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A group of Liberal opponents of the merger with the Social Democrats, including Michael Meadowcroft (the former Liberal MP for Leeds West) and Paul Wiggin (who served on Peterborough City Council as a Liberal), continued with a new party organisation under the name of the 'Liberal Party'. Meadowcroft joined the Liberal Democrats in 2007, but the Liberal Party as reconstituted in 1989 continues to hold council seats and field candidates in Westminster Parliamentary elections. Only one of the twelve Liberal candidates in 2024 achieved 5% or more of the votes, resulting in all bar that one losing their deposits. Ideology. During the 19th century, the Liberal Party was broadly in favour of what would today be called classical liberalism, supporting "laissez-faire" economic policies such as free trade and minimal government interference in the economy (this doctrine was usually termed Gladstonian liberalism after the Victorian era Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone). The Liberal Party favoured social reform, personal liberty, reducing the powers of the Crown and the Church of England (many of them were nonconformists) and an extension of the electoral franchise.
reducing the powers of the Crown and the Church of England (many of them were nonconformists) and an extension of the electoral franchise. Sir William Harcourt, a prominent Liberal politician in the Victorian era, said this about liberalism in 1872: If there be any party which is more pledged than another to resist a policy of restrictive legislation, having for its object social coercion, that party is the Liberal party. (Cheers.) But liberty does not consist in making others do what you think right, (Hear, hear.) The difference between a free Government and a Government which is not free is principally this—that a Government which is not free interferes with everything it can, and a free Government interferes with nothing except what it must. A despotic Government tries to make everybody do what it wishes; a Liberal Government tries, as far as the safety of society will permit, to allow everybody to do as he wishes. It has been the tradition of the Liberal party consistently to maintain the doctrine of individual liberty.
It has been the tradition of the Liberal party consistently to maintain the doctrine of individual liberty. It is because they have done so that England is the place where people can do more what they please than in any other country in the world. [...] It is this practice of allowing one set of people to dictate to another set of people what they shall do, what they shall think, what they shall drink, when they shall go to bed, what they shall buy, and where they shall buy it, what wages they shall get and how they shall spend them, against which the Liberal party have always protested. The political terms of "modern", "progressive" or "new" Liberalism began to appear in the mid to late 1880s and became increasingly common to denote the tendency in the Liberal Party to favour an increased role for the state as more important than the classical liberal stress on self-help and freedom of choice. By the early 20th century, the Liberals stance began to shift towards "New Liberalism", what would today be called social liberalism, namely a belief in personal liberty with a support for government intervention to provide social welfare. This shift was best exemplified by the Liberal government of H. H. Asquith and his Chancellor David Lloyd George, whose Liberal reforms in the early 1900s created a basic welfare state.
David Lloyd George adopted a programme at the 1929 general election entitled "We Can Conquer Unemployment!", although by this stage the Liberals had declined to third-party status. The Liberals as expressed in the "Liberal Yellow Book" now regarded opposition to state intervention as being a characteristic of right-wing extremists. After nearly becoming extinct in the 1940s and the 1950s, the Liberal Party revived its fortunes somewhat under the leadership of Jo Grimond in the 1960s by positioning itself as a radical centrist, non-socialist alternative to the Conservative and Labour Party governments of the time. Religious alignment. Since 1660, nonconformist Protestants have played a major role in English politics. Relatively few MPs were Dissenters. However the Dissenters were a major voting bloc in many areas, such as the East Midlands. They were very well organised and highly motivated and largely won over the Whigs and Liberals to their cause.
They were very well organised and highly motivated and largely won over the Whigs and Liberals to their cause. They demanded an end to compulsory church rates, in which local taxes went only to Anglican churches. They finally achieved the end of religious tests for university degrees in 1905. Gladstone brought the majority of Dissenters around to support for Home Rule for Ireland, putting the dissenting Protestants in league with the Irish Roman Catholics in an otherwise unlikely alliance. The Dissenters gave significant support to moralistic issues, such as temperance and sabbath enforcement. The nonconformist conscience, as it was called, was repeatedly called upon by Gladstone for support for his moralistic foreign policy. In election after election, Protestant ministers rallied their congregations to the Liberal ticket. In Scotland, the Presbyterians played a similar role to the Nonconformist Methodists, Baptists and other groups in England and Wales.
By the 1820s, the different Nonconformists, including Wesleyan Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists and Unitarians, had formed the Committee of Dissenting Deputies and agitated for repeal of the highly restrictive Test and Corporation Acts. These Acts excluded Nonconformists from holding civil or military office or attending Oxford or Cambridge, compelling them to set up their own Dissenting Academies privately. The Tories tended to be in favour of these Acts and so the Nonconformist cause was linked closely to the Whigs, who advocated civil and religious liberty. After the Test and Corporation Acts were repealed in 1828, all the Nonconformists elected to Parliament were Liberals. Nonconformists were angered by the Education Act 1902, which integrated Church of England denominational schools into the state system and provided for their support from taxes. John Clifford formed the National Passive Resistance Committee and by 1906 over 170 Nonconformists had gone to prison for refusing to pay school taxes. They included 60 Primitive Methodists, 48 Baptists, 40 Congregationalists and 15 Wesleyan Methodists.
The political strength of Dissent faded sharply after 1920 with the secularisation of British society in the 20th century. The rise of the Labour Party reduced the Liberal Party strongholds into the nonconformist and remote "Celtic Fringe", where the party survived by an emphasis on localism and historic religious identity, thereby neutralising much of the class pressure on behalf of the Labour movement. Meanwhile, the Anglican Church was a bastion of strength for the Conservative Party. On the Irish issue, the Anglicans strongly supported unionism. Increasingly after 1850, the Roman Catholic element in England and Scotland was composed of recent emigrants from Ireland who largely voted for the Irish Parliamentary Party until its collapse in 1918.
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one of the bankers for the government of the United Kingdom, it is the world's second oldest central bank. The bank was privately owned by stockholders from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalised in 1946 by the Attlee ministry. In 1998 it became an independent public organisation, wholly owned by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the government, with a mandate to support the economic policies of the government of the day, but independence in maintaining price stability. In the 21st century the bank took on increased responsibility for maintaining and monitoring financial stability in the UK, and it increasingly functions as a statutory regulator. The bank's headquarters have been in London's main financial district, the City of London, since 1694, and on Threadneedle Street since 1734. It is sometimes known as "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street", a name taken from a satirical cartoon by James Gillray in 1797. The road junction outside is known as Bank Junction.
The bank, among other things, is custodian to the official gold reserves of the United Kingdom (and those of around 30 other countries). , the bank held around of gold, worth £141 billion. These estimates suggest that the vault could hold as much as 3% of the 171,300 tonnes of gold mined throughout human history. Functions. According to its strapline, the bank's core purpose is 'promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability'. This is achieved in a variety of ways: Monetary stability. Stable prices and secure forms of payment are the two main criteria for monetary stability. Stable prices. Stable prices are maintained by seeking to ensure that price increases meet the Government's inflation target. The bank aims to meet this target by adjusting the base interest rate (known as the bank rate), which is decided by the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). (The MPC has devolved responsibility for managing monetary policy; HM Treasury has reserve powers to give orders to the committee "if they are required in the public interest and by extreme economic circumstances", but Parliament must endorse such orders within 28 days.)
As of 2024 the inflation target is 2%; if this target is missed the Governor is required to write an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining the situation and proposing remedies. Other than setting the base interest rate, the main tool at the bank's disposal in this regard is quantitative easing. Secure forms of payment. The bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales and regulates the issuance of banknotes by commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. (Scottish and Northern Irish banks retain the right to issue their own banknotes, but they must be backed one-for-one with deposits at the bank, excepting a few million pounds representing the value of notes they had in circulation in 1845.) In addition the bank supervises other payment systems, acting as a settlement agent and operating Real-time gross settlement systems including CHAPS. In 2024 the bank was settling around £500 billion worth of payments between banks each day. Financial stability. Maintaining financial stability involves protecting the UK's savers, investors and borrowers against threats to the financial system as a whole. Threats are detected by the bank's surveillance and market intelligence functions, and dealt with through financial and other operations (both at home and abroad). The majority of these safeguards were put in place in after the 2008 financial crisis:
Regulation. In 2011 the bank's Prudential Regulation Authority was established to regulate and supervise all major banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and investment firms in the UK ('microprudential regulation'). The bank also has a statutory supervisory role in relation to financial market infrastructures. Risk management. At the same time, the bank's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) was set up to identify and monitor risks in the financial system, and to take appropriate action where necessary ('macroprudential regulation'). The FPC publishes its findings (and actions taken) in a biannual Financial Stability Report. Banking services. The bank provides wholesale banking services to the UK Government (and to over a hundred overseas central banks). It manages the UK's Exchange Equalisation Account on behalf of HM Treasury and it maintains the government's Consolidated Fund account. It also manages the country's foreign exchange reserves and is custodian of the UK's (and others') gold reserves.
The bank also offers 'liquidity support and other services to banks and other financial institutions'. Commercial banks customarily keep a sizeable proportion of their cash reserves on deposit at the Bank of England. These central bank reserves are used by the banks to settle payments with one another; (for this reason the Bank of England is sometimes called 'the bankers' bank'). In exceptional circumstances, the Bank may act as the lender of last resort by extending credit when no other institution will. As a regulator and central bank, the Bank of England has not offered consumer banking services for many years, but it still does manage some public-facing services (such as exchanging superseded bank notes). Until 2017, Bank staff were entitled to open current accounts directly with the Bank of England and were given the unique sort code of 10-00-00. Resolution. Under the terms of the Banking Act 2009 the bank is the UK's Resolution Authority for any bank or building society judged 'too big to fail'; as such it is empowered to act in the event of a bank failure 'to protect the UK's vital financial services and financial stability'.
Historic services and responsibilities. Between 1715 and 1998, the Bank of England managed Government Stocks (which formed the bulk of the national debt): the bank was responsible for issuing stocks to stockholders, paying dividends and maintaining a register of transfers; however in 1998, following the decision to grant the bank operational independence, responsibility for government debt management was transferred to a new Debt Management Office, which also took over Exchequer cash management and responsibility for issuing Treasury bills from the bank in 2000. Computershare took over as the registrar for UK Government bonds (gilt-edged securities or 'gilts') from the bank at the end of 2004. The bank, however, continues to act as settlement agent for the Debt Management Office and custodian of its securities. Ever since its foundation in 1694, the bank had provided a retail banking service for the Government; however in 2008 it decided to withdraw from offering these services, which are now provided by a range of other financial institutions and managed by the Government Banking Service.
Until 2016, the bank provided personal banking services as a privilege for employees. Previously, the bank had maintained private and commercial accounts for all sorts of customers, including individuals, small businesses and public organisations; but a change of policy following the First World War saw the bank increasingly withdraw from this type of business to focus more clearly on its central banking role. History. Founding. During the Nine Years' War, the Royal Navy was defeated by the French Navy in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head, causing consternation in the government of William III of England. The English government decided to rebuild the Royal Navy into a force that was capable of challenging the French on equal terms; however, their ability to do so was hampered both by a lack of available public funds and the government's low credit. This lack of credit made it impossible for the English government to borrow the £1.5m that it wanted to use to expand the Royal Navy. Concept. In 1691, William Paterson had proposed establishing a national bank as a means of bolstering public finances. As he later wrote in his pamphlet "A Brief Account of the Intended Bank of England" (1694): While his scheme was not immediately acted upon, it did provide the basis for the bank's first Charter and the legislation which made its establishment possible.
Two other key figures in the bank's creation were Charles Montagu, the Member of Parliament for Maldon, who played a crucial role in steering the proposals through Parliament (and was afterwards appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer); and Michael Godfrey, who helped persuade City financiers of its benefits (and was subsequently chosen to be the bank's first Deputy Governor). It has also been claimed (by W. R. Scott, among others) that William Phips played a timely, if incidental, role: his successful expedition to retrieve booty from a sunken Spanish galleon (the "Nuestra Señora de la Concepción") helped create an ideal market for the bank's foundation: flooding the market with bullion and creating an enthusiasm for joint-stock ventures. Legislation. Paterson's proposal required the Government to set up a fund from which interest would be paid to the subscribers. It was decided that this would be provided for by income from tonnage, and certain other shipping duties routinely levied by HM Exchequer; therefore Parliament approved the bank's establishment by means of the Tonnage Act 1694 ('An Act for granting to theire Majesties severall Rates and Duties upon Tunnage of Shipps and Vessells and upon Beere Ale and other Liquors for secureing certaine Recompenses and Advantages in the said Act mentioned to such Persons as shall voluntarily advance the summe of Fifteen hundred thousand Pounds towards the carrying on the Warr against France').
To induce subscription to the loan, the subscribers were to be incorporated by the name of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. Public finances were in such dire condition at the time that the terms of the loan (as laid down in the Act of Parliament) were that it was to be serviced at a rate of 8% per annum; there was also a service charge of £4,000 per annum payable to the bank for the management of the loan. The Act limited the subscribers' investment to a maximum of £10,000 each in the first instance, and £1,200,000 in total (it was envisaged that the Exchequer would raise the remaining £300,000 through other forms of borrowing). Incorporation. The royal charter of the Bank of England was granted on 27 July 1694, three months after the passing of the Act. In the end the £1.2 million was raised in 12 days; 1,268 people subscribed. Their holdings were known as Bank Stock (Bank Stock continued to be held in private ownership until 1946 when the Bank of England was nationalised). The majority of the original subscribers were of 'the mercantile middle classes of London' (though tradesmen and artisans also subscribed). Most (more than two-thirds) contributed less than £1,000. As a proportion of the total amount raised, 25% came from 'esquires', 21% from merchants and 15% from titled aristocrats. Twelve per cent of the original subscribers were women. King William and Queen Mary (jointly) invested £10,000, the maximum permitted sum, as did a handful of others (including Sir John Houblon).
Investment in the navy duly took place. As a side effect, the huge industrial effort needed (including establishing ironworks to make more nails and advances in agriculture feeding the quadrupled strength of the navy) started to transform the economy. This helped the new Kingdom of Great Britain – England and Scotland were formally united in 1707 – to become powerful. The power of the Royal Navy made Britain the dominant world power in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Governance. The first Governor of the bank was John Houblon, and the first Deputy Governor Michael Godfrey. (330 years later, in 1994, the bank would issue a £50 note depicting Houblon to mark its tercentenary.) Governance was vested in the Governor, his Deputy and a 'Court' of 24 Directors (most of whom were merchant bankers recruited from the City); the Directors were elected annually by a 'General Court' of all the Bank's registered stockholders (collectively known as 'the Proprietors'). The common seal of the Court of Directors, adopted on 30 July 1694, depicted 'Britannia sitting and looking on a Bank of mony'; Britannia has been the bank's emblem ever since.
The Court appointed three senior officers who, alongside the Governor and Deputy Governor, were responsible for its day-to-day running of the bank: the Secretary and Sollicitor, the First Accomptant and the First Cashier. (Their successors, the Secretary, Chief Accountant and Chief Cashier, continued to head up the main divisions of the bank's operations for the next 250 years: the Chief Cashier and the Chief Accountant had oversight of the 'cash side' and the 'stock side' of the bank, respectively, while the Secretary oversaw its internal administration.) Besides these officers, the bank in 1694 was staffed by seventeen clerks and two doorkeepers. Premises. The bank initially did not have its own building, first opening on 1 August 1694 in Mercers' Hall on Cheapside. This however was found to be too small and from 31 December 1694 the bank operated from Grocers' Hall (located then on Poultry), where it would remain for almost 40 years. (Houblon had served as Master of the Grocers' Company in 1690–1691.) Operation.
The Act of Parliament prohibited the bank from trading in goods or merchandise of any kind, though it was allowed to deal in gold and silver bullion, and in bills of exchange. Before very long, the bank was maximising its profits by issuing banknotes, taking deposits and lending on mortgages. In its early days the bank made significant losses, not least by accepting clipped coins in exchange for its banknotes. The establishment of a Land Bank (by John Asgill and Nicholas Barbon) in 1695, and a currency shortage occasioned by the Great Recoinage of 1696, both threatened the bank's position; but Parliament intervened, passing another Act that year, which authorised the bank to increase its capital to over £2.2 million through the enlarging of its stock by new subscriptions. 18th century. In 1700, the Hollow Sword Blade Company was purchased by a group of businessmen who wished to establish a competing English bank (in an action that would today be considered a "back door listing"). The Bank of England's initial monopoly on English banking was due to expire in 1710. However, it was instead renewed, and the Sword Blade company failed to achieve its goal.
The idea and reality of the national debt came about at around this time, and this was also largely managed by the bank. Through the 1715 Ways and Means Act, Parliament authorised the bank to receive subscriptions for a government issue of 5% annuities, designed to raise £910,000; this marked the start of the bank's role in managing Government Stocks, which were a means for people to invest in government debt (previously Government borrowing had been administered directly by the Exchequer). The bank was obliged by the Act to pay half-yearly dividends and to keep a book record of all transfers (as it was already accustomed to do with regard to its own Bank Stock). The bank did not have a monopoly on lending to the government, however: the South Sea Company had been established in 1711, and in 1720 it too became responsible for part of the UK's national debt, becoming a major competitor to the Bank of England. While the "South Sea Bubble" disaster soon ensued, the company continued managing part of the UK national debt until 1853. The East India Company too was a lender of choice for the government.
In 1734 there were ninety-six members of staff at the bank. The bank's charter was renewed in 1742, and again in 1764. By the 1742 Act the bank became the only joint-stock company allowed to issue bank notes in the metropolis. Threadneedle Street. The Bank of England moved to its current location, on the site of Sir John Houblon's house and garden in Threadneedle Street (close by the church of St Christopher le Stocks), in 1734. (The estate had been purchased ten years earlier; Houblon had died in 1712, but his widow lived on in the house until her death in 1731, after which the house was demolished and work on the bank began.) The newly built premises, designed by George Sampson, occupied a narrow plot (around wide) extending north from Threadneedle Street. The front building contained transfer offices on the first floor, beneath which was an entrance arch leading to a courtyard. Facing the entrance was the 'main building' of the bank: a large Hall () in which bank notes were issued and exchanged, and where deposits and withdrawals could be made.
Facing the entrance was the 'main building' of the bank: a large Hall () in which bank notes were issued and exchanged, and where deposits and withdrawals could be made. (Sampson's Great Hall, later known as the Pay Hall, remained "in situ" and in use until Herbert Baker's comprehensive rebuilding in the late 1920s.) Beyond the Hall was a quadrangle of buildings enclosing a 'spacious and commodious Court-yard' (later known as Bullion Court). On the south side of the quadrangle were the Court Room and Committee Room, on the north side was a large Accountants' Office; on either side were arcaded walkways, with rooms for the senior officers, while the upper floors contained offices and apartments. Beneath the quadrangle were the vaults ('that have very strong Walls and Iron Gates, for the Preservation of the Cash'); access to the courtyard was provided, by way of a passage leading to a 'grand Gateway' on Bartholomew Lane, for the coaches and waggons 'that come frequently loaded with Gold and Silver Bullion'. The pediment above the entrance to the main Hall was decorated with a carved "alto relievo" figure of Britannia (who had appeared on the common seal of the bank since 30 July 1694);
access to the courtyard was provided, by way of a passage leading to a 'grand Gateway' on Bartholomew Lane, for the coaches and waggons 'that come frequently loaded with Gold and Silver Bullion'. The pediment above the entrance to the main Hall was decorated with a carved "alto relievo" figure of Britannia (who had appeared on the common seal of the bank since 30 July 1694); the sculptor was Robert Taylor, who went on to be appointed Architect, in succession to Sampson, in 1764. Inside, the east end of the Hall was dominated by a large statue by John Cheere of King William III, lauded in an accompanying Latin inscription as the bank's founder ("conditor"); at the opposite end, a large Venetian window looked out on St Christopher's churchyard.
Expansion. In the second half of the 18th century the bank gradually acquired neighbouring plots of land to enable it to expand, and after 1765 new buildings began to be added by the bank's newly appointed architect Robert Taylor. North-west of the Pay Hall, overlooking St Christopher's churchyard to the south, Taylor built a suite of rooms for the Directors of the bank centred on a new (much larger) Court Room and Committee Room (When the bank was rebuilt in the 1920s-30s, these rooms were removed from their original ground-floor location and reconstructed on the first floor; they continue to be used for meetings of the bank's Court of Directors and Monetary Policy Committee respectively.). East of the Pay Hall, Taylor built a suite of halls and offices dedicated to the management of stocks and dividends, which more or less doubled the size of the bank's footprint (extending it as far as Bartholomew Lane). These rooms were centred on a large Rotunda, also known as the Brokers' Exchange, where dealing in Government Stock took place; around it were arranged four sizeable Transfer Offices, each corresponding with a different fund (as described in the 1820s: 'In each office under the several letters of the alphabet, are arranged the books on which the names of all persons having property in the funds are registered, as well as the particulars of their respective interests'). All these offices were top-lit, to avoid the need for windows in the external walls.
In 1782 the church of St Christopher le Stocks was demolished, allowing the bank to expand westwards along Threadneedle Street. The new west wing was completed to Taylor's design in 1786 (its frontage matching that of Taylor's earlier east wing): it housed the Reduced Annuities Office, the Cheque Office and the Dividend Warrant Office (among others). Immediately to the north lay the former churchyard of St Christopher le Stocks, which was preserved within the complex of buildings as a garden (known as the 'Garden Court'). North of Bullion Court, Taylor built a new four-storey Library, to house the bank's expanding collection of archives. The Bank Picquet. The church's demolition had been prompted by the 1780 Gordon Riots, during which rioters reportedly climbed on the church to throw projectiles at the buildings of the bank. During the riots, in June 1780, the Lord Mayor of London petitioned the Secretary of State to send a military guard to protect the bank and the Mansion House. Thenceforward a nightly guard (the 'Bank Picquet') was provided by soldiers of the Household Brigade (a practice which continued until 1973). To house the guard Taylor built a barracks (accessed from a separate entrance on Princes Street) in the north-west corner of the site.
John Soane's rebuilding. Sir Robert Taylor died in 1788 and in his place the bank appointed John Soane as Architect and Surveyor (he would remain in post until 1827). Under his direction, the bank was further expanded and partially rebuilt, bit by bit but to a cohesive plan. A survey of the buildings, undertaken at the start of his tenure, identified some problems, which were promptly remedied by Soane: for example in 1795 he rebuilt the Rotunda and two of the adjacent Transfer Offices (the Bank Stock Office and the Four Per Cent Office), replacing Taylor's timber roofs, which were leaking, with more durable stonework. At the same time Soane was tasked with purchasing properties to the north-east, with compulsory purchase powers granted by the (33 Geo. 3. c. 15), so as to enable the bank to expand in that direction as far as Lothbury. Between 1794 and 1800 he designed a cohesive set of buildings within the new irregularly-shaped site: he reconfigured Bullion Court and provided a new entrance route for vehicles from the north, which was named Lothbury Court; to the west of this he built a new Chief Cashier's office, and rooms for the Secretary and Chief Accountant; to the east he constructed a new Library block and added a fifth Transfer Office (the Consols Transfer Office) to the north of the other four.
The Brokers' Exchange in the Bank. In the late 18th and early 19th century, prior to the establishment of the London Stock Exchange, the Rotunda in the Bank of England was used as a trading floor 'where stock-brokers, stock-jobbers, and other persons, meet for the purpose of transacting business in public funds'. Branching off from the Rotunda were 'offices appropriated to the management of each particular stock' containing books listing every individual's registered interest in the fund. The use of the Rotunda for trading ceased in 1838, but it continued to be used for the cashing of fundholders' dividend warrants. Conflicts and credit crises. The credit crisis of 1772 has been described as the first modern banking crisis faced by the Bank of England. The whole City of London was in uproar when Alexander Fordyce was declared bankrupt. In August 1773, the Bank of England assisted the EIC with a loan. The strain upon the reserves of the Bank of England was not eased until towards the end of the year. During the American War of Independence, business for the bank was so good that George Washington remained a shareholder throughout the period.
By the bank's charter renewal in 1781, it was also the bankers' bank – keeping enough gold to pay its notes on demand until 26 February 1797 when war had so diminished gold reserves that – following an invasion scare caused by the Battle of Fishguard days earlier – the government prohibited the bank from paying out in gold by the passing of the bank Restriction Act 1797. This prohibition lasted until 1821. In 1798, during the French Revolutionary Wars, a Corps of bank Volunteers was formed (of between 450 and 500 men) to defend the bank in the event of an invasion. It was disbanded in 1802, but promptly re-formed the following year at the start of the Napoleonic Wars. Its soldiers were trained, in the event of an invasion, to remove the gold and silver from the vaults to a remote location, along with the banknote printing presses and certain important records. An armoury was provided on site at Threadneedle Street for their arms and accoutrements. The Corps was finally disbanded in 1814. 19th century. At the start of the 19th century a plan was enacted by John Soane for the further extension of the bank's premises, this time to the north-west (necessitating the rerouting of Princes Street, to form the new western boundary of the site). Much of the area of the new extension was taken up with steam-powered presses for the printing of banknotes (notes continued to be printed on site until the First World War, when the former St Luke's Hospital was acquired and converted into the bank's printing works). Soane continued in post until 1833; in the last years before his retirement he completed his rebuilding of Taylor's east wing and reconfigured Sampson and Taylor's street-facing façades to make the entire perimeter of the complex a coherent whole.
In 1811, an 'ingeniously contrived clock' by Thwaites & Co. was installed above the Pay Hall: as well as chiming the hours and quarters, it conveyed the time remotely (by means of brass rods extending a total of in length) to dials located in sixteen different offices around the site. The 'panic of 1825' highlighted risks inherent in the bank's three-way split loyalties: to its stockholders, to the Government (and thereby to the public), and to its commercial banking customers. In 1825–26 the bank was able to avert a liquidity crisis when Nathan Mayer Rothschild succeeded in supplying it with gold; nevertheless, after the crisis, many country and provincial banks failed prompting numerous commercial bankruptcies. The passing of the Country Bankers Act 1826 allowed the bank to open provincial branches for the better distribution of its banknotes (at the time small country banks, some of which were significantly undercapitalised, issued their own notes); by the end of the following year eight Bank of England branches had been set up around the country.
The Bank Charter Act 1844 tied the issue of notes to the gold reserves and gave the Bank of England sole rights with regard to the issue of banknotes in England. Private banks that had previously had that right retained it, provided that their headquarters were outside London and that they deposited security against the notes that they issued; but they were offered inducements to relinquish this right. (The last private bank in England to issue its own notes was Thomas Fox's Fox, Fowler and Company bank in Wellington, which rapidly expanded until it merged with Lloyds Bank in 1927. They remained legal tender until 1964. (There are nine notes left in circulation; one is housed at Tone Dale House, Wellington.)) The bank acted as lender of last resort for the first time in the panic of 1866. 20th century. Until 1931 Britain was on the gold standard, meaning the value of sterling was fixed by the price of gold. That year, the Bank of England had to take Britain off the gold standard due to the effects of Great Depression spreading to Europe. 1913 attempted bombing.
A terrorist bombing was attempted outside the Bank of England building on 4 April 1913. A bomb was discovered smoking and ready to explode next to railings outside the building. The bomb had been planted as part of the suffragette bombing and arson campaign, in which the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) launched a series of politically motivated bombing and arson attacks nationwide as part of their campaign for women's suffrage. The bomb was defused before it could detonate, in what was then one of the busiest public streets in the capital, which likely prevented many civilian casualties. The bomb had been planted the day after WSPU leader Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for carrying out a bombing on the home of politician David Lloyd George. The remains of the bomb, which was built into a milk churn, are now on display at the City of London Police Museum. Restructuring and rebuilding. During the governorship of Montagu Norman, from 1920 to 1944, the bank made deliberate efforts to move away from commercial banking and become a central bank. A later Governor, Robin Leigh-Pemberton, described it as 'a time of rapid change, in which we began to move away from the clerical traditions of 200 years [...] and to accept specialisation, mechanisation and modern management disciplines'. Economists and statisticians began to be employed at the bank in increasing number. In 1931 the 'Peacock Committee', set up to advise on organisational improvements, published recommendations which included the appointment of paid executive Directors (alongside the traditional non-executive members of the Court). It also recommended reconfiguration of the bank's traditional departmental structures.
The work of the bank had significantly increased since the end of the First World War, and the decision was taken to expand. Between 1925 and 1939 the bank's headquarters on Threadneedle Street were comprehensively rebuilt by Herbert Baker. (This involved the demolition of most of Sir John Soane's buildings, an act described by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest architectural crime, in the City of London, of the twentieth century".) Initially the plan had been to retain Soane's banking halls behind the curtain wall, but this proved challenging so they were instead demolished and rebuilt in facsimile. The demolition and rebuilding took place in stages, with staff moving from one part of the building to another (or, in some cases, into temporary accommodation at Finsbury Circus). The bullion and securities remained on site throughout. During reconstruction human remains pertaining to the old churchyard of St Christopher le Stocks were exhumed and reburied at Nunhead Cemetery. Baker's steel-framed building stands seven storeys high, with a further three vault storeys extending below ground level. It is decorated with sculpture and bronze work by Charles Wheeler, plasterwork by Joseph Armitage and mosaics by Boris Anrep. The bank today is a Grade I listed building. 1939 saw the introduction of Exchange Controls in the United Kingdom at the outbreak of the Second World War; these were administered by the bank. During WWII, over 10% of the face value of circulating Pound Sterling banknotes were forgeries produced by Germany.
A number of the bank's operations and staff were relocated to Hampshire for the duration of the war, including the printing works (which moved to Overton), the Accountant's Department (which went to Hurstbourne Park) and various other offices. Those who remained at Threadneedle Street, including the Directors, moved their offices into the underground vaults. Post-war nationalisation. In 1946, shortly after the end of Montagu Norman's tenure, the bank was nationalised by the Labour government. At the same time the number of Directors was reduced to sixteen (four of whom were full-time Executive Directors). The bank pursued the multiple goals of Keynesian economics after 1945, especially "easy money" and low-interest rates to support aggregate demand. It tried to keep a fixed exchange rate and attempted to deal with inflation and sterling weakness by credit and exchange controls. After the war, the very large Accountant's Department (which managed the stock side of the bank) moved back to London from Hampshire. Its designated office-space at Threadneedle Street, however, had in the meantime been taken over by the Exchange Control office. The department was instead provided with temporary accommodation (once more in Finsbury Circus), pending construction of a new building, which would occupy a two-acre bombsite immediately to the east of St Paul's Cathedral. 'Bank of England New Change' was designed by Victor Heal and opened in 1957 (at the time it was London's biggest post-war rebuilding project); the new building contained several staff amenities alongside the office accommodation and, at street level, retail units were let to an assortment of businesses. The bank had the building on a 200-year lease; but with the advent of computerisation staff numbers were drastically reduced in the 1980s-90s; parts of the building were let to other firms (most notably the law firm Allen & Overy). The bank sold the building in 2000 and in 2007 it was demolished; One New Change now stands on the site.
The bank's "10 bob note" was withdrawn from circulation in 1970 in preparation for Decimal Day in 1971. In 1977 the bank set up a wholly owned subsidiary called Bank of England Nominees Limited (BOEN), a now-defunct private limited company, with two of its hundred £1 shares issued. According to its memorandum of association, its objectives were: "To act as Nominee or agent or attorney either solely or jointly with others, for any person or persons, partnership, company, corporation, government, state, organisation, sovereign, province, authority, or public body, or any group or association of them". Bank of England Nominees Limited was granted an exemption by Edmund Dell, Secretary of State for Trade, from the disclosure requirements under Section 27(9) of the Companies Act 1976, because "it was considered undesirable that the disclosure requirements should apply to certain categories of shareholders". The Bank of England is also protected by its royal charter status and the Official Secrets Act. BOEN was a vehicle for governments and heads of state to invest in UK companies (subject to approval from the Secretary of State), providing they undertake "not to influence the affairs of the company". In its later years, BOEN was no longer exempt from company law disclosure requirements. Although a dormant company, dormancy does not preclude a company actively operating as a nominee shareholder. BOEN had two shareholders: the Bank of England, and the Secretary of the Bank of England.
The reserve requirement for banks to hold a minimum fixed proportion of their deposits as reserves at the Bank of England was abolished in 1981: see for more details. The contemporary transition from Keynesian economics to Chicago economics was analysed by Nicholas Kaldor in "The Scourge of Monetarism". The handing over of monetary policy to the bank became a key plank of the Liberal Democrats' economic policy for the 1992 general election. Conservative MP Nicholas Budgen had also proposed this as a private member's bill in 1996, but the bill failed as it had the support of neither the government nor the opposition. The UK government left the expensive-to-maintain European Exchange Rate Mechanism in September 1992, in an action that cost HM Treasury over £3 billion. This led to closer communication between the government and the bank. In 1993, the bank produced its first "Inflation Report" for the government, detailing inflationary trends and pressures. This annually produced report remains one of the bank's major publications. The success of inflation targeting in the United Kingdom has been attributed to the bank's focus on transparency. The Bank of England has been a leader in producing innovative ways of communicating information to the public, especially through its Inflation Report, which many other central banks have emulated.
The bank celebrated its three-hundredth birthday in 1994. In 1996, the bank produced its first "Financial Stability Review". This annual publication became known as the "Financial Stability Report" in 2006. Also that year, the bank set up its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system to improve risk-free settlement between UK banks. On 6 May 1997, following the 1997 general election that brought a Labour government to power for the first time since 1979, it was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, that the bank would be granted operational independence over monetary policy. Under the terms of the Bank of England Act 1998 (which came into force on 1 June 1998) the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was given sole responsibility for setting interest rates to meet the Government's Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation target of 2.5%. The target has changed to 2% since the Consumer Price Index (CPI) replaced the Retail Prices Index as the Treasury's inflation index. If inflation overshoots or undershoots the target by more than 1% the Governor has to write a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining why, and how he will remedy the situation.
Independent central banks that adopt an inflation target are known as Friedmanite central banks. This change in Labour's politics was described by Skidelsky in "The Return of the Master" as a mistake and as an adoption of the rational expectations hypothesis as promulgated by Alan Walters. Inflation targets combined with central bank independence have been characterised as a "starve the beast" strategy creating a lack of money in the public sector. in June 1998 responsibility for the regulation and supervision of the banking and insurance industries was transferred from the bank to the Financial Services Authority. A memorandum of understanding described the terms under which the bank, the Treasury, and the FSA would work toward the common aim of increased financial stability. (Ten years later, however, after the 2008 financial crisis, new banking legislation transferred the responsibility for regulation and supervision of the banking and insurance industries back to the Bank of England). 21st century. The bank decided to sell its banknote-printing operations to De La Rue in December 2002, under the advice of Close Brothers Corporate Finance Ltd.
Mervyn King became the Governor of the Bank of England on 30 June 2003. In 2009, a request made to HM Treasury under the Freedom of Information Act sought details about the 3% Bank of England stock owned by unnamed shareholders whose identity the bank is not at liberty to disclose. In a letter of reply dated 15 October 2009, HM Treasury explained that "Some of the 3% Treasury stock which was used to compensate former owners of bank stock has not been redeemed. However, interest is paid out twice a year and it is not the case that this has been accumulating and compounding." In 2010, the incoming Chancellor announced his intention to merge the Financial Services Authority back into the bank. In 2011 an interim Financial Policy Committee (FPC) was created (as a mirror committee to the Monetary Policy Committee) to spearhead the bank's new mandate on financial stability. The Financial Services Act 2012 gave the bank additional functions and bodies, including an independent FPC, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and more powers to supervise financial market infrastructure providers. It also created the independent Financial Conduct Authority. These bodies are responsible for macroprudential regulation of all UK banks and insurance companies.
Canadian Mark Carney assumed the post of Governor of the Bank of England on 1 July 2013. He served an initial five-year term rather than the typical eight. He became the first Governor not to be a United Kingdom citizen but has since been granted citizenship. At Government request, his term was extended to 2019, then again to 2020. , the bank also had four Deputy Governors. BOEN was dissolved, following liquidation, in July 2017. Andrew Bailey succeeded Carney as the Governor of the Bank of England on 16 March 2020. Asset purchase facility. The bank has operated, since January 2009, an Asset Purchase Facility (APF) to buy "high-quality assets financed by the issue of Treasury bills and the DMO's cash management operations" and thereby improve liquidity in the credit markets. It has, since March 2009, also provided the mechanism by which the bank's policy of quantitative easing (QE) is achieved, under the auspices of the MPC. Along with managing the QE funds, which were £895 bn at peak, the APF continues to operate its corporate facilities. Both are undertaken by a subsidiary company of the Bank of England, the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund Limited (BEAPFF).
QE was primarily designed as an instrument of monetary policy. The mechanism required the Bank of England to purchase government bonds on the secondary market, financed by creating new central bank money. This would have the effect of increasing the asset prices of the bonds purchased, thereby lowering yields and dampening longer-term interest rates. The policy's aim was initially to ease liquidity constraints in the sterling reserves system but evolved into a wider policy to provide economic stimulus. QE was enacted in six tranches between 2009 and 2020. At its peak in 2020, the portfolio totalled £895 billion, comprising £875 billion of UK government bonds and £20 billion of high-grade commercial bonds. In February 2022, the Bank of England announced its intention to commence winding down the QE portfolio. Initially this would be achieved by not replacing tranches of maturing bonds, and would later be accelerated through active bond sales. In August 2022, the Bank of England reiterated its intention to accelerate the QE wind-down through active bond sales. This policy was affirmed in an exchange of letters between the Bank of England and the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer in September 2022. Between February 2022 and September 2022, a total of £37.1bn of government bonds matured, reducing the outstanding stock from £875.0bn at the end of 2021 to £837.9bn. In addition, a total of £1.1bn of corporate bonds matured, reducing the stock from £20.0bn to £18.9bn, with sales of the remaining stock planned to begin on 27 September.
Banknote issues. The bank has issued banknotes since 1694. Notes were originally hand-written; although they were partially printed from 1725 onwards, cashiers still had to sign each note and make them payable to someone. Notes were fully printed from 1855. Until 1928 all notes were "White Notes", printed in black and with a blank reverse. In the 18th and 19th centuries, White Notes were issued in £1 and £2 denominations. During the 20th century, White Notes were issued in denominations between £5 and £1000. Until the passing of the Gold Standard Act 1925 the bank was obliged to pay on demand the value of the note in gold coin to its bearer. In 1724 the bank entered into a contract with Henry Portal of Whitchurch, Hampshire to provide high-quality paper for the printing of banknotes. The printing itself was undertaken by private printing firms; the copper plates were kept in the vault, and accompanied during their time at the printer by a bank clerk (who would record the number of copies made); once dry they would be delivered to the bank. The printing operation was brought within the bank's premises (albeit still under private contract) in 1791; in 1808 it was brought fully in-house.
Until the mid-19th century, commercial banks were allowed to issue their own banknotes, and notes issued by provincial banking companies were commonly in circulation. The Bank Charter Act 1844 began the process of restricting note issue to the bank; new banks were prohibited from issuing their own banknotes, and existing note-issuing banks were not permitted to expand their issue. As provincial banking companies merged to form larger banks, they lost their right to issue notes, and the English private banknote eventually disappeared, leaving the bank with a monopoly of note issues in England and Wales. The last private bank to issue its own banknotes in England and Wales was Fox, Fowler and Company in 1921. However, the limitations of the 1844 Act only affected banks in England and Wales, and today three commercial banks in Scotland and four in Northern Ireland continue to issue their own banknotes, regulated by the bank. At the start of the First World War, the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1914 was passed, which granted temporary powers to HM Treasury for issuing banknotes to the values of £1 and 10/- (ten shillings). Treasury notes had full legal tender status and were not convertible into gold through the bank; they replaced the gold coin in circulation to prevent a run on sterling and to enable raw material purchases for armament production. These notes featured an image of King George V (Bank of England notes did not begin to display an image of the monarch until 1960). The wording on each note was:
Treasury notes were issued until 1928 when the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 returned note-issuing powers to the banks. The Bank of England issued notes for ten shillings and one pound for the first time on 22 November 1928. During the Second World War, the German Operation Bernhard attempted to counterfeit denominations between £5 and £50, producing 500,000 notes each month in 1943. The original plan was to parachute the money into the UK in an attempt to destabilise the British economy, but it was found more useful to use the notes to pay German agents operating throughout Europe. Although most fell into Allied hands at the end of the war, forgeries frequently appeared for years afterward, which led banknote denominations above £5 to be removed from circulation. In 2006, over £53 million in banknotes belonging to the bank was stolen from a depot in Tonbridge, Kent. In 1917 the bank had moved its printing operation into St Luke's Printing Works, a former hospital; in 1958 it moved out to Debden. Modern banknotes are printed by contract with De La Rue Currency in Loughton, Essex.
Branch offices. For most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the bank had a number of branches in London and other English cities. The first branches opened in 1826 (with impetus provided by the passing of the Country Bankers Act, which for the first time permitted the establishment of joint-stock banks outside London). The bank envisaged that the new network of branches would 'increase the circulation of Bank Notes, give the bank much more complete control over the whole paper circulation, and protect the bank against the competition of larger banking Companies'. Each branch was overseen by an Agent (a person of 'commercial knowledge, with local experience'). By 1829 there were eleven branches operating (ten in England and one in Wales). Some of the less profitable branches were relatively short-lived, but others continued operating into the 1990s. In 1997 the five last remaining branches closed; the Agents, however, were retained, with a structure of Regional Agencies created (across the UK), some of which were based in former branch buildings.
Governance of the Bank of England. Governors. Following is a list of the governors of the Bank of England since the beginning of the 20th century: Court of Directors. The Court of Directors is a unitary board that is responsible for setting the organisation's strategy and budget and making key decisions on resourcing and appointments. It consists of five executive members from the bank (the Governor and the four Deputy Governors, each of whom oversees a different area of the bank's work), plus up to 9 non-executive members, all of whom are appointed by the Crown. The Chancellor selects the Chairman of the Court from among the non-executive members. The Court is required to meet at least seven times a year. The Governor serves for a period of eight years, the Deputy Governors for five years, and the non-executive members for up to four years. Other staff. The Secretary of the Bank of England is today responsible for the banks governance and ethics: 'He is responsible for ensuring the organisation is well run and advises our Court of Directors [...] He is also our conflicts officer and supports the Government when it makes appointments to our policy committees and Court of Directors'.
Since 2013, the bank has had a chief operating officer (COO) with the status and remuneration of a Deputy Governor. , the bank's COO is Ben Stimson; he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the bank, including Human Resources, Property, IT and Security. In March 2025, the Bank of England appointed Sarah John as its new Chief Operating Officer. John previously served as the Bank's Chief Cashier. Some twenty executive directors work alongside the Governors, forming 'the wider executive management team'. Among their number are the bank's chief economist (Huw Pill since 2021), and chief cashier.
Bakelite Bakelite ( ), formally , is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907, and patented on December 7, 1909. Bakelite was one of the first plastic-like materials to be introduced into the modern world and was popular because it could be molded and then hardened into any shape. Because of its electrical nonconductivity and heat-resistant properties, it became a great commercial success. It was used in electrical insulators, radio and telephone casings, and such diverse products as kitchenware, jewelry, pipe stems, children's toys, and firearms. The retro appeal of old Bakelite products has made them collectible. The creation of a synthetic plastic was revolutionary for the chemical industry, which at the time made most of its income from cloth dyes and explosives. Bakelite's commercial success inspired the industry to develop other synthetic plastics. As the world's first commercial synthetic plastic, Bakelite was named a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society.
History. The reaction between phenol and aldehyde was first reported in 1872 by Adolf von Baeyer, though its use as a commercial product was not considered at the time. Leo Baekeland was already wealthy due to his invention of Velox photographic paper when he began to investigate the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde in his home laboratory. Chemists had begun to recognize that many natural resins and fibers were polymers. Baekeland's initial intent was to find a replacement for shellac, a material in limited supply because it was made naturally from the secretion of lac insects (specifically "Kerria lacca"). He produced a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac called Novolak, but it was not a market success, even though it is still used to this day (e.g., as a photoresist). He then began experimenting on strengthening wood by impregnating it with a synthetic resin rather than coating it. By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he produced a hard moldable material that he named Bakelite, after himself and the heat curing process it required. It was the first synthetic thermosetting plastic produced, and Baekeland speculated on "the thousand and one ... articles" it could be used to make. He considered the possibilities of using a wide variety of filling materials, including cotton, powdered bronze, and slate dust, but was most successful with wood and asbestos fibers, though asbestos was gradually abandoned by all manufacturers in the latter quarter of the 20th century due to stricter environmental laws.
Baekeland filed a substantial number of related patents. Bakelite, his "method of making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde", was filed on July 13, 1907, and granted on December 7, 1909. He also filed for patent protection in other countries, including Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and Spain. He announced his invention at a meeting of the American Chemical Society on February 5, 1909. Baekeland started semi-commercial production of his new material in his home laboratory, marketing it as a material for electrical insulators. In the summer of 1909, he licensed the continental European rights to Rütger AG. The subsidiary formed at that time, Bakelite AG, was the first to produce Bakelite on an industrial scale. By 1910, Baekeland was producing enough material in the US to justify expansion. He formed the General Bakelite Company of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, as a U.S. company to manufacture and market his new industrial material, and made overseas connections to produce it in other countries.
The Bakelite Company produced "transparent" cast resin (which did not include filler) for a small market during the 1910s and 1920s. Blocks or rods of cast resin, also known as "artificial amber", were machined and carved to create items such as pipe stems, cigarette holders, and jewelry. However, the demand for molded plastics led the company to concentrate on molding rather than cast solid resins. The Bakelite Corporation was formed in 1922 after patent litigation favorable to Baekeland, from a merger of three companies: Baekeland's General Bakelite Company; the Condensite Company, founded by J. W. Aylesworth; and the Redmanol Chemical Products Company, founded by Lawrence V. Redman. Under director of advertising and public relations Allan Brown, who came to Bakelite from Condensite, Bakelite was aggressively marketed as "the material of a thousand uses". A filing for a trademark featuring the letter B above the infinity symbol was made August 25, 1925, and claimed the mark was in use as of December 1, 1924. A wide variety of uses were listed in their trademark applications.
The first issue of "Plastics" magazine, October 1925, featured Bakelite on its cover and included the article "Bakelite – What It Is" by Allan Brown. The range of colors that were available included "black, brown, red, yellow, green, gray, blue, and blends of two or more of these". The article emphasized that Bakelite came in various forms. In a 1925 report, the United States Tariff Commission hailed the commercial manufacture of synthetic phenolic resin as "distinctly an American achievement", and noted that "the publication of figures, however, would be a virtual disclosure of the production of an individual company". In England, Bakelite Limited, a merger of three British phenol formaldehyde resin suppliers (Damard Lacquer Company Limited of Birmingham, Mouldensite Limited of Darley Dale and Redmanol Chemical Products Company of London), was formed in 1926. A new Bakelite factory opened in Tyseley, Birmingham, around 1928. It was the "heart of Bakelite production in the UK" until it closed in 1987. A factory to produce phenolic resins and precursors opened in Bound Brook, New Jersey, in 1931.
In 1939, the companies were acquired by Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation. In 2005, German Bakelite manufacturer Bakelite AG was acquired by Borden Chemical of Columbus, Ohio, now Hexion Inc. In addition to the original Bakelite material, these companies eventually made a wide range of other products, many of which were marketed under the brand name "Bakelite plastics". These included other types of cast phenolic resins similar to Catalin, and urea-formaldehyde resins, which could be made in brighter colors than . Once Baekeland's heat and pressure patents expired in 1927, Bakelite Corporation faced serious competition from other companies. Because molded Bakelite incorporated fillers to give it strength, it tended to be made in concealing dark colors. In 1927, beads, bangles, and earrings were produced by the Catalin company, through a different process which enabled them to introduce 15 new colors. Translucent jewelry, poker chips and other items made of phenolic resins were introduced in the 1930s or 1940s by the Catalin company under the Prystal name. The creation of marbled phenolic resins may also be attributable to the Catalin company.
Synthesis. Making Bakelite is a multi-stage process. It begins with the heating of phenol and formaldehyde in the presence of a catalyst such as hydrochloric acid, zinc chloride, or the base ammonia. This creates a liquid condensation product, referred to as "Bakelite A", which is soluble in alcohol, acetone, or additional phenol. Heated further, the product becomes partially soluble and can still be softened by heat. Sustained heating results in an "insoluble hard gum". However, the high temperatures required to create this tend to cause violent foaming of the mixture when done at standard atmospheric pressure, which results in the cooled material being porous and breakable. Baekeland's innovative step was to put his "last condensation product" into an egg-shaped "Bakelizer". By heating it under pressure, at about , Baekeland was able to suppress the foaming that would otherwise occur. The resulting substance is extremely hard and both infusible and insoluble. Compression molding. Molded Bakelite forms in a condensation reaction of phenol and formaldehyde, with wood flour or asbestos fiber as a filler, under high pressure and heat in a time frame of a few minutes of curing. The result is a hard plastic material. Asbestos was gradually abandoned as filler because many countries banned the production of asbestos.
Bakelite's molding process had a number of advantages. Bakelite resin could be provided either as powder or as preformed partially cured slugs, increasing the speed of the casting. Thermosetting resins such as Bakelite required heat and pressure during the molding cycle but could be removed from the molding process without being cooled, again making the molding process faster. Also, because of the smooth polished surface that resulted, Bakelite objects required less finishing. Millions of parts could be duplicated quickly and relatively cheaply. Phenolic sheet. Another market for Bakelite resin was the creation of phenolic sheet materials. A phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and pressure to layers of paper or glass cloth impregnated with synthetic resin. Paper, cotton fabrics, synthetic fabrics, glass fabrics, and unwoven fabrics are all possible materials used in lamination. When heat and pressure are applied, polymerization transforms the layers into thermosetting industrial laminated plastic.
Bakelite phenolic sheet is produced in many commercial grades and with various additives to meet diverse mechanical, electrical, and thermal requirements. Some common types include: Properties. Bakelite has a number of important properties. It can be molded very quickly, decreasing production time. Moldings are smooth, retain their shape, and are resistant to heat, scratches, and destructive solvents. It is also resistant to electricity, and prized for its low conductivity. It is not flexible. Phenolic resin products may swell slightly under conditions of extreme humidity or perpetual dampness. When rubbed or burnt, Bakelite has a distinctive, acrid, sickly-sweet or fishy odor. Applications. The characteristics of Bakelite made it particularly suitable as a molding compound, an adhesive or binding agent, a varnish, and a protective coating, as well as for the emerging electrical and automobile industries because of its extraordinarily high resistance to electricity, heat, and chemical action. The earliest commercial use of Bakelite in the electrical industry was the molding of tiny insulating bushings, made in 1908 for the Weston Electrical Instrument Corporation by Richard W. Seabury of the Boonton Rubber Company. Bakelite was soon used for non-conducting parts of telephones, radios, and other electrical devices, including bases and sockets for light bulbs and electron tubes (vacuum tubes), supports for any type of electrical components, automobile distributor caps, and other insulators. By 1912, it was being used to make billiard balls, since its elasticity and the sound it made were similar to ivory.
During World War I, Bakelite was used widely, particularly in electrical systems. Important projects included the Liberty airplane engine, the wireless telephone and radio phone, and the use of micarta-bakelite propellers in the NBS-1 bomber and the DH-4B aeroplane. Bakelite's availability and ease and speed of molding helped to lower the costs and increase product availability so that telephones and radios became common household consumer goods. It was also very important to the developing automobile industry. It was soon found in myriad other consumer products ranging from pipe stems and buttons to saxophone mouthpieces, cameras, early machine guns, and appliance casings. Bakelite was also very commonly used in the pistol grip, hand guard, and buttstock of firearms. Also magazines for Kalashnikov rifles - though components of the AKM, and some early AK-74 rifles are frequently mistakenly identified as using Bakelite, but most were made with AG-4S.. Other uses through the first half of the 20th century include knife handles and "scales".
Beginning in the 1920s, it became a popular material for jewelry. Designer Coco Chanel included Bakelite bracelets in her costume jewelry collections. Designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli used it for jewelry and also for specially designed dress buttons. Later, Diana Vreeland, editor of "Vogue", was enthusiastic about Bakelite. Bakelite was also used to make presentation boxes for Breitling watches. By 1930, designer Paul T. Frankl considered Bakelite a "Materia Nova", "expressive of our own age". By the 1930s, Bakelite was used for game pieces like chess pieces, poker chips, dominoes, and mahjong sets. Kitchenware made with Bakelite, including canisters and tableware, was promoted for its resistance to heat and to chipping. In the mid-1930s, Northland marketed a line of skis with a black "Ebonite" base, a coating of Bakelite. By 1935, it was used in solid-body electric guitars. Performers such as Jerry Byrd loved the tone of Bakelite guitars but found them difficult to keep in tune. Charles Plimpton patented BAYKO in 1933 and rushed out his first construction sets for Christmas 1934. He called the toy Bayko Light Constructional Sets, the words "Bayko Light" being a pun on the word "Bakelite".
During World War II, Bakelite was used in a variety of wartime equipment including pilots' goggles and field telephones. It was also used for patriotic wartime jewelry. In 1943, the thermosetting phenolic resin was even considered for the manufacture of coins, due to a shortage of traditional material. Bakelite and other non-metal materials were tested for usage for the one cent coin in the US before the Mint settled on zinc-coated steel. During World War II, Bakelite buttons were part of British uniforms. These included brown buttons for the Army and black buttons for the RAF. In 1947, Dutch art forger Han van Meegeren was convicted of forgery, after chemist and curator Paul B. Coremans proved that a purported Vermeer contained Bakelite, which van Meegeren had used as a paint hardener. By the late 1940s, newer materials were superseding Bakelite in many areas. Phenolics are less frequently used in general consumer products today due to their cost and complexity of production, and brittle nature. They still appear in some applications where their specific properties are required, such as small precision-shaped components, molded disc brake cylinders, saucepan handles, electrical plugs, switches and parts for electrical irons, printed circuit boards, as well as in the area of inexpensive board and tabletop games produced in China, Hong Kong, and India. Items such as billiard balls, dominoes and pieces for board games such as chess, checkers, and backgammon are constructed of Bakelite for its look, durability, fine polish, weight, and sound. Common dice are sometimes made of Bakelite for weight and sound, but the majority are made of a thermoplastic polymer such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
Bakelite continues to be used for wire insulation, brake pads and related automotive components, and industrial electrical-related applications. Bakelite stock is still manufactured and produced in sheet, rod, and tube form for industrial applications in the electronics, power generation, and aerospace industries, and under a variety of commercial brand names. Phenolic resins have been commonly used in ablative heat shields. Soviet heatshields for ICBM warheads and spacecraft reentry consisted of asbestos textolite, impregnated with Bakelite. Bakelite is also used in the mounting of metal samples in metallography. Collectibles. Bakelite items, particularly jewelry and radios, have become popular collectibles. The term "Bakelite" is sometimes used in the resale market as a catch-all for various types of early plastics, including Catalin and Faturan, which may be brightly colored, as well as items made of true Bakelite material. Due to its aesthetics, a similar material "fakelite" (fake bakelite) exists made from modern safer materials which do not contain asbestos. Patents. The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Baekeland a patent for a "Method of making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde" on December 7, 1909. Producing hard, compact, insoluble, and infusible condensation products of phenols and formaldehyde marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry.
Bean A bean is the seed of any plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying, but fresh beans are also sold. Most beans are traditionally soaked and boiled, but they can be cooked in many different ways, including frying and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes throughout the world. The unripe seedpods of some varieties are also eaten whole as green beans or "edamame" (immature soybean), but fully ripened beans contain toxins like phytohemagglutinin and require cooking. Terminology. The word "bean" and its Germanic cognates (e.g. German "Bohne") have existed in common use in West Germanic languages since before the 12th century, referring to broad beans, chickpeas, and other pod-borne seeds. This was long before the New World genus "Phaseolus" was known in Europe. With the Columbian exchange of domestic plants between Europe and the Americas, use of the word was extended to pod-borne seeds of "Phaseolus", such as the common bean and the runner bean, and the related genus "Vigna". The term has long been applied generally to seeds of similar form, such as Old World soybeans and lupins, and to the fruits or seeds of unrelated plants such as coffee beans, vanilla beans, castor beans, and cocoa beans.
History. Beans in an early cultivated form were grown in Thailand from the early seventh millennium BCE, predating ceramics. Beans were deposited with the dead in ancient Egypt. Not until the second millennium BCE did cultivated, large-seeded broad beans appear in the Aegean region, Iberia, and transalpine Europe. In the "Iliad" (8th century BCE), there is a passing mention of beans and chickpeas cast on the threshing floor. The oldest-known domesticated beans in the Americas were found in Guitarrero Cave, Peru, dated to around the second millennium BCE. Genetic analyses of the common bean "Phaseolus" show that it originated in Mesoamerica, and subsequently spread southward, along with maize and squash, traditional companion crops. Most of the kinds of beans commonly eaten today are part of the genus "Phaseolus", which originated in the Americas. The first European to encounter them was Christopher Columbus, while exploring what may have been the Bahamas, and saw them growing in fields. Five kinds of "Phaseolus" beans were domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples, selecting pods that did not open and scatter their seeds when ripe: common beans ("P. vulgaris") grown from Chile to the northern part of the United States; lima and sieva beans ("P. lunatus"); and the less widely distributed teparies ("P. acutifolius"), scarlet runner beans ("P. coccineus"), and polyanthus beans.
Pre-Columbian peoples as far north as the Atlantic seaboard grew beans in the "Three Sisters" method of companion planting. The beans were interplanted with maize and squash. Beans were cultivated across Chile in Pre-Hispanic times, likely as far south as the Chiloé Archipelago. Diversity. Taxonomic range. Beans are legumes, but from many different genera, native to different regions. Conservation of cultivars. The biodiversity of bean cultivars is threatened by modern plant breeding, which selects a small number of the most productive varieties. Efforts are being made to conserve the germplasm of older varieties in different countries. As of 2023, the Norwegian Svalbard Global Seed Vault holds more than 40,000 accessions of "Phaseolus" bean species. Cultivation. Agronomy. Many beans are summer crops that needs warm temperatures to grow; peas are an exception. Legumes are capable of nitrogen fixation and hence need less fertiliser than most plants. Maturity is typically 55–60 days from planting to harvest. As the pods mature, they turn yellow and dry up, and the beans inside change from green to their mature colour. Many beans are vines needing external support, such as "bean cages" or poles. Native Americans customarily grew them along with corn and squash, the tall stalks acting as support for the beans.
More recently, the commercial "bush bean" which does not require support and produces all its pods simultaneously has been developed. Production. The production data for legumes are published by FAO in three categories: The following is a summary of FAO data. The world leader in production of dry beans ("Phaseolus" spp), is India, followed by Myanmar (Burma) and Brazil. In Africa, the most important producer is Tanzania. "Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)" Uses. Culinary. Beans can be cooked in a wide variety of casseroles, curries, salads, soups, and stews. They can be served whole or mashed alongside meat or toast, or included in an omelette or a flatbread wrap. Other options are to include them in a bake with a cheese sauce, a Mexican-style chili con carne, or to use them as a meat substitute in a burger or in falafels. The French cassoulet is a slow-cooked stew with haricot beans, sausage, pork, mutton, and preserved goose. Soybeans can be processed into bean curd (tofu) or fermented into a cake (tempeh); these can be eaten fried or roasted like meat, or included in stir-fries, curries, and soups. Most dry beans contain 21-25% protein by weight; dry soybeans are 36.5% protein by weight.
Other. Guar beans are used for their gum, a galactomannan polysaccharide. It is used to thicken and stabilise foods and other products. Health concerns. Toxins. Some kinds of raw beans contain a harmful, flavourless toxin: the lectin phytohaemagglutinin, which must be destroyed by cooking. Red kidney beans are particularly toxic, but other types also pose risks of food poisoning. Even small quantities (4 or 5 raw beans) may cause severe stomachache, vomiting, and diarrhea. This risk does not apply to canned beans because they have already been cooked. A recommended method is to boil the beans for at least ten minutes; under-cooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans. Cooking beans, without bringing them to a boil, in a slow cooker at a temperature well below boiling may not destroy toxins. A case of poisoning by butter beans used to make falafel was reported; the beans were used instead of traditional broad beans or chickpeas, soaked and ground without boiling, made into patties, and shallow fried. Bean poisoning is not well known in the medical community, and many cases may be misdiagnosed or never reported; figures appear not to be available. In the case of the UK National Poisons Information Service, available only to health professionals, the dangers of beans other than red beans were not flagged .
Fermentation is used in some parts of Africa to improve the nutritional value of beans by removing toxins. Inexpensive fermentation improves the nutritional impact of flour from dry beans and improves digestibility, according to research co-authored by Emire Shimelis, from the Food Engineering Program at Addis Ababa University. Beans are a major source of dietary protein in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Other hazards. It is common to make beansprouts by letting some types of bean, often mung beans, germinate in moist and warm conditions; beansprouts may be used as ingredients in cooked dishes, or eaten raw or lightly cooked. There have been many outbreaks of disease from bacterial contamination, often by "salmonella", "listeria", and "Escherichia coli", of beansprouts not thoroughly cooked, some causing significant mortality. Many types of bean like kidney bean contain significant amounts of antinutrients that inhibit some enzyme processes in the body. Phytic acid, present in beans, interferes with bone growth and interrupts vitamin D metabolism.
Many beans, including broad beans, navy beans, kidney beans and soybeans, contain large sugar molecules, oligosaccharides (particularly raffinose and stachyose). A suitable oligosaccharide-cleaving enzyme is necessary to digest these. As the human digestive tract does not contain such enzymes, consumed oligosaccharides are digested by bacteria in the large intestine, producing gases such as methane, released as flatulence. In human society. Beans have often been thought of as a food of the poor, as small farmers ate grains, vegetables, and got their protein from beans, while the wealthier classes were able to afford meat. European society has what Ken Albala calls "a class-based antagonism" to beans. Different cultures agree in disliking the flatulence that beans cause, and possess their own seasonings to attempt to remedy it: Mexico uses the herb epazote; India the aromatic resin asafoetida; Germany applies the herb savory; in the Middle East, cumin; and Japan the seaweed kombu. A substance for which there is evidence of effectiveness in reducing flatulence is the enzyme alpha-galactosidase; extracted from the mould fungus "Aspergillus niger", it breaks down glycolipids and glycoproteins. The reputation of beans for flatulence is the theme of a children's song "Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit". The Mexican jumping bean is a segment of a seed pod occupied by the larva of the moth "Cydia saltitans", and sold as a novelty. The pods start to jump when warmed in the palm of the hand. Scientists have suggested that the random walk that results may help the larva to find shade and so to survive on hot days.
Breast The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is a major secondary sex distinction between females and males. There is also considerable variation in size between individuals. Permanent breast growth during puberty is caused by estrogens in conjunction with the growth hormone. Female humans are the only mammals that permanently develop breasts at puberty; all other mammals develop their mammary tissue during the latter period of pregnancy. In females, the breast serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secretes milk to feed infants. Subcutaneous fat covers and envelops a network of ducts that converge on the nipple, and these tissues give the breast its distinct size and globular shape. At the ends of the ducts are lobules, or clusters of alveoli, where milk is produced and stored in response to hormonal signals. During pregnancy, the breast responds to a complex interaction of hormones, including estrogens, progesterone, and prolactin, that mediate the completion of its development, namely lobuloalveolar maturation, in preparation of lactation and breastfeeding.
Along with their major function in providing nutrition for infants, several cultures ascribe social and sexual characteristics to female breasts, and may regard bare breasts in public as immodest or indecent. Breasts have been featured in ancient and modern sculpture, art, and photography. Breasts can represent fertility, femininity, or abundance. They can figure prominently in the perception of a woman's body and sexual attractiveness. Breasts, especially the nipples, can be an erogenous zone. Etymology and terminology. The English word "breast" derives from the Old English word from Proto-Germanic , from the Proto-Indo-European base . The "breast" spelling conforms to the Scottish and North English dialectal pronunciations. The "Merriam-Webster Dictionary" states that "Middle English , [comes] from Old English ; akin to Old High German ..., Old Irish [belly], [and] Russian "; the first known usage of the term was before the 12th century. "Breasts" is often used to refer to female breasts in particular, though the stricter anatomical term refers to the same region on members of either sex. Male breasts are sometimes referred to in the singular to mean the collective upper chest area, whereas female breasts are referred to in the plural unless speaking of a specific left or right breast.
A large number of colloquial terms for female breasts are used in English, ranging from fairly polite terms to vulgar or slang. Some vulgar slang expressions may be considered to be derogatory or sexist to women. Evolutionary development. Humans are the only mammals whose breasts become permanently enlarged after sexual maturity (known in humans as puberty). The reason for this evolutionary change is unknown. Several hypotheses have been put forward: A link has been proposed to processes for synthesizing the endogenous steroid hormone precursor dehydroepiandrosterone which takes place in fat rich regions of the body like the buttocks and breasts. These contributed to human brain development and played a part in increasing brain size. Breast enlargement may for this purpose have occurred as early as "Homo ergaster" (1.7–1.4 MYA). Other breast formation hypotheses may have then taken over as principal drivers. It has been suggested by zoologists Avishag and Amotz Zahavi that the size of the human breasts can be explained by the handicap theory of sexual dimorphism. This would see the explanation for larger breasts as them being an honest display of the women's health and ability to grow and carry them in her life. Prospective mates can then evaluate the genes of a potential mate for their ability to sustain her health even with the additional energy demanding burden she is carrying.
The zoologist Desmond Morris describes a sociobiological approach in his science book "The Naked Ape". He suggests, by making comparisons with the other primates, that breasts evolved to replace swelling buttocks as a sex signal of ovulation. He notes how humans have, relatively speaking, large penises as well as large breasts. Furthermore, early humans adopted bipedalism and face-to-face coitus. He therefore suggested enlarged sexual signals helped maintain the bond between a mated male and female even though they performed different duties and therefore were separated for lengths of time. A 2001 study proposed that the rounded shape of a woman's breast evolved to prevent the sucking infant offspring from suffocating while feeding at the teat; that is, because of the human infant's small jaw, which did not project from the face to reach the nipple, they might block the nostrils against the mother's breast if it were of a flatter form (compare with the common chimpanzee). Theoretically, as the human jaw receded into the face, the woman's body compensated with round breasts.
Ashley Montague (1965) proposed that breasts came about as an adaptation for infant feeding for a different reason, as early human ancestors adopted bipedalism and the loss of body hair. Human upright stance meant infants must be carried at the hip or shoulder instead of on the back as in the apes. This gives the infant less opportunity to find the nipple or the purchase to cling on to the mother's body hair. The mobility of the nipple on a large breast in most human females gives the infant more ability to find it, grasp it and feed. Other suggestions include simply that permanent breasts attracted mates, that "pendulous" breasts gave infants something to cling to, or that permanent breasts shared the function of a camel's hump, to store fat as an energy reserve. Structure. In women, the breasts overlie the pectoralis major muscles and extend on average from the level of the second rib to the level of the sixth rib in the front of the rib cage; thus, the breasts cover much of the chest area and the chest walls. At the front of the chest, the breast tissue can extend from the clavicle (collarbone) to the middle of the sternum (breastbone). At the sides of the chest, the breast tissue can extend into the axilla (armpit), and can reach as far to the back as the latissimus dorsi muscle, extending from the lower back to the humerus bone (the bone of the upper arm). As a mammary gland, the breast is composed of differing layers of tissue, predominantly two types: adipose tissue; and glandular tissue, which affects the lactation functions of the breasts. The natural resonant frequency of the human breast is about 2 hertz.
Morphologically, the breast is tear-shaped. The superficial tissue layer (superficial fascia) is separated from the skin by 0.5–2.5 cm of subcutaneous fat (adipose tissue). The suspensory Cooper's ligaments are fibrous-tissue prolongations that radiate from the superficial fascia to the skin envelope. The female adult breast contains 14–18 irregular lactiferous lobes that converge at the nipple. The 2.0–4.5 mm milk ducts are immediately surrounded with dense connective tissue that support the glands. Milk exits the breast through the nipple, which is surrounded by a pigmented area of skin called the areola. The size of the areola can vary widely among women. The areola contains modified sweat glands known as Montgomery's glands. These glands secrete oily fluid that lubricate and protect the nipple during breastfeeding. Volatile compounds in these secretions may also serve as an olfactory stimulus for the newborn's appetite. The dimensions and weight of the breast vary widely among women. A small-to-medium-sized breast weighs 500 grams (1.1 pounds) or less, and a large breast can weigh approximately 750 to 1,000 grams (1.7 to 2.2 pounds) or more. In terms of composition, the breasts are about 80 to 90% stromal tissue (fat and connective tissue), while epithelial or glandular tissue only accounts for about 10 to 20% of the volume of the breasts. The tissue composition ratios of the breast also vary among women. Some women's breasts have a higher proportion of glandular tissue than of adipose or connective tissues. The fat-to-connective-tissue ratio determines the density or firmness of the breast. During a woman's life, her breasts change size, shape, and weight due to hormonal changes during puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause.
Glandular structure. The breast is an apocrine gland that produces the milk used to feed an infant. The nipple of the breast is surrounded by the areola (nipple-areola complex). The areola has many sebaceous glands, and the skin color varies from pink to dark brown. The basic units of the breast are the terminal duct lobular units (TDLUs), which produce the fatty breast milk. They give the breast its offspring-feeding functions as a mammary gland. They are distributed throughout the body of the breast. Approximately two-thirds of the lactiferous tissue is within 30 mm of the base of the nipple. The terminal lactiferous ducts drain the milk from TDLUs into 4–18 lactiferous ducts, which drain to the nipple. The milk-glands-to-fat ratio is 2:1 in a lactating woman, and 1:1 in a non-lactating woman. In addition to the milk glands, the breast is also composed of connective tissues (collagen, elastin), white fat, and the suspensory Cooper's ligaments. Sensation in the breast is provided by the peripheral nervous system innervation by means of the front (anterior) and side (lateral) cutaneous branches of the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth intercostal nerves. The T-4 nerve (Thoracic spinal nerve 4), which innervates the dermatomic area, supplies sensation to the nipple-areola complex.
Lymphatic drainage. Approximately 75% of the lymph from the breast travels to the axillary lymph nodes on the same side of the body, while 25% of the lymph travels to the parasternal nodes (beside the sternum bone). A small amount of remaining lymph travels to the other breast and to the abdominal lymph nodes. The subareolar region has a lymphatic plexus known as the "subareolar plexus of Sappey". The axillary lymph nodes include the pectoral (chest), subscapular (under the scapula), and humeral (humerus-bone area) lymph-node groups, which drain to the central axillary lymph nodes and to the apical axillary lymph nodes. The lymphatic drainage of the breasts is especially relevant to oncology because breast cancer is common to the mammary gland, and cancer cells can metastasize (break away) from a tumor and be dispersed to other parts of the body by means of the lymphatic system. Morphology.
The base of each breast is attached to the chest by the deep fascia over the pectoralis major muscles. The base of the breast is semi-circular, however the shape and position of the breast above the surface is variable. The space between the breast and the pectoralis major muscle, called retromammary space, gives mobility to the breast. The chest (thoracic cavity) progressively slopes outwards from the thoracic inlet (atop the breastbone) and above to the lowest ribs that support the breasts. The inframammary fold (IMF), where the lower portion of the breast meets the chest, is an anatomic feature created by the adherence of the breast skin and the underlying connective tissues of the chest; the IMF is the lower-most extent of the anatomic breast. Normal breast tissue has a texture that feels nodular or granular, with considerable variation from woman to woman. Breasts have been categorized into four general morphological groups: "flat, spheric, protruded, and drooped", or "small/flat, large/inward, upward, and droopy".
Support. While it is a common belief that breastfeeding causes breasts to sag, researchers have found that a woman's breasts sag due to four key factors: cigarette smoking, number of pregnancies, gravity, and weight loss or gain. Women sometimes wear bras because they mistakenly believe they prevent breasts from sagging as they get older. Physicians, lingerie retailers, teenagers, and adult women used to believe that bras were medically required to support breasts. In a 1952 article in "Parents' Magazine", Frank H. Crowell erroneously reported that it was important for teen girls to begin wearing bras early. According to Crowell, this would prevent sagging breasts, stretched blood vessels, and poor circulation later on. This belief was based on the false idea that breasts cannot anatomically support themselves. Sports bras are sometimes used for cardiovascular exercise, sports bras are designed to secure the breasts closely to the body to prevent movement during high-motion activity such as running. Studies have indicated sports bras which are overly tight may restrict respiratory function.
Development. The breasts are principally composed of adipose, glandular, and connective tissues. Because these tissues have hormone receptors, their sizes and volumes fluctuate according to the hormonal changes particular to thelarche (sprouting of breasts), menstruation (egg production), pregnancy (reproduction), lactation (feeding of offspring), and menopause (end of menstruation). Puberty. The morphological structure of the human breast is identical in males and females until puberty. For pubescent girls in thelarche (the breast-development stage), the female sex hormones (principally estrogens) in conjunction with growth hormone promote the sprouting, growth, and development of the breasts. During this time, the mammary glands grow in size and volume and begin resting on the chest. These development stages of secondary sex characteristics (breasts, pubic hair, etc.) are illustrated in the five-stage Tanner scale. During thelarche, the developing breasts are sometimes of unequal size, and usually the left breast is slightly larger. This condition of asymmetry is transitory and statistically normal in female physical and sexual development. Medical conditions can cause overdevelopment (e.g., virginal breast hypertrophy, macromastia) or underdevelopment (e.g., tuberous breast deformity, micromastia) in girls and women.
Approximately two years after the onset of puberty (a girl's first menstrual cycle), estrogen and growth hormone stimulate the development and growth of the glandular fat and suspensory tissues that compose the breast. This continues for approximately four years until the final shape of the breast (size, volume, density) is established at about the age of 21. Mammoplasia (breast enlargement) in girls begins at puberty, unlike all other primates, in which breasts enlarge only during lactation. Hormone replacement therapy. Hormone replacement therapy, including gender-affirming hormone therapy, stimulates the growth of glandular and adipose tissue through estrogen supplementation. In menopausal women, HRT helps restore breast volume and skin elasticity diminished by declining estrogen levels, typically using oral or transdermal estradiol. In gender-affirming hormone therapy, breast development is induced through feminizing HRT, often combining estrogen with anti-androgens to suppress testosterone. Maximum growth is usually achieved after 2–3 years.
Factors such as age, genetics, and hormone dosage influence outcomes. Changes during the menstrual cycle. During the menstrual cycle, the breasts are enlarged by premenstrual water retention and temporary growth as influenced by changing hormone levels. Pregnancy and breastfeeding. The breasts reach full maturity only when a woman's first pregnancy occurs. Changes to the breasts are among the first signs of pregnancy. The breasts become larger, the nipple-areola complex becomes larger and darker, the Montgomery's glands enlarge, and veins sometimes become more visible. Breast tenderness during pregnancy is common, especially during the first trimester. By mid-pregnancy, the breast is physiologically capable of lactation and some women can express colostrum, a form of breast milk. Pregnancy causes elevated levels of the hormone prolactin, which has a key role in the production of milk. However, milk production is blocked by the hormones progesterone and estrogen until after delivery, when progesterone and estrogen levels plummet.
Menopause. At menopause, breast atrophy occurs. The breasts can decrease in size when the levels of circulating estrogen decline. The adipose tissue and milk glands also begin to wither. The breasts can also become enlarged from adverse side effects of combined oral contraceptive pills. The size of the breasts can also increase and decrease in response to weight fluctuations. Physical changes to the breasts are often recorded in the stretch marks of the skin envelope; they can serve as historical indicators of the increments and the decrements of the size and volume of a woman's breasts throughout the course of her life. Breast changes during menopause are sometimes treated with hormone replacement therapy. Cancer. Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a red or scaly patch of skin. In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.
Risk factors for developing breast cancer include obesity, a lack of physical exercise, alcohol consumption, hormone replacement therapy during menopause, ionizing radiation, an early age at first menstruation, having children late in life (or not at all), older age, having a prior history of breast cancer, and a family history of breast cancer. About five to ten percent of cases are the result of an inherited genetic predisposition, including "BRCA" mutations among others. Breast cancer most commonly develops in cells from the lining of milk ducts and the lobules that supply these ducts with milk. Cancers developing from the ducts are known as ductal carcinomas, while those developing from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas. There are more than 18 other sub-types of breast cancer. Some, such as ductal carcinoma in situ, develop from pre-invasive lesions. The diagnosis of breast cancer is confirmed by taking a biopsy of the concerning tissue. Once the diagnosis is made, further tests are carried out to determine if the cancer has spread beyond the breast and which treatments are most likely to be effective.
Breastfeeding. The primary function of the breasts, as mammary glands, is the nourishing of an infant with breast milk. Milk is produced in milk-secreting cells in the alveoli. When the breasts are stimulated by the suckling of her baby, the mother's brain secretes oxytocin. High levels of oxytocin trigger the contraction of muscle cells surrounding the alveoli, causing milk to flow along the ducts that connect the alveoli to the nipple. Full-term newborns have an instinct and a need to suck on a nipple, and breastfed babies nurse for both nutrition and for comfort. Breast milk provides all necessary nutrients for the first six months of life, and then remains an important source of nutrition, alongside solid foods, until at least one or two years of age. Exercise. Biomechanical studies have demonstrated that, depending on the activity and the size of a woman's breast, when she walks or runs braless, her breasts may move up and down by or more, and also oscillate side to side. Researchers have also found that as women's breast size increased, they took part in less physical activity, especially vigorous exercise. Few very-large-breasted women jogged, for example. To avoid exercise-related discomfort and pain, medical experts suggest women wear a well-fitted sports bra during activity.
Clinical significance. The breast is susceptible to numerous benign and malignant conditions. The most frequent benign conditions are puerperal mastitis, fibrocystic breast changes and mastalgia. Lactation unrelated to pregnancy is known as galactorrhea. It can be caused by certain drugs (such as antipsychotic medications), extreme physical stress, or endocrine disorders. Lactation in newborns is caused by hormones from the mother that crossed into the baby's bloodstream during pregnancy. Breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death among women and it is one of the leading causes of death among women. Factors that appear to be implicated in decreasing the risk of breast cancer are regular breast examinations by health care professionals, regular mammograms, self-examination of breasts, healthy diet, exercise to decrease excess body fat, and breastfeeding. Male breasts. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. Anatomically, male breasts do not normally contain lobules and acini that are present in females. In rare instances, it is possible for very few lobules to be present; this makes it possible for some men to develop lobular carcinoma of the breast. Normally, males produce lower levels of estrogens and higher levels of androgens, namely testosterone, which suppress the effects of estrogens in developing excessive breast tissue. In boys and men, abnormal breast development is manifested as gynecomastia, the consequence of a biochemical imbalance between the normal levels of estrogen and testosterone in the male body. Around 70% of boys temporarily develop breast tissue during adolescence. The condition usually resolves by itself within two years. When male lactation occurs, it is considered a symptom of a disorder of the pituitary gland.
Plastic surgery. Plastic surgery can be performed to augment or reduce the size of breasts, or to reconstruct the breast in cases of deformative disease, such as breast cancer. Breast augmentation and breast lift (mastopexy) procedures are done only for cosmetic reasons, whereas breast reduction is sometimes medically indicated. In cases where a woman's breasts are severely asymmetrical, surgery can be performed to either enlarge the smaller breast, reduce the size of the larger breast, or both. Breast augmentation surgery generally does not interfere with future ability to breastfeed. Breast reduction surgery more frequently leads to decreased sensation in the nipple-areola complex, and to low milk supply in women who choose to breastfeed. Implants can interfere with mammography (breast x-ray images). Society and culture. General. In Christian iconography, some works of art depict women with their breasts in their hands or on a platter, signifying that they died as a martyr by having their breasts severed; one example of this is Saint Agatha of Sicily.
Femen is a feminist activist group which uses topless protests as part of their campaigns against sex tourism religious institutions, sexism, and homophobia. Femen activists have been regularly detained by police in response to their protests. There is a long history of female breasts being used by comedians as a subject for comedy fodder (e.g., British comic Benny Hill's burlesque/slapstick routines). Art history. In European pre-historic societies, sculptures of female figures with pronounced or highly exaggerated breasts were common. A typical example is the so-called Venus of Willendorf, one of many Paleolithic Venus figurines with ample hips and bosom. Artifacts such as bowls, rock carvings and sacred statues with breasts have been recorded from 15,000 BC up to late antiquity all across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Many female deities representing love and fertility were associated with breasts and breast milk. Figures of the Phoenician goddess Astarte were represented as pillars studded with breasts. Isis, an Egyptian goddess who represented, among many other things, ideal motherhood, was often portrayed as suckling pharaohs, thereby confirming their divine status as rulers. Even certain male deities representing regeneration and fertility were occasionally depicted with breast-like appendices, such as the river god Hapy who was considered to be responsible for the annual overflowing of the Nile.
Female breasts were also prominent in Minoan art in the form of the famous Snake Goddess statuettes, and a few other pieces, though most female breasts are covered. In Ancient Greece there were several cults worshipping the "Kourotrophos", the suckling mother, represented by goddesses such as Gaia, Hera and Artemis. The worship of deities symbolized by the female breast in Greece became less common during the first millennium. The popular adoration of female goddesses decreased significantly during the rise of the Greek city states, a legacy which was passed on to the later Roman Empire. During the middle of the first millennium BC, Greek culture experienced a gradual change in the perception of female breasts. Women in art were covered in clothing from the neck down, including female goddesses like Athena, the patron of Athens who represented heroic endeavor. There were exceptions: Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was more frequently portrayed fully nude, though in postures that were intended to portray shyness or modesty, a portrayal that has been compared to modern pin ups by historian Marilyn Yalom. Although nude men were depicted standing upright, most depictions of female nudity in Greek art occurred "usually with drapery near at hand and with a forward-bending, self-protecting posture". A popular legend at the time was of the Amazons, a tribe of fierce female warriors who socialized with men only for procreation and even removed one breast to become better warriors (the idea being that the right breast would interfere with the operation of a bow and arrow). The legend was a popular motif in art during Greek and Roman antiquity and served as an antithetical cautionary tale.
Body image. Many women regard their breasts as important to their sexual attractiveness, as a sign of femininity that is important to their sense of self. A woman with smaller breasts may regard her breasts as less attractive. Clothing. Because breasts are mostly fatty tissue, their shape can—within limits—be molded by clothing, such as foundation garments. Bras are commonly worn by about 90% of Western women, and are often worn for support. The social norm in most Western cultures is to cover breasts in public, though the extent of coverage varies depending on the social context. Some religions ascribe a special status to the female breast, either in formal teachings or through symbolism. Islam forbids free women from exposing their breasts in public. Many cultures, including Western cultures in North America, associate breasts with sexuality and tend to regard bare breasts as immodest or indecent. In some cultures, like the Himba in northern Namibia, bare-breasted women are normal. In some African cultures, for example, the thigh is regarded as highly sexualized and never exposed in public, but breast exposure is not taboo. In a few Western countries and regions female toplessness at a beach is acceptable, although it may not be acceptable in the town center.
Social attitudes and laws regarding breastfeeding in public vary widely. In many countries, breastfeeding in public is common, legally protected, and generally not regarded as an issue. However, even though the practice may be legal or socially accepted, some mothers may nevertheless be reluctant to expose a breast in public to breastfeed due to actual or potential objections by other people, negative comments, or harassment. It is estimated that around 63% of mothers across the world have publicly breast-fed. Bare-breasted women are legal and culturally acceptable at public beaches in Australia and much of Europe. Filmmaker Lina Esco made a film entitled "Free the Nipple", which is about "...laws against female toplessness or restrictions on images of female, but not male, nipples", which Esco states is an example of sexism in society. Breast binding, also known as chest binding, is the flattening and hiding of breasts with constrictive materials such as cloth strips or purpose-built undergarments. Binders may also be used as alternatives to bras or for reasons of propriety. People who bind include women, trans men, non-binary people, and cisgender men with gynecomastia.
Sexual characteristic. In some cultures, breasts play a role in human sexual activity. Breasts and especially the nipples are among the various human erogenous zones. They are sensitive to the touch as they have many nerve endings; and it is common to press or massage them with hands or orally before or during sexual activity. During sexual arousal, breast size increases, venous patterns across the breasts become more visible, and nipples harden. Compared to other primates, human breasts are proportionately large throughout adult females' lives. Some writers have suggested that they may have evolved as a visual signal of sexual maturity and fertility. In "Patterns of Sexual Behavior", a 1951 analysis of 191 traditional cultures, the researchers noted that stimulation of the female breast by a male sexual partner "seemed absent in all subhuman forms, although it is common among the members of many different human societies." Many people regard bare female breasts to be aesthetically pleasing or erotic, and they can elicit heightened sexual desires in men in many cultures. In the ancient Indian work the "Kama Sutra", light scratching of the breasts with nails and biting with teeth are considered erotic. Some people show a sexual interest in female breasts distinct from that of the person, which may be regarded as a breast fetish. A number of Western fashions include clothing which accentuate the breasts, such as the use of push-up bras and decollete (plunging neckline) gowns and blouses which show cleavage. While U.S. culture prefers breasts that are youthful and upright, some cultures venerate women with drooping breasts, indicating mothering and the wisdom of experience.
Research conducted at the Victoria University of Wellington showed that breasts are often the first thing men look at, and for a longer time than other body parts. The writers of the study had initially speculated that the reason for this is due to endocrinology with larger breasts indicating higher levels of estrogen and a sign of greater fertility, but the researchers said that "Men may be looking more often at the breasts because they are simply aesthetically pleasing, regardless of the size." Some women report achieving an orgasm from nipple stimulation, but this is rare. Research suggests that the orgasms are genital orgasms, and may also be directly linked to "the genital area of the brain". In these cases, it seems that sensation from the nipples travels to the same part of the brain as sensations from the vagina, clitoris and cervix. Nipple stimulation may trigger uterine contractions, which then produce a sensation in the genital area of the brain. Anthropomorphic geography. There are many mountains named after the breast because they resemble it in appearance and so are objects of religious and ancestral veneration as a fertility symbol and of well-being. In Asia, there was "Breast Mountain", which had a cave where the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (Da Mo) spent much time in meditation. Other such breast mountains are Mount Elgon on the Uganda–Kenya border; and the Maiden Paps in Scotland; the ('Maiden's breast mountains') in Talim Island, Philippines, the twin hills known as the Paps of Anu ( or 'the breasts of Anu'), near Killarney in Ireland; the 2,086 m high or in the , Spain; in Thailand, in Puerto Rico; and the Breasts of Aphrodite in Mykonos, among many others. In the United States, the Teton Range is named after the French word for 'nipple'. Measurement. The maturation and size of the breasts can be measured by a variety of different methods. These include Tanner staging, bra cup size, breast volume, breast–chest difference, the breast unit, breast hemicircumference, and breast circumference, among other measures.
Baghdad Baghdad is the capital and largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the most populous cities in the Middle East and Arab World and forms 22% of the country's population. Spanning an area of approximately , Baghdad is the capital of its governorate and serves as Iraq's political, economic, and cultural hub. Founded in 762 AD by Al-Mansur, Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and became its most notable development project. The city evolved into a cultural and intellectual center of the Muslim world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". For much of the Abbasid era, during the Islamic Golden Age, Baghdad was one of the largest cities in the world and rivaled Chang'an, as the population peaked at more than one million. It was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires such as the Ilkhanate, White Sheep Turkoman, Turco–Persian, Mamluk Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire.
The city was part of the Ottoman Empire's Baghdad Vilayet until World War I, when it was captured by British forces in 1917. Baghdad became capital of the former Mandate of Mesopotamia in 1921. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent monarchy in 1932, it gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arab culture. During the era of oil boom in Iraq, the city experienced a period of prosperity and growth. It faced severe infrastructural damage due to the Iraq War, which began with the invasion of Iraq in 2003, resulting in a substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts. Impacted by the subsequent 2011–2013 insurgency and renewed war from 2013 to 2017, during this period, it had one of the highest rates of terrorist attacks in the world. However, it has gradually been on the decline since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State militant group in Iraq in 2017, and are now rare. As capital of Iraq, Baghdad is location of the seat of government, national institutions and government ministries and serves as headquarters to numerous companies. It generates 40% of Iraq's GDP. A major center of Islamic history, the city is home to numerous historic mosques, as well as churches, "mandis" and synagogues, highlighting the city's historical diversity. Baghdad is home to Mustansiriya University, one of the oldest universities and Masjid al-Kādhimayn, that is visited every year by millions of Shi'ite pilgrims. The city is home to important cultural sites such as the National Museum of Iraq, the Iraqi National Library and the National Media Center. It is also known as the "City of Palaces", as it is home to well-known palaces.
Name. The name Baghdad is pre-Islamic, and its origin is disputed. The site where the city of Baghdad developed has been populated for millennia. Archaeological evidence shows that the site of Baghdad was occupied by various peoples long before the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia in 637 CE, and several ancient empires had capitals located in the surrounding area. Arab authors, realizing the pre-Islamic origins of Baghdad's name, generally looked for its roots in Middle Persian. They suggested various meanings, the most common of which was "bestowed by God". Modern scholars generally tend to favor this etymology, which views the word as a Persian compound of "bagh" () "god" and "dād" () "given". In Old Persian the first element can be traced to "boghu" and is related to Indo-Iranian "bhag" and Slavic "bog" "god." A similar term in Middle Persian is the name "Mithradāt" ("Mehrdad" in New Persian), known in English by its borrowed Hellenistic form "Mithridates", meaning "Given by Mithra" ("dāt" is the more archaic form of "dād", related to Sanskrit "dāt", Latin "dat" and English "donor"), ultimately borrowed from Persian "Mehrdad". There are a number of other locations whose names are compounds of the Middle Persian word "bagh", including Baghlan and Bagram in Afghanistan, Baghshan in Iran itself, and Baghdati in Georgia, which likely share the same etymological Iranic origins.
Other authors have suggested older origins for the name, in particular the name "Bagdadu" or "Hudadu" that existed in Old Babylonian (spelled with a sign that can represent both "bag" and "hu"), and the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic name of a place called "Baghdatha" (). Some scholars suggested Aramaic derivations. Another view, suggested by Christophe Wall-Romana, is that name of "Baghdad" is derived from "Akkad", as the cuneiform logogram for Akkad () is pronounced ""a-ga-dè"KI" ("Agade") and its resemblance to "Baghdad" is compelling. It is argued that, throughout all the various spellings of the city's name, whether "Baghdad" [بغداد], "Baghdadh" [بغداذ], "Baghdan" [بغدان], "Maghdad" [مغداد], "Maghdadh" [مغداذ], or "Maghdan" [مغدان], the only phonetically definite segment of the name appears to be "Aghda" [ىَغْدَا], which could be equated with the pronunciation of the name Agade. When the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur founded a completely new city for his capital, he chose the name "City of peace" (),which now refers to the Round City of Baghdad proper. Another explanation is that the Sorani Kurdish language words of "bagh" (), which means "the garden of"; and "dad" (), which stands for "Justice". This was the official name on coins, weights, and other official usage, although the common people continued to use the old name. By the 11th century, "Baghdad" became almost the exclusive name for the world-renowned metropolis.
Christophe Wall-Romana has suggested that al-Mansur's choice to found his "new city" at Baghdad because of its strategic location was the same criteria which influenced Sargon's choice to found the original city of Akkad in the exact same location. History. Foundation. After the fall of the Umayyads, the victorious Abbasids sought a new capital. On July 30, 762, the Caliph Al-Mansur commissioned Baghdad's construction, guided by the Iranian Barmakids. He believed Baghdad was ideal for ruling the Islamic Empire. Historian al-Tabari recorded a prophecy from Christian monks about a leader named Miklas building a great city in the area, and Al-Mansur, who was once called Miklas, saw this as a good omen. He expressed deep affection for the site, declaring it would be the home of his dynasty. The two designers who were hired by Al-Mansur to plan the city's design were Naubakht, a Zoroastrian who also determined that the date of the foundation of the city would be astrologically auspicious, and Mashallah, a Jew from Khorasan, Iran. They determined the city's auspicious founding date under the sign of Leo the lion, symbolizing strength and expansion.
Baghdad's strategic location along the Tigris and its abundant water supply contributed to its rapid growth. It was divided into three judicial districts: Round City ("Madinat al-Mansur"), al-Karkh ("al-Sharqiyya"), and Askar al-Mahdi. To prevent disturbances, Al-Mansur moved markets to al-Karkh. Over time, Baghdad became a hub for merchants and craftsmen. Officials called "Muhtasib" monitored trade to prevent fraud. Baghdad surpassed Ctesiphon, the former Sassanid capital, located 30 km southeast. The ruins of Ctesiphon remain in Salman Pak, where Salman the Persian is believed to be buried. Ctesiphon itself had replaced Seleucia, which had earlier succeeded Babylon. According to the traveler Ibn Battuta, Baghdad was one of the largest cities, not including the damage it has received. The residents are mostly Hanbalis. Most residents were Hanbali Muslims. The city housed Abu Hanifa’s grave, marked by a mosque and cell. Its ruler, Abu Said Bahadur Khan, was a Tatar who had embraced Islam. Baghdad was designed to symbolize Paradise as described in the Qur'an. It took four years (764–768) to build, with over 100,000 workers involved. Al-Mansur recruited engineers and artisans worldwide. Astrologers Naubakht Ahvazi and Mashallah advised starting construction under Leo, associated with fire, productivity, and expansion. Bricks for the city were 18 inches square, and Abu Hanifah supervised their production. A canal supplied water for drinking and construction. Marble was used extensively, including steps leading to the river.
The city’s layout consisted of two large semicircles, with a 2 km-wide circular core known as the "Round City." It had parks, gardens, villas, and promenades. Unlike European cities of the time, Baghdad had a sanitation system, fountains, and public baths, with thousands of "hammams" enhancing hygiene. The mosque and guard headquarters stood at the center, though some central space's function remains unknown. Baghdad’s circular design reflected ancient Near Eastern urban planning, similar to the Sasanian city of Gur and older Mesopotamian cities like Mari. While Tell Chuera and Tell al-Rawda also provide examples of this type of urban planning existing in Bronze Age Syria. This style of urban planning contrasted with Ancient Greek and Roman urban planning, in which cities are designed as squares or rectangles with streets intersecting each other at right angles. Baghdad was lively, with attractions like cabarets, chess halls, live plays, concerts, and acrobatics. Storytelling flourished, with professional storytellers ("al-Qaskhun") captivating crowds, inspiring the tales of "Arabian Nights". The city had four walls named after major destinations—Kufa, Basra, Khurasan, and Syria; their gates pointed in on these destinations. The gates were 2.4 km apart, with massive iron doors requiring several men to operate. The walls, up to 44 meters thick and 30 meters high, were reinforced with a second wall, towers, and a moat for added defense. On street corners, storytellers engaged crowds with tales such as those later told in Arabian Nights. The Golden Gate Palace, home of the caliph, stood at Baghdad's center with a grand 48-meter green dome. Only the caliph could approach its esplanade on horseback. Nearby were officer residences and a guardhouse. After Caliph Al-Amin's death in 813, the palace ceased to be the caliph's residence.
Center of learning (8th–9th centuries). Within a generation of its founding, Baghdad became a hub of learning and commerce. The city flourished into an unrivaled intellectual center of science, medicine, philosophy, and education, especially with the Abbasid translation movement began under the second caliph Al-Mansur and thrived under the seventh caliph Al-Ma'mun. "Baytul-Hikmah" or the "House of Wisdom" was among the most well known academies, and had the largest selection of books in the world by the middle of the 9th century. Notable scholars based in Baghdad during this time include translator Hunayn ibn Ishaq, mathematician al-Khwarizmi, and philosopher Al-Kindi. Although Arabic was used as the international language of science, the scholarship involved not only Arabs, but also Persians, Syriacs, Nestorians, Jews, Arab Christians, and people from other ethnic and religious groups native to the region. These are considered among the fundamental elements that contributed to the flourishing of scholarship in the Medieval Islamic world. Baghdad was also a significant center of Islamic religious learning, with Al-Jahiz contributing to the formation of Mu'tazili theology, as well as Al-Tabari culminating in the scholarship on the Quranic exegesis. Baghdad is likely to have been the largest city in the world from shortly after its foundation until the 930s, when it tied with Córdoba. Several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak. Many of the "One Thousand and One Nights" tales, widely known as the "Arabian Nights", are set in Baghdad during this period. It would surpass even Constantinople in prosperity and size.
Among the notable features of Baghdad during this period were its exceptional libraries. Many of the Abbasid caliphs were patrons of learning and enjoyed collecting both ancient and contemporary literature. Although some of the princes of the previous Umayyad dynasty had begun to gather and translate Greek scientific literature, the Abbasids were the first to foster Greek learning on a large scale. Many of these libraries were private collections intended only for the use of the owners and their immediate friends, but the libraries of the caliphs and other officials soon took on a public or a semi-public character. Four great libraries were established in Baghdad during this period. The earliest was that of the famous Al-Ma'mun, who was caliph from 813 to 833. Another was established by Sabur ibn Ardashir in 991 or 993 for the literary men and scholars who frequented his academy. This second library was plundered and burned by the Seljuks only seventy years after it was established. This was a good example of the sort of library built up out of the needs and interests of a literary society. The last two were examples of "madrasa" or theological college libraries. The Nezamiyeh was founded by the Persian Nizam al-Mulk, who was vizier of two early Seljuk sultans. It continued to operate even after the coming of the Mongols in 1258. The Mustansiriyah "madrasa", which owned an exceedingly rich library, was founded by Al-Mustansir, the second last Abbasid caliph, who died in 1242. This would prove to be the last great library built by the caliphs of Baghdad.
Stagnation and invasions (10th–16th centuries). By the 10th century, the city's population was between 1.2 million and 2 million. Baghdad's early meteoric growth eventually slowed due to troubles within the Caliphate, including relocations of the capital to Samarra (during 808–819 and 836–892), the loss of the western and easternmost provinces, and periods of political domination by the Iranian Buwayhids (945–1055) and Seljuk Turks (1055–1135). The Seljuks were a clan of the Oghuz Turks from Central Asia that converted to the Sunni branch of Islam. In 1040, they destroyed the Ghaznavids, taking over their land and in 1055, Tughril Beg, the leader of the Seljuks, took over Baghdad. The Seljuks expelled the Buyid dynasty of Shiites that had ruled for some time and took over power and control of Baghdad. They ruled as Sultans in the name of the Abbasid caliphs (they saw themselves as being part of the Abbasid regime). Tughril Beg saw himself as the protector of the Abbasid Caliphs. Baghdad was captured in 1394, 1534, 1623 and 1638. The city has been sieged in 812, 865, 946, 1157, 1258 and in 1393 and 1401, by Tamerlane. In 1058, Baghdad was captured by the Fatimids under the Turkish general Abu'l-Ḥārith Arslān al-Basasiri, an adherent of the Ismailis along with the 'Uqaylid Quraysh. Not long before the arrival of the Saljuqs in Baghdad, al-Basasiri petitioned to the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir to support him in conquering Baghdad on the Ismaili Imam's behalf. It has recently come to light that the famed Fatimid "da'i", al-Mu'ayyad al-Shirazi, had a direct role in supporting al-Basasiri and helped the general to succeed in taking Mawṣil, Wāsit and Kufa. Soon after, by December 1058, a Shi'i "adhān" (call to prayer) was implemented in Baghdad and a "khutbah" (sermon) was delivered in the name of the Fatimid Imam-Caliph. Despite his Shi'i inclinations, Al-Basasiri received support from Sunnis and Shi'is alike, for whom opposition to the Saljuq power was a common factor.

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