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In 1911, the "Dictionnaire apologétique de la foi catholique", an important French Catholic encyclopedia, published an analysis of the blood libel accusations. This may be taken as being broadly representative of educated Catholic opinion in continental Europe at that time. The article noted that the popes had generally refrained from endorsing the blood libel, and it concluded that the accusations were unproven in a general sense, but it left open the possibility that some Jews had committed ritual murders of Christians. Other contemporary Catholic sources (notably the Jesuit periodical "La Civiltà Cattolica") promoted the blood libel as truth. Today, the accusations are rarer in Catholic circles. While Simon of Trent's local status as a saint was removed in 1965, several towns in Spain still commemorate the blood libel. Blood libels in Muslim lands. In late 1553 or 1554, Suleiman the Magnificent, the reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire, issued a firman (royal decree) which formally denounced blood libels against the Jews.
In 1840, following the Western outrage arising from the Damascus affair, British politician and leader of the British Jewish community, Sir Moses Montefiore, backed by other influential westerners including Britain's Lord Palmerston and Damascus consul Charles Henry Churchill, the French lawyer Adolphe Crémieux, Austrian consul Giovanni Gasparo Merlato, Danish missionary John Nicolayson, and Solomon Munk, persuaded Sultan Abdulmejid I in Constantinople, to issue a firman on 6 November 1840 intended to halt the spread of blood libel accusations in the Ottoman Empire. The edict declared that blood libel accusations were a slander against Jews and they would be prohibited throughout the Ottoman Empire, and read in part: ... and for the love we bear to our subjects, we cannot permit the Jewish nation, whose innocence for the crime alleged against them is evident, to be worried and tormented as a consequence of accusations which have not the least foundation in truth... In the remainder of the 19th century and into the 20th century, there were many instances of the blood libel in Ottoman lands, such as the 1881 Fornaraki affair. However the libel almost always came from the Christian community, sometimes with the connivance of Greek or French diplomats. The Jews could usually count on the goodwill of the Ottoman authorities and increasingly on the support of British, Prussian and Austrian representatives.
In the 1910 Shiraz blood libel, the Jews of Shiraz, Iran, were falsely accused of murdering a Muslim girl. The entire Jewish quarter was pillaged, with the pogrom leaving 12 Jews dead and about 50 injured. In 1983, Mustafa Tlass, the Syrian Minister of Defense, wrote and published "The Matzah of Zion", which is a treatment of the Damascus affair of 1840 that repeats the ancient "blood libel", that Jews use the blood of murdered non-Jews in religious rituals such as baking Matza bread. In this book, he argues that the true religious beliefs of Jews are "black hatred against all humans and religions", and no Arab country should ever sign a peace treaty with Israel. Tlass re-printed the book several times. Following the book's publication, Tlass told "Der Spiegel", that this accusation against Jews was valid and he also claimed that his book is "an historical study ... based on documents from France, Vienna and the American University in Beirut." In 2003, the Egyptian newspaper "Al-Ahram" published a series of articles by Osama El-Baz, a senior advisor to the then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Among other things, Osama El-Baz explained the origins of the blood libel against the Jews. He said that Arabs and Muslims have never been antisemitic, as a group, but he accepted the fact that a few Arab writers and media figures attack Jews "on the basis of the racist fallacies and myths that originated in Europe". He urged people not to succumb to "myths" such as the blood libel.
Nevertheless, on many occasions in modern times, blood libel stories have appeared in the state-sponsored media of a number of Arab and Muslim nations, as well as on their television shows and websites, and books which allege instances of Jewish blood libels are not uncommon there. The blood libel was featured in a scene in the Syrian TV series "Ash-Shatat", shown in 2003. In 2007, Lebanese poet Marwan Chamoun, in an interview aired on Télé Liban, referred to the "... slaughter of the priest Tomaso de Camangiano ... in 1840... in the presence of two rabbis in the heart of Damascus, in the home of a close friend of this priest, Daud Al-Harari, the head of the Jewish community of Damascus. After he was slaughtered, his blood was collected, and the two rabbis took it." A novel, "Death of a Monk", based on the Damascus affair, was published in 2004. References. Notes
Bagpuss Bagpuss is a British animated children's television series which was made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate through their company Smallfilms. The series of thirteen episodes was first broadcast from 12 February to 7 May 1974. The title character was "a saggy, old cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams". Although only thirteen episodes were produced and broadcast, the programme remains fondly remembered, and was frequently repeated in the UK until 1986. In early 1999, "Bagpuss" topped a BBC poll for the UK's favourite children's television programme. Characters. Bagpuss himself is a stuffed cloth cat, referred to in the intro as "The Most Important, The Most Beautiful, The Most Magical, Saggy Old Cloth Cat in the Whole, Wide World". The six mice carved on the side of the "mouse organ" (a small mechanical pipe organ that played rolls of music) wake up and scurry around, singing in high-pitched voices. The names of the six mice are: Charlie Mouse, Jenny Mouse, Janey Mouse, Lizzy Mouse, Eddie Mouse and Willy Mouse, although only three of the mice are ever referred to by their name; the remaining three are named only in the books which accompany the series.
A rag doll made of scraps, called Madeleine, sits in a wicker chair. Gabriel the toad, unlike most Smallfilms characters, could move by a special device beneath his can without the use of stop-motion animation. The wooden woodpecker bookend became the drily academic Professor Yaffle (based on the philosopher Bertrand Russell, whom Postgate had once met). Voices and music. Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner provided the voices of Madeleine and Gabriel respectively and put together and performed all the folk songs. All the other characters' voices, including that of the narrator, were performed by writer Oliver Postgate. Format. The scene is set at the turn of the 20th century, with Emily Firmin (Peter Firmin's daughter) playing the part of the Victorian child Emily. The first antique village vignette is a cropped image of Horrabridge taken in 1898, though nothing is known of the other photo of the children with the pram. The shop window was at the Firmin family home in Blean. Each programme begins in the same way: through a series of sepia photographs, the viewer is told of a little girl named Emily who owns a shop. She never sells any merchandise, but instead finds lost or broken objects and later displays them in the front window after they have been mended so their owners might come in and claim them.
Emily leaves an object in front of her favourite stuffed toy, the large, saggy, pink and white striped cat named Bagpuss, and recites the following verse: After Emily departs, Bagpuss wakes up. The programme shifts from sepia to colour stop motion film and various toys in the shop come to life. After being introduced by the narrator, the toys discuss what the new object is; one of them tells a story related to the object (sometimes shown in an animated thought bubble over Bagpuss's head), often with a song, accompanied by Gabriel on the banjo (which often sounded a lot more like a guitar) and then the mice, singing in high-pitched squeaky harmony to the tune of "Sumer Is Icumen In" as they work, mending the broken object. There is much banter between the characters, with the pompous Yaffle constantly finding fault with the playful mice: his complaint, 'Those mice are never serious!' becomes his main catchphrase. However, peace is always restored by the end of the episode, usually thanks to the timely intervention of Bagpuss, Gabriel or Madeleine. The newly mended object is then placed in the shop window, so that its owner might see it as they pass and come in to collect it. Bagpuss yawns and goes to sleep, and the colour fades to sepia and the other toys freeze in place as the narrator says the following:
Broadcasting. The series was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom, at 1:45 pm, on BBC1. The BBC sold the series to the Dutch broadcaster Nederlandse Christelijke Radio-Vereniging and the series was transmitted in the Netherlands from October 1976. The series was also transmitted in Italy from February 1977. Episodes. The titles of the episodes each refer in some way to the object Emily found. Production. The programmes were made using stop-frame animation. Bagpuss is an actual cloth cat, but was not intended to be such an electric pink. In Firmin's words: "It should have been a ginger marmalade cat but the company in Folkestone dyeing the material made a mistake and it turned out pink and cream. It was the best thing that ever happened". Madeleine the rag doll was made by Firmin's wife, Joan, with an extra long dress to hold their children's nightdresses, but Postgate asked Joan to make a new version as one of the characters. Gabriel the Toad was the only character in the series who could move freely without the use of stop-frame animation. Scenes featuring him playing the banjo and singing would have taken quite a bit of time if filmed with the stop-frame method, so Peter Firmin created a mechanism that helped him control Gabriel through a hole in his can. The character was based on a real toad that lived in the basement area of the flat that Peter and Joan rented in Twickenham beside the River Thames. Gabriel (named after Walter Gabriel in "The Archers", a long-running British radio soap opera) was originally made for Firmin's live ITV programme "The Musical Box". Postgate chose him to be one of the characters in "Bagpuss" and he was made into a new, slightly larger version.
Professor Yaffle was created as the book-end who had access to "facts". The BBC did not like the original character, a man in top hat made from black Irish bog oak, called "Professor Bogwood". They thought he was too frightening and asked for a non-human instead. Most of the stories and songs used in the series are based on folk songs and fairy tales from around the world. Legacy. In 1987, the University of Kent at Canterbury awarded honorary degrees to Postgate and Firmin. In his speech, Postgate stated that the degree was really intended for Bagpuss, who was subsequently displayed in academic dress. In 1999, "Bagpuss" came first in a BBC poll selecting the nation's favourite children's programme made and broadcast by that corporation. It also came fourth in the Channel 4 poll, "The 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows", broadcast in 2001. In 2002 and 2005, a stage show of "Bagpuss" songs toured the UK folk festivals and theatres with original singers Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner, along with Kerr's daughter Nancy Kerr and her husband, James Fagan.
In June 2002, the charity Hospices of Hope opened the Bagpuss Children's Wing in its hospice in Brașov, Romania. The wing was funded entirely by Postgate from royalties received from the BBC. In April 2012, Marc Jenner from Tunbridge Wells in Kent ran in the Virgin London Marathon dressed in a Bagpuss costume to raise money for the charity, supported by Emily Firmin (seen in the programme's opening titles) and Postgate's family. Thom Yorke of the band Radiohead has claimed to be a fan of the series, watching it with his son. It was an influence for 2003 album "Hail to the Thief". Gabriel's song in Episode 2 was the acknowledged inspiration for the album track (and first single) "There There" (originally titled "The Bony King of Nowhere"). In 2009 Coolabi revealed that it had signed an “exclusive new option to develop and produce new content” based on Bagpuss, as they held the merchandising and distribution rights. Daniel Postgate, the son of co-creator Oliver Postgate, said he did not want a “lightweight” remake using CGI animation. He said CGI had “a slightly lurid quality, even at the best of times”.
Bagpuss appeared in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley in 2009, along with many other British children's characters. Bagpuss appeared on one of the twelve postage stamps issued by Royal Mail in January 2014 to celebrate classic children's programmes. Bagpuss was displayed with Rupert Bear in the Rupert Bear Museum in Canterbury, part of the Canterbury Heritage Museum. After its closure at the end of 2017, he and Rupert Bear moved to the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge in Canterbury. In 2014, Emily Firmin and Dan Postgate, surviving children of the series creators, created the account to share archive footage not widely available, such as several short stories narrated by Oliver Postgate. The first episode of the BBC show "Man Like Mobeen" was called Bagpuss. In the fourth season of "The Crown", Bagpuss made a cameo appearance on the episodes "Fairytale" and "Favourites", in which the fictionalised version of Princess Diana (played by Emma Corrin) watched the show in two aforementioned episodes. Home media.
DVD and Blu-ray. The full series was released on DVD, in April 2005 and in 2007. It was re-released in April 2015. The full series was re-released in 2023 on Blu-ray and DVD to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bagpuss. This release included “Peter Firmin – At Home with Bagpuss” and “The Story of Smallfilms” as extra features. BBC iPlayer. The entire series was released onto the BBC iPlayer for the first time in May 2021 for 30 days. Music. A CD of the original songs was released in 1999. The CD was re-released as well as a vinyl LP, again of the original songs from the series, in 2018. Books. Several books have been released over the years to accompany the series.
Naive set theory Naive set theory is any of several theories of sets used in the discussion of the foundations of mathematics. Unlike axiomatic set theories, which are defined using formal logic, naive set theory is defined informally, in natural language. It describes the aspects of mathematical sets familiar in discrete mathematics (for example Venn diagrams and symbolic reasoning about their Boolean algebra), and suffices for the everyday use of set theory concepts in contemporary mathematics. Sets are of great importance in mathematics; in modern formal treatments, most mathematical objects (numbers, relations, functions, etc.) are defined in terms of sets. Naive set theory suffices for many purposes, while also serving as a stepping stone towards more formal treatments. Method. A "naive theory" in the sense of "naive set theory" is a non-formalized theory, that is, a theory that uses natural language to describe sets and operations on sets. Such theory treats sets as platonic absolute objects. The words "and", "or", "if ... then", "not", "for some", "for every" are treated as in ordinary mathematics. As a matter of convenience, use of naive set theory and its formalism prevails even in higher mathematics – including in more formal settings of set theory itself.
The first development of set theory was a naive set theory. It was created at the end of the 19th century by Georg Cantor as part of his study of infinite sets and developed by Gottlob Frege in his "Grundgesetze der Arithmetik". Naive set theory may refer to several very distinct notions. It may refer to Paradoxes. The assumption that any property may be used to form a set, without restriction, leads to paradoxes. One common example is Russell's paradox: there is no set consisting of "all sets that do not contain themselves". Thus consistent systems of naive set theory must include some limitations on the principles which can be used to form sets. Cantor's theory. Some believe that Georg Cantor's set theory was not actually implicated in the set-theoretic paradoxes (see Frápolli 1991). One difficulty in determining this with certainty is that Cantor did not provide an axiomatization of his system. By 1899, Cantor was aware of some of the paradoxes following from unrestricted interpretation of his theory, for instance Cantor's paradox and the Burali-Forti paradox, and did not believe that they discredited his theory. Cantor's paradox can actually be derived from the above (false) assumption—that any property may be used to form a set—using for " is a cardinal number". Frege explicitly axiomatized a theory in which a formalized version of naive set theory can be interpreted, and it is "this" formal theory which Bertrand Russell actually addressed when he presented his paradox, not necessarily a theory Cantorwho, as mentioned, was aware of several paradoxespresumably had in mind.
Axiomatic theories. Axiomatic set theory was developed in response to these early attempts to understand sets, with the goal of determining precisely what operations were allowed and when. Consistency. A naive set theory is not "necessarily" inconsistent, if it correctly specifies the sets allowed to be considered. This can be done by the means of definitions, which are implicit axioms. It is possible to state all the axioms explicitly, as in the case of Halmos' "Naive Set Theory", which is actually an informal presentation of the usual axiomatic Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory. It is "naive" in that the language and notations are those of ordinary informal mathematics, and in that it does not deal with consistency or completeness of the axiom system. Likewise, an axiomatic set theory is not necessarily consistent: not necessarily free of paradoxes. It follows from Gödel's incompleteness theorems that a sufficiently complicated first-order logic system (which includes most common axiomatic set theories) cannot be proved consistent from within the theory itself – even if it actually is consistent. However, the common axiomatic systems are generally believed to be consistent; by their axioms they do exclude "some" paradoxes, like Russell's paradox. Based on Gödel's theorem, it is just not known – and never can be – if there are "no" paradoxes at all in these theories or in any first-order set theory.
The term "naive set theory" is still today also used in some literature to refer to the set theories studied by Frege and Cantor, rather than to the informal counterparts of modern axiomatic set theory. Utility. The choice between an axiomatic approach and other approaches is largely a matter of convenience. In everyday mathematics the best choice may be informal use of axiomatic set theory. References to particular axioms typically then occur only when demanded by tradition, e.g. the axiom of choice is often mentioned when used. Likewise, formal proofs occur only when warranted by exceptional circumstances. This informal usage of axiomatic set theory can have (depending on notation) precisely the "appearance" of naive set theory as outlined below. It is considerably easier to read and write (in the formulation of most statements, proofs, and lines of discussion) and is less error-prone than a strictly formal approach. Sets, membership and equality. In naive set theory, a set is described as a well-defined collection of objects. These objects are called the elements or members of the set. Objects can be anything: numbers, people, other sets, etc. For instance, 4 is a member of the set of all even integers. Clearly, the set of even numbers is infinitely large; there is no requirement that a set be finite.
The definition of sets goes back to Georg Cantor. He wrote in his 1915 article "Beiträge zur Begründung der transfiniten Mengenlehre": Note on consistency. It does "not" follow from this definition "how" sets can be formed, and what operations on sets again will produce a set. The term "well-defined" in "well-defined collection of objects" cannot, by itself, guarantee the consistency and unambiguity of what exactly constitutes and what does not constitute a set. Attempting to achieve this would be the realm of axiomatic set theory or of axiomatic class theory. The problem, in this context, with informally formulated set theories, not derived from (and implying) any particular axiomatic theory, is that there may be several widely differing formalized versions, that have both different sets and different rules for how new sets may be formed, that all conform to the original informal definition. For example, Cantor's verbatim definition allows for considerable freedom in what constitutes a set. On the other hand, it is unlikely that Cantor was particularly interested in sets containing cats and dogs, but rather only in sets containing purely mathematical objects. An example of such a class of sets could be the von Neumann universe. But even when fixing the class of sets under consideration, it is not always clear which rules for set formation are allowed without introducing paradoxes.
For the purpose of fixing the discussion below, the term "well-defined" should instead be interpreted as an "intention", with either implicit or explicit rules (axioms or definitions), to rule out inconsistencies. The purpose is to keep the often deep and difficult issues of consistency away from the, usually simpler, context at hand. An explicit ruling out of "all" conceivable inconsistencies (paradoxes) cannot be achieved for an axiomatic set theory anyway, due to Gödel's second incompleteness theorem, so this does not at all hamper the utility of naive set theory as compared to axiomatic set theory in the simple contexts considered below. It merely simplifies the discussion. Consistency is henceforth taken for granted unless explicitly mentioned. Membership. If "x" is a member of a set "A", then it is also said that "x" belongs to "A", or that "x" is in "A". This is denoted by "x" ∈ "A". The symbol ∈ is a derivation from the lowercase Greek letter epsilon, "ε", introduced by Giuseppe Peano in 1889 and is the first letter of the word ἐστί (means "is"). The symbol ∉ is often used to write "x" ∉ "A", meaning "x is not in A".
Equality. Two sets "A" and "B" are defined to be equal when they have precisely the same elements, that is, if every element of "A" is an element of "B" and every element of "B" is an element of "A". (See axiom of extensionality.) Thus a set is completely determined by its elements; the description is immaterial. For example, the set with elements 2, 3, and 5 is equal to the set of all prime numbers less than 6. If the sets "A" and "B" are equal, this is denoted symbolically as "A" = "B" (as usual). Empty set. The empty set, denoted as formula_1 and sometimes formula_2, is a set with no members at all. Because a set is determined completely by its elements, there can be only one empty set. (See axiom of empty set.) Although the empty set has no members, it can be a member of other sets. Thus formula_3, because the former has no members and the latter has one member. Specifying sets. The simplest way to describe a set is to list its elements between curly braces (known as defining a set "extensionally"). Thus denotes the set whose only elements are and .
Note the following points: This notation can be informally abused by saying something like to indicate the set of all dogs, but this example would usually be read by mathematicians as "the set containing the single element "dogs"". An extreme (but correct) example of this notation is , which denotes the empty set. The notation , or sometimes , is used to denote the set containing all objects for which the condition holds (known as defining a set "intensionally"). For example, denotes the set of real numbers, denotes the set of everything with blonde hair. This notation is called set-builder notation (or "set comprehension", particularly in the context of Functional programming). Some variants of set builder notation are: Subsets. Given two sets "A" and "B", "A" is a subset of "B" if every element of "A" is also an element of "B". In particular, each set "B" is a subset of itself; a subset of "B" that is not equal to "B" is called a proper subset. If "A" is a subset of "B", then one can also say that "B" is a superset of "A", that "A" is contained in "B", or that "B" contains "A". In symbols, means that "A" is a subset of "B", and means that "B" is a superset of "A".
Some authors use the symbols ⊂ and ⊃ for subsets, and others use these symbols only for "proper" subsets. For clarity, one can explicitly use the symbols ⊊ and ⊋ to indicate non-equality. As an illustration, let R be the set of real numbers, let Z be the set of integers, let "O" be the set of odd integers, and let "P" be the set of current or former U.S. Presidents. Then "O" is a subset of Z, Z is a subset of R, and (hence) "O" is a subset of R, where in all cases "subset" may even be read as "proper subset". Not all sets are comparable in this way. For example, it is not the case either that R is a subset of "P" nor that "P" is a subset of R. It follows immediately from the definition of equality of sets above that, given two sets "A" and "B", if and only if and . In fact this is often given as the definition of equality. Usually when trying to prove that two sets are equal, one aims to show these two inclusions. The empty set is a subset of every set (the statement that all elements of the empty set are also members of any set "A" is vacuously true).
The set of all subsets of a given set "A" is called the power set of "A" and is denoted by formula_4 or formula_5; the "" is sometimes in a script font: . If the set "A" has "n" elements, then formula_5 will have formula_7 elements. Universal sets and absolute complements. In certain contexts, one may consider all sets under consideration as being subsets of some given universal set. For instance, when investigating properties of the real numbers R (and subsets of R), R may be taken as the universal set. A true universal set is not included in standard set theory (see Paradoxes below), but is included in some non-standard set theories. Given a universal set U and a subset "A" of U, the complement of "A" (in U) is defined as In other words, "A"C (""A-complement"; sometimes simply "A, "A-prime"" ) is the set of all members of U"' which are not members of "A". Thus with R, Z and "O" defined as in the section on subsets, if Z is the universal set, then "OC" is the set of even integers, while if R is the universal set, then "OC" is the set of all real numbers that are either even integers or not integers at all.
Unions, intersections, and relative complements. Given two sets "A" and "B", their union is the set consisting of all objects which are elements of "A" or of "B" or of both (see axiom of union). It is denoted by . The intersection of "A" and "B" is the set of all objects which are both in "A" and in "B". It is denoted by . Finally, the relative complement of "B" relative to "A", also known as the set theoretic difference of "A" and "B", is the set of all objects that belong to "A" but "not" to "B". It is written as or . Symbolically, these are respectively The set "B" doesn't have to be a subset of "A" for to make sense; this is the difference between the relative complement and the absolute complement () from the previous section. To illustrate these ideas, let "A" be the set of left-handed people, and let "B" be the set of people with blond hair. Then is the set of all left-handed blond-haired people, while is the set of all people who are left-handed or blond-haired or both. , on the other hand, is the set of all people that are left-handed but not blond-haired, while is the set of all people who have blond hair but aren't left-handed.
Now let "E" be the set of all human beings, and let "F" be the set of all living things over 1000 years old. What is in this case? No living human being is over 1000 years old, so must be the empty set {}. For any set "A", the power set formula_5 is a Boolean algebra under the operations of union and intersection. Ordered pairs and Cartesian products. Intuitively, an ordered pair is simply a collection of two objects such that one can be distinguished as the "first element" and the other as the "second element", and having the fundamental property that, two ordered pairs are equal if and only if their "first elements" are equal and their "second elements" are equal. Formally, an ordered pair with first coordinate "a", and second coordinate "b", usually denoted by ("a", "b"), can be defined as the set formula_9 It follows that, two ordered pairs ("a","b") and ("c","d") are equal if and only if and . Alternatively, an ordered pair can be formally thought of as a set {a,b} with a total order. (The notation ("a", "b") is also used to denote an open interval on the real number line, but the context should make it clear which meaning is intended. Otherwise, the notation ]"a", "b"[ may be used to denote the open interval whereas ("a", "b") is used for the ordered pair).
If "A" and "B" are sets, then the Cartesian product (or simply product) is defined to be: That is, is the set of all ordered pairs whose first coordinate is an element of "A" and whose second coordinate is an element of "B". This definition may be extended to a set of ordered triples, and more generally to sets of ordered n-tuples for any positive integer "n". It is even possible to define infinite Cartesian products, but this requires a more recondite definition of the product. Cartesian products were first developed by René Descartes in the context of analytic geometry. If R denotes the set of all real numbers, then represents the Euclidean plane and represents three-dimensional Euclidean space. Some important sets. There are some ubiquitous sets for which the notation is almost universal. Some of these are listed below. In the list, "a", "b", and "c" refer to natural numbers, and "r" and "s" are real numbers. Paradoxes in early set theory. The unrestricted formation principle of sets referred to as the axiom schema of unrestricted comprehension,
is the source of several early appearing paradoxes: If the axiom schema of unrestricted comprehension is weakened to the axiom schema of specification or axiom schema of separation, then all the above paradoxes disappear. There is a corollary. With the axiom schema of separation as an axiom of the theory, it follows, as a theorem of the theory: Or, more spectacularly (Halmos' phrasing): There is no universe. "Proof": Suppose that it exists and call it . Now apply the axiom schema of separation with and for use . This leads to Russell's paradox again. Hence cannot exist in this theory. Related to the above constructions is formation of the set where the statement following the implication certainly is false. It follows, from the definition of , using the usual inference rules (and some afterthought when reading the proof in the linked article below) both that and holds, hence . This is Curry's paradox. It is (perhaps surprisingly) not the possibility of that is problematic. It is again the axiom schema of unrestricted comprehension allowing for . With the axiom schema of specification instead of unrestricted comprehension, the conclusion does not hold and hence is not a logical consequence.
Nonetheless, the possibility of is often removed explicitly or, e.g. in ZFC, implicitly, by demanding the axiom of regularity to hold. One consequence of it is or, in other words, no set is an element of itself. The axiom schema of separation is simply too weak (while unrestricted comprehension is a very strong axiom—too strong for set theory) to develop set theory with its usual operations and constructions outlined above. The axiom of regularity is of a restrictive nature as well. Therefore, one is led to the formulation of other axioms to guarantee the existence of enough sets to form a set theory. Some of these have been described informally above and many others are possible. Not all conceivable axioms can be combined freely into consistent theories. For example, the axiom of choice of ZFC is incompatible with the conceivable "every set of reals is Lebesgue measurable". The former implies the latter is false.
Breathy voice Breathy voice (also called murmured voice, whispery voice, soughing and susurration) is a phonation in which the vocal folds vibrate, as they do in normal (modal) voicing, but are adjusted to let more air escape which produces a sighing-like sound. A simple breathy phonation, (not actually a fricative consonant, as a literal reading of the IPA chart would suggest), can sometimes be heard as an allophone of English between vowels, such as in the word "behind", for some speakers. In the context of the Indo-Aryan languages like Sanskrit and Hindi and comparative Indo-European studies, breathy consonants are often called "voiced aspirated", as in the Hindi and Sanskrit stops normally denoted "bh, dh, ḍh, jh," and "gh" and the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European phonemes "bʰ,dʰ,ǵʰ,gʰ,gʷʰ". , as breathy voice is a different type of phonation from aspiration. However, breathy and aspirated stops are acoustically similar in that in both cases there is a delay in the onset of full voicing. In the history of several languages, like Greek and some varieties of Chinese, breathy stops have developed into aspirated stops.
Classification and terminology. The IPA uses the term "breathy voice", but VoQS uses the term "whispery voice". Both accept the term "murmur", popularised by Ladefoged. Transcription. A stop with breathy release or a breathy nasal is transcribed in the IPA as etc. or as etc. Breathy vowels are most often written etc. Indication of breathy voice by using subscript diaeresis was approved in or before June 1976 by members of the council of International Phonetic Association. In VoQS, the notation } is used for whispery voice (or murmur), and } is used for breathy voice. Some authors, such as Laver, suggest the alternative transcription (rather than IPA ) as the correct analysis of Gujarati , but it could be confused with the replacement of modal voicing in voiced segments with whispered phonation, conventionally transcribed with the diacritic . Methods of production. The distinction between the latter two of these realizations, vocal folds somewhat separated along their length ("breathy voice") and vocal folds together with the arytenoids making an opening ("whispery voice"), is phonetically relevant in White Hmong ("Hmong Daw").
Phonological property. In some Bantu languages, historically breathy stops have been phonetically devoiced, but the four-way contrast in the system has been retained. In Portuguese, vowels after the stressed syllable can be pronounced with breathy voice. Gujarati is unusual in contrasting breathy vowels and consonants: 'twelve', 'outside', 'burden'. Tsumkwe Juǀʼhoan makes the following rare distinctions : fall, land (of a bird etc.); walk; herb species; and /n\|ʱoaᵑ/ greedy person; /n\|oaʱᵑ/ cat.
Bézout's identity In mathematics, Bézout's identity (also called Bézout's lemma), named after Étienne Bézout who proved it for polynomials, is the following theorem: Here the greatest common divisor of and is taken to be . The integers and are called Bézout coefficients for ; they are not unique. A pair of Bézout coefficients can be computed by the extended Euclidean algorithm, and this pair is, in the case of integers one of the two pairs such that and ; equality occurs only if one of and is a multiple of the other. As an example, the greatest common divisor of 15 and 69 is 3, and 3 can be written as a combination of 15 and 69 as , with Bézout coefficients −9 and 2. Many other theorems in elementary number theory, such as Euclid's lemma or the Chinese remainder theorem, result from Bézout's identity. A Bézout domain is an integral domain in which Bézout's identity holds. In particular, Bézout's identity holds in principal ideal domains. Every theorem that results from Bézout's identity is thus true in all principal ideal domains.
Structure of solutions. If and are not both zero and one pair of Bézout coefficients has been computed (for example, using the extended Euclidean algorithm), all pairs can be represented in the form formula_1 where is an arbitrary integer, is the greatest common divisor of and , and the fractions simplify to integers. If and are both nonzero and none of them divides the other, then exactly two of the pairs of Bézout coefficients satisfy formula_2 If and are both positive, one has formula_3 and formula_4 for one of these pairs, and formula_5 and formula_6 for the other. If is a divisor of (including the case formula_7), then one pair of Bézout coefficients is . This relies on a property of Euclidean division: given two non-zero integers and , if does not divide , there is exactly one pair such that and , and another one such that and . The two pairs of small Bézout's coefficients are obtained from the given one by choosing for in the above formula either of the two integers next to . The extended Euclidean algorithm always produces one of these two minimal pairs.
Example. Let and , then . Then the following Bézout's identities are had, with the Bézout coefficients written in red for the minimal pairs and in blue for the other ones. formula_8 If is the original pair of Bézout coefficients, then yields the minimal pairs via , respectively ; that is, , and . Existence proof. Given any nonzero integers and , let . The set is nonempty since it contains either or (with and ). Since is a nonempty set of positive integers, it has a minimum element , by the well-ordering principle. To prove that is the greatest common divisor of and , it must be proven that is a common divisor of and , and that for any other common divisor , one has . The Euclidean division of by may be written as formula_9 The remainder is in , because formula_10 Thus is of the form , and hence . However, , and is the smallest positive integer in : the remainder can therefore not be in , making necessarily 0. This implies that is a divisor of . Similarly is also a divisor of , and therefore is a common divisor of and .
Now, let be any common divisor of and ; that is, there exist and such that and . One has thus formula_11 That is, is a divisor of . Since , this implies . Generalizations. For three or more integers. Bézout's identity can be extended to more than two integers: if formula_12 then there are integers formula_13 such that formula_14 has the following properties: For polynomials. Bézout's identity does not always hold for polynomials. For example, when working in the polynomial ring of integers: the greatest common divisor of and is "x", but there does not exist any integer-coefficient polynomials and satisfying . However, Bézout's identity works for univariate polynomials over a field exactly in the same ways as for integers. In particular the Bézout's coefficients and the greatest common divisor may be computed with the extended Euclidean algorithm. As the common roots of two polynomials are the roots of their greatest common divisor, Bézout's identity and fundamental theorem of algebra imply the following result:
The generalization of this result to any number of polynomials and indeterminates is Hilbert's Nullstellensatz. For principal ideal domains. As noted in the introduction, Bézout's identity works not only in the ring of integers, but also in any other principal ideal domain (PID). That is, if is a PID, and and are elements of , and is a greatest common divisor of and , then there are elements and in such that . The reason is that the ideal is principal and equal to . An integral domain in which Bézout's identity holds is called a Bézout domain. History and attribution. The French mathematician Étienne Bézout (1730–1783) proved this identity for polynomials. The statement for integers can be found already in the work of an earlier French mathematician, Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac (1581–1638). Andrew Granville traced the association of Bézout's name with the identity to Bourbaki, arguing that it is a misattribution since the identity is implicit in Euclid's "Elements".
Banacek Banacek is an American detective television series starring George Peppard that aired on NBC from 1972 to 1974. The series was part of the rotating "NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie" anthology. It alternated in its time slot with several other shows, but was the only one of them to last beyond its first season. Premise. Peppard played Thomas Banacek, a Polish-American freelance, Boston-based, private investigator who solves seemingly impossible thefts. He collects from the insurance companies 10% of the insured value of the recovered property. One of Banacek's verbal signatures is the quotation of strangely worded yet curiously cogent "Polish proverbs" such as: Part of the joke is that Ralph Manza, as Banacek's chauffeur Jay Drury, will often ask "What does it mean, Boss?" Banacek also has a running agreement with his chauffeur for a 10% share of Banacek's 10% if he solved the crime. Mr. Drury is never at a loss for a potential solution that Banacek always manages to shoot down with his very next line. Another recurring gag is for other characters—particularly his rivals—to mispronounce his name deliberately. The name "Banaczek" (as pronounced in the show) is actually quite rare in Poland.
Murray Matheson plays seller of rare books and information source Felix Mulholland, a character always ready with a droll remark and who exhibits a passion for chess and jigsaw puzzles. He is also the series' only character to ever call Banacek by his first name. Recurring characters include insurance company executive Cavanaugh (George Murdock), Banacek's rival and some-time love interest Carlie Kirkland (Christine Belford), and another insurance investigator/rival Fennyman/Henry DeWitt (Linden Chiles). Banacek lives on historic Beacon Hill in Boston. While he has a limousine and driver, he also owns and sometimes drives an antique 1941 Packard convertible. Both vehicles are equipped with mobile radio telephones at a time when such devices are uncommon and expensive. Banacek is intelligent, well-educated, cultured, and suave. An unapologetic ladies' man who enjoys the company of beautiful women, he is also street-smart and can engage in hand-to-hand combat when the need arises; in one episode he mentions having learned combat judo in the Marine Corps, which is probably a reference to George Peppard's two-year enlistment in the Marine Corps, being discharged at the rank of corporal. He grew up in Scollay Square and a childhood acquaintance described him as the neighborhood jock who excelled in all sports. For recreation he jogs, plays squash, engages in weekend touch football, and sculling on the Charles River.
Production. In general, the series was shot on the Universal Studios backlot, though location scenes were filmed around Los Angeles in areas that could pass for Boston, or rural areas near there. The episode titled "If Max Is So Smart, Why Doesn't He Tell Us Where He Is?" was shot on location at the California Institute of the Arts around the time the school first opened. "Ten Thousand Dollars a Page" was filmed at the Pasadena Art Museum, later known as the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art and now the Norton Simon Museum of Art. "Horse of a Slightly Different Color" was filmed at Hollywood Park Racetrack, now the site of SoFi Stadium. A customized 1969 American Motors AMX was built by George Barris for the second regular-season episode. The car became known as the AMX-400 and it is now owned by an automobile collector. Other continuing cars in the series were a 1941 maroon Packard 180 with a Victoria body designed by Howard "Dutch" Darrin (license plate number 178344), a 1973 Corvette (driven by Ms. Kirkland) and a 1973 Cadillac Fleetwood limousine (mobile telephone number KL 17811). In keeping with both the exotic car theme and the humor between Banacek and his driver Jay Drury, he was even chauffeured around in a Willys MB, Jeep CJ2A, and a CJ6, as well as a brand new Ford/De Tomaso Pantera. Two Packards were used in filming, a 1941 used for principal photography and a modified 1942 model used for some shots in Los Angeles. The main 1941 picture car was auctioned in 2019 by RM Sotheby's for $373,500.
In preparation for the pilot and then the first and second seasons, the cast went to Boston and filmed a variety of background scenes. These scenes were then used through the series and are especially shown in the opening scenes, including Banacek rowing on the Charles River and walking through Government Center. In the pilot, Banacek's car pulls into his Beacon Hill home, the historic Second Harrison Gray Otis House located at 85 Mount Vernon Street. In other episodes, views are shown of the Public Garden, the entry to Felix's bookstore at 50 Beacon Street, and the Esplanade. The Boston-filmed pieces were done by a second unit and directed by Peppard himself. Reception. Although the show had a mixture of humor and rather intricate plots, it never generated strong ratings. Despite this, the show was well received by critics. In addition, the Polish American Congress gave the series an award for portraying Polish Americans in a good manner. It also helped revive Peppard's career. Cancellation. "Banacek" was well received by television critics, and, as a result, was picked up for a third season. However, before the third season could start, Peppard quit the show to prevent his ex-wife Elizabeth Ashley from receiving a larger percentage of his earnings as part of their divorce settlement. The complication ended any chance of reviving "Banacek" during Peppard's lifetime. A&E continued rebroadcasts of "Banacek" in syndication.
Both seasons of Banacek have been released on DVD under the TV Guide Presents banner. Season one was released on 2007 with Season two following in 2008 In popular culture. The mentalist Steven Shaw adopted his stage name "Banachek" after the television program. The show was referenced by the band Fun Lovin' Criminals in the lyrics of its 1998 single "Love Unlimited". The character Banacek was also referenced in "The Simpsons" "Treehouse of Horror III" segment "Dial Z for Zombies" when Bart tries to cast a spell to rid Springfield of the zombies he unleashed by intoning the magic words "Kojak, Mannix, Banacek, Danno..." (All names of 1970s TV detectives.) In 2018, "Banacek" was the subject of an episode-length parody in "The Simpsons" ("Homer Is Where the Art Isn't"), with Bill Hader voicing the Peppard character, named "Manacek". The episode is patterned closely after a typical Banacek outing, referencing items from the series' storytelling format to its establishing shots. The opening and closing credits mimicked "Banacek"'s style, even including Goldenberg's theme music. In the "Akron Beacon Journal", Rich Heldenfels called the episode "a dead-on parody of "Banacek"."
Banacek has a clear resemblance to the title character of the Steve McQueen movie "The Thomas Crown Affair", particularly in his attitude towards women and authority. The house used for exterior shots of Thomas Crown's home in Boston, the Harrison Gray Otis House, was used for Banacek's home in the series. Both the film and the show revolve around insurance investigations, but in the series Banacek is solving crimes, not committing them. Home media. Arts Alliance America has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1. Season one was released on May 15, 2007, without the series pilot. Season two was released on January 22, 2008, and included the pilot episode. On September 30, 2008, Arts Alliance released "Banacek: The Complete Series", a five-disc box set featuring all 17 episodes. In Region 2, Fabulous Films released both seasons on DVD in the UK on February 10, 2014. In Region 4, Madman Entertainment has released both seasons on DVD in Australia.
Blue Angels The Blue Angels, formally named the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, are a flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy. Formed in 1946, the unit is the second oldest formal aerobatic team in the world, following the which formed in 1931. The team has six Navy and one Marine Corps demonstration pilots. They fly the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. The Blue Angels typically perform aerial displays in at least 60 shows annually at 32 locations throughout the United States and two shows at one location in Canada. The "Blues" still employ many of the same practices and techniques used in the inaugural 1946 season. An estimated 11 million spectators view the squadron during air shows from March through November each year. Members of the Blue Angels team also visit more than 50,000 people in schools, hospitals, and community functions at air show cities. Since 1946, the Blue Angels have flown for more than 505 million spectators. In 2011, the Blue Angels received $37 million from the annual Department of Defense budget.
Mission. The mission of the Blue Angels is to showcase the pride and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps by inspiring a culture of excellence and service to the country through flight demonstrations and community outreach. Air shows. The Blue Angels perform at both military, non-military airfields and Remote Show Sites. They perform often at major U.S. cities and capitals; locations in Canada are also often included in the air show schedule. There are total of 6 Jets that perform in an airshow the Diamond (pilots 1 through 4) and Solos (pilots 5 and 6). Airshow maneuvers. The Diamond Performs their takeoff (Burner Go Loop or Diamond Half Squirrel Cage) then the maneuvers (Diamond 360, Diamond Roll, Diamond Aileron Roll, Diamond Dirty Loop, Double Farvel, Echelon Parade "Fan Break", Changeover Roll, Line Abreast Loop "5 Ship with #5 Lead Solo", Vertical Break, Barrel Roll Break, Low Break Cross, Burner 270, with each Solo Maneuvers in between. The Solos perform, their Solo Section Takeoff (#5 Dirty Roll and #6 Low Transition takeoff or Solo Section Low Flap Maneuver for Remote Show Sites) then their Opposing Maneuvers (Knife Edge Pass, Inverted to Inverted), Mirror Formations (Fortus) showcasing the Super Hornet's turn rate capabilities (Solo Minimum Radius Turn). Both Solo approach maneuvers (Opposing Minimum Radius Turn) another opposing maneuvers (Opposing Horizontal Rolls). Sneak maneuvers (#5 Sneak Pass, #6 Sneak to Vertical Rolls), Opposing Maneuvers (Opposing Four Point Hesitation Roll, Vertical Pitch). Both Solo formation maneuvers (Tuck Over Roll, High Alpha Pass, Solos Rejoin "Wander"). The Solos will then join the Diamond formation once the Solos Routine is done for 5 Delta Maneuvers. Which includes (Delta Roll, Fleur De Lis, Delta Loop Break Cross, Delta Breakout, Delta Aileron Roll "For Low and Flat Show conditions" Delta Flat Pass "For Remote Show exit" Delta Pitch Up Break to Landing.
The parameters of each show must be tailored in accordance with local weather conditions at showtime: in clear weather the High" Show is performed; in overcast conditions a Low" Show is performed, and in limited visibility (weather permitting) the Flat Show is presented. The "High" show requires at least an ceiling and visibility of at least from the show's center point. The minimum ceilings allowed for low and flat shows are 4,500 feet, and 1,500 feet respectively. Aircraft. Current. The team flew the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet for 34 years from 1986 through 2020. The team currently flies the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet. In August 2018, Boeing was awarded a contract to convert nine single-seat F/A-18E Super Hornets and two F/A-18F two-seaters for Blue Angels use. Modifications to each F/A-18E/F include removal of the weapons and replacement with a tank that contains smoke-oil used in demonstrations and outfitting the control stick with a spring system for more precise aircraft control input. Control sticks are tensioned with of force to allow the pilot minimal room for non-commanded movement of the aircraft. Each modified F/A-18 remains in the fleet and can be returned to combat duty aboard an aircraft carrier within 72 hours. As converted aircraft were delivered, they were used for testing maneuvers starting in mid 2020. The team's Super Hornets became operational by the beginning of 2021, their 75th anniversary year.
The show's narrator Blue Angels No. 7, flies a two-seat (F/A-18F Super Hornet), to show sites. The Blues use these jets for backups or spares, and to give demonstration rides to VIP (civilians). Usually, two back seats rides are available at each air show; one goes to a member of the press, and the other to the "Key Influencer". The No. 4 Slot Pilot often flies the No. 7 aircraft in Friday's "practice" so that pilots from the fleet and future team members can experience the show. In 2020, the United States Marine Corps Blue Angels purchased a surplus Royal Air Force Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules (RAF registration ZH885, US registration 170000) as the new "Fat Albert", for their logistics, carrying spare parts, equipment, and to carry support personnel between shows. Historical. F6F-5 Hellcat. The "Hellcat" was the first aircraft flown, and the pilots were advanced flight instructors who flew the aircraft at war. The F6F-5s were painted in a dark navy blue with gold lettering and made first flight demonstration on May 10, 1946.
F8F-1 Bearcat. The "'Bearcat" began flying towards the end of the first season for the team. It was the last propeller-driven aircraft flown by the Blue Angels and the first to fly the diamond formation. The Bearcats first appeared when performing in Denver in August of 1946. F9F-2 Panther. The "Panther" was the first jet used by the Blue Angels. After a temporary disbandment for the Korean War, with the unit serving with VMF-191, when reactivated on Oct. 25, 1951 the F9F-5 Panther was again used. F9F-8 Cougar. In the winter of 1954/55 the "Cougar" started being flown by the Blue Angels, serving until the middle of 1957. F11F-1 Tiger. In mid 1957 "Tiger" began flying with the Blue Angels. The F11F-1 was the first supersonic jet and the last Grumman planes serving the flight team. It was used until 1969, even though it had been withdrawn from frontline service years ago. It proved one of the most popular aircraft with the public shows, because of its afterburner and sleek lines. F-4J Phantom II. In 1969 the F-4J became the demo plane, serving until December 1974. The F-4 was operated concurrently by the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds demonstration teams.
A-4F Skyhawk II. Some accidents and the price of fuel lead to adopt the more economical A-4F Skyhawk II. The Blue Angels flew the A-4 in their 80 shows during the Bicentennial celebrations of 1976. The Blue Angels also made 30 years on 1976 and performed their 2,000th show flying the A-4F . The Skyhawk served from December 1974 to November 1986. F/A-18 Hornet. In 1986 the Blue Angels transitioned to the F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18A model served from 1986 to 2010, and F/A-18C model from 2010 to 2020. Team members. , there have been 272 demonstration pilots in the Blue Angels since their inception. The team is divided to 3 Departments Officers, Enlisted and Technical Representative. All team members, both Officer and Enlisted Personnel, Pilots and staff officers, come from the ranks of regular United States Navy and United States Marine Corps units. The Demonstration Pilots and narrator are made up of Navy and USMC Naval Aviators. Pilots serve two to three years, and position assignments are made according to team needs, pilot experience levels, and career considerations for members. Other officers in the squadron include a naval flight officer who serves as the events coordinator, three USMC C-130 pilots, an Executive Officer (XO), a Maintenance Officer (MO), a Flight Surgeon (DOC), a Supply Officer (SUPPO), a Public Affairs Officer (PAO), and an Administrative Officer (AO) in Technical Representatives Department. Enlisted members range from E-4 to E-9 and perform all maintenance, administrative, and support functions. They serve three to four years in the squadron. After serving with the squadron, members return to fleet assignments.
The officer selection process requires pilots and support officers (Events Coordinator, Maintenance Officer, Flight Surgeon, Supply Officer, and Public Affairs Officer) wishing to become Blue Angels to apply formally via their chain-of-command, with a personal statement, letters of recommendation, and flight records. Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 demonstration pilots and naval flight officers are required to have a minimum of 1,250 tactical jet hours and be carrier-qualified. Marine Corps C-130 demonstration pilots are required to have 1,200 flight hours and be an aircraft commander. Applicants "rush" the team at one or more airshows, paid out of their own finances, and sit in on team briefs, post-show activities, and social events. It is critical that new officers fit the existing culture and team dynamics. The application and evaluation process runs from March through early July, culminating with extensive finalist interviews and team deliberations. Team members vote in secret on the next year's officers. Selections must be unanimous.
The Flight Leader (No. 1) is the Commanding Officer and always holds the rank of commander, and may be promoted to captain mid-tour if approved by the selection board. Commander Adam L. Bryan from Canton, Connecticut assumed command of the Blue Angels in November 2024. He relieved Captain Alexander P. Armatas, a native of Skaneateles, New York. Armatas graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2002 with a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering. Armatas joined the Blue Angels in August 2022. He has accumulated more than 4,100 flight hours and 911 carrier-arrested landings. His decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, four Strike/Flight Air Medals, five Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, one Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and various personal, unit and service awards. Pilots numbered 2–7 are Navy Lieutenant Commanders or Lieutenants, or Marine Corps Majors or Captains. The (#7) pilot narrates for a year, and then typically flies Opposing Solo (#6) and then Lead Solo (#5) the following two years, respectively. The (#3) pilot moves to the (#4) "Slot" position for their second year. Blue Angel (#4) serves as the demonstration Safety Officer, due largely to the perspective they are afforded from the slot position within the formation, as well as their status as a second-year demonstration pilot. (#8) serves as Events Coordinator for two years. An Events Coordinator's job is to communicate, manage VIP, Media, and Key influerncer "KI"'s VIP Ride, and make sure each event and airshow is done successfully.
Since 2008, six female flight officers have been selected. LCDR. Amanda Lee became the first woman to be named as a F/A-18 demonstration pilot. She served from 2022-2024. LCDR Lilly Montana is serving as Events Coordinator for the 2025 season. CDR. Amy Tomlinson, MAJ. Corrie Mays USMC, and LCDR. Katlin Forster have previously served as Events Coordinators. MAJ. Katie Higgins Cook USMC served as a C-130 pilot. Several minority flight officers have served including CAPT. Donnie Cochran the first African American to command the Blue Angels. Lt. Andre Webb and LCDR. Julius Bratton have served as demonstration pilots. One Navy Pilot serves two years as Maintenance Officer, First year as Assistant Maintenance Officer (AMO) (role removed recently) and second year as Maintenance Officer (MO). Now in 2025 One Navy Member serves two years on being the Maintenance Officer. The Maintenance Officer (MO) is incharge for the men, women, and equipment that keep the aircraft flying. On Airshows it's job is to maintain, observe, and update the winds, visibility, clouds, and the Performance of Diamond Pilot (1 through 4) and Solo Pilots (5 and 6).
Flight surgeons (DOC) serve a two-year term. The flight surgeon provides team medical services, evaluates demonstration maneuvers from the ground, and participates in each post-flight debrief. The first female Blue Angel flight surgeon was Lt. Tamara Schnurr, who was a member of the 2001 team. The Public Affairs Officer is incharge for all Media, Video, Social Media Accounts of the United States Navy Blue Angels. Its job is also to communicate for the Public for QnA and other interviews. Training and weekly routine. Annual winter training takes place at NAF El Centro, California, where new and returning pilots hone skills learned in the fleet. During winter training, the pilots fly two practice sessions per day, six days a week, to fly the 120 training missions needed to perform the demonstration safely. The separation between the formation of aircraft and their maneuver altitude is gradually reduced over the course of about two months in January and February. The team then returns to their home base in Pensacola, Florida, in March, and continues to practice throughout the show season. A typical week during the season has practices at NAS Pensacola on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. The team then flies to its show venue for the upcoming weekend on Thursday, conducting "circle and arrival" orientation maneuvers upon arrival. The team flies a "practice" airshow at the show site on Friday. This show is attended by invited guests but is often open to the general public. The main airshows are conducted on Saturdays and Sundays, with the team returning home to NAS Pensacola on Sunday evenings after the show. Monday is an off day for the Blues' demonstration pilots and road crew. Extensive aircraft maintenance is performed on Sunday evening and Monday by maintenance team members.
Pilots maneuver the flight stick with their right hand holding the stick with their knuckles facing the aircraft's display panels and operate the throttle with their left hand both hands wearing gloves each demonstration to avoid sweaty hands. They do not wear G-suits because the air bladders inside repeatedly deflate and inflate, increasing the risk of unintentional movement. To compensate for the lack of G-suits, Blue Angel pilots have developed a method for tensing their muscles to prevent blood from pooling in their lower extremities, possibly rendering them unconscious. History. Overview. The Blue Angels were originally formed in April 1946 as the Navy Flight Exhibition Team. They changed their name to the Blue Angels after seeing an advertisement for the New York nightclub The Blue Angel, also known as The Blue Angel Supper Club, in the New Yorker Magazine. The team was first introduced as the Blue Angels during an air show in July 1946. The first Blue Angels demonstration aircraft wore navy blue (nearly black) with gold lettering. The current shades of blue and yellow were adopted when the first demonstration aircraft were transitioned from the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat to the Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat in August 1946; the aircraft wore an all-yellow scheme with blue markings during the 1949 show season.
The original Blue Angels insignia or crest was designed in 1949, by Lt. Commander Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes, their third Flight Leader and first jet fighter leader. The aircraft silhouettes change as the team changes aircraft. The Blue Angels transitioned from propeller-driven aircraft to blue and gold jet aircraft (Grumman F9F-2B Panther) in August 1949. The Blue Angels demonstration teams began wearing leather jackets and special colored flight suits with the Blue Angels insignia, in 1952. In 1953, they began wearing gold colored flight suits for the first show of the season and or to commemorate milestones for the flight demonstration squadron. The Navy Flight Exhibition Team was reorganized and commissioned the "United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron" on 10 December 1973. 1946–1949. The Blue Angels were established as a Navy flight exhibition team on 24 April 1946 by order of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Chester Nimitz to generate greater public support of naval aviation. To boost Navy morale, demonstrate naval air power, and maintain public interest in naval aviation, an underlying mission was to help the Navy generate public and political support for a larger allocation of the shrinking defense budget. Rear Admiral Ralph Davison personally selected Lieutenant Commander Roy Marlin "Butch" Voris, a World War II fighter ace, to assemble and train a flight demonstration team, naming him Officer-in-Charge and Flight Leader. Voris selected three fellow instructors to join him (Lt. Maurice "Wick" Wickendoll, Lt. Mel Cassidy, and Lt. Cmdr. Lloyd Barnard, veterans of the War in the Pacific), and they spent countless hours developing the show. The group perfected its initial maneuvers in secret over the Florida Everglades so that, in Voris' words, "if anything happened, just the alligators would know". The first four pilots and those after them were some of the best and most experienced aviators in the Navy.
The team's first demonstration with Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat aircraft took place before Navy officials on 10 May 1946 and was met with enthusiastic approval. The United States Navy's Blue Angels performed their first air show at what is now JaxEx (formerly Craig Municipal Airport, one of 6 airports in the Jacksonville, FL area developed for military training), on June 15, 1946. The exhibition team flew three Gruman F6F Hellcat Fighter planes (a fourth F6F-5 was held in reserve). On 15 June, Voris led the three Hellcats (numbered 1–3), specially modified to reduce weight and painted sea blue with gold leaf trim, through their inaugural 15-minute-long performance. The team employed a North American SNJ Texan, painted and configured to simulate a Japanese Zero, to simulate aerial combat. This aircraft was later painted yellow and dubbed the "Beetle Bomb". This aircraft is said to have been inspired by one of the Spike Jones' "Murdering the Classics" series of musical satires, set to the tune (in part) of the "William Tell" Overture as a thoroughbred horse race scene, with "Beetle Bomb" being the "trailing horse" in the lyrics.
The team thrilled spectators with low-flying maneuvers performed in tight formations, and (according to Voris) by "keeping something in front of the crowds at all times. My objective was to beat the Army Air Corps. If we did that, we'd get all the other side issues. I felt that if we weren't the best, it would be my naval career." The Blue Angels' first public demonstration also netted the team its first trophy, which sits on display at the team's current home at NAS Pensacola. During an air show at Omaha, Nebraska on 19–21 July 1946, the Navy Flight Exhibition Team was introduced as the "Blue Angels". The name had originated through a suggestion by Right Wing Pilot Lt. Maurice "Wick" Wickendoll, after he had read about the Blue Angel nightclub in "The New Yorker" magazine. After ten appearances with the Hellcats, the Hellcats were replaced by the lighter, faster, and more powerful F8F-1 Bearcats on 25 August. By the end of the year the team consisted of four Bearcats numbered 1–4 on the tail sections. In May 1947, flight leader Lt. Cmdr. Bob Clarke replaced Butch Voris as the leader of the team. The team with an additional fifth pilot, relocated to Naval Air Station (NAS) Corpus Christi, Texas. On 7 June at Birmingham, Alabama, four F8F-1 Bearcats (numbered 1–4) flew in diamond formation for the first time which is now considered the Blue Angels' trademark. A fifth Bearcat was also added that year. A SNJ was used as a Japanese Zero for dogfights with the Bearcats in air shows.
In January 1948, Lt. Cmdr. Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes took command of the Blue Angels team which was flying four Bearcats and a yellow painted SNJ with USN markings dubbed "Beetle Bomb"; the SNJ represented a Japanese Zero for the air show dogfights with the Bearcats. The name "Blue Angels" also was painted on the Bearcats. In 1949, the team acquired a Douglas R4D Skytrain for logistics to and from show sites. The team's SNJ was also replaced by another Bearcat, painted yellow for the air combat routine, inheriting the "Beetle Bomb" nickname. In May, the team went to the west coast on temporary duty so the pilots and the rest of the team could become familiar with jet aircraft. On 13 July, the team acquired, and began flying the straight-wing Grumman F9F-2B Panther between demonstration shows. On 20 August, the team debuted the panther jets under Team Leader Lt. Commander Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes during an air show at Beaumont, Texas and added a sixth pilot. The F8F-1 "Beetle Bomb" was relegated to solo aerobatics before the main show, until it crashed on takeoff at a training show in Pensacola on 24 April 1950, killing "Blues" pilot Lt. Robert Longworth. Team headquarters shifted from NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, to NAAS Whiting Field, Florida, on 10 September 1949, announced 14 July 1949. 1950–1959.
The Blue Angels pilots continued to perform nationwide in 1950. On 25 June, the Korean War started, and all Blue Angels pilots volunteered for combat duty. The squadron (due to a shortage of pilots, and no available planes) and its members were ordered to "combat-ready status" after an exhibition at Naval Air Station, Dallas, Texas on 30 July. The Blue Angels were disbanded, and its pilots were reassigned to a carrier. Once aboard the aircraft carrier on 9 November, the group formed the core of Fighter Squadron 191 (VF-19), "Satan's Kittens", under the command of World War II fighter ace and 1950 Blue Angels Commander/Flight Leader, Lt. Commander John Magda; he was killed in action on 8 March 1951. On 25 October 1951, the Blues were ordered to re-activate as a flight demonstration team, and reported to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas. Lt. Cdr. Voris was again tasked with assembling the team (he was the first of only two commanding officers to lead them twice). In May 1952, the Blue Angels began performing again with F9F-5 Panthers at an airshow in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1953, the team traded its Sky Train for a Curtiss R5C Commando. In August, "Blues" leader LCDR Ray Hawkins became the first naval aviator to survive an ejection at supersonic speeds when a new F9F-6 he was piloting became uncontrollable on a cross-country flight. After summer, the team began demonstrating with F9F-6 Cougar.
In 1954, the first Marine Corps pilot, Captain Chuck Hiett, joined the Navy flight demonstration team. The Blue Angels also received special colored flight suits. In May, the Blue Angels performed at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., with the Air Force Thunderbirds (activated 25 May 1953). The Blue Angels began relocating to their current home at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida that winter, and it was here they progressed to the swept-wing Grumman F9F-8 Cougar. In December, the team left its home base for its first winter training facility at Naval Air Facility El Centro, California In September 1956, the team added a sixth aircraft to the flight demonstration in the Opposing Solo position, and gave its first performance outside the United States at the International Air Exposition in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It also upgraded its logistics aircraft to the Douglas R5D Skymaster. In 1957, the Blue Angels transitioned from the F9F-8 Cougar to the supersonic Grumman F11F-1 Tiger. The first demonstration was flying the short-nosed version on 23 March, at Barin Field, Pensacola, and then the long-nosed versions. The demonstration team (with added Angel 6) wore gold flight suits during the first air show that season.
In 1958, the first Six-Plane Delta Maneuvers were added that season. 1960–1969. In July 1964, the Blue Angels participated in the Aeronaves de Mexico Anniversary Air Show over Mexico City, Mexico, before an estimated crowd of 1.5 million people. In 1965, the Blue Angels conducted a Caribbean island tour, flying at five sites. Later that year, they embarked on a European tour to a dozen sites, including the Paris Air Show, where they were the only team to receive a standing ovation. In 1967, the Blues toured Europe again, at six sites. In 1968, the C-54 Skymaster transport aircraft was replaced with a Lockheed VC-121J Constellation. The Blues transitioned to the two-seat McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II in 1969, nearly always keeping the back seat empty for flight demonstrations. The Phantom was the only plane to be flown by both the "Blues" and the United States Air Force Thunderbirds (the "Birds"). That year they also upgraded to the Lockheed C-121 Super Constellation for logistics. 1970–1979. In 1970, the Blues received their first U.S. Marine Corps Lockheed KC-130F Hercules, manned by an all-Marine crew. That year, they went on their first South American tour.
In 1971, the team which wore the gold flight suits for the first show, conducted its first Far East Tour, performing at a dozen locations in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Guam, and the Philippines. In 1972, the Blue Angels were awarded the Navy's Meritorious Unit Commendation for the two-year period from 1 March 1970 to 31 December 1971. Another European tour followed in 1973, including air shows in Iran, England, France, Spain, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. On 10 December 1973, the Navy Flight Exhibition Team was reorganized and commissioned the "United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron". The Blues mission was more on Navy recruiting. In 1974, the Blue Angels transitioned to the new Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II. Navy Commander Anthony Less became the squadron's first "commanding officer" and "flight leader". A permanent flight surgeon position and administration officer was added to the team. The squadron's mission was redefined by Less to further improve the recruiting effort. Beginning in 1975, "Bert" was used for Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) and short aerial demonstrations just prior to the main event at selected venues, but the JATO demonstration ended in 2009 due to dwindling supplies of rockets. "Fat Albert Airlines" flies with an all-Marine crew of three officers and five enlisted personnel. 1980–1989.
In 1986, LCDR Donnie Cochran, joined the Blue Angels as the first African-American Naval Aviator to be selected. He served for two more years with the squadron flying the left wing-man position in the No.3 A-4F fighter, and returned to command the Blue Angels in 1995 and 1996. On 8 November 1986, the Blue Angels completed their 40th anniversary year during ceremonies unveiling what would be their aircraft through their 75th anniversary year, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The power and aerodynamics of the Hornet allows them to perform a slow, high angle of attack "tail sitting" maneuver, and to fly a "dirty" (landing gear down) formation loop. 1990–1999. In 1992, the Blue Angels deployed for a month-long European tour, their first in 19 years, conducting shows in Sweden, Finland, Russia (first foreign flight demonstration team to perform there), Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain. In 1998, CDR Patrick Driscoll made the first "Blue Jet" landing on a "haze gray and underway" aircraft carrier, USS "Harry S. Truman" (CVN-75).
On 8 October 1999, the Blue Angels lost two pilots. LCDR Kieron O'Connor and LT Kevin Colling were returning from a practice flight before an air show when their F/A-18B crashed in a wooded area of south Georgia. 2000–2009. In 2000, the Navy was conducting investigations in regard and connected to the loss of two Blue Angels pilots in October 1999. The pilots of the F/A-18 Hornet were not required to wear and do not wear g-suits. In 2006, the Blue Angels marked their 60th year of performing. On 30 October 2008, a spokesman for the team announced that the team would complete its last three performances of the year with five jets instead of six. The change was because one pilot and another officer in the organization had been removed from duty for engaging in an "inappropriate relationship". The Navy said one of the individuals was a man and the other a woman, one a Marine and the other from the Navy, and that Rear Admiral Mark Guadagnini, chief of Naval air training, was reviewing the situation. At the next performance at Lackland Air Force Base following the announcement the No.4 or slot pilot, was absent from the formation. A spokesman for the team would not confirm the identity of the pilot removed from the team. On 6 November 2008, both officers were found guilty at an admiral's mast on unspecified charges but the resulting punishment was not disclosed.
On 21 April 2007, pilot Kevin "Kojak" Davis was killed and eight people on the ground were injured when Davis lost control of the No.6 jet and crashed during an air show at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in Beaufort, South Carolina. The Fat Albert performed its final JATO demonstration at the 2009 Pensacola Homecoming show, expending their eight remaining JATO bottles. This demonstration not only was the last JATO performance of the squadron, but also the final JATO use of the U.S. Marine Corps. In 2009, the Blue Angels were inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. 2010–2019. On 22 May 2011, the Blue Angels were performing at the Lynchburg Regional Airshow in Lynchburg, Virginia, when the Diamond formation flew the Barrel Roll Break maneuver at an altitude lower than the required minimum. The maneuver was aborted, the remainder of the demonstration canceled and all aircraft landed safely. The next day, the Blue Angels announced that they were initiating a safety stand-down, canceling their upcoming Naval Academy Airshow and returning to their home base in Pensacola, Florida, for additional training and airshow practice. On 26 May, the Blue Angels announced they would not be flying their traditional fly-over of the Naval Academy Graduation Ceremony and that they were canceling their 28–29 May 2011 performances at the Millville Wings and Wheels Airshow in Millville, New Jersey.
On 27 May 2011, the Blue Angels announced that Commander Dave Koss, the squadron's commanding officer, would be stepping down. He was replaced by Captain Greg McWherter, the team's previous commanding officer. The squadron canceled performances at the Rockford, Illinois Airfest 4–5 June and the Evansville, Indiana Freedom Festival Air Show 11–12 June to allow additional practice and demonstration training under McWherter's leadership. On 29 July 2011, a new Blue Angels Mustang GT was auctioned off for $400,000 at the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Oshkosh (Oshkosh Air Show) annual summer gathering of aviation enthusiasts from 25 to 31 July in Oshkosh, Wisconsin which had an attendance of 541,000 persons and 2,522 show planes. Between 2 and 4 September 2011 on Labor Day weekend, the Blue Angels flew for the first time with a fifty-fifty blend of conventional JP-5 jet fuel and a camelina-based biofuel at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. McWherter flew an F/A-18 test flight on 17 August and stated there were no noticeable differences in performance from inside the cockpit.
On 1 March 2013, the U.S. Navy announced that it was cancelling remaining 2013 performances after 1 April 2013 due to sequestration budget constraints. In October 2013, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, stating that "community and public outreach is a crucial Departmental activity", announced that the Blue Angels (along with the U.S. Air Force's Thunderbirds) would resume appearing at air shows starting in 2014, although the number of flyovers will continue to be severely reduced. On 15 March 2014, the demonstration pilots numbered 1–7 wore gold flight suits to celebrate the team's "return to the skies" during their first air show of the season; there were only three air shows in 2013. In July 2014, Marine Corps C-130 pilot Capt. Katie Higgins, 27, became the first female pilot to join the Blue Angels, flying the support aircraft Fat Albert for the 2015 and 2016 show seasons. In July 2015, Cmdr. Bob Flynn became the Blue Angels' first executive officer. On 2 June 2016, Capt. Jeff Kuss, an Opposing Solo, died just after takeoff while performing the Split-S maneuver in his Hornet during a practice run for The Great Tennessee Air Show in Smyrna, Tennessee. The Navy's investigation found that Capt. Kuss had performed the maneuver too low while failing to retard the throttle out of afterburner, causing him to fall too fast and recover too low above the ground. Capt. Kuss ejected, but his parachute was immediately engulfed in flames, causing him to fall to his death. Kuss' body was recovered just yards away from the crash site. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The investigation also cited weather and pilot fatigue as additional causes of the crash. In a strange twist, Captain Kuss' fatal crash happened hours after the Blue Angels' fellow pilots in the United States Air Force Thunderbirds suffered a crash of their own, following the United States Air Force Academy graduation ceremony earlier that day. Capt. Jeff Kuss was replaced by Cmdr. Frank Weisser to finish out the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
In July 2016, Boeing was awarded a $12 million contract to begin an engineering proposal for converting the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet for Blue Angels use, with the proposal to be completed by September 2017. The Fat Albert (BUNO 164763) was retired from service in May 2019 with 30,000 flight hours. The Blue Angels replaced it with a C-130J Super Hercules acquired from the Royal Air Force (BUNO 170000). 2020–present. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Blue Angels flew over multiple US cities as a tribute to healthcare and front line workers. The Blues officially transitioned to Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets on 4 November 2020. In July 2022, Lt. Amanda Lee was announced as the first woman to serve as a demonstration pilot in the Blue Angels. Aircraft timeline. The "Blues" have flown ten different demonstration aircraft and six support aircraft models: Commanding officers. Notable Commanding Officers include: Notable members. Below are some of the more notable members of the Blue Angels squadron: Team accidents and deaths. A total of 20 Blue Angels pilots and one crew member have died while assigned to the flight team. Four other pilots died in combat action after their service with the Blue Angels. Combat casualties. Four former Blue Angels pilots have been killed in action or died after being captured, all having been downed by anti-aircraft fire.
Born again To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and separately caused by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and it occurs when one is baptized in water (John 3:5, Titus 3:5). While all Christians are familiar with the concept from the Bible, it is a core doctrine of the denominations of the Anabaptist, Moravian, Methodist, Baptist, Plymouth Brethren and Pentecostal churches along with evangelical Christian denominations. These Churches stress Jesus's words in the Gospels: "Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’" (John 3:7). (In some English translations, the phrase "born again" is rendered as "born from above".) Their doctrines also hold that to be "born again" and thus "saved", one must have a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The term "born again" has its origin in the New Testament. In the First Epistle of Peter, the author describes the new birth as taking place from the seed which is the Word of God. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus himself refers to the Word of God as the seed.
In contemporary Christian usage and apart from evangelicalism, the term is distinct from similar terms which are sometimes used in Christianity in reference to a person who is, or is becoming, a Christian. This usage of the term is usually linked to baptism with water and the related doctrine of baptismal regeneration. Individuals who profess to be "born again" (meaning born in the "Holy Spirit") often state that they have a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ". Origin. The term is derived from an event in the Gospel of John in which the words of Jesus were not understood by a Jewish Pharisee, Nicodemus: The Gospel of John was written in Koine Greek, and the original text is ambiguous which results in a double entendre that Nicodemus misunderstands. The word translated as 'again' is (), which could mean either 'again', or 'from above'. The double entendre is a figure of speech that the gospel writer uses to create bewilderment or misunderstanding in the hearer; the misunderstanding is then clarified by either Jesus or the narrator. Nicodemus takes only the literal meaning from Jesus's statement, while Jesus clarifies that he means more of a spiritual rebirth from above. English translations have to pick one sense of the phrase or another; the NIV, King James Version, and Revised Version use "born again", while the New Revised Standard Version and the New English Translation prefer the "born from above" translation. Most versions will note the alternative sense of the phrase in a footnote.
Edwyn Hoskyns argues that "born from above" is to be preferred as the fundamental meaning and he drew attention to phrases such as "birth of the Spirit", "birth from God", but maintains that this necessarily carries with it an emphasis upon the newness of the life as given by God himself. The final use of the phrase occurs in the First Epistle of Peter, rendered in the King James Version as: Here, the Greek word translated as 'born again' is (). Interpretations. The traditional Jewish understanding of the promise of salvation is interpreted as being rooted in "the seed of Abraham"; that is, physical lineage from Abraham. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that this doctrine was in errorthat every person must have two birthsnatural birth of the physical body and another of the water and the spirit. This discourse with Nicodemus established the Christian belief that all human beingswhether Jew or Gentilemust be "born again" of the spiritual seed of Christ. This understanding is further reinforced in 1 Peter 1:23. The "Catholic Encyclopedia" states that "[a] controversy existed in the primitive church over the interpretation of the expression "the seed of Abraham". It is [the First Epistle of Peter's] teaching in one instance that all who are Christ's by faith are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise. He is concerned, however, with the fact that the promise is not being fulfilled to the seed of Abraham (referring to the Jews)."
Charles Hodge writes that "The subjective change wrought in the soul by the grace of God, is variously designated in Scripture" with terms such as "new birth", "resurrection", "new life", "new creation", "renewing of the mind", "dying to sin and living to righteousness", and "translation from darkness to light". Jesus used the "birth" analogy in tracing spiritual newness of life to a divine beginning. Contemporary Christian theologians have provided explanations for "born from above" being a more accurate translation of the original Greek word transliterated . Theologian Frank Stagg cites two reasons why the newer translation is significant: An early example of the term in its more modern use appears in the sermons of John Wesley. In the sermon entitled "A New Birth" he writes, "none can be holy unless he be born again", and "except he be born again, none can be happy even in this world. For[...] a man should not be happy who is not holy." Also, "I say, [a man] may be born again and so become an heir of salvation." Wesley also states infants who are baptized are born again, but for adults it is different:
A Unitarian work called "The Gospel Anchor" noted in the 1830s that the phrase was not mentioned in any of the Gospels, nor by any Epistles except in that of 1 Peter. "It was not regarded by any of the Evangelists but John of sufficient importance to record." It adds that without John, "we should hardly have known that it was necessary for one to be born again." This suggests that "the text and context was meant to apply to Nicodemus particularly, and not to the world." Historicity. Scholars of the historical Jesus, who attempt to ascertain how closely the stories of Jesus match the historical events they are based on, generally treat Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 with skepticism. It details what is presumably a private conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, with none of the disciples seemingly attending, making it unclear how a record of this conversation was acquired. In addition, the conversation is recorded in no other ancient Christian source other than John and works based on John. According to Bart Ehrman, the larger issue is that the same problem English translations of the Bible have with the Greek () is a problem in the Aramaic language as well: there is no single word in Aramaic that means both 'again' and 'from above', yet the conversation rests on Nicodemus making this misunderstanding. As the conversation was between two Jews in Jerusalem, where Aramaic was the native language, there is no reason to think that they would have spoken in Greek. This implies that even if based on a real conversation, the author of John heavily modified it to include Greek wordplay and idiom.
Denominational positions. Anabaptism. Anabaptist denominations, such as the Mennonites, teach that "true faith entails a new birth, a spiritual regeneration by God's grace and power; 'believers' are those who have become the spiritual children of God." In Anabaptist theology, the pathway to salvation is "marked not by a forensic understanding of salvation by 'faith alone,' but by the entire process of repentance, self-denial, faith rebirth, and obedience." Those who wish to "tarry this path" are baptized after the new birth. Anglicanism. The phrase "born again" is mentioned in the 39 Articles of the Anglican Church in article 15, entitled "Of Christ alone without Sin". In part, it reads, "sin, as S. John saith, was not in Him. But all we the rest, although baptized and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things: and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Although the phrase "baptized and born again in Christ" occurs in article 15, the reference is clearly to John 3:3.
The Baptism Office of the 1662 "Book of Common Prayer" directly connects baptism with new birth, affirming a baptismal regeneration view of the meaning of the phrase "born again", not a conversion experience. Before the baptism, the prayers include: "None can enter into the kingdom of God, except he be regenerate and born anew of Water and of the Holy Ghost; I beseech you to call upon God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that of his bounteous goodness he will grant to these persons that which by nature they cannot have; that they may be baptized with Water and the Holy Ghost, and received into Christ's holy Church, and be made lively members of the same." And: "Beloved, ye hear in this Gospel the express words of our Saviour Christ, that except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Whereby ye may perceive the great necessity of this Sacrament, where it may be had." And after baptism: "yield thee humble thanks, O heavenly Father, that thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the knowledge of thy grace, and faith in thee; Increase this knowledge, and confirm this faith in us evermore. Give thy Holy Spirit to these persons; that, being now born again, and made heirs of everlasting salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, they may continue thy servants, and attain thy promises; through the same Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, everlastingly. Amen."
Baptists. Baptists teach that people are born again when they start believing that Jesus "died for their sins", was buried, and rose again and that by believing/trusting in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, eternal life shall be granted as a gift by God. Those who have been born again, according to Baptist teaching, know that they are "[children] of God because the Holy Spirit witnesses to them that they are" (cf. assurance). Catholicism. Historically, the classic text from John 3 was consistently interpreted by early Church Fathers as a reference to baptism. Modern Catholic interpreters have noted that the phrase 'born from above' or 'born again' is clarified as 'being born of water and Spirit'. Catholic commentator John F. McHugh notes, "Rebirth, and the commencement of this new life, are said to come about , of water and spirit. This phrase (without the article) refers to a rebirth which the early Church regarded as taking place through baptism."
The Catholic Church also teaches that under special circumstances, the need for water baptism can be superseded by the Holy Spirit in a 'Baptism of desire', such as when catechumens die or are martyred before Baptism. Pope John Paul II wrote in about "the problem of children baptized in infancy [who] come for catechesis in the parish without receiving any other initiation into the faith and still without any explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ." He noted that "being a Christian means saying 'yes' to Jesus Christ, but let us remember that this 'yes' has two levels: It consists of surrendering to the word of God and relying on it, but it also means, at a later stage, endeavoring to know better—and better the profound meaning of this word." The modern expression "born again" refers to "conversion." The National Directory of Catechesis (published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB) defines conversion as "the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one's life to his." To put it more simply, "Conversion to Christ involves making a genuine commitment to him and a personal decision to follow him as his disciple."
Echoing the writings of Pope John Paul II, the "National Directory of Catechesis" describes a new intervention required by the modern world called the "New Evangelization". This is directed to the Church, to the baptized who were never effectively evangelized before, to those who have never made a personal commitment to Christ and the Gospel, to those formed by the values of secular culture, to those who have lost a sense of faith, and to those who are alienated. Declan O'Sullivan, co-founder of the Catholic Men's Fellowship and knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, wrote that the "New Evangelization emphasizes the personal encounter with Jesus Christ as a pre-condition for spreading the gospel. The born-again experience is not just an emotional, mystical high; the really important matter is what happened in the convert's life after the moment or period of radical change." Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that individuals do not have the power to choose to be born again, but that God calls and selects his followers "from above". Only those belonging to the "144,000" are considered to be born again.
Lutheranism. Lutheranism holds that "we are cleansed of our sins and born again and renewed in Holy Baptism by the Holy Ghost. But some Lutherans also teach that whoever is baptized must, through daily contrition and repentance, drown The Old Adam so that daily, a new man comes forth and arises who walks before God in righteousness and purity forever. Conservative Lutherans teach that whoever lives in sins after his baptism has again lost the grace of baptism." Moravianism. About the new birth, the Moravian Church holds that a personal conversion to Christianity is a joyful experience in which the individual "accepts Christ as Lord," after which faith "daily grows inside the person." For Moravians, "Christ lived as a man because he wanted to provide a blueprint for future generations," and "a converted person could attempt to live in his image and daily become more like Jesus." As such, "heart religion" characterizes Moravian Christianity. The Moravian Church has historically emphasized evangelism, especially missionary work, to spread the faith.
Methodism. In Methodism, the "new birth is necessary for salvation because it marks the move toward holiness. That comes with faith." John Wesley held that the New Birth "is that great change which God works in the soul when he brings it into life, when he raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness." In the life of a Christian, the new birth is considered the first work of grace. In keeping with Wesleyan-Arminian covenant theology, the "Articles of Religion", in Article XVII – Of Baptism, state that baptism is a "sign of regeneration or the new birth." "The Methodist Visitor" in describing this doctrine admonishes individuals: "'Ye must be born again.' Yield to God that He may perform this work in and for you. Admit Him to your heart. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'" Methodist theology teaches that the new birth contains two phases that occur together, justification and regeneration: At the moment a person experiences the New Birth, they are "adopted into the family of God".
Plymouth Brethren. The Plymouth Brethren teach that the new birth effects salvation and those who testify that they have been born again, repented, and have faith in the Scriptures are given the right hand of fellowship, after which they can partake of the Lord's Supper. Pentecostalism. Holiness Pentecostals historically teach the new birth (first work of grace), entire sanctification (second work of grace) and baptism with the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by glossolalia, as the third work of grace. The new birth, according to Pentecostal teaching, imparts "spiritual life". Quakerism. The majority of the world's Quakers are evangelical in churchmanship and teach a born-again experience (cf. Evangelical Friends Church International). The Central Yearly Meeting of Friends, a Holiness Quaker denomination, teaches that regeneration is the "divine work of initial salvation (Tit. 3:5), or conversion, which involves the accompanying works of justification (Rom. 5:18) and adoption (Rom. 8:15, 16)." In regeneration, which occurs in the new birth, there is a "transformation in the heart of the believer wherein he finds himself a new creation in Christ (II Cor. 5:17; Col. 1:27)."
Following the new birth, George Fox taught the possibility of "holiness of heart and life through the instantaneous baptism with the Holy Spirit subsequent to the new birth" (cf. Christian perfection). Reformed. In Reformed theology, Holy Baptism is the sign and the seal of one's regeneration, which is of comfort to the believer. The time of one's regeneration, however, is a mystery to oneself according to the Canons of Dort. According to the Reformed churches, being born again refers to "the inward working of the Spirit which induces the sinner to respond to the effectual call". According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q 88, "the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all of which are made effectual to the elect for salvation." Effectual calling is "the work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel."
In Reformed theology, "regeneration precedes faith." Samuel Storms writes that, "Calvinists insist that the sole cause of regeneration or being born again is the will of God. God first sovereignly and efficaciously regenerates, and only in consequence of that do we act. Therefore, the individual is passive in regeneration, neither preparing himself nor making himself receptive to what God will do. Regeneration is a change wrought in us by God, not an autonomous act performed by us for ourselves." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The "Book of Mormon" emphasizes the need for everyone to be reborn of God. Latter-day Saints believe that being born again refers to "true repentance". In other words, rejecting the "carnal, sinful nature" of humans and making a covenant with God to live a righteous, Christ-like life. This covenant is done initially as baptism by immersion at age 8, or the age of accountability, or when someone newly converts. It is then renewed weekly through partaking of the sacrament during church meetings.
It is a common misconception that the Church of Jesus Christ teaches that these ordinances are required works to be "saved". It is actually taught that Christ has already saved all humanity from physical death and will save from spiritual death through repentance and obeying God's commandments on judgment day, after death and resurrection. Baptism and Sacrament are done as according to the faith of a person as an outward expression of an inward commitment to serve God and live a righteous life. Disagreements between denominations. The term "born again" is used by several Christian denominations, but there are disagreements on what the term means, and whether members of other denominations are justified in claiming to be born-again Christians. Catholic Answers says: On the other hand, an Evangelical site argues: The Reformed view of regeneration may be set apart from other outlooks in at least two ways. History and usage. Historically, Christianity has used various metaphors to describe its rite of initiation, that is, spiritual regeneration via the sacrament of baptism by the power of the water and the spirit. This remains the common understanding in most of Christendom, held, for example, in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and in other historic branches of Protestantism. However, sometime after the Reformation, Evangelicalism attributed a different significance to the expression "born again" as an experience of religious conversion, only symbolized by water baptism, and rather brought about by a commitment to one's own personal faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. This same belief is, historically, also an integral part of Methodist doctrine, and is connected with the doctrine of Justification.
According to "Encyclopædia Britannica": According to J. Gordon Melton: According to Andrew Purves and Charles Partee: The term "born again" has become widely associated with the evangelical Christian renewal since the late 1960s, first in the United States and then around the world. Associated perhaps initially with Jesus People and the Christian counterculture, "born again" came to refer to a conversion experience, accepting Jesus Christ as lord and savior in order to be saved from hell and given eternal life with God in heaven, and was increasingly used as a term to identify devout believers. By the mid-1970s, "born again" Christians were increasingly referred to in the mainstream media as part of the born again movement. In 1976, Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson's book "Born Again" gained international notice. "Time" magazine named him "One of the 25 most influential Evangelicals in America." The term was sufficiently prevalent so that during the year's presidential campaign, Democratic party nominee Jimmy Carter described himself as "born again" in the first "Playboy" magazine interview of an American presidential candidate.
Colson describes his path to faith in conjunction with his criminal imprisonment and played a significant role in solidifying the "born again" identity as a cultural construct in the US. He writes that his spiritual experience followed considerable struggle and hesitancy to have a "personal encounter with God." He recalls: Jimmy Carter was the first President of the United States to publicly declare that he was born-again, in 1976. By the 1980 campaign, all three major candidates stated that they had been born again. Sider and Knippers state that "Ronald Reagan's election that fall [was] aided by the votes of 61% of 'born-again' white Protestants." The Gallup Organization reported that "In 2003, 42% of U.S. adults said they were born-again or evangelical; the 2004 percentage is 41%" and that, "Black Americans are far more likely to identify themselves as born-again or evangelical, with 63% of blacks saying they are born-again, compared with 39% of white Americans. Republicans are far more likely to say they are born-again (52%) than Democrats (36%) or independents (32%)."
"The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics", referring to several studies, reports "that 'born-again' identification is associated with lower support for government anti-poverty programs." It also notes that "self-reported born-again" Christianity, "strongly shapes attitudes towards economic policy." Names which have been inspired by the term. The idea of "rebirth in Christ" has inspired some common European forenames: French René/Renée, Dutch Renaat/Renate, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Croatian Renato/Renata, Latin Renatus/Renata, all of which mean "reborn", "born again". The command language and shell program Bash, short for "Bourne-Again SHell", is a pun on "born again", being a mix with the name of the previous Bourne shell. Statistics. "The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics" notes: "The GSS ... has asked a born-again question on three occasions ... 'Would you say you have been 'born again' or have had a 'born-again' experience?" The Handbook says that "Evangelical, black, and Latino Protestants tend to respond similarly, with about two-thirds of each group answering in the affirmative. In contrast, only about one third of mainline Protestants and one sixth of Catholics (Anglo and Latino) claim a born-again experience." However, the handbook suggests that "born-again questions are poor measures even for capturing evangelical respondents. ... it is likely that people who report a born-again experience also claim it as an identity."
Rockwell B-1 Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It has been nicknamed the "Bone" (from "B-One"). , it is one of the United States Air Force's three strategic bombers, along with the B-2 Spirit and the B-52 Stratofortress. It is a heavy bomber with up to a 75,000-pound (34,000 kg) of payload. The B-1 was first envisioned in the 1960s as a bomber that would combine the Mach 2 speed of the B-58 Hustler with the range and payload of the B-52, ultimately replacing both. After a long series of studies, North American Rockwell (subsequently renamed Rockwell International, B-1 division later acquired by Boeing) won the design contest for what emerged as the B-1A. Prototypes of this version could fly Mach 2.2 at high altitude and long distances and at Mach 0.85 at very low altitudes. The program was canceled in 1977 due to its high cost, the introduction of the AGM-86 cruise missile that flew the same basic speed and distance, and early work on the B-2 stealth bomber.
The program was restarted in 1981, largely as an interim measure due to delays in the B-2 stealth bomber program. The B-1A design was altered, reducing top speed to Mach 1.25 at high altitude, increasing low-altitude speed to Mach 0.92, extensively improving electronic components, and upgrading the airframe to carry more fuel and weapons. Named the B-1B, deliveries of the new variant began in 1985; the plane formally entered service with Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a nuclear bomber the following year. By 1988, all 100 aircraft had been delivered. With the disestablishment of SAC and its reassignment to the Air Combat Command in 1992, the B-1B's nuclear capabilities were disabled and it was outfitted for conventional bombing. It first served in combat during Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and again during the NATO action in Kosovo the following year. The B-1B has supported U.S. and NATO military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. As of 2025, the Air Force operates 45 B-1Bs bombers, with many retired units in the Boneyard. The Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is to begin replacing the B-1B after 2025; all B-1s are planned to be retired by 2036, replaced by the Northrop B-2 Spirit and Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.
Development. Background. In 1955, the USAF issued requirements for a new bomber combining the payload and range of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress with the Mach 2 maximum speed of the Convair B-58 Hustler. In December 1957, the USAF selected North American Aviation's B-70 Valkyrie for this role, a six-engine bomber that could cruise at Mach 3 at high altitude (). Soviet Union interceptor aircraft, the only effective anti-bomber weapon in the 1950s, were already unable to intercept the high-flying Lockheed U-2; the Valkyrie would fly at similar altitudes, but much higher speeds, and was expected to fly right by the fighters. By the late 1950s, however, anti-aircraft surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) could threaten high-altitude aircraft, as demonstrated by the 1960 downing of Gary Powers' U-2. The USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC) was aware of these developments and had begun moving its bombers to low-level penetration even before the U-2 incident. This tactic greatly reduces radar detection distances through the use of terrain masking; using features of the terrain like hills and valleys, the line-of-sight from the radar to the bomber can be broken, rendering the radar (and human observers) incapable of seeing it. Additionally, radars of the era were subject to "clutter" from stray returns from the ground and other objects, which meant a minimum angle existed above the horizon where they could detect a target. Bombers flying at low altitudes could remain under these angles simply by keeping their distance from the radar sites. This combination of effects made SAMs of the era ineffective against low-flying aircraft. The same effects also meant that low-flying aircraft were difficult to detect by higher-flying interceptors, since their radar systems could not readily pick out aircraft against the clutter from ground reflections (lack of look-down/shoot-down capability).
The switch from high-altitude to low-altitude flight profiles severely affected the B-70, the design of which was tuned for high-altitude performance. Higher aerodynamic drag at low level limited the B-70 to subsonic speed while dramatically decreasing its range. The result would be an aircraft with somewhat higher subsonic speed than the B-52, but less range. Because of this, and a growing shift to the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force, the B-70 bomber program was cancelled in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, and the two XB-70 prototypes were used in a supersonic research program. Although never intended for the low-level role, the B-52's flexibility allowed it to outlast its intended successor as the nature of the air war environment changed. The B-52's huge fuel load allowed it to operate at lower altitudes for longer times, and the large airframe allowed the addition of improved radar jamming and deception suites to deal with radars. During the Vietnam War, the concept that all future wars would be nuclear was turned on its head, and the "big belly" modifications increased the B-52's total bomb load to , turning it into a powerful tactical aircraft which could be used against ground troops along with strategic targets from high altitudes. The much smaller bomb bay of the B-70 would have made it much less useful in this role.
Design studies and delays. Although effective, the B-52 was not ideal for the low-level role. This led to a number of aircraft designs known as penetrators, which were tuned specifically for long-range low-altitude flight. The first of these designs to see operation was the supersonic F-111 fighter-bomber, which used variable-sweep wings for tactical missions. A number of studies on a strategic-range counterpart followed. The first post-B-70 strategic penetrator study was known as the Subsonic Low-Altitude Bomber (SLAB), which was completed in 1961. This produced a design that looked more like an airliner than a bomber, with a large swept wing, T-tail, and large high-bypass engines. This was followed by the similar Extended Range Strike Aircraft (ERSA), which added a variable-sweep wing, then en vogue in the aviation industry. ERSA envisioned a relatively small aircraft with a payload and a range of including flown at low altitudes. In August 1963, the similar Low-Altitude Manned Penetrator design was completed, which called for an aircraft with a bomb load and somewhat shorter range of .
These all culminated in the October 1963 Advanced Manned Precision Strike System (AMPSS), which led to industry studies at Boeing, General Dynamics, and North American (later North American Rockwell). In mid-1964, the USAF had revised its requirements and retitled the project as Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft (AMSA), which differed from AMPSS primarily in that it also demanded a high-speed high-altitude capability, similar to that of the existing Mach 2-class F-111. Given the lengthy series of design studies, North American Rockwell engineers joked that the new name actually stood for "America's Most Studied Aircraft". The arguments that led to the cancellation of the B-70 program had led some to question the need for a new strategic bomber of any sort. The USAF was adamant about retaining bombers as part of the nuclear triad concept that included bombers, ICBMs, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) in a combined package that complicated any potential defense. They argued that the bomber was needed to attack hardened military targets and to provide a safe counterforce option because the bombers could be quickly launched into safe loitering areas where they could not be attacked. However, the introduction of the SLBM made moot the mobility and survivability argument, and a newer generation of ICBMs, such as the Minuteman III, had the accuracy and speed needed to attack point targets. During this time, ICBMs were seen as a less costly option based on their lower unit cost, but development costs were much higher. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara preferred ICBMs over bombers for the Air Force portion of the deterrent force and felt a new expensive bomber was not needed. McNamara limited the AMSA program to studies and component development beginning in 1964.
Program studies continued; IBM and Autonetics were awarded AMSA advanced avionics study contracts in 1968. McNamara remained opposed to the program in favor of upgrading the existing B-52 fleet and adding nearly 300 FB-111s for shorter range roles then being filled by the B-58. He again vetoed funding for AMSA aircraft development in 1968. B-1A program. President Richard Nixon reestablished the AMSA program after taking office, keeping with his administration's flexible response strategy that required a broad range of options short of general nuclear war. Nixon's Secretary of Defense, Melvin Laird, reviewed the programs and decided to lower the numbers of FB-111s, since they lacked the desired range, and recommended that the AMSA design studies be accelerated. In April 1969, the program officially became the "B-1A". This was the first entry in the new bomber designation series, created in 1962. The Air Force issued a request for proposals in November 1969. Proposals were submitted by Boeing, General Dynamics and North American Rockwell in January 1970. In June 1970, North American Rockwell was awarded the development contract. The original program called for two test airframes, five flyable aircraft, and 40 engines. This was cut in 1971 to one ground and three flight test aircraft. The company changed its name to Rockwell International and named its aircraft division North American Aircraft Operations in 1973. A fourth prototype, built to production standards, was ordered in the fiscal year 1976 budget. Plans called for 240 B-1As to be built, with initial operational capability set for 1979.
Rockwell's design had features common to the F-111 and XB-70. It used a crew escape capsule, that ejected as a unit to improve crew survivability if the crew had to abandon the aircraft at high speed. Additionally, the design featured large variable-sweep wings in order to provide both more lift during takeoff and landing, and lower drag during a high-speed dash phase. With the wings set to their widest position the aircraft had a much better airfield performance than the B-52, allowing it to operate from a wider variety of bases. Penetration of the Soviet Union's defenses would take place at supersonic speed, crossing them as quickly as possible before entering the more sparsely defended interior of the country where speeds could be reduced again. The large size and fuel capacity of the design would allow the "dash" portion of the flight to be relatively long. In order to achieve the required Mach 2 performance at high altitudes, the exhaust nozzles and air intake ramps were variable. Initially, it had been expected that a Mach 1.2 performance could be achieved at low altitude, which required that titanium be used in critical areas in the fuselage and wing structure. The low altitude performance requirement was later lowered to Mach 0.85, reducing the amount of titanium and therefore cost. A pair of small vanes mounted near the nose are part of an active vibration damping system that smooths out the otherwise bumpy low-altitude ride. The first three B-1As featured the escape capsule that ejected the cockpit with all four crew members inside. The fourth B-1A was equipped with a conventional ejection seat for each crew member.
The B-1A mockup review occurred in late October 1971; this resulted in 297 requests for alteration to the design due to failures to meet specifications and desired improvements for ease of maintenance and operation. The first B-1A prototype (Air Force serial no. 74–0158) flew on 23 December 1974. As the program continued the per-unit cost continued to rise in part because of high inflation during that period. In 1970, the estimated unit cost was $40 million, and by 1975, this figure had climbed to $70 million. New problems and cancellation. In 1976, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko defected to Japan with his MiG-25 "Foxbat". During debriefing he described a new "super-Foxbat" (almost certainly referring to the MiG-31) that had look-down/shoot-down radar in order to attack cruise missiles. This would also make any low-level penetration aircraft "visible" and easy to attack. Given that the B-1's armament suite was similar to the B-52, and it then appeared no more likely to survive Soviet airspace than the B-52, the program was increasingly questioned. In particular, Senator William Proxmire continually derided the B-1 in public, arguing it was an outlandishly expensive dinosaur. During the 1976 federal election campaign, Jimmy Carter made it one of the Democratic Party's platforms, saying "The B-1 bomber is an example of a proposed system which should not be funded and would be wasteful of taxpayers' dollars."
When Carter took office in 1977 he ordered a review of the entire program. By this point the projected cost of the program had risen to over $100 million per aircraft, although this was lifetime cost over 20 years. He was informed of the relatively new work on stealth aircraft that had started in 1975, and he decided that this was a better approach than the B-1. Pentagon officials also stated that the AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) launched from the existing B-52 fleet would give the USAF equal capability of penetrating Soviet airspace. With a range of , the ALCM could be launched well outside the range of any Soviet defenses and penetrate at low altitude like a bomber (with a much lower radar cross-section (RCS) due to smaller size), and in much greater numbers at a lower cost. A small number of B-52s could launch hundreds of ALCMs, saturating the defense. A program to improve the B-52 and develop and deploy the ALCM would cost at least 20% less than the planned 244 B-1As. On 30 June 1977, Carter announced that the B-1A would be canceled in favor of ICBMs, SLBMs, and a fleet of modernized B-52s armed with ALCMs. Carter called it "one of the most difficult decisions that I've made since I've been in office." No mention of the stealth work was made public with the program being top secret, but it is now known that in early 1978 he authorized the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) project, which eventually led to the B-2 Spirit.
Domestically, the reaction to the cancellation was split along partisan lines. The Department of Defense was surprised by the announcement; it expected that the number of B-1s ordered would be reduced to around 150. Congressman Robert Dornan (R-CA) claimed, "They're breaking out the vodka and caviar in Moscow." However, it appears the Soviets were more concerned by large numbers of ALCMs representing a much greater threat than a smaller number of B-1s. Soviet news agency TASS commented that "the implementation of these militaristic plans has seriously complicated efforts for the limitation of the strategic arms race." Western military leaders were generally happy with the decision. NATO commander Alexander Haig described the ALCM as an "attractive alternative" to the B-1. French General Georges Buis stated "The B-1 is a formidable weapon, but not terribly useful. For the price of one bomber, you can have 200 cruise missiles." Flight tests of the four B-1A prototypes for the B-1A program continued through April 1981. The program included 70 flights totaling 378 hours. A top speed of Mach 2.22 was reached by the second B-1A. Engine testing also continued during this time with the YF101 engines totaling almost 7,600 hours.
Shifting priorities. It was during this period that the Soviets started to assert themselves in several new theaters of action, in particular through Cuban proxies during the Angolan Civil War starting in 1975 and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. U.S. strategy to this point had been focused on containing Communism and preparation for war in Europe. The new Soviet actions revealed that the military lacked capability outside these narrow confines. The U.S. Department of Defense responded by accelerating its Rapid Deployment Forces concept but suffered from major problems with airlift and sealift capability. In order to slow an enemy invasion of other countries, air power was critical; however the key Iran-Afghanistan border was outside the range of the United States Navy's carrier-based attack aircraft, leaving this role to the U.S. Air Force. During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan campaigned heavily on the platform that Carter was weak on defense, citing the cancellation of the B-1 program as an example, a theme he continued using into the 1980s. During this time Carter's defense secretary, Harold Brown, announced the stealth bomber project, apparently implying that this was the reason for the B-1 cancellation.
B-1B program. On taking office, Reagan was faced with the same decision as Carter before: whether to continue with the B-1 for the short term, or to wait for the development of the ATB, a much more advanced aircraft. Studies suggested that the existing B-52 fleet with ALCM would remain a credible threat until 1985. It was predicted that 75% of the B-52 force would survive to attack its targets. After 1985, the introduction of the SA-10 missile, the MiG-31 interceptor and the first effective Soviet Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWACS) systems would make the B-52 increasingly vulnerable. During 1981, funds were allocated to a new study for a bomber for the 1990s time-frame which led to developing the "Long-Range Combat Aircraft" (LRCA) project. The LRCA evaluated the B-1, F-111, and ATB as possible solutions; an emphasis was placed on multi-role capabilities, as opposed to purely strategic operations. In 1981, it was believed the B-1 could be in operation before the ATB, covering the transitional period between the B-52's increasing vulnerability and the ATB's introduction. Reagan decided the best solution was to procure both the B-1 and ATB, and on 2 October 1981 he announced that 100 B-1s were to be ordered to fill the LRCA role.
In January 1982, the U.S. Air Force awarded two contracts to Rockwell worth a combined $2.2 billion for the development and production of 100 new B-1 bombers. Numerous changes were made to the design to make it better suited to the now expected missions, resulting in the "B-1B". These changes included a reduction in maximum speed, which allowed the variable-aspect intake ramps to be replaced by simpler fixed geometry intake ramps. This reduced the B-1B's radar cross-section which was seen as a good trade off for the speed decrease. High subsonic speeds at low altitude became a focus area for the revised design, and low-level speeds were increased from about Mach 0.85 to 0.92. The B-1B has a maximum speed of Mach 1.25 at higher altitudes. The B-1B's maximum takeoff weight was increased to from the B-1A's . The weight increase was to allow for takeoff with a full internal fuel load and for external weapons to be carried. Rockwell engineers were able to reinforce critical areas and lighten non-critical areas of the airframe, so the increase in empty weight was minimal. To deal with the introduction of the MiG-31 equipped with the new Zaslon radar system, and other aircraft with look-down capability, the B-1B's electronic warfare suite was significantly upgraded.
Opposition to the plan was widespread within Congress. Critics pointed out that many of the original problems remained in both areas of performance and expense. In particular it seemed the B-52 fitted with electronics similar to the B-1B would be equally able to avoid interception, as the speed advantage of the B-1 was now minimal. It also appeared that the "interim" time frame served by the B-1B would be less than a decade, being rendered obsolete shortly after the introduction of a much more capable ATB design. The primary argument in favor of the B-1 was its large conventional weapon payload, and that its takeoff performance allowed it to operate with a credible bomb load from a much wider variety of airfields. Production subcontracts were spread across many congressional districts, making the aircraft more popular on Capitol Hill. B-1A No. 1 was disassembled and used for radar testing at the Rome Air Development Center in the former Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. B-1As No. 2 and No. 4 were then modified to include B-1B systems. The first B-1B was completed and began flight testing in March 1983. The first production B-1B was rolled out on 4 September 1984 and first flew on 18 October 1984. The 100th and final B-1B was delivered on 2 May 1988; before the last B-1B was delivered, the USAF had determined that the aircraft was vulnerable to Soviet air defenses.

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