name before the convention. On the eighth ballot, Polk received only 44 votes to Cass's 114 and Van Buren's 104, but the deadlock showed signs of breaking. Butler formally withdrew Van Buren's name, many delegations declared for the Tennessean, and on the ninth ballot Polk received 233 ballots to Cass's 29, making him the Democratic nominee for president. The nomination was then made unanimous.
This left the question of the vice presidential candidate. Butler urged Wright's nomination, and the convention agreed to this, with only eight Georgia delegates dissenting. As the convention waited, word of Wright's nomination was sent to him in Washington via telegraph. Having by proxy declined an almost certain presidential nomination, Wright would not accept the second place. Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, a close Polk ally, suggested former senator George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania. Dallas was acceptable enough to all factions, and gained the vice presidential nomination on the second ballot. The delegates passed a platform, and adjourned on May 30.
Although many contemporary politicians, including Pillow and Bancroft, claimed credit in the years to come for getting Polk the nomination, Walter R. Borneman felt that most credit was due to Jackson and Polk, "the two who had done the most were back in Tennessee, one an aging icon ensconced at the Hermitage and the other a shrewd lifelong politician waiting expectantly in Columbia". Whigs mocked Polk with the chant "Who is James K. Polk?", affecting never to have heard of him. Though he had experience as Speaker of the House and Governor of Tennessee, all previous presidents had served as Vice President, Secretary of State, or as a high-ranking general. Polk has been described as the first "dark horse" presidential nominee, although his nomination was less of a surprise than that of future nominees such as Franklin Pierce or Warren G. Harding. Despite his party's gibes, Clay recognized that Polk could unite the Democrats.
Rumors of Polk's nomination reached Nashville on June 4, much to Jackson's delight; they were substantiated later that day. The dispatches were sent on to Columbia, arriving the same day, and letters and newspapers describing what had happened at Baltimore were in Polk's hands by June 6. He accepted his nomination by letter dated June 12, alleging that he had never sought the office, and stating his intent to serve only one term. Wright was embittered by what he called the "foul plot" against Van Buren, and demanded assurances that Polk had played no part; it was only after Polk professed that he had remained loyal to Van Buren that Wright supported his campaign. Following the custom of the time that presidential candidates avoid electioneering or appearing to seek the office, Polk remained in Columbia and made no speeches. He engaged in an extensive correspondence with Democratic Party officials as he managed his campaign. Polk made his views known in his acceptance letter and through responses to questions sent by citizens that were printed in newspapers, often by arrangement.
A potential pitfall for Polk's campaign was the issue of whether the tariff should be for revenue only, or with the intent to protect American industry. Polk finessed the tariff issue in a published letter. Recalling that he had long stated that tariffs should only be sufficient to finance government operations, he maintained that stance, but wrote that within that limitation, government could and should offer "fair and just protection" to American interests, including manufacturers. He refused to expand on this stance, acceptable to most Democrats, despite the Whigs pointing out that he had committed himself to nothing. In September, a delegation of Whigs from nearby Giles County came to Columbia, armed with specific questions on Polk's views regarding the current tariff, the Whig-passed Tariff of 1842, and with the stated intent of remaining in Columbia until they got answers. Polk took several days to respond, and chose to stand by his earlier statement, provoking an outcry in the Whig papers.
Another concern was the third-party candidacy of President Tyler, which might split the Democratic vote. Tyler had been nominated by a group of loyal officeholders. Under no illusions he could win, he believed he could rally states' rights supporters and populists to hold the balance of power in the election. Only Jackson had the stature to resolve the situation, which he did with two letters to friends in the Cabinet, that he knew would be shown to Tyler, stating that the President's supporters would be welcomed back into the Democratic fold. Jackson wrote that once Tyler withdrew, many Democrats would embrace him for his pro-annexation stance. The former president also used his influence to stop Francis Preston Blair and his "Globe" newspaper, the semi-official organ of the Democratic Party, from attacking Tyler. These proved enough; Tyler withdrew from the race in August.
Party troubles were a third concern. Polk and Calhoun made peace when a former South Carolina congressman, Francis Pickens visited Tennessee and came to Columbia for two days and to the Hermitage for sessions with the increasingly ill Jackson. Calhoun wanted the "Globe" dissolved, and that Polk would act against the 1842 tariff and promote Texas annexation. Reassured on these points, Calhoun became a strong supporter.
Polk was aided regarding Texas when Clay, realizing his anti-annexation letter had cost him support, attempted in two subsequent letters to clarify his position. These angered both sides, which attacked Clay as insincere. Texas also threatened to divide the Democrats sectionally, but Polk managed to appease most Southern party leaders without antagonizing Northern ones. As the election drew closer, it became clear that most of the country favored the annexation of Texas, and some Southern Whig leaders supported Polk's campaign due to Clay's anti-annexation stance.
The campaign was vitriolic; both major party candidates were accused of various acts of malfeasance; Polk was accused of being both a duelist and a coward. The most damaging smear was the Roorback forgery; in late August an item appeared in an abolitionist newspaper, part of a book detailing fictional travels through the South of a Baron von Roorback, an imaginary German nobleman. The Ithaca "Chronicle" printed it without labeling it as fiction, and inserted a sentence alleging that the traveler had seen forty slaves who had been sold by Polk after being branded with his initials. The item was withdrawn by the "Chronicle" when challenged by the Democrats, but it was widely reprinted. Borneman suggested that the forgery backfired on Polk's opponents as it served to remind voters that Clay too was a slaveholder, John Eisenhower, in his journal article on the election, stated that the smear came too late to be effectively rebutted, and likely cost Polk Ohio. Southern newspapers, on the other hand, went far in defending Polk, one Nashville newspaper alleging that his slaves preferred their bondage to freedom. Polk himself implied to newspaper correspondents that the only slaves he owned had either been inherited or had been purchased from relatives in financial distress; this paternalistic image was also painted by surrogates like Gideon Pillow. This was not true, though not known at the time; by then he had bought over thirty slaves, both from relatives and others, mainly for the purpose of procuring labor for his Mississippi cotton plantation.
There was no uniform election day in 1844; states voted between November 1 and 12. Polk won the election with 49.5% of the popular vote and 170 of the 275 electoral votes. Becoming the first president elected despite losing his state of residence (Tennessee), Polk also lost his birth state, North Carolina. However, he won Pennsylvania and New York, where Clay lost votes to the antislavery Liberty Party candidate James G. Birney, who got more votes in New York than Polk's margin of victory. Had Clay won New York, he would have been elected president.
With a slender victory in the popular vote, but with a greater victory in the Electoral College (170–105), Polk proceeded to implement his campaign promises. He presided over a country whose population had doubled every twenty years since the American Revolution and which had reached demographic parity with Great Britain. Polk's tenure saw continued technological improvements, including the continued expansion of railroads and increased use of the telegraph. These improved communications and growing demographics increasingly made the United States into a strong military power, while also stoking expansionism. However, sectional divisions remained and became worse during his tenure.
Polk set four clearly defined goals for his administration:
While his domestic aims represented continuity with past Democratic policies, successful completion of Polk's foreign policy goals would represent the first major American territorial gains since the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819.
After being informed of his victory on November 15, 1844, Polk turned his attention to forming a geographically-balanced Cabinet. He consulted Jackson and one or two other close allies, and decided that the large states of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia should have representation in the six-member Cabinet, as should his home state of Tennessee. At a time when an incoming president might retain some or all of his predecessor's department heads, Polk wanted an entirely fresh Cabinet, but this proved delicate. Tyler's final Secretary of State was Calhoun, leader of a considerable faction of the Democratic Party, but, when approached by emissaries, he did not take offense and was willing to step down.
Polk did not want his Cabinet to contain presidential hopefuls, though he chose to nominate James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, whose ambition for the presidency was well-known, as Secretary of State. Tennessee's Cave Johnson, a close friend and ally of Polk, was nominated for the position of Postmaster General, with George Bancroft, the historian who had placed a crucial role in Polk's nomination, as Navy Secretary. Polk's choices met with the approval of Andrew Jackson, whom Polk met with in January 1845 for the last time, as Jackson died that June.
Tyler's last Navy Secretary, John Y. Mason of Virginia, Polk's friend since college days and a longtime political ally, was not on the original list. As Cabinet choices were affected by factional politics and President Tyler's drive to resolve the Texas issue before leaving office, Polk at the last minute chose him as Attorney General. Polk also chose Mississippi Senator Walker as Secretary of the Treasury and New York's William Marcy as Secretary of War. All gained Senate confirmation after Polk took office. The members worked well together, and few replacements were necessary. One reshuffle was required in 1846 when Bancroft, who wanted a diplomatic posting, became U.S. minister to Britain.
As Polk put together his Cabinet, President Tyler sought to complete the annexation of Texas. While the Senate had defeated an earlier treaty that would annex the republic, Tyler urged Congress to pass a joint resolution, relying on its constitutional power to admit states. There were disagreements about the terms under which Texas would be admitted and Polk became involved in negotiations to break the impasse. With Polk's help, the annexation resolution narrowly cleared the Senate. Tyler was unsure whether to sign the resolution or leave it for Polk, and sent Calhoun to consult with the President-elect, who declined to give any advice. On his final evening in office, March 3, 1845, Tyler offered annexation to Texas according to the terms of the resolution.
Even before his inauguration, Polk wrote to Cave Johnson, "I intend to be President of the U.S." He would gain a reputation as a hard worker, spending ten to twelve hours at his desk, and rarely leaving Washington. Polk wrote, "No President who performs his duty faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure. I prefer to supervise the whole operations of the government myself rather than intrust the public business to subordinates, and this makes my duties very great." When he took office on March 4, 1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest president to that point. Polk's inauguration was the first inaugural ceremony to be reported by telegraph, and first to be shown in a newspaper illustration (in "The Illustrated London News").
In his inaugural address, delivered in a steady rain, Polk made clear his support for Texas annexation by referring to the 28 states of the U.S., thus including Texas. He proclaimed his fidelity to Jackson's principles by quoting his famous toast, "Every lover of his country must shudder at the thought of the possibility of its dissolution and will be ready to adopt the patriotic sentiment, 'Our Federal Union—it must be preserved.'" He stated his opposition to a national bank, and repeated that the tariff could include incidental protection. Although he did not mention slavery specifically, he alluded to it, decrying those who would tear down an institution protected by the Constitution.
Polk devoted the second half of his speech to foreign affairs, and specifically to expansion. He applauded the annexation of Texas, warning that Texas was no affair of any other nation, and certainly none of Mexico's. He spoke of the Oregon Country, and of the many who were migrating, pledging to safeguard America's rights there, and to protect the settlers.
As well as appointing Cabinet officers to advise him, Polk made his sister's son, J. Knox Walker, his personal secretary, an especially important position because, other than his slaves, Polk had no staff at the White House. Walker, who lived at the White House with his growing family (two children were born to him while living there), performed his duties competently through his uncle's presidency. Other Polk relatives visited at the White House, some for extended periods.
Britain derived its claim to the Oregon Country from the voyages of Captains James Cook and George Vancouver, the Americans from the explorations of the Lewis and Clark expedition and from the discovery of the Columbia River by the American sea captain, Robert Gray. By treaty, Russia had waived any claim south of the southern border of Alaska, which it possessed until 1867, and Spain, which claimed the Pacific Coast to the 42nd parallel, ceded any claims it might have north of that to the United States under the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. This was just before Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821. Claims of the indigenous peoples of the region to their traditional lands were not a factor.
Rather than war over the distant and low-population territory, the United States and Britain had negotiated. Since the signing of the Treaty of 1818, the Oregon Country had been under the joint occupation and control of the United Kingdom and the United States. Previous U.S. administrations had offered to divide the region along the 49th parallel, which was not acceptable to Britain, as it had commercial interests along the Columbia River. Britain's preferred partition was unacceptable to Polk, as it would have awarded Puget Sound and all lands north of the Columbia River to Britain, and Britain was unwilling to accept the 49th parallel extended to the Pacific, as it meant the entire opening to Puget Sound would be in American hands, isolating its settlements along the Fraser River.
Edward Everett, President Tyler's ambassador to Great Britain, had informally proposed dividing the territory at the 49th parallel with the strategic Vancouver Island granted to the British, thus allowing an opening to the Pacific. But when the new British minister in Washington, Richard Pakenham arrived in 1844 prepared to follow up, he found that many Americans desired the entire territory. Oregon had not been a major issue in the 1844 election. However, the heavy influx of settlers, mostly American, to the Oregon Country in 1845, and the rising spirit of expansionism in the United States as Texas and Oregon seized the public's eye, made a treaty with Britain more urgent. Many Democrats believed that the United States should span from coast to coast, a philosophy described as Manifest Destiny.
Though both sides sought an acceptable compromise, each also saw the territory as an important geopolitical asset that would play a large part in determining the dominant power in North America. In his inaugural address, Polk announced that he viewed the U.S. claim to the land as "clear and unquestionable", provoking threats of war from British leaders should Polk attempt to take control of the entire territory. Polk had refrained in his address from asserting a claim to the entire territory, which extended north to 54 degrees, 40 minutes north latitude, although the Democratic Party platform called for such a claim. Despite Polk's hawkish rhetoric, he viewed war over Oregon as unwise, and Polk and Buchanan began negotiations with the British. Like his predecessors, Polk again proposed a division along the 49th parallel, which was immediately rejected by Pakenham. Secretary of State Buchanan was wary of a two-front war with Mexico and Britain, but Polk was willing to risk war with both countries in pursuit of a favorable settlement. In his annual message to Congress in December 1845, Polk requested approval of giving Britain a one-year notice (as required in the Treaty of 1818) of his intention to terminate the joint occupancy of Oregon. In that message, he quoted from the Monroe Doctrine to denote America's intention of keeping European powers out, the first significant use of it since its origin in 1823. After much debate, Congress eventually passed the resolution in April 1846, attaching its hope that the dispute would be settled amicably.
When the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Aberdeen, learned of the proposal rejected by Pakenham, Aberdeen asked the United States to re-open negotiations, but Polk was unwilling unless a proposal was made by the British. With Britain moving towards free trade with the repeal of the Corn Laws, good trade relations with the United States were more important to Aberdeen than a distant territory. In February 1846, Polk allowed Buchanan to inform Louis McLane, the American ambassador to Britain, that Polk's administration would look favorably on a British proposal to divide the continent at the 49th parallel. In June 1846, Pakenham presented an offer to the Polk administration, calling for a boundary line at the 49th parallel, with the exception that Britain would retain all of Vancouver Island, and there would be limited navigation rights for British subjects on the Columbia River until the expiration of the charter of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1859. Polk and most of his Cabinet were prepared to accept the proposal, but Buchanan, in a reversal, urged that the United States seek control of all of the Oregon Territory. Polk deemed Buchanan's about-face linked to his presidential ambitions.
After winning the reluctant approval of Buchanan, and choosing to have the Senate weigh in (favorably) on the draft treaty, Polk submitted the full treaty to the Senate for ratification. The Senate ratified the Oregon Treaty in a 41–14 vote, with opposition from diehards who sought the full territory. Polk's willingness to risk war with Britain had frightened many, but his tough negotiation tactics may have gained the United States concessions from the British (particularly regarding the Columbia River) that a more conciliatory president might not have won.
The annexation resolution signed by Tyler gave the president the choice of asking Texas to approve annexation, or reopening negotiations; Tyler immediately sent a messenger to the U.S. representative in Texas, Andrew Jackson Donelson, choosing the former option. Thus, Polk's first major decision in office was whether to recall Tyler's courier to Texas.
Though it was within Polk's power to recall the messenger, he chose to allow him to continue, with the hope that Texas would accept the offer. He also sent Congressman Archibald Yell of Arkansas as his personal emissary, taking his private assurance that the United States would defend Texas, and would fix its southern border at the Rio Grande, as claimed by Texas, rather than at the Nueces River, as claimed by Mexico. Polk retained Donelson in his post, and the diplomat sought to convince Texas' leaders to accept annexation under the terms proposed by the Tyler administration. Though public sentiment in Texas favored annexation, some leaders, including President Anson Jones, hoped negotiation would bring better terms. Britain had offered to work a deal whereby Texas would gain Mexican recognition in exchange for a pledge never to annex itself to another country, but after consideration, the influential former president, Sam Houston, rejected it, as did the Texas Congress.
In July 1845, a convention ratified annexation, and thereafter voters approved it. In December 1845, Polk signed a resolution annexing Texas, and it became the 28th state. Mexico had broken diplomatic relations with the United States on passage of the joint resolution in March 1845; annexation increased tensions with that nation, which had never recognized Texan independence.
Following the Texan ratification of annexation in 1845, both Mexicans and Americans saw conflict as a likely possibility. Polk began preparations for a potential war with Mexico over Texas, sending an army there, led by Brigadier General Zachary Taylor. Taylor and Commodore David Conner of the U.S. Navy, commanding American ships off the Mexican coast, were both ordered to avoid provoking a war, while preparing for conflict, and to respond to any Mexican aggression. Sending the U.S. Army there was a provocative act. Although Polk had the military prepare for war, he did not believe it would come to that; he thought Mexico would give in under duress, which proved to be a significant miscalculation.
Polk hoped that a show of force by the U.S. military under Taylor and Conner could avert war and lead to negotiations with the Mexican government. In late 1845, Polk sent diplomat John Slidell to Mexico to purchase New Mexico and California for $30 million, as well as securing Mexico's agreement to a Rio Grande border. Slidell arrived in Mexico City in December 1845. Mexican President José Joaquín de Herrera was unwilling to receive him because of the hostility of the public towards the United States. Slidell's ambassadorial credentials were refused by a Mexican council of government, and Herrera soon thereafter was deposed by a military coup led by General Mariano Paredes, a hard-liner who pledged to take back Texas from the United States. Dispatches from Slidell and from the U.S. consul in Mexico City, John Black, made clear their views that U.S. aims for territorial expansion could not be accomplished without war.
Taylor's instructions were to repel any incursion by Mexico north of the Rio Grande, when the Texas boundary line had been de facto at the Nueces River. Initially, his army did not advance further than Corpus Christi, at the mouth of the Nueces. On January 13, 1846, Polk ordered Taylor to proceed to the Rio Grande, though it took him time to prepare for the march. Polk was convinced that sending Taylor to the Nueces Strip would provoke war; even if it did not, he was prepared to have Congress declare it.
Slidell returned to Washington in May 1846 and gave his opinion that negotiations with the Mexican government were unlikely to be successful. Polk regarded the treatment of his diplomat as an insult and an "ample cause of war", and he prepared to ask Congress to declare it. Meanwhile, in late March, General Taylor had reached the Rio Grande, and his army camped across the river from Matamoros, Tamaulipas. In April, after Mexican general Pedro de Ampudia demanded that Taylor return to the Nueces River, Taylor began a blockade of Matamoros. A skirmish on the northern side of the Rio Grande on April 25 ended in the death or capture of dozens of American soldiers, and became known as the Thornton Affair. Word did not reach Washington until May 9, and Polk immediately convened the Cabinet and obtained their approval of his plan to send a war message to Congress on the ground that Mexico had, as Polk put it in his message, "shed American blood on the American soil". Polk's message was crafted to present the war as a just and necessary defense of the country against a neighbor that had long troubled the United States.
The House overwhelmingly approved a resolution declaring war and authorizing the president to accept 50,000 volunteers into the military. Some of those voting in favor were unconvinced that the U.S. had just cause to go to war, but feared to be deemed unpatriotic. In the Senate, war opponents led by Calhoun also questioned Polk's version of events. Nonetheless, the House resolution passed the Senate in a 40–2 vote, with Calhoun abstaining, marking the beginning of the Mexican–American War.
After the initial skirmishes, Taylor and much of his army marched away from the river to secure the supply line, leaving a makeshift base, Fort Texas. On the way back to the Rio Grande, Mexican forces under General Mariano Arista attempted to block Taylor's way as other troops laid siege to Fort Texas, forcing the U.S. Army general to the attack if he hoped to relieve the fort. In the Battle of Palo Alto, the first major engagement of the war, Taylor's troops forced Arista's from the field, suffering only four dead to hundreds for the Mexicans. The next day, Taylor led the army to victory in the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, putting the Mexican Army to rout. The early successes boosted support for the war, which despite the lopsided votes in Congress had deeply divided the nation. Many Northern Whigs opposed the war, as did others; they felt Polk had used patriotism to manipulate the nation into fighting a war the goal of which was to give slavery room to expand.
Polk distrusted the two senior officers, Major General Winfield Scott and Taylor, as both were Whigs, and would have replaced them with Democrats, but felt Congress would not approve it. He offered Scott the position of top commander in the war, which the general accepted. Polk and Scott already knew and disliked each other: the President made the appointment despite the fact that Scott had sought his party's presidential nomination for the 1840 election. Polk came to believe that Scott was too slow in getting himself and his army away from Washington and to the Rio Grande, and was outraged to learn Scott was using his influence in Congress to defeat the administration's plan to expand the number of generals. The news of Taylor's victory at Resaca de la Palma arrived then, and Polk decided to have Taylor take command in the field, and Scott to remain in Washington. Polk also ordered Commodore Conner to allow Antonio López de Santa Anna to return to Mexico from his exile in Havana, thinking that he would negotiate a treaty ceding territory to the U.S. for a price. Polk sent representatives to Cuba for talks with Santa Anna.
Polk sent an army expedition led by Stephen W. Kearny towards Santa Fe, to territory beyond the original claims in Texas. In 1845, Polk, fearful of French or British intervention, had sent Lieutenant Archibald H. Gillespie to California with orders to foment a pro-American rebellion that could be used to justify annexation of the territory. After meeting with Gillespie, Army captain John C. Frémont led settlers in northern California to overthrow the Mexican garrison in Sonoma in what became known as the Bear Flag Revolt. In August 1846, American forces under Kearny captured Santa Fe, capital of the province of New Mexico, without firing a shot. Almost simultaneously, Commodore Robert F. Stockton landed in Los Angeles and proclaimed the capture of California. After American forces put down a revolt, the United States held effective control of New Mexico and California. Nevertheless, the Western theater of the war would prove to be a political headache for Polk, since a dispute between Frémont and Kearny led to a break between Polk and the powerful Missouri senator (and father-in-law of Frémont), Thomas Hart Benton.
The initial public euphoria over the victories at the start of the war slowly dissipated. In August 1846, Polk asked Congress to appropriate $2 million as a down payment for the potential purchase of Mexican lands. Polk's request ignited opposition, as he had never before made public his desire to annex parts of Mexico (aside from lands claimed by Texas). It was unclear whether such newly acquired lands would be slave or free, and there was fierce and acrimonious sectional debate. A freshman Democratic Congressman, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, previously a firm supporter of Polk's administration, offered an amendment to the bill, the Wilmot Proviso, that would ban slavery in any land acquired using the money. The appropriation bill, with the Wilmot Proviso attached, passed the House, but died in the Senate. This discord cost Polk's party, with Democrats losing control of the House in the 1846 elections. In early 1847, though, Polk was successful in passing a bill raising further regiments, and he also finally won approval for the appropriation.
To try to bring the war to a quick end, in July 1846 Polk considered supporting a potential coup led by the exiled Mexican former president, General Antonio López de Santa Anna, with the hope that Santa Anna would sell parts of California. Santa Anna was in exile in Cuba, still a colony of Spain. Polk sent an envoy to have secret talks with Santa Anna. The U.S. Consul in Havana, R.B. Campbell, began seeking a way to engage with Santa Anna. A U.S. citizen of Spanish birth, Col. Alejandro José Atocha, knew Santa Anna and acted initially as an intermediary. Polk noted his contacts with Atocha in his diary, who said that Santa Anna was interested in concluding a treaty with the U.S. gaining territory while Mexico received payment that would include settling its debts. Polk decided that Atocha was untrustworthy and sent his own representative, Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, (a relative of John Slidell) to meet with Santa Anna. Mackenzie told Santa Anna that Polk wished to see him in power and that if they came to an agreement that the U.S. naval blockade would be lifted briefly to allow Santa Anna to return to Mexico. Polk requested $2 million from Congress to be used to negotiate a treaty with Mexico or payment to Mexico before a treaty was signed. The blockade was indeed briefly lifted and Santa Anna returned to Mexico, not to head a government that would negotiate a treaty with the U.S., but rather to organize a military defense of his homeland. Santa Anna gloated over Polk's naïveté; Polk had been "snookered" by Santa Anna. Instead of coming to a negotiated settlement with the U.S., Santa Anna mounted a defense of Mexico and fought to the bitter end. "His actions would prolong the war for at least a year, and more than any other single person, it was Santa Anna who denied Polk's dream of short war."
This caused Polk to harden his position on Mexico, and he ordered an American landing at Veracruz, the most important Mexican port on the Gulf of Mexico. From there, troops were to march through Mexico's heartland to Mexico City, which it was hoped would end the war. Continuing to advance in northeast Mexico, Taylor defeated a Mexican army led by Ampudia in the September 1846 Battle of Monterrey, but allowed Ampudia's forces to withdraw from the town, much to Polk's consternation. Polk believed Taylor had not aggressively pursued the enemy, and offered command of the Veracruz expedition to Scott.
The lack of trust Polk had in Taylor was returned by the Whig general, who feared the partisan president was trying to destroy him. Accordingly, Taylor disobeyed orders to remain near Monterrey. In March 1847, Polk learned that Taylor had continued to march south, capturing the northern Mexican town of Saltillo. Continuing beyond Saltillo, Taylor's army fought a larger Mexican force, led by Santa Anna, in the Battle of Buena Vista. Initial reports gave the victory to Mexico, with great rejoicing, but Santa Anna retreated. Mexican casualties were five times that of the Americans, and the victory made Taylor even more of a military hero in the American public's eyes, though Polk preferred to credit the bravery of the soldiers rather than the Whig general.
The U.S. changed the course of the war with its invasion of Mexico's heartland through Veracruz and ultimately the capture of Mexico City, following hard fighting. In March 1847, Scott landed in Veracruz, and quickly won control of the city. The Mexicans expected that yellow fever and other tropical diseases would weaken the U.S. forces. With the capture of Veracruz, Polk dispatched Nicholas Trist, Buchanan's chief clerk, to accompany Scott's army and negotiate a peace treaty with Mexican leaders. Trist was instructed to seek the cession of Alta California, New Mexico, and Baja California, recognition of the Rio Grande as the southern border of Texas, and U.S. access across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Trist was authorized to make a payment of up to $30 million in exchange for these concessions.
In August 1847, as he advanced towards Mexico City, Scott defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of Contreras and the Battle of Churubusco. With the Americans at the gates of Mexico City, Trist negotiated with commissioners, but the Mexicans were willing to give up little. Scott prepared to take Mexico City, which he did in mid-September. In the United States, a heated political debate emerged regarding how much of Mexico the United States should seek to annex, Whigs such as Henry Clay arguing that the United States should only seek to settle the Texas border question, and some expansionists arguing for the annexation of all of Mexico. War opponents were also active; Whig Congressman Abraham Lincoln of Illinois introduced the "exact spot" resolutions, calling on Polk to state exactly where American blood had been shed on American soil to start the war, but the House refused to consider them.
Frustrated by a lack of progress in negotiations, Polk ordered Trist to return to Washington, but the diplomat, when the notice of recall arrived in mid-November 1847, ignored the order, deciding to remain and writing a lengthy letter to Polk the following month to justify his decision. Polk considered having Butler, designated as Scott's replacement, forcibly remove him from Mexico City. Though outraged by Trist's defiance, Polk decided to allow him some time to negotiate a treaty.
Throughout January 1848, Trist regularly met with officials in Mexico City, though at the request of the Mexicans, the treaty signing took place in Guadalupe Hidalgo, a small town near Mexico City. Trist was willing to allow Mexico to keep Baja California, as his instructions allowed, but successfully haggled for the inclusion of the important harbor of San Diego in a cession of Alta California. Provisions included the Rio Grande border and a $15 million payment to Mexico. On February 2, 1848, Trist and the Mexican delegation signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Polk received the document on February 19, and, after the Cabinet met on the 20th, decided he had no choice but to accept it. If he turned it down, with the House by then controlled by the Whigs, there was no assurance Congress would vote funding to continue the war. Both Buchanan and Walker dissented, wanting more land from Mexico, a position with which the President was sympathetic, though he considered Buchanan's view motivated by his ambition.
Some senators opposed the treaty because they wanted to take no Mexican territory; others hesitated because of the irregular nature of Trist's negotiations. Polk waited in suspense for two weeks as the Senate considered it, sometimes hearing that it would likely be defeated, and that Buchanan and Walker were working against it. He was relieved when the two Cabinet officers lobbied on behalf of the treaty. On March 10, the Senate ratified the treaty in a 38–14 vote, on a vote that cut across partisan and geographic lines. The Senate made some modifications to the treaty before ratification, and Polk worried that the Mexican government would reject them. On June 7, Polk learned that Mexico had ratified the treaty. Polk declared the treaty in effect as of July 4, 1848, thus ending the war. With the acquisition of California, Polk had accomplished all four of his major presidential goals. With the exception of the territory acquired by the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, the territorial acquisitions under Polk established the modern borders of the Contiguous United States.
Polk had been anxious to establish a territorial government for Oregon once the treaty was effective in 1846, but the matter became embroiled in the arguments over slavery, though few thought Oregon suitable for that institution. A bill to establish an Oregon territorial government passed the House after being amended to bar slavery; the bill died in the Senate when opponents ran out the clock on the congressional session. A resurrected bill, still barring slavery, again passed the House in January 1847 but it was not considered by the Senate before Congress adjourned in March. By the time Congress met again in December, California and New Mexico were in U.S. hands, and Polk in his annual message urged the establishment of territorial governments in all three. The Missouri Compromise had settled the issue of the geographic reach of slavery within the Louisiana Purchase territories by prohibiting slavery in states north of 36°30′ latitude, and Polk sought to extend this line into the newly acquired territory. If extended to the Pacific, this would have made slavery illegal in San Francisco, but allowed it in Monterey and Los Angeles. A plan to accomplish the extension was defeated in the House by a bipartisan alliance of Northerners. As the last congressional session before the 1848 election came to a close, Polk signed the lone territorial bill passed by Congress, which established the Territory of Oregon and prohibited slavery in it.
When Congress reconvened in December 1848, Polk asked it in his annual message to establish territorial governments in California and New Mexico, a task made especially urgent by the onset of the California Gold Rush. The divisive issue of slavery blocked any such legislation, though congressional action continued until the final hours of Polk's term. When the bill was amended to have the laws of Mexico apply to the southwest territories until Congress changed them (thus effectively banning slavery), Polk made it clear that he would veto it, considering it the Wilmot Proviso in another guise. It was not until the Compromise of 1850 that the matter of the territories was resolved.
Polk's ambassador to the Republic of New Granada, Benjamin Alden Bidlack, negotiated the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty. Though Bidlack had initially only sought to remove tariffs on American goods, Bidlack and New Granadan Foreign Minister Manuel María Mallarino negotiated a broader agreement that deepened military and trade ties between the two countries. The treaty also allowed for the construction of the Panama Railway. In an era of slow overland travel, the treaty gave the United States a route for a quicker journey between its eastern and western coasts. In exchange, Bidlack agreed to have the United States guarantee New Granada's sovereignty over the Isthmus of Panama. The treaty won ratification in both countries in 1848. The agreement helped to establish a stronger American influence in the region, as the Polk administration sought to ensure that Great Britain would not dominate Central America. The United States would use the rights granted under the Mallarino-Bidlack Treaty as a justification for its military interventions in Latin America through the remainder of the 19th century.
In mid-1848, President Polk authorized his ambassador to Spain, Romulus Mitchell Saunders, to negotiate the purchase of Cuba and offer Spain up to $100 million, a large sum at the time for one territory, equal to $ in present-day terms. Cuba was close to the United States and had slavery, so the idea appealed to Southerners but was unwelcome in the North. However, Spain was still making profits in Cuba (notably in sugar, molasses, rum and tobacco), and thus the Spanish government rejected Saunders's overtures. Though Polk was eager to acquire Cuba, he refused to support the filibuster expedition of Narciso López, who sought to invade and take over the island as a prelude to annexation.
In his inaugural address, Polk called upon Congress to re-establish the Independent Treasury System under which government funds were held in the Treasury and not in banks or other financial institutions. President Van Buren had previously established a similar system, but it had been abolished during the Tyler administration. Polk made clear his opposition to a national bank in his inaugural address, and in his first annual message to Congress in December 1845, he called for the government to keep its funds itself. Congress was slow to act; the House passed a bill in April 1846 and the Senate in August, both without a single Whig vote. Polk signed the Independent Treasury Act into law on August 6, 1846. The act provided that the public revenues were to be retained in the Treasury building and in sub-treasuries in various cities, separate from private or state banks. The system would remain in place until the passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913.
Polk's other major domestic initiative was the lowering of the tariff. Polk directed Secretary of the Treasury Robert Walker to draft a new and lower tariff, which Polk submitted to Congress. After intense lobbying by both sides, the bill passed the House and, in a close vote that required Vice President Dallas to break a tie, the Senate in July 1846. Dallas, although from protectionist Pennsylvania, voted for the bill, having decided his best political prospects lay in supporting the administration. Polk signed the Walker Tariff into law, substantially reducing the rates that had been set by the Tariff of 1842. The reduction of tariffs in the United States and the repeal of the Corn Laws in Great Britain led to a boom in Anglo-American trade.
Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Bill in 1846 to provide $500,000 to improve port facilities, but Polk vetoed it. Polk believed that the bill was unconstitutional because it unfairly favored particular areas, including ports that had no foreign trade. Polk considered internal improvements to be matters for the states, and feared that passing the bill would encourage legislators to compete for favors for their home district—a type of corruption that he felt would spell doom to the virtue of the republic. In this regard he followed his hero Jackson, who had vetoed the Maysville Road Bill in 1830 on similar grounds.
Opposed by conviction to Federal funding for internal improvements, Polk stood strongly against all such bills. Congress, in 1847, passed another internal improvements bill; he pocket vetoed it and sent Congress a full veto message when it met in December. Similar bills continued to advance in Congress in 1848, though none reached his desk. When he came to the Capitol to sign bills on March 3, 1849, the last day of the congressional session and his final full day in office, he feared that an internal improvements bill would pass Congress, and he brought with him a draft veto message. The bill did not pass, so it was not needed, but feeling the draft had been ably written, he had it preserved among his papers.
Authoritative word of the discovery of gold in California did not arrive in Washington until after the 1848 election, by which time Polk was a lame duck. Polk's political adversaries had claimed California was too far away to be useful, and was not worth the price paid to Mexico. The President was delighted by the news, seeing it as validation of his stance on expansion, and referred to the discovery several times in his final annual message to Congress that December. Shortly thereafter, actual samples of the California gold arrived, and Polk sent a special message to Congress on the subject. The message, confirming less authoritative reports, caused large numbers of people to move to California, both from the U.S. and abroad, thus helping to spark the California Gold Rush.
One of Polk's last acts as President was to sign the bill creating the Department of the Interior (March 3, 1849). This was the first new cabinet position created since the early days of the Republic. Polk had misgivings about the federal government usurping power over public lands from the states. Nevertheless, the delivery of the legislation on his last full day in office gave him no time to find constitutional grounds for a veto, or to draft a sufficient veto message, so he signed the bill.
Polk appointed the following justices to the U.S. Supreme Court:
The 1844 death of Justice Henry Baldwin left a vacant place on the Supreme Court, but Tyler had been unable to get the Senate to confirm a nominee. At the time, it was the custom to have geographic balance on the Supreme Court, and Baldwin had been from Pennsylvania. Polk's efforts to fill Baldwin's seat became embroiled in Pennsylvania politics and the efforts of factional leaders to secure the lucrative post of Collector of Customs for the Port of Philadelphia. As Polk attempted to find his way through the minefield of Pennsylvania politics, a second position on the high court became vacant with the death, in September 1845, of Justice Joseph Story; his replacement was expected to come from his native New England. Because Story's death had occurred while the Senate was not in session, Polk was able to make a recess appointment, choosing Senator Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire, and when the Senate reconvened in December 1845, Woodbury was confirmed. Polk's initial nominee for Baldwin's seat, George W. Woodward, was rejected by the Senate in January 1846, in large part due to the opposition of Buchanan and Pennsylvania Senator Simon Cameron.
Despite Polk's anger at Buchanan, he eventually offered the Secretary of State the seat, but Buchanan, after some indecision, turned it down. Polk subsequently nominated Robert Cooper Grier of Pittsburgh, who won confirmation. Justice Woodbury died in 1851, but Grier served until 1870 and in the slavery case of "Dred Scott v. Sandford" (1857) wrote an opinion stating that slaves were property and could not sue.
Polk appointed eight other federal judges, one to the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, and seven to various United States district courts.
Honoring his pledge to serve only one term, Polk declined to seek re-election. At the 1848 Democratic National Convention, Lewis Cass led on every ballot, though it was not until the fourth that he attained a two-thirds vote. William Butler, who had replaced Winfield Scott as the commanding general in Mexico City, won the vice presidential nomination. The 1848 Whig National Convention nominated Zachary Taylor for president and former congressman Millard Fillmore of New York for vice president.
New York Democrats remained bitter because of what they deemed shabby treatment of Van Buren in 1844, and the former president had drifted from the party in the years since. Many of Van Buren's faction of the party, the Barnburners, were younger men who strongly opposed the spread of slavery, a position with which, by 1848, Van Buren agreed. Senator Cass was a strong expansionist, and slavery might find new fields under him; accordingly the Barnburners bolted the Democratic National Convention upon his nomination, and, in June, joined by anti-slavery Democrats from other states, they held a convention, nominating Van Buren for president. Polk was surprised and disappointed by his former ally's political conversion, and worried about the divisiveness of a sectional party devoted to abolition. Polk did not give speeches for Cass, remaining at his desk at the White House. He did remove some Van Buren supporters from federal office during the campaign.
In the election, Taylor won 47.3% of the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote. Cass won 42.5% of the vote, while Van Buren finished with 10.1% of the popular vote, much of his support coming from northern Democrats. Polk was disappointed by the outcome as he had a low opinion of Taylor, seeing the general as someone with poor judgment and few opinions on important public matters. Nevertheless, Polk observed tradition and welcomed President-elect Taylor to Washington, hosting him at a gala White House dinner. Polk departed the White House on March 3, leaving behind him a clean desk, though he worked from his hotel or the Capitol on last-minute appointments and bill signings. He attended Taylor's inauguration on March 5 (March 4, the presidential inauguration day until 1937, fell on a Sunday, and thus the ceremony was postponed a day), and though he was unimpressed with the new President, wished him the best.
Polk's time in the White House took its toll on his health. Full of enthusiasm and vigor when he entered office, Polk left the presidency exhausted by his years of public service. He left Washington on March 6 for a pre-arranged triumphal tour of the South, to end in Nashville. Polk had two years previously arranged to buy a house there, afterwards dubbed Polk Place, that had once belonged to his mentor, Felix Grundy.
James and Sarah Polk progressed down the Atlantic coast, and then westward through the Deep South. He was enthusiastically received and banqueted. By the time the Polks reached Alabama, he was suffering from a bad cold, and soon became concerned by reports of cholera—a passenger on Polk's riverboat died of it, and it was rumored to be common in New Orleans, but it was too late to change plans. Worried about his health, he would have departed the city quickly, but was overwhelmed by Louisiana hospitality. Several passengers on the riverboat up the Mississippi died of the disease, and Polk felt so ill that he went ashore for four days, staying in a hotel. A doctor assured him he did not have cholera, and Polk made the final leg, arriving in Nashville on April 2 to a huge reception.
After a visit to James's mother in Columbia, the Polks settled into Polk Place. The exhausted former president seemed to gain new life, but in early June, he fell ill again, by most accounts of cholera. Attended by several doctors, he lingered for several days, and chose to be baptized into the Methodist Church, which he had long admired, though his mother arrived from Columbia with her Presbyterian clergyman, and his wife was also a devout Presbyterian. On the afternoon of Friday, June 15, Polk died at his Polk Place home in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 53. According to traditional accounts, his last words before he died were "I love you, Sarah, for all eternity, I love you", spoken to Sarah Polk. Borneman noted that whether or not they were spoken, there was nothing in Polk's life which would make the sentiment false.
Polk's funeral was held at the McKendree Methodist Church in Nashville. Following his death, Sarah Polk lived at Polk Place for 42 years and died on August 14, 1891 at the age of 87. Their house, Polk Place, was demolished in 1901, a decade after Sarah's death.
Polk's rest has been twice interrupted. After his death, he was buried in what is now Nashville City Cemetery, due to a legal requirement related to his infectious disease death. Polk was then moved to a tomb on the grounds of Polk Place (as specified in his will) in 1850.
Then, in 1893, the bodies of James and Sarah Polk were relocated to their current resting place on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville. In March 2017, the Tennessee Senate approved a resolution considered a "first step" toward relocating the Polks' remains to the family home in Columbia. Such a move would require approval by state lawmakers, the courts, and the Tennessee Historical Commission. A year later, a renewed plan to reinter Polk was defeated by Tennessee lawmakers before being taken up again and approved, and allowed to go through by the non-signature of Tennessee governor Bill Haslam. The state's Capitol Commission heard arguments over the issue in November 2018, during which the THC reiterated its opposition to the tomb relocation, and a vote was delayed indefinitely.
Polk was a slaveholder for most of his adult life. His father, Samuel Polk, in 1827 left Polk more than 8,000 acres (32 km²) of land, and divided about 53 slaves among his widow and children in his will. James inherited twenty of his father's slaves, either directly or from deceased brothers. In 1831, he became an absentee cotton planter, sending slaves to clear plantation land that his father had left him near Somerville, Tennessee. Four years later Polk sold his Somerville plantation and, together with his brother-in-law, bought 920 acres (3.7 km²) of land, a cotton plantation near Coffeeville, Mississippi, hoping to increase his income. The land in Mississippi was richer than that in Somerville, and Polk transferred his Tennessee slaves there, taking care to conceal from them that they were to be sent south. From the start of 1839, Polk, having bought out his brother-in-law, owned all of the Mississippi plantation, and ran it on a mostly absentee basis for the rest of his life. He occasionally visited—for example, he spent much of April 1844 on his Mississippi plantation, right before the Democratic convention.
Adding to the inherited slaves, in 1831, Polk purchased five more, mostly buying them in Kentucky, and expending $1,870; the youngest had a recorded age of 11. As older children sold for a higher price, slave sellers routinely lied about age. Between 1834 and 1835, he bought five more, aged from 2 to 37, the youngest a granddaughter of the oldest. The amount expended was $2,250. In 1839, he bought eight slaves from his brother William at a cost of $5,600. This represented three young adults and most of a family, though not including the father, whom James Polk had previously owned, and who had been sold to a slave trader as a chronic runaway.
The expenses of four campaigns (three for governor, one for the presidency) in six years kept Polk from making more slave purchases until after he was living in the White House. In an era when the presidential salary was expected to cover wages for the White House servants, Polk replaced them with slaves from his home in Tennessee. Polk did not purchase slaves with his presidential salary, likely for political reasons. Instead, he reinvested earnings from his plantation in the purchase of slaves, enjoining secrecy on his agent: "that as my "private business" does not concern the public, you will keep it to yourself".
Polk saw the plantation as his route to a comfortable existence after his presidency for himself and his wife; he did not intend to return to the practice of law. Hoping the increased labor force would increase his retirement income, he purchased seven slaves in 1846, through an agent, aged roughly between 12 and 17. The 17 year old and one of the 12 year olds were purchased together at an estate sale; the agent within weeks resold the younger boy to Polk's profit. The year 1847 saw the purchase of nine more. Three he purchased from Gideon Pillow, and his agent purchased six slaves, aged between 10 and 20. By the time of the purchase from Pillow, the Mexican War had begun and Polk sent payment with the letter in which he offered Pillow a commission in the Army. The purchase from Pillow was a slave Polk had previously owned and had sold for being a disruption, and his wife and child. None of the other slaves Polk purchased as President, all younger than 20, came with a parent, and as only in the one case were two slaves bought together, most likely none had an accompanying sibling as each faced life on Polk's plantation.
Discipline for those owned by Polk varied over time. At the Tennessee plantation, he employed an overseer named Herbert Biles, who was said to be relatively indulgent. Biles's illness in 1833 resulted in Polk replacing him with Ephraim Beanland, who tightened discipline and increased work. Polk backed his overseer, returning runaways who complained of beatings and other harsh treatment, "even though every report suggested that the overseer was a heartless brute". Beanland was hired for the Mississippi plantation, but was soon dismissed by Polk's partner, who deemed Beanland too harsh as the slaves undertook the arduous task of clearing the timber from the new plantation so it could be used for cotton farming. His replacement was discharged after a year for being too indulgent; the next died of dysentery in 1839. Others followed, and it was not until 1845 that Polk found a satisfactory overseer, John Mairs, who remained the rest of Polk's life and was still working at the plantation for Sarah Polk in 1860, when the widow sold a half-share in many of her slaves. There had been a constant stream of runaways under Mairs' predecessors, many seeking protection at the plantation of Polk relatives or friends; only one ran away between the time of Mairs' hiring and the end of 1847, but the overseer had to report three absconded slaves (including the one who had fled earlier) to Polk in 1848 and 1849.
Polk's will, dated February 28, 1849, a few days before the end of his presidency, contained the nonbinding expectation that his slaves were to be freed when both he and Sarah Polk were dead. The Mississippi plantation was expected to be the support of Sarah Polk during her widowhood. Sarah Polk lived until 1891, but the slaves were freed in 1865 by the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. By selling a half-interest in the slaves in 1860, Sarah Polk had given up the sole power to free them, and it is unlikely that her new partner, having paid $28,500 for a half-interest in the plantation and its slaves, would have allowed the laborers to go free had she died while slavery was legal.
Like Jackson, Polk saw the politics of slavery as a side issue compared to more important matters such as territorial expansion and economic policy. The issue of slavery became increasingly polarizing during the 1840s, and Polk's expansionary policies increased its divisiveness. During his presidency, many abolitionists harshly criticized him as an instrument of the "Slave Power", and claimed that spreading slavery was the reason he supported Texas Annexation and later war with Mexico. Polk did support the expansion of slavery's realm, with his views informed by his own family's experience of settling Tennessee, bringing slaves with them. He believed in Southern rights, meaning both the right of slave states not to have that institution interfered with by the Federal government, and the right of individual Southerners to bring their slaves with them into the new territory. Though Polk opposed the Wilmot Proviso, he also condemned southern agitation on the issue, and he accused both northern and southern leaders of attempting to use the slavery issue for political gain.
On March 4, 2017, new tombstones for three of his slaves, Elias Polk, Mary Polk and Matilda Polk, were placed in the Nashville City Cemetery. Elias and Mary Polk both survived slavery, dying in the 1880s; Matilda Polk died still in slavery in 1849, at the age of about 110.
After his death, Polk's historic reputation was initially formed by the attacks made on him in his own time. Whig politicians claimed that he was drawn from a well-deserved obscurity. Sam Houston is said to have observed that Polk, a teetotaler, was "a victim of the use of water as a beverage". Little was published about him but two biographies released in the wake of his death. Polk was not again the subject of a major biography until 1922, when Eugene I. McCormac published "James K. Polk: A Political Biography". McCormac relied heavily on Polk's presidential diary, first published in 1909. When historians began ranking the presidents in 1948, Polk ranked 10th in Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr.'s poll, and has subsequently ranked 8th in Schlesinger's 1962 poll, 11th in the Riders-McIver Poll (1996), and 14th in the 2017 survey by C-SPAN.
Borneman deemed Polk the most effective president prior to the Civil War, and noted that Polk expanded the power of the presidency, especially in its power as commander in chief and its oversight over the Executive Branch. Steven G. Calabresi and Christopher S. Yoo, in their history of presidential power, praised Polk's conduct of the Mexican War, "it seems unquestionable that his management of state affairs during this conflict was one of the strongest examples since Jackson of the use of presidential power to direct specifically the conduct of subordinate officers."
Harry S. Truman called Polk "a great president. Said what he intended to do and did it." Bergeron noted that the matters that Polk settled, he settled for his time. The questions of the banking system, and of the tariff, which Polk had made two of the main issues of his presidency, were not significantly revised until the 1860s. Similarly, the Gadsden Purchase, and that of Alaska (1867), were the only major U.S. expansions until the 1890s.
Paul H. Bergeron wrote in his study of Polk's presidency: "Virtually everyone remembers Polk and his expansionist successes. He produced a new map of the United States, which fulfilled a continent-wide vision." "To look at that map," Robert W. Merry concluded, "and to take in the western and southwestern expanse included in it, is to see the magnitude of Polk's presidential accomplishments." Amy Greenberg, in her history of the Mexican War, found Polk's legacy to be more than territorial, "during a single brilliant term, he accomplished a feat that earlier presidents would have considered impossible. With the help of his wife, Sarah, he masterminded, provoked and successfully prosecuted a war that turned the United States into a world power." Borneman noted that in securing this expansion, Polk did not consider the likely effect on Mexicans and Native Americans, "That ignorance may well be debated on moral grounds, but it cannot take away Polk's stunning political achievement." James A. Rawley wrote in his "American National Biography" piece on Polk, "he added extensive territory to the United States, including Upper California and its valuable ports, and bequeathed a legacy of a nation poised on the Pacific rim prepared to emerge as a superpower in future generations".
Historians have criticized Polk for not perceiving that his territorial gains set the table for civil war. Pletcher stated that Polk, like others of his time, failed "to understand that sectionalism and expansion had formed a new, explosive compound". Fred I. Greenstein, in his journal article on Polk, noted that Polk "lacked a far-seeing awareness of the problems that were bound to arise over the status of slavery in the territory acquired from Mexico" William Dusinberre, in his volume on Polk as slave owner, suggested "that Polk's deep personal involvement in the plantation slavery system ... colored his stance on slavery-related issues".
Greenberg noted that Polk's war served as the training ground for that later conflict: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15980 |
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former farmer who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a Georgia State Senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. Since leaving the presidency, Carter has remained active in the private sector; in 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in co-founding the Carter Center.
Raised in Plains, Georgia, Carter graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree and joined the United States Navy, where he served on submarines. After the death of his father in 1953, Carter left his naval career and returned home to Georgia to take up the reins of his family's peanut-growing business. Carter inherited comparatively little due to his father's forgiveness of debts and the division of the estate among the children. Nevertheless, his ambition to expand and grow the Carters' peanut business was fulfilled. During this period, Carter was motivated to oppose the political climate of racial segregation and support the growing civil rights movement. He became an activist within the Democratic Party. From 1963 to 1967, Carter served in the Georgia State Senate, and in 1970, he was elected as Governor of Georgia, defeating former Governor Carl Sanders in the Democratic primary on an anti-segregation platform advocating affirmative action for ethnic minorities. Carter remained as governor until 1975. Despite being a dark-horse candidate who was little known outside of Georgia at the start of the campaign, Carter won the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination. In the general election, Carter ran as an outsider and narrowly defeated incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford.
On his second day in office, Carter pardoned all the Vietnam War draft evaders by issuing Proclamation 4483. During Carter's term as president, two new cabinet-level departments, the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, were established. He established a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. In foreign affairs, Carter pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), and the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. On the economic front, he confronted persistent stagflation, a combination of high inflation, high unemployment and slow growth. The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In response to the invasion, Carter escalated the Cold War when he ended détente, imposed a grain embargo against the Soviets, enunciated the Carter Doctrine, and led a 1980 Summer Olympics boycott in Moscow. In 1980, Carter faced a challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy in the primaries, but he won re-nomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention. Carter lost the general election to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan in an electoral landslide. Polls of historians and political scientists usually rank Carter as an average president; he often receives more positive evaluations for his post-presidential work.
In 1982, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights. He has traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections, and advance disease prevention and eradication in developing nations. Carter is considered a key figure in the Habitat for Humanity charity. He has written over 30 books ranging from political memoirs to poetry while continuing to actively comment on ongoing American and global affairs, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The earliest-serving of the five living U.S. presidents, Carter is the longest-lived president, the longest-retired president, the first to live forty years after their inauguration, and the first to reach the age of 95.
James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924, at the Wise Sanitarium (now the Lillian G. Carter Nursing Center) in Plains, Georgia, a hospital where his mother was employed as a registered nurse. Carter was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital. He was the eldest son of Bessie Lillian () and James Earl Carter Sr. Carter is a descendant of English immigrant Thomas Carter, who settled in Virginia in 1635. Numerous generations of Carters lived as cotton farmers in Georgia. Carter is also a descendant of Thomas Cornell, an ancestor of Cornell University's founder, and is distantly related to Richard Nixon and Bill Gates.
Plains was a boomtown of 600 people at the time of Carter's birth. Carter's father was a successful local businessman, who ran a general store, and was an investor in farmland. He previously served as a reserve second lieutenant in the U.S. Army's Quartermaster Corps during World War I.
The family moved several times during Carter Jr.'s infancy. The Carters settled on a dirt road in nearby Archery, which was almost entirely populated by impoverished African American families. They eventually had three more children: Gloria, Ruth, and Billy. Carter got along well with his parents, although his mother worked long hours and was often absent in his childhood. Although Earl was staunchly pro-segregation, he allowed his son to befriend the black farmhands' children. Carter was an enterprising teenager who was given his own acre of Earl's farmland where he grew, packaged, and sold peanuts. He also rented out a section of tenant housing that he had purchased.
Carter attended the Plains High School from 1937 to 1941. By that time, Archery and Plains had been impoverished by the Great Depression, but the family benefited from New Deal farming subsidies, and Earl took a position as a community leader. Young Jimmy was a diligent student with a fondness for reading. A popular anecdote holds that he was passed over for valedictorian after he and his friends skipped school to venture downtown in a hot rod. Carter's truancy was mentioned in a local newspaper, although it is not clear he would have been valedictorian anyway. Carter's teacher, Julia Coleman, was an especially strong influence. As an adolescent, Carter played on the Plains High School basketball team; he also joined the Future Farmers of America and developed a lifelong interest in woodworking.
Carter had long dreamed of attending the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1941, he started undergraduate coursework in engineering at Georgia Southwestern College in nearby Americus. The following year, he transferred to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and he earned admission to the Naval Academy in 1943. He was a good student but was seen as reserved and quiet, in contrast to the academy's culture of aggressive hazing of freshmen. While at the academy, Carter fell in love with Rosalynn Smith, the friend of his sister Ruth. The two married shortly after his graduation in 1946. He was a sprint football player for the Navy Midshipmen. Carter graduated 60th out of 820 midshipmen in the class of 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned as an ensign. From 1946 to 1953, Carter and Rosalynn lived in Virginia, Hawaii, Connecticut, New York and California, during his deployments in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. In 1948, he began officers' training for submarine duty and served aboard . He was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in 1949. In 1951 he became attached to the diesel/electric USS "K-1", (a.k.a. ), qualified for command, and served in several duties including Executive Officer.
In 1952, Carter began an association with the US Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program, then led by Captain Hyman G. Rickover. Rickover's demands on his men and machines were legendary, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover was the greatest influence on his life. He was sent to the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C. for three month temporary duty, while Rosalynn moved with their children to Schenectady, New York. On December 12, 1952, an accident with the experimental NRX reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada's Chalk River Laboratories caused a partial meltdown resulting in millions of liters of radioactive water flooding the reactor building's basement. This left the reactor's core ruined. Carter was ordered to Chalk River to lead a U.S. maintenance crew that joined other American and Canadian service personnel to assist in the shutdown of the reactor. The painstaking process required each team member to don protective gear and be lowered individually into the reactor for a few minutes at a time, limiting their exposure to radioactivity while they disassembled the crippled reactor. During and after his presidency, Carter said that his experience at Chalk River had shaped his views on atomic energy and led him to cease development of a neutron bomb.
In March 1953, Carter began nuclear power school, a six-month non-credit course covering nuclear power plant operation at Union College in Schenectady. His intent was to eventually work aboard , which was planned to be one of the first two U.S. nuclear submarines. However, Carter's father died two months before construction of "Seawolf" began, and Carter sought and obtained a release from active duty to enable him to take over the family peanut business. Deciding to leave Schenectady proved difficult. Settling after moving so much, Rosalynn had grown comfortable with their life. Returning to small-town life in Plains seemed "a monumental step backward," she said later. On the other hand, Carter felt restricted by the rigidity of the military and yearned to assume a path more like his father's. Carter left active duty on October 9, 1953. He served in the inactive Navy Reserve until 1961, and left the service with the rank of lieutenant. His awards included the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, China Service Medal, and National Defense Service Medal.
Earl Carter died a relatively wealthy man, having recently been elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. However, between his forgiveness of debts and the division of his wealth among heirs, his son Jimmy inherited comparatively little. For a year, Jimmy, Rosalynn, and their three sons lived in public housing in Plains; Carter is the only U.S. president to have lived in subsidized housing before he took office. Carter was knowledgeable in scientific and technological subjects, and he set out to expand the family's peanut-growing business. The transition from Navy to agribusinessman was difficult because his first-year harvest failed due to drought; Carter was compelled to open several bank lines of credit to keep the farm afloat. Meanwhile, he also took classes and read up on agriculture while Rosalynn learned accounting to manage the business's books. Though they barely broke even the first year, the Carters grew the business and became quite successful.
Racial tension was inflamed in Plains by the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court's anti-segregation ruling in "Brown v. Board of Education". Carter was in favor of racial tolerance and integration—at one point, the local White Citizens' Council boycotted his peanut warehouse when he refused to join them—but he often kept those feelings to himself to avoid making enemies. By 1961 he was a prominent member of the community and the Baptist Church as well as chairman of the Sumter County school board, where he began to speak more loudly in favor of school integration. A state Senate seat was opened by the dissolution of Georgia's County Unit System in 1962; Carter announced his run for the seat 15 days before the election. Rosalynn, who had an instinct for politics and organization, was instrumental to his campaign. The initial results showed Carter losing, but this was the result of fraudulent voting orchestrated by Joe Hurst, the Democratic Party chairman in Quitman County, with the aid of the Quitman County sheriff. Carter challenged the results; when fraud was confirmed, a new election was held, which he won.
The civil rights movement was well underway when Carter took office. He and his family had become staunch John F. Kennedy supporters. Beginning in 1962, the town of Americus was the site of mass beatings and incarcerations of black protesters, echoing similar unrest throughout the country. Carter remained relatively quiet on the issue at first, even as it polarized much of the county, to avoid alienating his segregationist colleagues. He did speak up on a few divisive issues, giving speeches against literacy tests and against a change to the Georgia Constitution which, he felt, implied a compulsion to practice religion. At the time of President Kennedy's assassination, Carter was informed by a customer of his peanut business of the killing, prompting Carter to remove himself from work and sit alone. Carter later called the assassination "the greatest blow that I had suffered since my father died."
Carter was a diligent legislator who took speed-reading courses to keep up with the workload. Within two years, his connections landed him on the state Democratic Executive Committee, where he helped rewrite the state party's rules. He became chairman of the West Central Georgia Planning and Development Commission, which oversaw the disbursement of federal and state grants for projects such as historic site restoration.
When Bo Callaway was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1964, Carter immediately began planning to unseat him. The two had previously clashed over which two-year college would be expanded to a four-year college program by the state; Carter wanted it to go to his alma mater, Georgia Southwestern College, but Callaway wanted the funding to go to downtown Columbus. Carter saw Callaway, a Republican, as a rival who represented the inherited wealth and selfishness he despised in politics.
Carter was re-elected in 1964 to serve a second two-year term. For a time in the State Senate, he chaired its Education Committee; he also sat on the Appropriations Committee toward the end of his second term. Before his term ended he contributed to a bill expanding statewide education funding and getting Georgia Southwestern a four-year program. He leveraged his regional planning work, giving speeches around the district to make himself more visible to potential voters. The last day of the term, he announced his run for Congress.
The race for Georgia's 3rd congressional district in 1966 was shaken up in mid-May when the incumbent, Bo Callaway, dropped out and decided to run for Governor of Georgia instead. Callaway had just switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in 1964, and was a very strong candidate, despite being the first Republican to run for Governor of Georgia since 1876. State Democrats panicked over the prospect of losing the governorship they had held since Reconstruction. Carter decided to run for governor himself. In the Democratic primary he ran against the liberal former governor Ellis Arnall and the conservative segregationist Lester Maddox. In a press conference he described his ideology as "Conservative, moderate, liberal and middle-of-the-road. ... I believe I am a more complicated person than that." He lost the Democratic primary, but drew enough votes as a third-place candidate to force Arnall into a runoff election with Maddox. Maddox narrowly won the runoff ballot over Arnall for the Democratic Party gubernatorial nomination. In the general election, Callaway went on to win a plurality of the vote, but short of a 50 percent majority, state rules empowered the Georgia House of Representatives, which had a Democratic Party majority, to elect Maddox as governor. The result was a sharp blow to Carter, who was left deeply in debt. His attempt to rescue the race from Callaway had resulted in the unlikely election of the segregationist Maddox, which he considered an even worse outcome.
Carter returned to his agriculture business and, during the next four years, carefully planned his next campaign for governor in 1970. This period was a spiritual turning point for Carter; he grew increasingly evangelical, undertaking several religious missions in other states. Inspired by his sister Ruth and liberal theologians such as Reinhold Niebuhr, he declared himself Born again, a growing movement in 1960s America. His last child Amy was born during this time, on October 19, 1967.
Governor Maddox was constitutionally prohibited from seeking a second consecutive term as governor, and thus the liberal former governor, Carl Sanders, became Carter's main opponent in the 1970 Democratic primary. Carter ran a more modern campaign this time around, employing printed graphics and statistical analysis. Responding to poll data, Carter leaned more conservative than before. He positioned himself as a populist, quickly going negative against Sanders for his wealth (labeling him "Cufflinks Carl") and associating him with the national Democratic Party. He accused Sanders of corruption, but when pressed by the media, could come up with no evidence. Throughout the campaign, Carter sought both the black vote and the "Wallace vote," after the prominent segregationist George Wallace of Alabama. While he met with black figures such as Martin Luther King Sr. and Andrew Young, and visited many black-owned businesses, he also praised Wallace and promised to invite him to give a speech in Georgia. He implied support or dislike of private schools, depending on the audience. The appeal to racism became more blatant over time; Carter's senior campaign aides handed out a photograph of his opponent Sanders celebrating with black basketball players.
That September, Carter came ahead of Sanders in the first ballot by 49 to 38 percent, leading to a runoff. The subsequent campaign grew even more bitter; despite his early support for civil rights, Carter's campaign criticized Sanders for supporting Martin Luther King Jr. Carter won the runoff election with 60 percent of the vote—winning 7 percent of the black vote—and went on to win the general election easily over the Republican Hal Suit, a local news anchor. Once he was elected, Carter changed his tone, and began to speak against Georgia's racist politics. Leroy Johnson, a black state Senator, voiced his support for Carter, saying, "I understand why he ran that kind of ultra-conservative campaign. ... I don't believe you can win this state without being a racist."
Carter was sworn in as the 76th Governor of Georgia on January 12, 1971. He declared in his inaugural speech that "the time of racial discrimination is over. ... No poor, rural, weak, or black person should ever have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity for an education, a job or simple justice." The crowd was reportedly shocked by this message, contrasting starkly with Georgia's political culture and particularly Carter's campaign. The many segregationists who had supported Carter during the race felt betrayed. "Time" ran a story on the progressive "New South" governors elected that year in a May 1971 issue, featuring a cover illustration of Carter.
Lester Maddox, Carter's predecessor as governor, became lieutenant governor. Carter had endorsed Maddox, although the two did not campaign as a ticket. The two found little common ground during their four years of service, often publicly feuding. Richard Russell Jr., then President pro tempore of the United States Senate, died in office during Carter's second week in office; the newly inaugurated governor appointed David H. Gambrell, state Democratic Party chair, to fill Russell's unexpired term in the Senate a week after Russell's death on February 1.
Carter was reluctant to engage in back-slapping and political favors, and the legislature found him frustrating to work with. He looked to aggressively expand the governor's authority while reducing the complexity of the state government. Therefore, he negotiated a bill allowing him to propose executive restructuring and to force a vote on it. He implemented zero-based budgeting within state departments and added a Judicial Selection Commission to verify the credentials of judges appointed by the governor. The reorganization plan was submitted in January 1972, but had a cool reception in the legislature. But after two weeks of negotiations, it was passed at midnight on the last day of the session. Ultimately he merged about 300 state agencies into 22—a fact he would emphasize in his presidential run—although it is disputed that there were any overall cost savings from doing so.
In an April 3, 1971 televised appearance, Carter was asked if he was in favor of a requirement that candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Georgia would have to run on the same ticket. He replied, "I've never really thought we needed a lieutenant governor in Georgia. The lieutenant governor is part of the executive branch of government and I've always felt—ever since I was in the state Senate—that the executive branches should be separate." Carter later clarified he would not introduce an amendment to put such a restriction in place.
On July 8, 1971, during an appearance in Columbus, Georgia, Carter stated his intent to establish a Georgia Human Rights Council that would work toward solving issues within the state ahead of any potential violence.
In a July 13, 1971 news conference, Carter announced his ordering of department heads to reduce spending for the aid of preventing a 57 million deficit by the end of the 1972 fiscal year, specifying that each state department would be impacted and estimating that 5% more than revenue being taken in by the government would be lost if state departments continued full using allocated funds.
On January 13, 1972, Carter requested the state legislature provide funding for an Early Childhood Development Program along with prison reform programs and 48 million in pay taxes for nearly all state employees.
On March 1, 1972, Carter stated a possible usage of a special session of the General Assembly could take place in the event that the Justice Department opted to turn down any reapportionment plans by either the House or Senate. On April 20, Carter issued the call for a special session for consideration of advisement for the usage of a three person judge federal panel for performance on four judicial reform measures.
In April 1972, Carter traveled to Latin and South America for a potential trade deal with Georgia. Carter stated that he had met with President of Brazil Emílio Garrastazu Médici and been compared by some to the late President Kennedy.
Civil rights were a heartfelt priority for Carter. He expanded the number of black state employees, judges, and board members. He hired Rita Jackson Samuels, a black woman, to advise him on potential appointments. He placed portraits of Martin Luther King Jr. and two other prominent black Georgians in the capitol building, even as the Ku Klux Klan picketed the unveiling ceremony. Still, Carter tried to keep his conservative allies comfortable. During a televised joint appearance with Governor of Florida Reubin Askew on January 31, 1973, Carter stated he favored a constitutional amendment to ban busing for the purpose of expediting integration in schools. He co-sponsored an anti-busing resolution with George Wallace at the 1971 National Governors Conference, which Carter also hosted. After the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Georgia's death penalty statute in "Furman v. Georgia" (1972), Carter signed a revised death-penalty statute which addressed the court's objections, thus re-introducing the practice in the state. Carter later regretted endorsing the death penalty, saying, "I didn't see the injustice of it as I do now."
Carter pushed reforms through the legislature that provided equal state aid to schools in the wealthy and poor areas of Georgia, set up community centers for mentally handicapped children, and increased educational programs for convicts. He took pride in his program for the appointment of judges and state government officials. Under this program, all such appointments were based on merit, rather than political influence.
In one of his more controversial decisions, he vetoed a plan to build a dam on Georgia's Flint River. After surveying the river and the literature himself, he argued that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was underestimating both the project's cost and its impact on the region. The veto won the attention of environmentalists nationwide.
When Lieutenant William Calley was convicted in a military trial and sentenced to life for his role in the My Lai Massacre in South Vietnam, a politically polarizing issue, Carter avoided paying direct tribute to Calley. He instead instituted "American Fighting Man's Day" and asked Georgians to drive for a week with their lights on in support of the military.
Under Georgia's constitution, Carter was ineligible to run for re-election. Looking toward a potential presidential run, Carter engaged himself in national politics and public appearances. He was named to several southern planning commissions and was a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention, where the liberal U.S. Senator George McGovern was the likely presidential nominee. Carter tried to ingratiate himself with the conservative, anti-McGovern voters, so that the convention would consider him for McGovern's running mate on a compromise ticket. He endorsed Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, in part to distance himself from George Wallace. Carter was still fairly obscure at the time, and his attempt at triangulation failed; the 1972 Democratic ticket was McGovern and Senator Thomas Eagleton. On August 3, Carter met with Wallace in Birmingham, Alabama to discuss preventing the Democratic Party from losing in a landslide during the November elections.
After McGovern's loss in November 1972, Carter began meeting regularly with his fledgling campaign staff. He had quietly decided to begin putting a presidential bid for 1976 together. He tried unsuccessfully to become chairman of the National Governors Association to boost his visibility. On David Rockefeller's endorsement he was named to the Trilateral Commission in April 1973. The following year he was named chairman of the Democratic National Committee's congressional, as well as gubernatorial, campaigns. In 1973 he appeared on the game show "What's My Line", where a group of celebrity panelists would try to guess his occupation. None recognized him and it took several rounds of question-and-answer before movie critic Gene Shalit correctly guessed he was a governor. In May 1973, Carter warned the Democratic Party against politicizing the Watergate scandal, the occurrence of which he attributed to President Richard Nixon exercising isolation from Americans and secrecy in his decision making.
On December 12, 1974, Carter announced his candidacy for President of the United States at National Press Club in Washington, D.C. His speech contained themes of domestic inequality, optimism, and change.
When Carter entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries, he was considered to have little chance against nationally better-known politicians; his name recognition was two percent. As late as January 26, 1976, Carter was the first choice of only four percent of Democratic voters, according to a Gallup poll. Yet "by mid-March 1976 Carter was not only far ahead of the active contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, he also led President Ford by a few percentage points," according to Shoup. As the Watergate scandal of President Nixon was still fresh in the voters' minds, Carter's position as an outsider, distant from Washington, D.C., became an asset. He promoted government reorganization. Carter published "Why Not the Best?" in June 1976 to help introduce himself to the American public.
Carter became the front-runner early on by winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. He used a two-prong strategy: in the South, which most had tacitly conceded to Alabama's George Wallace, Carter ran as a moderate favorite son. When Wallace proved to be a spent force, Carter swept the region. In the North, Carter appealed largely to conservative Christian and rural voters; he had little chance of winning a majority in most states. He won several Northern states by building the largest single bloc. Carter's strategy involved reaching a region before another candidate could extend influence there. He had traveled over , visited 37 states, and delivered over 200 speeches before any other candidate entered the race. Initially dismissed as a regional candidate, Carter proved to be the Democrat with the most effective national strategy, and he clinched the nomination.
The national news media discovered and promoted Carter, as Lawrence Shoup noted in his 1980 book "The Carter Presidency and Beyond":
During his presidential campaign in April 1976, Carter responded to an interviewer and said, "I have nothing against a community that is ... trying to maintain the ethnic purity of their neighborhoods." His remark was intended as supportive of open-housing laws, but specifying opposition to government efforts to "inject black families into a white neighborhood just to create some sort of integration."
Carter's stated positions during his campaign include public financing of congressional campaigns, his support for the creation of a federal consumer protection agency, creating a separate department for education, signing a peace treaty with the Soviet Union against the usage of nuclear weapon, reducing the defense budget, a tax proposal implementing "a substantial increase toward those who have the higher incomes" alongside a levy reduction on taxpayers with lower and middle incomes, making multiple amendments to the Social Security Act, and having a balanced budget by the end of his tenure.
On July 15, 1976, Carter chose Minnesota Senator Walter F. Mondale as his running mate. He attacked Washington in his speeches, and offered a religious salve for the nation's wounds.
Carter and Gerald Ford faced off in three televised debates during the 1976 election. The debates were the first presidential debates since 1960.
Carter was interviewed by Robert Scheer of "Playboy" for the November 1976 issue, which hit the newsstands a couple of weeks before the election. While discussing his religion's view of pride, Carter said: "I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times." This and his admission in another interview that he didn't mind if people uttered the word "fuck" led to a media feeding frenzy and critics lamenting the erosion of boundary between politicians and their private intimate lives.
Carter began the race with a sizable lead over Ford, who narrowed the gap during the campaign, but lost to Carter in a narrow defeat on November 2, 1976. Carter won the popular vote by 50.1 percent to 48.0 percent for Ford, and received 297 electoral votes to Ford's 240. Carter carried fewer states than Ford—23 states to the defeated Ford's 27—yet Carter won with the largest percentage of the popular vote (50.1 percent) of any non-incumbent since Dwight Eisenhower.
Carter's tenure was a time of continuing inflation and recession, as well as an energy crisis. Among his first acts was the fulfillment of a campaign promise by issuing an executive order declaring unconditional amnesty for Vietnam War-era draft evaders, Proclamation 4483. On January 7, 1980, Carter signed Law H.R. 5860 aka Public Law 96-185 known as "The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979", bailing out Chrysler Corporation with $3.5 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ) in aid.
Carter attempted to calm various conflicts around the world, most visibly in the Middle East with the signing of the Camp David Accords; giving back the Panama Canal to Panama; and signing the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. His final year was marred by the Iran hostage crisis, which contributed to his losing the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan.
On November 22, 1976, Carter conducted his first visit to Washington after being elected, meeting with Director of the Office of Management James Lynn and United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Blair House, and holding an afternoon meeting with President Ford at the White House. The following day, Carter conferred with congressional leaders, expressing that his meetings with cabinet members had been "very helpful" and saying Ford had requested he seek out his assistance if needing anything.
On December 3, 1976, during a news conference, Carter announced his choice of Cyrus R. Vance for United States Secretary of State and Bert Lance as his budget director. On December 9, Carter was presented plans for reform on housing, transportation, and urban development during a meeting with transition advisors at the Blair House. On December 13, Carter's election was confirmed by the Electoral College. On December 20, Carter announced his choice of Juanita M. Kreps for United States Secretary of Commerce, Griffin Bell for United States Attorney General, and Robert Bergland for United States Secretary of Agriculture.
On January 4, 1977, Carter told reporters that he would free himself from potential conflicts of interest by leaving his peanut business in the hands of trustees. On January 6, Carter requested former Governor of Maine Kenneth M. Curtis as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. On January 13, Carter set up an economic summit meeting for non-Communist countries in a call with foreign leaders from Japan, France, Germany, and Great Britain. The conference was set for April. On January 18, Carter named John F. O'Leary for Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, William Nordhaus and Lyle E. Gramley for membership on the Council of Economic Advisors, Anthony M. Solomon for Undersecretary of the Treasury for Monetary Affairs, C. Fred Bergsten for Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Monetary Affairs, and Kenneth S. Axelson for Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.
On April 18, 1977, Carter delivered a televised speech declaring that the U.S. energy crisis during the 1970s was the moral equivalent of war. He encouraged energy conservation by all U.S. citizens and installed solar water heating panels on the White House. He wore sweaters to offset turning down the heat in the White House. On August 4, 1977, Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977, forming the Department of Energy, the first new cabinet position in eleven years. During the signing ceremony, Carter cited the "impending crisis of energy shortages" with causing the necessity of the legislation. At the start of a September 29, 1977 news conference, under the impression he had not come across well in addressing energy during his prior press session, Carter stated that the House of Representatives had "adopted almost all" of the energy proposal he had made five months prior and called the compromise "a turning point in establishing a comprehensive energy program." The following month, on October 13, Carter stated he believed in the Senate's ability to pass the energy reform bill and identified energy as "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office."
On January 12, 1978, during a press conference, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had "been long and divisive and arduous" as well as hindering to national issues that needed to be addressed with the implementation of the law.
In an April 11, 1978 news conference, Carter said his biggest surprise "in the nature of a disappointment" since becoming president was the difficulty Congress had in passing legislation, citing the energy reform bill in particular: "I never dreamed a year ago in April when I proposed this matter to the Congress that a year later it still would not be resolved."
On March 1, 1979, Carter submitted a standby gasoline rationing plan per the request of Congress. On April 5, he delivered an address in which he stressed the urgency of energy conservation. During an April 30 news conference, Carter said it was "imperative" that the House commerce committee approve the standby gasoline rationing plan and called on Congress to pass the several other standby energy conservation plans he had proposed. On July 15, 1979, Carter delivered a nationally televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a "" among the American people, under the advisement of pollster Pat Caddell who believed Americans faced a crisis in confidence from events of the 1960s and 1970s prior to Carter taking office. The address would be cited as Carter's "malaise" speech, memorable for mixed reactions and his use of rhetoric. The speech's negative reception came from a view that Carter did not state efforts on his own part to address the energy crisis and was too reliant on Americans.
In 1978, Carter declared a federal emergency in the neighborhood of Love Canal in the city of Niagara Falls, New York. More than 800 families were evacuated from the neighborhood, which was built on top of a toxic waste landfill. The Superfund law was created in response to the situation. Federal disaster money was appropriated to demolish the approximately 500 houses, the 99th Street School, and the 93rd Street School, which were built on top of the dump; and to remediate the dump and construct a containment area for the hazardous wastes. This was the first time that such a process had been undertaken. Carter acknowledged that several more "Love Canals" existed across the country, and that discovering such hazardous dumpsites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of our modern era".
Carter refused to play by Washington's rules. He missed and never returned phone calls on his part. He used verbal insults and had an unwillingness to return political favors, which contributed to his lack of ability to pass legislation through Congress. During a press conference on February 23, 1977, Carter stated that it was "inevitable" that he would come into conflict with Congress and added that he had found "a growing sense of cooperation" with Congress and met in the past with congressional members of both parties. Carter developed a bitter feeling following an unsuccessful attempt at having Congress enact the scrapping of several water projects, which he had requested during his first 100 days in office and received opposition from members of his party. As a rift ensued between the White House and Congress afterward, Carter noted the liberal wing of the Democratic Party was the most ardently against his policies, attributing this to Ted Kennedy wanting the presidency. Carter, thinking he had support from 74 Congressmen, issued a "hit list" of 19 projects that he claimed were "pork barrel" spending that he claimed would result in a veto on his part if included in any legislation. He found himself at odds with Congressional Democrats once more, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O'Neill finding it inappropriate for a president to pursue what had traditionally been the role of Congress. Carter was also weakened by a signing of bill that contained many of the "hit list" projects. In a June 23, 1977 address to a fundraising dinner for the Democratic National Committee, Carter said, "I think it's good to point out tonight, too, that we have evolved a good working relationship with the Congress. For 8 years we had government by partisanship. Now we have government by partnership." At a July 28 news conference, assessing the first six months of his presidency, Carter spoke of his improved understanding of Congress: "I have learned to respect the Congress more in an individual basis. I've been favorably impressed at the high degree of concentrated experience and knowledge that individual Members of Congress can bring on a specific subject, where they've been the chairman of a subcommittee or committee for many years and have focused their attention on this particular aspect of government life which I will never be able to do."
On May 10, 1979, the House voted against giving Carter authority to produce a standby gas rationing plan. The following day, Carter delivered remarks in the Oval Office describing himself as shocked and embarrassed for the American government due to the vote and concluding "the majority of the House Members are unwilling to take the responsibility, the political responsibility for dealing with a potential, serious threat to our Nation." He furthered that a majority of House members were placing higher importance on "local or parochial interests" and challenged the lower chamber of Congress with composing their own rationing plan in the next 90 days. Carter's remarks were met with criticism by House Republicans who accused his comments of not befitting the formality a president should have in their public remarks. Others pointed to 106 Democrats voting against his proposal and the bipartisan criticism potentially coming back to haunt him. At the start of a July 25, 1979 news conference, Carter called on believers in the future of the US and his proposed energy program to speak with Congress as it bore the responsibility to impose his proposals. Amid the energy proposal opposition, "The New York Times" commented that "as the comments flying up and down Pennsylvania Avenue illustrate, there is also a crisis of confidence between Congress and the President, sense of doubt and distrust that threatens to undermine the President's legislative program and become an important issue in next year's campaign."
Carter's presidency had an economic history of two roughly equal periods, the first two years being a time of continuing recovery from the severe 1973–75 recession, which had left fixed investment at its lowest level since the 1970 recession and unemployment at 9%, and the last two years marked by double-digit inflation, coupled with very high interest rates, oil shortages, and slow economic growth. 1977 and 1978 saw the creation of millions of new jobs, in part as a result of the $30 billion economic stimulus legislation - like the Public Works Employment Act of 1977 - that he proposed and Congress passed, and real median household income growth by 5%. The 1979 energy crisis ended this period of growth, however, and as both inflation and interest rates rose, economic growth, job creation, and consumer confidence declined sharply. The relatively loose monetary policy adopted by Federal Reserve Board Chairman G. William Miller, had already contributed to somewhat higher inflation, rising from 5.8% in 1976 to 7.7% in 1978. The sudden doubling of crude oil prices by OPEC, the world's leading oil exporting cartel, forced inflation to double-digit levels, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980. The sudden shortage of gasoline as the 1979 summer vacation season began exacerbated the problem, and would come to symbolize the crisis among the public in general; the acute shortage, originating in the shutdown of Amerada Hess refining facilities, led to a lawsuit against the company that year by the Federal Government.
In 1977, Carter appointed Alfred E. Kahn to lead the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). He was part of a push for deregulation of the industry, supported by leading economists, leading 'think tanks' in Washington, a civil society coalition advocating the reform (patterned on a coalition earlier developed for the truck-and-rail-reform efforts), the head of the regulatory agency, Senate leadership, the Carter administration, and even some in the airline industry. This coalition swiftly gained legislative results in 1978.
Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry (of new airlines) from commercial aviation. The Civil Aeronautics Board's powers of regulation were to be phased out, eventually allowing market forces to determine routes and fares. The Act did not remove or diminish the FAA's regulatory powers over all aspects of airline safety.
In 1979, Carter deregulated the American beer industry by making it legal to sell malt, hops, and yeast to American home brewers for the first time since the effective 1920 beginning of Prohibition in the United States. This Carter deregulation led to an increase in home brewing over the 1980s and 1990s that by the 2000s had developed into a strong craft microbrew culture in the United States, with 6,266 micro breweries, brewpubs, and regional craft breweries in the United States by the end of 2017.
During his presidential campaign, Carter embraced healthcare reform akin to the Ted Kennedy-sponsored bipartisan universal national health insurance.
Carter's proposals on healthcare while in office included an April 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal, and a June 1979 proposal that provided private health insurance coverage. Carter saw the June 1979 proposal as a continuation of progress in American health coverage made by President Harry Truman in the latter's proposed access to quality health care being a basic right to Americans and Medicare and Medicaid being introduced under President Lyndon B. Johnson. The April 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal was passed in the Senate, and later defeated in the House.
During 1978, Carter also conducted meetings with Kennedy for a compromise healthcare law that proved unsuccessful. Carter would later cite Kennedy's disagreements as having thwarted Carter's efforts to provide a comprehensive health-care system for the country.
Early into his term, Carter collaborated with Congress to assist in fulfilling a campaign promise to create a cabinet level education department. In a February 28, 1978 address at the White House, Carter argued, "Education is far too important a matter to be scattered piecemeal among various Government departments and agencies, which are often busy with sometimes dominant concerns." On February 8, 1979, the Carter administration released an outline of its plan to establish an education department and asserted enough support for the enactment to occur by June. On October 17, 1979, Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act into law, establishing the United States Department of Education.
Carter expanded the Head Start program with the addition of 43,000 children and families, while the percentage of nondefense dollars spent on education was doubled. Carter was complimentary of the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson and the 89th United States Congress for having initiated Head Start. In a November 1, 1980 speech, Carter stated his administration had extended Head Start to migrant children and was "working hard right now with Senator Bentsen and with Kika de la Garza to make as much as $45 million available in Federal money in the border districts to help with the increase in school construction for the number of Mexican school children who reside here legally".
Historian Jørgen Jensehaugen argues that by the time Carter left office in January 1981, he:
In an October 4, 1977 address to African officials at the United Nations, Carter stated the U.S.'s interest to "see a strong, vigorous, free, and prosperous Africa with as much of the control of government as possible in the hands of the residents of your countries" and pointed to their unified efforts on "the problem of how to resolve the Rhodesian, Zimbabwe question." At a news conference later that month, Carter outlined the US wanting "to work harmoniously with South Africa in dealing with the threats to peace in Namibia and in Zimbabwe in particular" and to do away with racial issues such as apartheid and for equal opportunities in other facets of society in the region.
Carter visited Nigeria from March 31 – April 3, 1978, the trip being an attempt by the Carter administration to improve relations with the country. He was the first U.S. president to visit Nigeria. Carter reiterated interests in convening a peace conference on the subject of Rhodesia that would involve all parties and reported that the US was moving as it could.
The elections of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Abel Muzorewa for Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, South Africa turning down a plan for South West Africa's independence, and domestic opposition in Congress were seen as crippling to the Carter administration's policy toward South Africa.
On May 16, 1979, the Senate voted in favor of President Carter lifting economic sanctions against Rhodesia, the vote being seen by both Rhodesia and South Africa "as a potentially fatal blow to the joint diplomacy that the United States and Britain have pursued in the region for three years and to the effort to reach a compromise between the Salisbury leaders and the guerrillas." On December 3, Secretary of State Vance promised Senator Jesse Helms that when "the British governor arrives in Salisbury to implement an agreed Lancaster House settlement and the electoral process begins, the President will take prompt action to lift sanctions" against Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
During Carter's presidency, the United States continued to support Indonesia as a cold war ally in spite of human rights violations in East Timor. The violations followed Indonesia's December 1975 invasion and occupation of East Timor. It did so even though antithetical to Carter's stated policy "of not selling weapons if it would exacerbate a potential conflict in a region of the world."
On November 15, 1977, Carter pledged that his administration would continue positive relations between the US and Iran, calling its contemporary status "strong, stable and progressive".
On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The students belonged to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line and were in support of the Iranian Revolution. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for the next 444 days until they were finally freed immediately after Ronald Reagan succeeded Carter as President on January 20, 1981. During the crisis, Carter remained in isolation in the White House for more than 100 days, until he left to participate in the lighting of the National Menorah on the Ellipse. A month into the affair, Carter stated his commitment to resolving the dispute without "any military action that would cause bloodshed or arouse the unstable captors of our hostages to attack them or to punish them". On April 7, 1980, Carter issued Executive Order 12205, imposing economic sanctions against Iran and announced further measures being taken by members of his cabinet and the American government that he deemed necessary to ensure a safe release. On April 24, 1980, Carter ordered Operation Eagle Claw to try to free the hostages. The mission failed, leaving eight American servicemen dead and causing the destruction of two aircraft. The ill-fated rescue attempt led to the self-imposed resignation of U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had been opposed to the mission from the beginning.
On February 8, 1977, Carter stated he had urged the Soviet Union to align with the US in forming "a comprehensive test ban to stop all nuclear testing for at least an extended period of time" and that he was in favor of the Soviet Union ceasing deployment of the RSD-10 Pioneer. During a June 13 conference, Carter reported that the US would "beginning this week to work closely with the Soviet Union on a comprehensive test ban treaty to prohibit all testing of nuclear devices underground or in the atmosphere" and Paul Warnke would negotiate demilitarization of the Indian Ocean with the Soviet Union beginning the following week. At a news conference on December 30, Carter said throughout the period of "the last few months, the United States and the Soviet Union have made great progress in dealing with a long list of important issues, the most important of which is to control the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons" and that the two countries sought to conclude SALT II talks by the spring of the following year. The talk of a comprehensive test ban treaty materialized with the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II by Carter and Leonid Brezhnev on June 18, 1979.
In the 1980 State of the Union Address, Carter emphasized the significance of relations between the two regions: "Now, as during the last 3 1/2 decades, the relationship between our country, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union is the most critical factor in determining whether the world will live at peace or be engulfed in global conflict."
Communists under the leadership of Nur Muhammad Taraki seized power in Afghanistan on April 27, 1978. The new regime—which was divided between Taraki's extremist Khalq faction and the more moderate Parcham—signed a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union in December of that year. Taraki's efforts to improve secular education and redistribute land were accompanied by mass executions (including of many conservative religious leaders) and political oppression unprecedented in Afghan history, igniting a revolt by mujahideen rebels. Following a general uprising in April 1979, Taraki was deposed by Khalq rival Hafizullah Amin in September. Amin was considered a "brutal psychopath" by foreign observers; even the Soviets were alarmed by the brutality of the Afghan communists, and suspected Amin of being an agent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), although that was not the case. By December, Amin's government had lost control of much of the country, prompting the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan, execute Amin, and install Parcham leader Babrak Karmal as president.
Carter was surprised by the invasion, as the consensus of the U.S. intelligence community during 1978 and 1979—reiterated as late as September 29, 1979—was that "Moscow would not intervene in force even if it appeared likely that the Khalq government was about to collapse." Indeed, Carter's diary entries from November 1979 until the Soviet invasion in late December contain only two short references to Afghanistan, and are instead preoccupied with the ongoing hostage crisis in Iran. In the West, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was considered a threat to global security and the oil supplies of the Persian Gulf. Moreover, the failure to accurately predict Soviet intentions caused American officials to reappraise the Soviet threat to both Iran and Pakistan, although it is now known that those fears were overblown. For example, U.S. intelligence closely followed Soviet exercises for an invasion of Iran throughout 1980, while an earlier warning from Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski that "if the Soviets came to dominate Afghanistan, they could promote a separate Baluchistan ... [thus] dismembering Pakistan and Iran" took on new urgency. These concerns were a major factor in the unrequited efforts of both the Carter and Reagan administrations to improve relations with Iran, and resulted in massive aid to Pakistan's Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Zia's ties with the U.S. had been strained during Carter's presidency due to Pakistan's nuclear program and the execution of Ali Bhutto in April 1979, but Carter told Brzezinski and secretary of state Cyrus Vance as early as January 1979 that it was vital to "repair our relationships with Pakistan" in light of the unrest in Iran. One initiative Carter authorized to achieve this goal was a collaboration between the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI); through the ISI, the CIA began providing some $500,000 worth of non-lethal assistance to the mujahideen on July 3, 1979—several months prior to the Soviet invasion. The modest scope of this early collaboration was likely influenced by the understanding, later recounted by CIA official Robert Gates, "that a substantial U.S. covert aid program" might have "raise[d] the stakes" thereby causing "the Soviets to intervene more directly and vigorously than otherwise intended."
In the aftermath of the invasion, Carter was determined to respond vigorously to what he considered a dangerous provocation. In a televised speech, he announced sanctions on the Soviet Union, promised renewed aid to Pakistan, initiated renewed registration for the Selective Service System, and committed the U.S. to the Persian Gulf's defense. He imposed an embargo on grain shipments to the USSR, tabled consideration of SALT II, and requested a 5% annual increase in defense spending. Carter also called for a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. British prime minister Margaret Thatcher enthusiastically backed Carter's tough stance, although British intelligence believed "the CIA was being too alarmist about the Soviet threat to Pakistan." The thrust of U.S. policy for the duration of the war was determined by Carter in early 1980: Carter initiated a program to arm the mujahideen through Pakistan's ISI and secured a pledge from Saudi Arabia to match U.S. funding for this purpose. U.S. support for the mujahideen accelerated under Carter's successor, Ronald Reagan, at a final cost to U.S. taxpayers of some $3 billion. The Soviets were unable to quell the insurgency and withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, precipitating the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself. However, the decision to route U.S. aid through Pakistan led to massive fraud, as weapons sent to Karachi were frequently sold on the local market rather than delivered to the Afghan rebels; Karachi soon "became one of the most violent cities in the world." Pakistan also controlled which rebels received assistance: Of the seven mujahideen groups supported by Zia's government, four espoused Islamic fundamentalist beliefs—and these fundamentalists received most of the funding. Despite this, Carter has expressed no regrets over his decision to support what he still considers the "freedom fighters" in Afghanistan.
During a March 9, 1977 news conference, Carter reaffirmed his interest in having a gradual withdrawal of American troops from South Korea and stated he wanted South Korea to eventually have "adequate ground forces owned by and controlled by the South Korean Government to protect themselves against any intrusion from North Korea." On May 19, "The Washington Post" quoted Chief of Staff of U.S. forces in South Korea John K. Singlaub as criticizing Carter's withdrawal of troops from the Korean peninsula. Later that day, Press Secretary Rex Granum announced Singlaub had been summoned to the White House by Carter, whom he also confirmed had seen the article in "The Washington Post". Carter relieved Singlaub of his duties two days later on May 21 following a meeting between the two. On May 26, during a news conference, Carter said he believed South Korea would be able to defend themselves despite reduced American troops in the event of conflict. From June 30 to July 1, 1979, Carter held meetings with President of South Korea Park Chung-hee at the Blue House for a discussion on relations between the US and Korea as well as Carter's interest in preserving his policy of worldwide tension reduction.
On April 21, 1978, Carter announced a reduction in American troops in South Korea scheduled to be released by the end of the year by two-thirds, citing a lack of action by Congress in regards to a compensatory aid package for the Seoul Government.
Carter made twelve international trips to twenty-five countries during his presidency. Carter was the first president to make a state visit to Sub-Saharan Africa when he went to Nigeria in 1978. His travel also included trips to Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He made several trips to the Middle East to broker peace negotiations. His visit to Iran from December 31, 1977, to January 1, 1978, took place less than a year before the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
The September 21, 1977 resignation of Bert Lance, who served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Carter administration, came amid allegations of improper banking activities prior to his tenure and was an embarrassment to Carter.
Carter became the first sitting president to testify under oath as part of an investigation into that president, as a result of United States Attorney General Griffin Bell appointing Paul J. Curran as a special counsel to investigate loans made to the peanut business owned by Carter by a bank controlled by Bert Lance and Curran's position as special counsel not allowing him to file charges on his own. Curran announced in October 1979 that no evidence had been found to support allegations that funds loaned from the National Bank of Georgia had been diverted to Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, ending the investigation.
Carter later wrote that the most intense and mounting opposition to his policies came from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which he attributed to Ted Kennedy's ambition to replace him as president. After Kennedy announced his candidacy in November 1979, questions regarding his activities during his presidential bid were a frequent subject of Carter's press conferences held during the Democratic presidential primary. Kennedy surprised his supporters by running a weak campaign, and Carter won most of the primaries and secured renomination. However, Kennedy had mobilized the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which gave Carter weak support in the fall election. Carter and Vice President Mondale were formally nominated at the Democratic National Convention in New York City. Carter delivered a speech notable for its tribute to the late Hubert Humphrey, whom he initially called "Hubert Horatio Hornblower."
Shortly after losing his re-election bid, Carter told the White House press corps of his intent to emulate the retirement of Harry S. Truman and not use his subsequent public life to enrich himself.
In 1982, Carter founded the Carter Center, a non-governmental and non-profit organization with the purpose of advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering, including helping improve the quality of life for people in more than 80 countries.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton sought Carter's assistance in a North Korea peace mission, during which Carter negotiated an understanding with Kim Il-sung, with whom he went on to outline a treaty that he announced to CNN without the consent of the Clinton administration to spur American action. Carter traveled to North Korea to secure the release of Aijalon Gomes in August 2010, successfully negotiating his release. Throughout the latter part of 2017, as tensions between the US and North Korea persisted, Carter recommended a peace treaty between the two nations, and confirmed he had offered himself to the Trump administration as a willing candidate to serve as diplomatic envoy to North Korea.
In October 1984, Carter was named an honorary citizen of Peru by Mayor of Cusco Daniel Estrada after traveling to Machu Picchu, Carter endorsing the country's elections in 2001, and offering support to the Peruvian government following a meeting with President of Peru Alan García at Government Palace in Lima in April 2009.
In his February 1986 talks with Tomás Borge, Carter secured the release of journalist Luis Mora and labor leader Jose Altamirano, while touring Nicaragua for three days.
Carter conducted a tour of Cuba in May 2002 that included meeting with Fidel Castro and meeting political dissidents such as the AIDS sanitarium, a medical school, a biotech facility, an agricultural production cooperative, and a school for disabled children. Carter toured Cuba again for three days in March 2011.
Carter's diplomatic efforts in the Middle East included a September 1981 meeting with Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin, a March 1983 tour of Egypt that included meeting with members of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a December 2008 meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and a June 2012 call with Jeffery Brown in which Carter stressed Egyptian military generals could be granted full power executively and legislatively in addition to being able to form a new constitution in favor of themselves in the event their announced intentions went through. In 2006, Carter stated his disagreements with the domestic and foreign policies of Israel while saying he was in favor of the country, extending his criticisms to Israel's policies in Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza. Carter traveled to Syria in April 2008, laying a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah and denying he had been contacted by the Bush administration in relation to meeting with Hamas leaders.
In July 2007, Carter joined Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, to announce his participation in The Elders, a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and human rights issues. Following the announcement, Carter participated in visits to Darfur, Sudan, Cyprus, the Korean Peninsula, and the Middle East, among others. Carter attempted traveling to Zimbabwe in November 2008, but was stopped by President Robert Mugabe's government.
Carter held summits in Egypt and Tunisia in 1995–1996 to address violence in the Great Lakes region of Africa, and played a key role in negotiation of the Nairobi Agreement in 1999 between Sudan and Uganda.
Carter began his first year out of office with a pledge not to critique the new Reagan administration. He spoke out after the assassination attempt on Reagan, and voiced his agreement with Reagan on building neutron arms in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He later disagreed with Reagan's handling of the Middle East. The following year, Carter called for bipartisanship to fix American economic issues, and criticized the Reagan administration's handling of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Carter responded favorably to Reagan choosing to remain within the Camp David agreement, with distaste toward what he felt was Reagan blaming his tenure for continued difficulties in policy. In 1983, Carter judged the Reagan campaign with having falsified simplicity in solving issues, and criticized Reagan for a lack of attention to human rights violations. In 1984, Carter stated he had been wrongly presented as weak by Reagan due to a commitment to human rights during the previous presidential election, and condemned Reagan for not making rescue efforts to retrieve four American businessmen from West Beirut. In 1985, Carter rebuked Reagan over his handling of peace within the Middle East, his support of the Strategic Defense Initiative, and Reagan's claim of an international conspiracy on terrorism. Carter's insistence that Reagan was not preserving peace in the Middle East continued in 1987, Carter during the year also criticizing Reagan for adhering to terrorist demands, nomination of Robert Bork for the Supreme Court, and handling of the Persian Gulf.
During the presidency of George W. Bush, Carter stated his opposition to the Iraq War, and what he considered an attempt on the part of Bush and Tony Blair to oust Saddam Hussein through the usage of "lies and misinterpretations". In May 2007, Carter stated the Bush administration "has been the worst in history" in terms of its impact in foreign affairs, and later stated he was just comparing Bush's tenure to that of Richard Nixon. Carter's comments received a response from the Bush administration in the form of Tony Fratto saying Carter was increasing his irrelevance with his commentary. By the end of Bush's second term, Carter considered Bush's tenure disappointing, which he disclosed in comments to "Forward Magazine" of Syria.
Though he praised President Obama in the early part of his tenure, Carter stated his disagreements with the use of drone strikes against suspected terrorists, Obama's choice to keep Guantanamo Bay detention camp open, and the current federal surveillance programs as disclosed by Edward Snowden indicating that "America has no functioning democracy at this moment."
During the Trump presidency, Carter spoke favorably of the chance for immigration reform through Congress, and criticized Trump for his handling of the U.S. national anthem protests.
Carter was considered a potential candidate in the 1984 presidential election, but did not run and instead endorsed Walter Mondale for the Democratic nomination. After Mondale secured the nomination, Carter critiqued the Reagan campaign, spoke at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, and advised Mondale. Following the election, in which President Reagan defeated Mondale, Carter stated the loss was predictable due to the latter's platform that included raising taxes.
In the 1988 presidential election cycle, Carter ruled himself out as a candidate once more and predicted Vice President George H. W. Bush as the Republican nominee in the general election. Carter foresaw unity at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, where he delivered an address. Following the election, a failed attempt by the Democrats in regaining the White House, Carter said Bush would have a more difficult presidency than Reagan due to not having the same level of popularity.
During the 1992 presidential election, Carter met with Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas who sought out his advice. Carter spoke favorably of former Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton, and criticized Ross Perot. As the primary concluded, Carter spoke of the need for the 1992 Democratic National Convention to address certain issues not focused on in the past, and campaigned for Clinton after he became the Democratic nominee in the general election, publicly stating his expectation to be consulted during the latter's presidency.
Carter endorsed Vice President Al Gore days before the 2000 presidential election, and in the years following voiced his opinion that the election was won by Gore, despite the Supreme Court handing the election to Bush in the controversial "Bush v. Gore" ruling.
In the 2004 election cycle, Carter endorsed John Kerry and spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Carter also voiced concerns of another voting mishap in the state of Florida.
Amid the Democratic presidential primary in 2008, Carter was speculated to endorse Senator Barack Obama over his main primary rival Hillary Clinton amid his speaking favorably of the candidate, as well as remarks from the Carter family that showed their support for Obama. Carter also commented on Clinton ending her bid when superdelegates voted after the June 3 primary. Leading up to the general election, Carter criticized John McCain, who responded to Carter's comments, and warned Obama against selecting Clinton as his running mate.
Carter endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination during the primary season of the 2012 election cycle, though he clarified his backing of Romney was due to him considering the former Massachusetts governor the candidate that could best assure a victory for President Obama. Carter delivered a videotape address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
Carter was critical of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shortly after the latter entered the primary, and Carter predicted he would lose, noting the differing circumstances of the political climate from when he was still an active politician. As the primary continued, Carter stated he would prefer Trump over his main rival Ted Cruz, though he rebuked the Trump campaign in remarks during the primary, and in his address to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. In the Democratic primary, Carter voted for Senator Bernie Sanders, and in the general election, voted for Hillary Clinton.
In October 2017, however, Carter defended President Trump in an interview with The New York Times, criticizing the media's coverage of him. "I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I've known about," Carter stated. "I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation." He also praised Trump for reaching out to Saudi Arabia and stated that the President has been under a stricter spotlight than his predecessors. After the interview, Trump himself praised Carter's comments and thanked him over Twitter, writing "Just read the nice remarks by President Jimmy Carter about me and how badly I am treated by the press (Fake News). Thank you Mr. President!" He has sharply criticized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department under Trump and the administration's response to the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
Carter believes that Trump would not have been elected without Russia's interference in the 2016 election, and he believes "that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf." When questioned, he agreed that Trump is an "illegitimate president". Carter does not believe the Russians changed any votes during the presidential election or primaries.
Carter criticized the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina, built homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and partnered with former presidents to work with One America Appeal to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in the Gulf Coast and Texas communities, in addition to writing op-eds about the goodness seen in Americans who assist each other during natural disasters.
Carter attended the dedication of his presidential library and those of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. He delivered eulogies at the funerals of Coretta Scott King and Gerald Ford, and Theodore Hesburgh.
, Carter serves as an Honorary Chair for the World Justice Project and formerly served as one for the Continuity of Government Commission. He continues to occasionally teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church. Carter also teaches at Emory University in Atlanta, and in June 2019 was awarded tenure for 37 years of service.
Although Carter was "personally opposed" to abortion, he supported legalized abortion after the landmark US Supreme Court decision "Roe v. Wade", 410 US 113 (1973). As president, he did not support increased federal funding for abortion services. He was criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union for not doing enough to find alternatives.
In a March 29, 2012 interview with Laura Ingraham, Carter expressed his current view of abortion and his wish to see the Democratic Party becoming more pro-life:
Carter is known for his strong opposition to the death penalty, which he expressed during his presidential campaigns. In his Nobel Prize lecture, Carter urged "prohibition of the death penalty". He has continued to speak out against the death penalty in the US and abroad.
In a letter to the Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, Carter urged the governor to sign a bill to eliminate the death penalty and institute life in prison without parole instead. New Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2009. Carter wrote: "As you know, the United States is one of the few countries, along with nations such as Saudi Arabia, China, and Cuba, which still carry out the death penalty despite the ongoing tragedy of wrongful conviction and gross racial and class-based disparities that make impossible the fair implementation of this ultimate punishment." In 2012, Carter wrote an op-ed in the "LA Times" supporting passage of a state referendum which would have ended the death penalty. He opened the article: "The process for administering the death penalty in the United States is broken beyond repair, and it is time to choose a more effective and moral alternative. California voters will have the opportunity to do this on election day."
Carter has also called for commutations of death sentences for many death-row inmates, including Brian K. Baldwin (executed in 1999 in Alabama), Kenneth Foster (sentence in Texas commuted in 2007) and Troy Davis (executed in Georgia in 2011).
In October 2000, Carter, a third-generation Southern Baptist, severed connections to the Southern Baptist Convention over its opposition to women as pastors. What led Carter to take this action was a doctrinal statement by the Convention, adopted in June 2000, advocating a literal interpretation of the Bible. This statement followed a position of the Convention two years previously advocating the submission of wives to their husbands. Carter described the reason for his decision as due to: "an increasing inclination on the part of Southern Baptist Convention leaders to be more rigid on what is a Southern Baptist and exclusionary of accommodating those who differ from them." "The New York Times" called Carter's action "the highest-profile defection yet from the Southern Baptist Convention."
On July 15, 2009, Carter wrote an opinion piece about equality for women in which he stated that he chooses equality for women over the dictates of the leadership of what has been a lifetime religious commitment. He said that the view that women are inferior is not confined to one faith, "nor, tragically does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple." Carter stated:
In 2014, he published "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power".
Carter has publicly expressed support for a ban on assault weapons and background checks of gun buyers. In May 1994, Carter and former presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan wrote to the U.S. House of Representatives in support of banning "semi-automatic assault guns." In a February 2013 appearance on "Piers Morgan Tonight", Carter agreed that if the assault weapons ban did not pass it would be mainly due to lobbying by the National Rifle Association and its pressure on "weak-kneed" politicians.
Carter has stated that he supports same-sex marriage in civil ceremonies. He has also stated that he believes Jesus would also support it, saying "I believe Jesus would. I don't have any verse in scripture. ... I believe Jesus would approve gay marriage, but that's just my own personal belief. I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don't see that gay marriage damages anyone else." Evangelist Franklin Graham criticized the assertion as "absolutely wrong."
In October 2014, Carter argued ahead of a Supreme Court ruling that legalization of same-sex marriage should be left up to the states and not mandated by federal law.
Carter ignited debate in September 2009 when he stated, "I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he is African-American." Obama disagreed with Carter's assessment. On CNN Obama stated, "Are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are ... that's not the overriding issue here."
In a 2008 interview with Amnesty International, Carter criticized the use of torture at Guantánamo Bay, saying that it "contravenes the basic principles on which this nation was founded." He stated that the next president should make the promise that the United States will "never again torture a prisoner."
In an October 2013 interview, Carter labeled the Affordable Care Act President Obama's major accomplishment and said "the implementation of it now is questionable at best". In July 2017, Carter concluded the US would eventually see the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system.
Carter vigorously opposed the Supreme Court decision in "Citizens United v. FEC" that struck down limits on campaign spending by corporations and unions, going so far as to saying that the U.S. is "no longer a functioning democracy" and now has a system of "unlimited political bribery".
Carter and his wife Rosalynn are well known for their work as volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, a Georgia-based philanthropy that helps low-income working people around the world to build and buy their own homes and access clean water.
Carter's hobbies include painting, fly-fishing, woodworking, cycling, tennis, and skiing. He also has an interest in poetry, particularly the works of Dylan Thomas. During a state visit to the UK in 1977, Carter suggested that Thomas should have a memorial in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey; this was an idea that came to fruition in 1982.
Carter was also a personal friend of Elvis Presley. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, met him on June 30, 1973, before Presley was to perform onstage in Atlanta. They remained in contact by telephone two months before Presley's sudden death in August 1977. Carter later recalled an abrupt phone call received by Presley in June 1977, who sought a presidential pardon from Carter, in order to help George Klein's criminal case; Klein had only been indicted at the time for fraud. According to Carter, he was almost incoherent and cited barbiturate abuse as the cause of this; although Presley phoned the White House several times again, this would be the last time Carter would speak to Elvis Presley. The day after Presley's death, Carter issued a statement and explained how he had "changed the face of American popular culture."
From a young age, Carter showed a deep commitment to Christianity. He teaches Sunday school and is a deacon at the Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains. At a private inauguration worship service, the preacher was Nelson Price, the subject's "prayer partner" and pastor of Roswell Street Baptist Church of Marietta, Georgia. As president, Carter prayed several times a day, and professed that Jesus was the driving force in his life. Carter had been greatly influenced by a sermon he had heard as a young man. It asked, "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" "The New York Times" noted that Carter had been instrumental in moving evangelical Christianity closer to the American mainstream during and after his presidency.
In 2000, Carter severed his membership with the Southern Baptist Convention, saying the group's doctrines did not align with his Christian beliefs. In April 2006, Carter, former President Bill Clinton, and Mercer University President Bill Underwood initiated the New Baptist Covenant. The broadly inclusive movement seeks to unite Baptists of all races, cultures and convention affiliations. Eighteen Baptist leaders representing more than 20 million Baptists across North America backed the group as an alternative to the Southern Baptist Convention. The group held its first meeting in Atlanta, January 30 through February 1, 2008.
Carter had three younger siblings, all of whom died of pancreatic cancer: sisters Gloria Spann (1926–1990) and Ruth Stapleton (1929–1983), and brother Billy Carter (1937–1988). He was first cousin to politician Hugh Carter and a distant cousin to the Carter family of musicians.
Carter and Rosalynn Smith were married on July 7, 1946 in the Plains Methodist Church, the church of Rosalynn's family. They have three sons, one daughter, eight grandsons, three granddaughters, and two great-grandsons. Mary Prince (an African American woman wrongly convicted of murder, and later pardoned) was their daughter Amy's nanny for most of the period from 1971 until Jimmy Carter's presidency ended. Carter had asked to be designated as her parole officer, thus helping to enable her to work in the White House. The Carters celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in July 2016, making them the second-longest wed presidential couple after George and Barbara Bush. Their eldest son Jack Carter was the 2006 Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Nevada before losing to the Republican incumbent, John Ensign. Carter's grandson Jason Carter is a former Georgia State Senator and in 2014 was the Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, losing to the Republican incumbent, Nathan Deal. On December 20, 2015, while teaching a Sunday school class, Carter announced that his 28-year-old grandson Jeremy Carter had died from an unspecified illness.
On August 3, 2015, Carter underwent elective surgery to remove "a small mass" on his liver, and his prognosis for a full recovery was initially said to be "excellent". On August 12, however, Carter announced he had been diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized, without specifying where the cancer had originated. On August 20, he disclosed that melanoma had been found in his brain and liver, and that he had begun treatment with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab and was about to start radiation therapy. His healthcare is being managed by Emory Healthcare of Atlanta. The former president has an extensive family history of cancer, including both of his parents and all three of his siblings. On December 6, 2015, Carter issued a statement that his medical scans no longer showed any cancer.
On May 13, 2019, Carter broke his hip at his Plains home and underwent surgery the same day at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia. On October 6, 2019, Carter obtained 14 stitches above his left eyebrow after injuring it during another fall at home. A public appearance afterwards showed that the former President had obtained a black eye during the fall as well. On October 21, 2019, Carter was admitted to the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center after suffering a minor pelvic fracture he obtained after falling again at home for the third time in 2019. He was subsequently able to resume teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church on November 3, 2019. On November 11, 2019, Carter was hospitalized at the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain, caused by bleeding connected to his falls. The surgery was successful, and Carter was released from the hospital on November 27.
Carter, the earliest-serving living former president since the death of Gerald Ford in 2006, became the oldest to ever attend a presidential inauguration in 2017, at age 92, and the first to live to the 40th anniversary of their own. Two years later, on March 22, 2019, he gained the distinction of being the nation's longest-lived president, when he surpassed the lifespan of George H. W. Bush, who was of age when he died in November 2018; both men were born in 1924. On October 1, 2019, Carter became the first U.S. president to live to the age of 95.
Carter has made arrangements to be buried in front of his home in Plains, Georgia. Carter noted in 2006 that a funeral in Washington, D.C., with visitation at the Carter Center was planned as well.
Carter and Gerald Ford were compared in exit polls from the 1976 presidential election, which Carter won. Many voters still held Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon against him. By comparison, Carter was viewed as a sincere, honest, and well-meaning Southerner. Carter began his term with a 66 percent approval rating, which had dropped to 34 percent approval by the time he left office, with 55 percent disapproving.
In the 1980 campaign, former California Governor Ronald Reagan projected an easy self-confidence, in contrast to Carter's serious and introspective temperament. What many people believed to be Carter's personal attention to detail, his pessimistic attitude, his seeming indecisiveness and weakness with people were accentuated in contrast to what many saw as Reagan's charismatic charm and delegation of tasks to subordinates. Reagan used the economic problems, Iran hostage crisis, and lack of Washington cooperation to portray Carter as a weak and ineffectual leader. Like his immediate predecessor, Gerald Ford, Carter did not serve a second term as president. Among those who were elected as president, Carter was the first since Hoover in 1932 to lose a reelection bid.
Carter's post-presidency activities have been favorably received. "The Independent" wrote, "Carter is widely considered a better man than he was a president." His presidential approval rating was just 31 percent immediately before the 1980 election, but 64 percent approved of his performance as president in a 2009 poll.
Carter's presidency was initially viewed by some as a failure. In historical rankings of U.S. presidents, the Carter presidency has ranged from No. 19 to No. 34. Although his presidency received mixed reception, his peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts since he left office have made Carter renowned as one of the most successful ex-presidents in American history.
The documentary "" (2009) credits Carter's efforts at Camp David, which brought peace between Israel and Egypt, with bringing the only meaningful peace to the Middle East. The film opened the 2009 Monte-Carlo Television Festival in an invitation-only royal screening on June 7, 2009, at the Grimaldi Forum in the presence of Albert II, Prince of Monaco.
Over 50 songs have been released about or referencing Jimmy Carter, some in relation to the 1970s Energy Crisis and the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis. The eponymous "Jimmy Carter", included on The Chairman Dances' album "Time Without Measure" (2016), describes the President's faith life, specifically, his realization that doubt is an integral part of faith.
Carter has received numerous awards and accolades since his presidency, and several institutions and locations have been named in his honor. His presidential library, Jimmy Carter Library and Museum was opened in 1986. In 1998, the U.S. Navy named the third and last "Seawolf"-class submarine honoring former President Carter and his service as a submariner officer. It became one of the few Navy vessels to be named for a person living at the time of naming. That year he also received the United Nations Human Rights Prize, given in honor of human rights achievements, and the Hoover Medal, recognizing engineers who have contributed to global causes. He won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, which was partially a response to President George W. Bush's threats of war against Iraq and Carter's criticism of the Bush administration.
Carter has been nominated nine times for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for audio recordings of his books, and has won three times—for "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis" (2007), "" (2016) and "Faith: A Journey For All" (2019).
The Souther Field Airport in Americus, Georgia was renamed Jimmy Carter Regional Airport in 2009.
Carter received the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in 1984.
In 1991, he was made an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa at Kansas State University. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15992 |
John Napier
John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617); also signed as Neper, Nepair; nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston) was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioannes Neper.
John Napier is best known as the discoverer of logarithms. He also invented the so-called "Napier's bones" and made common the use of the decimal point in arithmetic and mathematics.
Napier's birthplace, Merchiston Tower in Edinburgh, is now part of the facilities of Edinburgh Napier University. Napier died from the effects of gout at home at Merchiston Castle and his remains were buried in the kirkyard of St Giles. Following the loss of the kirkyard there to build Parliament House, he was memorialised at St Cuthbert's at the west side of Edinburgh.
Napier's father was Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston Castle, and his mother was Janet Bothwell, daughter of the politician and judge Francis Bothwell, and a sister of Adam Bothwell who became the Bishop of Orkney. Archibald Napier was 16 years old when John Napier was born.
There are no records of Napier’s early education, but many believe that he was privately tutored during his early childhood. At age 13, he was enrolled in St Salvator's College, St Andrews. Near the time of his matriculation the quality of the education provided by the university was poor in part due to the Reformation causing significant strife between those of the old faith, and the growing numbers of Protestants. There are no records showing that John Napier completed his education at St Andrews. It is believed he left Scotland to further his education in mainland Europe, following the advice given by his uncle Adam Bothwell in a letter written to John Napier’s father on 5 December 1560, saying, “I pray you, sir, to send John to the schools either to France or Flanders, for he can learn no good at home”. It is not known which university Napier attended in Europe, but when he returned to Scotland in 1571 he was fluent in Greek, a language that was not commonly taught in European Universities at the time. There are also no records showing his enrollment in the premier universities in Paris or Geneva during this time.
In 1571, Napier, aged 21, returned to Scotland, and bought a castle at Gartness in 1574. On the death of his father in 1608, Napier and his family moved into Merchiston Castle in Edinburgh, where he resided the remainder of his life. He had a property within Edinburgh city as well on Borthwick's Close off the Royal Mile.
He died at the age of 67.
Many mathematicians at the time were acutely aware of the issues of computation and were dedicated to relieving practitioners of the calculation burden. Napier was famous for his devices to assist with these issues of computation. He invented a well-known mathematical artifact, the ingenious numbering rods more quaintly known as “Napier's bones,” that offered mechanical means for facilitating computation.
In addition, Napier recognized the potential of the recent developments in mathematics, particularly those of prosthaphaeresis, decimal fractions, and symbolic index arithmetic, to tackle the issue of reducing computation. He appreciated that, for the most part, practitioners who had laborious computations generally did them in the context of trigonometry. Therefore, as well as developing the logarithmic relation, Napier set it in a trigonometric context so it would be even more relevant.
His work, "Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio" (1614) contained fifty-seven pages of explanatory matter and ninety pages of tables of numbers related to natural logarithms (see Napierian logarithm). The book also has an excellent discussion of theorems in spherical trigonometry, usually known as Napier's Rules of Circular Parts. See also Pentagramma mirificum.
Modern English translations of both Napier's books on logarithms and their description can be found on the web, as well as a discussion of Napier's bones and Promptuary (another early calculating device).
His invention of logarithms was quickly taken up at Gresham College, and prominent English mathematician Henry Briggs visited Napier in 1615. Among the matters they discussed were a re-scaling of Napier's logarithms, in which the presence of the mathematical constant now known as "e" (more accurately, "e" times a large power of 10 rounded to an integer) was a practical difficulty. Neither Napier nor Briggs actually discovered the constant "e"; that discovery was made decades later by Jacob Bernoulli.
Napier delegated to Briggs the computation of a revised table. The computational advance available via logarithms, the converse of powered numbers or exponential notation, was such that it made calculations by hand much quicker. The way was opened to later scientific advances, in astronomy, dynamics, and other areas of physics.
Napier made further contributions. He improved Simon Stevin's decimal notation. Lattice multiplication, used by Fibonacci, was made more convenient by his introduction of Napier's bones, a multiplication tool using a set of numbered rods.
Napier may have worked largely in isolation, but he had contact with Tycho Brahe who corresponded with his friend John Craig. Craig certainly announced the discovery of logarithms to Brahe in the 1590s (the name itself came later); there is a story from Anthony à Wood, perhaps not well substantiated, that Napier had a hint from Craig that Longomontanus, a follower of Brahe, was working in a similar direction.
It has been shown that Craig had notes on a method of Paul Wittich that used trigonometric identities to reduce a multiplication formula for the sine function to additions.
Napier had an interest in the "Book of Revelation", from his student days at St Salvator's College, St Andrews. Under the influence of the sermons of Christopher Goodman, he developed a strongly anti-papal reading, going as far as to say that the Pope was the Antichrist in some of his writings.
Napier regarded "A Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. John" (1593) as his most important work. It was written in English, unlike his other publications, in order to reach the widest audience and so that, according to Napier, "the simple of this island may be instructed". "A Plaine Discovery" used mathematical analysis of the "Book of Revelation" to attempt to predict the date of the Apocalypse. Napier identified events in chronological order which he believed were parallels to events described in the "Book of Revelation" believing that "Revelation"'s structure implied that the prophecies would be fulfilled incrementally. In this work Napier dated the seventh trumpet to 1541, and predicted the end of the world would occur in either 1688 or 1700. Napier did not believe that people could know the true date of the Apocalypse, but claimed that since the Bible contained so many clues about the end, God wanted the Church to know when the end was coming.
In his dedication of the "Plaine Discovery" to James VI, dated 29 Jan 1594, Napier urged the king to see "that justice be done against the enemies of God's church," and counselled the King "to reform the universal enormities of his country, and first to begin at his own house, family, and court." The volume includes nine pages of Napier's English verse. It met with success at home and abroad. In 1600 Michiel Panneel produced a Dutch translation, and this reached a second edition in 1607. In 1602 the work appeared at La Rochelle in a French version, by Georges Thomson, revised by Napier, and that also went through several editions (1603, 1605, and 1607). A new edition of the English original was called for in 1611, when it was revised and corrected by the author, and enlarged by the addition of "With a resolution of certain doubts, moved by some well affected brethren."; this appeared simultaneously at Edinburgh and London. The author stated that he still intended to publish a Latin edition, but it never appeared. A German translation, by Leo de Dromna, of the first part of Napier's work appeared at Gera in 1611, and of the whole by Wolfgang Meyer at Frankfurt-am-Main, in 1615. Among Napier's followers was Matthew Cotterius (Matthieu Cottière).
In addition to his mathematical and religious interests, Napier was often perceived as a magician, and is thought to have dabbled in alchemy and necromancy. It was said that he would travel about with a black spider in a small box, and that his black rooster was his familiar spirit.
Some of Napier's neighbors accused him of being a sorcerer and in league with the devil, believing that all of the time he spent in his study was being used to learn the black art. These rumors were not helped by Napier when he used his black rooster to catch a thief. Napier told his servants to go into a darkened room and pet the rooster, which had been colored black by covering it with soot, claiming that the rooster would crow if they were the one who stole his property. When the servants emerged, Napier inspected their hands to find the servant who was too afraid to touch the rooster.
Another act which Napier is reported to have done, which may have seemed mystical to the locals, was when Napier removed the pigeons from his estate, since they were eating his grain. Napier caught the pigeons by strewing grain laced with alcohol throughout the field, and then capturing the pigeons once they were too drunk to fly away.
A contract still exists for a treasure hunt, made between Napier and Robert Logan of Restalrig. Napier was to search Fast Castle for treasure allegedly hidden there, wherein it is stated that Napier should "do his utmost diligence to search and seek out, and by all craft and ingine to find out the same, or make it sure that no such thing has been there." This contract was never fulfilled by Napier, and no gold was found when the Edinburgh Archaeological Field society excavated the castle in between 1971 and 1986.
Among Napier's early followers were the instrument makers Edmund Gunter and John Speidell. The development of logarithms is given credit as the largest single factor in the general adoption of decimal arithmetic. The "Trissotetras" (1645) of Thomas Urquhart builds on Napier's work, in trigonometry.
Henry Briggs (mathematician) was an early adopter of the Napierian logarithm. He later computed a new table of logarithms formatted in base 10.
An alternative unit to the decibel used in electrical engineering, the neper, is named after Napier, as is Edinburgh Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The crater Neper on the Moon is named after him.
The Natural Logarithm named after him in French (Logarithme Népérien).
In 1572, Napier married 16 year-old Elizabeth, daughter of James Stirling, the 4th Laird of Keir and of Cadder. They had two children. Elizabeth died in 1579, and Napier then married Agnes Chisholm, with whom he had ten more children.
Napier's father-in-law, Sir James Chisholm of Cromlix, was one of many excommunicated by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian party following the Spanish blanks plot. Napier sat on the General Assembly that excommunicated the plotters, and petitioned the King James VI and I to enforce the punishment on the plotters, but was ultimately ignored since the King believed the ministers were acting cruelly, and was in favor of pursuing policies of more appeasement.
His half-brother (through his father's remarriage) was Alexander Napier, Lord Laurieston. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15993 |
Johann Heinrich Alsted
Johann Heinrich Alsted (March 1588 – November 9, 1638), "the true parent of all the Encyclopædias", was a German-born Transylvanian Saxon Calvinist minister and academic, known for his varied interests: in Ramism and Lullism, pedagogy and encyclopedias, theology and millenarianism. His contemporaries noted that an anagram of Alstedius was "sedulitas", meaning "hard work" in Latin.
Alsted was born in Mittenaar. He was educated at Herborn Academy in the state of Hesse, studying under Johannes Piscator. From 1606 he was at the University of Marburg, taught by Rudolf Goclenius, Gregorius Schönfeld and Raphaël Egli. The following year he went to Basel, where his teachers were Leonhardt Zubler for mathematics, Amandus Polanus von Polansdorf for theology, and Johann Buxtorf. From about 1608 he returned to the Herborn Academy to teach as professor of philosophy and theology.
Alsted was later in exile from the Thirty Years' War in Transylvania, where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1629 he left war-torn Germany for Weißenburg (now Alba Iulia in Romania) to found a Calvinist Academy: the context was that the Transylvanian royal family had just returned from Unitarianism to Calvinism, and Alsted and Johannes Bisterfeld were German professors brought in to improve standards. Among the students there was János Apáczai Csere.
Alsted died in Alba Iulia in 1638.
Alsted has been called 'one of the most important encyclopedists of all time'. He was a prolific writer, and his "Encyclopaedia" (1630) long had a high reputation. It was preceded by shorter works, including the 1608 "Encyclopaedia cursus philosophici". His major encyclopedia of 1630, the "Encyclopaedia, Septem Tomis Distincta", was divided into 35 books, and had 48 synoptical tables as well as an index. Alsted described it as "a methodical systemization of all things which ought to be learned by men in this life. In short, it is the totality of knowledge." In its time it was praised by Bernard Lamy and Cotton Mather, and it informed the work of Alsted's student John Amos Comenius. An unfinished encyclopedic project by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz began as a plan to expand and modernize it, and the famous diarist Samuel Pepys purchased a copy in 1660—thirty years after its initial publication. Although Jacob Thomasius criticised it for plagiarism for verbatim copying without acknowledgment, Augustus De Morgan later called it "the true parent of all the Encyclopædias, or collections of treatises, or works in which that character predominates".
"The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy", p. 632, in the context of Calvinist metaphysics, states
"In the works of authors like Clemens Timpler of Heidelberg and Steinfurt, Bartolomaeus Keckermann of Heidelberg and Danzig, and Johann Heinrich Alsted of Herborn there appeared a new, unified vision of the encyclopaedia of the scientific disciplines in which ontology had the role of assigning to each of the particular sciences its proper domain."
In his "The New England Mind", Perry Miller writes about the "Encyclopaedia":
It was reissued as a 4-volume facsimile reprint, edited by W. Schmidt-Biggemann (Fromann-Holzboog Press, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 1989–1990).
In 1610, Alstedius published the first edition of his Encyclopedia. In 1630, he published a second edition in a much more comprehensive form, in two large folio volumes. In the second edition, he professes to reduce the several branches of art and science then known and studied into a system. In this work, and his Encyclopedia Biblica, he tries to prove that the foundation and materials of the whole can be found in the Sacred Scriptures. The first four books contain an exposition of the various subjects to be discussed. He devotes six books to philology, ten to speculative philosophy, and four to practical matters. Then follow three on theology, jurisprudence, and medicine; three on mechanical arts, and five on history, chronology, and miscellanies. This work exhibited a great improvement on other published works that purported to be encyclopedias in the latter half of the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries.
Alsted published "Logicae Systema Harmonicum" (1614). In writing a semi-Ramist encyclopedia, he then applied his conception of logic to the sum of human knowledge. To do that, he added the Lullist topical art of memory to Ramist topical logic, indeed reversing one of the original conceptions of Ramus. He had a reputation in his own time as a distinctive methodologist. John Prideaux in 1639 asked:
Q. Is it true that the seven dialectical theories of method in use today, to wit, i) the Aristotelian, 2) the Lullian, 3) the Ramistic, 4) the Mixt, whether indeed in the manner of Keckermann or of Alsted, 5) the Forensic of Hotman, 6) the Jesuitic, and 7) the Socinian, differ mostly in respect to manner of treatment, not in respect to
purpose?
To which the pupil's answer was to be "yes"; as it was to be to the question "Is it true that a Mixt ought to be preferred to a Peripatetic, a Ramist, a Lullian, and the others?" A "Mixt" took elements from both Aristotle and Ramus; Philippo-Ramists, who blended Melanchthon with Ramus, were a type of "Mixt"; "Systematics" were "Mixts" who followed Keckermann in a belief in system, as Alsted did.
From his Transylvanian period dates Alsted's "Prodromus" (printed 1641, but dated 1635). The "Prodromus" was a Calvinist refutation of one of the most influential anti-Trinitarian works, "De vera religione" of Johannes Völkel. This work was a compendium of the arguments of Völkel's teacher Fausto Sozzini, figurehead of the Polish Unitarian movement.
Alsted is now remembered as an encyclopedist, and for his millennarian views. His approach to the encyclopedia took two decades of preliminaries, and was an effort of integration of tools and theories to hand.
In 1609 Alsted published "Clavis artis Lullianae". In 1610 he published the "Artificium perorandi" of Giordano Bruno; and in the same year the "Panacea philosophica", an attempt to find the common ground in the work of Aristotle, Raymond Lull, and Petrus Ramus. In 1612 Alsted edited the "Explanatio" of Bernard de Lavinheta, a Lullist work. In 1613 he published an edition of the "Systema systematum" of Bartholomäus Keckermann. "Theologia naturalis" (1615) was an apologetical work of natural theology. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15995 |
Jean-Jacques Ampère
Jean-Jacques Ampère (12 August 1800 – 27 March 1864) was a French philologist and man of letters.
Born in Lyon, he was the only son of the physicist André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836). Jean-Jacques' mother died while he was an infant. (But André-Marie Ampère had a daughter – Albine (1807–1842) – with his second wife.) On his tomb at the cemetery of Montmartre, Paris, he is named Jean-Jacques Antoine Ampère. His father's father was also named Jean-Jacques Ampère (executed in Lyon, 1793).
He studied the folk songs and popular poetry of the Scandinavian countries in an extended tour in northern Europe. Returning to France in 1830, he delivered a series of lectures on Scandinavian and early German poetry at the Athenaeum in Marseille. The first of these was printed as "De l'Histoire de la poésie" (1830), and was practically the first introduction of the French public to the Scandinavian and German epics.
Moving to Paris, he taught at the Sorbonne, and became professor of the history of French literature at the Collège de France. A journey in northern Africa (1841) was followed by a tour in Greece and Italy, in company with Prosper Mérimée, Jean de Witte and Charles Lenormant. This bore fruit in his "Voyage dantesque" (printed in his "Grèce, Rome et Dante", 1848), which did much to popularize the study of Dante in France.
In 1848 he became a member of the Académie française, and in 1851 he visited America. From this time he was occupied with his chief work, "L'Histoire romaine à Rome" (4 vols., 1861–1864), until his death at Pau.
The "Correspondence et souvenirs" (2 vols.) of A-M and J-J Ampère (1805–1854) was published in 1875. Notices of J-J Ampère are to be found in Sainte-Beuve's "Portraits littéraires," vol. iv., and "Nouveaux Lundis," vol. xiii.; in P Mérimée's "Portraits historiques et littéraires" (2nd ed., 1875); and in Alexis de Tocqueville's "Recollections" (1893). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15998 |
Jacob Anatoli
Jacob ben Abba Mari ben Simson Anatoli (c. 1194 – 1256) was a translator of Arabic texts to Hebrew. He was invited to Naples by Frederick II. Under this royal patronage, and in association with Michael Scot, Anatoli made Arabic learning accessible to Western readers. Among his most important works were translations of texts by Averroes.
Born in southern France, perhaps in Marseille, Anatoli's literary activity was stimulated early by his learned associates and relations at Narbonne and Béziers. In fact, he distinguished himself so notably that the emperor Frederick II., the most genial and enlightened monarch of the time, invited him to come to Naples, and, under the emperor's auspices, to devote himself to his studies, particularly to the rendition of scientific Arabic literature into the more accessible Hebrew language. Thus it was at Naples that Anatoli passed his most fertile period of literary production, and from that city were issued the numerous translations bearing his name.
Anatoli was the son-in-law (and possibly also the brother-in-law) of Samuel ibn Tibbon, the well known translator of Maimonides. Moses b. Samuel ibn Tibbon frequently refers to Anatoli as his uncle, which makes it likely that Samuel married Anatoli's sister, while Anatoli afterward married Samuel's daughter. Owing to this intimate connection with the ibn Tibbons, Anatoli was introduced to the philosophy of Maimonides, the study of which was such a great revelation to him that he, in later days, referred to it as the beginning of his intelligent and true comprehension of the Scriptures, while he frequently alluded to Ibn Tibbon as one of the two masters who had instructed and inspired him. His esteem for Maimonides knew no bounds: he placed him next to the Prophets, and he exhibited little patience with Maimonides' critics and detractors.
He accordingly interprets the Bible and the Haggadah in a truly Maimonistic spirit, rationalizing the miracles and investing every possible passage in the ancient literature with philosophic and allegoric significance. As an allegorist who could read into the ancient documents the particular philosophical idiosyncrasies of his day, Anatoli deserves a place beside other allegoric and philosophical commentators, from Philo down; indeed, he may be regarded as a pioneer in the application of the Maimonistic manner to purposes of popular instruction. This work he began while still in his native land, on occasions of private and public festivities, such as weddings and other assemblies. Afterward he delivered Sabbath-afternoon sermons, in which he advocated the allegoric and philosophic method of Scriptural exegesis. This evoked the opposition of the anti-Maimonists, whose number was large in southern France; and probably Anatoli's departure for Sicily was hastened by the antagonism he encountered. But even at Naples Anatoli's views aroused the opposition of his Orthodox coreligionists. This treatment, together with several other unpleasant experiences at the royal court, seems to have caused him to entertain thoughts of suicide. He soon, however, recovered and wrote, for the benefit of his two sons, his "Malmad ha-Talmidim", a name which, involving a play on words, was intended to be both a "Teacher of the Disciples" and a "Goad to the Students".
The "Malmad", which was completed when its author was fifty-five years old, but was first published by the Meḳiẓe Nirdamim Society at Lyck in the year 1866, is really nothing but a volume of sermons, by which the author intended to stimulate study and to dispel intellectual blindness. As a curious specimen of his method, it may be mentioned that he regards the three stories of Noah's ark as symbolic of the three sciences mathematics, physics, and metaphysics. As such, the work is of some importance in the history of Jewish culture. Anatoli's ethical admonitions and spiritual meditations have value as portraying both the circumstances of the age and the character of the reforms he aimed at.
Anatoli is quite plain-spoken in the manner in which he states and defends his views, as well as in his criticisms of contemporary failings. For instance, he does not hesitate to reproach the rabbis of his day for their general neglect not only of the thorough study, but even of the obligatory perusal, of the Bible, charging them with a preference for Talmudic dialectics. He, likewise, deplores the contemporary degeneracy in the home life and the religious practises of his people, a circumstance which he thinks due largely to the imitation of surrounding manners. Scientific investigation he insists upon as an absolute necessity for the true comprehension of religion, despite the fact that his contemporaries regarded all the hours which he was accustomed to spend with his father-in-law, Samuel ibn Tibbon, in mathematical and philosophic study as mere waste of time.
The "Malmad" is divided into brief chapters, according to the weekly Scriptural portions. In it Anatoli manifests a wide acquaintance not only with the classic Jewish exegetes, but also with Plato, Aristotle, Averroes, and the Vulgate, as well as with a large number of Christian institutions, some of which he ventures to criticize, such as celibacy and monastic castigation, as well as certain heretics (compare 15a, 98a, 115a); and he repeatedly appeals to his readers for a broader cultivation of the classic languages and the profane branches of learning. He indignantly repudiates the fanatical view of some coreligionists that all non-Jews have no souls —a belief reciprocated by the Gentiles of the time. To Anatoli all men are, in truth, formed in the image of God, though the Jews stand under a particular obligation to further the true cognition of God simply by reason of their election—"the Greeks had chosen wisdom as their pursuit; the Romans, power; and the Jews, religiousness" (l.c. 103b). If, however, a non-Jew devotes himself to serious search after divine truth, his merit is so much the more significant; and whatever suggestion he may have to offer, no Jew dares refuse with levity.
An example of such intellectual catholicity was set by Anatoli himself; for, in the course of his "Malmad," he not only cites incidentally allegoric suggestions made to him by Frederick II., but several times—Güdemann has counted seventeen—he offers the exegetic remarks of a certain Christian savant of whose association he speaks most reverently, and whom, furthermore, he names as his second master besides Samuel ibn Tibbon. This Christian savant was identified by Senior Sachs as Michael Scot, who, like Anatoli, devoted himself to scientific work at the court of Frederick. Graetz even goes to the length of regarding Anatoli as identical with the Jew Andreas, who, according to Roger Bacon, assisted Michael Scot in his philosophic translations from the Arabic, seeing that Andreas might be a corruption of Anatoli. But Steinschneider will not admit the possibility of this conjecture, while Renan scarcely strengthens it by regarding "Andreas" as a possible northern corruption of "En Duran," which, he says, may have been the Provençal surname of Anatoli, since Anatoli, in reality, was but the name of his great-grandfather.
Anatoli's example of broad-minded study of Christian literature and intercourse with Christian scholars found many followers, as, for example, Moses ben Solomon of Salerno; and his work was an important factor in bringing the Jews of Italy into close contact with their Christian fellow students.
The "Malmad," owing to its deep ethical vein, became, despite its Maimonistic heresies, a very popular book. It is rather as a translator that Anatoli deserves a distinguished place in the scientific realm; for it is he and Michael Scot who together, under the influence of Frederick II, opened to the western world the treasure-house of Arabic learning. Anatoli, in fact, was the first man to translate the commentaries of Averroes into Hebrew, thus opening a new era in the history of Aristotelian philosophy. Prior to translating Averroes' commentaries, Anatoli had occupied himself with the translation of astronomical treatises by the same writer and others; but at the instance of friends he turned his attention to logic and the speculative works, realizing and recommending the importance of logic, in particular, in view of the contemporary religious controversies. Thenceforth, his program was twofold, as he devoted himself to his work in astronomy in the mornings, and to logic in the evenings.
His principal translation embraced the first five books of Averroes' "intermediate" commentary on Aristotle's "Logic", consisting of the Introduction of Porphyry and the four books of Aristotle on the Categories, Interpretation, Syllogism, and Demonstration. Anatoli probably commenced his work on the commentary while in Provence, though he must have finished the fifth book at Naples about 1231 or 1232. The conclusion of the commentary was never reached. Upon the ending of the first division he desired to go over the ground again, to acquire greater proficiency, and, for some reason unknown, he never resumed his task, which was completed by another after a lapse of eighty years.
Besides this, Anatoli translated, between the years 1231 and 1235, the following works: (1) The "Almagest of Ptolemy", from the Arabic, though probably the Greek or Latin title of this treatise was also familiar to him. Its Hebrew title is "Ḥibbur ha-Gadol ha-Niḳra al-Magesti" ("The Great Composition Called Almagest"). (2) A "Compendium of Astronomy", by Averroes, a book which was unknown to the Christians of the Middle Ages, and of which neither a manuscript of the original nor a Latin translation has come down. Its Hebrew title is "Ḳiẓẓur al-Magesti" ("Compendium of the Almagest"). (3) "The Elements of Astronomy", by Al-Fargani (Alfraganus); possibly translated from a Latin version. It was afterward rendered into Latin by Jacob Christmann (Frankfort, 1590) under the title of "Elementa Astronomica", which, in its turn, may have given rise to the Hebrew title of the treatise "Yesodot ha-Teḳunah", which is undoubtedly recent. (4) A treatise on the Syllogism, by Al-Farabi, from the Arabic. Its Hebrew title is "Sefer Heḳesh Ḳaẓar" ("A Brief Treatise on the Syllogism").
Graetz also suggests the possibility that Anatoli, in conjunction with Michael Scot, may have translated Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed" into Latin; but this suggestion has not yet been sufficiently proved (compare Steinschneider, "Hebr. Uebers." i. 433). Similarly, the anonymous commentary on the "Guide", called "Ruaḥ Ḥen", though sometimes attributed to Anatoli, can not definitely be established as his. Still, it is on an allusion in this work that Zunz, followed by Steinschneider, partly bases the hypothesis of Marseille having been Anatoli's original home (compare Zunz, "Zur Gesch." p. 482; Renan-Neubauer, "Les Rabbins Français," p. 588; Steinschneider, "Cat. Bodl." col. 1180, and "Hebr. Bibl." xvii. 124). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15999 |
Joseph Weizenbaum
Joseph Weizenbaum (8 January 1923 – 5 March 2008) was a German American computer scientist and a professor at MIT. The Weizenbaum Award is named after him. He is considered one of the fathers of modern artificial intelligence.
Born in Berlin, Germany to Jewish parents, he escaped Nazi Germany in January 1936, emigrating with his family to the United States. He started studying mathematics in 1941 at Wayne State University, in Detroit, Michigan. In 1942, he interrupted his studies to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a meteorologist, having been turned down for cryptology work because of his "enemy alien" status. After the war, in 1946, he returned to Wayne State, obtaining his B.S. in Mathematics in 1948, and his M.S. in 1950.
Around 1952, as a research assistant at Wayne, Weizenbaum worked on analog computers and helped create a digital computer. In 1956 he worked for General Electric on ERMA, a computer system that introduced the use of the magnetically encoded fonts imprinted on the bottom border of checks, allowing automated check processing via Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR).
In 1964 he took a position at MIT.
In 1966, he published a comparatively simple program called ELIZA, named after the ingenue in George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion", which performed natural language processing. Driven by a script named DOCTOR, it was capable of engaging humans in a conversation which bore a striking resemblance to one with an empathic psychologist. Weizenbaum modeled its conversational style after Carl Rogers, who introduced the use of open-ended questions to encourage patients to communicate more effectively with therapists. The program applied pattern matching rules to statements to figure out its replies. (Programs like this are now called chatbots.) It is considered the forerunner of thinking machines. Weizenbaum was shocked that his program was taken seriously by many users, who would open their hearts to it. Famously, when observing his secretary using the software - who was aware that it was a simulation - she asked Weizenbaum: "would you mind leaving the room please?".
He started to think philosophically about the implications of artificial intelligence and later became one of its leading critics. In an interview with MIT's "The Tech", Weizenbaum elaborated on his fears, expanding them beyond the realm of mere artificial intelligence, explaining that his fears for society and the future of society were largely because of the computer itself. His belief was that the computer, at its most base level, is a fundamentally conservative force and that despite being a technological innovation, it would end up hindering social progress. Weizenbaum used his experience working with Bank of America as justification for his reasoning, saying that the computer allowed banks to deal with an ever-expanding number of checks in play that otherwise would have forced drastic changes to banking organization such as decentralization. As such, although the computer allowed the industry to become more efficient, it prevented a fundamental re-haul of the system.
Despite working so closely with computers for many years, Weizenbaum frequently worried about the negative effects they would have on the world, particularly with regards to the military, calling the computer "a child of the military." When asked about the belief that a computer science professional would more often than not end up working with defense, Weizenbaum detailed his position on rhetoric, specifically euphemism, with regards to its effect on societal viewpoints. He believed that the terms "the military" and "defense" did not accurately represent the organizations and their actions. He made it clear that he did not think of himself as a pacifist, believing that there are certainly times where arms are necessary, but by referring to defense as killings and bombings, humanity as a whole would be less inclined to embrace violent reactions so quickly.
His influential 1976 book "Computer Power and Human Reason" displays his ambivalence towards computer technology and lays out his case: while Artificial Intelligence may be possible, we should never allow computers to make important decisions because computers will always lack human qualities such as compassion and wisdom. Weizenbaum makes the crucial distinction between deciding and choosing. Deciding is a computational activity, something that can ultimately be programmed. Choice, however, is the product of judgment, not calculation. It is the capacity to choose that ultimately makes us human. Comprehensive human judgment is able to include non-mathematical factors, such as emotions. Judgment can compare apples and oranges, and can do so without quantifying each fruit type and then reductively quantifying each to factors necessary for comparison.
Weizenbaum was the creator of the SLIP programming language.
In 1996, Weizenbaum moved to Berlin and lived in the vicinity of his childhood neighborhood.
A German documentary film on Weizenbaum, "Weizenbaum. Rebel at Work.", was released in 2007 and later dubbed in English. The documentary film Plug & Pray on Weizenbaum and the ethics of artificial intelligence was released in 2010.
Until his death he was Chairman of the Scientific Council at the Institute of Electronic Business in Berlin. In addition to working at MIT, Weizenbaum held academic appointments at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Bremen, and other universities.
Weizenbaum was buried at the Weißensee Jewish cemetery in Berlin. A memorial service was held in Berlin on 18 March 2008. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16003 |
Jerome
Jerome (; ; ; c. 347 – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon was a Latin priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome.
Jerome was born at Stridon, a village near Emona on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia. He is best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin (the translation that became known as the Vulgate), and his commentaries on the Gospels. His list of writings is extensive.
The protégé of Pope Damasus I, who died in December of 384, Jerome was known for his teachings on Christian moral life, especially to those living in cosmopolitan centers such as Rome. In many cases, he focused his attention on the lives of women and identified how a woman devoted to Jesus should live her life. This focus stemmed from his close patron relationships with several prominent female ascetics who were members of affluent senatorial families.
Jerome is recognised as a saint and Doctor of the Church by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Anglican Communion. His feast day is 30 September.
Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus was born at Stridon around 347 AD. He was of Illyrian ancestry, although whether he was able to speak the Illyrian languages is a subject of controversy. He was not baptized until about 360–366 in Rome, where he had gone with his friend Bonosus of Sardica to pursue rhetorical and philosophical studies. (This Bosonus may or may not have been the same Bonosus whom Jerome identifies as his friend who went to live as a hermit on an island in the Adriatic.) Jerome studied under the grammarian Aelius Donatus. There he learned Latin and at least some Greek, though he probably did not yet acquire the familiarity with Greek literature that he later claimed to have acquired as a schoolboy.
As a student, Jerome engaged in the superficial escapades and sexual experimentation of students in Rome; he indulged himself quite casually but he suffered terrible bouts of guilt afterwards. To appease his conscience, on Sundays he visited the sepulchres of the martyrs and the Apostles in the catacombs. This experience reminded him of the terrors of hell:
Jerome used a quotation from Virgil—"On all sides round horror spread wide; the very silence breathed a terror on my soul"—to describe the horror of hell. He initially used classical authors to describe Christian concepts such as hell that indicated both his classical education and his deep shame of their associated practices, such as the pederasty then found in Rome.
Although initially skeptical of Christianity, he eventually converted. After several years in Rome, he travelled with Bonosus to Gaul and settled in Trier where he seems to have first taken up theological studies, and where, for his friend Tyrannius Rufinus, he copied Hilary of Poitiers' commentary on the "Psalms" and the treatise "De synodis". Next came a stay of at least several months, or possibly years, with Rufinus at Aquileia, where he made many Christian friends.
Some of these accompanied Jerome when about 373, he set out on a journey through Thrace and Asia Minor into northern Syria. At Antioch, where he stayed the longest, two of his companions died and he himself was seriously ill more than once. During one of these illnesses (about the winter of 373–374), he had a vision that led him to lay aside his secular studies and devote himself to God. He seems to have abstained for a considerable time from the study of the classics and to have plunged deeply into that of the Bible, under the impulse of Apollinaris of Laodicea, then teaching in Antioch and not yet suspected of heresy.
Seized with a desire for a life of ascetic penance, Jerome went for a time to the desert of Chalcis, to the southeast of Antioch, known as the "Syrian Thebaid", from the number of eremites inhabiting it. During this period, he seems to have found time for studying and writing. He made his first attempt to learn Hebrew under the guidance of a converted Jew; and he seems to have been in correspondence with Jewish Christians in Antioch. Around this time he had copied for him a Hebrew Gospel, of which fragments are preserved in his notes, and is known today as the Gospel of the Hebrews, and which the Nazarenes considered to be the true Gospel of Matthew. Jerome translated parts of this Hebrew Gospel into Greek.
Returning to Antioch in 378 or 379, Jerome was ordained there by Bishop Paulinus, apparently unwillingly and on condition that he continue his ascetic life. Soon afterward, he went to Constantinople to pursue a study of Scripture under Gregory Nazianzen. He seems to have spent two years there, then left, and the next three (382–385) he was in Rome again, as secretary to Pope Damasus I and the leading Roman Christians. Invited originally for the synod of 382, held to end the schism of Antioch as there were rival claimants to be the proper patriarch in Antioch. Jerome had accompanied one of the claimants, Paulinus, back to Rome to get more support for him, and distinguishing himself to the pope, took a prominent place in his papal councils.
Jerome was given duties in Rome, and he undertook a revision of the Latin Bible, to be based on the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. He also updated the Psalter containing the Book of Psalms then in use in Rome, based on the Septuagint. Though he did not realize it yet, translating much of what became the Latin Vulgate Bible would take many years and be his most important achievement (see Writings – Translations section below).
In Rome Jerome was surrounded by a circle of well-born and well-educated women, including some from the noblest patrician families, such as the widows Lea, Marcella and Paula, with Paula's daughters Blaesilla and Eustochium. The resulting inclination of these women towards the monastic life, away from the indulgent lasciviousness in Rome, and his unsparing criticism of the secular clergy of Rome, brought a growing hostility against him among the Roman clergy and their supporters. Soon after the death of his patron Pope Damasus I on 10 December 384, Jerome was forced to leave his position at Rome after an inquiry was brought up by the Roman clergy into allegations that he had an improper relationship with the widow Paula. Still, his writings were highly regarded by women who were attempting to maintain a vow of becoming a consecrated virgin. His letters were widely read and distributed throughout the Christian empire and it is clear through his writing that he knew these virgin women were not his only audience.
Additionally, Jerome's condemnation of Blaesilla's hedonistic lifestyle in Rome had led her to adopt ascetic practices, but it affected her health and worsened her physical weakness to the point that she died just four months after starting to follow his instructions; much of the Roman populace were outraged at Jerome for causing the premature death of such a lively young woman, and his insistence to Paula that Blaesilla should not be mourned, and complaints that her grief was excessive, were seen as heartless, polarising Roman opinion against him.
In August 385, Jerome left Rome for good and returned to Antioch, accompanied by his brother Paulinian and several friends, and followed a little later by Paula and Eustochium, who had resolved to end their days in the Holy Land. In the winter of 385, Jerome acted as their spiritual adviser. The pilgrims, joined by Bishop Paulinus of Antioch, visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the holy places of Galilee, and then went to Egypt, the home of the great heroes of the ascetic life.
At the Catechetical School of Alexandria, Jerome listened to the catechist Didymus the Blind expounding the prophet Hosea and telling his reminiscences of Anthony the Great, who had died 30 years before; he spent some time in Nitria, admiring the disciplined community life of the numerous inhabitants of that "city of the Lord", but detecting even there "concealed serpents", i.e., the influence of Origen of Alexandria. Late in the summer of 388 he was back in Palestine, and spent the remainder of his life working in a cave near Bethlehem, the very cave where Jesus was born, surrounded by a few friends, both men and women (including Paula and Eustochium), to whom he acted as priestly guide and teacher.
Amply provided for by Paula with the means of livelihood and for increasing his collection of books, Jerome led a life of incessant activity in literary production. To these last 34 years of his career belong the most important of his works; his version of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew text, the best of his scriptural commentaries, his catalogue of Christian authors, and the dialogue against the Pelagians, the literary perfection of which even an opponent recognized. To this period also belong most of his polemics, which distinguished him among the orthodox Fathers, including the treatises against the Origenism later declared anathema, of Bishop John II of Jerusalem and his early friend Rufinus. Later, as a result of his writings against Pelagianism, a body of excited partisans broke into the monastic buildings, set them on fire, attacked the inmates and killed a deacon, forcing Jerome to seek safety in a neighboring fortress in 416.
It is recorded that Jerome died near Bethlehem on 30 September 420. The date of his death is given by the "Chronicon" of Prosper of Aquitaine. His remains, originally buried at Bethlehem, are said to have been later transferred to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, though other places in the West claim some relics, the cathedral at Nepi boasting possession of his head, which, according to another tradition, is in the Escorial.
Jerome was a scholar at a time when that statement implied a fluency in Greek. He knew some Hebrew when he started his translation project, but moved to Jerusalem to strengthen his grip on Jewish scripture commentary. A wealthy Roman aristocrat, Paula, funded his stay in a monastery in Bethlehem and he completed his translation there. He began in 382 by correcting the existing Latin-language version of the New Testament, commonly referred to as the Vetus Latina. By 390 he turned to translating the Hebrew Bible from the original Hebrew, having previously translated portions from the Septuagint which came from Alexandria. He believed that the mainstream Rabbinical Judaism had rejected the Septuagint as invalid Jewish scriptural texts because of what were ascertained as mistranslations along with its Hellenistic heretical elements. He completed this work by 405. Prior to Jerome's Vulgate, all Latin translations of the Old Testament were based on the Septuagint, not the Hebrew. Jerome's decision to use a Hebrew text instead of the previous translated Septuagint went against the advice of most other Christians, including Augustine, who thought the Septuagint inspired. Modern scholarship, however, has sometimes cast doubts on the actual quality of Jerome's Hebrew knowledge. Many modern scholars believe that the Greek Hexapla is the main source for Jerome's "iuxta Hebraeos" (i.e. "close to the Hebrews", "immediately following the Hebrews") translation of the Old Testament. However, detailed studies have shown that to a considerable degree Jerome was a competent Hebraist.
For the next 15 years, until he died, Jerome produced a number of commentaries on Scripture, often explaining his translation choices in using the original Hebrew rather than suspect translations. His patristic commentaries align closely with Jewish tradition, and he indulges in allegorical and mystical subtleties after the manner of Philo and the Alexandrian school. Unlike his contemporaries, he emphasizes the difference between the Hebrew Bible "apocrypha" and the "Hebraica veritas" of the protocanonical books. In his Vulgate's prologues, he describes some portions of books in the Septuagint that were not found in the Hebrew as being non-canonical (he called them "apocrypha"); for "Baruch", he mentions by name in his "Prologue to Jeremiah" and notes that it is neither read nor held among the Hebrews, but does not explicitly call it apocryphal or "not in the canon". His "Preface to The Books of Samuel and Kings" includes the following statement, commonly called the "Helmeted Preface":
This preface to the Scriptures may serve as a "helmeted" introduction to all the books which we turn from Hebrew into Latin, so that we may be assured that what is not found in our list must be placed amongst the Apocryphal writings. Wisdom, therefore, which generally bears the name of Solomon, and the book of Jesus, the Son of Sirach, and Judith, and Tobias, and the Shepherd are not in the canon. The first book of Maccabees I have found to be Hebrew, the second is Greek, as can be proved from the very style.
Although Jerome was once suspicious of the apocrypha, it is said that he later viewed them as Scripture. For example, in Jerome's letter to Eustochium he quotes Sirach 13:2, elsewhere Jerome also refers to Baruch, the Story of Susannah and Wisdom as scripture.
Jerome's commentaries fall into three groups:
Jerome is also known as a historian. One of his earliest historical works was his "Chronicon", composed c. 380 in Constantinople; this is a translation into Latin of the chronological tables which compose the second part of the "Chronicon" of Eusebius, with a supplement covering the period from 325 to 379. Despite numerous errors taken over from Eusebius, and some of his own, Jerome produced a valuable work, if only for the impulse which it gave to such later chroniclers as Prosper, Cassiodorus, and Victor of Tunnuna to continue his annals.
Of considerable importance as well is the "De viris illustribus", which was written at Bethlehem in 392, the title and arrangement of which are borrowed from Suetonius. It contains short biographical and literary notes on 135 Christian authors, from Saint Peter down to Jerome himself. For the first seventy-eight authors Eusebius ("Historia ecclesiastica") is the main source; in the second section, beginning with Arnobius and Lactantius, he includes a good deal of independent information, especially as to western writers.
Four works of a hagiographic nature are:
The so-called "Martyrologium Hieronymianum" is spurious; it was apparently composed by a western monk toward the end of the 6th or beginning of the 7th century, with reference to an expression of Jerome's in the opening chapter of the "Vita Malchi," where he speaks of intending to write a history of the saints and martyrs from the apostolic times.
The following passage, taken from Saint Jerome's "Life of St. Hilarion", which was written about A.D. 392, appears to be the earliest account of the etiology, symptoms and cure of severe vitamin A deficiency:
Jerome's letters or epistles, both by the great variety of their subjects and by their qualities of style, form an important portion of his literary remains. Whether he is discussing problems of scholarship, or reasoning on cases of conscience, comforting the afflicted, or saying pleasant things to his friends, scourging the vices and corruptions of the time and against sexual immorality among the clergy, exhorting to the ascetic life and renunciation of the world, or breaking a lance with his theological opponents, he gives a vivid picture not only of his own mind, but of the age and its peculiar characteristics. Because there was no distinct line between personal documents and those meant for publication, we frequently find in his letters both confidential messages and treatises meant for others besides the one to whom he was writing.
Due to the time he spent in Rome among wealthy families belonging to the Roman upper-class, Jerome was frequently commissioned by women who had taken a vow of virginity to write them in guidance of how to live their life. As a result, he spent a great deal of his life corresponding with these women about certain abstentions and lifestyle practices. These included the clothing she should wear, the interactions she should undertake and how to go about conducting herself during such interactions, and what and how she ate and drank.
The letters most frequently reprinted or referred to are of a hortatory nature, such as "Ep. 14", "Ad Heliodorum de laude vitae solitariae"; "Ep. 22", "Ad Eustochium de custodia virginitatis"; "Ep. 52", "Ad Nepotianum de vita clericorum et monachorum," a sort of epitome of pastoral theology from the ascetic standpoint; "Ep. 53", "Ad Paulinum de studio scripturarum"; "Ep. 57", to the same, "De institutione monachi"; "Ep. 70", "Ad Magnum de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis"; and "Ep. 107", "Ad Laetam de institutione filiae".
Practically all of Jerome's productions in the field of dogma have a more or less vehemently polemical character, and are directed against assailants of the orthodox doctrines. Even the translation of the treatise of Didymus the Blind on the Holy Spirit into Latin (begun in Rome 384, completed at Bethlehem) shows an apologetic tendency against the Arians and Pneumatomachoi. The same is true of his version of Origen's "De principiis" (c. 399), intended to supersede the inaccurate translation by Rufinus. The more strictly polemical writings cover every period of his life. During the sojourns at Antioch and Constantinople he was mainly occupied with the Arian controversy, and especially with the schisms centering around Meletius of Antioch and Lucifer Calaritanus. Two letters to Pope Damasus (15 and 16) complain of the conduct of both parties at Antioch, the Meletians and Paulinians, who had tried to draw him into their controversy over the application of the terms "ousia" and "hypostasis" to the Trinity. At the same time or a little later (379) he composed his "Liber Contra Luciferianos", in which he cleverly uses the dialogue form to combat the tenets of that faction, particularly their rejection of baptism by heretics.
In Rome (c. 383) Jerome wrote a passionate counterblast against the teaching of Helvidius, in defense of the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary and of the superiority of the single over the married state. An opponent of a somewhat similar nature was Jovinianus, with whom he came into conflict in 392 ("Adversus Jovinianum", Against Jovinianus) and the defense of this work addressed to his friend Pammachius, numbered 48 in the letters. Once more he defended the ordinary practices of piety and his own ascetic ethics in 406 against the Gallic presbyter Vigilantius, who opposed the "cultus" of martyrs and relics, the vow of poverty, and clerical celibacy. Meanwhile, the controversy with John II of Jerusalem and Rufinus concerning the orthodoxy of Origen occurred. To this period belong some of his most passionate and most comprehensive polemical works: the "Contra Joannem Hierosolymitanum" (398 or 399); the two closely connected "Apologiae contra Rufinum" (402); and the "last word" written a few months later, the "Liber tertius seuten ultima responsio adversus scripta Rufini." The last of his polemical works is the skilfully composed "Dialogus contra Pelagianos" (415).
Jerome warned that those substituting false interpretations for the actual meaning of Scripture belonged to the "synagogue of the Antichrist". "He that is not of Christ is of Antichrist," he wrote to Pope Damasus I. He believed that "the mystery of iniquity" written about by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 was already in action when "every one chatters about his views." To Jerome, the power restraining this mystery of iniquity was the Roman Empire, but as it fell this restraining force was removed. He warned a noble woman of Gaul:
"He that letteth is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ "shall consume with the spirit of his mouth." "Woe unto them," he cries, "that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days."... Savage tribes in countless numbers have overrun run all parts of Gaul. The whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Rhine and the Ocean, has been laid waste by hordes of Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Herules, Saxons, Burgundians, Allemanni, and—alas! for the commonweal!—even Pannonians.
His "Commentary on Daniel" was expressly written to offset the criticisms of Porphyry, who taught that Daniel related entirely to the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and was written by an unknown individual living in the second century BC. Against Porphyry, Jerome identified Rome as the fourth kingdom of chapters two and seven, but his view of chapters eight and 11 was more complex. Jerome held that chapter eight describes the activity of Antiochus Epiphanes, who is understood as a "type" of a future antichrist; 11:24 onwards applies primarily to a future antichrist but was partially fulfilled by Antiochus. Instead, he advocated that the "little horn" was the Antichrist:
We should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the Christian Church, that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall be ten kings who will partition the Roman world amongst themselves. Then an insignificant eleventh king will arise, who will overcome three of the ten kings... after they have been slain, the seven other kings also will bow their necks to the victor.
In his Commentary on Daniel, he noted, "Let us not follow the opinion of some commentators and suppose him to be either the Devil or some demon, but rather, one of the human race, in whom Satan will wholly take up his residence in bodily form." Instead of rebuilding the Jewish Temple to reign from, Jerome thought the Antichrist sat in God's Temple inasmuch as he made "himself out to be like God."
Jerome identified the four prophetic kingdoms symbolized in Daniel 2 as the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the Medes and Persians, Macedon, and Rome. Jerome identified the stone cut out without hands as "namely, the Lord and Savior".
Jerome refuted Porphyry's application of the little horn of chapter seven to Antiochus. He expected that at the end of the world, Rome would be destroyed, and partitioned among ten kingdoms before the little horn appeared.
Jerome believed that Cyrus of Persia is the higher of the two horns of the Medo-Persian ram of Daniel 8:3. The he-goat is Greece smiting Persia. Alexander is the great horn, which is then succeeded by Alexander's half brother Philip and three of his generals.
Jerome is the second most voluminous writer (after Augustine of Hippo) in ancient Latin Christianity. In the Catholic Church, he is recognized as the patron saint of translators, librarians and encyclopedists.
Jerome acquired a knowledge of Hebrew by studying with a Jew who converted to Christianity, and took the unusual position (for that time) that the Hebrew, and not the Septuagint, was the inspired text of the Old Testament. The traditional view is that he used this knowledge to translate what became known as the Vulgate, and his translation was slowly but eventually accepted in the Catholic Church. The later resurgence of Hebrew studies within Christianity owes much to him.
Jerome showed more zeal and interest in the ascetic ideal than in abstract speculation. It was this strict asceticism that made Martin Luther judge him so severely. In fact, Protestant readers are not generally inclined to accept his writings as authoritative. The tendency to recognize a superior comes out in his correspondence with Augustine (cf. Jerome's letters numbered 56, 67, 102–105, 110–112, 115–116; and 28, 39, 40, 67–68, 71–75, 81–82 in Augustine's).
Despite the criticisms already mentioned, Jerome has retained a rank among the western Fathers. This would be his due, if for nothing else, on account of the great influence exercised by his Latin version of the Bible upon the subsequent ecclesiastical and theological development.
In art, Jerome is often represented as one of the four Latin doctors of the Church along with Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose, and Pope Gregory I. As a prominent member of the Roman clergy, he has often been portrayed anachronistically in the garb of a cardinal. Even when he is depicted as a half-clad anchorite, with cross, skull and Bible for the only furniture of his cell, the red hat or some other indication of his rank as cardinal is as a rule introduced somewhere in the picture.
During Jerome's life, cardinals did not exist. However, by the time of the Renaissance and the Baroque it was common practice for a secretary to the pope to be a cardinal (as Jerome had effectively been to Damasus), and so this was reflected in artistic interpretations.
Jerome is also often depicted with a lion, in reference to the popular hagiographical belief that Jerome had tamed a lion in the wilderness by healing its paw. The source for the story may actually have been the second century Roman tale of Androcles, or confusion with the exploits of Saint Gerasimus (Jerome in later Latin is "Geronimus"). Hagiographies of Jerome talk of his having spent many years in the Syrian desert, and artists often depict him in a "wilderness", which for West European painters can take the form of a wood.
From the late Middle Ages, depictions of Jerome in a wider setting became popular. He is either shown in his study, surrounded by books and the equipment of a scholar, or in a rocky desert, or in a setting that combines both themes, with him studying a book under the shelter of a rock-face or cave mouth. His attribute of the lion, often shown at a smaller scale, may be beside him in either setting.
Jerome is often depicted in connection with the "vanitas" motif, the reflection on the meaninglessness of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. In the 16th century by Pieter Coecke van Aelst and workshop the saint is depicted with a skull. Behind him on the wall is pinned an admonition, "Cogita Mori" ("Think upon death"). Further reminders of the vanitas motif of the passage of time and the imminence of death are the image of the Last Judgment visible in the saint's Bible, the candle and the hourglass.
Jerome is also sometimes depicted with an owl, the symbol of wisdom and scholarship. Writing materials and the trumpet of final judgment are also part of his iconography. He is commemorated on 30 September with a memorial. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16005 |
JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality. Since its introduction in 1992, JPEG has been the most widely used image compression standard in the world, and the most widely used digital image format, with several billion JPEG images produced every day as of 2015.
The term "JPEG" is an initialism/acronym for the Joint Photographic Experts Group, which created the standard in 1992. The basis for JPEG is the discrete cosine transform (DCT), a lossy image compression technique that was first proposed by Nasir Ahmed in 1972. JPEG was largely responsible for the proliferation of digital images and digital photos across the Internet, and later social media.
JPEG compression is used in a number of image file formats. JPEG/Exif is the most common image format used by digital cameras and other photographic image capture devices; along with JPEG/JFIF, it is the most common format for storing and transmitting photographic images on the World Wide Web. These format variations are often not distinguished, and are simply called JPEG.
The MIME media type for JPEG is "image/jpeg", except in older Internet Explorer versions, which provides a MIME type of "image/pjpeg" when uploading JPEG images. JPEG files usually have a filename extension of or . JPEG/JFIF supports a maximum image size of 65,535×65,535 pixels, hence up to 4 gigapixels for an aspect ratio of 1:1. In 2000, the JPEG group introduced a format intended to be a successor, JPEG 2000, but it was unable to replace the original JPEG as the dominant image standard.
The original JPEG specification published in 1992 implements processes from various earlier research papers and patents cited by the CCITT (now ITU-T) and Joint Photographic Experts Group. The main basis for JPEG's lossy compression algorithm is the discrete cosine transform (DCT), which was first proposed by Nasir Ahmed as an image compression technique in 1972. Ahmed developed a practical DCT algorithm with T. Natarajan of Kansas State University and K. R. Rao of the University of Texas in 1973. Their seminal 1974 paper is cited in the JPEG specification, along with several later research papers that did further work on DCT, including a 1977 paper by Wen-Hsiung Chen, C.H. Smith and S.C. Fralick that described a fast DCT algorithm, as well as a 1978 paper by N.J. Narasinha and S.C. Fralick, and a 1984 paper by B.G. Lee. The specification also cites a 1984 paper by Wen-Hsiung Chen and W.K. Pratt as an influence on its quantization algorithm, and David A. Huffman's 1952 paper for its Huffman coding algorithm.
The JPEG specification cites patents from several companies. The following patents provided the basis for its arithmetic coding algorithm.
The JPEG specification also cites three other patents from IBM. Other companies cited as patent holders include AT&T (two patents) and Canon Inc. Absent from the list is , filed by Compression Labs' Wen-Hsiung Chen and Daniel J. Klenke in October 1986. The patent describes a DCT-based image compression algorithm, and would later be a cause of controversy in 2002 (see "Patent controversy" below). However, the JPEG specification did cite two earlier research papers by Wen-Hsiung Chen, published in 1977 and 1984.
"JPEG" stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the name of the committee that created the JPEG standard and also other still picture coding standards. The "Joint" stood for ISO TC97 WG8 and CCITT SGVIII. Founded in 1986, the group developed the JPEG standard during the late 1980s. Among several transform coding techniques they examined, they selected the discrete cosine transform (DCT), as it was by far the most efficient practical compression technique. The group published the JPEG standard in 1992.
In 1987, ISO TC 97 became ISO/IEC JTC1 and, in 1992, CCITT became ITU-T. Currently on the JTC1 side, JPEG is one of two sub-groups of ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1, Subcommittee 29, Working Group 1 (ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 1) – titled as "Coding of still pictures". On the ITU-T side, ITU-T SG16 is the respective body. The original JPEG Group was organized in 1986, issuing the first JPEG standard in 1992, which was approved in September 1992 as ITU-T Recommendation T.81 and, in 1994, as ISO/IEC 10918-1.
The JPEG standard specifies the codec, which defines how an image is compressed into a stream of bytes and decompressed back into an image, but not the file format used to contain that stream.
The Exif and JFIF standards define the commonly used file formats for interchange of JPEG-compressed images.
JPEG standards are formally named as "Information technology – Digital compression and coding of continuous-tone still images". ISO/IEC 10918 consists of the following parts:
Ecma International TR/98 specifies the JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF); the first edition was published in June 2009.
In 2002, Forgent Networks asserted that it owned and would enforce patent rights on the JPEG technology, arising from a patent that had been filed on October 27, 1986, and granted on October 6, 1987: by Compression Labs' Wen-Hsiung Chen and Daniel J. Klenke. While Forgent did not own Compression Labs at the time, Chen later sold Compression Labs to Forgent, before Chen went on to work for Cisco. This led to Forgent acquiring ownership over the patent. Forgent's 2002 announcement created a furor reminiscent of Unisys' attempts to assert its rights over the GIF image compression standard.
The JPEG committee investigated the patent claims in 2002 and were of the opinion that they were invalidated by prior art, a view shared by various experts. The patent describes an image compression algorithm based on the discrete cosine transform (DCT), a lossy image compression technique that originated from a 1974 paper by Nasir Ahmed, T. Natarajan and K. R. Rao. Wen-Hsiung Chen further developed their DCT technique, describing a fast DCT algorithm in a 1977 paper with C.H. Smith and S.C. Fralick. The 1992 JPEG specification cites both the 1974 Ahmed paper and the 1977 Chen paper for its DCT algorithm, as well as a 1984 paper by Chen and W.K. Pratt for its quantization algorithm. Compression Labs was founded by Chen, and was the first company to commercialize DCT technology. By the time Chen had filed his patent for a DCT-based image compression algorithm with Klenke in 1986, most of what would later become the JPEG standard had already been formulated in prior literature. JPEG representative Richard Clark also claimed that Chen himself sat in one of the JPEG committees, but Forgent denied this claim.
Between 2002 and 2004, Forgent was able to obtain about US$105 million by licensing their patent to some 30 companies. In April 2004, Forgent sued 31 other companies to enforce further license payments. In July of the same year, a consortium of 21 large computer companies filed a countersuit, with the goal of invalidating the patent. In addition, Microsoft launched a separate lawsuit against Forgent in April 2005. In February 2006, the United States Patent and Trademark Office agreed to re-examine Forgent's JPEG patent at the request of the Public Patent Foundation. On May 26, 2006 the USPTO found the patent invalid based on prior art. The USPTO also found that Forgent knew about the prior art, yet it intentionally avoided telling the Patent Office. This makes any appeal to reinstate the patent highly unlikely to succeed.
Forgent also possesses a similar patent granted by the European Patent Office in 1994, though it is unclear how enforceable it is.
As of October 27, 2006, the U.S. patent's 20-year term appears to have expired, and in November 2006, Forgent agreed to abandon enforcement of patent claims against use of the JPEG standard.
The JPEG committee has as one of its explicit goals that their standards (in particular their baseline methods) be implementable without payment of license fees, and they have secured appropriate license rights for their JPEG 2000 standard from over 20 large organizations.
Beginning in August 2007, another company, Global Patent Holdings, LLC claimed that its patent () issued in 1993, is infringed by the downloading of JPEG images on either a website or through e-mail. If not invalidated, this patent could apply to any website that displays JPEG images. The patent was under reexamination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 2000–2007; in July 2007, the Patent Office revoked all of the original claims of the patent but found that an additional claim proposed by Global Patent Holdings (claim 17) was valid. Global Patent Holdings then filed a number of lawsuits based on claim 17 of its patent.
In its first two lawsuits following the reexamination, both filed in Chicago, Illinois, Global Patent Holdings sued the Green Bay Packers, CDW, Motorola, Apple, Orbitz, Officemax, Caterpillar, Kraft and Peapod as defendants. A third lawsuit was filed on December 5, 2007 in South Florida against ADT Security Services, AutoNation, Florida Crystals Corp., HearUSA, MovieTickets.com, Ocwen Financial Corp. and Tire Kingdom, and a fourth lawsuit on January 8, 2008 in South Florida against the Boca Raton Resort & Club. A fifth lawsuit was filed against Global Patent Holdings in Nevada. That lawsuit was filed by Zappos.com, Inc., which was allegedly threatened by Global Patent Holdings, and sought a judicial declaration that the '341 patent is invalid and not infringed.
Global Patent Holdings had also used the '341 patent to sue or threaten outspoken critics of broad software patents, including Gregory Aharonian and the anonymous operator of a website blog known as the "Patent Troll Tracker." On December 21, 2007, patent lawyer Vernon Francissen of Chicago asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reexamine the sole remaining claim of the '341 patent on the basis of new prior art.
On March 5, 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office agreed to reexamine the '341 patent, finding that the new prior art raised substantial new questions regarding the patent's validity. In light of the reexamination, the accused infringers in four of the five pending lawsuits have filed motions to suspend (stay) their cases until completion of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's review of the '341 patent. On April 23, 2008, a judge presiding over the two lawsuits in Chicago, Illinois granted the motions in those cases. On July 22, 2008, the Patent Office issued the first "Office Action" of the second reexamination, finding the claim invalid based on nineteen separate grounds. On Nov. 24, 2009, a Reexamination Certificate was issued cancelling all claims.
Beginning in 2011 and continuing as of early 2013, an entity known as Princeton Digital Image Corporation, based in Eastern Texas, began suing large numbers of companies for alleged infringement of . Princeton claims that the JPEG image compression standard infringes the '056 patent and has sued large numbers of websites, retailers, camera and device manufacturers and resellers. The patent was originally owned and assigned to General Electric. The patent expired in December 2007, but Princeton has sued large numbers of companies for "past infringement" of this patent. (Under U.S. patent laws, a patent owner can sue for "past infringement" up to six years before the filing of a lawsuit, so Princeton could theoretically have continued suing companies until December 2013.) As of March 2013, Princeton had suits pending in New York and Delaware against more than 55 companies. General Electric's involvement in the suit is unknown, although court records indicate that it assigned the patent to Princeton in 2009 and retains certain rights in the patent.
The JPEG compression algorithm operates at its best on photographs and paintings of realistic scenes with smooth variations of tone and color. For web usage, where reducing the amount of data used for an image is important for responsive presentation, JPEG's compression benefits make JPEG popular. JPEG/Exif is also the most common format saved by digital cameras.
However, JPEG is not well suited for line drawings and other textual or iconic graphics, where the sharp contrasts between adjacent pixels can cause noticeable artifacts. Such images are better saved in a lossless graphics format such as TIFF, GIF, or PNG. The JPEG standard includes a lossless coding mode, but that mode is not supported in most products.
As the typical use of JPEG is a lossy compression method, which reduces the image fidelity, it is inappropriate for exact reproduction of imaging data (such as some scientific and medical imaging applications and certain technical image processing work).
JPEG is also not well suited to files that will undergo multiple edits, as some image quality is lost each time the image is recompressed, particularly if the image is cropped or shifted, or if encoding parameters are changed – see digital generation loss for details. To prevent image information loss during sequential and repetitive editing, the first edit can be saved in a lossless format, subsequently edited in that format, then finally published as JPEG for distribution.
JPEG uses a lossy form of compression based on the discrete cosine transform (DCT). This mathematical operation converts each frame/field of the video source from the spatial (2D) domain into the frequency domain (a.k.a. transform domain). A perceptual model based loosely on the human psychovisual system discards high-frequency information, i.e. sharp transitions in intensity, and color hue. In the transform domain, the process of reducing information is called quantization. In simpler terms, quantization is a method for optimally reducing a large number scale (with different occurrences of each number) into a smaller one, and the transform-domain is a convenient representation of the image because the high-frequency coefficients, which contribute less to the overall picture than other coefficients, are characteristically small-values with high compressibility. The quantized coefficients are then sequenced and losslessly packed into the output bitstream. Nearly all software implementations of JPEG permit user control over the compression ratio (as well as other optional parameters), allowing the user to trade off picture-quality for smaller file size. In embedded applications (such as miniDV, which uses a similar DCT-compression scheme), the parameters are pre-selected and fixed for the application.
The compression method is usually lossy, meaning that some original image information is lost and cannot be restored, possibly affecting image quality. There is an optional lossless mode defined in the JPEG standard. However, this mode is not widely supported in products.
There is also an interlaced "progressive" JPEG format, in which data is compressed in multiple passes of progressively higher detail. This is ideal for large images that will be displayed while downloading over a slow connection, allowing a reasonable preview after receiving only a portion of the data. However, support for progressive JPEGs is not universal. When progressive JPEGs are received by programs that do not support them (such as versions of Internet Explorer before Windows 7) the software displays the image only after it has been completely downloaded.
A number of alterations to a JPEG image can be performed losslessly (that is, without recompression and the associated quality loss) as long as the image size is a multiple of 1 MCU block (Minimum Coded Unit) (usually 16 pixels in both directions, for 4:2:0 chroma subsampling). Utilities that implement this include:
Blocks can be rotated in 90-degree increments, flipped in the horizontal, vertical and diagonal axes and moved about in the image. Not all blocks from the original image need to be used in the modified one.
The top and left edge of a JPEG image must lie on an 8 × 8 pixel block boundary, but the bottom and right edge need not do so. This limits the possible lossless crop operations, and also prevents flips and rotations of an image whose bottom or right edge does not lie on a block boundary for all channels (because the edge would end up on top or left, where – as aforementioned – a block boundary is obligatory).
Rotations where the image width and height not a multiple of 8 or 16 (depending upon the chroma subsampling), are not lossless. Rotating such an image causes the blocks to be recomputed which results in loss of quality.
When using lossless cropping, if the bottom or right side of the crop region is not on a block boundary, then the rest of the data from the partially used blocks will still be present in the cropped file and can be recovered. It is also possible to transform between baseline and progressive formats without any loss of quality, since the only difference is the order in which the coefficients are placed in the file.
Furthermore, several JPEG images can be losslessly joined together, as long as they were saved with the same quality and the edges coincide with block boundaries.
The file format known as "JPEG Interchange Format" (JIF) is specified in Annex B of the standard. However, this "pure" file format is rarely used, primarily because of the difficulty of programming encoders and decoders that fully implement all aspects of the standard and because of certain shortcomings of the standard:
Several additional standards have evolved to address these issues. The first of these, released in 1992, was the JPEG File Interchange Format (or JFIF), followed in recent years by Exchangeable image file format (Exif) and ICC color profiles. Both of these formats use the actual JIF byte layout, consisting of different "markers", but in addition, employ one of the JIF standard's extension points, namely the "application markers": JFIF uses APP0, while Exif uses APP1. Within these segments of the file that were left for future use in the JIF standard and are not read by it, these standards add specific metadata.
Thus, in some ways, JFIF is a cut-down version of the JIF standard in that it specifies certain constraints (such as not allowing all the different encoding modes), while in other ways, it is an extension of JIF due to the added metadata. The documentation for the original JFIF standard states:
Image files that employ JPEG compression are commonly called "JPEG files", and are stored in variants of the JIF image format. Most image capture devices (such as digital cameras) that output JPEG are actually creating files in the Exif format, the format that the camera industry has standardized on for metadata interchange. On the other hand, since the Exif standard does not allow color profiles, most image editing software stores JPEG in JFIF format, and also includes the APP1 segment from the Exif file to include the metadata in an almost-compliant way; the JFIF standard is interpreted somewhat flexibly.
Strictly speaking, the JFIF and Exif standards are incompatible, because each specifies that its marker segment (APP0 or APP1, respectively) appear first. In practice, most JPEG files contain a JFIF marker segment that precedes the Exif header. This allows older readers to correctly handle the older format JFIF segment, while newer readers also decode the following Exif segment, being less strict about requiring it to appear first.
The most common filename extensions for files employing JPEG compression are ' and ', though , and are also used. It is also possible for JPEG data to be embedded in other file types – TIFF encoded files often embed a JPEG image as a thumbnail of the main image; and MP3 files can contain a JPEG of cover art in the ID3v2 tag.
Many JPEG files embed an ICC color profile (color space). Commonly used color profiles include sRGB and Adobe RGB. Because these color spaces use a non-linear transformation, the dynamic range of an 8-bit JPEG file is about 11 stops; see gamma curve.
A JPEG image consists of a sequence of "segments", each beginning with a "marker", each of which begins with a 0xFF byte, followed by a byte indicating what kind of marker it is. Some markers consist of just those two bytes; others are followed by two bytes (high then low), indicating the length of marker-specific payload data that follows. (The length includes the two bytes for the length, but not the two bytes for the marker.) Some markers are followed by entropy-coded data; the length of such a marker does not include the entropy-coded data. Note that consecutive 0xFF bytes are used as fill bytes for padding purposes, although this fill byte padding should only ever take place for markers immediately following entropy-coded scan data (see JPEG specification section B.1.1.2 and E.1.2 for details; specifically "In all cases where markers are appended after the compressed data, optional 0xFF fill bytes may precede the marker").
Within the entropy-coded data, after any 0xFF byte, a 0x00 byte is inserted by the encoder before the next byte, so that there does not appear to be a marker where none is intended, preventing framing errors. Decoders must skip this 0x00 byte. This technique, called byte stuffing (see JPEG specification section F.1.2.3), is only applied to the entropy-coded data, not to marker payload data. Note however that entropy-coded data has a few markers of its own; specifically the Reset markers (0xD0 through 0xD7), which are used to isolate independent chunks of entropy-coded data to allow parallel decoding, and encoders are free to insert these Reset markers at regular intervals (although not all encoders do this).
There are other "Start Of Frame" markers that introduce other kinds of JPEG encodings.
Since several vendors might use the same APP"n" marker type, application-specific markers often begin with a standard or vendor name (e.g., "Exif" or "Adobe") or some other identifying string.
At a restart marker, block-to-block predictor variables are reset, and the bitstream is synchronized to a byte boundary. Restart markers provide means for recovery after bitstream error, such as transmission over an unreliable network or file corruption. Since the runs of macroblocks between restart markers may be independently decoded, these runs may be decoded in parallel.
Although a JPEG file can be encoded in various ways, most commonly it is done with JFIF encoding. The encoding process consists of several steps:
The decoding process reverses these steps, except the "quantization" because it is irreversible. In the remainder of this section, the encoding and decoding processes are described in more detail.
Many of the options in the JPEG standard are not commonly used, and as mentioned above, most image software uses the simpler JFIF format when creating a JPEG file, which among other things specifies the encoding method. Here is a brief description of one of the more common methods of encoding when applied to an input that has 24 bits per pixel (eight each of red, green, and blue). This particular option is a lossy data compression method.
First, the image should be converted from RGB into a different color space called (or, informally, YCbCr). It has three components Y', CB and CR: the Y' component represents the brightness of a pixel, and the CB and CR components represent the chrominance (split into blue and red components). This is basically the same color space as used by digital color television as well as digital video including video DVDs, and is similar to the way color is represented in analog PAL video and MAC (but not by analog NTSC, which uses the YIQ color space). The color space conversion allows greater compression without a significant effect on perceptual image quality (or greater perceptual image quality for the same compression). The compression is more efficient because the brightness information, which is more important to the eventual perceptual quality of the image, is confined to a single channel. This more closely corresponds to the perception of color in the human visual system. The color transformation also improves compression by statistical decorrelation.
A particular conversion to is specified in the JFIF standard, and should be performed for the resulting JPEG file to have maximum compatibility. However, some JPEG implementations in "highest quality" mode do not apply this step and instead keep the color information in the RGB color model, where the image is stored in separate channels for red, green and blue brightness components. This results in less efficient compression, and would not likely be used when file size is especially important.
Due to the densities of color- and brightness-sensitive receptors in the human eye, humans can see considerably more fine detail in the brightness of an image (the Y' component) than in the hue and color saturation of an image (the Cb and Cr components). Using this knowledge, encoders can be designed to compress images more efficiently.
The transformation into the color model enables the next usual step, which is to reduce the spatial resolution of the Cb and Cr components (called "downsampling" or "chroma subsampling"). The ratios at which the downsampling is ordinarily done for JPEG images are (no downsampling), (reduction by a factor of 2 in the horizontal direction), or (most commonly) (reduction by a factor of 2 in both the horizontal and vertical directions). For the rest of the compression process, Y', Cb and Cr are processed separately and in a very similar manner.
After subsampling, each channel must be split into 8×8 blocks. Depending on chroma subsampling, this yields Minimum Coded Unit (MCU) blocks of size 8×8 (4:4:4 – no subsampling), 16×8 (4:2:2), or most commonly 16×16 (4:2:0). In video compression MCUs are called macroblocks.
If the data for a channel does not represent an integer number of blocks then the encoder must fill the remaining area of the incomplete blocks with some form of dummy data. Filling the edges with a fixed color (for example, black) can create ringing artifacts along the visible part of the border;
repeating the edge pixels is a common technique that reduces (but does not necessarily completely eliminate) such artifacts, and more sophisticated border filling techniques can also be applied.
Next, each 8×8 block of each component (Y, Cb, Cr) is converted to a frequency-domain representation, using a normalized, two-dimensional type-II discrete cosine transform (DCT), see Citation 1 in discrete cosine transform. The DCT is sometimes referred to as "type-II DCT" in the context of a family of transforms as in discrete cosine transform, and the corresponding inverse (IDCT) is denoted as "type-III DCT".
As an example, one such 8×8 8-bit subimage might be:
Before computing the DCT of the 8×8 block, its values are shifted from a positive range to one centered on zero. For an 8-bit image, each entry in the original block falls in the range formula_2. The midpoint of the range (in this case, the value 128) is subtracted from each entry to produce a data range that is centered on zero, so that the modified range is formula_3. This step reduces the dynamic range requirements in the DCT processing stage that follows.
This step results in the following values:
The next step is to take the two-dimensional DCT, which is given by:
where
If we perform this transformation on our matrix above, we get the following (rounded to the nearest two digits beyond the decimal point):
Note the top-left corner entry with the rather large magnitude. This is the DC coefficient (also called the constant component), which defines the basic hue for the entire block. The remaining 63 coefficients are the AC coefficients (also called the alternating components). The advantage of the DCT is its tendency to aggregate most of the signal in one corner of the result, as may be seen above. The quantization step to follow accentuates this effect while simultaneously reducing the overall size of the DCT coefficients, resulting in a signal that is easy to compress efficiently in the entropy stage.
The DCT temporarily increases the bit-depth of the data, since the DCT coefficients of an 8-bit/component image take up to 11 or more bits (depending on fidelity of the DCT calculation) to store. This may force the codec to temporarily use 16-bit numbers to hold these coefficients, doubling the size of the image representation at this point; these values are typically reduced back to 8-bit values by the quantization step. The temporary increase in size at this stage is not a performance concern for most JPEG implementations, since typically only a very small part of the image is stored in full DCT form at any given time during the image encoding or decoding process.
The human eye is good at seeing small differences in brightness over a relatively large area, but not so good at distinguishing the exact strength of a high frequency brightness variation. This allows one to greatly reduce the amount of information in the high frequency components. This is done by simply dividing each component in the frequency domain by a constant for that component, and then rounding to the nearest integer. This rounding operation is the only lossy operation in the whole process (other than chroma subsampling) if the DCT computation is performed with sufficiently high precision. As a result of this, it is typically the case that many of the higher frequency components are rounded to zero, and many of the rest become small positive or negative numbers, which take many fewer bits to represent.
The elements in the quantization matrix control the compression ratio, with larger values producing greater compression. A typical quantization matrix (for a quality of 50% as specified in the original JPEG Standard), is as follows:
The quantized DCT coefficients are computed with
where formula_18 is the unquantized DCT coefficients; formula_19 is the quantization matrix above; and formula_20 is the quantized DCT coefficients.
Using this quantization matrix with the DCT coefficient matrix from above results in:
For example, using −415 (the DC coefficient) and rounding to the nearest integer
Notice that most of the higher-frequency elements of the sub-block (i.e., those with an "x" or "y" spatial frequency greater than 4) are quantized into zero values.
Entropy coding is a special form of lossless data compression. It involves arranging the image components in a "zigzag" order employing run-length encoding (RLE) algorithm that groups similar frequencies together, inserting length coding zeros, and then using Huffman coding on what is left.
The JPEG standard also allows, but does not require, decoders to support the use of arithmetic coding, which is mathematically superior to Huffman coding. However, this feature has rarely been used, as it was historically covered by patents requiring royalty-bearing licenses, and because it is slower to encode and decode compared to Huffman coding. Arithmetic coding typically makes files about 5–7% smaller.
The previous quantized DC coefficient is used to predict the current quantized DC coefficient. The difference between the two is encoded rather than the actual value. The encoding of the 63 quantized AC coefficients does not use such prediction differencing.
The zigzag sequence for the above quantized coefficients are shown below. (The format shown is just for ease of understanding/viewing.)
If the "i"-th block is represented by formula_23 and positions within each block are represented by formula_24 where formula_25 and formula_26, then any coefficient in the DCT image can be represented as formula_27. Thus, in the above scheme, the order of encoding pixels (for the -th block) is formula_28, formula_29, formula_30, formula_31, formula_32, formula_33, formula_34, formula_35 and so on.
This encoding mode is called baseline "sequential" encoding. Baseline JPEG also supports "progressive" encoding. While sequential encoding encodes coefficients of a single block at a time (in a zigzag manner), progressive encoding encodes similar-positioned batch of coefficients of all blocks in one go (called a "scan"), followed by the next batch of coefficients of all blocks, and so on. For example, if the image is divided into N 8×8 blocks formula_36, then a 3-scan progressive encoding encodes DC component, formula_28 for all blocks, i.e., for all formula_38, in first scan. This is followed by the second scan which encoding a few more components (assuming four more components, they are formula_29 to formula_32, still in a zigzag manner) coefficients of all blocks (so the sequence is: formula_41), followed by all the remained coefficients of all blocks in the last scan.
Once all similar-positioned coefficients have been encoded, the next position to be encoded is the one occurring next in the zigzag traversal as indicated in the figure above. It has been found that "baseline progressive" JPEG encoding usually gives better compression as compared to "baseline sequential" JPEG due to the ability to use different Huffman tables (see below) tailored for different frequencies on each "scan" or "pass" (which includes similar-positioned coefficients), though the difference is not too large.
In the rest of the article, it is assumed that the coefficient pattern generated is due to sequential mode.
In order to encode the above generated coefficient pattern, JPEG uses Huffman encoding. The JPEG standard provides general-purpose Huffman tables; encoders may also choose to generate Huffman tables optimized for the actual frequency distributions in images being encoded.
The process of encoding the zig-zag quantized data begins with a run-length encoding explained below, where:
The run-length encoding works by examining each non-zero AC coefficient and determining how many zeroes came before the previous AC coefficient. With this information, two symbols are created:
Both "RUNLENGTH" and "SIZE" rest on the same byte, meaning that each only contains four bits of information. The higher bits deal with the number of zeroes, while the lower bits denote the number of bits necessary to encode the value of .
This has the immediate implication of "Symbol 1" being only able store information regarding the first 15 zeroes preceding the non-zero AC coefficient. However, JPEG defines two special Huffman code words. One is for ending the sequence prematurely when the remaining coefficients are zero (called "End-of-Block" or "EOB"), and another when the run of zeroes goes beyond 15 before reaching a non-zero AC coefficient. In such a case where 16 zeroes are encountered before a given non-zero AC coefficient, "Symbol 1" is encoded "specially" as: (15, 0)(0).
The overall process continues until "EOB" denoted by (0, 0) is reached.
With this in mind, the sequence from earlier becomes:
From here, frequency calculations are made based on occurrences of the coefficients. In our example block, most of the quantized coefficients are small numbers that are not preceded immediately by a zero coefficient. These more-frequent cases will be represented by shorter code words.
The resulting compression ratio can be varied according to need by being more or less aggressive in the divisors used in the quantization phase. Ten to one compression usually results in an image that cannot be distinguished by eye from the original. A compression ratio of 100:1 is usually possible, but will look distinctly artifacted compared to the original. The appropriate level of compression depends on the use to which the image will be put.
Those who use the World Wide Web may be familiar with the irregularities known as compression artifacts that appear in JPEG images, which may take the form of noise around contrasting edges (especially curves and corners), or "blocky" images. These are due to the quantization step of the JPEG algorithm. They are especially noticeable around sharp corners between contrasting colors (text is a good example, as it contains many such corners). The analogous artifacts in MPEG video are referred to as "mosquito noise," as the resulting "edge busyness" and spurious dots, which change over time, resemble mosquitoes swarming around the object.
These artifacts can be reduced by choosing a lower level of compression; they may be completely avoided by saving an image using a lossless file format, though this will result in a larger file size. The images created with ray-tracing programs have noticeable blocky shapes on the terrain. Certain low-intensity compression artifacts might be acceptable when simply viewing the images, but can be emphasized if the image is subsequently processed, usually resulting in unacceptable quality. Consider the example below, demonstrating the effect of lossy compression on an edge detection processing step.
Some programs allow the user to vary the amount by which individual blocks are compressed. Stronger compression is applied to areas of the image that show fewer artifacts. This way it is possible to manually reduce JPEG file size with less loss of quality.
Since the quantization stage "always" results in a loss of information, JPEG standard is always a lossy compression codec. (Information is lost both in quantizing and rounding of the floating-point numbers.) Even if the quantization matrix is a matrix of ones, information will still be lost in the rounding step.
Decoding to display the image consists of doing all the above in reverse.
Taking the DCT coefficient matrix (after adding the difference of the DC coefficient back in)
and taking the entry-for-entry product with the quantization matrix from above results in
which closely resembles the original DCT coefficient matrix for the top-left portion.
The next step is to take the two-dimensional inverse DCT (a 2D type-III DCT), which is given by:
formula_44
where
Rounding the output to integer values (since the original had integer values) results in an image with values (still shifted down by 128)
and adding 128 to each entry
This is the decompressed subimage. In general, the decompression process may produce values outside the original input range of formula_2. If this occurs, the decoder needs to clip the output values so as to keep them within that range to prevent overflow when storing the decompressed image with the original bit depth.
The decompressed subimage can be compared to the original subimage (also see images to the right) by taking the difference (original − uncompressed) results in the following error values:
with an average absolute error of about 5 values per pixels (i.e., formula_59).
The error is most noticeable in the bottom-left corner where the bottom-left pixel becomes darker than the pixel to its immediate right.
The encoding description in the JPEG standard does not fix the precision needed for the output compressed image. However, the JPEG standard (and the similar MPEG standards) includes some precision requirements for the "de"coding, including all parts of the decoding process (variable length decoding, inverse DCT, dequantization, renormalization of outputs); the output from the reference algorithm must not exceed:
These assertions are tested on a large set of randomized input images, to handle the worst cases. The former IEEE 1180–1990 standard contained some similar precision requirements. The precision has a consequence on the implementation of decoders, and it is critical because some encoding processes (notably used for encoding sequences of images like MPEG) need to be able to construct, on the encoder side, a reference decoded image. In order to support 8-bit precision per pixel component output, dequantization and inverse DCT transforms are typically implemented with at least 14-bit precision in optimized decoders.
JPEG compression artifacts blend well into photographs with detailed non-uniform textures, allowing higher compression ratios. Notice how a higher compression ratio first affects the high-frequency textures in the upper-left corner of the image, and how the contrasting lines become more fuzzy. The very high compression ratio severely affects the quality of the image, although the overall colors and image form are still recognizable. However, the precision of colors suffer less (for a human eye) than the precision of contours (based on luminance). This justifies the fact that images should be first transformed in a color model separating the luminance from the chromatic information, before subsampling the chromatic planes (which may also use lower quality quantization) in order to preserve the precision of the luminance plane with more information bits.
For information, the uncompressed 24-bit RGB bitmap image below (73,242 pixels) would require 219,726 bytes (excluding all other information headers). The filesizes indicated below include the internal JPEG information headers and some metadata. For highest quality images (Q=100), about 8.25 bits per color pixel is required. On grayscale images, a minimum of 6.5 bits per pixel is enough (a comparable Q=100 quality color information requires about 25% more encoded bits). The highest quality image below (Q=100) is encoded at nine bits per color pixel, the medium quality image (Q=25) uses one bit per color pixel. For most applications, the quality factor should not go below 0.75 bit per pixel (Q=12.5), as demonstrated by the low quality image. The image at lowest quality uses only 0.13 bit per pixel, and displays very poor color. This is useful when the image will be displayed in a significantly scaled-down size. A method for creating better quantization matrices for a given image quality using PSNR instead of the Q factor is described in Minguillón & Pujol (2001).
The medium quality photo uses only 4.3% of the storage space required for the uncompressed image, but has little noticeable loss of detail or visible artifacts. However, once a certain threshold of compression is passed, compressed images show increasingly visible defects. See the article on rate–distortion theory for a mathematical explanation of this threshold effect. A particular limitation of JPEG in this regard is its non-overlapped 8×8 block transform structure. More modern designs such as JPEG 2000 and JPEG XR exhibit a more graceful degradation of quality as the bit usage decreases – by using transforms with a larger spatial extent for the lower frequency coefficients and by using overlapping transform basis functions.
From 2004 to 2008, new research emerged on ways to further compress the data contained in JPEG images without modifying the represented image. This has applications in scenarios where the original image is only available in JPEG format, and its size needs to be reduced for archiving or transmission. Standard general-purpose compression tools cannot significantly compress JPEG files.
Typically, such schemes take advantage of improvements to the naive scheme for coding DCT coefficients, which fails to take into account:
Some standard but rarely used options already exist in JPEG to improve the efficiency of coding DCT coefficients: the arithmetic coding option, and the progressive coding option (which produces lower bitrates because values for each coefficient are coded independently, and each coefficient has a significantly different distribution). Modern methods have improved on these techniques by reordering coefficients to group coefficients of larger magnitude together; using adjacent coefficients and blocks to predict new coefficient values; dividing blocks or coefficients up among a small number of independently coded models based on their statistics and adjacent values; and most recently, by decoding blocks, predicting subsequent blocks in the spatial domain, and then encoding these to generate predictions for DCT coefficients.
Typically, such methods can compress existing JPEG files between 15 and 25 percent, and for JPEGs compressed at low-quality settings, can produce improvements of up to 65%.
A freely available tool called packJPG is based on the 2007 paper "Improved Redundancy Reduction for JPEG Files." A 2016 paper titled "JPEG on steroids" using ISO libjpeg shows that current techniques, lossy or not, can make JPEG nearly as efficient as JPEG XR. JPEG XL is a new file format that promises to losslessly re-encode a JPEG with efficient back-conversion to JPEG.
JPS is a stereoscopic JPEG image used for creating 3D effects from 2D images. It contains two static images, one for the left eye and one for the right eye; encoded as two side-by-side images in a single JPG file.
JPEG Stereoscopic (JPS, extension .jps) is a JPEG-based format for stereoscopic images. It has a range of configurations stored in the JPEG APP3 marker field, but usually contains one image of double width, representing two images of identical size in cross-eyed (i.e. left frame on the right half of the image and vice versa) side-by-side arrangement. This file format can be viewed as a JPEG without any special software, or can be processed for rendering in other modes.
JPEG Multi-Picture Format (MPO, extension .mpo) is a JPEG-based format for storing multiple images in a single file. It contains two or more JPEG files concatenated together. It also defines a JPEG APP2 marker segment for image description. Various devices use it to store 3D images, such as Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W1, HTC Evo 3D, JVC GY-HMZ1U AVCHD/MVC extension camcorder, Nintendo 3DS, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation Vita, Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20, DMC-TZ30, DMC-TZ60, DMC-TS4 (FT4), and Sony DSC-HX7V. Other devices use it to store "preview images" that can be displayed on a TV.
In the last few years, due to the growing use of stereoscopic images, much effort has been spent by the scientific community to develop algorithms for stereoscopic image compression.
JPEG XT (ISO/IEC 18477) was published in June 2015; it extends base JPEG format with support for higher integer bit depths (up to 16 bit), high dynamic range imaging and floating-point coding, lossless coding, and alpha channel coding. Extensions are backward compatible with the base JPEG/JFIF file format and 8-bit lossy compressed image. JPEG XT uses an extensible file format based on JFIF. Extension layers are used to modify the JPEG 8-bit base layer and restore the high-resolution image. Existing software is forward compatible and can read the JPEG XT binary stream, though it would only decode the base 8-bit layer.
Since August 2017, JTC1/SC29/WG1 issued a series of draft calls for proposals on JPEG XLthe next generation image compression standard with substantially better compression efficiency (60% improvement) comparing to JPEG. The standard is expected to exceed the still image compression performance shown by HEVC HM, Daala and WebP, and unlike previous efforts attempting to replace JPEG, to provide lossless more efficient recompression transport and storage option for traditional JPEG images. The core requirements include support for very high-resolution images (at least 40 MP), 8–10 bits per component, RGB/YCbCr/ICtCp color encoding, animated images, alpha channel coding, Rec.709 color space (sRGB) and gamma function (2.4-power), Rec.2100 wide color gamut color space (Rec.2020) and high dynamic range transfer functions (PQ and HLG), and high-quality compression of synthetic images, such as bitmap fonts and gradients. The standard should also offer higher bit depths (12–16 bit integer and floating point), additional color spaces and transfer functions (such as Log C from Arri), embedded preview images, lossless alpha channel encoding, image region coding, and low-complexity encoding. Any patented technologies would be licensed on a royalty-free basis. The proposals were submitted by September 2018, leading to a committee draft in July 2019, with current target publication date in October 2019.
The Joint Photography Experts Group is also responsible for some other formats bearing the JPEG name, including JPEG 2000, JPEG XR, and JPEG XS.
A very important implementation of a JPEG codec is the free programming library "libjpeg" of the Independent JPEG Group. It was first published in 1991 and was key for the success of the standard. This library or a direct derivative of it is used in countless applications. Recent versions introduce proprietary extensions which broke ABI compatibility with previous versions.
In March 2017, Google released the open source project Guetzli, which trades off a much longer encoding time for smaller file size (similar to what Zopfli does for PNG and other lossless data formats).
ISO/IEC Joint Photography Experts Group maintains a reference software implementation which can encode both base JPEG (ISO/IEC 10918-1 and 18477-1) and JPEG XT extensions (ISO/IEC 18477 Parts 2 and 6-9), as well as JPEG-LS (ISO/IEC 14495). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16009 |
Joseph Severn
Joseph Severn (7 December 1793 – 3 August 1879) was an English portrait and subject painter and a personal friend of the famous English poet John Keats. He exhibited portraits, Italian genre, literary and biblical subjects, and a selection of his paintings can today be found in some of the most important museums in London, including the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Tate Britain.
The eldest son of a music teacher, Severn was born at Hoxton, near London, and apprenticed at the age of 14 to William Bond, an engraver. Severn was one of seven children; two of his brothers, Thomas (1801–1881) and Charles (1806–1894), became professional musicians, and Severn himself was an adroit pianist. During his early years he practised portraiture as a miniaturist.
In 1815, he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in London and exhibited his first work in oil, "Hermia and Helena", a subject from "A Midsummer Night's Dream", along with a portrait miniature, "J. Keats, Esq", in the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1819. He probably first met the poet John Keats in the spring of 1816.
In 1819, Severn was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Academy for his painting "Una and the Red Cross Knight in the Cave of Despair" which was inspired by the epic poem The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser. It was the first time the prize had been awarded in eight years and the painting was exhibited at the Academy in 1820. This award also allowed Severn to apply for a three years' traveling studentship, paid for by the Royal Academy.
According to a new edition of Severn's letters and memoirs, Severn fathered an illegitimate child named Henry (b. 31 Aug 1819) about a year before leaving England for Italy. In 1826 there were plans for father and son to reunite, but Henry died, aged 11, before he could make the journey to Rome.
On 17 September 1820, Severn set sail onboard the "Maria Crowther" from England to Italy with the famous English poet John Keats. Keats and Severn had known one another in England, but they were only passing acquaintances. Yet it was Severn who agreed to accompany the poet to Rome when all others could, or would, not. The trip was intended to cure Keats's lingering illness, which he suspected was tuberculosis; however, his friends and several doctors disagreed and urged him to spend some time in a warm climate. After a harrowing voyage, they arrived in the Bay of Naples on 21 October, only to be placed in quarantine for ten days. The two men remained in Naples for a week before heading off to Rome in a small carriage, where they arrived mid-November 1820 and met Keats's physician, Dr. James Clark. In Rome they lived in an apartment at number 26 Piazza di Spagna, just at the bottom right of the Spanish Steps and overlooking Bernini's famous Barcaccia fountain.
Severn had left England against his father's wishes and with little money. In fact, his father was so incensed by his departure that, as Severn reported in a late memoir, "in his insane rage he struck me a blow which fell me to the ground." He was never to see his father again. While in Rome during the winter of 1820-21, Severn wrote numerous letters about Keats to their mutual friends in England, in particular William Haslam and Charles Armitage Brown, who then shared them with other members of the Keats circle, including the poet's fiancée, Fanny Brawne. These journal-letters now represent the only surviving account of the poet's final months and as a consequence are used as the primary historical source for biographers of Keats's last days.
Severn nursed Keats until his death on 23 February 1821, three months after they had arrived in Rome. As he reported to John Taylor two weeks afterwards, "Each day he would look up in the doctors face to discover how long he should live -- he would say -- "how long will this posthumous life of mine last"—that look was more than we could ever bear—the extreme brightness of his eyes—with his poor pallid face—were not earthly --" Severn's ordeal was recognized by Keats himself, who, a month before his death, said, "Severn I can see under your quiet look -- immense twisting and contending -- you dont know what you are reading -- you are induring for me more than I'd have you -- O! that my last hour was come --" He was later thanked for his devotion by the poet Percy B. Shelley in the preface to his elegy, Adonais, which was written for Keats in 1821. It was also at this time that Severn met, among other notables, the sculptors John Gibson and Antonio Canova, and Lord Byron's friend, the adventurer Edward John Trelawny. Severn made a sketch of Trelawny in 1838.
Until recently, it was believed that Severn's life culminated in his association with Keats and that he lived on this fame for the rest of his long life. In reality, Severn launched his own successful artistic career soon after Keats died, becoming a versatile painter in Rome during the 1820s and 1830s. He painted miniatures and altarpieces, landscapes and frescoes, historical and religious scenes, and subjects from the Bible, Greek mythology and Shakespeare. His pictures of Italian peasant life and pastoral genre scenes became very popular with British visitors on the continent and generated multiple commissions for his work.
Severn was also instrumental in helping to found the British Academy of the Fine Arts in Rome, which drew the support of such influential figures as the Duke of Devonshire, John Flaxman and Sir Thomas Lawrence. Indeed, Severn's spacious apartment in the Via di San Isidoro became the busy center of Academy life. Among those who joined the academy were Charles Eastlake, Richard Westmacott (the younger), William Bewick and Thomas Uwins. Perhaps the most dedicated patron of Severn's work in the 1830s was William Gladstone, who was drawn to Severn more for his reputation as a painter than as Keats's friend.
On his return to England in 1841 Severn fell on hard times, trying desperately to earn enough money to support his growing family by painting portraits. Although he was never able to match his early artistic success in Rome and eventually had to flee his creditors for the Isle of Jersey in 1853, between 1819 and 1857, Severn exhibited 53 paintings at the Royal Academy in London.
In 1861 Severn was appointed British Consul in Rome during the ferment over Italian unification. A few months before his arrival Garibaldi had seized the Kingdom of Naples, and all of Southern Italy and Sicily had been annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy. Many of the kingdoms, principalities and dukedoms in the Italian peninsula had come together under the leadership of Victor Emmanuel II, but Rome and Venice had remained separate papal states. This was the case throughout the majority of Severn's tenure as Consul, as Pope Pius IX managed to retain a fragile hold on power, relying on a garrison of French troops to control Rome. Although the official position of the British government on "The Roman Question" was neutrality and nonintervention, Severn often took diplomatic action that his superiors viewed as exceeding his mandate as Consul. On several occasions, such as when he used his office to liberate Italian political prisoners in 1864, he was rebuked by the Foreign Office. His knowledge of the Italian language and his affability and good humor, however, often helped in mediating between the papal regime and the British government, and he was able on many occasions to offer advice and protection for British visitors who found themselves in awkward scrapes. He eventually retired as Consul in 1872.
In 1828 Severn married Elizabeth Montgomerie, the natural (i.e. illegitimate) daughter of Archibald, Lord Montgomerie (1773–1814) and the ward of Lady Westmoreland, one of the artist's patrons in Rome. Together they had seven children, three of whom became noteworthy artists: Walter and Arthur Severn, and Ann Mary Newton, who married the archeologist and Keeper of Antiquities at the British Museum, Charles Thomas Newton. Mary had a successful painting career in England, supporting the family for a time and executing a number of portraits of the Royal Family. Her early death from measles at the age of 32 affected Severn. In 1871, Arthur Severn married Joan Ruskin Agnew, a cousin of the Victorian art and social critic John Ruskin. The Severns had another child, Arthur, who died as an infant in a crib accident. He is buried between Keats and Severn in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.
Severn died on 3 August 1879 at the age of 85, and was buried in the Protestant Cemetery alongside John Keats. Both gravestones are still standing today. Shelley and Trelawny are also buried side by side in the same Cemetery.
Severn is best known for his many portraits of Keats, the most famous being the miniature portrait in the National Gallery (1819), the pen-and-ink sketch, "Keats on his Deathbed" (1821), and the oil painting of the poet reading, "John Keats at Wentworth Place" (1821–23). A later painting, "Keats, at Hampstead, when he first imagined his Ode to a Nightingale" (1851), is also notable. In the 1860s Severn produced a number of copies and memory portraits as Keats's reputation continued to grow. The most influential of Severn's early Italian genre paintings are "The Vintage", commissioned by the Duke of Bedford in 1825, and "The Fountain" (Royal Palace, Brussels) commissioned by Leopold I of Belgium in 1826. The latter picture likely influenced J. M. W. Turner's major work, "The View of Orvieto". One of his most remarkably inventive works is the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1839) based on Samuel Coleridge's famous poem, which recently sold at Sotheby's for £32,400. Another historical subject, "The Abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots", sold for £115,250 at Sotheby's Gleneagles sale on 26 August 2008.
Severn also painted such works as "Cordelia Watching by the Bed of Lear", "Shepherds in the Campagna", "Shelley Composing Prometheus Unbound", "Isabella and the Pot of Basil", "Portia with the Casket", "Ariel", "Rienzi", "The Infant of the Apocalypse Saved from the Dragon", a large altarpiece for the church of San Paolo fuori le Mura at Rome, and many portraits of statesman and aristocrats, including Baron Bunsen and William Gladstone. The last picture he exhibited at the Royal Academy was a scene from Oliver Goldsmith's "The Deserted Village" in 1857.
Links to images and descriptions of Severn's drawings and paintings
Results of Severn's paintings sold at public auction
In 1892 the first significant collection of Severn's papers was published by William Sharp in "The Life and Letters of Joseph Severn". Modern critics have cast doubt on the accuracy of Sharp's transcriptions and noted important omissions and embellishments.
In 1965, Sheila Birkenhead published "Illustrious Friends: The story of Joseph Severn and his son Arthur".
In 2005, Grant F. Scott published "Joseph Severn: Letters and Memoirs" in which he re-edited the original material, added hundreds of newly discovered letters, included numerous reproductions of Severn's paintings, and prefaced this material with a critical introduction and commentary.
In 2009, Sue Brown published the biography "Joseph Severn, A Life: The Rewards of Friendship" using Scott's new information to provide a reassessment of Severn's character, his friendship with Keats, and his own subsequent artistic and diplomatic career. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16010 |
Jetsprint
Jetsprint or sprint boat racing is a form of racing sport in which jetboats, with a crew of two, race individually against the clock through a twisting series of channels in less than a metre of water.
Tracks are typically designed for spectators, and racing is fast and loud, with boat motors usually powered by V8s developing well over 500 hp.
Jetsprinting as an organised sport originated in New Zealand in 1981, and events were originally held in the same natural braided rivers that had inspired Sir William Hamilton to develop the jetboat, but when the sport was introduced to Australia in the mid-1980s, permanent artificial courses were used—and this is now the norm even in New Zealand.
There is now a world championship under the auspices of the Union Internationale Motonautique, with hosting rotating between New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.A.
The race itself consists of a predefined course through the channels with 25 to 30 changes of direction. These races generally take just 45–60 seconds. Once qualifying is completed, the competitors each run the course with the fastest qualifiers running last. The fastest 16 (typically depending on the number of competitions) proceed to the next round. This is then reduced to the top 12, Top 8 then the top 5 and finally the fastest three.
A jetsprint hull is typically short - just 3.8 to 4.0 metres (12½ to 13 feet) long. The hull's vee is usually 23 to 25 degrees with several strakes on each side. A short hull is preferred, as a longer hull takes more distance to turn and usually must be turned at a slower speed. The strakes provide "traction' by stopping the boat from sliding sideways across the water when turning at high speed.
A rollcage must be fitted to the boat.
A crew consists of the driver and a navigator, whose responsibility is to guide the driver through the course - typically via simple hand signals, pointing the hand in the direction that the boat must go at the next intersection.
There are two internationally recognised classes
Group A - engines in Group A boats are restricted to either 6.7-litre (412 cubic inch) engines with cast iron blocks and heads, or 6-litre (365 cubic inch) engines with aluminium heads. Both engines are only allowed two push-rod operated valves per cylinder. Furthermore, the engine must be normally aspirated, using a four-barrel carburetor. Fuel is 100+ octane aviation fuel. Typically these engines produce up to 650 horsepower
Super Boats - engines in the Super Boat class have no maximum size, but instead have a minimum size restriction. Normally aspirated engines must have a displacement of 6.5 litres (400 cubic inches), while forced induction (turbocharged or supercharged) engines must be at least 3.8 liters (235 cubic inches) in displacement. These engines typically are fuel injected and run methanol fuel. The small-block engines typically produce 950+ horsepower, while the big blocks can produce between 1000 and 1600 horsepower.
Nitromethane and nitrous oxide are not allowed. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16014 |
Jainism
Jainism (), traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient Indian religion. Followers of Jainism are called "Jains", a word derived from the Sanskrit word "jina", meaning "victor". Jains trace their spiritual ideas and history through a succession of twenty-four leaders or "tirthankaras", with the first being Rishabhanatha, who according to Jain tradition lived millions of years ago, the twenty-third "tirthankara" Parshvanatha in 900 BCE, and the twenty-fourth "tirthankara" the Mahāvīra around 500 BCE. Jains believe that Jainism is an eternal "dharma" with the "tirthankaras" guiding every cycle of the Jain cosmology. Their canonical religious texts are called "Agamas" and "Paramagamas".
The main religious premises of Jainism are "ahiṃsā" (non-violence), "anekāntavāda" (many-sidedness), "aparigraha" (non-attachment) and "asceticism". Devout Jains take five main vows: "ahiṃsā" (non-violence), "satya" (truth), "asteya" (not stealing), "brahmacharya" (sexual continence), and "aparigraha" (non-possessiveness). These principles have affected Jain culture in many ways, such as leading to a predominantly vegetarian lifestyle. "Parasparopagraho Jīvānām" (the function of souls is to help one another) is its motto and the "Ṇamōkāra mantra" is its most common and basic prayer.
Jainism has two major ancient sub-traditions, Digambaras and Śvētāmbaras, with different views on ascetic practices, gender and which texts can be considered canonical; both have mendicants supported by laypersons ("śrāvakas"). The religion has between four and five million followers, mostly in India. Outside India, some of the largest communities are in Canada, Europe, and the United States. Jainism is growing in Japan, where more than 5,000 ethnic Japanese families have converted to Jainism. Major festivals include "Paryushana" and "Daslakshana", "Ashtanika", "Mahavir Janma Kalyanak", and "Dipawali".
Jainism is transtheistic and forecasts that the universe evolves without violating the law of substance dualism, auto executed through the middle ground between the principles of parallelism and interactionism.
"Dravya" means substances or entity in Sanskrit. According to Jain philosophy, the universe is made up of six eternal substances: sentient beings or souls ("jīva"), non-sentient substance or matter ("pudgala"), principle of motion ("dharma"), the principle of rest ("adharma"), space ("ākāśa") and time ("kāla"). The latter five are united as the "ajiva" (the non-living). Jain philosophers distinguish a substance from a body, or thing, by declaring the former a simple indestructible element, while the latter is a compound, made of one or more substances, which can be destroyed.
"Tattva" connotes reality or truth in Jain philosophy, and is the framework for salvation. According to Digambara Jains, there are seven "tattvas": the sentient ("jiva"); the insentient ("ajiva"); the karmic influx to the soul ("Āsrava"); bondage of karmic particles to the soul ("Bandha"); stoppage of karmic particles ("Saṃvara"); wiping away of past karmic particles ("Nirjarā"); and liberation ("Moksha"). Śvētāmbaras add two further "tattvas", namely good karma ("Punya") and bad karma ("Papa"). The true insight in Jain philosophy is considered as "faith in the "tattvas"". The spiritual goal in Jainism is to reach "moksha" for ascetics, but for most Jain laypersons it is to accumulate good karma that leads to better rebirth and a step closer to liberation.
According to Jainism, the existence of "abound and ever changing soul" is a self-evident truth, an axiom which does not need to be proven. It maintains that there are numerous souls, but every one of them has three qualities ("Guṇa"): consciousness ("caitanya", the most important), bliss ("sukha") and vibrational energy ("virya"). It further claims that the vibration draws karmic particles to the soul and creates bondages, but is also what adds merit or demerit to the soul. Jain texts state that souls exist as "clothed with material bodies", where it entirely fills up the body. Karma, as in other Indian religions, connotes in Jainism the universal cause and effect law. However, it is envisioned as a material substance (subtle matter) that can bind to the soul, travel with the soul in bound form between rebirths, and affect the suffering and happiness experienced by the "jiva" in the "lokas". Karma is believed to obscure and obstruct the innate nature and striving of the soul, as well as its spiritual potential in the next rebirth.
The conceptual framework of the Saṃsāra doctrine differs between Jainism and other Indian religions. Soul ("jiva") is accepted as a truth, as in Hinduism but not Buddhism. The cycle of rebirths has a definite beginning and end in Jainism. Jain theosophy asserts that each soul passes through 8,400,000 birth-situations as they circle through "Saṃsāra", going through five types of bodies: earth bodies, water bodies, fire bodies, air bodies and vegetable lives, constantly changing with all human and non-human activities from rainfall to breathing. Harming any life form is a sin in Jainism, with negative karmic effects. Jainism states that souls begin in a primordial state, and either evolve to a higher state or regress if driven by their karma. It further clarifies that "abhavya" (incapable) souls can never attain "moksha" (liberation). It explains that the "abhavya" state is entered after an intentional and shockingly evil act. Souls can be good or evil in Jainism, unlike the nondualism of some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism. According to Jainism, a "Siddha" (liberated soul) has gone beyond "Saṃsāra", is at the apex, is omniscient, and remains there eternally.
Jain texts propound that the universe consists of many eternal "lokas" (realms of existence). As in Buddhism and Hinduism, both time and the universe are eternal, but the universe is transient. The universe, body, matter and time are considered separate from the soul ("jiva"). Their interaction explains life, living, death and rebirth in Jain philosophy. The Jain cosmic universe has three parts, the upper, middle, and lower worlds ("urdhva loka", "madhya loka", and "adho loka"). Jainism states that "Kāla" (time) is without beginning and eternal; the cosmic wheel of time, "kālachakra", rotates ceaselessly. In this part of the universe, it explains, there are six periods of time within two eons ("ara"), and in the first eon the universe generates, and in the next it degenerates. Thus, it divides the worldly cycle of time into two half-cycles, "utsarpiṇī" (ascending, progressive prosperity and happiness) and "avasarpiṇī" (descending, increasing sorrow and immorality). It states that the world is currently in the fifth "ara" of "avasarpiṇī", full of sorrow and religious decline, where the height of living beings shrinks. According to Jainism, after the sixth "ara", the universe will be reawakened in a new cycle.
Jainism is a transtheistic religion, holding that the universe was not created, and will exist forever. It is believed to be independent, having no creator, governor, judge, or destroyer. In this, it is unlike the Abrahamic religions, but similar to Buddhism. However, Jainism believes in the world of gods and hell beings who are born, die and reborn like earthly beings. Jain texts maintain that souls who live happily in the body of a god do so because of their positive karma. It is further stated that they possess a more transcendent knowledge about material things and can anticipate events in the human realms. However, once their past karmic merit is exhausted, it is explained that their souls are reborn again as humans, animals or other beings. In Jainism, perfect souls "with" a body are called "arihant" (victors) and perfect souls "without" a body are called "Siddhas" (liberated souls).
Jain philosophy accepts three reliable means of knowledge ("pramana"). It holds that correct knowledge is based on perception ("pratyaksa"), inference ("anumana") and testimony ("sabda" or the word of scriptures). These ideas are elaborated in Jain texts such as "Tattvarthasūtra", "Parvacanasara", "Nandi" and "Anuyogadvarini". Some Jain texts add analogy ("upamana") as the fourth reliable means, in a manner similar to epistemological theories found in other Indian religions. In Jainism, "jnāna" (knowledge) is said to be of five kinds – "Kevala Jnana" (Omniscience), "Śrutu Jñāna" (Scriptural Knowledge), "Mati Jñāna" (Sensory Knowledge), "Avadhi Jñāna" (Clairvoyance), and "Manah prayāya Jñāna" (Telepathy). According to the Jain text "Tattvartha sūtra", the first two are indirect knowledge and the remaining three are direct knowledge.
According to Jainism, purification of soul and liberation can be achieved through the path of three jewels: "Samyak darśana" (Correct View), meaning faith, acceptance of the truth of soul ("jīva"); "Samyak jnana" (Correct Knowledge), meaning undoubting knowledge of the "tattvas"; and "Samyak charitra" (Correct Conduct), meaning behavior consistent with the Five vows. Jain texts often add "samyak tap" (Correct Asceticism) as a fourth jewel, emphasizing belief in ascetic practices as the means to liberation (moksha). The four jewels are called "moksha marg" (the path of liberation).
The principle of "ahimsa" (non-violence or non-injury) is a fundamental tenet of Jainism. It holds that one must abandon all violent activity and that without such a commitment to non-violence all religious behavior is worthless. In Jain theology, it does not matter how correct or defensible the violence may be, one must not kill or harm any being, and non-violence is the highest religious duty. Jain texts such as "Acaranga Sūtra" and "Tattvarthasūtra" state that one must renounce all killing of living beings, whether tiny or large, movable or immovable. Its theology teaches that one must neither kill another living being, nor cause another to kill, nor consent to any killing directly or indirectly. Furthermore, Jainism emphasizes non-violence against all beings not only in action but also in speech and in thought. It states that instead of hate or violence against anyone, "all living creatures must help each other". Jains believe that violence negatively affects and destroys one's soul, particularly when the violence is done with intent, hate or carelessness, or when one indirectly causes or consents to the killing of a human or non-human living being.
The doctrine exists in Hinduism and Buddhism, but is most highly developed in Jainism. The theological basis of non-violence as the highest religious duty has been interpreted by some Jain scholars not to "be driven by merit from giving or compassion to other creatures, nor a duty to rescue all creatures", but resulting from "continual self-discipline", a cleansing of the soul that leads to one's own spiritual development which ultimately affects one's salvation and release from rebirths. Jains believe that causing injury to any being in any form creates bad karma which affects one's rebirth, future well being and causes suffering.
Late medieval Jain scholars re-examined the "Ahiṃsā" doctrine when faced with external threat or violence. For example, they justified violence by monks to protect nuns. According to Dundas, the Jain scholar Jinadattasuri wrote during a time of Muslim destruction of temples and persecution that "anybody engaged in a religious activity who was forced to fight and kill somebody would not lose any spiritual merit but instead attain deliverance". However, examples in Jain texts that condone fighting and killing under certain circumstances are relatively rare.
The second main principle of Jainism is "anekāntavāda", from "anekānta" ("many-sidedness") and "vada" ("doctrine"). The doctrine states that truth and reality are complex and always have multiple aspects. It further states that reality can be experienced, but cannot be fully expressed with language. It suggests that human attempts to communicate are "Naya", "partial expression of the truth". According to it, one can experience the taste of truth, but cannot fully express that taste through language. It holds that attempts to express experience are "syāt", or valid "in some respect", but remain "perhaps, just one perspective, incomplete". It concludes that in the same way, spiritual truths can be experienced but not fully expressed. It suggests that the great error is belief in "ekānta" (one-sidedness), where some relative truth is treated as absolute. The doctrine is ancient, found in Buddhist texts such as the "Samaññaphala Sutta". The Jain Agamas suggest that Mahāvīra's approach to answering all metaphysical philosophical questions was a "qualified yes" ("syāt"). These texts identify "anekāntavāda" as a key difference from the Buddha's teachings. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, rejecting extremes of the answer "it is" or "it is not" to metaphysical questions. The Mahāvīra, in contrast, taught his followers to accept both "it is", and "it is not", qualified with "perhaps", to understand Absolute Reality. The permanent being is conceptualized as "jiva" (soul) and "ajiva" (matter) within a dualistic "anekāntavāda" framework.
According to Paul Dundas, in contemporary times the "anekāntavāda" doctrine has been interpreted by some Jains as intending to "promote a universal religious tolerance", and a teaching of "plurality" and "benign attitude to other [ethical, religious] positions". Dundas states this is a misreading of historical texts and Mahāvīra's teachings. According to him, the "many pointedness, multiple perspective" teachings of the Mahāvīra is about the nature of absolute reality and human existence. He claims that it is not about condoning activities such as killing animals for food, nor violence against disbelievers or any other living being as "perhaps right". The five vows for Jain monks and nuns, for example, are strict requirements and there is no "perhaps" about them. Similarly, since ancient times, Jainism co-existed with Buddhism and Hinduism according to Dundas, but Jainism disagreed, in specific areas, with the knowledge systems and beliefs of these traditions, and vice versa.
The third main principle in Jainism is "aparigraha" which means non-attachment to worldly possessions. For monks and nuns, Jainism requires a vow of complete non-possession of any property, relations and emotions. The ascetic is a wandering mendicant in the Digambara tradition, or a resident mendicant in the Śvētāmbara tradition. For Jain laypersons, it recommends limited possession of property that has been honestly earned, and giving excess property to charity. According to Natubhai Shah, "aparigraha" applies to both the material and the psychic. Material possessions refer to various forms of property. Psychic possessions refer to emotions, likes and dislikes, and attachments of any form. Unchecked attachment to possessions is said to result in direct harm to one's personality.
Jainism teaches five ethical duties, which it calls five vows. These are called "anuvratas" (small vows) for Jain laypersons, and "mahavratas" (great vows) for Jain mendicants. For both, its moral precepts preface that the Jain has access to a "guru" (teacher, counsellor), "deva" (Jina, god), doctrine, and that the individual is free from five offences: doubts about the faith, indecisiveness about the truths of Jainism, sincere desire for Jain teachings, recognition of fellow Jains, and admiration for their spiritual pursuits. Such a person undertakes the following Five vows of Jainism:
Jainism prescribes seven supplementary vows, including three "guņa vratas" (merit vows) and four "śikşā vratas". The "Sallekhana" (or "Santhara") vow is a "religious death" ritual observed at the end of life, historically by Jain monks and nuns, but rare in the modern age. In this vow, there is voluntary and gradual reduction of food and liquid intake to end one's life by choice and with dispassion, This is believed to reduce negative karma that affects a soul's future rebirths.
Of the major Indian religions, Jainism has had the strongest ascetic tradition. Ascetic life may include nakedness, symbolizing non-possession even of clothes, fasting, body mortification, and penance, to burn away past karma and stop producing new karma, both of which are believed essential for reaching "siddha" and "moksha" ("liberation from rebirths" and "salvation").
Jain texts like "Tattvartha Sūtra" and "Uttaradhyayana Sūtra" discuss austerities in detail. Six outer and six inner practices are oft-repeated in later Jain texts. Outer austerities include complete fasting, eating limited amounts, eating restricted items, abstaining from tasty foods, mortifying the flesh, and guarding the flesh (avoiding anything that is a source of temptation). Inner austerities include expiation, confession, respecting and assisting mendicants, studying, meditation, and ignoring bodily wants in order to abandon the body. Lists of internal and external austerities vary with the text and tradition. Asceticism is viewed as a means to control desires, and to purify the "jiva" (soul). The "tirthankaras" such as the Mahāvīra (Vardhamana) set an example by performing severe austerities for twelve years.
Monastic organization, "sangh", has a four-fold order consisting of "sadhu" (male ascetics, "muni"), "sadhvi" (female ascetics, "aryika"), "śrāvaka" (laymen), and "śrāvikā" (laywomen). The latter two support the ascetics and their monastic organizations called "gacch" or "samuday", in autonomous regional Jain congregations. Jain monastic rules have encouraged the use of mouth cover, as well as the "Dandasan" – a long stick with woolen threads – to gently remove ants and insects that may come in their path.
The practice of non-violence towards all living beings has led to Jain culture being vegetarian. Devout Jains practice lacto-vegetarianism, meaning that they eat no eggs, but accept dairy products if there is no violence against animals during their production. Veganism is encouraged if there are concerns about animal welfare. Jain monks, nuns and some followers avoid root vegetables such as potatoes, onions, and garlic because tiny organisms are injured when the plant is pulled up, and because a bulb or tuber's ability to sprout is seen as characteristic of a higher living being. Jain monks and advanced laypeople avoid eating after sunset, observing a vow of "ratri-bhojana-tyaga-vrata". "Digambara" monks observe a stricter vow by eating only once a day.
Jains fast particularly during festivals. This practice is called "upavasa", "tapasya" or "vrata", and may be practiced according to one's ability. Digambaras fast for "Dasa-laksana-parvan", eating only one or two meals per day, drinking only boiled water for ten days, or fasting completely on the first and last days of the festival, mimicking the practices of a Jain mendicant for the period. Śvētāmbara Jains do similarly in the eight day "paryusana" with "samvatsari-pratikramana". The practice is believed to remove karma from one's soul and provides merit ("punya"). A "one day" fast lasts about 36 hours, starting at sunset before the day of the fast and ending 48 minutes after sunrise the day after. Among laypeople, fasting is more commonly observed by women, as it shows her piety and religious purity, gains merit earning and helps ensure future well-being for her family. Some religious fasts are observed in a social and supportive female group. Long fasts are celebrated by friends and families with special ceremonies.
Jainism considers meditation ("dhyana") a necessary practice, but its goals are very different from those in Buddhism and Hinduism. In Jainism, meditation is concerned more with stopping karmic attachments and activity, not as a means to transformational insights or self-realization in other Indian religions. According to Padmanabh Jaini, "Sāmāyika" is a practice of "brief periods in meditation" in Jainism that is a part of "siksavrata" (ritual restraint). The goal of "Sāmāyika" is to achieve equanimity, and it is the second "siksavrata". The "samayika" ritual is practiced at least three times a day by mendicants, while a layperson includes it with other ritual practices such as "Puja" in a Jain temple and doing charity work. According to Johnson, as well as Jaini, "samayika" connotes more than meditation, and for a Jain householder is the voluntary ritual practice of "assuming temporary ascetic status".
There are many rituals in Jainism's various sects. According to Dundas, the ritualistic lay path among Śvētāmbara Jains is "heavily imbued with ascetic values", where the rituals either revere or celebrate the ascetic life of Tirthankaras, or progressively approach the psychological and physical life of an ascetic. The ultimate ritual is "sallekhana", a religious death through ascetic abandonment of food and drinks. The Digambara Jains follow the same theme, but the life cycle and religious rituals are closer to a Hindu liturgy. The overlap is mainly in the life cycle (rites-of-passage) rituals, and likely developed because Jain and Hindu societies overlapped, and rituals were viewed as necessary and secular.
Jains ritually worship numerous deities, especially the "Jinas". In Jainism a "Jina" as "deva" is not an avatar (incarnation), but the highest state of omniscience that an ascetic "tirthankara" achieved. Out of the 24 Tirthankaras, Jains predominantly worship four: Mahāvīra, Parshvanatha, Neminatha and Rishabhanatha. Among the non-"tirthankara" saints, devotional worship is common for Bahubali among the Digambaras. The "Panch Kalyanaka" rituals remember the five life events of the "tirthankaras", including the "Panch Kalyanaka Pratishtha Mahotsava", "Panch Kalyanaka Puja" and "Snatrapuja".
The basic ritual is "darsana" (seeing) of "deva", which includes Jina, or other yaksas, gods and goddesses such as Brahmadeva, 52 Viras, Padmavati, Ambika and 16 Vidyadevis (including Sarasvati and Lakshmi). Terapanthi Digambaras limit their ritual worship to Tirthankaras. The worship ritual is called "devapuja", and is found in all Jain sub-traditions. Typically, the Jain layperson enters the temple inner sanctum in simple clothing and bare feet with a plate filled with offerings, bows down, says the namaskar, completes his or her litany and prayers, sometimes is assisted by the temple priest, leaves the offerings and then departs.
Jain practices include performing "abhisheka" (ceremonial bath) of the images. Some Jain sects employ a "pujari" (also called "upadhye"), who may be a Hindu, to perform priestly duties at the temple. More elaborate worship includes offerings such as rice, fresh and dry fruits, flowers, coconut, sweets, and money. Some may light up a lamp with camphor and make auspicious marks with sandalwood paste. Devotees also recite Jain texts, particularly the life stories of the tirthankaras.
Traditional Jains, like Buddhists and Hindus, believe in the efficacy of mantras and that certain sounds and words are inherently auspicious, powerful and spiritual. The most famous of the mantras, broadly accepted in various sects of Jainism, is the "five homage" ("panca namaskara") mantra which is believed to be eternal and existent since the first tirthankara's time. Medieval worship practices included making tantric diagrams of the "Rishi-mandala" including the "tirthankaras". The Jain tantric traditions use mantra and rituals that are believed to accrue merit for rebirth realms.
The most important annual Jain festival is called the "Paryushana" by Svetambaras and "Dasa lakshana parva" by the Digambaras. It is celebrated from the 12th day of the waning moon in the traditional lunisolar month of Bhadrapada in the Indian calendar. This typically falls in August or September of the Gregorian calendar. It lasts eight days for Svetambaras, and ten days among the Digambaras. It is a time when lay people fast and pray. The five vows are emphasized during this time. Svetambaras recite the "Kalpasūtras", while Digambaras read their own texts. The festival is an occasion where Jains make active effort to stop cruelty towards other life forms, freeing animals in captivity and preventing the slaughter of animals.
The last day involves a focused prayer and meditation session known as "Samvatsari". Jains consider this a day of atonement, granting forgiveness to others, seeking forgiveness from all living beings, physically or mentally asking for forgiveness and resolving to treat everyone in the world as friends. Forgiveness is asked by saying ""Micchami Dukkadam"" or ""Khamat khamna"" to others. This means, "If I have offended you in any way, knowingly or unknowingly, in thought, word or action, then I seek your forgiveness." The literal meaning of "Paryushana" is "abiding" or "coming together".
Mahavir Janma Kalyanak celebrates the birth of Mahāvīra. It is celebrated on the 13th day of the lunisolar month of Chaitra in the traditional Indian calendar. This typically falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar. The festivities include visiting Jain temples, pilgrimages to shrines, reading Jain texts and processions of Mahāvīra by the community. At his legendary birthplace of Kundagrama in Bihar, north of Patna, special events are held by Jains. Dipawali is observed by Jains as the anniversary of Mahāvīra's attainment of "moksha". The Hindu festival of Diwali is also celebrated on the same date ("Kartika Amavasya"). Jain temples, homes, offices, and shops are decorated with lights and "diyas" (small oil lamps). The lights are symbolic of knowledge or removal of ignorance. Sweets are often distributed. On Diwali morning, "Nirvan Ladoo" is offered after praying to Mahāvīra in all Jain temples across the world. The Jain new year starts right after Diwali. Some other festivals celebrated by Jains are Akshaya Tritiya and Raksha Bandhan, similar to those in the Hindu communities.
The Jain community is divided into two major denominations, Digambara and Śvētāmbara. Monks of the Digambara (sky-clad) tradition do not wear clothes. Female monastics of the Digambara sect wear unstitched plain white sarees and are referred to as "Aryikas". Śvētāmbara (white-clad) monastics, on the other hand, wear seamless white clothes.
During Chandragupta Maurya's reign, Jain tradition states that "Acharya" Bhadrabahu predicted a twelve-year-long famine and moved to Karnataka with his disciples. Sthulabhadra, a pupil of "Acharya" Bhadrabahu, is believed to have stayed in Magadha. Later, as stated in tradition, when followers of "Acharya" Bhadrabahu returned, they found those who had remained at Magadha had started wearing white clothes, which was unacceptable to the others who remained naked. This is how Jains believe the Digambara and Śvētāmbara schism began, with the former being naked while the latter wore white clothes. Digambara saw this as being opposed to the Jain tenet of "aparigraha" which, according to them, required not even possession of clothes, i.e. complete nudity. In the 5th-century CE, the Council of Valabhi was organized by Śvētāmbara, which Digambara did not attend. At the council, the Śvētāmbara adopted the texts they had preserved as canonical scriptures, which Digambara has ever since rejected. This council i believed to have solidified the historic schism between these two major traditions of Jainism. The earliest record of Digambara beliefs is contained in the Prakrit "Suttapahuda" of Kundakunda.
Digambaras and Śvētāmbara differ in their practices and dress code, interpretations of teachings, and on Jain history especially concerning the "tirthankaras". Their monasticism rules differ, as does their iconography. Śvētāmbara has had more female than male mendicants, where Digambara has mostly had male monks and considers males closest to the soul's liberation. The Śvētāmbaras believe that women can also achieve liberation through asceticism and state that the 19th "Tirthankara" Māllīnātha was female, which Digambara rejects.
Excavations at Mathura revealed Jain statues from the time of the Kushan Empire (c.1st century CE). "Tirthankara" represented without clothes, and monks with cloth wrapped around the left arm, are identified as the "Ardhaphalaka" (half-clothed) mentioned in texts. The Yapaniyas, believed to have originated from the "Ardhaphalaka", followed Digambara nudity along with several Śvētāmbara beliefs. In the modern era, according to Flügel, new Jain religious movements that are a "primarily devotional form of Jainism" have developed which resemble "Jain Mahayana" style devotionalism.
Jain canonical scriptures are called "Agamas". They are believed to have been verbally transmitted, much like the ancient Buddhist and Hindu texts, and to have originated from the sermons of the "tirthankaras", whereupon the "Ganadharas" (chief disciples) transmitted them as "Śhrut Jnāna" (heard knowledge). The spoken scriptural language is believed to be "Ardhamagadhi" by the Śvētāmbara Jains, and a form of sonic resonance by the Digambara Jains.
The Śvētāmbaras believe that they have preserved 45 of the 50 original Jain scriptures (having lost an Anga text and four Purva texts), while the Digambaras believe that all were lost, and that Āchārya Bhutabali was the last ascetic who had partial knowledge of the original canon. According to them, Digambara "Āchāryas" recreated the oldest-known Digambara Jain texts, including the four "anuyoga". The Digambara texts partially agree with older Śvētāmbara texts, but there are also gross differences between the texts of the two major Jain traditions. The Digambaras created a secondary canon between 600 and 900 CE, compiling it into four groups or "Vedas": history, cosmography, philosophy and ethics.
The most popular and influential texts of Jainism have been its non-canonical literature. Of these, the "Kalpa Sūtras" are particularly popular among Śvētāmbaras, which they attribute to Bhadrabahu (c. 300 BCE). This ancient scholar is revered in the Digambara tradition, and they believe he led their migration into the ancient south Karnataka region and created their tradition. Śvētāmbaras believe instead that Bhadrabahu moved to Nepal. Both traditions consider his "Niryuktis" and "Samhitas" important. The earliest surviving Sanskrit text by Umaswati, the "Tattvarthasūtra" is considered authoritative by all traditions of Jainism. In the Digambara tradition, the texts written by Kundakunda are highly revered and have been historically influential. Other important Jain texts include: "Samayasara", "Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra", and "Niyamasara".
All three religions share concepts and doctrines such as karma and rebirth, with similar festivals and monastic traditions. They do not believe in eternal heaven or hell or judgment day. They grant the freedom to choose beliefs such as in gods or no-gods, to disagree with core teachings, and to choose whether to participate in prayers, rituals and festivals. They all consider values such as non-violence to be important, link suffering to craving, individual's actions, intents, and karma, and believe spirituality is a means to enlightened peace, bliss and eternal liberation ("moksha").
Jainism differs from both Buddhism and Hinduism in its ontological premises. All believe in impermanence, but Buddhism incorporates the premise of "anatta" ("no eternal self or soul"). Hinduism incorporates an eternal unchanging "atman" ("soul"), while Jainism incorporates an eternal but changing "jiva" ("soul"). In Jain thought, there are infinite eternal "jivas", predominantly in cycles of rebirth, and a few "siddhas" (perfected ones). Unlike Jainism, Hindu philosophies encompass nondualism where all souls are identical as Brahman and posited as interconnected one
While both Hinduism and Jainism believe "soul exists" to be a self-evident truth, most Hindu systems consider it to be eternally present, infinite and constant ("vibhu"), but some Hindu scholars propose soul to be atomic. Hindu thought generally discusses Atman and Brahman through a monistic or dualistic framework. In contrast, Jain thought denies the Hindu metaphysical concept of Brahman, and Jain philosophy considers the soul to be ever changing and bound to the body or matter for each lifetime, thereby having a finite size that infuses the entire body of a living being.
Jainism is similar to Buddhism in not recognizing the primacy of the Vedas and the Hindu Brahman. Jainism and Hinduism, however, both believe "soul exists" as a self-evident truth. Jains and Hindus have frequently intermarried, particularly in northern, central and western regions of India. Some early colonial scholars stated that Jainism like Buddhism was, in part, a rejection of the Hindu caste system, but later scholars consider this a Western error. A caste system not based on birth has been a historic part of Jain society, and Jainism focused on transforming the individual, not society.
Monasticism is similar in all three traditions, with similar rules, hierarchical structure, not traveling during the four-month monsoon season, and celibacy, originating before the Buddha or the Mahāvīra. Jain and Hindu monastic communities have traditionally been more mobile and had an itinerant lifestyle, while Buddhist monks have favored belonging to a "sangha" (monastery) and staying in its premises. Buddhist monastic rules forbid a monk to go outside without wearing the sangha's distinctive ruddy robe, or to use wooden bowls. In contrast, Jain monastic rules have either required nakedness (Digambara) or white clothes (Śvētāmbara), and they have disagreed on the legitimacy of the wooden or empty gourd as the begging bowl by Jain monks.
Jains have similar views with Hindus that violence in self-defence can be justified, and that a soldier who kills enemies in combat is performing a legitimate duty. Jain communities accepted the use of military power for their defence; there were Jain monarchs, military commanders, and soldiers. The Jain and Hindu communities have often been very close and mutually accepting. Some Hindu temples have included a Jain "Tirthankara" within its premises in a place of honour, while temple complexes such as the Badami cave temples and Khajuraho feature both Hindu and Jain monuments.
Jainism has contributed significantly to Indian art and architecture. Jain arts depict life legends of "tirthankara" or other important people, particularly with them in a seated or standing meditative posture. "Yakshas" and "yakshinis", attendant spirits who guard the "tirthankara", are usually shown with them. The earliest known Jain image is in the Patna museum. It is dated approximately to the 3rd century BCE. Bronze images of Pārśva can be seen in the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai, and in the Patna museum; these are dated to the 2nd century BCE.
"Ayagapata" is a type of votive tablet used in Jainism for donation and worship in the early centuries. These tablets are decorated with objects and designs central to Jain worship such as the "stupa", "dharmacakra" and "triratna". They present simultaneous trends or image and symbol worship. Numerous such stone tablets were discovered during excavations at ancient Jain sites like Kankali Tila near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, India. The practice of donating these tablets is documented from 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE. "Samavasarana", a preaching hall of "tirthankaras" with various beings concentrically placed, is an important theme of Jain art.
The Jain tower in Chittor, Rajasthan, is a good example of Jain architecture. Decorated manuscripts are preserved in Jain libraries, containing diagrams from Jain cosmology. Most of the paintings and illustrations depict historical events, known as "Panch Kalyanaka", from the life of the "tirthankara". Rishabha, the first "tirthankara", is usually depicted in either the lotus position or "kayotsarga", the standing position. He is distinguished from other "tirthankara" by the long locks of hair falling to his shoulders. Bull images also appear in his sculptures. In paintings, incidents from his life, like his marriage and Indra marking his forehead, are depicted. Other paintings show him presenting a pottery bowl to his followers; he is also seen painting a house, weaving, and being visited by his mother Marudevi. Each of the twenty-four "tirthankara" is associated with distinctive emblems, which are listed in such texts as "Tiloyapannati", "Kahavaali" and "Pravacanasaarodhara".
A Jain temple, a "Derasar" or "Basadi", is a place of worship. Temples contain "tirthankara" images, some fixed, others moveable. These are stationed in the inner sanctum, one of the two sacred zones, the other being the main hall. One of the images is marked as the "moolnayak" (primary deity). A "manastambha" (column of honor) is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples. Temple construction is considered a meritorious act.
Ancient Jain monuments include the Udaigiri Hills near Bhelsa (Vidisha) in Madhya Pradesh, the Ellora in Maharashtra, the Palitana temples in Gujarat, and the Jain temples at Dilwara Temples near Mount Abu, Rajasthan. Chaumukha temple in Ranakpur is considered one of the most beautiful Jain temples and is famous for its detailed carvings. According to Jain texts, Shikharji is the place where twenty of the twenty-four Jain "Tīrthaṅkaras" along with many other monks attained "moksha" (died without being reborn, with their soul in "Siddhashila"). The Shikharji site in northeastern Jharkhand is therefore a revered pilgrimage site. The Palitana temples are the holiest shrine for the Śvētāmbara Murtipujaka sect. Along with Shikharji the two sites are considered the holiest of all pilgrimage sites by the Jain community. The Jain complex, Khajuraho and Jain Narayana temple are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Shravanabelagola, Saavira Kambada Basadi or "1000 pillars" and Brahma Jinalaya are important Jain centers in Karnataka. In and around Madurai, there are 26 caves, 200 stone beds, 60 inscriptions, and over 100 sculptures.
The 2nd–1st century BCE Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves are rich with carvings of "tirthanakars" and deities with inscriptions including the Elephant Cave inscription. Jain cave temples at Badami, Mangi-Tungi and the Ellora Caves are considered important. The Sittanavasal Cave temple is a fine example of Jain art with an early cave shelter, and a medieval rock-cut temple with excellent fresco paintings comparable to Ajantha. Inside are seventeen stone beds with 2nd century BCE Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions. The 8th century Kazhugumalai temple marks the revival of Jainism in South India.
Jain "Tirtha" (pilgrim) sites are divided into the following categories:
Outside contemporary India, Jain communities built temples in locations such as Nagarparkar, Sindh (Pakistan). However, according to a UNESCO tentative world heritage site application, Nagarparkar was not a "major religious centre or a place of pilgrimage" for Jainism, but it was once an important cultural landscape before "the last remaining Jain community left the area in 1947 at Partition".
Jain sculptures usually depict one of the twenty-four "tīrthaṅkaras"; Parshvanatha, Rishabhanatha and Mahāvīra are among the more popular, often seated in lotus position or "kayotsarga", along with "Arihant", Bahubali, and protector deities like Ambika. Quadruple images are also popular. "Tirthankar" idols look similar, differentiated by their individual symbol, except for Parshvanatha whose head is crowned by a snake. Digambara images are naked without any beautification, whereas Śvētāmbara depictions are clothed and ornamented.
A monolithic, statue of Bahubali, "Gommateshvara", built in 981 CE by the Ganga minister and commander Chavundaraya, is situated on a hilltop in Shravanabelagola in Karnataka. This statue was voted first in the SMS poll Seven Wonders of India conducted by "The Times of India". The tall Statue of Ahiṃsā (depicting Rishabhanatha) was erected in the Nashik district in 2015. Idols are often made in "Ashtadhatu" (literally "eight metals"), namely Akota Bronze, brass, gold, silver, stone monoliths, rock cut, and precious stones.
Jain icons and arts incorporate symbols such as the swastika, "Om", and the "Ashtamangala". In Jainism, "Om" is a condensed reference to the initials "A-A-A-U-M" of the five parameshthis: ""Arihant", "Ashiri", "Acharya", "Upajjhaya", "Muni"", or the five lines of the "Ṇamōkāra" Mantra. The "Ashtamangala" is a set of eight auspicious symbols: in the Digambara tradition, these are Chatra, "Dhvaja", "Kalasha", Fly-whisk, Mirror, Chair, Hand fan and Vessel. In the Śvētāmbar tradition, they are Swastika, "Srivatsa", "Nandavarta", "Vardhmanaka" (food vessel), "Bhadrasana" (seat), "Kalasha" (pot), "Darpan" (mirror) and pair of fish.
The hand with a wheel on the palm symbolizes "ahimsā". The wheel represents the "dharmachakra", which stands for the resolve to halt the "saṃsāra" (wandering) through the relentless pursuit of "ahimsā". The five colours of the Jain flag represent the "Pañca-Parameṣṭhi" and the five vows. The swastika's four arms symbolise the four realms in which rebirth occurs according to Jainism: humans, heavenly beings, hellish beings and non-humans. The three dots on the top represent the three jewels mentioned in ancient texts: correct faith, correct understanding and correct conduct, believed to lead to spiritual perfection.
In 1974, on the 2500th anniversary of the nirvana of Mahāvīra, the Jain community chose a single combined image for Jainism. It depicts the three "lokas", heaven, the human world and hell. The semi-circular topmost portion symbolizes "Siddhashila", a zone beyond the three realms. The Jain swastika and the symbol of "Ahiṃsā" are included, with the Jain mantra "Parasparopagraho Jīvānām" from sūtra 5.21 of Umaswati's "Tattvarthasūtra", meaning "souls render service to one another".
Jainism is an ancient Indian religion of obscure origins. Jains claim it to be eternal, and consider the first "tirthankara" Rishabhanatha as its earthly founder. Scholars have conjectured without reliable evidence that images such as those of the bull in Indus Valley Civilization seal are related to Jainism. It is one of the "Śramaṇa" traditions of ancient India, those that rejected the Vedas, and according to the philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, it existed before them.
According to historians, the first 22 "tirthankaras" were mythical. The 23rd, Parshvanatha, is based on a historic person, possibly of the eighth to sixth century BCE. Mahāvīra is considered a contemporary of the Buddha, in around the 5th century BCE. The interaction between the two religions began with the Buddha; later, they competed for followers and the merchant trade networks that sustained them. Buddhist and Jain texts sometimes have the same or similar titles but present different doctrines.
Jains consider the kings Bimbisara (c. 558–491 BCE), Ajatashatru (c. 492–460 BCE), and Udayin (c. 460–440 BCE) of the Haryanka dynasty as patrons of Jainism. Jain tradition states that Chandragupta Maurya (322–298 BCE), the founder of the Mauryan Empire and grandfather of Ashoka, became a monk and disciple of Jain ascetic Bhadrabahu in the later part of his life. Jain texts state that he died intentionally at Shravanabelagola by fasting. Versions of Chandragupta's story appear in Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu texts.
The 3rd century BCE emperor Ashoka, in his pillar edicts, mentions the "Niganthas" (Jains). "Tirthankara" statues date back to the second century BC. Archeological evidence suggests that Mathura was an important Jain center from the 2nd century BCE onwards. Inscriptions from as early as the 1st century CE already show the schism between Digambara and Śvētāmbara. There is inscriptional evidence for the presence of Jain monks in south India by the second or first centuries BC, and archaeological evidence of Jain monks in Saurashtra in Gujarat by the second century CE.
Royal patronage has been a key factor in the growth and decline of Jainism. In the second half of the 1st century CE, Hindu kings of the Rashtrakuta dynasty sponsored major Jain cave temples. King Harshavardhana of the 7th century championed Jainism, Buddhism and all traditions of Hinduism. The Pallava King Mahendravarman I (600–630 CE) converted from Jainism to Shaivism. His work "Mattavilasa Prahasana" ridicules certain Shaiva sects and the Buddhists and expresses contempt for Jain ascetics. The Yadava dynasty built many temples at the Ellora Caves between 700 and 1000 CE. King Āma of the 8th century converted to Jainism, and the Jain pilgrimage tradition was well established in his era. Mularaja (10th century CE), the founder of the Chalukya dynasty, constructed a Jain temple, even though he was not a Jain. During the 11th century, Basava, a minister to the Jain Kalachuri king Bijjala, converted many Jains to the Lingayat Shaivite sect. The Lingayats destroyed Jain temples and adapted them to their use. The Hoysala King Vishnuvardhana (c. 1108–1152 CE) became a Vaishnavite under the influence of Ramanuja, and Vaishnavism then grew rapidly in what is now Karnataka.
Jainism faced persecution during and after the Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent. Muslims rulers, such as Mahmud Ghazni (1001), Mohammad Ghori (1175) and Ala-ud-din Muhammed Shah Khalji (1298) further oppressed the Jain community. They vandalised idols and destroyed temples or converted them into mosques. They also burned Jain books and killed Jains. There were significant exceptions, such as Emperor Akbar (15421605) whose legendary religious tolerance, out of respect for Jains, ordered the release of caged birds and banned the killing of animals on the Jain festival of Paryusan. After Akbar, Jains faced an intense period of Muslim persecution in the 17th century. The Jain community were the traditional bankers and financiers, and this significantly impacted the Muslim rulers. However, they rarely were a part of the political power during the Islamic rule period of the Indian subcontinent.
Colonial era reports and Christian missions variously viewed Jainism as a sect of Hinduism, a sect of Buddhism, or a distinct religion. Christian missionaries were frustrated at Jain people without pagan creator gods refusing to convert to Christianity, while colonial era Jain scholars such as Champat Rai Jain defended Jainism against criticism and misrepresentation by Christian activists. Missionaries of Christianity and Islam considered Jain traditions idolatrous and superstitious. These criticisms, states John E. Cort, were flawed and ignored similar practices within sects of Christianity.
The British colonial government in India and Indian princely states passed laws that made roaming naked an arrestable crime, particularly impacting Digambara monks. The Akhil Bharatiya Jain Samaj opposed this law, arguing that it interfered with Jain religious rights. Acharya Shantisagar entered Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1927, but was forced to cover his body. He then led an India-wide tour as the naked monk with his followers, to various Digambara sacred sites, and was welcomed by kings of the Maharashtra provinces. Shantisagar fasted to oppose the restrictions imposed on Digambara monks by the British Raj and prompted their discontinuance. The laws were abolished by India after independence.
Chandanaji became the first Jain woman to receive the title of Acharya in 1987.
Followers of Jainism are called "Jains", a word derived from the Sanskrit "jina" (victor), which means an omniscient person who teaches the path of salvation. The majority of Jains currently reside in India. With four to five million followers worldwide, Jainism is small compared to major world religions. Jains form 0.37% of India's population, mostly in the states of Maharashtra (1.4 million in 2011, 31.46% of Indian Jains), Rajasthan (13.97%), Gujarat (13.02%) and Madhya Pradesh (12.74%). Karnataka (9.89%), Uttar Pradesh (4.79%), Delhi (3.73%) and Tamil Nadu (2.01%) also have significant Jain populations. Outside India, Jain communities can be found in Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and Kenya. Jainism is also spreading rapidly in Japan, where there are more than 5,000 families who have converted to Jainism.
According to the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-4) conducted in 2015–16, Jains form the wealthiest community in India. Jains have the highest literacy rate (87%) in India, in the 7-years to oldest age group, according to its 2011 census, and the most college graduates. Excluding the retired, Jain literacy in India exceeded 97%. The female to male child sex ratio in the 0–6 year age was second lowest for Jains (870 girls per 1,000 boys), higher than Sikhs in India. Jain males have the highest work participation rates in India, while Jain females have the lowest.
Jainism has been praised for some of its practices and beliefs. The leader of the campaign for Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi, greatly influenced by Jainism, said: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16016 |
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and radical feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as "How to Suppress Women's Writing", as well as a contemporary novel, "On Strike Against God", and one children's book, "Kittatinny". She is best known for "The Female Man", a novel combining utopian fiction and satire, and the story "When It Changed".
Joanna Russ was born in The Bronx, New York City, to Evarett I. and Bertha (née Zinner) Russ, both teachers. Her family was Jewish. She began creating works of fiction at a very early age. Over the following years she filled countless notebooks with stories, poems, comics and illustrations, often hand-binding the material with thread.
As a senior at William Howard Taft High School, Russ was selected as one of the top ten Westinghouse Science Talent Search winners. She graduated from Cornell University, where she studied with Vladimir Nabokov, in 1957, and received her MFA from the Yale Drama School in 1960. She was briefly married to Albert Amateau. After teaching at Cornell and SUNY Binghamton, she became a full professor at the University of Washington.
Russ came to be noticed in the science fiction world in the late 1960s, in particular for her award-nominated novel "Picnic on Paradise." At the time, SF was a field dominated by male authors, writing for a predominantly male audience, but women were starting to enter the field in larger numbers. Russ was one of the most outspoken female authors to challenge male dominance of the field, and is generally regarded as one of the leading feminist science fiction scholars and writers. She was also one of the first major science fiction writers to take slash fiction and its cultural and literary implications seriously. Over the course of her life, she published over fifty short stories. Russ was associated with the American New Wave of science fiction.
Along with her work as a writer of prose fiction, Russ was also a playwright, essayist, and author of nonfiction works, generally literary criticism and feminist theory, including the essay collection "Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans & Perverts"; "How to Suppress Women's Writing"; and the book-length study of modern feminism, "What Are We Fighting For?". Her essays and articles have been published in "Women's Studies Quarterly", "Signs", "Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies", "Science Fiction Studies", and "College English". Russ was a self-described socialist feminist, expressing particular admiration for the work and theories of Clara Fraser and her Freedom Socialist Party. Both fiction and nonfiction, for Russ, were modes of engaging theory with the real world; in particular, "The Female Man" can be read as a theoretical or narrative text. The short story, "When It Changed," which became a part of the novel, explores the constraints of gender and asks if gender is necessary in a society.
Russ's writing is characterized by anger interspersed with humor and irony. James Tiptree Jr, in a letter to her, wrote, "Do you imagine that anyone with half a functional neuron can read your work and not have his fingers smoked by the bitter, multi-layered anger in it? It smells and smoulders like a volcano buried so long and deadly it is just beginning to wonder if it can explode." In a letter to Susan Koppelman, Russ asks of a young feminist critic "where is her anger?" and adds "I think from now on, I will not trust anyone who isn't angry."
For nearly 15 years she was an influential (if intermittent) review columnist for "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction". Though by then she was no longer an active member of science fiction fandom, she was interviewed by phone during Wiscon (the feminist science fiction convention in Madison, Wisconsin) in 2006 by her friend and member of the same cohort, Samuel R. Delany.
Her first SF story was "Nor Custom Stale" in F&SF (1959). Notable short works include Hugo winner and Nebula Award finalist "Souls" (1982), Nebula Award and Tiptree Award winner "When It Changed" (1972), Nebula Award finalists "The Second Inquisition" (1970), "Poor Man, Beggar Man" (1971), "The Extraordinary Voyages of Amélie Bertrand" (1979), and "The Mystery of the Young Gentlemen" (1982). Her fiction has been nominated for nine Nebula and three Hugo Awards, and her genre-related scholarly work was recognized with a Pilgrim Award in 1988. Her story "The Autobiography of My Mother" was one of the 1977 O. Henry Prize stories.
She wrote several contributions to feminist thinking about pornography and sexuality including "Pornography by Women, for Women, with Love" (1985), "Pornography and the Doubleness of Sex for Women", and "Being Against Pornography", which can be found in her archival pieces located in the University of Oregon's Special Collections.
These essays include very detailed descriptions of her views on pornography and how influential it was to feminist thought in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Specifically, in "Being Against Pornography", she calls pornography a feminist issue. She sees pornography to be the essence of evil in society, calling it "a monolithic, easily recognizable, uniquely evil essence; and at the same time, commercially available, explicit, sexual fantasy." Her issues with pornography range from feminist issues, to women's sexuality in general and how porn prevents women from freely express their sexual selves, like men can. Russ believed that anti-pornography activists were not addressing how women experienced pornography created by men, a topic that she addressed in "Being Against Pornography".
Her work is widely taught in courses on science fiction and feminism throughout the English speaking world. Russ is the subject of Farah Mendlesohn's book "On Joanna Russ" and Jeanne Cortiel's "Demand My Writing: Joanna Russ, Feminism, Science Fiction". Russ and her work are prominently featured in Sarah LeFanu's" In the Chinks of the World Machine: Feminism and Science Fiction" (1988). She was named to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2013.
Gwyneth Jones wrote a 2019 book about Joanna Russ that was part of the University of Illinois Press series called Modern Masters of Science Fiction.
Her papers are part of the University of Oregon's Special Collections and University Archives.
The late 1960s and 1970s marked the beginnings of feminist SF scholarship—a field of inquiry that was all but created single-handedly by Russ, who contributed many essays on feminism and science fiction that appeared in journals such as "College English" and "Science Fiction Studies". She also contributed 25 reviews to the "Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction", covering more than 100 books of all genres. In their article "Learning the 'Prophet Business': The Merril-Russ Intersection," Newell and Tallentire described Russ as an "intelligent, tough-minded reviewer who routinely tempered harsh criticism with just the sort of faint praise she handed out to Judith Merril", who in turn was among the foremost editors and critics in American science fiction in the late 1960s. Russ was also described as a fearless, incisive, and radical person, whose writing was often characterized as acerbic and angry.
Russ was acclaimed as one of science fiction's most revolutionary and accomplished writers. Helen Merrick went so far as to claim that Russ was an inescapable figure in science fiction history. James Tiptree, Jr. once commented on how Russ could be an "absolute delight" one minute, but then she "rushes out and bites my ankles with one sentence". For example, Russ criticized Ursula K. Le Guin's 1969 "The Left Hand of Darkness", which won both the 1969 Nebula and 1970 Hugo awards for best science fiction novel, arguing that gender discriminations that permeated science fiction by men showed up just as frequently in science fiction by women. According to Russ, Le Guin's novel represented these stereotypes.
However, Russ was well aware of the pressures of writing for a living since she was also an author herself. Russ also felt that science fiction gives something to its readers that cannot be easily acquired anywhere else. She maintained that science should be accurate, and seriousness is a virtue. She insisted on the unique qualities of her chosen genre, maintaining that science fiction shared certain qualities with art and its flexibility compared to other forms writing. Russ was also interested in demonstrating the unique potentials of women science fiction writers. As her career moved into its second decade in the 1980s, she started to worry about reviewing standards. She once said, "The reviewer's hardest task is to define standards."
Russ's reviewing style was characterized by anger. She was attacked by readers because of her harsh reviews of Stephen R. Donaldson's "Lord Foul's Bane" (1977) and Joy Chant's "The Grey Mane of Morning" (1977). She organized attacks into these seven categories, taken directly from the cited article:
However, she felt guilty about dire and frank criticism. She apologized for her harsh words on Lloyd Biggle's "The Light That Never Was" (1972) by saying, "It's narsty to beat up on authors who are probably starving to death on turnip soup (ghoti soup) but critics ought to be honest."
Later in life, Russ came out as a lesbian, but as late as a December 1981 interview with Charles Platt, she was still evasive on the subject.
In her later life she published little, largely due to chronic pain and chronic fatigue syndrome.
On April 27, 2011, it was reported that Russ had been admitted to a hospice after suffering a series of strokes. Samuel R. Delany was quoted as saying that Russ was "slipping away" and had long had a "do not resuscitate" order on file. She died early in the morning on April 29, 2011. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16017 |
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approximately west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. Jackson is the core city of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Jackson County and population of 160,248.
Founded in 1829, it was named after President Andrew Jackson. Michigan's first prison, Michigan State Prison (or Jackson State Prison), opened in Jackson in 1838 and remains in operation. For the longest time, the city was known as the "birthplace of the Republican Party" when politicians met in Jackson in 1854 to argue against the expansion of slavery, although the political party now formally recognizes its birthplace as being Ripon, Wisconsin. Nevertheless, the Republican Party's earliest history dates back to Jackson and is commemorated by a plaque in the city's Under the Oaks City Park, which has since been visited by numerous Republican presidents.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Jackson became an early automotive manufacturing center that attracted southerners and immigrants to the city's numerous factories, which saw its population increase significantly.
On July 3, 1829, Horace Blackman, accompanied by Alexander Laverty, a land surveyor, and "Pewytum", an Indian guide, forded the Grand River and made camp for the night at a site now marked as Trail and N. Jackson Street. They arrived there along a well-traveled Native American trail leading west from Ann Arbor. Blackman had hired Laverty and Pewytum to guide him west. Returning to Ann Arbor and Monroe, Blackman registered his claim for at two dollars an acre.
He returned to the Jackson area in August 1829 with his brother Russell. Together they cleared land and built a cabin at what would become the corner of Ingham and Trail streets. The town was first called Jacksonopolis. Later, it was renamed Jacksonburgh. Finally in 1838, the town's name was changed to simply Jackson.
Jackson is one of the birthplaces of the Republican Party. The first official meeting of the group that called itself "Republican" was held in Jackson on July 6, 1854. A Michigan historical marker at what is now the northwest corner of Second and Franklin streets in Jackson commemorates an anti-slavery county convention held that day. Meeting outside to avoid a hot, overcrowded hall, the group ultimately selected a slate of candidates for state elections. The marker identifies this as the birth of the Republican Party. The site, an oak grove on "Morgan's Forty", then on the outskirts of town, became known as "Under the Oaks".
Before Detroit began building cars on assembly lines in 1910, Jackson factories were making parts for cars and putting them together. By 1910, the auto industry had become Jackson's main industry. More than 20 different brands of cars were once made in Jackson, including: Reeves, Jaxon, Jackson, CarterCar, Orlo, Whiting, Butcher and Gage; Buick, Janney, Globe, Steel Swallow, C.V.I., Imperial, Ames-Dean, Cutting, Standard Electric, Duck, Briscoe, Argo, Hollier, Hackett, Marion-Handly, Gem, Earl, Wolverine, and Kaiser-Darrin.
Ye Ole Carriage Shop in Spring Arbor displays more than 60 antique and classic cars, including five one-and-onlys and 16 made in Jackson. One of these is a 1902 JAXON. Today the auto parts industry remains one of the largest employers of skilled machine operators in Jackson County. The city was also an early site for the moped parts industry.
In 1914 George Todoroff founded the first "Coney Island restaurant" and created his famous Coney Island hot dog topping. His Coney Island restaurant was located directly in front of the railroad station on East Michigan Avenue and was open 24 hours. The restaurant proved to be a popular dining option for rail passengers. Over the course of 31 years, Todoroff sold more than 17 million Coney Island hot dogs. Today two Coney Island restaurants unaffiliated with Todoroff's are located in a building near the train station on East Michigan Avenue, Virginia Coney Island and Jackson Coney Island. In addition, several area restaurants throughout the Jackson area offer their own version of the Coney Island hot dog, or just "coney" as referred to by local residents. Jackson's version of the coney dog is distinctly different from those featured in Detroit-area Coney Island restaurants or other Coney Island restaurants throughout Michigan and the Midwest. In 2014 Todoroff's Coney Island celebrated its centenary.
The legislature authorized Michigan's first state prison in 1838. A temporary wooden prison, enclosed by a fence of tamarack poles, was built on 60 acres donated for that purpose inside the city limits of Jackson. In 1839 the first 35 prisoners were received. A permanent prison was built three years later.
Beginning in the 1850s, Warden H.F. Hatch placed more emphasis on the education and rehabilitation of prisoners. By 1882, Michigan's First State Prison (1838–1934) had developed as the largest walled prison in the world. Within its walls, the factories and surrounding farms, manned by cheap inmate labor, made Jackson one of the leading industrial cities in the nation. In 1934 a new prison was completed just north of Jackson's city limit in Blackman Township; it took all of the state prisoners.
The historic building is now used as an artists' resident community, known as the Armory Arts Village. Tours of the original prison site on Cooper Street are available through the Original Jackson Historic Prison Tours. A closed, fully intact cell block at the modern prison in Blackman Township is now operated as the Cell Block 7 Prison Museum. Independently operated by the accredited Ella Sharp Museum, this is the only museum where visitors can enter a closed cell block on the grounds of an active prison for a self-guided tour.
Numerous railroad connections were constructed to Jackson, connecting it to many markets. The local invention of the duplex corset by Bortree helped make Jackson a center of corset manufacturing. By the early 20th century, as many as 16 manufacturers of women's corsets operated here; the majority of which were located on Cortland and Pearl streets. As elastics were adopted in manufacturing and fashions changed, the corset industry quickly declined. The majority of the corset manufacturers in Jackson closed their doors by 1920. Only three of the original corset companies survived past the 1920s, by changing their production to therapeutic and prosthetic support garments and devices.
"The First"
Moses Bortree founded the Bortree Corset Company, the first corset manufacturer outside of New York, in 1868 at 112 W. Cortland. Founded to make crinoline skirts and bustles (hoop skirts!), they began manufacturing Bortree's newest creation, the Duplex Corset, in 1875. Within five years, production rose from 50,000 to 300,000 corsets per year.
"The Biggest"
Founded in 1884, the Jackson Corset Co. became the largest manufacturer of corset and waist garments in the US. Located at 209-215 W. Cortland St., they employed almost 300 people by 1895.
"Woman-Owned"
The Coronet Corset Manufactory opened in 1880 at 146 W. Main St. and later moved to 131-133 W. Pearl St. Coronet had the distinction of being run by the first and only female president, Mrs. C.A. McGee, who invented and patented the Coronet Corset.
Sources: "The History of Business and Industry in Jackson, Michigan" by the Ella Sharp Museum, 1993 (available at Jackson District Library) and recent "Jackson Citizen Patriot" stories (available at http://www.mlive.com/jackson/).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (1.09%) is water.
Restructuring in heavy industry in the mid-20th century caused a decline in jobs and population in many industrial cities, including Jackson. There are three major private employers in the city. CMS Energy provides natural gas and electrical services to much of Michigan and has its international headquarters in the city. The next two major employers are Allegiance Health (formerly Foote Hospital) and the Eaton Corporation.
Michigan Automotive Compressor, Inc. (MACI) is the largest manufacturer in Jackson County and its fourth-largest individual employer. In February 2009 it began offering voluntary buyouts to its workers, in reaction to the slowing economy during the financial crisis.
Jackson Flexible Products, just outside the city, has been one of North America's premier custom-molded rubber specialists since 1969. The company employs over 35 people, providing components for the aerospace, automotive and defense industries.
As noted above in the History section, Jackson's state prison complex includes the first state prison building, which was expanded and became known as the largest walled prison in the world. Portions of the prison complex closed in 2007, including the Annex of the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center Annex (RGC) and the Southern Michigan Correctional Facility (JMF). One of the closed cell blocks at JMF has been adapted and re-opened as the Cell Block 7 Prison Museum.
The other facilities in the complex, including two in the old walled building, remain open: the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility (JCF), the Cooper Street Correctional Facility (JCS), the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center (RGC), and the Parnall Correctional Facility (SMT).
The city levies an income tax of 1 percent on residents and 0.5 percent on nonresidents.
Federally, Jackson is located in Michigan's 7th congressional district, represented by Republican Tim Walberg.
Jackson is served by Jackson Public Schools. The Jackson urbanized area is home to approximately 16 elementary public schools, as well as about 16 private or parochial schools. It also has a large public middle school (The Middle School at Parkside). It has nine high schools: the public Jackson High School, East Jackson Secondary School (Public), Jackson County Western High School, and Northwest High School, T. A. Wilson Academy, Napoleon High School, and Vandercook Lake High School; and the private DaVinci Institute (Charter), Jackson Preparatory and Early College (Charter), and Jackson Christian School (Non-Denom), and Lumen Christi Catholic School (Catholic).
There is adult and higher education as well: Jackson College (formerly Jackson Community College), Baker College, Career Quest Learning Centers, and Spring Arbor University. An additional 15 higher education institutions are within one hour of Jackson County.
As of the census of 2010, there were 33,534 people, 13,294 households, and 7,872 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 15,457 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 71.4% White, 20.4% African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 5.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.3% of the population.
There were 13,294 households, of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.7% were married couples living together, 22.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.8% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.14.
The median age in the city was 32.2 years. 28.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.7% were from 25 to 44; 23.1% were from 45 to 64; and 10.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.7% male and 52.3% female.
As of the census of 2000, there were 36,316 people, 14,210 households, and 8,668 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 15,241 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 73.87% White, 19.70% Black or African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.65% from other races, and 3.67% from two or more races. 4.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 14,210 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.8% were married couples living together, 19.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.7% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,294, and the median income for a family was $39,072. Males had a median income of $31,957 versus $23,817 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,230. About 15.2% of families and 19.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.9% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.
Jackson has a number of notable historic churches, several of which were established prior to the American Civil War. The First Baptist Church was established in 1839; the present building, a Romanesque Revival structure, was dedicated in March 1872. The First Congregational Church is housed in a monumental Romanesque Revival building constructed in 1859. A basement was added after the structure had been in operation for several years. In 1871 the building was raised eight feet to accommodate lower-level classrooms. Its congregation has actively participated in local social reform efforts, becoming part of the antislavery movement in the 1840s and later supporting the temperance and the civil rights movement. St. Paul's Episcopal Church was also founded in 1839. The congregation's first church building, constructed in 1840, was replaced by a Romanesque Revival building in 1853; it is one of the oldest Episcopal Church structures in southern Michigan.
Constructed in 1857, St. John's the Evangelist Church is the oldest Roman Catholic church in the city. It was established as a mission in 1836 to serve a congregation that was originally predominately Irish immigrants. Given the following waves of Catholic immigrants from other countries, its congregation today is more diverse. St. Mary Star of the Sea was established in 1881 as Jackson's second Catholic church. The present building, a limestone Romanesque structure built between 1923 and 1926, incorporates elements of the parish's first church as well as stained glass windows, marble altars and communion rails imported from Italy and Austria. The first and only Eastern Orthodox Church is St. Demetrius Orthodox Church, founded in 1958. Among the modern churches in the town is Westwinds Community Church, a non-denominational, evangelical Christian church.
Late 19th-century immigrants included Jews from Germany and eastern Europe. Jackson is home to Temple Beth Israel, a Reform synagogue founded in 1862 by German Jewish immigrants.
From the late nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth century, Jackson was a major railway hub and for over a century has been known as the crossroads of Michigan. Today the Michigan Central Railroad Jackson Depot on East Michigan Avenue is the nation's oldest train station in continuous active use. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Jackson, operating its Wolverine three times daily in each direction between Chicago and Pontiac, Michigan, via Detroit. Baggage cannot be checked at this location; however, up to two suitcases, in addition to any "personal items" such as briefcases, purses, laptop bags, and infant equipment, are allowed on board as carry-ons.
Jackson and Lansing Railroad (JAIL) owns a line from Jackson to Lansing, Michigan. Norfolk Southern (NS) owns a yard in Jackson as well.
The junction of I-94 and US 127 was built at Jackson.
Reynolds Field at Jackson County Airport is the main airport for the city. It hosted commercial service, primarily under the North Central Airlines banner, until 1984. With the "Blue Goose" aircraft now gone, the airport today operates as a general aviation facility. The 700-acre airport, equipped with an ILS system, is located just south of I-94 ( Airport Road exit #137). More than 100 general aviation aircraft are housed here, ranging from single-engine planes to business/corporate jet aircraft.
The Airport is home to many related businesses, including the Jackson College Flight School, a restaurant, bar, and car rental. The Jackson Blues Festival is held here annually in June.
Jackson Area Transportation Authority operates ten routes Monday through Saturday out of a central station located downtown. Greyhound Lines provides service from the JATA station. In addition to the publicly funded JATA, there are four private taxicab companies operating in town.
The City of Jackson Parks and Recreation Department includes:
Some of the parks include:
This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Jackson has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16020 |
John Irving
John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter.
Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of "The World According to Garp" in 1978. Many of Irving's novels, including "The Cider House Rules" (1985), "A Prayer for Owen Meany" (1989), and "A Widow for One Year" (1998) have been bestsellers. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in the 72nd Academy Awards (1999) for his script of "The Cider House Rules".
Five of his novels have been adapted into films ("Garp", "Hotel", "Meany", "Cider", "Widow"). Several of Irving's books ("Garp", "Meany", "Widow") and short stories have been set in and around Phillips Exeter Academy in the town of Exeter, New Hampshire.
Irving was born John Wallace Blunt, Jr. in Exeter, New Hampshire, the son of Helen Frances (née Winslow) and John Wallace Blunt, Sr., a writer and executive recruiter; but the couple separated during pregnancy. Irving grew up in Exeter with a stepfather, Colin Franklin Newell Irving, who was a Phillips Exeter Academy faculty member. His uncle, Hammy Bissell, was also part of the faculty. John Irving was in the Phillips Exeter wrestling program as a student athlete and as an assistant coach, and wrestling features prominently in his books, stories, and life. While a student at Exeter, Irving was taught by author and Christian theologian Frederick Buechner, whom he quoted in an epigraph in "A Prayer for Owen Meany".
Irving's biological father, whom he never met, had been a pilot in the Army Air Forces and, during World War II, was shot down over Burma in July 1943, but somehow survived. (The incident was incorporated into his novel "The Cider House Rules".) Irving did not find out about his father's heroism until 1981, when he was almost 40 years old.
Irving's career began at the age of 26 with the publication of his first novel, "Setting Free the Bears" (1968). The novel was reasonably well reviewed but failed to gain a large readership. In the late 1960s, he studied with Kurt Vonnegut at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. His second and third novels, "The Water-Method Man" (1972) and "The 158-Pound Marriage" (1974), were similarly received. In 1975, Irving accepted a position as assistant professor of English at Mount Holyoke College.
Frustrated at the lack of promotion his novels were receiving from his first publisher, Random House, Irving offered his fourth novel, "The World According to Garp" (1978), to Dutton, which promised him stronger commitment to marketing. The novel became an international bestseller and cultural phenomenon. It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1979 (which ultimately went to Tim O'Brien for "Going After Cacciato") and its first paperback edition won the Award the next year. "Garp" was later made into a film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Robin Williams in the title role and Glenn Close as his mother; it garnered several Academy Award nominations, including nominations for Close and John Lithgow. Irving makes a brief Cameo appearance in the film as an official in one of Garp's high school wrestling matches.
"Garp" transformed Irving from an obscure, academic literary writer to a household name, and his subsequent books were bestsellers. The next was "The Hotel New Hampshire" (1981), which sold well despite mixed reviews from critics. Like "Garp", the novel was quickly made into a film, this time directed by Tony Richardson and starring Jodie Foster, Rob Lowe, and Beau Bridges. "Interior Space", a short story originally published in "Fiction" magazine in 1980, later appeared in the 1981 O. Henry Prize Stories collection.
In 1985, Irving published "The Cider House Rules". An epic set in a Maine orphanage, the novel's central topic is abortion. Many drew parallels between the novel and Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" (1838). Irving's next novel was "A Prayer for Owen Meany" (1989), another New England family epic about religion set in a New England boarding school and in Toronto, Ontario. The novel was influenced by "The Tin Drum" (1959) by Günter Grass, and the plot contains further allusions to "The Scarlet Letter" (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the works of Dickens. In "Owen Meany," Irving for the first time examined the consequences of the Vietnam War—particularly mandatory conscription, which Irving avoided because he was a married father when of age for the draft. "Owen Meany" became Irving's best selling book since "Garp."
Irving returned to Random House for his next book, "A Son of the Circus" (1995). Arguably his most complicated and difficult book, and a departure from many of the themes and location settings in his previous novels, it was dismissed by critics but became a national bestseller on the strength of Irving's reputation for fashioning literate, engrossing page-turners. Irving returned in 1998 with "A Widow for One Year", which was named a "New York Times" Notable Book.
In 1999, after nearly 10 years in development, Irving's screenplay for "The Cider House Rules" was made into a film directed by Lasse Hallström, starring Michael Caine, Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Delroy Lindo. Irving also made a cameo appearance as the disapproving stationmaster. The film was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and earned Irving an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Soon afterward, Irving wrote "My Movie Business", a memoir about his involvement in creating the film version of "The Cider House Rules". After its publication in 1999, Irving appeared on the CBC Television program "Hot Type" to promote the book. During the interview, Irving criticized bestselling American author Tom Wolfe, saying Wolfe "can't write", and that Wolfe's writing makes Irving gag. Wolfe appeared on "Hot Type" later that year, calling Irving, Norman Mailer, and John Updike his "three stooges" who were panicked by his newest novel, "A Man in Full" (1998).
Irving's 10th book, "The Fourth Hand" (2001), also became a bestseller. In 2004, "A Sound Like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound", a children's picture book originally included in "A Widow for One Year", was published with illustrations by Tatjana Hauptmann. Irving's 11th novel, "Until I Find You", was released on July 12, 2005.
On June 28, 2005, "The New York Times" published an article revealing that "Until I Find You" (2005) contains two specifically personal elements about his life that he had never before discussed publicly: his sexual abuse at age 11 by an older woman, and the recent entrance in his life of his biological father's family.
In his 12th novel, "Last Night in Twisted River", published in 2009, Irving's central character is a novelist with, as critic Boyd Tonkin puts it, "a career that teasingly follows Irving's own".
Irving has had four novels reach number one on the bestseller list of "The New York Times": "The Hotel New Hampshire" (September 27, 1981), which stayed number one for seven weeks, and was in the top 15 for over 27 weeks; "The Cider House Rules" (June 16, 1985); "A Widow for One Year" (June 14, 1998); and "The Fourth Hand" (July 29, 2001).
Since the publication of "Garp" made him independently wealthy, Irving has sporadically accepted short-term teaching positions (including one at his "alma mater", the Iowa Writers' Workshop) and served as an assistant coach on his sons' high school wrestling teams. (Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as an "Outstanding American" in 1992.) In addition to his novels, he has also published "Trying to Save Piggy Sneed" (1996), a collection of his writings including a brief memoir and unpublished short fiction, "My Movie Business", an account of the protracted process of bringing "The Cider House Rules" to the big screen, and "The Imaginary Girlfriend", a short memoir focusing on writing and wrestling. In 2010, Irving revealed that he and Tod "Kip" Williams, director and writer of "The Door in the Floor" (2004), were co-writing a screenplay for an adaptation of "A Widow for One Year" (1998).
In 2002, his four most highly regarded novels, "The World According to Garp", "The Cider House Rules", "A Prayer for Owen Meany", and "A Widow for One Year", were published in Modern Library editions. "Owen Meany" was adapted into the 1998 film "Simon Birch" (Irving required that the title and character names be changed because the screenplay's story was "markedly different" from that of the novel; Irving is on record as having enjoyed the film, however). In 2004, a portion of "A Widow for One Year" was adapted into "The Door in the Floor", starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger.
In a "New York Magazine" interview in 2009, Irving stated that he had begun work on a new novel, his 13th, based in part on a speech from Shakespeare's "Richard II." Simon & Schuster published the novel, titled "In One Person" (2012), taking over from Random House. "In One Person" has a first-person viewpoint, Irving's first such narrative since "A Prayer for Owen Meany" (Irving decided to change the first-person narrative of "Until I Find You" to third person less than a year before publication). "In One Person" features a 60-year-old, bisexual protagonist named William, looking back on his life in the 1950s and '60s. The novel shares a similar theme and concern with "The World According to Garp", which was Irving says, in part about "people who hate you for your sexual differences."
He won a Lambda Literary Award in 2013 in the Bisexual Fiction category for "In One Person", and was also awarded the organization's Bridge Builder Award to honor him as an ally of the LGBT community.
On June 10, 2013, Irving announced his next novel, his 14th, titled "Avenue of Mysteries", named after a street in Mexico City. In an interview the previous year, he had revealed the last line of the book: "Not every collision course comes as a surprise."
On December 19, 2014, Irving posted a message on the Facebook page devoted to him and his work that he had "finished 'Avenue of Mysteries.' It is a shorter novel for me, comparable in length to 'In One Person.'" Irving speculated that "if everything remains on schedule, the English-language editions should be published in fall 2015." Simon & Schuster published the book in November, 2015.
On November 3, 2015, Irving revealed that he'd been approached by HBO and Warner Brothers to reconstruct "The World According to Garp" as a miniseries. He described the project as being in the early stages.
According to the byline of a self-penned, February 20, 2017 essay for The Hollywood Reporter, Irving completed his teleplay for the five-part series based on "The World According to Garp", and he is currently working on his fifteenth novel.
On June 28, 2017, Irving revealed in a long letter to fans on Facebook that his new novel will be, primarily, a ghost story. "...I have a history of being interested in ghosts. And here come the ghosts again. In my new novel, my fifteenth, the ghosts are more prominent than before; the novel begins and ends with them. Like "A Widow for One Year", this novel is constructed as a play in three acts. I'm calling Act I 'Early Signs.' I began writing it on New Year's Eve—not a bad night to start a ghost story."
On August 1, 2017, an update about Irving's fifteenth, in-progress, novel, was posted to his Facebook page: "It's been 45 years since John Irving published "The Water-Method Man". While his second novel is regarded as a purely comic tale, and John's current project is a darker contemplation of life's disruptive forces, the two novels bear some resemblance to one another. John Irving is once again experimenting with framed narratives and writing about the evolution of a writer—like Bogus Trumper, one who writes screenplays. This time, we see the main character—Adam Brewster—mature, from childhood and early adolescence, to become a writer like Garp, or Ruth Cole, or Juan Diego, as if writing were an inevitability given the fateful circumstances of his life. And, along the way, despite the darkness, there are points of humor. John's work in progress may ultimately be his funniest novel since "The Water-Method Man"."
In an interview with Mike Kilen for "The Des Moines Register", published on October 26, 2017, Irving revealed that the title of his new novel-in-progress is "Darkness As a Bride". The title comes from lines in Shakespeare's play, "Measure for Measure:" "If I must die, / I will encounter darkness as a bride, / and hug it in mine arms."
In July 2018, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize announced Irving would be the recipient of the 2018 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award at its annual gala October 28, 2018, in Dayton, Ohio.
In 1964, Irving married Shyla Leary, whom he had met at Harvard in 1963 while taking a summer course in German, before traveling to Vienna with IES Abroad. They have two sons, Colin and Brendan. The couple divorced in the early 1980s. In 1987, he married Janet Turnbull, who had been his publisher at Bantam-Seal Books and is now one of his literary agents. They have a child, Eva Everett, born in 1992. Irving has homes in Vermont, Toronto, and Pointe au Baril. On December 13, 2019, Irving became a Canadian citizen, and plans to keep his US citizenship, commenting that he reserves the right to be outspoken about the United States and his dislike of Donald Trump, whom he referred to as vulgar, narcissistic, and xenophobic.
Irving was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007 and subsequently had a radical prostatectomy.
In 2010, Irving confirmed that he is a second cousin of Amy Bishop, a former assistant professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, who is serving a life sentence for shooting six colleagues, killing three, during a department meeting on February 12, 2010.
In 2018, Irving was an honorary degree recipient at Williams College. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16021 |
Justus von Liebig
Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 18 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at the University of Giessen, he devised the modern laboratory-oriented teaching method, and for such innovations, he is regarded as one of the greatest chemistry teachers of all time. He has been described as the "father of the fertilizer industry" for his emphasis on nitrogen and trace minerals as essential plant nutrients, and his formulation of the law of the minimum, which described how plant growth relied on the scarcest nutrient resource, rather than the total amount of resources available. He also developed a manufacturing process for beef extracts, and with his consent a company, called Liebig Extract of Meat Company, was founded to exploit the concept; it later introduced the Oxo brand beef bouillon cube. He popularized an earlier invention for condensing vapors, which came to be known as the Liebig condenser.
Justus Liebig was born in Darmstadt into the middle-class family of Johann Georg Liebig and Maria Caroline Möser in early May 1803. His father was a drysalter and hardware merchant who compounded and sold paints, varnishes, and pigments, which he developed in his own workshop. From childhood, Justus was fascinated with chemistry.
At the age of 13, Liebig lived through the year without a summer, when the majority of food crops in the Northern Hemisphere were destroyed by a volcanic winter. Germany was among the hardest-hit nations in the global famine that ensued, and the experience is said to have shaped Liebig's later work. Due in part to Liebig's innovations in fertilizers and agriculture, the 1816 famine became known as "the last great subsistence crisis in the Western world".
Liebig attended grammar school at the Ludwig-Georgs-Gymnasium in Darmstadt, from the ages of 8 to 14. Leaving without a certificate of completion, he was apprenticed for several months to the apothecary Gottfried Pirsch (1792–1870) in Heppenheim before returning home, possibly because his father could not afford to pay his indentures. He worked with his father for the next two years, then attended the University of Bonn, studying under Karl Wilhelm Gottlob Kastner, his father's business associate. When Kastner moved to the University of Erlangen, Liebig followed him.
Liebig left Erlangen in March 1822, in part because of his involvement with the radical Korps Rhenania (a nationalist student organization), but also because of his hopes for more advanced chemical studies. The circumstances are clouded by possible scandal. In late 1822, Liebig went to study in Paris on a grant obtained for him by Kastner from the Hessian government. He worked in the private laboratory of Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, and was also befriended by Alexander von Humboldt and Georges Cuvier (1769–1832). Liebig's doctorate from Erlangen was conferred on 23 June 1823, a considerable time after he left, as a result of Kastner's intervention on his behalf. Kastner pleaded that the requirement of a dissertation be waived, and the degree granted "in absentia".
Liebig left Paris to return to Darmstadt in April 1824. On 26 May 1824, at the age of 21 and with Humboldt's recommendation, Liebig became a professor "extraordinarius" at the University of Giessen. Liebig's appointment was part of an attempt to modernize the University of Giessen and attract more students. He received a small stipend, without laboratory funding or access to facilities.
His situation was complicated by the presence of existing faculty: Professor Wilhelm Zimmermann (1780–1825) taught general chemistry as part of the philosophy faculty, leaving medical chemistry and pharmacy to Professor Philipp Vogt in the medical faculty. Vogt was happy to support a reorganization in which pharmacy was taught by Liebig and became the responsibility of the faculty of arts, rather than the faculty of medicine. Zimmermann found himself competing unsuccessfully with Liebig for students and their lecture fees. He refused to allow Liebig to use existing space and equipment, and finally committed suicide on 19 July 1825. The deaths of Zimmermann and a Professor Blumhof who taught technology and mining opened the way for Liebig to apply for a full professorship. Liebig was appointed to the "Ordentlicher" chair in chemistry on 7 December 1825, receiving a considerably increased salary and a laboratory allowance.
Liebig married Henriette "Jettchen" Moldenhauer (1807–1881), the daughter of a state official, in May 1826. They had five children, Georg (1827–1903), Agnes (1828–1862), Hermann (1831–1894), Johanna (1836–1925), and Marie (1845–1920). Although Liebig was Lutheran and Jettchen Catholic, their differences in religion appear to have been resolved amicably by bringing their sons up in the Lutheran religion and their daughters as Catholics.
Liebig and several associates proposed to create an institute for pharmacy and manufacturing within the university. The Senate, however, uncompromisingly rejected their idea, stating that training "apothecaries, soapmakers, beer-brewers, dyers and vinegar-distillers" was not the university's task. As of 17 December 1825, they ruled that any such institution would have to be a private venture. This decision actually worked to Liebig's advantage. As an independent venture, he could ignore university rules and accept both matriculated and unmatriculated students. Liebig's institute was widely advertised in pharmaceutical journals, and opened in 1826. Its classes in practical chemistry and laboratory procedures for chemical analysis were taught in addition to Liebig's formal courses at the university.
From 1825 to 1835, the laboratory was housed in the guardroom of a disused barracks on the edge of town. The main laboratory space was about in size and included a small lecture room, a storage closet, and a main room with ovens and work tables. An open colonnade outside could be used for dangerous reactions. Liebig could work there with eight or nine students at a time. He lived in a cramped apartment on the floor above with his wife and children.
Liebig was one of the first chemists to organize a laboratory in its present form, engaging with students in empirical research on a large scale through a combination of research and teaching. His methods of organic analysis enabled him to direct the analytical work of many graduate students. Liebig's students were from many of the German states, as well as Britain and the United States, and they helped create an international reputation for their "Doktorvater." His laboratory became renowned as a model institution for the teaching of practical chemistry. It was also significant for its emphasis on applying discoveries in fundamental research to the development of specific chemical processes and products.
In 1833, Liebig was able to convince chancellor Justin von Linde to include the institute within the university. In 1839, he obtained government funds to build a lecture theatre and two separate laboratories, designed by architect Paul Hofmann. The new chemistry laboratory featured innovative glass-fronted fume cupboards and venting chimneys. By 1852, when he left Giessen for Munich, more than 700 students of chemistry and pharmacy had studied with Liebig.
A significant challenge facing 19th-century organic chemists was the lack of instruments and methods of analysis to support accurate, replicable analyses of organic materials. Many chemists worked on the problem of organic analysis, including French Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Swedish Jöns Jacob Berzelius, before Liebig developed his version of an apparatus for determining the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen content of organic substances in 1830. It involved an ingenious array of five glass bulbs, called a "Kaliapparat" to trap the oxidation product of the carbon in the sample, following combustion of the sample. Before reaching the "Kaliapparat", the combustion gases were conducted through a tube of hygroscopic calcium chloride, which absorbed and retained the oxidation product of the hydrogen of the sample, namely water vapor. Next, in the "Kaliapparat", carbon dioxide was absorbed in a potassium hydroxide solution in the three lower bulbs, and used to measure the weight of carbon in the sample. For any substance consisting only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the percentage of oxygen was found by subtracting the carbon and hydrogen percentages from 100%; the remainder must be the percentage of oxygen. A charcoal furnace (a sheet-steel tray in which the combustion tube was laid) was used for the combustion. Weighing carbon and hydrogen directly, rather than estimating them volumetrically, greatly increased the method's accuracy of measurement. Liebig's assistant Carl Ettling perfected glass-blowing techniques for producing the "Kaliapparat", and demonstrated them to visitors. Liebig's kaliapparat simplified the technique of quantitative organic analysis and rendered it routine. Brock suggests that the availability of a superior technical apparatus was one reason why Liebig was able to attract so many students to his laboratory. His method of combustion analysis was used pharmaceutically, and certainly made possible many contributions to organic, agricultural and biological chemistry.
Liebig also popularized use of a counter-current water-cooling system for distillation, still referred to as a Liebig condenser. Liebig himself attributed the vapor condensation device to German pharmacist Johann Friedrich August Gottling, who had made improvements in 1794 to a design discovered independently by German chemist Christian Ehrenfried Weigel in 1771, by French scientist, P. J. Poisonnier in 1779, and by Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin in 1791.
Although it was not widely adopted until after Liebig's death, when safety legislation finally prohibited the use of mercury in making mirrors, Liebig proposed a process for silvering that eventually became the basis of modern mirror-making. In 1835, he reported that aldehydes reduce silver salts to metallic silver. After working with other scientists, Carl August von Steinheil approached Liebig in 1856 to see if he could develop a silvering technique capable of producing high-quality optical mirrors for use in reflecting telescopes. Liebig was able to develop blemish-free mirrors by adding copper to ammoniated silver nitrate and sugar. An attempt to commercialize the process and "drive out mercury mirror-making and its injurious influence on workers' health" was unsuccessful.
One of Liebig's frequent collaborators was Friedrich Wöhler. They met in 1826 in Frankfurt, after independently reporting on the preparation of two substances, cyanic acid and fulminic acid, that apparently had the same composition, but very different characteristics. The silver fulminate investigated by Liebig, was explosive, whereas the silver cyanate found by Wöhler, was not. After reviewing the disputed analyses together, they agreed that both were valid. The discovery of these and other substances led Jöns Jacob Berzelius to suggest the idea of isomers, substances that are defined not simply by the number and kind of atoms in the molecule, but also by the arrangement of those atoms.
In 1832, Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler published an investigation of the oil of bitter almonds. They transformed pure oil into several halogenated compounds, which were further transformed in other reactions. Throughout these transformations, "a single compound" (which they named benzoyl) "preserves its nature and composition unchanged in nearly all its associations with other bodies." Their experiments proved that a group of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms can behave like an element, take the place of an element, and can be exchanged for elements in chemical compounds. This laid the foundation for the doctrine of compound radicals, which can be seen as an early step in the development of structural chemistry.
The 1830s were a period of intense investigation of organic compounds by Liebig and his students, and of vigorous debate about the theoretical implications of their results. Liebig published on a wide variety of topics, personally averaging 30 papers per year between 1830 and 1840. Liebig not only isolated individual substances, but also studied their interrelationships and the ways in which they degraded and metamorphosed into other substances, looking for clues to the understanding of both chemical composition and physiological function. Other significant contributions by Liebig during this time include his examination of
the nitrogen content of bases;
the study of chlorination and the isolation of chloral (1832);
the identification of the ethyl radical (1834);
the oxidation of alcohol and formation of aldehyde (1835);
the polybasic theory of organic acids (1838);
and the degradation of urea (1837).
Writing about the analysis of urine, a complex organic product, he made a declaration that reveals both the changes that were occurring in chemistry over a short time and the impact of his own work. At a time when many chemists such as Jöns Jakob Berzelius still insisted on a hard and fast separation between the organic and inorganic, Liebig asserted:
Liebig's arguments against any chemical distinction between living (physiological) and dead chemical processes proved a great inspiration to several of his students and others who were interested in materialism. Though Liebig distanced himself from the direct political implications of materialism, he tacitly supported the work of Carl Vogt (1817–1895), Jacob Moleschott (1822–1893), and Ludwig Büchner (1824–1899).
By the 1840s, Liebig was attempting to apply theoretical knowledge from organic chemistry to real-world problems of food availability. His book "Die organische Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Agricultur und Physiologie" ("Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology") (1840) promoted the idea that chemistry could revolutionize agricultural practice, increasing yields and lowering costs. It was widely translated, vociferously critiqued, and highly influential.
Liebig's book discussed chemical transformations within living systems, both plant and animal, outlining a theoretical approach to agricultural chemistry. The first part of the book focused on plant nutrition, the second was on chemical mechanisms of putrefaction and decay. Liebig's awareness of both synthesis and degradation led him to become an early advocate of conservation, promoting ideas such as the recycling of sewage.
Liebig argued against prevalent theories about role of humus in plant nutrition, which held that decayed plant matter was the primary source of carbon for plant nutrition. Fertilizers were believed to act by breaking down humus, making it easier for plants to absorb. Associated with such ideas was the belief that some sort of "vital force" distinguished reactions involving organic as opposed to inorganic materials.
Early studies of photosynthesis had identified carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen as important, but disagreed over their sources and mechanisms of action. Carbon dioxide was known to be taken in and oxygen released during photosynthesis, but researchers suggested that oxygen was obtained from carbon dioxide, rather than from water. Hydrogen was believed to come primarily from water. Researchers disagreed about whether sources of carbon and nitrogen were atmospheric or soil-based. Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure's experiments, reported in "Recherches Chimiques sur la Végétation" (1804), suggested that carbon was obtained from atmospheric rather than soil-based sources, and that water was a likely source of hydrogen. He also studied the absorption of minerals by plants, and observed that mineral concentrations in plants tended to reflect their presence in the soil in which the plants were grown. However, the implications of De Saussure's results for theories of plant nutrition were neither clearly discussed nor easily understood.
Liebig reaffirmed the importance of De Saussures' findings, and used them to critique humus theories, while regretting the limitations of De Saussure's experimental techniques. Using more precise methods of measurement as a basis for estimation, he pointed out contradictions such as the inability of existing soil humus to provide enough carbon to support the plants growing in it. By the late 1830s, researchers such as Karl Sprengel were using Liebig's methods of combustion analysis to assess manures, concluding that their value could be attributed to their constituent minerals. Liebig synthesized ideas about the mineral theory of plant nutrition and added his own conviction that inorganic materials could provide nutrients as effectively as organic sources.
In his theory of mineral nutrients, Liebig identified the chemical elements of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) as essential to plant growth. He reported that plants acquire carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) from the atmosphere and from water (H2O). In addition to emphasizing the importance of minerals in the soil, he argued that plants feed on nitrogen compounds derived from the air. This assertion was a source of contention for many years, and turned out to be true for legumes, but not for other plants.
Liebig also popularized Carl Sprengel's "theorem of minimum" (known as the law of the minimum), stating that plant growth is not determined by the total resources available, but by the scarcest available resource. A plant's development is limited by the one essential mineral that is in the relatively shortest supply. This concept of limitation can be visualized as "Liebig's barrel", a metaphorical barrel in which each stave represents a different element. A nutrient stave that is shorter than the others will cause the liquid contained in the barrel to spill out at that level. This is a qualitative version of the principles used for determining the application of fertilizer in modern agriculture.
"Organic Chemistry" was not intended as a guide to practical agriculture. Liebig's lack of experience in practical applications, and differences between editions of the book, fueled considerable criticism. Nonetheless, Liebig's writings had a profound impact on agriculture, spurring experiment and theoretical debate in Germany, England, and France.
One of his most recognized accomplishments is the development of nitrogen-based fertilizer. In the first two editions of his book (1840, 1842), Liebig reported that the atmosphere contained insufficient nitrogen, and argued that nitrogen-based fertilizer was needed to grow the healthiest possible crops. Liebig believed that nitrogen could be supplied in the form of ammonia, and recognized the possibility of substituting chemical fertilizers for natural ones (animal dung, etc.)
He later became convinced that nitrogen was sufficiently supplied by precipitation of ammonia from the atmosphere, and argued vehemently against the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers for many years. An early commercial attempt to produce his own fertilizers was unsuccessful, due to lack of nitrogen in the mixtures. When tested in a farmer's field, Liebig's manure was found to have no appreciable effect.
Liebig's difficulties in reconciling theory and practice reflected that the real world of agriculture was more complex than was at first realized. By the publication of the seventh German edition of "Agricultural Chemistry" he had moderated some of his views, admitting some mistakes and returning to the position that nitrogen-based fertilizers were beneficial or even necessary. He was instrumental in the use of guano for nitrogen.
Nitrogen fertilizers are now widely used throughout the world, and their production is a substantial segment of the chemical industry.
Liebig's work on applying chemistry to plant and animal physiology was especially influential. By 1842, he had published "Chimie organique appliquée à la physiologie animale et à la pathologie", published in English as " Animal Chemistry, or, Organic Chemistry in its Applications to Physiology and Pathology", presenting a chemical theory of metabolism. The experimental techniques used by Liebig and others often involved controlling and measuring diet, and monitoring and analyzing the products of animal metabolism, as indicators of internal metabolic processes. Liebig saw similarities between plant and animal metabolism, and suggested that nitrogenous animal matter was similar to, and derived from, plant matter. He categorized foodstuffs into two groups, nitrogenous materials which he believed were used to build animal tissue, and non-nitrogenous materials which he believed were involved in separate processes of respiration and generation of heat.
French researchers such as Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Jean-Baptiste Boussingault believed that animals assimilated sugars, proteins, and fats from plant materials and lacked the ability to synthesize them. Liebig's work suggested a common ability of plants and animals to synthesize complex molecules from simpler ones. His experiments on fat metabolism convinced him that animals must be able to synthesize fats from sugars and starches. Other researchers built upon his work, confirming the abilities of animals to synthesize sugar and build fat.
Liebig also studied respiration, at one point measuring the "ingesta and excreta" of 855 soldiers, a bodyguard of the Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt, for an entire month. He outlined an extremely speculative model of equations in which he attempted to explain how protein degradation might balance within a healthy body and result in pathological imbalances in cases of illness or inappropriate nutrition. This proposed model was justifiably criticized. Berzelius stingingly stated that "this facile kind of physiological chemistry is created at the writing table". Some of the ideas that Liebig had enthusiastically incorporated were not supported by further research. The third and last edition of "Animal Chemistry" (1846) was substantially revised and did not include the equations.
The third area discussed in "Animal Chemistry" was fermentation and putrefaction. Liebig proposed chemical explanations for processes such as eremacausis (organic decomposition), describing the rearrangement of atoms as a result of unstable "affinities" reacting to external causes such as air or already decaying substances. Liebig identified the blood as the site of the body's "chemical factory", where he believed processes of synthesis and degradation took place. He presented a view of disease in terms of chemical process, in which healthy blood could be attacked by external contagia; secreting organs sought to transform and excrete such substances; and failure to do so could lead to their elimination through the skin, lungs, and other organs, potentially spreading contagion. Again, although the world was much more complicated than his theory, and many of his individual ideas were later proved wrong, Liebig managed to synthesize existing knowledge in a way that had significant implications for doctors, sanitarians, and social reformers. The English medical journal "The Lancet" reviewed Liebig's work and translated his chemical lectures as part of its mission to establish a new era of medicine. Liebig's ideas stimulated significant medical research, led to the development of better techniques for testing experimental models of metabolism, and pointed to chemistry as fundamental to the understanding of health and disease.
In 1850, Liebig investigated spontaneous human combustion, dismissing the simplistic explanations based on ethanol due to alcoholism.
Liebig drew upon his work in plant nutrition and plant and animal metabolism to develop a theory of nutrition, which had significant implications for cookery. In his "Researches on the Chemistry of Food" (1847) Liebig argued that eating not only meat fibre, but also meat juices, which contained various inorganic chemicals, was important. These vital ingredients would be lost during conventional boiling or roasting in which cooking liquids were discarded. For optimum nutritional quality, Liebig advised that cooks should either sear the meat initially to retain fluids, or retain and use cooking liquids (as in soups or stews).
Liebig was acclaimed in "The Lancet" for revealing "the true principles of cookery", and physicians promoted "rational diets" based on his ideas. Well-known British cookery writer Eliza Acton responded to Liebig by modifying the cookery techniques in the third edition of her "Modern Cookery for Private Families", and subtitling the edition accordingly. Liebig's idea that "searing meat seals in the juices", though still widely believed, is not true.
Building on his theories of the nutritional value of meat fluids, and seeking an inexpensive nutrition source for Europe's poor, Liebig developed a formula for producing beef extract. The details were published in 1847 so that "the benefit of it should ... be placed at the command of as large a number of persons as possible by the extension of the manufacture, and consequently a reduction in the cost".
Production was not economically feasible in Europe, where meat was expensive, but in Uruguay and New South Wales, meat was an inexpensive byproduct of the leather industry. In 1865, Liebig partnered with Belgian engineer George Christian Giebert, and was named scientific director of the Liebig's Extract of Meat Company, located in Fray Bentos, Uruguay.
Other companies also attempted to market meat extracts under the name "Liebig's Extract of Meat". In Britain, a competitor's right to use the name was successfully defended on the grounds that the name had fallen into general use and become a generic term before the creation of any particular company. The judge asserted that "Purchasers must use their eyes", and considered the presentation of the products to be sufficiently different to enable the discriminating consumer to determine which of the products bore Liebig's signature and was supported by Baron Liebig himself.
Liebig's company initially promoted their "meat tea" for its curative powers and nutritional value as a cheap, nutritious alternative to real meat. After claims of its nutritional value were questioned, they emphasized its convenience and flavour, marketing it as a comfort food. The Liebig company worked with popular cookery writers in various countries to popularize their products. German cookery writer Henriette Davidis wrote recipes for "Improved and Economic Cookery" and other cookbooks. Katharina Prato wrote an Austro-Hungarian recipe book, "Die Praktische Verwerthung Kochrecepte" (1879). Hannah M. Young was commissioned in England to write "Practical Cookery Book" for the Liebig Company. In the United States, Maria Parloa extolled the benefits of Liebig's extract. Colorful calendars and trading cards were also marketed to popularize the product.
The company also worked with British chemist Henry Enfield Roscoe to develop a related product, which it registered some years after Liebig's death, under the "Oxo" trademark. Oxo was trademarked worldwide in 1899 and in the United Kingdom in 1900. Originally a liquid, Oxo was released in cubed solid form in 1911.
Liebig studied other foods, as well. He promoted the use of baking powder to make lighter bread, studied the chemistry of coffee-making, and developed a breast-milk substitute for babies who could not suckle. He is considered to have made possible the invention of Marmite, because of his discovery that yeast could be concentrated.
Liebig founded the journal "Annalen der Chemie", which he edited from 1832. Originally titled "Annalen der Pharmacie", it became "Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie" to more accurately reflect its content. It became the leading journal of chemistry, and still exists. The volumes from his lifetime are often referenced just as "Liebigs Annalen"; and following his death the title was officially changed to "Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie".
Liebig published widely in "Liebigs Annalen" and elsewhere, in newspapers and journals. Most of his books were published concurrently in both German and English, and many were translated into other languages, as well. Some of his most influential titles include:
In addition to books and articles, he wrote thousands of letters, most of them to other scientists.
Liebig also played a direct role in the German publication of John Stuart Mill's "Logic." Through Liebig's close friendship with the Vieweg family publishing house, he arranged for his former student Jacob Schiel (1813–1889) to translate Mill's important work for German publication. Liebig liked Mill's "Logic" in part because it promoted science as a means to social and political progress, but also because Mill featured several examples of Liebig's research as an ideal for the scientific method. In this way, he sought to reform politics in the German states.
In 1852, Liebig accepted an appointment from King Maximilian II of Bavaria to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He also became scientific advisor to King Maxilimian II, who hoped to transform the University of Munich into a center for scientific research and development. In part, Liebig accepted the post because, at age 50, he was finding supervision of large numbers of laboratory students increasingly difficult. His new accommodations in Munich reflected this shift in focus. They included a comfortable house suitable for extensive entertaining, a small laboratory, and a newly built lecture theatre capable of holding 300 people with a demonstration laboratory at the front. There, he gave lectures to the university and fortnightly to the public. In his position as a promoter of science, Liebig was appointed president of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, becoming perpetual president of the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences in 1858.
Liebig enjoyed a personal friendship with Maximilian II, who died on 10 March 1864. After Maximilian's death, Liebig and other liberal Protestant scientists in Bavaria were increasingly opposed by ultramontane Catholics.
Liebig died in Munich in 1873, and is buried in the Alter Südfriedhof in Munich.
Liebig was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1837.
He became a first-class member of the Ludwig Order, founded by Ludwig I, and awarded by Ludwig II on 24 July 1837.
In 1838, he became correspondent of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands; when that became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1851, he joined as foreign member.
The British Royal Society awarded him the Copley Medal "for his discoveries in organic chemistry, and particularly for his development of the composition and theory of organic radicals" in 1840.
Ludwig II of Bavaria conveyed the title of "Freiherr" von Liebig on 29 December 1845. In English, the closest translation is "Baron".
In 1850, he received the French "Légion d'honneur", presented by chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas, the French trade minister.
He was honored with the Prussian Order of Merit for Science by Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia in 1851.
In 1869, he was awarded the Albert Medal by the Royal Society of Arts, "for his numerous valuable researches and writings, which have contributed most importantly to the development of food-economy and agriculture, to the advancement of chemical science, and to the benefits derived from that science by Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce."
In 1946, after the end of World War II, the University of Giessen was officially renamed after him, ""Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen"".
In 1953, the West German post office issued a stamp in his honor.
In 1953, the third General Assembly of the International Scientific Centre of Fertilizers (CIEC), founded in 1932, was organized in Darmstadt to honor Justus von Liebig on the 150th anniversary of his birth.
A portrait of Liebig hangs in the Burlington House headquarters of the Royal Society of Chemistry. It was presented to the society's forerunner, the Chemical Society, by his god-daughter, Mrs Alex Tweedie, née Harley, daughter of Emma Muspratt.
Some organizations have granted medals in honor of Justus von Liebig. In 1871, the Versammlung deutscher Land- und Forstwirte (Assembly of German Farmers and Foresters) first awarded a Liebig Gold Medal, given to Theodor Reuning. The image was struck from a portrait commissioned in 1869 from Friedrich Brehmer.
For several years, the Liebig Trust Fund, established by Baron Liebig, was administered by the Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences at Munich and members of the Liebig family. They were empowered to award gold and silver Liebig Medals to deserving German scientists "for the purpose of encouraging research in agricultural science". Silver medals could be awarded to scientists from other countries. Some of those who received medals include:
In 1903, the Verein deutscher Chemiker (Association of German Chemists) also had a medal struck using Brehmer's portrait. Their Liebig Medal was first awarded in 1903 to Adolf von Baeyer, and in 1904 to Dr. Rudolf Knietsch of the Badische Ani-lin und Soda-Fabrik. it continues to be awarded.
At the third World Congress of CIEC, held at Heidelberg in 1957, the "Sprengel-Liebing Medal" was awarded to Dr. E. Feisst, president of CIEC, for outstanding contributions in agricultural chemistry. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16024 |
J. K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling, ( ; born 31 July 1965), better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author, screenwriter, producer, and philanthropist. She is best known for writing the "Harry Potter" fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history. The books are the basis of a popular film series, over which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith.
Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for the "Harry Potter" series while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990. The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", was published in 1997. There were six sequels, of which the last, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", was released in 2007. Since then, Rowling has written five books for adult readers: "The Casual Vacancy" (2012) and—under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith—the crime fiction "Cormoran Strike" series, which consists of "The Cuckoo's Calling" (2013), "The Silkworm" (2014), "Career of Evil" (2015), and "Lethal White" (2018). Starting on 26 May 2020, her "political fairytale" for children, "The Ickabog", is being released in instalments in an online version.
Rowling has lived a "rags to riches" life in which she progressed from living on benefits to being named the world's first billionaire author by "Forbes". However, Rowling disputed the assertion, saying she was not a billionaire. "Forbes" reported that she lost her billionaire status after giving away much of her earnings to charity. Her UK sales total in excess of £238 million, making her the best-selling living author in Britain. The 2019 "Sunday Times" Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £750 million, ranking her as the joint 191st richest person in the UK. "Time" named her a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans. Rowling was appointed a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) at the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to literature and philanthropy. In October 2010, she was named the "Most Influential Woman in Britain" by leading magazine editors. Rowling has supported multiple charities, including Comic Relief, One Parent Families, and Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, as well as launching her own charity, Lumos.
Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, before her remarriage, her name was Joanne Rowling. Her publishers asked that she use two initials rather than her full name, anticipating the possibility of the target audience of young boys not wanting to read a book written by a woman. As she had no middle name, she chose "K" (for Kathleen) as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother. She calls herself Jo. Following her remarriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry, she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling and her entry in "Who's Who" lists her name also as Joanne Kathleen Rowling.
Joanne Rowling was born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, the daughter of science technician Anne (née Volant) and Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer Peter James Rowling. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. One of Rowling's maternal great-grandfathers, Dugald Campbell, was a Scottish man from Lamlash. Her mother's French paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the War Cross for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during World War I. Rowling originally believed Volant had won the Legion of Honour during the war, as she said when she received it herself in 2009. She later discovered the truth when featured in an episode of the UK genealogy series "Who Do You Think You Are?" in which she found out it was a different Louis Volant who won the Legion of Honour. When she heard her grandfather's story of bravery and discovered that the War Cross was for "ordinary" soldiers like her grandfather, who had been a waiter, she stated the War Cross was "better" to her than the Legion of Honour.
Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village of Winterbourne when Rowling was four. As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories which she frequently read to her sister. Aged nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great-aunt gave her a copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, "Hons and Rebels." Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling read all of her books.
Rowling has said that her teenage years were unhappy. Her home life was complicated by her mother's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and a strained relationship with her father, with whom she is not on speaking terms. Rowling later said that she based the character of Hermione Granger on herself when she was eleven. Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth, owned a turquoise Ford Anglia which she says inspired a flying version that appeared in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". Like many teenagers, she became interested in rock music, listening to the Clash, the Smiths, and Siouxsie Sioux, adopting the look of the latter with back-combed hair and black eyeliner, a look that she would still sport when beginning university.
As a child, Rowling attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the "Harry Potter" headmaster Albus Dumbledore. She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother worked in the science department. Steve Eddy, her first secondary school English teacher, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English". Rowling took A-levels in English, French and German, achieving two As and a B and was head girl.
In 1982, Rowling took the entrance exams for Oxford University but was not accepted and earned a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter. Martin Sorrell, a French professor at Exeter, remembers "a quietly competent student, with a denim jacket and dark hair, who, in academic terms, gave the appearance of doing what was necessary". Rowling recalls doing little work, preferring to read Dickens and Tolkien. After a year of study in Paris, Rowling graduated from Exeter in 1986. In 1988, Rowling wrote a short essay about her time studying Classics titled "What was the Name of that Nymph Again? or Greek and Roman Studies Recalled"; it was published by the University of Exeter's journal "Pegasus".
After working as a researcher and bilingual secretary in London for Amnesty International, Rowling moved with her then boyfriend to Manchester, where she worked at the Chamber of Commerce. In 1990, while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind.
When she had reached her Clapham Junction flat, she began to write immediately. In December, Rowling's mother, Anne, died after ten years suffering from multiple sclerosis. Rowling was writing "Harry Potter" at the time and had never told her mother about it. Her mother's death heavily affected Rowling's writing, and she channelled her own feelings of loss by writing about Harry's own feelings of loss in greater detail in the first book.
An advertisement in "The Guardian" led Rowling to move to Porto, Portugal, to teach English as a foreign language. She taught at night and began writing in the day while listening to Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. After 18 months in Porto, she met Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes in a bar and found they shared an interest in Jane Austen. They married on 16 October 1992 and their child, Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford), was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal. Rowling had previously suffered a miscarriage. The couple separated on 17 November 1993. Biographers have suggested that Rowling suffered domestic abuse during her marriage, which was later confirmed by Rowling herself, and by her first husband, who, in an article for "The Sun" in June 2020, said he had slapped her and did not regret it. The United Kingdom's domestic abuse commissioner Nicole Jacobs formally advised "The Sun" that it was unacceptable "to repeat and magnify the voice of someone who openly admits to violence against a partner”. In December 1993, Rowling and her then infant daughter moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to be near Rowling's sister with three chapters of what would become "Harry Potter" in her suitcase.
Seven years after graduating from university, Rowling saw herself as a failure. Her marriage had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent child, but she described her failure as liberating and allowing her to focus on writing. During this period, Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression and contemplated suicide. Her illness inspired the characters known as Dementors, soul-sucking creatures introduced in the third book. Rowling signed up for welfare benefits, describing her economic status as being "poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless."
Rowling was left in despair after her estranged husband arrived in Scotland, seeking both her and her daughter. She obtained an Order of Restraint, and Arantes returned to Portugal, with Rowling filing for divorce in August 1994. She began a teacher training course in August 1995 at the Moray House School of Education, at Edinburgh University, after completing her first novel while living on state benefits. She wrote in many cafés, especially Nicolson's Café (owned by her brother-in-law), and the Elephant House, wherever she could get Jessica to fall asleep. In a 2001 BBC interview, Rowling denied the rumour that she wrote in local cafés to escape from her unheated flat, pointing out that it had heating. One of the reasons she wrote in cafés was that taking her baby out for a walk was the best way to make her fall asleep.
In 1995, Rowling finished her manuscript for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which was typed on an old manual typewriter. Upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evens, a reader who had been asked to review the book's first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agency agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was submitted to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript. A year later, she was finally given the green light (and a £1,500 advance) by editor Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, a publishing house in London. The decision to publish Rowling's book owes much to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next. Although Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book, Cunningham says that he advised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children's books. Soon after, in 1997, Rowling received an £8,000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to continue writing.
In June 1997, Bloomsbury published "Philosopher's Stone" with an initial print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued between £16,000 and £25,000. Five months later, the book won its first award, a Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. In February, the novel won the British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year, and later, the Children's Book Award. In early 1998, an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc., for US$105,000. Rowling said that she "nearly died" when she heard the news. In October 1998, Scholastic published "Philosopher's Stone" in the US under the title of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", a change Rowling says she now regrets and would have fought if she had been in a better position at the time. Rowling moved from her flat with the money from the Scholastic sale, into 19 Hazelbank Terrace in Edinburgh.
Its sequel, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", was published in July 1998 and again Rowling won the Smarties Prize. In December 1999, the third novel, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", won the Smarties Prize, making Rowling the first person to win the award three times running. She later withdrew the fourth "Harry Potter" novel from contention to allow other books a fair chance. In January 2000, "Prisoner of Azkaban" won the inaugural Whitbread Children's Book of the Year award, though it lost the Book of the Year prize to Seamus Heaney's translation of "Beowulf".
The fourth book, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", was released simultaneously in the UK and the US on 8 July 2000 and broke sales records in both countries. 372,775 copies of the book were sold in its first day in the UK, almost equalling the number "Prisoner of Azkaban" sold during its first year. In the US, the book sold three million copies in its first 48 hours, smashing all records. Rowling said that she had had a crisis while writing the novel and had to rewrite one chapter many times to fix a problem with the plot. Rowling was named Author of the Year in the 2000 British Book Awards.
A wait of three years occurred between the release of "Goblet of Fire" and the fifth "Harry Potter" novel, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". This gap led to press speculation that Rowling had developed writer's block, speculations she denied. Rowling later said that writing the book was a chore, that it could have been shorter, and that she ran out of time and energy as she tried to finish it.
The sixth book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was released on 16 July 2005. It too broke all sales records, selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours of release. In 2006, "Half-Blood Prince" received the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards.
The title of the seventh and final "Harry Potter" book was announced on 21 December 2006 as "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". In February 2007, it was reported that Rowling wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh that she had finished the seventh book in that room on 11 January 2007. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was released on 21 July 2007 (0:01 BST) and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time. It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States. The book's last chapter was one of the earliest things she wrote in the entire series.
"Harry Potter" is now a global brand worth an estimated US$15 billion, and the last four "Harry Potter" books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. The series, totalling 4,195 pages, has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages.
The "Harry Potter" books have also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning books for computers and television, although it is reported that despite the huge uptake of the books, adolescent reading has continued to decline.
In October 1998, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum. A film adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was released on 16 November 2001, and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" on 15 November 2002. Both films were directed by Chris Columbus. The film version of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was released on 4 June 2004, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The fourth film, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", was directed by Mike Newell, and released on 18 November 2005. The film of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was released on 11 July 2007. David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released on 15 July 2009. David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script. Warner Bros. filmed the final instalment of the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", in two segments, with part one being released on 19 November 2010 and part two being released on 15 July 2011. Yates directed both films.
Warner Bros. took considerable notice of Rowling's desires when drafting her contract. One of her principal stipulations was the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast, which has been generally adhered to. Rowling also demanded that Coca-Cola, the winner in the race to tie in their products to the film series, donate US$18 million to the American charity Reading Is Fundamental, as well as several community charity programs.
Steve Kloves wrote the screenplays for all but the fifth film; Rowling assisted him in the writing process, ensuring that his scripts did not contradict future books in the series. She told Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) certain secrets about their characters before they were revealed in the books. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) asked her if Harry died at any point in the series; Rowling answered him by saying, "You have a death scene", thereby not explicitly answering the question. Director Steven Spielberg was approached to direct the first film, but dropped out. The press has repeatedly claimed that Rowling played a role in his departure, but Rowling stated that she had no say in who directed the films and would not have vetoed Spielberg. Rowling's first choice for the director had been Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, but Warner Bros. wanted a family-friendly film and chose Columbus.
Rowling had gained some creative control over the films, reviewing all the scripts as well as acting as a producer on the final two-part instalment, "Deathly Hallows".
Rowling, producers David Heyman and David Barron, along with directors David Yates, Mike Newell and Alfonso Cuarón collected the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the 2011 British Academy Film Awards in honour of the "Harry Potter" film franchise.
In September 2013, Warner Bros. announced an "expanded creative partnership" with Rowling, based on a planned series of films about her character Newt Scamander, author of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". The first film was released in November 2016 and is set roughly 70 years before the events of the main series. In 2016, it was announced that the series would consist of five films. The second, "", was released in November 2018.
In 2004, "Forbes" named Rowling as the first person to become a US-dollar billionaire by writing books, the second-richest female entertainer and the 1,062nd richest person in the world. Rowling disputed the calculations and said she had plenty of money, but was not a billionaire. The 2019 "Sunday Times" Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £750 million, ranking her as the joint 191st richest person in the UK. In 2012, "Forbes" removed Rowling from their rich list, claiming that her US$160 million in charitable donations and the high tax rate in the UK meant she was no longer a billionaire. In February 2013, she was assessed as the 13th most powerful woman in the United Kingdom by "Woman's Hour" on BBC Radio 4.
Rowling acquired the courtesy title of Laird of Killiechassie in 2001 when she purchased the historic Killiechassie House, and its surrounding estate situated on the banks of the River Tay, near Aberfeldy, in Perth and Kinross. Rowling also owns a £4.5 million Georgian house in Kensington, west London, on a street with 24-hour security.
Rowling was named the most highly paid author in the world with earnings of £72 million ($95 million) a year by "Forbes" in 2017.
On 26 December 2001, Rowling married Neil Murray (born 30 June 1971), a Scottish doctor, in a private ceremony at her home, Killiechassie House in Scotland. Their son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born on 24 March 2003. Shortly after Rowling began writing "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", she ceased working on the novel to care for David in his early infancy.
Rowling is a friend of Sarah Brown, wife of former prime minister Gordon Brown, whom she met when they collaborated on a charitable project. When Sarah Brown's son Fraser was born in 2003, Rowling was one of the first to visit her in hospital. Rowling's youngest child, daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, to whom she dedicated "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was born on 23 January 2005.
In October 2012, a "New Yorker" magazine article stated that the Rowling family lived in a seventeenth-century Edinburgh house, concealed at the front by tall conifer hedges. Prior to October 2012, Rowling lived near the author Ian Rankin, who later said she was quiet and introspective, and that she seemed in her element with children. , the family resides in Scotland.
In July 2011, Rowling parted company with her agent, Christopher Little, moving to a new agency founded by one of his staff, Neil Blair. On 23 February 2012, his agency, the Blair Partnership, announced on its website that Rowling was set to publish a new book targeted at adults. In a press release, Rowling said that her new book would be quite different from Harry Potter. In April 2012, Little, Brown and Company announced that the book was titled "The Casual Vacancy" and would be released on 27 September 2012. Rowling gave several interviews and made appearances to promote "The Casual Vacancy", including at the London Southbank Centre, the Cheltenham Literature Festival, "Charlie Rose" and the Lennoxlove Book Festival. In its first three weeks of release, "The Casual Vacancy" sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
On 3 December 2012, it was announced that the BBC would be adapting "The Casual Vacancy" into a television drama miniseries. Rowling's agent, Neil Blair acted as producer, through his independent production company and with Rick Senat serving as executive producer. Rowling collaborated on the adaptation, serving as an executive producer for the series. The series aired in three parts from 15 February to 1 March 2015.
In 2007, during the Edinburgh Book Festival, author Ian Rankin claimed that his wife spotted Rowling "scribbling away" at a detective novel in a café. Rankin later retracted the story, claiming it was a joke, but the rumour persisted, with a report in 2012 in "The Guardian" speculating that Rowling's next book would be a crime novel. In an interview with Stephen Fry in 2005, Rowling had claimed that she would much prefer to write any subsequent books under a pseudonym, but had previously conceded to Jeremy Paxman in 2003 that if she did, the press would probably "find out in seconds".
In April 2013, Little Brown published "The Cuckoo's Calling", the purported début novel of author Robert Galbraith, whom the publisher described as "a former plainclothes Royal Military Police investigator who had left in 2003 to work in the civilian security industry". The novel, a detective story in which private investigator Cormoran Strike unravels the supposed suicide of a supermodel, sold 1,500 copies in hardback (although the matter was not resolved ; later reports stated that this number is the number of copies that were printed for the first run, while the sales total was closer to 500) and received acclaim from other crime writers and critics—a "Publishers Weekly" review called the book a "stellar debut", while the "Library Journal"s mystery section pronounced the novel "the debut of the month".
India Knight, a novelist and columnist for "The Sunday Times", tweeted on 9 July 2013 that she had been reading "The Cuckoo's Calling" and thought it was good for a début novel. In response, a tweeter called Jude Callegari said that the author was Rowling. Knight queried this but got no further reply. Knight notified Richard Brooks, arts editor of the "Sunday Times", who began his own investigation. After discovering that Rowling and Galbraith had the same agent and editor, he sent the books for linguistic analysis which found similarities, and subsequently contacted Rowling's agent who confirmed it was Rowling's pseudonym. Within days of Rowling being revealed as the author, sales of the book rose by 4,000%, and Little Brown printed another 140,000 copies to meet the increase in demand. , a signed copy of the first edition sold for US$4,453 (£2,950), while an unsold signed first-edition copy was being offered for $6,188 (£3,950).
Rowling said that she had enjoyed working under a pseudonym. On her Robert Galbraith website, Rowling explained that she took the name from one of her personal heroes, Robert Kennedy, and a childhood fantasy name she had invented for herself, Ella Galbraith.
Soon after the revelation, Brooks pondered whether Jude Callegari could have been Rowling as part of wider speculation that the entire affair had been a publicity stunt. Some also noted that many of the writers who had initially praised the book, such as Alex Gray or Val McDermid, were within Rowling's circle of acquaintances; both vociferously denied any foreknowledge of Rowling's authorship. Judith "Jude" Callegari was the best friend of the wife of Chris Gossage, a partner within Russells Solicitors, Rowling's legal representatives. Rowling released a statement saying she was disappointed and angry; Russells apologised for the leak, confirming it was not part of a marketing stunt and that "the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he [Gossage] trusted implicitly". Russells made a donation to the Soldiers' Charity on Rowling's behalf and reimbursed her for her legal fees. On 26 November 2013, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) issued Gossage a written rebuke and £1,000 fine for breaching privacy rules.
On 17 February 2014, Rowling announced that the second Cormoran Strike novel, named "The Silkworm", would be released in June 2014. It sees Strike investigating the disappearance of a writer hated by many of his old friends for insulting them in his new novel.
In 2015, Rowling stated on Galbraith's website that the third Cormoran Strike novel would include "an insane amount of planning, the most I have done for any book I have written so far. I have colour-coded spreadsheets so I can keep a track of where I am going." On 24 April 2015, Rowling announced that work on the third book was completed. Titled "Career of Evil", it was released on 20 October 2015 in the United States, and on 22 October 2015 in the United Kingdom.
In 2017, the BBC released a "Cormoran Strike" television series, starring Tom Burke as Cormoran Strike, it was picked up by HBO for distribution in the United States and Canada.
In March 2017, Rowling revealed the fourth novel's title via Twitter in a game of "Hangman" with her followers. After many failed attempts, followers finally guessed correctly. Rowling confirmed that the next novel's title is "Lethal White". While intended for a 2017 release, Rowling tweeted the book was taking longer than expected and would be the longest book in the series thus far. The book was released 18 September 2018.
The fifth novel in the series, titled "Troubled Blood", is due to be published in September 2020.
Rowling has said it is unlikely she will write any more books in the "Harry Potter" series. In October 2007, she stated that her future work was unlikely to be in the fantasy genre. On 1 October 2010, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rowling stated a new book on the saga might happen.
In 2007, Rowling stated that she planned to write an encyclopaedia of "Harry Potter"s wizarding world consisting of various unpublished material and notes. Any profits from such a book would be given to charity. During a news conference at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre in 2007, Rowling, when asked how the encyclopaedia was coming along, said, "It's not coming along, and I haven't started writing it. I never said it was the next thing I'd do." At the end of 2007, Rowling said that the encyclopaedia could take up to ten years to complete.
In June 2011, Rowling announced that future "Harry Potter" projects, and all electronic downloads, would be concentrated in a new website, called Pottermore. The site includes 18,000 words of information on characters, places and objects in the "Harry Potter" universe.
In October 2015, Rowling announced via "Pottermore" that a two-part play she had co-authored with playwrights Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", was the "eighth "Harry Potter" story" and that it would focus on the life of Harry Potter's youngest son Albus after the epilogue of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". On 28 October 2015, the first round of tickets went on sale and sold out in several hours.
Starting on 26 May 2020 and running until 10 July 2020, Rowling began publishing a new children's story online. "The Ickabog" was first mooted as a "political fairytale" for children in a 2007 "Time" magazine interview. Rowling shelved the story and decided to publish it for children as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A print edition is scheduled for November 2020 and will contain illustrations selected from entries to a competition running concurrently with the online publication.
In 2000, Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one-parent families, and multiple sclerosis research.
Rowling, once a single parent, is now president of the charity Gingerbread (originally One Parent Families), having become their first Ambassador in 2000. Rowling collaborated with Sarah Brown to write a book of children's stories to aid One Parent Families.
In 2001, the UK anti-poverty fundraiser Comic Relief asked three best-selling British authors – cookery writer and TV presenter Delia Smith, "Bridget Jones" creator Helen Fielding, and Rowling – to submit booklets related to their most famous works for publication. Rowling's two booklets, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch Through the Ages", are ostensibly facsimiles of books found in the Hogwarts library. Since going on sale in March 2001, the books have raised £15.7 million for the fund. The £10.8 million they have raised outside the UK have been channelled into a newly created International Fund for Children and Young People in Crisis. In 2002, Rowling contributed a foreword to "Magic", an anthology of fiction published by Bloomsbury Publishing, helping to raise money for the National Council for One Parent Families.
In 2005, Rowling and MEP Emma Nicholson founded the Children's High Level Group (now Lumos). In January 2006, Rowling went to Bucharest to highlight the use of caged beds in mental institutions for children. To further support the CHLG, Rowling auctioned one of seven handwritten and illustrated copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", a series of fairy tales referred to in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". The book was purchased for £1.95 million by online bookseller Amazon.com on 13 December 2007, becoming the most expensive modern book ever sold at auction. Rowling gave away the remaining six copies to those who have a close connection with the "Harry Potter" books. In 2008, Rowling agreed to publish the book with the proceeds going to Lumos. On 1 June 2010 (International Children's Day), Lumos launched an annual initiative – "Light a Birthday Candle for Lumos". In November 2013, Rowling handed over all earnings from the sale of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", totalling nearly £19 million.
In July 2012, Rowling was featured at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London, where she read a few lines from J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" as part of a tribute to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. An inflatable representation of Lord Voldemort and other children's literary characters accompanied her reading.
Rowling has contributed money and support for research and treatment of multiple sclerosis, from which her mother suffered before her death in 1990. In 2006, Rowling contributed a substantial sum toward the creation of a new Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University, later named the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic. In 2010, she donated another £10 million to the centre, and in 2019 a further £15 million. For unknown reasons, Scotland, Rowling's country of adoption, has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world. In 2003, Rowling took part in a campaign to establish a national standard of care for MS sufferers. In April 2009, she announced that she was withdrawing her support for Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, citing her inability to resolve an ongoing feud between the organisation's northern and southern branches that had sapped morale and led to several resignations.
In May 2008, bookseller Waterstones asked Rowling and 12 other writers (Lisa Appignanesi, Margaret Atwood, Lauren Child, Sebastian Faulks, Richard Ford, Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Doris Lessing, Michael Rosen, Axel Scheffler, Tom Stoppard and Irvine Welsh) to compose a short piece of their own choosing on a single A5 card, which would then be sold at auction in aid of the charities Dyslexia Action and English PEN. Rowling's contribution was an 800-word "Harry Potter" prequel that concerns Harry's father, James Potter, and godfather, Sirius Black, and takes place three years before Harry was born. The cards were collated and sold for charity in book form in August 2008.
On 1 and 2 August 2006, she read alongside Stephen King and John Irving at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Profits from the event were donated to the Haven Foundation, a charity that aids artists and performers left uninsurable and unable to work, and the medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières. In May 2007, Rowling pledged a donation reported as over £250,000 to a reward fund started by the tabloid "News of the World" for the safe return of a young British girl, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal. Rowling, along with Nelson Mandela, Al Gore, and Alan Greenspan, wrote an introduction to a collection of Gordon Brown's speeches, the proceeds of which were donated to the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory. After her exposure as the true author of "The Cuckoo's Calling" led to a massive increase in sales, Rowling announced she would donate all her royalties to the Army Benevolent Fund, claiming she had always intended to but never expected the book to be a best-seller.
Rowling is a member of both English PEN and Scottish PEN. She was one of 50 authors to contribute to First Editions, Second Thoughts, a charity auction for English PEN. Each author hand annotated a first-edition copy of one of their books, in Rowling's case, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". The book was the highest-selling lot of the event and fetched £150,000 ($228,600).
Rowling is a supporter of the Shannon Trust, which runs the Toe by Toe Reading Plan and the Shannon Reading Plan in prisons across Britain, helping and giving tutoring to prisoners who cannot read.
Rowling has named civil rights activist Jessica Mitford as her greatest influence. She said "Jessica Mitford has been my heroine since I was 14 years old, when I overheard my formidable great-aunt discussing how Mitford had run away at the age of 19 to fight with the Reds in the Spanish Civil War", and claims what inspired her about Mitford was that she was "incurably and instinctively rebellious, brave, adventurous, funny and irreverent, she liked nothing better than a good fight, preferably against a pompous and hypocritical target". Rowling has described Jane Austen as her favourite author, calling "Emma" her favourite book in "O, The Oprah Magazine". As a child, Rowling has said her early influences included "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis, "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge, and "Manxmouse" by Paul Gallico.
To many, Rowling is known for her centre-left political views. In September 2008, on the eve of the Labour Party Conference, Rowling announced that she had donated £1 million to the Labour Party, and publicly endorsed Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown over Conservative challenger David Cameron, praising Labour's policies on child poverty. Rowling is a close friend of Sarah Brown, wife of Gordon Brown, whom she met when they collaborated on a charitable project for One Parent Families.
Entering the sphere of American politics, Rowling discussed the 2008 United States presidential election with the Spanish-language newspaper "El País" in February 2008, stating that the election would have a profound effect on the rest of the world. She also said that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would be "extraordinary" in the White House. In the same interview, Rowling identified Robert F. Kennedy as her hero.
Rowling, in April 2010, published an article in "The Times", in which she criticised Cameron's plan to encourage married couples to stay together by offering them a £150 annual tax credit: "Nobody who has ever experienced the reality of poverty could say 'it's not the money, it's the message'. When your flat has been broken into, and you cannot afford a locksmith, it is the money. When you are two pence short of a tin of baked beans, and your child is hungry, it is the money. When you find yourself contemplating shoplifting to get nappies, it is the money."
Famously, as a resident of Scotland, Rowling was eligible to vote in the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, and campaigned for the "No" vote. She donated £1 million to the Better Together anti-independence campaign (run by her former neighbour Alistair Darling), the largest donation it had received at the time. In a blog post, Rowling explained that an open letter from Scottish medical professionals raised problems with First Minister Alex Salmond's plans for a common research funding. Rowling compared some Scottish Nationalists with the Death Eaters, characters from "Harry Potter" who are scornful of those without pure blood.
On 22 October 2015, a letter was published in "The Guardian" signed by Rowling (along with over 150 other figures from arts and politics) opposing the cultural boycott of Israel, and announcing the creation of a network for dialogue, called Culture for Coexistence. Rowling later explained her position in more detail, saying that although she opposed most of Benjamin Netanyahu's actions she did not think the cultural boycott would bring about the removal of Israel's leader or help improve the situation in Israel and Palestine.
In June 2016, Rowling campaigned for the United Kingdom to stay in the European Union, in the run up to the referendum to leave the European Union, stating on her website that, "I'm the mongrel product of this European continent and I'm an internationalist. I was raised by a Francophile mother whose family was proud of their part-French heritage ... My values are not contained or proscribed by borders. The absence of a visa when I cross the channel has symbolic value to me. I might not be in my house, but I'm still in my hometown." Rowling expressed concern that "racists and bigots" were directing parts of the Leave campaign. In a blog post, she added: "How can a retreat into selfish and insecure individualism be the right response when Europe faces genuine threats, when the bonds that tie us are so powerful, when we have come so far together? How can we hope to conquer the enormous challenges of terrorism and climate change without cooperation and collaboration?"
Over the years, some religious people, particularly Christians, have decried Rowling's books for supposedly promoting witchcraft. Rowling identifies as a Christian. She once said, "I believe in God, not magic." Early on, she felt that if readers knew of her Christian beliefs they would be able to predict plot lines of characters in her books.
In 2007, Rowling said she was the only one in her family who went regularly to church; she was an adherent of the Church of England. As a student, she became annoyed at the "smugness of religious people" and attended less often. Later, she started to attend a Church of Scotland congregation at the time she was writing "Harry Potter". Her eldest daughter, Jessica, was baptised there.
In a 2006 interview with "Tatler", Rowling noted that, "like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes about if my faith will return. It's important to me." She has said that she has struggled with doubt, that she believes in an afterlife, and that her faith plays a part in her books. In a 2012 radio interview, she said that she was a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, a province of the Anglican Communion.
In 2015, following the referendum on same-sex marriage in Ireland, Rowling joked that if Ireland legalised same-sex marriage, Dumbledore and Gandalf could get married there. The Westboro Baptist Church, in response, stated that if the two got married, they would picket. Rowling responded by saying, "Alas, the sheer awesomeness of such a union in such a place would blow your tiny bigoted minds out of your thick sloping skulls."
Rowling has had a difficult relationship with the press. She admits to being "thin-skinned" and dislikes the fickle nature of reporting. Rowling disputes that she is a recluse who hates to be interviewed.
By 2011, Rowling had taken more than 50 actions against the press. In 2001, the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint by Rowling over a series of unauthorised photographs of her with her daughter on the beach in Mauritius published in "OK!" magazine. In 2007, Rowling's young son, David, assisted by Rowling and her husband, lost a court fight to ban publication of a photograph of David. The photo which was taken by a photographer using a long-range lens, was then published in a "Sunday Express" article featuring Rowling's family life and motherhood. The judgement was overturned in David's favour in May 2008.
Rowling particularly dislikes the British tabloid the "Daily Mail", which has conducted interviews with her estranged ex-husband. As one journalist noted, "Harry's Uncle Vernon is a grotesque philistine of violent tendencies and remarkably little brain. It is not difficult to guess which newspaper Rowling gives him to read [in "Goblet of Fire"]." In 2014, she successfully sued the "Mail" for libel over an article about her time as a single mother. Some have speculated that Rowling's fraught relationship with the press was the inspiration behind the character Rita Skeeter, a gossipy celebrity journalist who first appears in "Goblet of Fire", but Rowling said in 2000 that the character predates her rise to fame.
In September 2011, Rowling was named a "core participant" in the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press, as one of dozens of celebrities who may have been the victim of phone hacking. On 24 November 2011, Rowling gave evidence before the inquiry; although she was not suspected to have been the victim of phone hacking, her testimony included accounts of photographers camping on her doorstep, her fiancé being duped into giving his home address to a journalist masquerading as a tax official, her chasing a journalist a week after giving birth, a journalist leaving a note inside her then-five-year-old daughter's schoolbag, and an attempt by "The Sun" to "blackmail" her into a photo opportunity in exchange for the return of a stolen manuscript. Rowling claimed she had to leave her former home in Merchiston because of press intrusion. In November 2012, Rowling wrote an article for "The Guardian" in reaction to David Cameron's decision not to implement the full recommendations of the Leveson inquiry, saying she felt "duped and angry".
In 2014, Rowling reaffirmed her support for "Hacked Off" and its campaign towards press self-regulation by co-signing with other British celebrities a declaration to "[safeguard] the press from political interference while also giving vital protection to the vulnerable."
In December 2019, Rowling tweeted her support for Maya Forstater, a British woman who lost her employment tribunal case against her former employer, the Center for Global Development, after her contract was not renewed. A court subsequently ruled that Forstater's views on transgender identity were not protected beliefs under the Equality Act 2010.
On 6 June 2020, Rowling, via Twitter, criticised an article's use of the phrase "people who menstruate" instead of saying "women". She went on to write, "If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased", while saying that she is empathetic to trans people. The media advocacy group GLAAD called the tweets "anti-trans" and "cruel", and wrote: "JK Rowling continues to align herself with an ideology which willfully distorts facts about gender identity and people who are trans. In 2020, there is no excuse for targeting trans people." Several actors known for portraying Rowling's characters criticised her views or spoke in support of trans rights, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Eddie Redmayne, Evanna Lynch, Bonnie Wright, and Katie Leung. Actress Noma Dumezweni initially expressed support for Rowling but rescinded her stance following backlash. Radcliffe responded on behalf of The Trevor Project, writing: "Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I."
Four days later on 10 June 2020, she published a 3,600-word essay on her website in response to the criticism. She said that she was a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault, and stated that allowing trans women access to single-sex spaces was a danger to women, while stating that most trans people were vulnerable and deserved protection. She also wrote that many women consider terms like "people who menstruate" to be demeaning.
The essay was criticised by, among others, the gender non-conforming children's charity Mermaids.
Rowling, her publishers, and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the "Harry Potter" films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyright. The worldwide popularity of the "Harry Potter" series has led to the appearance of a number of locally produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, sparking efforts to ban or contain them.
Another area of legal dispute involves a series of injunctions obtained by Rowling and her publishers to prohibit anyone from reading her books before their official release date. The injunction drew fire from civil liberties and free speech campaigners and sparked debates over the "right to read".
Rowling has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Exeter (which she attended), the University of Aberdeen, and Harvard University, where she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony. In 2009, Rowling was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2002, Rowling became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (HonFRSE) as well a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL). She was furthermore recognized as Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPE) in 2011 for services to Literature and Philanthropy.
Other awards include: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16027 |
Javary River
The Javary River, Javari River or Yavarí River (; ) is a tributary of the Amazon that forms the boundary between Brazil and Peru for more than . It is navigable by canoe for from above its mouth to its source in the Ucayali highlands, but only 260 were found suitable for steam navigation. The Brazilian Boundary Commission ascended it in 1866 to the junction of the Shino with its Jaquirana branch. The country it traverses in its extremely sinuous course is very level, similar in character to that of the Juruá.
There are a number of small private reserves along the river, which arrange wildlife viewing.
The town of Benjamin Constant lies at the mouth of the river, on the Brazilian bank. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16031 |
Julio-Claudian dynasty
The Julio-Claudian dynasty was the first Roman imperial dynasty, consisting of the first five emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—or the family to which they belonged. They ruled the Roman Empire from its formation under Augustus in 27 BC until AD 68, when the last of the line, Nero, committed suicide. The name "Julio-Claudian dynasty" is a historiographical term derived from the two main branches of the imperial family: the Julii Caesares and Claudii Nerones.
Primogeniture is notably absent in the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Neither Augustus, Caligula, nor Nero fathered a natural and legitimate son. Tiberius' own son, Drusus predeceased him. Only Claudius was outlived by his son, Britannicus, although he opted to promote his adopted son Nero as his successor to the throne. Adoption ultimately became a tool that most Julio-Claudian emperors utilized in order to promote their chosen heir to the front of the succession. Augustus—himself an adopted son of his great-uncle, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar—adopted his stepson Tiberius as his son and heir. Tiberius was, in turn, required to adopt his nephew Germanicus, the father of Caligula and brother of Claudius. Caligula adopted his cousin Tiberius Gemellus (grandson of the emperor Tiberius) shortly before executing him. Claudius adopted his great-nephew and stepson Nero, who, lacking a natural or adopted son of his own, ended the reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty with his fall from power and subsequent suicide.
The ancient historians who dealt with the Julio-Claudian period—chiefly Suetonius (c. 69 – after 122 AD) and Tacitus (c. 56 – after AD 117)—write in generally negative terms about their reign. In Tacitus's historiography of the Julio-Claudian emperors, he states:
"Julius" and "Claudius" were two Roman family names; in classical Latin, they came second. Roman family names were inherited from father to son, but a Roman aristocrat could – either during his life or in his will – adopt an heir if he lacked a natural son. In accordance with Roman naming conventions, the adopted son would replace his original family name with the name of his adopted family. A famous example of this custom is Julius Caesar's adoption of his great-nephew, Gaius Octavius.
Augustus ("Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus"), as Caesar's adopted son and heir, discarded the family name of his natural father and initially renamed himself "Gaius Julius Caesar" after his adoptive father. It was also customary for the adopted son to acknowledge his original family by adding an extra name at the end of his new name. As such, Augustus' adopted name would have been "Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus". However, there is no evidence that he ever used the name Octavianus.
Following Augustus' ascension as the first emperor of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, his family became a "de facto" royal house, known in historiography as the "Julio-Claudian dynasty". For various reasons, the Julio-Claudians followed in the example of Julius Caesar and Augustus by utilizing adoption as a tool for dynastic succession. The next four emperors were closely related through a combination of blood relation, marriage and adoption.
Tiberius ("Tiberius Caesar Divi Augusti Filius Augustus"), a Claudian by birth, became Augustus' stepson after the latter's marriage to Livia, who divorced Tiberius' natural father in the process. Tiberius' connection to the Julian side of the Imperial family grew closer when he married Augustus' only daughter, Julia the Elder. He ultimately succeeded Augustus as emperor in AD 14 after becoming his stepfather's adopted son and heir.
Caligula ("Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus") was born into the Julian and Claudian branches of the Imperial family, thereby making him the first actual "Julio-Claudian" emperor. His father, Germanicus, was the son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, the son of Livia and the daughter of Octavia Minor respectively. Germanicus was also a great-nephew of Augustus on his mother's side and nephew of Tiberius on his father's side. His wife, Agrippina the Elder, was a granddaughter of Augustus. Through Agrippina, Germanicus' children – including Caligula – were Augustus' great-grandchildren. When Augustus adopted Tiberius, the latter was required to adopt his brother's eldest son as well, thus allowing Germanicus' side of the Imperial family to inherit the Julius nomen.
Claudius ("Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus"), the younger brother of Germanicus, was a Claudian on the side of his father, Nero Claudius Drusus, younger brother of Tiberius. However, he was also related to the Julian branch of the Imperial family through his mother, Antonia Minor. As a son of Antonia, Claudius was a great-nephew of Augustus. Moreover, he was also Augustus' step-grandson due to the fact that his father was a stepson of Augustus. Unlike Tiberius and Germanicus, both of whom were born as Claudians and became adopted Julians, Claudius was not adopted into the Julian family. Upon becoming emperor, however, he added the Julian-affiliated cognomen "Caesar" to his full name.
Nero ("Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus") was a great-great-grandson of Augustus and Livia through his mother, Agrippina the Younger. The younger Agrippina was a daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, as well as Caligula's sister. Through his mother, Nero was related by blood to the Julian and Claudian branches of the Imperial family. However, he was born into the Domitii Ahenobarbi on his father's side. Nero became a Claudian in name as a result of Agrippina's marriage to her uncle, Claudius, who ultimately adopted her son as his own. He succeeded Claudius in AD 54, becoming the last direct descendant of Augustus to rule the Roman Empire. Within a year of Nero's suicide in AD 68, the Julio-Claudian dynasty was succeeded by the Flavian emperors following a brief civil war over the vacant Imperial throne.
Lacking any male child and heir, Augustus married his only child -- a daughter -- Julia to his nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Marcellus, however, died of food poisoning in 23 BC. Augustus then married his widowed daughter to his loyal friend, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, previously married to Augustus' niece, the sister of Marcellus. This marriage produced five children, three sons and two daughters: Gaius Caesar, Lucius Caesar, Julia the Younger, Agrippina the Elder, and Agrippa Postumus.
Gaius and Lucius, the first two children of Julia and Agrippa, were adopted by Augustus and became heirs to the throne; however, Augustus also showed great favor toward his wife Livia's two children from her first marriage: Tiberius and Drusus. They were successful military leaders who had fought against the barbarian Germanic tribes.
Agrippa died in 12 BC, and Tiberius was ordered by Augustus to divorce his wife Vipsania Agrippina, daughter of Agrippa by his first marriage, and marry his stepsister, the twice-widowed Julia. Drusus, the brother of Tiberius, died in 9 BC after falling from a horse. Tiberius shared in Augustus' tribune powers, but shortly thereafter, in 6 BC, he went into voluntary exile in Rhodes. After the early deaths of both Lucius (AD 2) and Gaius (AD 4) and the exile of both Julia the Elder and Younger for adultery, a turn of events which saw the elder Julia's half brother Publius Cornelius Scipio exiled for treason, Mark Antony's son Iullus Antonius committing suicide and Julia the Younger's husband Lucius Aemilius Paullus being executed for conspiracy, Augustus was forced to recognize Tiberius as the next Roman emperor. Augustus banished his grandson Postumus Agrippa, who was adopted after the death of his brothers, to the small island of Planasia (around AD 6 or 7) where he was later executed, and Tiberius was recalled to Rome and officially adopted by Augustus. By Augustus' request, Tiberius adopted his nephew Germanicus, son of his late brother Drusus and biological great-nephew of Augustus through his mother. Germanicus subsequently married Augustus' granddaughter Agrippina.
On 19 August AD 14, Augustus died. Tiberius had already been established as Princeps in all but name, and his position as heir was confirmed in Augustus' will.
Despite his difficult relationship with the Senate, Tiberius' first years were generally good. He stayed true to Augustus’s plans for the succession and favored his adopted son and nephew Germanicus over his natural son, Drusus, as did the Roman populace. On Tiberius' request, Germanicus was granted proconsular power and assumed command in the prime military zone of Germania, where he suppressed the mutiny there and led the formerly restless legions on campaigns against Germanic tribes from AD 14 to 16. Germanicus died in Syria in AD 19 and, on his deathbed, accused the governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, of murdering him at Tiberius’s orders. With Germanicus dead, Tiberius began elevating his own son Drusus to replace him as the Imperial successor. By this time Tiberius had left more of the day-to-day running of the Empire to Lucius Aelius Sejanus.
Sejanus created an atmosphere of fear in Rome, controlling a network of informers and spies whose incentive to accuse others of treason was a share in the accused's property after their conviction and death. Treason trials became commonplace; few members of the Roman aristocracy were safe. The trials played up to Tiberius' growing paranoia, which made him more reliant on Sejanus, as well as allowing Sejanus to eliminate potential rivals. Victims of this reign of terror related to the imperial family included Gaius Asinius Gallus Saloninus, second husband of Tiberius' first wife Vipsania, who had since died, and Decimus Haterius Agrippa, grandson of Agrippa and husband of Augustus' great-niece, Quinctilius Varus.
Tiberius, perhaps sensitive to this ambition, rejected Sejanus's initial proposal to marry Livilla, Germanicus' sister and the widow of Tiberius' son Drusus the Younger, who had since died, in AD 25, but later had withdrawn his objections so that, in AD 30, Sejanus was betrothed to Julia Livia, daughter of Livilla and Drusus the Younger. Sejanus' family connection to the Imperial house was now imminent, and in AD 31 Sejanus held the Consulship with the emperor as his colleague, an honor Tiberius reserved only for heirs to the throne. When he was summoned to a meeting of the Senate later that year on 18 October AD 31, he probably expected to receive a share of the tribunician power. Instead, however, Tiberius' letter to the Senate, completely unexpectedly, requested the destruction of Sejanus and his faction. A purge followed, in which Sejanus and his most prominent supporters were killed. With Drusus dead and having had Germanicus' elder two sons Nero and Drusus convicted of treason and killed, along with their mother Agrippina, Tiberius appointed Caligula, Germanicus' youngest son, and Tiberius Gemellus, the son of Drusus the Younger and grandson of Tiberius, co-heirs. Drusus III's wife Aemilia Lepida was later forced to commit suicide after being accused of adultery.
Rome's second Emperor died at the port town of Misenum on 16 March AD 37, at the age of 78 years, having reigned for 23 years. Suetonius writes that the Prefect of the Praetorian Guard Naevius Sutorius Macro smothered Tiberius with a pillow to hasten Caligula's accession. According to Suetonius, he was known for his cruelty and debauchery through his perversion on the island of Capri where he forced young boys and girls into orgies. On one account when one of the boys complained, Tiberius had his legs broken. Suetonius' claims, however, have to be taken with a degree of skepticism, due to bitterness from the reign of previous emperors that usually accompanies the coming of a new leader.
Although Augustus' succession plans were all but ruined due to the deaths of more than several family members, including many of his own descendants, in the end, Tiberius remained faithful to his predecessor's wishes that the next emperor would hail from the Julian side of the Imperial family. Thus, Tiberius was succeeded by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the sole-remaining son of his nephew and adopted son Germanicus. The new emperor was a great grandson of Augustus through his mother Agrippina the Elder thus making him a Julian but he was also a Claudian through his father Germanicus being the son of Livia's younger son Drusus the Elder. More commonly remembered in history by his childhood nickname Caligula, he was the third Roman Emperor ruling from AD 37 to 41.
When Tiberius died on 16 March AD 37, Caligula was well-positioned to assume power, despite the obstacle of Tiberius’s will, which named him and his cousin Tiberius Gemellus as joint heirs. Caligula ordered Gemellus killed within his first year in power. Backed by Naevius Sutorius Macro, Caligula asserted himself as sole princeps, though he later had Macro disposed of as well.. Following Gemellus' death, Caligula marked his brother-in-law, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, husband of his sister Julia Drusilla, as his heir. However, after Drusilla's death, Lepidus was accused of having affairs with Caligula's other sisters Agrippina the Younger and Julia Livilla and he was executed. He had previously had Drusilla's first husband Lucius Cassius Longinus killed and upon the death of Agrippina's husband Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, he seized his inheritance.
Several unsuccessful assassination attempts were made on Caligula's life. The successful conspiracy that ended Caligula's life was hatched by the disgruntled Praetorian Guard with backing by the Senate. The historian Josephus claims that the conspirators wished to restore the Republic while the historian Suetonius claims their motivations were mostly personal. On 24 January AD 41, the Praetorian tribune Cassius Chaerea and his men stopped Caligula alone in an underground passage leading to a theater. They stabbed him to death. Together with another tribune, Cornelius Sabinus, he killed Caligula's wife Caesonia and their infant daughter Julia Drusilla on the same day.
After Caligula’s death, the Senate attempted and failed to restore the Republic. Claudius, Caligula's paternal uncle, became emperor by the instigation of the Praetorian Guards.
Despite his lack of political experience, and the disapproval of the people of Rome, Claudius proved to be an able administrator and a great builder of public works. His reign saw an expansion of the empire, including the invasion of Britain in AD 43. He took a personal interest in the law, presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day; however, he was seen as vulnerable throughout his rule, particularly by the nobility. Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position—resulting in the deaths of many senators. Claudius also suffered tragic setbacks in his personal life. He married four times (to, in order, Plautia Urgulanilla, Aelia Paetina, Valeria Messalina and, finally, Agrippina the Younger) and is referenced by Suetonius as being easily manipulated. This is particularly evident during his marriage to Agrippina the Younger, his niece. Messalina saw several members of the dynasty eliminated, notably arranging for the executions of Claudius' nieces Julia Livilla, daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, and Julia Livia, daughter of Livilla and Drusus the Younger, as well as Julia Livilla's husband Marcus Vinicius, her mother's husband Appius Junius Silanus, Gaius Asinius Pollio, son of Tiberius' first wife Vipsania by her second husband, Claudius' son-in-law Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and his parents Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi and Scribonia. Messalina herself was finally executed after being charged with adultery.
Claudius' reign also included several attempts on his life. In order to gain political support, he married Agrippina and adopted his great-nephew Nero.
With his adoption on 25 February AD 50, Nero became heir to the throne, over Claudius' own son Britannicus. Claudius died on 13 October AD 54, and Nero became emperor. A number of ancient historians accuse Agrippina of poisoning Claudius, but details on these private events vary widely. These events are recounted in book 12 of the Annals of Tacitus, book 61 of Cassius Dio’s Roman History, and in the biographies of Nero and Cladius by Seutonius.
Nero became emperor in AD 54 at sixteen, the youngest emperor yet. Like his maternal uncle Caligula before him, Nero was also a direct descendant of Augustus, a fact which made his ascension to the throne much easier and smoother than it had been for Tiberius or Claudius. Ancient historians describe Nero's early reign as being strongly influenced by his mother Agrippina the Younger, his tutor Seneca, and the Praetorian Prefect Burrus, especially in the first year. He was made Emperor over his step-brother, Claudius' son Britannicus, who he had killed. Agrippina was believed to have poisoned Claudius, having allegedly poisoned her second husband Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus. She had also arranged the deaths of Caligula's third wife, Lollia Paulina and Messalina's mother Domitia Lepida the Younger. She saw that the dynasty's numbers dwindle with the execution of Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, a grandson of Julia the Younger, to strengthen Nero's claim, having previously arranged the death of his brother Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus. In AD 55, Nero began taking on a more active role as an administrator. He was consul four times between AD 55 and 60. Nero consolidated power over time through the execution and banishment of his rivals and slowly usurped authority from the Senate. He reportedly arranged the death of his own mother and after divorcing his wife Claudia Octavia, daughter of Claudius' and Messalina, he had her killed. Other relatives whom Nero was believed to have had killed were Claudius' daughter by Aelia Paetina, Claudia Antonia, her husband and half-brother of Messalina, Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix, Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus, brother of Marcus and Lucius Junius Silanus Torquantus, as well as Marcus' son, also named Lucius, his aunt Domitia Lepida the Elder, and Rubellius Plautus, son of Julia Livia along with his wife, children and father-in-law.
In AD 64 Rome burned. Nero enacted a public relief effort as well as large reconstruction projects. To fund this, the provinces were heavily taxed following the fire.
By AD 65, senators complained that they had no power left and this led to the Pisonian conspiracy, led by Gaius Calpurnius Piso, an adoptive descendant of Triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus, grandson of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, a governor of Syria who committed suicide after being accused of killing Germanicus, and first husband of Livia Orestilla, Caligula's second wife. The conspiracy failed and its members were executed. Vacancies after the conspiracy allowed Nymphidius Sabinus, a grandson of former imperial freedman Gaius Julius Callistus, who claimed to be an illegitimate son of Caligula, to rise in the Praetorian Guard.
In late AD 67 or early 68, Vindex, the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis in Gaul, rebelled against Nero's tax policies. Lucius Virginius Rufus, the governor of superior Germany, was sent to put down the rebellion. To gain support, Vindex called on Galba, the governor of Hispania Citerior (in the Iberian Peninsula), to become emperor. Virginius Rufus defeated Vindex's forces and Vindex committed suicide. Galba was declared a public enemy and his legion was confined in the city of Clunia.
Nero had regained the control of the empire militarily, but this opportunity was used by his enemies in Rome. Nymphidius Sabinus, who desired to become emperor himself, bribed the Praetorian Guard to betray Nero. Sabinus was later murdered in favor of Galba.
Nero reportedly committed suicide with the help of his scribe Epaphroditos. The Senate had been trying to preserve the dynastic bloodline by saving Nero's life, and were additionally reluctant to let someone who was not of the family become emperor; however, once he had committed suicide, and with Galba marching on the city, it had no choice but to declare him a public enemy posthumously. With his death, the reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an end. Chaos ensued in the Year of the Four Emperors.
Augustus' bloodline outlived his dynasty through the descendants of his first granddaughter, Julia the Younger, who married Lucius Aemilius Paullus and gave birth to Aemilia Lepida. After marrying Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, Aemilia gave birth to several children, including Junia Calvina and Junia Lepida. Although Calvina died childless, she was married to Lucius Vitellius, whose elder brother was the short-lived emperor Vitellius. Her younger sister, Junia Lepida, married Gaius Cassius Longinus and produced a daughter called Cassia Longina. The Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo married Cassia, who provided him with two daughters, Domitia and Domitia Longina. In AD 81 Domitia Longina became Roman empress as a result of her husband Domitian's accession as the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.
The lineage of Augustus endured into the era of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty, the house that succeeded the Flavians. In addition to Cassia Longina, Junia Lepida gave birth to a son called Cassius Lepidus. Around AD 80 Lepidus had a daughter named Cassia Lepida, who married Gaius Julius Alexander Berenicianus. Julia Cassia Alexandria, Lepida's daughter by Berenicianus, married Gaius Avidius Heliodorus and ultimately gave birth to Gaius Avidius Cassius. Avidius Cassius had three children with his wife (named either Volusia Vettia or Volusia Maeciana); they were Avidius Heliodorus, Avidius Maecianus and Avidia Alexandra. In AD 175 Cassius was proclaimed emperor after he received erroneous news of the death of Marcus Aurelius, whose survival made Cassius a usurper of the empire. Cassius' rebellion ended three months into his bid for the throne when one of his centurions assassinated him in favor of Marcus Aurelius.
On Livia Drusilla's side of the dynasty, Rubellia Bassa was one of the few remaining Claudians who survived the downfall of the first imperial family. A great-granddaughter of Tiberius, Rubellia was the daughter of Julia Livia, whose father and mother were Drusus Julius Caesar (son of Tiberius) and Livilla (daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus), respectively. Rubellia was also related to Augustus by blood through her maternal great-great-grandmother Octavia Minor (sister of Augustus). She married Octavius Laenas, maternal uncle of the emperor Nerva. Her last known descendant was Sergius Octavius Laenas Pontianus, consul in AD 131, who lived during the reign of Hadrian. Afterward, towards Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, the line falls into the realm of parahistory, where various Medieval royal families have claimed some sort of descent, such as the Colonna family.
The great-uncle/great-nephew blood relationship and/or adopted son relationship was commonly found among the rulers of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
The other recurring relationship between emperor and successor is that of stepfather/stepson, a relationship not by blood but by marriage:
The uncle/nephew relationship is also prominent:
There were several instances of Emperors being father-in-law and son-in-law to each other:
The following bullet points illustrate the lineage of Julio-Claudian emperors (adoptions included; emperors in bold):
No Julio-Claudian emperor was a blood descendant of his immediate predecessor. Although Tiberius and Claudius had potential heirs (Tiberius Gemellus, grandson of Tiberius through his son Drusus, and Britannicus, son of Claudius, respectively) available for the succession, both were, in turn, ultimately succeeded by their great-nephews Caligula and Nero, respectively.
The fact that ordinary father-son (or grandfather-grandson) succession did not occur has contributed to the image of the Julio-Claudian court presented in Robert Graves's "I, Claudius" as a dangerous world where scheming family members were all too ready to murder the direct heirs so as to bring themselves, their own immediate families, or their lovers closer to the succession. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16032 |
Johnson solid
In geometry, a Johnson solid is a strictly convex polyhedron, which is not uniform (i.e., not a Platonic solid, Archimedean solid, prism, or antiprism), and each face of which is a regular polygon. There is no requirement that each face must be the same polygon, or that the same polygons join around each vertex. An example of a Johnson solid is the square-based pyramid with equilateral sides ("J"1); it has 1 square face and 4 triangular faces.
As in any strictly convex solid, at least three faces meet at every vertex, and the total of their angles is less than 360 degrees. Since a regular polygon has angles at least 60 degrees, it follows that at most five faces meet at any vertex. The pentagonal pyramid ("J"2) is an example that actually has a degree-5 vertex.
Although there is no obvious restriction that any given regular polygon cannot be a face of a Johnson solid, it turns out that the faces of Johnson solids always have 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 10 sides.
In 1966, Norman Johnson published a list which included all 92 solids, and gave them their names and numbers. He did not prove that there were only 92, but he did conjecture that there were no others. Victor Zalgaller in 1969 proved that Johnson's list was complete.
Of the Johnson solids, the elongated square gyrobicupola ("J"37), also called the pseudorhombicuboctahedron, is unique in being locally vertex-uniform: there are 4 faces at each vertex, and their arrangement is always the same: 3 squares and 1 triangle. However, it is not vertex-transitive, as it has different isometry at different vertices, making it a Johnson solid rather than an Archimedean solid.
The naming of Johnson solids follows a flexible and precise descriptive formula, such that many solids can be named in different ways without compromising their accuracy as a description. Most Johnson solids can be constructed from the first few (pyramids, cupolae, and rotunda), together with the Platonic and Archimedean solids, prisms, and antiprisms; the centre of a particular solid's name will reflect these ingredients. From there, a series of prefixes are attached to the word to indicate additions, rotations and transformations:
The last three operations – "augmentation", "diminution", and "gyration" – can be performed multiple times for certain large solids. "Bi-" & "Tri-" indicate a double and triple operation respectively. For example, a "bigyrate" solid has two rotated cupolae, and a "tridiminished" solid has three removed pyramids or cupolae.
In certain large solids, a distinction is made between solids where altered faces are parallel and solids where altered faces are oblique. "Para-" indicates the former, that the solid in question has altered parallel faces, and "Meta-" the latter, altered oblique faces. For example, a "parabiaugmented" solid has had two parallel faces augmented, and a "metabigyrate" solid has had 2 oblique faces gyrated.
The last few Johnson solids have names based on certain polygon complexes from which they are assembled. These names are defined by Johnson
with the following nomenclature:
The first 6 Johnson solids are pyramids, cupolae, or rotundae with at most 5 lateral faces. Pyramids and cupolae with 6 or more lateral faces are coplanar and are hence not Johnson solids.
The first two Johnson solids, J1 and J2, are pyramids. The "triangular pyramid" is the regular tetrahedron, so it is not a Johnson solid.
The next four Johnson solids are three cupolae and one rotunda. They represent sections of uniform polyhedra.
Johnson solids 7 to 17 are derived from pyramids.
In the gyroelongated triangular pyramid, three pairs of adjacent triangles are coplanar and form non-square rhombi, so it is not a Johnson solid.
The "square bipyramid" is the regular octahedron, while the "gyroelongated pentagonal bipyramid" is the regular icosahedron, so they are not Johnson solids. In the gyroelongated triangular bipyramid, six pairs of adjacent triangles are coplanar and form non-square rhombi, so it is also not a Johnson solid.
Johnson solids 18 to 48 are derived from cupolae and rotundae.
The triangular gyrobicupola is an Archimedean solid (in this case the cuboctahedron), so it is not a Johnson solid.
The pentagonal gyrobirotunda is an Archimedean solid (in this case the icosidodecahedron), so it is not a Johnson solid.
The elongated square orthobicupola is an Archimedean solid (in this case the rhombicuboctahedron), so it is not a Johnson solid.
These Johnson solids have 2 chiral forms.
Johnson solids 49 to 57 are built by augmenting the sides of prisms with square pyramids.
Johnson solids 58 to 64 are built by augmenting or diminishing Platonic solids.
Johnson solids 65 to 83 are built by augmenting, diminishing or gyrating Archimedean solids.
J37 would also appear here as a duplicate (it is a gyrate rhombicuboctahedron).
Johnson solids 84 to 92 are not derived from "cut-and-paste" manipulations of uniform solids.
The snub antiprisms can be constructed as an alternation of a truncated antiprism. The gyrobianticupolae are another construction for the snub antiprisms. Only snub antiprisms with at most 4 sides can be constructed from regular polygons. The snub triangular antiprism is the regular icosahedron, so it is not a Johnson solid.
Five Johnson solids are deltahedra, with all equilateral triangle faces:
Twenty four Johnson solids have only triangle or square faces:
Eleven Johnson solids have only triangle and pentagonal faces:
Twenty Johnson solids have only triangle, square and pentagonal faces:
Eight Johnson solids have only triangle, square and hexagonal faces:
Five Johnson solids have only triangle, square and octagonal faces:
Two Johnson solids have only triangle, pentagon and decagonal faces:
Only one Johnson solid has triangle, square, pentagon and hexagonal faces:
Sixteen Johnson solids have only triangle, square, pentagon and decagonal faces:
25 of the Johnson solids have vertices that exist on the surface of a sphere: 1–6,11,19,27,34,37,62,63,72–83. All of them can be seen to be related to a regular or uniform polyhedron by gyration, diminishment, or dissection. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16034 |
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, Israel's ancestors and the origins of the Jewish people. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, "Bereshit" ("In the beginning").
It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 1–11) and the ancestral history (chapters 12–50). The primeval history sets out the author's concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for mankind, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, saving only the righteous Noah to reestablish the relationship between man and God. The ancestral history (chapters 12–50) tells of the prehistory of Israel, God's chosen people. At God's command Noah's descendant Abraham journeys from the Sumerian city of Ur into the God-given land of Canaan, where he dwells as a sojourner, as does his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. Jacob's name is changed to Israel, and through the agency of his son Joseph, the children of Israel descend into Egypt, 70 people in all with their households, and God promises them a future of greatness. Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, ready for the coming of Moses and the Exodus. The narrative is punctuated by a series of covenants with God, successively narrowing in scope from all mankind (the covenant with Noah) to a special relationship with one people alone (Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob).
In Judaism, the theological importance of Genesis centers on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land. Christianity has interpreted Genesis as the prefiguration of certain cardinal Christian beliefs, primarily the need for salvation (the hope or assurance of all Christians) and the redemptive act of Christ on the Cross as the fulfillment of covenant promises as the Son of God.
Tradition credits Moses as the author of Genesis, as well as the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy, but modern scholars especially from the 19th century onward see them as a product of the 6th and 5th centuries BC.
Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase "elleh toledot", meaning "these are the generations," with the first use of the phrase referring to the "generations of heaven and earth" and the remainder marking individuals—Noah, the "sons of Noah", Shem, etc., down to Jacob. It is not clear, however, what this meant to the original authors, and most modern commentators divide it into two parts based on subject matter, a "primeval history" (chapters 1–11) and a "patriarchal history" (chapters 12–50). While the first is far shorter than the second, it sets out the basic themes and provides an interpretive key for understanding the entire book. The "primeval history" has a symmetrical structure hinging on chapters 6–9, the flood story, with the events before the flood mirrored by the events after; the "ancestral history" is structured around the three patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Joseph. (The stories of Isaac do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob.)
There are two distinct versions of God's creation of the world in Genesis.God creates the world in six days and consecrates the seventh as a day of rest. God creates the first humans Adam and Eve and all the animals in the Garden of Eden but instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A talking serpent portrayed as a deceptive creature or trickster, entices Eve into eating it against God's wishes, and she entices Adam, whereupon God throws them out and curses them—Adam to getting what he needs only by sweat and work, and Eve to giving birth in pain. This is interpreted by Christians as the fall of humanity. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel after God accepts Abel's offering but not Cain's. God then curses Cain. Eve bears another son, Seth, to take Abel's place.
After many generations of Adam have passed from the lines of Cain and Seth, the world becomes corrupted by human sin and Nephilim, and God determines to wipe out humanity. First, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build an ark and put examples of all the animals on it, seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean. Then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. When the waters recede, God promises he will never destroy the world with water again, using the rainbow as a symbol of his promise. God sees mankind cooperating to build a great tower city, the Tower of Babel, and divides humanity with many languages and sets them apart with confusion.
God instructs Abram to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. There, God makes a covenant with Abram, promising that his descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, but that people will suffer oppression in a foreign land for four hundred years, after which they will inherit the land "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates". Abram's name is changed to Abraham and that of his wife Sarai to Sarah, and circumcision of all males is instituted as the sign of the covenant. Due to her old age, Sarah tells Abraham to take her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar, as a second wife. Through Hagar, Abraham fathers Ishmael.
God resolves to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people. Abraham protests and gets God to agree not to destroy the cities for the sake of ten righteous men. Angels save Abraham's nephew Lot and his family, but his wife looks back on the destruction against their command and turns into a pillar of salt. Lot's daughters, concerned that they are fugitives who will never find husbands, get him drunk to become pregnant by him, and give birth to the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.
Abraham and Sarah go to the Philistine town of Gerar, pretending to be brother and sister (they are half-siblings). The King of Gerar takes Sarah for his wife, but God warns him to return her, and he obeys. God sends Sarah a son whom she will name Isaac; through him will be the establishment of the covenant. Sarah drives Ishmael and his mother Hagar out into the wilderness, but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation.
God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. As Abraham is about to lay the knife upon his son, God restrains him, promising him numberless descendants. On the death of Sarah, Abraham purchases Machpelah (believed to be modern Hebron) for a family tomb and sends his servant to Mesopotamia to find among his relations a wife for Isaac; after proving herself, Rebekah becomes Isaac's betrothed. Keturah, Abraham's other wife, births more children, among whose descendants are the Midianites. Abraham dies at a prosperous old age and his family lays him to rest in Hebron.
Isaac's wife Rebecca gives birth to the twins Esau, father of the Edomites, and Jacob. Through deception, Jacob becomes the heir instead of Esau and gains his father's blessing. He flees to his uncle where he prospers and earns his two wives, Rachel and Leah. Jacob's name is changed to Israel, and by his wives and their handmaidens he has twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of the Children of Israel, and a daughter, Dinah.
Joseph, Jacob's favorite son, makes his brothers jealous and they sell him into slavery in Egypt. Joseph prospers, after hardship, with God's guidance of interpreting Pharaoh's dream of upcoming famine. He is then reunited with his father and brothers, who fail to recognize him, and plead for food. After much manipulation, he reveals himself and lets them and their households into Egypt, where Pharaoh assigns to them the land of Goshen. Jacob calls his sons to his bedside and reveals their future before he dies. Joseph lives to an old age and exhorts his brethren, if God should lead them out of the country, to take his bones with them.
Genesis takes its Hebrew title from the first word of the first sentence, "Bereshit", meaning "In [the] beginning [of]"; in the Greek Septuagint it was called "Genesis", from the phrase "the generations of heaven and earth". There are four major textual witnesses to the book: the Masoretic Text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and fragments of Genesis found at Qumran. The Qumran group provides the oldest manuscripts but covers only a small proportion of the book; in general, the Masoretic Text is well preserved and reliable, but there are many individual instances where the other versions preserve a superior reading.
For much of the 20th century most scholars agreed that the five books of the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—came from four sources, the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source, each telling the same basic story, and joined together by various editors. Since the 1970s there has been a revolution leading scholars to view the Elohist source as no more than a variation on the Yahwist, and the Priestly source as a body of revisions and expansions to the Yahwist (or "non-Priestly") material. (The Deuteronomistic source does not appear in Genesis.)
Scholars use examples of repeated and duplicate stories to identify the separate sources. In Genesis these include three different accounts of a Patriarch claiming that his wife was his sister, the two creation stories, and the two versions of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael into the desert.
This leaves the question of when these works were created. Scholars in the first half of the 20th century came to the conclusion that the Yahwist is a product of the monarchic period, specifically at the court of Solomon, 10th century BC, and the Priestly work in the middle of the 5th century BC (with claims that the author is Ezra), but more recent thinking is that the Yahwist is from either just before or during the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC, and the Priestly final edition was made late in the Exilic period or soon after.
As for why the book was created, a theory which has gained considerable interest, although still controversial is "Persian imperial authorisation". This proposes that the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire, after their conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, agreed to grant Jerusalem a large measure of local autonomy within the empire, but required the local authorities to produce a single law code accepted by the entire community. The two powerful groups making up the community—the priestly families who controlled the Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the "elders" and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had "given" them the land—were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own "history of origins", but the Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text.
Genesis is perhaps best seen as an example of a creation myth, a type of literature telling of the first appearance of humans, the stories of ancestors and heroes, and the origins of culture, cities and so forth. The most notable examples are found in the work of Greek historians of the 6th century BC: their intention was to connect notable families of their own day to a distant and heroic past, and in doing so they did not distinguish between myth, legend, and facts. Professor Jean-Louis Ska of the Pontifical Biblical Institute calls the basic rule of the antiquarian historian the "law of conservation": everything old is valuable, nothing is eliminated. Ska also points out the purpose behind such antiquarian histories: antiquity is needed to prove the worth of Israel's traditions to the nations (the neighbours of the Jews in early Persian Palestine), and to reconcile and unite the various factions within Israel itself.
In 1978 David Clines published his influential "The Theme of the Pentateuch" – influential because he was one of the first to take up the question of the theme of the entire five books. Clines' conclusion was that the overall theme is "the partial fulfillment – which implies also the partial nonfulfillment – of the promise to or blessing of the Patriarchs". (By calling the fulfillment "partial" Clines was drawing attention to the fact that at the end of Deuteronomy the people are still outside Canaan).
The patriarchs, or ancestors, are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Joseph is normally excluded). Since the name YHWH had not been revealed to them, they worshipped El in his various manifestations. (It is, however, worth noting that in the Jahwist source the patriarchs refer to deity by the name YHWH, for example in Genesis 15.) Through the patriarchs God announces the election of Israel, meaning that he has chosen Israel to be his special people and committed himself to their future. God tells the patriarchs that he will be faithful to their descendants (i.e. to Israel), and Israel is expected to have faith in God and his promise. ("Faith" in the context of Genesis and the Hebrew Bible means agreement to the promissory relationship, not a body of belief).
The promise itself has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land. The fulfilment of the promise to each patriarch depends on having a male heir, and the story is constantly complicated by the fact that each prospective mother – Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel – is barren. The ancestors, however, retain their faith in God and God in each case gives a son – in Jacob's case, twelve sons, the foundation of the chosen Israelites. Each succeeding generation of the three promises attains a more rich fulfillment, until through Joseph "all the world" attains salvation from famine, and by bringing the children of Israel down to Egypt he becomes the means through which the promise can be fulfilled.
Scholars generally agree that the theme of divine promise unites the patriarchal cycles, but many would dispute the efficacy of trying to examine Genesis' theology by pursuing a single overarching theme, instead citing as more productive the analysis of the Abraham cycle, the Jacob cycle, and the Joseph cycle, and the Yahwist and Priestly sources. The problem lies in finding a way to unite the patriarchal theme of divine promise to the stories of Genesis 1–11 (the primeval history) with their theme of God's forgiveness in the face of man's evil nature. One solution is to see the patriarchal stories as resulting from God's decision not to remain alienated from mankind: God creates the world and mankind, mankind rebels, and God "elects" (chooses) Abraham.
To this basic plot (which comes from the Yahwist) the Priestly source has added a series of covenants dividing history into stages, each with its own distinctive "sign". The first covenant is between God and all living creatures, and is marked by the sign of the rainbow; the second is with the descendants of Abraham (Ishmaelites and others as well as Israelites), and its sign is circumcision; and the last, which does not appear until the book of Exodus, is with Israel alone, and its sign is Sabbath. A great leader mediates each covenant (Noah, Abraham, Moses), and at each stage God progressively reveals himself by his name (Elohim with Noah, El Shaddai with Abraham, Yahweh with Moses). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12667 |
Galois group
In mathematics, more specifically in the area of abstract algebra known as Galois theory, the Galois group of a certain type of field extension is a specific group associated with the field extension. The study of field extensions and their relationship to the polynomials that give rise to them via Galois groups is called Galois theory, so named in honor of Évariste Galois who first discovered them.
For a more elementary discussion of Galois groups in terms of permutation groups, see the article on Galois theory.
Suppose that formula_1 is an extension of the field formula_2 (written as formula_3 and read "formula_1 over formula_2"). An automorphism of formula_3 is defined to be an automorphism of formula_1 that fixes formula_2 pointwise. In other words, an automorphism of is an isomorphism formula_9 such that formula_10 for each formula_11. The set of all automorphisms of formula_3 forms a group with the operation of function composition. This group is sometimes denoted by formula_13.
If formula_3 is a Galois extension, then formula_13 is called the Galois group of formula_3, and is usually denoted by formula_17.
If formula_3 is not a Galois extension, then the Galois group of formula_3 is sometimes defined as formula_20, where formula_21 is the Galois closure of formula_1.
Another definition of the Galois group comes from the Galois group of a polynomial formula_23. If there is a field formula_24 such that formula_25 factors as a product of linear polynomialsformula_26over the field formula_21, then the Galois group of the polynomial formula_25 is defined as the Galois group of formula_24 where formula_21 is minimal among all such fields.
One of the important structure theorems from Galois theory comes from the fundamental theorem of Galois theory. This states that given a finite Galois extension formula_31, there is a bijection between the set of subfields formula_32 and the subgroups formula_33. Then, formula_1 is given by the set of invariants of formula_21 under the action of formula_36, soformula_37Moreover, if formula_38 is a normal subgroup then formula_39. And conversely, if formula_40 is a normal field extension, then the associated subgroup in formula_41 is a normal group.
Given Galois extensions formula_42 with Galois groups formula_43, then the field formula_44 with Galois group formula_45 has an injectionformula_46which is an isomorphism whenever formula_47.
As a corollary, this can be inducted finitely many times. Given Galois extensions formula_48 where formula_49, then there is an isomorphism of the corresponding Galois groups.formula_50
In the following examples is a field, and , , are the fields of complex, real, and rational numbers, respectively. The notation indicates the field extension obtained by adjoining an element to the field .
One of the basic propositions required for completely determining the Galois groups of a finite field extension is the following: Given a polynomial formula_51, let formula_3 be its splitting field extension. Then the order of the Galois group is equal to the degree of the field extension; that is,formula_53
A useful tool for determining the Galois group of a polynomial comes from Eisenstein's criterion. If a polynomial formula_23 factors into irreducible polynomials formula_55 the Galois group of formula_25 can be determined using the Galois groups of each formula_57 since the Galois group of formula_25 contains each of the Galois groups of the formula_57.
formula_60 is the trivial group that has a single element, namely the identity automorphism.
Another example of a Galois group which is trivial is . Indeed, it can be shown that any automorphism of must preserve the ordering of the real numbers and hence must be the identity.
Consider the field . The group contains only the identity automorphism. This is because formula_21 is not a normal extension, since the other two cube roots of formula_62, formula_63 and formula_64, are missing from the extension—in other words is not a splitting field.
The Galois group has two elements, the identity automorphism and the complex conjugation automorphism.
The degree two field extension formula_65 has the Galois group with two elements, the identity automorphism and the automorphism formula_66 which exchanges + and −. This example generalizes for an prime number formula_67.
Using the lattice structure of Galois groups, for non-equal prime numbers formula_68 the Galois group of formula_69 isformula_70
Another useful class of examples comes from the splitting fields of cyclotomic polynomials. These are polynomials formula_71 defined asformula_72whose degree is formula_73, Euler's totient function at formula_74. Then, the splitting field over formula_75 is formula_76 and has automorphisms formula_77 sending formula_78 for formula_79 relatively prime to formula_74. Since the degree of the field is equal to the degree of the polynomial, these automorphisms generate the Galois group. If formula_81, thenformula_82If formula_83 is a prime formula_84, then a corollary of this is formula_85In fact, any finite Abelian group can be found as the Galois group of some subfield of a cyclotomic field extension by the Kronecker–Weber theorem.
Another useful class of examples of Galois groups with finite abelian groups comes from finite fields. If is a prime power, and if and denote the Galois fields of order and respectively, then formula_17 is cyclic of order and generated by the Frobenius homomorphism.
One example of a degree formula_87 field extension is the field extension formula_88. This has two automorphisms formula_91 where formula_66 maps formula_93 and formula_94 maps formula_95. Since these two generators define a group of order formula_87, the Klein four-group, they determine the entire Galois group structure.
Another example is given from the splitting field formula_97 of the polynomialformula_98Note because formula_99, the roots of formula_100 are formula_101. There are automorphisms formula_102 sending formula_103 to formula_104, generating a group of order formula_87. Since formula_106 generates this group, the Galois group is isomorphic to formula_107.
Consider now , where is a primitive cube root of unity. The group is isomorphic to , the dihedral group of order 6, and is in fact the splitting field of over .
The Quaternion group can be found as the Galois group of a field extension of formula_75. For example, the field extensionformula_109has the prescribed Galois group.
If formula_25 is an irreducible polynomial of prime degree with rational coefficients and exactly two non-real roots, then the Galois group of formula_25 is the full symmetric group formula_112.
For example, the polynomialformula_113is irreducible from Eisenstein's criterion. Plotting the graph of formula_25 with graphing software or paper shows it has three real roots, hence two complex roots, showing its Galois group is formula_115.
A basic example of a field extension with an infinite group of automorphisms, is since it contains every algebraic field extension formula_97. For example, the field extensions formula_117 for a square-free element formula_118 each have a unique degree formula_62 automorphism, inducing an automorphism in .
One of the most studied classes of examples of infinite Galois groups come from the Absolute Galois group, which are profinite groups. These are infinite groups defined as the inverse limit of Galois groups all finite Galois extensions formula_3 for a fixed field. The inverse limit is denotedformula_121where formula_122 is the separable closure of a field. Note this group is a Topological group. Some basic examples includeformula_123and formula_124. Another readily computable example comes from the field extension formula_125 containing the square root of every positive prime. It has Galois groupformula_126 which can be deduced from the profinite limitformula_127and using the computation of the Galois groups.
The significance of an extension being Galois is that it obeys the fundamental theorem of Galois theory: the closed (with respect to the Krull topology) subgroups of the Galois group correspond to the intermediate fields of the field extension.
If formula_3 is a Galois extension, then formula_17 can be given a topology, called the Krull topology, that makes it into a profinite group. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12673 |
German Empire
The German Empire (German: "Deutsches Reich") or the Imperial State of Germany (German: "Deutsches Kaiserreich") also referred to as the Second Reich or Imperial Germany, was the German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II in 1918.
It was founded on 1 January 1871 when the south German states, except for Austria, joined the North German Confederation and the new constitution came into force changing the name of the federal state to the German Empire and introduced the title of German Emperor for Wilhelm I, King of Prussia from the House of Hohenzollern. Berlin remained its capital, and Bismarck, Minister-President of Prussia became Chancellor, the head of government. As these events occurred, the Prussian-led North German Confederation and its southern German allies were still engaged in the Franco-Prussian War.
The German Empire consisted of 26 states, most of them ruled by royal families. They included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies (six before 1876), seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia was one of several kingdoms in the realm, it contained about two thirds of Germany's population and territory. Prussian dominance had also been established constitutionally.
After 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron (and later steel), chemicals, and railways. In 1871, Germany had a population of 41 million people; by 1913, this had increased to 68 million. A heavily rural collection of states in 1815, the now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire was an industrial, technological, and scientific giant, gaining more Nobel Prizes in science than any other country. Between 1901 and 1918, the Germans won 4 Nobel Prizes in Medicine, 6 Prizes in Physics, 7 Prizes in Chemistry and 3 Prizes in Literature. By 1913, Germany was the largest economy in Continental Europe, surpassing the United Kingdom (excluding its Empire and Dominions), as well as the fourth-largest in the world, behind China, the United States and the British Empire..
From 1867 to 1878/9, Otto von Bismarck's tenure as the first and to this day longest reigning Chancellor was marked by relative liberalism, but it became more conservative afterwards. Broad reforms, and the Kulturkampf marked his period in the office. Late in Bismarck's chancellorship and in spite of his personal opposition, Germany became involved in colonialism. Claiming much of the leftover territory that was yet unclaimed in the Scramble for Africa, it managed to build the third-largest colonial empire at the time, after the British and the French ones. As a colonial state, it sometimes clashed with other European powers, especially the British Empire.
Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly developing rail network, the world's strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britain's Royal Navy. After the removal of Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II in 1890, the Empire embarked on Weltpolitik – a bellicose new course that ultimately contributed to the outbreak of World War I. In addition, Bismarck's successors were incapable of maintaining their predecessor's complex, shifting, and overlapping alliances which had kept Germany from being diplomatically isolated. This period was marked by various factors influencing the Emperor's decisions, which were often perceived as contradictory or unpredictable by the public. In 1879, the German Empire consolidated the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary, followed by the Triple Alliance with Italy in 1882. It also retained strong diplomatic ties to the Ottoman Empire. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, Italy left the alliance and the Ottoman Empire formally allied with Germany.
In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in the autumn of 1914 failed. The war on the Western Front became a stalemate. The Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. However, Imperial Germany had success on the Eastern Front; it occupied a large amount of territory to its east following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 contributed to bringing the United States into the war.
The high command under Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff increasingly controlled the country, but in October after the failed offensive in spring 1918, the German armies were in retreat, allies Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, and Bulgaria had surrendered. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution with the abdications of its monarchs. This left a post-war federal republic and a devastated and unsatisfied populace, faced with post-war reparation costs of nearly 270 billion dollars, all in all leading to the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism.
The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, after being alluded to in of the 1814 Treaty of Paris.
Bourgeois revolutions of 1848, associated with highly educated and middle class were crushed in favor of peasants, artisans and Otto von Bismarck's pragmatic "Realpolitik". Bismarck sought to extend Hohenzollern hegemony throughout the German states; to do so meant unification of the German states and the exclusion of Prussia's main German rival, Austria, from the subsequent German Empire. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. Three wars led to military successes and helped to persuade German people to do this: the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864, the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71.
The German Confederation ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between the constituent Confederation entities of the Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and the Prussia and its allies on the other. The war resulted in the partial replacement of the Confederation in 1867 by a North German Confederation, comprising the 22 states north of the Main River. The patriotic fervour generated by the Franco-Prussian War overwhelmed the remaining opposition to a unified Germany (aside from Austria) in the four states south of the Main and during November 1870 they joined the North German Confederation by treaty.
On 10 December 1870, the North German Confederation Reichstag renamed the Confederation the "German Empire" and gave the title of German Emperor to William I, the King of Prussia, as "Bundespräsidium" of the Confederation. The new constitution (Constitution of the German Confederation) and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871. During the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
The second German Constitution, adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, was substantially based upon Bismarck's North German Constitution. The political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the "Reichstag", which was elected by universal male suffrage. However, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas. As a result, by the time of the great expansion of German cities in the 1890s and 1900s, rural areas were grossly over-represented.
Legislation also required the consent of the "Bundesrat", the federal council of deputies from the 27 states. Executive power was vested in the emperor, or "Kaiser", who was assisted by a Chancellor responsible only to him. The emperor was given extensive powers by the constitution. He alone appointed and dismissed the chancellor (so in practice the emperor ruled the empire through the chancellor), was supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and final arbiter of all foreign affairs, and could also disband the "Reichstag" to call for new elections. Officially, the chancellor was a one-man cabinet and was responsible for the conduct of all state affairs; in practice, the State Secretaries (bureaucratic top officials in charge of such fields as finance, war, foreign affairs, etc.) functioned much like ministers in other monarchies. The "Reichstag" had the power to pass, amend, or reject bills and to initiate legislation. However, as mentioned above, in practice the real power was vested in the emperor, who exercised it through his chancellor.
Although nominally a federal empire and league of equals, in practice, the empire was dominated by the largest and most powerful state, Prussia. Prussia stretched across the northern two-thirds of the new "Reich" and contained three-fifths of its population. The imperial crown was hereditary in the ruling house of Prussia, the House of Hohenzollern. With the exception of 1872–1873 and 1892–1894, the chancellor was always simultaneously the prime minister of Prussia. With 17 out of 58 votes in the "Bundesrat", Berlin needed only a few votes from the smaller states to exercise effective control.
The other states retained their own governments, but had only limited aspects of sovereignty. For example, both postage stamps and currency were issued for the empire as a whole. Coins through one mark were also minted in the name of the empire, while higher-valued pieces were issued by the states. However, these larger gold and silver issues were virtually commemorative coins and had limited circulation.
While the states issued their own decorations and some had their own armies, the military forces of the smaller ones were put under Prussian control. Those of the larger states, such as the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony, were coordinated along Prussian principles and would in wartime be controlled by the federal government.
The evolution of the German Empire is somewhat in line with parallel developments in Italy, which became a united nation-state a decade earlier. Some key elements of the German Empire's authoritarian political structure were also the basis for conservative modernization in Imperial Japan under Meiji and the preservation of an authoritarian political structure under the tsars in the Russian Empire.
One factor in the social anatomy of these governments was the retention of a very substantial share in political power by the landed elite, the Junkers, resulting from the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by the peasants in combination with urban areas.
Although authoritarian in many respects, the empire had some democratic features. Besides universal suffrage, it permitted the development of political parties. Bismarck's intention was to create a constitutional façade which would mask the continuation of authoritarian policies. In the process, he created a system with a serious flaw. There was a significant disparity between the Prussian and German electoral systems. Prussia used a highly restrictive three-class voting system in which the richest third of the population could choose 85% of the legislature, all but assuring a conservative majority. As mentioned above, the king and (with two exceptions) the prime minister of Prussia were also the emperor and chancellor of the empire – meaning that the same rulers had to seek majorities from legislatures elected from completely different franchises. Universal suffrage was significantly diluted by gross over-representation of rural areas from the 1890s onward. By the turn of the century, the urban-rural population balance was completely reversed from 1871; more than two-thirds of the empire's people lived in cities and towns.
Bismarck's domestic policies played an important role in forging the authoritarian political culture of the "Kaiserreich". Less preoccupied by continental power politics following unification in 1871, Germany's semi-parliamentary government carried out a relatively smooth economic and political revolution from above that pushed them along the way towards becoming the world's leading industrial power of the time.
Bismarck's "revolutionary conservatism" was a conservative state-building strategy designed to make ordinary Germans—not just the Junker elite—more loyal to throne and empire. According to Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, his strategy was:
Bismarck created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s and enacted universal male suffrage in 1871. He became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory and tried to emulate his policies.
Bismarck's post-1871 foreign policy was conservative and sought to preserve the balance of power in Europe. British historian Eric Hobsbawm concludes that he "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [devoting] himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers". This was a departure from his adventurous foreign policy for Prussia, where he favored strength and expansion, punctuating this by saying "The great question of the age are not settled by speeches and majority votes – this was the error of 1848–49 – but by iron and blood."
Bismarck's chief concern was that France would plot revenge after its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. As the French lacked the strength to defeat Germany by themselves, they sought an alliance with Russia, which would trap Germany between the two in a war (as would ultimately happen in 1914). Bismarck wanted to prevent this at all costs and maintain friendly relations with the Russians, and thereby formed an alliance with them and Austria-Hungary, the "Dreikaiserbund" (League of Three Emperors) in 1881. The alliance was further cemented by a separate non-aggression pact with Russia called Reinsurance Treaty, which was signed in 1887. During this period, individuals within the German military were advocating a preemptive strike against Russia, but Bismarck knew that such ideas were foolhardy. He once wrote that "the most brilliant victories would not avail against the Russian nation, because of its climate, its desert, and its frugality, and having but one frontier to defend", and because it would leave Germany with another bitter, resentful neighbour.
Meanwhile, the chancellor remained wary of any foreign policy developments that looked even remotely warlike. In 1886, he moved to stop an attempted sale of horses to France on the grounds that they might be used for cavalry and also ordered an investigation into large Russian purchases of medicine from a German chemical works. Bismarck stubbornly refused to listen to Georg Herbert zu Munster (ambassador to France), who reported back that the French were not seeking a revanchist war, and in fact were desperate for peace at all costs.
Bismarck and most of his contemporaries were conservative-minded and focused their foreign policy attention on Germany's neighbouring states. In 1914, 60% of German foreign investment was in Europe, as opposed to just 5% of British investment. Most of the money went to developing nations such as Russia that lacked the capital or technical knowledge to industrialize on their own. The construction of the Baghdad Railway, financed by German banks, was designed to eventually connect Germany with the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Gulf, but it also collided with British and Russian geopolitical interests. Conflict over the Baghdad Railway was resolved in June 1914.
Many consider Bismarck's foreign policy as a coherent system and partly responsible for the preservation of Europe's stability. It was also marked by the need to balance circumspect defensiveness and the desire to be free from the constraints of its position as a major European power. Unfortunately, Bismark's successors did not pursue his foreign policy legacy. For instance, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who dismissed the chancellor in 1890, let the treaty with Russia lapse in favor of Germany's alliance with Austria, which finally led to a stronger coalition-building between Russia and France.
Bismarck secured a number of German colonial possessions during the 1880s in Africa and the Pacific, but he never considered an overseas colonial empire valuable due to fierce resistance to German colonial rule from the natives. Thus, Germany's colonies remained badly undeveloped. However they excited the interest of the religious-minded, who supported an extensive network of missionaries.
Germans had dreamed of colonial imperialism since 1848. Bismarck began the process, and by 1884 had acquired German New Guinea. By the 1890s, German colonial expansion in Asia and the Pacific (Kiauchau in China, Tientsin in China, the Marianas, the Caroline Islands, Samoa) led to frictions with the UK, Russia, Japan, and the US. The largest colonial enterprises were in Africa, where the Herero Wars in what is now Namibia in 1906–07 resulted in the Herero and Namaqua genocide.
By 1900, Germany became the largest economy in Continental Europe and the third largest in the world behind the United States and the British Empire. Germany's main economic rivals were Great Britain and the United States. Throughout its existence, it experienced economic growth and modernization led by heavy industry. In 1871, it had a largely rural population of 41 million, while by 1913 this had increased to a predominantly urban population of 68 million.
For 30 years, Germany struggled against Britain to be Europe's leading industrial power. Representative of Germany's industry was the steel giant Krupp, whose first factory was built in Essen. By 1902, the factory alone became "A great city with its own streets, its own police force, fire department and traffic laws. There are 150 kilometres of rail, 60 different factory buildings, 8,500 machine tools, seven electrical stations, 140 kilometres of underground cable and 46 overhead."
Under Bismarck, Germany was a world innovator in building the welfare state. German workers enjoyed health, accident and maternity benefits, canteens, changing rooms and a national pension scheme.
Lacking a technological base at first, the Germans imported their engineering and hardware from Britain, but quickly learned the skills needed to operate and expand the railways. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centres of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railroad construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. However, German unification in 1870 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was support of industrialisation, and so heavy lines crisscrossed the Ruhr and other industrial districts, and provided good connections to the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen. By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France. The total length of German railroad tracks expanded from 21,000 kilometers in 1871 to 63,000 kilometres by 1913, establishing the largest rail network in the world after the United States, and effectively surpassing the 32,000 kilometers of rail that connected Britain in the same year.
Industrialisation progressed dynamically in Germany, and German manufacturers began to capture domestic markets from British imports, and also to compete with British industry abroad, particularly in the U.S. The German textile and metal industries had by 1870 surpassed those of Britain in organisation and technical efficiency and superseded British manufacturers in the domestic market. Germany became the dominant economic power on the continent and was the second largest exporting nation after Britain.
Technological progress during German industrialisation occurred in four waves: the railway wave (1877–1886), the dye wave (1887–1896), the chemical wave (1897–1902), and the wave of electrical engineering (1903–1918). Since Germany industrialised later than Britain, it was able to model its factories after those of Britain, thus making more efficient use of its capital and avoiding legacy methods in its leap to the envelope of technology. Germany invested more heavily than the British in research, especially in chemistry, motors and electricity. Germany's dominance in physics and chemistry was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers.
The German cartel system (known as "Konzerne"), being significantly concentrated, was able to make more efficient use of capital. Germany was not weighted down with an expensive worldwide empire that needed defense. Following Germany's annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871, it absorbed parts of what had been France's industrial base.
By 1900, the German chemical industry dominated the world market for synthetic dyes. The three major firms BASF, Bayer and Hoechst produced several hundred different dyes, along with the five smaller firms. In 1913, these eight firms produced almost 90% of the world supply of dyestuffs and sold about 80% of their production abroad. The three major firms had also integrated upstream into the production of essential raw materials and they began to expand into other areas of chemistry such as pharmaceuticals, photographic film, agricultural chemicals and electrochemicals. Top-level decision-making was in the hands of professional salaried managers; leading Chandler to call the German dye companies "the world's first truly managerial industrial enterprises". There were many spinoffs from research—such as the pharmaceutical industry, which emerged from chemical research.
By the start of World War I (1914–1918), German industry switched to war production. The heaviest demands were on coal and steel for artillery and shell production, and on chemicals for the synthesis of materials that were subject to import restrictions and for chemical weapons and war supplies.
The creation of the Empire under Prussian leadership was a victory for the concept of "Kleindeutschland" (Smaller Germany) over the "Großdeutschland" concept. This meant that Austria-Hungary, a multi-ethnic Empire with a considerable German-speaking population, would remain outside of the German nation state. Bismarck's policy was to pursue a solution diplomatically. The effective alliance between Germany and Austria played a major role in Germany's decision to enter World War I in 1914.
Bismarck announced there would be no more territorial additions to Germany in Europe, and his diplomacy after 1871 was focused on stabilizing the European system and preventing any wars. He succeeded, and only after his ouster in 1890 did the diplomatic tensions start rising again.
After achieving formal unification in 1871, Bismarck devoted much of his attention to the cause of national unity. He opposed Catholic civil rights and emancipation, especially the influence of the Vatican under Pope Pius IX, and working class radicalism, represented by the emerging Social Democratic Party.
Prussia in 1871 included 16,000,000 Protestants, both Reformed and Lutheran, and 8,000,000 Catholics. Most people were generally segregated into their own religious worlds, living in rural districts or city neighbourhoods that were overwhelmingly of the same religion, and sending their children to separate public schools where their religion was taught. There was little interaction or intermarriage. On the whole, the Protestants had a higher social status, and the Catholics were more likely to be peasant farmers or unskilled or semiskilled industrial workers. In 1870, the Catholics formed their own political party, the Centre Party, which generally supported unification and most of Bismarck's policies. However, Bismarck distrusted parliamentary democracy in general and opposition parties in particular, especially when the Centre Party showed signs of gaining support among dissident elements such as the Polish Catholics in Silesia. A powerful intellectual force of the time was anti-Catholicism, led by the liberal intellectuals who formed a vital part of Bismarck's coalition. They saw the Catholic Church as a powerful force of reaction and anti-modernity, especially after the proclamation of papal infallibility in 1870, and the tightening control of the Vatican over the local bishops.
The Kulturkampf launched by Bismarck 1871–1880 affected Prussia; although there were similar movements in Baden and Hesse, the rest of Germany was not affected. According to the new imperial constitution, the states were in charge of religious and educational affairs; they funded the Protestant and Catholic schools. In July 1871 Bismarck abolished the Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of ecclesiastical and educational affairs, depriving Catholics of their voice at the highest level. The system of strict government supervision of schools was applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools were left alone.
Much more serious were the May laws of 1873. One made the appointment of any priest dependent on his attendance at a German university, as opposed to the seminaries that the Catholics typically used. Furthermore, all candidates for the ministry had to pass an examination in German culture before a state board which weeded out intransigent Catholics. Another provision gave the government a veto power over most church activities. A second law abolished the jurisdiction of the Vatican over the Catholic Church in Prussia; its authority was transferred to a government body controlled by Protestants.
Nearly all German bishops, clergy, and laymen rejected the legality of the new laws, and were defiant in the face of heavier and heavier penalties and imprisonments imposed by Bismarck's government. By 1876, all the Prussian bishops were imprisoned or in exile, and a third of the Catholic parishes were without a priest. In the face of systematic defiance, the Bismarck government increased the penalties and its attacks, and were challenged in 1875 when a papal encyclical declared the whole ecclesiastical legislation of Prussia was invalid, and threatened to excommunicate any Catholic who obeyed. There was no violence, but the Catholics mobilized their support, set up numerous civic organizations, raised money to pay fines, and rallied behind their church and the Centre Party. The "Old Catholic Church", which rejected the First Vatican Council, attracted only a few thousand members. Bismarck, a devout pietistic Protestant, realized his Kulturkampf was backfiring when secular and socialist elements used the opportunity to attack all religion. In the long run, the most significant result was the mobilization of the Catholic voters, and their insistence on protecting their religious identity. In the elections of 1874, the Centre party doubled its popular vote, and became the second-largest party in the national parliament—and remained a powerful force for the next 60 years, so that after Bismarck it became difficult to form a government without their support.
Bismarck built on a tradition of welfare programs in Prussia and Saxony that began as early as in the 1840s. In the 1880s he introduced old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance that formed the basis of the modern European welfare state. He came to realize that this sort of policy was very appealing, since it bound workers to the state, and also fit in very well with his authoritarian nature. The social security systems installed by Bismarck (health care in 1883, accident insurance in 1884, invalidity and old-age insurance in 1889) at the time were the largest in the world and, to a degree, still exist in Germany today.
Bismarck's paternalistic programs won the support of German industry because its goals were to win the support of the working classes for the Empire and reduce the outflow of immigrants to America, where wages were higher but welfare did not exist. Bismarck further won the support of both industry and skilled workers by his high tariff policies, which protected profits and wages from American competition, although they alienated the liberal intellectuals who wanted free trade.
One of the effects of the unification policies was the gradually increasing tendency to eliminate the use of non-German languages in public life, schools and academic settings with the intent of pressuring the non-German population to abandon their national identity in what was called "Germanisation". These policies often had the reverse effect of stimulating resistance, usually in the form of home schooling and tighter unity in the minority groups, especially the Poles.
The Germanisation policies were targeted particularly against the significant Polish minority of the empire, gained by Prussia in the partitions of Poland. Poles were treated as an ethnic minority even where they made up the majority, as in the Province of Posen, where a series of anti-Polish measures was enforced. Numerous anti-Polish laws had no great effect especially in the province of Posen where the German-speaking population dropped from 42.8% in 1871 to 38.1% in 1905, despite all efforts.
Antisemitism was endemic in Germany during the period. Before Napoleon's decrees ended the ghettos in Germany, it had been religiously motivated, but by the 19th century, it was a factor in German nationalism. The last legal barriers on Jews in Prussia were lifted by the 1860s, and within 20 years, they were over-represented in the white-collar professions and much of academia. In the popular mind Jews became a symbol of capitalism and wealth. On the other hand, the constitution and legal system protected the rights of Jews as German citizens. Antisemitic parties were formed but soon collapsed.
Bismarck's efforts also initiated the levelling of the enormous differences between the German states, which had been independent in their evolution for centuries, especially with legislation. The completely different legal histories and judicial systems posed enormous complications, especially for national trade. While a common trade code had already been introduced by the Confederation in 1861 (which was adapted for the Empire and, with great modifications, is still in effect today), there was little similarity in laws otherwise.
In 1871, a common Criminal Code ("Reichsstrafgesetzbuch") was introduced; in 1877, common court procedures were established in the court system ("Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz"), civil procedures ("Zivilprozessordnung") and criminal procedures ("Strafprozessordnung"). In 1873 the constitution was amended to allow the Empire to replace the various and greatly differing Civil Codes of the states (If they existed at all; for example, parts of Germany formerly occupied by Napoleon's France had adopted the French Civil Code, while in Prussia the "Allgemeines Preußisches Landrecht" of 1794 was still in effect). In 1881, a first commission was established to produce a common Civil Code for all of the Empire, an enormous effort that would produce the "Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch" (BGB), possibly one of the most impressive legal works in the world; it was eventually put into effect on 1 January 1900. All of these codifications are, albeit with many amendments, still in effect today.
On 9 March 1888, Wilhelm I died shortly before his 91st birthday, leaving his son Frederick III as the new emperor. Frederick was a liberal and an admirer of the British constitution, while his links to Britain strengthened further with his marriage to Princess Victoria, eldest child of Queen Victoria. With his ascent to the throne, many hoped that Frederick's reign would lead to a liberalisation of the Reich and an increase of parliament's influence on the political process. The dismissal of Robert von Puttkamer, the highly-conservative Prussian interior minister, on 8 June was a sign of the expected direction and a blow to Bismarck's administration.
By the time of his accession, however, Frederick had developed incurable laryngeal cancer, which had been diagnosed in 1887. He died on the 99th day of his rule, on 15 June 1888. His son Wilhelm II became emperor.
Wilhelm II wanted to reassert his ruling prerogatives at a time when other monarchs in Europe were being transformed into constitutional figureheads. This decision led the ambitious Kaiser into conflict with Bismarck. The old chancellor had hoped to guide Wilhelm as he had guided his grandfather, but the emperor wanted to be the master in his own house and had many sycophants telling him that Frederick the Great would not have been great with a Bismarck at his side. A key difference between Wilhelm II and Bismarck was their approaches to handling political crises, especially in 1889, when German coal miners went on strike in Upper Silesia. Bismarck demanded that the German Army be sent in to crush the strike, but Wilhelm II rejected this authoritarian measure, responding "I do not wish to stain my reign with the blood of my subjects." Instead of condoning repression, Wilhelm had the government negotiate with a delegation from the coal miners, which brought the strike to an end without violence. The fractious relationship ended in March 1890, after Wilhelm II and Bismarck quarrelled, and the chancellor resigned days later. Bismarck's last few years had seen power slip from his hands as he grew older, more irritable, more authoritarian, and less focused.
With Bismarck's departure, Wilhelm II became the dominant ruler of Germany. Unlike his grandfather, Wilhelm I, who had been largely content to leave government affairs to the chancellor, Wilhelm II wanted to be fully informed and actively involved in running Germany, not an ornamental figurehead, although most Germans found his claims of divine right to rule amusing. Wilhelm allowed politician Walther Rathenau to tutor him in European economics and industrial and financial realities in Europe.
As Hull (2004) notes, Bismarckian foreign policy "was too sedate for the reckless Kaiser". Wilhelm became internationally notorious for his aggressive stance on foreign policy and his strategic blunders (such as the Tangier Crisis), which pushed the German Empire into growing political isolation and eventually helped to cause World War I.
Under Wilhelm II, Germany no longer had long-ruling strong chancellors like Bismarck. The new chancellors had difficulty in performing their roles, especially the additional role as Prime Minister of Prussia assigned to them in the German Constitution. The reforms of Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, which liberalized trade and so reduced unemployment, were supported by the Kaiser and most Germans except for Prussian landowners, who feared loss of land and power and launched several campaigns against the reforms
While Prussian aristocrats challenged the demands of a united German state, in the 1890s several organizations were set up to challenge the authoritarian conservative Prussian militarism which was being imposed on the country. Educators opposed to the German state-run schools, which emphasized military education, set up their own independent liberal schools, which encouraged individuality and freedom. However nearly all the schools in Imperial Germany had a very high standard and kept abreast with modern developments in knowledge.
Artists began experimental art in opposition to Kaiser Wilhelm's support for traditional art, to which Wilhelm responded "art which transgresses the laws and limits laid down by me can no longer be called art". It was largely thanks to Wilhelm's influence that most printed material in Germany used blackletter instead of the Roman type used in the rest of Western Europe. At the same time, a new generation of cultural creators emerged.
From the 1890s onwards, the most effective opposition to the monarchy came from the newly formed Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), whose radicals advocated Marxism. The threat of the SPD to the German monarchy and industrialists caused the state both to crack down on the party's supporters and to implement its own programme of social reform to soothe discontent. Germany's large industries provided significant social welfare programmes and good care to their employees, as long as they were not identified as socialists or trade-union members. The larger industrial firms provided pensions, sickness benefits and even housing to their employees.
Having learned from the failure of Bismarck's Kulturkampf, Wilhelm II maintained good relations with the Roman Catholic Church and concentrated on opposing socialism. This policy failed when the Social Democrats won a third of the votes in the 1912 elections to the "Reichstag", and became the largest political party in Germany. The government remained in the hands of a succession of conservative coalitions supported by right-wing liberals or Catholic clerics and heavily dependent on the Kaiser's favour. The rising militarism under Wilhelm II caused many Germans to emigrate to the U.S. and the British colonies to escape mandatory military service.
During World War I, the Kaiser increasingly devolved his powers to the leaders of the German High Command, particularly future President of Germany, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and "Generalquartiermeister" Erich Ludendorff. Hindenburg took over the role of commander–in–chief from the Kaiser, while Ludendorff became de facto general chief of staff. By 1916, Germany was effectively a military dictatorship run by Hindenburg and Ludendorff, with the Kaiser reduced to a mere figurehead.
Wilhelm II wanted Germany to have her "place in the sun", like Britain, which he constantly wished to emulate or rival. With German traders and merchants already active worldwide, he encouraged colonial efforts in Africa and the Pacific ("new imperialism"), causing the German Empire to vie with other European powers for remaining "unclaimed" territories. With the encouragement or at least the acquiescence of Britain, which at this stage saw Germany as a counterweight to her old rival France, Germany acquired German Southwest Africa (modern Namibia), German Kamerun (modern Cameroon), Togoland (modern Togo) and German East Africa (modern Rwanda, Burundi, and the mainland part of current Tanzania). Islands were gained in the Pacific through purchase and treaties and also a 99-year lease for the territory of Kiautschou in northeast China. But of these German colonies only Togoland and German Samoa (after 1908) became self-sufficient and profitable; all the others required subsidies from the Berlin treasury for building infrastructure, school systems, hospitals and other institutions.
Bismarck had originally dismissed the agitation for colonies with contempt; he favoured a Eurocentric foreign policy, as the treaty arrangements made during his tenure in office show. As a latecomer to colonization, Germany repeatedly came into conflict with the established colonial powers and also with the United States, which opposed German attempts at colonial expansion in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. Native insurrections in German territories received prominent coverage in other countries, especially in Britain; the established powers had dealt with such uprisings decades earlier, often brutally, and had secured firm control of their colonies by then. The Boxer Rising in China, which the Chinese government eventually sponsored, began in the Shandong province, in part because Germany, as colonizer at Kiautschou, was an untested power and had only been active there for two years. Eight western nations, including the United States, mounted a joint relief force to rescue westerners caught up in the rebellion. During the departure ceremonies for the German contingent, Wilhelm II urged them to behave like the Hun invaders of continental Europe – an unfortunate remark that would later be resurrected by British propagandists to paint Germans as barbarians during World War I and World War II. On two occasions, a French-German conflict over the fate of Morocco seemed inevitable.
Upon acquiring Southwest Africa, German settlers were encouraged to cultivate land held by the Herero and Nama. Herero and Nama tribal lands were used for a variety of exploitative goals (much as the British did before in Rhodesia), including farming, ranching, and mining for minerals and diamonds. In 1904, the Herero and the Nama revolted against the colonists in Southwest Africa, killing farm families, their laborers and servants. In response to the attacks, troops were dispatched to quell the uprising which then resulted in the Herero and Namaqua Genocide. In total, some 65,000 Herero (80% of the total Herero population), and 10,000 Nama (50% of the total Nama population) perished. The commander of the punitive expedition, General Lothar von Trotha, was eventually relieved and reprimanded for his usurpation of orders and the cruelties he inflicted. These occurrences were sometimes referred to as "the first genocide of the 20th century" and officially condemned by the United Nations in 1985. In 2004 a formal apology by a government minister of the Federal Republic of Germany followed.
Bismarck and Wilhelm II after him sought closer economic ties with the Ottoman Empire. Under Wilhelm II, with the financial backing of the Deutsche Bank, the Baghdad Railway was begun in 1900, although by 1914 it was still short of its destination in Baghdad. In an interview with Wilhelm in 1899, Cecil Rhodes had tried "to convince the Kaiser that the future of the German empire abroad lay in the Middle East" and not in Africa; with a grand Middle-Eastern empire, Germany could afford to allow Britain the unhindered completion of the Cape-to-Cairo railway that Rhodes favoured. Britain initially supported the Baghdad Railway; but by 1911 British statesmen came to fear it might be extended to Basra on the Persian Gulf, threatening Britain's naval supremacy in the Indian Ocean. Accordingly, they asked to have construction halted, to which Germany and the Ottoman Empire acquiesced.
Wilhelm II and his advisers committed a fatal diplomatic error when they allowed the "Reinsurance Treaty" that Bismarck had negotiated with Tsarist Russia to lapse. Germany was left with no firm ally but Austria-Hungary, and her support for action in annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 further soured relations with Russia. Wilhelm missed the opportunity to secure an alliance with Britain in the 1890s when it was involved in colonial rivalries with France, and he alienated British statesmen further by openly supporting the Boers in the South African War and building a navy to rival Britain's. By 1911 Wilhelm had completely picked apart the careful power balance established by Bismarck and Britain turned to France in the Entente Cordiale. Germany's only other ally besides Austria was the Kingdom of Italy, but it remained an ally only "pro forma". When war came, Italy saw more benefit in an alliance with Britain, France, and Russia, which, in the secret Treaty of London in 1915 promised it the frontier districts of Austria where Italians formed the majority of the population and also colonial concessions. Germany did acquire a second ally that same year when the Ottoman Empire entered the war on its side, but in the long run supporting the Ottoman war effort only drained away German resources from the main fronts.
Following the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke of Franz Ferdinand by a Bosnian Serb, the Kaiser offered Emperor Franz Joseph full support for Austro-Hungarian plans to invade the Kingdom of Serbia, which Austria-Hungary blamed for the assassination. This unconditional support for Austria-Hungary was called a "blank cheque" by historians, including German Fritz Fischer. Subsequent interpretation – for example at the Versailles Peace Conference – was that this "blank cheque" licensed Austro-Hungarian aggression regardless of the diplomatic consequences, and thus Germany bore responsibility for starting the war, or at least provoking a wider conflict.
Germany began the war by targeting its chief rival, France. Germany saw France as its principal danger on the European continent as it could mobilize much faster than Russia and bordered Germany's industrial core in the Rhineland. Unlike Britain and Russia, the French entered the war mainly for revenge against Germany, in particular for France's loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in 1871. The German high command knew that France would muster its forces to go into Alsace-Lorraine. Aside from the very unofficial Septemberprogramm, the Germans never stated a clear list of goals that they wanted out of the war.
Germany did not want to risk lengthy battles along the Franco-German border and instead adopted the Schlieffen Plan, a military strategy designed to cripple France by invading Belgium and Luxembourg, sweeping down to encircle and crush both Paris and the French forces along the Franco-German border in a quick victory. After defeating France, Germany would turn to attack Russia. The plan required violating the official neutrality of Belgium and Luxembourg, which Britain had guaranteed by treaty. However, the Germans had calculated that Britain would enter the war regardless of whether they had formal justification to do so. At first the attack was successful: the German Army swept down from Belgium and Luxembourg and advanced on Paris, at the nearby River Marne. However, the evolution of weapons over the last century heavily favored defense over offense, especially thanks to the machine gun, so that it took proportionally more offensive force to overcome a defensive position. This resulted in the German lines on the offense contracting to keep up the offensive time table while correspondingly the French lines were extending. In addition, some German units that were originally slotted for the German far right were transferred to the Eastern Front in reaction to Russia mobilizing far faster than anticipated. The combined effect had the German right flank sweeping down in front of Paris instead of behind it exposing the German Right flank to the extending French lines and attack from strategic French reserves stationed in Paris. Attacking the exposed German right flank, the French Army and the British Army put up a strong resistance to the defense of Paris at the First Battle of the Marne, resulting in the German Army retreating to defensive positions along the river Aisne. A subsequent Race to the Sea resulted in a long-held stalemate between the German Army and the Allies in dug-in trench warfare positions from Alsace to Flanders.
German attempts to break through failed at the two battles of Ypres (1st/2nd) with huge casualties. A series of allied offensives in 1915 against German positions in Artois and Champagne resulted in huge allied casualties and little territorial change. German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn decided to exploit the defensive advantages that had shown themselves in the 1915 Allied offensives by attempting to goad France into attacking strong defensive positions near the ancient city of Verdun. Verdun had been one of the last cities to hold out against the German Army in 1870, and Falkenhayn predicted that as a matter of national pride the French would do anything to ensure that it was not taken. He expected that he could take strong defensive positions in the hills overlooking Verdun on the east bank of the River Meuse to threaten the city and the French would launch desperate attacks against these positions. He predicted that French losses would be greater than those of the Germans and that continued French commitment of troops to Verdun would "bleed the French Army white." In 1916, the Battle of Verdun began, with the French positions under constant shelling and poison gas attack and taking large casualties under the assault of overwhelmingly large German forces. However, Falkenhayn's prediction of a greater ratio of French killed proved to be wrong as both sides took heavy casualties. Falkenhayn was replaced by Erich Ludendorff, and with no success in sight, the German Army pulled out of Verdun in December 1916 and the battle ended.
While the Western Front was a stalemate for the German Army, the Eastern Front eventually proved to be a great success. Despite initial setbacks due to the unexpectedly rapid mobilisation of the Russian army, which resulted in a Russian invasion of East Prussia and Austrian Galicia, the badly organised and supplied Russian Army faltered and the German and Austro-Hungarian armies thereafter steadily advanced eastward. The Germans benefited from political instability in Russia and its population's desire to end the war. In 1917 the German government allowed Russia's communist Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin to travel through Germany from Switzerland into Russia. Germany believed that if Lenin could create further political unrest, Russia would no longer be able to continue its war with Germany, allowing the German Army to focus on the Western Front.
In March 1917, the Tsar was ousted from the Russian throne, and in November a Bolshevik government came to power under the leadership of Lenin. Facing political opposition from the Bolsheviks, he decided to end Russia's campaign against Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria in order to redirect Bolshevik energy to eliminating internal dissent. In March 1918, by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Bolshevik government gave Germany and the Ottoman Empire enormous territorial and economic concessions in exchange for an end to war on the Eastern Front. All of the modern-day Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) were given over to the German occupation authority "Ober Ost", along with Belarus and Ukraine. Thus Germany had at last achieved its long-wanted dominance of "Mitteleuropa" (Central Europe) and could now focus fully on defeating the Allies on the Western Front. In practice, however, the forces that were needed to garrison and secure the new territories were a drain on the German war effort.
Germany quickly lost almost all its colonies. However, in German East Africa, an impressive guerrilla campaign was waged by the colonial army leader there, General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. Using Germans and native Askaris, Lettow-Vorbeck launched multiple guerrilla raids against British forces in Kenya and Rhodesia. He also invaded Portuguese Mozambique to gain his forces supplies and to pick up more Askari recruits. His force was still active at war's end.
The defeat of Russia in 1917 enabled Germany to transfer hundreds of thousands of troops from the Eastern to the Western Front, giving it a numerical advantage over the Allies. By retraining the soldiers in new stormtrooper tactics, the Germans expected to unfreeze the battlefield and win a decisive victory before the army of the United States, which had now entered the war on the side of the Allies, arrived in strength. However, the repeated German offensives in the spring of 1918 all failed, as the Allies fell back and regrouped and the Germans lacked the reserves needed to consolidate their gains. Meanwhile, soldiers had become radicalised by the Russian Revolution and were less willing to continue fighting. The war effort sparked civil unrest in Germany, while the troops, who had been constantly in the field without relief, grew exhausted and lost all hope of victory. In the summer of 1918, the British Army was at its peak strength with as many as 4.5 million men on the western front and 4,000 tanks for the Hundred Days Offensive, the Americans arriving at the rate of 10,000 a day, Germany's allies facing collapse and the German Empire's manpower exhausted, it was only a matter of time before multiple Allied offensives destroyed the German army.
The concept of "total war" meant that supplies had to be redirected towards the armed forces and, with German commerce being stopped by the Allied naval blockade, German civilians were forced to live in increasingly meagre conditions. First food prices were controlled, then rationing was introduced. During the war about 750,000 German civilians died from malnutrition.
Towards the end of the war conditions deteriorated rapidly on the home front, with severe food shortages reported in all urban areas. The causes included the transfer of many farmers and food workers into the military, combined with the overburdened railway system, shortages of coal, and the British blockade. The winter of 1916–1917 was known as the "turnip winter", because the people had to survive on a vegetable more commonly reserved for livestock, as a substitute for potatoes and meat, which were increasingly scarce. Thousands of soup kitchens were opened to feed the hungry, who grumbled that the farmers were keeping the food for themselves. Even the army had to cut the soldiers' rations. The morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink.
Many Germans wanted an end to the war and increasing numbers began to associate with the political left, such as the Social Democratic Party and the more radical Independent Social Democratic Party, which demanded an end to the war. The entry of the U.S. into the war in April 1917 tipped the long-run balance of power even more in favour of the Allies.
The end of October 1918, in Kiel, in northern Germany, saw the beginning of the German Revolution of 1918–19. Units of the German Navy refused to set sail for a last, large-scale operation in a war which they saw as good as lost, initiating the uprising. On 3 November, the revolt spread to other cities and states of the country, in many of which workers' and soldiers' councils were established. Meanwhile, Hindenburg and the senior generals lost confidence in the Kaiser and his government.
Bulgaria signed the Armistice of Salonica on 29 September 1918. The Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918. Between 24 October and 3 November 1918, Italy defeated Austria-Hungary in the battle of Vittorio Veneto, which forced Austria-Hungary to sign the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. So, in November 1918, with internal revolution, the Allies advancing toward Germany on the Western Front, Austria-Hungary falling apart from multiple ethnic tensions, its other allies out of the war and pressure from the German high command, the Kaiser and all German ruling kings, dukes, and princes abdicated, and German nobility was abolished. On 9 November, the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed a republic. The new government led by the German Social Democrats called for and received an armistice on 11 November. It was succeeded by the Weimar Republic. Those opposed, including disaffected veterans, joined a diverse set of paramilitary and underground political groups such as the Freikorps, the Organisation Consul, and the Communists.
The Empire's legislation was based on two organs, the Bundesrat and the Reichstag (parliament). There was universal male suffrage for the Reichstag, however legislation would have to pass both houses. The Bundesrat contained representatives of the states.
Before unification, German territory (excluding Austria and Switzerland) was made up of 27 constituent states. These states consisted of kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies, principalities, free Hanseatic cities and one imperial territory. The free cities had a republican form of government on the state level, even though the Empire at large was constituted as a monarchy, and so were most of the states. Prussia was the largest of the constituent states, covering two-thirds of the empire's territory.
Several of these states had gained sovereignty following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and had been "de facto" sovereign from the mid-1600s onward. Others were created as sovereign states after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Territories were not necessarily contiguous—many existed in several parts, as a result of historical acquisitions, or, in several cases, divisions of the ruling families. Some of the initially existing states, in particular Hanover, were abolished and annexed by Prussia as a result of the war of 1866.
Each component of the German Empire sent representatives to the Federal Council ("Bundesrat") and, via single-member districts, the Imperial Diet ("Reichstag"). Relations between the Imperial centre and the Empire's components were somewhat fluid and were developed on an ongoing basis. The extent to which the German Emperor could, for example, intervene on occasions of disputed or unclear succession was much debated on occasion—for example in the inheritance crisis of the Lippe-Detmold.
Unusually for a federation and/or a nation-state, the German states maintained limited autonomy over foreign affairs and continued to exchange ambassadors and other diplomats (both with each other and directly with foreign nations) for the Empire's entire existence. Shortly after the Empire was proclaimed, Bismarck implemented a convention in which his sovereign would only send and receive envoys to and from other German states as the King of Prussia, while envoys from Berlin sent to foreign nations always received credentials from the monarch in his capacity as German Emperor. In this way, the Prussian foreign ministry was largely tasked with managing relations with the other German states while the Imperial foreign ministry managed Germany's external relations.
About 92% of the population spoke German as their first language. The only minority language with a significant number of speakers (5.4%) was Polish (a figure that rises to over 6% when including the related Kashubian and Masurian languages).
The non-German Germanic languages (0.5%), like Danish, Dutch and Frisian, were located in the north and northwest of the empire, near the borders with Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Low German was spoken throughout northern Germany and, though linguistically as distinct from High German ("Hochdeutsch") as from Dutch and English, is considered "German", hence also its name. Danish and Frisian were spoken predominantly in the north of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein and Dutch in the western border areas of Prussia (Hanover, Westphalia, and the Rhine Province).
Polish and other Slavic languages (6.28%) were spoken chiefly in the east.
A few (0.5%) spoke French, the vast majority of these in the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen where francophones formed 11.6% of the total population.
Generally, religious demographics of the early modern period hardly changed. Still, there were almost entirely Catholic areas (Lower and Upper Bavaria, northern Westphalia, Upper Silesia, etc.) and almost entirely Protestant areas (Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Saxony, etc.). Confessional prejudices, especially towards mixed marriages, were still common. Bit by bit, through internal migration, religious blending was more and more common. In eastern territories, confession was almost uniquely perceived to be connected to one's ethnicity and the equation "Protestant = German, Catholic = Polish" was held to be valid. In areas affected by immigration in the Ruhr area and Westphalia, as well as in some large cities, religious landscape changed substantially. This was especially true in largely Catholic areas of Westphalia, which changed through Protestant immigration from the eastern provinces.
Politically, the confessional division of Germany had considerable consequences. In Catholic areas, the Centre Party had a big electorate. On the other hand, Social Democrats and Free Trade Unions usually received hardly any votes in the Catholic areas of the Ruhr. This began to change with the secularization arising in the last decades of the German Empire.
In Germany's overseas colonial empire, millions of subjects practiced various Indigenous religions in addition to the Christian missionaries and colonists. Over two million Muslims also lived under German colonial rule, primarily in German East Africa.
The defeat and aftermath of the First World War and the penalties imposed by the Treaty of Versailles shaped the positive memory of the Empire, especially among Germans who distrusted and despised the Weimar Republic. Conservatives, liberals, socialists, nationalists, Catholics and Protestants all had their own interpretations, which led to a fractious political and social climate in Germany in the aftermath of the empire's collapse.
Under Bismarck, a united German state had finally been achieved, but it remained a Prussian-dominated state and did not include German Austria as Pan-German nationalists had desired. The influence of Prussian militarism, the Empire's colonial efforts and its vigorous, competitive industrial prowess all gained it the dislike and envy of other nations. The German Empire enacted a number of progressive reforms, such as Europe's first social welfare system and freedom of press. There was also a modern system for electing the federal parliament, the Reichstag, in which every adult man had one vote. This enabled the Socialists and the Catholic Centre Party to play considerable roles in the empire's political life despite the continued hostility of Prussian aristocrats.
The era of the German Empire is well remembered in Germany as one of great cultural and intellectual vigour. Thomas Mann published his novel "Buddenbrooks" in 1901. Theodor Mommsen received the Nobel prize for literature a year later for his Roman history. Painters like the groups Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke made a significant contribution to modern art. The AEG turbine factory in Berlin by Peter Behrens from 1909 was a milestone in classic modern architecture and an outstanding example of emerging functionalism. The social, economic, and scientific successes of this "Gründerzeit", or founding epoch, have sometimes led the Wilhelmine era to be regarded as a golden age.
In the field of economics, the ""Kaiserzeit"" laid the foundation of Germany's status as one of the world's leading economic powers. The iron and coal industries of the Ruhr, the Saar and Upper Silesia especially contributed to that process. The first motorcar was built by Karl Benz in 1886. The enormous growth of industrial production and industrial potential also led to a rapid urbanisation of Germany, which turned the Germans into a nation of city dwellers. More than 5 million people left Germany for the United States during the 19th century.
Many historians have emphasized the central importance of a German or "special path" (or "exceptionalism") as the root of Nazism and the German catastrophe in the 20th century. According to the historiography by Kocka (1988), the process of nation-building from above had very grievous long-term implications. In terms of parliamentary democracy, Parliament was kept weak, the parties were fragmented, and there was a high level of mutual distrust. The Nazis built on the illiberal, anti-pluralist elements of Weimar's political culture. The Junker elites (the large landowners in the east) and senior civil servants used their great power and influence well into the twentieth century to frustrate any movement toward democracy. They played an especially negative role in the crisis of 1930–1933. Bismarck's emphasis on military force amplified the voice of the officer corps, which combined advanced modernisation of military technology with reactionary politics. The rising upper-middle class elites, in the business, financial and professional worlds, tended to accept the values of the old traditional elites. The German Empire was for Hans-Ulrich Wehler a strange mixture of highly successful capitalist industrialisation and socio-economic modernisation on the one hand, and of surviving pre-industrial institutions, power relations and traditional cultures on the other. Wehler argues that it produced a high degree of internal tension, which led on the one hand to the suppression of socialists, Catholics and reformers, and on the other hand to a highly aggressive foreign policy. For these reasons Fritz Fischer and his students emphasised Germany's primary guilt for causing the First World War.
Hans-Ulrich Wehler, a leader of the Bielefeld School of social history, places the origins of Germany's path to disaster in the 1860s–1870s, when economic modernisation took place, but political modernisation did not happen and the old Prussian rural elite remained in firm control of the army, diplomacy and the civil service. Traditional, aristocratic, premodern society battled an emerging capitalist, bourgeois, modernising society. Recognising the importance of modernising forces in industry and the economy and in the cultural realm, Wehler argues that reactionary traditionalism dominated the political hierarchy of power in Germany, as well as social mentalities and in class relations (). The catastrophic German politics between 1914 and 1945 are interpreted in terms of a delayed modernisation of its political structures. At the core of Wehler's interpretation is his treatment of "the middle class" and "revolution", each of which was instrumental in shaping the 20th century. Wehler's examination of Nazi rule is shaped by his concept of "charismatic domination", which focuses heavily on Hitler.
The historiographical concept of a German has had a turbulent history. 19th century scholars who emphasised a separate German path to modernity saw it as a positive factor that differentiated Germany from the "western path" typified by Great Britain. They stressed the strong bureaucratic state, reforms initiated by Bismarck and other strong leaders, the Prussian service ethos, the high culture of philosophy and music, and Germany's pioneering of a social welfare state. In the 1950s, historians in West Germany argued that the led Germany to the disaster of 1933–1945. The special circumstances of German historical structures and experiences, were interpreted as preconditions that, while not directly causing National Socialism, did hamper the development of a liberal democracy and facilitate the rise of fascism. The paradigm has provided the impetus for at least three strands of research in German historiography: the "long 19th century", the history of the bourgeoisie, and comparisons with the West. After 1990, increased attention to cultural dimensions and to comparative and relational history moved German historiography to different topics, with much less attention paid to the . While some historians have abandoned the thesis, they have not provided a generally accepted alternative interpretation.
The Empire of Germany had 2 militaries; the:
In addition to present-day Germany, large parts of what comprised the German Empire now belong to several other modern European countries. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12674 |
Gallienus
Gallienus (; Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus; c. 218 – September 268), also known as Gallien, was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 22 October 253 to spring 260 and alone from spring 260 to September 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. While he won a number of military victories, he was unable to prevent the secession of important provinces. His 15-year reign was the longest since the 19-year rule of Septimius Severus.
Born into a wealthy and traditional senatorial family, Gallienus was the son of Valerian and Mariniana. Valerian became Emperor on 22 October 253 and had the Roman senate elevate Gallienus to the ranks of Caesar and Augustus. Valerian divided the empire between him and his son, with Valerian ruling the east and his son the west. Gallienus defeated the usurper Ingenuus in 258 and destroyed an Alemanni army at Mediolanum in 259.
The defeat and capture of Valerian at Edessa in 260 by the Sasanian Empire threw the Roman Empire into the chaos of civil war. Control of the whole empire passed to Gallienus. He defeated the eastern usurpers Macrianus Major and Mussius Aemilianus in 261–262 but failed to stop the formation of the breakaway Gallic Empire under general Postumus. Aureolus, another usurper, proclaimed himself emperor in Mediolanum in 268 but was defeated outside the city by Gallienus and besieged inside. While the siege was ongoing, Gallienus was stabbed to death by the officer Cecropius as part of a conspiracy.
The exact birth date of Gallienus is unknown. The 6th-century Greek chronicler John Malalas and the "Epitome de Caesaribus" report that he was about 50 years old at the time of his death, meaning he was born around 218. He was the son of emperor Valerian and Mariniana, who may have been of senatorial rank, possibly the daughter of Egnatius Victor Marinianus, and his brother was Valerianus Minor. Inscriptions on coins connect him with Falerii in Etruria, which may have been his birthplace; it has yielded many inscriptions relating to his mother's family, the Egnatii. Gallienus married Cornelia Salonina about ten years before his accession to the throne. She was the mother of three princes: Valerian II, who died in 258; Saloninus, who was named co-emperor but was murdered in 260 by the army of general Postumus; and Marinianus, who was killed in 268, shortly after his father was assassinated.
When Valerian was proclaimed Emperor on 22 October 253, he asked the Senate to ratify the elevation of Gallienus to Caesar and Augustus. He was also designated Consul Ordinarius for 254. As Marcus Aurelius and his adopted brother Lucius Verus had done a century earlier, Gallienus and his father divided the Empire. Valerian left for the East to stem the Persian threat, and Gallienus remained in Italy to repel the Germanic tribes on the Rhine and Danube. Division of the empire had become necessary due to its sheer size and the numerous threats it faced, and it facilitated negotiations with enemies who demanded to communicate directly with the emperor.
Gallienus spent most of his time in the provinces of the Rhine area (Germania Inferior, Germania Superior, Raetia, and Noricum), though he almost certainly visited the Danube area and Illyricum in the years from 253 to 258. According to Eutropius and Aurelius Victor, he was particularly energetic and successful in preventing invaders from attacking the German provinces and Gaul, despite the weakness caused by Valerian's march on Italy against Aemilianus in 253. According to numismatic evidence, he seems to have won many victories there, and a victory in Roman Dacia might also be dated to that period. Even the hostile Latin tradition attributes success to him at this time.
In 255 or 257, Gallienus was made Consul again, suggesting that he briefly visited Rome on those occasions, although no record survives. During his Danube sojourn (Drinkwater suggests in 255 or 256), he proclaimed his elder son Valerian II Caesar and thus official heir to himself and Valerian I; the boy probably joined Gallienus on campaign at that time, and when Gallienus moved west to the Rhine provinces in 257, he remained behind on the Danube as the personification of Imperial authority.
Sometime between 258 and 260 (the exact date is unclear), while Valerian was distracted with the ongoing invasion of Shapur I in the East, and Gallienus was preoccupied with his problems in the West, Ingenuus, governor of at least one of the Pannonian provinces, took advantage and declared himself emperor. Valerian II had apparently died on the Danube, most likely in 258. Ingenuus may have been responsible for that calamity. Alternatively, the defeat and capture of Valerian at the battle of Edessa may have been the trigger for the subsequent revolts of Ingenuus, Regalianus, and Postumus. In any case, Gallienus reacted with great speed. He left his son Saloninus as Caesar at Cologne, under the supervision of Albanus (or Silvanus) and the military leadership of Postumus. He then hastily crossed the Balkans, taking with him the new cavalry corps ("comitatus") under the command of Aureolus and defeated Ingenuus at Mursa or Sirmium. The victory must be attributed mainly to the cavalry and its brilliant commander. Ingenuus was killed by his own guards or committed suicide by drowning himself after the fall of his capital, Sirmium.
A major invasion by the Alemanni and other Germanic tribes occurred between 258 and 260 (it is hard to fix the precise date of these events), probably due to the vacuum left by the withdrawal of troops supporting Gallienus in the campaign against Ingenuus. Franks broke through the lower Rhine, invading Gaul, some reaching as far as southern Spain, sacking Tarraco (modern Tarragona). The Alemanni invaded, probably through Agri Decumates (an area between the upper Rhine and the upper Danube), likely followed by the Juthungi. After devastating Germania Superior and Raetia (parts of southern France and Switzerland), they entered Italy, the first invasion of the Italian peninsula, aside from its most remote northern regions, since Hannibal 500 years before. When invaders reached the outskirts of Rome, they were repelled by an improvised army assembled by the Senate, consisting of local troops (probably praetorian guards) and the strongest of the civilian population. On their retreat through northern Italy, they were intercepted and defeated in the battle of Mediolanum (near present-day Milan) by Gallienus' army, which had advanced from Gaul, or from the Balkans after dealing with the Franks. The battle of Mediolanum was decisive, and the Alemanni did not bother the empire for the next ten years. The Juthungi managed to cross the Alps with their valuables and captives from Italy. An historian in the 19th century suggested that the initiative of the Senate gave rise to jealousy and suspicion by Gallienus, thus contributing to his exclusion of senators from military commands.
Around the same time, Regalianus, who held some command in the Balkans, was proclaimed Emperor. The reasons for this are unclear, and the "Historia Augusta" (almost the sole resource for these events) does not provide a credible story. It is possible the seizure can be attributed to the discontent of the civilian and military provincials, who felt the defense of the province was being neglected.
Regalianus held power for some six months and issued coins bearing his image. After some success against the Sarmatians, his revolt ended when the Roxolani invaded Pannonia and killed Regalianus in taking the city of Sirmium. There is a suggestion that Gallienus invited the Roxolani to attack Regalianus, but other historians dismiss the accusation. It is also suggested that the invasion was finally checked by Gallienus near Verona and that he directed the restoration of the province, probably in person.
In the East, Valerian was confronted with serious troubles. Bands of "Scythai" began a naval raid of Pontus, in the northern part of modern Turkey. After ravaging the province, they moved south into Cappadocia. A Roman army from Antioch, under Valerian, tried to intercept them but failed. According to Zosimus, this army was infected by a plague that gravely weakened it. In that condition, this army had to repel a new invasion of the province of Mesopotamia by Shapur I, ruler of the Sassanid Empire. The invasion occurred probably in the early spring of 260.
The Roman army was defeated at the Battle of Edessa, and Valerian was taken prisoner. Shapur's army raided Cilicia and Cappadocia (in present-day Turkey), sacking, as Shapur's inscriptions claim, 36 cities. It took a rally by an officer named Callistus (Balista), a fiscal official named Fulvius Macrianus, the remnants of the Roman army in the east, and Odenathus and his Palmyrene horsemen to turn the tide against Shapur. The Sassanids were driven back, but Macrianus proclaimed his two sons Quietus and Macrianus (sometimes misspelled Macrinus) as emperors. Coins struck for them in major cities of the East indicate acknowledgement of the usurpation. The two Macriani left Quietus, Ballista, and, presumably, Odenathus to deal with the Persians while they invaded Europe with an army of 30,000 men, according to the "Historia Augusta". At first they met no opposition.
The Pannonian legions joined the invaders, being resentful of the absence of Gallienus. He sent his successful commander Aureolus against the rebels, however, and the decisive battle was fought in the spring or early summer of 261, most likely in Illyricum, although Zonaras locates it in Pannonia. In any case, the army of the usurpers was defeated and surrendered, and their two leaders were killed.
In the aftermath of the battle, the rebellion of Postumus had already started, so Gallienus had no time to deal with the rest of the usurpers, namely Balista and Quietus. He came to an agreement with Odenathus, who had just returned from his victorious Persian expedition. Odenathus received the title of "dux Romanorum" and besieged the usurpers, who were based at Emesa. Eventually, the people of Emesa killed Quietus, and Odenathus arrested and executed Balista about November 261.
After the defeat at Edessa, Gallienus lost control over the provinces of Britain, Spain, parts of Germania, and a large part of Gaul when another general, Postumus, declared his own realm (usually known today as the Gallic Empire). The revolt partially coincided with that of Macrianus in the East. Gallienus had installed his son Saloninus and his guardian, Silvanus, in Cologne in 258. Postumus, a general in command of troops on the banks of the Rhine, defeated some raiders and took possession of their spoils. Instead of returning it to the original owners, he preferred to distribute it amongst his soldiers. When news of this reached Silvanus, he demanded the spoils be sent to him. Postumus made a show of submission, but his soldiers mutinied and proclaimed him Emperor. Under his command, they besieged Cologne, and after some weeks the defenders of the city opened the gates and handed Saloninus and Silvanus to Postumus, who had them killed. The dating of these events was long uncertain, but an inscription discovered in 1992 at Augsburg indicates that Postumus had been proclaimed Emperor by September of 260. Postumus claimed the consulship for himself and one of his associates, Honoratianus, but according to D.S. Potter, he never tried to unseat Gallienus or invade Italy.
Upon receiving news of the murder of his son, Gallienus began gathering forces to face Postumus. The invasion of the Macriani forced him to dispatch Aureolus with a large force to oppose them, however, leaving him with insufficient troops to battle Postumus. After some initial defeats, the army of Aureolus, having defeated the Macriani, rejoined him, and Postumus was expelled. Aureolus was entrusted with the pursuit and deliberately allowed Postumus to escape and gather new forces. Gallienus returned in 263 or 265 and surrounded Postumus in an unnamed Gallic city. During the siege, Gallienus was severely wounded by an arrow and had to leave the field. The standstill persisted until his later death, and the Gallic Empire remained independent until 274.
In 262, the mint in Alexandria started to again issue coins for Gallienus, demonstrating that Egypt had returned to his control after suppressing the revolt of the Macriani. In spring of 262, the city was wrenched by civil unrest as a result of a new revolt. The rebel this time was the prefect of Egypt, Lucius Mussius Aemilianus, who had already given support to the revolt of the Macriani. The correspondence of bishop Dionysius of Alexandria provides a commentary on the background of invasion, civil war, plague, and famine that characterized this age.
Knowing he could not afford to lose control of the vital Egyptian granaries, Gallienus sent his general Theodotus against Aemilianus, probably by a naval expedition. The decisive battle probably took place near Thebes, and the result was a clear defeat of Aemilianus. In the aftermath, Gallienus became Consul three more times in 262, 264, and 266.
In the years 267–269, Goths and other barbarians invaded the empire in great numbers. Sources are extremely confused on the dating of these invasions, the participants, and their targets. Modern historians are not even able to discern with certainty whether there were two or more of these invasions or a single prolonged one. It seems that, at first, a major naval expedition was led by the Heruli starting from north of the Black Sea and leading to the ravaging of many cities of Greece (among them, Athens and Sparta). Then another, even more numerous army of invaders started a second naval invasion of the empire. The Romans defeated the barbarians on sea first. Gallienus' army then won a battle in Thrace, and the Emperor pursued the invaders. According to some historians, he was the leader of the army who won the great Battle of Naissus, while the majority believes that the victory must be attributed to his successor, Claudius II.
In 268, at some time before or soon after the battle of Naissus, the authority of Gallienus was challenged by Aureolus, commander of the cavalry stationed in Mediolanum (Milan), who was supposed to keep an eye on Postumus. Instead, he acted as deputy to Postumus until the very last days of his revolt, when he seems to have claimed the throne for himself. The decisive battle took place at what is now Pontirolo Nuovo near Milan; Aureolus was clearly defeated and driven back to Milan. Gallienus laid siege to the city but was murdered during the siege. There are differing accounts of the murder, but the sources agree that most of Gallienus' officials wanted him dead. According to the Historia Augusta, an unreliable source compiled long after the events it describes, a conspiracy was led by the commander of the guard Aurelius Heraclianus and Lucius Aurelius Marcianus. Marcianus's role in the conspiracy is not confirmed by any other ancient source.
Cecropius, commander of the Dalmatians, spread the word that the forces of Aureolus were leaving the city, and Gallienus left his tent without his bodyguard, only to be struck down by Cecropius. One version has Claudius selected as Emperor by the conspirators, another chosen by Gallienus on his death bed; the Historia Augusta was concerned to substantiate the descent of the Constantinian dynasty from Claudius, and this may explain its accounts, which do not involve Claudius in the murder. The other sources (Zosimus i.40 and Zonaras xii.25) report that the conspiracy was organized by Heraclianus, Claudius, and Aurelian.
According to Aurelius Victor and Zonaras, on hearing the news that Gallienus was dead, the Senate in Rome ordered the execution of his family (including his brother Valerianus and son Marinianus) and their supporters, just before receiving a message from Claudius to spare their lives and deify his predecessor.
The tomb of Gallienus is thought to be located to the south of Rome, at the IXth mile of Via Appia.
Gallienus was not treated favorably by ancient historians, partly due to the secession of Gaul and Palmyra and his inability to win them back; at the time of Gallienus' death, Palmyra was still nominally loyal to Rome, but, under the leadership of Odaenathus, was independent in nearly every other respect. Palmyra would formally secede after Odaenathus' death and the ascension of his widow Zenobia. It was not until the reign of Aurelian several years later that the breakaway provinces were truly brought back into the Roman fold. According to modern scholar Pat Southern, some historians now see Gallienus in a more positive light. Gallienus produced some useful reforms.
He contributed to military history as the first to commission primarily cavalry units, the Comitatenses, that could be dispatched anywhere in the Empire in short order. This reform arguably created a precedent for the future emperors Diocletian and Constantine I. The biographer Aurelius Victor reports that Gallienus forbade senators from becoming military commanders. This policy undermined senatorial power, as more reliable equestrian commanders rose to prominence. In Southern's view, these reforms and the decline in senatorial influence not only helped Aurelian to salvage the Empire, but they also make Gallienus one of the emperors most responsible for the creation of the Dominate, along with Septimius Severus, Diocletian, and Constantine I.
About 40 rare gold coins of Gallienus have been discovered as part of the Lava Treasure in Corsica, France, in the 1980s.
The capture of Valerian in the year 259 forced Gallienus to issue the first official declaration of tolerance with regard to the Christians, restoring their places of worship and cemeteries, therefore implying a recognition of the property of the Church. However, the edict did not turn Christianity into an official religion.
Gallienus was played by Franco Cobianchi in the 1964 film "The Magnificent Gladiator". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12677 |
Gambeson
A gambeson (also aketon, padded jack or arming doublet) is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armor separately, or combined with mail or plate armor. Gambesons were produced with a sewing technique called quilting. They were usually constructed of linen or wool; the stuffing varied, and could be for example scrap cloth or horse hair. During the 14th century, illustrations usually show buttons or laces up the front.
An arming doublet (also called aketon) worn under armor, particularly plate armor of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe, contains arming points for attaching plates. Fifteenth century examples may include goussets sewn into the elbows and armpits to protect the wearer in locations not covered by plate. German gothic armor arming doublets were generally shorter than Italian white armor doublets, which could extend to the upper thigh. In late fifteenth century Italy this also became a civilian fashion. Men who were not knights wore arming doublets, probably because the garment suggested status and chivalry.
The term "gambeson" is a loan from Old French "gambeson", "gambaison", originally "wambais", formed after the Middle High German term "wambeis" "doublet", in turn from Old High German "wamba" "stomach" (cognate to "womb").
The term "aketon", originally medieval French "alcottonem", might be a loan from Arabic "al-qutn" "cotton" (definite article – ""the" cotton").
In medieval Norse, the garment was known as "vápntreyja", literally "weapon shirt", or "panzari/panzer". "Treyja" is a loan from (Middle) Low German. "Panzari/panzer" is probably also a loan from (Middle) Low German, though the word has its likely origin in Italian, and is related to Latin "pantex" 'abdomen', cognate with English "paunch".
Quilted leather open jackets and trousers were worn by Scythian horsemen before the 4th century BC, as can be seen on Scythian gold ornaments crafted by Greek goldsmiths. The European gambeson can be traced at least to the late 10th century, but it is likely to have been in use in various forms for longer than that. In Europe, its use became widespread in the 13th century, and peaked in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The gambeson was used both as a complete armor unto itself and underneath mail and plate in order to cushion the body and prevent chafing. It was very insulating and thus uncomfortable, but its protection was vital for the soldier.
Although they are thought to have been used in Europe much earlier, gambesons underwent a revolution from their first proven use in the late 11th and early 12th centuries as an item of armor that simply facilitated the wearing of mail to an item of independent armor popular amongst infantry. Although quilted armor survived into the English Civil War in England as a poor man's cuirass, and as an item to be worn beneath the few remaining suits of full plate, it was increasingly replaced by the 'buff coat' – a leather jacket of rough suede.
There are two distinctive designs of gambeson: those designed to be worn beneath another armor, and those designed to be worn as independent armor. The latter tend to be thicker and higher in the collar, and faced with other materials, such as leather, or heavy canvas. This variant is usually referred to as "padded jack" and made of several (some say around 18, some even 30) layers of cotton, linen or wool. These jacks were known to stop even heavy arrows and their design of multiple layers bears a striking resemblance to modern day body armor, which substituted at first silk, ballistic nylon and later Kevlar as fabric.
For common soldiers who could not afford mail or plate armor, the gambeson, combined with a helmet as the only additional protection, remained a common sight on European battlefields during the entire Middle Ages, and its decline – paralleling that of plate armor – came only with the Renaissance, as the use of firearms became more widespread, until by the 18th century it was no longer in military use.
While the use of linen has been shown in archaeological evidence, the use of cotton – and cotton-based canvas – is disputed since large amounts of cotton cloth were not widely available in northern Europe at this time. It is quite probable that Egypt (and Asia-Minor generally) still produced cotton well after the 7th and 8th centuries and knowledge (and samples) of this cloth was brought to Europe by the returning Crusaders; however, the logistics and expense of equipping a town militia or army with large amounts of cotton-based garments is doubtful, when flax-based textiles (linen) were in widespread use.
Linothorax was a type of armor similar to gambeson used by ancient Greeks. Meanwhile, the Mesoamericans were known to make use of quilted cotton armor called Ichcahuipilli before the arrival of the Spaniards. Another example is the bullet resistant Myeonje baegab that was created in the Joseon Dynasty in an attempt to confront the effects of Western rifles. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12679 |
Geography of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a landlocked mountainous country located within Central and South Asia, also sometimes included as part of the Middle East. The country is the 40th largest in the world in size. Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the Kabul Province. Strategically located at the crossroads of major trade routes, Afghanistan has attracted a succession of invaders since the sixth century BCE.
The Hindu Kush mountains, running northeast to southwest across the country, divide the nation into three major regions: 1) the Central Highlands, which account for roughly two thirds of the country's area; 2) the Southwestern Plateau, which accounts for one-fourth of the land; and 3) the smaller Northern Plains area, which contains the country's most fertile soil.
Land elevations generally slope from northeast to southwest, following the general shape of the Hindu Kush massif, from its highest point in the Pamir Mountains near the Chinese border to the lower elevations near the border with Uzbekistan. To the north, west, and southwest there are no mountain barriers to neighboring countries. The northern plains pass into the plains of Turkmenistan. In the west and southwest, the plateaus and deserts merge into those of Iran. Afghanistan is located on the Eurasian Tectonic Plate. The Wakhan Corridor and the rest of northeastern Afghanistan, including Kabul, are situated in a geologically active area. Over a dozen earthquakes occurred there during the twentieth century.
The greater part of the northern border and a small section of the border with Pakistan are marked by rivers; the remaining boundary lines are political rather than natural. The northern frontier extends approximately southwestward, from the Pamir Mountains in the northeast to a region of hills and deserts in the west, at the border with Iran. The border with Iran runs generally southward from the Hari River across swamp and desert regions before reaching the northwestern tip of Pakistan. Its southern section crosses the Helmand River.
Afghanistan is bounded by six countries. Its longest border is the Durand Line, accounting for its entire southern and eastern boundary with Pakistan. The shortest one, bordering China's Xinjiang province, is a mere at the end of the Wakhan Corridor (the Afghan Panhandle), a narrow sliver of land long that extends eastward between Tajikistan and Pakistan. At its narrowest point it is only wide.
The border with Pakistan runs eastward from Iran through the Chagai Hills and the southern end of the Registan Desert, then northward through mountains. It then follows an irregular northeasterly course before reaching the Durand Line, established in 1893. This line continues on through mountainous regions to the Khyber Pass area. Beyond this point it rises to the crest of the Hindu Kush, which it follows eastward to the Pamir Mountains. The Durand Line divides the Pashtun tribes of the region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Its creation has caused much dissatisfaction among Afghans and has given rise to political tensions between the two countries.
Rainfall in Afghanistan is very scarce, and mainly only affects the northern highlands, arriving in March and April. Rainfall in the more arid lowlands is rare, and can be very unpredictable. Marked characteristics are the great differences of summer and winter temperature and of day and night temperature, as well as the extent to which change of climate can be attained by slight change of place. The Afghan climate is a dry one. The sun shines for three-fourths of the year, and the nights are clearer than the days.
Taking the highlands of the country as a whole, there is no great difference between the mean temperature of Afghanistan and that of the lower Himalaya. However, a remarkable feature of the Afghan climate is its extreme temperature range within limited periods. The smallest daily range in the north is when the weather is cold; the greatest is when it is hot. For seven months of the year (from May to November) this range exceeds daily. Waves of intense cold occur, lasting for several days, and one may have to endure temperatures of , rising to a maximum of . At Ghazni the snow has been known to stay long beyond the vernal equinox; the temperatures sink as low as . Oral tradition tells the destruction of the entire population of Ghazni by snowstorms more than once. On the other hand, the summer temperature is exceedingly high, especially in the Oxus regions, where a shade maximum of is not uncommon.
The summer heat is strong in the Sistan Basin, Jalalabad and Turkestan. The simoom wind occurs in Kandahar province during the summer. The hot season is rendered more intense by frequent dust storms and strong winds; whilst the bare rocky ridges that traverse the country, absorbing heat by day and radiating it by night, render the summer nights most oppressive. In Kabul the heat is tempered occasionally by cool breezes from the Hindu Kush, and the nights are usually cool. In Kandahar snow seldom falls on the plains or lower hills; when it does, it melts at once.
The summer rains that accompany the southwest monsoon in India, beat along the southern slopes of the Himalaya, and travel up the Kabul valley as far as Laghman, though they are more clearly felt in Bajour and Panjkora, under the Hindu Kush, and in the eastern branches of Safed Koh. Rain also falls at this season at the head of Kurram valley. South of this the Suliman mountains may be taken as the western limit of the monsoon's action. It is not felt in the rest of Afghanistan, in which, as in the rest of western Asia, the winter rains are the most considerable. The spring rain, though less copious, is more important to agriculture than the winter rain, unless where the latter falls in the form of snow. In the absence of monsoon influences there are steadier weather indications than in India. The north-west blizzards which occur in winter and spring are the most noticeable feature, and their influence is clearly felt on the Indian frontier.
The Hindu Kush mountain range reaches a height of at Noshaq, Afghanistan's highest peak. Of the ranges extending southwestward from the Hindu Kush, the Foladi peak ("Shah Foladi") of the Baba mountain range ("Koh-i-Baba") reaches the greatest height: . The Safed Koh range, which includes the Tora Bora area, dominates the border area southeast of Kabul.
Important passes include the Unai Pass across the Safed Koh, the Kushan and Salang Passes through the Hindu Kush, and the Khyber Pass that connects Afghanistan with Pakistan. The summit of the Khyber Pass at at Landi Kotal, Pakistan is 5 km (3 mi) east of the border town of Torkham. Other key passages through the mountainous Pakistan border include two from Paktika Province into Pakistan's Waziristan region: one at Angoor Ada, and one further south at the Gumal River crossing, plus the Charkai River passage south of Khost, Afghanistan, at Pakistan's Ghulam Khan village into North Waziristan. The busy Pak-Afghan border crossing at Wesh, Afghanistan is in a flat and dry area, though this route involves Pakistan's Khojak Pass at just from the border. The border connects Kandahar and Spin Boldak in Afghanistan with Quetta in Pakistan,
The Wakhan Corridor in the northeast lies between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains, which leads to the Wakhjir Pass into Xinjiang in China. In Kabul, and over all the northern part of the country to the descent at Gandamak, winter is rigorous, especially so on the high Arachosian plateau.
Although Herat is approximately lower than Kandahar, the summer climate there is more temperate along with the yearly climate. From May to September, the wind blows from the northwest with great force, and this extends across the country to Kandahar. The winter is mild; snow melts as it falls, and even on the mountains does not lie long. Three years out of four at Herat it does not freeze hard enough for the people to store ice. Yet, it was not very far from Herat, in Rafir Kala, in 1750, where Ahmad Shah's army, retreating from Persia, is said to have lost 18,000 men from cold in a single night. In the northern Herat districts records of the coldest month (February) show the mean minimum as and the maximum as . The eastern reaches of the Hari River, including the rapids, are frozen hard in the winter, and people travel on it as on a road.
Afghanistan usually does not face much water shortage because it receives snow during winter and once that melts the water runs into numerous rivers, lakes, and streams, but most of its national water flows into neighboring countries. It loses about two-thirds of its water to neighboring Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
The nation's drainage system is essentially landlocked. Most of the rivers and streams end in shallow desert lakes or oases inside or outside the country's boundaries. Nearly half of the nation's total area is drained by watercourses south of the Hindu Kush–Safid ridge line, and half of this area is drained by the Helmand and its tributaries alone. The Amu Darya on the northern border, the country's other major river, has the next largest drainage area.
The long Amu Darya originates in the glaciers of the Pamir Mountains in the northeast. Some 965 km of its upper course constitutes Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Flowing in rapid torrents in its upper course, the Amu Darya becomes calmer below the mouth of the Kokcha, west of Fayzabad. The Kunduz River is another major tributary. During its flood period the upper course of the Amu Darya, swollen by snow and melting ice, carries along much gravel and large boulders.
The Helmand River is the principal river in the southwest, bisecting the entire region. Starting some west of Kabul in the Baba mountain range, the Helmand is approximately long, making it the longest river situated entirely within Afghanistan. With its many tributaries, the most important of which is the Arghandab River, it drains more than .
The Kabul River, long, is a vital source of water in the Baba Mountains and for Kabul itself, which it flows through. The Kabul and its tributaries are among the few in Afghanistan that eventually reach the sea, as it flows east into the Indus River in Pakistan.
In the west the sandy deserts along most of the Iranian frontier have no watercourses. However, in the northwest, the Hari and Morghab Rivers flow into Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert.
The characteristic distribution of vegetation on the mountains of Afghanistan is worthy of attention. The great mass of it is confined to the main ranges and their immediate offshoots, whilst on the more distant and terminal prolongations it is almost entirely absent; in fact, these are naked rock and stone. On the Safed Koh alpine range itself and its immediate branches, at a height of there is abundant growth of large forest trees, among which conifers are the most noble and prominent, such as "Cedrus deodara", "Abies excelsa", "Pinus longifolia", "Pinus pinaster", Stone pine (the edible pine, although this species is probably introduced, since it is original to Spain and Portugal) and the larch. There is also the yew, the hazel, juniper, walnut, wild peach and almond. Growing under the shade of these are several varieties of rose, honeysuckle, currant, gooseberry, hawthorn, rhododendron and a luxuriant herbage, among which the ranunculus family is important for frequency and number of genera. The lemon and wild vine are also here met with, but are more common on the northern mountains. The walnut and oak (evergreen, holly-leaved and kermes) descend to the secondary heights, where they become mixed with alder, ash, khinjak, Arbor-vitae, juniper, with species of Astragalus. Here also are Indigoferae rind dwarf laburnum.
Down to there are wild olive, species of rock-rose, wild privet, acacias and mimosas, barberry and "Zizyphus"; and in the eastern ramifications of the chain, "Nannerops ritchiana" (which is applied to a variety of useful purposes), "Bignonia" or trumpet flower, sissu, "Salvadora persica", verbena, acanthus, varieties of Gesnerae.
The lowest terminal ridges, especially towards the west, are, as it has been said, naked in aspect. Their scanty vegetation is almost wholly herbal; shrubs are only occasional; trees almost non-existent. Labiate, composite and umbelliferous plants are most common. Ferns and mosses are almost confined to the higher ranges.
In the low brushwood scattered over portions of the dreary plains of the Kandahar tablelands, it is possible to find leguminous thorny plants of the papilionaceous suborder, such as camel-thorn ("Hedysarum alhagi"), "Astragalus" in several varieties, spiny rest-harrow ("Ononis spinosa"), the fibrous roots of which often serve as a tooth-brush; plants of the sub-order Mimosae, as the sensitive mimosa; a plant of the rue family, called by the natives "lipad"; the common wormwood; also certain orchids, and several species of Salsola. The rue and wormwood are in general use as domestic medicines—the former for rheumatism and neuralgia; the latter in fever, debility and dyspepsia, as well as for a vermifuge. The lipad, owing to its heavy nauseous odour, is believed to keep off evil spirits. In some places, occupying the sides and hollows of ravines, it is found the Rose Bay, called in Persian "khar-zarah", or ass-bane, the wild laburnum and various Indigoferae.
In the last several decades, 90% of forests in Afghanistan have been destroyed and much of the timber has been exported to neighboring Pakistan. As a result, large percent of Afghanistan's land could be subject to soil erosion and desertification. On the positive note, the Karzai administration and international organizations are helping counter this problem by often planting millions of saplings. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12681 |
Grand jury
A grand jury is a jury – a group of citizens – empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings and investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand jury is separate from the courts, which do not preside over its functioning.
The United States and Liberia are the only countries that retain grand juries, though other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most others now employ a different procedure that does not involve a jury: a preliminary hearing. Grand juries perform both accusatory and investigatory functions. The investigatory functions of grand juries include obtaining and reviewing documents and other evidence, and hearing sworn testimonies of witnesses who appear before it; the accusatory function determines whether there is probable cause to believe that one or more persons committed a particular offense within the venue of a district court.
A grand jury in the United States is usually composed of 16 to 23 citizens, though in Virginia it has fewer members for regular or special grand juries. In Ireland, they also functioned as local government authorities. In Japan, the Law of July 12, 1948, created the "Kensatsu Shinsakai" (Prosecutorial Review Commission or PRC system), inspired by the American system.
The grand jury is so named because traditionally it has more jurors than a trial jury, sometimes called a petit jury (from the French word "petit" meaning "small").
The function of a grand jury is to accuse persons who may be guilty of a crime, but the institution is also a shield against unfounded and oppressive prosecution. It is a means for lay citizens, representative of the community, to participate in the administration of justice. It can also make presentments on crime and maladministration in its area. Traditionally, a grand jury numbers 23 members.
The mode of accusation is by a written statement of two types: 1) in solemn form (indictment) describing the offense with proper accompaniments of time and circumstances, and certainty of act and person, or 2) by a mode less formal, which is usually the spontaneous act of the grand jury, called presentment. No indictment or presentment can be made except by concurrence of at least twelve of the jurors. The grand jury may accuse upon their own knowledge, but it is generally done upon the testimony of witnesses under oath and other evidence heard before them. The proceedings of grand jury are, in the first instance, at the instigation of the government or other prosecutors, and ex parte and in secret deliberation. The accused has no knowledge nor right to interfere with their proceedings.
If they find the accusation true, which is usually drawn up in form by the prosecutor or an officer of the court, they write upon the indictment the words "a true bill" which is signed by the foreman of the grand jury and presented to the court publicly in the presence of all the jurors. If the indictment is not proven to the satisfaction of the grand jury, the word "" or "not a true bill" is written upon it by the grand jury, or by their foreman and then said to be ignored, and the accusation is dismissed as unfounded. (The potential defendant is said to have been "no-billed" by the grand jury.) If the grand jury returns an indictment as a true bill ("billa vera"), the indictment is said to be founded and the party to stand indicted and required to be put on trial.
The first instance of a grand jury can be traced back to the Assize of Clarendon in 1166, an Act of Henry II of England. Henry's chief impact on the development of the English monarchy was to increase the jurisdiction of the royal courts at the expense of the feudal courts. Itinerant justices on regular circuits were sent out once each year to enforce the "King's Peace". To make this system of royal criminal justice more effective, Henry employed the method of inquest used by William the Conqueror in the Domesday Book. In each shire, a body of important men were sworn ("juré") to report to the sheriff all crimes committed since the last session of the circuit court. Thus originated the more recent grand jury that presents information for an indictment. The grand jury was later recognized by King John in Magna Carta in 1215 on demand of the nobility.
The Grand Jury can be said to have "celebrated" its 800th birthday in 2015, because a precursor to the Grand Jury is defined in Article 61, the longest of the 63 articles of Magna Carta, also called "Magna Carta Libertatum" (Latin: "the Great Charter of Liberties") executed on 15 June 1215 by King John and by the Barons. The document was primarily composed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton (1150–1228). He and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro developed schemas for the division of the Bible into chapters and it is the system of Archbishop Langton which prevailed. He was a Bible scholar, and the concept of the Grand Jury may possibly derive from Deuteronomy 25:1: "If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked." (King James Version) Thus the Grand Jury has been described as the "Shield and the Sword" of the People: as a "Shield for the People" from abusive indictments of the government- or malicious indictments of individuals- and as the "Sword of the People" to cut away crime by any private individual; or to cut away crime by any public servant, whether in the Judicial, Executive, or Legislative branches.
On 2 July 1681, a popular statesman, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury was arrested on suspicion of high treason and committed to the Tower of London. He immediately petitioned the Old Bailey on a writ of habeas corpus, but the Old Bailey said it did not have jurisdiction over prisoners in the Tower of London, so Cooper had to wait for the next session of the Court of King's Bench. Cooper moved for a writ of habeas corpus on 24 October 1681, and his case finally came before a grand jury on 24 November 1681.
The government's case against Cooper was particularly weak – the government admitted that most of the witnesses brought against Cooper had already perjured themselves, and the documentary evidence was inconclusive, and the jury was handpicked by the Whig Sheriff of London. For these reasons the government had little chance of securing a conviction, and on 13 February 1682, the case was dropped when the grand jury issued an "ignoramus" bill, rather than comply with the king's intent of a "true bill", known as a grand jury indictment.
The grand jury's theoretical function against abuse of executive power was seen during the Watergate crisis in America, in "United States v. Nixon", the U.S. Supreme Court ruled eight-to-zero on 23 July 1974 (Justice William Rehnquist who had been appointed by Nixon recused himself from the case) that executive privilege applied only to the co-equal branches, the legislative and judicial, not to grand jury subpoenas, thus implying a grand jury constituted protections equaled to a "fourth branch of government". The second Watergate grand jury indicted seven lawyers in the White House, including former Attorney General John Mitchell and named President Nixon as a "secret, un-indicted, co-conspirator". Despite evading impeachment, Nixon was still required to testify before a grand jury.
Similarly, in 1998, President Clinton became the first sitting president required to testify before a grand jury as the subject of an investigation by the Office of Independent Counsel. The testimony came after a four-year investigation into Clinton and his wife Hillary's alleged involvement in several scandals including Whitewater and the Rose Law Firm. Revelations from the investigation sparked a battle in Congress over whether or not to impeach Clinton.
The sheriff of every county was required to return to every quarter sessions and assizes (or more precisely the commission of "oyer and terminer" and of gaol delivery), 24 men of the county "to inquire into, present, do and execute all those things which, on the part of our Lord the King ("or" our Lady the Queen), shall then be commanded them". Grand jurors at the assizes or at the borough quarter sessions did not have property qualifications; but, at the county quarter sessions, they had the same property qualification as petty jurors. However, at the assizes, the grand jury generally consisted of gentlemen of high standing in the county.
After the court was opened by the crier making proclamation, the names of those summoned to the grand jury were called and they were sworn. They numbered at least 14 and not more than 23. The person presiding (the judge at the assizes, the chairman at the county sessions, the recorder at the borough sessions) gave the charge to the grand jury, i.e. he directed their attention to points in the various cases about to be considered which required explanation.
The charge having been delivered, the grand jury withdrew to their own room, having received the bills of indictment. The witnesses whose names were endorsed on each bill were sworn as they came to be examined, in the grand jury room, the oath being administered by the foreman, who wrote his initials against the name of the witness on the back of the bill. Only the witnesses for the prosecution were examined, as the function of the grand jury was merely to inquire whether there was sufficient ground to put the accused on trial. If the majority of them (and at least 12) thought that the evidence so adduced made out a sufficient case, the words "a true bill" were endorsed on the back of the bill. If they were of the opposite opinion, the phrase "not a true bill", or the single Latin word ("we do not know" or "we are ignorant (of)"), was endorsed instead and the bill was said to be "ignored" or thrown out. They could find a true bill as to the charge in one count, and ignore that in another; or as to one defendant and not as to another; but they could not, like a petty jury, return a special or conditional finding, or select part of a count as true and reject the other part. When some bills were "found", some of the jurors came out and handed the bills to the clerk of arraigns (in assizes) or clerk of the peace, who announced to the court the name of the prisoner, the charge, and the endorsements of the grand jury. They then retired and considered other bills until all were disposed of; after which they were discharged by the judge, chairman, or recorder.
If a bill was thrown out, although it could not again be referred to the grand jury during the same assizes or sessions, it could be preferred at subsequent assizes or sessions, but not in respect of the same offense if a petty jury had returned a verdict.
Ordinarily, bills of indictment were preferred after there had been an examination before the magistrates. But this need not always take place. With certain exceptions, any person would prefer a bill of indictment against another before the grand jury without any previous inquiry into the truth of the accusation before a magistrate. This right was at one time universal and was often abused. A substantial check was put on this abuse by the Vexatious Indictments Act 1859. This Act provided that for certain offences which it listed (perjury, libel, etc.), the person presenting such an indictment must be bound by recognizance to prosecute or give evidence against the accused, or alternatively had judicial permission (as specified) so to do.
If an indictment was found in the absence of the accused, and he/she was not in custody and had not been bound over to appear at assizes or sessions, then process was issued to bring that person into court, as it is contrary to the English law to "try" an indictment in the absence of the accused.
The grand jury's functions were gradually made redundant by the development of committal proceedings in magistrates' courts from 1848 onward when the (three) Jervis Acts, such as the Justices Protection Act 1848, codified and greatly expanded the functions of magistrates in pre-trial proceedings; these proceedings developed into almost a repeat of the trial itself. In 1933 the grand jury ceased to function in England, under the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1933 and was entirely abolished in 1948, when a clause from 1933 saving grand juries for offences relating to officials abroad was repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 1948.
The grand jury was introduced in Scotland, solely for high treason, a year after the union with England, by the Treason Act 1708, an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Section III of the Act required the Scottish courts to try cases of treason and misprision of treason according to English rules of procedure and evidence. This rule was repealed in 1945.
The first Scottish grand jury under this Act met at Edinburgh on 10 October 1748 to take cognisance of the charges against such rebels as had not surrendered, following the Jacobite rising of 1745.
An account of its first use in Scotland illustrates the institution's characteristics. It consisted of 23 good and lawful men, chosen out of 48 who were summoned: 24 from the county of Edinburgh (Midlothian), 12 from Haddington (East Lothian) and 12 from Linlithgow (West Lothian). The court consisted of three judges from the High Court of Justiciary (Scotland's highest criminal court), of whom Tinwald (Justice Clerk) was elected "preses" (presiding member). Subpoenas under the seal of the court and signed by the clerk were executed on a great number of persons in different shires, requiring them to appear as witnesses under the penalty of £100 each. The "preses" named Sir John Inglis of Cramond as Foreman of the Grand Jury, who was sworn first in the English manner by kissing the book; the others followed three at a time; after which Lord Tinwald, addressing the jurors, informed them that the power His Majesty's advocate possessed before the union, of prosecuting any person for high treason, who appeared guilty on a precognition taken of the facts, being now done away, power was lodged with them, a grand jury, 12 of whom behoved to concur before a true bill could be found. An indictment was then preferred in court and the witnesses endorsed on it were called over and sworn; on which the jury retired to the exchequer chambers and the witnesses were conducted to a room near it, whence they were called to be examined separately. Two solicitors for the crown were present at the examination but no one else; and after they had finished and the sense of the jury was collected, the indictment was returned a "true bill", if the charges were found proved, or "ignoramus" if doubtful. The proceedings continued for a week, in which time, out of 55 bills, 42 were sustained and 13 dismissed.
Further Acts of Parliament in the 19th century regarding treason did not specify this special procedure and the Grand Jury was used no longer.
In Ireland, grand juries were active from the Middle Ages during the Lordship of Ireland in parts of the island under the control of the English government (The Pale), that was followed by the Kingdom of Ireland. They mainly functioned as local government authorities at the county level. The system was so-called as the grand jurors had to present their public works proposals and budgets in court for official sanction by a judge. Grand jurors were usually the largest local payers of rates, and therefore tended to be the larger landlords, and on retiring they selected new members from the same background.
Distinct from their public works function, as property owners they also were qualified to sit on criminal juries hearing trials by jury, as well as having a pre-trial judicial function for serious criminal cases. Many of them also sat as magistrates judging the less serious cases.
They were usually wealthy "country gentlemen" (i.e. landowners, landed gentry, farmers and merchants):
From 1691 to 1793, Dissenters and Roman Catholics were excluded from membership. The concentration of power and wealth in a few families caused resentment over time. The whole local government system started to become more representative from the passing of the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840. The growing divergence of opinions can be seen in the House of Commons debate on 8 March 1861 led by Isaac Butt. Grand juries were eventually replaced by democratically elected County Councils by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, as regards their administrative functions.
After the formation of Irish Free State in 1922, grand juries were not required, but they persisted in Northern Ireland until abolished by the Grand Jury (Abolition) Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1969.
The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury..."
In the early decades of the United States, grand juries played a major role in public matters. During that period counties followed the traditional practice of requiring all decisions be made by at least 12 of the grand jurors, (e.g., for a 23-person grand jury, 12 people would constitute a bare majority). Any citizen could bring a matter before a grand jury directly, from a public work that needed repair, to the delinquent conduct of a public official, to a complaint of a crime, and grand juries could conduct their own investigations.
In that era most criminal prosecutions were conducted by private parties, either a law enforcement officer, a lawyer hired by a crime victim or his family, or even by laymen. A layman could bring a bill of indictment to the grand jury; if the grand jury found that there was sufficient evidence for a trial, that the act was a crime under law, and that the court had jurisdiction, it would return the indictment to the complainant. The grand jury would then appoint the complaining party to exercise essentially the same authority as a state attorney general has, that is, a general power of attorney to represent the state in the case.
The grand jury served to screen out incompetent or malicious prosecutions. The advent of official public prosecutors in the later decades of the 19th century largely displaced private prosecutions.
While all states currently have provisions for grand juries, today approximately half of the states employ them and 22 require their use, to varying extents. The constitution of Pennsylvania required, between 1874 and 1968, that a grand jury indict all felonies. Six states (Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nevada, and Kansas) allow citizens to circulate a petition in order to impanel a grand jury.
An American federal grand jury has from 16 to 23 jurors, with twelve votes required to return an indictment. All grand jury proceedings are conducted behind closed doors, without a presiding judge. The prosecutors are tasked with arranging for the appearance of witnesses, as well as drafting the order in which they are called, and take part in the questioning of witnesses. The targets of the Grand Jury or their lawyers have no right to appear before a Grand Jury unless they are invited, nor do they have a right to present exculpatory evidence. Possibly as a result, there is a running joke the legal profession is that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich if the government asked. Some sources state the joke originated from a quote by Sol Wachtler in 1985.
Grand juries were once common across Canada. The institution of British civil government in 1749 at Nova Scotia brought the judicature system peculiar to that form, and the grand jury was inherent to it. A similar form derived in Quebec from the promise of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that a faithful copy of Laws of England would be instituted in the North American possessions of the Crown. Archival records are found that document the presentments of a grand jury in Quebec as early as 16 October 1764. One of the chief complaints was related to the jury trial, and the use of language. The desire for English law was a driver for the division in 1791 of Quebec, as it was then known, at the Ottawa river into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, as each of the two groups (French and English) desired to maintain their traditions. In point of fact, the second law passed in Upper Canada relates to (petit) jury trial. This was continued so that Chapter 31 of the 1859 Consolidated Statutes of Upper Canada specifies the constitution of Grand and Petit Juries in the province (now known as Ontario). The colony at St. John's Island, ceded by France in 1763, and separated on 30 May 1769 from Nova Scotia, became Prince Edward Island on 29 November 1798. Prince Edward Island derived its grand jury from its administrative parent between 1763 and 1769, Nova Scotia, as did Sunbury County when it was split off in 1784 to become the Colony of New Brunswick. The Colony of British Columbia, when it was formed on 2 August 1858, instituted a grand jury, along with the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands (1853–1863) and the Colony of Vancouver Island (1848–1866) when the latter were absorbed by the former.
Old courthouses with the two jury boxes necessary to accommodate the 24 jurors of a grand jury can still be seen. The grand jury would evaluate charges and return what was called a "true bill (of indictment)" if the charges were to proceed. or a verdict of "nolle prosequi" if not. The practice gradually disappeared in Canada over the course of the twentieth century, after being the subject of extended discussions late in the 19th. It was ultimately abolished in 1984 when the Nova Scotia courts formally ended the practice. Prince Edward Island maintained a grand jury as recently as 1871.
The grand jury existed in New South Wales for a short period in the 1820s. The New South Wales Act 1823 (UK) enabled the establishment of quarter sessions, as a subsidiary court structure below that of the Supreme Court. Francis Forbes, Chief Justice, reasoned that this entailed the creation of quarter sessions as they existed in England. Thus, inadvertently, trial by jury and indictment by grand jury were introduced, but only for these subsidiary courts. Grand juries met in Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor and other places. This democratic method of trial proved very popular, but was resented by conservatives. Eventually, conservative elements in the colony were successful in having these innovations suppressed by the Australian Courts Act 1828 (UK). George Forbes, a member of the Legislative Council, unsuccessfully moved for the reintroduction of grand juries in 1858, but this was thwarted by the Attorney-General and the Chief Justice.
In South Australia and Western Australia, grand juries existed for longer periods of time. In South Australia, the first grand jury sat on 13 May 1837, but they were abolished in 1852. In Western Australia, by the Grand Jury Abolition Act Amendment Act 1883 (WA), grand juries were abolished (section 4: A Grand Jury shall not be summoned for the Supreme Court of Western Australia, nor for any General Quarter Sessions for the said Colony).
The Australian state of Victoria maintained, until 2009, provisions for a grand jury in the Crimes Act 1958 under section 354 indictments, which had been used on rare occasions by individuals to bring other persons to court seeking them to be committed for trial on indictable offences. Grand juries were introduced by the Judicature Act 1874 and have been used on a very limited number of occasions. Their function in Victoria particularly relates to alleged offences either by bodies corporate or where magistrates have aborted the prosecution.
New Zealand abolished the grand jury in 1961.
Trial by jury was introduced in the Cape Colony by Richard Bourke, Lieutenant Governor and acting Governor of the colony between 1826 and 1828. The acting Governor, who was later influential in the establishment of jury trial in New South Wales, obtained the consent of the Secretary of State for the Colonies in August 1827 and the first Charter of Justice was issued on 24 August 1827.
Jury trial was brought into practical operation in 1828 and the 1831 Ordinance 84 laid down that criminal cases would be heard by a panel of nine, selected from males aged between 21 and 60, owning or renting property to a value of £1.17s (37 shillings) per annum or having liability for taxes of 30 shillings in Cape Town and 20 shillings outside the town. Black (i.e. non-white) jurors were not entirely excluded and sat occasionally. This is not to imply, however, that juries did not operate in an oppressive manner towards the Black African and Asian residents of the Cape, whose participation in the jury lists was, in any event, severely limited by the property qualification. The property qualification was amended in 1831 and 1861 and, experimentally, a grand jury came into operation.
The grand jury was established for Cape Town alone. It met quarterly. In 1842 it was recorded that it served a district of 50,000 inhabitants and in one quarterly session there were six presentments (1 homicide, 2 assaults, 1 robbery, 1 theft, 1 fraud).
As elsewhere, the judge could use his charge to the grand jury to bring matters of concern to him to the attention of the public and the government. In May 1879 Mr. Justice Fitzpatrick, returning from circuit in the northern and western parts of Cape Colony, gave a charge to the grand jury at the Criminal Sessions at Cape Town, in which, after congratulating them upon the lightness of the calendar, he observed there were indications in the country of a growing mutual bad feeling between the races, etc. This was reported in the "Cape Argus" and was a subject of a question to the government in the House of Commons in London.
The grand jury continued in operation until 1885, by which time the Cape was under responsible government, when it was abolished by Act 17 of 1885 of the Cape Parliament.
Grand juries were established in France in 1791 under the name "jury d'accusation", but they were abolished with the introduction of the Code of Criminal Instruction in 1808.
The jury law of 1791 created an eight-man "jury d'accusation" in each "arrondissement" (a subdivision of the "departement") and a 12-man "jury de jugement" in each "departement". In each "arrondissement" the "procureur-syndic" drew up a list of 30 jurors from the electoral roll every three months for the "jury d'accusation". There was no public prosecutor or "juge d'instruction". Instead the police or private citizens could bring a complaint to the Justice of the Peace established in each canton (a subdivision of the arrondissement). This magistrate interrogated the accused to determine whether grounds for prosecution existed and if so sent the case to the "directeur du jury" (the director of the "jury d'accusation"), who was one of the "arrondissement's" civil court judges, and who served in the post for six months on a rotating basis. He decided whether to dismiss the charges or, if not, whether the case was a "délit" (misdemeanour) or a crime (felony, i.e. imprisonable for 2 years or more). "Délits" went to the "tribunal de police correctionnelle" of the "arrondissement", while for "crimes" the "directeur de jury" convoked the "jury d'accusation" of the "arrondissement", in order to get an indictment. The "directeur du jury" drew up the bill of indictment ("acte d'accusation") summarising the charges to be presented to the "jury d'accusation". The "directeur" made a presentation to the jury in the absence of the accused and the jury heard the witnesses. The jury then decided by majority vote whether there were sufficient grounds for the case to go to the "tribunal criminel" of the "departement". Between 1792–5 there was no property qualification for jurors.
The functions of the "jury d’accusation" were prescribed in the law of 1791 passed by the Constituent Assembly and were maintained and re-enacted in the "Code des Délits et des Peines" of 3 Brumaire, Year 4 (25 October 1795) and this was the operative law until it was abolished in 1808. Special juries and special grand juries were originally defined in law, for cases thought to require more qualified jurors, but these were abolished in Year 8 (1799).
From 1795 to 1808 grand juries also operated in Belgium, which was divided into French "departements" in October 1795.
After World War II, under the influence of the Allies, Japan passed the Prosecutorial Review Commission Law on July 12, 1948, which created the "Kensatsu Shinsakai" (or Prosecutorial Review Commission (PRC) system), a figure analogue to the grand jury system. However, until 2009 the PCR's recommendations were not binding, and were only regarded as advisory. Additionally, a survey conducted by the Japanese Cabinet Office on October 1990 showed that 68. 8% of surveyed Japanese citizens were not familiar with the PRC system. On May 21, 2009, the Japanese government introduced new legislation which would make the PRC's decisions binding. A PRC is made up of 11 randomly selected citizens, is appointed to a six-month term, and its primary purpose is examining cases prosecutors have chosen not to continue prosecuting. It has therefore been perceived as a way to combat misfeasance in public officials.
From 1945 to 1972 Okinawa was under American administration. Grand jury proceedings were held in the territory from 1963 until 1972. By an ordinance of the civil administration of the Ryukyu Islands promulgated in 1963, grand jury indictment and petit jury trial were assured for criminal defendants in the civil administration courts. This ordinance reflected the concern of the U.S. Supreme Court that U.S. civilians tried for crimes abroad under tribunals of U.S. provenance should not be shorn of the protections of the U.S. Bill of Rights. Indeed, the District Court in Washington twice held that the absence of the jury system in the civil administration courts in Okinawa invalidated criminal convictions.
By article 21 of the Constitution of Liberia, 'No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime except in cases of impeachment, cases arising in the Armed Forces and petty offenses, unless upon indictment by a Grand Jury". For example, the national Port Authority's managing director was indicted by the Monteserrado County Grand Jury in July 2015, on charges of economic sabotage, theft of property and criminal conspiracy.
Grand juries in Liberia date from the time of the original constitution in 1847.
Under the administration of the Sierra Leone Company, which began in 1792, the Governor and Council or any two members thereof, being also justices of the peace, held quarter sessions for the trial of offences committed within the colony. The process for indictment etc. was the same as the practice in England or as near as possible thereto. To effect this, they were empowered to issue their warrant or precept to the Sheriff, commanding him to summon a grand jury to sit at the court of quarter sessions. Grand juries continued in operation after the transfer to the colony to the Crown in 1807.
Governor Kennedy (1852–1854) was concerned that jurors were frustrating government policy by being biased in certain cases; in particular he felt that liberated Africans on the grand jury would never convict another liberated African on charges of owning or importing slaves. He promulgated the Ordinance of 29 Nov 1853 which abolished the grand jury. Opposition was immediately mounted in Freetown. A public meeting launched a petition with 550 names to the Colonial Secretary in London, and the opposition declared that the Kennedy ordinance was a reproach upon the loyalty of the community. Grand juries have been considered one colonial body representative of local opinion and the Colonial Secretary's support for Kennedy upholding the abolition inspired a round of agitation for a local voice in government decision-making. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12684 |
Overview of gun laws by nation
Gun laws and policies (collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control) regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification and use of small arms by civilians.
Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to keep and bear arms, and have more liberal gun laws than neighboring jurisdictions. Countries which regulate access to firearms will typically restrict access to certain categories of firearms and then restrict the categories of persons who may be granted a license for access to such firearms. There may be separate licenses for hunting, sport shooting ( target shooting), self-defense, collecting, and concealed carry, with different sets of requirements, permissions, and responsibilities.
Gun laws are often enacted with the intention of reducing the use of small arms in criminal activity, specifying weapons perceived as being capable of inflicting the greatest damage and those most-easily concealed, such as handguns and other short-barreled weapons. Persons restricted from legal access to firearms may include those below a certain age or having a criminal record. Firearm licenses may be denied to those felt most at risk of harming themselves or others, such as persons with a history of domestic violence, alcoholism or substance abuse, mental illness, depression, or attempted suicide. Those applying for a firearm license may have to demonstrate competence by completing a gun-safety course and show provision for a secure location to store weapons.
The legislation which restricts small arms may also restrict other weapons, such as explosives, crossbows, swords, electroshock weapons, air guns, and pepper spray. It may also restrict firearm accessories, notably high-capacity magazines and sound suppressors. There may be restrictions on the quantity or types of ammunition purchased, with certain types prohibited. Due to the global scope of this article, detailed coverage cannot be provided on all these matters; the article will instead attempt to briefly summarize each country's weapon laws in regard to small arms use and ownership by civilians. A 2016 review of studies from 10 countries found that stronger laws regulating firearms is associated with a reduction in firearm-related deaths, including suicides. A 2017 review found that in the US, stronger firearm laws are associated with a reduction in the rate of firearm homicides.
Firearms are not defined the same way in each country.
Those laws might be classified by countries according to some specific common characteristics, according to following vocabulary:
This section uses the expressions "shall issue" and "may issue" which are partly specific to and defined by the US system of firearm regulations.
The Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons was adopted in Bamako, Mali, on 1 December 2000 by the representatives of the 51 member states of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The provisions of this declaration recommend that the signatories would establish the illegal possession of small arms and light weapons as a criminal offence under national law in their respective countries.
Botswana's law allows possession of shotguns and rifles only. The government has put a limit on the number of licenses issued every year – only 50 people can receive them, no matter how many apply, meaning that the acceptance rate is usually below 1%.
Currently there are 34,550 (or 1.5 per 100 people) registered firearms.
Possession of firearms in Djibouti is generally prohibited except when special permits are granted in exceptional circumstances by the Head of State.
Firearms in Eritrea are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions.
Current law states that firearm licenses are privilege in Gambia and authorities have full discretion in issuing them.
Gun regulation in Kenya is established by the Firearms Act (Cap. 114) of Kenya. The Chief Licensing Officer (CLO) has discretion to award, deny, or revoke firearm licenses. Applicants must be 21 years of age or older, pass a stringent background check for criminal activity, mental health and domestic violence, and state genuine reason(s) for their need to privately own and carry a firearm. Checks are regularly repeated, with failure to pass resulting in immediate revocation of the license. Once licensed to own a gun, no additional permit is required to carry a concealed firearm.
Applicants for firearm possession must have obtain a reference letter from the village chief or headman. It is later sent to local police stations for approval, then to district police for their approval, then to the National Security Service for their final approval.
Liberia allows only possession of single barrel shotguns for hunting purposes. Private security agencies are banned from arming their employees. However, automatic weapons are prevalent.
There are no licensed firearm dealers in Mozambique, therefore any person wanting to obtain one must travel to different country (usually South Africa), purchase gun, then return, surrender it for authorities and ask them to allow him to obtain it.
Namibia permits firearm ownership under license, which is issued on a may-issue basis. In 2017 Namibian police issued 7,647 firearm licenses from 9,239 applications, the acceptance rate therefore being around 83%. Overall there are currently 200,100 registered firearms in Namibia or 9 per 100 people. Most popular types of firearms owned by civilians are pistols (46%), rifles (34%) and shotguns (24%). Carrying unloaded concealed firearms in public is allowed.
In 2019 Rwanda passed a new law dealing with firearm possession. It states that authorities have total discretion when determining whether persons can own firearms and can therefore deny applications without reason, even if someone met all requirements.
Senegal has a strict gun legislation. Applications for firearm licenses do not need to specify a reason. An application requires: copy of identity card, criminal record, medical check-up, four photos, tax stamp and personality test. Decisions should be made after a few months.
Gun ownership is very rare, however numbers are on the rise. In 2016 Senegal police issued 1000 licenses, while rejecting 250 (80% acceptance rate), compared to 456 in 2011. In 2017 it was estimated that police issued more than 7,000 total licenses (0.04 per 100 people).
In 2012 Sierra Leone legalized gun ownership after 16 years of a total ban being enforced. According to the act authorities have discretion in determining whether persons have good reasons to own firearms.
To apply for a firearm license in South Africa applicants must pass a competency test covering the specific type of firearm that is being applied for, and a test on the South African firearm laws. Once these tests are passed one needs to apply for a competency certificate, where the South African Police Service performs a background check and an inspection of the premises where the firearm will be stored. After both tests are passed and the respective certificates are awarded, one can then apply for a firearm license in categories ranging from self-defence to professional hunting. Different license categories have different restrictions, for example the amount of ammunition owners may hold.
Permitted types of firearms in Swaziland are shotguns, revolvers, pistols and rifles. To obtain a license one must get get approval from the Local Chief's council, Local Station Commander, Regional Administrator, Director of Crimes at Police Headquarters, Licensing Officer/Registrar of Firearms Registry, Licensing Board and lastly the Police Station Commander. Requirements include general standing in the community. The application acceptance rate is around 57% as of 2002.
Firearms in Argentina are restricted, being regulated by ANMaC (Agencia Nacional de Materiales Controlados) since October 2015. Said agency replaced RENAR (Registro Nacional de Armas de la Republica Argentina), both being a branch of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. To own a firearm in Argentina, one must be a legitimate user. Applicants must: be 21 years of age or older, provide a medical certificate that certifies they are physically and mentally fit, complete a safety course, provide a legitimate means of income, and undergo and pass a background check. A successful applicant is fingerprinted and issued a license which has to be renewed every five years. One may not legally fire a firearm in Argentina if they are not a legitimate user, even if that gun belongs to someone else. Once a legitimate user wants to purchase a firearm, they must provide a secure location to store the firearm(s), and give an acceptable reason for wanting a firearm – such as collecting, target shooting, hunting, business, or self-defense in the home.
Firearms must be purchased through a licensed dealer and registered with ANMaC. If a firearm is inherited, a re-registering form must be filed. There is no limit on the number of firearms owned so long as they are properly stored. Ammunition sales are recorded but unlimited.
Carry permits for licensed handgun owners are extremely difficult to obtain, and require appearing before the ANMaC board to make their case. Carry permits are renewed yearly to re-examine their "clear and present" danger, and the permit is usually revoked immediately if this danger is removed. Those dealing in money or valuables or in private security may be issued a business carry permit.
Handguns above .32 calibre are conditional-use; fully automatic handguns are prohibited to civilians. Bolt-action rifles above .22, long rifles and semi-automatic rifles above .22, and long rifles with a non-detachable magazine are conditional-use; fully automatic rifles and semi-automatic rifles above .22, and long rifles with detachable magazines are prohibited. Semi-automatic shotguns and shotguns with barrels between long are conditional-use; fully automatic shotguns and shotguns with barrels under are prohibited.
All firearms in Brazil are required to be registered. The minimum age for ownership is 25,
and certificates of aptitude and mental health are required prior to the acquisition of a firearm and every ten years thereafter.
It is generally illegal to carry a firearm outside your residence, commerce/store or farm.
Executive Order 5.123, of 1 July 2004
allows the Federal Police to confiscate firearms which are not possessed for a valid reason; self-defense is not considered a valid argument.
The total number of firearms in Brazil is thought to be between 14 million and 17 million
with an estimated 9 million being unregistered.
In a 2005 referendum, Brazilians voted against a government proposal for a total ban on the sales of firearms to private citizens.
In January 2019 President Bolsonaro signed an executive order which loosened Brazil's gun laws by removing the police's discretionary power to reject license applications.
Canada's firearm laws are stated in the Firearms Act. The possession and acquisition licence (PAL) is distributed by the RCMP (federal police) and requires taking a firearms safety course and passing a test, a background check, and reference interviews. The PAL allows purchase of most popular sporting rifles and shotguns. A Restricted-PAL (RPAL) has an additional course for restricted weapons, which have increased storage requirements.
The two main reasons for owning firearms are target shooting and hunting. Carrying firearms for self-defense against human threats is prohibited, but a "wilderness carry permit" can be obtained for protection against wild animals.
There is an authorization to transport (ATT) requirement for restricted and prohibited weapons, which must be registered. Non-citizens may obtain a non-resident firearms declaration from a customs officer, for a temporary 60-day authorization to bring a non-prohibited firearm into Canada.
In Canada, firearms fall into one of three categories:
In Chile, the 103rd article of the Constitution declares gun ownership as a privilege granted in accordance to a special law. Firearms are regulated by the police. Civilian gun ownership is allowed by law but discouraged by authorities, with regular press statements and campaigns denouncing the dangers of possessing firearms.
Police-issued firearm permits require applicants to be 18 years of age, provide a mental health certificate issued by a psychiatrist, have a clean criminal record with no domestic violence accusations, and pass a written test on firearm safety and knowledge. Final approval lies in a district police commander, who can deny the permit in "justified cases" not detailed by the law. There are five types of permits:
Each of these permits has limits on types of firearms used, and allows for a police-issued permit to buy a specified quantity of appropriate ammunition from a specific gun shop. Transport permits are required to take firearms from the permit-holder's residence to a specified shooting range or hunting ground, and are valid for two years. Transported firearms must be unloaded and not attached to the body.
A self-defense permit allows carrying a firearm for protection against specific human threats. Such permits are valid for one year, but as the police commander can deny applications without stating a reason, they are very rarely issued. Automatic firearms are forbidden for civilian use.
Article 3 of Colombia's firearm law states that civilians may possess firearms only via permit issued at discretion of the competent authority.
In 1993, Colombia legislated gun ownership, effectively establishing a government licensing monopoly. In 2016, president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos signed an executive order suspending civilians from carrying firearms, with some exceptions including security details, hunting, private defense and collection. It was extended in 2018 by newly-elected president Ivan Duque, albeit with the added stipulation: "for reasons of emergency or security […] taking into consideration among other factors, the particular circumstances of each application". A legal challenge to this modification has been prepared.
Salvador laws aims to allow and regulate civilian possession of firearms. In order to get a firearm license one must have no criminal records, be at least 21 years of age (24 for a carry license), pay tax stamp (around $32 dollars) and undergo a written test. The process takes around three hours in total. In 2017 there were 344,587 registered firearms in El Salvador, or 5.6 per 100 people.
Gun laws in Honduras are stated in the Act on the Control of Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Material of 2000.
In April 2002, the National Arms Registry was formed, requiring all citizens to register their firearms with the Ministry of Defense.
In 2003, a ban on certain assault rifles was passed, restricting citizens from possessing military-style rifles such as the AK-47 and the M-16.
In 2007, an additional decree suspended the right to openly carry a firearm in public, and limited the number of firearms possessed per person.
Gun laws in Jamaica are stated in the Firearms Act and regulated by the Firearms Licensing Authority.
Applicants must pass a police background check and complete a certification process to obtain a firearms license for shotguns, handguns and rifles. Shotguns and rifles for hunting or sport-shooting purposes are easier to obtain than handguns. Fully automatic weapons are prohibited. Handguns are limited to those under .45 calibre for revolvers or 10 mm for pistols. Ammunition purchases are limited to 250 rounds per year for shotguns and 50 for handguns, with applications for additional ammunition generally granted during the hunting season. A gun safe is required for storage of all firearms and ammunition. Once licensed, no additional permit is required to carry a firearm open or concealed, unless the carrying of firearms has been temporarily prohibited under section 22 of the Act.
Under the Mexican Constitution, Article 10, citizens and legal residents have the right to own and carry arms, but may only carry them in accordance with police regulations, i.e. Article 32 of the "Ley Federal de Armas de Fuego y Explosivos".
Applicants must: have a clear criminal record; proven income and residence (i.e.: cannot be homeless); undergone compulsory military service; a clean bill of health (including drug tests); justified the weapon's use; be employed.
New firearms are purchased through the Ministry of Defense. Prohibited weapons include: large-calibre handguns; shotguns with barrels shorter than or bore greater than 12 gauge; and rifles which are fully automatic or of large calibre. One handgun is permitted for home defense, but it must be registered within 30 days of purchase. For hunting and sport shooting, up to nine long guns and one handgun is permitted, requiring membership in a hunting or shooting club. Collectors may be authorized to possess additional and prohibited weapons.
A carry license may be issued to those employed by private security firms, and certain weapons are exclusive to the armed forces. Licenses must be renewed biennially.
Obtaining firearms in Panama requires a Firearms Possession Certificate, which requires a lengthy background check and training. The minimum age to own a firearm is 18 years. A separate permit that allows carrying a concealed firearm, with all the same requirements, is available to those aged 21 and over. Certain kinds of firearms and ammunition, such as automatic firearms, long guns whose barrels have been shortened, or armor-piercing rounds, are prohibited even for licensed gun owners.
In the United States, gun laws are found in a number of federal statutes, enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The right to keep and bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment to the Constitution since 1791, and most state constitutions also guarantee this right. There is some variance across the country as both federal and state laws apply to firearm possession and ownership. Automatic firearms are allowed only if they were produced before 1986, and a $200 tax stamp is paid. Additionaly the buyer must wait 9-12 months, and have their fingerprints recorded. Since machineguns have to have been made before 1986 their price has risen into the tens of thousands.
Law varies greatly from county to county, both in its scope and in its range.
Persons are generally prohibited from purchasing a firearm if:
The carrying of weapons, either openly or concealed, is regulated by the states, and these laws have changed rapidly over the past decade. most states grant licenses to carry handguns on a shall-issue basis to qualified applicants. A few states leave the issuance of carry permits to the discretion of issuing authorities (called may-issue), while eleven states allow the carrying of firearms in a concealed manner without a permit (called Unrestricted carry). Twenty-six states allow for open carrying of handguns without a permit while, in general, twenty states require a permit to do so and four states plus Washington D.C. ban open-carry of handguns. There have been legal challenges to concealed-carry laws, with different rulings to their constitutional validity.
Uruguayan law allows for firearm possession on a shall-issue basis. With approximately 35 civilian firearms per 100 people, Uruguay is the eighth most armed country in the world and most armed in Latin America.
In 2012 Venezuela banned private sales of firearms and ammunition hoping to lower crime rates. The Army, police and certain groups trusted by the government (collectivos) are exempted from the ban and can buy firearms from state-owned manufacturers. In 2013 Venezuela stopped issuing new firearm licenses. In 2017 government banned carrying firearms in public places.
Since then, the government began to seize guns from civilian hands, destroying thousands every year, including more than 15,000 in 2018. More than 483,297 private guns have been destroyed since 2003, with 3,000 of them being surrendered voluntarily. 60 disarmament centres were created in the country. Penalty for illegal firearm possession was raised to 20 years imprisonment in 2013..
According to the government, the only people who should carry guns are public agencies. Néstor Reverol, Minister of the People's Power for Interior Relations and Justice, claimed that strict gun control led to a reduction in crime and kidnappings in Venezuela.
Firearms are prohibited for citizens. Military and police personnel may apply for a licence to keep a private firearm by establishing a genuine reason, such as sport shooting or gun collecting.
Firearms are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions since 1999.
Gun ownership in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is regulated by law. Generally, private citizens are not allowed to possess guns. Civilian ownership of guns is largely restricted to authorized, non-individual entities, including sporting organizations, authorized hunting reserves, and wildlife protection, management and research organizations. The chief exception to the general ban on individual firearm ownership is for the purpose of hunting.
Illegal possession or sale of firearms may result in a minimum punishment of three years in prison, and penalties for the trafficking of "arms and ammunition or other military materials to an enemy during war time" include life imprisonment.
In Hong Kong and Macau, gun ownership is tightly controlled and possession is mainly in the hands of law enforcement, military, and private security firms (providing protection for jewelers and banks). Under Section 13 of Cap 238 Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance of Hong Kong, a license is required for unrestricted firearms and ammunition. A license may be issued after a rigorous process to check for criminal records or a history of mental illness. License holders may store other firearms at home in a locked box, but ammunition must be kept at different premises. Only fully automatic firearms appear prohibited; those found in possession without a license could be fined at level 6 of the standard scale ("Maximum fine of HKD $100,000") and face imprisonment for up to 14 years.
Under East Timorese law, only the military and police forces may possess, carry and use firearms.
In late June 2008, the Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmão, introduced a proposed gun law to Parliament for "urgent debate", pushing back scheduled budgetary discussions. The new law, which would allow civilians to own guns, sparked heated debates in the East Timorese parliament. The United Nations, which has a peacekeeping force deployed in the nation, also expressed concerns over the new law.
Guns in India are regulated by law. The Arms Act, 1959 and the Arms Rules 1962 prohibit the sale, manufacture, possession, acquisition, import, export, and transport of firearms and ammunition unless under a license, which is difficult to obtain. The Indian Government has a monopoly over the production and sale of firearms, with the exception of some breech-loading smooth-bore shotguns, of which a limited number may be produced and imported. The Arms Act classifies firearms into two categories: Prohibited Bore (PB) and Non-Prohibited Bore (NPB), where all semi-automatic and fully automatic firearms fall under the Prohibited Bore category. The Arms Act of 1962 added to the PB category any firearm which can chamber and fire ammunition of calibers .303, 7.62 mm, .410, .380, .455, .45 rimless, or 9 mm. Smooth-bore guns having barrels shorter than are also specified as PB guns.
Licenses for acquisition and possession of both PB and NPB firearms could be given by a state government or district magistrate before 1987. Since that year, issuing of licenses for PB firearms became the responsibility of the central government. Licenses are valid for three years and may be renewed. The sale of firearms requires both the selling and purchasing party to possess a permit.
The criteria considered during issuing of NPB firearm permits are whether the applicant faces a threat to their life. PB firearms criteria are more stringent, often for persons in government positions who face immediate danger or threats, those whose occupations involve open threats and danger, and their immediate family members. PB licenses were tightened since 2014, when otherwise-eligible persons started to be frequently rejected on basis of national security grounds. Exceptions are made for defense officers, who are allowed to keep firearms without licenses under the Defence Service rule, and a handful of professional shooters.
Firearm licenses are issued on a may-issue basis and approximately half of applications are accepted. For example, between April 2015 and March 2016 authorities in Mumbai rejected 169 out of 342 firearm applications.
The most common household firearm is the double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun (known as DBBL 12 Bore). Other common firearms are .315 bolt-action rifles (magazine capacity of 5 cartridges) and .32 revolvers (capacity of 6 cartridges).
In Indonesia, gun licenses are issued to civilians employed in a profession that involves using firearms, such as in the military and law enforcement, with an exception made for politicians and businessmen.
Applicants must be over the age of 21 to obtain a firearms license, and go through a background check and mental evaluation. They must also state a genuine reason for wanting to own a firearm, which can include hunting, target shooting, collecting, security, and self-defense. All firearms must be registered. Gun permits are valid for five years and may be renewed.
Civilians cannot possess military weapons, but may possess long rifles. Handguns can only be used for sport-shooting and hunting. In 2012 however, it was claimed that police had been issuing permits to regular citizens.
In 2012, Iraq relaxed its gun laws. The "possession of one rifle or pistol per home" was allowed via simple registration at local police stations.
In 2018, the law was relaxed once again. The possession and carrying of handguns, semi-automatic firearms and other weapons for self-defense, hunting and sport shooting purposes was allowed. Firearm licenses require official authorization and identity cards.
Gun laws in Israel are comprehensive despite soldiers being allowed to carry their service weapons on or off duty. Civilians must obtain a firearms license to lawfully acquire, possess, sell or transfer firearms and ammunition. In 2018, Israel significantly loosened firearms restrictions, allowing all citizens who had undergone combat training and qualified in Advanced Infantry Training ('Rifleman "07"') to apply for a private handgun license.
Prior to 2018, only a small group of people had been eligible for firearms licenses: certain retired military personnel, police officers or prison guards; residents of settlements (in the West Bank and the Golan Heights) or those who often work in such towns; and licensed hunters and animal-control officers. Age requirements vary: 21 for those who completed military service or civil service equivalent, 27 otherwise, and 45 for non-citizens. Firearm license applicants must have been a resident of Israel for at least three consecutive years, pass a background check (criminal, health, and mental history), establish a genuine reason for possessing a firearm (such as self-defense, hunting, or sport), and pass a weapons-training course. Around 40% of applications for firearms permits were rejected.
Those holding firearms licenses must renew them and pass a shooting course every three years. Security guards must pass these tests to renew their license to carry firearms belonging to their employers. Applicants must demonstrate that they have a safe at their residence in which to keep the firearm. Permits are given only for personal use, and holders for self-defense purposes may own only one handgun and purchase an annual supply of 50 cartridges (although more may be purchased to replace rounds used at a firing range).
In addition to private licenses of firearms, organizations can issue carry-licenses to their members or employees for activity related to that organization (e.g. security companies, shooting clubs, other workplaces). Members of officially recognized shooting clubs (e.g.: practical shooting, Olympic shooting) are eligible for personal licenses allowing them to possess additional firearms (small bore rifles, handguns, air rifles and air pistols) and ammunition after demonstrating a need and fulfilling minimum membership time and activity requirements. Unlicensed individuals who want to engage in practice shooting are allowed supervised use of handguns at firing ranges.
Most individuals who are licensed to possess handguns may carry them loaded in public, concealed or openly.
In 2005, there were 237,000 private citizens and 154,000 security guards licensed to carry firearms. Another 34,000 Israelis own guns illegally due to their failure to renew their firearms license. In 2007, there were estimated to be 500,000 licensed small arms held by civilians, in addition to 1,757,500 by the military, and 26,040 by the police.
The weapons law of Japan begins by stating "No one shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords", and very few exceptions are allowed.
Citizens are permitted to possess firearms for hunting and sport shooting, but only after submitting to a lengthy licensing procedure. As part of the procedure, a shooting-range test must be passed with a "mark of at least 95%". A mental-health evaluation taking place at a hospital, and a thorough background check where one's family and friends are interviewed, are also part of the aforementioned procedure.
A gun license expires after three years, after which license tests must be repeated.
After ten years of shotgun ownership, a license-holder may apply to obtain a rifle.
Japan has been described as the country with "perhaps the first ever gun buyback initiative" in 1685, and is the first nation to impose gun laws in the world; as such, gun ownership is very rare: 0.6 guns per 100 people in 2007. When mass killings occur, they are often perpetrated with assailants wielding a knife, not a gun. In 2014, Japan saw 6 gun deaths.
Each prefecture in the country, can operate a total of three gun shops. New cartridges can only be bought by turning in the empty shells. In turn, magazines can be bought only by trading in empty ones. If a gun owner dies, their relatives must give up the firearms. Off-duty police are not allowed to carry weapons, and arrests are made generally without firearms; instead police are expected to be black belts in judo.
Firearms may be licensed to a citizen (or foreigner recommended by the Minister of Interior) who is at least 25 years old and fully capable of handling a weapon, with no criminal record, who is not a suspect or under police surveillance, and who has a source of income.
Hunting shotguns are the most commonly licensed weapons. Rifles chambered for .22 long rifle are also common, with hunting rifles being more difficult to obtain. Handguns are only allowed for VIPs. Automatic rifles and machine guns are not legally permitted for civilian possession.
In the Lebanese Republic, ownership of any firearm other than handguns, hunting arms or antiques is illegal and only the latter two are permitted to leave the owner's home. Disregard for this law is prevalent. Lebanon does not officially grant the right to bear arms, but it is a firmly held cultural belief in the country. Firearm licenses are granted to certain individuals, but the test is not open to the public and requires a particular need to be demonstrated.
Gun control has been largely unsuccessful in Lebanon due to a historic context of gun availability and usage, a lack of effective central government control or authority over many parts of the country, and the tumultuous nature of the region. Although gunsmithing was once prominent in the region, it has all but ceased since the mid-1930s, yet it remains legal with a permit. Lebanon has come to be one of the largest arms markets in the Middle East.
Lebanon ranks 58th worldwide for privately owned firearms per capita.
The Arms Act (1960) requires Malaysian citizens to have a license for the manufacture, import, export, repair, or ownership of firearms. A firearm license can only be granted by the Chief Police Officer of a state. Discharging a firearm in crimes such as extortion, robbery, resisting arrest and house-breaking is punished by the death penalty. Exhibiting a firearm for any of the scheduled offences (without discharging) carries a penalty of life imprisonment and caning of not less than six strokes. Possession of unlawful firearms carries a sentence of up to fourteen years in prison and caning. While the general public cannot obtain a gun through legal means, a black market for guns does exist.
Mongolia currently observes a law on firearms passed in 2001 which allows anyone to apply for a firearm license, which may be issued after 21 days.
There are 46,982 (or 1.6 per 100 people) registered firearms in Mongolia including 44,306 for hunting, 1,598 for security and ward use, 619 for sports training, 260 as "art" firearms and 199 for collection purposes.
Possession of firearms for civilians is generally prohibited except Chin hunters.
Nepal allows firearm ownership if an applicant can provide sufficient reason, for example hunting or self-defense.
There are 34,315 (or 0.1 per 100 people) registered firearms in Nepal including 13,892 shotguns, 312 pistols and 118 revolvers.
In 2009, North Korea enacted a new law strictly regulating firearms.
Pakistan has permissive firearm laws compared to the rest of South Asia, and has the sixth-highest number of privately owned guns in the world. Laws regulate the carrying of weapons in public in most urban areas. Private guns are prohibited in educational institutions, hostels, boarding and lodging houses, fairs, gatherings or processions of a political, religious, ceremonial, or sectarian character, and on the premises of courts of law or public offices. The law in Pakistan does not stipulate whether gun licenses should be denied or revoked, and a license permits ownership of any number of weapons including handguns of any size and fully automatic weapons. Gun is a traditionally important part of rural life in its North-Western areas where it is not uncommon to see people legally carrying RPGs and assault rifles.
The Philippines has generally strict gun laws, though liberal in comparison to other Asia-Pacific countries due to its active gun culture. Philippine gun control became notorious in 1972 during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos who implemented a near-prohibition of all civilian guns. Current gun laws in the Philippines are outlined in the Republic Act 10591, signed in 2013. In order to own a firearm, a citizen must acquire a Possession License. Applicants must be over 21 years of age and have a clear criminal or domestic violence history. License-holders may carry handguns in public with the acquisition of a Permit to Carry (PTC), which is granted on a may-issue basis. Applicants must demonstrate the need for a PTC, such as an imminent threat of danger; PTCs are typically granted to lawyers, accountants, media practitioners, cashiers, bank tellers, priests, ministers, rabbis, imams, physicians, nurses, or engineers.
Most Filipinos own firearms for self-protection and target-shooting, which require licenses: around 2 000 000 people out of 100 000 000 have a registered firearms.
Despite the laws, some people in the Philippines are gun enthusiast and gun users, in part due to the influence of American culture.
Citizens in Singapore must obtain a license to lawfully possess firearms or ammunition; applicants must provide justification for the license, which is often restricted to the military, police, and private security companies. Target-shooting licenses permit ownership of a gun, provided it is securely stored in an approved and protected firing range, and is not taken out of the firing range without special permission. Self-defense permits are not allowed, unless there is an 'imminent threat' to their lives that can be justified to the government. There is no restriction on types of small arms one may own after obtaining a license.
South Korea has strict gun policies. Hunting and sporting licenses are issued, but any firearm used in these circumstances must be stored at a local police station. Air rifles also have to be stored at police stations; crossbows and electric shock devices are also classified as firearms but their private retention is permitted. Tasers are prohibited, and possessing a toy gun without an orange tip is strictly prohibited. Violation of firearms laws can result in a US$18,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison. Penalties were increased to 3-15 years in prison and $30,000-$150,000 fine since Sept 13th 2019 thus Korea becoming the strictest gun law country among 1st world countries with democratic political system.
The majority of South Korean men are well-trained in the use of firearms, due to mandatory military service. Despite this, guns are notably absent in South Korean society outside of the military, whereas gun ownership and gun-related deaths rank among the lowest in the world; this gun culture is unique in the world.
Gun ownership in Taiwan is prohibited to civilians. There are currently more than 5,000 legal private handgun owners, of which 1,000 are used for self-defense and 4,000 are used for hunting by the Taiwanese aborigines. Gun owners in Taiwan are required to receive regular inspections every two years as well as random inspections by the police.
A firearm license in Thailand is only granted for the following uses: self-defense, property protection, hunting, or sporting. Applicants for a firearms license must be at least 20 years of age (the age of majority under the Civil and Commercial Code), have a record of good behavior, have an occupation and receive income, and have a permanent address in Thailand with a name “listed in the house registration specifically in the area where you are applying for a license, for at least six months”. A license may not be issued to anyone who is a repeat criminal offender or mentally unstable. The application fee for most firearms licenses is 1,000 Baht for each license or unit; a license for possession and use of air rifles is 200 Baht per license/unit.; carry licenses are also 1,000 Baht per license. Since October 2017 citizenship is required to purchase and use firearms. A person is also not allowed to carry his gun without an additional permit for concealed carry. Fully automatic firearms and explosive devices are prohibited.
The amended 2017 law will cover weapon silencers, electric darts, and new types of fireworks including "bang fai" (locally-made rockets) and "talai" (“rocket-like fireworks with a circular wing”). The amendment further provides that anyone who creates a bomb scare may be subject to convictions of up to three years of imprisonment and/or fined up to 60,000 Baht. Another significant change is that only Thais will be permitted to register a gun with the authorities. Formerly, foreigners residing in Thailand could also apply for weapons permits. The Act already prohibits the manufacture, purchase, ownership, use, ordering, or import of firearms or ammunition, except by persons who have been granted a license from the local registrar. Violation of this provision is punishable with convictions including imprisonment for a period of between one and ten years and/or fines of between 2,000 and 20,000 Baht.
Turkey is restrictive in terms of gun control statutes. Automatic and semi-automatic firearms are "prohibited for civilian possession (with no or limited exceptions)", and for any application, "an applicant may be asked to produce a medical certificate confirming he or she is capable of handling firearms and that he or she has no psychological – or physical – impediments". Background checks are mandatory, and a "genuine reason" is required for the issue of licenses.
Civilians must additionally apply through the police for a handgun carry permit or a rifle carry license (the latter also requiring a hunting license). They must have a special reason prior to application, and the carry licenses are expensive. Special professions like police officers, military personnel, judges, public prosecutors, and senior politicians have their own life-time license from the government, and can apply for free licenses for handgun and rifle carry.
In 2019, the government of the United Arab Emirates relaxed its gun laws. The minimum age to possess firearms was lowered from 25 to 21, while legal owners can now have up to three guns. People from other countries also can apply for licenses if they already possess one from their respective countries. Most popular purposes to own them include hunting and trap shooting.
Weapons can be purchased during a yearly gun show called Adihex. In 2018, more than 1,764 legal weapons have been sold.
Firearm licenses are issued after 60 days of applications to the relevant authority. If there is no response that means that the license has been rejected.
In 2019, the president of Uzbekistan signed a new gun law. It allows citizens to own smooth-bore firearms and firearms with rifled barrels for hunting and sport shooting purposes. Carrying in public places is prohibited and the minimum age is 21 years. Only gas and electric weapons can be used for self-defense purposes. The maximum magazine capacity is ten rounds.
Firearms in Vietnam are restricted to the military and law enforcement agencies, with possession of firearms prohibited to civilians. The chief exception to this is for hunting and sporting purposes, requiring users to undergo mandatory background checks to be licensed.
Yemen has a permissive gun policy and does not require permits for firearm ownership. The 1992 Law "On Regulating Carrying Firearms and Ammunitions and Their Trade", established the right to own firearms (rifles, machine guns, revolvers and hunting rifles) for the purpose of legitimate defense. Licenses are required to carry firearms in cities, which are issued on a may-issue basis with varying restrictions depending on the city. Open and concealed carry is unrestricted in rural areas. Since the breakout of the civil war in 2011 there has been barely any state gun control, and rifles, semi-automatic firearms, anti-tank guided missiles or armored vehicles are available over the counter for various militias and individuals willing to buy them.
According to the Small Arms Survey of 2018 titled "Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers", there are roughly 14.9 million civilian-held firearms in Yemen or 52.8 firearms held per 100 residents, making Yemen the 2nd most armed country in the world after the United States.”
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska have relatively strict weapon laws compared to the rest of Europe. Weapons are regulated by the Weapons and Ammunition Law. People over 21 may apply for a permit. Those with a history of criminal activity, mental disorders, alcohol or drug abuse will be denied a permit. There is also a thorough background check, interviewing neighbors and family, and the applicant must complete a course and pass a multiple-choice exam. Police have the last word on the matter, with an appeal possible to a police captain. Firearms must be kept in a "safe place" within a residence, and may be confiscated by police if the owner is found to be "irresponsible". Concealed carry is allowed with a permit. Pepper spray may be carried by females if registered with police.
In Georgia, civilians above 18 years of age may obtain a firearm permit from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, allowing them to purchase and keep firearms for hunting and sports (pump-action shotguns, hunting rifles, carbines, combined hunting firearms), self-defense (handguns, air guns, sprays, electric tranquilizers) or collections. Permits are denied to persons who are mentally ill, drug addicts, alcoholics, and those who have criminal records.
In Iceland, a license is required to own or possess firearms. A national government safety course must be passed before applying for a license. A special license is required to own a handgun, which may only be used for target shooting at a licensed range. Semi-automatic firearms have caliber restrictions, while fully automatic firearms are only permitted for collectors.
Applicants must sit through a mandatory four-hour lecture on the "history and physics of the firearm". Paperwork must be filed in the police, magistrate, and the Environment Agency of Iceland. Applicants need to prove clean criminal records, need to be evaluated by a doctor to prove they "are of sound mind" and have "good enough eyesight". Two books referring to guns must be bought and read, a three-day course must be attended, and the applicant should score at least 75% on exams concerning gun safety, management, "what animals are allowed to be hunted and when". Finally, a practical exam must be taken. After Icelanders have their license, they need to own a gun safe to store the weapons in, plus a separate place to store the ammunition.”
Approximately one gun is owned for every three people in the country, being used mostly for hunting and competitive shooting. From January to July 2019, 394 shotguns, 785 rifles, and 208 handguns were registered in Iceland. In total, police counts for guns in Iceland include about 40,000 shotguns, 25,000 rifles, and 3,600 handguns as of July that year.
Law in Monaco divides firearms into two categories:
To obtain a firearm license in North Macedonia one must be at least 18 years old, able-bodied, healthy, not representing danger to public order, have permanent residency, possess technical knowledge of weapons and regulations related to them and have a justified reason for acquiring the weapon. Justified reasons include:
Fully automatic firearms are prohibited. Carrying firearms in public places is prohibited.
Firearms in Norway are regulated by the Firearm Weapons Act,
with a new secondary law in effect 1 July 2009 furthering regulation. A firearms license for rifles or shotguns can be issued by police to "sober and responsible" persons 18 years of age or older who are able to document a need for the weapon. This usually requires first obtaining a hunting or sports-shooting license. For handguns, the minimum ownership age is 21. Firearms or their vital components must be stored securely in the residence, and police may make inspections after providing 48-hours' notice.
Russian citizens over 18 years of age can obtain a firearms license after attending gun-safety classes and passing a federal test and background check. The license is valid for five years and may be renewed. Firearms may be acquired for self-defense, hunting, or sports activities. Carrying permits may be issued for hunting firearms licensed for hunting purposes. Initially, purchases are limited to long smooth-bore firearms and pneumatic weapons with a muzzle energy of up to . After five years of shotgun ownership, rifles may be purchased. Handguns are generally not allowed, but with the growing popularity of practical shooting events and competitions in Russia in recent years (e.g. IPSC), handgun ownership has now been allowed and the handguns have to be stored at a shooting club. Rifles and shotguns with barrels less than long are prohibited, as are firearms which shoot in bursts or have more than a 10-cartridge capacity. Suppressors are prohibited. An individual cannot possess more than ten guns (up to five shotguns and up to five rifles) unless they are part of a registered gun collection.
In 2014 Russia slightly relaxed its gun laws by allowing carrying unloaded and concealed firearms for self-defense purposes.
Serbia has weapon laws and ranks third in guns per capita with a strong gun culture, especially in rural areas, with about one million guns in legal circulation. Weapons are regulated by the Weapons and Ammunition Law ("Zakon o oružju i municiji").
People over age 18 may own firearms with a permit, which is denied to those with a criminal history, mental disorder, or history of alcohol or illegal substance abuse. There is a thorough background check with police having the final decision. Firearms must be stored in a "safe place", and may be confiscated by police if the owner is found irresponsible.
Rifles, shotguns and handguns may be owned with an appropriate permit, though licensing for handguns is strict. Having a permit to own a firearm does not itself allow the bearer to carry the firearm anywhere outside the home, regardless of whether it is concealed or not. The owner may transport their firearms at any time provided they are unloaded. Concealed carry permits for handguns require proving an imminent threat, with the police making a final decision. Therefore, concealed carry permits are hard to obtain. There is no limit on the number of firearms one may own, though every gun transaction is recorded by the police. There is no caliber restriction. Fully automatic firearms and suppressors are prohibited for civilians. Automatic long firearms are allowed to be obtained and used by legal persons under special circumstances. People over 18 years of age can buy and carry stun guns and electric tranquilizers with no permit needed. People over 16 can carry OC sprays. There is no restriction regarding the number of rounds that may be purchased. Ammunition may be bought only for the caliber in which an owned firearm is chambered. Reloading is allowed only to those who have passed an exam in handling explosive materials. Old firearms (produced before 1900), historically significant firearms, as well as black powder firearms (all category C items) may be bought without any permit.
Serbia has its own civilian gun and ammunition industry: Zastava Arms, Prvi Partizan, and Krušik.
Firearm regulations in Switzerland are comparatively liberal.
The Swiss have male conscription for military service. A recent referendum in 2011 on a call to force military weapons to be kept at military sites was defeated. Weapons may voluntarily be kept in the local armory and there is no longer an obligation to keep the weapon at home.
The Swiss "Federal Law on Arms, Arms Accessories and Ammunitions" (WG, LArm) of 20 June 1997 has as its objectives (Article 1) to combat the wrongful use of arms, their accessories, parts and ammunition. It governs the acquisition of arms, their introduction into Swiss territory, export, storage, possession, carrying, transport, and brokerage. It regulates the manufacture and trade in arms, and seeks to prevent the wrongful carrying of ammunition and dangerous objects. Article 3 states that "The right to acquire, possess and carry arms is guaranteed in the framework of this law".
Ukraine is the only European country without firearms statutes; regulation is by Order No. 622 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A firearm license may be issued to citizens who meet an age requirement (21 for shotguns, 18 for shotguns for hunting purposes, and 25 for rifles), have no criminal record or history of domestic violence or mental illness and have a specific reason such as target shooting, hunting or collecting. Handguns of .22, 9 mm, .357 magnum and .38 caliber are permitted only for target shooting and those who can prove a threat against their lives (who are typically also given concealed carry permits). All firearms must be stored unloaded in a safe.
Citizens wishing to purchase weapons must complete courses on the fundamentals of Ukrainian legislation on weapons, their technical design and rules for the safe handling of weapons, as well as practical shooting. The organization of relevant courses is assigned to the internal affairs bodies. In order to obtain a weapon permit, citizens submit an application in the prescribed form, a certificate of completion of relevant courses, undergo a medical examination, an inspection of the internal affairs agencies and pass a test on the fundamentals of current legislation and rules for handling weapons and their application skills.
Article 263 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code says that for illegal carrying, storing and selling firearms, explosives and ammunition a person faces from 3 to 7 years in prison.
Weapon permits are not issued, and issued ones are canceled if there are:
The list of diseases and physical defects, in the presence of which a weapon permit is not issued, is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Foreigners have the right to purchase civilian weapons of ammunition and ammunition for permits issued by the internal affairs bodies on the basis of petitions from diplomatic missions or consular offices of the states of which they are citizens, as well as ministries and other central executive authorities of Ukraine, subject to the export of such weapons from Ukraine later than 5 days after purchase. Foreigners who have received certificates of permanent residence in Ukraine have the right to purchase weapons in the manner established for citizens of Ukraine. Hunting and sporting weapons can be imported by foreigners into Ukraine with the appropriate permission of the internal affairs bodies and hunting agreements made with hunting farms or inviting ministries and other central executive authorities to participate in sports competitions.
Historically and legally EU member states have their own laws which differ from one country to another which led to differences in the extent of legal access to firearms among EU countries.
EU harmonization started in 1991, with European Directive 91/477/EC which set minimum standards regarding civilian firearms acquisition and possession that EU member states must implement into their national legal systems. In this text, firearms are considered as "any portable barrelled weapon that expels, is designed to expel or may be converted to expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible propellant".
Since 2017 EU directive amendment, arms are classified in three EU categories:
This classification relies on short firearms having a barrel not exceeding 30 centimeters or whose overall length does not exceed 60 centimeters.
Under article 5 of the directive:
Member states are free to adopt more stringent rules, according to article 3.
EU plans related to firearms is in line with the UN Firearms Protocol (117 states parties in 2019). This UN protocol existing since 2005 tighten regulations on the manufacture and trafficking of small firearms, like handguns and pistols. This relies on three main legal measures: criminalizing illicit trafficking of firearms; authorizing or licensing legitimate manufacturers and vendors; and establishing marking and recording for tracing firearms.
Most, but not all, EU member states have ratified the UN Firearms Protocol.
Few people own firearms in the EU. Those who own firearms are more likely to be against stricter regulation than those who do not own firearms. Most EU citizens believe the EU should address the issue of firearms, in co-operation with member states and neighborhood countries.
Most EU citizens believe stricter regulation would help to reduce the perceived firearms-related crime while a sizeable minority would prefer other methods to be used.
Harmonization of EU-wide common standards related to some aspects of the owning, buying and selling firearms, benefits of a strong support.
Austria is the only country in the European Union where firearms are only partially licensed; the "Waffengesetz" (Weapons Act) provides the legal terms for all types of weapons, including firearms. § 1 of the law defines "Weapons" as objects that are designed to directly eliminate or reduce the ability of people to attack or defend themselves (e.g. knives, pepper spray, gas pistols, etc.) or for firing projectiles during hunting or sport shooting (e.g. crossbows, bows, etc.). § 2 further defines "Firearms" as weapons where projectiles can be fired from a barrel in a predefined direction. Most common firearms and some other weapons fall into three different categories, which come with different restrictions:
Category A is divided in two subcategories "war material" and "restricted weapons". "War material" includes for example tanks, fully automatic weapons and armor-piercing weapons; "restricted weapons" includes weapons disguised as other objects, firearms which can be disassembled in a faster than usual fashion for hunting and sport, shotguns with an overall length of less than 90 cm (35 in) or barrel length shorter than 45 cm (18 in), pump action shotguns, suppressors and firearms with suppressors, knuckledusters, blackjacks, steel rods. Category B covers all handguns, repeating shotguns and semi-automatic weapons which are not category A (e.g. pistols, revolvers, semi-automatic rifles and semi-automatic shotguns). Category C includes most other firearms that are not category A or B (e.g. repeating rifles, revolving rifles, break-action rifles and break-action shotguns).
All firearms of category A, B and C are registered in the central weapon register (Zentrales Waffenregister, or short ZWR). Firearms of category C are the least restricted; all citizens over 18 may purchase them at licensed sellers, even without a firearms license (barring a 3-day waiting period to check for a weapon ban on the buyer). Category B weapons have further restrictions; buyers must have a firearms license or a carry permit, and be 21, unless granted an exception for the age of 18. Category A weapons typically require further exceptions to be granted for holders, except in the case of suppressors and suppressed weapons, which may be held by those with valid hunting licenses without an additional permit. "War material" requires a further special federal permit, which is in practice only granted to approved collectors and experts. In general, ammunition sales are unrestricted, though handgun ammunition and some rifle ammunition requires a permit. Antique firearms made before 1871, many black powder firearms and some other "less effective weapons" also require no license or registration.
In addition, § 11a defines further restrictions on the purchase, possession and carrying of all weapons and ammunition for asylum seekers and many third-country nationals. Owning weapons without a permit for them is strictly prohibited and controlled by the police.
Carrying firearms in public generally requires a carry permit (or "Waffenpass"). Carry permits are issued by the authorities on a shall issue or may issue basis, depending on reason and applicant. Austrian law makes no distinction between concealed or open carry; with a carry permit, the holder may carry their weapon(s) freely throughout the whole country and even in certain "weapon free zones". However, holders must carry their weapons in a way that does not constitute a public nuisance; for example, openly displaying a handgun in one's belt at the cinema while wearing civil clothing would be considered unusual and could be considered a public nuisance if the police were called.
Croatia issues firearms permits for self-defense, hunting, sport shooting:
Every permit also requires an applicant to be at least 18 years old, not be convicted of crimes, there being no other circumstances indicating that the weapon may be abused (for example by a history of alcoholism) and passing medical examinations.
There are 266,885 (or 6.4 per 100 people) registered firearms in Croatia owned by 103,903 people, of which 132,131 can be carried concealed in public places.
The Republic of Cyprus has strict gun control. Private citizens are completely forbidden from owning handguns and rifles in any calibre, including .22 rimfire ammunition. Shotguns limited to two rounds are allowed with a license, issued by provincial police. Shotguns must be for hunting purposes, and a licensed citizen may own up to ten shotguns, typically double-barrelled. A firearm license is required to buy ammunition, of up to 250 shells per purchase, with sales being recorded. Cyprus also controls airguns, and airgun owners require a license. Even though purchasing automatic weapons is illegal, the military issues their reserves an automatic weapon, therefore the majority of the male population has one due to military conscription.
The Czech Republic is unusual in comparison to other EU countries in that the vast majority of gun owners (240,000 out of 300,000) possess their firearms for purposes of protection of life and property. Furthermore, Czech Republic has a shall-issue concealed carry permit system, whereby every self-defense license holder may carry up to two concealed firearms ready for immediate use (bullet-in-chamber). The Czech Republic had a higher rate of concealed carry licenses per capita than the US up to 2010, despite a relatively lower gun-ownership rate.
Gun licenses may be obtained by passing a gun proficiency exam, medical examination and having a clean criminal record. Although the general firearms ownership rate remains relatively low, the ability to legally possess and carry firearms is generally considered as a symbol of liberty, alongside concepts such as freedom of speech and free elections. This is illustrated by the Czech Republic's historical experience of firearm bans that happened only under Nazi and Communist dictatorships.
Crime with legally owned firearms is rare, with 45 recorded incidents in 2016, 17 of which were "dangerous threats" (compared to the total number of over 800,000 legally possessed firearms). Gun laws had not been an issue until the 2016 EU Directive (see above), which led to the proposal of securing Czech citizens' gun rights through adoption of a constitutional amendment that would make firearm possession in the country a national security issue, thus taking it outside the scope of EU law. However, this provision was not approved by the Senate in the Czech Parliament. The Czech government filed a lawsuit to the European Court of Justice against the EU directive restricting possession of firearms. In October 2017 a petition against the EU Firearms Directive signed by over 100,000 citizens was debated during a public hearing in the Senate.
In February 2018, the Ministry of the Interior proposed an amendment to the current "Weapons and ammunition law" to comply with the EU directive. The process of approving the law was suspended in Parliament until a decision by the European Court of Justice was made. Meanwhile, in January 2019, the Ministry of the Interior unveiled a draft proposal for a completely new Firearms Act that would comply with the requirements of the EU directive while respecting the tradition of civilian firearm ownership in the country.
Civilians in Denmark aged 16 and above can acquire gun licenses for hunting or sport shooting. This requires passing a written multiple-choice test and a practical test, after which a certified hunting license instructor determines if the applicant is suitable to own a weapon. A license is usually provided if the applicant has no or only minor marks on their criminal record.
A hunting license permits the over-the-counter-purchase and ownership of an unlimited number of shotguns of up to 12 gauge and 2-round capacity. From there, the police has to be notified of new weapon purchases through an online form. Bolt-action rifles can also be bought over-the-counter, although they require a rifle license which is obtained through the police. The allowed calibers range from the smallest possible, up to .50 BMG, with .50 BMG not included. Semi-automatic rifles are allowed if the rifle is limited to two rounds (hunting in Denmark), or without limitation on capacity (hunting outside of Denmark). Currently, only larger calibers (.308, 6.555, .300wm etc.) are issued as semi-auto rifles for hunting abroad. .223/5.5645 and similar caliber rifles are generally not approved. The hunter must pass a shotgun or rifle shooting test before being allowed to hunt.
For sport-shooting purposes, shotguns can also be used, as can bolt-action rifles of almost any caliber (.50bmg as one of the exceptions). Sporting rifles are often chambered in 22lr and 6.555 mm.
Semi-automatic rifles are not allowed for sports shooting.
Handguns: After two years of active membership in a shooting club, one can apply for a handgun permit which is then subject to background checks and approval by the police, and one has to be 21 years old.
Approved calibers: All calibers under 9mm (919, 38 Spl, 357 magnum, .32acp etc.), plus a limited number of larger calibers; .40sw, 45 ACP, 44 Spl. The maximum number of handguns are 6 in 22 cal. When applying for gun number 3, a special permit from the department of justice is required. Large caliber guns, i.e. bigger than 22 cal, are restricted to a maximum of two in the same caliber. Therefore, one can only own two handguns in 9 mm at any given time. However, it is legal to own an additional two handguns in 9 mm, if these are revolvers.
For all handguns, the overall length must be at least 210 millimeters (8.2677 inch), regardless of caliber, measured without orthopedic grips or removal parts.
A weapon permit for sporting purposes (both long and short firearms) has to be renewed every five years. Rifle permits for hunting rifles have to be renewed every ten years. Shotguns are not held on individual permits; holders are allowed to own these as long as they have a valid hunting license – and they can keep it for up to ten years after the hunting license expires – albeit they are not allowed to keep ammunition without a valid license.
Carrying a firearm in public is strictly prohibited, however, a notion of proportional self-defense exists. This means that if someone is attacked with a firearm, they are legally allowed to defend themselves proportionally – e.g. with a firearm of their own.
Fully automatic weapons are prohibited for civilian use, unless a special permit is issued by the Ministry of Justice. These permits are extremely rare, and are normally only issued to people or companies working for, or supplying the police or military.
Illegal possession of a firearm may be punished with imprisonment of no less than one year. Civilians may keep privately owned weapons including pistols, revolvers, shotguns and rifles at their residences. These, together with its ammunition have to be stored in an approved gun cabinet (EN1143-1 grade 0 or better). The police may inspect a shooting club's weapons at their discretion, but require a court order to inspect privately held firearms.
The ownership and use of firearms in Finland is regulated by the country's Firearms Act of 1998. Weapons are individually licensed by local police, with no limit on the number of licenses an individual may hold. Licenses are granted for recreational uses, exhibition or (under certain circumstances) professional use. No type of weapon is explicitly prohibited, but licenses are granted only for a reason. Self-defense is not accepted as a valid reason for licensing. In general, this excludes all but hunting and sports guns from non-professional use. Fully automatic weapons are generally not permitted. With the exception of law enforcement, only specially trained security guards may carry loaded weapons in public.
In 2007, Finland had the third largest gun-ownership rate globally (behind the US and Yemen), and the first in Europe. Finns are avid hunters, and as of 2007, there were 1.6 million registered weapons and 650,000 people with firearm permits in the country, i.e. 12% of the population. In November that year, Finland updated their gun laws after two school shootings that left 20 people dead, and to comply with an EU directive by removing the ability of 15-18-year-olds to have their own permit. The possibility of creating a dual-license for an already licensed weapon with permission of the license holder was allowed (e.g. parental permission). In 2011, a constitutional law committee concluded that people over the age of 20 can receive a permit for semi-automatic handguns; individuals must demonstrate continuous activity in handgun sporting group for two years prior.
In 1563, Charles IX of France had an address to the Rouen parliament about forbidding firearms in which he made the following statement:
In France, a hunting license or a sport-shooting license is needed to purchase any firearm. In September 2015, firearms were divided into four categories that determine the regulations that apply to their possession and use. Category C firearms can be obtained with a hunting license, or sport-shooting license with a medical certificate. Category C includes mainly single-shot-per-barrel shotguns and single-shot or manual repeating rifles (including centre-fire rifles, for hunting or target shooting). Once legally purchased these category C arms may be kept, without using them, even when no longer licensed for hunting or sport-shooting.
Category B firearms are only available to sport-shooters licensed for at least 6 months, with a medical certificate, without any felony convictions, and additionally requires at least three shooting sessions with an instructor. Specific authorisations for purchase and possession may then be sought from a local police administration, are valid for 5 years, and are renewable. Such weapons may then only be used for sport-shooting at shooting ranges, never for hunting. Category B includes all assault type rifles, such as AK-47/AKM, AK-74 or AR-15/M16/M4, and any look-alike weapons even when chambered for rimfire cartridges (.22 LR). These must be semi-automatic only. All handguns, including those using rimfire ammunition, are classed as category B. It is illegal to possess these category B weapons after expiry of a non-renewed specific authorisation: the arms must be disposed of (sold to a gun shop or else destroyed, for example).
Air-guns including pistols are freely available to adults, as category D arms, provided that their energy level does not exceed 20 J (previously 10 J). Typical energy levels are 6 J for a target pistol and 7.5 J for a target rifle. A scoped Field Target rifle might produce 15 or 16 J (maximum authorised in FT competition). Air-soft arms, firing non-metallic pellets and not exceeding 2 J energy, are considered to be toys, rather than weapons, and so are excluded from firearm regulations.
Also freely available are category D defensive pepper sprays up to a maximum 75 g capacity. Bigger capacity sprays are considered offensive weapons, not defensive, and so are classed in category B, and require specific authorisation.
A person cannot own more than 12 centerfire firearms, and cannot own more than 10 magazines and 1,000 rounds of ammunition per firearm. A one-year carry license may be issued for persons "exposed to exceptional risks to their life" allowing them to carry a handgun with a maximum of 50 rounds. Such authorizations are extremely rare, however, as the state would normally insist on providing police protection in such cases. Since November 2015, police officers are authorised to carry their service weapons whilst off-duty.
Gun ownership in Germany is restrictive, being regulated by the Federal Weapons Act (German: Waffengesetz) of 1972.
The laws apply to weapons with a fire energy exceeding . A firearms license may be granted to those over the age of 18 who have no criminal convictions or mental disability, who are deemed reliable and can justify a reason for owning a firearm. A separate license is required for each firearm owned. Target-shooters must have been a member of a shooting club with 18 recorded visits in the previous 12 months. A firearms carry permit is a second-tier license which allows concealed carrying in public, and is only issued to those with a particular need.
Several weapons and special ammunitions are completely prohibited, such as automatic firearms. Buying, possessing, lending, using, carrying, crafting, altering and the trading of these weapons is illegal and punishable by up to five years imprisonment, confiscation of the weapon and a fine of up to €10,000. Using an illegal weapon for crimes of any kind is punishable by 1 to 10 years imprisonment.
Germany's National Gun Registry, introduced at the end of 2012, counted 5.5 million firearms legally owned by 1.4 million people.
Greece has gun regulations in place. Shotguns (limited to a 3-round capacity), rifles and handguns require a license issued by Police Headquarters. A license may be issued to a Greek citizen over the age of 18 if: a) there are serious fears about his or her personal security along with a positive recommendation by the Prosecutor and b) it is required for the safety of shops, banks, other financial institutions, etc. To purchase handguns and rifles, citizens must either have a concealed-carry permit or a target-shooting permit (for rifles). Semi auto rifles are prohibited. Hunters can own up to 10 shotguns and rifles (with no gun barrel rifling) and sport shooters can own up to 7 guns. There is no license-check or record kept for ammunition purchases for shotguns but target shooters can only own 500 rounds per weapon.
Gun laws in Hungary are relatively strict, regulated by Code 24/2004, governmental decision 253/2004. (VIII. 31.) and directive of the Minister of Internal Affairs 49/2004. The law defines a firearm as having muzzle energy that exceeds. A firearms license may be granted to those over the age of 18 who have no criminal convictions or mental disability, and have passed a basic firearms theory/practical examination. Three categories of firearms ownership are allowed: Hunting (Firearms restricted to bolt action and double barrel shootguns), Sports shooting (only restriction is no fully automatic firearms), Self defence (Special permission from Police, very rarely granted in special cases eg: gunshop owners). Sports shooting has in recent years gained popularity with the number of sports category licenses being issued steadily climbing. Government initiatives to popularize shooting sports such as building shooting ranges and introducing shooting as a sport in the schooling system has slowly begun. It is generally excepted that obtaining (and keeping) a firearms permit is a slow and somewhat costly process, but once a permit is granted and the necessary yearly memberships are paid, yearly doctors certificates are obtained and the mandatory 2-3 sporting events are attended (for sports shooter) ownership is fairly liberal as to the type of firearm one can own.
In 2010, there were 129,000 registered gun owners (1.3% of the population) in Hungary with 235,000 firearms. The majority of these were hunting rifles. Gun violence is very rare in Hungary due to the close monitoring and control of firearms ownership, crime with firearms are very rare and this statistic usually includes crimes committed with non-lethal "pepper spray" guns. Police use lethal force with a firearm less than 10 times per year, on average.
Gun laws in Ireland are strict, requiring all firearms to be licensed individually through the Gardaí (police). Applicants must be 16 years of age and have a good reason for ownership, a secure location to store firearms, proof of competency with the firearm or arrangements to achieve such, provide access to medical records and two character references, and be of sound mind and temperate habits. Applicants convicted of certain specified offenses will be denied a firearms certificate. Personal protection is not a valid reason for ownership.
Irish firearms law is based on the Firearms Act 1925, which was amended by several following acts in 1964, 1968, 1971, 1990, 1998 and 2000. The cumulative effect of these modifications, along with modifications in other acts and confusion over which amendments applied, resulted in a 2006 Irish Law Reform Commission recommendation that all extant legislation be restated (written in a single document with all prior Acts repealed). However, the Criminal Justice Act 2006, contained a rewriting almost 80% of the Firearms Act. It was quickly followed by amendments in 2007 and further major amendments in 2009, exacerbating the legislative confusion. the Law Reform Commission recommendation has not as yet been fully enacted; the Firearms Act consists of the initial 1925 Act amended by approximately twenty separate Acts and is well understood by only a handful of those directly involved in its drafting, amendment or usage. Extensive complaints have arisen over the application of the legislation, with several hundred judicial review cases won in the High Court and Supreme Court by firearms owners, all relating to licensing decisions which had not adhered to the Firearms Act.
In Italy, national police issue gun licenses to those over the age of 18 without criminal records, who are not mentally ill or known substance abusers, and who can prove competence with firearm safety. A shooting sports license permits transporting unloaded firearms and firing them in designated shooting ranges. A hunting license allows holders to engage in hunting with firearms. A concealed carry license permits a person to carry a loaded firearm in public, and requires proving a "valid reason" to do so (e.g.: a security guard or a jeweler at risk of robbery). The number of firearms an individual may own and retain in their home is limited to three common handguns, twelve sporting handguns or long guns, an unlimited number of hunting long guns, and eight historical firearms (manufactured before 1890). These limits can be exceeded with a collector license.
Private firearms must be registered at the local police department within 72 hours of acquisition. Ammunition purchases must also be registered, and possession is normally limited to 200 rounds of handgun ammunition and 1500 rounds of hunting ammunition.
In Luxembourg, anyone wishing to purchase, possess or use a firearm must hold a permit issued by the Minister of Justice in person.
The most common reasons for applying for a permit are hunting, recreational shooting, weapons collecting, and inheriting a firearm. Anyone who inherits a firearm must have a permit even if they have no intention to ever touch or use the gun.
Self-defence is not a valid reason for owning a firearm. However, the Ministry of Justice is concerned that some permit holders falsely cite another reason (such as recreational shooting) as a justification for acquiring their permit when their sole actual motivation is self-defence.
Firearms are allowed in Malta for sport shooting, collection and hunting purposes. To get firearm license one must join a shooting or collectors club for training, which will issue a recommendation letter for the police, after which applicant must pass knowledge of firearm safety and the Arms Act. After successfully completing every step one will get license.
There are 102,610 registered firearms (or 22 per 100 people), including 56,000 shotguns, 10,553 pistols, 7,856 rifles, 5,369 revolvers, 501 machine guns, 477 sub-machine guns, 633 combat shotguns, 22 cannons, 7 humane killers and 2 rocket launchers.
Law allow carrying firearms while hunting, with 10,544 licensed to do so on land and 247 on sea. Carrying loaded firearms outside of hunting grounds or shooting range is illegal. Automatic firearms are allowed only if they were produced before 1946.
In the Netherlands, gun ownership is restricted to law enforcement, hunters, and target shooters (self-defense is not a valid reason to own firearms). A hunting license requires passing a hunters safety course. To own a gun for target shooting, the applicant must have been a member of a shooting club for a year. People with felonies, drug addictions, and mental illnesses may not possess firearms.
Once obtained, firearms must be stored in a safe and annually inspected by police. Firearms may only be used in self-defense as a matter of "equal force". Fully automatic firearms are banned, but there are otherwise few restrictions: semi-automatics, handguns, and magazines of all sizes are legal, as are all types of ammunition. A licensed gun owner may only have five firearms registered to his or her license at one time.
Gun ownership in Poland is regulated and requires a permit to own or possess firearms. Permits are granted for specific purposes, such as self-defense, sports, hunting, collecting etc. and are shall issue except the ones for self-defense, which are may issue. Institutional permits allow for firearm ownership by security companies, shooting ranges, sports clubs etc.
Permits are issued to permanent residents over 21, not addicted to alcohol or other substances, having no criminal record, being in good physical and mental health, who passed an exam before sporting association, hunting association or the police. Permits specify the purposes, categories and quantities of allowed guns; categories depend on permit type while quantities are assigned at the discretion of the police, based on documentation provided. Quantities can be increased when one uses up all available slots.
Carrying loaded guns is allowed on self-defense and sports permits. Guns shall be carried concealed in a holster close to the body. Carrying is limited in public transport only to self-defense permit holders. It is prohibited to carry while intoxicated, and when attending public gatherings or mass events.
All legal owners are allowed to use their guns at registered shooting ranges. Discharging a firearm for training or leisure out of a registered shooting range (even on a large private property) is prohibited.
Full-auto or select-fire firearms are permitted only on institutional and training permits. Since 2020 police can issue permit for firearms with silencers for hunting permits. They can only be used for sanitary shootings. See main article for more details. Armor-piercing, incendiary, tracer and other special ammunition is banned. Only valid permit holders are allowed to buy or possess live ammunition, and only of the types exactly matching the guns they legally own. The quantity of matching ammunition in possession is not limited. Hunters, collectors and sports shooters are allowed to manufacture (reload) ammunition, but strictly for their own use. There are further limits regarding allowed types and calibers depending on the type of permit - see main article for details. There's no limit on magazine capacity, except when hunting.
Replicas of black powder firearms designed before 1885 require no permit to own. However, separate bill of law allows businesses to sell black powder to licensed customers only. This is often circumvented by obtaining a European Gun Card for your black powder firearm, asking a licensed colleague (there's no restriction on private sale or just giving out of black powder) or by buying powder in neighboring countries, mostly the Czech Republic.
Airguns up to 17 Joules of muzzle energy are unregulated. Airguns above that limit are considered pneumatic weapons, no permit is required but must be registered with the police and may be used only on registered shooting ranges. Use of pneumatic weapons outside of shooting range is considered the same kind of offense as using regular firearms.
Poland remains the most disarmed country in Europe.
Gun ownership in Romania is regulated by Law 295/2004. Romania has one of the toughest gun ownership laws in the world. In order for citizens to obtain a weapon, they must obtain a permit from the police, and must register their weapon once they purchase it. There are several categories of permits, with different requirements and rights, including hunting permits, self-defense permits, sports shooting permits and collectors permits. The only categories of people who are legally entitled to carry a weapon are owners of self-defense permits, magistrates, MPs, military forces and certain categories of diplomats. A psychological evaluation is required beforehand in all cases.
Furthermore, knives and daggers may in certain conditions (blade longer than 15 cm and at least 0.4 cm in width, double edge along the whole blade, etc.) be considered weapons and have a similar regime to those of firearms.
In order for a hunter to obtain a hunting/gun ownership license, he must spend a certain "practice time" with a professional hunter. To obtain a self-defense permit, one must be under witness protection. Sporting and collectors licenses require membership in a sport shooting club or collectors' association, respectively.
The amount of ammunition that can be owned is regulated by permit type. Sporting permits allow the ownership of 1000 matching cartridges per gun; hunting permits allow 300 matching cartridges per gun; self-defense permits allow 50 bullet cartridges and 50 blanks per gun; Collectors permits do not allow for private ownership of ammunition.
Explosive weapons and ammunitions, fully automatic weapons, weapons camouflaged in the shape of another object, armor-piercing ammunition and lethal weapons that do not fit in any category defined by the law are prohibited.
The type of gun is also regulated by permit. Below is a shortened version of the table detailing the restrictions by type of lethal weapon and permit, for civilian owners. Note that for collectors, short weapons designed after 1945 are forbidden, while only non-lethal weapons are allowed for self-defense permits.
It is illegal to use or carry weapons with a muzzle velocity of over 10kJ if "the barrel is fitted with devices conceived or adapted to reduce recoil"
Gun ownership in Slovakia is regulated principally by law 190/2003 (law of weapons and ammunition).
A firearms license may be issued to an applicant at least 21 years of age (18 years for category D if they own a valid hunting permit, 15 years for state representative in sport-shooting), with no criminal history, and of sound health and mind, who has a valid reason for owning a gun, passes an oral exam covering aspects of gun law, safe handling, and first aid.
Licenses are issued in 6 categories:
A concealed carry license is only issued if the police deem a sufficient justification. Because of that issue of this license is may-issue in practice, and vary across Slovakia by stance of individual police department issuing licence. It is kind of similar to California, some department is almost shall-issue, another need true sufficient reason (like a constant more than average threat, previous assaults on applicant, transports of money, former service in army or law enforcement, legal awareness of applicant, clientelism). Only about 2% of the adult population holds this license.
There is an exception for non-repeating muzzle-loaded firearms, which may be purchased without a license.
Gun ownership in Slovenia is regulated under the "Weapons Law" (Zakon o orožju) which is harmonised with the directives of the EU. Gun permits are issued to applicants at least 18 years old, reliable, without criminal history and who has not been a conscientious objector, who passes a medical exam and a test on firearm safety. A specific reason must be given for gun ownership: for hunting or target shooting, the applicant must provide proof of membership in a hunting or sports shooting organization; for collection, the applicant must arrange safe storage with a level of security dependent on the type of weapons; for self-defense, the applicant must prove a risk to personal safety to such an extent that a weapon is needed.
As in most EU member states, the ownership of Category A firearms is prohibited; however these can be owned by weapon collectors, providing that requirements are met. Firearms must be stored in a locked cabinet with ammunition stored separately. Concealed carry is allowed in special circumstances. A gun permit is also required for airguns with muzzle velocity greater than or energy of .
Firearm regulation in Spain is restrictive, enacted in Real Decreto 137/1993. A firearm license may be obtained from the Guardia Civil after passing a police background check, a physiological and medical test, and a practical and theoretical exam. Shotgun and rifle licenses must be renewed after 5 years, subject to firearm inspection. Sporting licenses must be renewed after 3 years. Police may inspect firearms at any time. A self-defense and concealed carry license must be renewed every year, and is only available under special conditions.
A license-holder may own up to 6 shotguns, and unlimited rifles. With a sporting license, valid for 3 years, 1 to 10 handguns may be owned, depending on sports-shooting level. Magazine capacity for semi-automatic centerfire rifles is limited to 4 rounds for sports shooting and 2 rounds for hunting; semi-automatic shotguns are limited to 3 rounds. Rimfire rifles, regardless of type have no magazine limit. Rifles chambered for certain cartridges with military origins are prohibited, such as .223/5.56 NATO and .50 BMG. The .308 Winchester and 7.62x39 mm (AK round) cartridges are only permitted in bolt-action, repetition or single-shot firearms. Proof of ownership of an approved safe is required for all centerfire rifles and handguns, and the owner is responsible for firearm thefts. Ammunition must be stored separately. Rifle and handgun ammunition may only be possessed for legally owned firearms, and purchases and possession is limited to 200 rounds rifle and 100 rounds for handguns. In addition, there are yearly limits in quantity (1000 for rifles,100 for handguns); however additional quantities can be petitioned, mainly for sporting use. For shotgun Ammunition, adults with a valid ID can purchase/possess up to 5,000 shells and there are no yearly limits in quantity. License-holders are only allowed to transport their unloaded firearms from their residence to the shooting range or hunting field and back, with no detours. Firearms may only be discharged at approved shooting ranges or hunting grounds (in season).
There are firearm license for private security for handguns and rifles. These cannot be used outside of work and must be stored in the workplace premises (with approved safe).
In addition there are handgun license for self-defense in concealed carry. However, this is granted on a "may issue" basis with several standards of necessity to be met and very few are granted. This license must be renewed annually and is not automatic.
Members of police forces and officers and non-commissioned officers of the armed forces have a special firearms license which encompasses all of the others. There are additional licenses for collectors and muzzle-loading firearms.
Gun ownership in Sweden is regulated by Vapenlagen 1996:67 (literally, The Weapon Law),
modified by weapon decree Vapenförordningen 1996:70
and FAP 551-3 / RPSFS 2009:13. The police issue licenses to persons older than 18 years in good standing on the "need to have" basis, which generally implies either hunting or sport shooting. Passing a hunting examination or membership in an approved sport shooting club for six months is required. Licenses for semi-automatic handguns are issued for five years and can be renewed, rifle and single-shot handgun licenses are valid for the owner's lifetime. License-holders may lend a weapon to a person at least 15 years of age for supervised use.
A separate license is required for each particular firearm, caliber conversion kit or suppressor. There's no codified limit on the number of licenses a person can hold, but in practice a license-holder may own up to six hunting rifles, ten handguns, or a mix of eight rifles and handguns. Firearms must be stored in an approved safe. A firearm registered for hunting may be used for sport shooting, but not vice versa. Licenses obtained for hunting are implicitly limited to bolt-action or, more rarely, semi-automatic rifles that are "applicable for hunting", with no strict definition of the latter in the laws, which causes controversy.
Self-defense with firearms, as well as carry, is generally prohibited. Carry permits can be issued by the police under very special circumstances like an immediate and proven life threat. Transportation of unloaded firearms is allowed to and from approved shooting ranges or hunting grounds.
Firearm collectors must have a clearly stated demarcation of their interest in collecting (e.g.: pre-World War II British handguns). The police may demand security measures on keeping the collection. Collectors may request a time-limited permit to discharge their weapons. Firearms manufactured before 1890 and not using sealed cartridges are exempt from the weapon law.
The UK increased firearm regulation through several Firearms Acts,
leading to an outright ban on automatic firearms and many semi-automatic firearms. Breech-loading handguns are also tightly controlled.
There are three types of weapons that require different licenses; section 2 firearms are shotguns with a maximum magazine capacity of two cartridges, excluding those in the chamber, and require a Shotgun Certificate (SGC); unlike the other licences, the onus is on the police to find good reason not to grant applicants a license. Section 1 firearms require a firearms certificate (FAC), and include bolt-action rifles, semi-automatic rifles in rimfire only, and all shotguns that do not conform to section 2 requirements. There are additional requirements for both sections, such as length and ammunition type, and some accessories such as suppressors are also subject to licensing restrictions. All firearms and accessories that do not conform to section 1 or 2 requirements are designated as prohibited weapons and require a section 5 license from the Home Office for legal possession.
An SGC allows the holder to purchase and own any number of shotguns, so long as they can be securely stored, and does not restrict purchase or storage of ammunition; additionally they may legally give shotgun ammunition to non-licence holders. Section 2 and 5 weapons require individual permission for each firearm or accessory, and there are restrictions as to the type and quantity of ammunition held. Aside from Northern Ireland, private ownership of most handguns was banned in 1997, with exception for section 5 firearms licenses, which are only generally issued to maritime security personnel, and those under police protection.
There are several factors that may disqualify applicants. A custodial sentence of between three months and three years disqualifies applicants for five years from release; three years or greater disqualifies applicants for life. "Intemperate habits", such as substance abuse, may disqualify applicants. Being of "unsound mind", meaning a history of mental illness, or other relevant medical conditions may disqualify applicants, however there are no conditions that "make them automatically unsuitable to possess a firearm", and police will contact the applicant's general practitioner, who place a flag on the records of all license holders. Applicants must also have suitable measures for storing firearms and ammunition, such as a gun safe. The FAC additionally requires demonstrating a good reason for each firearm the applicant wishes to own (such as hunting, pest control, collecting, or target shooting). Self-defense is only accepted as a good reason in Northern Ireland.
Firearms are completely prohibited for civilian use without exceptions in Nauru, Palau and Marshall Islands. Fiji suspended all firearm licenses in 2000, Cook Islands and Solomon Islands did the same respectively in 1999 and 1992. Papua New Guinea does not issue new licenses since 2000, but former are still valid. Kiribati effectively made it impossible to obtain new firearms by banning import of them..
Gun laws in Australia are under the jurisdiction of the state governments, with the importation of guns regulated by the federal government. Gun laws were largely aligned in 1996 by the National Firearms Agreement. In two federally funded gun buybacks and voluntary surrenders and state governments' gun amnesties before and after the Port Arthur Massacre, more than a million firearms were collected and destroyed, possibly one third of the national stock.
A person must have a firearm licence to possess or use a firearm. Licence holders must demonstrate a "genuine reason" (which does not include self-defence) for holding a firearm licence and must not be a "prohibited person". All firearms must be registered by serial number to the owner, who must also hold a firearms licence.
New Zealand's gun laws comprise the Arms Act 1983,
Arms Amendment Act 1992,
and Arms Regulations 1992,
and focus mainly on vetting firearm owners. A firearms license may be issued by police to applicants who attend a safety lecture, pass a written test on safety and the Arms Code, and have secure storage for firearms and ammunition; the police will also interview the applicant and two references to be certain the applicant is "fit and proper" to own a firearm. Having criminal associations, a history of domestic violence, mental instability, or alcohol or drug abuse almost always result in the application being denied. Misbehavior involving firearms commonly leads to a firearms license being revoked by police. Even when licensed, a person may only be in possession of a firearm for a particular lawful, proper and sufficient purpose,
for which the NZ Police policy is to exclude self-defense, however this is not written in the Arms Act or supporting regulations.
Ownership of certain types of firearms require stricter vetting procedures, a higher level of storage security, and a "special reason" for obtaining the weapon. The applicant must gain an appropriate endorsement on their license and a permit to procure before obtaining handguns, machine guns, or selective-fire assault rifles. After the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019, legislation to restrict semi-automatic firearms and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, and provide an amnesty and buyback of such weapons was introduced and passed by the New Zealand parliament. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12686 |
Shock site
A shock site is a website that is intended to be offensive or disturbing to its viewers, though it can also contain elements of humor or evoke (in some viewers) sexual arousal. They contain material of high shock value, generally of a pornographic, scatological, racist, sexist, graphically violent, insulting, vulgar, profane, or otherwise provocative nature. Some shock sites display a single picture, animation, video clip or small gallery, and are circulated via email or disguised in posts to discussion sites as a prank. Steven Jones distinguishes these sites from those that collect galleries where users search for shocking content, such as Rotten.com. Gallery sites can contain beheadings, execution, electrocution, suicide, murder, stoning, torching, drowning, vehicular accidents, war victims, rape, necrophilia, genital mutilation and other sexual crimes.
Some shock sites have also gained their own subcultures and have become internet memes on their own. Goatse.cx featured a page devoted to fan-submitted artwork and tributes to the site's codice_1, and a parody of the image was unwittingly shown by a BBC newscast as an alternative for for the 2012 Summer Olympics. A 2007 shock video known as "2 Girls 1 Cup" also quickly became an Internet phenomenon, with videos of reactions, homages, and parodies widely posted on video sharing sites such as YouTube.
There have been several shock galleries that have launched and shut down. Rotten.com hosted murder videos and images of deceased people and brandished the motto "Pure Evil Since 1996". During their operation, the owners of Rotten.com launched several new sites, one of which was Shockumentary.com in 2006. Shockumentary.com was created to sell mondo films like "Traces of Death" (1993). Ogrish.com (established in 2000) hosted "mutilated corpses, car accidents, burn victims, congenital malformations and other grotesqueries". Ogrish.com's reputation rested on its publication of gore media from terrorists and war. In 2006, Ogrish.com was rebranded as Liveleak.com. BestGore, established in 2008 by Mark Marek, was notorious for its extremely graphic content, such as photos and videos of murders, suicides and violent accidents with an estimated 15–20 million monthly visits during its operation. He pleaded guilty and was given a six-month conditional sentence for his role. Some shock galleries, however, established more specific niches. The sites Necrobabes, Cannibal Café, and Gourmet tailored themselves to would-be cannibals in the early 2000s. These sites gained attention in 2003 when Armin Meiwes, an aspiring cannibal, used the sites to connect with Jürgen Brandes, a man who desired to be eaten. The two met, and Brandes' murder and cannibalism were recorded and posted on various sites. Additionally, Graham Coutts visited Necrobabes, Rapepassion, Violentpleasure, and Hangingbitches frequently before strangling teacher Jane Longhurst.
There have also been several individual videos that received viral attention. Goatse was one of the earliest and best-known shock sites, featuring an image of a man stretching his anus with his hands. The site featured a page devoted to fan-submitted artwork and tributes to the site. The site was shut down in 2004; however, various mirror sites featuring the image still exist. In 2012, it was resurrected as an e-mail service. In 2008, the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs posted the graphic murder video "3 Guys 1 Hammer". This was followed years later by Eric Clinton Kirk Newman's (known now as Luka Rocco Magnotta) video "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick" in 2012—a video of Newman murdering Chinese student Lin Jun that contained dismemberment, cannibalism, and necrophilia and was posted on Bestgore.com. Newman also shared a video one year prior of him using a vacuum and plastic bag to suffocate two kittens to the song "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" by John Lennon to several gore sites. Meatspin is a shock site containing a looping video (set playing to "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive") of a man and a trans woman engaging in sexual activity while the receiving partner's penis spins endlessly. A counter keeps track of how many "spins" the viewer has watched. In 2013, a student at Florida State University hacked the wireless network of his campus and redirected all traffic to Meatspin. In 2015, consternation followed when a family restaurant played the website in front of young children. In 2016, the website was played on a public digital billboard in Sweden, resulting in international media attention. The site first went live on March 10, 2005. the domain is now meatspin.cc. John-Michael Bond of "The Daily Dot" stated that to an extent, "casual homophobia" of the 2000s helped popularize meatspin.
Currently, there is no federal or state legislation in the United States outlawing snuff films that depict the murder of a human being—a common source of material for shock sites. In 2000, California introduced a bill to outlaw these films, but after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) raised protest over First Amendment Concerns, the bill failed to pass, and no other bill has passed since. Supreme Court case Miller v. California established a test to determine whether content falls under the category of unprotected obscenity. The Miller test requires that content "appeals to the prurient interest" to be obscene, meaning content must have a sexual component.
That test was modified by United States v. Richards, which ruled that animal crush videos (videos that involve the murder of animals) can be obscene and therefore, are unprotected by the first amendment even though they do not clearly appeal to sexual interests. The court ruled animal crush videos to be unprotected obscenity for two reasons. First, animal crush videos can appeal to a "specific sexual fetish," which fits the sexual conduct requirement of the Miller test. Second, United States v. Richards modified the Miller test by ruling that obscenity "can also cover unusual deviant acts" even if they are not directly sexual. Child pornography also falls under the category of unprotected obscenity by these tests. Due to the combination of murder and pornography depicted on shock sites that contain murder videos like gore2gasm.com, legal scholars have argued that murder videos also appeal to specific sexual interests and are thus unprotected under United States v. Richards.
In terms of liability, unless snuff films are illegal, third party providers like shock sites that host murder videos and related snuff films are protected by the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA). However, websites that require users to upload illegal content or actively encourage users to create and share illegal content can be held liable. Additionally, courts have granted increasing privacy rights to families over the publication and distribution of images of deceased relatives. The owners of Rotten.com were successfully sued by families for hosting photos of dead people and videos of their deaths on the site.
In the UK, legislators passed the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act of 2008, which included a section outlawing extreme pornography (that which is intended to sexually arouse viewers that threatens a person's life, is likely to seriously harm a person's anus, breasts, or genitals, or involves human corpse or an animal). This has resulted in shock sites, as well as US pornographers including Max Hardcore and Extreme Associates, being convicted of obscenity in the UK.
During the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, the shooter broadcast the killings live on Facebook. The video was shared on Facebook and uploaded to YouTube shortly after. Footage of the mass killings were hosted on 4chan, 8chan, LiveLeak, Voat, Zero Hedge, and KiwiFarms. Rather than the Australian government trying to ban this specific instance of murder videos, internet service providers in Australia chose to place temporary blocks on any sites that hosted the footage until all the footage was believed to be removed.
Several ethical concerns have been raised on the topic of shock sites and murder videos. One concern is that the popularity of shock sites will encourage an increase in violent murders; which can result in more extreme and violent videos that will likely generate more views on shock sites. Murder videos can inspire copycats to replicate the snuff films. After one of the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs' videos leaked on the internet as "3 Guys 1 Hammer" in 2007, Eric Clinton Kirk Newman murdered Lin Jun, a Chinese student, and uploaded the video (including scenes of dismemberment, cannibalism, and necrophilia) under the similar title of "1 Lunatic 1 Icepick" in 2012.
Another concern is the right of a victim and the victim's family to privacy after death. This is the issue of whether Lin Jun's parents have a right to remove the video of their son's murder from the internet. Murder victims cannot consent to the footage of their deaths being used and uploaded, and several court cases have agreed that parents and loved ones should have a right to prevent the widespread viewership of a personal tragedy and stop the video from being published.
Finally, while shock value is not sufficient to justify banning content legally (as was determined by Cohen v. California), there are still ethical concerns about the emotional damages caused by the jarring nature and content of shock sites. Viewing violent content such as murder videos on social media can cause or trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and cause other emotional distress.
As more people upload and view murder videos on shock sites, some believe that this practice is being mirrored in the horror movie genre. The presence of CCTV in "Saw" and the online torture auctions in "" raise questions on the nefarious use of monitoring systems and the widespread access to videos of Al-Qaeda beheadings, executions in American prisons, and other real depictions of violence and murder on the internet. In examples like "Saw", the contemporary horror genre reflects real horror on the internet.
Additionally, a parody of Goatse.cx was shown by a BBC newscast as an alternative for the then recently unveiled logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12688 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.