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85th_Academy_Awards

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/85th_Academy_Awards

The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time Zone (PST) / 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time Zone (EST). The ceremony was the first in the Academy's 85-year history to adopt the phrase "The Oscars" as the ceremony's official name during the broadcast and marketing. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and directed by Don Mischer. Actor Seth MacFarlane hosted the show for the first time. In related events, the Academy held its 4th annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on December 1, 2012. On February 9, 2013, in a ceremony at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by hosts Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana. Argo won three awards, including Best Picture, the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture without its director nominated since Driving Miss Daisy. Other winners included Life of Pi with four awards, Les Misérables with three, Django Unchained, Lincoln, and Skyfall with two, and Amour, Anna Karenina, Brave, Curfew, Inocente, Paperman, Searching for Sugar Man, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty with one. The telecast garnered more than 40 million viewers in the United States. Winners and nominees The nominees for the 85th Academy Awards were announced on January 10, 2013, at 5:38 a.m. PST (13:38 UTC) at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Seth MacFarlane, host of the ceremony, and actress Emma Stone. Lincoln received the most nominations with twelve total, and Life of Pi came in second with eleven. The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 24, 2013. Argo was the fourth film to win Best Picture without a directing nomination, following 1927's Wings, 1932's Grand Hotel, and 1989's Driving Miss Daisy. As co-producer of Argo, George Clooney became the third individual to win Oscars for both acting and producing. By virtue of his nomination for Best Original Song in Ted, host Seth MacFarlane became the first person since James Franco, who was a co-host and a Best Actor nominee during the 83rd ceremony in 2011, to host the ceremony while receiving a nomination in the same year. Silver Linings Playbook was the fourteenth film to earn nominations in all four acting categories, and the first since Reds in 1981. At age 22, Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence became the second-youngest winner in that category. With his third win for Best Lead Actor, Daniel Day-Lewis became the first three-time winner in that category. He also was the sixth performer to win at least three acting Oscars. Amour was the fourth film nominated simultaneously for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film in the same year. At age nine, Quvenzhané Wallis became the youngest nominee for Best Actress and the youngest female acting nominee overall. Meanwhile, Emmanuelle Riva (aged 85) was the oldest nominee for Best Actress. This marked the first time in Oscar history that all five nominees in an acting category (Best Supporting Actor) were all previous winners. Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty's joint win in the Best Sound Editing category was the sixth occurrence of a tie in Oscar history. Awards Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡). Honorary Academy Awards The Academy held its 4th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on December 1, 2012, during which the following awards were presented. Academy Honorary Award Hal Needham — An innovator, mentor, and master technician who elevated his craft to an art and made the impossible look easy. D. A. Pennebaker — Who redefined the language of film and taught a generation of filmmakers to look to reality for inspiration. George Stevens Jr. — A tireless champion of the arts in America and especially that most American of arts: the Hollywood film. Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Jeffrey Katzenberg — who has led our community in enlightened philanthropy by his extraordinary example. Films with multiple nominations and awards Presenters and performers The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers. Presenters Performers Ceremony information Due to declining interest and viewership in recent ceremonies, the Academy hired a new production team in an attempt to improve ratings and revive interest in the ceremony. Reports surfaced that Academy then-president Tom Sherak approached television producer Lorne Michaels for producing duties with actor and comedian Jimmy Fallon as host. However, the telecast's broadcaster ABC objected to these selections, and both men declined afterward. With newly elected Academy president Hawk Koch assuming leadership duties, the Academy hired Neil Meron and Craig Zadan in August 2012 to produce the ceremony. Two months later, the Academy announced that actor, director, animator, singer, and comedian Seth MacFarlane would host the telecast. MacFarlane expressed that it was truly an honor and a thrill to be asked to host Academy Awards commenting, "It's truly an overwhelming privilege to be asked to host the Oscars. My thoughts upon hearing the news were, one, I will do my utmost to live up to the high standards set forth by my predecessors; and two, I hope they don't find out I hosted the Charlie Sheen Roast." In an unusual break from previous years, producers Meron and Zadan announced that the on-air telecast of the ceremony would be simply referred to as "The Oscars" instead of "The 85th Annual Academy Awards". As evident by the numerous musical numbers featured throughout the telecast, the ceremony was billed as a salute to music and the movies. In keeping with the theme of the evening, numerous film scores from various motion pictures were played intermittently throughout the ceremony; most notable was John Williams' theme music from Jaws, which was used to goad winners off the stage if their acceptance speeches were overly long. In a departure from having the orchestra perform in the same theatre, composer Williams Ross conducted the orchestra from a studio inside the Capitol Records Building a mile away. Several other people were involved with the telecast and its promotion. Tony Award-winning art director Derek McLane designed a new set and stage design for the ceremony. Rob Ashford served as choreographer for several musical numbers during the event. Comedians Ben Gleib and Annie Greenup served as correspondents and hosts of "Oscar Road Trip", a nationwide bus tour promoting the ceremony in eleven major cities across the United States. Six young film students from colleges across the country, who were selected from a contest conducted by AMPAS and MtvU, were recruited to appear onstage to deliver Oscar statuettes to the presenters during the gala. Introduction of electronic voting system In January 2012, AMPAS announced that it would create electronic voting system starting with the 2013 ceremony as another method for members to select the nominees and winners during the process. According to AMPAS Chief Operating Officer Ric Robertson, the implementation of the digital ballot was designed to increase participation among members in the voting process and to provide an alternative method of voting in case of emergency. Despite several Academy officials denying such reasons, some industry insiders speculated that the introduction of electronic voting was another move toward moving future awards galas to January. The deadline to submit nomination ballots was originally scheduled for January 3, but technological errors and glitches prompted the Academy to move the deadline one day later. Box office performance of nominated films None of the nine Best Picture nominees were among the top ten releases in box office during the nominations. However, four of those films had already earned $100 million in American and Canadian ticket sales. At the time of the announcement of nominations on January 10, Lincoln was the highest-grossing film among the Best Picture nominees with $144 million in domestic box office receipts. The other three films to earn $100 million prior to nominations were Django Unchained with $112 million, Argo with $110 million, and Les Misérables with $103 million. Among the five remaining Best Picture nominees, Life of Pi was the next highest-grossing film with $91.8 million followed by Silver Linings Playbook ($35.7 million), Beasts of the Southern Wild ($11.2 million), Zero Dark Thirty ($4.4 million), and finally Amour ($311,247).[B] The combined gross of the nine Best Picture nominees when the Oscars were announced was $620 million with an average gross of $68.9 million per film. Of the top 50 grossing movies of the year, 61 nominations went to 15 films on the list. Only Brave (8th), Wreck-It Ralph (13th), Lincoln (17th), Django Unchained (23rd), Argo (26th), Les Misérables (27th), Flight (30th), and Life of Pi (31st) were nominated for Best Picture, Best Animated Feature, or any of the directing, acting, or screenwriting awards. The other top 50 box office hits that earned nominations were Marvel's The Avengers (1st), Skyfall (4th), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (6th), Ted (13th), Snow White and the Huntsman (15th), Prometheus (20th), and Mirror Mirror (44th). "We Saw Your Boobs" controversy During the opening monologue, MacFarlane is told by James T. Kirk (William Shatner) (Captain Kirk set in the next day) about how he was going to ruin the telecast, Captain Kirk then shows him a music video where MacFarlane sings We Saw Your Boobs. Its lyrics lists out movies that featured scenes of actresses' disrobing. The song has mixed reviews. On the positive side, The Guardian reported, "MacFarlane was employed partly to puncture the event's pomposity, which he did by lightheartedly pointing out that some of the world's most self-important people regularly get their kit off for money". SheKnows wondered if the live reaction of some of the actresses were indeed acting as the "pre-recorded spoof apparently looked real enough for social media to worry about it". On the negative side, actress Jane Fonda stated, "if they want to stoop to that, why not list all the penises we've seen? Better yet, remember that this is a telecast seen around the world watched by families with their children and to many this is neither appropriate or funny." California assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal and state senator Hannah-Beth Jackson expressed their disappointment at MacFarlane, ABC, and AMPAS in a press release reading, "there was a disturbing theme about violence against women being acceptable and funny. From topical jabs about domestic violence to singing about 'boobs' during a film's rape scene, Seth MacFarlane crossed the line from humor to misogyny." Amy Davidson of The New Yorker interpreted the song as hostile to women. In a press release statement, the Academy defended MacFarlane for expressing his artistic freedom, "If the Oscars are about anything, they're about creative freedom. We think the show's producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, and host Seth MacFarlane did a great job and we hope our worldwide audience found the show entertaining." Critical reviews The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Some media outlets were more critical of the show. Columnist Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly commented "By calling constant attention to the naughty factor", MacFarlane created "an echo chamber of outrage, working a little too hard to top himself with faux-scandalous gags about race, Jews in Hollywood, and the killing of Abraham Lincoln." The Washington Post television critic Hank Stuever bemoaned, "There was nothing notably terrible about the show, and nothing particularly enthralling." Regarding MacFarlane's performance as host, Stuever noted, "What you got was a combination of sicko and retro, an Oscar show hosted by someone who waited until Oscar night to discover that he's only so-so at stand-up comedy." Television editor Alan Sepinwall of HitFix lamented that the ceremony made for a "frequently messy, but occasionally surprising and/or entertaining evening." He added that MacFarlane "had some funny moments here and there, but he missed way more than he hit, and Frat Boy Seth quickly assumed dominance as the evening went along." Other media outlets received the broadcast and more positively. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter praised MacFarlane's performance saying that he did "impressively better than one would have wagered." He also noted that he added "plenty of niceties with a little bit of the Ricky Gervais bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you thing and worked the juxtaposition rather nicely. Chicago Tribune television critic Nina Metz lauded MacFarlane for keeping "a solid handle on the proceedings." She also remarked that the host "opened with a series of jokes that were bona fide winners, landing on just the right tone: confident but not cocksure". Associated Press critic Frazier Moore extolled MacFarlane observing that he "seized the camera Sunday as host of ABC's Oscarcast and proved to its vast audience that he's a ridiculously versatile entertainer, a guy who can be as charming as he is famously irreverent, even polarizing." Ratings and reception The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 40.38 million people over its length, which was a 3% increase from the previous year's ceremony. An estimated 77.92 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards. The show also drew higher Nielsen ratings compared to the two previous ceremonies with 24.47% of households watching over a 35.65 share. In addition, the program scored its highest key demo ratings in six years with a 13.71 rating over a 33.45 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic. In July 2013, the ceremony presentation received nine nominations for the 65th Primetime Emmys. The following month, the ceremony didn't win any of the nominations. In Memoriam The annual In Memoriam segment was presented by actor/producer/director George Clooney. The montage featured an excerpt of the main title from Out of Africa by composer John Barry. At the end of the tribute, singer Barbra Streisand sang "The Way We Were" from the film of the same name in tribute to composer Marvin Hamlisch. See also 19th Screen Actors Guild Awards 33rd Golden Raspberry Awards 33rd Brit Awards 55th Grammy Awards 65th Primetime Emmy Awards 66th British Academy Film Awards 37th Laurence Olivier Awards 67th Tony Awards 70th Golden Globe Awards List of submissions to the 85th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film Notes A^ : Both Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook would eventually earn over $100 million in domestic ticket sales before the ceremony on February 24. Zero Dark Thirty was the number one film at the American box office during the weekend of January 11–13; the movie eventually grossed $91 million prior to the awards gala. References External links Official websites Academy Awards official website The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official website News resources 85th Academy Awards Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Boston.com Oscars 2013 The Guardian Academy Awards 2013 People Analysis 2012 Academy Awards Winners and History Archived April 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Filmsite Academy Awards, USA: 2013 Archived December 3, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Internet Movie Database Other resources The Oscars (2013) at IMDb

La_Casita-Garciasville,_Texas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Casita-Garciasville,_Texas

La Casita-Garciasville is a former census-designated place (CDP) in Starr County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,177 at the 2000 census. Geography La Casita-Garciasville is located at 26°19′34″N 98°42′25″W (26.326127, -98.707054). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.3 km2), of which 4.3 square miles (11.2 km2) is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km2) (0.68%) is water. Demographics La Casita-Garciasville first appeared as a census designated place in the 1990 U.S. Census. Prior to the 2010 census, the CDP was deleted and parts were taken to form Amada Acres, Chaparrito, La Casita, Loma Linda East, Manuel Garcia, Manuel Garcia II, Olivia Lopez de Gutierrez, Ramirez-Perez and Victoria Vera CDPs. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,177 people, 562 households, and 501 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 501.0 inhabitants per square mile (193.4/km2). There were 668 housing units at an average density of 153.7 per square mile (59.3/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.74% White, 0.05% Native American, 10.52% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 99.13% of the population. There were 562 households, out of which 56.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.0% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.7% were non-families. 10.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.87 and the average family size was 4.19. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 39.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 15.0% from 45 to 64, and 7.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $15,921, and the median income for a family was $17,149. Males had a median income of $14,948 versus $11,442 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $5,507. About 44.9% of families and 53.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 64.2% of those under age 18 and 32.7% of those age 65 or over. Education Garciasville is served by the Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District. == References ==

Lateran_Treaty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty

The Lateran Treaty (Italian: Patti Lateranensi; Latin: Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III (with his Prime Minister, Fascist Italian Duce Benito Mussolini) and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman question. The treaty and associated pacts were named after the Lateran Palace where they were signed on 11 February 1929, and the Italian parliament ratified them on 7 June 1929. The treaty recognised Vatican City as an independent state under the sovereignty of the Holy See. The Italian government also agreed to give the Roman Catholic Church financial compensation for the loss of the Papal States. In 1948, the Lateran Treaty was recognized in the Constitution of Italy as regulating the relations between the state and the Catholic Church. The treaty was significantly revised in 1984, ending the status of Catholicism as the sole state religion. Content The Lateran Pacts are often presented as three treaties: a 27-article treaty of conciliation, a three-article financial convention, and a 45-article concordat. However, the website of the Holy See presents the financial convention as an annex of the treaty of conciliation, considering the pacts as two documents: A political treaty recognising the full sovereignty of the Holy See in the State of Vatican City, which was thereby established, accompanied by four annexes: A map of the territory of Vatican City State Maps of buildings with extraterritorial privilege and exemption from expropriation and taxes (owned by the Holy See but located in Italy and not forming part of Vatican City) Maps of buildings with exemption from expropriation and taxes (but without extraterritorial privilege) A financial convention agreed on as a definitive settlement of the claims of the Holy See following the loss in 1870 of its territories and property A concordat regulating relations between the Catholic Church and the Italian state. The treaty defines only part of the public funding of the Catholic Church in Italy. History During the unification of Italy in the mid-19th century, the Papal States under Pius IX resisted incorporation into the new nation, even as almost all the other Italian countries joined it; Camillo Cavour's dream of proclaiming the Kingdom of Italy from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica did not come to pass. The nascent Kingdom of Italy invaded and occupied Romagna (the eastern portion of the Papal States) in 1860, leaving only Latium in the pope's domains. Latium, including Rome itself, was occupied and annexed in 1870. For the following sixty years, relations between the Papacy and the Italian government were hostile, and the sovereign rights of the pope became known as the Roman Question. The Popes knew that Rome was irrevocably the capital of Italy. There was nothing they wanted less than to govern it or be burdened with a papal kingdom. What they wished was independence, a foothold on the earth that belonged to no other sovereign. Under the terms of the Law of Guarantees of 1871, the Italian government offered to Pope Pius IX and his successors the use of, but not sovereignty over, the Vatican and Lateran Palaces and a yearly income of Lire 3,250,000. The Holy See refused this settlement, on the grounds that the pope's spiritual jurisdiction required clear independence from any political power, and thereafter each popes considered himself a "prisoner in the Vatican". The Lateran Treaty ended this impasse. Negotiations for the settlement of the Roman Question began in 1926 between the Holy See and the Fascist government of Italy led by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, and culminated in the agreements of the Lateran Pacts, signed—the Treaty says—for King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy by Mussolini and for Pope Pius XI by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on 11 February 1929. It was ratified on 7 June 1929. The agreements included a political treaty which created the state of the Vatican City and guaranteed full and independent sovereignty to the Holy See. The Pope was pledged to perpetual neutrality in international relations and to abstention from mediation in a controversy unless specifically requested by all parties. In the first article of the treaty, Italy reaffirmed the principle established in the 1848 Constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, that "the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Religion is the only religion of the State". The attached financial agreement was accepted as settlement of all the claims of the Holy See against Italy from the loss of temporal power over the Papal States in 1870, though the sum agreed to was actually less than Italy had offered in 1871. To commemorate the successful conclusion of the negotiations, Mussolini commissioned the Via della Conciliazione ("Road of the Conciliation"), which would symbolically link the Vatican City to the heart of Rome. After 1946 The post-World War II Constitution of the Italian Republic, adopted in 1948, states that relations between the State and the Catholic Church "are regulated by the Lateran Treaties". In 1984, the concordat was significantly revised. Both sides declared: "The principle of the Catholic religion as the sole religion of the Italian State, originally referred to by the Lateran Pacts, shall be considered to be no longer in force." The exclusive state financial support for the Church was also ended, and replaced by financing through a dedicated personal income tax called the otto per mille, to which other religious groups, Christian and non-Christian, also have access. As of 2013, there were ten other religious groups with access. The revised concordat regulated the conditions under which the state accords legal recognition to church marriages and to ecclesiastical declarations of nullity of marriages. The agreement also ended state recognition of knighthoods and titles of nobility conferred by the Holy See, the right of the state to request ecclesiastical honours for those chosen to perform religious functions for the state or the royal household, and the right of the state to present political objections to the proposed appointment of diocesan bishops. In 2008, it was announced that the Vatican would no longer immediately adopt all Italian laws, citing conflict over right-to-life issues following the trial and ruling of the Eluana Englaro case. Violations The Italian racial laws of 1938 prohibited marriages between Jews and non-Jews, including Catholics: the Vatican viewed this as a violation of the Concordat, which gave the church the sole right to regulate marriages involving Catholics. Further, Article 34 of the Concordat had also specified that marriages performed by the Catholic Church would always be considered valid by civil authorities: the Holy See understood this to apply to all marriages in Italy celebrated by Roman Catholic clergy, regardless of the faiths of those being married. See also Concordat Law of Guarantees List of sovereigns of the Vatican City State Index of Vatican City-related articles Properties of the Holy See Public funding of the Catholic Church in Italy Roman Question Reichskonkordat, treaty between the Holy See and Nazi Germany Religion in Italy Notes References Sources Archival sources External links Text of the Lateran Treaty (English translation) Text of the Lateran Pacts, including the financial convention and the concordat (original Italian) Italian law executing the Lateran Pacts, with the text and annexed maps (original Italian)

Vatican_City

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City

Vatican City ( ), officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is a landlocked sovereign country, city-state, microstate, and enclave surrounded by, and historically a part of, Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains the city-state's temporal power and governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope, the city-state's and worldwide Catholic Church government Holy See, and Roman Curia. The country has the world's smallest land area and the smallest population, with 764 citizens as of 2023. With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and as of 2023 a population of about 764, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and by population. It is also the second-least populated capital in the world. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere. The Holy See dates back to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which has approximately 1.329 billion baptised Catholics in the world as of 2018 in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. The independent state of Vatican City, on the other hand, came into existence on 11 February 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy. Vatican City contains religious and cultural sites such as St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Apostolic Library, and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by donations from Catholic believers, by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications. Vatican City has no taxes, and items are duty-free. Name The name Vatican City was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, which established the modern city-state named after Vatican Hill, the geographic location of the state within the city of Rome. "Vatican" is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum, located in the general area the Romans called Ager Vaticanus, "Vatican territory". The Italian name of the city is Città del Vaticano or, more formally, Stato della Città del Vaticano, meaning 'Vatican City State'. Its Latin name is Status Civitatis Vaticanae; this is used in official documents by the Holy See, the Church and the Pope. History Early history The name "Vatican" was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for the Ager Vaticanus, a marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome, located between the Janiculum, the Vatican Hill and Monte Mario, down to the Aventine Hill and up to the confluence of the Cremera creek. The toponym Ager Vaticanus is attested until the 1st century AD: afterwards, another toponym appeared, Vaticanus, denoting an area much more restricted: the Vatican Hill, today's St. Peter's Square, and possibly today's Via della Conciliazione. Because of its vicinity to Rome's archenemy, the Etruscan city of Veii (another naming for the Ager Vaticanus was Ripa Veientana or Ripa Etrusca), and for being subjected to the floods of the Tiber, the Romans considered this originally uninhabited part of Rome dismal and ominous. The particularly low quality of Vatican wine, even after the reclamation of the area, was commented on by the poet Martial (40 – between AD 102 and 104). Tacitus wrote that in AD 69, the Year of the Four Emperors, when the northern army that brought Vitellius to power arrived in Rome, "a large proportion camped in the unhealthy districts of the Vatican, which resulted in many deaths among the common soldiery; and the Tiber being close by, the inability of the Gauls and Germans to bear the heat and the consequent greed with which they drank from the stream weakened their bodies, which were already an easy prey to disease". During the Roman Empire, many villas were constructed there, after Agrippina the Elder (14 BC–18 October AD 33) drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early 1st century AD. In AD 40, her son, Emperor Caligula (31 August AD 12–24 January AD 41; r. 37–41) built in her gardens a circus for charioteers (AD 40) that was later completed by Nero, the Circus Gaii et Neronis, usually called, simply, the Circus of Nero. The Vatican obelisk in St. Peter's Square is the last visible remnant from the Circus of Nero. It was brought from Heliopolis in Egypt by Emperor Caligula. The obelisk originally stood at the centre of the spina (median) of the Roman circus. The circus became the site of martyrdom for many Christians after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64. Tradition states that it was in this circus that Saint Peter was crucified upside-down. In 1586, the obelisk was relocated to its current position by Pope Sixtus V using a method devised by Italian architect Domenico Fontana. Opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia. Funeral monuments and mausoleums, and small tombs, as well as altars to pagan gods of all kinds of polytheistic religions, were constructed lasting until before the construction of the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter in the first half of the 4th century. A shrine dedicated to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis remained active long after the ancient Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby. Remains of this ancient necropolis were brought to light sporadically during renovations by various popes throughout the centuries, increasing in frequency during the Renaissance until it was systematically excavated by orders of Pope Pius XII from 1939 to 1941. The Constantinian basilica was built in 326 over what was believed to be the tomb of Saint Peter, buried in that cemetery. From then on, the land mass became more populated in connection with activity at the basilica. A palace was constructed nearby as early as the 5th century during the pontificate of Pope Symmachus (reigned 498–514). Papal States Popes gradually came to have a secular role as governors of regions near Rome. They ruled the Papal States, which covered a large portion of the Italian peninsula, for more than a thousand years until the mid-19th century, when all the territory belonging to the papacy was seized by the newly created Kingdom of Italy. For most of this time, the popes did not live at the Vatican. The Lateran Palace, on the opposite side of Rome, was their habitual residence for about a thousand years. From 1309 to 1377, they lived at Avignon in France. On their return to Rome, they chose to live at the Vatican. They moved to the Quirinal Palace in 1583, after work on it was completed under Pope Paul V (1605–1621), but on the capture of Rome in 1870 retired to the Vatican, and what had been their residence became that of the King of Italy. Under Italian rule (1871–1929) In 1870, the Pope's holdings were left in an uncertain situation when Rome itself was annexed by Italian forces, thus bringing to completion the Italian unification, after a nominal resistance by the papal forces. Between 1861 and 1929 the status of the Pope was referred to as the "Roman Question". Italy made no attempt to interfere with the Holy See within the Vatican walls. However, it confiscated church property in many places. In 1871, the Quirinal Palace was confiscated by the King of Italy and became the royal palace. Thereafter, the popes resided undisturbed within the Vatican walls, and certain papal prerogatives were recognised by the Law of Guarantees, including the right to send and receive ambassadors. But the Popes did not recognise the Italian king's right to rule in Rome, and they refused to leave the Vatican compound until the dispute was resolved in 1929; Pope Pius IX (1846–1878), the last ruler of the Papal States, was referred to as a "prisoner in the Vatican". Forced to give up secular power, the popes focused on spiritual issues. Lateran treaties This situation was resolved on 11 February 1929, when the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy was signed by Prime Minister and Head of Government Benito Mussolini on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III and by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri for Pope Pius XI. The treaty, which became effective on 7 June 1929, established the independent state of Vatican City and reaffirmed the special status of Catholic Christianity in Italy. World War II The Holy See, which governed the Vatican City, pursued a policy of neutrality during World War II under the leadership of Pope Pius XII. Although German troops occupied Rome after the September 1943 Armistice of Cassibile, with Allied forces pushing them out in 1944, both sides respected the Vatican City's status as neutral territory. One of the main diplomatic priorities of Pius XII was to prevent the bombing of the city; a high level of sensitivity led him to protest even the dropping of pamphlets over Rome by the Royal Air Force, claiming that the few which landed within the Vatican City violated its neutrality. The British government's policy towards the Vatican, as expressed in the minutes of a Cabinet meeting, was "that we should on no account molest the Vatican City, but that our action as regards the rest of Rome would depend upon how far the Italian government observed the rules of war". After the United States entered into the war, US officials were against bombing the Vatican City, fearful of offending Catholic members of the American military, but said that "they could not stop the British from bombing Rome if the British so decided". The US military even exempted Catholic servicemembers from air raids on Rome and other areas with a significant Catholic presence, unless they voluntarily agreed to participate. Notably, with the exception of Rome, and presumably the possibility of the Vatican, no Catholic US servicemember refused a mission within German-held Italy. On the other hand, the British insisted "they would bomb Rome whenever the needs of the war demanded". In December 1942, the British envoy to the Holy See suggested that Rome be declared an open city, a suggestion that the Holy See took more seriously than was probably meant by the envoy, who did not want Rome to be an open city, but Mussolini rejected the suggestion when the Holy See put it to him. In connection with the Allied invasion of Sicily, 500 United States Army Air Forces aircraft bombed Rome on 19 July 1943, targeting the city's railway hub in particular. Approximately 1,500 people were killed, and Pius XII, who had been described in the previous month as "worried sick" about the possibility of Rome being bombed, toured the affected areas. Another Allied bombing raid took place on 13 August 1943, after Mussolini had been ousted from power. On the following day, the new Italian government declared Rome an open city, after consulting the Holy See on the wording of the declaration. Post-war history Pius XII had refrained from creating cardinals during the war. By the end of World War II, there were several prominent vacancies: Cardinal Secretary of State, Camerlengo, Chancellor, and Prefect for the Congregation for the Religious among them. Pius XII created 32 cardinals in early 1946, having announced his intention to do so in his preceding Christmas message. The Pontifical Military Corps, except for the Swiss Guard, was disbanded by the will of Paul VI, as expressed in a letter of 14 September 1970. The Gendarmerie Corps was transformed into a civilian police and security force. In 1984, a new concordat between the Holy See and Italy modified certain provisions of the earlier treaty, including the position of Catholic Christianity as the Italian state religion, a position given to it by a statute of the Kingdom of Sardinia of 1848. Construction in 1995 of a new guest house, Domus Sanctae Marthae, adjacent to St Peter's Basilica was criticized by Italian environmental groups, backed by Italian politicians. They claimed the new building would block views of the Basilica from nearby Italian apartments. For a short while the plans strained the relations between the Vatican and the Italian government. The head of the Vatican's Department of Technical Services robustly rejected challenges to the Vatican State's right to build within its borders. John R. Morss writes in the European Journal of International Law that due to the terms of the Lateran Treaty, Vatican City's status as a sovereign state, and the Pope's status as a head of state, are problematic. Geography The name "Vatican" was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for the Ager Vaticanus, a marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome, located between the Janiculum, the Vatican Hill and Monte Mario, down to the Aventine Hill and up to the confluence of the Cremera creek. The territory of Vatican City is part of the Vatican Hill, and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields. It is in this territory that St. Peter's Basilica, the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with various other buildings. The area was part of the Roman rione of Borgo until 1929. Being separated from the city, on the west bank of the river Tiber, the area was an outcrop of the city that was protected by being included within the walls of Leo IV (847–855), and later expanded by the current fortification walls, built under Paul III (1534–1549), Pius IV (1559–1565), and Urban VIII (1623–1644). When the Lateran Treaty of 1929 that gave the state its form was being prepared, the boundaries of the proposed territory were influenced by the fact that much of it was all but enclosed by this loop. For some tracts of the frontier, there was no wall, but the line of certain buildings supplied part of the boundary, and for a small part of the frontier a modern wall was constructed. The territory includes St. Peter's Square, distinguished from the territory of Italy only by a white line along the limit of the square, where it touches Piazza Pio XII. St. Peter's Square is reached through the Via della Conciliazione which runs from close to the Tiber to St. Peter's. This grand approach was constructed by Benito Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaty. According to the Lateran Treaty, certain properties of the Holy See that are located in Italian territory, most notably the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo and the major basilicas, enjoy extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign embassies. These properties, scattered all over Rome and Italy, house essential offices and institutions necessary to the character and mission of the Holy See. Castel Gandolfo and the named basilicas are patrolled internally by police agents of Vatican City State and not by Italian police. According to the Lateran Treaty (Art. 3) St. Peter's Square, up to but not including the steps leading to the basilica, is normally patrolled by the Italian police. There are no passport controls for visitors entering Vatican City from the surrounding Italian territory. There is free public access to Saint Peter's Square and Basilica and, on the occasion of papal general audiences, to the hall in which they are held. For these audiences and for major ceremonies in Saint Peter's Basilica and Square, tickets free of charge must be obtained beforehand. The Vatican Museums, incorporating the Sistine Chapel, usually charge an entrance fee. There is no general public access to the gardens, but guided tours for small groups can be arranged to the gardens and excavations under the basilica. Other places are open to only those individuals who have business to transact there. Climate Vatican City's climate is the same as Rome's: a temperate, Mediterranean climate Csa with mild, rainy winters from October to mid-May and hot, dry summers from May to September. Some minor local features, principally mists and dews, are caused by the anomalous bulk of St Peter's Basilica, the elevation, the fountains, and the size of the large paved square. The highest temperature ever recorded was 40.8 °C (105.4 °F), on 28 June 2022. In July 2007, the Vatican accepted a proposal by two firms based respectively in San Francisco and Budapest, whereby it would become the first carbon neutral state by offsetting its carbon dioxide emissions with the creation of a Vatican Climate Forest in Hungary, as a purely symbolic gesture to encourage Catholics to do more to safeguard the planet. Nothing came of the project. On 26 November 2008, the Vatican itself put into effect a plan announced in May 2007 to cover the roof of the Paul VI Audience Hall with solar panels. Gardens Within the territory of Vatican City are the Vatican Gardens (Italian: Giardini Vaticani), which account for about half of this territory. The gardens, established during the Renaissance and Baroque era, are decorated with fountains and sculptures. The gardens cover approximately 23 hectares (57 acres). The highest point is 60 metres (197 ft) above mean sea level. Stone walls bound the area in the north, south, and west. The gardens date back to medieval times when orchards and vineyards extended to the north of the Papal Apostolic Palace. In 1279, Pope Nicholas III (Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, 1277–1280) moved his residence back to the Vatican from the Lateran Palace and enclosed this area with walls. He planted an orchard (pomerium), a lawn (pratellum), and a garden (viridarium). Governance The politics of Vatican City takes place in the context of an absolute elective monarchy and being governed by the Holy See, in which the head of the Catholic Church holds power. The Pope exercises principal legislative, executive, and judicial power over the State of Vatican City, which is a rare case of a non-hereditary monarchy. State and Holy See Vatican City State, created in 1929 by the Lateran Pacts, provides the Holy See with a temporal jurisdiction and independence within a small territory. It is distinct from the Holy See. The state can thus be deemed a significant but not essential instrument of the Holy See. The Holy See itself has existed continuously as a juridical entity since Roman Imperial times and has been internationally recognised as a powerful and independent sovereign entity since Late Antiquity to the present, without interruption even at times when it was deprived of territory (e.g. 1870 to 1929). Vatican City is one of the few widely recognised independent states that has not become a member of the United Nations. The Holy See, which is distinct from Vatican City State, has permanent observer status, with all the rights of a full member except for a vote in the UN General Assembly. Structure The government of Vatican City has a unique structure. As governed by the Holy See, the Pope is the sovereign of the state, but he is supported by different bodies. While legislative authority is also managed, in the Pope's name, by the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, a body of cardinals appointed by the Pope for five-year periods, executive power is exercised by the president of that commission (who is consequently also the President of the Governorate), assisted by the General Secretary and the Deputy General Secretary. The state's foreign relations are entrusted to the Holy See's Secretariat of State and diplomatic service. Nevertheless, the Pope has absolute power in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches over Vatican City, and is thus the only absolute monarch in Europe. Operationally, there are departments that deal with health, security, telecommunications and other matters. Sede vacante The Cardinal Camerlengo presides over the Apostolic Camera, to which is entrusted the administration of the property and protection of other papal temporal powers and rights of the Holy See during the period of the empty throne or sede vacante (papal vacancy). Those of the Vatican State remain under the control of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State. Acting with three other cardinals chosen by lot every three days, one from each order of cardinals (cardinal bishop, cardinal priest, and cardinal deacon), he in a sense performs during that period the functions of head of state of Vatican City. All the decisions these four cardinals take must be approved by the College of Cardinals as a whole. Papal nobility The nobility that was closely associated with the Holy See at the time of the Papal States continued to be associated with the Papal Court after the loss of these territories, generally with merely nominal duties (see Papal Master of the Horse, Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, Hereditary officers of the Roman Curia, Black Nobility). They also formed the ceremonial Noble Guard. In the first decades of the existence of the Vatican City State, executive functions were entrusted to some of them, including that of delegate for the State of Vatican City (now denominated president of the Commission for Vatican City). But with the motu proprio Pontificalis Domus of 28 March 1968, Head of state As the Vatican is governed by the Holy See, the Pope is ex officio head of state of Vatican City, a function dependent on his primordial function as bishop of the diocese of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The term "Holy See" refers not to the Vatican state but to the Pope's spiritual and pastoral governance, largely exercised through the Roman Curia. His official title with regard to Vatican City is Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was elected on 13 March 2013. His principal subordinate government official for Vatican City as well as the country's head of government is the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, who since 1952 exercises the functions previously belonging to the Governor of Vatican City. Since 2001, the president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State also has the title of president of the Governorate of the State of Vatican City. The president is Spanish Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, who was appointed on 1 October 2021. Government and justice Legislative functions are administered by the Pope but also delegated to the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, led by the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State. Its members are cardinals appointed by the Pope for terms of five years. Acts of the commission must be approved by the Pope, through the Holy See's Secretariat of State, and must be published in a special appendix of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis. Most of the content of this appendix consists of routine executive decrees, such as approval for a new set of postage stamps. Executive authority is delegated to the President of the Governorate of Vatican City, who is also the President of the Pontificial Commission. In addition, the Governorate include two immediate collaborators of the President: the General Secretary and the Deputy General Secretary, members of the General Secretariat, each appointed by the Pope for five-year terms. Important actions of the Governorate must be confirmed by the Pontifical Commission and by the Pope through the Secretariat of State. Both the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and the President of the Governorate of Vatican City can be assisted by the Councilors of Vatican City State in drafting legislation and other important issues. The President of the Governorate can convoke the members of the Council of Directors, together with external experts and people. The Governorate oversees the central governmental functions through several departments and offices. The directors and officials of these offices are appointed by the Pope for five-year terms. The Governorate is organized into central offices (one for law and another for personnel matters) and directorates with roles in the following matters: Infrastructures and services Telecommunications and computer services Security services and civil protection Health and hygiene Museums and cultural heritage Pontifical Villas There are also subsidiary bodies for monetary, disciplinary, personnel and personnel selection matters. In the Pope's name, judiciary functions (Vatican judiciary) are exercised by four bodies: a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeal, a Tribunal and a Sole Judge, whose roles are established by the Vatican codes of criminal and civil procedure, and the 2013 "Motu Proprio On the Jurisdiction of Judicial Authorities of Vatican City State in Criminal Matters". At the Vatican's request, sentences imposed can be served in Italy (see the section on crime, below). Due to obvious territorial constraints, many headquarters and offices of the Holy See are located on Italian territory, but they are granted the same immunity as diplomatic missions thanks to the Lateran Treaty and are commonly defined as "extraterritorial areas". National and public security As Vatican City is an enclave within Italy, its military defence is provided by the Italian Armed Forces. However, there is no formal defence treaty with Italy, as Vatican City is a neutral state. Vatican City has no armed forces of its own, although the Swiss Guard is a military corps of the Holy See responsible for the personal security of the Pope, and residents in the state. Soldiers of the Swiss Guard are entitled to hold Vatican City State passports and nationality. Swiss mercenaries were historically recruited by Popes as part of an army for the Papal States, and the Pontifical Swiss Guard was founded by Pope Julius II on 22 January 1506 as the Pope's personal bodyguard and continues to fulfill that function. It is listed in the Annuario Pontificio under "Holy See", not under "State of Vatican City". At the end of 2005, the Guard had 134 members. Recruitment is arranged by a special agreement between the Holy See and Switzerland. All recruits must be Catholic, unmarried males with Swiss citizenship who have completed their basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces with certificates of good conduct, be between the ages of 19 and 30, and be at least 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) in height. Members are equipped with small arms and the traditional halberd (also called the Swiss voulge), and trained in bodyguarding tactics. Together with the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City, the Swiss Guard have roles in the Italy-Vatican border control. The Palatine Guard and the Noble Guard, the last armed forces of the Vatican City State, were disbanded by Pope Paul VI in 1970. As the entire territory of Vatican City has been listed on the International Register of Cultural Property under Special Protection and, in 1984, among World Heritage Sites, the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict provides international legal protection against armed conflicts. A large part of the historical documents of the very extensive Vatican Apostolic Archive is stored in the "Bunker", which was inaugurated in 1980, a two-storey reinforced concrete vault, under the Cortile della Pigna, equipped with systems for fire protection, climate and humidity control, and physical security. Civil defence is the responsibility of the Corps of Firefighters of the Vatican City State, the national fire brigade. Dating its origins to the early nineteenth century, the Corps in its present form was established in 1941. It is responsible for fire fighting, as well as a range of civil defence scenarios including flood, natural disaster, and mass casualty incident. The Corps is governmentally supervised through the Directorate for Security Services and Civil Defence, which is also responsible for the Gendarmerie (see below). The Gendarmerie Corps (Corpo della Gendarmeria) is the gendarmerie, or police and security force, of Vatican City and the extraterritorial properties of the Holy See. The corps is responsible for security, public order, border control, traffic control, criminal investigation, and other general police duties in Vatican City including providing security for the Pope outside of Vatican City. The corps has 130 personnel and is a part of the Directorate for Security Services and Civil Defence (which also includes the Vatican Fire Brigade), an organ of the Governorate of Vatican City. Even if St. Peter's Square is part of Vatican territory, it is normally safeguarded by Italian police forces. Crime Crime in Vatican City consists largely of purse snatching, pickpocketing and shoplifting by outsiders. The tourist foot-traffic in St. Peter's Square is one of the main locations for pickpockets in Vatican City. If crimes are committed in Saint Peter's Square, the perpetrators may be arrested and tried by the Italian authorities, since that area is normally patrolled by Italian police. Under the terms of article 22 of the Lateran Treaty, Italy will, at the request of the Holy See, punish individuals for crimes committed within Vatican City and will itself proceed against the person who committed the offence, if that person takes refuge in Italian territory. Persons accused of crimes recognised as such both in Italy and in Vatican City that are committed in Italian territory will be handed over to the Italian authorities if they take refuge in Vatican City or in buildings that enjoy immunity under the treaty. Vatican City has no prison system, apart from a few detention cells for pre-trial detention. People convicted of committing crimes in the Vatican serve terms in Italian prisons (Polizia Penitenziaria), with costs covered by the Vatican. Foreign relations Vatican City State is a recognised national territory under international law, but it is the Holy See that conducts diplomatic relations on its behalf, in addition to the Holy See's own diplomacy, entering into international agreements in its regard. Vatican City thus has no diplomatic service of its own. Because of space limitations, Vatican City is one of the few countries in the world that is unable to host embassies. Foreign embassies to the Holy See are located in the city of Rome; only during the Second World War were the staff of some embassies accredited to the Holy See given what hospitality was possible within the narrow confines of Vatican City—embassies such as that of the United Kingdom while Rome was held by the Axis Powers and Germany's when the Allies controlled Rome. The size of Vatican City is thus unrelated to the large global reach exercised by the Holy See as an entity quite distinct from the state. However, Vatican City State itself participates in some international organizations whose functions relate to the state as a geographical entity, distinct from the non-territorial legal persona of the Holy See. These organizations are much less numerous than those in which the Holy See participates either as a member or with observer status. They include the following eight, in each of which Vatican City State holds membership: European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Eutelsat IGO) International Grains Council (IGC) International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) Interpol Universal Postal Union (UPU) It also participates in: World Medical Association World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Non-party, non-signatory policy The Vatican City is not a member of the United Nations (UN), but was granted observer status to the United Nations General Assembly in 1968; the only other country in a similar position is the partially recognised State of Palestine. Since it is not a member of the UN, the Vatican City is not subjected to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It does, however, engage with various UN specialized agencies through its observer status including the Central Emergency Response Fund, to which it contributed US$20,000 between 2006 and 2022. The Vatican City State is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In Europe, only Belarus is also a non-party, non-signatory state, while Ukraine and Monaco are signatory states that have not ratified and Russia withdrew from it in 2016. The Vatican City State is not a member of the European Court of Human Rights. Among European states, Belarus is also not a member, while Russia has ceased to be part of it after being expelled from the Council of Europe following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The OECD's "Common Reporting Standard" (CRS), aiming at preventing tax evasion and money laundering, has also not been signed. The Vatican City State has been criticized for money laundering practises in the past decades. The only other country in Europe that has not agreed to sign the CRS is Belarus. The Vatican City State is also one of few countries in the world that does not provide any publicly available financial data to the International Monetary Fund. Economy The Vatican City State budget includes the Vatican Museums and post office and is supported financially by the sale of stamps, coins, medals and tourist mementos; by fees for admission to museums; and by publications sales. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome. Other industries include printing, the production of mosaics, and the manufacture of staff uniforms. The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR, Istituto per le Opere di Religione), also known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial agency situated in the Vatican that conducts worldwide financial activities. It has multilingual ATMs with instructions in Latin, possibly the only ATM in the world with this feature. Vatican City issues its own coins and stamps. It has used the euro as its currency since 1 January 1999, owing to a special agreement with the European Union (council decision 1999/98/EC). Euro coins and notes were introduced on 1 January 2002—the Vatican does not issue euro banknotes. Issuance of euro-denominated coins is strictly limited by treaty, though somewhat more than usual is allowed in a year in which there is a change in the papacy. Because of their rarity, Vatican euro coins are highly sought by collectors. Until the adoption of the Euro, Vatican coinage and stamps were denominated in their own Vatican lira currency, which was on par with the Italian lira. Vatican City State, which employs nearly 2,000 people, had a surplus of 6.7 million euros in 2007 but ran a deficit in 2008 of over 15 million euros. In 2012, the US Department of State's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report listed Vatican City for the first time among the nations of concern for money-laundering, placing it in the middle category, which includes countries such as Ireland, but not among the most vulnerable countries, which include the United States itself, Germany, Italy, and Russia. On 24 February 2014, the Vatican announced it was establishing a secretariat for the economy, to be responsible for all economic, financial, and administrative activities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, headed by Cardinal George Pell. This followed the charging of two senior clerics including a monsignor with money laundering offences. Pope Francis also appointed an auditor-general authorized to carry out random audits of any agency at any time and engaged a US financial services company to review the Vatican's 19,000 accounts to ensure compliance with international money laundering practices. The pontiff also ordered that the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See would be the Vatican's central bank, with responsibilities similar to other central banks around the world. In 2022, the Vatican planned to release NFTs of its museum collection. Demographics As of 2023, Vatican City had a population of 764 residents, regardless of citizenship. There were also 372 Vatican citizens residing elsewhere, consisting of diplomats of the Holy See to other countries and cardinals residing in Rome. The population is composed of clergy, other religious members, laypeople serving the state (such as the Swiss Guard) and their family members. In 2013 there were 13 families of the employees of the Holy See living in Vatican City, in 2019 there were 20 children of the Swiss Guards living at the Vatican. All citizens, residents, and places of worship in the city are Catholic. The city also receives thousands of tourists and workers every day. Languages Vatican City has no formally enacted official language, but, unlike the Holy See which most often uses Latin for the authoritative version of its official documents, Vatican City uses only Italian in its legislation and official communications. Italian is also the everyday language used by most of those who work in the state. In the Swiss Guard, Swiss German is the language used for giving commands, but the individual guards take their oath of loyalty in their own languages: German, French, Italian or Romansh. The official websites of the Holy See and of Vatican City are primarily in Italian, with versions of their pages in a large number of languages to varying extents. Citizenship Unlike citizenship of other states, which is based either on jus sanguinis (birth from a citizen, even outside the state's territory) or on jus soli (birth within the territory of the state), citizenship of Vatican City is granted on jus officii, namely on the grounds of appointment to work in a certain capacity in the service of the Holy See. It usually ceases upon cessation of the appointment. Citizenship is also extended to the spouse and children of a citizen, provided they are living together in the city. Some individuals are also authorized to reside in the city but do not qualify or choose not to request citizenship. Anyone who loses Vatican citizenship and does not possess other citizenship automatically becomes an Italian citizen as provided in the Lateran Treaty. The Holy See, not being a country, issues only diplomatic and service passports, whereas Vatican City issues normal passports for its citizens. Statistical oddities In statistics comparing countries in various per capita or per area metrics, Vatican City is often an outlier—these can stem from the state's small size and ecclesiastical function. For example, as most of the roles which would confer citizenship are reserved for men, the gender ratio of the citizenship is several men per woman. Further oddities are petty crimes against tourists resulting in a very high per-capita crime rate, and the city-state leading the world in per-capita wine consumption due to its sacramental use. A jocular illustration of these anomalies is sometimes made by calculating a "Popes per km2" statistic, which is greater than two because the country is less than half a square kilometre in area. Culture Cultural heritage Vatican City is home to some of the most famous art in the world. St. Peter's Basilica, whose successive architects include Bramante, Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, Maderno and Bernini, is a renowned work of Renaissance architecture. The Sistine Chapel is famous for its frescos, which include works by Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Botticelli as well as the ceiling and Last Judgment by Michelangelo. Artists who decorated the interiors of the Vatican include Raphael and Fra Angelico. The Vatican Apostolic Library and the collections of the Vatican Museums are of the highest historical, scientific and cultural importance. In 1984, the Vatican was added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage Sites; it is the only one to consist of an entire state. Furthermore, it is the only site to date registered with the UNESCO as a centre containing monuments in the "International Register of Cultural Property under Special Protection" according to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Science Following in the footsteps of the Pontifical Academy of New Lincei founded by Pope Pius IX in 1847, Pope Pius XI gave birth to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1936, which, located in the Casina Pio IV, guarantees academic freedom to contribute to mathematical, physical (including astronomy, Earth sciences, physics and chemistry) and natural sciences (e.g., medicine, neuroscience, biology, genetics, biochemistry), and confront epistemological issues, with interests also in the history of science. Among the academicians, there are or were the astrophysicist Martin John Rees, the mathematician Cédric Villani, the theoretical physicist Edward Witten, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureates Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, and Ernest Rutherford, the geneticists Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and Francis Collins, the head transplant pioneer Robert J. White, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Alexander Fleming. The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences is another pontifical academy of the Holy See located in Vatican City, which deals also with anthropology, communication studies, information sciences, cybernetics, economics, education, geography, history, law, linguistics, political science, psychology, behavioral sciences, sociology and demography. The seat of the Pontifical Academy for Life, whose domains are bioethics and ethics of technology, is at San Callisto complex, a Vatican extraterritorial property. Some of the Vatican telescopes of the astronomical institution named Vatican Observatory participated in creating the Carte du Ciel, but they have progressively become useless or limited for research purposes due to light pollution in their locations: Vatican City (the Gardens of Vatican City and near St. Peter's Basilica) and the Vatican extraterritorial Palace of Castel Gandolfo. However, the Vatican Observatory, whose origins date back to the 16th century, continues to contribute to astronomical research, especially through a partnership with the University of Arizona and the infrared and optical Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope in Arizona, and to astronomical education and "popular science" projects. As a member of the International Astronomical Union and the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics, it deals also with research on cosmological models, stellar classification, binary stars, and nebulae. In addition, it has contributed to philosophical interdisciplinary studies at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley, California and research on the history of astronomy thanks to its extensive library, which also includes a meteorite collection. Sport Vatican City is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and does not compete in the Olympic Games, though it has participated in some international sporting events, including the World Cycling Championships, the Championships of the Small States of Europe and the Mediterranean Games. The country has its own athletics association, Athletica Vaticana. Football in Vatican City is organized by the Vatican Amateur Sports Association, which holds the national championship, called the Vatican City Championship, with eight teams, including, for example, the Swiss Guard's FC Guardia and police and museum guard teams. The association also organizes the Coppa Sergio Valci and the Vatican Supercoppa. It controls the Vatican City national football team, which is neither affiliated with UEFA nor FIFA. Infrastructure and public services Transport Vatican City has a reasonably well-developed transport network considering its size (consisting mostly of a piazza and walkways). As a state that is 1.05 kilometres (1,150 yards) long and 0.85 km (930 yd) wide, it has a small transportation system with no airports or highways. The only aviation facility in Vatican City is the Vatican City Heliport. Vatican City is one of the few independent countries without an airport, and is served by the airports that serve the city of Rome, Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport and to a lesser extent Ciampino Airport. There is a standard gauge Vatican Railway and a Vatican City railway station, mainly used to transport freight, connected to Italy's network at Rome's Roma San Pietro railway station by an 852-metre-long (932 yd) spur, 300 metres (330 yd) of which is within Vatican territory. Pope John XXIII was the first Pope to make use of the railway; Pope John Paul II rarely used it. The closest metro station is Ottaviano – San Pietro – Musei Vaticani. Telecommunications and mass media The City is served by an independent, modern telephone system named the Vatican Telephone Service. The Vatican also controls its own Internet top-level domain, which is registered as (.va). Broadband service is widely provided within Vatican City. Vatican City has also been given a radio ITU prefix, HV, and this is sometimes used by amateur radio operators. Vatican Radio, which was organized by Guglielmo Marconi, broadcasts on short-wave, medium-wave and FM frequencies and on the Internet. Its main transmission antennae are located in Italian territory, and exceed Italian environmental protection levels of emission. For this reason, the Vatican Radio has been sued. Television services are provided through another entity, the Vatican Television Center. L'Osservatore Romano is the multilingual semi-official newspaper of the Holy See. It is published by a private corporation under the direction of Catholic laymen, but reports on official information. However, the official texts of documents are in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, the official gazette of the Holy See, which has an appendix for documents of the Vatican City State. Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Center, and L'Osservatore Romano are organs not of the Vatican State but of the Holy See, and are listed as such in the Annuario Pontificio, which places them in the section "Institutions linked with the Holy See", ahead of the sections on the Holy See's diplomatic service abroad and the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, after which is placed the section on the State of Vatican City. Postal service A postal system (Poste Vaticane) was created on 13 February 1929. On 1 August, the state started to release its own postal stamps, under the authority of the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State. The city's postal service is sometimes said to be "the best in the world", and faster than the postal service in Rome. The international postal country code prefix is SCV, and the only postal code is 00120 – altogether SCV-00120. Healthcare Recycling In 2008, the Vatican began an "ecological island" for renewable waste and has continued the initiative throughout the papacy of Francis. These innovations included, for example, the installation of a solar power system on the roof of the Paul VI Audience Hall. In July 2019, it was announced that Vatican City would ban the use and sale of single-use plastics as soon as its supply was depleted, well before the 2021 deadline established by the European Union. It is estimated that 50–55% of Vatican City's municipal solid waste is properly sorted and recycled, with the goal of reaching the EU standard of 70–75%. See also Architecture of Vatican City Holy city Index of Vatican City-related articles Law of Vatican City News.va Outline of Vatican City Timeline of fictional stories set in Vatican City References Footnotes Citation notes Bibliography Chadwick, Owen (1988). Britain and the Vatican During the Second World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36825-4. Kent, Peter C. (2002). The Lonely Cold War of Pope Pius XII: The Catholic Church and the Division of Europe, 1943–1950. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-2326-5. Morley, John F. (1980). Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews During the Holocaust, 1939–1943. New York: Ktav Pub. House. ISBN 978-0-87068-701-3. Nichols, Fiona (2006). Rome and the Vatican. London: New Holland. pp. 85–96. ISBN 978-1-84537-500-3. Ricci, Corrado; Begni, Ernesto (2003) [1914]. The Vatican: Its History, Its Treasures. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7661-3941-1. Petacco, Laura (2016). "La Meta Romuli e il Terebinthus Neronis". In Claudio Parisi Presicce; Laura Petacco (eds.). La Spina: dall'Agro vaticano a via della Conciliazione (in Italian). Rome. ISBN 978-88-492-3320-9. Liverani, Paolo (2016). "Un destino di marginalità: storia e topografia dell'area vaticana nell'antichità". In Claudio Parisi Presicce; Laura Petacco (eds.). La Spina: dall'Agro vaticano a via della Conciliazione (in Italian). Rome. ISBN 978-88-492-3320-9. Further reading Shaw, Tamsin, "Ethical Espionage" (review of Calder Walton, Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West, Simon and Schuster, 2023, 672 pp.; and Cécile Fabre, Spying Through a Glass Darkly: The Ethics of Espionage and Counter-Intelligence, Oxford University Press, 251 pp., 2024), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXXI, no. 2 (8 February 2024), pp. 32, 34–35. "[I]n Walton's view, there was scarcely a US covert action that was a long-term strategic success, with the possible exception of intervention in the Soviet-Afghan War (a disastrous military fiasco for the Soviets) and perhaps support for the anti-Soviet Solidarity movement in Poland." (p. 34.) External links Official website (in Italian) Official website of the Holy See Wikimedia Atlas of Vatican City Geographic data related to Vatican City at OpenStreetMap Inside the Vatican on National Geographic YouTube channel Vatican Chief of State and Cabinet Members Holy See (Vatican City). The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Holy See (Vatican City) from UCB Libraries GovPubs Vatican City at Curlie Vatican from BBC News The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome, a book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available on the Internet as PDF)

McDonald%27s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s

McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand and later turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and, in 1961, bought out the McDonald brothers. Previously headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, it moved to nearby Chicago in June 2018. McDonald's is also a real estate company through its ownership of around 70% of restaurant buildings and 45% of the underlying land (which it leases to its franchisees). McDonald's is the world's largest fast food restaurant chain, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries in more than 40,000 outlets as of 2021. McDonald's is best known for its hamburgers, cheeseburgers and french fries, although their menu also includes other items like chicken, fish, fruit, and salads. Their bestselling licensed item is their french fries, followed by the Big Mac. The McDonald's Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald's is the world's second-largest private employer with 1.7 million employees (behind Walmart with 2.3 million employees), the majority of whom work in the restaurant's franchises. As of 2022, McDonald's has the sixth-highest global brand valuation. McDonald's has been subject to criticism over the health effects of its products, its treatment of employees, and its participation in various legal cases. History Siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald's at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California, on May 15th 1940. The brothers introduced the "Speedee Service System" in 1948, putting into expanded use the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant that predecessor White Castle had put into practice more than two decades earlier. The original mascot of McDonald's was a hamburger-headed chef who was referred to as "Speedee". In 1962, the Golden Arches replaced Speedee as the universal mascot. Clown mascot Ronald McDonald was introduced in 1963 to market the chain to children. On May 4, 1961, McDonald's first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name "McDonald's" with the description "Drive-In Restaurant Services," which continues to be renewed. By September 13, McDonald's, under the guidance of Ray Kroc, filed for a trademark on a new logo—an overlapping, double-arched "M" symbol. But before the double arches, McDonald's used a single arch for the architecture of their buildings. Although the "Golden Arches" logo appeared in various forms, the present version was not used until November 18, 1968, when the company was granted a U.S. trademark. The present corporation credits its founding to franchised businessman Ray Kroc on April 15, 1955. This was the ninth opened McDonald's restaurant overall, although this location was destroyed and rebuilt in 1984. Kroc was recorded as being an aggressive business partner, driving the McDonald brothers out of the industry. Kroc and the McDonald brothers fought for control of the business, as documented in Kroc's autobiography. In 1961, he purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and began the company's worldwide reach. The sale cost Kroc $2.7 million, a huge sum during that time. The San Bernardino restaurant was eventually torn down in 1971, and the site was sold to the Juan Pollo chain in 1998. This area serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain, and a McDonald's and Route 66 museum. With the expansion of McDonald's into many international markets, the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. Its prominence has made it a frequent topic of public debates about obesity, corporate ethics, and consumer responsibility. Products McDonald's predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken, chicken sandwiches, French fries, soft drinks, shakes, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, McDonald's offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps and other localized fare. On a seasonal basis, McDonald's offers the McRib sandwich. Some speculate the seasonality of the McRib adds to its appeal. During March of each year, McDonald's offers a Shamrock Shake to honor Saint Patrick's Day. In addition, the chain also sells some items within the United States on a regional basis; for example, the Hatch Green Chile Double Cheeseburger, which is topped with New Mexico green chile, is only available in the southwestern state of New Mexico. Products are offered as either "dine-in" (where the customer opts to eat in the restaurant) or "take-out" (where the customer opts to take the food off the premises). "Dine-in" meals are provided on a plastic tray with a paper insert on the floor of the tray. "Take-out" meals are usually delivered with the contents enclosed in a distinctive McDonald's-branded brown paper bag. In both cases, the individual items are wrapped or boxed as appropriate. Since Steve Easterbrook became CEO of the company in 2015, McDonald's has streamlined the menu which in the United States contained nearly 200 items. The company has looked to introduce healthier options and removed high-fructose corn syrup from hamburger buns. The company has removed artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets, replacing chicken skin, safflower oil and citric acid found in Chicken McNuggets with pea starch, rice starch, and powdered lemon juice. In September 2018, McDonald's USA announced that they no longer use artificial preservatives, flavors and colors entirely from seven classic burgers sold in the U.S., including the hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and the Big Mac. Nevertheless, the pickles will still be made with an artificial preservative, although customers can choose to opt out of getting pickles with their burgers. In November 2020, McDonald's announced McPlant, a plant-based burger, along with plans to develop additional meat alternative menu items that extend to chicken substitutes and breakfast sandwiches. This announcement came after the successful testing of Beyond Meat plant based meat substitutes. In late 2022, McDonald's announced the addition of the Double McPlant at all restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland starting January 4 due to the success of the McPlant. In 2024, select McDonald's in the UK were testing vegan ice cream called Choco Scoop and Strawberry Scoop and receiving positive reviews. The company often introduces items temporarily or brings them back after long absences. International menu variations McDonald's Menu is customized to reflect consumer tastes in their respective countries. Restaurants in several countries, particularly in Asia, serve soup. This local deviation from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known and one which is employed either to abide by regional food taboos (such as the religious prohibition of beef consumption in India) or to make available foods with which the regional market is more familiar (such as the sale of McRice in Indonesia, or Ebi (prawn) Burger in Singapore and Japan). McDonald's restaurants in China include fried buns and soybean milk on their breakfast menus. In Germany and some other Western European countries, McDonald's sells beer. In New Zealand, until 2020, McDonald's sold meat pies after local affiliate McDonald's New Zealand partially relaunched the Georgie Pie fast food chain it bought out in 1996. In Greece, the signature hamburger, Big Mac, is changed by adding Tzatziki sauce and packaging in a pita. In the United States and Canada, after limited trials on a regional basis, McDonald's began offering in 2015 and 2017, respectively, a partial breakfast menu during all hours its restaurants were open. All-day breakfast was phased out from menus at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In partnership with the Central Food Technological Research Institute in India, McDonald's has introduced millet-based buns on September 4, 2024. Three major (Pearl millet, Sorghum, and Finger millet) and two minor (Proso and Paspalum scrobiculatum) millets are used which makes up 22% of the bun. It provides more calcium, iron, and protein in addition to a small amount of complex carbs to aid in satiety more quickly. McDonald's operations in the United States There are over 36,000 McDonald's restaurants globally. Over a third of these (14,146 restaurants) are in the United States alone. The second highest number is in Japan, with 2,975 restaurants, followed by China, with 2,700. These three countries make up the majority of global McDonald's stores. Types In the United States, most standalone McDonald's restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or "McDrive" as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders while the customer remains in their vehicle; it was first introduced in Sierra Vista, Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. The first such restaurant in Britain opened at Fallowfield, Manchester, in 1986. In 1994, McDonald's attempted Hearth Express, a prototype specializing in homestyle takeout meals. Among the fare offered were meatloaf, fried chicken, and baked ham. This experiment started with a single location in Darien, Illinois but closed in only one year. McDrive In some countries, McDrive locations near highways offer no counter service or seating. In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through service. There are also a few locations, mostly in downtown districts, that offer a "Walk-Thru" service in place of Drive-Thru. McCafé McCafé is a café-style accompaniment to McDonald's restaurants. The concept was created by McDonald's Australia, starting with Melbourne in 1993. "Create Your Taste" restaurants From 2015 to 2016, McDonald's tried a more flexible burger service and restaurant concept based on other restaurants such as Shake Shack and Grill'd. It was rolled out for the first time in Australia in early 2015 and expanded to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Arabia, and New Zealand, with ongoing trials in the US market. In dedicated "Create Your Taste" (CYT) kiosks, customers could choose all ingredients, including the type of bun and meat, along with optional extras. CYT food was served to the table on wooden boards, fries in wire baskets, and salads in china bowls with metal cutlery at a higher price. In November 2016, Create Your Taste was replaced by a "Signature Crafted Recipes" program designed to be more efficient and less expensive. PlayPlaces McDonald's playgrounds are called PlayPlaces. Some McDonald's in suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds. The first PlayPlace with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the US, with many more being constructed soon after. McDonald's Next McDonald's Next uses open-concept design and offers "Create Your Taste" digital ordering. The concept store also offers free mobile device charging and table service after 6:00 pm. The first store opened in Hong Kong in December 2015. Other Some locations are connected to gas stations and convenience stores, while others called McExpress have limited seating or menu or may be located in a shopping mall. Other McDonald's are located in Walmart stores. McStop is a location targeted at truckers and travelers who may have services found at truck stops. In Sweden, Happy Meal boxes can be used as goggles, with the game Slope Stars. In the Netherlands, McDonald's has introduced McTrax that doubles as a recording studio; it reacts to touch. They can create their own beats with a synth and tweak sounds with special effects. On the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, is the world's only "McBoat," a float-through service (similar to drive-through) for people on the river. 2006 redesign In 2006, McDonald's introduced its "Forever Young" brand by redesigning all of its restaurants, the first significant redesign since the 1970s. It resembles a coffee shop, with wooden tables, faux-leather chairs, and muted colors; the red was muted to terracotta, the yellow was shifted to golden for a more "sunny" look, and olive and sage green were added. The warmer look has less plastic and more brick and wood, with modern hanging lights for a softer glow. Many restaurants feature free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs. Other upgrades include double drive-thrus, flat roofs instead of the angled red roofs, and fiberglass instead of wood. Instead of the familiar golden arches, the restaurants feature "semi-swooshes" (half of a golden arch), similar to the Nike swoosh. Smoking ban McDonald's began banning smoking in 1994 when it restricted customers from smoking within its 1,400 wholly owned restaurants. COVID-19 pandemic As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, McDonald's closed most seating and all play areas in its United States restaurants. It transitioned to drive-thru and curbside orders at locations and online food ordering delivery services. In July 2020, for the year's second quarter, McDonald's reported earnings of 66 cents per share. Compared to the same period of last year, it represented a fall of 68%. 2023 redesign and new concept In July 2023, the company announced it was working towards a new fast-food brand called CosMc's that would be tested at ten sites. The first location was opened in December 2023 in Bolingbrook, Illinois, and the company is working to open nine restaurants in Texas by the end of 2024 as a test. The outlets will have a smaller real-estate footprint than regular McDonald's restaurants and are focused on selling coffee and other drinks to afternoon customers. The name for the new brand comes from CosMc, a McDonaldland mascot that appeared in advertisements in the late 1980s and early 1990s. McDonald's employee relations in the United States Automation Since the late 1990s, McDonald's has attempted to replace employees with electronic kiosks that would perform actions such as taking orders and accepting money. In 1999, McDonald's first tested "E-Clerks" in suburban Chicago, Illinois, and Wyoming, Michigan, with the devices being able to "save money on live staffers" and attracting larger purchase amounts than average employees. In 2013, the University of Oxford estimated that in the succeeding decades, there was a 92% probability of food preparation and serving becoming automated in fast food establishments. By 2016, McDonald's "Create Your Taste" electronic kiosks were seen in some restaurants internationally where customers could custom order meals. As employees pushed for higher wages in the late 2010s, some believed that fast food companies such as McDonald's would use the devices to cut costs for employing individuals. In 2017, McDonald's launched an app in the United States that allows customers to skip the ordering line inside or drive through and order online. Many McDonald's locations have special parking spaces for such orders. In September 2019, McDonald's purchased an AI-based start-up, Apprente, to replace human servers with voice-based technology in its US drive-throughs. In early 2023, McDonald's opened its first largely automated restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas. The restaurant in question would de-emphasize human contact when ordering, with employees available if there were problems but who would otherwise be absent from the ordering process (along with others working in the kitchen or other back-of-the-house roles). There was no seating in this restaurant. Wages On August 5, 2013, The Guardian revealed that 90 percent of McDonald's UK workforce are on zero-hour contracts, making it possibly the largest such private sector employer in the country. In April 2017, due to employee strikes, they gave all employees the option of fixed contracts instead. A study released by Fast Food Forward conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research showed that approximately 84 percent of all fast food employees working in New York City in April 2013 had been paid less than their legal wages by their employers. From 2007 to 2011, fast food workers in the U.S. drew an average of $7firstbillion of public assistance annually resulting from receiving low wages. The McResource website advised employees to break their food into smaller pieces to feel fuller, seek refunds for unopened holiday purchases, sell possessions online for quick cash, and "quit complaining" as "stress hormone levels rise by 15 percent after ten minutes of complaining." In December 2013, McDonald's shut down the McResource website amidst negative publicity and criticism. McDonald's plans to continue an internal telephone help line through which its employees can obtain advice on work and life problems. The Roosevelt Institute, a liberal think tank, accuses some McDonald's restaurants of actually paying less than the minimum wage to entry positions due to "rampant" wage theft. In South Korea, McDonald's pays part-time employees $5.50 an hour and is accused of paying less with arbitrary schedule adjustments and pay delays. In late 2015, data collected anonymously by Glassdoor suggests that McDonald's in the United States pays entry-level employees between $7.25 an hour and $11 an hour, with an average of $8.69 an hour. Shift managers get paid an average of $10.34 an hour. Assistant managers get paid an average of $11.57 an hour. McDonald's former CEO, Steve Easterbrook, earned an annual salary of $1,100,000. His total compensation for 2017 was $21,761,052. Strikes McDonald's workers have occasionally decided to strike over pay levels, with most of the employees on strike seeking to be paid $15.00. When interviewed about the strikes occurring, former McDonald's CEO Ed Rensi stated: "It's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's inefficient making $15 an hour bagging french fries" with Rensi explaining that increasing employee wages could negatively affect entry-level job hiring. However, according to Easterbrook, increasing wages and benefits for workers saw a 6% increase in customer satisfaction when comparing 2015's first quarter data to the first quarter of 2016, with greater returns seen as a result. In September 2017, two British McDonald's stores agreed to a strike over zero-hours contracts for staff. Picket lines were formed around the two stores in Crayford and Cambridge. The strike was supported by then Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn. Occupation Workers at the McDonald's franchise at Saint-Barthélémy, Marseille, occupied the restaurant in protest against its planned closure. Employing 77 people, the restaurant is the second-biggest private sector employer in Saint-Barthélémy, which has an unemployment rate of 30 percent. Lawyers for Kamel Guemari, a shop steward at the franchise, claimed an attempt was made to kill him when a car drove at him in the restaurant car park. Working conditions In March 2015, McDonald's workers in 19 U.S. cities filed 28 health and safety complaints with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which allege that low staffing, lack of protective gear, poor training, and pressure to work fast resulted in injuries. The complaints allege that, because of a lack of first aid supplies, workers were told by management to treat burn injuries with condiments such as mayonnaise and mustard. The Fight for $15 labor organization aided the workers in filing the complaints. Animal welfare standards Throughout 2014, the Facebook page for McDonald's Australia was inundated with posts about McDonald's use of caged eggs. For 87 consecutive days during mid-2014, the most common theme on the McDonald's Facebook wall was concern for hens. By September 2014, McDonald's heeded the criticism and declared they would strive to eliminate caged eggs by 2017. By January 2018, McDonald's accounced they had succeeded in meeting their goal. In 2015, McDonald's pledged to stop using eggs from battery cage facilities by 2025 for all American restaurants. McDonald's met their goal nearly two years ahead of schedule, announcing the successful elimination of caged eggs in February 2024. Since McDonald's purchases over 2 billion eggs per year or 4 percent of eggs produced in the United States, the switch is expected to have a major impact on the egg industry. It is part of a general trend toward cage-free eggs driven by consumer concern over the harsh living conditions of hens. The aviary systems from which the new eggs will be sourced are troubled by much higher mortality rates, as well as introducing environmental and worker safety problems. The high hen mortality rate, which is more than double that of battery cage systems, will require new research to mitigate. The facilities have higher ammonia levels because feces are kicked into the air. Producers raised concerns about the production cost, which is expected to increase by 36 percent. McDonald's continues to source pork from facilities that use gestation crates, and in 2012 pledged to phase them out. Corporate overview Facts and figures McDonald's restaurants are in 120 countries and territories and serve 68 million customers daily. There are 37,855 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 210,000 people as of the end of 2018. There are a total of 2,770 company-owned locations and 35,085 franchised locations, which includes 21,685 locations franchised to conventional franchisees, 7,225 locations licensed to developmental licensees, and 6,175 locations licensed to foreign affiliates. Focusing on its core brand, McDonald's began divesting itself of other chains it had acquired during the 1990s. The company owned a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until October 2006, when McDonald's fully divested from Chipotle through a stock exchange. Until December 2003, it owned Donatos Pizza, and it owned a small share of Aroma Café, from 1999 to 2001. On August 27, 2007, McDonald's sold Boston Market to Sun Capital Partners. McDonald's has increased shareholder dividends for 25 consecutive years, making it one of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats. The company is ranked 131st on the Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue. In October 2012, its monthly sales fell for the first time in nine years. In 2014, its quarterly sales fell for the first time in seventeen years, when its sales dropped for the entirety of 1997. In the United States, it is reported that drive-throughs account for 70 percent of sales. McDonald's closed down 184 restaurants in the United States in 2015, which was 59 more than what they planned to open. This move was the first time McDonald's had a net decrease in the number of locations in the United States since 1970. The McDonald's on-demand delivery concept, which began in 2017 with a partnership with Uber Eats and added DoorDash in 2019 (with select locations adding Grubhub in 2021), accounts for up to 3% of all business as of 2019. The $100 billion in sales generated by McDonald's company-owned and franchise restaurants in 2019 accounts for almost 4% of the estimated $2.5 trillion global restaurant industry. Business trends The key trends for the McDonald's Corp. are (as of the financial year ending December 31): Business model The company owns all the land on which its restaurants are situated, which is valued at an estimated $16 to $18 billion. The company earns a significant portion of its revenue from rental payments from franchisees. These rent payments rose 26 percent between 2010 and 2015, accounting for one-fifth of the company's total revenue at the end of the period. In recent times, there have been calls to spin off the company's U.S. holdings into a potential real estate investment trust, but the company announced at its investor conference on November 10, 2015, that this would not happen. CEO Steve Easterbrook discussed that pursuing the REIT option would pose too large a risk to the company's business model. The United Kingdom and Ireland business model differs from the U.S. in that fewer than 30 percent of restaurants are franchised, with the majority under the company's ownership. McDonald's trains its franchisees and management at Hamburger University at its Chicago headquarters. In other countries, McDonald's restaurants are operated by joint ventures of McDonald's Corporation and other, local entities or governments. According to Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2001), nearly one in eight workers in the U.S. have at some time been employed by McDonald's. Employees are encouraged by McDonald's Corp. to maintain their health by singing along to their favorite songs to relieve stress, attending church services to have a lower blood pressure, and taking two vacations annually to reduce the risk for myocardial infarction. Fast Food Nation states that McDonald's is the largest private operator of playgrounds in the U.S., as well as the single largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, and apples. The selection of meats McDonald's uses varies to some extent based on the host country's culture. In 2021, the company cut value meals and cheaper items from its menu as part of a focus on higher-priced items. Headquarters On June 13, 2016, McDonald's confirmed plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago's West Loop neighborhood in the Near West Side. The 608,000-square-foot structure opened on June 4, 2018, and was built on the former site of Harpo Productions (where The Oprah Winfrey Show and several other Harpo productions taped). The McDonald's former headquarters complex, McDonald's Plaza, is in Oak Brook, Illinois. It sits on the site of the former headquarters and stabling area of Paul Butler, the founder of Oak Brook. McDonald's moved into the Oak Brook facility from an office within the Chicago Loop in 1971. Board of directors As of February 2021, the board of directors had the following members: Enrique Hernandez Jr., non-executive chairman; president and CEO of Inter-Con Security Lloyd H. Dean, president and CEO of Dignity Health Chris Kempczinski, president and CEO of McDonald's Robert A. Eckert, operating partner of Friedman Fleischer & Lowe Margo Georgiadis, CEO of Ancestry.com Richard H. Lenny, non-executive chairman of Conagra Brands John J. Mulligan, executive vice president and COO of Target Corporation Sheila A. Penrose, non-executive chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle John W. Rogers Jr., chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments Miles D. White, chairman and CEO of Abbott Laboratories Andrew J. McKenna, chairman emeritus. Also, the chairman emeritus of Schwarz Supply Source Catherine M. Engelbert, commissioner of the Women's National Basketball Association Paul S. Walsh, executive chairman of McLaren Group On March 1, 2015, after being chief brand officer of McDonald's and its former head in the UK and northern Europe, Steve Easterbrook became CEO, succeeding Don Thompson, who stepped down on January 28, 2015. In November 2019, McDonald's board of directors voted to remove Easterbrook as CEO since he had violated corporate policies on personal conduct by entering into a relationship with a company employee. He was replaced as CEO by Chris Kempczinski, who had been president of McDonald's USA. In August 2022, McDonald's announced significant changes to its board. It said that existing director Sheila Penrose, chair of JLL Inc., would retire and that Anthony Capuano, CEO of Marriott International, executive vice president and worldwide chairman of pharmaceuticals Jennifer Taubert of Johnson & Johnson, and Amy Weaver president and CFO of Salesforce would join. The changes were unrelated to an effort by activist investor Carl Icahn. Ownership The ten largest shareholders of McDonald's on December 30, 2023, were: Global operations McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as the "McDonaldization" of society. The Economist newspaper uses the "Big Mac Index": the comparison of the cost of a Big Mac in various world currencies can be used to informally judge these currencies' purchasing power parity. Switzerland has the most expensive Big Mac in the world as of July 2015, while the country with the least expensive Big Mac is India (albeit for a Maharaja Mac—the next cheapest Big Mac is Hong Kong). The northernmost McDonald's restaurant in the world is located in Rovaniemi, Finland (after the restaurant in Murmansk, Russia was closed in 2022), however from January 2024 this will change again as McDonald's is opening a new restaurant in Tromsø, Norway. And the southernmost in the world is located in Invercargill, New Zealand. Thomas Friedman said that no country with a McDonald's had gone to war with another; however, the "Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention" is incorrect. Exceptions are the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia war—McDonald's suspended operations in its corporate-owned stores in Crimea after Russia annexed the region in 2014. On August 20, 2014, as tensions between the United States and Russia strained over the Russian annexation of Crimea, and the resultant U.S. sanctions, the Russian government temporarily shut down four McDonald's outlets in Moscow, citing sanitary concerns. The company has operated in Russia since 1990 and, in August 2014, had 438 stores across the country. On August 23, 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich ruled out any government move to ban McDonald's and dismissed the notion that the temporary closures had anything to do with the sanctions. Some observers have suggested that the company should be given credit for increasing the service standard in markets it enters. A group of anthropologists in a study entitled Golden Arches East looked at McDonald's impact on East Asia and Hong Kong, particularly. When it opened in Hong Kong in 1975, McDonald's was the first restaurant to consistently offer clean restrooms, driving customers to demand the same of other restaurants and institutions. McDonald's has partnered with Sinopec, the second largest oil company in the People's Republic of China, as it takes advantage of the country's growing use of personal vehicles by opening numerous drive-thru restaurants. In Beijing, China, McDonald's restaurants are state-owned enterprises operating according to franchise agreements. Beijing Capital Agricultural Group owns these franchises. McDonald's has opened a McDonald's restaurant and McCafé on the underground premises of the French fine arts museum, The Louvre. The company stated it would open vegetarian-only restaurants in India by mid-2013. On January 9, 2017, 80% of the franchise rights in mainland China and Hong Kong were sold for US$2.08 billion to a consortium of CITIC Limited (for 32%). Private equity funds managed by CITIC Capital (for 20%) and Carlyle (for 20%), which CITIC Limited and CITIC Capital would form a joint venture to own the stake. On March 8, 2022, McDonald's temporarily closed their 850 locations in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, but will continue to pay the salary for 62,000 employees. Approximately nine percent of global revenue and three percent of operating profit come from Russia and 100 locations in Ukraine. On May 16, 2022, McDonald's announced that the closures would become permanent and that it was selling all its 850 stores in Russia. Furthermore, 32 years after McDonald's entered the Soviet market, the American giant wants its current business to be "de-Arched," the company plans to retain its trademarks in Russia, meaning the locations would no longer be allowed to use the McDonald's name, logo, or menu. McDonald's also said it would continue to pay its Russian employees until the sale is finalized. The company has more than 60,000 Russian employees. On June 10, 2022, a Russian McDonald's buyer announced a new logo as an attempt at rebranding. It featured one circle and two lines representing a burger and two french fries. The business was rebranded as Vkusno i tochka, which roughly translates to "Tasty – Period." McDonald's will reopen its stores in Ukraine after closing them in February in non-contested areas like Kyiv and Western Ukraine. During the closure, McDonald's continued paying its employees, numbering some 10,000. Before the conflict, Ukraine had approximately 109 restaurants; it is unclear how many will reopen. On November 11, 2022, McDonald's in Belarus announced that all 25 stores in 6 cities would rebrand and operate as Vkusno i tochka "in several weeks." In Kazakhstan, McDonald's suspended operations in November 2022 due to the impossibility of supplying minced meat from Russia. The franchise was transferred to Food Solutions KZ, after which the restaurants first changed their name to "We are open" (Біз ашықпыз); in August 2023, they were renamed in honor of the best employees, and in November 2023 the final rebranding was carried out. The network is now called I'M, with a heart sign used instead of a dot over the I. McDonald's restaurants Marketing and advertising McDonald's has maintained an extensive advertising campaign for decades. In addition to the usual media (television, radio, and newspaper), the company makes significant use of billboards and signage. Also, it sponsors sporting events ranging from Little League to the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games. Television has been central to the company's advertising strategy. To date, McDonald's has used 23 different slogans in United States advertising, as well as a few other slogans for select countries and regions. Children's advertising Celebrity endorsements In 1992, basketball player Michael Jordan became the first celebrity to have a McDonald's value meal named after him. The "McJordan," a Quarter Pounder with pickles, raw onion slices, bacon, and barbecue sauce, was available at Chicago franchises. In March 2014, a unique "Sprite 6 Mix by LeBron James" flavor of Sprite featuring the flavors of lemon-lime, orange, and cherry debuted just before the NBA playoffs. James' endorsement of Sprite has also included the seasonal "cranberry" and "winter-spiced cranberry" editions of the beverage. James' deal with Coca-Cola and Sprite ended in 2020, with a new partnership with Pepsi and Mountain Dew launching in 2021. In September 2020, McDonald's partnered with rapper Travis Scott to release the "Travis Scott Meal," a Quarter Pounder with cheese, bacon, lettuce, pickles, ketchup, and mustard; medium fries with barbecue sauce; and a Sprite, nationwide. Scott designed new uniforms for McDonald's employees and released Cactus Jack merchandise using vintage visuals from the fast food chain's history. The company followed up with the "J Balvin Meal", a Big Mac with no pickles; fries with ketchup; and an Oreo McFlurry, in a partnership with reggaeton singer J Balvin. LeBron James was a spokesman for McDonald's from 2003 to 2017 while co-endorsing Coca-Cola-Sprite since early in his career. In 2021, McDonald's partnered with Korean boy group BTS to release the "BTS Meal" in 50 countries around the world, starting on May 26 in select countries. The meal consists of a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries, medium Coke, and for the first time in the United States, two spicy dipping sauces: Sweet Chili and Cajun. Space exploration McDonald's and NASA explored an advertising agreement for a planned mission to the asteroid 449 Hamburga; however, the spacecraft was eventually canceled. Sponsorship in NASCAR McDonald's entered the NASCAR Cup Series in 1977, sponsoring Richard Childress for one race. Between the years 1977 and 1986, McDonald's would only sponsor a handful of races in a season. In 1993, McDonald's became the full-time sponsor for the No. 27 Junior Johnson & Associates Ford, driven by Hut Stricklin. In 1994, Stricklin was replaced in the car by Jimmy Spencer, who would go on to win twice that season. The following season McDonald's would move over to the No. 94 Bill Elliott Racing Ford, driven by team-owner Bill Elliott. McDonald's stayed with Elliott until the 2001 season when they moved again, this time to the No. 96 PPI Motorsports Ford, driven by rookie Andy Houston. However, when the team failed to field a car for the entire season, McDonald's became absent from NASCAR until 2004, when it joined Evernham Motorsports as a part-time sponsor for drivers Elliott, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, A. J. Allmendinger, and Reed Sorenson until 2010. During the 2010 season, McDonald's would enter its longest partnership with a team at Chip Ganassi Racing, sponsoring the No. 1 Chevrolet driven by Jamie McMurray until his final race in the 2019 Daytona 500. McDonald's moved to CGR's No. 42 of Kyle Larson, whom the company sponsored until his suspension in 2020, and also had a one-race partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports' No. 43 Chevrolet driven by Bubba Wallace in 2019 and 2020. McDonald's continued working with the No. 42 under new driver Ross Chastain in 2021 and also joined Wallace's new team 23XI Racing as a "founding partner". Sports awards and honors McDonald's is the title sponsor of the McDonald's All-American Game, an all-star basketball game played each year for the top-ranked amateur boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates in America. Charity McHappy Day McHappy Day is an annual event at McDonald's, during which a percentage of the day's sales go to charity. It is the signature fundraising event for Ronald McDonald House Charities. In 2007, it was celebrated in 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, France, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, and Uruguay. According to the Australian McHappy Day website, McHappy Day raised $20.4 million in 2009. The goal for 2010 was $20.8firstmillion. McDonald's Monopoly donation In 1995, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received an anonymous letter postmarked in Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning McDonald's Monopoly game piece. McDonald's officials came to the hospital, accompanied by a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined the card under a jeweler's eyepiece, handled it with plastic gloves, and verified it as a winner. Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald's waived the rule. They made the annual $50,000 annuity payments for the entire 20-year period through 2014, even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme intended to defraud McDonald's. McRefugee McRefugees are poor people in Hong Kong, Japan, and China who use McDonald's 24-hour restaurants as a temporary hostel. Criticism McDonald's has been criticized for numerous aspects of its business, including its products' health effects, employees' treatment, and other business practices. In the late 1980s, Phil Sokolof, a millionaire businessman who had suffered a heart attack at the age of 43, took out full-page newspaper ads in New York, Chicago, and other large cities accusing McDonald's menu of being a threat to American health and asking them to stop using beef tallow to cook their french fries. In 1990, activists from a small group known as London Greenpeace (no connection to the international group Greenpeace) distributed leaflets entitled What's wrong with McDonald's?, criticizing its environmental, health, and labor record. The corporation wrote to the group demanding they desist and apologize, and, when two of the activists refused to back down, sued them for libel leading to the "McLibel case," one of the longest cases in English civil law. A documentary film of the McLibel Trial has been shown in several countries. In 2001, Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation included criticism of the business practices of McDonald's, particularly concerning its use of political influence and targeting advertisements to children. In 2002, vegetarian groups, largely Hindu and Buddhist, successfully sued McDonald's for misrepresenting its french fries as vegetarian, when they contained beef broth. Critical terms such as "McJob" and "McMansion" have been added to dictionaries. Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary film Super Size Me claimed that McDonald's food was contributing to the increase of obesity in society and that the company was failing to provide nutritional information about its food for its customers. Six weeks after the film premiered, McDonald's announced that it was eliminating the super size option and was creating the adult Happy Meal. Litterstudies have found McDonald's is one of the most littered brands worldwide. In 2012, a Keep Australia Beautiful study found that McDonald's was the most littered brand in Queensland. In response to public pressure, McDonald's has sought to include more healthy choices in its menu, announcing in May 2008 that, in the United States and Canada, it has switched to using cooking oil that contains no trans fats for its french fries, and canola-based oil with corn and soy oils, for its baked items, pies, and cookies, by the end of 2018. The company introduced a new slogan to its recruitment posters: "Not bad for a McJob." Since McDonald's began receiving criticism for its environmental practices in the 1970s, it has significantly reduced its use of materials. Amidst the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, as the Israeli blockade restricted supplies to Gaza, McDonald's in Israel faced condemnation for providing free meals to the Israel Defense Forces, who were accused of engaging in war crimes against Palestinians. The hashtag #BoycottMcDonalds gained worldwide traction on social media. There were also large gathering outside restaurants in Lebanon and Egypt protesting the move. McDonald's in other countries, like Turkey and Pakistan, distanced themselves from the Israeli brand. In April 2024, according to Arutz Sheva that the global McDonald's corporation is seeking to acquire all of the chain's branches in Israel from the local franchisee. In January 2024, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski acknowledged the public outcry, stating, "Several markets in the Middle East and some outside the region are experiencing a meaningful business impact due to the war and associated misinformation that is affecting brands like McDonald's." Legal cases McDonald's has been involved in several lawsuits and other legal cases, most involving trademark disputes. The company has threatened many food businesses with legal action unless it drops the 'Mc' or 'Mac' from trading names. European Union In April 2017, Irish fast-food chain Supermac's submitted a request to the European Union Property Office to cancel McDonald's owned trademarks within the European Union, claiming that McDonald's engaged in "trademark bullying; registering brand names... which are simply stored away in a war chest to use against future competitors", after the trademarks had prevented Supermac's from expanding out of Ireland. The EUIPO ruled in Supermac's favor, finding that McDonald's "has not proven genuine use" of many trademarks, canceling McDonald's owned trademarks such as "Big Mac" and specific "Mc"-related trademarks within the European Union. Burger King responded by "trolling" McDonald's by giving their burgers names that included the words "Big Mac" that also mocked the original burger, which included "Like a Big Mac But Juicier," "Like a Big Mac, But Actually Big" and "Big Mac-ish But Flame-Grilled of Course." In 2023, the EUIPO Board of Appeal partially annulled their decision after McDonald's filed 700 pages of additional evidence despite objections. However, on further appeal to the European Court of Justice, the court ruled in 2024 that McDonald's had failed to prove the use of the Big Mac trademark in relation to chicken products or services associated with operating restaurants, meaning Supermac's and other businesses are now free to use the "Mac" in their business names and in names for poultry products in Europe. McDonald's retains the Big Mac trademark solely for its beef burgers. The McDonald's group has had proceedings taken against it by the French Tax Authorities, with possible charges of criminal tax fraud. In July 2022, the group reached an agreement with the French judicial authorities to end criminal proceedings for tax fraud. Malaysia On September 8, 2009, McDonald's Malaysian operations lost a lawsuit to prevent another restaurant from calling itself McCurry. McDonald's lost in an appeal to Malaysia's highest court, the Federal Court. On December 29, 2016, McDonald's Malaysia issued a statement that said only certified halal cakes are allowed inside its restaurants nationwide. Australia In April 2007, in Perth, Western Australia, McDonald's pleaded guilty to five charges relating to the employment of children under 15 in one of its outlets and was fined A$8,000. United Kingdom The longest-running legal action of all time in the UK was the McLibel case against two defendants who criticized several aspects of the company. The trial lasted ten years and called 130 witnesses. The European Court of Human Rights deemed that the unequal resources of the litigants breached the defendants' rights to freedom of speech and biased the trial. The result was widely seen as a "PR disaster" for McDonald's. In the end of November 2013, controversy arose after the Rucka Rucka Ali song "Only 17", a parody of "Just a Dream" by Nelly, was accidentally played uncensored over the speakers at a McDonald's restaurant in Wales. Subsequently, McDonald's issued an apology to the offended customers. That same week, Rucka Rucka Ali responded to the controversy on his YouTube channel by jokingly demanding a personal apology from the restaurant. In 2021, it emerged that at least 50 employees had filed charges against the chains regarding harassment in the workplace in five years, leading to the company instituting anti-harassment training. Some of the complainants also stated that they were verbally and physically harassed in retaliation for their complaints. In 2023, the BBC conducted an investigation, and reported that more than 100 current and recent UK workers at outlets of the fast-food chain allege there is a continuing toxic culture of sexual assault, harassment, racism and bullying. United States The 1994 court case Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants examined a McDonald's practice of serving coffee so hot that when spilled, it caused third degree burns requiring weeks of hospitalization and skin grafting surgery. The trial outcome was an award of $2.86 million (equivalent to $5.33 million in 2023) for the plaintiff, 81-year old Stella Liebeck. The amount was later reduced to $640,000 (equivalent to $1.2 million in 2023). In 2019, a McDonald's employee, Jenna Ries, sued the restaurant chain over allowing sexual harassment in the workplace and described the working environment as "toxic." In 2023, an investigation by the United States Department of Labor found child labor violations at McDonald's franchises in the state of Kentucky, which involved over 300 children, two of them 10-year-olds. A total of $212,000 was levied against three franchises for the violations. Further investigations uncovered child labor violations involving 83 minors at 16 different locations in Louisiana and Texas, with imposed fines amounting to $77,572. McDonald's has been criticized for shrinkflation, colloquially dubbed "McFlation," with increases in menu prices far exceeding inflation. As of 2024, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, McDonald's has experienced a decline in profits due to a global boycott. The boycott started after McDonald's Israel pledged to donate meals to the soldiers of Israel Defense Forces. As a result of the BDS movement, McDonald's bought all 225 Israel owned franchise restaurants. See also Arcos Dorados Holdings The Founder, a 2016 biopic of Ray Kroc and the business history of McDonald's International availability of McDonald's products List of countries with McDonald's restaurants List of hamburger restaurants List of largest employers List of fast food restaurant chains MaDonal, a restaurant in Iraq that copies many features of McDonald's Maxime, McDuff & McDo, a 2002 documentary film about the unionizing of a McDonald's in Montreal McMillions, a 2020 HBO documentary miniseries about the McDonald's Monopoly promotion scam that occurred between 1989 and 2001 "Sundae Bloody Sundae", a public relations controversy in Portugal McDonald's and unions Notes References Further reading Ashenfelter, Orley, and Štěpán Jurajda. "Minimum Wages, Wages, and Price Pass-Through: The Case of McDonald's Restaurants." Journal of Labor Economics 40.S1 (2022): S179-S201. abstract Bryman, Alan. "McDonald's as a Disneyized institution: Global implications." American Behavioral Scientist 47.2 (2003): 154–167. online Derdak, Thomas and Jay P. Pederson, ed. (2004). "McDonald's". International directory of company histories (3rd ed.). St. James Press. pp. 108–9. ISBN 978-1-55862-512-9. Eckhardt, Giana M., and Michael J. Houston. "Cultural paradoxes reflected in brand meaning: McDonald's in Shanghai, China." Journal of International Marketing 10.2 (2002): 68–82 online Archived October 1, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. Evans, Stephen (April 20, 2004). "McDonald's: The journey to health". BBC News. Retrieved June 30, 2016. Horovitz, Bruce (May 8, 2014). "McDonald's testing seasoned fries". USA Today. Retrieved June 30, 2016. Kincheloe, Joe. "The complex politics of McDonald's and the new childhood: Colonizing kidworld." International Critical Childhood Policy Studies Journal 4.1 (2011): 1–46. online Kincheloe, Joe L. The sign of the burger: McDonald's and the culture of power (Temple University Press, 2002). Kottak, Conrad P. "Rituals at McDonald's." Journal of American culture 1.2 (1978): 370–376 online. Kroc, Ray. Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's, 1977 ISBN 0809282593 a primary source Langert, Bob. The battle to do good: Inside McDonald's sustainability journey (2019). Livesey, Sharon M. "McDonald's and the Environmental Defense Fund: A case study of a green alliance." Journal of Business Communication (1973) 36.1 (1999): 5–39. Love, John F. McDonald's: Behind The Arches (1995). online Napoli, Lisa. Ray & Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald's Fortune and the Woman Who Gave It All Away. 2016. ISBN 1101984953. Ram, Uri. "Glocommodification: How the global consumes the local--McDonald's in Israel." Current Sociology 52.1 (2004): 11–31. online Royle, Tony. Working for McDonald's in Europe: the unequal struggle (Routledge, 2004). Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by 2001 ISBN 0395977894. Smith, Andrew F. ed. Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food (2006) Tien, Nguyen Hoang. "Customization and Standardization of the Business Strategy of Foreign Enterprises in Vietnam–the McDonald's Case and the Fast Food Sector" International journal of research in marketing management and sales 1.2 (2019): 44–50. online Vignali, Claudio. "McDonald's: 'Think global, act local'–the marketing mix." British food journal (2001) online. Watson, James L., ed. Golden Arches East: McDonald's in East Asia (Stanford University Press, 2006) excerpt External links Official website Corporate website Business data for McDonald's:

In-N-Out_Burger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-N-Out_Burger

In-N-Out Burgers, doing business as In-N-Out Burger, is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants with locations primarily in California and to a lesser extent the Southwest from Oregon to Texas. It was founded in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948 by Harry (1913–1976) and Esther Snyder (1920–2006). The chain is headquartered in Irvine, California, and has expanded outside Southern California into the rest of California, as well as into Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho, and is planning expansions into New Mexico and Tennessee. The current owner is Lynsi Snyder, the Snyders' only grandchild. As the chain has expanded, it has opened several distribution centers in addition to its original Baldwin Park location. The new facilities, located in Lathrop, California; Phoenix, Arizona; Draper, Utah; Dallas, Texas; and Colorado Springs, Colorado will provide for potential future expansion into other parts of the country. In-N-Out Burger has chosen not to franchise its operations or go public; one reason is the prospect of food quality or customer consistency being compromised by excessively rapid business growth. The In-N-Out restaurant chain has developed a highly loyal customer base and has been rated as one of the top fast food restaurants in several customer satisfaction surveys. History First generation In-N-Out Burger's first location was opened in the Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Park, California, in 1948 by the Snyders at the southwest corner of what is now the intersection of Interstate 10 and Francisquito Avenue. The restaurant was the first drive-thru hamburger stand in California, allowing drivers to place orders via a two-way speaker system. This was a new and unique idea, since in post-World War II California, carhops were used to take orders and serve food. In 1951, a second In-N-Out was opened in Covina, California, west of the intersection of Grand Avenue and Arrow Highway. The company remained a relatively small southern California chain until the 1970s. The Snyders managed their first restaurants closely to ensure quality was maintained. The chain had 18 restaurants when Harry Snyder died in 1976, at the age of 63. Second generation In 1976, 24-year-old Rich Snyder became the company president after his father's death. Along with his brother Guy, Rich had begun working in his father's In-N-Outs at an early age. Over the next 20 years, the chain experienced a period of rapid growth under Rich's leadership, expanding to 93 restaurants. In June 1988, In-N-Out opened its 50th location which was located in Thousand Palms, California. The first location outside of the Los Angeles metropolitan area was opened in San Diego County in 1990, the 57th location in the chain. In 1992, In-N-Out opened its first non-Southern California restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its first Northern California location was opened the following year in Modesto. Expansion then spread to Northern California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, while additional Las Vegas-area restaurants were added. However, after opening store 93 In-N-Out in Fresno, California, on December 15, 1993, Rich Snyder and four other passengers died in a plane crash on approach to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. The charter aircraft they were on had been following a Boeing 757 in for landing, became caught in its wake turbulence, and crashed. The ensuing crash investigation led to the Federal Aviation Administration requirement for an adequate distance between heavy aircraft and following light aircraft to allow wake turbulence to diminish. Upon Rich Snyder's death, Guy Snyder assumed the presidency in January 1994 and continued the company's aggressive expansion until he died from an overdose of painkillers in 1999. Under his leadership, In-N-Out's 100th location was opened in Gilroy, California on November 10, 1994. He was president for nearly six years, expanding In-N-Out from 93 to 140 locations. His mother Esther subsequently took over the presidency. The 21st century With Esther Snyder's death in 2006 at the age of 86, the presidency passed to Mark Taylor, former vice president of operations. Taylor became the company's fifth president and first non-family member to hold the position, although he does have ties to the family. The company's current heiress is Lynsi Snyder, daughter of Guy and only grandchild of Esther and Harry Snyder. Snyder, who was 23 years old and known as Lynsi Martinez at her grandmother's death, owns the company through a trust. She gained control of 50% of the company in 2012 when she turned 30, and nearly full control at 35 in May 2017. After participating in various roles in the company, Snyder assumed the presidency in 2010, becoming the company's sixth president. However, most major decisions are made by a seven-member executive team. Snyder does not intend to franchise nor sell and plans to pass on ownership of the company to her children. In 2018, In-N-Out donated $25,000 to the California Republican Party. In 2021 it donated $40,000. In-N-Out COO Mark Taylor, and his wife, Traci, have donated to Donald Trump's presidential campaigns. On January 24, 2024, In-N-Out announced the closure of its only store in Oakland, California, due to safety concerns related to crime, marking the first time in its 75-year history that the company has shut down a location. Expansion The company opened locations in Arizona in 2000 and added new restaurants in Reno, Sparks, and Carson City, Nevada, in late 2004. In-N-Out became a huge success in these new locations. In late December 2005, In-N-Out's 200th location was opened in Temecula, California. In 2007, it opened its first restaurant in Tucson, Arizona. The store opening broke company records for the most burgers sold in one day and the most sold in one week. In 2008, In-N-Out expanded into a fourth state by opening a location in Washington, Utah, a suburb of St. George. By late 2009, the chain expanded into northern Utah with three new locations situated in Draper, American Fork, and Orem. More locations opened in the spring of 2010 in West Valley City, West Jordan, Centerville, and Riverton. In 2013, In-N-Out opened a distribution center in Las Vegas to serve mountain area restaurants. In May 2010, In-N-Out announced plans to open new spots into Texas, specifically within the Dallas–Fort Worth area with the first In-N-Out opening in Frisco and Allen on May 11, 2011. The chain opened its first location in Austin in December 2013. There are 18 restaurant locations in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, and four in the Austin area. These new locations in Texas required the company to build a new patty production facility and distribution center in the state, according to company vice president Carl Van Fleet. In March 2014, the company confirmed its first location in San Antonio. The fall of 2014 saw the restaurant open its 22nd Texas location in Killeen. On November 20, 2014, In-N-Out opened its first location in San Antonio followed by its first location in Waco in November 2015. In January 2017, In-N-Out announced plans to expand into Houston with multiple sites planned in the area, the first being in Stafford. In January 2015, In-N-Out opened its 300th restaurant, which was located in Anaheim, California. At the time of the opening, the company had generated $558 million in annual sales and employed nearly 18,000 in California, Nevada, Utah, Texas and Arizona. The company opened its first location in Oregon on September 9, 2015 (the same day as Harry Snyder's birthday) in Medford. It is supplied from the Lathrop, California, distribution center completed in 2006. President Lynsi Snyder stated during the opening that they will continue to open new spots. A second Oregon location was under construction in Grants Pass during September 2017. On August 21, 2018, In-N-Out announced plans to open a location in the Willamette Valley in Keizer. This was the company's northernmost location. On November 30, 2017, the company announced plans to build a production facility and distribution center in Colorado Springs, ahead of an expansion into Colorado, which is scheduled to be completed in 2021. The first Colorado locations opened in Colorado Springs and Aurora on November 20, 2020. In-N-Out received approval for a new distribution center to open in Chino, California, in 2020, taking some of the load off the long-standing Baldwin Park distribution center. The center opened later that year. On November 24, 2020, In-N-Out signaled that it was in the early stages of opening a store in Idaho. The first store in the state opened in Meridian in December 2023. In-N-Out later expressed interest in opening additional stores in Boise and Nampa, as well as a second location in Meridian. The company pursued various locations around Portland, Oregon, which were rejected or stalled due to development issues; a location in Ridgefield, Washington, the first in Washington state, was announced in 2024. On January 10, 2023, Tennessee governor Bill Lee and In-N-Out president Lynsi Snyder announced that a new hub would be built in Franklin, Tennessee, to open by 2026, and restaurants in the Southeast, beginning in the Nashville area. It is the company's first eastern hub and will involve a $125.5 million investment. Products The In-N-Out menu consists of three burger varieties: hamburger, cheeseburger, and "Double-Double" (two hamburger patties and two slices of cheese). French fries and fountain drinks are available, as well as three flavors of milkshakes. The hamburgers come with lettuce, tomato, with or without onions (the customer is asked upon ordering, and may have them fresh or grilled), and a sauce, which is called "spread" (a Thousand Island dressing variant). There are, however, additional named items not on the menu, but available at every In-N-Out. These variations reside on the chain's "secret menu", though the menu is accessible on the company's website. These variations include 3×3 (which has three patties and three slices of cheese), 4×4 (four patties and four slices of cheese), Neapolitan shakes, grilled cheese sandwich (consists of the same ingredients as the burgers except the meat, plus two slices of melted cheese), Protein Style (wrap with lettuce; consists of the same ingredients as the burgers except buns), and Animal Style (cooked in a thin layer of mustard, adding condiments including pickles, grilled onions, and extra spread). Animal Style fries come with two slices of melted cheese, spread, and grilled onions on top. Whole or sliced chili peppers are also available by request. Both Protein and Animal Style are house specialties that the company has trademarked because of their association with the chain. Until 2005, In-N-Out accommodated burger orders of any size by adding patties and slices of cheese at an additional cost. A particularly famous incident involving a 100×100 (100 patties, 100 slices of cheese) occurred in 2004. Once word got out of the massive sandwich, In-N-Out management disallowed anything larger than a 4×4. One can also order what is called a "Flying Dutchman" which consists of two meat patties and two slices of cheese by itself (no bun, condiments, or vegetables). In January 2018, In-N-Out added hot chocolate with marshmallows, the first addition to the menu in fifteen years. However, it is not the first time it has appeared on the menu; it was previously served at the restaurants in its early years during the 1950s. The cocoa powder is provided by the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. Store design and layout The signature colors for In-N-Out are white, red, and yellow. The white is used for the buildings' exterior walls and the employees' basic uniform. Red is used for the buildings' roofs and the employees' aprons and hats. Yellow is used for the decorative band on the roof and iconic arrow in the logo. However, variations in the color scheme do occur. The first In-N-Outs had a common design, placing the kitchen "stand" between two lanes of cars. The "front" lane is nearest the street and the "back" lane away from the street. This location design is known as a double drive-thru. A metal awning provides shade for several tables for customers desiring to park and eat, but there is no indoor dining. A walk-up window faces the parking area. These restaurants store food and supplies in a separate building, and it is not uncommon for a driver to be asked to wait a moment while employees carry supplies to the kitchen across the rear lane. This design is a popular image on In-N-Out ads and artwork, which often shows classic cars such as 1965 Mustangs and 1968 Firebirds visiting the original restaurants. The original Covina restaurant, located on Arrow Highway west of Grand Avenue, was forced to close in the early 1990s due to re-engineering and development of the area. A modern design, drive-up/dining room restaurant was built a few hundred feet away. The replacement building was much larger, being nearly half the size of the previous building's lot. Like many chain restaurants, newer In-N-Out restaurants are based on a set of templates or "cookie-cutter" blueprints, which are chosen based on available space and expected traffic levels. While the external appearance of its buildings may vary to meet local zoning and architectural requirements, the interior floor plan and decor in most recently constructed In-N-Out restaurants are identical. However, some restaurants are designed to stand out, such as the restaurants at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco and Westwood, Los Angeles designed by architect Stephen Kanner. Today's typical location has an interior layout that includes a customer service counter with registers in front of a kitchen and food preparation area. There are separate storage areas for paper goods (napkins, bags, etc.) and "dry" food goods (potatoes, buns, etc.), as well as a walk-in refrigerator for perishable goods (lettuce, cheese, spread, etc.), and a dedicated meat refrigerator for burger patties. The customer area includes an indoor dining room with a combination of booths, tables, and bar-style seating. Outside seating is usually available as well, with tables and benches. Most newer restaurants contain a one-lane drive-through. There are other design elements common among today's In-N-Out locations. Matching In-N-Out's California-inspired palm tree theme, palm trees are sometimes planted to form an "X" in front of the restaurants. This is an allusion to founder Harry Snyder's favorite movie, Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, in which the characters look for a hidden treasure and find it under "the big W" made by four palm trees, with the middle two forming an "X". Advertising Like other fast-food chains, In-N-Out uses roadside billboards that attract customers to the nearest location. Billboard ads display an image of the trademarked Double-Double burger. The chain uses short radio commercials, often limited to the song "In-N-Out, In-N-Out. That's what a hamburger's all about." Television commercials, which are less common, feature the hamburger's visual appeal. In-N-Out seldom uses celebrities in ads, although John Cleese and John Goodman have voiced radio spots. In the past, the Snyders also sponsored Christmas music programming with voice-overs expressing the meaning of the holiday. In addition to commercials, In-N-Out benefits from enthusiastic fans who talk to each other. For many years, it has given customers free bumper stickers, which simply say "In-N-Out Burger" but are commonly modified to say "In-N-Out urge". The company helps devoted customers advertise its brand by selling souvenir clothing with the In-N-Out logo. Celebrity fans and free endorsements in mass media also promote the business. When Heisman Trophy winner and Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith raved about In-N-Out cheeseburgers during a press conference before the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, a senior executive said: "It does not get much better than that for us. We're kind of a small company, and we do not have any celebrity endorsers. But I think we just got the best one we could have." Huell Howser was allowed, in what is believed to be a first, to film with his television cameras inside a store for a California's Gold Special. The show also included a behind-the-scenes tour of the In-N-Out Headquarters. Gift items are sold at an In-N-Out "Company Store" near the chain's birthplace in Baldwin Park, California. A replica of the first store from 1948 was unveiled near the original site in 2014. Culture Popularity The restaurant has achieved popularity which has led to celebration by some when brought to new locations, and the opening of a new restaurant often becomes an event. When one opened in Scottsdale, Arizona, there was a four-hour wait for food, and news helicopters whirled above the parking lot. The chain's image has also made it popular in some unusual ways. For example, In-N-Out is still considered acceptable in some areas with strong opposition to corporate food restaurants, such as McDonald's. Commercial leaders in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf district said they opposed every other fast-food chain except In-N-Out because they wanted to maintain the flavor of family-owned, decades-old businesses in the area, with one saying locals would ordinarily "be up in arms about a fast-food operation coming to Fisherman's Wharf," but "this is different." California native and Colorado Rockies player Jason Giambi would often visit In-N-Out Burger when on the West Coast with his former team, the New York Yankees. He said he tried to open an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in New York but was unsuccessful. The chain also has fans in a number of renowned chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Thomas Keller, Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, Ina Garten, and Mario Batali. Famous London chef/restaurateur Ramsay ate In-N-Out for the first time when taping Hell's Kitchen in Los Angeles, and it soon became one of his favorite spots for take-out. Ramsay was quoted, saying about the experience: "In-N-Out burgers were extraordinary. I was so bad, I sat in the restaurant, had my double cheeseburger then minutes later I drove back round and got the same thing again to take away." Thomas Keller, a fan of In-N-Out, celebrated with In-N-Out burgers at the anniversary party of his restaurant, The French Laundry. Keller also plans on opening his own burger restaurant inspired by his Los Angeles experience of In-N-Out. Julia Child, one of the first celebrities to champion the chain, admitted to knowing every location of the restaurant between Santa Barbara and San Francisco. Child also had the burgers delivered to her during a hospital stay. Anthony Bourdain reportedly said that In-N-Out was his favorite fast food meal, later naming the restaurant as "the best restaurant in Los Angeles". Ina Garten at an interview at Today show said "I have to say, I don't eat fast food at all, with one exception. When we're in California doing book tours, we always have to go to In-N-Out Burger. It's so good and I know it was Julia Child's favorite too, so it's okay." In-N-Out was one of the few restaurant chains mentioned positively in the book Fast Food Nation. The book commended the chain for using natural and fresh ingredients and for looking after the interests of employees regarding pay and benefits. An In-N-Out food truck catered Vanity Fair's 2012 Academy Awards after party. Art Jack Schmidt was the first person commissioned to paint the original In-N-Out located in Baldwin Park, California for In-N-Out Burger Inc. His paintings were later reproduced on advertisements, shirts, and other consumer products. The 2022 shirt design was created by Palm Springs, California artist Danny Heller. Bible verses In-N-Out prints Bible citations in small print on areas of packaging (such as "John 3:16", "Proverbs 3:5", "Proverbs 24:16", "Nahum 1:7", "Luke 6:35" and "Revelation 3:20"). They are primarily found on the bottom underside of drink cups and the wrappers that hold their burgers together. This practice began in the 1980s during Rich Snyder's presidency, a reflection of the evangelical Christian beliefs held by the Snyder family. Legal and policy issues Rich Boyd lawsuit (2006) In 2006, a lawsuit exposed a possible family disagreement over the chain's corporate leadership. Richard Boyd, one of In-N-Out's vice presidents and co-trustee of two-thirds of the company stock, accused Lynsi Snyder (then known as Lynsi Martinez) and allied corporate executives of trying to force out Esther Snyder and attempting to fire Boyd unreasonably. Pre-empting the suit, Martinez, Snyder, and Taylor appeared in a December video message to employees, telling them not to believe everything they hear. The company then responded with a lawsuit of its own, alleging Boyd had construction work done on his personal property and charged it to the company, as well as favoring contractors with uncompetitive bids. Boyd was then suspended from his role as co-trustee and Northern Trust Bank of California took his place (as co-trustee) until a hearing set for May 10, 2006. However, in April, the judge dismissed two of In-N-Out's claims against Boyd. A trial date of October 17, 2006, was set but never occurred, and a settlement was reached out of court. Ultimately, Boyd was permanently removed from his role as an employee and co-trustee. Chadder's infringement lawsuit (2007) In June 2007, the company filed a lawsuit against an American Fork, Utah, restaurant named Chadder's for trademark infringement, claiming that the "look and feel" of the restaurant too closely resembled that of In-N-Out, and that the restaurant violated trademarked menu items, such as "Animal Style", "Protein Style", "Double-Double". The company learned about this from Utah customers contacting the customer service department asking if In-N-Out opened a location in Utah under a different name or if they had any affiliation with the restaurant in any way. Several customers stated they ordered trademarked items such as Animal and Protein styles. Utah District Court Judge Ted Stewart issued a temporary restraining order against the look-alike. Chadder's opened another location near the Salt Lake City area and one in Provo. In 2009, In-N-Out opened a restaurant in American Fork less than a mile from the Chadder's restaurant. Per their website, Chadder's started selling a "Stubby Double" instead of "Double Double". The Chadder's restaurants in Utah have gone out of business since In-N-Out restaurants have opened in Utah. Mexico In 2023, a knock-off of In-N-Out appeared on Instagram displaying images of its restaurant, named In-N-Nout, in Culiacan, Mexico. Besides the name, the restaurant's logo, design, menu, and food presentation closely resembled that of the U.S. original. Threatened with legal action, the Mexican imitator changed its name to Sofi's Burger. Australia In-N-Out Burger has also been plagued by similarly named imitators in Australia that confuse consumers into thinking that the similarly-sounding Australian businesses is associated with the Californian-based chain. The company would take the imitators to court for trademark infringement and has opened one-day pop-ups in Sydney in 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2022; Brisbane in 2020; Melbourne in 2014 and 2018; and Perth in 2018 and 2022 to preserve their trademark rights. Customers may wait for several hours before the doors open but the food would run out very quickly, sometimes in less than hour after opening. Although In-N-Out may not have plans to open a permanent location outside its current operating region, the business strategy of having one-day pop-ups is to maintain a business presence in the country under Australian trademark law without opening a permanent restaurant. In-N-Out successfully defended their trademarks and intellectual property rights in Australia in 2020 against Hashtag Burgers Pty Ltd, formerly doing business as "Funk N Burgers" and "Down-N-Out Burger". In 2021, In-N-Out filed a lawsuit against Queensland-based Rich Asians Pty Ltd doing business as "In & Out Aussie Burgers". It also appears that In-N-Out has used this practice in other countries as well, such as in Auckland in 2020; London in 2016 and in 2018; Toronto in 2014 and 2021; Singapore in 2012 and 2019; Tokyo in 2012; Shanghai in 2017; Bangkok in 2018; Hong Kong in 2015; Taipei in 2016; Vancouver in 2019; Buenos Aires in 2016; Seoul in 2019; Berlin in 2022; Dublin in 2021; Dubai in 2021; Petaling Jaya in 2018; Cape Town in 2016; Vienna in 2017. DoorDash lawsuit (2015) On November 6, 2015, In-N-Out filed a lawsuit against food delivery startup DoorDash, claiming trademark infringement. Two months later the lawsuit was settled out of court in a confidential settlement. DoorDash no longer delivers food from In-N-Out Burger. Political donations (2018) In 2018, In-N-Out faced calls for boycott after donating $25,000 to the California GOP ahead of the November elections, as well as $30,000 in August 2017 and another $30,000 in May 2016. Opposition to COVID-19 vaccine requirements (2021) In October 2021, the In-N-Out location in San Francisco was ordered closed by the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), for failure to enforce the public health order requiring that all dine-in patrons of restaurants present proof that they are fully vaccinated for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The location had posted signage warning of the mandate, but the SFDPH received complaints that it was not actually enforced. The company's chief legal officer Arnie Wensinger stated that the company "fiercely disagree[s] with any government dictate that forces a private company to discriminate against customers who choose to patronize their business." The location was allowed to re-open for takeout service only until it demonstrates "an adequate process and procedure for complying with the health order". Later that month, after an In-N-Out location in Contra Costa County was similarly ordered closed by public health for not complying with its vaccine mandate, all In-N-Out locations in the region closed their dining rooms and began operating with takeout service only. The locations attracted anti-mandate demonstrations in support of the company. Opposition to use of face masks by employees (2023) In July 2023, the company announced that employees in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas and Colorado would not be allowed to wear protective face masks at work, unless they could prove a valid medical exemption. The stated reason was to "emphasize the importance of customer service and the ability to show our associates' smiles and other facial features," according to a company memo. The company's communications department sent a statement from chief operating officer Denny Warnick to SFGATE: "We believe that wearing a mask literally adds a barrier to communication — much of which is nonverbal — and promotes a more distant and disconnected environment." Charity In-N-Out Burgers Foundation In-N-Out Burgers Foundation (known from March 13–April 14 1995 as The In-N-Out Foundation) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded on March 13, 1995, and classified as a "Human Services: Fund Raising & Fund Distribution" organization under the NTEE system. Based in Irvine, California, the foundation "supports organizations that provide residential treatment, emergency shelter, foster care, and early intervention for children in need". Its grant-making activities are restricted to eligible nonprofit groups that are located or provide services in areas where In-N-Out has a presence. Consequently, grant proposals are only accepted from applicants in a limited number of counties in Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Texas. In 2010, the most recent year for which financial reporting is publicly available (and before the opening of the company's Texas locations), the foundation contributed $1,545,250 to 231 grantees in Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah. Grant-making is funded through donor contributions and In-N-Out-sponsored fundraisers; typical grants are between $2,000 and $20,000. Slave 2 Nothing In-N-Out Burger founded the Slave 2 Nothing Foundation in 2016 to "improve the lives of individuals and families affected by substance abuse and/or human trafficking". Original restaurant The first In-N-Out restaurant that opened in 1948 was demolished when Interstate 10 (then US 60/US 70/US 99, the Ramona Freeway, now the San Bernardino Freeway) was built from downtown Los Angeles to the San Gabriel Valley. The freeway runs over the original location. A new restaurant was completed in 1954 near the original Baldwin Park, California, location. It was closed in November 2004 and demolished on April 16, 2011, despite discussions about using it as an In-N-Out museum chronicling the origins and history of the company. In-N-Out built a replacement restaurant on the other side of the freeway next to the original In-N-Out University (opened in 1984). A new In-N-Out University was built on the property. The university building houses the training department, which was moved from Irvine, California. In addition, the company restaurant was moved from In-N-Out's Baldwin Park headquarters to the new lot, which holds the restaurant and university, less than a thousand feet away. In 2014, a replica of the first In-N-Out was built in Baldwin Park. Awards and honors In-N-Out Burger was ranked number 28 among America's Best Employers 2019 by Forbes. According to a survey by Glassdoor in 2014, In-N-Out Burger ranked No. 8 on its annual list of the 50 best places to work in the U.S. and the U.K. The company reached No. 6 in Glassdoor's 2024 Top 100 Ranking. See also Burger wars Fast food List of hamburger restaurants List of restaurant chains in the United States References Further reading External links Official website In-N-Out Burger on Instagram

Wendy%27s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy%27s

Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the world's third-largest hamburger fast-food chain with 6,711 locations, following McDonald’s and Burger King. On September 29, 2008, the company merged with Triarc Companies Inc., the publicly traded parent company of Arby's; Wendy's headquarters remained in Dublin. Triarc then became known as Wendy's/Arby's Group, and later as the Wendy's Company following the sale of Arby's to Roark Capital Group. As of November 2, 2023, there were 7,166 Wendy's outlets, of which 415 are company-owned and 6,751 franchised, 83% of which are in the United States. The company specifies stores' standards; owners control opening hours, decor, and staff uniforms and pay. The chain serves square hamburger patties on circular buns, sea salt fries, and the Frosty, soft ice cream mixed with starches. The food menu consists primarily of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, and French fries. The company discontinued its Big Classic signature sandwich. History Wendy's hamburgers are based on those of Kewpee Hamburgers in Dave Thomas's home town, Kalamazoo, Michigan; Kewpee sold square hamburgers and thick malt shakes. Thomas founded Wendy's in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969, selling square patties with corners that stuck out of the circular bun, giving the impression of plentiful meat. The Columbus location later added a Tim Hortons. It was closed on March 2, 2007, after 38 years of business, due to declining sales. Basketball star John Havlicek, an Ohio State University alumnus, was one of Thomas's earliest investors, which allowed him to retire comfortably. Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth child Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas. Photographs of her were on display at the original Wendy's restaurant until it closed. Thomas wrote that he regretted naming the restaurant after his daughter because once it became a fast food empire she "lost some of her privacy" with many people assuming she was the official company spokesperson. In August 1972, the first Wendy's franchisee, L.S. Hartzog, signed an agreement for Indianapolis, Indiana. Also in 1972 Wendy's broadcast its first TV commercials, locally in Ohio, portraying an animated Wendy and dancing hamburgers. The first Canadian restaurant opened in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1976. In December 1976, Wendy's opened its 500th restaurant, located in Toronto. In March 1978, Wendy's opened its 1000th restaurant in Springfield, Tennessee. Wendy's founded the fried chicken chain Sisters Chicken & Biscuits in 1978 and sold it to its largest franchisee in 1987. In the 1970s Wendy's opened in Australia, but by 1986 almost all of their Australian stores had been purchased by Hungry Jack's, the Australian franchisee of Burger King. On May 13, 2021, Wendy's opened a pop-up store in The Rocks in Sydney's city centre for a day. In 1979, the first European Wendy's opened in Munich, West Germany. Wendy's entered the Asian market by opening its first restaurants in Japan in 1980, in Hong Kong in 1982, and in the Philippines and Singapore in 1983. In 1984, Wendy's opened its first restaurant in South Korea. The chain opened locations in West Germany in the 1980s in Mannheim, Heidelberg and Munich and other areas where the US maintained Army bases. When the troops were removed after German reunification in the early 1990s, these Wendy's stores were closed. In response to a 1986 slowdown in the chain's performance, Wendy's took steps to ensure that stores met the required standards. Wendy's closed all its outlets in Hong Kong in 1986 and in Singapore in the following year. From 1988 to 1990, Wendy's expanded operations globally to Mexico, New Zealand, Indonesia, Greece, Turkey, Guatemala, as well as the U.S. Naval Base in Naples, Italy. In 1988, Wendy's expanded its bar to a full-blown buffet called the Superbar for $2.99; while popular it was difficult to maintain and was discontinued in 1998. In 1989, Wendy's opened its first restaurant in Greece at Syntagma Square, Athens, the first foreign fast-food chain in the country. After opening 12 restaurants in 3 cities, the company abandoned the Greek market in 2002 due to differences with the local franchisee, although it was a very successful and profitable business at the time. In 1996, the chain expanded in Argentina by opening 18 local restaurants. However, all of them closed only four years later due to the economic crisis in the country. In 1998, Wendy's pulled out of South Korea by closing all its 15 restaurants and in 2000 exited from the UK, Argentina, and Hong Kong. In 2001, Wendy's created Vermont-based Scioto Insurance Company to furnish insurance to Wendy's and other affiliates. Scioto owns a subsidiary, Oldemark LLC, which holds Wendy's intellectual property and licenses it back to Wendy's for royalties. Garden Sensations salads were added in 2002. Wendy's signed a franchise agreement to re-enter the Singapore market in 2009, though that agreement was short-lived; in April 2015, Wendy's once again ceased operation in the country and closed all the restaurants. In 2011, Wendy's returned to Japan and Argentina announcing a development agreement for 50 restaurants in the country. It also entered the Russian market for the first time with plans to open 180 restaurants over a 10-year period. However, only three years later, in 2014, Wendy's closed all its restaurants in the country. In 2013, Wendy's opened the first restaurant in Georgia and made a deal to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. In September 2014, several pork-based products were introduced to be on sale until early November. These included a standard pulled pork sandwich with slaw and three sauce options, a BBQ Pulled Pork Cheeseburger and cheese fries with pulled pork, cheddar cheese sauce, onions, and barbecue sauce. In May 2015, Wendy's announced they would be expanding into India, with its first outlet located in Gurgaon. In September 2016, JAE Restaurant Group acquired 97 Wendy's restaurants throughout the South Florida region. JAE Restaurant Group is one of the country's largest franchisee owners. The Group owns 177 Wendy's Restaurants. Wendy's Co. has been looking to remodel existing stores and upgrade the curb appeal of its locations. They have been doing this by adding fireplaces, more seating options, adding WiFi and flat-screen TVs, and digital menus. In 2017, the company sold 540 of its restaurants. The divesture was the second step in a three-step action plan to improve the brand. Other steps include new openings and remodeling of existing stores. In 2015, the brand opened 80 new restaurants and remodeled 450 of its existing locations. The brand's goal is to remodel at least 60% of its North American locations by year-end 2020. In December 2017, Wendy's announced a partnership with DoorDash for food delivery in the U.S. In October 2019, Wendy's announced that it was returning to the UK market, which it had served from 1980 to 1986, then again from 1992 to 2000. The first of 20 planned restaurants was due to open in 2020 in Stoke-on-Trent, but it was later announced that the first location would be Reading, Berkshire. The Reading restaurant opened on June 2, 2021. Wendy's would open its first drive-thru location in the UK in Colchester in July 2023. In January 2021, Wendy's announced that after the bankruptcy of franchisee NPC Quality Burgers Inc., half of NPC's outlets would be bought by Flynn Restaurant. In 2023, Wendy's announced that they would be returning to Australia, with hundreds of locations set to open across the country. The chain previously operated in Australia from the 1970s until it was closed in 1986. However, the US Burger giant has already run into a potential issue with the trademark to Wendy's name already owned by a different fast food outlet named Wendy's Milk Bar, which opened in 1979 and has been operating in the country for over 40 years. In July 2024, Wendy's announced that they had signed an agreement with franchisees in the Republic of Ireland and would begin opening restaurants there beginning in early 2025, with the agreement stipulating that 30 new restaurants would open across the country over the following 10 years. A few days later, they announced that they will enter the Romanian market, opening 5 restaurants in 2025. Wendy's by country and continent Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Former locations Menu Wendy's offers two different hamburger patties, a "Junior" 1.78-ounce (50 g) patty and a "Single" 4-ounce (110 g) patty. The 4-ounce patties are sold in single, double, and triple configurations, and the 1.78-ounce ones in single and double. The previous size of 2 ounces (57 g) per junior patty was reduced in 2007 to save money. The chain's patties are known for being square instead of round; as more square patties can fit onto a single grill over round. Originally, Wendy's had only two kinds of chicken sandwiches, fried and grilled. The spicy chicken sandwich started out as a promotion. It was later put on the menu full-time in 1996 because of its popularity and its ease of preparation; it used the same condiments as the standard fried chicken sandwich. The Frescata line of sandwiches also went from being promotional items to main menu items; after going through several revisions, the Turkey and Swiss and the Ham and Swiss were put on the menu full-time. They were discontinued in mid-December 2007. Occasionally, some Wendy's restaurants offer a fried fish sandwich. In 1988, Wendy's was the first fast-food chain to create a single-price-point "value menu" where all items listed on that menu were priced exclusively at 99¢. That menu was modified in 2007, with prices ranging from 99¢ to $2.00. Breakfast Wendy's served breakfast beginning in 1985, but that endeavor proved unsuccessful. In mid-2007, Wendy's started serving breakfast again in its U.S. and some Canadian locations. While approximately 12 Wendy's restaurants in the U.S. and its territories had been serving breakfast since 2006, Wendy's did not have a company-wide breakfast offering until 2020. The 2007 breakfast menu is different from the ones featured in 1985 and is structured similarly to the lunch/dinner menu, with "value meals" and various sides like blended fruit. Menu items include several breakfast sandwiches served on biscuits, "frescuits", and Kaiser rolls, breakfast burritos, and side orders of hash browns, muffins, and cinnamon sticks. To avoid problems encountered with the 1985 breakfast, the 2007 menu was designed for ease of operation, lower cost, and reduced preparation time. In January 2016, Wendy's announced a transition plan to serve only cage-free eggs by 2020 in all U.S. and Canadian locations that serve breakfast. In September 2019, Wendy's announced it would launch a nationwide breakfast menu in March 2020, including a breakfast version of its Baconator, a Frosty-inspired coffee drink, and a honey butter chicken biscuit. That menu includes 19 items. It began offering new a cinnamon roll-like baked good via a partnership with Cinnabon in February 2024, and this came on top of other recent additions like a breakfast burrito that resembled something from Taco Bell and or a sandwich similar to the McMuffin from McDonalds, as CNN reported. Surge pricing In February 2024, the company announced a plan to explore dynamic pricing, or surge pricing, where the cost of menu items would change throughout the day depending on timing of purchases and restaurant activity, in early 2025. Similar moves have been attempted by AMC Entertainment and Uber. Despite not receiving much attention when first discussed on the company's earnings call, the reaction was largely negative. The company decided against the move later that month and emphasized discounts it offers customers. Notable menu items Baked potato – No other major fast food chain offers baked potatoes, which Wendy's offers with a variety of toppings. Baked potatoes were added to the menu in 1983 as a lower-fat alternative to French fries. Chili – Wendy's has offered chili since opening its first restaurant. Cooked hamburger patties that are not sold promptly are chopped up and used in the chili, which is considered a lower-calorie menu option. Frosty dessert – a frozen dairy dessert created by Thomas at his first restaurant by blending chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and intended to be thick enough to require a spoon to eat. Dave's – In late 2011, Wendy's altered the recipe for their Single, Double, and Triple burgers, which had been staples on the menu for decades, to rerelease each as part of the new Dave's Hot 'N Juicy line. They were constructed from the same basic patty (and the words "Single", "Double", and "Triple" were retained at the end of the new names), but the patty was now thicker, and its square edges had been rounded off slightly. The cheese began to be stored at a warmer temperature, allowing it to melt more entirely over the patty, alterations were made to the bun, and the selection of produce (red onions replaced white onions), and the condiments now consisted of ketchup and mayonnaise rather than ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard. They were updated in 2016 and renamed as simply Dave's, now using bakery-style buns. Big Classic – A sandwich (no longer available in US stores) that directly competed with the Burger King Whopper. Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and onions served on a Kaiser-style roll. A second version with bacon was available, called the Big Bacon Classic, which was replaced with the Bacon Deluxe in 2009 when the Applewood Smoked Bacon was introduced. Baconator – Single Baconator is one quarter-pound patty topped with mayonnaise, ketchup, three strips of bacon, and two slices of cheese; Double Baconator has mayonnaise, ketchup, six strips of bacon, two 1⁄4 pound (110 g) patties, and three slices of American cheese; and the Triple Baconator (1360 Calories or kilocalories) is three quarter-pound patties with nine strips of bacon, four slices of cheese, ketchup, and mayonnaise. Bacon Mushroom Melt – is a beef hamburger featuring smoked bacon, portobello mushrooms and cheddar cheese sauce. It was first available in the early 1990s and was very popular in some countries across the world like Greece and Philippines. In later years in some countries it is referred to as the Baconator Mushroom Melt or the Bacon Portabella Mushroom Melt with an extra slice of cheese. Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger – Introduced in January 2014, the Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger is made with a quarter-pound beef patty, aged Asiago cheese, thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, rosemary garlic aïoli, and roasted tomatoes. At launch, the sandwich was priced at $4.79 in the United States and was part of a strategy to market higher-priced menu items to help position Wendy's as a premium fast-food chain. Wendy's advertised the sandwich as a limited-time product that would be withdrawn in March 2014. According to the company, the sandwich has 670 calories. The debut of the burger received positive reviews. Syndicated fast food columnist Ken Hoffman called the burger "another winner" and "worth the carbs", while the Phoenix New Times declared it was "one of the better burgers in the entire fast-food industry." Reviewers at the Sioux City Journal offered more mixed evaluations, with only two of four taste testers saying they would be likely to try the burger a second time. Black bean burger – Wendy's and a number of major fast-food chains have been targeted for decades for meatless entrees, typically, meatless 'veggieburgers' – and Wendy's response is the black bean burger (still in 'beta' testing in Salt Lake City, Utah; Columbus, Ohio; and Columbia, South Carolina). Its major ingredients are black beans, wild rice, farro, onions, brown rice, carrots, quinoa, corn, green bell peppers, and red bell peppers; and the sauce and seasonings include red wine vinegar, chili peppers, cumin, cilantro, oregano, and sea salt. Biggie Bag, short for "Bigger Bag" refers to a Wendy's value meal originally introduced in March 2019. They were reintroduced in April 2022 and nationwide in September 2022. Food safety In 2015, Wendy's had two food safety incidents involving foreign objects in food at their restaurants in Gurgaon, India. In late August 2022, 97 people reported getting sick after eating sandwiches containing romaine lettuce at Wendy's restaurants in the U.S. states of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Kentucky. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention never could officially identify the specific source of the E. coli outbreak, but Wendy's removed romaine lettuce from the affected restaurants. In October 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the E. coli outbreak was over, stating that at least 109 people had been impacted. Of those cases, 52 people had been admitted to hospitals and 13 had developed hemolytic uremic syndrome. Advertising After successful early growth of the chain, sales flattened as the company struggled to achieve brand differentiation in the highly competitive fast-food market. This situation would turn around in the mid-1980s. Starting on January 9, 1984, elderly actress Clara Peller was featured in the successful "Where's the beef?" North American commercial campaign written by Cliff Freeman. Her famous line quickly entered the American pop culture (it was even used by Walter Mondale in a debate with Gary Hart in the Democratic primary election) and served to promote Wendy's hamburgers. Peller, age 83, was dropped from the campaign in 1985 because she performed in a commercial for Prego spaghetti sauce, saying "I found it, I really found it", a phrase alluding to the beef in the listener's mind. Peller was soon after replaced by Wendy's founder Dave Thomas himself. Soft-spoken and bashful, the "Dave" ads generally focused on Thomas praising his products and offering a commitment to quality service, although there would occasionally be "wackier" ads as well. Thomas ultimately appeared in more than 800 commercials, more than any other company founder in television history. After Dave Thomas' death in 2002, Wendy's struggled to find a new advertising campaign. After a round of conventional ads describing the food they serve, in 2004 they tried using a character they made called "Mr. Wendy" who claimed to be the unofficial spokesperson for the chain. These proved to be extremely unsuccessful. After seven months, Wendy's returned to an animated campaign focusing on the difference between Wendy's square hamburgers and the round hamburgers of competitors. Wendy's marketing arm engages in product placement in films and television and is sometimes seen on ABC's reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, serving food to the more than 100 construction workers. A 2007 Wendy's commercial featured the tune from the Violent Femmes song "Blister in the Sun". The inclusion of the song in the commercial provoked an internal conflict between members of the Violent Femmes, which resulted in a lawsuit between bassist Brian Ritchie and lead singer Gordon Gano that ultimately led to the band disbanding in 2009 (however, they would reunite in 2013). With their "That's right" ad campaign, not a success, Wendy's unveiled a new ad campaign, featuring the animated version of their mascot voiced by Luci Christian highlighting certain menu items. The new ad campaign made its debut in late January 2008, with slogans: in the US: "It's waaaay better than fast food. It's Wendy's." and in Canada, "It's waaaay delicious. It's Wendy's." The company's slogan, "you know when it's real", was introduced in 2010. In November 2010, a series of commercials aired featuring the company's namesake, Wendy Thomas, which marked the first time she had appeared in a Wendy's advertisement. In April 2012, Morgan Smith Goodwin began appearing as the redhead in ads with the slogan "Now that's better." In 2013, social media advertising featuring Nick Lachey directed at millennials promoted the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger. A 2014 campaign to promote the Tuscan Chicken on Ciabatta sandwich entitled L'Estrella de la Toscana (or "Star of Tuscany" in English) was launched on television and social media. Slogans United States – Canada 1970–present: Quality Is Our Recipe 1977–1980, 1987: Hot-N-Juicy 1977: We fix 'em 256 ways (alternate slogan) 1978–1979: Juicy hamburgers 1980–1981: Wendy's Has the Taste 1981–1982: Ain't No Reason to Go Anyplace Else 1982–1985: You're Wendy's Kind of People 1983–1985: That's fresh, that's class, that's Wendy's (Canada) 1983–1984: Parts is parts 1984–1986: Where's the beef? 1985–1988: Choose Fresh, choose Wendy's (Originally used alongside "Where's the Beef?") 1987–1993: Give a little nibble was to be a catchy phrase that would capture the attention of consumers and help make Wendy's a major player on the fast-food scene once again. This television commercial was a flop and sent Wendy's hunting for a new advertising agency. After a poorly received seven-week run, Wendy's pulled the television commercials created by Dick Rich Inc. The "nibble" spots were meant to emphasize Wendy's better-tasting hamburger. They showed customers ripping off chunks of meat from an absurdly large hamburger. 1988–1992: The best burgers in the business. 1989–1998: The best burgers and a whole lot more (also was printed inside the hamburger wrappers during the 1990s) 1996–1998: The Best Burgers Yet!! 1997–present: You can eat great, even late 2001–2005: It's hamburger bliss. 2002–2004: It's better here 2003–2007: It's Always Great, Even Late. (Canada) 2004–2007: Do what tastes right. (Primary slogan) 2005–present: It's good to be square. August 2006 – March 2008: That's right. August 2006 – March 2008: Uh-Huh. 2007–2008: Hot Juicy Burgers August 2007 – October 2009: It's way better than fast food... It's Wendy's. (United States) August 2007 – October 2009: It's way delicious. It's Wendy's. (Canada) August 2007 – October 2009: Carrément bon. C'est Wendy's. (EN: "Squarely good. It's Wendy's.") (Quebec, Canada) January 2010 – April 2012: You know when it's real. March 2012 – 2016: Now that's better. 2016–2019: Not just different, deliciously different. 2019–present: We got you. 2023–present: Square's the beef Other countries 1994–present: It's the best time for... Wendy's (Philippines) 1994 (approx)–2002: Wendy's η τετράγωνη επιλογή (Wendy's the square option) (Greece) 2000 (approx)–present: Quality is our recipe (Indonesia, New Zealand, Chile & United States) 2000 (approx)–present: Wendy's cuadra contigo (Wendy's fits with you). The word cuadra (fit) is a reference to the Spanish word cuadrado that means square. (Venezuela) 2001 (approx)–present: El Sabor de lo Recién Hecho (The Flavor of the Freshly Made) (Honduras) 2007 (approx)–2009: Wendy's es Sensacional (Wendy's is Sensational) (El Salvador) 2007 –present: It's not just fast food; it's fresh food, made fast (Malaysia) 2008–present: Old Fashion Hamburgers (Dominican Republic) 2009–present: "Wendy's, sabor al cuadrado" (Wendy's, taste to the square) (Mexico) 2009–present: Es muuuuucho más que comida rápida, es Wendy's (It's waaaaay more than fast food, it's Wendy's.) (El Salvador) Controversies Worker relations Wendy's has been the target of protests and boycotts by advocates of the Fair Food Program (FFP) in the US due to corporate refusal to join the agricultural worker protection partnership, established in 2011. In 2016, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers began a US-wide boycott of Wendy's to pressure the company to join the FFP, supported by the Student/Farmworker Alliance. A key component of the predecessors to the FFP was commitment by buyers of agricultural products like tomatoes to pay growers a small amount more (such as one penny per pound), to be passed on to their field workers. The FFP provides protections against exploitation to agricultural workers. In response, Wendy's reported that it began to purchase tomatoes in 2019 solely from growers who use hydroponics and greenhouses to cultivate tomatoes, subject to Wendy's corporate code of conduct for its supply chain. Wendy's policy requires third-party reviews of farm labor practices. In popular culture On March 23, 2018, Wendy's released an EP titled We Beefin?, a reference to their 1984 slogan Where's the beef? On October 3, 2019, Wendy's released a tabletop role-playing game titled Feast of Legends: Rise From the Deep Freeze, in the style of Dungeons & Dragons. A short multi-part adventure was included, pitting Wendy's kingdom against the Ice Jester, a parody of Ronald McDonald, the clown mascot of Wendy's competitor, McDonald's. Critical Role was sponsored for a special event live stream of the game. See also List of hamburger restaurants Wendy's High School Heisman (student-athletes in various sports) Notes References External links Official website

Works_of_Stephen_Sondheim

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_of_Stephen_Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim was an American composer and lyricist whose most acclaimed works include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), and Into the Woods (1987). He is also notable as the lyricist for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959). Major works Revues and anthologies The following are revues of Sondheim's work as composer and lyricist, with songs performed in or cut from productions. Jerome Robbins' Broadway features "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" from Gypsy, "Suite of Dances" from West Side Story and "Comedy Tonight" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. The 2010 revue Classic Moments, Hidden Treasures was conceived and directed by Tim McArthur, first produced at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Sondheim's "Pretty Women," "Don't Laugh," and "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" are featured in The Madwoman of Central Park West. Film and TV adaptations Other works Theatre Film and television Unproduced works for theatre Unproduced works for television Unproduced works for film Books Sondheim's 2010 Finishing the Hat annotates his lyrics "from productions dating 1954–1981. In addition to published and unpublished lyrics from West Side Story, Follies and Company, the tome finds Sondheim discussing his relationship with Oscar Hammerstein II and his collaborations with composers, actors and directors throughout his lengthy career". The book, first of a two-part series, is named after a song from Sunday in the Park With George. Sondheim said, "It's going to be long. I'm not, by nature, a prose writer, but I'm literate, and I have a couple of people who are vetting it for me, whom I trust, who are excellent prose writers". Finishing the Hat was published in October 2010. According to a New York Times review, "The lyrics under consideration here, written during a 27-year period, aren't presented as fixed and sacred paradigms, carefully removed from tissue paper for our reverent inspection. They're living, evolving, flawed organisms, still being shaped and poked and talked to by the man who created them". The book was 11th on the New York Times' Hardcover Nonfiction list for November 5, 2010. The sequel, Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981–2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany, was published on November 22, 2011. Continuing from Sunday in the Park With George, the book includes sections on Sondheim's work in film and television. Musicologist and Library of Congress curator Mark Eden Horowitz conducted a series of in-depth interviews with Sondheim, published in 2003 as Sondheim on Music: Minor Details and Major Decisions. == References ==

A_Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (French: Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte) was painted from 1884 to 1886 and is Georges Seurat's most famous work. A leading example of pointillist technique, executed on a large canvas, it is a founding work of the neo-impressionist movement. Seurat's composition includes a number of Parisians at a park on the banks of the River Seine. It is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Background Georges Seurat painted A Sunday Afternoon between May 1884 and March 1885, and from October 1885 to May 1886, focusing meticulously on the landscape of the park and concentrating on issues of colour, light, and form. The painting is approximately 2 by 3 metres (6.6 ft × 9.8 ft) in size. Seurat completed numerous preliminary drawings and oil sketches before completing his masterpiece. One complete painting, the study featured to the right, measures 27 3/4 x 41 in. (70.5 x 104.1 cm) and is on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Inspired by optical effects and perception inherent in the color theories of Michel Eugène Chevreul, Ogden Rood and others, Seurat adapted this scientific research to his painting. Seurat contrasted miniature dots or small brushstrokes of colors that when unified optically in the human eye were perceived as a single shade or hue. He believed that this form of painting, called Divisionism at the time (a term he preferred) but now known as Pointillism, would make the colors more brilliant and powerful than standard brushstrokes. The use of dots of almost uniform size came in the second year of his work on the painting, 1885–86. To make the experience of the painting even more vivid, at the paintings edge, he surrounded it with a frame of painted dots, which in turn he enclosed with a pure white, wooden frame, which is how the painting is exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Island of la Grande Jatte is located at the very gates of Paris, lying in the Seine between Neuilly and Levallois-Perret, a short distance from where La Défense business district currently stands. Although for many years it was an industrial site, it has become the site of a public garden and a housing development. When Seurat began the painting in 1884, the island was a bucolic retreat far from the urban center. The painting was first exhibited at the eighth (and last) Impressionist exhibition in May 1886, then in August 1886, dominating the second Salon of the Société des Artistes Indépendants, of which Seurat had been a founder in 1884. Seurat was extremely disciplined, always serious, and private to the point of secretiveness—for the most part, steering his own steady course. As a painter, he wanted to make a difference in the history of art. With La Grande Jatte, Seurat was immediately acknowledged as the leader of a new and rebellious form of Impressionism called Neo-Impressionism. Interpretation Seurat's painting was a mirror impression of his own painting, Bathers at Asnières, completed shortly before, in 1884. Whereas the bathers in that earlier painting are doused in light, almost every figure on La Grande Jatte appears to be cast in shadow, either under trees or an umbrella, or from another person. For Parisians, Sunday was the day to escape the heat of the city and head for the shade of the trees and the cool breezes that came off the river. And at first glance, the viewer sees many different people relaxing in a park by the river. On the right, a fashionable couple, the woman with the sunshade and the man in his top hat, are on a stroll. On the left, another woman who is also well dressed extends her fishing pole over the water. There is a small man with the black hat and thin cane looking at the river, and a white dog with a brown head, a woman knitting, a man playing a trumpet, two soldiers standing at attention as the musician plays, and a woman hunched under an orange umbrella. Seurat also painted a man with a pipe, a woman under a parasol in a boat filled with rowers, and a couple admiring their infant child. Some of the characters are doing curious things. The lady on the right side has a pet monkey on a leash. A lady on the left near the river bank is fishing. The area was known at the time as being a place to procure prostitutes among the bourgeoisie, a likely allusion of the otherwise odd "fishing" rod. In the painting's center stands a little girl dressed in white (who is not in a shadow), who stares directly at the viewer of the painting. This may be interpreted as someone who is silently questioning the audience. In the 1950s, historian and Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch drew social and political significance from Seurat's La Grande Jatte. The historian's focal point was what he saw as Seurat's mechanical use of the figures and what their static nature said about French society at the time. Afterward, critique of the work often centered on the artist's presumed mathematical and robotic interpretation of the meaning of modernity in Paris. According to historian of Modernism William R. Everdell: Seurat himself told a sympathetic critic, Gustave Kahn, that his model was the Panathenaic procession in the Parthenon frieze. But Seurat didn't want to paint ancient Athenians. He wanted 'to make the moderns file past ... in their essential form.' By 'moderns' he meant nothing very complicated. He wanted ordinary people as his subject, and ordinary life. He was a bit of a democrat—a "Communard", as one of his friends remarked, referring to the left-wing revolutionaries of 1871; and he was fascinated by the way things distinct and different encountered each other: the city and the country, the farm and the factory, the bourgeois and the proletarian meeting at their edges in a sort of harmony of opposites. The border of the painting is, unusually, in inverted color, as if the world around them is also slowly inverting from the way of life they have known. Seen in this context, the boy who bathes on the other side of the river bank at Asnières appears to be calling out to them, as if to say, "We are the future. Come and join us". Painting materials Seurat painted the La Grande Jatte in three distinct stages. In the first stage, which was started in 1884, he mixed his paints from several individual pigments and was still using dull earth pigments such as ochre or burnt sienna. In the second stage, during 1885 and 1886, Seurat dispensed with the earth pigments and also limited the number of individual pigments in his paints. This change in his palette was due to his application of the advanced color theories of his time. His intention was to paint small dots or strokes of pure color that would then mix on the retina of the beholder to achieve the desired color impression instead of the usual practice of mixing individual pigments. Seurat's palette consisted of the usual pigments of his time such as cobalt blue, emerald green and vermilion. Additionally, he used the then new pigment zinc yellow (zinc chromate), predominantly for yellow highlights in the sunlit grass in the middle of the painting but also in mixtures with orange and blue pigments. In the century and more since the painting's completion, the zinc yellow has darkened to brown—a color degeneration that was already showing in the painting in Seurat's lifetime. The discoloration of the originally bright yellow zinc yellow (zinc chromate) to a brownish color is due to the chemical reaction of the chromate ions to orange-colored dichromate ions. In the third stage during 1888–89 Seurat added the colored borders to his composition. The results of investigation into the discoloration of this painting have been combined with further research into natural aging of paints to digitally rejuvenate the painting. Acquisition by the Art Institute of Chicago In 1923, Frederic Bartlett was appointed trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago. He and his second wife, Helen Birch Bartlett, loaned their collection of French Post-Impressionist and Modernist art to the museum. It was Mrs. Bartlett who had an interest in French and avant-garde artists and influenced her husband's collecting tastes. Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte was purchased on the advice of the Art Institute of Chicago's curatorial staff in 1924. In conceptual artist Don Celender's 1974–75 book Observation and Scholarship Examination for Art Historians, Museum Directors, Artists, Dealers and Collectors, it is claimed that the institute paid $24,000 for the work (over $354,000 in 2018 dollars). In 1958, the painting was loaned for the only time, to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. On 15 April 1958, a fire there, which killed one person on the second floor of the museum, forced the evacuation of the painting, which had been on a floor above the fire, to the Whitney Museum, which adjoined MoMA at the time. In popular culture The painting is the basis for the 1984 Broadway musical Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, which tells a fictionalized story of the painting's creation. Subsequently, the painting is sometimes referred to by the misnomer "Sunday in the Park". In Topiary Park (formerly Old Deaf School Park) in Columbus, Ohio, sculptor James T. Mason re-created the painting in topiary form; the installation was completed in 1989. The 1986 John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off featured the painting during a scene at the Art Institute of Chicago. Related works by Seurat See also List of paintings by Georges Seurat 100 Great Paintings References Further reading Herbert, Robert L.; Robert Herbert; Georges Seurat; Gary Tinterow; Françoise Cachin; Anne Distel; Susan Alyson Stein (1991). O'Neill, J (ed.). Georges Seurat, 1859–1891. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-8109-6410-5. William R. Everdell, The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth Century Thought (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). "Firey Peril in a Showcase of Modern Art". Life. 28 April 1958. pp. 53–55. External links Seurat and the Making of La Grande Jatte La Grande Jatte – Inspiration, Analysis and Critical Reception A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884 at The Art Institute of Chicago Georges Seurat, 1859–1891, MoMA exhibition catalog Georges Seurat, Sunday Afternoon at La Grande Jatte, ColourLex Roch, Christine L. "From "Rube Town" to Modern Metropolis". Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2011.

List_of_most_expensive_paintings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_paintings

This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. The record is approximately US$450.3 million (which includes commission), paid for Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi (c. 1500). The painting was sold in November 2017, through the auction house Christie's in New York City. Background The most famous paintings, especially old master works created before 1803, are generally owned or held by museums for viewing by patrons. Since museums rarely sell them, they are considered priceless. Guinness World Records lists Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa as having the highest insurance value for a painting. On permanent display at the Louvre in Paris, the Mona Lisa was assessed at US$100 million on 14 December 1962. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be around US$1010 million in 2023. The earliest sale on the list below (Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh) is from March 1987; with a price of £24.75 million (£87.9 million in 2023 currency). This sale tripled the previous record, and introduced a new era in top art sales. Before this, the highest absolute price paid for a painting was £8.1 million (£22.9 million in 2023 currency) paid by the J. Paul Getty Museum for Andrea Mantegna's Adoration of the Magi at Christie's in London on 18 April 1985. The sale of Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers was the first time a "modern" (in this case 1888) painting became the record holder. Old master paintings had previously dominated the market. In contrast, there are currently only nine pre-1875 paintings among the listed top 89, and none created between 1635 and 1874. An exceptional case is graffiti artist David Choe, who accepted payment in shares for painting graffiti art in the headquarters of a fledgling Facebook. His shares were of limited value when he was given them, but by the time of Facebook's IPO they were valued at around $200 million. The list is incomplete with respect to sales between private parties, as these are not always reported and, even if they are, details like the purchase price may remain secret. For example, on June 25, 2019, the American hedge fund manager J. Tomilson Hill bought a recently rediscovered Judith and Holofernes (1607) attributed to Caravaggio, two days before it would have been auctioned in Toulouse. Though the Louvre Museum had turned down the opportunity to purchase it for €100 million, the painting was estimated to sell for $110 to $170 million. The actual purchase price was not disclosed, because of a confidentiality agreement attached to the private sale. Another example is a 2019 sale of The Seated Zouave by Vincent van Gogh. According to some sources, the painting had been sold by Argentine art collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier for $300 million, but the price was not confirmed by any of the parties involved. Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol are the best-represented artists in the list. Whereas Picasso and Warhol became wealthy men, van Gogh is known to have sold only one painting in his lifetime, The Red Vineyard, for 400 French francs (approximately $2,000 in 2018 dollars) in 1890, to the Belgian impressionist painter and heiress Anna Boch. Georgia O'Keeffe holds the record for the highest price paid for a painting by a woman. On November 20, 2014 at Sotheby's, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art bought her 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 for US$44.4 million (equivalent to US$57.2 million in 2023). Among the listed top 89, only six are paintings by non-Western artists. Five are traditional Chinese paintings by Qi Baishi, Wu Bin, Wang Meng and Xu Yang. In particular, Qi Baishi's Twelve Landscape Screens was sold for $140.8 million in 2017. The only non-Western modern artwork listed is that of the Chinese-French painter Zao Wouki's oil painting Juin-Octobre 1985, which was sold for $65 million in 2018. Not listed here in this list is Chinese painter Wang Shaofei's The High Sun, which was appraised for $74 million in 2017. List of highest prices paid This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of United States dollars in 2023. Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the painting was sold. The inflation adjustment may change as recent inflation rates are often revised. A list in another currency may be in a slightly different order due to exchange-rate fluctuations. Paintings are listed only once, i.e., for the highest price sold. Interactive graph Progression of highest prices paid This list shows the progression of the highest price paid for a painting since 1746. See also Market for artworks Destination painting The Price of Everything, 2018 documentary on contemporary art valuations The Lost Leonardo, 2021 documentary on the 2017 sale of the Salvador Mundi List of most expensive artworks by living artists List of most expensive books and manuscripts List of most expensive cars sold at auction List of most expensive non-fungible tokens List of most expensive photographs List of most expensive sculptures List of most expensive watches sold at auction Notes References External links The Most Expensive Paintings ever sold list by theartwolf Oeuvres d'art les plus dispendieuses au monde at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 June 2016) Most Expensive Artworks of 2024

The_Standard_Bearer_(Rembrandt,_1636)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Standard_Bearer_(Rembrandt,_1636)

The Standard Bearer is a three-quarter-length self-portrait by Rembrandt formerly in the Paris collection of Elie de Rothschild, and purchased by the Rijksmuseum for 175 million euros with assistance from the Dutch state and Vereniging Rembrandt in 2021. It was painted on the occasion of the artist's move from Leiden to Amsterdam and is seen as an important early work that "shows Rembrandt's ambition to paint a group portrait for the Amsterdam militia, at the time the most valued commission a painter could be awarded." Rembrandt's flag bearer has several copies in oil, and later prints may be from such copies, but this painting nevertheless has a provenance reaching far into the 18th-century. It was documented as a self-portrait by Smith in 1836, who wrote: Rembrandt in the character of a Standard-Bearer. His portly countenance, which is seen in nearly a front view, denotes him to have been about fifty years of age; a large hat, turned up at the side, and decked with feathers, covers his head, and a steel cuirass shields his breast: the remainder of his habiliments are suitably rich and appropriate. One hand grasps the staff of an unfurled banner, and the other is placed on his side. This splendidly-coloured picture is engraved by Lause, and also by G. Haid. From the collection of Chevalier Verhulst, M. le Boeuf and M. Robit. It was afterwards in the collection of his Majesty George IV., who exchanged it with M. Lafontaine for other pictures. Cornelis Hofstede de Groot agreed with him in 1914, but stopped short of calling it a self-portrait. He wrote: 270 A STANDARD-BEARER. Sm. 201, and Suppl. 23; Bode 300; Dut. 148; Wb. 313; B.-HdG. 206. He stands in profile to the right, turning his face round and looking at the spectator. With his left hand he holds a large white banner on his shoulder; his right hand is on his hip. Over his brown curls he wears a slashed cap with a brown plume; his face is shaved, save for the long moustache. Over his yellowish-brown coat, trimmed with lace, he wears an iron gorget and a broad sash from which a sword hangs at his side. He has loose sleeves and a white collar and wrist-bands. Strong light from the left touches his back and his face and falls full on the banner. Life size, three-quarter length. The man has Rembrandt's features. Signed on the right at foot, "Rembrandt 163-" the last figure, now illegible, was probably a 5; canvas, 50 by 42 inches [1,300 mm × 1,100 mm]. A copy is in the Cassel Gallery, 1903 catalogue, No. 251 (Wb. 53); it has been there since the 1749 inventory, and was etched by N. Mossoloff. Another copy is in the collection of the late P. A. B. Widener, Philadelphia, 1908 catalogue, No. 242. Other copies were in the Sales. J. F. Wolschot, Antwerp, September 1, 1817, No. 12. Duke of Buckingham, Stowe, August 15, 1848, No. 415 (£54 : 12s., Wakeford Attree). Etched by P. Louw, J. F. Clerck, G. Haid. Mentioned by Vosmaer, pp. 340, 554; by Bode, p. 597; by Dutuit, p. 52; [by Michel, pp. 166-7, 169, 436]. Exhibited at the British Institution, London, 1819, No. 59, and 1836, No. 34. Sales. L. van Heemskerk, Leyden, September 2, 1771, No. I (61 florins, Delfos); to judge from the price, this was one of the copies. G. F. J. de Verhulst, Brussels, August 16, 1779, No - 8o ( 354 florins or, according to other authorities, 1290 francs, Fouquet). Le Boeuf, Paris, 1782 (5300 francs). Robit, Paris, May 21, 1801, No. 117 of Bryan's catalogue (3095 francs, Lafontaine). In the collection of George IV., King of England, who exchanged it with Lafontaine for other pictures. In the possession of the London dealer Lafontaine. In the collection of Sir Simon H. Clarke, London. In the collection of Lady Clarke, Oak Hill, 1836 (Sm., who valued it at 525). Sale. Sir Simon Clarke, Bart., London, May 8, 1840 (840, Baron James de Rothschild, Paris). In the collection of Baron Henry de Rothschild, Paris. 2022 acquisition by the Netherlands In 2019 the painting has been classified as a national treasure of France, so an export bar was in place for 30 months, while the Louvre tried to raise funds to buy the painting. The museum was unable to do so and waived its right of first refusal for purchase. In December 2021, the Dutch state announced its intention to buy the work for the national collection. As result, the Rothschild family sold the painting to the Netherlands for €175 million in 2022. The Dutch government paid €150 million, while the Rembrandt Association and the Rijksmuseum contributed a total of €25 million. It was bought from the Rothschild family, who had owned it since 1844, via a trust located in the tax haven of the Cook Islands. The Standard Bearer is to tour every province in the Netherlands before going on display at the Rijksmuseum's Gallery of Honour. It was acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic amid media coverage of failing income for the Netherlands' cultural sector. The painting was shown at the Rijksmuseum in 2019 and had attracted the museum's interest since France agreed to let the painting leave the country. The painting toured the Netherlands in 2022 and 2023. Notable copies See also List of most expensive paintings List of paintings by Rembrandt == References ==

Ice_hockey_at_the_2010_Winter_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_tournament

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_2010_Winter_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_tournament

The men's tournament in ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from February 16–28, 2010. Games were hosted at two venues – Canada Hockey Place (renamed from "General Motors Place" for the Olympics due to IOC rules disallowing host venues to be named after non-Olympic sponsors) and UBC Thunderbird Arena. These Olympics were the first to take place in a city with a National Hockey League team since the NHL players were introduced in 1998, which meant players on the Vancouver Canucks who were competing in the Olympics were playing in their home arena: Roberto Luongo for Canada, Ryan Kesler for the United States, Pavol Demitra for Slovakia, Sami Salo for Finland, Christian Ehrhoff for Germany, and Daniel and Henrik Sedin for Sweden. Teams from twelve national hockey associations competed, seeded into three groups for the preliminary round. The tournament consisted of 30 games: 18 in the preliminary round (teams played the other teams in their own group); 4 qualification playoff games; 4 quarterfinal games; 2 semifinal games; 1 bronze medal game; and 1 gold medal game. During the tournament, Teemu Selänne of Finland became the all-time leader for points scored in the Olympics. He notched an assist in his second game of the tournament for 37 career points, surpassing Valeri Kharlamov of the Soviet Union, Vlastimil Bubník of Czechoslovakia, and Harry Watson of Canada. Sweden's goaltender Henrik Lundqvist set a modern-day Olympic shutout streak record of 172 minutes and 34 seconds, continuous from the final of the gold medal game of the 2006 Olympics until Sweden's quarterfinal against Slovakia. The tournament was won by Canada for the record eighth time (one more than the Soviet Union), which defeated the United States in overtime in the gold medal game. Qualification Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States qualified as the top nine teams in the IIHF World Ranking. Germany, Latvia and Norway qualified via the qualification tournament for teams ranked 10th through 30th. Rosters Preliminary round Points to each team were awarded as follows: 3 points for a win at the conclusion of regulation time 2 points for an overtime or shootout win 1 point for an overtime or shootout loss 0 points for a loss at the conclusion of regulation If two or more teams were tied in points, the following tiebreaker criteria were used: points earned in games involving only tied teams goal difference in games involving only tied teams goals scored in games involving only tied teams goal difference in all group games goals scored in all group games better 2009 IIHF World Ranking position If a criterion left only two teams tied, then those teams were ranked based on their head-to-head result. Group A All times are local (UTC−8). Group B All times are local (UTC−8). Group C All times are local (UTC−8). Ranking after preliminary round Playoff round Following the completion of the preliminary round, all teams were ranked 1D through 12D. To determine this ranking, the following criteria were used in the order presented: higher position in the group higher number of points better goal difference higher number of goals scored for better 2009 IIHF World Ranking. Bracket † Indicates overtime victory ‡ Indicates shootout victory Qualification playoffs The top four ranked teams (1D–4D) received byes to and were deemed the home team in the quarterfinals as they were seeded to advance, with the remaining eight teams (5D–12D) playing qualification playoff games as follows: Czech Republic vs. Latvia (winner re-ranked as E1) Canada vs. Germany (winner re-ranked as E2) Slovakia vs. Norway (winner re-ranked as E3) Switzerland vs. Belarus (winner re-ranked as E4). If the score remained even after regulation, a 10-minute overtime period was played. If neither team scored, a shoot out of three rounds of penalty shots decided the winner. The four winners of these qualification playoff games advanced to the quarterfinal round, while the losers of the qualification playoff games received a final ranking of 9 through 12 based on their preliminary round ranking. All times are local (UTC−8) Quarterfinals Teams seeded D1 to D4 were the home teams. If the teams were tied after 60 minutes of regulation, a 10-minute overtime period decided the winner immediately upon the next goal. If the game remained tied after the overtime period, a penalty shot competition determined the winning team. Following the quarterfinal games, the winning teams were re-ranked F1 through F4, with the winner of 1D vs. E4 re-ranked as F1, the winner of 2D vs. E3 re-ranked as F2, the winner of 3D vs. E2 re-ranked as F3, and the winner of 4D vs. E1 re-ranked as F4. The losers of the quarterfinal round games received a final ranking of 5 through 8 based on their preliminary round ranking. All times are local (UTC−8). Semifinals All times are local (UTC−8). Bronze medal game All times are local (UTC−8). Gold medal game All times are local (UTC−8). The gold medal game was a rematch of the men's tournament in ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, United States. In addition, Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur and Jarome Iginla of Team Canada were returnees from the 2002 gold-winning squad and collected their second gold medal. Brian Rafalski and Chris Drury were the only players remaining from USA's 2002 silver squad. The final score was a 3–2 win for Team Canada. Goal scorers for Canada were Jonathan Toews, Corey Perry and Sidney Crosby, with the winning goal scored in overtime. For USA, the goal scorers were Ryan Kesler and Zach Parise, the latter tying the game with 25 seconds left, forcing it to go into sudden death. Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal off a pass from Jarome Iginla, seven minutes and forty seconds into overtime for Canada, gaining victory over the United States. The puck has been sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto; in Canadian media, Crosby's goal has been compared in significance to the ones scored by Paul Henderson in the 1972 Summit Series and Mario Lemieux in the 1987 Canada Cup. The referees for the final were Bill McCreary (Canada) and Dan O'Halloran (Canada), while the linesmen were Stefan Fonselius (Finland) and Jean Morin (Canada). The gold medal game was the last competitive event at the Olympics before the closing ceremony. Game summary Television ratings The gold medal game drew a big hockey audience in both Canada and the United States. In Canada, the game drew an average 16.6 million viewers while 26.5 million Canadians watched at least part of the game. Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium claims that 22 million people – or two thirds of the Canadian population – were watching the gold medal game when Sidney Crosby scored in overtime, making the game the most-watched television broadcast in Canadian history. However, a new ratings system intended to better track out-of-home viewership was only implemented in August 2009, making it difficult to accurately compare these results with ratings prior to that date – specifically, the 2002 Canada–USA gold medal game in Salt Lake City, the record holder under the previous system. There was some speculation that the final game of the 1972 Summit Series had as many as 18 million viewers, although recently recovered Nielsen ratings archives indicate that only 4.255 million Canadians watched that game live. In the United States, NBC said that the game was the most-watched hockey game in the U.S. in 30 years, drawing 27.6 million, the largest since the United States–Finland game that decided the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Final rankings The final standings of the tournament according to the IIHF: Statistics Average age Team Finland was the oldest team in the tournament, averaging 31 years and 5 months. Team USA was the youngest team in the tournament, averaging 27 years and 2 months. Gold medalists team Canada averaged 28 years and 2 months. Tournament average was 29 years. Leading scorers Rankings based upon points. Leading goaltenders Goalkeepers with 40% or more of their team's total minutes. Shutout posters Henrik Lundqvist (SWE) (2) Niklas Bäckström (FIN) Jaroslav Halák (SVK) Miikka Kiprusoff (FIN) Roberto Luongo (CAN) Ryan Miller (USA) Awards United States' Ryan Miller was named the most valuable player and received the Directorate Award for best goaltender of the tournament. Directorate Awards also went to Brian Rafalski (United States) for best defenceman, and to Jonathan Toews (Canada) for best forward. The tournament all-star team was voted on by the international media at the conclusion of the event. The following players were named: Toews, along with Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith would become the fourth, fifth and sixth players to win both Olympic gold medal and Stanley Cup (with the Chicago Blackhawks) in the same year, following Ken Morrow 1980, and Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan (2002). Patrick Kane would become the fourth player to win both Olympic silver medal and Stanley Cup in the same year, following Red Wings Sergei Fedorov in 1998, and Chris Chelios and Brett Hull in 2002. Triple Gold Club The Triple Gold Club, made up of individuals who have won the Stanley Cup plus gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships, gained two new members: Team Canada centre Eric Staal became the 23rd player to win all three competitions. He had previously won the Stanley Cup in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes and the World Championships in 2007. Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock became the first coach in the Triple Gold Club. He had led Team Canada to World Championships gold in 2004 and the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 2008. Later the same season, Team Canada centre Jonathan Toews would go on to become the 24th and youngest player in the Triple Gold Club, following up his Olympic gold medal with the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks just four months after winning Olympic gold. He had previously won the World Championships in 2007. Officials Games were primarily officiated by NHL referees, a stipulation by the NHL if most Olympic players are NHLers, according to the IIHF (not NHL) rules. References External links Game schedule from official IIHF website Official site 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament at ESPN

Sidney_Crosby

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Crosby

Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed "The Next One", he was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Born and raised in Halifax, Crosby was considered one of the most lauded prospects in ice hockey history and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time. During his two-year major junior career with the Rimouski Océanic, he earned many awards and led his club to the 2005 Memorial Cup final. Océanic and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League retired Crosby's jersey number 87 in 2019. Crosby debuted in the NHL during the 2005–06 season, recording 102 points and finishing as runner-up for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year. At 18 years and 253 days, he is the youngest player to date to reach 100 points in an NHL season. By his second season, he led the NHL with 120 points to capture the Art Ross Trophy, becoming the youngest player and the only teenager to win a scoring title in any major North American sports league. That same season, Crosby won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player (MVP) and the Lester B. Pearson Award for most outstanding player as judged by his peers. He started the 2007–08 season with the team's captaincy and subsequently led them to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, where they were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in six games. The Penguins returned to the Finals against Detroit the following year and won in seven games; Crosby became the youngest captain in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup. In 2009–10, he received the Mark Messier Leadership Award and scored 51 goals, winning the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer. In early 2011, Crosby sustained a concussion that left him sidelined for the rest of the season and for most of the 2011–12 campaign. In 2014, Crosby again won the Hart Memorial Trophy as well as his second Art Ross Trophy (104 points) and his third Ted Lindsay Award. Crosby led Pittsburgh to Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, becoming the third player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) in consecutive years. In 2017, he won his second Richard Trophy and was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. Internationally, Crosby has represented Canada on numerous occasions. He won gold at the 2005 World Junior Championships, and was later named to Team Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Playing against the United States in the gold medal game, he scored the game-winning goal in overtime. Crosby captained Team Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics, winning his second consecutive Olympic gold medal. A year later, he led his country to gold in the World Championship in Prague, thus becoming a member of the Triple Gold Club and the only player in the club to have captained all three winning teams. In 2016, Crosby captained Canada to gold in the World Cup of Hockey and was elected MVP by a unanimous vote. Early life Crosby was born in the Grace Maternity Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia on August 7, 1987 to Troy and Trina (née Forbes) Crosby. Crosby's jersey number (87) and 2007 contract signing ($8.7 million per year) reflect his birthdate (8/7/87). Crosby grew up in nearby Cole Harbour and has a younger sister named Taylor. His father Troy was a goaltender who played for the Verdun Junior Canadiens in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He helped the team win the 1985 President's Cup which lead them to the 1985 Memorial Cup. Troy was drafted 240th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 1984, but never played at the NHL level. Growing up, Crosby admired Steve Yzerman and, like his father, was a Canadiens fan. Crosby began playing hockey by himself in his basement at the age of two, shooting pucks in a net that had the family dryer behind it, leading to a longstanding misconception that he was actually practising with the dryer; he learned to skate at age three. From age 12 to 15, Crosby attended Astral Drive Junior High School. He was a straight-A student and, according to the vice-principal, "an amazing role model, who was really kind to students in the learning centre and to special needs kids". At age 15, Crosby transferred to Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota to play with the school's hockey program. While playing for the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL, Crosby went to Harrison Trimble High School in Moncton, New Brunswick, where he graduated in 2005. Playing career Minor hockey Early in his minor hockey years, Crosby began attracting media attention for his play and gave his first newspaper interview at age seven. When Crosby was 13, Nova Scotia's Minor Hockey Council refused to allow him to play midget, a level of minor hockey designated for 15- to 17-year-olds. His family sued but lost. The following year, he entered the midget level with the triple-A Dartmouth Subways and went on to score a combined 217 regular season and playoff points, leading Dartmouth to a second-place finish at the 2002 Air Canada Cup. He was named the MVP and Top Scorer awards at the national tournament at the tournament banquet held after the preliminary round and he finished the tournament with 24 points (11 goals and 13 assists) in 7 games. Crosby was called up as a 14-year-old to play two games with the Maritime Junior A Hockey League's Truro Bearcats that season. Crosby had been drafted by the Bearcats in the 2001 MJAHL Draft as a 13-year-old. During his midget season, Crosby appeared on the CBC's Hockey Day in Canada telecast. He has recalled numerous instances in which opposing players intentionally attempted to injure him, as well as constant verbal abuse from parents on and off the ice. Parents taunted and threatened Crosby so harshly, he took to not wearing his jersey between tournament games while he waited to play so that he would not be recognized. Due to this treatment, he elected to play for the American hockey program at Shattuck-Saint Mary's Boarding School, Minnesota for the 2002–03 hockey season. In 57 games with the Sabres, he recorded 72 goals and 162 points, leading the team to a U18 AAA national championship. Junior career Rimouski Océanic (2003–2005) Crosby was selected first overall in the 2003 Midget Draft by the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In his first exhibition game, he scored eight points, leading his teammates to nickname him "Darryl" (in reference to Darryl Sittler's ten-point NHL game in 1976). In his first regular season game in the QMJHL, he scored one goal and added two assists. He was named QMJHL Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks at the start of the season and won the honour four more times as the season progressed. He was named QMJHL Player of the Month and Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Player of the Week three times each. Crosby finished his rookie QMJHL season with 54 goals and 81 assists over 59 games to capture the Jean Béliveau Trophy as the league's leading point-scorer. He was further recognized with the RDS/JVC Trophy (overall rookie of the year) and Michel Brière Memorial Trophy (most valuable player), becoming the first QMJHL player to win all three major awards at once. Rounding out Crosby's accolades for the 2003–04 regular season were QMJHL All-Rookie and first All-Star team honours, as well as Offensive Rookie, Offensive Player and Personality of the Year Awards. As a team, the Océanic led the Eastern Division with 34 wins and 76 points. After receiving a first-round bye in the 2003 QMJHL playoffs, they defeated the Shawinigan Cataractes in the quarterfinals, then were eliminated by the Moncton Wildcats in the semi-finals. Crosby recorded 16 points (7 goals and 9 assists) over 9 playoff games. During the off-season, the World Hockey Association, a major professional league proposed to rival the NHL, held an Entry Draft on July 17, 2004. Holding the first overall selection, Toronto chose Crosby. The following month, it was reported that Crosby turned down a US$7.5 million contract over three years to play for Hamilton. Crosby told reporters that while "it took a lot to say no to that much money", he "work[ed] hard most of his life to play in the NHL". The contract would have paid him $2.5 million annually and an additional $2 million payout regardless of whether the WHA was realized as a legitimate league or not. However, it was not clarified how Hamilton could have signed Crosby, as Toronto held his WHA playing rights. Nevertheless, the WHA never materialized. Returning to the Océanic for the 2004–05 season, Crosby continued dominating the league, leading the league with 66 goals, 102 assists and 168 points over 62 games to capture his second consecutive Beliveau Trophy. Joining Crosby on Rimouski's top line were wingers Dany Roussin and Marc-Antoine Pouliot, who finished second and third in league-scoring with 116 and 114 points respectively. In addition to his scoring title, Crosby was once again awarded Most Valuable Player, Offensive Player and Personality of the Year, while repeating as a QMJHL First All-Star. The Océanic finished the regular season with the best record in the league, registering 45 wins and 98 points, including a league record-setting 28-game undefeated streak. They went on to capture the President's Cup as QMJHL playoff champions, defeating the Halifax Mooseheads in the finals. Crosby led the playoffs with 31 points (14 goals and 17 assists) over 13 games, earning him the Guy Lafleur Trophy as postseason MVP. With their QMJHL championship, the Océanic qualified for the 2005 Memorial Cup, Canada's national major junior tournament. Meeting the London Knights in the final, the Océanic were shut-out 4–0. Despite the loss, Crosby was named to the Tournament All-Star team and captured the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as the competition's leading scorer with 11 points (6 goals and 5 assists) over 5 games. Knights forward Corey Perry was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the MVP. Soon after, he attended the NHL prospect combine in preparation for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. The Rimouski Océanic retired jersey number 87 in Crosby's honor in September 2019, and the QMJHL also retired the number for all of its teams. Pittsburgh Penguins (2005–present) Rise to superstardom (2005–2007) Entering the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Crosby was listed first overall in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau and International Scouting Services' respective rankings of prospects. He also won the Mike Bossy Trophy as the QMJHL's best prospect. Crosby was selected first overall in the draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 30, 2005. Due to the labour lockout that suspended the entire 2004–05 NHL season, positioning for the 2005 draft was conducted via a weighted lottery based on each team's playoff appearances and draft lottery victories in the last four years. This lottery system led to the draft being popularly referred to as the "Sidney Crosby Lottery" or the "Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes". "Sid the Kid", a nickname given to him by the media early in his career, made his NHL debut on October 5, 2005, against the New Jersey Devils, and registered an assist on the team's first goal of the season, scored by Mark Recchi in a 5–1 loss. He scored his first NHL goal in the Penguins' home opener on October 8 against goaltender Hannu Toivonen of the Boston Bruins. Despite having registered two assists for a three-point night, the Penguins were defeated 7–6 in overtime. Crosby began his rookie season playing alongside Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux, though Lemieux was forced to retire due to an irregular heartbeat after having played just 26 games into the season. Near the midway point of the season, Penguins head coach Ed Olczyk was fired and replaced by Michel Therrien on December 15, 2005. The following day, Therrien designated Crosby as an alternate captain for the Penguins. The move drew criticism from some hockey pundits, including commentator Don Cherry, who claimed that Crosby did not have the experience for the position. Cherry said, "An 18-year-old kid says he's going to give us ideas. What, from the Quebec League, he's going to give them ideas? Come on. That's ridiculous." Although hopes were high in Pittsburgh for the club to succeed, largely in part to the beginning of Crosby's NHL career and bolstered by the acquisitions of Sergei Gonchar, Žigmund Pálffy, and Mark Recchi, the Penguins still finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Nevertheless, Crosby's first NHL campaign was a personal success as he established franchise records in assists (63) and points (102) for a rookie, both of which were previously held by Mario Lemieux. He also scored 39 goals and became the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a single season, and only the seventh rookie ever to hit the benchmark. Overall, Crosby finished sixth in the NHL scoring race and seventh in the NHL in assists. Among Canadian NHL players, he trailed only Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley. Throughout the season, Crosby had battled with Washington Capitals winger and 2004 first-overall pick Alexander Ovechkin for the rookie scoring lead. He finished second to Ovechkin's 106 points and also lost to the Capitals forward for the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. It marked the start of a rivalry that would help "define the league" for over a decade. Throughout his first season, Crosby was accused by opposing players and coaches of taking dives and complaining to officials, which was typically attributed to his youth. He became the first rookie to earn 100 penalty minutes and 100 points in the same season, which magnified his reputation for complaining to NHL officials. Hockey analyst Kelly Hrudey compared Crosby to Wayne Gretzky, who had a similar reputation as a "whiner" in his youth, and suggested that as Crosby matured, he would mellow out and his reputation would fade. In his second NHL season, Crosby built on his rookie success. On October 28, 2006, Crosby scored his first NHL hat-trick in an 8–2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. His success against the Flyers continued as just over six weeks later, on December 13, he recorded the first six-point game of his career (one goal and five assists). The multi-point effort vaulted Crosby into the NHL scoring lead, which he would retain for the remainder of the season. He finished the 2006–07 with 36 goals and 84 assists for 120 points in 79 games to become the first teenager to lead the NHL in scoring since Wayne Gretzky in 1980. Being only 19 years old at the time, he became the youngest player in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy and the youngest scoring champion in any major North American professional sport. Crosby's second NHL season also saw significant improvements for the Penguins franchise as a whole, as the emergence of rookie forwards, eventual Calder Trophy-winner Evgeni Malkin and runner-up Jordan Staal complemented the club's offence. As a result, the Penguins jumped from last place in the Eastern Conference the previous season to fifth for the club's first playoff appearance since 2001. Playing the Ottawa Senators in the opening round, Crosby scored a goal in his Stanley Cup playoff debut in a 6–3 loss. He finished the series with five points in all five games as the Penguins were ousted in a 4–1 by the eventual Stanley Cup runner-up. Beginning of Penguins captaincy, runner–up and first Stanley Cup title (2007–2009) Crosby was named Pittsburgh's team captain on May 31, 2007, making him (at 19 years, 9 months, and 24 days) the youngest team captain in NHL history. During the season, the Penguins offered him the captaincy, but he turned it down. In the press conference naming him the team captain, he explained: "I just thought it wasn't right for me. As a team, we were playing great and you don't want to disrupt things like that. Individually, I was not ready to accept that responsibility quite yet. Going through the playoffs and having that experience has probably given me more confidence. I understand there is going to be a lot more responsibility on my shoulders with this, but it's something I'm ready for, I feel very comfortable with it and I'm just excited to get things going." At the NHL's annual awards show two weeks later in June 2007, Crosby completed a rare off-season "hat-trick", winning the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson Award in addition to his previously clinched Art Ross Trophy. He became the youngest player in NHL history to win the Lester B. Pearson, and only the second youngest player ever to win the Hart (after Gretzky). He became the youngest player ever to be named to the NHL's first All-Star team. With Crosby's initial three-year, entry-level contract set to expire at the end of the following season, the Penguins signed him to a five-year, $43.5 million contract extension on July 10, 2007, ensuring his stay with the Penguins through the 2012–13 season. Midway through the subsequent season, Crosby recorded a Gordie Howe hat-trick on December 20 in a game against the Boston Bruins. His first assist came 55 seconds into the first period. At 8:26 of the same period, Crosby scored to give the Penguins a 2–0 lead. Then, five minutes and nine seconds into the second frame, Crosby fought ex-Penguin defenceman Andrew Ference to complete the hat-trick. This was Crosby's first NHL fight. In the NHL's first Winter Classic (with a record crowd of 71,217 fans in attendance), Crosby scored the shootout winner in heavy snowfall to defeat the Buffalo Sabres. However, two and a half weeks later, on January 18, 2008, Crosby suffered a high ankle sprain crashing leg-first into the boards in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. As a result, he missed the 2008 All-Star Game, to which he was named a starter. After missing 21 games, he returned on March 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and earned an assist on a Max Talbot goal. However, two games after his return, he felt his ankle was not up to shape and decided that he needed more time for it to heal. Crosby consequently sat out of the Penguins' next seven games and returned on March 27, 2008, to help the Penguins defeat the New York Islanders 3–1. Despite his injury-shortened campaign, Crosby still managed 72 points (24 goals, 48 assists) in just 53 games. Crosby's absence from the Penguins' line-up served as a stepping stone for teammate Evgeni Malkin, who, now in his second season, was developing into a superstar in his own right. Picking up the offensive slack, Malkin finished second in league scoring to Washington Capitals winger Alexander Ovechkin and was also a Hart Memorial Trophy nominee as MVP honours also went to Ovechkin. In addition to Crosby's return to the line-up late in the season, the Penguins acquired star winger Marián Hossa from the Atlanta Thrashers at the trade deadline, placing the club in a strong position to make a deep playoff run. Pittsburgh finished the season as Atlantic Division champions and just two points shy of the first-seeded Montreal Canadiens. In a rematch of the previous year's opening round, the Penguins began the 2008 playoffs facing the Ottawa Senators, whom they quickly swept in four games. After then defeating the New York Rangers and archrival Philadelphia Flyers, each in five games, the Penguins reached the final round for the first time since 1992, to face the Detroit Red Wings. After being shut-out as a team for the first two games of the series, Crosby scored the first two goals of game three as the series shifted to Pittsburgh to fuel a 3–2 win. The Penguins lost the next game and despite staving off defeat in game five, they were overcome by the Red Wings in six games. Crosby finished the playoffs with 27 points (six goals and 21 assists in all 20 games), tying forward and Conn Smythe-winner Henrik Zetterberg (13 goals and 14 assists in 22 games) for the playoff scoring lead. Early in the following season, on October 18, 2008, Crosby scored one goal and three assists against the Toronto Maple Leafs to surpass benchmarks of 100 goals, 200 assists, and 300 points for his career. On the play in which Crosby scored, teammate Evgeni Malkin assisted to record his own 200th point. As a result, Crosby had a team trainer cut the puck in half so both players could commemorate the achievement. Minor injury troubles kept Crosby from five games early in the season as he was listed day-to-day, but he was, for the most part, able to bounce back from the previous injury-riddled season and stay healthy. He recorded 33 goals and 70 assists for 103 points to finish third in league scoring, as Evgeni Malkin captured his first career Art Ross Trophy. Entering the 2009 playoffs as the defending Prince of Wales Trophy winners, the Penguins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the opening round before meeting the Washington Capitals for a highly publicized second-round matchup. The series was heavily followed as it pitted Ovechkin of the Capitals against both Crosby and Malkin, who together finished as the league's top three scorers that season. In the second game, Crosby and Ovechkin recorded matching three-goal efforts for their first career playoff hat tricks in a 4–3 Capitals victory. Despite being down 2–0 in the series, Crosby and the Penguins won the next three games and eventually defeated the Capitals in a seventh and deciding game, in which Crosby added another two goals. Following a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, Crosby opted against recent NHL tradition and picked up the Prince of Wales Trophy, which he had left untouched the previous year. In explanation of the change of heart, Crosby said, "We didn't touch the trophy last year, and obviously we didn't have the result we wanted ... Although we haven't accomplished exactly what we want ... we can still enjoy it." The Penguins met the Detroit Red Wings for the second straight year in the Finals, and this time Crosby won his first Stanley Cup title in seven games. At 21 years, 10 months, and 5 days, Crosby became the youngest NHL captain to win the Stanley Cup since 1895. (The youngest captain to lead his team to the Stanley Cup in the history of the trophy is Mike Grant of the 1895 Montreal Victorias, who was 21 years and 2 months at the time.) In the deciding Game 7, Crosby was forced to watch all but 32 seconds of the third period from the bench after suffering a knee injury less than halfway through the second period due to a hit from Wings' winger Johan Franzén. Following the game, Crosby was criticized by Detroit centre Kris Draper for neglecting to shake hands with some of Detroit's players in the handshake line, most notably Wings' defenceman and captain Nicklas Lidström. An irate Draper was quoted as saying, "Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn't come over to shake his hand. That's ridiculous, especially as their captain." Crosby replied afterward, saying, "I just won the Stanley Cup. I think I have the right to celebrate with my teammates. I know it's not easy waiting around... I understand if they don't feel like waiting around. But you know what? It's the easiest thing to do in the world, to shake hands after you win. I had no intentions of trying to skip guys and not shake their hands. I think that was a pretty unreasonable comment." Injury–plagued years, back-to-back Stanley Cups and Conn Smythe Trophies (2009–2018) In the 2009–10 season, Crosby tied Tampa Bay Lightning centre Steven Stamkos for the lead in goals scored, with 51 goals, earning the Rocket Richard Trophy. He also garnered 58 assists for a total of 109 points, enough to tie with Washington Capitals winger and captain Alexander Ovechkin for second in league points, trailing only Vancouver Canucks' centre Henrik Sedin's, who ended the season with 112. Crosby was also named a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. Crosby won the Mark Messier Leadership Award, getting recognized as a "superior leader within the sport, setting a positive example through on-ice performance, motivation of team members and a dedication to the community". This was the second time he had received this honour, the other being in January 2007, during the award's first year when it was presented monthly. He was also included on NHL's all-decade second team of 2000s. Crosby's defending Stanley Cup champion and fourth seeded Penguins were defeated in the second round of the 2010 playoffs, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games. Crosby had 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in all 13 games in the 2010 playoffs, though through seven games against the Canadiens, he had only one goal and four assists. Game 7 was also the last game to be played at Mellon Arena, the Penguins' home rink since the start of the franchise. On July 27, 2010, Crosby joined his mentor from 2005–06, his rookie year Mario Lemieux to be the first to skate on the new ice at the Consol Energy Center. The two skated for about five minutes before being joined on the ice by a group of young hockey fans all wearing Lemieux's 66 or Crosby's 87 jerseys. In the 2010–11 season, Crosby had a 25-game point streak, which began on November 5, 2010, against the Anaheim Ducks and ended on December 28, 2010, against the New York Islanders. During this streak, he had 27 goals (including three hat-tricks) and 24 assists for 51 points. This streak was tied for 11th-longest point streak in NHL history. During this streak, Crosby scored his 200th NHL goal in a 4–1 win over the Calgary Flames on Flames' goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff on November 27 and he was named First Star of the Month in both November and December, respectively. On January 3, 2011, Crosby was selected as a 2011 All-Star, along with teammates Evgeni Malkin, Marc-André Fleury and Kris Letang. However, neither Crosby nor Malkin were available to play in the All-Star Game due to injuries, and rookie Jeff Skinner (along with Paul Stastny) were named as replacements. In consecutive games – the 2011 NHL Winter Classic on January 1, 2011, against the Washington Capitals and then January 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning – Crosby suffered hits to his head from Dave Steckel and Victor Hedman respectively. After experiencing several concussion symptoms, Crosby did not return for the rest of the season, including the 2011 playoffs, where the fourth-seeded Penguins would lose in seven games in the first round coincidentally to the Lightning, who finished as the fifth seed and surrendered a 3–1 series lead in the process. The Penguins were further crippled when Evgeni Malkin suffered a torn ACL and MCL on February 4, taking him out for the rest of the season and leaving the Penguins without their two highest-scoring players. Despite Crosby's injury and subsequent absence for the final 41 games of the season, he finished as the Penguins' leading scorer. His 66 points in 41 games were 16 points ahead of the second-highest team scorer, defenceman Kris Letang. In so doing, Crosby set an NHL record for fewest games played by an NHL team's points leader. Crosby missed the first 20 games of the 2011–12 season due to the lingering effects of his concussion or possibly multiple. He returned on November 21, 2011, in a game against the New York Islanders, scoring two goals and two assists in a 5–0 shutout for the Penguins. However, after playing another seven games – scoring a total of 12 points in 8 games – Crosby's concussion-like symptoms returned on December 5, possibly following an elbow hit by Boston Bruins centre David Krejčí in his eighth game of the season. Despite passing a successful ImPACT test, Crosby decided not to return on the ice until he felt perfectly fine, stating that he also must "listen to [his] body". Crosby returned to action on March 15, 2012, recording two assists on goals by Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis in a 5–2 win against the New York Rangers. Despite only playing 22 games, Crosby recorded 29 assists to go with eight goals for 37 points. He later credited neurologists at UPMC and chiropractic neurologist Ted Carrick with helping him return to hockey. Crosby's return in advance of the 2012 playoffs resulted in many experts predicting that the Penguins would win their second Stanley Cup title in four years, and though the Penguins were accordingly picked to oust the Philadelphia Flyers in their first-round series, it was acknowledged that it would be a tough series for both teams. The Flyers shocked the Penguins by winning the first three consecutive games, the third of which saw the teams combine for 158 penalty minutes. After the 8–4 loss in Game 3, Crosby was widely criticized for his conduct during the game, and for his testy post-game interview. When asked about an incident where Flyers winger Jakub Voráček had dropped his glove and Crosby swatted it away with his stick before Voráček could pick it up, Crosby replied, saying, "I don't like any guy on their team there, so his glove was near me, went to pick it up, and I pushed it, so yeah, that's... [...] I don't like them. Because I don't like them. I don't like... I don't like any guy on their team." When the interviewer suggested that he could have skated away, Crosby replied, "Skate away? Yeah, well, I didn't that time." The Penguins went on to win the next two games, but ultimately lost the series in Game 6. Crosby would finish with three goals and five assists in the six games. On June 28, 2012, the Penguins announced that Crosby agreed to a 12-year, $104.4 million contract extension set to keep Crosby in Pittsburgh through to the end of the 2024–25 NHL season. The start of the 2012–13 season was postponed until January 2013 due to the owners locking out the players as negotiations took place to solidify a new collective agreement for the players. During this time, Crosby was a regular attendee of meetings taking place between National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) representatives and NHL owners. The lock-out began on September 15, 2012, and ended on January 6, 2013, with the NHL regular season beginning on January 19. During the 119-day lock-out, Crosby was often questioned about his future plans should the lockout persist, and said on more than one occasion that he was considering contract offers from various teams in European leagues (where many NHL players went so that they could continue playing in a professional capacity while waiting for the lock-out to end or for the NHL season to be officially cancelled). Crosby continued to practice and participated with other NHL players who did not go overseas in several exhibition games open to the public. With the season finally underway in January 2013, Crosby set the pace for scoring, totalling 31 points (nine goals and 22 assists) through the first 21 games. He remained hot through March, scoring another 25 points (6 goals and 19 assists) in 15 games as the Penguins went unbeaten over this stretch. However, his regular season came to an abrupt end on March 30 in a home game against the New York Islanders. Crosby's teammate Brooks Orpik unleashed a slapshot which caught Crosby in the mouth, causing the centreman to lose several teeth. Crosby was down on the ice for several minutes before the medical staff was able to help him to the dressing room with Crosby holding a towel over his face. Initially, the prognosis was not severe, but it was discovered a short while later that Crosby had broken his jaw and would require several rounds of reconstructive dental surgery. He missed the final 12 games of the regular season and finished fourth in the scoring race, losing the title to Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis by four points. Crosby returned to the ice May 5 for the Penguins' second game against their first-round playoff opponents, the New York Islanders, ironically, the team Pittsburgh had been playing when Crosby was injured. Despite two goals from Crosby, Pittsburgh lost the game 3–2, tying the series at one game apiece. The top seeded Penguins would ultimately prevail 4–2 in the series over the Isles with Crosby scoring nine points (three goals and six assists) in the five games in which he played. Crosby and the Penguins moved on to face the Ottawa Senators in the second round, with Crosby scoring a hat-trick in Game 2 of the series. Pittsburgh quickly defeated Ottawa four games to one in the series with a still-hot Crosby finishing the series with four goals and two assists. The Eastern Conference Finals came down to what many felt were the two best teams in the conference: Pittsburgh and Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask put on an outstanding performance, shutting down Pittsburgh's potent offence with the help of a stifling defensive effort from his teammates. The Penguins were held to just two goals in the series, with Rask stopping 134 of 136 shots on goal (.985%). Crosby, who was strong for the Penguins in the regular season and through the first two rounds of the playoffs was held off the score sheet entirely, finishing the series with no goals and no assists on 13 shots within the four games as the Bruins swept the Penguins in four-straight games. In the off-season, Crosby was awarded his second Ted Lindsay Award and finished as runner-up to the Hart Memorial Trophy and Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Crosby put together a healthy and productive campaign in 2013–14, playing 80 games for the first time since the 2009–10 season. Crosby finished the season with 36 goals and a league-leading 68 assists, marking the first time in his career that he led the league in assists. He also finished with a league-high 104 points, winning the Art Ross Trophy for the second time in his career. He also went on to win the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award. Finishing first overall in the Metropolitan Division, the Penguins were matched-up with a new division rival, the Columbus Blue Jackets, in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. Despite a very back-and-forth series and not a single goal by Crosby, the Penguins defeated the Jackets in six games to advance to a second-round matchup with the New York Rangers. Going into their second-round series with the Rangers, Crosby looked to end a long playoff goal drought, which dated back to the 2013 Conference Finals against the Boston Bruins. After dropping Game 1 at home, Crosby broke his goal drought in Game 2 as the Pens tied the series at 1–1 heading back to Madison Square Garden. The Penguins would capitalize on their Game 2 win, taking the next two games and eliminating the Rangers home-ice advantage. However, the Rangers would quickly rebound, winning Game 5, 6 and 7, sending the Penguins home without a prize for the fifth straight season and surrendering a 3–1 series lead. The team's collapse prompted Penguins ownership to fire general manager Ray Shero, replacing him with Jim Rutherford, the former general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes. Rutherford's first action as GM was to fire Dan Bylsma as head coach, and on June 25, he announced that Mike Johnston was the new head coach. Crosby finished the 2014–15 season with the highest point-per-game average and a total of 84 points (28 goals, 56 assists), trailing only New York Islanders centre and captain John Tavares (86 points) and Art Ross winner and Dallas Stars winger and captain Jamie Benn (87 points). On November 26, 2014, Crosby scored his 800th career point against the Toronto Maple Leafs, becoming the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to reach that milestone. On April 1, 2015, in a game against goaltender Steve Mason of the Philadelphia Flyers, Crosby scored his 300th career NHL goal. Despite a strong start to the season, the injury-plagued Penguins entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's second wild card and eighth seed, beating the Boston Bruins by two points in the standings for the eighth and last playoff spot. Facing the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers, Crosby helped even the series with two goals in Game 2 on Rangers' goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Despite this, the Penguins were defeated by the Rangers in five games and was eliminated in the first round for the first time since the 2012 playoffs. In the 2015 off-season, the Penguins went through a major overhaul of their roster, adding a number of offensive players such as acquiring winger Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Despite a line-up laced with some of the world's finest offensive talents, Crosby struggled to score points, as he and the team had for much of the Johnston era. By the time Johnston was fired on December 12, 2015, after posting a 15–10–3 record through 28 games, some media outlets began speculating that Crosby had aged out of his prime scoring years. On December 16, The Washington Post wrote, "Sidney Crosby has widely been regarded as the NHL's best player since he burst on the scene as a rookie in 2005 ... But Crosby just hasn't been himself this season, scoring just six goals and 13 assists for 19 points in the first 29 games and sitting with a plus/minus of minus-seven. All players go through slumps, but it is clear that the Crosby we knew has been on the decline for some time." His slow start was capped off by not being selected as a starter for the 2016 NHL All-Star Game. However, under new head coach Mike Sullivan, the 28-year-old turned his season around, outscoring all NHL players from December 12 through the end of the season. On February 2, Crosby scored three-straight goals against the Ottawa Senators for his first natural hat-trick in more than five years. Four days later, Crosby scored his 900th, 901st and 902nd career NHL points to fuel a 3–2 overtime comeback victory over the Florida Panthers. He tallied at least one point in 15 of Pittsburgh's 16 games in March, including six multi-point efforts, and was subsequently named the NHL's First Star of the Month. On April 2, Crosby recorded his 600th NHL assist as the Penguins clinched their berth in the 2016 playoffs. Six days later, he scored in overtime against the Washington Capitals to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Crosby finished the 2015–16 season with 36 goals, 49 assists and 85 points in 80 games, including a career-high nine game-winning goals, and was voted team MVP for the sixth time in his career. His two-way game also received league-wide praise, with Hockey Hall of Fame head coach Scotty Bowman stating that Crosby would be a good candidate for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward. Crosby's comeback also impressed Wayne Gretzky, who said, "He had a tough start, but the sign of an elite athlete is a guy that battles through it. He didn't point any fingers, he just battled through it, and I don't think there is any question the last 40 or so games, he made a case for the MVP. He was that good. He went to another level." On May 7, Crosby was named a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy which was eventually given to Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane. He finished as the first runner-up with 800 points and 11 first-place votes. After losing to New York Rangers in the past two playoffs, the Penguins eliminated the Rangers in the first round, winning in five games, after losing to the Rangers by the same series margin in the first round the previous year. Crosby led the team in scoring with three goals and eight points. The Penguins then eliminated the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in six games, without much offensive production from either Crosby (two assists) or Malkin (one goal and one assist). Advancing to their first Conference Final since 2013, Crosby scored the overtime winner against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2. The goal was scored 40 seconds into overtime on Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for a 3–2 win, the fastest overtime goal in Penguins' playoff history, and the first of his career in the playoffs. In the following game, he scored the game-winning goal in a 4–2 victory. After dropping the next two games, Crosby scored his third game-winning goal of the series on Vasilevskiy in Game 6, forcing a final game in Pittsburgh. Defeating the Lightning 2–1 in Game 7, Crosby helped his team win the Eastern Conference championship, advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals against the San Jose Sharks and prevent the Lightning from clinching a second consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals of their own. In the Finals, the Penguins defeated the Sharks in six games to earn Crosby his second Stanley Cup title. He became the ninth player to win the Stanley Cup twice as well as two Olympic gold medals. Finishing the playoffs with 19 points (six goals and 13 assists), including the primary helper on the Cup-winning goal scored by Kris Letang, Crosby was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. Crosby missed the first six games of the 2016–17 season after being diagnosed with a concussion in practice just a few days before the season opener against the Washington Capitals. Upon his return, he scored 30 goals in his first 45 games, and on February 16, 2017, he registered an assist on a Chris Kunitz goal against the Winnipeg Jets to reach 1,000 NHL points, doing so in just his 757th game to become the 12th-fastest (and 11th-youngest) player to reach that milestone. He also participated in his first NHL All-Star Game since 2007, winning the shooting accuracy segment of the Skills Competition. He was named team MVP and finished the season with 89 points (44 goals, 45 assists) in 75 contests played. His 89 points tied with Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane as the runner(s) up for the Art Ross Trophy. It marked the eighth time he finished a season in the top-three in NHL scoring, tying Mario Lemieux, Stan Mikita and Phil Esposito for the third-most instances in history behind only Wayne Gretzky (15 times) and Gordie Howe (12 times). With his 44 goals, Crosby captured the Rocket Richard Trophy for the second time in his career. Crosby was also named a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award with both awards eventually going to Edmonton Oilers centre and captain Connor McDavid. Entering the 2017 playoffs as the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Penguins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in five games before meeting the back to back Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the second round for the second consecutive year. After winning the first two games on the road, Crosby sustained a concussion after suffering an injury from a slash and cross-check from both Alexander Ovechkin and Matt Niskanen in Game 3. He missed Game 4 but returned to practice the next day and played in Game 5. The Penguins would eventually eliminate the Capitals in Game 7, with Crosby assisting on the series-winning goal by Bryan Rust. The Penguins then defeated the Ottawa Senators in a gruelling seven-game series to secure their second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. Crosby had the primary assist on the series-clinching goal, scored by Chris Kunitz in double overtime. Facing the eighth seeded Nashville Predators in the Finals, Pittsburgh jumped out to a two-game lead, despite being outplayed for long stretches in both games. The Predators responded by tying up the series, winning Game 3 and 4 at home. In Game 5, the Penguins' captain delivered a dominant performance, adding three assists in a 6–0 win to pass Lemieux for most Stanley Cup Finals points (20) in franchise history. After defeating the Predators 2–0 in Game 6, the Penguins became the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since the 1997–98 Detroit Red Wings, and the first to do so in the salary cap era (since 2005–06). Crosby also won his second consecutive Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs, only the third player to do so after Bernie Parent (1974, 1975) and Mario Lemieux (1991, 1992). He finished second in scoring behind Evgeni Malkin with 27 points (eight goals and 19 assists) in 24 games. In the 2017–18 season, Crosby appeared in all 82 of Pittsburgh's regular season games for the first time in his career, finishing with 29 goals and 60 assists for 89 points. On February 11, 2018, he scored his 400th NHL goal against Jake Allen of the St. Louis Blues, becoming the 95th player in NHL history to reach the milestone as the Penguins defeated the Blues 4–1. On March 21, he recorded his 700th career NHL assist on a Jake Guentzel goal in a 5–3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. The Penguins began their 2018 playoff campaign against their inner-state rival, the Philadelphia Flyers. In Game 1 of the Battle of Pennsylvania, Crosby recorded a natural hat-trick in a 7–0 win. On April 18, in Game 4, Crosby passed Mario Lemieux as the Penguins' all-time playoff points leader with 173. The Penguins ultimately defeated the fifth-seeded Flyers in six games, with Crosby recording six goals and seven assists for 13 points. After the series, retired Hockey Hall of Fame centre Bryan Trottier said of Crosby, "Sid has a wonderful gift to maintain his composure and not get rattled. You like the emotion he shows, too. I think he fires his team up, and that's why he's wearing the 'C' [for captain]." The Penguins were eventually eliminated in Game 6 of the second round by the eventual second-seeded and eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals with Capitals' centre Evgeny Kuznetsov scoring the winning goal in overtime. Crosby finished with 21 points (nine goals and 12 assists) in all 12 games, pushing his career playoff total to 185, tied with Steve Yzerman for tenth-most all-time. Early playoff exits (2018–2022) On December 31, 2018, Crosby played his 900th NHL game in a 3–2 win over the Minnesota Wild, becoming the second player in Penguins history to reach the mark. On January 3, 2019, Crosby was selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game for the eighth time in his career. He scored four goals and four assists, helping the Metropolitan Division to victory; his efforts won him his first All-Star MVP award, making him the sixth in NHL history to have won that award after having won the Conn Smythe Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy. During the 2018–19 season, Crosby passed Mario Lemieux to become the Penguins' all-time leader in games played (916), and moved into second place on the Pens' all-time scoring list with his 440th career goal in a 5–1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on March 3. Two days later, he became the 48th player in NHL history to score at least 1,200 career points against the Florida Panthers. He finished the season with 100 points (35 goals and 65 assists), the first time he has reached the 100-point mark since scoring 104 points in 2013–14. Crosby finished 4th in voting for the Selke Trophy and became a Hart Trophy finalist for the seventh time in his career as the Selke eventually went to St. Louis Blues centre Ryan O'Reilly and the Hart getting awarded to Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, respectively. He was also elected team-MVP. Crosby was selected to the NHL All-Decade First Team in January 2020. The Penguins finished fifth in the Eastern Conference in the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2019–20 season, facing the 12th-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference qualifying round. The Canadiens upset the Penguins in four games, eliminating Pittsburgh on August 7, 2020, Crosby's 33rd birthday. In the pandemic-shortened 2020–21 season, Crosby led the team in scoring with 62 points (24 goals and 38 assists), and was the recipient of the team's MVP Award and the Players' Player Award. He was also a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award which was eventually awarded to Edmonton Oilers centre and captain Connor McDavid. On February 20, 2021, Crosby became the first player in Penguins history to play 1,000 games with the franchise in a 3–2 win over the New York Islanders. The team clinched a playoff berth for the 15th consecutive season under Crosby's captaincy, the longest active postseason streak among all teams in the North American professional sports leagues. However, the Penguins were eliminated in the first round of the 2021 playoffs by the New York Islanders for the second time in three seasons. On February 15, 2022, Crosby scored his 500th career goal on a power play against the Philadelphia Flyers, becoming the 46th player to score that many goals in NHL history and the 18th to have scored them all for a single team. He was the second Penguin to score 500 goals, after Lemieux. Continuing to hit new milestones, in an April 10 game against the Nashville Predators he recorded a goal and an assist in regulation time, before scoring the overtime-winning goal, his 1400th point in the NHL. Crosby finished the 2021–22 season with 31 goals and 53 assists for 84 points in 69 games played, while the Penguins were third in the Metropolitan Division. They advanced into the 2022 playoffs to meet the New York Rangers. With both Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang's contracts up in the summer, there was some question as to whether this would be the final outing for the core of the Penguins franchise in Crosby's era. In Game 3 of the series against the Rangers, Crosby recorded his 197th career playoff point, passing Paul Coffey for sixth place in all-time playoff point standings. Two days later, he managed a goal and two assists in the Penguins' 7–2 victory in Game 4 and 3–1 series lead, becoming the sixth player in league history to record 200 career points in the playoffs. Midway through the second period of Game 5 in Madison Square Garden, with the Penguins up 2–0, Crosby took an elbow to the head from Rangers defenceman Jacob Trouba and exited the game. In his absence, the Rangers rallied to win 5–3 and stave off elimination, and Crosby's departure was widely cited as the game's turning point. Head coach Mike Sullivan said that Crosby was being evaluated. After missing Game 6, Crosby returned for Game 7, alongside absent team goaltender Tristan Jarry and winger Rickard Rakell. However, the Penguins lost to the Rangers Game 7 in overtime with Rangers winger Artemi Panarin scoring the winner for the Rangers to take a 4–3 win in the game and 4–3 win in the series and the Penguins were eliminated from the 2022 playoffs. Recent years (2022–present) In the 2022 off-season, it was reported that Crosby played a key role in facilitating a new deal between the Penguins and Evgeni Malkin, after the latter had initially announced he would test free agency. Crosby began the 2022–23 season by registering two goals and four assists in his first two games, being named the first star of the first week while leading the league in scoring. After strong initial results, the team struggled with a lengthy losing streak, but Crosby recorded his 900th career assist on a Jake Guentzel goal on November 5, 2022, a 3–2 loss to the Seattle Kraken. He was the sixth-fastest player to this feat in NHL history. On April 8, Crosby registered his 1500th career point in a 5–1 win against the Detroit Red Wings, the fifteenth NHL player to hit that milestone, and in the sixth-fewest games (1188). As the poor performance of the team continued into the spring, the Penguins' league-best 16-year playoff streak increasingly came into jeopardy, and by the final weeks of the season they were battling the Florida Panthers and the New York Islanders for the two Eastern Conference wildcard positions. A 5–2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on April 11, at that moment the team at the bottom of the standings, in the penultimate game of the season, combined with an Islanders victory the following day, sealed the Penguins' missing the playoffs for the first time since 2005–06, Crosby's rookie season and for the first time in Crosby's captaincy. This happened despite Crosby playing all 82 games for only the second time in his career, and doing so alongside Evgeni Malkin for the first time. Much recrimination ensued among fans and commentators, with many calling for the sacking of Penguins general manager Ron Hextall for his perceived mistakes in constructing the team in the previous 2022 off-season. Hextall and team executive Brian Burke were both fired the day after the season ended, with owners Fenway Sports Group promising "the goal of contending for the Stanley Cup has not changed." Shortly the 2023–24 season, his 19th season in the NHL, on November 4, 2023, Crosby skated in his 1,200th game, recording an assist in a 10–2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. About the achievement, Crosby said: "You don't just love it when it's good to you. You love it when it's tough and when it's difficult too. When that passion's not there, or that love's not there, it's probably time to stop doing it." On April 1, 2024, following a 5–2 win over the New York Rangers, Crosby became the second player in NHL history to average a point per game for the 19th consecutive season, joining Wayne Gretzky. On April 11, Crosby recorded his 1,000th NHL assist on a goal by Erik Karlsson in a 6–5 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings to become the 14th player in league history and seventh fastest player to hit the mark (at 1,269 games). Crosby finished the season playing in all 82 contests played with 42 goals, 52 assists and 94 points recorded. Despite his continuation of individual productivity, the Penguins finished three points out of a playoff spot marking the first time in Crosby's tenure where the Penguins missed the playoffs in two consecutive seasons. On September 16, 2024, Crosby signed a two-year $17.4 million extension ($8.7 million average) to remain with the Penguins. International play Junior Crosby debuted internationally for Canada at the 2003 U-18 Junior World Cup in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He was the youngest player on the under-18 team, having turned 16 shortly before the beginning of the tournament. After seven consecutive gold medals at the tournament, Team Canada lost in the bronze medal game to the Czech Republic 8–2. He scored four goals and six points over five tournament games. Crosby went on to compete in two World Junior Championships with Team Canada's under-20 team. When he was named to the team in December 2003, he became the fifth 16-year-old to represent Canada at the tournament, following Jay Bouwmeester, Jason Spezza, Eric Lindros and Wayne Gretzky. Competing in the 2004 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, he then became the youngest player to score a goal in the history of the tournament at 16 years, 4 months, and 21 days when he scored against Switzerland in a 7–2 win. This record would last until the 2012 World Juniors when Aleksander Barkov of Finland scored a goal aged 16 years, 4 months. Crosby finished the tournament with two goals and three assists in six games, helping Canada to a silver medal finish. The following year, he returned for Canada at the 2005 World Junior Championships in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He improved to six goals and three assists as Canada earned gold. Crosby stated the following year that his most memorable hockey moment was winning his World Junior gold medal. Men's After completing his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Crosby competed in the 2006 IIHF World Championship as an alternate captain for Canada. Scoring a tournament-best eight goals and eight assists in nine games, he became the youngest player ever to win a World Championship scoring title. Despite his performance, Canada failed to medal, being shut-out by Finland 5–0 in the bronze medal game. Crosby was named the tournament's top forward and to the competition's all-star team. After being omitted from Canada's Olympic team in 2006, Crosby was named to the Canadian roster on December 30, 2009, as an alternate captain for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He scored the game-winning shootout goal for Canada in the second game of the preliminary round against Switzerland. After going pointless in the quarter- and semi-final against Russia and Slovakia respectively, Crosby scored the winning goal 7 minutes and 40 seconds into overtime against the United States in the gold medal game. The goal has later become known as the "Golden Goal" due to it being scored in the gold medal game. It is also regarded by some as "Canada's most iconic sports moment". Following the Penguins' second-round elimination in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, Crosby declined an invitation to join Canada midway through the 2010 IIHF World Championship in Germany. Crosby was selected to represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics and was later named team captain. Canada won gold, with Crosby contributing one goal and two assists in six games. He scored his only goal in the final against Sweden, further establishing his reputation as "a player who rises up in big games". In 2015, Crosby captained Canada to its first World Championship title since 2007, with the team winning all 10 games and scoring 66 goals. Crosby, scoring four goals and seven assists in nine games, became the 26th member of the Triple Gold Club. He is the first member of the club to captain all three championship teams, and the first member to be a first overall NHL draft pick. In 2016, Hockey Canada named Crosby captain for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. Crosby, who led the tournament in scoring with ten points, helped Team Canada win the championship, and was named the Most Valuable Player. He joined Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky as the only players to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, Hart Memorial Trophy and World Cup MVP. Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock described Crosby as a serial winner, saying, "He's that high-end competitor. He's a good leader because he tries to do it right all the time. He demands a lot out of himself. In doing so, he demands a lot out of his teammates." In 2020, he was named to the IIHF All-Time Canadian Team and the Men's All-Decade Team. On October 3, 2021, Crosby was one of the first three players named to the men's hockey roster for Canada's team for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, alongside Connor McDavid and Alex Pietrangelo. However, due to the NHL's subsequent decision not to attend the Beijing Games as a result of the Omicron variant's impacts on scheduling, Crosby was unable to compete. He said afterward that "I've been fortunate enough to be part of two. I definitely feel for the guys who have missed numerous opportunities." Player profile Style of play As captain and first-line centre for Canada, Crosby played with different line mates in almost every game as the coaching staff struggled to find players capable of keeping pace with the superstar centre at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, and again at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Crosby's fellow countryman and Olympic teammate, Rick Nash, was questioned by the media about this, at one point saying, "I think he's a tough guy to keep up with. He's so fast. The way he thinks about the game seems like it's far beyond everyone else's process. It's the same thing in the last Olympics, keep shuffling around until you found something that fit." Team Canada's assistant coach in Vancouver, Ken Hitchcock, recalled, "Sid thinks at a level, when the other team has the puck, that's above everyone else in the league [NHL]. His anticipation when the other team has the puck is so high, he knows where it's going ahead of time. He can pick off passes, make you make errors. And then he also knows where people are located on the ice, so he can turn that turnover into a scoring chance." Other professional NHL players have particularly noted Crosby for his backhand shot. For example, in his column for The Players' Tribune in July 2015, Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings praised Crosby for having "the best backhand shot" in the NHL. "His blade is almost completely flat, which combined with his ridiculous forearm strength gives him the ability to go forehand to your five hole instantly or turn it over to the backhand and roof it (a lot of guys can't do this with a flat blade)." Reputation Noted for his on-ice vision, passing ability, leadership, work ethic, and complete overall game, Crosby is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. Bobby Orr named Crosby among the five best players in the history of NHL. Wayne Gretzky said of Crosby in September 2016, "He's proven over and over that he's the best player in the game today. And it seems like the more important the game, the more impact that he makes on a game." Gordie Howe was also impressed by Crosby, "I met him and I've seen him play. Unless you put two guys on him, he'll kill you in a game." In October 2016, Mario Lemieux praised his protégé for his ability to play both sides of the puck: "I think he's more of a complete player. Defensively, I think he's improved a lot over the last couple of years." In an April 2018 article for The Washington Post, other players, teammates and coaches highlighted his work ethic and strive for greatness as a major factor to Crosby's lasting success. "While his natural ability – powerful skating, pistol-quick hands, uncommon feel – made him a phenom, his creative, distinct capacity for work has enabled him to stay atop the NHL." In March 2019, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan described Crosby as "best 200-foot player in the game" and the "heartbeat" of the Penguins. On January 27, 2017, in a ceremony during the All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, Crosby was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history. In that same year, Fox Sports ranked Crosby 15th on their "21 greatest athletes of the 21st century (so far)" list, and TSN named him the eighth-best NHL player of all-time. Four months before the 2022 Winter Olympics, Rob Rossi of The Athletic called him "arguably North America's most dominant team-sport Winter Olympian." In a survey conducted by Sportsnet in June 2017, Crosby was voted by Canadians to be the greatest athlete of the 21st century. A poll conducted by the NHLPA in March 2018 of more than 500 players resulted in Crosby being voted the "most difficult to play against, best role model, best team player, the player you'd want to win one game, and the player who would be a great coach upon retirement". In April 2018, Crosby was chosen as Nova Scotia's "Best athlete ever" by the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame. In March 2019, an anonymous survey conducted by The Athletic showed that Crosby was regarded the best all-around NHL player by his peers. Considered a generational talent and a franchise player, drafting Crosby changed the fortunes of a struggling Pittsburgh Penguins. It helped secure funding for a new arena and ended speculation that the franchise would relocate to another city. In 2005–06, his presence helped Pittsburgh's attendance increase by 33%. Crosby's arrival also aided in reinvigorating and expanding the roots of hockey in the Pittsburgh area. Penguins CEO and president David Morehouse said, "We were in last place, we were last in revenues, we were last in attendance, our TV ratings were minimal and we were in the oldest building in the NHL... We were able to draw attention to us as a franchise because of the drafting of Sidney Crosby and the subsequent success we had." Crosby is well known for welcoming new teammates with open arms. Former teammate and NHL veteran Matt Cullen has said that "[he watches] how he makes time to make a real effort to include guys and go out of his way to spend time with younger guys, and I know that goes a long way." Crosby often does research on new members of the organization, even players who have not yet made the roster, and makes sure to greet them. Some current players who grew up watching Crosby, such as Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, have said that they tried to emulate other players as emerging youth hockey stars because "playing at his [Crosby's] level just wasn't realistic." Jerseys Crosby's number 87 Pittsburgh Penguins jersey was the top seller on the NHL's website from September 2005 to February 2008. It has continued to be among the top-selling jerseys since his rookie season. In January 2005, an Air Canada baggage handler in Montreal stole Crosby's red Canada jersey from the World Junior Hockey Championship. It was recovered later in a mailbox. His white jersey from the tournament was temporarily delisted from an auction while the red one was missing. It eventually sold for $22,100, which went to youth hockey charities and 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake relief. Less than a year later, one of Crosby's game-worn sweaters disappeared. The jersey he wore in his first NHL game, played against the New Jersey Devils, disappeared from his father's luggage during a flight from Pittsburgh to Buffalo. The jersey was later found at the Pittsburgh International Airport between a piece of equipment and a stairwell. Crosby's jersey from his third NHL game was the highest-selling NHL jersey in an auction for Hurricane Katrina relief – it sold for $21,010. During an online auction held by the NHL and the NHL Players Association to benefit Hockey Fights Cancer, Crosby's game-worn jersey from the first period of the 2007 All-Star Game earned the most money. Crosby's sold for $47,520, more than eight times the next highest price—$5,681 for the jersey worn by Brendan Shanahan of the New York Rangers. Following Crosby's Olympic gold medal victory with Canada in 2010, it was announced that his stick and glove were missing. It was initially suspected that they might have been stolen; Reebok Canada offered a reward of CAD$10,000 for their return, "no questions asked". On March 10, the items were found: Crosby's stick had been placed in a shipment bound for the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in Saint Petersburg, Russia, (the shipment was intercepted in Toronto) and his glove was found in a hockey bag belonging to Olympic teammate and Boston Bruins' centre Patrice Bergeron, whose stall was beside Crosby's in the locker room. Personal life Crosby rarely discusses his personal life and avoids social media. Andy O'Brien, Crosby's fitness trainer for over 15 years, has said: "He [Crosby] wants to be one of the guys and doesn't really seek to separate himself or get special treatment in any way... He takes a lot of enjoyment in the regular, simple things in life and having a normal, ordinary routine". Greg Powers described Crosby as essentially the brother of Lemieux's son Austin, as he lived with Lemieux's family in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, from 2005 until 2010. In May 2010, Crosby purchased his own home in the same area. In June 2006, he bought his first house on Grand Lake in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On May 29, 2010, it was announced that Crosby would sign the richest endorsement contract in NHL history with Reebok, expected to pay Crosby $1.4 million per year for five to seven years. In 2015, he signed a six-year endorsement contract with Adidas. Crosby also has endorsement deals with Bell, Tim Hortons, and Gatorade. Regarded as one of Canada's "legendary goal-scorers and storied leaders", Crosby was featured in Canada Post's NHL Great Canadian Forwards stamp collection, alongside Phil Esposito, Guy Lafleur, Darryl Sittler, Mark Messier, and Steve Yzerman. In September 2016, he won an Emmy Award for his role in There's No Place Like Home With Sidney Crosby. He also won for his participation in the Merci Sidney video that followed his return to Rimouski for his QMJHL jersey retirement ceremony. Crosby has a younger sister named Taylor who is a hockey goaltender. Like her brother, she went to high school at Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota, to play with the school's hockey program. In 2014, Taylor joined the Northeastern Huskies women's ice hockey team as a freshman at Northeastern University in Boston. In 2015, she transferred to Minnesota's St. Cloud State University and played with the St. Cloud State Huskies women's ice hockey team through to graduation at the end of the 2017–18 school year. Crosby continues to be active in the community in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. He created the Sidney Crosby Foundation in 2009, an organization committed to helping charities benefiting children. In 2015, he started a hockey school in Cole Harbour. His "Little Penguins Program" has provided free equipment and lessons to more than ten thousand local youngsters in Pittsburgh. Career statistics Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database. Regular season and playoffs Bold indicates led league 1999–2000 stats are from "Age-old question: Cole Harbour hockey association bars peewee player from bantam tourney". The Halifax Daily News. April 5, 2000. International Honours and achievements Records IIHF Youngest player to win a World Championship scoring title Pittsburgh Penguins Assists (63) and points (102) in a season by a rookie Most regular-season OT goals (13) Most games played Most playoff points Most playoff assists Most playoff games Most points in the Stanley Cup Finals (20) Most playoff multi-point games NHL First rookie to record 100 points and 100 penalty minutes in a season Youngest player to record 100 points in a season (18 years, 253 days) Youngest player to record 200 career points (19 years and 207 days) Youngest player to record 2 consecutive 100-point seasons (19 years, 215 days). Youngest player voted to the starting line-up in an All-Star Game Youngest Art Ross Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award winner Youngest player to be named to the first All-Star team Youngest player to lead NHL playoffs in scoring (20 years, 9 months, and 28 days) Youngest NHL captain to win Stanley Cup (21 years, 10 months, and 5 days) 6th player in NHL history to win multiple Conn Smythe Trophies. Fewest games played by an NHL team's leading scorer (his 66 points in 41 games were the most of any player on the 2010–11 Penguins squad) See also List of Pittsburgh Penguins players List of NHL players with 50 goal seasons List of NHL players with 100-point seasons List of NHL players with 1,000 points List of NHL players with 1,000 games played List of NHL players with 500 goals Notes References Further reading Pincus, Arthur (2006), The Official Illustrated NHL History, Reader's Digest, ISBN 0-88850-800-X External links Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Happy_Days

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Days

Happy Days is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most successful series of the 1970s. The series presented an idealized vision of life in the 1950s and early 1960s Midwestern United States, and it starred Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham, Henry Winkler as his friend Fonzie, and Tom Bosley and Marion Ross as Richie's parents, Howard and Marion Cunningham. Although it opened to mixed reviews from critics, Happy Days became successful and popular over time. The series began as an unsold pilot starring Howard, Ross and Anson Williams, which aired in 1972 as a segment titled "Love and the Television Set" (later retitled "Love and the Happy Days" for syndication) on ABC's anthology show Love, American Style. Based on the pilot, director George Lucas cast Howard as the lead in his 1973 film American Graffiti, causing ABC to take a renewed interest in the pilot. The first two seasons of Happy Days focused on the experiences and dilemmas of "innocent teenager" Richie Cunningham, his family, and his high school friends, attempting to "honestly depict a wistful look back at adolescence". Initially a moderate success, the series' ratings began to fall during its second season, causing Marshall to retool it. The new format emphasized broad comedy and spotlighted the previously minor character of Fonzie, a "cool" biker and high school dropout. Following these changes, Happy Days became the number-one program in television in 1976–1977, Fonzie became one of the most merchandised characters of the 1970s, and Henry Winkler became a major star. The series also spawned a number of spin-offs, including Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy. Plot Set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the 1950s, the series revolves around teenager Richie Cunningham and his family: his father, Howard, who owns a hardware store; traditional homemaker and mother, Marion; younger sister Joanie Cunningham; Richie's older brother Chuck (briefly in seasons 1 and 2 only, disappearing from storylines afterward); and high school dropout, leather-jacket–clad greaser, suave and promiscuous mechanic Fonzie, who would eventually become Richie's best friend and the Cunninghams' over-the-garage tenant. The earliest episodes revolve around Richie and his friends, Potsie Weber and Ralph Malph, with Fonzie as a secondary character. However, as the series progressed, Fonzie proved to be a favorite with viewers, and soon more story lines were written to reflect his growing popularity, Winkler was top billed in the opening credits alongside Howard by season 3. Fonzie befriended Richie and the Cunningham family and, when Richie left the series for military service, Fonzie became the central figure of the show, with Winkler receiving sole top billing. In later seasons, other characters were introduced including Fonzie's young cousin, Chachi Arcola, who became a love interest for Joanie Cunningham. The series' pilot was originally shown as "Love and the Television Set", later retitled "Love and the Happy Days" for syndication, a one-episode teleplay on the anthology series Love, American Style, aired on February 25, 1972. Happy Days spawned successful television shows Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy as well as three failures: Joanie Loves Chachi, Blansky's Beauties featuring Nancy Walker as Howard's cousin, and Out of the Blue. The show is the basis for the Happy Days musical touring the United States since 2008. The leather jacket worn by Winkler during the series was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution for the permanent collection at the National Museum of American History. The original, light grey McGregor windbreaker Winkler wore during the first season eventually was thrown into the garbage after ABC relented and allowed the Fonzie character to wear a leather jacket. Episodes Cast Characters Main Richie Cunningham – The protagonist for the first seven years of the series (1974–80). When Ron Howard left the show due to his burgeoning directorial career, Richie was written out by leaving to join the United States Army. He marries his girlfriend, Lori Beth, in season eight by phone so that she will be able to join him at his post in Greenland, while Fonzie stands in for him in the wedding. Howard returned for guest appearances as Richie during the show's final season. He came back with Lori Beth and their son, Richie Jr., and Ralph in the season 11 two-part episode, "Welcome Home", and then left for California with Lori Beth and Richie Jr. to pursue a career in screenwriting. He also returned in "Passages", when he and his family attended Joanie and Chachi's wedding. Marion Cunningham (née Kelp) – Wife of Howard Cunningham, mother of Chuck, Richie, and Joanie, and a traditional homemaker. She is the only character who is allowed to call Fonzie by his real first name, Arthur, which she does affectionately. She sometimes gets tired of being at home, such as in "Marion Rebels" where she gets into an argument with Howard and briefly gets a job as a waitress at Arnold's. In "Empty Nest" when Joanie left for Chicago to pursue her music career, Marion had "empty nest syndrome" and was thrilled when her and Howard's niece, K.C., moved in with them. Marion was one of only four characters to remain with the show throughout its entire run. Howard Cunningham – Husband of Marion Cunningham, father of Chuck, Richie, and Joanie, business owner of a hardware store called "Cunningham's Hardware", he is a lodge member, and family man. Frequently seen reading the daily newspaper in his easy chair. Enjoys driving his beloved 1948 DeSoto Suburban. In "Letting Go", he did not want Joanie to go to Chicago, still seeing her as his "little girl". But after talking with Fonzie and realizing how much she has grown up, he supports her going. In "Passages", Howard says that he is proud of Richie and Joanie in Joanie and Chachi's wedding. Howard is one of only two characters (the other being Fonzie) to appear in every episode of the series. Joanie Cunningham – Richie's younger sister. In early seasons, she is sometimes snooping on Richie's activities and would occasionally be sent to her room by her parents. She is affectionately called "Shortcake" by Fonzie. Later on, Joanie briefly joins a motorcycle gang after going on a date with a boy, whom she considered to be "dull". In "Smokin' Ain't Cool", Joanie started smoking in order to be in a cool club, until Fonzie sets her straight. For years, Fonzie's cousin, Chachi, had been chasing her until she eventually agreed to a date with him. She and Chachi would eventually form a band together; and in "Letting Go", they leave for Chicago to pursue their music career (which spun off the series Joanie Loves Chachi). Joanie, however, eventually left the band to return home to pursue a teaching career. She and Chachi then broke up for a time until Chachi proposes to her and they get married in the series finale. Arthur Fonzarelli, a.k.a. The Fonz or Fonzie – Initially a secondary or recurring character, billed in the end credits, during the first season, he became a popular breakout character and was promoted to front billing by the second season. Fonzarelli's "Fonzie" nickname and comeback phrase, "Sit on it", were created by the show's producer Bob Brunner. Known for being especially cool and for his catchphrases "(H)eyyyy!" and "Whoa!" His coolness gave him special powers, such as making machinery (such as Arnold's jukebox and other vending machines, electric lights, and car engines) function by pounding on them with his fist, or getting the attention of girls by snapping his fingers. His parents abandoned him as a child and his grandmother raised him from the age of four. Warren "Potsie" Weber – Richie's best friend and an aspiring and talented singer. He is somewhat more carefree and worldly than Richie in early seasons, then in mid-seasons, he becomes more often paired with Ralph for plots, and the two became inseparable. In later seasons, his character evolves to increasingly emphasize his dimwitted side, and Ralph would often say to him "You're such a Potsie." Potsie often lightheartedly mentioned the supposed hatred his father (who never appeared on the show) had for him. Potsie remained with the show after Richie and Ralph joined the Army; however, he was seen less frequently. While Potsie's character became underdeveloped in these later episodes (and he, along with Ralph, was one of the few characters absent from the finale), he is mentioned to regularly bowl with the Cunninghams and still continues his position as assistant manager of Cunningham Hardware and as pledge master of the Leopard Lodge. His nickname is explained in the 6th episode, "The Deadly Dares", originating in childhood, via his mother, as he enjoyed making clay pottery. Ralph Malph – In the first season, Ralph was intended as more of a secondary character, billed in the end credits, along with Winkler and Moran, but by season 2, Ralph was front billed with them. Richie, Potsie and Ralph often were intertwined as episode protagonists. Ralph and Potsie would become roommates by the fifth season. Ralph was occasionally seen wearing his red GEMS club jacket, especially in the early seasons, but nothing was ever mentioned of it or the club. Known for saying "I still got it!" after delivering one of his jokes. Ralph left with Richie after the 1979–80 season to join the Army. He later becomes Richie's sergeant and the two have a falling out going their separate ways. Ralph returned as a guest star in the final season, although he is absent in the finale (along with Potsie)—he is mentioned as having left to continue college to become an optometrist like his father. Mitsumo "Arnold" Takahashi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita) (seasons 1-3, 10–11: 26 episodes) is the owner of Arnold's Drive-In season three (1975–76). He obtained the moniker when he purchased Arnold's restaurant and people thought it was named after him, explaining that it was too costly to buy enough letter signs needed to rename it "Takahashi". He moonlighted as a martial arts instructor, teaching self-defense classes at the drive-in after hours. Morita also played "Arnold" as a guest star in 1977 and 1979 before returning as a recurring character after Al Molinaro departed in 1982. Chachi Arcola (Scott Baio) – Fonzie's younger cousin and later Al Delvecchio's stepson. Fonzie acts as his older brother/father figure. He has much of Fonzie's smoothness and charisma, "wah wah wah" being his catchphrase. Chachi becomes "one of the guys", joining Richie, Potsie, Ralph, and Fonzie in their antics and as their bandmate/drummer. After Richie and Ralph leave the show (season 7 finale), Chachi and Fonzie often find trouble or plot-conflicts together. Chachi has a crush on Joanie Cunningham from the moment he meets her in season 5, but she initially thinks of him as a little kid, calling him pejorative terms like "shrimp" or "drip". But as they enter high school, she too begins to find him attractive and begin dating. In season 11, they break-up, but as the season progresses, they reunite. The series finale features Chachi and Joanie's wedding. Al Delvecchio – From seasons four to nine (1976–82), Al became the new owner and cook of the drive-in diner, after Arnold got married the previous season. Al later married Chachi's mother Louisa, thereby becoming Chachi's stepfather and Fonzie's uncle. Molinaro left Happy Days in 1982 to take his "Al" character to Joanie Loves Chachi, and he returned as Al in three later episodes of Happy Days. Known for sighing "Yeeep, yep, yep, yep, yep" when he was disappointed or when things did not go his way. Jenny Piccolo (Cathy Silvers) – Joanie's boy-crazy best friend (1980–1983), frequently mentioned but never seen in early episodes. She made her first on-screen appearance in the eighth season and remained a recurring character through the ninth season, becoming a regular during the tenth season in 1983. She returned as a guest star in the 1984 series finale. Jenny's father, played by Cathy Silvers' real-life father Phil Silvers, appeared in one episode (S9E8 "Just a Piccalo"). Roger Phillips (Ted McGinley) – Marion's nephew; coach and teacher at Jefferson High, until "Vocational Education" where he became principal at Patton High. Introduced in 1980 after Richie left the show as a recurring character. Lori Beth Allen-Cunningham (Lynda Goodfriend) – Richie's girlfriend and later his wife (1977–82). She married Richie by phone in season eight. Fonzie helped Lori Beth deliver her baby in "Little Baby Cunningham". She returned as a guest star in the final season, where she is revealed to be pregnant with her second baby. Ashley Pfister (Linda Purl) – Divorced mother who becomes Fonzie's steady girlfriend until they break up offscreen sometime before "Where the Guys Are". (Purl also portrays Richie's part-time girlfriend Gloria in season 2). Minor/recurring Marsha Simms (Beatrice Colen) (seasons 1–3, 5; 22 episodes) – A carhop waitress in the first 3 seasons with comic sides and plot development appearances. She returned for a flashback (guest) appearance in the episode "Our Gang". Bobby Melner (Harris Kal) (seasons 8–11; 19 episodes) – Friend of Chachi and Joanie seen in episodes after Richie and Ralph left the show. He is a student in Fonzie's auto shop class, as well as in Roger's health class. At one point, he was also on the Jefferson High basketball team, and performed in a band with Joanie and Chachi. K.C. Cunningham (Crystal Bernard) (season 10; 15 episodes) – Howard's niece. She moves in with Howard and Marion after Joanie leaves for Chicago. She left an all-girls boarding school in Texas because it closed down. Her parents are always traveling. She also becomes friends with Jenny and she goes on her first date with Melvin. Leopold "Flip" Phillips (Billy Warlock) (seasons 9–10; 13 episodes) – Roger's rebellious younger brother. He usually wears a shirt cut off over his bellybutton. Tommy (Kevin Sullivan) (seasons 8–11; 13 episodes) – Another friend of Chachi and Joanie in episodes after Ron Howard and Don Most left the show. Like Bobby, Tommy is a student in Fonzie's auto shop class, as well as in Roger's health class. At one point, he is also on the Jefferson High basketball team and performs in a band with Joanie and Chachi. Heather Pfister (Heather O'Rourke) (season 10; 12 episodes) – Ashley Pfister's daughter. Initially she does not get along with Fonzie, but gradually learns to accept him as a father figure. Charles "Chuck" Cunningham (Gavan O'Herlihy, Randolph Roberts) (seasons 1–2; 11 episodes) – The oldest son of Howard and Marion Cunningham and older brother of Richie and Joanie, Chuck is a college student and basketball player. He is rarely seen and disappears without explanation in season three, never to be seen nor referenced again after season 2's "Fish and Fins". The character's disappearance gave rise to the term "Chuck Cunningham Syndrome", used to describe TV characters that disappear from shows without an in-narrative explanation and are nowhere to be seen or mentioned again. Gavan O'Herlihy played Chuck, but then he asked to leave the series. He was replaced by Randolph Roberts. In several late-season episodes, Howard and Marion say they are "very proud of our two children", with no on-screen reference to Chuck. Eugene Belvin (Denis Mandel) (seasons 8–9; 10 episodes) – Nerdy classmate of Joanie and Chachi, and twin brother of Melvin Belvin. He takes Fonzie's auto shop class and has a crush on Jenny Piccolo. Despite being a general stooge to his classmates at Jefferson High, he frequently tags along with Joanie and Chachi's circle of friends. "Bag" Zombroski (Neil J. Schwartz) (seasons 1–4; 9 episodes) – A Jefferson High schoolmate, drummer of Richie's band and a leader of a jacket club called "The Demons". Police Officer Kirk / Army Reserve Major Kirk (Ed Peck) (seasons 3–10; 9 episodes) – Fonzie's nemesis and antagonist, who is eager to demonstrate his inflated sense of authority, and on the watch for delinquents and "pinkos" (communists). Kirk takes over as acting sheriff following the untimely death of Sheriff Flanaghan. Wendy (Misty Rowe) (season 2; 8 episodes) – A carhop from Arnold's in season two. She is paired with Marsha Simms in 5 episodes. Trudy (Tita Bell) (seasons 1–4; 8 episodes) – A Jefferson High classmate, Potsie's and Fonzie's date in various episodes Melvin Belvin (Scott Bernstein) (seasons 9–10; 8 episodes) – A nerdy classmate of Joanie and Chachi, and twin brother of Eugene Belvin. Like his brother, Melvin frequently tags along with Joanie's and Chachi's circle of friends. Leather Tuscadero (Suzi Quatro) (seasons 5–6; 7 episodes) – A musician, younger sister of Pinky Tuscadero and a former juvenile delinquent, she forms her own girl group called "Leather and the Suedes". Richie, Ralph, Potsie and Chachi become her (nameless) backup band. They perform "The Fonzie", a new dance song on Chicago's Sock Hop, a teen TV dance show. Jennifer Jerome (Lorrie Mahaffey) (seasons 5–6; 6 episodes) – Potsie's steady girlfriend. Mahaffey was Anson Williams' then wife. Laverne De Fazio (Penny Marshall) and Shirley Feeney (Cindy Williams) (seasons 3, 6–7; 5 episodes) – Dating interest of Fonzie, Laverne and her friend Shirley appeared prominently in three episodes during season three ("A Date with Fonzie", "Football Frolics", and "Fonzie the Superstar"), which led to the Marshall and Williams starring in the spin-off series Laverne & Shirley; they also made guest appearances in season six's "Fonzie's Funeral (Part 2)" and season seven's "Shotgun Wedding" (Part 1) (the second part of "Shotgun Wedding" concluded on a crossover episode of Laverne and Shirley.) Louisa Arcola-Delvecchio (Ellen Travolta) (seasons 8–11; 5 episodes) – Mother of Chachi Arcola and aunt of Fonzie. She marries Al Delvecchio and they move to Chicago. Gloria (Linda Purl) (season 2; 5 episodes) – Richie's occasional girlfriend in season two. Dr. Mickey Malph (Alan Oppenheimer, Jack Dodson) (season 3–4, 7; 4 episodes) – Ralph's father, an optometrist and, like his son, a self-styled comedian. He briefly separates from his wife Minnie, but apparently resolves the issues with her after a talk with Ralph. Dr. Malph convinces Fonzie to wear glasses after he starts having vision problems. Raymond "Spike" Fonzarelli (Danny Butch) (seasons 2–4; 4 episodes) – Fonzie's cousin (often referred to as his nephew, but Fonzie explains that he could not be his nephew, as Fonzie was an only child) and his copycat. He goes on a date with Joanie in "Not with My Sister, You Don't" and made only fleeting appearances before the introduction of Chachi. The kinship between Spike and Chachi was never explained. Grandma Nussbaum (Frances Bay) (seasons 3, 9–11: 4 episodes) – Chachi Arcola and Fonzie's grandmother. Grandma Nussbaum was played by Lillian Bronson in the season 3 episode "Fonzie Moves In". Carol "Pinky" Tuscadero (Roz Kelly) (season 4; 3 episodes) – Former girlfriend of Fonzie and a traveling demolition derby driver. Clarence (Gary Friedkin) (season 10; 3 episodes) – A cook at Arnold's who is referred to several times throughout the show, but never actually seen until the episode "A Woman Not Under the Influence". There, it is revealed that Clarence is a little person. Bill "Sticks" Downey (John-Anthony Bailey) (season 3; 2 episodes) – Friend of Fonzie, Richie, Potsie, and Ralph and drummer for their band, hence his nickname "Sticks", though he claims he got the nickname because he was skinny. Production Happy Days originated during a time of 1950s nostalgic interest as evident in 1970s film, television, and music. In late winter of 1971, Michael Eisner was snowed in at Newark airport where he bumped into Tom Miller, head of development at Paramount. Eisner has stated that he told Miller, "Tom, this is ridiculous. We're wasting our time here. Let's write a show." The script treatment that came out of that did not sell. But in spite of the market research department telling them that the 1950s theme would not work, they decided to redo it, and this was accepted as a pilot. This unsold pilot was filmed in late 1971 and titled New Family in Town, with Harold Gould in the role of Howard Cunningham, Marion Ross as Marion, Ron Howard as Richie, Anson Williams as Potsie, Ric Carrott as Charles "Chuck" Cunningham, and Susan Neher as Joanie. Paramount passed on making it into a weekly series, and the pilot was recycled with the title Love and the Television Set (later retitled Love and the Happy Days for syndication), for presentation on the television anthology series Love, American Style. Also in 1971, the musical Grease had a successful opening in Chicago, and by the following year became successful on Broadway. In 1972, George Lucas asked to view the pilot to determine if Ron Howard would be suitable to play a teenager in American Graffiti, then in pre-production. Lucas immediately cast Howard in the film, which became one of the top-grossing films of 1973. With the movie's success generating a renewed interest in the 1950s era (although the film was set in 1962), TV show creator Garry Marshall and ABC recast the unsold pilot to turn Happy Days into a series. According to Marshall in an interview, executive producer Tom Miller said while developing the sitcom, "If we do a TV series that takes place in another era, and when it goes into reruns, then it won't look old." This made sense to Marshall while on the set of the show. Gould had originally been tapped to reprise the role of Howard Cunningham on the show. However, during a delay before the start of production he found work doing a play abroad and when he was notified the show was ready to begin production, he declined to return because he wanted to honor his commitment. Bosley was then offered the role. Production and scheduling notes Jerry Paris, who played next-door neighbor Jerry Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show and directed 84 episodes of that series, directed every episode of Happy Days from season three on, except for three episodes in season three ("Jailhouse Rock", "Dance Contest", and "Arnold's Wedding"). Producer and writer Bob Brunner created Arthur Fonzarelli's "Fonzie" nickname and his iconic comeback phrase, "Sit on it." Beginning in September 1979 until the show went out of production, reruns of the show were syndicated under the title Happy Days Again. Happy Days was produced by Miller-Milkis Productions, a teaming of Thomas L. Miller with former film editor Edward K. Milkis, which became Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions when Robert L. Boyett joined the company in 1980, and was the first-ever show to be produced by the company's most recent incarnation, Miller-Boyett Productions, which followed Milkis's resignation from the partnership. It was also produced by Henderson Productions and was one of the popular shows produced in association with Paramount Television. In its 11 seasons on the air, Happy Days is the third-longest-running sitcom in ABC's history (behind The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which ran 14 seasons, from 1952 to 1966), and one of the longest-running primetime programs in the network's history. It is also unique in that it remained in the same time slot, leading off ABC's Tuesday night programming at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific (7:00 p.m. in the Central and Mountain zones) for its first ten seasons. That half-hour became a signature timeslot for ABC, with Who's the Boss? instantly entering the top 10 when it was moved from Thursdays and staying in that time slot for six seasons, followed by the equally family-friendly sitcom Full House (another Miller-Boyett co-production). That sitcom also hit the top 10 immediately after inheriting the Tuesday at 8:00/7:00 p.m. slot and then stayed there for four seasons. Happy Days also proved to be quite popular in daytime reruns; the show joined the ABC daytime schedule in September 1975, airing reruns at 11:30 a.m. ET (10:30 a.m. CT/MT/PT), being moved to 11:00/10:00 a.m. in April 1977, paired with Family Feud following at 11:30/10:30 a.m. It was replaced on the daytime schedule by reruns of its spin-off, Laverne & Shirley, in April 1979. CBS programming head Fred Silverman scheduled the Maude spin-off Good Times directly against Happy Days during their respective second seasons in an attempt to kill the ABC show's growing popularity. In a way this move backfired on Silverman, as he was named president of ABC in 1975, thus forcing him to come up with a way to save the show he tried to kill the year before. After having knocked Happy Days out of the top 20 programs on television his last year at CBS, Silverman had the series at the top of the Nielsen ratings by 1977 (see below). Good Times was later ended in 1979. Ron Howard later revealed that many of the exterior scenes filmed in Happy Days were actually shot in Munster, Indiana. The official series finale ("Passages") aired on May 8, 1984. But there were five "leftover" episodes that ABC didn't have time to air during the regular season due to the Winter Olympics and the spring run of a.k.a. Pablo. Four of these aired on Thursday nights during the summer of 1984; the fifth ("Fonzie's Spots") aired on September 24, 1984. Production styles The first two seasons of Happy Days (1974–75) were filmed using a single-camera setup and laugh track. One episode of season two ("Fonzie Gets Married") was filmed in front of a studio audience with three cameras as a test run. From the third season on (1975–84), the show was a three-camera production in front of a live audience (with a cast member, usually Tom Bosley, announcing in voice-over, "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience" at the start of most episodes), giving these later seasons a markedly different style. A laugh track was still used during post-production to smooth over live reactions. Garry Marshall's earlier television series The Odd Couple had undergone an identical change in production style after its first season in 1970–71. Sets The show had two main sets: the Cunningham home and Arnold's/Al's Drive-In. In seasons one and two, the Cunningham house was arranged with the front door on the left and the kitchen on the right of screen, in a triangular arrangement. From season three on, the house was rearranged to accommodate multiple cameras and a studio audience. The Cunninghams' official address is 565 North Clinton Drive, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The house that served as the exterior of the Cunningham residence is actually located at 565 North Cahuenga Boulevard (south of Melrose Avenue) in Los Angeles, several blocks from the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue. The Milky Way Drive-In, located on Port Washington Road in the North Shore suburb of Glendale, Wisconsin (now Kopp's Frozen Custard Stand), was the inspiration for the original Arnold's Drive-In; it has since been demolished. The exterior of Arnold's was a standing set on the Paramount Studios lot that has since been demolished. This exterior was close to Stage 19, where the rest of the show's sets were located. The set of the diner in the first season was a room with the same vague details of the later set, such as the paneling, and the college pennants. When the show changed to a studio production in 1975, the set was widened and the entrance was hidden, but allowed an upstage, central entrance for cast members. The barely-seen kitchen was also upstaged and seen only through a pass-through window. The diner had orange booths, downstage center for closeup conversation, as well as camera left. There were two restroom doors camera right, labeled "Guys" and "Dolls". A 1953 Seeburg Model G jukebox (with replaced metal pilasters from Wico Corp.) was positioned camera right, and an anachronistic "Nip-It" pinball machine (actually produced in 1972) was positioned far camera right. College pennants adorned the walls, including Purdue and University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, along with a blue and white sign reading "Jefferson High School". Milwaukee's Washington High School provided the inspiration for the exteriors of the fictional Jefferson. In a two-part episode from the seventh season, the original Arnold's Drive-In was written out of the series as being destroyed by fire (see List of Happy Days episodes, episodes 159 and 160). In the last seasons that covered the 1960s timeline, a new Arnold's Drive-In set (to portray the new Arnold's that replaced the original Arnold's destroyed by the fire) emerged in a 1960s decor with wood paneling and stained glass. Also, in seasons 8 and 9, the new drive-in was named "Fonzie & Big Al" because Fonzie and Al co-owned the new establishment in a partnership. In 2004, two decades after the first set was destroyed, the Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion requested that the reunion take place in Arnold's. The set was rebuilt by production designer James Yarnell based on the original floor plan. The reunion special was taped at CBS Television City's Bob Barker Studio in September 2004. Theme music Season one used a newly recorded version of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets (recorded in the fall of 1973) as the opening theme song. This recording was not commercially released at the time, although the original 1954 recording returned to the American Billboard charts in 1974 as a result of the song's use on the show. The "Happy Days" recording had its first commercial release in 2005 by the German label Hydra Records. (When Happy Days entered syndication in 1979, the series was retitled Happy Days Again and used an edited version of the 1954 recording instead of the 1973 version.) In some prints intended for reruns and overseas broadcasts, as well as on the Season 2 DVD set release and later re-releases of the Season 1 DVD set, the original "Rock Around the Clock" opening theme is replaced by the more standard "Happy Days" theme, because of music rights issues. The show's closing theme song in seasons one and two was a fragment from "Happy Days" (although in a different recording with a different lyric from that which would become the standard version), whose music was composed by Charles Fox and whose lyric was written by Norman Gimbel. According to SAG, this version was performed by Jim Haas on lead vocals, The Ron Hicklin Singers, Stan Farber, Jerry Whitman, and Gary Garrett on backing vocals, and studio musicians. From seasons three to ten inclusive, a longer version of "Happy Days" replaced "Rock Around the Clock" at the beginning of the show. Released as a single in 1976 by Pratt & McClain, "Happy Days" cracked the Top 5. The show itself finished the 1976–77 television season at No. 1, ending the five-year Nielsen reign of All in the Family. For the show's 11th and final season (1983–84), the theme was rerecorded in a more modern style. It featured Bobby Arvon on lead vocals, with several back-up vocalists. To accompany this new version, new opening credits were filmed, and the flashing Happy Days logo was reanimated to create an overall "new" feel which incorporated 1980s sensibilities with 1950s nostalgia (although by this time the show was set in 1965). Merchandising revenue lawsuit On April 19, 2011, Happy Days co-stars Erin Moran, Don Most, Marion Ross and Anson Williams, as well as the estate of Tom Bosley (who died in 2010), filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS, which owns the show, claiming they had not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts. The cast members claimed they had not received revenues from show-related items, including comic books, T-shirts, scrapbooks, trading cards, games, lunch boxes, dolls, toy cars, magnets, greeting cards and DVDs where their images appear on the box covers. Under their contracts, they were supposed to be paid 5% of the net proceeds of merchandising if their sole image were used, and half that amount if they were in a group. CBS said it owed the actors $8,500 and $9,000 each, most of it from slot machine revenues, but the group said they were owed millions. The lawsuit was initiated after Ross was informed by a friend playing slots at a casino of a Happy Days machine on which players win the jackpot when five Marion Rosses are rolled. In October 2011, a judge rejected the group's fraud claim, which meant they could not receive millions of dollars in potential damages. On June 5, 2012, a judge denied a motion filed by CBS to have the case thrown out, which meant it would go to trial on July 17 if the matter was not settled by then. In July 2012, the actors settled their lawsuit with CBS. Each received a payment of $65,000 and a promise by CBS to continue honoring the terms of their contracts. Daytime Reruns The series was rebroadcast on ABC from September 1, 1975 to March 30, 1979. Legacy In 1978, actor Robin Williams made his screen debut during the fifth season of Happy Days, as the character "Mork" in the episode "My Favorite Orkan". Sought after as a last-minute cast replacement for a departing actor, Williams impressed the producer with his quirky sense of humor when he sat on his head when asked to take a seat for the audition. While portraying Mork on Happy Days, Williams improvised much of his dialogue and physical comedy, speaking in a high, nasal voice, and he made the most of the script. The cast and crew, as well as TV network executives were deeply impressed with his performance. As such, the executives moved quickly to get the performer on contract just four days later before competitors could make their own offers. In 1980, the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution asked Henry Winkler to donate one of Fonzie's leather jackets. In 1985, Jon Hein developed the phrase jumping the shark in response to the season 5 episode "Hollywood: Part 3", written by Fred Fox, Jr., which aired on September 20, 1977. In this episode, Fonzie jumps over a shark while on water-skis. The phrase is used to suggest that a creative outlet appears to be making a misguided attempt at generating new attention or publicity for something that is perceived to be once, but no longer, widely popular. In a 2019 interview with NPR, Terry Gross asked Henry Winkler (Fonzie) what it was "about that scene or that episode that came to signify when something's time is up – when it's over?" Winkler responded: "You know what? I don't know. To them, the Fonz water skiing was just like the last straw. The only thing is it wasn't to the audience because we were number one for years after that. So it didn't much matter to anybody." In addition, he told TheWrap in 2018 that he is "not embarrassed" by the phrase. He stated that "newspapers would mention jumping the shark... and they would show a picture of me in my leather jacket and swim shorts water-skiing. And at that time I had great legs. So I thought, 'I don't care.' And we were number one for the next four or five years." As his character Barry Zuckerkorn (in the sitcom Arrested Development) hopped over a shark in Episode 13 of the second season, Winkler also noted that there "was a book, there was a board game and it is an expression that is still used today ... [and] I'm very proud that I am the only actor, maybe in the world, that has jumped the shark twice – once on Happy Days, and once on Arrested Development." In 1999 TV Guide ranked Fonzie as number 4 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list. In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4 in the UK, the Fonz was ranked 13th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 2008, American artist Gerald P. Sawyer, unveiled the Bronze Fonz (a public artwork) on the Milwaukee Riverwalk in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In December 2023, Variety ranked Happy Days #87 on its list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time. Home media Paramount Home Entertainment and CBS DVD have released the first six seasons of Happy Days on DVD in Region 1, as of December 2, 2014. For the second season, CBS features music replacements due to copyright issues, including the theme song "Rock Around the Clock". ('The Complete First Season' retains the original opening, as it was released before CBS was involved). Only season 3 and 4 of the DVD release contain the original music. The sixth season was released on December 2, 2014. The remaining 5 seasons have not been released. The season 7 premiere "Shotgun Wedding: Part 1" was also released on the Laverne & Shirley season 5 DVD. To date, this is the last episode released on home media. The first four seasons have also been released on DVD in the UK (Region 2) and Australia (Region 4). Reunion specials There have been two reunion specials which aired on ABC: the first was The Happy Days Reunion Special originally aired in March 1992, followed by Happy Days: 30th Anniversary Reunion in February 2005 to commemorate the program's 30th anniversary. Both were set up in interview/clip format. Spin-offs Happy Days resulted in seven different spin-off series, including two that were animated: Laverne & Shirley, Blansky's Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Out of the Blue, Joanie Loves Chachi, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (animated), and Laverne & Shirley with The Fonz (animated). The most successful of these spin-offs, Laverne & Shirley (1976–83) starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, respectively, also took place in early/mid-1960s Milwaukee. As Shotz Brewery workers, modeled after the Miller, Schlitz, and Pabst Breweries once located in Milwaukee, Laverne and Shirley find themselves in adventures with The Fonz, Lenny and Squiggy and even the Cunninghams also living in the midwestern city. The two starring characters eventually moved to Los Angeles in the show's later years. Penny Marshall was the sister of producer Garry Marshall. Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley had a crossover episode, "Shotgun Wedding", in which Richie and Fonzie get into trouble with a farmer for courting his daughters, and Laverne and Shirley try to help them. Part one is the season seven premiere of Happy Days and part two is the season five premiere of Laverne & Shirley. After Robin Williams appeared as Mork in "My Favorite Orkan", he was given his own sitcom, Mork & Mindy (1978–82). In this series, Mork is an alien from the planet Ork, who lands in 1970s Boulder, Colorado, to study humans. He moves in with Pam Dawber's character of Mindy McConnell. Joanie Loves Chachi (1982–83) was a show about Richie's younger sister Joanie and Fonzie's younger cousin Chachi's relationship during their years as musicians in Chicago. While commonly believed that the show was canceled due to low ratings, the program finished in the Top 20 its first season, but ABC determined that the show was losing too much of its lead-in, suggesting low appeal if the show were moved (a suggestion that came to be realized, as the show's ratings dropped dramatically after a move to another time slot in its second season). This type of cancellation seemed strange in the early 1980s, but soon became a commonplace part of TV audience research. Out of the Blue (1979) is a spin-off of Happy Days, though a scheduling error had the series airing prior to the main character's introduction on Happy Days. Blansky's Beauties (1977) starred Nancy Walker as former Las Vegas showgirl Nancy Blansky. One week before the show's premiere, the Blansky character appeared on Happy Days as a cousin of Howard Cunningham. Scott Baio and Lynda Goodfriend co-starred before joining Happy Days the following fall, and Pat Morita reprised his role of Arnold. Similarly, Eddie Mekka of Laverne & Shirley played the cousin of his Carmine character, while pulling double duty as a regular in both shows. Spin-off pilots that did not succeed include The Ralph and Potsie Show as well as The Pinky Tuscadero Show. List of songs performed on Happy Days In other media Books A series of novels based on characters and dialog of the series was written by William Johnston and published by Tempo Books in the 1970s. Comic books Western Publishing published a Happy Days comic book series in 1979 under their Gold Key Comics brand and Whitman Comics brand. Animation There are two animated series, both produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with Paramount Television (now known as CBS Television Distribution). The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang ran from 1980 to 1982. There are also animated spin-offs of Laverne & Shirley (Laverne & Shirley in the Army) and Mork & Mindy (centering on a young Mork and Mindy in high school). The following season, they were connected together as Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour (1982). Musicals In the late 1990s, a touring arena show called Happy Days: The Arena Spectacular toured Australia's major cities. The story featured a property developer, and former girlfriend of Fonzie's, called Miss Frost (Rebecca Gibney), wanting to buy the diner and redevelop it. It starred Craig McLachlan as Fonzie, Max Gillies and Wendy Hughes as Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham, Doug Parkinson as Al, and Jo Beth Taylor as Richie's love interest Laura. Tom Bosley presented an introduction before each performance live on stage, and pop group Human Nature played a 1950s-style rock group. Another stage show, Happy Days: A New Musical, began touring in 2008. Music videos The music video for the song "Buddy Holly" (which takes place at Arnold's Drive-in) by Weezer features footage from the series, including clips of Richie, Potsie, Ralph Malph, Joanie, and Fonzie. Al Molinaro also reprises his role as Al Delvecchio in the video, joking about how bad his fish is at the beginning and end of the video. See also Fonz (video game) Notes References External links Happy Days at IMDb Happy Days at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television results

1974_World_Series

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_World_Series

The 1974 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1974 season. The 71st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion (and two-time defending World Series champion) Oakland Athletics and the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Athletics won the series, four games to one; after splitting the first two in Los Angeles, Oakland swept their three home games to close it out. Rollie Fingers figured in three of the four Oakland victories, posting a win and two saves, and was honored with the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. Oakland became the first team to win three consecutive Series since the New York Yankees won five straight (1949–1953); the win secured the Athletics' status as one of the truly dominant teams of the 1970s. (The other "team of the decade," the Cincinnati Reds, won consecutive World Series in 1975 and 1976, after falling short in 1970 and 1972.) This was the first all-California World Series; these two teams met again fourteen years later, with a different result. Background The 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers were the second (after the runner-up 1962 squad) Dodgers team to win at least 100 games since moving west from Brooklyn; they won the National League West division after a season long battle by four games over the Cincinnati Reds, then defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates three games to one in the National League Championship Series. The Oakland Athletics won the American League West division by five games over the Texas Rangers, then defeated the Baltimore Orioles three games to one in the American League Championship Series. Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics, at the height of their dynasty as the "Swingin' A's", had consistently matching their on-field heroics with locker-room meltdowns and intra-squad theatrics for the American League. After yet another banner year (Catfish Hunter won 25 games, Reggie Jackson knocked in 105 runs, and Billy North stole 54 bases), the team seemed to be winning more attention for its dysfunctional communication patterns than for its superior lineup. Hunter was threatening to file for free agency in 1975 if owner Charles O. Finley didn't come through with back pay Hunter claimed he had coming. Traumatized former second baseman Mike Andrews was considering legal action for the shabby treatment he received in the previous year's World Series. Teammates Rollie Fingers and Blue Moon Odom had gotten into a fistfight. And the Series-winning manager of the previous year, Dick Williams was long gone, having had one personality clash too many with the Athletics front office. Despite all the melodrama, the Athletics won the pennant for the third straight year, the first time a team had done so since the 1960-64 New York Yankees. They had dispatched the Baltimore Orioles in a four-game ALCS. Notwithstanding the off-field troubles, between the lines they were fundamentally sound, had strong pitching, and combined speed and power. Los Angeles Dodgers Los Angeles won 102 games, boasted the best team ERA (2.97) in the National League, and led their league in runs scored (798). Steve Garvey hit .312, Jimmy Wynn knocked in 108 runs, Bill Buckner hit .314 in one of the best years of his career, Davey Lopes stole 59 bases, Andy Messersmith won twenty games, and Don Sutton won nineteen games. Walter Alston was in his 21st year as manager of the club. Summary AL Oakland Athletics (4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (1) Matchups Game 1 Reggie Jackson put the A's on the board first with a homer in the top of the second off 20-game winner Andy Messersmith. The A's added another run in the fifth when starting pitcher Ken Holtzman, batting for the first time all season because of the designated hitter rule, doubled to left, went to third on a Messersmith wild pitch, and scored on a Bert Campaneris suicide squeeze bunt. The Dodgers crept back with a run in their half of the fifth when Davey Lopes reached first on an error by Campaneris. Bill Buckner then bounced a single to right that Jackson misplayed, allowing Lopes to score. The A's scored their final run in the eighth when Campaneris singled to shallow center, was sacrificed to second by Bill North, and scored when Dodger third baseman Ron Cey threw wildly to first on a grounder hit by Sal Bando. Bando reached third on the error, and attempted to score on a flyout to right by Jackson, but right fielder Joe Ferguson gunned him down at the plate. In the bottom of the ninth, with Rollie Fingers on the mound, Jimmy Wynn hit a homer that just escaped the reach of Joe Rudi and North in left center. Following a single by Steve Garvey, Catfish Hunter relieved Fingers and made the final out by striking out Ferguson. Fingers got the win with 4+1⁄3 innings of relief, having relieved Holtzman in the fifth inning . Game 2 Don Sutton pitched superbly, shutting out the A's on four hits through eight innings. The Dodgers scored first in the second off Vida Blue when Ron Cey walked, Bill Russell singled, and Steve Yeager singled home Cey. Joe Ferguson slammed a two-run homer off Blue in the sixth inning to make it 3–0. The A's threatened in the eighth when pinch hitters Jim Holt and Claudell Washington hit back-to-back singles with one out. Bert Campaneris reached on an infield error to load the bases. The rally was squelched when Bill North hit into a double play in which first baseman Steve Garvey made an exceptional pickup of a low throw by Russell. In the ninth inning the A's finally got on the board when Sal Bando led off with being hit by a pitch, Reggie Jackson followed with a double, and Joe Rudi singled both runners home. Mike Marshall then relieved Sutton and struck out Gene Tenace. Herb Washington was sent in to pinch-run for Rudi, and Marshall picked him off. Herb Washington was the only "designated runner" to appear in a World Series. Washington was a track star with no baseball experience whom the A's Charles Finley signed solely to appear as a pinch runner in late game situations. His stats for 1974 were 92 games, zero at bats, 29 runs scored, 29 stolen bases, but he was caught stealing 16 times. Sure enough, with the A's trailing 3–2 in the ninth inning of Game 2, Washington pinch ran. Just after announcer Vin Scully said that Washington better be careful because pitcher Mike Marshall has a good pickoff move, he was promptly picked off first base. Marshall then retired Ángel Mangual for the final out. Game 3 With the Series shifting back to Oakland, it was A's ace Catfish Hunter's turn to be brilliant. Hunter shut out the Dodgers on four hits through seven innings, and his teammates provided him with two runs in the third when Bill North scored on an error by catcher Joe Ferguson and an RBI single by Joe Rudi. The A's added another run in the fourth on Bert Campaneris' RBI single. The Dodgers got their only runs on homers by Bill Buckner in the eighth and Willie Crawford in the ninth. Rollie Fingers was not awarded the save because in 1974, tougher criteria were adopted for saves where the tying run had to be on base or at the plate when the reliever entered to qualify for a save. Game 4 The A's struck first on a solo homer by the surprising Ken Holtzman in the third. The Dodgers came right back in their half of the fourth on a two-run triple by Bill Russell. Holtzman settled into a groove after that, surrendering no runs before yielding to Rollie Fingers in the eighth. The A's took control of the game with four runs in the sixth off Andy Messersmith. Bill North led off with a walk and went to second on a wild pickoff throw by Messersmith. Sal Bando singled home North to tie it. After a Reggie Jackson walk, a Joe Rudi sacrifice bunt, and an intentional walk to Claudell Washington, Jim Holt pinch-hit for Ray Fosse and singled in two runs. An RBI groundout by Dick Green capped off the rally. Fingers pitched the final 1+2⁄3 innings for his first save of the series. Game 5 The A's staked Vida Blue to a 2–0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings on a sacrifice fly by Sal Bando and a homer by Ray Fosse. The Dodgers tied it in the sixth with two runs on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Wynn and an RBI single by Steve Garvey. Joe Rudi got what would turn out to be the game-winning RBI when he tagged Dodger ace reliever Mike Marshall with a homer in the bottom of the seventh. The half-inning was delayed when Bill Buckner complained of A's fans throwing debris onto the field. Marshall, who always pitched in short sleeves, disdained his allowance of eight warm up pitches after coming in from the bullpen even after the delay. Rudi then proceeded to deposit Marshall's first pitch over the left field wall. In the Dodgers half of the eighth, Buckner led off with a base hit to center that got past center fielder Bill North. Buckner had an easy double, but tried to stretch it to a triple and Reggie Jackson, backing up North, fired a perfect throw to Dick Green, who relayed to Sal Bando at third to nail Buckner and squelch the last Dodger threat. Rollie Fingers got his second save and was named Series MVP. Aftermath Four of the five games had the score of 3–2. Mike Marshall of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the only pitcher to appear in all five games of a five-game World Series, as of 2014. The Dodgers got six more hits than the A's but scored five fewer runs, showing their lack of timely hitting. They also made six errors in five games, in addition to a number of mental errors. The champion A's batted only .211 in the Series, the lowest in a five-game Series since the Baltimore Orioles hit .146 and lost in 1969. As of 2021, the A's are the only team besides the Yankees to win three consecutive World Series. This was the first World Series to end at night. While it opened with traditional day games (1 pm PDT) on the weekend in Los Angeles, the three weeknight games in Oakland (5:30 pm PDT) were all in prime-time (for the Eastern and Central time zones). As World Series champions, the A's earned a postseason bonus of $22,219 each; the Dodger shares were $15,704 each, while the Orioles and Pirates took about $7,400 each. This was the last major league championship for a Bay Area team won in its home stadium or arena until the Golden State Warriors won the 2017 NBA Finals in Oakland, ending a streak of 13 Bay Area championships won in an opponent or neutral stadium or arena. Also, with the Warriors winning the 1975 NBA Finals, Oakland (and the Bay Area in particular) won both the World Series and NBA championship in a span of a season or calendar year, a distinction previously earned by New York when the Mets and Knicks won their league championships within a year's span. This was followed by the Los Angeles metropolitan area in 1981–82 (Dodgers and Lakers), 1988 (Dodgers and Lakers), 2002 (Angels and Lakers) and 2020 (Lakers and Dodgers), Boston in 2007–08 (Red Sox and Celtics), and the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014–15 (Giants and Warriors). Composite box 1974 World Series (4–1): Oakland Athletics (A.L.) over Los Angeles Dodgers (N.L.) At the time, the winning margin of five runs tied for second-lowest for a five-game series (with 1933 and 1942); the 1915 margin was two runs, and three runs in 2000. Notes See also 1974 Japan Series References Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990). The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 351–354. ISBN 0-312-03960-3. Reichler, Joseph (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2194. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. Forman, Sean L. "1974 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Statistics and Information. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2007. External links 1974 World Series at WorldSeries.com via MLB.com 1974 World Series at Baseball Almanac 1974 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com The 1974 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet History of the World Series - 1974 at The Sporting News. Archived from the original in May 2006. Triple Crown to the Clowns at SI.com Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Reggie Jackson's Three Homers Archived April 11, 2005, at the Wayback Machine The 1974 Oakland Athletics at baseballlibrary.com The 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers at baseballlibrary.com

List_of_Academy_Award_records

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Academy_Award_records

This list of Academy Award records is current as of the 96th Academy Awards, with the ceremony taking place on March 10, 2024. Most awards or nominations Most awards won by a single film: 11 Three films have won 11 Academy Awards: Ben-Hur (1959): nominated in 12 of the 15 possible categories Titanic (1997): nominated in 14 of the 17 possible categories The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): nominated in 11 of the 17 possible categories Most nominations received by a single film: 14 Three films have received 14 nominations: All About Eve (1950): won 6 awards out of 16 possible categories Titanic (1997): won 11 awards out of 17 possible categories La La Land (2016): won 6 awards out of 17 possible categories Largest sweep (winning awards in every nominated category): 11 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) won in every category for which it was nominated: Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Makeup, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects Most total awards won by a person: 22 Walt Disney Dennis Muren holds the record for the most awards by a living person: 9 Most total awards won by a woman: 8 Edith Head, all for Best Costume Design Most total nominations for a person: 59 Walt Disney Most nominations and awards for a person in a single year: 6 & 4 In 1954, Walt Disney received six nominations and won four awards, both records. He won Best Documentary, Features for The Living Desert; Best Documentary, Short Subjects for The Alaskan Eskimo; Best Short Subject, Cartoons for Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom; and Best Short Subject, Two-reel for Bear Country. He had two additional nominations in Best Short Subject, Cartoons for Rugged Bear; and Best Short Subject, Two-reel for Ben and Me Most competitive awards won by a person who is still living: 8 Composer Alan Menken has won 8 competitive awards Of note: Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren has won 9 Academy Awards: six competitive awards, two "Special Achievement" awards, and one "Technical Achievement" award Acting: 4 Katharine Hepburn, all for Best Actress Directing: 4 John Ford Writing: 3 Woody Allen, all for Best Original Screenplay Charles Brackett, for both Best Adapted and Original Screenplay Paddy Chayefsky, for both Best Adapted and Original Screenplay Francis Ford Coppola, for both Best Adapted and Original Screenplay Billy Wilder, for both Best Adapted and Original Screenplay Film Editing: 3 Michael Kahn Thelma Schoonmaker Daniel Mandell Ralph Dawson Cinematography: 4 Joseph Ruttenberg Leon Shamroy Film Music Composition and Songwriting: 9 Alfred Newman, all for Best Original Score Of note: Alan Menken has won eight awards in musical categories John Williams has won five awards and holds the record for the most nominations by a living person at 54. Sammy Cahn won four awards, all for Best Original Song Johnny Mercer won four awards, all for Best Original Song Jimmy Van Heusen won four awards, all for Best Original Song Art Direction: 11 Cedric Gibbons, who designed the Oscar statuette, received 38 nominations Costume Design: 8 Edith Head, who received 35 nominations in total Makeup: 7 Rick Baker, who has received 11 nominations in total Visual Effects: 8 Dennis Muren, who has received 15 nominations in total Special Effects (discontinued in 1962): 3 A. Arnold Gillespie, who received 12 nominations in total Most awards won for an animated feature film: 3 Pete Docter, who has received 4 nominations in total Most nominations received for an animated feature film: 4 Pete Docter, winning 3 Hayao Miyazaki, winning 2 Most awards won by a country for Best International Feature Film: 14 Italy, which has received 33 nominations in total Most nominations received by a country for Best International Feature Film: 41 France, which has won the award 12 times Most nominations received by a country for Best International Feature Film without an award: 10 Israel Most awards won by a non-English language film: 4 Four non English-language films have won four Academy Awards: Fanny and Alexander (1982) won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score Parasite (2019) won Best International Feature Film, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) won Best International Feature Film, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score Most nominations received by a non English-language film: 10 Two non-English language films have been nominated for ten Academy Awards (* = winner): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000): Best Foreign Language Film (*), Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction (*), Best Cinematography (*), Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score (*), and Best Original Song Roma (2018): Best Foreign Language Film (*), Best Picture, Best Director (*), Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography (*), Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing Awards for Acting and Directing Debuts These people won Academy Awards for their debut performances in film: Best Actor None Best Actress Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba, 1952) Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins, 1964) Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl, 1968) Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God, 1986) Best Supporting Actor Harold Russell (The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946) Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, 1980) Haing S. Ngor (The Killing Fields, 1984) Best Supporting Actress Gale Sondergaard (Anthony Adverse, 1936) Katina Paxinou (For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1943) Mercedes McCambridge (All the King's Men, 1949) Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront, 1954) Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden, 1955) Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon, 1973) Anna Paquin (The Piano, 1993) Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls, 2006) Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave, 2013) Honorary Award Harold Russell (The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946) Academy Juvenile Award Claude Jarman Jr. (The Yearling, 1946) Vincent Winter (The Little Kidnappers, 1954) These people won Academy Awards for their directing debuts: Best Director Delbert Mann (Marty, 1955) Jerome Robbins (West Side Story, 1961) Robert Redford (Ordinary People, 1980) James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, 1983) Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves, 1990) Sam Mendes (American Beauty, 1999) Big Five Winners Three films have received the Big Five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay (Original or Adapted; all won for Best Adapted Screenplay). It Happened One Night (1934) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Most Consecutive Awards in Each Category Any awards Walt Disney received record 10 awards in the eight consecutive years from 1931/32 through 1939. Eight (listed below) are for Short Subject (Cartoon), and two were Special Awards: one for the creation of Mickey Mouse, and one recognizing the innovation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Best Picture David O. Selznick produced two consecutive Best Picture winners Gone with the Wind in 1939 and Rebecca in 1940 (He himself was not awarded the Oscars as at the time the statuette went to the studio instead of the producer) Best Director Three directors have won two consecutive awards (of which, one of each of their movies—in bold—won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and one did not): John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and How Green Was My Valley (1941) Joseph L. Mankiewicz – A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950) Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and The Revenant (2015) Best Actor Two actors have won two consecutive awards: Spencer Tracy – Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938) Tom Hanks – Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994) Best Actress Two actresses have won two consecutive awards: Luise Rainer – The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937) Katharine Hepburn – Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and The Lion in Winter (1968) Best Supporting Actor Jason Robards won two consecutive awards for All the President's Men in 1976 and Julia in 1977 Best Supporting Actress No consecutive winner for Best Supporting Actress Best Adapted Screenplay Two screenwriters have won two consecutive awards: Joseph L. Mankiewicz – A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950) Robert Bolt – Doctor Zhivago (1965) and A Man for All Seasons (1966) Best Original Screenplay No consecutive winner for Best Original Screenplay Best Art Direction Thomas Little won four consecutive awards for Best Art Direction. He won Best Art Direction, Black and White, for the films How Green Was My Valley in 1941, This Above All in 1942, and The Song of Bernadette in 1943, and then he won an Oscar the next year in 1944 for Best Art Direction, Color for the film Wilson Best Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki won three consecutive awards for Gravity in 2013, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) in 2014 and The Revenant in 2015 Best Costume Design Of Edith Head's eight awards won for Best Costume Design, three were won in consecutive years: in 1949 for The Heiress, in 1950 for All About Eve, and in 1951 for A Place in the Sun for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White; in 1950 she also won for Samson and Delilah for Best Costume Design, Color Best Film Editing Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter won for The Social Network in 2010, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2011 Best Original Score Roger Edens won three consecutive awards for composing the scores for Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949), and Annie Get Your Gun (1950) Alfred Newman won two consecutive awards in Best Scoring of a Musical Picture for With a Song in My Heart (1952), and Call Me Madam (1953). Alan Menken won two consecutive awards for composing the scores for Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992) Gustavo Santaolalla won two consecutive awards for composing the scores for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Babel (2006) Best Original Song Three composers have won two consecutive awards for best original song, but under different award names: Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) shared the awards in Best Music (Song) for "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961, and "Days of Wine and Roses" from Days of Wine and Roses in 1962 Alan Menken (music) won twice consecutively in Best Music (Original Song) for "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast (lyrics by Howard Ashman) in 1991, and "A Whole New World" from Aladdin (lyrics by Tim Rice) in 1992 Best Sound Mixing Thomas Moulton won three consecutive awards for The Snake Pit in 1948, Twelve O'Clock High in 1949, and All About Eve in 1950 Best Visual Effects Glen Robinson won four consecutive non-competitive wins Earthquake in 1974, The Hindenburg in 1975, and both King Kong and Logan's Run in 1976 Of Dennis Muren's eight Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, three of them were consecutive wins (under different names); E.T. The Extra Terrestrial in 1982, Return of the Jedi in 1983, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984. Jim Rygiel and Randall William Cook won three consecutive visual effects Oscars for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Best Documentary (Feature) Walt Disney won two consecutive awards for The Living Desert in 1953 and The Vanishing Prairie in 1954 Best Short Subject (Cartoon) Of Walt Disney's many awards for Best Animated Short, eight of these wins were in consecutive years, for Flowers and Trees in 1931/32, Three Little Pigs in 1932/33, The Tortoise and the Hare in 1934, Three Orphan Kittens in 1935, The Country Cousin in 1936, The Old Mill in 1937, Ferdinand the Bull in 1938, and The Ugly Duckling in 1939 Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) Of Walt Disney's multiple awards for Best Live Action Short, four of his wins were in consecutive years, in 1950 for In Beaver Valley, in 1951 for Nature's Half Acre, in 1952 for Water Birds, and in 1953 for Bear Country Academy Award firsts First Best Picture winner Wings (1927) First Best Picture winning sound film The Broadway Melody (1929) First Best Picture winning color film Gone with the Wind (1939) First Best Director co-winners (for the same film) Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins for West Side Story (1961) First person born in the 20th century to be nominated for (and win) an Academy Award Janet Gaynor, for Best Actress, 7th Heaven, Street Angel, Sunrise (1928) First person born in the 21st century to win an Academy Award Billie Eilish, for Best Original Song, "No Time to Die" from No Time to Die (2021) First person born in the 21st century to be nominated for an Academy Award Quvenzhané Wallis, for Best Actress, Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) First Icelander to win an Academy Award Hildur Guðnadóttir, for Best Original Score, for Joker (2019) First Irish-born person to win Best Actor Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer (2023) First Asian person to win Best Picture Bong Joon-ho and Kwak Sin-ae (both from South Korea) for Parasite (2019) First Asian woman to win Best Actress Michelle Yeoh (from Malaysia) for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) First Asian person to be nominated for Best Picture Ismail Merchant (from India) for A Room with a View (1986) First Asian person (and non-Caucasian) to win Best Director Ang Lee (from Taiwan) for Brokeback Mountain (2005) First Asian person (and non-Caucasian) to be nominated for Best Director Hiroshi Teshigahara (from Japan) for Woman in the Dunes (1965) First Asian person to receive an Honorary Award Akira Kurosawa (from Japan) received an Honorary Award in 1989 First Asian woman to be nominated for (and win) Best Director Chloé Zhao for Nomadland (2020) First Black person (and non-Caucasian) to receive an Honorary Award James Baskett received a special Academy Award for his portrayal of Uncle Remus in Song of the South (1947) First Black woman to win Best Actress Halle Berry for Monster's Ball (2001) First Black person (and non-Caucasian) to win Best Picture Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave (2013) First Black person (and non-Caucasian) to be nominated for Best Picture Quincy Jones for The Color Purple (1985) First Black director to be nominated for Best Director John Singleton for Boyz n the Hood (1991) First Black siblings to be nominated for any award The Lucas Brothers were nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) Note: Shared nomination with Will Berson and director Shaka King. First Native American person to be nominated for an Oscar Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) First Native American woman to be nominated for an Oscar Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) First woman to be nominated for and win Best Picture Julia Phillips for The Sting (1973) First woman to win Best Documentary Nancy Hamilton for Helen Keller in Her Story (1955) First woman to be nominated for Best Documentary Janice Loeb for The Quiet One (1948) First woman to win Best Director Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2009) First woman to be nominated for Best Director Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties (1976) First woman to be nominated twice for Best Director (* = winner) Jane Campion for The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021)* First woman to win Best Animated Feature Brenda Chapman for Brave (2012) First woman to be nominated for Best Animated Feature Marjane Satrapi for Persepolis (2007) First woman to win Best Original Score Rachel Portman for Emma (1996) First woman to be nominated for Best Cinematography Rachel Morrison for Mudbound (2017) First woman to receive each of the Honorary Awards 6-year old Shirley Temple received an Academy Juvenile Award in 1934 Greta Garbo received an Honorary Award in 1954 Martha Raye received a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1969 Kay Rose received a Special Achievement Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing of The River in 1985 Kathleen Kennedy received an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 2018 First non-English language film to win Best Picture Parasite (2019), in Korean First non-English language film to be nominated for Best Picture La Grande Illusion (1937), in French All non-English language films to be nominated for Best Picture First film by genre to win Best Picture Silent, War, Epic: Wings (1927) Musical: The Broadway Melody (1929) Western: Cimarron (1931) Drama: Grand Hotel (1932) Comedy: It Happened One Night (1934) Historical: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) Biopic: The Great Ziegfeld (1936) Romance: Gone with the Wind (1939) Thriller: Rebecca (1940) Adventure: The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) Crime, Mystery, Neo-noir: In the Heat of the Night (1967) Sports: Rocky (1976) Horror: The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Disaster: Titanic (1997) Fantasy: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) LGBTQ+: Moonlight (2016) Action, Martial arts, Science-fiction: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) First superhero film to be nominated for Best Picture Black Panther (2018) First X-rated film to be nominated for and win Best Picture Midnight Cowboy (1969) First film with an entirely non-White cast to win Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire (2008) First film with an all-Black cast to win Best Picture Moonlight (2016) First 3-D film to be nominated for Best Picture Avatar and Up (2009) First streaming service film to be nominated for Best Picture Manchester by the Sea (2016), distributed by Amazon Studios First streaming service film to win Best Picture CODA (2021), distributed by Apple TV+ Original Films First animated film to be nominated for Best Picture Beauty and the Beast (1991) First animated film to be nominated for a writing award Toy Story (1995), nominated for Best Original Screenplay First animated film to win Best Animated Feature Shrek (2001) First animated film to win both music categories Pinocchio (1940) for Best Original Score and Best Original Song First stop motion animated film to win Best Animated Feature Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) First non-English language film to win Best Animated Feature Spirited Away (2001) First PG-13 rated film to win Best Animated Feature The Boy and the Heron (2023) First animated film to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature Flee (2021) First actor to receive ten nominations for acting Bette Davis received her tenth acting nomination (all for Best Actress) for the film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) First male actor to receive ten nominations for acting Laurence Olivier received his tenth acting nomination (nine for Best Actor and one for Best Supporting Actor) for the film The Boys from Brazil (1978) First actor to receive twenty nominations for acting Meryl Streep received her twentieth nomination (sixteen for Best Actress and four for Best Supporting Actress) for the film Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) First film to win both an Academy Award and a Golden Raspberry Award Wall Street (1987), Michael Douglas won an Academy Award for Best Actor and Daryl Hannah won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress First actor to be nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Raspberry Award for the same performance in a film James Coco was nominated for both Best Supporting Actor and Worst Supporting Actor for Only When I Laugh (1981) First actress to be nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Raspberry Award for the same performance in a film Amy Irving was nominated for both Best Supporting Actress and Worst Supporting Actress for Yentl (1983) First person to be nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year Mary J. Blige, nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song ("Mighty River") for Mudbound (2017) First person to direct themselves to an Oscar win Laurence Olivier won Best Actor for Hamlet (1948) – which he also directed, produced, and adapted First posthumous win for acting Peter Finch won Best Actor for Network (1976) First posthumous nomination for acting Jeanne Eagels, nominated for Best Actress for The Letter (1929) First posthumous nomination for an actor James Dean, nominated for Best Actor for East of Eden (1955) First posthumous nomination for a Black actor Chadwick Boseman, nominated for Best Actor for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) First actress to be nominated for performing in a language other than English Melina Mercouri was nominated for Best Actress for Never on Sunday (1960), performing in Greek First actress to win for performing in a language other than English Sophia Loren won Best Actress for Two Women (1961), performing in Italian First actor to be nominated for performing in a language other than English Marcello Mastroianni was nominated for Best Actor for Divorce Italian Style (1961), performing in Italian First actor to win for performing in a language other than English Robert De Niro won Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II (1974), performing in Italian First Canadian to win Best Director James Cameron for Titanic (1997) First people from India to win in a music category A. R. Rahman and Gulzar won Best Original Song for Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Rahman also won Best Original Score for the same film. First Middle Eastern film to win Best International Feature Film A Separation (2011), representing Iran First person to win for acting and producing in the same year Frances McDormand won Best Actress and Best Picture for Nomadland (2020) First Black writer to win for screenwriting Geoffrey S. Fletcher won Best Adapted Screenplay for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (2009) First Black person to receive an Honorary Award James Baskett received a Special Award for his portrayal of Uncle Remus in Song of the South (1946) First Latin American to win Best Director Alfonso Cuarón (from Mexico) won for Gravity (2013) First child actor to receive an acting nomination Jackie Cooper, age 9, was nominated for Best Actor for Skippy (1931) First short film to win an Academy Award outside of the Short Film categories The Red Balloon (1956) for Best Original Screenplay First professional athlete to win an Academy Award Kobe Bryant won Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball (2017) First Deaf actress to be nominated for and win an acting award Marlee Matlin won Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God (1986) First Deaf actor to be nominated for and win an acting award Troy Kotsur won Best Supporting Actor for CODA (2021) First autistic actor to win an Academy Award Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for The Silence of the Lambs (1991) First actress with dwarfism to win in an acting category Linda Hunt won Best Supporting Actress for The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) First actor with dwarfism to be nominated in an acting category Michael Dunn was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Ship of Fools (1965) First acting win for a portrayal of a character of the opposite gender Linda Hunt won Best Supporting Actress for The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) First portrayals of living persons to win in each acting category Best Actor: Spencer Tracy as Father Edward J. Flanagan in Boys Town (1938) Best Actress: Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) Best Supporting Actor: Jason Robards Jr. as Ben Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976) Best Supporting Actress: Patty Duke as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962) Note: While Joanne Woodward's portrayal of Eve White in The Three Faces of Eve (1957) was based on a real person, Chris Costner Sizemore; her identity was not known until 1977. First hip hop song to win Best Original Song "Lose Yourself" by Eminem, from the film 8 Mile (2002) First woman of Filipino descent to win in any award "Fight For You" by H.E.R., from the film Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) First song from an Indian film to win Best Original Song "Naatu Naatu" from RRR (2022) Age-related records Youngest winner of an acting award Tatum O'Neal, age 10 (Best Supporting Actress, Paper Moon, 1973) Youngest nominee of an acting award Justin Henry, age 8 (Best Supporting Actor, Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979) Youngest Best Actress winner Marlee Matlin, age 21 (Children of a Lesser God, 1986) Youngest Best Actress nominee Quvenzhané Wallis, age 9 (Beasts of the Southern Wild, 2012) Youngest Best Actor winner Adrien Brody, age 29 (The Pianist, 2002) Youngest Best Actor nominee Jackie Cooper, age 9 (Skippy, 1931) Youngest winner of an Oscar Shirley Temple, age 6, who was awarded the (now-retired) non-competitive Academy Juvenile Award in 1934 Youngest winner of two Oscars Billie Eilish, age 22, who has won the Best Original Song category with her brother, Finneas, twice (No Time to Die, 2021 and What Was I Made For?, 2023) Youngest Best Original Screenplay winner Ben Affleck, age 25 (Good Will Hunting, 1997) Youngest Best Adapted Screenplay winner Charlie Wachtel, age 32 (BlacKkKlansman, 2018) Youngest Best Director winner Damien Chazelle, age 32 (La La Land, 2016) Youngest Best Director nominee John Singleton, age 24 (Boyz n the Hood, 1991) Oldest winner of an acting award Anthony Hopkins, age 83 (Best Actor, The Father, 2020) Oldest nominee for an acting award Christopher Plummer, age 88 (Best Supporting Actor, All the Money in the World, 2017) Oldest Best Actress winner Jessica Tandy, age 80 (Driving Miss Daisy, 1989) Oldest Best Actress nominee Emmanuelle Riva, age 85 (Amour, 2012) Oldest Best Actor nominee and winner Anthony Hopkins, age 83 (The Father, 2020) Oldest Best Director winner Clint Eastwood, age 74 (Million Dollar Baby, 2004) Oldest Best Director nominee Martin Scorsese, age 81 (Killers of the Flower Moon, 2023) Oldest competitive Oscar winner James Ivory, age 89 (Best Adapted Screenplay, Call Me by Your Name, 2017) Oldest competitive Oscar nominee John Williams, age 91 (Best Original Score, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, 2023) Oldest living Oscar nominee and winner Eva Marie Saint, age 100 (Best Supporting Actress, On the Waterfront, 1954) Earliest-born Oscar winner by birth year George Arliss, born 10 April 1868 (Best Actor, Disraeli, 1929) Earliest-born Oscar nominee by birth year May Robson, born 19 April 1858 (Best Actress, Lady for a Day, 1933) Year where all four acting winners had the oldest average age 1981 with an average age of 70.5 years old. Henry Fonda (aged 77) Katharine Hepburn (72) John Gielgud (77) Maureen Stapleton (56) Year where all four acting winners had the youngest average age 1961 with a combined average age of just under 29 years old. Maximilian Schell (aged 31) Sophia Loren (27) George Chakiris (27) Rita Moreno (30) Youngest multiple nominees for an acting award (Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor) Youngest multiple nominees for an acting award (Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress) Film records Most Oscar wins without winning Best Picture Cabaret (1972) won 8 awards Most nominations without winning Best Picture La La Land (2016) with 14 nominations Most nominations without any wins Two films received 11 nominations without winning any awards: The Turning Point (1977) The Color Purple (1985) Most nominations without a Best Picture nomination They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) with 9 nominations Most Oscar wins without a nomination for Best Picture The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) with 5 wins Fewest awards and nominations for a Best Picture winner Grand Hotel (1932) received only the Best Picture nomination Most nominations without a major nomination (Picture, Director, Acting and Screenplay) Pepe (1960) received 7 nominations with no major nominations These seven films got 6 nominations with no major nominations: The Rains Came (1939) Hans Christian Andersen (1952) It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) Empire of the Sun (1987) Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (note: received 7 nominations when you include a "special achievement") Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) Best Picture nominees that won every nomination except Best Picture These 16 films were nominated for Best Picture and won in every category they were nominated for, except Best Picture: Bad Girl (1931), 2/3 The Private Life of Henry VIII (1932), 1/2 Naughty Marietta (1935), 1/2 The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), 3/4 The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), 3/4 Miracle on 34th Street (1947), 3/4 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), 3/4 A Letter to Three Wives (1949), 2/3 King Solomon's Mines (1950), 2/3 Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), 2/3 Jaws (1975), 3/4 Traffic (2000), 4/5 The Blind Side (2009), 1/2 Selma (2014), 1/2 Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), 4/5 Women Talking (2022), 1/2 Films nominated for Best Picture with no other major nominations These 32 films were nominated for Best Picture but had no other major nominations (this does not include films that were only nominated for Best Picture and nothing else): Wings (1927), 2 nominations 42nd Street (1933), 2 nominations A Farewell to Arms (1933), 4 nominations Cleopatra (1934), 5 nominations Flirtation Walk (1934), 2 nominations The Gay Divorcee (1934), 5 nominations Imitation of Life (1934), 3 nominations The White Parade (1934), 2 nominations David Copperfield (1935), 3 nominations Les Misérables (1935), 4 nominations A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), 4 nominations (note: actually had 2, but 2 more were write-in nominations) Naughty Marietta (1935), 2 nominations Top Hat (1935), 4 nominations A Tale of Two Cities (1936), 2 nominations The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), 4 nominations Of Mice and Men (1939), 4 nominations The Wizard of Oz (1939), 6 nominations King Solomon's Mines (1950), 3 nominations Decision Before Dawn (1951), 2 nominations Ivanhoe (1952), 3 nominations Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), 3 nominations The Music Man (1962), 6 nominations Doctor Dolittle (1967), 9 nominations Hello, Dolly! (1969), 7 nominations Jaws (1975), 4 nominations Beauty and the Beast (1991), 6 nominations The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), 6 nominations War Horse (2011), 6 nominations Selma (2014), 2 nominations Black Panther (2018), 7 nominations Ford v Ferrari (2019), 4 nominations Nightmare Alley (2021), 4 nominations Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), 4 nominations Stories made into multiple Best Picture nominees 9 sets of Best Picture nominees share either original source material or were revised versions of the same story (* = winner): Romeo and Juliet (1936), West Side Story (1961)*, Romeo and Juliet (1968), West Side Story (2021) The plot of another Best Picture winner, Shakespeare in Love, revolves around the original production of Romeo and Juliet Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)*, Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) Cleopatra (1934), Cleopatra (1963) Pygmalion (1938), My Fair Lady (1964)* Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Heaven Can Wait (1978) Les Misérables (1935), Les Misérables (2012) A Star Is Born (1937), A Star Is Born (2018) Little Women (1933), Little Women (2019) All Quiet on the Western Front (1929/30)*, All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) First Best Picture winner produced wholly by non-Americans Hamlet (1948), United Kingdom First Best Picture winner produced wholly by non-Americans or non-British The Artist (2011), France First Best Picture winner produced wholly by non-Caucasians Parasite (2019), South Korea Most wins by a film produced wholly or partially by non-Americans The Last Emperor (1987), Italy/Hong Kong/United Kingdom, 9 wins Most nominations for a film produced wholly or partially by non-Americans Two non-American films have received 13 nominations: Shakespeare in Love (1998), United Kingdom/United States The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), New Zealand/United States Only animated films to be nominated for Best Picture Beauty and the Beast (1991), Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010) Best Picture winners adapted from Best Play or Best Musical Tony Award winners My Fair Lady (1964) The Sound of Music (1965) A Man for All Seasons (1966) Amadeus (1984) Also: All About Eve (1950) was adapted into the musical Applause, which won the Best Musical in 1970. Chicago (2002) was adapted from both the original 1975 musical, which was nominated for Best Musical, and the 1996 revival, which won Best Revival. While the musical Titanic, which won the Best Musical in 1997, and the film Titanic (1997), which won the Best Picture, shared the same name, neither production had anything to do with the other, and by coincidence, both opened in the same year. Best Picture winners based on Pulitzer Prize winning sources You Can't Take It With You (1938) – play Gone with the Wind (1939) – novel All the King's Men (1949) – novel Driving Miss Daisy (1989) – play Spotlight (2015) – public service reporting On the Waterfront (1954) was an original screenplay suggested from Pulitzer-winning newspaper articles. Best Picture winners with the highest prize wins from the "Big Three" (Cannes, Venice, and Berlin) The Lost Weekend (1945) – Palme d'Or Hamlet (1948) – Golden Lion Marty (1955) – Palme d'Or Rain Man (1988) – Golden Bear The Shape of Water (2017) – Golden Lion Parasite (2019) – Palme d'Or Nomadland (2020) – Golden Lion Palme d'Or winning films to be nominated for Best Picture (Best Picture winners designated with ** two asterisks) The Lost Weekend (1945) ** Marty (1955) ** Friendly Persuasion (1956) M*A*S*H (1970) The Conversation (1974) Taxi Driver (1976) Apocalypse Now (1979) All That Jazz (1979) Missing (1982) The Mission (1986) The Piano (1993) Pulp Fiction (1994) Secrets & Lies (1996) The Pianist (2002) The Tree of Life (2011) Amour (2012) Parasite (2019) ** Triangle of Sadness (2022) Anatomy of a Fall (2023) Golden Lion winning films to be nominated for Best Picture (Best Picture winners designated with ** two asterisks) Hamlet (1948) ** Atlantic City (1981) Brokeback Mountain (2005) The Shape of Water (2017) ** Roma (2018) Joker (2019) Nomadland (2020) ** Poor Things (2023) Golden Bear winning films to be nominated for Best Picture (Best Picture winners designated with ** two asterisks) 12 Angry Men (1957) Rain Man (1988) ** In the Name of the Father (1993) Sense and Sensibility (1995) The Thin Red Line (1998) Most acting nominations from a single film Nine films have earned a record 5 acting nominations. Mrs. Miniver (1942) All About Eve (1950) From Here to Eternity (1953) On the Waterfront (1954) Peyton Place (1957) Tom Jones (1963) Bonnie and Clyde (1967) The Godfather Part II (1974) Network (1976) Most nominations for actors (4) On the Waterfront (1954) The Godfather (1972) The Godfather Part II (1974) Most nominations for actresses (4) All About Eve (1950) Most acting wins from a single film Three films have received 3 acting awards: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Network (1976) Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Acting records Most awards for Best Actress Katharine Hepburn with 4 awards (1933, 1967, 1968, 1981) Most awards for Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis with 3 awards (1989, 2007, 2012) Most awards for Best Supporting Actor Walter Brennan with 3 awards (1936, 1938, 1940) Most awards for Best Supporting Actress Shelley Winters (1959, 1965) and Dianne Wiest (1986, 1994) with 2 awards each Most consecutive Best Actress nominations Two actresses have been nominated 5 years in a row: Bette Davis (1938–1942) Greer Garson (1941–1945) Most consecutive Best Actor nominations Marlon Brando with four nominations (1951 to 1954) Most consecutive Best Supporting Actress nominations Thelma Ritter with four nominations (1950 to 1953) Most consecutive acting nominations across categories Two actors have been nominated 4 years in a row: Jennifer Jones (1943 Best Actress; 1944 Best Supporting Actress; 1945–1946 Best Actress) Al Pacino (1972 Best Supporting Actor; 1973–1975 Best Actor) Actor with most nominations for acting Jack Nicholson with 12 nominations Actress with most nominations for acting Meryl Streep with 21 nominations Most nominations for an actor without a win Peter O'Toole with 8 nominations (received an Honorary Award in 2002, prior to 8th nomination) Most nominations for an actress without a win Glenn Close with 8 nominations Most nominations for an actor performing in a non-English language Marcello Mastroianni with 3 nominations: He was nominated for Best Actor for Divorce, Italian Style (1962); A Special Day (1977); and Dark Eyes (1987), performing in Italian Longest gap between first and second award Helen Hayes won in 1932 for The Sin of Madelon Claudet and in 1971 for Airport, a 39-year gap. Longest gap between first and second nomination Judd Hirsch was nominated in 1981 for Ordinary People and in 2023 for The Fabelmans, a 42-year gap. Longest time span between first and last wins Katharine Hepburn won in 1934 for Morning Glory and in 1982 for On Golden Pond, a 48-year gap. Longest time span between first and last nomination Robert De Niro was nominated in 1975 for The Godfather Part II (and won); and again in 2024 for Killers of the Flower Moon, a 49-year gap. Most acting nominations before first win Both Geraldine Page and Al Pacino won on their 8th nomination Most posthumous nominations James Dean with 2 (1955 for East of Eden and 1956 for Giant) Shortest and Longest Academy Award Winning and Nominated Performances Most awards by a Black actor Two Black actors have won two Oscars: Denzel Washington won Best Supporting Actor for Glory (1989) and Best Actor for Training Day (2001) Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor for Moonlight (2016) and for Green Book (2018) Most awards for one acting performance Harold Russell played Homer Parrish in The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946. For this role he received 2 Oscars, one for Best Supporting Actor and an Honorary Oscar "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in The Best Years of Our Lives." Most nominations for one acting performance Barry Fitzgerald was nominated as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for his role as Father Fitzgibbon in 1944's Going My Way. He won Best Supporting Actor. Only acting win portraying multiple characters in the same film Lee Marvin won for playing Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn in Cat Ballou (1965) Most roles played in a single film to be nominated for an acting award Peter Sellers was nominated for Best Actor for playing 3 characters (Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove) in Dr. Strangelove (1964) Years where all four acting winners were born outside the United States 1964 Best Actor – Rex Harrison for My Fair Lady, United Kingdom Best Actress – Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins, United Kingdom Best Supporting Actor – Peter Ustinov for Topkapi, United Kingdom Best Supporting Actress – Lila Kedrova for Zorba the Greek, Russia 2007 Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood, United Kingdom Best Actress – Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose, France Best Supporting Actor – Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men, Spain Best Supporting Actress – Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton, United Kingdom Actors who won a Tony Award and Academy Award for portraying the same character José Ferrer as Cyrano de Bergerac Best Actor in a Play in 1947 for Cyrano de Bergerac Best Actor in 1950 for Cyrano de Bergerac Shirley Booth as Lola Delaney Best Actress in a Play in 1950 for Come Back, Little Sheba Best Actress in 1952 for Come Back, Little Sheba Yul Brynner as King Mongkut of Siam Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1952 for The King and I Best Actor in 1956 for The King and I Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan Best Actress in a Play in 1960 for The Miracle Worker Best Actress in 1962 for The Miracle Worker Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins Best Actor in a Musical in 1957 for My Fair Lady Best Actor in 1964 for My Fair Lady Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More Best Actor in a Play in 1962 for A Man for All Seasons Best Actor in 1966 for A Man for All Seasons Jack Albertson as John Cleary Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1965 for The Subject Was Roses Best Supporting Actor in 1968 for The Subject was Roses Joel Grey as the Master of Ceremonies Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1967 for Cabaret Best Supporting Actor in 1972 for Cabaret Lila Kedrova as Madame Hortense Best Supporting Actress in 1964 for Zorba the Greek Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1984 for Zorba Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II Best Actress in 2006 for The Queen Best Actress in a Play in 2015 for The Audience Viola Davis as Rose Maxson Best Actress in a Play in 2010 for Fences Best Supporting Actress in 2016 for Fences Acting awards in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Superhero, and Horror genres Fredric March, 1931, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Edmund Gwenn, 1947, Miracle on 34th Street Julie Andrews, 1964, Mary Poppins Ruth Gordon, 1968, Rosemary's Baby Cliff Robertson, 1968, Charly Don Ameche, 1985, Cocoon Kathy Bates, 1990, Misery Jodie Foster, 1991, The Silence of the Lambs Anthony Hopkins, 1991, The Silence of the Lambs Heath Ledger, 2008, The Dark Knight Natalie Portman, 2010, Black Swan Joaquin Phoenix, 2019, Joker Jamie Lee Curtis, 2022, Everything Everywhere All at Once Ke Huy Quan, 2022, Everything Everywhere All at Once Michelle Yeoh, 2022, Everything Everywhere All at Once Emma Stone, 2023, Poor Things Most acting awards for a character Portrayals of Vito Corleone won: Best Actor for Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972) Best Supporting Actor for Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II (1974) (in Italian) Portrayals of the Joker won: Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008) Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix in Joker (2019) (as origins character, Arthur Fleck) Portrayals of Anita from West Side Story won: Best Supporting Actress for Rita Moreno in the 1961 film adaptation Best Supporting Actress for Ariana DeBose in the 2021 film adaptation Most nominations for a character Three portrayals of Queen Elizabeth I of England earned nominations for: Cate Blanchett (2) in Elizabeth (1998) and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) (both in Best Actress) Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love (1998) (winner, Best Supporting Actress) Three portrayals of King Henry VIII of England earned nominations for: Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) (winner, Best Actor) Robert Shaw in A Man for All Seasons (1966) (Best Supporting Actor) Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) (Best Actor) The lead characters of three different versions of A Star Is Born have been nominated: Female leads: 1937 : Janet Gaynor as actress Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester 1954 : Judy Garland as actress/singer Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester 2018 : Lady Gaga as singer/musician Ally Campana Male leads: 1937 : Fredric March as actor Norman Maine 1954 : James Mason as actor Norman Maine 2018 : Bradley Cooper as singer/musician Jackson Maine Miscellaneous records Most films nominated for and won in a single category 1942, with 24 films nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film and 4 winners (Shorts and features competed in a single category) Person nominated in the most decades John Williams: 1960s: 1967, 1969 (2 nominations) 1970s: 1971, 1972 (2 nominations), 1973 (3 nominations), 1974, 1975, 1977 (2 nominations), 1978 1980s: 1980, 1981, 1982 (2 nominations), 1983, 1984 (2 nominations), 1987 (2 nominations), 1988, 1989 (2 nominations) 1990s: 1990 (2 nominations), 1991 (2 nominations), 1993, 1995 (3 nominations), 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 2000s: 2000, 2001 (2 nominations), 2002, 2004, 2005 (2 nominations) 2010s: 2011 (2 nominations), 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 2020s: 2022, 2023 Only people to win both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar George Bernard Shaw: Won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925, and an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Pygmalion in 1938 Bob Dylan: Won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the song "Things Have Changed" from Wonder Boys in 2000, and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 Only person to win both a Booker Prize and an Oscar Ruth Prawer Jhabvala: Won the Booker Prize for Heat and Dust in 1975, and two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay for the films A Room with a View in 1986 and Howards End in 1992 People who won both a Pulitzer Prize and an Oscar Mstyslav Chernov: Won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film for the film 20 Days in Mariupol in 2023, and the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2023 Aaron Copland: Won an Oscar for Best Original Score for the film The Heiress in 1949, and the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1945 John Corigliano: Won an Oscar for Best Original Score for the film The Red Violin in 1999, and the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2001 Bob Dylan: Won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the song "Things Have Changed" from Wonder Boys in 2000, and an additional citation in the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2006 Horton Foote: Won two Oscars; Best Adapted Screenplay for the film To Kill a Mockingbird in 1962, and Best Original Screenplay for the film Tender Mercies in 1983, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1995 Marvin Hamlisch: Won three Oscars in 1973; Best Score-Adaptation or Treatment for the film The Sting, and Best Original Score and Best Original Song for the title song of the film The Way We Were, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1976 Oscar Hammerstein II: Won two Oscars; Best Original Song for the songs "The Last Time I Saw Paris" from the film Lady Be Good in 1941, and "It Might as Well Be Spring" from the film State Fair in 1945, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950, along with an additional citation in 1943 Sidney Howard: Posthumously won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Gone With the Wind in 1939, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 William Inge: Won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film Splendor in the Grass in 1961, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1953 Frank Loesser: Won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" from the film Neptune's Daughter in 1949, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1962 Richard Rodgers: Won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the song "It Might as Well Be Spring" from the film State Fair in 1945, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950, along with an additional citation in 1943 William Saroyan: Won an Oscar for Best Story, Screenplay for the film The Human Comedy in 1943, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940 John Patrick Shanley: Won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film Moonstruck in 1987, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2005 Robert E. Sherwood: Won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1936, 1938, and 1941, and the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1949 Stephen Sondheim: Won an Oscar for Best Original Song for the song "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" from the film Dick Tracy in 1990, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985 Alfred Uhry: Won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Driving Miss Daisy in 1989, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the stage version in 1988 Only person to win both an Olympic medal and an Oscar Kobe Bryant: Won gold medals in Basketball in 2008 and 2012, and an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2017 for the film Dear Basketball Only person to win for Acting and Songwriting Barbra Streisand won Best Actress for Funny Girl (1968) and Best Original Song for the song "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" from the film A Star Is Born (1976). Only person to win for Acting and Writing Emma Thompson won Best Actress for Howards End (1992) and Best Adapted Screenplay for the film Sense and Sensibility (1995). Only person to win for Acting and Directing To date, technically no one has. However Lee Grant won for Best Supporting Actress for Shampoo (1975) and she directed the Best Documentary Feature, Down and Out in America (1986), but under the Academy rules at the time, only producers were eligible to win the award, so the award went to her producer husband and another co-producer. Under the present rules, the director would now be recognized with the Oscar. Only person nominated for Acting, Writing, Producing, and Directing for the same film Warren Beatty was nominated in the four categories for Heaven Can Wait (1978), and again for Reds (1981). Citizen Kane was nominated in the four categories, but at the time, the studio rather than the individual producer was eligible for the Best Picture award, meaning that writer/director/producer/actor Orson Welles was not nominated as a producer. Only person to receive every nomination in a category Stephen Bosustow received all three nominations for Short Subjects, Cartoons in 1956, winning for Magoo's Puddle Jumper. Only actor to win an Oscar for portraying a real Oscar winner Cate Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress for portraying Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator (2004). NOTE: Renée Zellweger won Best Actress for portraying Judy Garland in Judy (2019). Garland received the Academy Juvenile Award, an honorary award, but never won a competitive Oscar. Only actor to win an Oscar for portraying a fictional Oscar nominee Maggie Smith won Best Supporting Actress for playing an Oscar loser in California Suite (1978). Only actor to appear in multiple films with the most Oscar wins Bernard Hill has supporting roles in Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), with 11 Oscars each. Most total nominations without a win Greg P. Russell has earned 16 nominations in the Best Sound Mixing category (This does not include his nomination at the 89th Academy Awards for 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, which was revoked the day before the ceremony.) Most total nominations before receiving an award Film composer Victor Young was nominated 21 times without winning. He was often nominated multiple times in one year; twice, he was nominated four times at the same Oscars. He won posthumously for Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Sound re-recording mixer Kevin O'Connell comes in at a close second, with 20 unsuccessful nominations from 1983 until 2016, when he finally won for Hacksaw Ridge. Most nominations for a living person Film composer John Williams with 54 Only write-in nominee to win a competitive award Cinematographer Hal Mohr for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) Most categories to have been nominated in Kenneth Branagh: eight nominations in seven categories, winning once Best Picture Best Director Best Original Screenplay Best Adapted Screenplay Best Actor Best Supporting Actor Best Live Action Short Film Alfonso Cuarón: eleven nominations in seven categories, winning four Best Picture Best Director Best Original Screenplay Best Adapted Screenplay Best Film Editing Best Cinematography Best Live Action Short Film NOTE: Cuarón's film Roma also won Best International Feature Film, but as the category is awarded to the country rather than the producer or director, this does not count towards his wins and nominations. Most nominated woman Costume designer Edith Head with 35 Highest "perfect score" Sound editor Mark Berger has four nominations and four wins Most nominations for directing William Wyler with 12 nominations Most nominations for directing without an award All received 5 nominations Robert Altman Clarence Brown Alfred Hitchcock King Vidor Only films to win Best Director and nothing else Two Arabian Knights (1927) – Lewis Milestone (Note: only nomination as well) The Divine Lady (1928) – Frank Lloyd Skippy (1931) – Norman Taurog Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936) – Frank Capra The Awful Truth (1937) – Leo McCarey Giant (1956) – George Stevens The Graduate (1967) – Mike Nichols The Power of the Dog (2021) – Jane Campion Most wins for producing Two producers received 3 awards: Sam Spiegel Saul Zaentz Most nominations for producing Steven Spielberg with 13 nominations Most nominations for directing in a single year Two people have received 2 nominations for Best Director in the same year: Michael Curtiz for Angels with Dirty Faces and Four Daughters in 1938 Steven Soderbergh for Erin Brockovich and Traffic in 2000 Most Best Picture awards for a film franchise The Godfather trilogy with 2 (for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II) Other Best Picture awards for a film franchise The Rocky franchise: Rocky (1976) The Middle-earth franchise: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Film franchises with multiple Best Picture nominations The Godfather trilogy with 3 nominations for The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and The Godfather Part III The Middle-earth franchise with 3 nominations for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Avatar franchise with 2 nominations for Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water Most nominations for a film franchise Star Wars with 38 nominations Most wins for a film series The Middle-earth franchise with 17 competitive wins out of 37 nominations (for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit) Most nominations for Best Original Screenplay Woody Allen with 16 nominations and 3 wins Longest time span between the release of a film and winning an Oscar Limelight (1952) is the only film to have won an award twenty years after its official release. Since it was not released in Los Angeles County until 1972, it was not eligible for any Academy Awards until that time Most posthumous award wins William A. Horning won in 1958 for Best Art Direction for Gigi, and for Best Art Direction for Ben-Hur in 1959 Most posthumous award nominations Howard Ashman with four Longest time span between a winner's death and his award Larry Russell, who died in February 1954, won Best Original Score for Limelight (1952) in 1973, 19 years after his death Highest-grossing film to win Best Picture Titanic with $2,257,844,554 Highest-grossing film to be nominated for Best Picture Avatar with $2,923,706,026 Highest-grossing R-rated film to win Best Picture Oppenheimer with $960,734,668 Highest-grossing R-rated film to be nominated for Best Picture Joker with $1,078,751,311 Lowest-grossing film to win Best Picture CODA with $1,905,058 Lowest-grossing film to be nominated for Best Picture Mank with $100,072 Lowest-grossing R-rated film to win Best Picture Nomadland with $39,458,207 Films to gross over $2 billion to be nominated for Best Picture Avatar Avatar: The Way of Water Titanic Films to gross over $1 billion to be nominated for Best Picture Avatar Avatar: The Way of Water Barbie Black Panther Joker The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Titanic Top Gun: Maverick Toy Story 3 Longest film to win Best Picture Gone with the Wind, 224 minutes (238 with overture, entr'acte, and exit music) Longest film to be nominated for Best Picture Cleopatra, 251 minutes Longest film to win an award O.J.: Made in America (2016), 467 minutes (Best Documentary Feature) The longest fictional film to win an award was War and Peace (1968), 431 minutes (Best Foreign Language Film) Shortest film to win Best Picture Marty, 90 minutes Shortest film to be nominated for Best Picture She Done Him Wrong, 66 minutes Shortest film to win an award The Crunch Bird, 2 minutes (Best Animated Short Film) Shortest film to be nominated for an award Fresh Guacamole, 100 seconds (Best Animated Short Film) Most royalty and leaders portrayed 49 portrayals of monarchs or civil leaders (real and fictional), have been nominated for acting awards, with 11 winners The United Kingdom is the most represented nation Overall, there have been 16 nominations and 5 wins for portrayals of British monarchs In addition, two portrayals of Scottish monarchs have been nominated Three portrayals of British Prime Ministers have been nominated, with 3 wins Portrayals of four French kings and Emperor Napoleon have received nominations The only portrayal of a non-British monarch to win an award was Yul Brynner as King Mongkut of Siam in The King and I 11 portrayals of presidents of the United States – three of them fictional – have been nominated, with Daniel Day-Lewis's portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln the only winner Two portrayals of popes (the head of state for Vatican City) have been nominated, both from the film The Two Popes 12 portrayals of spouses/consorts of leaders have been nominated, with Katharine Hepburn's Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter the only winner Three portrayals of dictators have been nominated: Forest Whitaker won for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland Charlie Chaplin and Jack Oakie were nominated for their respective turns as the dictators of Tomainia and Bacteria in The Great Dictator Most Honorary Awards Bob Hope received 5 honorary awards – 2 Special, 2 Honorary, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Tallest Oscar winner/nominee Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (2.05m/6 ft 9in) – Best International Feature Film (The Lives of Others) Shortest Oscar winner Linda Hunt (1.45m/4 ft 9in) – Best Supporting Actress (The Year of Living Dangerously) Shortest Oscar nominee Michael Dunn (1.17m/3 ft 10in) – Best Supporting Actor (Ship of Fools) Oscar speeches Longest speech The longest Oscar speech was given by Greer Garson at the 15th Academy Awards after she was named Best Actress for 1942 for Mrs. Miniver. The exact length of her speech is unknown but it is believed that it ran for nearly six minutes. It was shortly after this incident that the academy set forty-five seconds as the allotted time for an acceptance speech and began to cut the winners off after this time limit. When presenting the Best Actor award at the 24th Academy Awards, Garson quipped, "I think I have ten minutes left over from a highly emotional speech I made a few years ago. I'd be glad to give it to them." Shortest speech The shortest Oscar speech was that given by Patty Duke at the 35th Academy Awards after she was named Best Supporting Actress for 1962 for The Miracle Worker. Duke, age 16, was the youngest person at that time to receive an Academy Award in a competitive category. Her acceptance speech was, simply, two words – "Thank you" – after which she walked off the stage (Note: When Fred Zinnemann accepted the Best Picture Oscar for A Man For All Seasons, he simply nodded and smiled. However, minutes earlier he had won Best Director and made his thank-yous then, and thus felt he had nothing to add.) Tied winners There have been six two-way ties 1931/32: Best Actor – Wallace Beery (The Champ) and Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) 1949: Best Documentary Short – A Chance to Live and So Much for So Little 1968: Best Actress – Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl) 1986: Best Documentary – Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got and Down and Out in America 1994: Best Short Film (Live Action) – Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life and Trevor 2012: Best Sound Editing – Paul N. J. Ottosson (Zero Dark Thirty) and Per Hallberg & Karen Baker Landers (Skyfall) Clean sweep The following films with at least two nominations won all of their categories. 1927/1928: Wings (2) Outstanding Picture: Paramount Pictures Best Engineering Effects: Roy Pomeroy 1934: It Happened One Night (5) Outstanding Production: Frank Capra and Harry Cohn Best Director: Frank Capra Best Actor: Clark Gable Best Actress: Claudette Colbert Best Adaptation: Robert Riskin 1940: Pinocchio (2) Best Original Score: Leigh Harline, Paul Smith and Ned Washington Best Song: Leigh Harline and Ned Washington ("When You Wish Upon a Star") 1947: Black Narcissus (2) Best Cinematography (Color): Jack Cardiff Best Art Direction (Color): Alfred Junge (Art Direction and Set Decoration) 1958: Gigi (9) Best Motion Picture: Arthur Freed Best Director: Vincente Minnelli Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium: Alan Jay Lerner Best Cinematography (Color): Joseph Ruttenberg Best Costume Design: Cecil Beaton Best Film Editing: Adrienne Fazan Best Scoring of a Musical Picture: André Previn Best Song: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner ("Gigi") Best Art Direction: William A. Horning and E. Preston Ames (Art Direction) / Henry Grace and F. Keogh Gleason (Set Decoration) 1966: Born Free (2) Best Original Music Score: John Barry Best Song: John Barry and Don Black ("Born Free") 1966: Grand Prix (3) Best Film Editing: Fredric Steinkamp, Henry Berman, Stu Linder and Frank Santillo Best Sound Effects: Gordon Daniel Best Sound: Franklin Milton 1971: Sentinels of Silence (2) Best Documentary Short Subject: Robert Amram and Manuel Arango Best Live Action Short Subject: Robert Amram and Manuel Arango 1974: The Great Gatsby (2) Best Costume Design: Theoni V. Aldredge Best Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation: Nelson Riddle 1985: Cocoon (2) Best Supporting Actor: Don Ameche Best Visual Effects: Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar and David Berry 1987: The Last Emperor (9) Best Picture: Jeremy Thomas Best Director: Bernardo Bertolucci Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium: Bernardo Bertolucci and Mark Peploe Best Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro Best Costume Design: James Acheson Best Film Editing: Gabriella Cristiani Best Original Score: Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su Best Art Direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti (Art Direction) / Bruno Cesari and Osvaldo Desideri (Set Decoration) Best Sound: Bill Rowe and Ivan Sharrock 1989: The Little Mermaid (2) Best Original Score: Alan Menken Best Original Song: Alan Menken and Howard Ashman ("Under the Sea") 1993: Jurassic Park (3) Best Sound Effects Editing: Gary Rydstrom and Richard Hymns Best Sound: Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers, Ron Judkins and Shawn Murphy Best Visual Effects: Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett and Michael Lantieri 1994: Ed Wood (2) Best Supporting Actor: Martin Landau Best Makeup: Rick Baker, Ve Neill and Yolanda Toussieng 1994: The Lion King (2) Best Original Score: Hans Zimmer Best Original Song: Elton John and Tim Rice ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight") 1995: Pocahontas (2) Best Original Musical or Comedy Score: Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz Best Original Song: Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz ("Colors of the Wind") 1995: Restoration (2) Best Costume Design: James Acheson Best Art Direction: Eugenio Zanetti (Art Direction and Set Decoration) 1995: The Usual Suspects (2) Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: Christopher McQuarrie 1999: The Matrix (4) Best Film Editing: Zach Staenberg Best Sound Effects Editing: Dane Davis Best Sound: John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David E. Campbell and David Lee Best Visual Effects: John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley and Jon Thum 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (11) Best Picture: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Barrie M. Osborne Best Director: Peter Jackson Best Adapted Screenplay: Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens Best Costume Design: Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor Best Film Editing: Jamie Selkirk Best Makeup: Peter King and Richard Taylor Best Original Score: Howard Shore Best Original Song: Howard Shore, Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox ("Into the West") Best Art Direction: Grant Major (Art Direction) / Dan Hennah and Alan Lee (Set Decoration) Best Sound Mixing: Christopher Boyes, Hammond Peek, Michael Hedges and Michael Semanick Best Visual Effects: Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke 2006: An Inconvenient Truth (2) Best Documentary Feature Film: Davis Guggenheim Best Original Song: Melissa Etheridge ("I Need to Wake Up") 2007: The Bourne Ultimatum (3) Best Film Editing: Christopher Rouse Best Sound Editing: Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg Best Sound Mixing: Scott Millan, Kirk Francis and David Parker 2011: The Iron Lady (2) Best Actress: Meryl Streep Best Makeup: Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland 2013: Frozen (2) Best Animated Feature Film: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho Best Original Song: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez ("Let It Go") 2013: The Great Gatsby (2) Best Costume Design: Catherine Martin Best Production Design: Catherine Martin (Production Design) / Beverley Dunn (Set Decoration) 2017: Coco (2) Best Animated Feature Film: Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson Best Original Song: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez ("Remember Me") 2021: CODA (3) Best Picture: Fabrice Gianfermi, Philippe Rousselet and Patrick Wachsberger Best Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur Best Adapted Screenplay: Sian Heder 2021: The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2) Best Actress : Jessica Chastain Best Makeup and Hairstyling : Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh See also References External links Oscars.org (official Academy site) The Academy Awards Database (official site) Filmsite.org

The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Return_of_the_King

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Return_of_the_King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson. It is based on 1955's The Return of the King, the third volume of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The sequel to 2002's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the film is the third and final instalment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It features an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban, John Noble, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, and Sean Bean. Continuing the plot of the previous film, Frodo, Sam and Gollum make their final way toward Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring, unaware of Gollum's true intentions, while Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and their allies join forces against Sauron and his legions from Mordor. The Return of the King was financed and distributed by American studio New Line Cinema, but filmed and edited entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand, concurrently with the other two parts of the trilogy. It premiered on 1 December 2003 at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington and was then released on 17 December 2003 in the US and 18 December 2003 in New Zealand. The film was acclaimed by critics and audiences, who considered it a landmark in filmmaking and the fantasy film genre, and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, with praise for the visual effects, performances, action sequences, direction, screenplay, musical score, costume design, emotional depth, scope, and story. It grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2003, the second-highest-grossing film of all time during its run, and the highest-grossing film ever released by New Line Cinema. Like the previous films in the trilogy, The Return of the King is widely recognised as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. The film received numerous accolades; at the 76th Academy Awards, it won all eleven awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, the first fantasy film to do so and tying with 1959's Ben-Hur and 1997's Titanic as the movie with the most Academy Award wins. It also became the second film series whose entries have all won Best Visual Effects, after the original Star Wars trilogy. Plot The hobbit Déagol discovers the One Ring in a river while fishing with his cousin Sméagol. The Ring immediately ensnares Sméagol's mind, and he kills his cousin for it. Increasingly corrupted physically and mentally, he retreats into the Misty Mountains and becomes known as Gollum. Centuries later, during the War of the Ring, Gandalf leads Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and King Théoden of Rohan to Isengard, where they reunite with Merry and Pippin. Gandalf retrieves Saruman's palantír, and the group returns to Edoras to celebrate their victory at Helm's Deep. Pippin looks into the palantír, seeing Sauron and a burning tree. Gandalf deduces that the enemy plans to attack Gondor's capital Minas Tirith; he rides there to warn Gondor's corrupt steward Denethor. Pippin, who accompanies him, swears fealty to Denethor, whose now-dead heir Boromir had saved his life; on Gandalf's instruction, Pippin triggers the lighting of the beacons, which call for help from Rohan. Frodo, who carries the Ring, and Sam continue their journey towards Mordor, unaware that Gollum, now their guide, plans to betray them and take the Ring for himself. The trio witness the Witch-king of Angmar, lord of the nine Nazgûl, setting off towards Gondor with his army of Orcs. Gollum frames Sam for eating food supplies and desiring the Ring; Frodo is deceived and orders Sam to go home. As King Théoden gathers his army, Elrond tells Aragorn that Arwen is dying, having refused to leave Middle-earth. Elrond gives Aragorn Andúril, reforged from the shards of King Elendil's sword Narsil, and urges him to claim Gondor's throne, to which he is heir. Aragorn travels the Paths of the Dead with Legolas and Gimli and pledges to release the ghosts there from their curse should they come to Gondor's aid. Gollum tricks Frodo into venturing alone into the giant spider Shelob's lair. Frodo narrowly escapes and confronts Gollum, who falls down a chasm after a scuffle. Shelob discovers, paralyses, and binds Frodo, but is wounded and driven away by a returning Sam. Sam mourns Frodo's apparent death and takes the Ring, but then realizes his mistake when Orcs take Frodo captive. He rescues Frodo within Mordor and the two continue towards Mount Doom. Denethor sends his younger son, Faramir, on a suicide charge. Faramir returns gravely wounded; believing him dead, Denethor falls into madness. Gandalf marshals the defenders, but the enormous Orc army breaks into the city. Denethor attempts to burn himself and Faramir on a pyre, but Pippin alerts Gandalf and they rescue Faramir. Denethor, set ablaze, jumps to his death. Théoden arrives and leads his army against the Orcs. Despite initial success in the ensuing battle, they are decimated by the Oliphaunt-riding Haradrim and the Witch-king mortally wounds Théoden; however, his niece Éowyn slays the Witch-king with Merry's help before Théoden dies in his niece's arms. Aragorn arrives with his Army of the Dead, who overcome Sauron's forces. Their oath fulfilled, the Dead are released from their curse. Aragorn decides to march on Mordor to distract Sauron from Frodo and Sam; all of Sauron's remaining forces march to meet Aragorn's diversion, allowing the hobbits to reach Mount Doom. Gollum, having survived his fall, attacks, but Frodo enters the mountain. There, he succumbs to the Ring's power, putting it on his finger. Gollum bites Frodo's finger off and reclaims the Ring, leading to a scuffle before they stumble off the ledge. Frodo clings to the ledge and Sam pulls him up while Gollum falls into the lava with the Ring, destroying it and vanquishing Sauron once and for all. The lands of Mordor collapse into the earth, destroying the Orc army. Frodo and Sam narrowly escape the erupting Mount Doom and are saved by Gandalf with the help of eagles. The surviving Fellowship is happily reunited in Minas Tirith. Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor and marries Arwen; they and everyone else present bow to the hobbits. The hobbits return home to the Shire, where Sam marries Rosie Cotton. Four years later, Frodo, still plagued by trauma and the pain of his wound inflicted by the Witch-king, departs Middle-earth for the Undying Lands with his uncle Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Elves. He leaves Sam the Red Book of Westmarch, which details their adventures. Cast Like the preceding films in the trilogy, The Return of the King has an ensemble cast, and some of the cast and their respective characters include: Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: A young hobbit who continues his quest to destroy the Ring, which continues to weaken and tempt him. Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White: An Istari wizard who travels to aid the Men of Gondor, acting as a general at the Siege of Gondor. Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn: A Dúnedain ranger who must finally face his destiny as King of Gondor. Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee: Better known as Sam, Frodo's loyal hobbit gardener and companion. Andy Serkis as Sméagol / Gollum: A wretched and treacherous creature who was once one of the river-folk (an extinct race of hobbits) and now guides Frodo and Sam into Mordor while seeking the Ring. The first scenes in the film portray him in his former life as Sméagol as well as his deterioration into Gollum. Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took: Better known as Pippin, a hobbit who looks into the palantír and later becomes an esquire of Gondor. Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck: Better known as Merry, a cousin of Frodo's who becomes an esquire of Rohan. John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: A dwarf warrior and companion to Aragorn along with Legolas. Rhys-Davies also voices Treebeard: the ent leader. Orlando Bloom as Legolas: An elven prince of Mirkwood and skilled archer who aids Aragorn in his quest to reclaim the throne. Bernard Hill as Théoden: The King of Rohan who, after triumphing at Helm's Deep, is preparing his troops for the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Miranda Otto as Éowyn: Théoden's niece, who wishes to prove herself in battle and has fallen in love with Aragorn, who does not return her love. In the extended cut of the film, she finds love with Faramir when they are both residing in the Houses of Healing. David Wenham as Faramir: A son of the Stewards of Gondor and head of the Gondorian Rangers defending Osgiliath, who seeks his father's love in vain. Karl Urban as Éomer: Éowyn's brother, who serves as Chief Marshal of the Riders of Rohan and heir to his uncle's throne. Hugo Weaving as Elrond: The Lord of Rivendell who must convince Aragorn to take up the throne. Liv Tyler as Arwen: Elrond's daughter and Aragorn's true love, who gives up her immortal life to be with Aragorn. Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: The Elven-Queen of Lothlórien who is aware the time of the elves is at an end. John Noble as Denethor: The corrupt Steward of Gondor and father of Boromir and Faramir, whose grief over Boromir's death and despair over Mordor's superior numbers drive him into madness during the Siege of Gondor. Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins: Frodo's elderly uncle, who has rapidly aged after giving away the Ring. Sean Bean as Boromir: Faramir's older brother and a fallen companion of Aragorn, who appears in a flashback of his death at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and in the extended cut when his father has a hallucination. Marton Csokas as Celeborn the Wise: The Elven-King of Lothlórien. Lawrence Makoare as the Witch-king of Angmar: The lord of the Nazgûl, who leads Mordor's assault on Minas Tirith. Makoare also plays Gothmog: An Orc commander, who is voiced by Craig Parker. Thomas Robins as Déagol: Sméagol's cousin, who is killed by Sméagol, when the former finds the One Ring in the river they are fishing in. The following appear only in the Extended Edition Christopher Lee as Saruman the White: An Istari wizard, formerly the head of the Istari Order and its White Council, who is now trapped by Treebeard until he is killed by his own servant, Gríma. Brad Dourif as Gríma Wormtongue: Saruman's sycophantic, treacherous servant, who is shot by Legolas after stabbing his own master. Bruce Spence as the Mouth of Sauron: Sauron's ambassador at the Black Gate. There are cameos from Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, Gino Acevedo, Rick Porras and Andrew Lesnie on the Corsair ship, although all of them but Jackson appear only in the Extended Edition. Jackson also has another unofficial cameo, as Sam's hand stepping into view when he confronts Shelob. Sean Astin's daughter played Sam and Rosie's older daughter Elanor in the last scene of the film; in the same scene, Sarah McLeod's daughter plays their younger son. Jackson's children also cameo as Gondorian extras, while Christian Rivers played a Gondorian soldier guarding the Beacon Pippin lights, and is later seen wounded. Royd Tolkien cameos as a Ranger in Osgiliath, while in the Extended Edition Howard Shore appears as a celebrating soldier at Edoras. Additionally, four of the designers of The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game are featured as Rohirrim at the Pelennor. At the end of the film, during the closing credits, each cast member gets a sketched portrait morphed with the real photograph beside their name, which were sketched by Alan Lee, an idea suggested by Ian McKellen. Comparison to the source material As with all of Peter Jackson's movie adaptions of The Lord of the Rings, many events, timelines, and geographic distances are compressed or simplified. Most major events from the books are included, though some are significantly altered. Some events and details seen in the film are not found in the books. The film version of The Return of the King contains major scenes from the middle of Tolkien's The Two Towers, such as the attack by Shelob and the palantír subplot, as Jackson realigned events of the film to fit the timeline from the book's Appendices, rather than the interlaced order of the main narrative. However, the plot of the second half of Book III is either completely omitted (chapter "The Road to Isengard") or only shown in one scene (chapter "The Voice of Saruman"). Saruman's murder by Gríma (seen only in the Extended Edition) is moved into the Isengard visit because of the cutting of the Scouring of the Shire. The basis of Elrond and Arwen's subplot arguing about Arwen's fate is derived from the Appendices, but it is largely extended in the film, as is Arwen and Elrond's relevance to the story. In the film, overwhelming grief over the death of Boromir has driven Denethor to despair, and he has given up any hope of defeating Sauron before Gandalf arrives in Minas Tirith. Thus, the muster of Gondor is absent from the film. In the book, he has already ordered the lighting of the beacons before Gandalf's arrival, while he refuses to light them in the film, and the sequence where Pippin secretly lights them himself was invented for the movie. The film only hints at Denethor's use of the palantír which drives him mad, information revealed in the Pyre scene, which includes Shadowfax and is more violent than the book. Aware of the very long distance between Rath Dínen and the front of the out-thrust battlement, Jackson has Denethor jump off the Citadel in addition to burning himself on the Pyre, one of the earliest changes. The muster of Rohan, and the subplot in which the Rohirrim are aided by the primitive Drúedain during their journey to the besieged Gondor are excised from the film. The Red Arrow brought by a messenger from Gondor to ask for Rohan's aid is absent. Éowyn's presence on the battlefield is unknown to the reader until she takes off her helmet, but in the film the audience is aware, as it would have been difficult to have Miranda Otto playing a man. When hope seems lost, Gandalf comforts Pippin by telling him of the Undying Lands, based on a descriptive passage in the book's final chapter. The film altered the circumstances of Théoden's death; his death speech, in which he names Éomer the new king in the book, is trimmed and delivered to Éowyn instead of Merry, with an earlier scene in the Extended Edition even implying that Éowyn is next in line for the throne. Théoden's rallying speech ("To death!") before the initial charge in the film is spoken by Éomer in the book when he believes that both Théoden and Éowyn have been killed in combat with the Witch King. The Extended Edition presents shortened scenes from the book's chapters in the Houses of Healing: The Warden, the talk of Athelas, the comical conversation with the herb-master, the woman Ioreth and her saying about a King's healing hands and the subsequent realising of Aragorn's true identity are left out altogether. The romance that develops between Éowyn and Faramir during their recoveries in the Houses of Healing is largely cut, presumably to keep the focus on Aragorn and Arwen; the subplot is briefly referenced in the Extended Edition, with a scene where the two hold hands. Gollum's fall into the lava of Mount Doom was rewritten for the film, as the writers felt that simply having Gollum slip and fall was anticlimactic. Originally, an even greater deviation was planned: Frodo would heroically push Gollum over the ledge to destroy him and the Ring, but the production team realised that that would make it look as if Frodo was murdering Gollum. Instead, they had Frodo and Gollum struggle for possession of the Ring. In addition to the absent footage from the film are the other major attacks by Sauron on various regions of Middle-earth, referenced only briefly in the main text of The Return of the King, and expanded upon in the Appendices; the invasion of Rohan by the Orcs of Moria, the attacks on Lothlórien and the Woodland Realm of Thranduil by the forces of Dol Guldur, and the attack on Dale and the Lonely Mountain by a force of Easterlings, events hinted at in a comment by Legolas in the book. There are several changes in the Battle of the Black Gate: Merry is not present there in the book, Pippin does not kill a troll as he does in the novel (instead, Aragorn fights one), the eagles fight and defeat some of the mounted Nazgûl, and Aragorn kills the Mouth of Sauron in the extended edition of the film but not in the book. Although the film runs for another approximately 20 minutes after the climactic Downfall of Barad-dûr, many following events from the book are omitted or altered in the film. Aragorn's coronation takes place in form of a great ceremony in the Citadel of Minas Tirith, opposed to the book, where Aragorn is crowned in his tent on the Pelennor Fields before entering the city. Omitted entirely are the camp at the Field of Cormallen, Aragorn's business in Minas Tirith, Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, Galadriel and Celeborn being present at the ceremonies and their subsequent travelling along with the company, Théoden's funeral at Edoras, the complete journey back to the Shire with stops at Rivendell and Bree, and the Scouring of the Shire, which was seen by the screenwriters as anticlimactic. The film also left out the character epilogues: For example, Samwise Gamgee stayed in the Shire when Gandalf and Frodo went to Valinor, during which time he would make changes and additions to the Red Book of Westmarch, which he inherited from Frodo, just as in the film, in which he would add a section titled "Herb Lore of The Shire", which was a section on Pipeweed, the plant Hobbits and other folk of Middle Earth, like Gandalf, would smoke through pipes, as well as various poems. Shortly after his contribution to the Red Book, he served seven consecutive seven year terms as mayor of the Shire, during which he had children with Rosie Cotton who each took the last name of "Gardner" after their father's planting of the Mallorn Tree that replaced the Party Tree, which was destroyed during the Scouring. He did, however, go to Valinor after Rosie died, and before he did, he gave the Red Book to Elanor, one of his daughters. The books also expanded on Aragorn's time as king of Gondor and Arnor post-reuniting, and reveals that Arwen accepted a life as a mortal, and died shortly after Aragorn. Merry and Pippin also returned to the Shire, but unlike Sam and Frodo, they didn't eventually journey to Valinor. Merry inherited his father's title as "Master of Buckland" and despite the perils he and Pippin endured that almost cost them their lives, Merry still had his adventurous spirit. He also reviewed many gifts from Eomer and his sister, Eowyn, and helped the Hobbits learn more about lands beyond the Shire through scholarly articles. He even returned to Rivendell multiple times. When he and Pippin died, they were buried beside their friends, Aragorn and Arwen in Minas Tirith, where they spent some of their final days after a stint in Rohan. Legolas and Gimli make and keep promises in the books to show the other important places to them: first, Gimli shows Legolas the caverns of Aglarond, which Legolas is stunned by, then they walk in the Fangorn Forest, where they then make their way to Isengard where they bid farewell to the Fellowship, after which, they would each go back to their own lands, with Gimli even founding a Dwarven colony in the Glittering Caves. They would, however, reunite to help with the rebuilding and improving of Minas Tirith. They would be the last of the Fellowship to sail for Valinor, departing after the death of their friend Aragorn, Legolas would build a ship for him and Gimli to sail to Valinor. Lastly, Frodo would serve as Deputy Mayor of The Shire until a wound caused by a stab from the Witch King which flared up every year on the anniversary of said stabbing forced him to resign, after which, he would sail to Valinor to receive healing and peace for the rest of his days. Production The production of The Lord of the Rings series was the first where three separate entries were written and shot simultaneously (excluding pick up shoots). Peter Jackson found The Return of the King the easiest of the films to make, because it contained the climax of the story. The Return of the King was originally the second of two planned films under Miramax Films from January 1997 to August 1998, and more or less in its finished structure as the first film was to end with the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers. Filming took place under multiple units across New Zealand, between 11 October 1999 and 22 December 2000, with pick up shoots for six weeks in 2003 before the film's release. Design Jackson's Middle-earth was primarily designed by Alan Lee and John Howe, who had earlier illustrated editions of Tolkien's books. It was created by Weta Workshop, who handled all the trilogy's weapons, armour, miniatures, prosthetics, and creatures; the Art Department built the sets. Richard Taylor headed Weta, while Grant Major and Dan Hennah organised the planning and building. The city of Minas Tirith, glimpsed briefly in both the previous two films, is seen fully in this film, and with it the Gondorian civilisation. The enormous soundstage was built at Dry Creek Quarry, outside Wellington, from the Helm's Deep set. That set's gate became Minas Tirith's second, while the Hornburg exterior became that of the Extended Edition's scene where Gandalf confronts the Witch-king. New structures included the 8m tall Gate, with broken and unbroken versions, with a working opening and closing mechanism, with its engravings inspired by the Baptistry of San Giovanni. There were also four levels of streets with heraldic motifs for every house, as inspired by Siena. The Citadel's exterior was in the Stone Street Studios backlot, using forced perspective. It contained the withered White Tree, built from polystyrene by Brian Massey and the Greens Department with real branches, influenced by ancient and gnarled Lebanese olive trees. The interior was within a three-storey former factory in Wellington, its colours influenced by Charlemagne's Chapel, with a throne for Denethor carved from stone, and polystyrene statues of past kings. The Gondorian armour is designed to represent an evolution from the Númenóreans of the first film's prologue, with a simplified sea bird motif. 16th-century Italian and German armour served as inspiration, while civilians wear silver and blacks as designed by Ngila Dickson, continuing an ancient/medieval Mediterranean Basin look. Minas Morgul, the Staircase and Tower of Cirith Ungol as well as Shelob's Lair were designed by Howe, with the Morgul road using forced perspective into a bluescreened miniature. Howe's design of Minas Morgul was inspired from the experience of having a wisdom tooth pulled out: in the same way, the Orcs have put their twisted designs on to a former Gondorian city. Cirith Ungol was based on Tolkien's design, but when Richard Taylor felt it as "boring", it was redesigned with more tipping angles. The interior set, like Minas Tirith, was built as a few multiple levels that numerous camera takes would suggest a larger structure. The third film introduces the enormous spider Shelob. Shelob was designed in 1999, with the body based on a tunnelweb spider and the head with numerous growths selected by Peter Jackson's children from one of many sculpts. Jackson himself took great joy in planning the sequence, being an arachnophobe himself. Shelob's Lair was inspired by sandstone and sculpted from the existing Caverns of Isengard set. The Return of the King also brings into focus the Dead Men of Dunharrow and the evil Haradrim from the south of Middle-earth, men who ride the mûmakil. The Dead Men have a Celtic influence, as well as lines and symmetry to reflect their morbid state, while their underground city is influenced by Petra. The Haradrim were highly influenced by African culture, until Philippa Boyens expressed concern over the possibility of offensiveness, so the finished characters instead bear influence from Kiribati, in terms of weaving armour from bamboo, and the Aztecs, in use of jewellery. Also built was a single dead mûmak. Other minor cultures include the Corsairs, with an exotic, swarthy look, and the Grey Havens, Elven structures adapted to stone, with influence from J. M. W. Turner paintings. Principal photography The Return of the King was shot during 2000, though Astin's coverage from Gollum's attempt to separate Frodo and Sam was filmed on 24 November 1999, when floods in Queenstown interrupted the focus on The Fellowship of the Ring. Some of the earliest scenes shot for the film were in fact shot last. Hobbiton, home of the Hobbits, was shot in January 2000 with early scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring, with the exterior shot at a Matamata farm, while interior scenes were shot at Stone Street Studios in Wellington, shared with the Grey Havens sequence. Due to the high emotions of filming the scene, the cast were in despair when they were required to shoot it three times, due to a continuity flaw in Astin's costume, and then negatives producing out-of-focus reels. Also shared with the previous films was the Rivendell interior in May. The Battle of the Black Gate was filmed in April at the Rangipo Desert, a former minefield. New Zealand soldiers were hired as extras while guides were on the lookout for unexploded mines. Also a cause for concern were Monaghan and Boyd's scale doubles during a charge sequence. In the meantime, Wood, Astin and Serkis filmed at Mount Ruapehu for the Mount Doom exteriors. In particular, they spent two hours shooting Sam lifting Frodo on to his back with cross-camera coverage. Scenes shot in June were the Paths of the Dead across various locations, including Putangirua Pinnacles. In July the crew shot some Shelob scenes, and in August and September time was spent on the scenes in Isengard. Monaghan and Boyd tried numerous takes of their entrance, stressing the word "weed" as they smoked pipe-weed. Christopher Lee spent his part of his scene mostly alone, though McKellen and Hill arrived on the first day for a few lines to help. Edoras exteriors were shot in October. The Ride of the Rohirrim, where Théoden leads the charge into the Orc army, was filmed in Twizel with 150 extras on horseback. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields has more extensive use of computer-generated imagery, in contrast to the more extensive use of live action in the Battle of Helm's Deep in the second film. Also filmed were the attempts by Faramir to recapture Osgiliath, as were scenes in the city itself. At this point production was very hectic, with Jackson moving around ten units per day, and production finally wrapped on the Minas Tirith sets, as well as second units shooting parts of the siege. Just as the Hobbit actors' first scene was hiding from a Ringwraith under a tree, their last scene was the bluescreened reaction shot of the inhabitants of Minas Tirith bowing to them. Pick-ups The 2003 pick-ups were filmed in the Wellington studio car park, with many parts of sets and blue-screens used to finish off scenes, which the design team had to work 24 hours to get the right sets ready for a particular day. The shoot continued for two months, and became an emotional time of farewells for the cast and crew. The film has the most extensive list of re-shoots given for the trilogy. Jackson took his time to re-shoot Aragorn's coronation, rushed into a single day under the supervision of second unit director Geoff Murphy on 21 December 2000. Jackson also re-shot scenes in and around Mount Doom, and Théoden's death, right after Bernard Hill was meant to wrap. There was also the new character of Gothmog. This was a major new design addition for the film, as Jackson felt the Mordor Orcs were "pathetic" compared to the Uruk-hai of the second film after watching assembly cuts, and thus Weta Workshop created grotesque new "über Orcs" as antagonists for the audience to focus on. Rivers redesigned the Witch-king; all his scenes were re-shot, because of confusion from non-readers over whether or not Sauron was on the battlefield. With the positive response to Bloom, Legolas was given a fight with a mûmak, and Shore appeared in a cameo during Legolas and Gimli's drinking game at Edoras. The final scenes shot were Aragorn escaping the Skull avalanche, and Frodo finishing his book. The cast also received various props associated with their characters, although John Rhys-Davies burned his final Gimli prosthetic. Viggo Mortensen headbutted the stunt team goodbye. Pick-ups ended on 27 June 2003. Scenes shot afterwards included various live-action shots of Riders for the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and a reaction shot of Serkis as Gollum finally realises Frodo intends to destroy the Ring, shot in Jackson's house. For the Extended DVD, in March 2004 Jackson created a few shots of skulls rolling over for the avalanche scene; this was the final piece of footage ever shot for the trilogy, and Jackson noted that it must be the first time a director had shot scenes for a film after it had already won the Oscar. Editing Post-production began in November 2002, with the completion of the 4½ hour assembly cut of the film that Annie Collins had been completing over 2001 and 2002, from 4-hour dailies. For example, Théoden leading the charge went from 150 minutes of takes to a finished 90 seconds. Jackson reunited with longtime collaborator Jamie Selkirk to edit the final film. Like The Two Towers, they would have to deal with multiple storylines, and Jackson paid attention to each storyline at a time before deciding where to intercut. Most importantly they spent three weeks working on the last 45 minutes of the film, for appropriate intercutting and leaving out scenes such as the Mouth of Sauron, and the fates of characters like Legolas, Gimli, Éowyn and Faramir. The film inherited scenes originally planned to go into the second film, including the reforging of Narsil, Gollum's backstory, and Saruman's exit. But the Saruman scene posed a structural problem: killing off the second film's villain when the plot has Sauron as the main villain. Despite pick-ups and dubs, the scene was cut, causing controversy with fans and Saruman actor Christopher Lee, as well as a petition to restore the scene. Lee nonetheless contributed to the DVDs and was at the Copenhagen premiere, although he said he would never understand the reason for the cut and his relationship with Jackson was chilly. They would, however, later reconcile upon Lee's casting in Jackson's Hobbit films. Jackson only had a lock on 5 out of 10 reels, and had to churn out 3 reels in 3 weeks to help finish the film. It was finally completed on 12 November 2003. Jackson never had a chance to view the film in full due to the hectic schedule, and only saw the film from beginning to end on 1 December at the Wellington premiere; according to Elijah Wood, his response was "yup, it's good, pretty good". Visual effects The Return of the King contains 1,489 visual effect shots, nearly three times the number from the first film and almost twice that of the second. As with the two previous films, Jim Rygiel served as the visual effects supervisor. Visual effects work began with Alan Lee and Mark Lewis compositing various photographs of New Zealand landscape to create the digital arena of the Pelennor Fields in November 2002. Jackson and Rivers used computers to plan the enormous battle up until February 2003, when the shots were shown to Weta Digital. To their astonishment, 60 planned shots had gone up to 250, and 50,000 characters were now 200,000. Nevertheless, they pressed on, soon delivering 100 shots a week, 20 a day, and as the deadline neared within the last two months, often working until 2 am. For the battle, they recorded 450 motions for the MASSIVE digital horses (though deaths were animated), and also had to deal with late additions in the film, such as Trolls bursting through Minas Tirith's gates as well as the creatures that pull Grond to the gate, and redoing a shot of two mûmakil Éomer takes down that had originally taken six months in two days. On a similar note of digital creatures, Shelob's head sculpture was scanned by a Canadian company for 10 times more detail than Weta had previously been able to capture. Like the previous films, there are also extensive morphs between digital doubles for the actors. This time, there was Sam falling off Shelob, where the morph takes place as Astin hits the ground. Legolas attacking a mûmak required numerous transitions to and fro, and Gollum's shots of him having recovered the One Ring and falling into the Crack of Doom were fully animated. For the latter scene, as well as the scene in which Mount Doom erupts and Frodo and Sam escape from the volcano, the help of the company Next Limit Technologies and their software RealFlow was required to simulate the lava. The King of the Dead is played by an actor in prosthetics, and his head occasionally morphs to a more skull-like digital version, depending on the character's mood. The Mouth of Sauron also had his mouth enlarged 200% for unsettling effect. The Return of the King also has practical effects. In the Pyre of Denethor sequence, as the Steward of Gondor throws Pippin out of the Tomb, John Noble threw a size double named Fon onto a prostrate Billy Boyd, who immediately pushed his head into camera to complete the illusion. A few burning torches were also reflected off a plate of glass and into the camera for when Gandalf's horse Shadowfax kicks Denethor onto the pyre. Because of Jackson's requirement for complete representation of his fantasy world, numerous miniatures were built, such as 1:72 scale miniature of Minas Tirith, which rises 7m high and is 6.5m in diameter. 1:14 scale sections of the city were also required, and the Extended Edition scene of the collapsing City of the Dead has 80,000 small skulls, amounting in total to a single cubic meter. The miniatures team concluded in November with the Black Gate, after 1000 days of shooting, and the final digital effects shot done was the Ring's destruction, on 25 November. Sound effects The Sound department spent the early part of the year searching for the right sounds. A Tasmanian devil was used to create Shelob's shriek, which in turn gave inspiration for Weta's animators, while the mûmakil sound is the beginning and end of a lion roar. Human screams and a donkey screech were mixed into Sauron's fall and broken glass was used for the collapsing sounds. For missile trading during Minas Tirith's siege, construction workers dropped actual 2 ton stone blocks previously lifted by a construction crane. Mixing began at a new studio on 15 August, although unfinished building work caused some annoyances. The mixers finished on 15 November, after three months of non-stop work. Score The music, as for the rest of the trilogy, was composed by Shore. He watched the assembly cut of the film, and had to write seven minutes of music per day to keep up with the schedule. The score sees the full introduction of the Gondor theme, originally heard during Boromir's speeches at the Council of Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring and at Osgiliath in The Two Towers' Extended Edition. Shore also used the Gondor theme with the new ascending coda (which is unique to this film) in his score for the trailer of the film. The score features the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Voices, the London Oratory School Schola and featured vocal soloists. The score is the most expansive of the three: scoring effectively the entire movie length, not including additional music written for the trailer and various alternate versions released to the public. It also uses the biggest forces in the series: sections of the score call for two sets of timpani, eight trumpets (and possibly a similar increase in the size of the horn, trombone and tuba section, as well), 85 singers in the mixed choir with additional players for all-male and all-female sections, over fifty in the boy choir and many instrumentalist "bands" playing Celtic and eastern instruments such as tin whistle or pan flute, on stage or off of it. One piece of music required an instrument invented and crafted especially for the film: a fiddle with four pairs of strings instead of single strings. Actors Billy Boyd, Viggo Mortensen and Liv Tyler also contributed to the film's music. Boyd sings on screen as Faramir charges towards Osgiliath, Mortensen sings on screen as he is crowned King, and in the Extended Edition Tyler sings as Aragorn heals Éowyn. Renée Fleming, Ben Del Maestro, Sissel Kyrkjebø and James Galway contribute to the soundtrack as featured soloists. Fleming sings as Arwen has a vision of her son, and when Gollum recovers the One Ring. Del Maestro sings when Gandalf lights his staff to save fleeing Gondorian soldiers from Osgiliath as the Nazgûl attack and as the eagles arrive at the Black Gates. Galway plays the flute and whistle as Frodo and Sam climb Mount Doom and as they return to the shire. Sissel sings "Asea Aranion", which was originally meant to score the Houses of Healing scene. The end title song, "Into the West", was composed by Shore with lyrics by Fran Walsh. Annie Lennox (formerly of Eurythmics) performed it and also received songwriting credit. The song was partially inspired by the premature death from cancer of a young New Zealand filmmaker named Cameron Duncan who had befriended Peter Jackson. Release Theatrical After two years of attention and acclaim since the release of The Fellowship of the Ring, audience and critical anticipation for the final entry was extremely high. The world premiere was held in Wellington's Embassy Theatre, on 1 December 2003, and was attended by the director and many of the stars. It was estimated that over 100,000 people lined the streets, more than a quarter of the city's population. Home media The theatrical edition of the film was released on VHS and DVD on 25 May 2004 by New Line Home Entertainment. The DVD was a 2-disc set with extras on the second disc. The theatrical DVD sets for the two previous films were released eight months after the films were released, but Return of the King's set was completed in five because it did not have to market a sequel (the previous films had to wait for footage of their sequels to become available for a ten-minute preview). However, it contained a seven-minute trailer of the entire trilogy. The Return of the King followed the precedent set by its predecessors by releasing an Extended Edition (251 minutes) on 14 December 2004 in the UK and US, with new editing and added special effects and music, along with four commentaries and six hours of supplementary material. The final ten minutes comprises a listing of the charter members of the official fan club who had paid for three-year charter membership. A collectors' box set was also released, which included the Extended Set plus a sculpture of Minas Tirith and a bonus 50-minute music documentary DVD, Howard Shore: Creating The Lord of the Rings Symphony: A Composer's Journey Through Middle-earth. The DVD has a DTS-ES soundtrack. The DVD also features two humorous Easter Eggs, one where Dominic Monaghan plays a German interviewer with Elijah Wood via satellite and another where Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller attempt to convince Jackson to make a sequel, originally shown at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards. Both can be accessed via a Ring icon on the last page of both Disc 1 and 2's scene indexes. In August 2006, a Limited Edition of The Return of the King was released. This Limited Edition contains two discs; the first is a two-sided DVD containing both the Theatrical and Extended editions of the film. The second disc is a bonus disc that contains a new behind-the-scenes documentary. The theatrical Blu-ray release was released in the United States on the sixth of April 2010, though only as part of the complete trilogy release disc. The individual Blu-ray disc of The Return of the King was released on the fourteenth of September 2010 with the same special features as the complete trilogy release, except there was no digital copy. The Extended Edition was released in the United States in June 2011. It has a runtime of 263 minutes. The Return of the King was released in Ultra HD Blu-ray on 30 November 2020 in the United Kingdom and on 1 December 2020 in the United States, along with the other films of the trilogy, including both the theatrical and the extended editions of the films. Reception Box office The Return of the King earned $377 million in the United States and Canada and $763.7 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $1.141 billion in its initial release. In the weekend of 20–22 February 2004, the film crossed the $1 billion mark, making it the second film in history to do so, after Titanic in 1998. Worldwide, it is the 27th highest-grossing film of all time when not adjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing film of 2003, the second highest-grossing film of the 2000s, the highest-grossing entry in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the highest-grossing film ever to be released by New Line Cinema. It held the record as Time Warner's highest-grossing film worldwide for eight years until it was surpassed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2011. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film had sold over 61 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run. In the US and Canada, it is the 27th highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing 2003 film, and the highest-grossing entry in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The film set an opening Wednesday record with $34 million. This record was first surpassed by Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and ranks as the seventh largest Wednesday opening. Additionally, it was ranked as the highest December opening day, holding that record for less than a decade before getting dethroned by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012. The film opened a day earlier for a midnight showing and accounted for about $8 million. This was nearly twice the first-day total of The Fellowship of the Ring — which earned $18.2 million on its opening day in 2001 — as well as a significant increase over The Two Towers — which earned $26.1 million on its debut in 2002. Part of the grosses came from the Trilogy Tuesday event, in which the Extended Editions of the two previous films were played on 16 December before the first midnight screening. For two years, The Return of the King would hold the record for having the highest midnight screenings gross until 2005 when it was given to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. The film went on to make an opening weekend of $72.6 million making it the second-highest opening weekend for a New Line Cinema film, behind Austin Powers in Goldmember. In addition, it had the third largest opening weekend of that year, after The Matrix Reloaded and X2. With a total gross of $125.1 million, the film had the biggest five-day Wednesday opening of all time, surpassing the previous record held by Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The next year, this record would be beaten by Shrek 2. Its Friday-Sunday opening weekend was a record-high for December (first surpassed by I Am Legend). The film also set single-day records for Christmas Day and New Year's Day (both first surpassed by Meet the Fockers). Outside the US and Canada, it is the 17th highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing 2003 film and the highest-grossing film of the series. On its first day (Wednesday, 17 December 2003), the film earned $23.5 million from 19 countries and it set an opening-weekend record outside the US and Canada with $125.9 million during the five-day weekend as a whole. The combined total gross increased to $250.1 million, making it the highest worldwide opening weekend at the time, knocking out The Matrix Revolutions. It set opening-day records in thirteen of them, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Scandinavia (as well as separately in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark), Mexico, Chile and Puerto Rico. It set opening-weekend records in the United Kingdom ($26.5 million in five days), Germany, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. In Singapore, it surpassed Finding Nemo to become the country's top-grossing film. In New Zealand, where filming took place, the film set opening day, opening weekend, single-day, Friday gross, Saturday gross and Sunday gross records with $1.7 million in four days. The substantial increase in initial box office totals caused optimistic studio executives to forecast that The Return of the King would surpass The Two Towers in total earnings. If this proved to be true, then this would be the first blockbuster trilogy for each successive film to earn more at the box office than its predecessor, when all three films were blockbuster successes. The Return of the King has helped The Lord of the Rings franchise to become the highest-grossing motion picture trilogy worldwide of all time with over $2.9 billion beating other notable series such as the original Star Wars Trilogy, and became New Line's highest grossing release. Following subsequent reissues, the film has grossed $381.9 million in the United States and Canada and $769.2 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $1.151billion. These figures do not include income from DVD sales, TV rights, etc. It has been estimated that the gross income from non-box office sales and merchandise has been at least equal to the box office for all three films. If this is so, the total gross income for the trilogy would be in the region of $6 billion following an investment of $300 million ($426 million including marketing costs). Critical response On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Return of the King holds an approval rating of 94% based on 282 reviews, with an average rating of 8.70/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Visually breathtaking and emotionally powerful, The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King is a moving and satisfying conclusion to a great trilogy." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gives the film a score of 94 out of 100 based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, the highest grade in the trilogy. Alan Morrison of Empire gave the film a perfect score of five stars. In his review, he called the film "the resounding climax to a landmark in cinema history" and praised how Peter Jackson had "kept the momentum of the series rolling on and on through the traditionally 'difficult' middle part and 'weak' finale, delivering a climax to the story that's neater and more affecting than what Tolkien managed on the printed page." Morrison also mentioned how fans of the films "who have walked beside these heroes every step of the way on such a long journey deserve the emotional pay-off as well as the action peaks, and they will be genuinely touched as the final credits roll." Elvis Mitchell for The New York Times lauded the acting, the craft of the technical crew, and Jackson's direction, describing The Return of the King as "a meticulous and prodigious vision made by a director who was not hamstrung by heavy use of computer special-effects imagery." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying that it is "such a crowning achievement, such a visionary use of all the tools of special effects, such a pure spectacle, that it can be enjoyed even by those who have not seen the first two films." Talking about the whole trilogy, Ebert said that he admired it "more as a whole than in its parts", and that The Return of the King certified The Lord of the Rings as "a work of bold ambition in a time of cinematic timidity". In his review for The Times, James Christopher praised The Return of the King as "everything a Ring fan could possibly wish for, and much more", and described The Lord of the Rings as "the greatest film trilogy ever mounted, with some of the most amazing action sequences committed to celluloid". Nev Pierce for the BBC gave the film five stars out of five, judging it to be the best chapter of the trilogy, since it combined "the 'ooh' factor of Fellowship with the zippy action of Towers". Pierce described The Return of the King as "Majestic, moving, and immense", and "an astonishing piece of storytelling". Philip French, reviewing it for The Observer, lauded the narrative force, the battle scenes, the language, and the visual style of the film, which he related to "the swirling battle paintings of Albrecht Altdorfer" and "Claude Lorrain's elegiac paintings of maritime departures inspired by classical poets." French wrote about the whole trilogy "Jackson's Lord of the Rings is indeed a very fine achievement, moving, involving and, to many people, even inspiring. It redeems the debased cinematic notion of the epic." In her review for Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the film an A grade, and wrote "The conclusion of Peter Jackson's masterwork is passionate and literate, detailed and expansive, and it's conceived with a risk-taking flair for old-fashioned movie magic at its most precious ... as he has done throughout, the director paces scenes of action, intimacy, and even panoramic, geographical grandeur ... with the control of a superb choreographer.". Schwarzbaum also said of the whole series "I can't think of another film trilogy that ends in such glory, or another monumental work of sustained storytelling that surges ahead with so much inventiveness and ardor." Richard Corliss of Time named The Return of the King the best film of the year and described the whole trilogy as "The film event of the millennium". Joe Morgenstern, for The Wall Street Journal, wrote "Never has a filmmaker aimed higher, or achieved more. The third and last installment of the screen epic based on J.R.R. Tolkien's literary classic redefines -- steeply upward -- the very notion of a major motion picture." Peter Bradshaw, who had been less enthusiastic about the first two chapters of the trilogy, gave The Return of the King four stars out of five in his review for The Guardian, commenting "I started the series an atheist and finished an agnostic". Bradshaw wrote of the film "Technically it really is superb", and commented "Hours after watching the film, I can close my eyes and see those incredible battle scenes pulsing and throbbing in my skull ... Maybe Kurosawa's battles will one day be described as proto-Jacksonian". Some critics had negative opinions of the film. Tom Charity observes in Time Out, "Some story strands are crudely abbreviated; others fail to develop elements that were already well-established. Given the inordinate running time, it's hard to avoid the feeling that we've already been here, done this." Jonathan Romney noted in The Independent, "[T]here's something not quite palatable about all these intrepid, largely beautiful Europeans boldly fending off the nameless, numberless hordes from the other side of the world, legions of dark-skinned sans-culottes with tribal drums. ... Aside from this, there's plenty to be offended by on an aesthetic level: the film's self-important solemnity, its hyperbolic over-insistence. ... [T]here are no empty spaces, no gaps for thought, no real stimulus to the viewer's imagination. The film has no idea when to stop, either, with its multiple codas and final dying fall into beatific cosiness." And Antonia Quirke in the Evening Standard opined, "Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn is the good king of the title, and while the actor may look fetching in a crown and cloak, he doesn't have half of the gravitas of Sean Bean's Boromir in the first film. Director Peter Jackson has been all but deified for his work on this particular ring cycle, but there is not much personality behind the camera here, merely rampant enthusiasm." The most common criticism of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was its running time, particularly the epilogue; even rave reviews for the film commented on its length. Joel Siegel of Good Morning America said in his review for the film (which he gave an 'A'): "If it didn't take forty-five minutes to end, it'd be my best picture of the year. As it is, it's just one of the great achievements in film history." In February 2004, a few months following release, the film was voted eighth on Empire's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, compiled from readers' top ten lists. This forced the magazine to abandon its policy of only allowing films being older than a year to be eligible. In 2007, Total Film named The Return of the King the third best film of the past decade (Total Film's publication time), behind The Matrix and Fight Club. Accolades The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Make-up, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing. At the 76th Academy Awards in 2004, the film won all the categories for which it was nominated and it shares the record for highest Academy Award totals along with Titanic (which also starred Bernard Hill) and Ben-Hur, and holding the record for the highest clean sweep at the Oscars, surpassing the nine awards earned by both Gigi and The Last Emperor. It was the first fantasy film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It also was the last movie for 14 years to win the Academy Award for Best Picture without being chosen as one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review, until the release of The Shape of Water in 2017. The film won four Golden Globes (including Best Picture for Drama and Best Director), five BAFTAs, two MTV Movie Awards, two Grammy Awards, nine Saturn Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Picture, the Nebula Award for Best Script, and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. See also The Hobbit (film series) The Hobbit (1977 film) The Lord of the Rings (1978 film) The Return of the King (1980 film) List of films considered the best List of Academy Award records Notes References External links Official website The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at IMDb The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at AllMovie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the TCM Movie Database The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at Box Office Mojo The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at Metacritic The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at Rotten Tomatoes

Andrew_Lesnie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Lesnie

Andrew Lesnie ACS ASC (1 January 1956 – 27 April 2015) was an Australian cinematographer. He was best known as the cinematographer for The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) and its prequel The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014), both directed by New Zealand director Peter Jackson. He received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2002. Early life Lesnie was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 1 January 1956, the son of Shirley (Lithgow) and Allan Lesnie, who worked for the family's company, butcher suppliers Harry Lesnie Pty Ltd. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School. Andrew was well liked and popular at school. Lesnie finished 6th form and his Higher School Certificate in 1974. He started his career in 1978 as an assistant camera operator on the film Patrick (1978) while he was still in school at Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS). sd His first job after graduation in 1979 was as a cameraman on the Logie Award-winning Australian magazine-style afternoon TV show Simon Townsend's Wonder World. Simon Townsend gave Lesnie almost daily opportunities to develop his craft with little restriction over a wide variety of stories and situations, and to experiment with camera and lighting techniques in hundreds of locations and situations. After two years of working on the show, Lesnie moved on to numerous Australian film and television productions, including the mini-series Bodyline. Later, he worked as a second camera assistant on the film The Killing of Angel Street (1981). Lesnie would then go on to develop his craft as he photographed films such as Stations (1983), The Delinquents (1989), Temptation of the Monk (1993), and Spider and Rose (1994). Career Lesnie's work began receiving major attention after the release of the anthropomorphic pig story Babe (1995) and its sequel, Babe: Pig in the City. He was director of photography on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, and received an Oscar for his work on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2002. Since then, he filmed several other Jackson-directed films, including King Kong and The Lovely Bones, and also filmed The Hobbit films directed by Jackson. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–03) Lesnie used motion picture camera company Arri's Arriflex 435, Arriflex 535, and ArriCam Studio 35mm film cameras for the trilogy. He used Carl Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses and Kodak's 5279 (tungsten-balanced) film stock to photograph the films. Lesnie planned far ahead into the production with Peter Jackson with previsualisation programs to help establish frame sizes and angles, as well as construction of sets. During filming, Lesnie emphasised earthy colours in the makeup and wardrobe of the cast and extras. At the acceptance speech for his Oscar win for Fellowship of the Ring, Lesnie dedicated his acceptance to chief lighting technician Brian Bansgrove, who he described as a major contributor to the quality of the film's cinematography. The Hobbit trilogy (2012–14) For production, Lesnie used Red Digital Cinema's Epic cameras as well as Carl Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses to photograph the film. Jackson and Lesnie decided to shoot the film in 3D with as many as 15 stereoscopic camera rigs (2 cameras each) with 3ality. They also decided to shoot the film in an uncommon frame rate of 48 frames per second versus the industry standard of 24 frames per second. This would make Lesnie the first cinematographer to employ such a method that claims to induce more clarity, reduce motion blur, and make 3D easier to watch. The Water Diviner Lesnie's final film, The Water Diviner, directed by and starring Russell Crowe, was released in Australia in December 2014 and in America in April 2015, one week before his death. Personal life and death Lesnie lived on Sydney's north coast. He was a member of both the Australian Cinematographers Society and the American Society of Cinematographers. Lesnie died of a heart attack in his Sydney home on 27 April 2015, after having suffered from a heart condition for half a year. Filmography Film Documentary film Short film Feature film Television TV movies Awards and nominations References External links Andrew Lesnie at IMDb Andrew Lesnie's profile on the AFTRS website Russell Crowe remembers late cinematographer Andrew Lesnie

Belgium

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the south, and the North Sea to the west. It covers an area of 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.7 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 383/km2 (990/sq mi). Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest metropolitan region is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven. Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions: the Flemish Region (Flanders) in the north, the Walloon Region (Wallonia) in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region in the middle. Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region, as well as the richest region in terms of GDP per capita. Belgium is also home to two main linguistic communities: the Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking), which constitutes about 60 percent of the population, and the French Community (French-speaking), which constitutes about 40 percent of the population. A small German-speaking Community, making up around one percent of the population, exists in the East Cantons. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual in French and Dutch, although French is the majority language and lingua franca. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Since the Middle Ages, Belgium's central location has meant that the area has been relatively prosperous, connected commercially and politically to its bigger neighbours. The country as it exists today was established following the 1830 Belgian Revolution, when it seceded from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, which had incorporated the Southern Netherlands (which comprised most of modern-day Belgium) after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The name chosen for the new state is derived from the Latin word Belgium, used in Julius Caesar's "Gallic Wars", to describe a nearby region in the period around 55 BCE. Belgium has also been called "the Battlefield of Europe", a reputation reinforced in the 20th century by both world wars. Belgium was an early participant in the Industrial Revolution, and during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies, notably the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi. These colonies gained independence between 1960 and 1962. The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speakers and French-speakers, fueled by differences in political culture and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching state reforms, resulting in the transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement between 1970 and 1993. Despite the reforms, tensions have persisted: there is particularly significant separatist sentiment among the Flemish; language laws such as the municipalities with language facilities have been the source of much controversy; and the government formation period following the 2010 federal election set a world record at 589 days. Unemployment in Wallonia is more than double that of Flanders, which boomed after the Second World War. Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. The country is one of the six founding members of the European Union, and its capital, Brussels, is the de facto capital of the European Union itself, hosting the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Council, as well as one of two seats of the European Parliament (the other being Strasbourg). Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area. Brussels also hosts the headquarters of many major international organizations, such as NATO. History Antiquity According to Julius Caesar, the Belgae were the inhabitants of the northernmost part of Gaul. They lived in a region stretching from Paris to the Rhine, which is much bigger than modern Belgium. However, he also specifically used the Latin word "Belgium" to refer to a politically dominant part of that region, which is now in northernmost France. In contrast, modern Belgium, together with neighbouring parts of the Netherlands and Germany, corresponds to the lands of the most northerly Belgae – the Morini, Menapii, Nervii, Germani Cisrhenani, and Aduatuci. Caesar found these peoples particularly warlike and economically undeveloped, and described them as kinsmen of the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine. The area around Arlon in southern Belgium was a part of the country of the powerful Treveri, to whom some of them paid tribute. After Caesar's conquests, Gallia Belgica first came to be the Latin name of a large Roman province covering most of Northern Gaul, including the Belgae and Treveri. However, areas closer to the lower Rhine frontier, including the eastern part of modern Belgium, subsequently became part of the frontier province of Germania Inferior, which continued to interact with their neighbours outside the empire. At the time when central government collapsed in the Western Roman Empire, the Roman provinces of Belgica and Germania were inhabited by a mix of a Romanized population and Germanic-speaking Franks who came to dominate the military and political class. Middle Ages During the 5th century, the area came under the rule of the Frankish Merovingian kings, who initially established a kingdom ruling over the Romanized population in what is now northern France, and then conquered the other Frankish kingdoms. During the 8th century, the empire of the Franks came to be ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, whose centre of power included the area which is now eastern Belgium. Over the centuries, it was divided up in many ways, but the Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms whose borders had a lasting impact on medieval political boundaries. Most of modern Belgium was in the Middle Kingdom, later known as Lotharingia, but the coastal county of Flanders, west of the Scheldt, became the northernmost part of West Francia, the predecessor of France. In 870 in the Treaty of Meerssen, modern Belgium lands all became part of the western kingdom for a period, but in 880 in the Treaty of Ribemont, Lotharingia came under the lasting control of the eastern kingdom, which became the Holy Roman Empire. The lordships and bishoprics along the "March" (frontier) between the two great kingdoms maintained important connections between each other. For example, the county of Flanders expanded over the Scheldt into the empire, and during several periods was ruled by the same lords as the county of Hainaut. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the cloth industry and commerce boomed especially in the County of Flanders and it became one of the richest areas in Europe. This prosperity played a role in conflicts between Flanders and the king of France. Famously, Flemish militias scored a surprise victory at the Battle of the Golden Spurs against a strong force of mounted knights in 1302, but France soon regained control of the rebellious province. Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands In the 15th century, the Duke of Burgundy in France took control of Flanders, and from there proceeded to unite much of what is now the Benelux, the so-called Burgundian Netherlands. "Burgundy" and "Flanders" were the first two common names used for the Burgundian Netherlands which was the predecessor of the Austrian Netherlands, the predecessor of modern Belgium. The union, technically stretching between two kingdoms, gave the area economic and political stability which led to an even greater prosperity and artistic creation. Born in Belgium, the Habsburg Emperor Charles V was heir of the Burgundians, but also of the royal families of Austria, Castile and Aragon. With the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 he gave the Seventeen Provinces more legitimacy as a stable entity, rather than just a temporary personal union. He also increased the influence of these Netherlands over the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, which continued to exist as a large semi-independent enclave. Spanish and Austrian Netherlands The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) was triggered by the Spanish government's policy towards Protestantism, which was becoming popular in the Low Countries. The rebellious northern United Provinces (Belgica Foederata in Latin, the "Federated Netherlands") eventually separated from the Southern Netherlands (Belgica Regia, the "Royal Netherlands"). The southern part continued to be ruled successively by the Spanish (Spanish Netherlands) and the Austrian House of Habsburgs (Austrian Netherlands) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theatre of several more protracted conflicts during much of the 17th and 18th centuries involving France, including the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), and part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). French Revolution and United Kingdom of the Netherlands Following the campaigns of 1794 in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Low Countries – including territories that were never nominally under Habsburg rule, such as the Prince-Bishopric of Liège – were annexed by the French First Republic, ending Austrian rule in the region. A reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1814, after the abdication of Napoleon. Independent Belgium In 1830, the Belgian Revolution led to the re-separation of the Southern Provinces from the Netherlands and to the establishment of a Catholic and bourgeois, officially French-speaking and neutral, independent Belgium under a provisional government and a national congress. Since the installation of Leopold I as king on 21 July 1831, now celebrated as Belgium's National Day, Belgium has been a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a laicist constitution based on the Napoleonic code. Although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 (with plural voting until 1919) and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party and the Liberal Party, with the Belgian Labour Party emerging towards the end of the 19th century. French was originally the official language used by the nobility and the bourgeoisie, especially after the rejection of the Dutch monarchy. French progressively lost its dominance as Dutch began to recover its status. This recognition became official in 1898, and in 1967, the parliament accepted a Dutch version of the Constitution. The Berlin Conference of 1885 ceded control of the Congo Free State to King Leopold II as his private possession. From around 1900 there was growing international concern for the extreme and savage treatment of the Congolese population under Leopold II, for whom the Congo was primarily a source of revenue from ivory and rubber production. Many Congolese were killed by Leopold's agents for failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber. In 1908, this outcry led the Belgian state to assume responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo. A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo's population was half what it was in 1879. Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914 as part of the Schlieffen Plan to attack France, and much of the Western Front fighting of World War I occurred in western parts of the country. The opening months of the war were known as the Rape of Belgium due to German excesses. Belgium assumed control of the German colonies of Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Rwanda and Burundi) during the war, and in 1924 the League of Nations mandated them to Belgium. In the aftermath of the First World War, Belgium annexed the Prussian districts of Eupen and Malmedy in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a German-speaking minority. German forces again invaded the country in May 1940, and 40,690 Belgians, over half of them Jews, were killed during the subsequent occupation and the Holocaust. From September 1944 to February 1945 the Allies liberated Belgium. After World War II, a general strike forced King Leopold III to abdicate in 1951 in favour of his son, Prince Baudouin, since many Belgians thought he had collaborated with Germany during the war. The Belgian Congo gained independence in 1960 during the Congo Crisis; Ruanda-Urundi followed with its independence two years later. Belgium joined NATO as a founding member and formed the Benelux group of nations with the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Belgium became one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and of the European Atomic Energy Community and European Economic Community, established in 1957. The latter has now become the European Union, for which Belgium hosts major administrations and institutions, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the extraordinary and committee sessions of the European Parliament. In the early 1990s, Belgium saw several large corruption scandals notably surrounding Marc Dutroux, Andre Cools, the Dioxin Affair, Agusta Scandal and the murder of Karel van Noppen. Geography Belgium shares borders with France (620 km), Germany (162/167 km), Luxembourg (148 km), and the Netherlands (450 km). Its total surface, including water area, is 30,689 km2 (11,849 sq mi). Before 2018, its total area was believed to be 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi). However, when the country's statistics were measured in 2018, a new calculation method was used. Unlike previous calculations, this one included the area from the coast to the low-water line, revealing the country to be 160 km2 (62 sq mi) larger in surface area than previously thought. Its land area alone is 30,494 square kilometers. It lies between latitudes 49°30' and 51°30' N, and longitudes 2°33' and 6°24' E. Belgium has three main geographical regions; the coastal plain in the northwest and the central plateau both belong to the Anglo-Belgian Basin, and the Ardennes uplands in the southeast to the Hercynian orogenic belt. The Paris Basin reaches a small fourth area at Belgium's southernmost tip, Belgian Lorraine. The coastal plain consists mainly of sand dunes and polders. Further inland lies a smooth, slowly rising landscape irrigated by numerous waterways, with fertile valleys and the northeastern sandy plain of the Campine (Kempen). The thickly forested hills and plateaus of the Ardennes are more rugged and rocky with caves and small gorges. Extending westward into France, this area is eastwardly connected to the Eifel in Germany by the High Fens plateau, on which the Signal de Botrange forms the country's highest point at 694 m (2,277 ft). The climate is maritime temperate with significant precipitation in all seasons (Köppen climate classification: Cfb), like most of northwest Europe. The average temperature is lowest in January at 3 °C (37.4 °F) and highest in July at 18 °C (64.4 °F). The average precipitation per month varies between 54 mm (2.1 in) for February and April, to 78 mm (3.1 in) for July. Averages for the years 2000 to 2006 show daily temperature minimums of 7 °C (44.6 °F) and maximums of 14 °C (57.2 °F) and monthly rainfall of 74 mm (2.9 in); these are about 1 °C and nearly 10 millimeters above last century's normal values, respectively. Phytogeographically, Belgium is shared between the Atlantic European and Central European provinces of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the territory of Belgium belongs to the terrestrial ecoregions of Atlantic mixed forests and Western European broadleaf forests. Belgium had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.36/10, ranking it 163rd globally out of 172 countries. In Belgium forest cover is around 23% of the total land area, equivalent to 689,300 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 677,400 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 251,200 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 438,200 hectares (ha). For the year 2015, 47% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership, 53% private ownership and 0% with ownership listed as other or unknown. Provinces The territory of Belgium is divided into three Regions, two of which, the Flemish Region and Walloon Region, are in turn subdivided into provinces; the third Region, the Brussels Capital Region, is neither a province nor a part of a province. Politics and government Belgium is a constitutional, popular monarchy and a federal parliamentary democracy. The bicameral federal parliament is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Representatives. The former is made up of 50 senators appointed by the parliaments of the communities and regions and 10 co-opted senators. Prior to 2014, most of the Senate's members were directly elected. The Chamber's 150 representatives are elected under a proportional voting system from 11 electoral districts. Belgium has compulsory voting and thus maintains one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world. The King (currently Philippe) is the head of state, though with limited prerogatives. He appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government. The Council of Ministers is composed of no more than fifteen members. With the possible exception of the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers is composed of an equal number of Dutch-speaking members and French-speaking members. The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Napoleonic code. The Court of Cassation is the court of last resort, with the courts of appeal one level below. Political culture Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power rests on representation of the main cultural communities. Since about 1970, the significant national Belgian political parties have split into distinct components that mainly represent the political and linguistic interests of these communities. The major parties in each community, though close to the political center, belong to three main groups: Christian Democrats, Liberals, and Social Democrats. Further notable parties came into being well after the middle of last century, mainly to represent linguistic, nationalist, or environmental interests, and recently smaller ones of some specific liberal nature. A string of Christian Democrat coalition governments from 1958 was broken in 1999 after the first dioxin crisis, a major food contamination scandal. A "rainbow coalition" emerged from six parties: the Flemish and the French-speaking Liberals, Social Democrats and Greens. Later, a "purple coalition" of Liberals and Social Democrats formed after the Greens lost most of their seats in the 2003 election. The government led by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 to 2007 achieved a balanced budget, some tax reforms, a labor-market reform, scheduled nuclear phase-out and instigated legislation allowing more stringent war crime and more lenient soft drug usage prosecution. Restrictions on euthanasia were reduced and same-sex marriage was introduced. The government promoted active diplomacy in Africa and opposed the invasion of Iraq. It is the only country that does not have age restrictions on euthanasia. Verhofstadt's coalition fared badly in the June 2007 elections. For more than a year, the country experienced a political crisis. This crisis was such that many observers speculated on a possible partition of Belgium. From 21 December 2007 until 20 March 2008 the temporary Verhofstadt III Government was in office. This was a coalition of the Flemish and Francophone Christian Democrats, the Flemish and Francophone Liberals together with the Francophone Social Democrats. On that day a new government, led by Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme, the actual winner of the federal elections of June 2007, was sworn in by the king. On 15 July 2008 Leterme offered the resignation of the cabinet to the king, as no progress in constitutional reforms had been made. In December 2008, Leterme once more offered his resignation after a crisis surrounding the sale of Fortis to BNP Paribas. At this juncture, his resignation was accepted and Christian Democratic and Flemish Herman Van Rompuy was sworn in as Prime Minister on 30 December 2008. After Herman Van Rompuy was designated the first permanent President of the European Council on 19 November 2009, he offered the resignation of his government to King Albert II on 25 November 2009. A few hours later, the new government under Prime Minister Yves Leterme was sworn in. On 22 April 2010, Leterme again offered the resignation of his cabinet to the king after one of the coalition partners, the OpenVLD, withdrew from the government, and on 26 April 2010 King Albert officially accepted the resignation. The Parliamentary elections in Belgium on 13 June 2010 saw the Flemish nationalist N-VA become the largest party in Flanders, and the Socialist Party PS the largest party in Wallonia. Until December 2011, Belgium was governed by Leterme's caretaker government awaiting the end of the deadlocked negotiations for formation of a new government. By 30 March 2011, this set a new world record for the elapsed time without an official government, previously held by war-torn Iraq. Finally, in December 2011 the Di Rupo Government led by Walloon socialist Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was sworn in. The 2014 federal election (coinciding with the regional elections) resulted in a further electoral gain for the Flemish nationalist N-VA, although the incumbent coalition (composed of Flemish and French-speaking Social Democrats, Liberals, and Christian Democrats) maintains a solid majority in Parliament and in all electoral constituencies. On 22 July 2014, King Philippe nominated Charles Michel (MR) and Kris Peeters (CD&V) to lead the formation of a new federal cabinet composed of the Flemish parties N-VA, CD&V, Open Vld and the French-speaking MR, which resulted in the Michel Government. It was the first time N-VA was part of the federal cabinet, while the French-speaking side was represented only by the MR, which achieved a minority of the public votes in Wallonia. In May 2019 federal elections in the Flemish-speaking northern region of Flanders far-right Vlaams Belang party made major gains. In the French-speaking southern area of Wallonia the Socialists were strong. The moderate Flemish nationalist party the N-VA remained the largest party in parliament. In July 2019 prime minister Charles Michel was selected to hold the post of President of the European Council. His successor Sophie Wilmès was Belgium's first female prime minister. She led the caretaker government since October 2019. The Flemish Liberal party politician Alexander De Croo became new prime minister in October 2020. The parties had agreed on federal government 16 months after the elections. Communities and regions Following a usage which can be traced back to the Burgundian and Habsburg courts, in the 19th century it was necessary to speak French to belong to the governing upper class, and those who could only speak Dutch were effectively second-class citizens. Late that century, and continuing into the 20th century, Flemish movements evolved to counter this situation. While the people in Southern Belgium spoke French or dialects of French, and most Brusselers adopted French as their first language, the Flemings refused to do so and succeeded progressively in making Dutch an equal language in the education system. Following World War II, Belgian politics became increasingly dominated by the autonomy of its two main linguistic communities. Intercommunal tensions rose and the constitution was amended to minimize the potential for conflict. Based on the four language areas defined in 1962–63 (the Dutch, bilingual, French and German language areas), consecutive revisions of the country's constitution in 1970, 1980, 1988 and 1993 established a unique form of a federal state with segregated political power into three levels: The federal government, based in Brussels. The three language communities: the Flemish Community (Dutch-speaking); the French Community (French-speaking); the German-speaking Community. The three regions: the Flemish Region, subdivided into five provinces; the Walloon Region, subdivided into five provinces; the Brussels-Capital Region. The constitutional language areas determine the official languages in their municipalities, as well as the geographical limits of the empowered institutions for specific matters. Although this would allow for seven parliaments and governments when the Communities and Regions were created in 1980, Flemish politicians decided to merge both. Thus the Flemings just have one single institutional body of parliament and government is empowered for all except federal and specific municipal matters. The overlapping boundaries of the Regions and Communities have created two notable peculiarities: the territory of the Brussels-Capital Region (which came into existence nearly a decade after the other regions) is included in both the Flemish and French Communities, and the territory of the German-speaking Community lies wholly within the Walloon Region. Conflicts about jurisdiction between the bodies are resolved by the Constitutional Court of Belgium. The structure is intended as a compromise to allow different cultures to live together peacefully. Locus of policy jurisdiction The Federal State's authority includes justice, defense, federal police, social security, nuclear energy, monetary policy and public debt, and other aspects of public finances. State-owned companies include the Belgian Post Group and Belgian Railways. The Federal Government is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs. The budget—without the debt—controlled by the federal government amounts to about 50% of the national fiscal income. The federal government employs around 12% of the civil servants. Communities exercise their authority only within linguistically determined geographical boundaries, originally oriented towards the individuals of a Community's language: culture (including audiovisual media), education and the use of the relevant language. Extensions to personal matters less directly connected with language comprise health policy (curative and preventive medicine) and assistance to individuals (protection of youth, social welfare, aid to families, immigrant assistance services, and so on.). Regions have authority in fields that can be broadly associated with their territory. These include economy, employment, agriculture, water policy, housing, public works, energy, transport, the environment, town and country planning, nature conservation, credit and foreign trade. They supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies. In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specifics. With education, for instance, the autonomy of the Communities neither includes decisions about the compulsory aspect nor allows for setting minimum requirements for awarding qualifications, which remain federal matters. Each level of government can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers. The treaty-making power of the Regions' and Communities' Governments is the broadest of all the Federating units of all the Federations all over the world. Foreign relations Because of its location at the crossroads of Western Europe, Belgium has historically been the route of invading armies from its larger neighbors. With virtually defenseless borders, Belgium has traditionally sought to avoid domination by the more powerful nations which surround it through a policy of mediation. The Belgians have been strong advocates of European integration. The headquarters of NATO and of several of the institutions of the European Union are located in Belgium. Armed forces The Belgian Armed Forces had 23,200 active personnel in 2023, including 8,500 in the Land Component, 1,400 in the Naval Component, 4,900 in the Air Component, 1,450 in the Medical Component, and 6,950 in joint service, in addition to 5,900 reserve personnel. In 2019, Belgium's defense budget totaled €4.303 billion ($4.921 billion) representing .93% of its GDP. The operational commands of the four components are subordinate to the Staff Department for Operations and Training of the Ministry of Defense, which is headed by the Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Training, and to the Chief of Defense. The Belgian military consists of volunteers (conscription was abolished in 1995), and citizens of other EU states, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, or Lichtenstein are also able to join. Belgium has troops deployed in several African countries as part of UN or EU missions, in Iraq for the war against the Islamic State, and in eastern Europe for the NATO presence there. The effects of the Second World War made collective security a priority for Belgian foreign policy. In March 1948 Belgium signed the Treaty of Brussels and then joined NATO in 1948. However, the integration of the armed forces into NATO did not begin until after the Korean War. The Belgians, along with the Luxembourg government, sent a detachment of battalion strength to fight in Korea known as the Belgian United Nations Command. This mission was the first in a long line of UN missions which the Belgians supported. Currently, the Belgian Marine Component is working closely together with the Dutch Navy under the command of the Admiral Benelux. According to the 2024 Global Peace Index,Belgium is the 16th most peaceful country in the world. Economy Belgium's strongly globalized economy and its transport infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world's 15th largest trading nation in 2007. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP and high exports per capita. Belgium's main imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, and oil products. Its main exports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, and foodstuffs. The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags behind. One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports an open economy and the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922, through the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market with customs and currency union. Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 19th century. Areas in Liège Province and around Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century in the Sambre and Meuse valley and made Belgium one of the three most industrialized nations in the world from 1830 to 1910. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced famine from 1846 to 1850. After World War II, Ghent and Antwerp experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and 1979 oil crises sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced a serious decline. In the 1980s and 1990s, the economic center of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous Flemish Diamond area. By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. As of 2006, the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to 90.30% of GDP. In 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth rates of 1.5% and 3.0%, respectively, were slightly above the average for the Euro area. Unemployment rates of 8.4% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2006 were close to the area average. By October 2010, this had grown to 8.5% compared to an average rate of 9.6% for the European Union as a whole (EU 27). From 1832 until 2002, Belgium's currency was the Belgian franc. Belgium switched to the euro in 2002, with the first sets of euro coins being minted in 1999. The standard Belgian euro coins designated for circulation show the portrait of the monarch (first King Albert II, since 2013 King Philippe). Despite an 18% decrease observed from 1970 to 1999, Belgium still had in 1999 the highest rail network density within the European Union with 113.8 km/1 000 km2. On the other hand, the same period, 1970–1999, has seen a huge growth (+56%) of the motorway network. In 1999, the density of km motorways per 1000 km2 and 1000 inhabitants amounted to 55.1 and 16.5 respectively and were significantly superior to the EU's means of 13.7 and 15.9. From a biological resource perspective, Belgium has a low endowment: Belgium's biocapacity adds up to only 0.8 global hectares in 2016, just about half of the 1.6 global hectares of biocapacity available per person worldwide. In contrast, in 2016, Belgians used on average 6.3 global hectares of biocapacity - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they required about eight times as much biocapacity as Belgium contains. As a result, Belgium was running a biocapacity deficit of 5.5 global hectares per person in 2016. Belgium experiences some of the most congested traffic in Europe. In 2010, commuters to the cities of Brussels and Antwerp spent respectively 65 and 64 hours a year in traffic jams. Like in most small European countries, more than 80% of the airways traffic is handled by a single airport, the Brussels Airport. The ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge (Bruges) share more than 80% of Belgian maritime traffic, Antwerp being the second European harbor with a gross weight of goods handled of 115 988 000 t in 2000 after a growth of 10.9% over the preceding five years. In 2016, the port of Antwerp handled 214 million tons after a year-on-year growth of 2.7%. There is a large economic gap between Flanders and Wallonia. Wallonia was historically wealthy compared to Flanders, mostly due to its heavy industries, but the decline of the steel industry post-World War II led to the region's rapid decline, whereas Flanders rose swiftly. Since then, Flanders has been prosperous, among the wealthiest regions in Europe, whereas Wallonia has been languishing. As of 2007, the unemployment rate of Wallonia is over double that of Flanders. The divide has played a key part in the tensions between the Flemish and Walloons in addition to the already-existing language divide. Pro-independence movements have gained high popularity in Flanders as a consequence. The separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, for instance, is the largest party in Belgium. Science and technology Contributions to the development of science and technology have appeared throughout the country's history. The 16th century Early Modern flourishing of Western Europe included cartographer Gerardus Mercator, anatomist Andreas Vesalius, herbalist Rembert Dodoens and mathematician Simon Stevin among the most influential scientists. Chemist Ernest Solvay and engineer Zenobe Gramme (École industrielle de Liège) gave their names to the Solvay process and the Gramme dynamo, respectively, in the 1860s. Bakelite was developed in 1907–1909 by Leo Baekeland. Ernest Solvay also acted as a major philanthropist and gave his name to the Solvay Institute of Sociology, the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry which are now part of the Université libre de Bruxelles. In 1911, he started a series of conferences, the Solvay Conferences on Physics and Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum physics and chemistry. A major contribution to fundamental science was also due to a Belgian, Monsignor Georges Lemaître (Catholic University of Louvain), who is credited with proposing the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe in 1927. Three Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine were awarded to Belgians: Jules Bordet (Université libre de Bruxelles) in 1919, Corneille Heymans (University of Ghent) in 1938 and Albert Claude (Université libre de Bruxelles) together with Christian de Duve (Université catholique de Louvain) in 1974. François Englert (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013. Ilya Prigogine (Université libre de Bruxelles) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977. Two Belgian mathematicians have been awarded the Fields Medal: Pierre Deligne in 1978 and Jean Bourgain in 1994. Belgium was ranked 24th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024. Demographics As of 1 January 2024, the total population of Belgium according to its population register was 11,763,650. The population density of Belgium is 383/km2 (990/sq mi) as of January 2024, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world, and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe. The most densely populated province is Antwerp, the least densely populated province is Luxembourg. As of January 2024, the Flemish Region (Flanders) had a population of 6,821,770 (58.0% of Belgium), its most populous cities being Antwerp (545,000), Ghent (270,000), and Bruges (120,000). The Walloon Region (Wallonia) had a population of 3,692,283 (31.4% of Belgium), its most populous cities being Charleroi (204,000), Liège (196,000), and Namur (114,000). The Brussels-Capital Region (Brussels) had a population of 1,249,597 (10.6% of Belgium), existing of 19 municipalities, its most populous cities being the city of Brussels (197,000), Schaerbeek (130,000), and Anderlecht (127,000). In 2017 the average total fertility rate (TFR) across Belgium was 1.64 children per woman, below the replacement rate of 2.1; it remains considerably below the high of 4.87 children born per woman in 1873. Belgium subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with an average age of 41.6 years. Migration As of 2007, nearly 92% of the population had Belgian citizenship, and other European Union member citizens account for around 6%. The prevalent foreign nationals were Italian (171,918), French (125,061), Dutch (116,970), Moroccan (80,579), Portuguese (43,509), Spanish (42,765), Turkish (39,419) and German (37,621). In 2007, there were 1.38 million foreign-born residents in Belgium, corresponding to 12.9% of the total population. Of these, 685,000 (6.4%) were born outside the EU and 695,000 (6.5%) were born in another EU Member State. At the beginning of 2012, people of foreign background and their descendants were estimated to have formed around 25% of the total population i.e. 2.8 million new Belgians. Of these new Belgians, 1,200,000 are of European ancestry and 1,350,000 are from non-Western countries (most of them from Morocco, Turkey, and the DR Congo). Since the modification of the Belgian nationality law in 1984 more than 1.3 million migrants have acquired Belgian citizenship. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are Italian Belgians and Moroccan Belgians. 89.2% of inhabitants of Turkish origin have been naturalized, as have 88.4% of people of Moroccan background, 75.4% of Italians, 56.2% of the French and 47.8% of Dutch people. Statbel released figures of the Belgian population in relation to the origin of people in Belgium. According to the data, as of 1 January 2021, 67.3% of the Belgian population was of ethnic Belgian origin and 32.7% were of foreign origin or nationality, with 20.3% of those of a foreign nationality or ethnic group originating from neighbouring countries. The study also found that 74.5% of the Brussels Capital Region were of non-Belgian origin, of which 13.8% originated from neighbouring countries. Languages Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. A number of non-official minority languages are spoken as well. As no census exists, there are no official statistical data regarding the distribution or usage of Belgium's three official languages or their dialects. However, various criteria, including the language(s) of parents, of education, or the second-language status of foreign born, may provide suggested figures. An estimated 60% of the Belgian population are native speakers of Dutch (often referred to as Flemish), and 40% of the population speaks French natively. French-speaking Belgians are often referred to as Walloons, although the French speakers in Brussels are not Walloons. The total number of native Dutch speakers is estimated to be about 6.23 million, concentrated in the northern Flanders region, while native French speakers number 3.32 million in Wallonia and an estimated 870,000 (or 85%) in the officially bilingual Brussels-Capital Region. The German-speaking Community is made up of 73,000 people in the east of the Walloon Region; around 10,000 German and 60,000 Belgian nationals are speakers of German. Roughly 23,000 more German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community. Both Belgian Dutch and Belgian French have minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken respectively in the Netherlands and France. Many Flemish people still speak dialects of Dutch in their local environment. Walloon, considered either as a dialect of French or a distinct Romance language, is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people. Walloon is divided into four dialects, which along with those of Picard, are rarely used in public life and have largely been replaced by French. Religion The Constitution of Belgium provides for freedom of religion, and the government respects this right in practice. Belgium officially recognizes three religions: Christianity (Catholic, Protestantism, Orthodox churches and Anglicanism), Islam and Judaism. During the reigns of Albert I and Baudouin, the Belgian royal family had a reputation of deeply rooted Catholicism. Catholicism has traditionally been Belgium's majority religion; being especially strong in Flanders. However, by 2009 Sunday church attendance was 5% for Belgium in total; 3% in Brussels, and 5.4% in Flanders. Church attendance in 2009 in Belgium was roughly half of the Sunday church attendance in 1998 (11% for the total of Belgium in 1998). Despite the drop in church attendance, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Belgium's culture. According to the Eurobarometer 2010, 37% of Belgian citizens believe in God, 31% in some sort of spirit or life-force. 27% do not believe in any sort of spirit, God, or life-force. 5% did not respond. According to the Eurobarometer 2015, 60.7% of the total population of Belgium adhered to Christianity, with Catholicism being the largest denomination with 52.9%. Protestants comprised 2.1% and Orthodox Christians were the 1.6% of the total. Non-religious people comprised 32.0% of the population and were divided between atheists (14.9%) and agnostics (17.1%). A further 5.2% of the population was Muslim and 2.1% were believers in other religions. The same survey held in 2012 found that Christianity was the largest religion in Belgium, accounting for 65% of Belgians. In the early 2000s, there were approximately 42,000 Jews in Belgium. The Jewish Community of Antwerp (numbering some 18,000) is one of the largest in Europe, and one of the last places in the world where Yiddish is the primary language of a large Jewish community (mirroring certain Orthodox and Hasidic communities in New York, New Jersey, and Israel). In addition, most Jewish children in Antwerp receive a Jewish education. There are several Jewish newspapers and more than 45 active synagogues (30 of which are in Antwerp) in the country. A 2006 inquiry in Flanders, considered to be a more religious region than Wallonia, showed that 55% considered themselves religious and that 36% believed that God created the universe. On the other hand, Wallonia has become one of Europe's most secular/least religious regions. Most of the French-speaking region's population does not consider religion an important part of their lives, and as much as 45% of the population identifies as irreligious. This is particularly the case in eastern Wallonia and areas along the French border. A 2008 estimate found that approximately 6% of the Belgian population (628,751 people) is Muslim. Muslims constitute 23.6% of the population of Brussels, 4.9% of Wallonia and 5.1% of Flanders. The majority of Belgian Muslims live in the major cities, such as Antwerp, Brussels and Charleroi. The largest group of immigrants in Belgium are Moroccans, with 400,000 people. The Turks are the third largest group, and the second largest Muslim ethnic group, numbering 220,000. Health The Belgians enjoy good health. According to 2012 estimates, the average life expectancy is 79.65 years. Since 1960, life expectancy has, in line with the European average, grown by two months per year. Death in Belgium is mainly due to heart and vascular disorders, neoplasms, disorders of the respiratory system and unnatural causes of death (accidents, suicide). Non-natural causes of death and cancer are the most common causes of death for females up to age 24 and males up to age 44. Healthcare in Belgium is financed through both social security contributions and taxation. Health insurance is compulsory. Health care is delivered by a mixed public and private system of independent medical practitioners and public, university and semi-private hospitals. Health care service are payable by the patient and reimbursed later by health insurance institutions, but for ineligible categories (of patients and services) so-called 3rd party payment systems exist. The Belgian health care system is supervised and financed by the federal government, the Flemish and Walloon Regional governments; and the German Community also has (indirect) oversight and responsibilities. For the first time in Belgian history, the first child was euthanized following the 2-year mark of the removal of the euthanization age restrictions. The child had been euthanized due to an incurable disease that was inflicted upon the child. Although there may have been some support for the euthanization there is a possibility of controversy due to the issue revolving around the subject of assisted suicide. Excluding assisted suicide, Belgium has the highest suicide rate in Western Europe and one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world (exceeded only by Lithuania, South Korea, and Latvia). Education Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians. Among OECD countries in 2002, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education, at 42%. Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over functional illiteracy. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Belgium's education as the 19th best in the world, being significantly higher than the OECD average. Education is organized separately by each community. The Flemish Community scores noticeably above the French and German-speaking Communities. Mirroring the structure of the 19th-century Belgian political landscape, characterized by the Liberal and the Catholic parties, the educational system is segregated into secular and religious schools. The secular branch of schooling is controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, while religious, mainly Catholic branch education, is organized by religious authorities, which are also subsidized and supervised by the communities. Culture Despite its political and linguistic divisions, the region corresponding to today's Belgium has seen the flourishing of major artistic movements that have had tremendous influence on European art and culture. Nowadays, to a certain extent, cultural life is concentrated within each language Community, and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced. Since the 1970s, there are no bilingual universities or colleges in the country except the Royal Military Academy and the Antwerp Maritime Academy. Fine arts Contributions to painting and architecture have been especially rich. The Mosan art, the Early Netherlandish, the Flemish Renaissance and Baroque painting and major examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture are milestones in the history of art. While the 15th century's art in the Low Countries is dominated by the religious paintings of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, the 16th century is characterized by a broader panel of styles such as Peter Breughel's landscape paintings and Lambert Lombard's representation of the antique. Though the Baroque style of Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck flourished in the early 17th century in the Southern Netherlands, it gradually declined thereafter. During the 19th and 20th centuries many original romantic, expressionist and surrealist Belgian painters emerged, including James Ensor and other artists belonging to the Les XX group, Constant Permeke, Paul Delvaux and René Magritte. The avant-garde CoBrA movement appeared in the 1950s, while the sculptor Panamarenko remains a remarkable figure in contemporary art. Multidisciplinary artists Jan Fabre, Wim Delvoye and the painter Luc Tuymans are other internationally renowned figures on the contemporary art scene. Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde, who were major initiators of the Art Nouveau style. The vocal music of the Franco-Flemish School developed in the southern part of the Low Countries and was an important contribution to Renaissance culture. In the 19th and 20th centuries, there was an emergence of major violinists, such as Henri Vieuxtemps, Eugène Ysaÿe and Arthur Grumiaux, while Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in 1846. The composer César Franck was born in Liège in 1822. Contemporary popular music in Belgium is also of repute. Jazz musicians Django Reinhardt and Toots Thielemans and singer Jacques Brel have achieved global fame. Nowadays, singer Stromae has been a musical revelation in Europe and beyond, having great success. In rock/pop music, Telex, Front 242, K's Choice, Hooverphonic, Zap Mama, Soulwax and dEUS are well known. In the heavy metal scene, bands like Machiavel, Channel Zero and Enthroned have a worldwide fan-base. Belgium has produced several well-known authors, including the poets Emile Verhaeren, Guido Gezelle, Robert Goffin and novelists Hendrik Conscience, Stijn Streuvels, Georges Simenon, Suzanne Lilar, Hugo Claus and Amélie Nothomb. The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1911. The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé is the best known of Franco-Belgian comics, but many other major authors, including Peyo (The Smurfs), André Franquin (Gaston Lagaffe), Dupa (Cubitus), Morris (Lucky Luke), Greg (Achille Talon), Lambil (Les Tuniques Bleues), Edgar P. Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry a worldwide fame. Additionally, famous crime author Agatha Christie created the character Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective, who has served as a protagonist in a number of her acclaimed mystery novels. Belgian cinema has brought a number of mainly Flemish novels to life on-screen. Other Belgian directors include André Delvaux, Stijn Coninx, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne; well-known actors include Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jan Decleir and Marie Gillain; and successful films include Bullhead, Man Bites Dog and The Alzheimer Affair. Belgium is also home to a number of successful fashion designers Category:Belgian fashion designers. Folklore Folklore plays a major role in Belgium's cultural life; the country has a comparatively high number of processions, cavalcades, parades, ommegangs, ducasses, kermesses, and other local festivals, nearly always with an originally religious or mythological background. The three-day Carnival of Binche, near Mons, with its famous Gilles (men dressed in high, plumed hats and bright costumes) is held just before Lent (the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter). Together with the 'Processional Giants and Dragons' of Ath, Brussels, Dendermonde, Mechelen and Mons, it is recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Other examples are the three-day Carnival of Aalst in February or March; the still very religious processions of the Holy Blood taking place in Bruges in May, the Virga Jesse procession held every seven years in Hasselt, the annual procession of Hanswijk in Mechelen, the 15 August festivities in Liège, and the Walloon festival in Namur. Originated in 1832 and revived in the 1960s, the Gentse Feesten (a music and theatre festival organized in Ghent around Belgian National Day, on 21 July) have become a modern tradition. Several of these festivals include sporting competitions, such as cycling, and many fall under the category of kermesses. A major non-official holiday (which is however not an official public holiday) is Saint Nicholas Day (Dutch: Sinterklaas, French: la Saint-Nicolas), a festivity for children, and in Liège, for students. It takes place each year on 6 December and is a sort of early Christmas. On the evening of 5 December, before going to bed, children put their shoes by the hearth with water or wine and a carrot for Saint Nicholas' horse or donkey. According to tradition, Saint Nicholas comes at night and travels down the chimney. He then takes the food and water or wine, leaves presents, goes back up, feeds his horse or donkey, and continues on his course. He also knows whether children have been good or bad. This holiday is especially loved by children in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dutch immigrants imported the tradition into the United States, where Saint Nicholas is now known as Santa Claus. Cuisine Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and French fries. The national dishes are steak and fries, and mussels with fries. Many highly ranked Belgian restaurants can be found in the most influential restaurant guides, such as the Michelin Guide. One of the many beers with the high prestige is that of the Trappist monks. Technically, it is an ale and traditionally each abbey's beer is served in its own glass (the forms, heights and widths are different). There are only eleven breweries (six of them are Belgian) that are allowed to brew Trappist beer. Although Belgian gastronomy is connected to French cuisine, some recipes were reputedly invented there, such as French fries (despite the name, although their exact place of origin is uncertain), Flemish Carbonade (a beef stew with beer, mustard and bay laurel), speculaas (or speculoos in French, a sort of cinnamon and ginger-flavoured shortcrust biscuit), Brussels waffles (and their variant, Liège waffles), waterzooi (a broth made with chicken or fish, cream and vegetables), endive with bechamel sauce, Brussels sprouts, Belgian pralines (Belgium has some of the most renowned chocolate houses), charcuterie (deli meats) and Paling in 't groen (river eels in a sauce of green herbs). Brands of Belgian chocolate and pralines, like Côte d'Or, Neuhaus, Leonidas and Godiva are famous, as well as independent producers such as Burie and Del Rey in Antwerp and Mary's in Brussels. Belgium produces over 1100 varieties of beer. The Trappist beer of the Abbey of Westvleteren has repeatedly been rated the world's best beer. The biggest brewer in the world by volume is Anheuser-Busch InBev, based in Leuven. Sports Since the 1970s, sports clubs and federations are organized separately within each language community. The Administration de l'Éducation Physique et du Sport (ADEPS) is responsible for recognising the various French-speaking sports federations and also runs three sports centres in the Brussels-Capital Region. Its Dutch-speaking counterpart is Sport Vlaanderen (formerly called BLOSO). Association football is the most popular sport in both parts of Belgium; also very popular are cycling, tennis, swimming, judo and basketball. The Belgium national football team has been among the best on the FIFA World Rankings ever since November 2015, when it reached the top spot for the first time. Since the 1990s, the team has been the world's number one for the most years in history, only behind the records of Brazil and Spain. The team's golden generations with the world class players in the squad, namely Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Jan Ceulemans achieved the bronze medals at World Cup 2018, and silver medals at Euro 1980. Belgium hosted the Euro 1972, and co-hosted the Euro 2000 with the Netherlands. Belgians hold the most Tour de France victories of any country except France. They also have the most victories on the UCI Road World Championships. With five victories in the Tour de France and numerous other cycling records, Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx is regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time. Philippe Gilbert and Remco Evenepoel were the 2012 and 2022 world champions, respectively. Other well-known Belgian cyclists are Tom Boonen and Wout van Aert. Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both were Player of the Year in the Women's Tennis Association as they were ranked the number one female tennis player. The Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit hosts the Formula One World Championship Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian driver, Jacky Ickx, won eight Grands Prix and six 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished twice as runner-up in the Formula One World Championship. Belgium also has a strong reputation in, motocross with the riders Joël Robert, Roger De Coster, Georges Jobé, Eric Geboers and Stefan Everts, among others. Sporting events annually held in Belgium include the Memorial Van Damme athletics competition, the Belgian Grand Prix Formula One, and a number of classic cycle races such as the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. The 1920 Summer Olympics were held in Antwerp. The 1977 European Basketball Championship was held in Liège and Ostend. See also Index of Belgium-related articles Outline of Belgium Footnotes References Online sources Bibliography External links Government Official site of the Belgian monarchy Official site of the Belgian federal government General Belgium. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Belgium at UCB Libraries GovPubs Belgium information from the United States Department of State Portals to the World from the United States Library of Congress Belgium profile from the BBC News FAO Country Profiles: Belgium Statistical Profile of Belgium at the Association of Religion Data Archives Archived 28 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine Wikimedia Atlas of Belgium Key Development Forecasts for Belgium from International Futures Official Site of the Belgian Tourist Office in the Americas and GlobeScope

City_of_Brussels

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Brussels

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Flemish Region (from which it is separate) and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter. Besides the central historic town located within the Pentagon, the City of Brussels covers some of the city's immediate outskirts within the greater Brussels-Capital Region, namely the former municipalities of Haren, Laeken, and Neder-Over-Heembeek to the north, as well as the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan and the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos park to the south-east, where it borders municipalities in Flanders. As of 1 January 2023, the City of Brussels had a population of 194,291 inhabitants. The total area is 33.09 km2 (12.78 sq mi) which gives a population density of 5,704/km2 (14,770/sq mi). As of 2007, there were 75,998 registered non-Belgians in the City. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). Territorial history Historically, the City of Brussels was simply defined, being the area within the second walls of Brussels, the modern-day Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road). As the city grew, the surrounding villages grew as well, eventually growing into a contiguous city, though the local governments retained control of their respective areas. The construction of the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan was commissioned in 1847 as a monumental avenue bordered by chestnut trees that would allow easy access to the popular recreational area of the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos. However, fierce resistance to the project was put up by the town of Ixelles—then, as now, a separate municipality (local authority) from the City of Brussels—through whose territory the avenue was to run. After years of fruitless negotiations, Brussels finally annexed the narrow band of land needed for the avenue, in addition to the Bois de la Cambre itself, in 1864. That decision accounts for the unusual shape of today's City of Brussels and for the separation of Ixelles into two separate areas. Unlike most of the municipalities in Belgium, the ones now located in the Brussels-Capital Region were not merged with others during mergers occurring in 1964, 1970, and 1975. However, a few neighbouring municipalities have been merged into the City of Brussels, including Haren, Laeken and Neder-Over-Heembeek in 1921. These comprise the northern bulge in the municipality. To the south-east is the above-mentioned strip of land along the Avenue Louise that was annexed from Ixelles. Part of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)'s Solbosch campus is also part of the City of Brussels, partially accounting for the bulge in the south-eastern end. Quarters Pentagon Central Quarter The origins of Brussels can be traced back to the heart of Saint-Géry/Sint-Goriks Island, formed by the river Senne, on which a first keep was built around 979. Nowadays, the neighbourhood around the Halles Saint-Géry/Sint-Gorikshallen, a former covered market, is one of the capital's trendiest districts. In this Central Quarter (French: Quartier du Centre, Dutch: Centrumwijk), there are some vestiges of the 13th-century first walls of Brussels, which encompassed the area between the first port on the Senne, the old Romanesque church (later replaced by the Brabantine Gothic Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula), and the former ducal palace of Coudenberg in today's Royal Quarter. At the centre of this triangle are the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square); the Îlot Sacré district, which takes its name from its resistance to demolition projects, itself crossed by the Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries; the Saint-Jacques/Sint-Jacobs district, which welcomed pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela; as well as the former Brussels Stock Exchange building, erected on the site of a former Franciscan convent whose remains have been unearthed. Royal Quarter The Royal Quarter (French: Quartier Royal, Dutch: Koninklijke Wijk or Koningswijk) is so named because it houses, on the one hand, the Place Royale/Koningsplein ("Royal Square" or "King's Square"), built under Charles-Alexander of Lorraine on the Coudenberg hill, on the site of the former Palace of the Dukes of Brabant, of which certain levels of foundation still exist, and on the other hand, the Royal Palace of Brussels, which faces Brussels Park, on the other side of which is the Belgian House of Parliament (Palace of the Nation). Below the Royal District is the Central Station and the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg, home to the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), the Royal Belgian Film Archive (Cinematek), the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts, the Museum of Cinema, the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM), the BELvue Museum, and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Sablon/Zavel Quarter From the Place Royale/Koningsplein, the Rue de la Régence/Regentschapsstraat crosses the Sablon/Zavel Quarter (French: Quartier des Sablons, Dutch: Zavelwijk), made of the larger Grand Sablon/Grote Zavel ("Large Sablon") square in the north-west and the smaller Petit Sablon/Kleine Zavel ("Small Sablon") square and garden in the south-east, divided by the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon. It is a swanky district, where an antiques market is held, and in which antique and art dealers, as well as other luxury shops, have their businesses. Not far from there stood the Art Nouveau Maison du Peuple/Volkshuis by the famous architect Victor Horta, until its demolition in 1965. The Sablon is also home to the Egmont Palace and the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Marolles/Marollen Quarter In the shadow of the gigantic Palace of Justice lies the Marolles/Marollen Quarter (French: Quartier des Marolles, Dutch: Marollenwijk, not to be confused with the Marolle that purists delimit to only seven streets). From the Place de la Chapelle/Kapellemarkt to the Place du Jeu de Balle/Vossenplein, where a daily flea market known as the Old Market has been held since 1873, along the Rue Haute/Hogestraat and the Rue Blaes/Blaestraat, second-hand and popular shops have for some years given way to antique dealers, marking a profound transformation of the district. The Cité Hellemans, a remarkable example of an early 20th-century collective housing complex, was built to replace the neighbourhood's many squalid cul-de-sacs. The Rue Haute, one of the city's longest and oldest streets, follows the course of an old Gallo-Roman road, and runs along Saint Peter's Hospital, built in 1935 on the site of a leprosium, to end at the Halle Gate, the only remaining gate in a series that allowed passage inside the second walls of Brussels. Midi–Lemonnier or Stalingrad Quarter It was in the heart of the Midi–Lemonnier Quarter (French: Quartier Midi–Lemonnier, Dutch: Lemmonier–Zuidwijk), where the Place Rouppe/Rouppeplein is today, that Brussels' first South Station, the terminus of the South Line, was built in 1839. It was known as Bogards' railway station for the eponymous convent whose site it was built on, and to which the Rue des Bogards/Bogaardenstraat is now the only reference. The former presence of a station at this location also explains the unusual width of the current Avenue de Stalingrad/Stalingradlaan, which goes from the square to the Small Ring, cleared of its train tracks since the inauguration of Brussels-South Station, built outside the Pentagon in 1869. Because of this, the neighbourhood is sometimes called the Stalingrad Quarter (French: Quartier Stalingrad, Dutch: Stalingradwijk). At the same time, following the covering of the Senne, the district saw the construction of Haussmann-esque grand central boulevards, including the Boulevard Maurice Lemonnier/Maurice Lemonnierlaan, bordered by the Place Fontainas/Fontainasplein and the Place Anneessens/Anneessensplein (former location of the Old Market), as well as by the Midi Palace. Each Sunday morning, the Midi district hosts the second largest market in Europe. Senne/Zenne or Dansaert Quarter The damp and marshy land around the present-day Rue de la Senne/Zennestraat and Rue des Fabriques/Fabriekstraat was occupied by craftsmen since the Middle Ages. An arm of the river crossed the defences of the second walls at the level of the Ninove Gate via the Petite Écluse/Kleine Sluis ("Small Lock"), which served as a maritime gate, an end of which remaining there until the 1960s. Later, small industries and many artisan breweries (now disappeared) established themselves in the area, as evidenced by the names of the Rue du Houblon/Hopstraat ("Hops Street") and the Rue du Vieux Marché aux Grains/Oude Graanmarktstraat ("Old Grain Market Street"). The Shot Tower (Tour à Plomb), which was used to manufacture lead shot for hunting, and the Rue de la Poudrière/Kruitmolenstraat ("Gunpowder Street"), also testify to the neighbourhood's former activities. Long neglected following the relocation of businesses outside the city centre, the Senne/Zenne Quarter (French: Quartier de la Senne, Dutch: Zennewijk) has in recent years been the object of renewed interest and is undergoing gentrification due to the many disused industrial premises being converted into lofts. The area around the Rue Antoine Dansaert/Antoine Dansaertstraat has become a trendy district and is attracting a younger, more well-off, and mostly Dutch-speaking population. This new situation, which has resulted in rising rents, is not without problems for the neighbourhood's less fortunate inhabitants. Quays or Maritime Quarter The Quays Quarter (French: Quartier des Quais, Dutch: Kaaienwijk) is that of the old Port of Brussels, which for a long time played the role of "belly" of the city. Boats coming from the river Scheldt penetrated through the former Shore Gate (French: Porte du Rivage, Dutch: Oeverpoort), on the site of the present-day Place de l'Yser/Ijzerplein, to join one of the canals, whose docks were each reserved for one type of goods. Filled in the late 19th century with the opening of Brussels' new port, these basins were replaced by wide boulevards, whose names on both sides still recall their former function: the Quai aux Briques/Baksteenkaai ("Brick Wharf"), the Quai au Bois à Brûler/Brandhoutkaai ("Firewood Wharf"), the Quai aux Pierres de Taille/Arduinkaai ("Quarry Stone Wharf"), the Quai au Foin/Hooikaai ("Hay Wharf"), etc., or references to the neighbourhood's commercial activities: the Rue du Magasin/Pakhuisstraat ("Warehouse Street"), the Rue des Commerçants/Koopliedenstraat ("Traders Street"), the Rue du Marché aux Porcs/Varkensmarktstraat ("Pig Market Street") and the Quai du Commerce/Handelskaai ("Trade Wharf"). Along the quaysides, numerous bourgeois houses, once belonging to wealthy merchants, have preserved the entrances to the warehouses. On the Boulevard d'Ypres/Ieperlaan, one can still cross food wholesalers, now supplied by trucks that have replaced the boats. The district also includes the Great Beguinage of Brussels, with the Church of St. John the Baptist and the remarkable Grand Hospice Pachéco. Marais–Jacqmain Quarter Few of the buildings in the Marais–Jacqmain Quarter (French: Quartier Marais–Jacqmain, Dutch: Jacqmain–Broekwijk) have escaped 20th-century demolition, from the Boulevard Pachéco/Pachecolaan to the Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat. They have given way to the State Administrative Centre, press printers, banking facilities, and commercial galleries. The current trend is to restore the neighbourhood's social mix by redeveloping former office buildings into housing. Despite the district's long-time grim aspect, the centuries-old Meyboom tradition has been maintained, and the former Art Nouveau Magasins Waucquez by Victor Horta have been preserved to house, since 1993, the Belgian Comic Strip Center. Another preserved islet is the 18th-century neoclassical Place des Martyrs/Martelaarsplein, which has gradually been renovated. The victims of the Belgian Revolution of 1830 are buried there in an open crypt with a memorial. Nearby is the Rue Neuve, one of Belgium's main shopping streets, with more than 1 km (0.62 mi) of stores on both its sides; the Boulevard Adolphe Max/Adolphe Maxlaan, a traditional 19th-century artery; and the Boulevard Émile Jacqmain/Émile Jacqmainlaan (where the Théâtre national Wallonie-Bruxelles has been installed since 2004), close to the Place de Brouckère/De Brouckèreplein. The latter, a very busy square, is dominated at its southern end by two block-style towers, but for the rest, it has totally (Hotel Métropole and its neighbour the Hotel Atlanta) or partially (UGC cinema) retained its old facades. Freedom Quarter The Freedom Quarter (French: Quartier des Libertés, Dutch: Vrijheidswijk) is situated between the Belgian Parliament and the Rue Royale/Koningsstraat, not far from the crossroads with the Small Ring. Its focal point is the Congress Column (erected in memory of the National Congress of 1830–31, the founder of democratic liberties in Belgium), under which also lies the tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame. Not far from there is the Hotel Astoria, dating from 1911, which is currently being renovated and enlarged, to be reopened in the coming years. In the 19th century, the district was known as Notre-Dame-aux-Neiges/Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Sneeuw and was predominantly inhabited by working-class people. The authorities' desire to clean up the squalid parts of the city led to the expulsion of the population and the neighbourhood's complete destruction. A new bourgeois district was developed during the last quarter of the century. The choice was made to commemorate Belgian independence: the Place de la Liberté/Vrijheidsplein ("Liberty Square"), the Place des Barricades/Barricadenplein ("Barricades' Square"), the Rue de la Révolution/Revolutiestraat ("Revolution Street"), the Rue du Congrès/Congresstraat ("Congress Street"), etc. The four streets leading off the Place de la Liberté bear the names of the four constitutional liberties, symbolised by four allegorical bronze female sculptures surrounding the Congress Column: Freedom of the Press, Worship, Association and Education. This eclectic urban complex is one of the best preserved in the Pentagon. Eastern Quarters European Quarter and Leopold Quarter The European Quarter (French: Quartier Européen, Dutch: Europese Wijk) is located to the east of the Pentagon, around the Place du Luxembourg/Luxemburgplein and the Robert Schuman Roundabout, and includes the smaller Leopold Quarter (French: Quartier Léopold, Dutch: Leopoldswijk). The European Parliament was built near the Place du Luxembourg, on the site of the former Leopold Quarter railway station, and of which only the central building overlooking the square remains, having been replaced by the underground Brussels-Luxembourg railway station. The European Commission, housed in the Berlaymont building, is located on the Schuman Roundabout, not far from the Cinquantenaire Park. Across the street stands the Justus Lipsius building and the Europa building (part of the Residence Palace), serving as the seat of the European Council and the Council of the EU. In Leopold Park, the House of European History (HEH) initiates visitors to the social history of the European continent. There is a visitor centre in the main European Parliament building, known as the Parliamentarium, and another smaller one in the Justus Lipsius building for the European Council. It is accessible on certain days, by appointment. Many of the attractions in the European Quarter are free to visit. Squares Quarter The Squares Quarter (French: Quartier des Squares, Dutch: Squareswijk) is the northern spur of the European Quarter, located between Saint-Josse-ten-Noode and the Leopold Quarter. The district is bounded by the Chaussée de Louvain/Leuvense Steenweg to the north, the Rue du Noyer/Notelaarsstraat and the Avenue de Cortenbergh/Kortenberglaan to the east, the Rue Joseph II/Jozef II-straat and the Rue Stevin/Stevinstraat to the south, as well as the Small Ring to the west. The toponym refers to the many squares in the area, in particular the Square Ambiorix/Ambiorixsquare, the Square Marguerite/Margaretasquare, the Square Marie-Louise/Maria-Louizasquare and the Avenue Palmerston/Palmerstonlaan. The area between the Small Ring and the Square Marie-Louise is sometimes considered to be part of the Leopold Quarter. Northern Quarters Laeken Laeken is a former municipality in the north of the Brussels-Capital Region, annexed by the City of Brussels in 1921. It is home to, among others, the Royal Domain of Laeken, the Palace of Laeken, the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, the Church of Our Lady of Laeken (whose crypt contains the tombs of the Belgian royal family) and Laeken Cemetery, known for its wealth of monuments and sculptures. On the territory of Laeken also lies the Heysel/Heizel Plateau, the site of the World's Fairs of 1935 and 1958, and which includes the King Baudouin Stadium, Bruparck (with the Atomium, Mini-Europe miniature park and Kinepolis cinema), the Centenary Palace, home to the Brussels Exhibition Centre (Brussels Expo), and the Port of Brussels, next to which the Monument to Work by Constantin Meunier was erected. On its southern part, it holds the former Tour & Taxis former industrial site, which was annexed by the City of Brussels in 1897, twenty-four years before the rest of the municipality. Mutsaard Sometimes also known as the Pagoda district, the Japanese Tower district or De Wand district, Mutsaard (also spelled Mutsaert), is an old hamlet and a historic district located between Laeken and Neder-over-Heembeek and centred around the Place du Mutsaert/Mutsaertplaats or Mutsaardplein. The district was part of the former municipality of Laeken (postcode: 1020), but also a piece of Neder-over-Heembeek, annexed by Laeken in 1897. It is separated from the rest of Laeken by the Royal Domain and is the site of the Museums of the Far East. The district also extends a little into the neighbouring Flemish municipalities of Vilvoorde and Grimbergen. Neder-Over-Heembeek Neder-Over-Heembeek is a former municipality incorporated into the City of Brussels in 1921, at the same time as Laeken and Haren. It has the distinction of having the oldest place name in the Brussels-Capital Region, as it was mentioned in an ordinance as early as the 7th century. This is where the Queen Astrid Military Hospital, which is the National Burns and Poisons Centre, as well as recruitment services of the Belgian Armed Forces are located. Haren Like Laeken and Neder-Over-Heembeek, the former municipality of Haren was annexed by the municipality (City) of Brussels in 1921, which allowed the extension of Schaerbeek railway station north of its territory. But it was above all the presence, south-west of the town, of an airfield, created by the Germans during the First World War, and where the former Belgian national airline Sabena was born, that precipitated the annexation of Haren. For almost fifty years, Haren has been home to NATO's headquarters. It is also the location of many other administrations and companies, such as the headquarters of Eurocontrol. Demographics Foreign population The City of Brussels has a large immigrant population, with both the EU and non-European migrant communities outnumbering the native Belgians. Akin to neighbouring Ixelles, Etterbeek and Schaerbeek, the City of Brussels also has a large Muslim population, mainly of North African origin. As of 2023, taking into account the nationality of birth of the parents, 55.84% of the City of Brussels's population is from non-European countries (predominantly Morocco), 27.21% is from another European country (mainly France, Romania, Italy, Spain, and Poland), while the native Belgian population is 16.94%. Among all major migrant groups from outside the EU, a majority of the permanent residents have acquired Belgian nationality. Migrant communities in the City of Brussels with over 1,000 people as of 1 January 2020: Politics As in every other Belgian municipality, the City of Brussels is headed by a mayor, who should not be confused with the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region or the Governor of Brussels-Capital. The current city council was elected in the October 2018 elections. The current mayor of the City of Brussels is Philippe Close, a member of PS, who is in coalition on the municipal council with Ecolo - Groen, DéFI and Forward. Environmental policy Brussels is ranked sixth in the index of cities which are becoming greener fastest as for the year 2022, even though in the past it had a reputation of a "traffic-choked city of high rises and concrete". The authorities released a plan composed of seven steps on how to make the city even more sustainable. Those include introducing "a use-based, circular and low-carbon economy" and making the city "proactive". The city should become a "10-minute city" meaning "making the facilities essential to urban life accessible to every inhabitant in less than 10 minutes". Green spaces should be expanded. The plan includes participation of the population in decision-making and high life level for all. Culture Museums There are many museums in and around Brussels' city centre. On the first Sunday of every month, free entry is granted to many of Brussels' museums. The Underwear Museum opened in 2009, and was initially in the City of Brussels. In 2016 it moved to Lessines, Hainaut, Wallonia. Below is a non-exhaustive list of museums in the City of Brussels: Royal Museums of Art and History : Art & History Museum Horta-Lambeaux Pavilion Halle Gate Museums of the Far East Musical Instruments Museum Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium : Oldmasters Museum Magritte Museum Fin-de-Siècle Museum Wiertz Museum Meunier Museum Royal Museum of Modern Art Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History Food Brussels is well known for its food. Brussels sprouts were named after the city. Like most of Belgium, moules-frites, waffles (gaufres), chocolate, French fries, and beer are common there. It is home to one 2-starred and four 1-starred Michelin restaurants. Honorary citizens Among the recipients of the honorary citizenship of the City of Brussels are: Symbols Heraldry Vexillology See also Transport in Brussels Timeline of Brussels Bourgeois of Brussels Seven Noble Houses of Brussels Guilds of Brussels References Footnotes Citations Bibliography Demey, Thierry (2007). Brussels, capital of Europe. S. Strange (trans.). Brussels: Badeaux. ISBN 978-2-9600414-6-0. Eggericx, Laure (1997). Les Boulevards du Centre. Bruxelles, ville d'Art et d'Histoire (in French). Vol. 20. Brussels: Centre d'information, de Documentation et d'Etude du Patrimoine. External links Official website (in French, Dutch, and English) Official tourism website (in French, Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese) Webcam Grand-Place Brussels Interactive map

Avenue_Louise

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_Louise

The Avenue Louise (French: [av.ny lwiz]) or Louizalaan (Dutch) is a major thoroughfare in Brussels, Belgium. It is located in the southern part of the City of Brussels, on the border with the municipalities of Saint-Gilles and Ixelles, where it runs south–east from the Place Louise/Louizaplein to the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos, covering a distance of 2.7 km (1.7 mi). It is named in honour of both Queen Louise, the first Queen of the Belgians and wife of King Leopold I, and Princess Louise, King Leopold II's eldest daughter. The Avenue Louise is one of the most prestigious and expensive avenues in Brussels, lined with high-end fashion stores and boutiques. It also houses many embassies and offices. The avenue is served by the metro station Louise/Louiza at one end (on lines 2 and 6), as well as the tram lines 8 and 93, which run its entire length. History Inception and construction The Avenue Louise was first proposed in 1844 by two private property developers, Jean-Philippe De Joncker and Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, who submitted to the City of Brussels a plan for a monumental avenue bordered by chestnut trees that would allow easy access from Brussels' city centre to the popular recreational area of the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos. This large avenue was to be drawn as an extension of the district they had created in 1838–39 around the current "Louise bottleneck" (see below). Inspired by the Boulevards of Paris, it was also to be one of the first Haussmann-esque arteries of the city. Originally, fierce resistance to the project was put up by the towns of Saint-Gilles and Ixelles—then, as now, separate municipalities (local authorities) from the City of Brussels—through whose territories the avenue was to run. The Belgian Government had declared the project a public utility in 1844, and the private developer was granted a concession to start the project in 1851, but it failed to follow through, and by 1856, that concession was revoked. However, by 1859, the Government regranted the concession to the same developer, as long as the City of Brussels would carry out the construction. Development began soon after, with preliminary work on grading starting in June 1860. After years of fruitless negotiations, the City of Brussels finally annexed the narrow band of land needed for the avenue, in addition to the Bois de la Cambre itself, in April 1864, and final plans for the part of the avenue south of the Louise bottleneck were formally approved in July 1864. That decision accounts for the unusual shape of today's City of Brussels and for the separation of Ixelles into two separate areas. The illogical layout of today's municipal boundary is also due to the fact that it was drawn long before urbanisation was completed. The boundary then followed the outline of old fields, paths and estates. The avenue was inaugurated in 1866. Nonetheless, it took another forty years, until 1905, for buildings to solidly line the avenue. The avenue's name pays homage to both Queen Louise, the first Queen of the Belgians and wife of King Leopold I, and Princess Louise, King Leopold II's eldest daughter, as does the Place Louise/Louizaplein, a major square located in its upper part. This first name dates back to the construction of the bottleneck around 1840, a few years after the royal wedding between Queen Louise and Leopold I in 1832. This second name coincided with Princess Louise's birth in 1858, during the negotiations for the avenue's southward extension. The Place Stéphanie/Stefanieplein, another square on the avenue, is named in honour of her younger sister, Princess Stéphanie. World War II During World War II, following the German invasion of Belgium, Brussels was occupied by the German military. The Nazi security organisation, the Sicherheitspolizei-Sicherheitsdienst (Sipo-SD), of which the Gestapo was a part, set up their Brussels headquarters on the Avenue Louise. They occupied numbers 347, 418, 453 and 510; initially their headquarters were at number 453, in the Résidence Belvédère. On 20 January 1943, Baron Jean de Sélys Longchamps, a Brussels-born fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force, mounted a solo attack on the headquarters at number 453. Benefitting from the wide avenues, and the large height of the apartment block relative to the neighbouring buildings, he flew his Hawker Typhoon at a low altitude straight towards the building, firing the plane's 20 mm cannons, before returning to England. Following this attack, the SD moved their headquarters to number 347. The cellars at this address were used to detain and interrogate captured members of the Belgian Resistance. The torture that took place there brought the Avenue Louise's name considerable infamy at the time. A monument to Baron de Selys Longchamps now stands in front of number 453. Contemporary The Avenue Louise was redeveloped after 1950 in preparation for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo 58), transforming it into an urban motorway (see Brusselisation) by tunnelling the main intersections and offering direct access to the Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road). The northern part is sunken and has three tunnels—all housed in the central lane, which was widened by the removal of two rows of trees—with level crossings and car parking spaces aboveground. The three tunnels are, from north to south: the Stéphanie Tunnel, the Bailli Tunnel and the short Vleurgat Tunnel. From the 1960s onwards, the Avenue Louise was gradually transformed into an office district. The first special development plan for the Avenue Louise, drawn up in 1970, merely acknowledged this transformation. Although it attempted to remedy the discrepancies in the avenue's silhouette, the plan made no pronouncement on the allocation of the buildings, giving free rein to land speculation. The 1970 plan also authorised the construction of towers on the avenue. High-rise buildings such as the Louise Tower (1965), the ITT Tower (1973) and the Blue Tower (1976) date from this period. At the end of the 1990s, the JNC International SA office, as part of the chemin de la ville project, studied the redevelopment of public spaces on the Avenue Louise, with the installation of new sculptures and lighting, and the redesign of sidewalks and surface parking areas. In spite of this, much of the post-war configuration still exists today. It implies that no metro line runs through the avenue, despite its high built density and its multiple functions of shops/offices/housing, the latter being in a way replaced by these tunnels. However, tram lines 8 and 93 operate on their own site from the Place Stéphanie to the Woluwe depot. The Avenue Louise is currently one of the most attractive addresses for office space. With some 400,000 m2 (4,300,000 sq ft) of tertiary surfaces, it accounts for more than a fifth of the market in this sector in the Brussels Region. Luxury shops, restaurants, art galleries and antique dealers all contribute to the liveliness and reputation of the avenue. Although regarded as a prestigious street during the day, at night, however, it has a reputation for unauthorised prostitution. Landmarks The Avenue Louise is home to many upmarket shops, restaurants and offices. From north to south, notable landmarks include: ~ Place Louise/Louizaplein, a crucial transportation nexus, including a tramway and metro station. The Law Courts of Brussels are located nearby. ~ Place Stéphanie/Stefanieplein, another extremely busy square surrounded by luxury shops. The tree-bordered part of the avenue begins there. No. 124: Louise Tower (1965), also known as the Generali Tower, one of the tallest office buildings in Brussels No. 224: Hôtel Solvay (1895–1900), a large Art Nouveau town house by Victor Horta, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site ~ Chaussée de Vleurgat/Vleurgatsteenweg (which leads downhill to the nearby Place Eugène Flagey/Eugène Flageyplein) No. 324–326: Blue Tower (1976), a functionalist office building by Henri Montois No. 346: Hôtel Max Hallet (1904), another Art Nouveau town house by Victor Horta ~ the scenic King's Garden (French: Jardin du Roi, Dutch: Hof van de Koning), a garden descending toward the nearby Ixelles Ponds ~ Olivier Strebelle's 16-tonne bronze sculpture Le Phénix 44 commemorating the anniversary of the liberation of Brussels, which stands athwart the roundabout at the King's Garden ~ Carrefour de Sélys Longchamps/De Sélis Longchampskruispunt, which features several statues, the entrance to La Cambre Abbey, and the massive ITT Tower (1973) ~ a roundabout flanked by two twin neoclassical former toll pavilions of the Namur Gate ending the avenue. Beyond it lies the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos. the nearby Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, part of the Church of England The "Louise bottleneck" The 250-metre-long (820 ft) part of the Avenue Louise between the Place Louise/Louizaplein and the Place Stéphanie/Stefanieplein is called le goulet Louise in French ("the Louise bottleneck"). With two tramway lines and thousands of cars sharing this narrow segment of the avenue, large traffic jams occur during rush hours. The problem was already obvious in the early 1980s, so a tram tunnel under the bottleneck was built along with the metro station at the Place Louise. However, construction was abandoned toward its end due to protests of local businesses fearing losses if patrons were to be diverted through a tunnel. The nearly-completed, vast tramway tunnel under the Louise bottleneck remains unused as of 2009. Various solutions to the traffic problem have been considered. One proposes pedestrianising the whole segment, with trams running on the surface and only delivery vehicles authorised at certain hours. Another, much more costly idea, involves finishing the tunnel and diverting all trams underground. Tramway lines 8 and 93 run the entire length of the avenue, all on segregated track except in the short Louise bottleneck section. Embassies The Avenue Louise houses many embassies, including those of: No. 130: Dominican Republic No. 176: Bolivia No. 181: Montenegro No. 225: Argentina No. 250: Bahrain No. 350: Brazil No. 363: Ecuador No. 379: Suriname No. 425: Croatia No. 475: Paraguay No. 489: Costa Rica Representative Offices No. 284/286: Northern Cyprus See also List of streets in Brussels Neoclassical architecture in Belgium Art Nouveau in Brussels Art Deco in Brussels History of Brussels Belgium in the long nineteenth century References Citations Bibliography Demey, Thierry (2013). Bruxelles, des remparts aux boulevards (in French). Brussels: Badeaux. ISBN 978-2-930609-02-7. Douillet, Isabelle; Schaack, Cécile (2005–2006). L'avenue Louise et les rues adjacentes (PDF). Inventaire du Patrimoine architectural, Bruxelles-Extensions Sud (in French). Brussels: P. Crahay. Duquenne, Xavier (2007). L'avenue Louise à Bruxelles (in French). Brussels: Self-published. ISBN 2-87126-039-7. Francis, Jean (1975). La Chanson des rues d'Ixelles (in French). Brussels: Louis Musin Éditeur. p. 118. Mierop, Caroline (1997). L'avenue Louise. Bruxelles, ville d'Art et d'Histoire (in French). Vol. 19. Brussels: Centre d'information, de Documentation et d'Etude du Patrimoine. External links Media related to Avenue Louise/Louizalaan at Wikimedia Commons "(Avenue Louise)" – via Europeana. (Images, etc.) History and architecture of Avenue Louise (St Gilles) - on the irismonument site - l'inventaire du patrimoine architectural de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale History and architecture of Avenue Louise (Brussels southern extension) - on the irismonument site -l'inventaire du patrimoine architectural de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale

Croatia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia

Croatia ( , kroh-AY-shə; Croatian: Hrvatska, pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska ), is a country in Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Italy to the west. Its capital and largest city, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, with twenty counties. Other major urban centers include Split, Rijeka and Osijek. The country spans 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles), and has a population of nearly 3.9 million. The Croats arrived in modern-day Croatia in the late 6th century, then part of Roman Illyria. By the 7th century, they had organized the territory into two duchies. Croatia was first internationally recognized as independent on 7 June 879 during the reign of Duke Branimir. Tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. During the succession crisis after the Trpimirović dynasty ended, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of Austria to the Croatian throne. In October 1918, the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, independent from Austria-Hungary, was proclaimed in Zagreb, and in December 1918, it merged into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, most of Croatia was incorporated into a Nazi-installed puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia. A resistance movement led to the creation of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, which after the war became a founding member and constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991, Croatia declared independence, and the War of Independence was successfully fought over the next four years. Croatia is a republic and has a parliamentary system. It is a member of the European Union, the Eurozone, the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the World Trade Organization, a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean, and is currently in the process of joining the OECD. An active participant in United Nations peacekeeping, Croatia contributed troops to the International Security Assistance Force and was elected to fill a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council in the 2008–2009 term for the first time. Croatia is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy and ranks highly in the Human Development Index. Service, industrial sectors, and agriculture dominate the economy. Tourism is a significant source of revenue for the country, with nearly 20 million tourist arrivals as of 2019. Since the 2000s, the Croatian government has heavily invested in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Croatia has also positioned itself as a regional energy leader in the early 2020s and is contributing to the diversification of Europe's energy supply via its floating liquefied natural gas import terminal off Krk island, LNG Hrvatska. Croatia provides social security, universal health care, and tuition-free primary and secondary education while supporting culture through public institutions and corporate investments in media and publishing. Etymology Croatia's non-native name derives from Medieval Latin Croātia, itself a derivation of North-West Slavic *Xərwate, by liquid metathesis from Common Slavic period *Xorvat, from proposed Proto-Slavic *Xъrvátъ which possibly comes from the 3rd-century Scytho-Sarmatian form attested in the Tanais Tablets as Χοροάθος (Khoroáthos, alternate forms comprise Khoróatos and Khoroúathos). The origin of the ethnonym is uncertain, but most probably is from Proto-Ossetian / Alanian *xurvæt- or *xurvāt-, in the meaning of "one who guards" ("guardian, protector"). The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym's native variation *xъrvatъ is of the variable stem, attested in the Baška tablet in style zvъnъmirъ kralъ xrъvatъskъ ("Zvonimir, Croatian king"), while the Latin variation Croatorum is archaeologically confirmed on a church inscription found in Bijaći near Trogir dated to the end of the 8th or early 9th century. The presumably oldest stone inscription with fully preserved ethnonym is the 9th-century Branimir inscription found near Benkovac, where Duke Branimir is styled Dux Cruatorvm, likely dated between 879 and 892, during his rule. The Latin term Chroatorum is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir I of Croatia, dated to 852 in a 1568 copy of a lost original, but it is not certain if the original was indeed older than the Branimir inscription. History Prehistory and antiquity The area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period. Neanderthal fossils dating to the middle Palaeolithic period were unearthed in northern Croatia, best presented at the Krapina site. Remnants of Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures were found in all regions. The largest proportion of sites is in the valleys of northern Croatia. The most significant are Baden, Starčevo, and Vučedol cultures. Iron Age hosted the early Illyrian Hallstatt culture and the Celtic La Tène culture. The region of modern-day Croatia was settled by Illyrians and Liburnians, while the first Greek colonies were established on the islands of Hvar, Korčula, and Vis. In 9 AD, the territory of today's Croatia became part of the Roman Empire. Emperor Diocletian was native to the region. He had a large palace built in Split, to which he retired after abdicating in AD 305. During the 5th century, the last de jure Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos ruled a small realm from the palace after fleeing Italy in 475. Middle Ages The Roman period ends with Avar and Croat invasions in the late 6th and first half of the 7th century and the destruction of almost all Roman towns. Roman survivors retreated to more favourable sites on the coast, islands, and mountains. The city of Dubrovnik was founded by such survivors from Epidaurum. The ethnogenesis of Croats is uncertain. The most accepted theory, the Slavic theory, proposes migration of White Croats from White Croatia during the Migration Period. Conversely, the Iranian theory proposes Iranian origin, based on Tanais Tablets containing Ancient Greek inscriptions of given names Χορούαθος, Χοροάθος, and Χορόαθος (Khoroúathos, Khoroáthos, and Khoróathos) and their interpretation as anthroponyms of Croatian people. According to the work De Administrando Imperio written by 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII, Croats arrived in the Roman province of Dalmatia in the first half of the 7th century after they defeated the Avars. However, that claim is disputed: competing hypotheses date the event between the late 6th-early 7th (mainstream) or the late 8th-early 9th (fringe) centuries, but recent archaeological data has established that the migration and settlement of the Slavs/Croats was in the late 6th and early 7th century. Eventually, a dukedom was formed, Duchy of Croatia, ruled by Borna, as attested by chronicles of Einhard starting in 818. The record represents the first document of Croatian realms, vassal states of Francia at the time. Its neighbor to the North was Principality of Lower Pannonia, at the time ruled by duke Ljudevit who ruled the territories between the Drava and Sava rivers, centred from his fort at Sisak. This population and territory throughout history was tightly related and connected to Croats and Croatia. Christianisation of Croats began in the 7th century at the time of archon Porga of Croatia, initially probably encompassed only the elite and related people, but mostly finished by the 9th century. The Frankish overlordship ended during the reign of Mislav, or his successor Trpimir I. The native Croatian royal dynasty was founded by duke Trpimir I in the mid 9th century, who defeated the Byzantine and Bulgarian forces. The first native Croatian ruler recognised by the Pope was duke Branimir, who received papal recognition from Pope John VIII on 7 June 879. Tomislav was the first king of Croatia, noted as such in a letter of Pope John X in 925. Tomislav defeated Hungarian and Bulgarian invasions. The medieval Croatian kingdom reached its peak in the 11th century during the reigns of Petar Krešimir IV (1058–1074) and Dmitar Zvonimir (1075–1089). When Stjepan II died in 1091, ending the Trpimirović dynasty, Dmitar Zvonimir's brother-in-law Ladislaus I of Hungary claimed the Croatian crown. This led to a war and personal union with Hungary in 1102 under Coloman. Union with Hungary and Austria For the next four centuries, the Kingdom of Croatia was ruled by the Sabor (parliament) and a Ban (viceroy) appointed by the king. This period saw the rise of influential nobility such as the Frankopan and Šubić families to prominence, and ultimately numerous Bans from the two families. An increasing threat of Ottoman conquest and a struggle against the Republic of Venice for control of coastal areas ensued. The Venetians controlled most of Dalmatia by 1428, except the city-state of Dubrovnik, which became independent. Ottoman conquests led to the 1493 Battle of Krbava field and the 1526 Battle of Mohács, both ending in decisive Ottoman victories. King Louis II died at Mohács, and in 1527, the Croatian Parliament met in Cetin and chose Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg as the new ruler of Croatia, under the condition that he protects Croatia against the Ottoman Empire while respecting its political rights. Following the decisive Ottoman victories, Croatia was split into civilian and military territories in 1538. The military territories became known as the Croatian Military Frontier and were under direct Habsburg control. Ottoman advances in Croatia continued until the 1593 Battle of Sisak, the first decisive Ottoman defeat, when borders stabilised. During the Great Turkish War (1683–1698), Slavonia was regained, but western Bosnia, which had been part of Croatia before the Ottoman conquest, remained outside Croatian control. The present-day border between the two countries is a remnant of this outcome. Dalmatia, the southern part of the border, was similarly defined by the Fifth and the Seventh Ottoman–Venetian Wars. The Ottoman wars drove demographic changes. During the 16th century, Croats from western and northern Bosnia, Lika, Krbava, the area between the rivers Una and Kupa, and especially from western Slavonia, migrated towards Austria. Present-day Burgenland Croats are direct descendants of these settlers. To replace the fleeing population, the Habsburgs encouraged Bosnians to provide military service in the Military Frontier. The Croatian Parliament supported King Charles III's Pragmatic Sanction and signed their own Pragmatic Sanction in 1712. Subsequently, the emperor pledged to respect all privileges and political rights of the Kingdom of Croatia, and Queen Maria Theresa made significant contributions to Croatian affairs, such as introducing compulsory education. Between 1797 and 1809, the First French Empire increasingly occupied the eastern Adriatic coastline and its hinterland, ending the Venetian and the Ragusan republics, establishing the Illyrian Provinces. In response, the Royal Navy blockaded the Adriatic Sea, leading to the Battle of Vis in 1811. The Illyrian provinces were captured by the Austrians in 1813 and absorbed by the Austrian Empire following the Congress of Vienna in 1815. This led to the formation of the Kingdom of Dalmatia and the restoration of the Croatian Littoral to the Kingdom of Croatia under one crown. The 1830s and 1840s featured romantic nationalism that inspired the Croatian National Revival, a political and cultural campaign advocating the unity of South Slavs within the empire. Its primary focus was establishing a standard language as a counterweight to Hungarian while promoting Croatian literature and culture. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Croatia sided with Austria. Ban Josip Jelačić helped defeat the Hungarians in 1849 and ushered in a Germanisation policy. By the 1860s, the failure of the policy became apparent, leading to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The creation of a personal union between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary followed. The treaty left Croatia's status to Hungary, which was resolved by the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868 when the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia were united. The Kingdom of Dalmatia remained under de facto Austrian control, while Rijeka retained the status of corpus separatum previously introduced in 1779. After Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina following the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, the Military Frontier was abolished. The Croatian and Slavonian sectors of the Frontier returned to Croatia in 1881, under provisions of the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement. Renewed efforts to reform Austria-Hungary, entailing federalisation with Croatia as a federal unit, were stopped by World War I. The World Wars and Yugoslavia On 29 October 1918, the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) declared independence and decided to join the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, which in turn entered into union with the Kingdom of Serbia on 4 December 1918 to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. The Croatian Parliament never ratified the union with Serbia and Montenegro. The 1921 constitution defining the country as a unitary state and abolition of Croatian Parliament and historical administrative divisions effectively ended Croatian autonomy. The new constitution was opposed by the most widely supported national political party—the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) led by Stjepan Radić. The political situation deteriorated further as Radić was assassinated in the National Assembly in 1928, culminating in King Alexander I's establishment of the 6 January Dictatorship in 1929. The dictatorship formally ended in 1931 when the king imposed a more unitary constitution. The HSS, now led by Vladko Maček, continued to advocate federalisation, resulting in the Cvetković–Maček Agreement of August 1939 and the autonomous Banovina of Croatia. The Yugoslav government retained control of defence, internal security, foreign affairs, trade, and transport while other matters were left to the Croatian Sabor and a crown-appointed Ban. In April 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Following the invasion, a German-Italian installed puppet state named the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was established. Most of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the region of Syrmia were incorporated into this state. Parts of Dalmatia were annexed by Italy, Hungary annexed the northern Croatian regions of Baranja and Međimurje. The NDH regime was led by Ante Pavelić and ultranationalist Ustaše, a fringe movement in pre-war Croatia. With German and Italian military and political support, the regime introduced racial laws and launched a genocide campaign against Serbs, Jews, and Roma. Many were imprisoned in concentration camps; the largest was the Jasenovac complex. Anti-fascist Croats were targeted by the regime as well. Several concentration camps (most notably the Rab, Gonars and Molat camps) were established in Italian-occupied territories, mostly for Slovenes and Croats. At the same time, the Yugoslav Royalist and Serbian nationalist Chetniks pursued a genocidal campaign against Croats and Muslims, aided by Italy. Nazi German forces committed crimes and reprisals against civilians in retaliation for Partisan actions, such as in the villages of Kamešnica and Lipa in 1944. A resistance movement emerged. On 22 June 1941, the 1st Sisak Partisan Detachment was formed near Sisak, the first military unit formed by a resistance movement in occupied Europe. That sparked the beginning of the Yugoslav Partisan movement, a communist, multi-ethnic anti-fascist resistance group led by Josip Broz Tito. In ethnic terms, Croats were the second-largest contributors to the Partisan movement after Serbs. In per capita terms, Croats contributed proportionately to their population within Yugoslavia. By May 1944 (according to Tito), Croats made up 30% of the Partisan's ethnic composition, despite making up 22% of the population. The movement grew fast, and at the Tehran Conference in December 1943, the Partisans gained recognition from the Allies. With Allied support in logistics, equipment, training and airpower, and with the assistance of Soviet troops taking part in the 1944 Belgrade Offensive, the Partisans gained control of Yugoslavia and the border regions of Italy and Austria by May 1945. Members of the NDH armed forces and other Axis troops, as well as civilians, were in retreat towards Austria. Following their surrender, many were killed in the Yugoslav death march of Nazi collaborators. In the following years, ethnic Germans faced persecution in Yugoslavia, and many were interned. The political aspirations of the Partisan movement were reflected in the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia, which developed in 1943 as the bearer of Croatian statehood and later transformed into the Parliament in 1945, and AVNOJ—its counterpart at the Yugoslav level. Based on the studies on wartime and post-war casualties by demographer Vladimir Žerjavić and statistician Bogoljub Kočović, a total of 295,000 people from the territory (not including territories ceded from Italy after the war) died, which amounted to 7.3% of the population, among whom were 125–137,000 Serbs, 118–124,000 Croats, 16–17,000 Jews, and 15,000 Roma. In addition, from areas joined to Croatia after the war, a total of 32,000 people died, among whom 16,000 were Italians and 15,000 were Croats. Approximately 200,000 Croats from the entirety of Yugoslavia (including Croatia) and abroad were killed in total throughout the war and its immediate aftermath, approximately 5.4% of the population. After World War II, Croatia became a single-party socialist federal unit of the SFR Yugoslavia, ruled by the Communists, but having a degree of autonomy within the federation. In 1967, Croatian authors and linguists published a Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Standard Language demanding equal treatment for their language. The declaration contributed to a national movement seeking greater civil rights and redistribution of the Yugoslav economy, culminating in the Croatian Spring of 1971, which was suppressed by Yugoslav leadership. Still, the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution gave increased autonomy to federal units, basically fulfilling a goal of the Croatian Spring and providing a legal basis for independence of the federative constituents. Following Tito's death in 1980, the political situation in Yugoslavia deteriorated. National tension was fanned by the 1986 SANU Memorandum and the 1989 coups in Vojvodina, Kosovo, and Montenegro. In January 1990, the Communist Party fragmented along national lines, with the Croatian faction demanding a looser federation. In the same year, the first multi-party elections were held in Croatia, while Franjo Tuđman's win exacerbated nationalist tensions. Some of the Serbs in Croatia left Sabor and declared autonomy of the unrecognised Republic of Serbian Krajina, intent on achieving independence from Croatia. Independence As tensions rose, Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991. However, the full implementation of the declaration only came into effect after a three-month moratorium on the decision on 8 October 1991. In the meantime, tensions escalated into overt war when the Serbian-controlled Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and various Serb paramilitary groups attacked Croatia. By the end of 1991, a high-intensity conflict fought along a wide front reduced Croatia's control to about two-thirds of its territory. Serb paramilitary groups then began a campaign of killing, terror, and expulsion of the Croats in the rebel territories, killing thousands of Croat civilians and expelling or displacing as many as 400,000 Croats and other non-Serbs from their homes. Serbs living in Croatian towns, especially those near the front lines, were subjected to various forms of discrimination. Croatian Serbs in Eastern and Western Slavonia and parts of the Krajina were forced to flee or were expelled by Croatian forces, though on a restricted scale and in lesser numbers. The Croatian Government publicly deplored these practices and sought to stop them, indicating that they were not a part of the Government's policy. On 15 January 1992, Croatia gained diplomatic recognition by the European Economic Community, followed by the United Nations. The war effectively ended in August 1995 with a decisive victory by Croatia; the event is commemorated each year on 5 August as Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and the Day of Croatian Defenders. Following the Croatian victory, about 200,000 Serbs from the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina fled the region and hundreds of mainly elderly Serb civilians were killed in the aftermath of the military operation. Their lands were subsequently settled by Croat refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The remaining occupied areas were restored to Croatia following the Erdut Agreement of November 1995, concluding with the UNTAES mission in January 1998. Most sources number the war deaths at around 20,000. After the end of the war, Croatia faced the challenges of post-war reconstruction, the return of refugees, establishing democracy, protecting human rights, and general social and economic development. The 2000s were characterized by democratization, economic growth, structural and social reforms, and problems such as unemployment, corruption, and the inefficiency of public administration. In November 2000 and March 2001, the Parliament amended the Constitution, first adopted on 22 December 1990, changing its bicameral structure back into its historic unicameral form and reducing presidential powers. Croatia joined the Partnership for Peace on 25 May 2000 and became a member of the World Trade Organization on 30 November 2000. On 29 October 2001, Croatia signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union, submitted a formal application for the EU membership in 2003, was given the status of a candidate country in 2004, and began accession negotiations in 2005. Although the Croatian economy had enjoyed a significant boom in the early 2000s, the financial crisis in 2008 forced the government to cut spending, thus provoking a public outcry. Croatia served on the United Nations Security Council in the 2008–2009 term for the first time, assuming the non-permanent seat in December 2008. On 1 April 2009, Croatia joined NATO. A wave of anti-government protests in 2011 reflected a general dissatisfaction with the current political and economic situation. The protests brought together diverse political persuasions in response to recent government corruption scandals and called for early elections. On 28 October 2011 MPs voted to dissolve Parliament and the protests gradually subsided. President Ivo Josipović agreed to a dissolution of Sabor on Monday, 31 October and scheduled new elections for Sunday 4 December 2011. On 30 June 2011, Croatia successfully completed EU accession negotiations. The country signed the Accession Treaty on 9 December 2011 and held a referendum on 22 January 2012, where Croatian citizens voted in favor of an EU membership. Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July 2013. Croatia was affected by the 2015 European migrant crisis when Hungary's closure of borders with Serbia pushed over 700,000 refugees and migrants to pass through Croatia on their way to other EU countries. On 19 October 2016, Andrej Plenković began serving as the current Croatian Prime Minister. The most recent presidential elections, held on 5 January 2020, elected Zoran Milanović as president. On 25 January 2022, the OECD Council decided to open accession negotiations with Croatia. Throughout the accession process, Croatia was to implement numerous reforms that will advance all spheres of activity – from public services and the justice system to education, transport, finance, health, and trade. In line with the OECD Accession Roadmap from June 2022, Croatia will undergo technical reviews by 25 OECD committees and is so far progressing at a faster pace than expected. Full membership is expected in 2025 and is the last big foreign policy goal Croatia still has to achieve. On 1 January 2023, Croatia adopted the euro as its official currency, replacing the kuna, and became the 20th Eurozone member. On the same day, Croatia became the 27th member of the border-free Schengen Area, thus marking its full EU integration. Geography Croatia is situated in Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Hungary is to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the southeast and Slovenia to the northwest. It lies mostly between latitudes 42° and 47° N and longitudes 13° and 20° E. Part of the territory in the extreme south surrounding Dubrovnik is a practical exclave connected to the rest of the mainland by territorial waters, but separated on land by a short coastline strip belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina around Neum. The Pelješac Bridge connects the exclave with mainland Croatia. The territory covers 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles), consisting of 56,414 square kilometres (21,782 square miles) of land and 128 square kilometres (49 square miles) of water. It is the world's 127th largest country. Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Dinaric Alps with the highest point of the Dinara peak at 1,831 metres (6,007 feet) near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the south to the shore of the Adriatic Sea which makes up its entire southwest border. Insular Croatia consists of over a thousand islands and islets varying in size, 48 of which are permanently inhabited. The largest islands are Cres and Krk, each of them having an area of around 405 square kilometres (156 square miles). The hilly northern parts of Hrvatsko Zagorje and the flat plains of Slavonia in the east which is part of the Pannonian Basin are traversed by major rivers such as Danube, Drava, Kupa, and the Sava. The Danube, Europe's second longest river, runs through the city of Vukovar in the extreme east and forms part of the border with Vojvodina. The central and southern regions near the Adriatic coastline and islands consist of low mountains and forested highlands. Natural resources found in quantities significant enough for production include oil, coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, and hydropower. Karst topography makes up about half of Croatia and is especially prominent in the Dinaric Alps. Croatia hosts deep caves, 49 of which are deeper than 250 m (820.21 ft), 14 deeper than 500 m (1,640.42 ft) and three deeper than 1,000 m (3,280.84 ft). Croatia's most famous lakes are the Plitvice lakes, a system of 16 lakes with waterfalls connecting them over dolomite and limestone cascades. The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colours, ranging from turquoise to mint green, grey or blue. Climate Most of Croatia has a moderately warm and rainy continental climate as defined by the Köppen climate classification. Mean monthly temperature ranges between −3 °C (27 °F) in January and 18 °C (64 °F) in July. The coldest parts of the country are Lika and Gorski Kotar featuring a snowy, forested climate at elevations above 1,200 metres (3,900 feet). The warmest areas are at the Adriatic coast and especially in its immediate hinterland characterised by Mediterranean climate, as the sea moderates temperature highs. Consequently, temperature peaks are more pronounced in continental areas. The lowest temperature of −35.5 °C (−31.9 °F) was recorded on 3 February 1919 in Čakovec, and the highest temperature of 42.8 °C (109.0 °F) was recorded on 4 August 1981 in Ploče. Mean annual precipitation ranges between 600 millimetres (24 inches) and 3,500 millimetres (140 inches) depending on geographic region and climate type. The least precipitation is recorded in the outer islands (Biševo, Lastovo, Svetac, Vis) and the eastern parts of Slavonia. However, in the latter case, rain occurs mostly during the growing season. The maximum precipitation levels are observed in the Dinaric Alps, in the Gorski Kotar peaks of Risnjak and Snježnik. Prevailing winds in the interior are light to moderate northeast or southwest, and in the coastal area, prevailing winds are determined by local features. Higher wind velocities are more often recorded in cooler months along the coast, generally as the cool northeasterly bura or less frequently as the warm southerly jugo. The sunniest parts are the outer islands, Hvar and Korčula, where more than 2700 hours of sunshine are recorded per year, followed by the middle and southern Adriatic Sea area in general, and northern Adriatic coast, all with more than 2000 hours of sunshine per year. Biodiversity Croatia can be subdivided into ecoregions based on climate and geomorphology. The country is one of the richest in Europe in terms of biodiversity. Croatia has four types of biogeographical regions—the Mediterranean along the coast and in its immediate hinterland, Alpine in most of Lika and Gorski Kotar, Pannonian along Drava and Danube, and Continental in the remaining areas. The most significant are karst habitats which include submerged karst, such as Zrmanja and Krka canyons and tufa barriers, as well as underground habitats. The country contains three ecoregions: Dinaric Mountains mixed forests, Pannonian mixed forests, and Illyrian deciduous forests. The karst geology harbours approximately 7,000 caves and pits, some of which are the habitat of the only known aquatic cave vertebrate—the olm. Forests are abundant, covering 2,490,000 hectares (6,200,000 acres) or 44% of Croatian land area. Other habitat types include wetlands, grasslands, bogs, fens, scrub habitats, coastal and marine habitats. In terms of phytogeography, Croatia is a part of the Boreal Kingdom and is a part of Illyrian and Central European provinces of the Circumboreal Region and the Adriatic province of the Mediterranean Region. The World Wide Fund for Nature divides Croatia between three ecoregions—Pannonian mixed forests, Dinaric Mountains mixed forests and Illyrian deciduous forests. Croatia hosts 37,000 known plant and animal species, but their actual number is estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000. More than a thousand species are endemic, especially in Velebit and Biokovo mountains, Adriatic islands and karst rivers. Legislation protects 1,131 species. The most serious threat is habitat loss and degradation. A further problem is presented by invasive alien species, especially Caulerpa taxifolia algae. Croatia had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.92/10, ranking it 113th of 172 countries. Invasive algae are regularly monitored and removed to protect benthic habitat. Indigenous cultivated plant strains and domesticated animal breeds are numerous. They include five breeds of horses, five of cattle, eight of sheep, two of pigs, and one poultry. Indigenous breeds include nine that are endangered or critically endangered. Croatia has 444 protected areas, encompassing 9% of the country. Those include eight national parks, two strict reserves, and ten nature parks. The most famous protected area and the oldest national park in Croatia is Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Velebit Nature Park is a part of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. The strict and special reserves, as well as the national and nature parks, are managed and protected by the central government, while other protected areas are managed by counties. In 2005, the National Ecological Network was set up, as the first step in the preparation of the EU accession and joining of the Natura 2000 network. Governance The Republic of Croatia is a unitary, constitutional state using a parliamentary system. Government powers in Croatia are legislative, executive, and judiciary powers. The president of the republic (Croatian: Predsjednik Republike) is the head of state, directly elected to a five-year term and is limited by the Constitution to two terms. In addition to serving as commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the procedural duty of appointing the prime minister with the parliament and has some influence on foreign policy. The Government is headed by the prime minister, who has four deputy prime ministers and 16 ministers in charge of particular sectors. As the executive branch, it is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, enforcing the laws, and guiding foreign and internal policies. The Government is seated at Banski dvori in Zagreb. Law and judicial system A unicameral parliament (Sabor) holds legislative power. The number of Sabor members can vary from 100 to 160. They are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Legislative sessions take place from 15 January to 15 July, and from 15 September to 15 December annually. The two largest political parties in Croatia are the Croatian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Croatia. Croatia has a civil law legal system in which law arises primarily from written statutes, with judges serving as implementers and not creators of law. Its development was largely influenced by German and Austrian legal systems. Croatian law is divided into two principal areas—private and public law. Before EU accession negotiations were completed, Croatian legislation had been fully harmonised with the Community acquis. The main national courts are the Constitutional Court, which oversees violations of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court, which is the highest court of appeal. Administrative, Commercial, County, Misdemeanor, and Municipal courts handle cases in their respective domains. Cases falling within judicial jurisdiction are in the first instance decided by a single professional judge, while appeals are deliberated in mixed tribunals of professional judges. Lay magistrates also participate in trials. The State's Attorney Office is the judicial body constituted of public prosecutors empowered to instigate prosecution of perpetrators of offences. Law enforcement agencies are organised under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior which consist primarily of the national police force. Croatia's security service is the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA). Foreign relations Croatia has established diplomatic relations with 194 countries. supporting 57 embassies, 30 consulates and eight permanent diplomatic missions. 56 foreign embassies and 67 consulates operate in the country in addition to offices of international organisations such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and UNICEF. As of 2019, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration employed 1,381 personnel and expended 765.295 million kunas (€101.17 million). Stated aims of Croatian foreign policy include enhancing relations with neighbouring countries, developing international co-operation and promotion of the Croatian economy and Croatia itself. Croatia is a member of the European Union. As of 2021, Croatia had unsolved border issues with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Croatia is a member of NATO. On 1 January 2023, Croatia simultaneously joined both the Schengen Area and the Eurozone, having previously joined the ERM II on 10 July 2020. Croatian diaspora The Croatian diaspora consists of communities of ethnic Croats and Croatian citizens living outside Croatia. Croatia maintains intensive contacts with Croatian communities abroad (e.g., administrative and financial support of cultural, sports activities, and economic initiatives). Croatia actively maintain foreign relations to strengthen and guarantee the rights of the Croatian minority in various host countries. Military The Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) consist of the Air Force, Army, and Navy branches in addition to the Education and Training Command and Support Command. The CAF is headed by the General Staff, which reports to the defence minister, who in turn reports to the president. According to the constitution, the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In case of immediate threat during wartime, he issues orders directly to the General Staff. Following the 1991–95 war, defence spending and CAF size began a constant decline. As of 2019, military spending was an estimated 1.68% of the country's GDP, 67th globally. In 2005 the budget fell below the NATO-required 2% of GDP, down from the record high of 11.1% in 1994. Traditionally relying on conscripts, the CAF went through a period of reforms focused on downsizing, restructuring and professionalisation in the years before accession to NATO in April 2009. According to a presidential decree issued in 2006, the CAF employed around 18,100 active duty military personnel, 3,000 civilians and 2,000 voluntary conscripts between 18 and 30 years old in peacetime. Until 2008 military service was obligatory for men at age 18 and conscripts served six-month tours of duty, reduced in 2001 from the earlier scheme of nine months. Conscientious objectors could instead opt for eight months of civilian service. Compulsory conscription was abolished in January 2008, but is set to be reintroduced in January 2025 with two months of active duty. The decision was influenced by the rising tensions in Europe and the region, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of May 2019, the Croatian military had 72 members stationed in foreign countries as part of United Nations-led international peacekeeping forces. As of 2019, 323 troops served the NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan. Another 156 served with KFOR in Kosovo. Croatia has a military-industrial sector that exported around 493 million kunas (€65,176 million) worth of military equipment in 2020. Croatian-made weapons and vehicles used by CAF include the standard sidearm HS2000 manufactured by HS Produkt and the M-84D battle tank designed by the Đuro Đaković factory. Uniforms and helmets worn by CAF soldiers are locally produced and marketed to other countries. According to the 2024 Global Peace Index, Croatia is the 15th most peaceful country in the world. Administrative divisions Croatia was first divided into counties in the Middle Ages. The divisions changed over time to reflect losses of territory to Ottoman conquest and subsequent liberation of the same territory, changes of the political status of Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, and Istria. The traditional division of the country into counties was abolished in the 1920s when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the subsequent Kingdom of Yugoslavia introduced oblasts and banovinas respectively. Communist-ruled Croatia, as a constituent part of post-World War II Yugoslavia, abolished earlier divisions and introduced municipalities, subdividing Croatia into approximately one hundred municipalities. Counties were reintroduced in 1992 legislation, significantly altered in terms of territory relative to the pre-1920s subdivisions. In 1918, the Transleithanian part was divided into eight counties with their seats in Bjelovar, Gospić, Ogulin, Osijek, Požega, Varaždin, Vukovar, and Zagreb. As of 1992, Croatia is divided into 20 counties and the capital city of Zagreb, the latter having the dual authority and legal status of a county and a city. County borders changed in some instances, last revised in 2006. The counties subdivide into 127 cities and 429 municipalities. Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) division is performed in several tiers. NUTS 1 level considers the entire country in a single unit; three NUTS 2 regions come below that. Those are Northwest Croatia, Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia, and Adriatic Croatia. The latter encompasses the counties along the Adriatic coast. Northwest Croatia includes Koprivnica-Križevci, Krapina-Zagorje, Međimurje, Varaždin, the city of Zagreb, and Zagreb counties and the Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia includes the remaining areas—Bjelovar-Bilogora, Brod-Posavina, Karlovac, Osijek-Baranja, Požega-Slavonia, Sisak-Moslavina, Virovitica-Podravina, and Vukovar-Syrmia counties. Individual counties and the city of Zagreb also represent NUTS 3 level subdivision units in Croatia. The NUTS local administrative unit (LAU) divisions are two-tiered. LAU 1 divisions match the counties and the city of Zagreb in effect making those the same as NUTS 3 units, while LAU 2 subdivisions correspond to cities and municipalities. Economy Croatia's economy qualifies as high-income and developed. International Monetary Fund data projects that Croatian nominal GDP will reach $88.08 Billion in 2024, or $22,966 per capita. Purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP will increase to $175.269 Billion, or $45,702 per capita. According to Eurostat, Croatian GDP per capita in PPS stood at 76% of the EU average in 2023, with real GDP growth for the year being 2.8%. The average net salary of a Croatian worker in April 2024 was €1,326 per month, the average gross salary roughly €1,834 per month. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6% in that month, down from 7.2% in July 2019 and 9.6% in December 2018. The unemployment rate between 1996 and 2018 averaged 17.38%, reaching an all-time high of 23.60% in January 2002 and a record low of 8.40% in September 2018. In 2017, economic output was dominated by the service sector — accounting for 70.1% of GDP — followed by the industrial sector with 26.2% and agriculture accounting for 3.7%. According to 2017 data, 1.9% of the workforce were employed in agriculture, 27.3% by industry and 70.8% in services. Shipbuilding, food processing, pharmaceuticals, information technology, biochemical, and timber industry dominate the industrial sector. In 2018, Croatian exports were valued at 108 Billion kunas (€14.61 Billion) with 176 Billion kunas (€23.82 Billion) worth of imports. Croatia's largest trading partner was the rest of the European Union, led by Germany, Italy, and Slovenia. According to Eurostat, Croatia has the highest quantity of water resources per capita in the EU (30,000 m3). As a result of the war, economic infrastructure sustained massive damage, particularly the tourism industry. From 1989 to 1993, the GDP fell 40.5%. The Croatian state still controls significant economic sectors, with government expenditures accounting for 40% of GDP. A particular concern is a backlogged judiciary system, with inefficient public administration and corruption, upending land ownership. In the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, published by Transparency International, the country ranked 57th. At the end of June 2020, the national debt stood at 85.3% of GDP. Tourism Tourism dominates the Croatian service sector and accounts for up to 20% of GDP. Tourism income for 2019 was estimated to be €10.5 billion. Its positive effects are felt throughout the economy, increasing retail business, and increasing seasonal employment. The industry is counted as an export business because foreign visitor spending significantly reduces the country's trade imbalance. The tourist industry has rapidly grown, recording a sharp rise in tourist numbers since independence, attracting more than 17 million visitors each year (as of 2017). Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, Czechia, Poland, Hungary, France, Netherlands, Slovakia and Croatia itself provide the most visitors. Tourist stays averaged 4.7 days in 2019. Much of the tourist industry is concentrated along the coast. Opatija was the first holiday resort. It first became popular in the middle of the 19th century. By the 1890s, it had become one of the largest European health resorts. Resorts sprang up along the coast and islands, offering services catering to mass tourism and various niche markets. The most significant are nautical tourism, supported by marinas with more than 16 thousand berths, cultural tourism relying on the appeal of medieval coastal cities and cultural events taking place during the summer. Inland areas offer agrotourism, mountain resorts, and spas. Zagreb is a significant destination, rivalling major coastal cities and resorts. Croatia has unpolluted marine areas with nature reserves and 116 Blue Flag beaches. Croatia was ranked first in Europe for swimming water quality in 2022 by European Environmental Agency. Croatia ranked as the 23rd-most popular tourist destination in the world according to the World Tourism Organization in 2019. About 15% of these visitors, or over one million per year, participate in naturism, for which Croatia is famous. It was the first European country to develop commercial naturist resorts. In 2023, luggage storage company Bounce gave Croatia the highest solo travel index in the world (7.58), while a joint Pinterest and Zola wedding trends report from 2023 put Croatia among the most popular honeymoon destinations. Infrastructure Transport The motorway network was largely built in the late 1990s and the 2000s. As of December 2020, Croatia had completed 1,313.8 kilometres (816.4 miles) of motorways, connecting Zagreb to other regions and following various European routes and four Pan-European corridors. The busiest motorways are the A1, connecting Zagreb to Split and the A3, passing east to west through northwest Croatia and Slavonia. A widespread network of state roads in Croatia acts as motorway feeder roads while connecting major settlements. The high quality and safety levels of the Croatian motorway network were tested and confirmed by EuroTAP and EuroTest programmes. Croatia has an extensive rail network spanning 2,604 kilometres (1,618 miles), including 984 kilometres (611 miles) of electrified railways and 254 kilometres (158 miles) of double track railways (as of 2017). The most significant railways in Croatia are within the Pan-European transport corridors Vb and X connecting Rijeka to Budapest and Ljubljana to Belgrade, both via Zagreb. Croatian Railways operates all rail services. The construction of 2.4-kilometre-long Pelješac Bridge, the biggest infrastructure project in Croatia connects the two halves of Dubrovnik-Neretva County and shortens the route from the West to the Pelješac peninsula and the islands of Korčula and Lastovo by more than 32 km. The construction of the Pelješac Bridge started in July 2018 after Croatian road operator Hrvatske ceste (HC) signed a 2.08 billion kuna deal for the works with a Chinese consortium led by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC). The project is co-financed by the European Union with 357 million euro. The construction was completed in July 2022. There are international airports in Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula, Rijeka, Split, Zadar, and Zagreb. The largest and busiest is Franjo Tuđman Airport in Zagreb. As of January 2011, Croatia complies with International Civil Aviation Organization aviation safety standards and the Federal Aviation Administration upgraded it to Category 1 rating. Ports The busiest cargo seaport is the Port of Rijeka. The busiest passenger ports are Split and Zadar. Many minor ports serve ferries connecting numerous islands and coastal cities with ferry lines to several cities in Italy. The largest river port is Vukovar, located on the Danube, representing the nation's outlet to the Pan-European transport corridor VII. Energy 610 kilometres (380 miles) of crude oil pipelines serve Croatia, connecting the Rijeka oil terminal with refineries in Rijeka and Sisak, and several transhipment terminals. The system has a capacity of 20 million tonnes per year. The natural gas transportation system comprises 2,113 kilometres (1,313 miles) of trunk and regional pipelines, and more than 300 associated structures, connecting production rigs, the Okoli natural gas storage facility, 27 end-users and 37 distribution systems. Croatia also plays an important role in regional energy security. The floating liquefied natural gas import terminal off Krk island LNG Hrvatska commenced operations on January 1, 2021, positioning Croatia as a regional energy leader and contributing to diversification of Europe's energy supply. In 2010, Croatian energy production covered 85% of nationwide natural gas and 19% of oil demand. In 2016, Croatia's primary energy production involved natural gas (24.8%), hydropower (28.3%), crude oil (13.6%), fuelwood (27.6%), and heat pumps and other renewable energy sources (5.7%). In 2017, net total electrical power production reached 11,543 GWh, while it imported 12,157 GWh or about 40% of its electric power energy needs. Krško Nuclear Power Plant (Slovenia) supplies a large part of Croatian imports. 50% is owned by Hrvatska elektroprivreda, providing 15% of Croatia's electricity. Demographics With an estimated population of 3.87 million in 2021, Croatia ranks 127th by population in the world. Its 2018 population density was 72.9 inhabitants per square kilometre, making Croatia one of the more sparsely populated European countries. The overall life expectancy in Croatia at birth was 76.3 years in 2018. The total fertility rate of 1.41 children per mother, is one of the lowest in the world, far below the replacement rate of 2.1; it remains considerably below the high of 6.18 children rate in 1885. Croatia's death rate has continuously exceeded its birth rate since 1998. Croatia subsequently has one of the world's oldest populations, with an average age of 43.3 years. The population rose steadily from 2.1 million in 1857 until 1991, when it peaked at 4.7 million, with the exceptions of censuses taken in 1921 and 1948, i.e., following the world wars. The natural growth rate is negative with the demographic transition completed in the 1970s. In recent years, the Croatian government has been pressured to increase permit quotas for foreign workers, reaching an all-time high of 68.100 in 2019. In accordance with its immigration policy, Croatia is trying to entice emigrants to return. From 2008 to 2018, Croatia's population dropped by 10%. The population decrease was greater a result of war for independence. The war displaced large numbers of the population and emigration increased. In 1991, in predominantly occupied areas, more than 400,000 Croats were either removed from their homes by Serb forces or fled the violence. During the war's final days, about 150–200,000 Serbs fled before the arrival of Croatian forces during Operation Storm. After the war, the number of displaced persons fell to about 250,000. The Croatian government cared for displaced persons via the social security system and the Office of Displaced Persons and Refugees. Most of the territories abandoned during the war were settled by Croat refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly from north-western Bosnia, while some displaced people returned to their homes. According to the 2013 United Nations report, 17.6% of Croatia's population were immigrants. According to the 2021 census, the majority of inhabitants are Croats (91.6%), followed by Serbs (3.2%), Bosniaks (0.62%), Roma (0.46%), Albanians (0.36%), Italians (0.36%), Hungarians (0.27%), Czechs (0.20%), Slovenes (0.20%), Slovaks (0.10%), Macedonians (0.09%), Germans (0.09%), Montenegrins (0.08%), and others (1.56%). Approximately 4 million Croats live abroad. Religion Croatia has no official religion. Freedom of religion is a Constitutional right that protects all religious communities as equal before the law and considers them separated from the state. According to the 2011 census, 91.36% of Croatians identify as Christian; of these, Catholics make up the largest group, accounting for 86.28% of the population, after which follows Eastern Orthodoxy (4.44%), Protestantism (0.34%), and other Christians (0.30%). The largest religion after Christianity is Islam (1.47%). 4.57% of the population describe itself as non-religious. In the Eurostat Eurobarometer Poll of 2010, 69% of the population responded that "they believe there is a God". In a 2009 Gallup poll, 70% answered yes to the question "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" Yet, only 24% of the population attends religious services regularly. Languages Croatian is the official language of the Republic of Croatia. Minority languages are in official use in local government units where more than a third of the population consists of national minorities or where local enabling legislation applies. Those languages are Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, and Slovak. The following minority languages are also recognised: Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, German, Hebrew, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Polish, Romanian, Istro-Romanian, Romani, Russian, Rusyn, Slovene, Turkish, and Ukrainian. According to the 2011 Census, 95.6% of citizens declared Croatian as their native language, 1.2% declared Serbian as their native language, while no other language reaches more than 0.5%. Croatian is a member of the South Slavic languages and is written using the Latin alphabet. There are three major dialects spoken on the territory of Croatia, with standard Croatian based on the Shtokavian dialect. The Chakavian and Kajkavian dialects are distinguished from Shtokavian by their lexicon, phonology and syntax. A 2011 survey revealed that 78% of Croats claim knowledge of at least one foreign language. According to a 2005 EC survey, 49% of Croats speak English as the second language, 34% speak German, 14% speak Italian, 10% speak French, 4% speak Russian and 2% speak Spanish. However several large municipalities support minority languages. A majority of Slovenes (59%) have some knowledge of Croatian. The country is a part of various language-based international associations, most notably the European Union Language Association. Education Literacy in Croatia stands at 99.2 per cent. Primary education in Croatia starts at the age of six or seven and consists of eight grades. In 2007 a law was passed to increase free, noncompulsory education until 18 years of age. Compulsory education consists of eight grades of elementary school. Secondary education is provided by gymnasiums and vocational schools. As of 2019, there are 2,103 elementary schools and 738 schools providing various forms of secondary education. Primary and secondary education are also available in languages of recognised minorities in Croatia, where classes are held in Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, German and Slovak languages. There are 133 elementary and secondary level music and art schools, as well as 83 elementary and 44 secondary schools for disabled children and youth and 11 elementary and 52 secondary schools for adults. Nationwide leaving exams (Croatian: državna matura) were introduced for secondary education students in the school year 2009–2010. It comprises three compulsory subjects (Croatian language, mathematics, and a foreign language) and optional subjects and is a prerequisite for university education. Croatia has eight public universities and two private universities. The University of Zadar, the first university in Croatia, was founded in 1396 and remained active until 1807, when other institutions of higher education took over until the foundation of the renewed University of Zadar in 2002. The University of Zagreb, founded in 1669, is the oldest continuously operating university in Southeast Europe. There are also 15 polytechnics, of which two are private, and 30 higher education institutions, of which 27 are private. In total, there are 131 institutions of higher education in Croatia, attended by more than 160 thousand students. There are 254 companies, government or education system institutions and non-profit organisations in Croatia pursuing scientific research and development of technology. Combined, they spent around 3 billion kuna (€400 million) gross and employed 11,801 full-time research staff in 2016. Among the scientific institutes operating in Croatia, the largest is the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb. The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb is a learned society promoting language, culture, arts and science from its inception in 1866. Croatia was ranked 43rd in the Global Innovation Index in 2024. The European Investment Bank provided digital infrastructure and equipment to around 150 primary and secondary schools in Croatia. Twenty of these schools got specialised assistance in the form of gear, software, and services to help them integrate the teaching and administrative operations. Healthcare Croatia has a universal health care system, whose roots can be traced back to the Hungarian-Croatian Parliament Act of 1891, providing a form of mandatory insurance of all factory workers and craftsmen. The population is covered by a basic health insurance plan provided by statute and optional insurance. In 2017, annual healthcare related expenditures reached 22.2 billion kuna (around €3.0 billion). Healthcare expenditures comprise only 0.6% of private health insurance and public spending. In 2017, Croatia spent around 6.6% of its GDP on healthcare. In 2020, Croatia ranked 41st in the world in life expectancy with 76.0 years for men and 82.0 years for women, and it had a low infant mortality rate of 3.4 per 1,000 live births. There are hundreds of healthcare institutions in Croatia, including 75 hospitals, and 13 clinics with 23,049 beds. The hospitals and clinics care for more than 700 thousand patients per year and employ 6,642 medical doctors, including 4,773 specialists. There is a total of 69,841 health workers. There are 119 emergency units in health centres, responding to more than a million calls. The principal cause of death in 2016 was cardiovascular disease at 39.7% for men and 50.1% for women, followed by tumours, at 32.5% for men and 23.4% for women. In 2016 it was estimated that 37.0% of Croatians are smokers. According to 2016 data, 24.40% of the Croatian adult population is obese. Language Standard Croatian is the official language of the Republic of Croatia, and became the 24th official language of the European Union upon its accession in 2013. Croatian replaced Latin as the official language of the Croatian government in the 19th century. Following the Vienna Literary Agreement in 1850, the language and its Latin script underwent reforms to create an unified "Croatian or Serbian" or "Serbo-Croatian" standard, which under various names became the official language of Yugoslavia. In SFR Yugoslavia, from 1972 to 1989, the language was constitutionally designated as the "Croatian literary language" and the "Croatian or Serbian language". It was the result of a resistance to and secession from "Serbo-Croatian" in the form of the Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Literary Language as part of the Croatian Spring. Since gaining independence in the early 1990s, the Republic of Croatia constitutionally designates the language as "Croatian language" and regulates it through linguistic prescription. The long-standing aspiration to developing its own expressions, thus enriching itself, as opposed to taking over foreign solutions in the form of loanwords has been described as Croatian linguistic purism. Croatia introduced in 2021 a new model of linguistic categorisation of Bunjevac dialect (as New-Shtokavian Ikavian dialects of the Shtokavian dialect of the Croatian language) in three sub-branches: Dalmatian (also called Bosnian-Dalmatian), Danubian (also called Bunjevac), and Littoral-Lika. Its speakers largely use the Latin alphabet and are living in parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, different parts of Croatia, southern parts (inc. Budapest) of Hungary as well in the autonomous province Vojvodina of Serbia. The Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics added the Bunjevac dialect to the List of Protected Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia on 8 October 2021. Culture Because of its geographical position, Croatia represents a blend of four different cultural spheres. It has been a crossroads of influences from western culture and the east since the schism between the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, and also from Central Europe and Mediterranean culture. The Illyrian movement was the most significant period of national cultural history, as the 19th century proved crucial to the emancipation of Croatians and saw unprecedented developments in all fields of art and culture, giving rise to many historical figures. The Ministry of Culture is tasked with preserving the nation's cultural and natural heritage and overseeing its development. Further activities supporting the development of culture are undertaken at the local government level. The UNESCO's World Heritage List includes ten sites in Croatia and a list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Croatia. The country is also rich with intangible culture and holds 15 of UNESCO's World's intangible culture masterpieces, ranking fourth in the world. A global cultural contribution from Croatia is the necktie, derived from the cravat originally worn by the 17th-century Croatian mercenaries in France. In 2019, Croatia had 95 professional theatres, 30 professional children's theatres, and 51 amateur theatres visited by more than 2.27 million viewers per year. Professional theatres employ 1,195 artists. There are 42 professional orchestras, ensembles, and choirs, attracting an annual attendance of 297 thousand. There are 75 cinemas with 166 screens and attendance of 5.026 million. Croatia has 222 museums, visited by more than 2.71 million people in 2016. Furthermore, there are 1,768 libraries, containing 26.8 million volumes, and 19 state archives. The book publishing market is dominated by several major publishers and the industry's centrepiece event—Interliber exhibition held annually at Zagreb Fair. Arts, literature, and music Architecture in Croatia reflects influences of bordering nations. Austrian and Hungarian influence is visible in public spaces and buildings in the north and the central regions, architecture found along coasts of Dalmatia and Istria exhibits Venetian influence. Squares named after culture heroes, parks, and pedestrian-only zones, are features of Croatian towns and cities, especially where large scale Baroque urban planning took place, for instance in Osijek (Tvrđa), Varaždin, and Karlovac. The subsequent influence of the Art Nouveau was reflected in contemporary architecture. The architecture is the Mediterranean with a Venetian and Renaissance influence in major coastal urban areas exemplified in works of Giorgio da Sebenico and Nicolas of Florence such as the Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik. The oldest preserved examples of Croatian architecture are the 9th-century churches, with the largest and the most representative among them being Church of St. Donatus in Zadar. Besides the architecture encompassing the oldest artworks, there is a history of artists in Croatia reaching the Middle Ages. In that period the stone portal of the Trogir Cathedral was made by Radovan, representing the most important monument of Romanesque sculpture from Medieval Croatia. The Renaissance had the greatest impact on the Adriatic Sea coast since the remainder was embroiled in the Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War. With the waning of the Ottoman Empire, art flourished during the Baroque and Rococo. The 19th and 20th centuries brought affirmation of numerous Croatian artisans, helped by several patrons of the arts such as bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer. Croatian artists of the period achieving renown were Vlaho Bukovac, Ivan Meštrović, and Ivan Generalić. The Baška tablet, a stone inscribed with the glagolitic alphabet found on the Krk island and dated to c. 1100, is considered to be the oldest surviving prose in Croatian. The beginning of more vigorous development of Croatian literature is marked by the Renaissance and Marko Marulić. Besides Marulić, Renaissance playwright Marin Držić, Baroque poet Ivan Gundulić, Croatian national revival poet Ivan Mažuranić, novelist, playwright, and poet August Šenoa, children's writer Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, writer and journalist Marija Jurić Zagorka, poet and writer Antun Gustav Matoš, poet Antun Branko Šimić, expressionist and realist writer Miroslav Krleža, poet Tin Ujević and novelist, and short story writer Ivo Andrić are often cited as the greatest figures in Croatian literature. Croatian music varies from classical operas to modern-day rock. Vatroslav Lisinski created the country's first opera, Love and Malice, in 1846. Ivan Zajc composed more than a thousand pieces of music, including masses and oratorios. Pianist Ivo Pogorelić has performed across the world. Media In Croatia, the Constitution guarantees the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech. Croatia ranked 64th in the 2019 Press Freedom Index report compiled by Reporters Without Borders which noted that journalists who investigate corruption, organised crime or war crimes face challenges and that the Government was trying to influence the public broadcaster HRT's editorial policies. In its 2019 Freedom in the World report, the Freedom House classified freedoms of press and speech in Croatia as generally free from political interference and manipulation, noting that journalists still face threats and occasional attacks. The state-owned news agency HINA runs a wire service in Croatian and English on politics, economics, society, and culture. As of January 2021, there are thirteen nationwide free-to-air DVB-T television channels, with Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) operating four, RTL Televizija three, and Nova TV operating two channels, and the Croatian Olympic Committee, Kapital Net d.o.o., and Author d.o.o. companies operate the remaining three. Also, there are 21 regional or local DVB-T television channels. The HRT is also broadcasting a satellite TV channel. In 2020, there were 147 radio stations and 27 TV stations in Croatia. Cable television and IPTV networks are gaining ground. Cable television already serves 450 thousand people, around 10% of the total population of the country. In 2010, 267 newspapers and 2,676 magazines were published in Croatia. The print media market is dominated by the Croatian-owned Hanza Media and Austrian-owned Styria Media Group who publish their flagship dailies Jutarnji list, Večernji list and 24sata. Other influential newspapers are Novi list and Slobodna Dalmacija. In 2020, 24sata was the most widely circulated daily newspaper, followed by Večernji list and Jutarnji list. Croatia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest as part of Yugoslavia since 1961. The first and only victory Yugoslavia achieved in the competition was accomplished by the Croatian pop band Riva in 1989. Since its debut at the 1993 contest, Croatia won two fourth places at the 1996 and 1999 contests, and one second place at the 2024 contest, marking the country's best result to date as an independent nation. Croatia's film industry is small and heavily subsidised by the government, mainly through grants approved by the Ministry of Culture with films often being co-produced by HRT. Croatian cinema produces between five and ten feature films per year. Pula Film Festival, the national film awards event held annually in Pula, is the most prestigious film event featuring national and international productions. Animafest Zagreb, founded in 1972, is the prestigious annual film festival dedicated to the animated film. The first greatest accomplishment by Croatian filmmakers was achieved by Dušan Vukotić when he won the 1961 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Ersatz (Croatian: Surogat). Croatian film producer Branko Lustig won the Academy Awards for Best Picture for Schindler's List and Gladiator. Cuisine Croatian traditional cuisine varies from one region to another. Dalmatia and Istria have culinary influences of Italian and other Mediterranean cuisines which prominently feature various seafood, cooked vegetables and pasta, and condiments such as olive oil and garlic. Austrian, Hungarian, Turkish, and Balkan culinary styles influenced continental cuisine. In that area, meats, freshwater fish, and vegetable dishes are predominant. There are two distinct wine-producing regions in Croatia. The continental in the northeast of the country, especially Slavonia, produces premium wines, particularly whites. Along the north coast, Istrian and Krk wines are similar to those in neighbouring Italy, while further south in Dalmatia, Mediterranean-style red wines are the norm. Annual production of wine exceeds 72 million litres as of 2017. Croatia was almost exclusively a wine-consuming country up until the late 18th century when a more massive beer production and consumption started. The annual consumption of beer in 2020 was 78.7 litres per capita which placed Croatia in 15th place among the world's countries. There are 11 restaurants in Croatia with a Michelin star and 89 restaurants bearing some of the Michelin's marks. Sports There are more than 400,000 active sportspeople in Croatia. In 2006, there were over 277 thousand members of sports associations and nearly 3,600 are chess and contract bridge association members. Association football is the most popular sport. The Croatian Football Federation (Croatian: Hrvatski nogometni savez), with more than 118,000 registered players, is the largest sporting association. The Croatian national football team came in third in 1998 and 2022 and second in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The Prva HNL football league attracts the highest average attendance of any professional sports league. In season 2010–11, it attracted 458,746 spectators. Croatian athletes competing at international events since Croatian independence in 1991 won 44 Olympic medals, including 15 gold medals. Also, Croatian athletes won 16 gold medals at world championships, including four in athletics at the World Championships in Athletics. Croatia won their first major trophy at the 2003 World Men's Handball Championship. In tennis, they won Davis Cup in 2005 and 2018. Croatia's most successful male players Goran Ivanišević and Marin Čilić have both won Grand Slam titles and have got into the top 3 of the ATP rankings. Ognjen Cvitan won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1981. In waterpolo, they have three world titles. Iva Majoli became the first Croatian female player to win the French Open when she won it in 1997. Croatia hosted several major sports competitions, including the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship, the 2007 World Table Tennis Championships, the 2000 World Rowing Championships, the 1987 Summer Universiade, the 1979 Mediterranean Games, and several European Championships, including the 2000 and 2018 European Men's Handball Championship. The governing sports authority is the Croatian Olympic Committee (Croatian: Hrvatski olimpijski odbor), founded on 10 September 1991 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee since 17 January 1992, in time to permit the Croatian athletes to appear at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France representing the newly independent nation for the first time at the Olympic Games. See also Outline of Croatia Index of Croatia-related articles Explanatory notes Citations General and cited references External links Wikimedia Atlas of Croatia Geographic data related to Croatia at OpenStreetMap Key Development Forecasts for Croatia from International Futures

City_Boy:_The_Adventures_of_Herbie_Bookbinder

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Boy:_The_Adventures_of_Herbie_Bookbinder

City Boy: The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder is a 1948 novel by Herman Wouk first published by Simon & Schuster. The second novel written by Wouk, City Boy was largely ignored by the reading public until the success of The Caine Mutiny resurrected interest in Wouk's writing. Like The Caine Mutiny, the novel is semi-autobiographical in setting and situations, if not protagonist. In 1969, the novel was re-issued, with paperback editions in 1980 and 1992, and according to Wouk was translated into 11 languages. John P. Marquand, in a preface to the 1969 20th-anniversary release, likened Herbie Bookbinder to a city-dwelling Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer. In many of his novels Wouk evinces through his characters a love of Dickens, particularly in use of language to set mood. In City Boy he devises humorous twists of language to set a less-than-serious tone throughout this coming-of-age story. Also like Dickens, Wouk manages a large cast of characters, including more than a dozen adults (and a one-of-a-kind horse named Clever Sam) woven in-and-out of a narrative about children, with depictions that ring true both in description and actions. Plot Set in the spring and summer of 1928, City Boy spins the tale of an 11-year-old Jewish boy from the Bronx, New York. The novel first follows Herbert Bookbinder through the final days of school at New York Public School 50, and then through a summer spent at Camp Manitou, a summer camp in the Berkshire Mountains operated by his school's principal. Herbie's city world is one of endless daydreams and small urban pleasures: playing in empty lots, going to the movies on Saturday, arguing with friends around a forbidden campfire, feasting on "fraps" (in this context, a fancy sundae) in Mr. Borowsky's candy store, and going out to dinner at Golden's Restaurant with his dad and his dad's business partners. Herbie is an exceptionally bright but fat little boy, a seventh grader and a star pupil. Although a poor athlete, Herbie yearns to be a "regular guy" among his schoolboy peers and constantly struggles against the consequences of his own quick wit and natural clumsiness with his rival, Lennie Krieger, the son of the business partner of Herbie's father, Jacob Bookbinder. Both blessed and cursed with a highly-active imagination, Herbie is also on the verge of adolescence, and the story revolves around his continuing quest to win the heart of the fickle, red-haired Lucille Glass. Herbie, his parents, and his thirteen-year-old sister, Felicia, dwell in an aging Homer Avenue apartment house. Jacob Bookbinder is founder and part owner of an industrial ice-making plant, known to Herbie and his cousin Cliff Block as The Place, a location that plays both a significant role in Herbie's fate and an adult sub-plot that frames the climax of the story. Herbie contrives to have himself (and his sister, his cousin Cliff Block, and his rival Lennie) sent to Camp Manitou (run by Mr. Gauss, the principal of P.S. 50, as a source of summer income) when he learns that Lucille Glass will be there. The second half of the novel skewers the summer camp scene of the 1920s even as it sets up a succession of abject failures and spectacular successes for Herbie. Herbie and Cliff contrive to burglarize The Place to finance a well-intended camp project, and this crime is the device by which all the subplots come together in Dickensian fashion. Characters Students and teachers at P.S. 50 Herbert Bookbinder (Herbie) - the novel's protagonist, a "stout little dark-haired" eleven-year-old boy living in the Bronx, the star pupil of class 7B-1 at P.S. 50. He is head monitor of school's Social Service Squad (a.k.a. the "garbage gang"). A bright and clever boy but poor athlete, Herbie is forever trying to become a "regular guy," but usually failing. Even his occasional victories are tainted, as when one success results in his forever being dubbed "General Garbage." While having a general scorn for all girls, he nevertheless often becomes a victim of a spell for one particular "sublime creature." It is in pursuit of impressing one such girl that Herbie's adventures and downfall ensue. Leonard Krieger (Lennie) - the son of Mr. Bookbinder's partner in the ice business, and Herbie's natural rival. Self-centered, he is everything Herbie is not: big, good-looking, a natural leader, and a good athlete. He hates school and his natural antipathy to Herbie reaches a peak when Herbie, although almost two years younger, is in the same class. Mrs. Mortimer Gorkin - newlywed teacher of class 7B-1, Mrs. Gorkin (formerly Diana Vernon) is a pretty redhead in her late twenties, strict, high-strung, and with theatrical aspirations. Herbie is first on the honor roll in her class and until her change of marital status, her pet. She was the first adult female to inspire Herbie's devotion, which her new marriage abruptly ended, leaving the "position" vacant. Lucille Glass - 11-year-old daughter of the attorney representing the ice plant run by Herbie's father, Lucille is small, pretty, but very fickle, with red curly hair and large hazel eyes, a grade lower and on the more prestigious Police Squad. While still melancholy from the "loss" of Mrs. Gorkin, Herbie meets Lucille in the hallway while in his role as a head monitor and is immediately dazzled. When Herbie learns that she is attending Camp Manitou, the summer camp operated by the school's principal, he contrives to attend the same camp. Julius Gauss (Uncle Gussie) - the principal of P.S. 50. During the summer, he supplements his income by operating Camp Manitou in the Berkshire Mountains. Corpulently roly-poly with a red shiny face, Herbie schemes to go to his camp, but in making his sales pitch to the boy's parents, Gauss's esteem plummets in Herbie's eyes from fearsome giant of authority to that of a "needy relative." Mr. Gauss speaks in platitudes, is ever protective of his dignity, and is parsimonious to a fault. Felicia Bookbinder (Fleece) - Herbie's pretty 13-year-old sister. She resents Lucille Glass for being "a baby" but having the same social privileges, and has long had a crush on Lennie Krieger, who rarely notices her except when it humors him to do so. Clifford Block (Cliff) - Herbie's cousin. Cliff is large and stolid but good-natured, slow-witted but with common sense. He is protective of his smaller cousin and tolerant of Herbie's air of intellectual superiority. Cliff has an affinity for animals and is totally without the cruelty that often shows itself in other children. He makes himself a willing companion for Herbie's schemes. Adults Jacob Bookbinder - Herbie's father is a thin, stern former immigrant who operates the Bronx River Ice Company, known to the family as "The Place". Jacob Bookbinder is the disciplinarian in the Bookbinder household and Herbie is frequently the target of his corrections. His father is absorbed by his business's financial problems, but his devotion to his family is apparent. Mr. Bookbinder tries to teach his children honesty and thrift, and although Herbie is unaware of it much of the time, is the key influence on his son's growth. Louis Glass - a lawyer involved in the pending takeover of Bronx River Ice Company by Bob Powers. He is Lucille Glass's father. Mrs. Bookbinder -- the loving but perhaps overprotective mother of Herbie and Felicia. Mr. Krieger - Jacob Bookbinder's business partner and Lennie's father, Mr. Krieger is a tall, timid, and overly insecure man. Following the last and loudest voice he hears, Mr. Krieger tries to protect himself by a strange manner of speaking in which he habitually omits words and never utters a complete sentence. Robert Powers - Powers is a "burly, sandy-haired young man" and the ostensible majority owner of the Bronx River Ice Company, having inherited it from his father, the original mortgagee of the company. Powers, unlike his father, is uninterested in the business except as a constant and diminishing source of revenue for his gambling and drinking habits. Needing a substantial amount of cash, he now wants to sell off the plant from under Bookbinder and Krieger to a larger company. Henry Junius Drabkind - Mr. Drabkind is an emaciated old man, with a small pink face, long pointed nose, and spectacles. Initially appearing to Herbie and Cliff as an apparent savior, in Dickensian fashion Mr. Drabkind in his role as representative of the Berkshire Free Camp Fund becomes the vessel of Herbie's doom. Campers at Camp Manitou Uncle Sid - Uncle Sid is a "dumpy, middle-aged" high school teacher who reluctantly earns extra money supervising campers. He is counselor for Herbie's Bunk Thirteen. Uncle Sandy - Harried head counselor of the boy's camp at Manitou, Uncle Sandy is a medical student, a big man with thick glasses. He has a well-developed sense of fair play but is also protective of his authority among the other counselors. Ted Kahn - Ted is a sullen, hawk-faced, blond 15-year-old. Made captain of Bunk Thirteen, Ted has been consigned to Manitou by his vacationing parents every summer for five years. He pushes his defiance and disdain for Manitou's rules to the limits, but takes a liking to Herbie and does not kowtow to Lennie. Yishy Gabelson - an exceptionally tall senior camper at Manitou who, due to his prediliction for blueberries, comes down with a case of poison ivy severe enough to prevent him from participating in the annual rivalry with Camp Penobscot, to the chagrin of the entire camp, thus paving the way for Lennie to shine once more as an athlete. At the end of the camping season he strikes up a romantic relationship with Felicia. Raymond "Daisy" Gloster - Unpopular rich kid. He refuses to let anyone read his Tarzan book so Herbie borrows it without permission while everyone is at a dance. Daisy is momentarily popular when he gives away the sausages he receives in a package from home. Aunt Tillie - Head counselor for the girls' camp, reviled for her romantic leaning toward one of the rival Camp Penobscot counselors. Elmer Bean - Camp Manitou's handyman and an ex-sailor, who becomes a mentor of sorts for Herbie and Cliff. He helps Herbie build his ride. Clever Sam - An ancient, intractable, uncooperative horse that Mr. Gauss acquires for five dollars, the symbol of Mr. Gauss' cheapness. Sam at first refuses to be ridden by anyone but Cliff, who persuades the horse to give him his trust. Clever Sam reluctantly provides the transportation of Herbie and Cliff out to the highway on their nighttime journey to The Place. Quotes "The small stout boy reviewed several incidents of the day in his mind: concrete against his nose, jeers at his black felt beard, 'General Garbage,' and the recent threat to render his face concave." "It has gone down among the teachers of P.S.50 as one of the great unsolved crimes of pupil cunning. Strange! Teachers set themselves up to be wondrous wise—yet to this day it has not occurred to one of them that 'outfielder' is a dactyl." "Like a sailor embarked in a hell ship, like a policeman assigned to a tunnel, like a priest sent to a squalid settlement in the fever belt of India, Herbie Bookbinder was committed beyond hope of release to a summer in Bunk Thirteen." "After a short silence, conversation was resumed on other topics. Herbie was noticeably shouldered out of the talk. He had committed that breach of manners, unforgivable among adults as well as among boys: he had known more than the leader." "Nobody, least of all Herbie, overlooked the significance of his given name repeated twice by the captain. It fell sweetly on the fat boy's ears. The speaking of a name can be the conferring of an award above gold medals. Herbie missed the fireworks, but he never regretted them. From that day he was 'Herbie' to all the boys in his bunk except Lennie. Outside the bunk, however, Herbie's designation was fixed. First impressions are hard to change. He had been publicly pilloried on the train as General Garbage, and General Garbage he remained all summer. And if at the age of seventy he should run into a seventy-one year old gaffer formerly of Bunk Thirteen, he should be remembered, if at all, as General Garbage." "A lonesome, quiet situation, you might say, yet he had plenty of company. Misery sat at the fat boy's right hand, and Shame at the left; and they made the morning mighty lively for Herbie between them." Adaptations The film rights to City Boy were purchased by Columbia Pictures "for a small payment" under the working title The Romantic Age. It became the 1951 film Her First Romance, with the character of Herbie Bookbinder changed into a non-Jewish teenaged girl played by Margaret O'Brien (with a brother named Herbie), but the plot elements largely remained the same. Title variations There has been some confusion regarding the title of the book. The first edition of the book had the title listed as The City Boy on the title page, with the subtitle: The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder and His Cousin, Cliff. When the 20th anniversary edition was issued (which was issued 21 years after the original publication date), the title was shortened to City Boy: The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder. The first edition of The Caine Mutiny used City Boy on the back flap of the dust jacket, but The City Boy on the back panel of the dust jacket. The back panel was shortened to City Boy in subsequent printings. == References ==

Herman_Wouk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Wouk

Herman Wouk ( WOHK; May 27, 1915 – May 17, 2019) was an American author. He published fifteen novels, many of them historical fiction such as The Caine Mutiny (1951), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. Other well-known works included The Winds of War and War and Remembrance (historical novels about World War II), the bildungsroman Marjorie Morningstar; and non-fiction such as This Is My God, an explanation of Judaism from a Modern Orthodox perspective, written for Jewish and non-Jewish readers. His books have been translated into 27 languages. The Washington Post described Wouk, who cherished his privacy, as "the reclusive dean of American historical novelists". Historians, novelists, publishers, and critics who gathered at the Library of Congress in 1995 to mark his 80th birthday described him as an American Tolstoy. Wouk lived to 103. Early life Wouk was born in the Bronx, New York, the second of three children born to Esther (née Levine) and Abraham Isaac Wouk, Russian Jewish immigrants from what is today Belarus. His father toiled for many years to raise the family out of poverty before opening a successful laundry service. When Wouk was 13, his maternal grandfather, Mendel Leib Levine, came from Minsk to live with them and took charge of his grandson's Jewish education. Wouk was frustrated by the amount of time he was expected to spend studying the Talmud, but his father told him, "if I were on my deathbed, and I had breath to say one more thing to you, I would say 'Study the Talmud.'" Eventually Wouk took this advice to heart. After a brief period as a young adult during which he lived a secular life, he returned to religious practice and Judaism became integral to both his personal life and his career. He said later that his grandfather and the United States Navy were the two most important influences on his life. After his childhood and adolescence in the Bronx, Wouk graduated from the original Townsend Harris High School in Manhattan, Townsend Harris Hall Prep School, the elite public prep school for City College. In 1934 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the age of 19 from Columbia University, where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He also served as editor of the university's humor magazine, Jester, and wrote two of its annual Varsity Shows. He became a radio dramatist, working in David Freedman's "Joke Factory" and later with Fred Allen for five years and then, in 1941, for the United States government, writing radio spots to sell war bonds. Career Military career Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wouk joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942 and served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, an experience he later characterized as educational: "I learned about machinery, I learned how men behaved under pressure, and I learned about Americans." Wouk served as an officer aboard two destroyer minesweepers (DMS), the USS Zane and USS Southard, becoming executive officer of the Southard while holding the rank of lieutenant. He participated in around six invasions and won a number of battle stars. Wouk was in the New Georgia Campaign, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, and the Battle of Okinawa. In off-duty hours aboard ship he started writing a novel, Aurora Dawn, which he originally titled Aurora Dawn; or, The True history of Andrew Reale, containing a faithful account of the Great Riot, together with the complete texts of Michael Wilde's oration and Father Stanfield's sermon. Wouk sent a copy of the opening chapters to philosophy professor Irwin Edman, under whom he studied at Columbia, who quoted a few pages verbatim to a New York editor. The result was a publisher's contract sent to Wouk's ship, then off the coast of Okinawa. Aurora Dawn was published in 1947 and became a Book of the Month Club main selection. Wouk finished his tour of duty in 1946. Writing career His second novel, City Boy, proved to be a commercial disappointment when it was published in 1948. Wouk claimed it was largely ignored amid the excitement over Norman Mailer's bestselling World War II novel The Naked and the Dead. While writing his next novel, Wouk read each chapter to his wife as it was completed and she remarked that if they did not like this one, he had better take up another line of work (a line he would give to the character of the editor Jeannie Fry in his novel Youngblood Hawke, 1962). The novel, The Caine Mutiny (1951), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. A best-seller, drawn from his wartime experiences aboard minesweepers during World War II, The Caine Mutiny was adapted by the author into a Broadway play called The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. In 1954 Columbia Pictures released a film version of the book, with Humphrey Bogart portraying Lt. Commander Philip Francis Queeg, captain of the fictional USS Caine. Wouk's next novel after The Caine Mutiny was Marjorie Morningstar (1955), which earned him a Time magazine cover story. Three years later Warner Bros. made it into a movie of the same name starring Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly and Claire Trevor. His next novel, a paperback, was Slattery's Hurricane (1956), which he had written in 1948 as the basis for the screenplay for the film of the same name. Wouk's first work of non-fiction was 1959's This is My God: The Jewish Way of Life. In the 1960s, he wrote Youngblood Hawke (1962), a drama about the rise and fall of a young writer, modeled on the life of Thomas Wolfe; and Don't Stop the Carnival (1965), a comedy about escaping mid-life crisis by moving to the Caribbean, which was loosely based on Wouk's own experiences. Youngblood Hawke was serialized in McCall's magazine from March to July 1962. A movie version starred James Franciscus and Suzanne Pleshette and was released by Warner Brothers in 1964. In 1997 Don't Stop the Carnival was turned into a short-lived musical by Jimmy Buffett. In the 1970s, Wouk published two monumental novels, The Winds of War (1971) and a sequel, War and Remembrance (1978). He described Remembrance, which included a devastating depiction of the Holocaust, as "the main tale I have to tell." Both were made into successful television mini-series, the first in 1983 and the second in 1988. Although they were made several years apart, both were directed by Dan Curtis and both starred Robert Mitchum as Captain Victor "Pug" Henry, the main character. The novels were historical fiction. Each had three layers: the story told from the viewpoints of Captain Henry and his circle of family and friends; a more or less straightforward historical account of the events of the war; and an analysis by a member of Adolf Hitler's military staff, the insightful fictional General Armin von Roon. Wouk devoted "thirteen years of extraordinary research and long, arduous composition" to these two novels, noted Arnold Beichman. "The seriousness with which Wouk has dealt with the war can be seen in the prodigious amount of research, reading, travel and conferring with experts, the evidence of which may be found in the uncatalogued boxes at Columbia University" that contain the author's papers. Inside, Outside (1985) was the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish family and its travails in Russia, the U.S. and Israel. The Hope (1993) and its sequel, The Glory (1994), were historical novels about the first 33 years of Israel's history. They were followed by The Will to Live On: This is Our Heritage (2000), a whirlwind tour of Jewish history and sacred texts and companion volume to This is My God. In 1995, Wouk was honored on his 80th birthday by the Library of Congress with a symposium on his career. In attendance were David McCullough, Robert Caro, and Daniel Boorstin, among others. A Hole in Texas (2004) was a novel about the discovery of the Higgs boson, whose existence was proven nine years later. The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion (2010) was an exploration of the tension between religion and science which originated in a discussion Wouk had with theoretical physicist Richard Feynman. The Lawgiver (2012) was an epistolary novel about a contemporary Hollywood writer of a movie script about Moses, with the consulting help of a nonfictional character, Herman Wouk, a "mulish ancient" who became involved despite the strong misgivings of his wife. Wouk's memoir, titled Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author, was published in January 2016 to mark his 100th birthday. NPR called it "a lovely coda to the career of a man who made American literature a kinder, smarter, better place." It was his last book. Daily journal Wouk kept a personal diary from 1937. On September 10, 2008, he presented his journals, numbering more than 100 volumes as of 2012, to the Library of Congress at a ceremony in which he was honored with the first Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement Award for the Writing of Fiction (now the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction). Wouk often referred to his journals to check dates and facts in his writing, and he hesitated to let the originals out of his possession. A solution was negotiated and the entire set of volumes was scanned into digital format. Personal life and death In 1944 Wouk met Betty Sarah Brown, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Southern California, who was working as a personnel specialist in the navy while the Zane was undergoing repairs in San Pedro, California. The two fell in love and after Wouk's ship went back to sea, Betty, who was born a Protestant and was raised in Grangeville, Idaho, began her study of Judaism and converted on her twenty-fifth birthday. They were married on December 10, 1945. After the birth of the first of their three children the following year, Wouk became a full-time writer to support his growing family. His first-born son, Abraham Isaac Wouk, was named after Wouk's late father, who had drowned in a swimming pool accident in Cuernavaca, Mexico, shortly before his son's fifth birthday. Wouk later dedicated War and Remembrance to him with the Biblical words "בלע המות לנצח – He will destroy death forever" (Isaiah 25:8). Their second and third children were Iolanthe Woulff (born 1950 as Nathaniel Wouk, a Princeton University graduate and an author) and Joseph (born 1954, a Columbia graduate, an attorney, a film producer, and a writer who served in the Israeli Navy). He had three grandchildren. The Wouks lived in New York, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, where he wrote Don't Stop the Carnival, and at 3255 N Street N.W. in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., where he researched and wrote The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, before settling in Palm Springs, California. His wife, who served for decades as his literary agent, died in Palm Springs on March 17, 2011. "I wrote nothing that was of the slightest consequence before I met Sarah," Wouk recalled after her death. "I was a gag man for Fred Allen for five years. In his time, he was the greatest of the radio comedians. And jokes work for what they are but they're ephemeral. They just disappear. And that was the kind of thing I did up until the time that I met Sarah and we married. And I would say my literary career and my mature life both began with her." Wouk's brother Victor died in 2005. His nephew, Alan I. Green, was a psychiatrist at Dartmouth College. Wouk died in his sleep in his home in Palm Springs, California, on May 17, 2019, at the age of 103, ten days before his 104th birthday. Degrees Columbia University, New York, 1934 (A.B.) Yeshiva University, New York, 1954 (Hon. L.H.D.) Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1960 (Hon. D.Lit.) American International College, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1979 (Hon. Litt.D.) Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel, 1990 (Hon. Ph.D.) Awards and honors Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1952 Columbia University Medal for Excellence, 1952 Alexander Hamilton Medal, 1980 Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement, 1986 United States Navy Memorial Foundation Lone Sailor Award, 1987 Bar-Ilan University Guardian of Zion Award, 1998 Jewish Book Council Lifetime Literary Achievement Award, 1999 Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement Award for the Writing of Fiction (inaugural), 2008 Published works The Man in the Trench Coat (1941, play) Aurora Dawn (1947) City Boy: The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder (1948) The Traitor (1949 play) The Caine Mutiny (1951) The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1953, play) Marjorie Morningstar (1955) Slattery's Hurricane (1956) The "Lomokome" Papers (written in 1949, published in 1956) Nature's Way (1957, play) This is My God: The Jewish Way of Life (1959, revised ed. 1973, revised ed. 1988, non-fiction) Youngblood Hawke (1962) Don't Stop the Carnival (1965) The Winds of War (1971) War and Remembrance (1978) Inside, Outside (1985) The Hope (1993) The Glory (1994) The Will to Live On: This is Our Heritage (2000, non-fiction) A Hole in Texas (2004) The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion (2010, non-fiction) The Lawgiver (2012) Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year Old Author (2015, non-fiction) See also Herman Wouk Is Still Alive References Further reading Barbara A. Paulson, ed., The Historical Novel: A Celebration of the Achievements of Herman Wouk (1999) Arnold Beichman, Herman Wouk: The Novelist as Social Historian (1984) Laurence W. Mazzeno, Herman Wouk (1994) External links "Books: The Wouk Mutiny", Time Magazine cover story, September 5, 1955 Columbia 250: Herman Wouk Herman Wouk at IMDb Profile Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, betweenthecovers.com Interview, CBS News Sunday Morning Appearances on C-SPAN Herman Wouk at Find a Grave Finding aid to Herman Wouk papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Finding aid to Nancy Dawson and Herman Wouk Collection, 1952-1965, at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

War_and_Remembrance_(miniseries)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and_Remembrance_(miniseries)

War and Remembrance is an American miniseries based on the 1978 novel of the same name written by Herman Wouk. The miniseries, which aired from November 13, 1988, to May 14, 1989, covers the period of World War II from the American entry into World War II immediately after Pearl Harbor in December 1941 to the day after the bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It is the sequel to the 1983 miniseries The Winds of War, which was also based on one of Wouk's novels. Plot The television mini-series continues the story of the extended Henry family and the Jastrow family starting on December 15, 1941 and ending on August 7, 1945 and their life experiences during World War II. Cast Production Development War and Remembrance had a multi-year production timeline. It was, at the time, the most expensive single project in the history of filmed entertainment and the most expensive single-story undertaking in United States television history. Costing $104 million ($253 million in 2021 dollars), it took over ABC's broadcast schedule for two one-week periods in 1988 and 1989, totaling 30 prime-time hours. Up to that point, television had been dominated by the Big Three broadcasting networks in the United States, ABC, NBC and CBS. Shortly afterwards, cable television began the fragmentation of the United States broadcasting audience in earnest, leaving War and Remembrance the last of the giant miniseries. Miniseries had been major events on American television and ABC had produced some of the most seminal, under its ABC Novels for Television banner, including QB VII, Rich Man, Poor Man, Roots, Roots: The Next Generations, and Masada. Because Herman Wouk was happy with Dan Curtis's 1983 ABC Novel for Television adaptation of The Winds of War, Wouk allowed Curtis to adapt the sequel novel as well. Curtis turned the project down at first, however. He feared it would be impossible to accomplish, even with virtually unlimited resources. Curtis worried that the massive naval battles could not be recreated, because so few WWII-era ships and planes still existed. More importantly, Curtis, who was Jewish, wondered how to do justice to the reality of the Holocaust, saying "to put on film the true horror was impossible. Once one false note sneaks in, you're gone. And, in my own eyes, I felt failing would be an absolute crime." Curtis credited his wife Norma with convincing him to take on the mammoth job, recounting that she told him "You'll kill yourself if someone else finishes this story." Paramount Television had produced The Winds of War at a cost of $40 million, $32 million of which was covered by ABC's licensing fee. However, Paramount decided not to produce the sequel and sold the rights to ABC, which produced the massive miniseries itself. ABC first planned a $65 million, 20-hour series, but when they went to Curtis, he said he wanted to make a $100 million, 30-hour series, which they eventually greenlit. There were also strict contractual restrictions on advertising that Herman Wouk had negotiated in 1977, before either miniseries aired. He had approval over all ads and required them not to disturb the narrative or to run under 30 seconds. Wouk also refused to allow any advertising for personal care products, foods, or any other ABC programming. Major eventual sponsors were Ford Motors, Nike, IBM, GE and American Express. In addition, Wouk required that certain Holocaust sequences run uninterrupted by commercials of any kind. ABC's standards and practices division also agreed to an unprecedented waiver allowing frontal nudity during the lengthy Holocaust sequences, running parental advisories before any episodes beginning before 8pm. The screenplay took two years to write. While Wouk wrote the script for The Winds of War alone, for War and Remembrance Curtis and Earl W. Wallace wrote the dramatic scenes dealing with the fictional Henry family, while Wouk wrote the scenes involving historical figures. The series was nearly called off in 1985, just as it was nearing the completion of $16 million in preproduction, when ABC was bought by Capital Cities Communications, which instituted a thrifty executive direction. Casting Although most of the enormous cast of The Winds of War returned to their roles in War and Remembrance, including Robert Mitchum, Victoria Tennant, Polly Bergen and Jeremy Kemp, several roles were recast. John Houseman, who played Aaron Jastrow in Winds of War, was too frail for War and Remembrance's lengthy production schedule. He died of spinal cancer in 1988, the year War and Remembrance was broadcast. Houseman was replaced by John Gielgud. Jane Seymour was cast as Natalie Henry in place of Ali MacGraw after Seymour campaigned for the role and made a screen test. Dan Curtis was struck by her performance and immediately cast her in the vital role. Jan-Michael Vincent, who played Byron Henry in The Winds of War, was busy as the action lead in the American television series Airwolf. Cast and crew also hint in more recent interviews in the featurette on the Winds of War DVD that Vincent's drinking made him difficult on set. Vincent was replaced by Hart Bochner. Other major replacements include Sharon Stone as Janice (replacing Deborah Winters), Leslie Hope as Madeline (replacing Lisa Eilbacher), Michael Woods as Warren (replacing Ben Murphy), Robert Morley as Alistair Tudsbury (replacing Michael Logan), Barry Bostwick as Aster (replacing Joseph Hacker), and Steven Berkoff as Adolf Hitler (replacing Günter Meisner). William Woodson again serves as narrator. Filming During preproduction, Dan Curtis lobbied the Polish Communist government tirelessly for permission to film on the grounds of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and after two years it was eventually granted, making War and Remembrance the first major commercial motion picture to be filmed there. His request was aided by the intercession of TVP, the public Polish TV network, and the support of Poland's preeminent World War II expert, who approved the script. Curtis said that he was allowed to film at Auschwitz on the condition that the script not have "one word about Polish antisemitism" during the war. Filming of the miniseries began with production at Auschwitz from January to May 1986. When the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happened nearby, causing legitimate fears of fallout spreading across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, Curtis called in nuclear scientists from the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna to give the location a clean bill of health, but allowed any crew members who were still afraid to wait in Munich for the production to return. The crematoriums were rebuilt adjacent to the original site, from the original German blueprints, because they had been demolished by the Nazis at the end of the war. Because the miniseries was being shot out of sequence, Jane Seymour's long hair could not be cut for the scenes at Auschwitz, which were the very first she filmed. Instead, make-up artists took shears to a full scalp wig for her to wear for those scenes instead. Both Curtis and Seymour contracted pneumonia in the brutal sub-zero temperatures there and the production had to briefly shut down as a result. Several actual Auschwitz-Birkenau survivors were cast as extras for the Auschwitz-Birkenau selection sequence and former Auschwitz internee Branko Lustig, later a two-time Oscar-winning producer, served as assistant director on the series. Filmed from January 1986 to September 1987, the 1,492 page script (by Earl W. Wallace, Dan Curtis, and Herman Wouk) contained 2,070 scenes. There were 757 sets: 494 in Europe, including France, Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, West Germany, England, and Poland, and 263 in the United States (including Hawaii) and Canada. There were 358 speaking parts in the script; 30,310 extras were employed in Europe and 11,410 in the United States. The gargantuan production was filmed in a series of seven 13-week shooting blocks, after each of which it would shut down for a month to do preliminary work for the next 13-week shoot. The series was shot in Yugoslavia in Zagreb and Osijek, where the old town district of Tvrđa, a Habsburg star-shaped fortress, was used as a primary location, doubling for the almost identical fortress town of Theresienstadt, in Czechoslovakia, which was converted by the Nazis to a Jewish ghetto. Filming took place in France throughout Paris, including the Paris Opera, where a scene from The Marriage of Figaro was staged with a 42-piece symphony orchestra and 500 extras, and Lourdes, where the production took over the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes; in West Germany in Baden-Baden and Berchtesgaden, where members of the United States Army, stationed nearby were hired as extras for some of the scenes shot at Hitler's Eagle's Nest; in Rome and Siena, Italy; Bern, Switzerland; London and Cambridge, England; and Vienna, Austria. Scenes set in Russia were filmed in Montreal in temperatures reaching 40 degrees below zero Celsius. In addition, miniatures for the sea battles were filmed in the water tank of the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios in the UK. In the US, the production shot extensively in and around Los Angeles. Filming also took place in Washington, D.C.; at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; at Long Beach Naval Station in Long Beach, California aboard USS New Jersey; in Bremerton, Washington; at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington; in Mobile, Alabama, aboard USS Alabama; and throughout Hawaii, including Pearl Harbor aboard USS Bowfin and Waianae, where a large group of warships were assembled. After principal photography was completed, a wrap party for cast and crew was held on January 8, 1988 aboard the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, which had previously been used as a filming location for The Winds of War. Episodes Broadcast The scope of the production had required it to be greenlit years in advance. By 1988, network viewership had shrunk to just 68 percent of television viewers. As a result, by the time the series aired, it was never expected to earn a profit. ABC stated that they fully expected to lose at least $20 million on it. The miniseries was originally intended to run on consecutive nights in January 1989, but the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike caused ABC to move the first half, chapters I–VII, up to air in the fall of 1988. The strike raised ABC's ratings hopes, because it meant that the series would run without any other original programming opposite it on the other networks. However, when they were broadcast in November 1988, the first seven episodes no longer aired on consecutive nights, as originally planned, running instead spread out over eleven days. Although the miniseries won every time slot against its competition on NBC and CBS, and outperformed ABC's regular programming, it still underperformed ABC's ratings expectations, with the first chapter averaging an 18.6 Nielsen rating and a 29% viewer share. Because the ratings were lower than ABC had promised the various sponsors, the network was obligated to give additional free "make-good" advertising time to them. The low ratings were also reported to be partly responsible for ABC entertainment head Brandon Stoddard losing his job in April 1989. Dan Curtis blamed the lower-than-expected ratings partly on the confusing airdates, saying in a 2002 interview that ABC "skipped Saturdays and Mondays, the viewers lost the thread, and they didn't even put up a sign saying 'To Be Continued' at the end of the first half." In addition, because the editing schedule was so compressed, ABC allowed Curtis to turn in episodes of enormously varying length, running anywhere from two to three hours with commercials, often with odd running times like two hours and five minutes or two hours and twenty minutes. As a result, the episodes had extremely inconsistent start and end times each night they ran. NBC mocked ABC's airing strategy in a promo for their November sweeps programming, comparing their schedule of various regular series, television premieres of acquired films, the Vanna White telefilm Goddess of Love and a Comedy Store special against ABC's "eighteen hours of a war story that doesn't end." Due to the lower than expected ratings for the first half, the second half, chapters VIII–XII (marketed by ABC as "The Final Chapter"), had several hours cut before airing. The second half was also mixed and aired in mono, instead of the stereo used on the first half. This was not a cost-cutting measure, but the result of a technical issue encountered with airing the stereo mix on the first half. With the series costing $105 million to produce, Capital Cities/ABC lost an estimated $30-$40 million on the production. This began the downfall of the miniseries, where the format faced decreasing lengths and ratings into the mid-1990s as a result of increasing VCR ownership and cable television; by the 1996–1997 season, the longest-running network miniseries airing was a six-hour adaptation of The Shining (1996). Awards War and Remembrance received 15 Emmy Award nominations, including best actor (John Gielgud), actress (Jane Seymour) and supporting actress (Polly Bergen), and won for best miniseries, special effects and single-camera production editing. It also won three Golden Globes, receiving trophies for Best Miniseries, as well as two awards for John Gielgud and Barry Bostwick, who tied for Best Supporting Actor. References External links War and Remembrance at IMDb War and Remembrance at AllMovie War and Remembrance television film trailer at YouTube

Hart_Bochner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_Bochner

Hart Matthew Bochner (born October 3, 1956) is a Canadian TV, film and voice actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He has appeared in films such as Breaking Away (1979), Terror Train (1980), Rich and Famous (1981), The Wild Life (1984), Making Mr. Right (1987), Die Hard (1988), Apartment Zero (1988), Mr. Destiny (1990), Mad at the Moon (1992), Break Up (1998), Liberty Stands Still (2002) and Spread (2009). On television, he has starred in War and Remembrance (1988–89), Children of the Dust (1995), Baby for Sale (2004), The Starter Wife (2008) and Scandal (2015). Early life Bochner was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Ruth (née Roher), a concert pianist, and actor Lloyd Bochner. His family is Jewish. Bochner is a board member of the Environmental Media Awards. His grand-uncle was journalist, lawyer and philanthropist Isaiah L. Kenen. Career Bochner appeared in such films as Islands in the Stream (1977), Breaking Away (1979), Terror Train (1980), Rich and Famous (1981), Supergirl (1984), Apartment Zero (1988), Die Hard (1988), Mr. Destiny and Fellow Traveller (1989). In the late 1990s, Bochner had a voice role in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) and starred opposite Susan Sarandon in Anywhere But Here (1999). He also appeared in the films Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), and Say Nothing (2001). Bochner had an uncredited role in the 2013 remake of Carrie. On television, Bochner had a key role as Byron Henry in the 1988 ABC miniseries War and Remembrance. More recently, he starred as Zach, the boyfriend of Molly Kagan (Debra Messing), on USA Network's short-lived series The Starter Wife (2008). Among the films he has directed are PCU (1994), High School High (1996), and Just Add Water (2008). Filmography Film Television References External links Hart Bochner at IMDb Hart Bochner(Aveleyman)

Texas_Rangers_award_winners_and_league_leaders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Rangers_award_winners_and_league_leaders

This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the Texas Rangers baseball team (not including the franchise's first eleven years (1961–1971) as the Washington Senators). Key Baseball Hall of Famers Ten Rangers have been inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Awards Most Valuable Player Five Rangers have won the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award. Rookie of the Year Two Rangers have won the Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award. Manager of the Year Three Rangers have won the Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award. World Series MVP One Ranger has won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. Gold Glove Award Fifteen Rangers have won the Gold Glove Award, which includes seven multi-time winners. Cumulatively, the Rangers have won four 4 at pitcher, 17 at catcher, 5 at first base, 9 at third base, 3 at shortstop, and 3 at outfield for a total of 38 Gold Gloves. Platinum Glove Award One Ranger has won the Platinum Glove Award. Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award Three Rangers have won the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award. Silver Slugger Award Hank Aaron Award One Ranger has won the Hank Aaron Award. Edgar Martínez Award Two Rangers have won the Edgar Martínez Award, formerly known as the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award. Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award See footnote Jim Kern (1979) Jeff Russell (1989) The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year See footnote below 1974 – Ferguson Jenkins 1991 – José Guzmán 1996 – Kevin Elster 2001 – Rubén Sierra MLB "This Year in Baseball Awards" See: This Year in Baseball Awards#Award winners Note: Voted by five groups as the best in all of Major League Baseball (i.e., not two awards, one for each league). Note: These awards were renamed the "GIBBY Awards" (Greatness in Baseball Yearly) in 2010 and then the "Esurance MLB Awards" in 2015. "This Year in Baseball Awards" Player of the Year Josh Hamilton (2010) "This Year in Baseball Awards" Defensive Player of the Year Elvis Andrus (2010) "Esurance MLB Awards" Best Bounceback Player Prince Fielder (2015) Ted Williams MVP Award (All-Star Game) Julio Franco (1990) Alfonso Soriano (2004) Michael Young (2006) Josh Hamilton (2010) All-Star Game — Home Run Derby champion Juan González (1993) Josh Hamilton (2010) DHL Hometown Heroes (2006) Nolan Ryan — voted by MLB fans as the most outstanding player in the history of the franchise, based on on-field performance, leadership quality and character value Baseball Prospectus Internet Baseball Awards AL Most Valuable Player See: Baseball Prospectus#Internet Baseball Awards Josh Hamilton (2010) USA Today AL Most Valuable Player Josh Hamilton (2010) Topps All-Star Rookie teams MLB Insiders Club Magazine All-Postseason Team 2011 – Mike Napoli (C), Nelson Cruz (OF; one of three), Derek Holland (SP; one of three) Associated Press Manager of the Year Award See footnote Billy Martin (1974) Baseball Prospectus Internet Baseball Awards AL Manager of the Year See: Baseball Prospectus#Internet Baseball Awards See footnote Ron Washington (2010) USA Today AL Manager of the Year See footnote Ron Washington (2010) The Sporting News Executive of the Year Award Doug Melvin (1996) Baseball America Major League Executive of the Year See: Baseball America Major League Executive of the Year Jon Daniels (2010) Team award 1989 – Baseball America Organization of the Year 2010 – William Harridge Trophy (American League champion) 2011 – William Harridge Trophy (American League champion) Minor league system Tom Grieve Minor League Player of the Year Nolan Ryan Minor League Pitcher of the Year Minor League Defender of the Year Minor League Reliever of the Year True Ranger Award The True Ranger Award recognizes "players who represent the core values of the organization in a positive light both on and off the field." International Senior Athlete of the Year 2009 – Justin Smoak (Triple-A Oklahoma City) Other achievements Texas Rangers Hall of Fame See Texas Rangers (baseball)#Texas Rangers Hall of Fame Retired numbers See Texas Rangers (baseball)#Retired numbers American League statistical leaders A.L. Batting Title Julio Franco, 1991 Michael Young, 2005 Josh Hamilton, 2010 A.L. Home Run Champ Frank Howard, 1968, 1970 Juan González, 1992, 1993 Alex Rodriguez, 2001, 2002, 2003 See also Baseball awards List of MLB awards == Footnotes ==

Jeff_Burroughs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Burroughs

Jeffrey Alan Burroughs (born March 7, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1970 through 1985, for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers (1970–76), Atlanta Braves (1977–80), Seattle Mariners (1981), Oakland Athletics (1982–84) and Toronto Blue Jays (1985). A two-time All-Star player, Burroughs was the first overall pick in the 1969 Major League Baseball draft and was notable for being the 1974 American League RBI champion and for being named the American League's Most Valuable Player that same year. He is the father of former major league third baseman Sean Burroughs. In a 16-season career, Burroughs posted a .261 batting average with 240 home runs and 882 RBI in 1,689 games. Early life Burroughs was born to Charles Douglas and Iona Mae Burroughs in Long Beach, California, on March 7, 1951. He attended Woodrow Wilson Classical High School. Career Burroughs was selected by the Washington Senators with the first overall pick in the 1969 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut with the Senators on July 20, 1970, at the age of 19. He started the game in right field and was 0-for-3 in Washington's 2–0 win. Considered a "good bat-no field" kind of player, Burroughs was a considerable slugging threat during his playing days. Defensively, he was capable but slow. In four full seasons with the Texas Rangers, Burroughs averaged 25.5 home runs a year with a high of 30 home runs in 1973. His most productive season came in 1974, when he batted .301 with 25 home runs and a league-leading and career-high 118 RBI in 152 games. He was voted the American League MVP, making him one of only seven overall number-one draft picks to win the MVP title (the others are Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., Bryce Harper, Joe Mauer and Josh Hamilton) and the first Ranger to win the award. During the 1974 season, Burroughs was at the center of the violent Ten Cent Beer Night debacle at Cleveland Stadium, where Burroughs was one of the targets of thrown objects and a few punches by unruly and inebriated Cleveland fans, in a game that was forfeited to Texas. Burroughs was selected an All-Star in both 1974 with the Rangers and 1978 as a member of the Atlanta Braves, when he entered the All-Star break with a National League-leading .324 batting average. Burroughs was also named AL Player of the Year and selected as an OF on the AL All-Star team by The Sporting News his MVP season of 1974. On December 9, 1976, Burroughs was acquired by the Braves in a five-for-one trade that sent Ken Henderson, Dave May, Roger Moret, Adrian Devine, Carl Morton and $200,000 to the Rangers. As a member of the Braves, in 1977, Burroughs batted .271 with 41 home runs and 114 RBI in 154 games. His 41 home runs trailed only Cincinnati Reds outfielder George Foster (52) for the major league lead. Burroughs had fans who maintained a large banner below the right field deck titled "Jeff's Jackpot", which displayed his home run total for the season plus one. On March 8, 1981, Burroughs was traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for relief pitcher Carlos Diaz. In his only season with Seattle, he batted .254 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI in 89 games. Late in his career, Burroughs was used mainly as a designated hitter and pinch hitter. Burroughs played his final year with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1985 after being purchased by them. In 86 games, he had 49 hits, 19 runs, six home runs and 28 RBI, along with 36 strikeouts and 34 walks. He batted .257 with a .366 on-base percentage (OBP). His final regular season game was on October 6, 1985, batting as a DH. He went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in an 8–0 loss to the New York Yankees. He made his first and only appearance in a postseason game, having one at-bat in the ALCS that year, batting in Game 7 in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals as a pinch hitter, which resulted in a ground out. Post-playing career Burroughs is the father of Sean Burroughs, who also played in the major leagues. After he retired, Burroughs coached his son's Little League team, the Long Beach All-Stars. These teams won the Little League World Series in both 1992 and 1993, winning the former by forfeit after their opponents (who had beaten them 15–4) were found to have used no fewer than 14 ineligible players and the latter 3–2 over Panama to be the first American team to repeat as champion and only the third city to ever do so after Monterrey, Mexico (1957, 1958) and Seoul, South Korea (1984, 1985). See also List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders List of second-generation Major League Baseball players List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders References External links Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)

Juan_Gonz%C3%A1lez_(baseball)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Gonz%C3%A1lez_(baseball)

Juan Alberto González Vázquez (born October 20, 1969) is a Puerto Rican former baseball outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams, but is most identified with the Texas Rangers, for whom he played from 1989 to 1999 and again from 2002 to 2003. One of the premier run producers and most feared hitters of the 1990s and early 2000s, González hit over 40 home runs five times and amassed at least 100 runs batted in (RBI) eight times. He also had a batting average of .310 or higher in five seasons. In his career as a whole, González averaged 42 home runs, 135 RBI, 81 extra-base hits, and 353 total bases per 162 games, placing him well within the top ten all-time in these season-adjusted statistics. González was known as a line drive hitter, not a fly-ball home run hitter, as were many power hitters of the 1990s. He was a full-time player at the age of 21 and a two-time Most Valuable Player before his 30th birthday. González explained his propensity for bringing runners home by saying, "I concentrate more when I see men on base." Early life González grew up in a rough area of Puerto Rico, where as a young boy he learned to hit bottlecaps and corks with a broomstick handle in the Alto de Cuba barrio. In the Puerto Rico youth league, González batted cleanup behind future Yankee center fielder Bernie Williams, where both competed against González's future teammate Iván Rodríguez. When the Yankees scouted the teenage Williams, he requested that they also bring his friend González to their scouting camp on the east coast; however, due to a lack of funding, González would remain in Puerto Rico. Professional career Minors The Texas Rangers signed González as an amateur free agent on May 30, 1986, at the age of 16. González has always wanted to serve as a role model for the kids of Puerto Rico, as they are faced with the downfalls of drugs and prostitution frequently. González avoided such temptations growing up. His father, a math teacher, and mother, a housewife, made sure González and his two sisters behaved properly and stayed away from negative influences. González moved his family out of the barrio early in his MLB career. He paid utility bills for down-on-their-luck friends and plans on working to construct recreation facilities and a baseball diamond in his home town. One of Juan's managers, Johnny Oates, believed that until you've walked where Juan González has walked, you just won't understand. Speaking from experience, as Oates has walked the streets of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, during visits multiple times, he had this to say: "I don't think you can appreciate how far he's come until you've been there", Oates said. "We might be making choices between going to the movies or going to the skating rink. But look at the choices the kids there were faced with growing up – do you want to do drugs or get beaten up? I think it says so much about him that he was able to rise above the peer pressure in Vega Baja. He had enough intelligence to say, 'I don't want to do that.'" In Puerto Rico he is known as "Igor", the nickname he has carried since he was a nine-year-old fascinated by the professional wrestler "Igor the Magnificent." "I watched wrestling all the time and I still like it", González said. "One day when I was nine, I told another guy, 'I'm Igor.' And he said, 'Okay, your name is Igor from now on.' And I've been Igor since then." González debuted with the 1986 GCL Rangers and finished with .240 batting average, .303 on-base percentage, and a .266 slugging percentage in 60 games. He only had five extra-base hits (none of them home runs) in 233 AB and struck out 57 times. He tied Harvey Pulliam by grounding into a Gulf Coast League-leading 9 double plays. In 1987, González showed some improvement with the Gastonia Rangers, though Mark Whiten and Junior Felix were deemed better outfield prospects in the South Atlantic League. In ratings by Baseball America, González tied Ryan Bowen for 10th place on the prospect listing. He finished with .265 batting average, .306 on-base percentage, and .401 slugging percentage with 14 home runs and 74 RBI. González spent 1988 with the Charlotte Rangers and batted .256/~.327/.415 with 8 home runs in 277 AB. One of his outfield teammates that year was Sammy Sosa. The next year, he showed more improvement with the Tulsa Drillers hitting .293/~.322/.506 with 21 home runs and led the Texas League with 254 total bases. He outhomered Sosa by 14 and was third in the League in home runs, behind teammate Dean Palmer (25) and Chris Cron (22). González was rated the league's No. 4 prospect by Baseball America, behind Ray Lankford, Andy Benes and José Offerman. Lankford and Warren Newson joined him in the TL All-Star outfield. Texas Rangers (1989–1999) González was called up by the Texas Rangers in September of that year, but only hit .150/.227/.250. During his time with the Rangers that year, González only hit one home run. He became the youngest player in Rangers history (19 yrs old) to hit a home run. In 1990, González – playing with the Oklahoma City 89ers – led the American Association in home runs (29), RBI (101) and total bases (252). He made the AAA All-Star outfield alongside Lankford and Bernard Gilkey and was named the league MVP. Baseball America named him the top prospect in the league in a poll of managers. He finished with .258/~.343/.508 for the 89ers. In the AAA All-Star Game, González hit 4th for the AL prospects and played as a designated hitter. He went 2 for 5 with a double, one of the game's two homers, two runs and two RBI in the AL's 8–5 loss. González was again called up by the Rangers and did far better this time, batting .289/.316/.522. In 1991, Texas gave González a chance to be an everyday player. He batted .264 while hitting 27 home runs and recording 102 runs batted in (RBIs). González came up as a center fielder, as did teammate Sammy Sosa; but the Rangers opted to keep González and trade Sosa. González split his time in the OF between CF (93 games) and LF (92 games). González thrilled the club in his first full season at the young age of 21, as his 27 home runs led the Rangers. His 102 RBI was good enough for 2nd on the club, and 7th in the AL. In 1992, González finished with a .260 batting average, 43 home runs, and 109 RBIs. He spent most of his time in CF in '92, playing 123 games there, 31 in LF and making just one appearance in RF, while DH-ing 4 games. He was the American League home run champion (one more than Mark McGwire) while also ranking 3rd in TB (309), 4th in extra-base hits (69), 5th in slugging percentage (.529), 7th in RBIs (109) while winning his first Silver Slugger Award. Winning the home run crown at the age of 22 made him the youngest player to lead the majors since Johnny Bench in 1970. In 1993, González broke through to true stardom. He led the AL for the second consecutive year with 46 bombs, while raising his batting average an impressive 50 points to .310, all this to go along with a league-leading slugging percentage of .632. That production garnered González an invite to his first All-Star team. During the 1993 All-Star Weekend, he participated in the only Home Run Derby of his career. González and Ken Griffey Jr. put on an amazing display of raw-power, as they each golfed 7 homers a piece. González, however, wowed the national audience even more, becoming the first player to hit a homer into the facade of the upper deck in left field (estimated 473 feet) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the green wall behind the center-field fence (estimated 455 feet). González then defeated Griffey in a winner-take-all playoff for the individual Home Run Derby title, 5–4. When asked about the title, González responded: "It was very exciting to surprise everybody. I never thought in my mind that I'd win the Home Run Derby. I even surprised myself." He also finished fourth in voting for the 1993 AL MVP and earned his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award. In 1994, the Rangers moved from Arlington Stadium to The Ballpark in Arlington. González batted 19 home runs in 1994 during the strike-shortened season, but belted 27 home runs in 1995, in just 90 games. From 1995–98, González was an RBI machine, averaging more than an RBI per game (514 RBI, 511 games). This made him the first player since World War II to drive in a run per game for any four-year period. He won two MVP awards in this stretch (1996 and 1998). The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract listed him as the player who had the highest ratio of slugging percentage to on-base percentage in baseball history at that time, ahead of Dave Kingman and Tony Armas and 4th in RBI per game by an outfielder (behind Sam Thompson, Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth). James also ranked González as the 52nd-best right fielder in baseball history as of mid-2000. In 1996, González had one of his best seasons hitting .314 with a .643 slugging percentage. He edged Alex Rodríguez by one first-place vote (11–10) and 3 award points (290–287) in a very close vote to win the American League MVP. He won his third Silver Slugger as an outfielder and was second in the AL in slugging (87 points behind McGwire). He was selected to the Associated Press Major League All-Star Team and The Sporting News AL All-Star squad at season's end. González was also named the Puerto Rico Pro Athlete of the Year by Associated Press and the DFW Metroplex Pro Athlete of the Year by the Dallas All Sports Association. He received the honorable selection of American League Player of the Month in July, leading the majors in batting (.407), homers (15), RBI (38), slugging (.917) and total bases (99). González was also the AL Player of the Week for July 29 – August 4. González had a pair of 21-game hitting streaks, June 25 – July 19 and August 8–31, matching the 3rd longest hitting streaks in team history with Mickey Rivers (1980) being the only other Ranger with 2 20-game hitting streaks in the same season. On July 30, González went 5–5 vs. New York, a career best and tied the club record for hits in a game. González was also chosen as a member of the Major League Baseball All-Star Team that traveled to Japan for an eight game exhibition series in November, batting .500 (10–20) with one homer and 3 RBI in 7 games. That year, the Texas Rangers made the playoffs, and in the 1996 American League Division Series, González homered five times in four games and batted .438/.526/1.375 with 9 RBI. Texas ended up losing in four games to the New York Yankees. González tied Jeffrey Leonard's 1987 NLCS record by homering in four straight post-season games and joined Reggie Jackson and Ken Griffey Jr. as the only players to hit five home runs in a single post-season series. González, however, accomplished this feet in less games (4) than Leonard, Jackson and Griffey Jr; all of whom needed at least 5 games to accomplish said feat. Combining the regular season and postseason, González hit .315 with 52 home runs, 153 RBIs, and .664 slugging percentage in 1996. In 1997, González batted .296/.335/.589 as a DH-RF for the Rangers, winning his fourth Silver Slugger Award. In 133 games he was 4th in slugging, 6th in total bases (314), third in homers (42) and RBI (131), 10th in extra-base hits (69) and tied for 6th with 10 sacrifice flies. González missed the first month of the season and was not activated from the DL until May 2 due to a torn ligament in his left thumb. Despite the injury he still managed to earn American League Player of the Month honors in September (.337, 10 home runs, 26 RBI) and was the Rangers Player of the Month in both August and September. González was selected to Baseball America's American League All-Star Team. In 1998, he reached the 100 RBI mark before the All-Star break (101), being the first player (and still most recent) to do so since Hank Greenberg 63 years earlier. He hit cleanup for the AL in the 1998 All-Star Game and decisively won the AL MVP award. González was 10th in the 1998 AL in batting average, second in slugging, fourth in OPS, 6th in hits (193), 4th in total bases (382), first in doubles (50), tied for fourth in home runs (45), first in RBI (157) in 154 games, tied for 8th in OPS+ (149), second in extra-base hits (97), tied for third in sac flies (11), tied for sixth in intentional walks (9) and tied for third in double plays ground into (20). In April, he drove in 35 runs, a major league record for the month that still stands today. González produced the 5th season ever of at least 50 doubles and 40 home runs. González started 115 games in Right and 36 as the DH. González became the 1st 5-time winner of the Rangers Player of the Year Award and was also named as the AL's Most Valuable Player by USA Today and USA Today Baseball Weekly. González was selected to major league all-star teams selected by the Associated Press (OF) and Baseball America (DH) and to the Sporting News AL all-star squad (OF). He was named as an outfielder on the AL Silver Slugger Award team for the 5th time in his career, his 3rd consecutive year. González shared Rangers Player of the Month honors with Iván Rodríguez in April and won the award outright in May. González also received the American League Player of the Week, for August 31 – September 6. He received 21 of 28 1st place mvp votes and 7 2nd place votes for 357 total points to defeat Boston's Nomar Garciaparra, who had 5 1st place votes and 232 points. González also became the 1st native of Latin America to ever win multiple MVP's since the award was instituted in 1931. This award also made him the 16th player to capture 2 MVP's in a 3-year span. The Rangers reached the playoffs, only to be swept by the Yankees. The Rangers offense was miserable in the Division Series, scoring just one run on a Pudge Rodriguez single after doubling to lead off the inning. In 1999, González was 9th in the AL in average, 4th in slugging, 6th in OPS, 10th in runs (114), 6th in total bases (338), 6th in home runs (39), 5th in RBI (128), 7th in extra-base hits (76) and 2nd in sacrifice flies (12). However, he and the Rangers wound up being swept for the second consecutive year by the Yankees in the Division Series. González wasn't able to do much in the 3-game series, hitting .182/.250/.455 with one home run, but his solo bomb was the only run the Rangers scored in the series. González announced just before the 1999 All-Star Game that if the fans did not elect him to the starting lineup, he would refuse an invitation to be added to the roster (as a result he was not invited). González believed that the system was flawed; he thought the managers and players should vote for the starters. A few weeks later González didn't dress for the Hall of Fame exhibition game because (according to the media) the uniform pants the Rangers brought for him were too large. González later had this to say about the incident "I couldn't play because my right wrist was sore. The pants they gave me were size 40. I wear 34. They were clown pants." Detroit Tigers (2000) Following the 1999 season, with one year left on his contract, the slugger was traded by the Texas Rangers along with Danny Patterson and Gregg Zaun in a blockbuster nine-player deal with the Detroit Tigers for Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Gabe Kapler, Justin Thompson, and Alan Webb. He became the first two-time MVP to be traded since Dale Murphy was sent from Atlanta to Philadelphia in 1990. Detroit Tiger general manager Randy Smith was paying a high price for González by trading multiple young players, but he couldn't pass up on acquiring González, whom he referred to as "a two-time MVP and future Hall-of-Famer," even though González would more likely be a one-year rental (and was). Gambling that they would be able to extend his contract past the 2000 season, the Tigers reportedly offered González an eight-year, $140 million contract soon after the deal was struck. González refused, which turned out to be the bigger gamble. He began the season badly, hobbled by foot pain and unable to adjust to the spacious dimensions of Detroit's new Comerica Park, where the left-center field fence stood nearly 400 feet from home plate (he did however hit the park's first home run on April 14). By mid-season he had announced that the Tigers would have to bring the fences in if they wanted to re-sign him as a free agent. Detroit shopped González before the trading deadline, but a deal that would have sent him to the Yankees for outfielder Ricky Ledée and two minor leaguers was scuttled when the outfielder made it clear that he didn't want to play in New York. The Puerto Rico native stumbled through the rest of the season and saw his production dip to an all-time low (22 home runs, 67 RBI in 115 games). After missing the last weeks of the 2000 season, he was granted free agency on November 1. Cleveland Indians (2001) On January 9, 2001, he signed a one-year $10 million contract with the Cleveland Indians. González opened the season with a great start, batting .388 (40–103) with 9 homers and 32 RBIs in season's first 25 games through May 2. González completed the first half on a torrid pace. He was voted in as an All-Star starter and batted 5th in the 2001 All-Star Game. González hit .347 with 23 home runs and 83 RBI in 79 games in the first half. He appeared to be on his way to easily capturing the RBI title, but an RBI drought at the end of the season (0 RBI in last 10 games) allowed Bret Boone to pass him by one. González hit over .300 in each of season's 1st 5 months before dropping to .299 for the month of September. His top months were .387 (36–93) in April and .356 (26–73) in July. González was hitting as high as .360 on June 5, then went 17–64 (.266) in next 17 contests, dropping to .338 through June 26. Had a .351 (73–208) mark in next 56 games and was at .344 overall, 2nd in the AL, through September 9. After this he hit just .130 (6–46) in final 13 games, going 3–34 (.088) in last 10 contests. González was hitless in his final 15 trips after his single on September 24. Despite his cold streak over the last week and a half of the season, he still finished with a .325/.370/.590 slash line and a 147 OPS+, close to his MVP seasons. He also won his sixth Silver Slugger and finished fifth in the MVP voting. His .325 average was one point shy of his career high (1999) and marked his 5th .300 season, his third in the last four years. He was sixth in the 2001 AL in batting average, 5th in slugging, 6th in OPS, 9th in home runs (35), second in RBI (140, (in 140 games) one behind leader Bret Boone), 8th in OPS+, tied for third in double plays grounded into (18) and led the league with 16 sacrifice flies. González was also a 2nd team selection on Baseball America's Major League all-star squad and was named as the Indians player of the year by Baseball America. This proved to be the last season in which González averaged an RBI a game. Although González finished the regular season rather slowly, he showed up in a big way in the playoffs where he hit .348/.348/.739 for Cleveland in the Division Series with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 5 RBI in 5 games. Despite this Cleveland still fell in defeat. González had a season best 15-game hitting streak from August 29 – September 19 at .345 (20–58) and hit safely in 10 straight games from April 17–27. González also had a 4 hit game April 11 at the Chicago White Sox. González batted .368 (43–117) vs. left-handers, 3rd best in the AL and had a .335 (53–158) mark with runners in scoring position, the 8th highest. As the DH, he hit .392 (31–79), this was the highest average in AL among players with 35 or more DH at bats, with 8 homers and 33 RBI in 21 games. Through 11 full major league seasons (1991-2001), González had 392 homers and 1,263 RBI, an average of 36 homers and 115 RBI per year. His RBI total was the most in MLB in during that time frame by 40, despite having 1,000 fewer plate appearances than the player with the second-most RBIs for the time period, Jeff Bagwell (who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017). Second stint with Texas Rangers (2002–2003) On January 8, 2002, González made his return to Arlington by signing a two-year $24 million contract with the Texas Rangers. He hit .282/.324/.451 (94 OPS+) the first year in 70 games. On June 18, he participated in the first MLB game ever with four players with 400+ home runs to that point. Rafael Palmeiro and Fred McGriff joined Sosa and González in a game which Texas lost to the Chicago Cubs, 4–3. His first season back in Arlington he had a .358 (29–81) average versus Lefties and hit .328 (21–64) with runners in scoring position while posting a .307 mark(42–137) in Arlington. He hit just .171 (6–35) with 2 homers and 4 RBI as the DH. He had Texas' only hit, a leadoff double in the 8th, off Cory Lidle on July 19 at Oakland. In 2003, González started the first few weeks rather slowly. He had a .230 average with 4 homers and 8 RBI in his first 18 games through April 20. He quickly picked it up though and went on a .349 (29–83) tear with 9 homers and 24 RBI in his next 21 games, improving to .293 by May 5. As of May 7, González was tied for the Major League Lead in home runs with 12. He followed that up by going just 8-for-39 (.205) in his next 9 games, falling to .276 through May 25. He started a hot streak yet again though by hitting .321 (42–131) with 10 homers and 36 RBI in the next 34 games. But his season was cut short by a tear in his calf muscle on July 19. At the time, González was hitting .294 and ranked 3rd in home runs (24) 4th in slugging percentage (.572) and 7th in RBI (70) in the AL. González was on pace to recapture his 2001 Indians form, but the tear lingered and the injury proved to be the end of his season. González hit 2 homers in a game 4 times: April 5 vs. Seattle; April 29 and May 1 at Toronto and July 10 against Minnesota. His 47 career multi-homer games are 12th most all-time. He also hammered 5 homers in 3 games, April 29 – May 1 at Toronto, the 4th time in Rangers history that feat had been accomplished. He had a season best 5 RBI on April 29 at Toronto and drove in 4 runs in a game on 3 occasions. González had 18 RBI in a 9-game span, April 22 – May 1, including 10 in 3-game series at Toronto, April 29 – May 1. He was selected as AL co-player of the week for April 28 – May 4. He also had a season high 9-game hitting streak, June 3–17. He started 57 games in right field and 24 games as the designated hitter. He did not make an error in 108 total chances in the outfield and was tied for 6th in the league in outfield assists (10), despite his short season. He ranked 5th on the club in home runs (24), and completed his 11th season with 20 or more home runs. The Rangers, however, were preparing for a youth movement and on October 26, 2003, he was granted free agency. Kansas City Royals (2004) On January 6, 2004, González was signed by the Kansas City Royals to a one-year, $4.5 million deal with an option for the next season. However, his back worsened in the middle of May and his season came to an end after May 21. He ended up hitting .276/.326/.441 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 33 games. The Royals declined to renew his option, making him a free agent. Second stint with Cleveland Indians (2005) He was signed by the Cleveland Indians for the 2005 season, and was activated in May. Despite a thorough workout regimen, González suffered a major hamstring injury (he tore his right medial hamstring totally off the bone at the knee joint) in his first plate appearance of the season while running out a grounder. This put him out for the season after just one at-bat. González signed on with the independent Atlantic League in 2006, playing for the Long Island Ducks. He hit .323/.377/.515 in 36 games, with 6 home runs and 23 RBI. His time was again limited by injuries. The St. Louis Cardinals invited González to spring training prior to the 2008 season. He was one of 26 non-roster invitees, participating in full roster workouts that began on February 19, 2008. He hit .308 with a .462 slugging percentage in spring training with 1 home run, 1 double and 5 RBI in 9 games. However, he was put on the inactive list with an abdominal strain and he returned to Puerto Rico with an invitation to rejoin the Cardinals once he was healthy. González decided to stay in Puerto Rico, and did not rejoin the Cardinals. In June 2013, González was invited to become a member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. He declined the invitation at the time, saying, "I closed the Texas Rangers chapter in my life a long time ago." A couple years later, though, he accepted the invitation and was inducted on July 11, 2015. González is the Rangers' all-time leader with 372 home runs, 1,180 RBIs and a .565 slugging percentage. His 157 RBIs in 1998 and .643 slugging percentage in 1996 are also club records. González ranks in the top 5 in club history in almost every other major offensive category. Career statistics In four American League Division Series covering 15 games, González hit .290 (18-for-62) scoring 11 runs, with 8 home runs and 15 RBI. Career in Puerto Rico In the 1989–1990 Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League, González hit .269/~.345/.500 for the Criollos de Caguas and hit 9 home runs, one less than former league leader Greg Vaughn. During the 1992–1993 season, he batted .333 for the Santurce Crabbers and won the league MVP award despite not playing until after the All-Star break. He hit 7 home runs and led the league despite playing in only 66 games. González did not accompany Santurce to the 1993 Caribbean Series. The next season, he ended up hitting .268 with 7 homers, 3 behind Phil Hiatt. In 1995, González joined the San Juan Senators for the 1995 Caribbean Series and hit .375 with 6 RBI as the Puerto Rican "Dream Team" won the title. González hit 5th, between Carlos Delgado and Rubén Sierra on a team that also boasted Roberto Alomar, Bernie Williams, Carlos Baerga and Edgar Martínez. San Juan outscored their opponents 49–15. During the 2006–2007 Puerto Rican League, in 33 games playing for the champion Carolina Giants, González hit .281 with 18 RBIs and 4 homers. In 12 playoff games, he batted .369 with 3 home runs and 5 RBIs. González claims he is healthy and no longer feels pain in his legs. He was 10 for 26 (.385) in the 2007 Caribbean Series and made the All-Star team at DH. Presently, he is the owner of the baseball team in his hometown, Vega Baja, in the Confederative Baseball League in Puerto Rico, where he also plays as a DH. Aside from baseball, he focuses on helping the community, with the condition that no attention from the media occurs when he becomes involved in a cause, stating "What value does it have to help someone and then publicizing it in newspapers? That is not giving. I help, but I ask them to please not say anything." For the 2015-2016 season, González served as coach of the Double A Vega Baja team, the Caimanes del Melao Melao. However, after a 3-11 record, he was fired. Steroid allegations González was one of several players whom Jose Canseco claimed to have introduced to steroids. Canseco made these allegations in his best-seller, Juiced, but without citing any corroborating evidence. González was also briefly mentioned in the Mitchell Report regarding a 2001 incident in which an unmarked bag in the Indians' team luggage was detained by customs in Toronto, Canada. González's assistant stated that the bag belonged to Angel Presinal, a prominent personal trainer for a number of professional players, but Presinal claimed that the bag belonged to González. It was also disputed whether or not the bag actually contained steroids. Although Presinal claimed the bag was not his, he said that he was aware of its contents and that they were not, in fact, steroids. He stated that the bag contained Soladek (a painkiller), Dolo-neurobion (a vitamin B complex used in fighting the flu), and Clenbuterol (a stimulant similar to ephedrine, which is believed by some to promote muscle tone and weight loss). González immediately cut ties with the trainer following the incident. In 2007, ESPN published an article about Presinal on its website, describing him as "fitness guru, massage therapist and personal trainer to baseball's Latino elite." In the same article, ESPN asked John Hart, the Indians' former general manager, about the 2001 incident involving Presinal. Hart said that the team looked into the matter and ultimately exonerated Gonzalez. In 2007, Rangers' owner Tom Hicks speculated that González had used steroids, saying in an interview that the team had acquired "Juan González for $24 million after he came off steroids, probably, we just gave that money away." Hicks later acknowledged that his statement was not based on personal knowledge, only a suspicion that steroids were the cause of injuries: "The way his body broke down at a young age and his early retirement makes me suspicious." Luis Mayoral, a former Ranger employee and good friend of González, reasoned that Hicks' comments were why González declined his first invitation to join the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2013. Instead, he was inducted in 2015. Like his former teammate, hall-of-famer Iván Rodríguez, who was also accused of steroid use, González has consistently stated over the years that he has never taken steroids, and is, in fact, a vegetarian. "I have nothing to hide," said González. "Nothing. And I offered to be tested, whenever they wanted. If you have nothing to hide, there is nothing to worry [about]," González said. In Rodriguez's case, similar unproven allegations from baseball's "steroid era" did not prevent him from being elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Personal life González has been married four times. He was married to Puerto Rican volleyball player Elaine López, sister of fellow major leaguer Javy López, during the early 1990s. This marriage broke down when a local newspaper released a cover photo of singer Olga Tañón kissing González during a concert in San Juan. A scandal followed, with González divorcing Elaine López and marrying Tañón, who said she had no idea González was married to Lopez when she kissed him. González and Tañon had a daughter together, Gabriela González Tañón, in 1996. They got married in December 1999. González and Tañon divorced less than two years later. His daughter later became one of only 50 people in the world (and the first Puerto Rican) ever to have been diagnosed with Sebastian syndrome, a mild blood clotting disorder. González has a friendship with George W. Bush which began when González debuted with the Texas Rangers who at the time were owned by Bush. González stated that "a friendship that goes beyond baseball was created between them" and during his time in office Bush invited González to the White House twice. The first of reunions took place on April 16, 2001 and the second on December 3, 2007; in this reunion he was accompanied by historian Luis Rodriguez Mayoral. The discussion lasted 35 minutes and involved González's future in the Major Leagues and other baseball related topics, as well as the happenings of their respective careers. During this visit to Washington, D.C. González was also involved in a meeting with Rudy Giuliani and a visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in order to visit Puerto Rican soldiers that were injured in the Iraq War. After a history of personal setbacks, González stated in a 2007 interview that his personal life was now in order. "I'd rather have health and my family, my relationship with God than money," he said. "How many people who can buy whatever they want have committed suicide? God is first, then your kids, your family, good health." Success as manager of Puerto Rico national team After serving as a coach in 2017, González was named manager and head coach of the Puerto Rico national baseball team in 2018, leading the team to gold medals in both 2018 and 2019. González made his debut as manager at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games (CACG). Unable to request athletes contracted to MLB (or active in MiLB), González assembled a team consisting of players active in foreign independent leagues, the local Double A amateur league, and veteran free agents with previous professional experience, making the final cut following a preparatory tournament. González made his official debut as manager in a 5-3 victory over Venezuela. In its next outing, Puerto Rico defeated Cuba 8-1 to snap Cuba's 36-year (43-game) winning streak at the CACG. This was followed by wins over the Dominican Republic (4-1) and Mexico (7-1). González closed his first participation as manager by leading Puerto Rico to the CACG gold medal, defeating second-place Colombia 2-1. In 2019, González found continued success by guiding Puerto Rico to win gold at the 2019 Lima Pan American Games, going undefeated and besting Canada 6-1 in the final. This was Puerto Rico's first-ever gold medal in baseball in the history of the Pan American Games. Also in 2019, the Puerto Rican Baseball Federation announced that González would be the manager of the Puerto Rican National Team in November’s WBSC Premier12, the biggest international baseball event of the year, in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Accomplishments 2-time American League MVP (1996, 1998) 5-time Top-10 MVP (4th, 1993; 1st, 1996; 9th, 1997; 1st, 1998; 5th, 2001) 3-time All-Star (1993, 1998, 2001) 5 40+ HR Seasons (1992, 43; 1993, 46; 1996, 47; 1997, 42; 1998, 45) and 1 39-HR Season (1999) His .561 slugging percentage ranks 15th on the all-time list His 434 career home runs rank 47th on the all-time list Ranks 4th all-time in plate appearances/HR with 16.49 (No. 1 Mark McGwire – 13.14, No. 2 Babe Ruth – 14.87, No. 3 Sammy Sosa – 16.25) Ranks 5th all-time in HR/162 games with 42 Ranks 5th all-time in TB/162 games with 353 Ranks 6th all-time in RBI/162 games with 135 Ranks 6th all-time in XBH/162 games with 81 Ranks 12th all-time in career multi-homer games Ranks 15th all-time in AB per HR with 15.1 AB/HR 6 Silver Slugger awards (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001) 2-time American League Home Run Champion (1992, 1993) Finished Top 5 in RBI 6 times (1993, 4th, 118; 1996, 2nd, 144; 1997, 3rd, 131; 1998, 1st, 157; 1999, 5th, 128; 2001, 2nd, 140) Finished Top 5 in slugging percentage 7 times (1992, 5th, .561; 1993, 1st, .632; 1996, 2nd, .643; 1997, 4th, .589; 1998, 2nd, .630; 1999, 4th, .601; 2001, 5th, .590) Became just the second player in major league history to have at least 100 RBI before the All-Star break (101 in 1998, second to Hank Greenberg who had 103) Holds all-time record for RBI in the month of April (35 in 1998) One of only six players after 1950 with over 150 RBI in a single season Hit his 300th home run in the fewest games in American League history (1,096) 9th Youngest ever to hit 300 Career HR (28 years, 334 days) Tied for 1st in postseason history for HR in a single division series with Ken Griffey Jr., but in fewer games (Gonzalez – 5 HR in 4 games in 1996, Griffey – 5 HR in 5 games in 1995) Tied for 2nd in most HR in a single playoff series with 5 HR in just 4 games in 1996. (Reggie Jackson 1977, 5 HR in 6 Games; Chase Utley 2009, 5 HR in 6 Games; Ken Griffey Jr. 1995, 5 HR in 5 Games; Nelson Cruz 2011, 6 HR in 6 games) Ranks 2nd in postseason history in slugging percentage in a single playoff series (1.375 in 1996) Ranks 2nd in postseason history in OPS in a single Division Series (1.901 in 1996) Ranks 5th in postseason history in OPS in a single playoff series among qualified leaders (1.901 in 1996) Tied for 2nd with 10 other players in extra base hits in a single Division Series (5 in 1996 & 2001) Ranks 3rd in postseason history in total bases in a single Division Series (22 in 1996) Ranks 7th in postseason history in RBI in a single Division Series (9 in 1996) Tied for 2nd in postseason history in career HR in the Division Series (8 HR) Ranks 4th in postseason history in career slugging percentage in the Division Series (.742) Ranks 7th in postseason history in career extra base hits in the Division Series (12) Ranks 8th in postseason history in career OPS in the Division Series (1.075) See also List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders List of Puerto Ricans List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report References External links Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs

Iv%C3%A1n_Rodr%C3%ADguez

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iv%C3%A1n_Rodr%C3%ADguez

Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher. A member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Rodríguez is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in MLB history. He played for the Texas Rangers (in two separate stints, comprising the majority of his career), Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. Rodríguez was awarded the AL MVP award in 1999. He won the 2003 World Series with the Florida Marlins and played in the 2006 World Series while with the Tigers. In 2009, he set an MLB record by catching his 2,227th game, passing Carlton Fisk. He had the best career caught-stealing percentage of any major league catcher, at 45.68% (versus a league average of 31%), and he had nine seasons with a caught-stealing rate of 50% or higher. Only one major league catcher (Yadier Molina) has more putouts. Rodríguez recorded 2,844 hits in his career, the most of any catcher in MLB history. In 2017, Rodríguez was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility, receiving 76% of the votes cast. In October 2024 he will be inducted to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in Detroit. After retiring from baseball, he served as a Shadow Representative from Puerto Rico. Early life Rodríguez was born in Manatí, Puerto Rico and raised in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. His father, José was his baseball coach and his mother, Eva Torres, was an elementary school teacher. Iván's first job involved delivering flyers in the shopping malls in Puerto Rico. He learned baseball at an early age, his biggest rival being Juan González, whom he often played against in his youth. As a Little League player and just 8 years old, he moved from pitcher and third baseman (his favorite position) to catcher because his father, who was also his coach, thought he was throwing too hard and scaring opposing players with his pitches. His favorite player growing up was Johnny Bench, even before he was changed to the catcher position. The reason for this was that, according to Rodríguez, the Big Red Machine teams for whom Bench played were constantly on TV in Puerto Rico, and he saw how good Bench was. Rodríguez attended Lino Padron Rivera High School, where he was discovered by scout Luis Rosa. Rosa reported that "He showed leadership at 16 that I'd seen in few kids. He knew where he was going." Rodríguez signed a contract with the Texas Rangers in July 1988, at the age of 16, and began his professional baseball career. Professional career Minor leagues Rodríguez made his professional debut in 1989 at the age of 17 as catcher for the Gastonia Rangers of the South Atlantic League. In his first game, he went 3-for-3 at the plate against Spartanburg. Playing in the Florida State League in 1990, Rodríguez was selected the best catcher in the league and named to the All-Star team. He placed 15th in the league in batting at .287, and led his team in runs batted in, with 55. He also played in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) over the offseason. I got my nickname on the very first day of camp. Chino Cadahia, who was a Rangers coach at the time, gave me that name. He saw that I was short and stocky, so, from Day One, he started calling me "Pudge." It caught on, and the rest is history. At the beginning of the 1991 season, Rodriguez played 50 games with the Tulsa Drillers, a AA team, where he batted .274 in 175 at-bats. He was considered the number one prospect of the Texas League. Before the middle of the season, he was called up to the Texas Rangers, thus bypassing AAA. Texas Rangers (1991–2002) Making his debut with the Texas Rangers on June 20, 1991, he became the youngest player to catch in a major league game that season at 19 years of age. He immediately established himself as an excellent hitter who was also proficient in throwing out would-be base-stealers. He started many of the Rangers games at the end of the season, including 81 of the last 102. Rodríguez became the youngest player in the history of the Texas Rangers to hit a home run, on August 30, 1991, facing the Kansas City Royals and right-hander Storm Davis. He was named to the Major League Baseball (MLB) Rookie All-Star team by both Topps and Baseball America and finished in fourth place in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. He also placed first in throwing out runners, catching 48.6 percent of runners attempting to steal. In 1992, Rodríguez started 112 games behind the plate and was the youngest player in the major leagues for the second year in a row. Playing in the Puerto Rico Winter League, he had a .262 batting average playing in 17 games for Mayagüez. In the 1993 season, Rodríguez batted .273, had 66 runs batted in and hit 10 home runs, ranking fourth, fifth, and fifth on his team respectively. He had a stretch of eight straight hits over two games facing the Kansas City Royals on July 26 and July 28. He played the final month of the regular season in the Puerto Rican Winter league, where he had a .425 batting average and 14 runs batted in for Mayagüez. Rodríguez was named to the Puerto Rican Winter League all-star team and was also the league Most Valuable Player (MVP). In 1994, Rodríguez led the American League in batting average among catchers, at .298. He placed high on his team in many statistics, placing second in batting average (.298), tied for third in doubles (19), and fourth in hits, total bases, runs, home runs, walks, games, and at bats. He also caught Kenny Rogers' perfect game on July 28. Rodríguez played in the Puerto Rican Winter League over the winter, but he suffered a severe knee injury which kept him from playing for the rest of the season. Playing for the Rangers during the 1995 season, Rodríguez led his team in batting, total bases, and doubles, at .303, 221, and 32 respectively. He was named the Texas Rangers' player of the year. Rodríguez also had his first multi-home run game while playing the Boston Red Sox on July 13, hitting both off All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens. He also played for Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League during the offseason. In 1996, Rodríguez set an MLB record for most doubles by a catcher, amassing 47 over the course of the season. This broke the previous mark of 42, set by Mickey Cochrane in 1930. He also set the major league record for at-bats by a catcher in a single season, with 639, which surpassed Johnny Bench's record of 621 in 1970. He led the Texas Rangers in doubles, at bats, hits, and runs scored. He was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Star team that played a series in Japan against the Japanese all-stars after the season was over. He again played in the Puerto Rican Winter League this season. In the 1997 season, Rodríguez also placed first among catchers in many categories in Major League Baseball. These categories were hits, runs, runs batted in, and doubles. He placed second in home runs among catchers, below only Sandy Alomar Jr. of the Cleveland Indians, who had 20 home runs. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on the week of August 4. This marked the fourth time a player from the Texas Rangers had been on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Rodríguez played in the Puerto Rican Winter League yet again, where he had a .285 batting average, four home runs, and 18 runs batted in over the course of 32 games playing for Caguas. In the 1998 season, Rodríguez led the Texas Rangers in batting average at .325, which placed eighth in the American League. He also had 75 multi-hit games and 186 hits, finishing seventh and ninth in MLB respectively. He finished second on the Rangers in hits, total bases, triples, and slugging percentage. Rodríguez was third on the team in doubles, home runs, and stolen bases, and fourth in runs batted in. He recorded his 1,000th career hit in a game facing the Cleveland Indians on May 10 of that season. Rodríguez also became the first catcher in the history of Major League Baseball to have two or more seasons with 40 or more doubles. He was selected to the American League All-Star Team again, and he was also named to all-star teams by The Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Baseball America. In 1999, Rodríguez was selected as the American League MVP. He set a new American League record for home runs in a single season among catchers with 35. Rodríguez was also the first catcher to have more than 30 home runs, 100 runs batted in, and 100 runs scored in the history of Major League Baseball. In addition, he holds the distinction of being the first catcher in the history of the league to amass more than 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. From May 8 to June 1, 1999, Rodríguez had a career-high 20-game hitting streak. He had 25 stolen bases, which was fifth most among catchers in the history of the league. He led the league in times grounded into a double play, with 31. Rodríguez was only the ninth catcher in the history of Major League Baseball to win the Most Valuable Player award, and he was the first to win it since Thurman Munson in 1976. He was named on all of the ballots, getting seven first place votes and six second place votes. Rodríguez was the sixth Puerto Rican to win the award, and the fourth player from the Texas Rangers to win it. He also won the Silver Slugger Award for the sixth time in a row and was selected Most Valuable Player by Baseball Digest. He was again named to all-star teams by the Associated Press, The Sporting News, and Baseball America. While he was hitting home runs, he rarely drew walks. He is one of only six players active in 2009 who have had at least 30 home runs in a season in which they had more homers than walks (34 home runs, 24 walks in 1999). The others are Alfonso Soriano (39–23 in 2002, 36–33 in 2005, 33–31 in 2007), Garret Anderson (35–24 in 2000), Ryan Braun (34–29 in 2007), Joe Crede (30–28 in 2006), and José Guillén (31–24 in 2003). In 2000, Rodríguez suffered a season-ending injury in a game against the Anaheim Angels. While trying to make a throw to second base, his thumb made contact with the swing of Mo Vaughn's bat. He fractured his right thumb and underwent surgery the next day. This injury caused him to miss the rest of the season. Rodríguez appeared in just 91 games, which was the fewest that he appeared in since his first season in the league, 1991. His nine home runs in April matched a team record that was shared (through 2008) with Alex Rodriguez (2002), Carl Everett (2003), and Ian Kinsler (2007). Even though he was injured, he was still named to the second-team of Baseball America's Major League Baseball All-Star Team. Rodríguez returned to full action in 2001 and had another all-star season. He was selected to his ninth straight MLB All-Star Game, which tied the all-time record set by Johnny Bench. He also tied Bench's record of ten straight Rawlings Gold Glove Awards in a row. He batted .308, making 2001 his seventh straight season with a batting average of over .300. He had 25 home runs, 136 hits, and 65 RBI. He also posted a career-best 60.3% caught stealing rate, in a year when the league average was 29%. Rodríguez's final year in his first stint with the Texas Rangers came in 2002. His .314 batting average was seventh best among American League players. This was his eighth season in a row with batting average of .300 or above. He also had 32 doubles, two triples, and 60 runs batted in while playing in 108 games for the Rangers. Rodríguez was placed on the disabled list on April 23 after suffering a herniated disk on April 15. The injury did not require surgery, and he rehabilitated while playing for Class-A Charlotte. He later returned to the Rangers and played there for the remainder of the season. After the 2002 season, his contract with Texas expired and he became a free agent. Florida Marlins (2003) On January 22, 2003, Rodríguez signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Florida Marlins. By then a major-league veteran of over a decade, he helped lead the young team to victory in the World Series. During the 2003 regular season, he set many Marlins single season records for a catcher, such as batting average, at .297, and runs batted in, at 85. On March 31, Rodríguez became the tenth Marlins player ever to hit a home run in the team's first game of the season. On April 8, he set a Marlins single game record by drawing five walks in a game against the New York Mets. He had a nine-game hitting streak from June 24 to July 2, during which he batted .500 with seven doubles, two triples, and four home runs. From June 24 to July 1, he drove in a run in eight consecutive games, another single season record for the Marlins. In the postseason, he was named National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player for the first time in his career. He also closed out the National League Division Series by holding onto the ball during a dramatic game-ending collision at the plate with J. T. Snow in Game 4. He chose not to return to the Marlins following the 2003 season. Detroit Tigers (2004–2008) Before the 2004 season, Rodríguez signed a four-year, $40 million contract with the Detroit Tigers. In 2004, he was selected to the MLB All-Star Game for the 11th time in his career and for his 10th time as a starting player, joining Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza as the only Major League Baseball catchers to start an All-Star game 10 times or more in their career. During the month of June, he batted .500 and was named the American League Player of the Month. He also won his 10th consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award, making him the first player on the Detroit Tigers to win the award since Gary Pettis won it in 1989. He won his seventh career Silver Slugger Award, tied with Víctor Martínez of the Cleveland Indians. He was fourth in the American League in batting average and fourth among all Major League Baseball catchers. On October 1, he recorded his 1,000th career RBI in a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Prior to the 2005 season, Jose Canseco, in his controversial book Juiced, claimed to have personally injected Rodríguez with anabolic steroids during their time as teammates on the Texas Rangers. Rodríguez denied the allegations and said he was "in shock" over Canseco's claims. Rodríguez arrived at spring training in 2005 weighing 193 lbs.; his 2004 playing weight had been 215 lbs. Given that Major League Baseball implemented a more stringent regime of testing for performance-enhancing drugs in 2005, the "significant weight loss" experienced by Rodríguez "raised more than a few eyebrows". Rodríguez asserted that his weight loss was the result of changes in his diet and exercise. Asked by a reporter in 2009 whether his name was on the list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids during baseball's 2003 survey testing, Rodríguez responded, "Only God knows." Despite the off-season controversy, the 2005 season turned out to be another All-Star year for Rodríguez. He was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game for the 12th time in his career, and he participated in the Century 21 Home Run Derby on the day before the All-Star game, finishing second to Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies in his home stadium of Comerica Park. For the season, he batted .276 with 14 home runs and 50 runs batted in. On October 26, 2005, Major League Baseball named him the catcher on their Latino Legends Team. In 2006, Rodríguez returned to throwing out runners attempting to steal a base at a very high percentage, as he did in his earlier career; he was first in the league in this category, throwing out 45.7 percent of all runners attempting to steal a base. On May 9, 2006, Rodríguez played first base for the Tigers. That game, a 7–6 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, was the first time that he played a position other than catcher in his 1,914 Major League games. On August 15, 2006, he also made his first Major League appearance at second base after regular second baseman Plácido Polanco was injured in a game in Boston. Rodríguez was honored with a Fielding Bible Award as the best fielding catcher in MLB in 2006. Rodríguez would help the Tigers upset the Yankees in the 2006 ALDS and the A's in the 2006 ALCS to help Detroit win the pennant. On April 16, 2007, he batted in six runs on the way to a 12–5 victory over the Kansas City Royals. On June 12 he caught Justin Verlander's first no-hitter, the second no-hitter he caught in his career. In 2007, Rodríguez walked in only 1.8 percent of his plate appearances, the lowest percentage in the major leagues. On October 9, the Tigers announced that they were picking up the fifth-year, $13 million option on Rodríguez's contract, keeping him on the Tigers team through at least the 2008 season. The team could have bought out the option for $3 million and allowed him to become a free agent. In spring training in 2008 he led the major leagues with eight home runs. On April 10 against Boston, he got his 2,500th hit. New York Yankees (2008) On July 30, 2008, Rodríguez was traded to the New York Yankees for relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth after starting Yankee catcher Jorge Posada had season-ending surgery. While Rodríguez wanted to leave Detroit due to Tigers manager Jim Leyland's decision to use rotating catchers, he wound up sharing catching duties with back-up Yankee catcher José Molina, starting only 26 of the remaining 55 games of the 2008 season. With his customary number 7 having been retired by the Yankees for Mickey Mantle, Rodríguez changed his jersey number to 12. He finished the year with a .278 batting average with his time on the Yankees being his worst part of the season. Return to Puerto Rican League In preparation for the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Rodríguez returned to the Puerto Rico Baseball League (formerly LBPPR) during the offseason, following ten years of absence. Playing for the Criollos de Caguas, he gathered a batting average of .370 with three runs batted in and one home run in six games during the regular season. Upon leaving the team on vacation, Rodríguez noted that his intention was to return to action if the Criollos advanced to the playoffs. He returned to action in a "sudden death" game for the final postseason space, but the team lost and was eliminated. On January 8, 2008, the Leones de Ponce reclaimed Rodríguez in the last turn of a special post-season draft, where players from eliminated teams were selected to reinforce those that qualified. In the first week of December 2009, Rodríguez re-joined the Criollos de Caguas in the PRBL. Houston Astros (2009) On March 20, 2009, Rodríguez signed a one-year deal worth $1.5 million with the Houston Astros. Rodríguez was given the opportunity to make an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses. In a situation similar to his tenure with the Yankees, his customary number 7 had been retired by the Astros in honor of Craig Biggio, so Rodríguez initially wore jersey number 12, then later changed to number 77 mid-season. On May 17, 2009, Rodríguez hit his 300th career home run off of Chicago Cubs pitcher Rich Harden at Wrigley Field. On June 17, 2009, Rodríguez caught his 2,227th career game, passing Carlton Fisk for the most games caught in a career; the game was against his former team (the Rangers) at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Second stint with Rangers (2009) On August 18, 2009, Rodríguez was traded to the Texas Rangers for minor league reliever Matt Nevarez and two PTBNL. Teammate David Murphy switched his uniform number to #14 so Rodríguez could wear the #7 he previously wore with the Rangers. In his first game back with the Rangers, Rodríguez went 3-for-4 with an RBI double and two singles. He hit his first home run with the Rangers since 2002 on August 29, a solo shot against Minnesota Twins reliever José Mijares. He finished the 2009 season ranked first in major league history with 13,910 putouts as a catcher, ahead of Brad Ausmus (12,671). Washington Nationals (2010–2011) Following the 2009 season, Rodríguez filed for free agency, declining the Rangers' offer of salary arbitration. On December 11, 2009, Rodríguez signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the Washington Nationals. Rodríguez hit his first home run as a member of the Nationals on May 6 against Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves. Facing the New York Mets at Citi Field four days later, he went 4-for-4 and drove in the eventual game-winning RBI. On May 24, Rodríguez was hitting .325, but was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a back sprain. Rodríguez returned from the DL in time to catch for Stephen Strasburg's Major League debut on June 8, 2010. Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty instructed Strasburg to throw whatever Rodriguez called, which he did the entire game, except for the first pitch. Strasburg struck out 14 batters and walked none over seven complete innings, which has been described as one of the greatest major league pitching debuts of all time. In a postgame interview, Pudge reacted that "[e]verybody [was] impressed with what this kid did." In 2011, Rodríguez platooned at catcher for the Nationals with Wilson Ramos. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo later said signing Rodriguez to the team "turned out to be one of the best things we’ve done. He taught us to be a professional franchise." Career statistics In 2,543 games over 21 seasons, Rodríguez posted a .296 batting average (2,844-for-9,592) with 1,354 runs, 572 doubles, 51 triples, 311 home runs, 1,332 RBI, 127 stolen bases, 513 bases on balls, .334 on-base percentage and .464 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .991 fielding percentage. In 40 postseason games, he hit .255 (39-for-153) with 17 runs, 9 doubles, 4 home runs, 25 RBI and 14 walks. International career World Baseball Classic (Puerto Rico) Rodríguez represented Puerto Rico in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Rodríguez was one of several Major League Baseball players that committed to represent their birthplaces before the organization of the tournament. He also played for Puerto Rico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and was named to the classic's All-World Baseball Classic team. Retirement and honors Rodríguez announced his retirement on April 18, 2012. He signed a one-day contract with the Rangers on April 23, retiring as a member of the team. Rodríguez also threw out the ceremonial first pitch during the Rangers home game against the New York Yankees. Instead of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch from the mound, he went to his usual position behind the plate and threw from behind home plate to second base to Michael Young. Rodríguez was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame on February 27, 2014. He also joined FOX Sports Southwest in 2014 as an analyst for pre and postgame television coverage. He joined the Rangers front office as a special assistant to the general manager in February 2013 and continues in that role as of the 2024 season. In 2017, Rodríguez became eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Richard Justice of MLB.com argued that he was "unquestionably" a Hall of Fame-caliber player, writing on MLB.com in 2012 that he batted better than .290 with more than 2,500 hits, 550 doubles, 300 home runs and 1,300 RBI, an accomplishment equaled only by four all-time greats: Hank Aaron, George Brett, Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds. Justice acknowledged that like Bonds, Rodríguez may have difficulty winning election to the Hall of Fame due to suspicion that he used steroids during his career, USA Today expressed similar sentiments. On January 18, 2017, Rodríguez was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, receiving 76% of the vote. He became the first former Washington Nationals player in the Hall of Fame. Rodriguez was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on July 30, 2017. On August 12, 2017, the Rangers retired his jersey #7 with the team (and the opponent, Houston Astros) wearing throwback jerseys to the 1999 era in which Rodriguez played. In August 2017, Rodríguez was selected by then-Governor Ricardo Rosselló as one of Puerto Rico's five shadow representatives. Before the start of Game 1 of the 2023 World Series, Former President of the United States George W. Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch to Rodríguez. Personal life Rodríguez married Maribel Rivera on June 20, 1991. That same night, having been called up from double A (Rodriguez bypassed AAA) by the Texas Rangers, Rodríguez made his major league debut, in which he threw out two White Sox would-be base stealers. Rodríguez has three children: Dereck, Amanda, and Ivanna. In 1993, Rodríguez and his wife founded the Ivan "Pudge" Rodríguez Foundation, whose purpose is to help families in Puerto Rico, Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Rodríguez has also stated that the Make-a-Wish Foundation is one of his charities of choice. Their 15-year marriage ended in 2006 and Rodríguez married Colombia native Patricia Gómez in 2007. See also References External links Iván Rodríguez at the Baseball Hall of Fame Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors) Iván Rodríguez on Twitter

Alex_Rodriguez

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rodriguez

Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball player and businessman, who played as shortstop and third baseman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners (1994–2000), Texas Rangers (2001–2003), and New York Yankees (2004–2013, 2015–2016). Rodriguez is the chairman and chief executive officer of A-Rod Corp as well as the chairman of Presidente beer. He was part of a failed attempt to purchase a controlling interest in the National Basketball Association's Minnesota Timberwolves. Rodriguez began his professional baseball career as one of the sport's most highly touted prospects, and is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. With a career .295 batting average, Rodriguez amassed over 600 home runs (696), over 2,000 runs batted in (RBI), over 2,000 runs scored, over 3,000 hits, and over 300 stolen bases, the only player in MLB history to achieve all of those feats. He was also a 14-time All-Star, winning three American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, 10 Silver Slugger Awards, and two Gold Glove Awards. Rodriguez is also the career record holder for grand slams. He twice broke the record for the largest sports contract ever signed. He also admitted using banned performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003 and was consequently suspended for the entire 2014 season. Rodriguez is ranked first in career Wins Above Replacement for shortstops of the modern era (post–1901). The Mariners selected Rodriguez first overall in the 1993 MLB draft, and he debuted in the major leagues the following year at the age of 18. In 1996, he became the Mariners' starting shortstop, won the major league batting title, and finished second in voting for the AL MVP Award. His combination of power, speed, and defense made him a cornerstone of the franchise, but he left the team via free agency after the 2000 season to join the Rangers. The 10-year, $252 million contract he signed was the richest in baseball history at the time. He played at a high level in his three years with Texas, highlighted by his first AL MVP Award win in 2003, but the team failed to make the playoffs during his tenure. Before the 2004 season, Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees, for whom he converted to a third baseman to accommodate their shortstop Derek Jeter. He was named AL MVP in 2005 and 2007. He opted out of his contract after the 2007 season, then signed a new 10-year, $275 million deal with the Yankees, breaking his own record for the sport's most lucrative contract. He became the youngest player to hit 500 home runs, reaching the milestone in 2007. He helped the Yankees win the 2009 World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies, which was Rodriguez's only championship title. Toward the end of his career, he was hampered by hip and knee injuries, which caused him to become exclusively a designated hitter. He played his final game in professional baseball on August 12, 2016. Despite denying in a 2007 interview that he had ever used performance-enhancing drugs, Rodriguez admitted in 2009 to having used steroids, saying he used them from 2001 to 2003 when playing for the Rangers due to "an enormous amount of pressure" to perform. While recovering from a hip injury in 2013, Rodriguez made headlines by feuding with team management over his rehabilitation and for having allegedly obtained performance-enhancing drugs as part of the Biogenesis baseball scandal. In August 2013, MLB announced a 211-game suspension for Rodriguez for his involvement in the scandal. After an arbitration hearing, the suspension was reduced to 162 games, which kept him off the field for the entire 2014 season. After retiring as a player, Rodriguez became a media personality, serving as a broadcaster for Fox Sports 1, a cast member of Shark Tank and a member of the ABC News network. In January 2018, ESPN announced that Rodriguez would be joining the broadcast team of Sunday Night Baseball. In January 2017, CNBC announced Rodriguez would be the host of the show Back In The Game, where he would help former athletes make a comeback in their personal lives; the first episode debuted on the network in March 2018. Early life Rodriguez was born in 1975 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan to Dominican immigrants Víctor Manuel Rodríguez Marcano and Lourdes Nelly Navarro Melo from San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic. He was raised alongside his two half-siblings, Joe and Suzy, from his mother's first marriage. In 1979, when he was four years old, the family moved to the Dominican Republic, then to Miami, Florida, when he was in the fourth grade. His father played baseball for a team in the Dominican Republic and introduced him to the sport as a child. Growing up, Rodriguez's favorite baseball players were Keith Hernandez, Dale Murphy, and Cal Ripken Jr., and his favorite team was the New York Mets. At the end of his freshman year at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Rodriguez transferred to Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Florida, where he was a star shortstop on the baseball team and played quarterback on the football team. In 100 games he batted .419 with 90 stolen bases. Westminster won the high school national championship in his junior year. He was first team prep All-American as a senior, hitting .505 with nine home runs, 36 runs batted in (RBIs), and 35 stolen bases in 35 attempts in 33 games. He was selected as the USA Baseball Junior Player of the Year and as Gatorade's national baseball student-athlete of the year. In 1993, Rodriguez became the first high school player to try out for the United States national baseball team. He was regarded as the top prospect in the country. Rodriguez signed a letter of intent to play baseball for University of Miami and was also recruited by Miami to play quarterback for its football team. Rodriguez turned down the University of Miami baseball scholarship offer and never played college baseball, opting instead to sign with the Seattle Mariners after being selected first overall in the 1993 amateur draft at the age of 17. Professional career Draft and minor leagues The Seattle Mariners selected Rodriguez with the first overall selection of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft. The Mariners signed him to a three-year contract worth $1.3 million, and a $1 million signing bonus. Seattle Mariners 1994–1995 In 1994, Rodriguez made his professional baseball debut as a minor league player with the Appleton Foxes of the Class A Midwest League. He was promoted to the Jacksonville Suns of the Class AA Southern League. He played in 17 games for Jacksonville, then was promoted to Calgary for 32 games before moving up to the major leagues. On July 8, 1994, Rodriguez debuted in the major leagues as a starting shortstop, just the third 18-year-old major league shortstop since 1900. He was also the first 18-year-old major league player in 10 years, and the youngest position player in Seattle history. As of 2021, he is the most recent player to appear in an MLB game at the age of 18. Rodriguez recorded his first major league hit when he singled off of Sergio Valdez on July 9 at Fenway Park. Rodriguez played in 17 games for the Mariners, compiling a .204 batting average, two RBIs, and three stolen bases. In August, The Mariners optioned Rodriguez to the Calgary Cannons of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL). In 32 games for Calgary, he had 37 hits in 119 at-bats for a .311 batting average. He also compiled six home runs and 21 RBIs. Rodriguez split most of the 1995 season between the Mariners and the Tacoma Rainiers of the PCL. He connected for his first major league home run off Kansas City's Tom Gordon on June 12. Rodriguez permanently joined the major league roster in August and got his first taste of postseason play, albeit just two at-bats. Again, he was the youngest player in Major League Baseball. During the 1995 season, Rodriguez played in 48 games, batting .232 with five home runs, 19 RBI, and four stolen bases. 1996–1997 The following year, Rodriguez took over as the Mariners' regular shortstop and had his breakout season. He led the American League (AL) with a .358 batting average, the highest for an AL right-handed batter since Joe DiMaggio hit .381 in 1939 and the third-highest ever for a shortstop. He also had 36 home runs with 123 RBIs. At 21 years and one month, he was the 3rd youngest AL batting leader ever behind Al Kaline (20) in 1955 and Ty Cobb (20) in 1907, and the third-youngest player in history with 35+ homers. He was also the first major league shortstop to win a batting title since 1960, and the first in the AL since 1944. At age 20 years, 11 months, he was the youngest shortstop in All-Star Game history. He also led the AL in runs (141), total bases (379), and doubles (54) and ranked among the league leaders in base hits (second, 215), extra-base hits (second, 91), multi-hit games (third, 65), slugging (fourth, .631), RBI (eighth, 123), and on-base percentage (eighth, .414). Rodriguez posted the highest totals ever for a shortstop in runs, hits, doubles, extra-base hits, and slugging, and tied most total bases, and established Seattle club records for average, runs, hits, doubles, and total bases, in a season that statistical analysts consider the best ever by a shortstop. The Sporting News and Associated Press selected Rodriguez as their Major League Player of the Year. He finished second to Juan González in balloting for the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. He finished three points behind González (290–287), matching the second closest AL MVP voting in history. In 1997, Rodriguez batted .300 with 23 home runs and 84 RBIs. He hit for the cycle on June 5, becoming the second Mariner, and at 21 years, 10 months, the fifth-youngest player in history, to accomplish the feat. He was the fan's choice to start the All-Star Game at shortstop for the AL team, becoming the first player other than Ripken to start at shortstop in 13 years. It was the first All-Star start of his career and his second All-Star Game in two years. 1998–2000 Rodriguez rebounded in 1998, when he set the AL record for homers by a shortstop and became just the third member of the 40–40 club, (with 42 home runs and 46 stolen bases) and one of just 3 shortstops in history to hit 40 home runs in a season. His 43.9 Power-speed number was, through at least 2008, the highest single season Power/Speed Number ever. He was selected as Players Choice AL Player of the Year, won his second Silver Slugger Award, and finished ninth in the MVP voting. In 1999, Rodriguez had a .310 average, 42 home runs, and 111 RBIs, despite missing over 30 games with an injury and playing the second half of the season at Safeco Field, a considerably less hitter-friendly ballpark than the Kingdome. At the time, he was the youngest-ever player to record 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases, at 23 years and 309 days of age. In April 2015, Mike Trout reached the same milestone at 23 years and 253 days old. Rodriguez entered 2000 as the cornerstone player of the Mariners franchise, which had recently traded superstars Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr.. Rodriguez put up great numbers, hitting 41 home runs with 132 RBIs and a .316 batting average. He set a career high for walks (100) and became the only shortstop to have 100 runs, RBI, and walks in the same season. He hit well in the playoffs as well (.409 batting average and .773 slugging percentage), but Seattle lost to the New York Yankees in the 2000 American League Championship Series. He was selected as the Major League Player of the Year by Baseball America and finished third in the AL MVP voting. Texas Rangers Rodriguez became a free agent after the 2000 season. He eventually signed with the Texas Rangers, who had fallen to last place in their division in 2000. The contract was at the time the most lucrative contract in sports history: a 10-year deal worth $252 million (equivalent to $446 million in 2023). The deal was worth $63 million more than the second-richest baseball deal. The contract was highly criticized, because it tied up valuable payroll space that could have been spent to improve other areas, such as pitching. Dave McNally, one of the players who had successfully challenged the reserve clause in the 1970s to create free agency in baseball, said, "My first thought when I saw [reports that Rodriguez had signed] was: Did Texas offer him $250 million and he wanted two more? How did they get to $252 million?" In an interview eight years later, Rodriguez said he regretted signing with the Texas Rangers and wished he had signed with the New York Mets instead, and that he had heeded the advice of his agent, Scott Boras. (See Opt out controversy.) 2001–2002 Rodriguez's power-hitting numbers improved with his move to the Texas Rangers. In his first season there, Rodriguez produced one of the top offensive seasons ever for a shortstop, leading the American League with 52 home runs, 133 runs scored, and 393 total bases. He became the first player since 1932 with 50 homers and 200 hits in a season, the third shortstop to ever lead the league in homers, and the second AL player in the last 34 seasons (beginning 1968) to lead the league in runs, homers, and total bases; his total base figure is the most ever for a major league shortstop. His 52 homers made him the sixth youngest to ever reach 50 homers and were the highest total ever by a shortstop, surpassing Ernie Banks' record of 47 in 1958, and also the most ever for an infielder other than a first baseman, breaking Phillies 3B Mike Schmidt's mark of 48 in 1980. It was his fifth 30-homer campaign, tying Banks for most ever by a shortstop. He also tied for the league lead in extra-base hits (87) and ranked third in RBIs (135) and slugging (.622). He was also among the AL leaders in hits (fourth, 201), average (seventh, .318), and on-base percentage (eighth, .399). He established Rangers club records for homers, runs, total bases, and hit by pitches, had the second-most extra-base hits, and the fourth-highest RBI total. He led the club in runs, hits, doubles (34), homers, RBI, slugging, and on-base percentage and was second in walks (75), stolen bases (18), and game-winning RBI (14) while posting career highs for homers, RBI, and total bases. Rodriguez started 161 games at shortstop and one as the DH, the only major league player to start all of his team's games in 2001. Rodriguez followed the previous year with a major league-best 57 home runs, 142 RBIs and 389 total bases in 2002, becoming the first player to lead the majors in all three categories since 1984. His nine home runs in April matched a team record that was shared (through 2008) with Iván Rodríguez (2000), Carl Everett (2003), and Ian Kinsler (2007). He had the sixth-most home runs in AL history, the most since Roger Maris' league record 61 in 1961 and the most ever for a shortstop for the second straight year. He won the Babe Ruth Home Run Award for leading MLB in homers that season. He also won his first Gold Glove Award, awarded for outstanding defense. His 109 home runs in 2001–02 are the most ever by an American League right-handed batter in consecutive seasons. However, the Rangers finished last in the AL Western division in both years. He finished second in the MVP balloting to fellow shortstop Miguel Tejada, whose 103-win Oakland Athletics won the same division. 2003 The 2003 season was Rodriguez's last year with the Rangers. He led the American League in home runs, runs scored, and slugging percentage, and won his second consecutive Gold Glove Award. He also led the league in fewest at-bats per home run (12.9) and became the youngest player to hit 300 homers. He was tied with Jim Thome for the MLB lead in homers, and he won his second Babe Ruth Home Run Award. Following five top-10 finishes in the AL MVP voting between 1996 and 2002, Rodriguez won his first MVP trophy. Rodriguez, a two-time runner up in the balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, joined outfielder Andre Dawson from the 1987 Chicago Cubs as the only players to play on last-place teams and win the award. Following the 2003 season, Texas set out to part ways with Rodriguez and his expensive contract. The Rangers initially agreed to a trade with the Boston Red Sox, sending Rodriguez to Boston for Manny Ramirez, 19-year old pitching prospect Jon Lester, and cash considerations. However, the Major League Baseball Players Association vetoed the deal because it called for a voluntary reduction in salary by Rodriguez. Despite the failed deal with the Red Sox, the Rangers named him team captain during that off-season. New York Yankees Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone suffered a knee injury while playing a game of pickup basketball that sidelined him for the entire 2004 season, creating a hole at third base. On February 15, 2004, the Rangers traded Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for second baseman Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later (Joaquín Árias was sent to the Rangers on March 24). The Rangers also agreed to pay $67 million of the $179 million left on Rodriguez's contract. Rodriguez agreed to switch positions from shortstop to third base, paving the way for the trade, because the popular Derek Jeter was already entrenched at shortstop. This was only the second time in MLB history that a reigning MVP was traded, with the first coming in 1914 when Eddie Collins was traded to the Chicago White Sox from the Philadelphia Athletics for cash considerations. Rodriguez also had to switch uniform numbers; he had worn 3 his entire career, but the number was retired by the Yankees in honor of Babe Ruth. Instead, Rodriguez chose to change his number to 13, in honor of Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino. A Miami native himself, Rodriguez had grown up watching Marino and also wore number 13 when he played quarterback in high school. 2004 During his first season with the Yankees, Rodriguez hit .286 with 36 home runs, 106 RBIs, 112 runs scored and 28 stolen bases. He became one of only three players in Major League history to compile at least 35 home runs, 100 runs and 100 RBIs in seven consecutive seasons, joining Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx. The 112 runs marked the ninth straight season in which he scored at least 100 runs, the longest such streak in the Major Leagues since Hank Aaron did it in 13 straight seasons from 1955 to 1967, and the longest in the American League since Mickey Mantle did it also in nine straight seasons from 1953 to 1961. During the 2004 season, he also became the youngest player ever to reach 350 home runs and the third youngest to reach 1,000 RBIs. He was elected to the 2004 American League All-Star Team, the eighth All-Star selection of his career and the first as a third baseman. On July 24, 2004, Rodriguez was hit by a pitch from Bronson Arroyo, which led to a scuffle with Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, and a bench-clearing brawl between both teams. On defense, he had the lowest range factor among non-platoon AL third basemen (2.39) in his first year at the position. He finished 14th in balloting for the AL MVP Award. In the 2004 ALDS, Rodriguez was a dominant hitter against the Minnesota Twins, batting .421 and slugging .737 while delivering two key extra-inning hits. Following the series win, Rodriguez's first season with the Yankees culminated in a dramatic playoff series against the team he had almost ended up playing for: the Yankees' bitter rival, the Boston Red Sox. In that series (ALCS) he equaled the single-game post-season record with five runs scored in Game 3 at Boston. One of the most controversial plays of Rodriguez's career occurred late in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. With one out and Derek Jeter on first base in the bottom of the eighth inning, Rodriguez hit a slow roller between the pitcher's mound and the first-base line. Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo fielded the ball and ran towards Rodriguez to apply a tag. As Arroyo reached towards him, Rodriguez swatted at his glove, knocking the ball loose. As the ball rolled away, Jeter scored all the way from first as Rodriguez took second on the play, which was initially ruled an error on Arroyo. However, the umpires quickly huddled, then ruled that Rodriguez was out for interference. Jeter was sent back to first base, and his run was nullified. The Yankees would then lose the ALCS to the eventual World Series champion Red Sox after leading the series three games to none. 2005–2006 In 2005, Rodriguez hit .321, leading the American League with 124 runs and 48 home runs while driving in 130 runs. He became the first Yankee to win the American League home run title since Reggie Jackson (41) in 1980. He also became one of only two players in Major League history to compile at least 35 home runs, 100 runs and 100 RBIs in eight consecutive seasons (Jimmie Foxx accomplished the feat in nine straight seasons from 1932 to 1940). Rodriguez established the franchise record for most home runs in a single season by a right-handed batter (broke Joe DiMaggio's mark of 46 in 1937). His 47 home runs from the third base position are a single-season American League record. Rodriguez hit 26 home runs at Yankee Stadium in 2005, establishing the single-season club record for right-handed batters (previously held by DiMaggio in 1937 and Gary Sheffield in 2004). On June 8, at 29 years, 316 days old, he became the youngest player in MLB history to reach the 400 home run mark. 2005 also marked the tenth straight season that Rodriguez scored at least 100 runs. On defense, however, he had the lowest range factor in the league at third for the second straight season (2.62). On April 26, Rodriguez hit three home runs off Angels' pitcher Bartolo Colón and drove in 10 runs. The 10 RBIs were the most by a Yankee since Tony Lazzeri established the franchise and American League record with 11 on May 24, 1936. Rodriguez became the 11th major leaguer to accomplish the feat. Rodriguez won his second AL MVP Award in three seasons, becoming the fifth player to win this award with two different teams, joining Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Frank Robinson and Barry Bonds. He also became the first AL player from outside the American League West to win the award since Mo Vaughn of the Boston Red Sox won in 1995. Rodriguez was also named the shortstop on the Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team in 2005. Prior to the season, Rodriguez opted to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Rodriguez was again an All-Star in 2006. His 2,000th hit, on July 21, 2006 − six days prior to his 31st birthday − was also his 450th home run. Rodriguez became the youngest player in baseball history to reach 450 home runs (surpassing Ken Griffey Jr., by 267 days), and the eighth player to reach 2,000 hits before turning 31. Ty Cobb reached the mark while still 29, while Rogers Hornsby, Mel Ott, Hank Aaron, Joe Medwick, Jimmie Foxx, and Robin Yount all achieved their 2,000th hit at age 30. All seven are members of baseball's Hall of Fame. For the season, Rodriguez finished fourth in the league in RBI (121), fifth in runs scored (113), eighth in home runs (35) and walks (90), and ninth in OBP (.392). He also led all AL third basemen in errors, with 24, and had the lowest fielding percentage (.937) and—for the third straight season—range factor (2.50) among them. Rodriguez also became the second player in Major League history to record at least 35 home runs, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs in nine consecutive seasons, joining Foxx. It was Rodriguez's 11th consecutive season with more than 100 runs scored, the longest such streak in American League history since Lou Gehrig did so in 13 straight seasons (1926–38). Despite this success, it was perceived as one of his lesser-accomplished seasons and was harshly criticized throughout the 2006 season. He has commented that 2006 was his most difficult season as a professional. 2007 When Rodriguez reported to camp in 2007, he had reduced his body fat from 16% the year before to 9%. He made light of this fact during a Late Show with David Letterman sketch that was filmed during Spring training, which featured him shirtless being rubbed down with suntan lotion. He revealed to the press that he and Jeter were no longer close friends. Rodriguez also reduced his high leg kick at the plate, increasing his bat speed, making him less-apt to strike out and a more dangerous hitter. In the Yankees' fourth game of the season, Rodriguez hit two home runs against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium, including his 14th-career grand slam to end the game. The walk-off grand slam was the third of his career, tying the major league mark for game-ending grand slams shared by Vern Stephens and Cy Williams. Rodriguez also began the season by becoming the ninth major leaguer—and first Yankee—to hit six home runs in the first seven games of the season. Rodriguez also became the first Yankee to hit seven home runs in the first ten games of the season. On April 23, Rodriguez became the first player in major league history to hit 14 home runs in a span of 18 games, and also tied the MLB record for most home runs in April. His total of 34 RBIs in April was one short of Juan González' AL and MLB record. In a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 30, Rodriguez sparked controversy when he shouted during a routine play and an infielder let a pop fly drop, costing the Blue Jays three runs. The Yankees went on to win the game, 10–5. On July 12, Rodriguez hit his 150th career home run in a Yankees uniform. This made him the first, and so far only, player in major league history to ever hit 150 home runs for three different teams. He became the third player to hit at least 100 home runs for three teams, following Reggie Jackson and Darrell Evans. Rodriguez hit his 500th career home run against pitcher Kyle Davies of the Kansas City Royals on August 4. Rodriguez became the youngest player ever to reach 500 home runs at 32 years, 8 days. He surpassed the nearly 67-year record held by Jimmie Foxx, who hit his 500th home run at 32 years, 338 days during the final week of the 1940 major league baseball season. On September 25, Rodriguez became the fifth Major League player to record a 50-home run, 150-RBI season when he hit a grand slam. As of 2024, Rodriguez is the most recent player to have recorded at least 150 RBIs in one season. In 2007, Rodriguez became the first player in major league history to have at least 35 home runs, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs in 10 consecutive seasons, surpassing Jimmie Foxx (nine consecutive seasons). He led the AL in home runs (54), RBIs (156), slugging percentage (.645), OPS (1.067), total bases (376), and times on base (299), and was second in hit by pitch (21), extra-base hits (85), and at bats per home run (10.8), fourth in on-base percentage (.422) and sacrifice flies (9), seventh in walks (95) and plate appearances (708), eighth in intentional walks (11), and ninth in games (158). He led MLB in home runs and won his third Babe Ruth Home Run Award. After the season, Rodriguez was named the AL MVP for the third time in his career, receiving 26 first-place votes out of a possible 28. He also won the Silver Slugger Award for his position, the Players Choice Award for Outstanding AL Player, and the Players Choice Award for Player of the Year. Opt-out controversy The 2007 season marked the last year of Rodriguez's 10-year, $252 million contract before he opted out and became a free agent again. Rodriguez had repeatedly stated during the 2007 season that he would like to remain a Yankee for the rest of his career. On October 28, 2007, Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, announced that he would not renew his contract with the Yankees citing that he "was unsure of the future composition" of the team. Because of the opt-out, the Yankees also lost $21.3 million in remaining payments from the Rangers as part of their agreement from the 2004 trade. Rodriguez received a slew of criticism from fans and writers alike not only for opting out, but also for not meeting with Yankee management before he did. He was further criticized for the timing of his announcement, during the eighth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, as the Boston Red Sox were wrapping up their victory over the Colorado Rockies; even MLB's chief operating officer, Bob DuPuy, called it an attempt by Boras to "try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game." Teammate Mariano Rivera convinced Rodriguez to contact the New York Yankees ownership. He contacted them directly, bypassing Boras (Boras also apologized for the timing of the announcement). Subsequently, Rodriguez issued a statement on his website, saying that he wished to stay with the Yankees. On November 15, 2007, the New York Yankees and Rodriguez agreed on the "basic framework" of a 10-year, $275 million contract that would have him playing until he was 42. The contract, finalized December 13, included various multimillion-dollar incentives for breaking career home run milestones. 2008 Rodriguez hit his 549th home run in a September 3, 2008, game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The opposing manager objected that the ball was foul, and for the first time in MLB history, instant replay (a process officially introduced a few days earlier) was used to review the play and uphold the umpires' ruling. He was one of only four batters in the AL to have at least 18 home runs and 18 stolen bases in both 2007 and 2008, along with Torii Hunter, Ian Kinsler, and Grady Sizemore. Rodriguez hit a home run every 14.6 at-bats in 2008, the second-best ratio on the team behind Jason Giambi. Rodriguez played 138 games during the 2008 season with a .302 average, 35 home runs, 103 RBI, and an AL best .573 slugging percentage. Early 2009: Report of positive test for steroids On February 7, 2009, Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez tested positive for testosterone and the anabolic steroid Primobolan in 2003. Rodriguez's name appears on a government-sealed list of 104 major-league players (out of 1200 tested) who came up positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The report was compiled as part of Major League Baseball's 2003 survey to see whether mandatory random drug testing program might be necessary. At the time, there was no penalty or punishment for a positive steroid test. Rodriguez did not immediately confirm the allegations, deferring at first to the players' union. Two days after the allegations, Rodriguez admitted to steroid use from 2001 until 2003, claiming that he ceased using such substances after spring training that year. 2009 regular season Prior to the 2009 season, Rodriguez was scheduled to represent the Dominican Republic in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, but he was forced to withdraw when an MRI revealed a cyst in his right hip. When he went to have the cyst drained, it was discovered that he was also suffering from a torn labrum in the same hip. Rodriguez opted to undergo an arthroscopic procedure with a recovery period of six to nine weeks, instead of the usual three to four months. Although the procedure should have allowed him to make it through the season without any complications, he required a second, more extensive surgery in the off-season. After missing spring training and the first month of the season, Rodriguez returned to the Yankees in a May 8 game against the Baltimore Orioles and hit a three-run home run on the first pitch of his first at-bat. The Yankees had stumbled to a 13–15 record in Rodriguez' absence, and his return fortified the lineup and provided much-needed protection for three-hole hitter Mark Teixeira, who was a notoriously slow starter. Rodriguez also supplied some late-game heroics. On May 16, his two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the eleventh inning gave the Yankees a 6–4 win over the Minnesota Twins. One week later, he hit a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the ninth off Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge in a game the Yankees would go on to win, 5–4. By early June, the Yankees had surged to first place in the AL East. The club's fortunes changed later in the month, when Rodriguez fell into a slump that saw his batting average plummet as the Yankees fell to second place. On June 23, Rodriguez became the eighth active player to reach 8,000 career at-bats in the seventh inning of the Yankees and Braves game. On June 25, Rodriguez belted homer 563 of his career, off Atlanta Braves starter Derek Lowe, and tying Reggie Jackson for 11th on the all-time home run list. On June 26, Rodriguez surpassed Jackson for 11th on the all-time home run list, against the New York Mets in the Subway Series, and against the Angels on July 11, Rodriguez passed Rafael Palmeiro for 10th place; it was his 65th home run against Anaheim, the most by any active player against an opponent. On October 4, 2009, during the final game of the season, Rodriguez hit two home runs in the sixth inning that drove in seven runs, setting an American League record for most RBI by a batter in a single inning, and giving him his 12th consecutive season, 13 overall, of reaching 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, breaking a tie with Manny Ramirez, Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx for the most in MLB history. 2009 postseason Dating back to Game 4 of the 2004 AL Championship Series, Rodriguez had batted with 38 runners on base over a span of 61 postseason at-bats. He stranded every one of them, going 0-for-29 with runners on base. However, in the first game of the 2009 ALDS against Minnesota, he hit two RBI singles − both coming with two outs. In Game 2, he hit an RBI single in the sixth, and hit a game-tying homer off closer Joe Nathan in the bottom of the ninth inning. In Game 3, he again hit a game-tying home run. In the ALCS, Rodriguez hit his third game-tying home run of the postseason in Game 2 in the bottom of the 11th against Angels closer Brian Fuentes. For the series, he batted 9–21 (.429) with three home runs and six runs batted in. The Yankees faced the Phillies in the World Series. In Game 3, Rodriguez hit what appeared to be a double off a camera perched atop the outfield wall, but after protest by Yankee manager Joe Girardi, the play was reviewed and ruled a home run. In Game 4, Rodriguez drove in the go-ahead run with two outs in the ninth inning off closer Brad Lidge. The Yankees would go on to win the game 7–4 to take a 3-games-to-1 lead in the series. Despite a 2–4 performance with three RBI in Game 5, the Yankees lost 8–6 to force the Series to return to the Bronx for Game 6. Rodriguez was 1–2 with 2 walks and two runs scored in Game 6, as the Yankees went on to defeat the Phillies 7–3 for their 27th World Series Championship, the first of Rodriguez's career. Having reversed his postseason misfortunes, he was the Babe Ruth Award winner as the 2009 postseason MVP, in which he batted .365 with six home runs and 18 RBI. 2010–2012 On August 4, 2010, on the three-year anniversary of his 500th home run, Rodriguez became the seventh player in major league history to hit 600 home runs, hitting number 600 off Shaun Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays, becoming the youngest player to do so at 35 years and 8 days old. On August 14, Rodriguez hit three home runs in a game against the Kansas City Royals. In the top of the sixth, he hit his first, a solo dinger to left center. In the top of the seventh, he hit his second, a two-run shot to dead center. In the top of the ninth, he hit his third, a towering two-run blast into the waterfall in Kauffman Stadium. On September 6, he recorded his 100th RBI; it was the 14th year he had reached the mark, the most times of any player in baseball history. On September 29, he hit his 30th home run of the season, recording his major league record 13th straight year of at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, breaking a tie with Jimmie Foxx, who had 12 seasons. In 2011, Rodriguez batted .295 with 13 home runs and 52 RBIs prior to the All-Star break. Despite good production, Rodriguez suffered the longest single-season home run drought of his career by not hitting one in 85 at-bats. Although elected to start the game, Rodriguez opted for arthroscopic surgery on his knee to repair a torn meniscus that impacted his power, and was placed on the disabled list. On top of recovery, Rodriguez was facing serious allegations that he participated in illegal, underground poker games. One of those games reportedly turned violent and cocaine was openly used. However, Rodriguez denied through a representative that he ever participated in illegal poker games. An MLB Executive has said that if Rodriguez was indeed proven guilty, he may face a suspension; MLB had warned Rodriguez in 2005 not to participate in such games. Rodriguez returned to the Yankees on August 21, playing third base against the Minnesota Twins, going 0-for-4. He sustained another injury with a jammed thumb while trying to make a play in that game. He returned to the Yankees on August 25, going 2-for-4 with two singles in a win for the Yankees over the Oakland Athletics. On August 26, Rodriguez hit his first home run since coming off the disabled list, a solo shot off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Tommy Hunter. He concluded the season with 16 home runs and 62 RBIs in 99 games, ending his major league-record streak of 13 straight seasons of 30 homers and 100 RBIs. Rodriguez hit his 23rd career grand slam off Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Jonny Venters on June 12, 2012, which tied Lou Gehrig for the most in MLB history. In a road loss versus the Seattle Mariners on July 24, 2012, Rodriguez took a hit to the hand during an eighth-inning at bat versus Seattle starting pitcher Félix Hernández. The injury was later described as a non-displaced fracture. Rodriguez was placed on the disabled list. Earlier in the same game, Hernandez struck out Rodriguez in the sixth inning, making Rodriguez the fifth player to record 2,000 career strikeouts in MLB history. During the 2012 postseason, Rodriguez was removed for a pinch hitter multiple times and did not start many times. He batted 3-for-25 overall, and went 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handed pitchers. He batted .111 in the 2012 ALCS. The Yankees were eliminated by the Tigers in the 2012 ALCS. 2013 On January 16, 2013, Rodriguez underwent arthroscopic surgery in his hip to repair a torn labrum. It was the second time in four years that he had the surgery, although the operation was more serious than before. Rodriguez began the 2013 season on the 60-day disabled list. While rehabilitating his hip, Rodriguez was embroiled in a series of negative headlines: he became a central figure of the Biogenesis baseball scandal and MLB's investigation into his possible connection to performance-enhancing drugs. Around the same time, Rodriguez announced on Twitter that his doctor had medically cleared him to play in games. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, much to his dismay, soon revealed that Rodriguez's doctor did not have such authority to clear him. Rodriguez played his first rehab assignment game on July 2, 2013, with the Yankees Class-A Low affiliate, the Charleston RiverDogs. He continued his rehabilitation and played for the Yankees Triple-A team, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on July 18. Two days prior to his scheduled promotion to the major league roster, Rodriguez sustained a new injury, as an MRI later revealed a Grade 1 quad strain, delaying his return and forcing him to continue rehabilitating in the minor leagues. Rodriguez independently sought a second opinion on his quad strain on July 24 with a doctor who stated that there did not appear to be an injury; the Yankees front office expressed further dismay, claiming that he violated league rules for seeking a second opinion without the team's permission. He completed his rehabilitation program with the Yankees' Double-A affiliate Trenton Thunder. Rodriguez made his 2013 return with the Yankees on August 5, which was the same day that MLB announced he would be suspended—pending an appeal—through the 2014 season for his role in the Biogenesis scandal. On August 11, Rodriguez hit his first home run of the season off Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander. With the home run, Rodriguez passed Stan Musial for fifth place in career RBIs. Rodriguez continued to feud with the Yankees front office following his return, as his lawyers accused the team, and specifically Christopher S. Ahmad, of mishandling his hip injury in several ways; Rodriguez's legal team contended that the team withheld the injury from him and continued to play him in 2012, despite his condition. Yankees team president Randy Levine expressed negative comments towards Rodriguez, saying that he would "feel happy if Rodriguez never played again". In response to the accusations, Cashman said, "I'm not comfortable talking to Alex about this because we feel we are in a litigious environment. Hello and goodbye, that's about it." He added, "It's not just Yankees' management. He's putting it at the level of our trainers, our medical staff. The organization. The team." During a game against the Red Sox on August 18, 2013, Rodriguez was involved in key moments against Ryan Dempster. The first time he faced Dempster, Rodriguez was hit by a pitch on a 3–0 count, leading to home plate umpire Brian O'Nora warning both benches and ejecting Girardi, while Dempster was allowed to stay in the game. Later in the top of the sixth inning, Rodriguez encountered Dempster again, hitting a 442-foot home run to straightaway center. The Yankees won 9–6, and Dempster, who hit Rodriguez before, was suspended five games by the league with an undisclosed fine (although he did not miss a start). On September 20, at Yankee Stadium, Rodriguez hit his 24th career grand slam, an opposite field 654th career home run, off George Kontos of the San Francisco Giants, breaking the all-time grand slam record, formerly held by Lou Gehrig. For the 2013 season, Rodriguez played in only 44 games batting .244 with seven home runs and 19 RBI. 2014: Suspension due to Biogenesis scandal Rodriguez's suspension that was announced the previous season but delayed pending an appeal, was upheld, resulting in him being suspended for the entirety of the 2014 regular season and postseason. At the end of the 2014 season, general manager Brian Cashman announced that Rodriguez would no longer serve as an everyday third baseman after the team's signing of Chase Headley, and would instead serve as a designated hitter. 2015 In the off-season, during the week of January 19, 2015, it was reported that Rodriguez met with new Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred. The pair reportedly had a "positive discussion...in which Rodriguez apologized, while promising to behave in the future". On February 17, 2015, Rodriguez issued a hand-written letter of apology to "Major League Baseball, the Yankees, the Steinbrenner family, the Players Association and you, the fans". Rodriguez reported to New York Yankees' 2015 spring training camp three days early. Girardi planned to play Rodriguez at first base during spring training to assess whether he could be played there, a first for his career. Rodriguez played his first game after his suspension on opening day against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. He served as the designated hitter, going 1 for 2 with a walk as the Yankees lost to the Blue Jays 1–6. On April 17, his first multi-HR game – and third and fourth home runs – of the season included a blast off Nate Karns of Tampa Bay that traveled 471 feet (144 m), providing four total RBIs in a 5–4 win. In a pinch-hit appearance against the Red Sox on May 1, Rodriguez hit his 660th career home run off reliever Junichi Tazawa, tying Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home run list. On May 7, Rodriguez hit his 661st career home run off Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman for sole possession of fourth place on the all-time home run list. On May 27, Rodriguez set an AL record for the most career RBI, passing Lou Gehrig, also moving him into third on the all-time list. With his 666th career home run against Bud Norris of the Orioles on June 13, Rodriguez drove in his 2,000th and 2,001st career runs. However, opinions varied on whether he was the second (Elias Sports Bureau, trailing Aaron), third (MLB, trailing Aaron and Ruth), or fourth player (Baseball-Reference.com, trailing Aaron, Ruth, and Cap Anson) in MLB history to attain 2,000 RBIs. Rodriguez' next home run was also his 3,000th career hit, making him the 29th player to reach the milestone. He hit it against the Tigers' Justin Verlander in a 7–2 win, joining Wade Boggs and Jeter – both former Yankees – as the only players to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit. With his next hit on June 20, Rodriguez surpassed Roberto Clemente, the eleventh player in MLB history to have recorded 3,000 hits. On July 25, against the Twins in Minnesota, and two days before his 40th birthday, Rodríguez became the fifth-oldest player to hit three home runs in one game. In his first 95 games of the season, Rodriguez hit 24 homers and produced an OPS of .930. After being mired in a 72-at-bat slump without a home run until August 18 against the Twins, he hit his 25th home run which was also his 25th career grand slam, extending his major league record. The home run also drove in the go-ahead runs for an 8–4 Yankees win. From August 1 until the end of the season, Rodriguez appeared in 56 games, batting .191, .678 OPS, nine home runs, and struck out 59 times in 183 at-bats. The first base experiment yielded two total appearances in 2015. He finished with 33 home runs, 86 RBI, 131 hits, and a .252 batting average. He led the Yankees in home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging, and bases-on-balls. Rodriguez reached 30+ home runs for the 15th time in his career, tying Aaron for the most 30-home-run seasons in history. 2016 On April 17, 2016, Rodriguez became the 19th player to make 12,000 career plate appearances. On May 4, the Yankees placed him on the 15-day disabled list due to a right hamstring strain. On May 24, the Yankees sent him on a rehab assignment to the Double-A Trenton Thunder, and activated him on May 26. The next day, he hit his 30th career home run at Tropicana Field, which traveled an estimated 440 feet (130 m), as the Yankees defeated Tampa Bay, 4–1. However, for much of the season, Rodriguez notably struggled to adequately produce, enduring prolonged slumps as his role dwindled from everyday designated hitter to pinch hitter. In July, he had two extra base hits, including his 696th career home run. At a press conference held on August 7, Rodriguez announced that he would play in his final game for the Yankees on the following Friday, August 12, against the Rays at Yankee Stadium. It was also noted that the Yankees would sign him to a new contract that would keep him in the organization through 2017 as a special instructor and advisor. In the offseason, Rodriguez would join the Yankees' front office as a special advisor. The club commemorated Rodriguez's final game as a Yankee, thanking him in front of a sold-out crowd for his efforts with a tribute of highlights on the stadium videoboard, a presentation of a framed number 13 jersey, and a base autographed by teammates. At the plate, he batted third and started as the designated hitter, going 1-for-4 with an RBI double. In the ninth inning, he was brought onto the field at third base for one batter − his only defensive appearance for the Yankees in 2016 − and departed the field to a "raucous ovation" from the fans. The next day, the Yankees granted him his unconditional release. His vacated roster spot was filled by future MVP Aaron Judge. Rumors swirled regarding Rodriguez's future in baseball; the Miami Marlins were interested in signing him to play first base until his spokesman Ron Berkowitz emailed the media on August 15 and said on behalf of Rodriguez, "I want to put all this talk to rest about Alex playing for any team this season. It's not happening. Like he said Friday night, he is happy and he is going to take some time to relax and hang with his family and friends." Rodriguez ended the season playing 65 games with a .200 batting average, nine home runs and 31 RBIs. In January 2017, Rodriguez's spokesman said that he would not play for any other team in the coming year, and would remain a "special advisor" to Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner. Media career Television Rodriguez became a guest judge on Shark Tank in 2017. That same year, he signed a deal with ABC News network to serve as a contributor to ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and Nightline. Rodriguez is an MLB studio analyst for FOX Sports, working alongside Kevin Burkhardt, David Ortiz and Frank Thomas. During his tenure as analyst, FOX Sports' MLB studio show won back-to-back Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Show during the network's coverage of the 2016 and 2017 postseason. Rodriguez was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio and Sports Event Analyst in 2019. Rodriguez joined ESPN in 2018 as a Sunday Night Baseball analyst, alongside Matt Vasgersian and Buster Olney. In the 2022 season, Rodriguez moved to a simulcast on ESPN2 that he co-hosts with Michael Kay. Rodriguez became the host of the show Back in the Game with the first episode debuting on CNBC in March 2018. The series focuses on Rodriguez mentoring athletes and entertainers who have fallen on hard times. A four-episode series debuted in November 2019 and featured Evander Holyfield, Ryan Lochte, Brian Dunkleman, and Nicole Eggert. In July 2020, it was announced that Rodriguez would be part of the judging panel for the Forbes' Next 1000 list, a franchise which focuses on entrepreneurs from marginalized communities. Rodriguez appeared in The Captain, a 2022 miniseries about Jeter's life and career. Rodriguez and Jeter discussed the rift in their friendship. Advertisements Rodriguez was featured in a 2010 Pepsi Cola commercial as a truck driver in a fleet of delivery trucks simulating players in a baseball game. At the end of the commercial when he drives his vehicle to make a catch, he is told by his approving partner in the truck that he has a future in the beverage delivery business. Rodriguez is featured in a commercial for Guitar Hero World Tour, where he plays the guitar along with athletes Tony Hawk on drums, Kobe Bryant on vocals, and Michael Phelps on guitar. The commercial is a spoof of the scene from Risky Business where Tom Cruise is dancing to "Old Time Rock and Roll". In 2019, Rodriguez was featured in a Planters Super Bowl commercial, where he is watching the game and about to snack on some kale chips but Mr. Peanut drives in to stop him from eating kale and instead snack on some Peanuts. In 2020, Rodriguez was featured in a Presidente beer Super Bowl commercial. He appeared in the 2020 Superbowl Hard Rock ad which also featured Jennifer Lopez. In 2021, Rodriguez teamed up with cosmetics company, Hims to launch a line of make-up for men, beginning with its first product - a concealer stick. His ex Jennifer Lopez is a co-investor. In 2022, Rodriguez appeared in a DirectTV commercial with Ortiz and former Mariners teammates Griffey Jr. and Johnson. Criticism Due to the unsuccessful nature of the Yankees postseasons from 2004 to 2007, along with Rodriguez's sub-.200 batting average in the postseasons of 2005 and 2006, Rodriguez drew criticism in the New York area, both from writers, such as the New York Post's Joel Sherman, and players, such as then-teammate, Jason Giambi. Prior to 2009, Rodriguez had received the nickname "The Cooler" among some players because of the perceived tendency for teams to turn cold when he joins them and hot when he leaves. According to Yankee manager Joe Torre's 2009 book, The Yankee Years, Rodriguez earned the nickname "A-Fraud" from teammates and particularly from clubhouse attendants who were said to resent his demands. "It was [said] in front of him," Torre later said of the nickname. "A lot of that stuff that went on in the clubhouse was more tongue-in-cheek, fun type stuff," he explained. Much of the criticism regarding Rodriguez focuses on his alleged inability to produce hits in clutch situations. In 2008, Rodriguez hit only .264 with runners in scoring position and two outs. In 95 plate appearances, he walked 20 times and was hit by three pitches, and he had only 19 hits. Of the 41 times Rodriguez struck out with two outs, 20 came with runners in scoring position. Because of the Yankees' successful history, he was compared unfavorably to other Yankees greats who have performed exceptionally well in the postseason, such as Reggie Jackson. However, after his performance in the 2009 postseason, Rodriguez started receiving many positive comparisons to Reggie Jackson, even being selected as "Mr. October" by Jackson and USA Today. Rodriguez answered many of the criticisms of his postseason performance by performing exceptionally well in the 2009 postseason, where he posted a .365 batting average and hit six home-runs in 52 at-bats during the Yankees' 15 post-season games. Use of performance-enhancing drugs In July 2007, former outfielder and steroid-user Jose Canseco said that he was planning to publish another book about Major League Baseball, to follow his 2005 bestseller Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. Canseco said his new book would have "other stuff" on Rodriguez, and called him a hypocrite. At the time, Rodriguez denied accusations of steroid use. In a 2007 interview with Katie Couric, Rodriguez flatly denied ever having used performance-enhancing drugs. In February 2009, Selena Roberts and David Epstein of Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez had tested positive for two anabolic steroids, testosterone and Primobolan, during his 2003 season playing for the Texas Rangers, the same season in which he captured his first American League Most Valuable Player award, broke 300 career home runs (hitting 47 that year), and earned one of his ten Silver Slugger Awards. The information had been part of a government-sealed report detailing 104 major league players (out of 1200 players tested) who tested positive for performance enhancers during a 2003 drug survey. Approved by the players themselves with the promise of anonymity, the survey was conducted by Major League Baseball to see whether a mandatory drug testing program might be necessary. At the time, as the result of a collectively bargained union agreement, there was no penalty or punishment for a positive test. Because more than 5% of the samples taken from players in 2003 came back positive, mandatory testing of major league baseball players began in 2004, with penalties for violations. The 2003 test results were supposed to remain anonymous and the samples destroyed. However, a coded master list of 104 players was seized during the BALCO investigation, turning up in a 2004 federal raid on Comprehensive Drug Testing's facility in Long Beach, California. A month later, the physical samples were seized by federal agents raiding Quest Diagnostics in Las Vegas, Nevada. The list of the 104 positive-testing players was released to the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) in 2004. The players' union later said that the 104 positive samples were in the process of being destroyed when they were subpoenaed by federal authorities in November 2003, making continued destruction "improper." Although testosterone is available by prescription for some uses, Primobolan has no approved prescription use. Also known as methenolone or metenolone enanthate, it is the same steroid that Barry Bonds is alleged to have tested positive for in 2000 and 2001. A fairly weak steroid on its own, it is generally used in conjunction with other steroids. The drug is generally preferred in injected rather than oral form due to its cost. An official statement by Major League Baseball made shortly after Rodriguez's test results became public expressed "grave concern" without naming Rodriguez, noting that "because the survey testing that took place in 2003 was intended to be non-disciplinary and anonymous, we can not make any comment on the accuracy of this report as it pertains to the player named." In an interview with ESPN after the report came out, citing "an enormous amount of pressure to perform", Rodriguez admitted to using banned substances from 2001 to 2003. "All my years in New York have been clean," he added, saying he has not used banned substances since last taking them following a spring training injury in 2003 while playing for the Rangers. "Back then, [baseball] was a different culture," Rodriguez said. "It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful." Rodriguez said he could not be sure of the name(s) of the substance(s) he had used. Rodriguez said he was never told that he was among the 104 players who tested positive, only that a tip came in August 2004 from Gene Orza of the MLBPA that he "may or may not have" failed his 2003 test. Orza is accused by three (unnamed) MLB players of tipping Rodriguez to an upcoming drug test in September 2004. Orza and the MLBPA have denied the allegations. Rodriguez absolved the players' union of any blame for leaking his positive test results, saying he alone was responsible for his mistakes. Friend and former teammate Doug Glanville, while noting the outrage over Rodriguez's years of steroid use, berated Rodriguez's critics for their "lack of outrage about how a confidential and anonymous test could be made public." No Major League player, Glanville wrote, would have participated in the 2003 survey if he had thought the results had even a chance of becoming public. "It has everything to do with privacy. Being A-Rod should not change that fact." MLB commissioner Bud Selig briefly considered whether to punish Rodriguez for his admitted steroid use, citing the illegality of the situation, among other things. However, at the time of the testing there were no punishments for this sort of activity. Additionally, his admission to three years of steroid use could be damaging to his image and legacy. Later in the month, Rodriguez called a press conference in Tampa, Florida, and in the presence of many supportive Yankee teammates, answered reporters' questions about his 2001–2003 steroid use. Rodriguez said he and a cousin (whom he refused to name) bought an unidentified drug over-the-counter in the Dominican Republic, where it is "known on the streets as boli or bollee." At Rodriguez's instruction, the cousin transported the drug into the United States. For six months of the year, Rodriguez injected himself twice monthly with "boli" (a drug name unfamiliar to experts and perhaps a slang term for Primobolan or Dianabol, although the latter steroid is taken orally). Rodriguez said he did not know whether he was using the drug properly or whether it was safe. Although he "certainly felt more energy", Rodriguez said it would be "hard to say" whether it gave him a competitive edge. Rodriguez said he would become a spokesperson for the Taylor Hooton foundation, which educates young people about the dangers of steroid use. He has since spoken at schools about the dangers of steroids. On February 28, 2010, The New York Times reported that Rodriguez had received treatment from Canadian sports doctor Anthony Galea in March 2009. In 2011, Galea reached a plea agreement for bringing unapproved and mislabeled drugs into the United States, including human growth hormone (HGH) and Actovegin. Galea confirmed to the Associated Press that he had treated Rodriguez but claimed that he had only prescribed anti-inflammatories. Biogenesis baseball scandal Rodriguez reportedly received HGH from Biogenesis of America, an anti-aging clinic in Coral Gables, Florida run by Bosch. For much of the summer of 2013, it had been expected that Rodriguez would be suspended for his role in the scandal. The first definitive confirmation came on August 3, 2013, when MLB rebuffed the players' union's last-minute offer to negotiate. Instead, it allowed Rodriguez until the afternoon of August 4 to reach an agreement regarding a suspension or greater punishment for his role in the Biogenesis affair. On August 5, MLB suspended Rodriguez from August 8 through the end of the 2014 season for violating the league's PED policy, a term that was to include a total of 211 regular-season games plus any postseason games. He was one of 13 players suspended for their roles in the scandal. In its official statement, MLB announced that the suspension was based on Rodriguez's "use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years" and "for attempting to cover-up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner's investigation." Although the standard punishment for a first offense under MLB's drug policy is 50 games, MLB had the option of suspending Rodriguez for a longer term under the collective bargaining agreement if it had determined that his actions constituted conduct detrimental to baseball. Almost immediately after the suspension was announced, Rodriguez announced that he would appeal. He was the only player to do so; the others accepted season-ending 50-game suspensions without appeal. Although MLB commissioner Bud Selig had the option of using his best-interests-of-baseball powers to remove Rodriguez from the field immediately, he chose to suspend Rodriguez under the drug agreement and not the CBA, allowing Rodriguez to continue playing while the appeal was under way. The proposed suspension would include a global lock clause, which would also prevent him from playing in other known leagues, such as Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Championship, as the leagues in those nations honor any suspensions imposed by MLB. Rodriguez hired New York criminal defense lawyer Joe Tacopina. A lengthy arbitration process followed, but the suspension was upheld on January 11, 2014. However, because Rodriguez was allowed to play during the appeal process, this effectively reduced the suspension to 162 games, the entirety of the 2014 regular-season schedule. Because Rodriguez was on the suspended list retroactive through August 31, the suspension would have included the postseason if the Yankees had qualified, although the team failed to reach the playoffs. Rodriguez issued a statement announcing that he would challenge the decision in federal court. On February 7, 2014, Rodriguez announced his decision to abandon his lawsuit and accept the suspension for the 2014 season. In March 2014, multiple sources reported that Rodriguez had refused to pay the balance of his legal fees, which amounted to more than $3 million. In July 2014, Rodriguez was sued by his lawyers for $380,000 in unpaid legal fees. In November 2014, it was revealed that in the previous January, Rodriguez had admitted to the Drug Enforcement Administration that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. This was contrary to his comments of 18 days earlier when he had vehemently refuted the allegations and denied having used human growth hormones. A-Rod Corp Rodriguez founded A-Rod Corp, a holding company, in 1996 and the company began making its first investments in 2003. Through the company, Rodriguez has invested in a series of companies in the technology, real estate, wellness, and entertainment industries. In 2008, Rodriguez founded Newport Property Construction, a real-estate development firm. In 2012, he founded Monument Capital Management, which had acquired more than $700 million of real estate assets as of 2019. According to Architectural Digest, the company owned over 15,000 apartments in 13 states. Investments A-Rod Corp has invested in various companies including coconut water brand Vita Coco, Wheels Up, Snapchat and the virtual concert startup Wave. Rodriguez partnered with Mark Mastrov in 2012 to create the Energy Fitness gym chain in Mexico City. Rodriguez sold a Mercedes-Benz dealership in League City, Texas to Group 1 Automotive in 2014. Rodriguez invested in NRG Esports alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Jimmy Rollins in 2016. In 2017, A-Rod Corp gained the rights to develop UFC-branded fitness centers across southern Florida. That year, A-Rod Corp purchased a major equity stake in TruFusion, a Las Vegas-based fitness studio chain, and invested in the beverage brand Dirty Lemon. In 2018, A-Rod Corp invested in Petros Pace Finance, a financier of green development. In 2019, the company invested in the co-living startup Bungalow, Acorns and Sonder Corp. That same year, Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez partnered with telehealth company Hims and Hers to provide affordable healthcare. Rodriguez also invested in Density, a technology company specializing in people counting. Rodriguez became the new chairman of Presidente, a Dominican beer company owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev in January 2020. A-Rod Corp invested in Nova Credit, a financial technology company, in February 2020. In July 2020, Rodriguez and Lopez were leading a group of investors bidding on the New York Mets, and had moved to the second stage of the bidding process. The bid failed, however. The Corp Podcast Rodriguez partnered with Barstool Sports in 2018 to co-create The Corp Podcast with Dan Katz aka Barstool Big Cat. The podcast interviews industry leaders, athletes, and entrepreneurs. Season 1 featured Kobe Bryant, Gary Vaynerchuk, Barbara Corcoran, Mike Francesa, Michael Rubin and Barry Sternlicht. Season 2 featured Kevin Bacon, Martha Stewart, Danica Patrick, Stephanie McMahon, Maria Bartiromo, and Howard Schultz. Personal life Family and relationships Rodriguez grew up with two half-siblings, Joe and Suzy, who were born in the Dominican Republic and are children from his mother's first marriage. Rodriguez's father, Victor, left the family in Miami when Alex was nine years old and moved to New York. Alex next heard from him on the day of the 1993 MLB draft. They met again in 2000. Rodriguez also has a half-brother, Victor M. Rodriguez, who was born to Alex's father Victor Sr. and his then-wife Pouppe Martinez in 1960. The couple divorced a year later, and Victor Jr. was raised by his mother. Victor Jr., who is an officer in the United States Air Force, fell out of touch with Alex for a period of 23 years, until they met at a Texas Rangers game in 2003. His nephew, Joe Dunand, is a professional baseball player. In 2002, he married Cynthia Scurtis, a psychology graduate he had met at a gym in Miami. The couple's first child, Natasha Alexander, was born on November 18, 2004. On April 21, 2008, Cynthia gave birth to their second child, Ella Alexander, in Miami, Florida. Cynthia Rodriguez filed for divorce on July 7, 2008, citing "emotional abandonment" of her and their children, "extra marital affairs and other marital misconduct" by her husband. Rodriguez responded in court documents that the marriage was "irretrievably broken" but requested that allegations of his "extramarital affairs" be stricken from court records. The couple reached a settlement that September. In July, Madonna responded to rumors of an affair with Rodriguez by issuing a statement saying, "I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez" and that she had "nothing to do with the state of his marriage". Rodriguez dated Cameron Diaz from May 2010 to September 2011. He dated model, actress, and former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson from 2011 to 2014. He was then in a short relationship with Anne Wojcicki, the founder of 23andMe, which ended in 2016 after dating for nearly a year. In February 2017, he began dating American singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. In March 2019, they announced their engagement. In a 2020 interview with Devin Banerjee, Rodriguez described Lopez as "a powerhouse", stating "I've never met anyone who has the work ethic, the vision, the principles that Jennifer possesses. She does so many things that people call her a triple threat. I call her an octopus threat." In April 2021, he and Lopez announced the end of their engagement. Other pursuits In his free time, Rodriguez enjoys golf, as well as collecting art. As of 2011, Rodriguez was represented by sports agent Dan Lozano. As of 2019, he was being represented by Jon Rosen of WME/IMG. Charity In 2003, Rodriguez gave $3.9 million to the University of Miami to renovate its baseball stadium. The new facility was renamed "Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field". Rodriguez remains an ardent University of Miami fan. Despite not having attended the school, he received the University of Miami's Edward T. Foote II Alumnus of Distinction Award in 2007 as an honorary alumnus. Rodriguez had previously been named an "honorary alumnus" of the university in 2004. He is a member of the University of Miami's board of trustees. Rodriguez is a Miami-Dade Boys & Girls Clubs Board Member. Rodriguez and A-Rod Corp donated $1 million to Boy & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade in 2010, building a state-of-the-art educational center for students. Rodriguez donated an additional $1 million to Boys & Girls Club in conjunction with MLB. In addition, Rodriguez created a scholarship program for Boys and Girls Club alumni to attend the University of Miami, sponsoring more than 25 students since inception of the program. In 2017, Rodriguez and A-Rod Corp donated $500,000 to the University of Miami School of Business Administration. In October 2019, Rodriguez, along with Jennifer Lopez, donated a year's worth of meals from Tiller & Hatch to Tennessee elementary students. In April 2020, Rodriguez and Lopez donated 20,000 prepared Tiller & Hatch meals to help hospitality workers in the Miami area who had lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also a member of the Paley Center for Media's board of trustees. Awards and honors Rodriguez was included on the ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2022 when it was announced on November 22, 2021. In his first 3 years of eligibility, his highest vote total is 35.7%. The threshold for election is 75%. Major league, minor league and high school awards and exhibition team selections Achievements Notes: Per Baseball-Reference.com. Records †: Rodriguez hit 2 home runs as a DH in the 2007 season. *: Tied with Willie Mays †: Tied with Bernie Williams. See also 30–30 club 50 home run club List of highest paid Major League Baseball players Major League Baseball titles leaders References Further reading Bryant, Howard (October 1, 2007). "King of Gotham". ESPN.com. Fishman, Steve (December 1, 2013). "Chasing A-Rod". New York. Mnookin, Seth (April 2008). "Lightning Rod". Men's Vogue. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. External links Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet Alex Rodriguez at IMDb Alex Rodriguez Video on FoxSports Video Archive Summary of Rodriguez's early professional career

Josh_Hamilton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Hamilton

Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 2007 to 2015, most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won consecutive American League pennants in 2010 and 2011. A five-time All-Star, Hamilton won three Silver Slugger Awards and was named the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2010. He also won an AL batting championship along with an AL RBI title. During his major league tenure, he also played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Hamilton was chosen by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with the first overall pick in the 1999 MLB draft. He was considered a blue chip prospect until injuries sustained in a 2001 car accident and a drug addiction derailed his career. Prior to the 2007 season, Hamilton was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the Rule 5 draft; the Cubs traded him to the Cincinnati Reds, where he made his MLB debut in 2007. Before the 2008 season, he was traded to the Texas Rangers, where he had a breakout season in 2008 and helped the team reach the World Series in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, Hamilton received more fan votes than any other player in the history of the All-Star Game. On May 8, 2012, Hamilton became the 16th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game; on that date, he also set an AL record for total bases in a game with 18. Hamilton was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2019. Hamilton signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2012, but his tenure with the team was marred by injuries, performance issues, and a drug relapse. The Angels traded Hamilton back to the Rangers in 2015, and he played one more season for the Rangers before injuries ended his career. In 2019, Hamilton was charged with a felony for allegedly assaulting his daughter. On February 22, 2022, Hamilton pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint. Early life Joshua Holt Hamilton was born on May 21, 1981, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Tony and Linda Hamilton. Of majority Scottish heritage, Hamilton was raised in Raleigh, playing Little League Baseball alongside former South Carolina and Oakland Athletics catcher Landon Powell. Hamilton attended Athens Drive High School in Raleigh where he starred as both a pitcher and outfielder. As a high school senior, Hamilton ran the 60-yard dash in 6.7 seconds and was clocked at 97 miles per hour (156 km/h) on the mound. After hitting .529 in 25 games with 13 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 35 runs batted in (RBIs), and 34 runs scored, Hamilton was widely considered one of the top two prospects for the 1999 MLB draft, along with Josh Beckett, a Texas high school athlete. Hamilton initially signed a letter of intent to play college baseball for North Carolina State. Professional career Draft and minor leagues The Tampa Bay Devil Rays owned the number one pick in the 1999 MLB draft and used it to select Hamilton. The Devil Rays viewed Hamilton as a can't-miss prospect. Hamilton signed with Tampa Bay, receiving a $3.96 million signing bonus, and joined their minor league system. His first stop in the minor leagues was the rookie-level Princeton Devil Rays of the Appalachian League, where he played 56 games. Hamilton later joined the Short Season Single-A club, the Hudson Valley Renegades, and helped lead them to their first New York–Penn League championship. He spent the 2000 season with the Charleston RiverDogs in the South Atlantic League. Hamilton hit .301 in 96 games, with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs. He was also selected to the South Atlantic League All Star game and took home MVP honors after going 2–6 with two triples and two runs scored. In addition, Hamilton was named to the 2000 All-Star Futures Game, a game designed to showcase minor league prospects. Hamilton was also voted Minor League Player of the Year by USA Today. At the beginning of his professional career, Hamilton's parents quit their jobs and began following their son on the road. However, in February 2001, Hamilton and his mother were injured in a car accident. His mother returned home and Hamilton, with an injured back, found himself unable to play baseball, flush with cash and unsupervised by his parents for the first time. At age 20, he had his first drink of alcohol. He began spending his idle time at a tattoo shop drinking and using drugs. Later that year he also made his first attempt at rehabilitation. Hamilton only played 45 games in the 2001 season, split between the Charleston (Single-A) and the Orlando Rays, a Double-A team in the Southern League. Hamilton began the 2002 season with the Bakersfield Blaze, batting .303 with nine home runs and 44 RBIs in 56 games before his season came to an end due to lingering toe and neck injuries. During spring training of the 2003 season, Hamilton failed his first drug test. At the start of the season, Hamilton showed up late several times during spring training and was reassigned to the team's minor league camp. He left the team and resurfaced several times, but eventually took the rest of the season off for personal reasons. Hamilton was hoping to return to spring training with the Devil Rays in 2004, though was suspended 30 days and fined for violating the drug policy put in place by MLB. A "failed" test is one in which there is a positive result for a drug more severe than marijuana. A month later, MLB suspended him for the entire season after he failed two more tests. Hamilton was out of baseball for almost three years. He made several attempts at rehabilitation, and started off the 2005 season with hopes of being a star major league outfielder. However, he was arrested before the season for smashing the windshield of a friend's truck. The Rays placed Hamilton on the restricted list, moving him off the 40-man roster. After another relapse, MLB suspended him for the entire 2006 season. Hamilton's return to baseball was helped along by former minor league outfielder and manager Roy Silver, who owned a baseball academy in Florida. After hearing about Hamilton's desire to return to baseball, Silver offered the use of his facility if Hamilton agreed to work there. After several months there, Hamilton attempted to play with an independent minor league team, but MLB stepped in and disallowed it. Hamilton was allowed to work out with the Devil Rays' minor league players starting on June 2, 2006. By the end of the month, he was allowed to participate in minor league games. In order for this to happen, the Rays had to run Hamilton through waivers, making him available for any team for $20,000. No team put a claim in for him. Hamilton played in 15 games with the Hudson Valley Renegades at the end of the 2006 season, his second stint with the minor league ball club. Rule 5 draft Left off the Rays' 40-man roster, Hamilton was selected third overall in the 2006 Rule 5 draft by the Chicago Cubs, who immediately traded him to the Reds for $100,000 ($50,000 for his rights, and $50,000 to cover the cost of the Rule 5 selection). In their coverage of the draft, Chris Kline and John Manuel of Baseball America called Hamilton "the biggest name in the Rule 5 in many years". Cincinnati Reds (2007) Hamilton was one of the Reds' best hitters in spring training in 2007, leaving camp with a .403 batting average. In order to retain the rights to Hamilton, though, the Reds would have to keep him on their Major League 25-man roster for the entire 2007 season, so they planned to use him as a fourth outfielder. Hamilton made his Major League debut at the age of 26 on April 2 against the Chicago Cubs in a pinch-hit appearance, receiving a 22-second standing ovation. As he was waiting to bat, Cubs catcher Michael Barrett said, "You deserve it, Josh. Take it all in, brother. I'm happy for you." After he lined out, Hamilton stayed in the game to play left field. He made his first start on April 10 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, batting leadoff. In that game, he recorded his first Major League hit, a home run off Édgar González. The next night, he hit another. Hamilton was named the National League Rookie of the Month for April. On May 22, the Reds placed Hamilton on the 15-day disabled list with gastroenteritis; they activated him on June 5 after he batted .333 (8-for-24) with four home runs and six RBIs in a six-game Minor League rehabilitation assignment. Hamilton went back on the DL on July 12 with a sprained wrist. Hamilton ended up starting most of the season in center field after an injury to Ryan Freel, but was shut out in the voting for the Rookie of the Year, which was won by Ryan Braun. For the 2007 season, he hit .292 with 19 home runs and 47 runs batted in in 90 games. On December 21, 2007, the Reds traded Hamilton to the Texas Rangers for Edinson Vólquez and Danny Herrera. Texas Rangers (2008–2012) 2008 The 2008 season was a breakout season for Hamilton. He locked up the Rangers' starting center fielder job with a stellar spring training. His spring training performance continued into the regular season. Hamilton, usually slotted fourth in the Texas batting order, led all major league players in RBIs for the month of April. He was named AL Player of the Month after hitting .330 with 32 RBIs during the month. Hamilton then went on to win player of the month for the second straight month in May, becoming the first AL player in baseball history to be awarded Player of the Month for the first two months of the season. Hamilton was featured on the cover of the June 2, 2008, issue of Sports Illustrated, in a story chronicling his comeback. On July 9, Hamilton hit the first walk-off home run of his career, against Francisco Rodríguez. Fans selected Hamilton as one of the starting outfielders for the AL at the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. He finished first in voting among outfielders. He was one of seven first-time starters in the game. Along with Kosuke Fukudome, Geovany Soto, and Ryan Braun, Hamilton was one of four who had made their MLB debut in 2007 or 2008. He was selected to participate in the 2008 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby the evening before the game. Hamilton selected 71-year-old Clay Council to throw to him during the Derby. Council was a volunteer who threw batting practice for him as a child in Raleigh, North Carolina. In the first round of the event Hamilton hit 28 home runs, breaking the single-round record of 24 set by Bobby Abreu in 2005. Hamilton ended up hitting the most total home runs in the contest with 35, but lost in the final round to Justin Morneau, as the scores were reset. His record-setting first round included 13 straight home runs at one point, and seven that went further than 500 feet (150 m). His longest home run was 518 feet. In 2006, when Hamilton was trying to get back into baseball, he had a dream in which he participated in a Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, but he could not remember how many home runs he had hit. After the Derby, Hamilton said: "This was like living the dream out, because like I've said, I didn't know the ending to that dream." On August 17, Hamilton was intentionally walked with the bases loaded against the Rays in the bottom of the ninth, with the Rays leading 7–3, to bring Marlon Byrd to the plate. The Rays went on to win the game 7–4. Hamilton thus became the sixth player in history, and the first American League player in 107 years, to receive an intentional walk with the bases loaded. In the 2008 season, Hamilton had a .304 batting average, 32 home runs, and an American League-leading 130 runs batted in. He won a Silver Slugger Award and finished seventh in the balloting for AL MVP, behind Dustin Pedroia, Justin Morneau, Kevin Youkilis, Joe Mauer, Carlos Quentin, and Francisco Rodríguez. 2009 Hamilton endured an injury-plagued season in 2009. In spring training, Hamilton led all players in RBIs, with 27, and total bases, with 59, in 81 at-bats. He hit a 460 ft (140 m) home run into the right field home run porch off Angels reliever Shane Loux in the bottom of the eighth inning on May 15 in Arlington. Then, in the same series against the Angels, Hamilton leaped at the wall in center field and slammed into it, robbing Howie Kendrick of a possible home run. In June 2009, Hamilton went on the disabled list with an abdominal strain caused by the May wall collision. On June 9, Hamilton underwent a successful surgical procedure to repair the tear. He was expected to be out for four to six weeks. Though injured, Hamilton was selected by fan voting to play in the 2009 All-Star game. In August 2009, Hamilton acknowledged that he had become intoxicated at an Arizona bar in January and had been photographed "in lurid poses" with women other than his wife. Hamilton apologized for his behavior. Hamilton batted .268 with 10 home runs and 54 RBIs in 2009. 2010: MVP season and trip to World Series In 2010, Hamilton was moved to left field to make room for Julio Borbon in center field. As in his prior two seasons with the Rangers, Hamilton was selected to start in the 2010 All-Star Game. He was one of six members of the Rangers to represent the franchise at the 2010 All-Star Game. Hamilton entered the All-Star Break with a .346 batting average, tied for first in the AL with Miguel Cabrera. On August 27, Hamilton set a Rangers record with his 24th three-hit game of the season. On September 4, Hamilton bruised his rib cage after making a leaping catch and crashing into an outfield wall. He was later found to have two fractured ribs. Hamilton returned to the lineup on October 1, hitting a home run the next day. Hamilton hit for a league-leading .359 average in 2010, winning his first batting title. He also finished fourth in Major League Baseball in OBP (.411), first in slugging percentage (.633) and OPS (1.044), and tied for 10th in home runs (32), despite missing 29 games due to an injury. On October 22, Hamilton and the Rangers won the 2010 ALCS, defeating the New York Yankees in six games. With four home runs and seven RBIs, Hamilton won the ALCS MVP Award. The 2010 World Series was the Rangers' first-ever World Series. The Rangers were defeated by the San Francisco Giants, four games to one. Hamilton hit .100 with one home run and one run batted in. Hamilton won the AL Players Choice Award for Outstanding Player in 2010. He also won a Silver Slugger Award. On November 23, 2010, Hamilton was voted the American League Most Valuable Player. 2011: Second trip to World Series On February 10, 2011, Hamilton avoided arbitration by signing a contract for two years and $24 million with the Rangers. On April 12, in Detroit, he suffered a fracture to his right humerus on a play at home plate. He returned to the Rangers' lineup on May 23, and went 2–4 against Chicago White Sox pitcher John Danks, hitting his first home run of the season on the second pitch he saw during his first at-bat. He was an All-Star in 2011. On July 7, during a home game at Rangers Ballpark, a 39-year-old firefighter died while catching a foul ball tossed into the stands by Hamilton. The fan, Shannon Stone, leaned over the rail to catch the ball and fell 20 feet. It was the third incident in which a fan fell out of the stands at Rangers Ballpark. On September 30, the son of the fallen firefighter threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Hamilton to start the American League Division Series. In the 2011 season, Hamilton batted .298 with 25 home runs. He was third in the American League in sacrifice flies (10), sixth in intentional walks (13), and eighth in slugging percentage (.536). The Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers four games to two in the 2011 American League Championship Series to advance to the World Series for the second consecutive season. In the 2011 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Rangers in seven games. Hamilton hit .241 with one home run and six runs batted in during the Series. 2012: Continued success On February 2, 2012, it was reported Hamilton had suffered a relapse with alcohol. Hamilton held a press conference on February 3, 2012, to apologize for his actions. Hamilton hit .395 with nine home runs and 25 RBI during the month of April and was named the league's AL Player of the Month. His home run total for the month tied a franchise record for April with four other Rangers. On May 8, in a 10–3 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, Hamilton registered multiple career-highs; he had five hits in five at-bats, hitting four two-run home runs and a double for a total of eight runs batted in. In doing this, he not only became just the 16th player in MLB history to hit four home runs in one game and the first to do so since Carlos Delgado in 2003, but also set the American League record for most total bases in a single game with 18. Hamilton was one base shy of tying the Major League record. Hamilton was selected to appear in his fifth All-Star Game after accumulating the most fan votes by any player in the history of the All-Star Game selection process. José Bautista held the previous record with 7,454,753 votes in 2011 until Hamilton received 11,073,744 in 2012. The record stood until 2015, when Josh Donaldson received 14,090,188 votes. Because Hamilton had been hitting .190 with a slugging percentage of .374 since June 1, Manager Ron Washington moved Hamilton to the fifth spot in the batting order before a game with the White Sox on July 29. Washington said he moved Hamilton in hopes of taking some of the pressure off of him. Hamilton responded quickly; on July 29, he recorded multiple walks for the first time in the month of July and did not record a strikeout for the first time in seven games. On July 30 he went 3–for–4 with a home run, his first game recording greater than two hits since May 11. For the 2012 season, Hamilton hit .285 with 43 home runs and 128 runs batted in and finished in fifth place in the American League Most Valuable Player voting. He also won his third Silver Slugger Award. The Rangers lost the 2012 American League Wild Card Game to the Baltimore Orioles. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2013–2014) On December 13, 2012, Hamilton agreed in principle to a five-year contract worth $125 million with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This deal became official on December 15. Hamilton's Angels tenure was not a successful one. 2013 During his first year with the Angels, Hamilton played in 151 games, batting .250 with 21 home runs and 79 RBIs. 2014 In the 2014 season, Hamilton batted .263 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs in 89 games. Hamilton incurred a thumb injury and a shoulder injury during the season. In the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals, Hamilton went hitless (going 0-for-13 overall). 2015 In February 2015, Hamilton underwent shoulder surgery to repair a separated shoulder. While he was recovering, it was revealed he had a relapse into his drug addiction, which he voluntarily reported to MLB. An outside arbitrator ruled Hamilton's voluntary admission did not violate baseball's drug policy, and he could not be suspended. Despite the ruling, Angels owner Arte Moreno made comments to the media implying that he did not want Hamilton back on the team's roster. Furthermore, all Hamilton-related merchandise items were removed and recalled from all stores. The Players Association and several Angels players spoke up in Hamilton's defense. The Angels began to lay out a rehabilitation plan for him, but shortly afterwards, trade rumors were reported. Hamilton was traded back to the Rangers on April 27, 2015, for cash or a player to be named later. The Angels remained responsible for paying most of the remaining money due to him under the five-year contract he signed with them in 2012. The contract that Hamilton signed with the Angels is widely regarded as one of the worst free agent signings in MLB history. Second stint with the Texas Rangers (2015-2017) 2015 After rehabilitating his injured shoulder between the Rangers' AA and AAA Minor League affiliates, Hamilton was called up to the MLB team on May 24, and was inserted into the starting lineup on May 25 in a Memorial Day matchup in Cleveland against the Indians. He recorded his first hit back with the Rangers on May 25. On May 28 of the same year, Hamilton returned to Texas for the first time in a Rangers uniform since leaving the team after the 2012 season. He received a standing ovation, hit a double on the first pitch he saw, and went 2–4 in the game, driving in the only run for his own team in a 5–1 loss. On May 29, Hamilton hit two home runs in his first multi-homer game with the Rangers since 2012, leading the team to a 7–4 victory. Two days later, he hit a pinch-hit two-run double vs. the Red Sox to win the game in walk-off fashion, 4–3. On July 30, 2015, Hamilton recorded four RBI in a 7–6 Rangers' win over the New York Yankees. For the 2015 season, Hamilton hit .253 with eight home runs and 25 runs batted in in 50 games. In the ALDS, Hamilton's first hit was a single in Game 3. This ended his postseason hitless streak at 31 at-bats, which tied for the second-longest such streak of all time. 2016 On May 25, 2016, it was announced that Hamilton would be out for the entire 2016 season after undergoing knee surgery for the third time in nine months. The Rangers activated Hamilton from the disabled list and released him on August 23. 2017 Hamilton did not play in 2017. On January 16, 2017, Texas re-signed Hamilton to a minor-league deal with intentions of him trying out at first base. On February 26, it was revealed Hamilton was experiencing discomfort in his left knee—the same knee on which he had undergone surgery during the 2016 season. On February 27, Hamilton underwent surgery on his left knee to repair torn cartilage that was causing discomfort. On April 21, the Rangers released Hamilton after revealing that he suffered a right knee injury while rehabilitating his left knee. Career statistics and recognition In 1,027 games over nine seasons, Hamilton posted a .290 batting average (1,134-for-3,909) with 609 runs, 234 doubles, 24 triples, 200 home runs, 701 RBI, 50 stolen bases, 352 bases on balls, .349 on-base percentage and .516 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .980 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions. In 42 postseason games, he hit .202 (33-for-163) with 18 runs, 9 doubles, 6 home runs, 23 RBI, 4 stolen bases and 15 walks for a .633 OPS overall. Hamilton was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2019. Personal life Family Hamilton was married to Katie (née Chadwick), the daughter of Michael Chadwick who helped guide him in his recovery from drugs and alcohol abuse for several years. They started dating in 2002 when he returned to Raleigh, and married in 2004. In early 2015, shortly after another substance-abuse relapse, Hamilton filed for divorce from Katie after 11 years of marriage. The couple had three daughters together, along with Katie's daughter from a previous relationship. Drug addiction and alcoholism Prior to the 2001 season, Hamilton was involved in an automobile accident. His mother and father were also injured but recovered. The 2001 season marked the beginning of Hamilton's drug and alcohol use, and he made his first attempt at rehabilitation. He first stopped using drugs and alcohol after being confronted by his grandmother, Mary Holt. During spring training of the 2003 season, Hamilton failed his first drug test. Hamilton was hoping to return to spring training with the Devil Rays in 2004, though was suspended 30 days and fined for violating the drug policy put in place by MLB. A "failed" test is one in which there is a positive result for a drug more severe than marijuana. A month later, MLB suspended him for the entire season after he failed two more tests. Hamilton was out of baseball for almost three years. He made several attempts at rehabilitation. He was arrested before the 2005 season for smashing the windshield of a friend's truck. The Rays placed Hamilton on the restricted list, moving him off the 40-man roster. After another relapse, MLB suspended him for the entire 2006 season. During the days of his most prolific abuse, Hamilton met a businessman named Michael Chadwick, who made an attempt to steer him in the right direction. It was through this relationship Hamilton ended up meeting his wife, Katie, who was Chadwick's daughter. Hamilton's return to baseball was helped along by former minor league outfielder and manager Roy Silver, who owned a baseball academy in Florida. After hearing about Hamilton's desire to return to baseball, Silver offered the use of his facility if Hamilton agreed to work there. Hamilton first started working at Silver's Academy in January 2006. His duties included cleaning the bathrooms and raking the infield. Hamilton spent his nights sleeping on an air mattress in one of the facility's offices. In 2007, The New York Times reported that Hamilton provided urine samples for drug testing at least three times per week to comply with the provisions of MLB's drug policy. A portion of the story of Hamilton's return to sobriety was shown on The Learning Channel's reality show "The Real Deal". "A Home Run for Trademark" aired March 31, 2007, and chronicled the renovation of Shoeless Joe Jackson's house during 2006. Richard C. Davis, the owner of Trademark Properties, hired Hamilton as the construction foreman. Davis was negotiating the purchase of a minor league baseball team and entertaining the idea of giving Hamilton a chance to join the team. In May 2008, Hamilton said he had not used drugs or alcohol since October 6, 2005. When giving a brief summary of his recovery, Hamilton has said: "It's a God thing." He has stated publicly that he believes that Jesus brought him back from the brink, and that faith is what keeps him going. Hamilton also wrote an autobiography called Beyond Belief which explains how he quit drugs and alcohol and found a relationship with God. In late 2008, Hamilton, among other celebrities such as Brian Welch and Greg Ellis, appeared in testimonial videos entitled "I Am Second". In his video, Hamilton shared his story of recovering from drug use with the help of his Christian faith. Hamilton confirmed that he had suffered a relapse in early 2009 after photos were released in August 2009. Sports website Deadspin posted photos of Hamilton shirtless in a bar in Tempe, Arizona with several women. According to reports, witnesses saw Hamilton drinking, heard him asking where he could obtain cocaine, and heard him reveal his plans to go to a strip club later that evening. The photos do not show Hamilton drinking or taking any illegal drugs. Although this news did not break until August 2009, Hamilton revealed he had informed his wife, the Texas Rangers, and MLB the day after the incident occurred. Hamilton called a press conference on August 8 to discuss the photos. Regarding the incident, Hamilton said: Obviously it was one of those things that reinforce that I can't have alcohol. I got away from the one thing that kept me on the straight and narrow and that was my relationship with the Lord. That should always come first. Hamilton also admitted he had very little memory of the night after getting drunk. MLB tested Hamilton for illegal drugs two days after the incident and he passed that test. Hamilton's Rangers teammates—mindful of his past struggles—chose to celebrate major events (such as winning the 2010 American League Division Series and 2010 American League Championship Series) with ginger ale instead of champagne. The Rangers repeated the celebrations with ginger ale the following postseason when they won their second consecutive pennant and reached the 2011 World Series. On February 2, 2012, it was reported Hamilton had suffered a relapse with alcohol. He claimed to have had two or three drinks before inviting his friend and then-teammate, Ian Kinsler, to talk at a bar. Hamilton held a press conference on February 3, 2012, to apologize for his actions. In February 2015, Hamilton relapsed, using both cocaine and alcohol. Hamilton voluntarily reported his relapse to MLB. An outside arbitrator ruled Hamilton's voluntary admission did not violate baseball's drug policy, and he could not be suspended. Legal issues Hamilton was arrested on October 30, 2019, and charged with injury to a child, a third-degree felony, after being accused of physically assaulting his oldest daughter. On April 8, 2020, Hamilton was indicted on a felony charge for allegedly beating his daughter. The charge carried a sentence of up to ten years in prison. On February 22, 2022, Hamilton pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint, a misdemeanor. Hamilton received a year of probation, was fined $500, and was ordered to perform 20 hours of community service; the court also imposed other requirements upon him. According to the court, the charge against him will be dismissed if he satisfies the probation requirements. See also List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders List of Major League Baseball batting champions Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award List of Major League Baseball single-game records References External links Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors) Josh Hamilton on FoxSports Josh Hamilton Video on FoxSports Video Archive "I'm proof that hope is never lost" from ESPN the Magazine (7/16/2007) HELL AND BACK from ESPN the Magazine (6/21/2004) Josh Hamilton Video on ESPN Video Archive Triple Play Ministries of Josh and Katie Hamilton

Big_Hit_Music

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hit_Music

Big Hit Music (Korean: 빅히트 뮤직, romanized: Bighiteu Myujik, stylized in all caps), formerly Big Hit Entertainment (Korean: 빅히트 엔터테인먼트, romanized: Bighiteu Enteoteinmeonteu), is a South Korean record label established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk. It was re-branded and re-structured into an independent label under Hybe Corporation (formerly Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd.) in March 2021. As of date, the label is home to soloist Lee Hyun, and boy groups BTS and Tomorrow X Together. It previously managed soloist Lim Jeong-hee, and groups 8Eight, 2AM, and co-managed Glam. History 2005–2021: Big Hit Entertainment Big Hit Entertainment was founded on February 1, 2005, and signed the vocal trio 8Eight in 2007. In 2010, the company signed a joint management contract with JYP Entertainment over the boy group 2AM. That year, Bang Si-hyuk signed RM as the first member of BTS and launched nationwide auditions to recruit other members of the group—BTS made their debut under Big Hit on June 13, 2013. In 2012, the company signed Lim Jeong-hee, and formed the girl group GLAM as a collaboration with Source Music. The group was active until 2014 when it was disbanded due to a controversy involving one of its members, Kim Da-hee—Kim was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of blackmailing actor Lee Byung-hun. Following the end of the joint contract between Big Hit and JYP in April 2014, three members of 2AM returned to JYP, while Lee Chang-min remained with Big Hit in order to continue with his solo career and as part of the duo Homme. The year also saw the disbandment of 8Eight after Baek Chan and Joo Hee's contracts with Big Hit ended. In May 2015, Lim Jeong-hee parted ways with the agency, following the expiration of her three-year contract. In February 2018, Homme disbanded after member Changmin's contract came to an end. He left the company to start his own agency, while Lee Hyun continued on as a solo artist. In October, BTS renewed and extended their contract with the agency for seven more years. Big Hit debuted its second male group, Tomorrow X Together (TXT), in March 2019. In February 2021, Big Hit announced a partnership with Universal Music Group, which would include a joint venture between Big Hit America and Geffen Records on a Los Angeles-based label and to develop a pop group under a K-pop-influenced model, and UMG exploring further use of Big Hit's social platform Weverse. As a consequence of this partnership, Big Hit reached an agreement in October for BTS to move its distribution in the U.S. and several other countries from Sony Music's Columbia Records and The Orchard to Universal. 2021–present: Big Hit Music On March 19, 2021, Big Hit Entertainment announced that it had been renamed Hybe Corporation to emphasize its wider array of business units and ventures. With the change, the Big Hit record label was renamed Big Hit Music . On April 1, 2021, Hybe announced through a board resolution that it would separate the label business (Big Hit Music) from Hybe and establish a new company with 100% of the stake held by Hybe. On July 1, 2021, Big Hit Music became a subsidiary of Hybe. Philanthropy In 2017, Big Hit Entertainment donated ₩30 million to the 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and A Safer Society, an organization connected to the families of the 2014 Sewol Ferry Disaster. In June 2020, Big Hit, together with BTS, donated $1 million in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, during the George Floyd protests, and another $1 million to Live Nation's Crew Nation campaign to help support live music personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Artists Groups BTS Tomorrow X Together Soloists Lee Hyun RM Agust D J-Hope Jin Jimin Midnatt Jungkook V Yeonjun Producers "Hitman" Bang Pdogg Slow Rabbit Supreme Boi Suga RM J-Hope Choreographers Son Sung-deuk Former artists K.Will (2005–2007, co-managed by JYP Entertainment) 2AM (2008–2014, co-managed by JYP) Jo Kwon (2010–2014) 8Eight (2007–2014, co-managed by Source Music) Glam (2010–2014, co-managed by Source) Lim Jeong-hee (2012–2015, co-managed by JYP) Homme (2010–2018) Changmin (2010–2018) Discography References External links Official website

BTS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTS

BTS (Korean: 방탄소년단; RR: Bangtan Sonyeondan; lit. Bulletproof Boy Scouts), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they expanded their musical style to incorporate a wide range of genres, while their lyrics have focused on subjects including mental health, the troubles of school-age youth and coming of age, loss, the journey towards self-love, individualism, and the consequences of fame and recognition. Their discography and adjacent work has also referenced literature, philosophy and psychology, and includes an alternate universe storyline. BTS debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment with the single album 2 Cool 4 Skool. BTS released their first Korean and Japanese-language studio albums, Dark & Wild and Wake Up respectively, in 2014. The group's second Korean studio album, Wings (2016), was their first to sell one million copies in South Korea. By 2017, BTS had crossed into the global music market and led the Korean Wave into the United States, becoming the first Korean ensemble to receive a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for their single "Mic Drop", as well as the first act from South Korea to top the Billboard 200 with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018). In 2020, BTS became the fastest group since the Beatles to chart four US number-one albums in less than two years, with Love Yourself: Answer (2018) becoming the first Korean album certified Platinum by the RIAA; in the same year, they also became the first all-South Korean act to reach number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Global 200 with their Grammy-nominated single "Dynamite". Follow-up releases "Savage Love", "Life Goes On", "Butter", and "Permission to Dance" made them the fastest act to earn four US number-one singles since Justin Timberlake in 2006. As of 2023, BTS is the best-selling musical act in South Korean history according to the Circle Chart, having sold in excess of 40 million albums. Their studio album Map of the Soul: 7 (2020) is the fourth best-selling album of all time in South Korea, as well as the first in the country to surpass both four and five million registered sales. They are the first non-English-speaking and Asian act to sell out concerts at Wembley Stadium and the Rose Bowl (Love Yourself World Tour, 2019), and were named the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's (IFPI) Global Recording Artist of the Year for both 2020 and 2021. The group's accolades include multiple American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and nominations for five Grammy Awards. Outside of music, they have addressed three sessions of the United Nations General Assembly and partnered with UNICEF in 2017 to establish the Love Myself anti-violence campaign. Featured on Time's international cover as "Next Generation Leaders" and dubbed the "Princes of Pop", BTS has also appeared on Time's lists of the 25 most influential people on the internet (2017–2019) and the 100 most influential people in the world (2019), and in 2018 became the youngest recipients of the South Korean Order of Cultural Merit for their contributions in spreading the Korean culture and language. On June 14, 2022, the group announced a scheduled pause in group activities to enable the members to complete their 18 months of mandatory South Korean military service, with a reunion planned for 2025. Jin, the eldest member, enlisted on December 13, 2022; the others followed in 2023. Name BTS stands for the Korean phrase Bangtan Sonyeondan (Korean: 방탄소년단; Hanja: 防彈少年團), which translates literally to 'Bulletproof Boy Scouts'. According to member J-Hope, the name signifies the group's desire "to block out stereotypes, criticisms, and expectations that aim on adolescents like bullets". In Japan, they are known as Bōdan Shōnendan (防弾少年団). In July 2017, BTS announced that their name would also stand for "Beyond the Scene" as part of their new brand identity. This extended the meaning of their name to encompass the idea of growth "from a boy to an adult who opens the doors that are facing forward". History 2010–2014: Formation and early years BTS was formed in 2010, after Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-hyuk wanted to form a hip hop group around RM (Kim Nam-joon), an underground rapper well known on the music scene in Seoul. At the time, physical album sales were on the decline and digital revenues were not yet high enough to compensate. Seeing a need for diversified income streams, Bang decided to form an idol group instead, because of the potential for live concert performances and passionate support from fans of such groups. Many trainees refused to become part of an idol group, but J-Hope, RM, and Suga remained. Bang chose to vary from the usual, highly regimented idol groups and create one where the members would be individuals rather than an ensemble and free to express themselves. Auditions were held in 2010 with plans to launch the following year. The band members lived together, practicing up to 15 hours a day, and first performed before a small crowd of industry insiders in 2013. BTS's representation by Big Hit, rather than one of the three agencies that dominated K-pop at the time, allowed the individual members leeway to express their individuality and have input into the music. On June 12, 2013, BTS released their debut single album 2 Cool 4 Skool, along with the lead single "No More Dream", neither of which sold particularly well at the time. On June 13, 2013, BTS made their stage debut on M Countdown with the single, "No More Dream". Nevertheless, according to Kathy Sprinkel in her book on BTS, that single was "spotlighting young people's anxiety in the face of lofty parental expectations, sent shock waves through the K-pop ranks. Here was a musical act that wasn't pulling any punches. More specifically, they had a point of view, and they weren't afraid to take on topics that are considered taboo in South Korean society and elsewhere." The album reached the top five on South Korea's Gaon Music Chart. In 2 Cool 4 Skool, BTS employed an old-school hip-hop sound from the 1990s. The album's release was followed by appearances on Korean music shows, which caught the attention of reviewers and viewers. In September 2013, BTS released the second entry in their "school trilogy": the EP, O!RUL8,2?. The album was released alongside the single "N.O." Similarly to 2 Cool 4 Skool, the new release had a theme of students feeling under pressure and needing to sacrifice their dreams and aspirations. According to scholar Kyung Hyun Kim, many of BTS's earlier works such as "N.O." and "No More Dreams" were "expressions of rebellion against the establishment that tapped into Korean teenagers' frustrations with the country's educational system" and, he stated, helped them build a fan base among young people in North America and Europe. That same month, BTS starred in their own variety show, SBS MTV's Rookie King Channel Bangtan, in which members parodied variety shows such as VJ Special Forces and MasterChef Korea. At the end of the year, BTS was recognized with several New Artist of the Year awards in South Korea. 2014–2017 Skool Luv Affair and first concert tour The last entry in BTS "school trilogy", the Skool Luv Affair EP, was released in February 2014. The release topped the Gaon Album Chart, and appeared on Billboard's World Albums Chart for the first time, peaking at number three. The EP was supported by two singles: "Boy in Luv" and "Just One Day". Following Skool Luv Affair's release, BTS played at their first fan meeting in Seoul, selecting the name A.R.M.Y. for the fan club. In July 2014, BTS hosted a concert in West Hollywood, their first show in the United States, and in August, they appeared at KCON in Los Angeles. In August 2014, BTS released the album Dark & Wild, which reached number two in South Korea. It was supported by two singles: "Danger" and "War of Hormone". The group embarked on their first concert tour, 2014 BTS Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, which lasted from October to December 2014. The band launched their first Japanese studio album, Wake Up, in December 2014; the release peaked at number three on the Oricon Albums Chart. After the album's release, BTS held their 1st Japan Tour 2015 Wake Up: Open Your Eyes in February 2015. The Red Bullet Tour that had begun on October 17, 2014, in South Korea was resumed on June 6, 2015, in Malaysia and toured Australia, North America and Latin America before ending in Hong Kong that August. In all, the entire tour attracted 80,000 spectators at 18 cities in 13 countries. Mainstream breakthrough and commercial success BTS experimented with other styles of music besides hip-hop in The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1, released in 2015. BTS wanted to express the beauty and anxiousness of youth and settled on the title of "花樣年華" (Korean: 화양연화; RR: Hwayangyeonhwa), loosely interpreted to define "youth" metaphorically as "the most beautiful moment in life". The album served as an introduction to their youth trilogy, a triptych of albums dedicated to the struggles of young people. The single "I Need U" was a top-five hit in South Korea and garnered the group a win on SBS MTV's The Show. The second single "Dope (Korean: 쩔어; RR: Jjeoreo; lit. It's awesome)" reached number three on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart and its music video was viewed over 100 million times on YouTube. The group began the world tour extension of their Red Bullet Tour in June, titled 2015 Live Trilogy Episode II: The Red Bullet, visiting cities throughout Asia, Oceania, North America, and Latin America. "For You", in Japanese, was released together with Japanese versions of "War of Hormone" and "Let Me Know" on June 17, 2015, and immediately topped Oricon's daily chart. In November, BTS commenced their third concert tour, 2015 BTS LIVE "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: On Stage", beginning with three sold-out shows in Seoul. The tour marked the debut of their fourth EP, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2, and was later extended to Japan. Thematically, the EP focused more on the serious and speculative aspects of youth, touching on the pursuit of success, loneliness, affection for their origins, and the suffering of the younger generation due to unfavorable conditions in current society. The album topped the weekly Gaon Album and Billboard World Albums charts. It also marked their first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart, making it for one week at number 171, and eight of the tracks appeared on Billboard's World Digital Song Sales chart. Their compilation album and the finale to their "youth trilogy", The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever was released on May 2, 2016. With 300,000 presold copies, it included three new singles: "Epilogue: Young Forever", "Fire", and "Save Me", which debuted in the top three spots on the Billboard World Digital Charts. The album topped the Gaon Album Chart in South Korea for two consecutive weeks and reached number 107 on the Billboard 200. The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever won Album of the Year at the 2016 Melon Music Awards. BTS embarked on their Asia tour extension, 2016 BTS LIVE "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue" from May to August 2016. Tickets for the 14 shows in 10 Asian cities sold out, some in as little as five seconds. In September 2016, BTS released their second Japanese studio album Youth. The album sold 44,547 copies on the first day of its release, and charted 1st in the Oricon Daily Album Chart. The album was eventually certified Gold with sales of roughly over 100,000 in Japan. It was followed one month later in October, by their next studio album Wings, which combined the themes of youth presented in their previous "youth trilogy" with temptation and adversity. The album and its tracks, including the single "Blood Sweat & Tears" immediately rose to the top on eight music charts, including the Gaon Music Chart, and led the iTunes album charts in 23 countries. Wings opened at number 26 on the Billboard 200, with 16,000 album-equivalent units in the US for the week of its release, the best week ever there for a K-pop album. It became the best-selling album in Gaon Album Chart history. You Never Walk Alone and Love Yourself: Her In February 2017, BTS released the repackaged edition of Wings entitled You Never Walk Alone. The 700,000 pre-orders of it (an increase from the 500,000 pre-orders of Wings) helped break the record for most albums sold in a month in South Korea, as it reached 1.49 million copies by the end of its first month. The lead single was "Spring Day" and it won Best Song of the Year at the 2017 Melon Music Awards. BTS's second world tour, 2017 BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour, began in February. On the tour, BTS played arenas in the US, such as New Jersey's Prudential Center and California's Honda Center. Tickets for the North American leg sold out within hours and two shows were added. After completing the North American leg, BTS attended the 24th Billboard Music Awards in May and won Top Social Artist, the first K-pop group to win a Billboard award. BTS fans cast over 300 million votes for the band and broke a six-year winning streak held by Justin Bieber, a performer with 100 million Twitter followers. This caused the international media to focus on the ability of BTS's fandom to propel the group to such a victory. BTS released a remake of Seo Taiji's "Come Back Home" (1995) in July 2017, giving it new lyrics but maintaining the theme of urging societal change. Later that year, BTS embarked on their "Love Yourself" album series, with theme of the enlightenment of self-love through the "起承轉結" (Korean: 기승전결; RR: Giseungjeongyeol) narrative sequence of "beginning, development, turn, and conclusion." BTS released its first part, their fifth EP, Love Yourself: Her, on September 18. RM considered "DNA", the lead single from that album, as "taking BTS to new ground. We tried to apply new grammar and perspectives." He said of the album, "I believe it's going to be the starting point of a second chapter of our career; the beginning of our Chapter Two." Sonically, the EP served as "a dual exploration of the group's electro-pop and hip-hop leanings". Love Yourself: Her debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200. The album had 1,664,041 sales in May 2017 to lead the Gaon Chart, and was the first in 16 years to exceed 1.2 million copies sold since g.o.d's fourth album Chapter 4 (2001). "DNA" was released simultaneously with the EP, and its music video accumulated 21 million views in its first 24 hours. It became BTS's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, charting at number 85, making them the first K-pop boy band to reach that chart. The single rose to number 67 the following week and became the highest-charting song on the Hot 100 for any K-pop group. A remix of "Mic Drop" from the album, featuring Desiigner, was released as a single and peaked at number 28, the first time a K-pop group had cracked the top forty. Both singles attained Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in early 2018. "Mic Drop" achieved Platinum status in the US later that year. In November 2017, BTS became the first K-pop group to perform at the American Music Awards. BTS won Artist of the Year at the 19th Mnet Asian Music Awards in December, winning for the second consecutive year. They released "DNA" and "Mic Drop" together with a new song "Crystal Snow" as a single album in Japan on December 6, 2017, though the songs were made digitally available elsewhere. It topped the Oricon Chart for the week of its release. It was the only album by a foreign artist to be certified Double Platinum in Japan in 2017. Later that month, they made their Japanese television prime time music show debut on Music Station Super Live, and ended the year by performing on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. In 2017, BTS partnered with UNICEF on the "Love Myself" campaign, intended to help end violence, abuse, and bullying, and to promote self-esteem and well-being among young people. Both Big Hit and the group pledged money to promote the campaign, and BTS sold special "Love Myself" merchandise and set up dedicated booths at concert venues. The campaign was renewed in 2021, with UNICEF deeming it to have been successful. 2018–2020 Love Yourself album series BTS won major awards at the Golden Disc and Seoul Music Awards in January 2018. In March, the group premiered an eight-episode documentary titled Burn the Stage that offered a behind-the-scenes look at their 2017 Wings Tour, exclusively on YouTube Premium. Their third Japanese studio album, Face Yourself, was released on April 4, 2018, and quickly reached the top 5 of the U.S. iTunes Albums chart. A nine-minute short film, titled Euphoria: Theme of "Love Yourself: Wonder" and featuring the song "Euphoria", followed the next day as a prelude to the group's third Korean-language studio album, Love Yourself: Tear. BTS promoted Tear's May 18, 2018, release with an appearance at the 25th Billboard Music Awards two days later, where they made their initial BBMA performance with their single, "Fake Love". The group also won Top Social Artist for a second consecutive time. The album coincided with the "轉" or "turn" of the series, touching on the tortuous enlightenment of loving without being loved, the pains and sorrows of separation, and providing encouragement to those without dreams. Love Yourself: Tear debuted at number one its first week on the Billboard 200, becoming BTS's first number-one album in the US and the first K-pop album to top the US albums chart. It also became BTS's first top-10 release in Britain, reaching number eight on the UK Albums Chart. "Fake Love" became BTS's top-10 single on the Hot 100, the first time a song sung mostly in a language other than English had debuted in the top 10. BTS released their compilation album Love Yourself: Answer in August 2018. The album was supported by the single "Idol" and its alternative digital release featuring Nicki Minaj. Love Yourself: Answer sold over 1.9 million copies on the Gaon Album Chart in August 2018. The album became BTS's second number-one on the Billboard 200 and led to their highest US sales week in the country to that point with 185,000 album equivalent units. In November 2018, Love Yourself: Answer became the first Korean language album to be certified Gold by the RIAA. "Idol" and Love Yourself: Answer both received Platinum certifications in the US, with sales of more than 1 million. In conjunction with Love Yourself: Answer's release in August 2018, BTS commenced their world tour, BTS World Tour: Love Yourself, with two concerts in the Seoul Olympic Stadium, which sold out in a matter of seconds, as did others of the 22 shows in 12 countries. In October, BTS released their collaboration with Steve Aoki "Waste It on Me", their first all-English language feature. For the final stop of the North American leg, the group performed at Citi Field in New York City, marking the first time a Korean act performed at a US stadium. According to StubHub, BTS was the second best-selling concert act outside the US, behind only Ed Sheeran. That October, BTS renewed their contract with Big Hit Entertainment through 2026. In early November 2018, a popular Japanese music show cancelled BTS's performance, citing a T-shirt a member wore the year before, bearing a photograph of a mushroom cloud following the bombing of Nagasaki. In the same month, the Jewish human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) stated that BTS owed an apology for that shirt, and for clothing and flags with Nazi symbolism. Big Hit Entertainment issued an apology, explaining that the images were not intended to be hurtful to the victims of Nazism or atomic bombings and that the group and management would take steps to prevent future mistakes. They also stated the flags were meant to be a commentary on the Korean school system. The apology was accepted by SWC and the Korean Atomic Bomb Victim Association. John Lie, in his scholarly article on BTS, opined that the Nazi incident showed that the group is not tightly controlled, as are other K-pop ensembles, whose every move seems scripted, and that the members have opinions and are not afraid to express them. At the 20th Mnet Asian Music Awards, BTS won Artist of the Year and ranked number eight on Billboard's year-end Top Artist Chart and were also the number two act of the year in the Duo/Group ranking, only behind Imagine Dragons. They were also listed as one of the 50 most influential people by Bloomberg for their "willingness to address social issues, mental health, and politics, despite being in a genre often painted as bubble gum pop". Map of the Soul: Persona, stadium world tour and BTS World In February 2019, BTS, for the first time, were presenters at the Grammy Awards. In April, Time named them one of the Time 100, the most influential people of 2019. Their EP, Map of the Soul: Persona, was released on April 12 with the single "Boy with Luv" (Korean: 작은 것들을 위한 시; RR: Jageun geotdeureul wihan si), featuring American singer Halsey. The EP's release was followed by a performance on Saturday Night Live, the first K-pop act to appear there. Map of the Soul: Persona became the first Korean-language album to reach the number one position in both the UK and Australia, and the group's third album to top the Billboard 200 in less than a year. Map of the Soul: Persona became the best-selling album ever in South Korea in terms of physical copies sold, with more than 3.2 million sales in less than a month. "Boy with Luv" debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2019, the highest placement ever for a K-pop song. Following their two wins at the 26th Billboard Music Awards in May, including for Top Duo/Group, BTS embarked on their world tour stadium extension, Love Yourself: Speak Yourself. Due to the demand, BTS added more shows after tickets for the first dates sold out within two hours. In the lead up to the release of their mobile game BTS World, in June 2019 BTS released "Dream Glow" featuring Charli XCX, "A Brand New Day" with Zara Larsson, and "All Night" with Juice Wrld. The group released the song "Heartbeat" with a music video from the game's official soundtrack, titled BTS World: Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack was certified Double Platinum by Gaon. On July 3, 2019, pre-orders for the single "Lights" crossed one million copies, marking the first time a foreign artist had accomplished this in Japan since Celine Dion in 1995. "Lights" debuted at number 81 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for the chart issue date of July 8, 2019, and reached number one the following week. On August 8, 2019, "Lights" received Million certification from the RIAJ, denoting shipments of one million copies. Love Yourself: Her and Love Yourself: Tear both crossed 2 million copies in August. All three albums of the Love Yourself series have sold more than 2 million copies each in South Korea. Love Yourself: Tear gained silver certification by the BPI for sales in the UK, becoming their third album to do so following Love Yourself: Answer and Map of the Soul: Persona. For the final stop of their record-breaking Love Yourself: Speak Yourself World Tour, the group played Seoul's Olympic Stadium. BTS was the third top-grossing touring musical act of 2019. That same month, they released a remix version of the song "Make It Right" featuring Lauv. In November, BTS won three times at the 2019 American Music Awards, for Best Tour, Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock, and Favorite Social Artist (the second consecutive year). In December, they attended both the 2019 Melon Music Awards and the 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards. In each case, they became the first group to sweep the four major awards. At the 34th Golden Disc Awards, BTS became the first artists in history to win grand prizes in both the physical and digital categories in a single year. Map of the Soul: Persona was named the second best-selling physical album of 2019 in the US by Nielsen Music behind Taylor Swift's Lover and was ranked sixth overall on the chart of Top 10 Albums (Total Sales) in the US. BTS wrapped 2019 as the fourth-highest-ranked group on Billboard's Top Billboard 200 Artists–Duo/Group ranking, behind Queen, Imagine Dragons and the Beatles. Map of the Soul: Persona was named as the third best-selling album of 2019 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), making BTS the first Korean artist to be listed on the Global Top 10 Album Chart in consecutive years. The IFPI named BTS as one of the best-selling artists of 2019 for a second consecutive year, making them the first non-English speaking act to achieve this. Map of the Soul: 7, "Dynamite" and Be In January 2020, BTS released "Black Swan" along with a choreography art film performed by MN Dance Company of Slovenia as the first single from their album Map of the Soul: 7. Album distributor Dreamus reported that stock pre-orders of the album reached a record-breaking 4.02 million. Later that month, BTS performed at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, making BTS the first Korean act to perform at the Grammys. Map of the Soul: 7 was released on February 21 to favorable reviews. The album was supported by the single "On" and an alternative digital release of it featuring Australian singer Sia. According to Gaon Chart, Map of the Soul: 7 sold over 4.1 million copies in nine days after its release, surpassing Map of the Soul: Persona to become the best-selling album in South Korean history and the first album to be certified quadruple million. The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200, making BTS the fastest group to earn four number one albums since the Beatles in 1966–1968. "On" debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, giving BTS its first top-five hit, and the most Hot 100 top-10 entries of any Korean act, with three. BTS planned to support the Map of the Soul album series with a concert series, Map of the Soul Tour, beginning in April, but this was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, BTS became the first K-pop artist to sell more than 20 million albums cumulatively, making them the best-selling artist in South Korean history. That month, amid the pandemic restrictions, BTS held a two-day online streaming concert event titled Bang Bang Con, where the group shared footage of past concerts on their YouTube channel. On June 7, BTS headlined YouTube's Dear Class of 2020 online graduation event, performing "Boy with Luv", "Spring Day", and "Mikrokosmos". Their commencement speeches highlighted their own graduations and offered "messages of hope and inspiration for the class of 2020 in both Korean and English". On June 14, BTS held an online live concert, Bang Bang Con: The Live, as part of the seventh anniversary of their debut. It garnered peak viewership of 756,000 live viewers in 107 countries and territories, setting the record for the largest audience for a paid virtual concert. On June 19, BTS released the Japanese single, "Stay Gold", from their fourth Japanese album, Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey, which was released worldwide on July 14. It surpassed 564,000 copies in its first week, breaking the record for highest first week album sales by male foreign artists in Japan. BTS released their first English-language single, "Dynamite", on August 21. "Dynamite" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, earning BTS their first chart topper and making them the first all-South Korean act to earn a number one single in the US. The single also topped Billboard's new Global 200 for the week ending September 24, as well as Global Excluding US charts, becoming the first single to top both simultaneously. "Dynamite" peaked at number five on the US Mainstream Top 40 and on the. Billboard Pop Singles chart, becoming their first Top 10 on each and the former the highest-charting entry by a Korean act. On August 31, BTS made their MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) debut with the first live performance of "Dynamite" and won four awards: Best Group, Best Choreography, Best Pop Video, and Best K-pop (the last three for their music video for "On"). On October 14, they performed the single at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards and won the Top Social Artist award for a fourth consecutive year. On October 2, 2020, BTS released a remix of Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo's single "Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)". It topped the Hot 100. On October 10 and 11, BTS hosted a two-day virtual pay-per-view concert at KSPO Dome in Seoul, called Map of the Soul ON:E, which drew 993,000 viewers from 191 countries and territories. On November 20, BTS released their fifth Korean studio album Be, led by the single "Life Goes On". "Life Goes On" debuted at number one on the Hot 100, BTS's third consecutive US number-one single in three months and the first song performed primarily in Korean to top the chart. On November 24, 2020, BTS became the first Korean pop artists recognized by the Recording Academy when "Dynamite" received a nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. The group won the Special International Music Award at the 62nd Japan Record Awards. Kim, in his book on the influence of Korean popular culture, suggested that 2020, the worst year in many people's lives, was a noteworthy one for Korean culture, with Parasite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture and BTS posting three number-one hits on the Billboard Global 200. 2021–present "Butter", "Permission to Dance" and Proof On March 4, 2021, the IFPI named BTS its Global Recording Artist of the Year for 2020, the first Asian and first non-English speaking act to top the ranking. BTS occupied three spots in the Global Album Sales Chart of 2020, with Map of the Soul: 7 at number one, Be (Deluxe Edition) at number two, and Map of the Soul: 7–The Journey at number eight. On the newly launched Global Album All Format Chart, Map of the Soul: 7 claimed first place and Be (Deluxe Edition) claimed fourth. On March 14, 2021, BTS performed "Dynamite" at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, becoming the first Korean nominee to perform, though they did not win the award. On April 1, BTS released "Film Out", the first single from their then-upcoming Japanese compilation album, BTS, the Best. BTS held a two-day online streaming event on their YouTube channel beginning April 17, titled Bang Bang Con 21, and aired three of their previous in-person concerts. On May 21, BTS released their second English-language single, "Butter". It debuted at number one on the Hot 100—their fourth number one in nine months—making them the quickest act to achieve four chart-toppers since Justin Timberlake in 2006, and the fastest group since the Jackson 5 in 1970. Their next English-language single, "Permission to Dance", was released on July 9. It became BTS's eighth number-one on the Digital Songs chart, extending their record as the group with the most number-one entries on the ranking. On September 24, 2021, the band released the single "My Universe" with Coldplay. The single debuted at number one on the Hot 100, making it the first collaboration between two groups to debut at number one. The band held an online concert, titled Permission to Dance on Stage, on October 24, 2021, in Seoul. On November 23, "Butter" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Between November 27 and December 2, BTS held their first live performances before an in-person audience since before the pandemic. The band played four sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles as a continuation of their Permission to Dance on Stage concert series. On January 15, 2022, a fictional webtoon based on BTS, titled 7Fates: Chakho, was released. The comic surpassed 15 million views globally in its first two days of availability and became the highest-viewed title ever launched by Webtoon. The band held three limited-capacity concerts at Seoul Olympic Stadium on March 10, 12 and 13—the largest music gatherings approved by the South Korean government since the pandemic restrictions were imposed—with a total audience of 45,000 people. On April 3, BTS performed "Butter" at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, though the song did not win the award for which it was nominated. On April 8, the band earned seven nominations at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards and won three, making them the most-nominated and the most-awarded group in the show's history. On June 10, 2022, BTS released their three-CD anthology album Proof. On June 14, during their ninth anniversary celebrations, the band announced a temporary suspension of group activities to focus on solo projects and other endeavors. Hybe Corporation, which owns Big Hit, clarified in subsequent statements that BTS was neither disbanding nor going on hiatus, but would be actively furthering their individual careers with the label's full support while still participating in group activities, including the filming of Run BTS. The incident caused Hybe Corporation's stock to decline rapidly, resulting in a decrease in market value of US$1.7 billion. On August 24, Billboard magazine reported that BTS would be performing in Busan on October 15 in a benefit concert in support of the city's efforts to have a World Exposition in 2030, participating under the banner Yet to Come. Military service and contract renewal In spite of the announcement of the October 2022 benefit concert, Hybe Corporation's stock prices dropped to below its original IPO amid continuing market speculation about the implications of the upcoming mandatory military enlistment of the band's members. Under South Korean laws, all able-bodied males must complete between 18 and 21 months of military service, usually by age 28. Bloomberg News reported the concert as a success but also indicated that there were no further concert dates scheduled. It was estimated that if the band members completed their service, Hybe Corporation would lose nearly US$10 billion over ten years, with the loss to the South Korean economy at nearly US$39 billion. In October 2022, Big Hit confirmed that Jin, the band's oldest member, aged 29, had withdrawn his enlistment deferral request. The other members planned to enlist later, with the group planning to reunite in 2025 following discharge. At the end of October 2022, BTS earned five nominations for the 2022 MAMA Awards, with the band members receiving eight further nominations as solo artists. On November 15, BTS earned three nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, including a nomination for Best Music Video for "Yet to Come". "My Universe" was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, making BTS the only act to be nominated three years in a row in this category since its introduction in 2011. The band was also nominated for Album of the Year as featured artists on Coldplay's Music of the Spheres. Jin enlisted as an active duty soldier on December 13. On February 26, 2023, Big Hit announced that J-Hope had requested cancellation of the postponement of his military service. Following their scheduled separation, the band's BTS 'Yet to Come' in Busan concert film was released on February 1, 2023. During a trip to Spain, RM told EFE that BTS "will come together again when we finish our military service, and we will look for new synergies between us to enter a second phase." Hybe chairman Bang Si-hyuk stated on March 15, 2023, that their comeback might not occur in 2025 since it was hard to target a specific date, and that they had not discussed their contract renewal yet. J-Hope enlisted as an active duty soldier on April 18. On May 12, BTS released a soundtrack "The Planet" for the South Korean animated series Bastions. To commemorate their tenth anniversary, the group released the song "Take Two" on June 9. On September 20, 2023, Hybe confirmed through a press release that BTS would renew their exclusive contracts. The members will sign these agreements sequentially, considering their military service, after a board resolution with Big Hit Music, solidifying their commitment to future projects starting from 2025 onwards. Hybe expressed their anticipation for supporting BTS' group endeavors and pledged unwavering support to enhance their worldwide influence, ensuring the group's continuity even after completing their military service. On September 22, 2023, Suga enlisted as a social worker. RM and V enlisted on December 11, 2023, followed by Jimin and Jungkook on December 12. On June 12, 2024, Jin became the first BTS member to complete his mandatory military service and was officially discharged. Artistry Influences BTS have cited Seo Taiji and Boys, Nas, Eminem, Kanye West, Drake, Post Malone, Charlie Puth, and Danger as musical inspirations. They have also cited Queen as an influence, saying they "grew up watching videos of Live Aid". During their concert at Wembley Stadium in London, Jin paid tribute to Queen by leading the crowd in a version of Freddie Mercury's "ay-oh" chant. "Hip Hop Phile" which was released when BTS's hip-hop concept was at its height, pays homage to the artists who influenced them, including the South Korean group Epik High, Jay-Z, Biggie, CL Smooth, and others. Their 2016 album Wings was inspired by Hermann Hesse's coming of age novel, Demian. Their song "Blood Sweat & Tears" quotes Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and its music video features visual references to Herbert James Draper's The Lament for Icarus, Pieter Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, and Bruegel's The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Among the literary and other sources that have inspired their works are those by Haruki Murakami, Ursula K. Le Guin, Carl Jung, George Orwell and Nietzsche. The Love Yourself series was influenced by Erich Fromm's The Art of Loving, and their 2018 song "Magic Shop" from Love Yourself: Tear was inspired by James R. Doty's memoir Into the Magic Shop. Musical style Since their inception, BTS have emphasized hip hop as their musical base, largely due to the influence of RM and Suga's background as underground rappers; during early visits to the US, the group received mentoring from American rappers. Bang Si-hyuk previously acknowledged that K-pop as a whole draws from black music, and author Crystal S. Anderson stated, "BTS's rising popularity in the US represents the continuation of the ways that K-pop functions as part of a global R&B tradition." T.K. Park and Youngdae Kim of Vulture deemed the track "Outro: Her" from Love Yourself: Her as the best example of the group's understanding of old-school hip hop, with raps inspired by Chuck D and Tupac and jazzy chords from the 1990s to create a classic hip hop sound. The release of "Blood Sweat & Tears" in 2016 accelerated BTS's transition from a hip hop to a pop group. Park and Kim noted that the song draws from dancehall, reggaeton, and moombahton but opts for a "baroque mysticism" rather than the "partylike atmosphere of its influences". The group also began incorporating traditional Korean elements into their music. For example, their single "Idol" (2018) features an adlib from Pansori, a Korean form of operatic storytelling, and vocal imitations of the sounds of Korean janggu drums. While BTS maintains roots in hip hop, their sound has diversified. They first experimented with R&B, rock and jazz hip hop on Dark & Wild in 2014; EDM in their The Most Beautiful Moment in Life album series; moombahton and tropical house on Wings and You Never Walk Alone; future bass and Latin pop in their Love Yourself album series; slow-dance ballads, emo rap, Afro pop, funk, trap, pop rock, and hip pop in their Map of the Soul album series; and disco in their single "Dynamite". The band members have explored different genres on solo tracks, such as neo soul on V's "Stigma" and flowing R&B on Jimin's "Lie". Lyrical themes Since their formation, BTS have believed that telling their own stories is the best way for the younger generation to relate to their music. Writing many of their own lyrics, the group discusses universal life experiences such as sadness and loneliness in their work and turn them into something lighter and more manageable. RM stated that BTS tries to avoid a preaching or reprimanding tone in their songs "because that's not the way that we want to spread our message ... We're born with different lives, but you cannot choose some things. So we thought that love, the real meaning of it, starts with loving ourselves and accepting some ironies and some destinies that we have from the very start." When asked if it is difficult to write about things like mental health, Suga responded,We feel that people who have the platform to talk about those things really should talk more, because they say depression is something where you go to the hospital and you're diagnosed, but you can't really know until the doctor talks to you ... More and more, I think artists or celebrities who have a voice should talk about these problems and bring it up to the surface. Themes explored in BTS's discography range from exploring "the troubles and anxieties of school-age youth" to "themes like love, friendship, loss, death, and more." Early BTS songs, such as "No More Dream" and "N.O" from their school trilogy, were described by Tamar Herman as motivated by personal experiences with South Korea's rigid approach to education and called for change to the educational system and societal expectations. The members' experiences with South Korean youth culture also inspired the songs "Dope" and "Silver Spoon" (Korean: 뱁새; RR: Baepsae) from their youth trilogy. These songs reference generational disparity and millennials giving up romantic relationships, marriage, children, proper employment, homes, and social life in the face of economic difficulties and societal ills while facing condemnation from the media and older generations. The group's label dubbed The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, the conclusion to their youth trilogy, "a special album that marks the conclusion of the epic journey of the series, containing the last stories told by young people who, despite an uncertain and insecure reality (The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1) continue to surge forward (The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2)." Wings focused on mental health, criticisms of the K-pop "idol" scene, and delivering a female empowerment message. The Love Yourself series introduced new themes regarding youth culture in South Korea, including the excitement of love, pain of farewell, and enlightenment of self-love. According to Kathy Sprinkel, BTS's 2020 "quarantine album" Be "chronicles the group's coming to terms with a suddenly new reality and offers support for their listeners going through the same upheaval and uncertainty". BTS's lyrics have also addressed topics outside youth culture. The song "Am I Wrong" from Wings questioned societal apathy towards changing the status quo; the lyric "We're all dogs and pigs / we become dogs because we're angry" appeared to reference South Korean Ministry of Education official Na Hyang-wook, who advocated a caste system for the country and who reportedly described average people as "dogs and pigs". BTS released the song amid the 2016 South Korean political scandal that resulted in the impeachment of president Park Geun-hye. RM and Suga's personal struggles with mental health have inspired some of their music. "Not Today" from 2017's You Never Walk Alone is an anti-establishment anthem, urging "all the underdogs in the world" to keep fighting, and "Spring Day" honored the victims of the Sewol Ferry tragedy. Journalist Jeff Benjamin praised BTS in Fuse for "speak[ing] honestly about topics they deem important, even in a conservative society". Former South Korean president Moon Jae-in said: "Each of the seven members sings in a way that is true to himself and the life he wants to live. Their melody and lyrics transcend regional borders, language, culture, and institutions." Impact On April 29, 2019, Time magazine named BTS one of the 100 most influential people of the year, labeling them the "Princes of Pop". Billboard executive Silvio Pietroluongo compared the group's influence to that of the Beatles. MRC Data executive Helena Kosinski noted that "although BTS weren't the first to open the doors to K-Pop worldwide, they were the first to become mainstream. They don't just appeal to young people but also to the 50s and 60s age demographic." The first non-English speaking artist to make the Global Artist Chart in 2018, BTS was the second best-selling artists worldwide across multiple media platforms, second only to Drake. In 2020, BTS became the first non-western and non-English speaking artist to be named IFPI's Global Recording Artist of the Year. In South Korea, BTS accounted for 41.9 percent of album sales in the first half of 2019, up from their market share of 25.3 percent the previous year. In 2022, Youna Kim described BTS as having spearheaded the Korean Wave, representing the global expansion of Korean culture as effectively as Psy did in the previous decade and with the strength of influence that the Academy Award-winning South Korean film Parasite had in 2020. South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea, found in 2021 that BTS, including a "ripple effect" that included increased tourism to South Korea; increased interest in Korean culture, movies, and study of the Korean language; and added approximately US$5 billion per year to South Korea's economy, a growth of about 0.5 percent. A 2018 study showed that, on average, 800,000 foreigners per year had visited South Korea over the past four years for BTS-related reasons. Writers identified BTS as leaders even among other highly influential K-pop groups such as Girls' Generation, Super Junior, Exo, Twice, and Blackpink and note that BTS's success shows the importance of a strong, active fan base in the age of social media, where fan campaigning can be as important as musical quality to a song's success. The group has also distinguished themselves at the forefront of the business side of the K-pop industry by pursuing less restrictive contracts with their management company to maximize their artistic originality and creativity. With this newer approach to career management, BTS created closer ties to the South Korean youth and encourage individuality and authenticity among their audience. Diplomacy In his 1990 essay Soft Power, political scientist Joseph Nye developed the concept of a second type of power different from traditional authoritarianism. Nye wrote, "This second aspect of power – which occurs when one country gets other countries to want what it wants – might be called co-optive or soft power in contrast with the hard or command power of ordering others to do what it wants." Researchers such as Maud Quessard have applied the concept of soft power to BTS and their influence on entertainment diplomacy and international relations. Youna Kim and Maud Quessard all read the currency of soft power as including culture, political values, and foreign policy, which applies to BTS's ability to be co-optive in their approach to spreading their message of harmony, acceptance, and addressing life's setbacks via their broad appeal on the international stage. BTS was invited to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2018. That same year they performed in Paris before an audience of 400, including President Moon Jae-in and other officials, at the 2018 Korea-France Friendship Concert, a summit celebrating the friendly relations between France and South Korea. That year, BTS became the youngest recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit. Despite cultural medals traditionally being given to recipients with over 15 years of achievement, Moon recognized the group, five years into their career, for their contributions in spreading Korean culture and language worldwide. In September 2019, BTS were mentioned by Moon while announcing strategies for the content industries, for having pioneered innovative business models through direct communication with fans. In 2020, BTS received the James A. Van Fleet Award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the promotion of US-Korea relations, the youngest honorees to receive the award. In July 2021, they were appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Future Generations and Culture by President Moon. In their role as envoys, they help to "raise awareness on global agendas, such as sustainable development, to our future generations and to strengthen the nation's diplomatic power across the world" and appear at international events such as the 76th United Nations General Assembly. On May 31, 2022, BTS visited US President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination. Fandom According to Kyung Hyun Kim, BTS's rise was facilitated by a great increase in music video programming and consumption on YouTube and the coming of an idol empire, including merchandising of nonmusical products, games, and fantasy fiction, as well as an expansion of online music fandom. The group has a large, highly organized, online community of fans known as ARMY (Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth), which translates the group's lyrics and social media posts into other languages and matches charitable contributions of BTS's members. As of 2020, some 40 million ARMY members subscribe to the band's YouTube channel, with more than 30 million following the official BTS Twitter and Instagram accounts. The fan community helps generate BTS's number-one chart rankings via coordinated campaigns on streaming platforms, as well as pushes to feature BTS's music on radio stations and television. Some ARMY members may even surpass the group itself in influence among BTS fans. BTS interacted and engaged with their followers from their earliest days via social media, as well as via BTS Universe, an alternate storyline involving the members told through music videos, mobile games, books, short films, and more that gives fans room to theorize. Kim suggested that ARMY are drawn to BTS since the members are seen as underdogs, originating from the Korean countryside and a relatively minor Korean entertainment company, which allows young fans to identify with them. BTS's lyrics speak to social values, and fans respond by trying to improve the world. As a result, the fandom regularly embraces activism on charitable causes and socio-political issues such as refugee crises, racial discrimination, children's rights, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Feedback from ARMY to BTS affects the group's actions and lyrics; BTS has eliminated certain Korean words that sound like American racial slurs from their songs and ended collaboration with a Japanese producer when Korean ARMY members deemed his views extreme. Per South Korean author Jiyoung Lee, the relationship between BTS and ARMY is "a mutual exchange between artists and their fans" that is about more than merely "ensuring the band's primacy", but also "extending the band's message of positivity into the world". Lee opines that BTS and ARMY are "a symbol of change in zeitgeist, not just of generational change". The band members themselves agree and have long acknowledged their fans' role in their success. According to Sarah Keith, "BTS embody a moment of generational transformation. ARMY represents a 'coming of age' for the young, in which cultural production and influence are global and meaningful, and where the youth are politically and socially engaged." Other ventures Endorsements BTS partnered with Puma beginning in 2015, initially as Puma Korea's brand ambassadors before expanding to global ambassadors in 2018, and promoting the remix of Puma's "Turin" and "Sportstyle" line worldwide. In 2019, BTS signed with Fila to endorse its sportswear. BTS has also served as global brand ambassadors for LG Electronics' smartphones, and Hyundai Motors' 2019 flagship SUV the "Palisade" and hydrogen fuel cell electric SUV, the "Nexo". BTS became global ambassadors of the electric street racing series Formula E to promote how electric vehicles can help combat climate change. In 2020, BTS partnered with Samsung Electronics, releasing a limited BTS-themed version of the Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy Buds+. As the first male pop group ever to collaborate with Dior, BTS sported ensembles from Kim Jones' Pre-Fall 2019 collection at their concert at Stade de France. The band became global brand ambassadors for Louis Vuitton in April 2021. Philanthropy BTS are known for their philanthropic endeavors. Several members of the band have been inducted into prestigious donation clubs, such as the UNICEF Honors Club and the Green Noble Club, in acknowledgement of the size and frequency of their donations. They have also received awards for their donations, with one member receiving a Patron of the Arts Award for donations to the arts, and BTS as a whole receiving a UNICEF Inspire Award for their Love Myself campaign. They often donate privately, with their patronage later being made public by the organizations they support and the media. The band's efforts have motivated their fans to also engage in various charitable and humanitarian activities, and on occasion even match their donations. Accolades BTS have received numerous awards throughout their career. They have consecutively won the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist since 2017; are the only K-pop group to win Top Duo/Group, at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards; and are the most-awarded group in BBMA history as of 2022, with 12 wins overall. BTS are also the only K-pop group to win Favorite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock and Favorite Social Artist at the American Music Awards, and became the first Asian act in the show's history to win Artist of the Year in 2021. They are the first Korean pop act to receive a Grammy Award nomination, and the first Korean artist to be nominated for a Brit Award. With 30 awards overall, including a record four consecutive wins for Artist of the Year (Asia), BTS are the most-awarded foreign artist in the history of the Japan Gold Disc Awards. They have also received a total of 50 trophies at the MAMA Awards. Members Jin (진) – vocalist Suga (슈가) – rapper J-Hope (제이홉) – rapper RM (알앰) – leader, rapper Jimin (지민) – vocalist V (뷔) – vocalist Jungkook (정국) – vocalist Discography Filmography Films Burn the Stage: The Movie (2018) Love Yourself in Seoul (2019) Bring the Soul: The Movie (2019) Break the Silence: The Movie (2020) BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage – LA (2022) BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas (2023) Online shows Run BTS (2015–present) BTS In the Soop (2020–2021) Bibliography Beyond the Story (2023) Concert tours The Red Bullet Tour (2014–2015) Wake Up: Open Your Eyes Japan Tour (2015) The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage Tour (2015–2016) The Wings Tour (2017) Love Yourself World Tour (2018–2019) Map of the Soul Tour (2020; cancelled) Permission to Dance on Stage (2021–2022) Notes References Bibliography Anderson, Crystal S. (2020). Soul in Seoul: African American Popular Music and K-pop. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-3009-8. Hunt, Robert; McKelvey, Fenwick (2019). "Algorithmic Regulation in Media and Cultural Policy: A Framework to Evaluate Barriers to Accountability". Journal of Information Policy. 9: 307–335. doi:10.5325/jinfopoli.9.2019.0307. JSTOR 10.5325/jinfopoli.9.2019.0307. S2CID 213521720. Jin, Dal Yong (2022). "Transnational Cultural Power of BTS: Digital Fan Activism in the Social Media Era". In Kim, Youna (ed.). The Soft Power of the Korean Wave: Parasite, BTS and Drama. Routledge. pp. 142–154. ISBN 978-1-00310-248-9. Ju, Hyunshik. "Premediating a Narrative of Growth: BTS, Digital Media, and Fan Culture". Popular Entertainment Studies: 19–33. ISSN 1837-9303. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022. Keith, Sarah (2022). "BTS as Cultural Ambassadors". In Kim, Youna (ed.). The Soft Power of the Korean Wave: Parasite, BTS and Drama. Routledge. pp. 152–167. ISBN 978-1-00310-248-9. Kim, Kyung Hyun (2021). Hegemonic Mimicry: Korean Popular Culture of the Twenty-first Century. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-1-4780-1358-7. Kim, Kyung Hyun (2022). "BTS and the World Music Industry". In Kim, Youna (ed.). The Soft Power of the Korean Wave: Parasite, BTS and Drama. Routledge. pp. 107–117. ISBN 978-1-00310-248-9. Kim, Youna (2022). "Introduction: Popular Culture and Soft Power in the Social Media Age". In Kim, Youna (ed.). The Soft Power of the Korean Wave: Parasite, BTS and Drama. Routledge. pp. 1–38. ISBN 978-1-00310-248-9. Kim, Young-dae (2019a). BTS–The Review: A Comprehensive Look at the Music of BTS. Translated by H.J. Chung. RH Korea. ISBN 978-8-925-56582-8. Lie, John (2022). "BTS, the Highest Stage of K-Pop". In Kim, Youna (ed.). The Soft Power of the Korean Wave: Parasite, BTS and Drama. Routledge. pp. 118–128. ISBN 978-1-00310-248-9. Quessard, Maud (2020). "Entertainment Diplomacy". In Balzacq, Thierry; Charillon, Frédéric; Ramel, Frédéric (eds.). Global Diplomacy: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 279–296. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-28786-3_21. ISBN 978-3-03028-785-6. S2CID 211355635. Shapiro, Marc (2018). Burn the Stage: The Rise of BTS and Korean Boy Bands. Riverdale Avenue Books. ISBN 978-1-62601-490-9. Sprinkel, Katy (2021). BTS: One. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-64125-643-8. Further reading Suk-Young Kim, ed. (2023). "Part V: The Band That Surprised the World". The Cambridge Companion to K-Pop. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-94478-6. External links Official website

Tomorrow_X_Together

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_X_Together

Tomorrow X Together (Korean: 투모로우바이투게더; Tomorrow by Together, stylized in all caps), commonly abbreviated as TXT, is a South Korean boy band formed by Big Hit Entertainment. The group consists of five members: Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and HueningKai. They debuted on March 4, 2019, with the extended play (EP) The Dream Chapter: Star. The EP debuted and peaked at number one on the Gaon Album Chart and Billboard World Albums Chart and entered the US Billboard 200 at number 140, the highest-charting debut album by any male K-pop group at the time. Its lead single "Crown" debuted at number one on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart. The group also topped the Billboard Emerging Artists chart. TXT was the first Korean boy band to perform and headline at Lollapalooza, one of the biggest music festivals in the US. The group's early commercial success earned them several new artist awards, including Rookie of the Year at the 34th Golden Disc Awards and the 2019 Melon Music Awards, New Artist of the Year at the 9th Gaon Chart Music Awards, and Best New Male Artist at the 2019 Mnet Asian Music Awards. Name TXT is an acronym for Tomorrow X Together. In Korean, the group's name is 투모로우바이투게더, which is "Tomorrow by Together" transliterated into Hangul; they do not have a separate Korean version of their name. The full name is often shortened to 투바투; Tubatu by Korean fans and media. According to their website, their name refers to five individuals who "come together under one dream in hopes of building a better tomorrow". In their first interview with MBC's Section TV, the group stated that they prefer to be called "Tomorrow X Together" over "TXT". History Pre-debut activities Plans for a second boy group from Big Hit Entertainment were announced by founder Bang Si-hyuk as early as 2017, and a debut date for early 2019 was set in November 2018. TXT was officially revealed on January 10, 2019. Over the next ten days, videos depicting each member, dubbed "introduction films," were released on YouTube. 2019: Debut and The Dream Chapter: Magic In 2019, Big Hit Entertainment announced their new boy group, TXT. The group's debut broadcast aired on Big Hit's YouTube page, announced alongside their debut extended play (EP), The Dream Chapter: Star, which was released on March 4, 2019. Their debut showcase was held at the Yes24 Live Hall on March 5. Following the release of the EP, the music video of the album's lead single, "Crown" garnered 14.5 million views on YouTube, breaking the record for the most viewed K-pop debut music video within 24 hours for a boy group and the most liked K-pop debut music video, with 2.3 million likes in 24 hours. The album debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart and Billboard World Albums Chart, while "Crown" debuted at number one on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart. The group debuted at number one on the Billboard Emerging Artists and at number 140 on the Billboard 200 chart, making them the fastest to appear in these charts (they were the second fastest K-pop group to appear in the Billboard Emerging Artists) and highest-charting debut album by any male K-pop group. The album also ranked at number three on Oricon's Weekly Album Chart. Additionally, it went on to top the Gaon Monthly Album Chart for the month of March. TXT's first music show performance aired on March 7, 2019, on Mnet's M Countdown. They earned their first music show win on SBS MTV's The Show with "Crown", just after one week after their debut, followed by wins on M Countdown and Show Champion. "Crown" featured on GQ's Decade-end list of "game-changers from a decade of K-pop" for the year 2019, with GQ writing, "The bright, effervescent pop of TXT who are in their own element as they playfully explore teenage growing pains." On April 9, TXT announced their first overseas tour, a six-show debut showcase in six American cities—New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Orlando, and Atlanta—over the course of two weeks, from May 9 to 24. Tickets to all shows sold out in less than 24 hours. Following their showcase in May, TXT performed at the 2019 iHeartRadio Wango Tango music concert at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles on June 1. On June 11, it was announced that TXT would be the first artist to join the new platform Weverse. On June 20, the group announced that they would be performing in two of Japan's largest fashion festivals, Kansai Collection's Autumn/Winter 2019 runway show on August 27, followed by the Tokyo Girls Collection's Autumn/Winter 2019 show on September 7, making TXT the first Korean artist to perform at both shows in the same season. On July 6, TXT performed at the KCON 2019 NY music festival at Madison Square Garden, New York, in front of 55,000 spectators. Later that month, TXT received their first MTV Video Music Award nomination in the category of "Best K-pop". On August 8, Big Hit Entertainment announced that plans to release a new album in August would be postponed to September due to Soobin's infectious conjunctivitis diagnosis and Yeonjun's back pain. On August 20, Big Hit Entertainment revealed members Taehyun and HueningKai had also been diagnosed with conjunctivitis, thus pushing the release date for the new album back from September to October. On October 21, 2019, TXT finally released their first studio album, The Dream Chapter: Magic, with "9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)" as lead single. Musically, the album incorporated a variety of music genres, including R&B, tropical house, acoustic pop and hip hop. The album debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart, surpassing 124,000 sales in its first week. This marked the group's second chart-topping album following their debut EP. The album debuted at number three on Billboard's World Albums Chart and at number six on the Billboard Heatseekers Album chart. A total of four tracks from the album entered the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, with the lead single debuting at number two. Billboard and Dazed both later named "9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)" one of the best K-pop songs of the year. TXT's commercial success in their early months earned them several rookie awards at major Korean year-end music award shows, including the Asia Artist Awards, Melon Music Awards, Mnet Asian Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, Gaon Chart Music Awards and Seoul Music Awards. 2020: Japanese debut, The Dream Chapter: Eternity, and Minisode 1: Blue Hour On January 15, 2020, TXT made their Japanese debut with the single "Magic Hour", which includes the Japanese versions of their songs "Run Away", "Crown", and "Angel or Devil". The single album debuted at number one on the Oricon Daily Chart and at number two on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. On January 19, the group's Japanese television debut was announced with their first appearance on TV Asahi's Music Station. They performed the Japanese version of "Run Away" on January 24, the first Korean artist to perform on the show in 2020. "Magic Hour" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for selling 100,000 units. On April 28, Big Hit Entertainment set the release date of TXT's second EP, The Dream Chapter: Eternity, for May 18, to be led by the single "Can't You See Me?". The album sold over 181,000 units in its first week and entered the Gaon Album Chart at number two. It debuted at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart, becoming the band's first chart-topper in Japan. In July 2020, the album received a platinum certification from the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) for 250,000 album shipments, giving TXT their first certification in the country since their debut. Two months later, The Dream Chapter: Star and The Dream Chapter: Magic were also certified platinum by the KMCA. On July 20, 2020, it was announced that Soobin would be the new MC of KBS2's Music Bank for one year, along with Oh My Girl's Arin. His first broadcast as MC was on July 24, 2020, and his final on October 1, 2021. On August 19, 2020, TXT released their second Japanese single "Drama". The single album included Japanese versions of "Drama" and "Can't You See Me?", as well as their first original Japanese song, "Everlasting Shine". "Everlasting Shine" served as the twelfth opening theme of the anime Black Clover, which began airing on September 1. "Drama" debuted and peaked at number three on the Japanese Oricon Singles Chart and was certified gold by the RIAJ. TXT released their third EP Minisode1: Blue Hour with the lead single "Blue Hour" on October 26. The album debuted at number three on the Gaon Album Chart, selling over 300,000 copies in its first week. In the United States, the EP debuted at number 25 on the Billboard 200, the top-selling album of the week. It also claimed the top spot on the Billboard World Albums chart, with TXT again topping the Emerging Artists chart. The EP also entered the Oricon Albums Chart at number one, becoming their second chart-topper in Japan. It was certified platinum by the KMCA. TXT released an original soundtrack titled "Your Light" for the JTBC teen-drama Live On on November 24, and member Yeonjun also made a cameo in the last episode. 2021: Still Dreaming, The Chaos Chapter, and Chaotic Wonderland Their debut Japanese studio album Still Dreaming was released on January 20, 2021. The album included the original Japanese song "Force", which served as the opening theme for the second season of anime World Trigger. Still Dreaming debuted and peaked at number one on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart and was certified gold by the RIAJ. The album charted at number 173 on the Billboard 200, making TXT the second Korean band in history to chart an album in Japanese on the US albums chart. In April 2021, Minisode1: Blue Hour was certified double platinum by the KMCA, indicating 500,000 shipments. On April 22, 2021, Big Hit Music announced that TXT would make a comeback at the end of May. The group released their second studio album, The Chaos Chapter: Freeze on May 31 with lead single "0X1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You)", featuring Seori. On May 7, it was announced that the album pre-orders had surpassed 520,000 copies in six days. On May 31, before the official release of the album, pre-orders increased to over 700,000 copies, doubling from their last release. The Chaos Chapter: Freeze debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, becoming the band's highest-charting album in the United States and the top-selling album that week. The album peaked at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart, becoming TXT's fourth consecutive chart-topper in Japan. On May 24, the band released the original soundtrack "Love Sight" for the tvN drama Doom At Your Service. On June 25, TXT released a remix of "0X1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You)" featuring pH-1, Woodie Gochild and Seori. In July, The Chaos Chapter: Freeze was certified Gold by the RIAJ, TXT's first Korean release to be certified in Japan. In August, the album was certified triple platinum by the KMCA, indicating 750,000 shipments. The band released The Chaos Chapter: Fight or Escape, a repackaged version of The Chaos Chapter: Freeze, with lead single "Loser=Lover" on August 17, 2021. On October 3, the group held their first full-length concert, entitled ACT:BOY. The concert ran for 150 minutes, featured 25 songs, and was streamed through online platform VenewLive to fans in 126 countries. On October 5, it was announced that each member would serve as guest DJs on KBS Cool FM's Kiss the Radio from October 25 to 31, hosting "Tomorrow x Together week" to "showcase their unique charms" following previous DJ Young K's military enlistment. TXT released their first Japanese EP, Chaotic Wonderland, on November 10, 2021. It contained Japanese versions of "0X1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You)" featuring Ikuta Lilas, vocalist of Japanese musical duo Yoasobi, and "MOA Diary (Dubaddu Wari Wari)", along with original Japanese song "Ito" and the group's first original English song "Magic". "Ito", composed by Japanese rock band Greeeen, served as the theme song for Japanese drama Spiral Labyrinth – DNA Forensic Investigation[ja], adapted from the manga of the same name. On November 24, 2021, TXT was awarded the 2021 Men of the Year Pop Icon Award by GQ Japan. The group also featured on the cover of Euphoria magazine, where they spoke to Aedan Juvet about being named the "IT group" of K-pop's fourth generation. 2022: Minisode 2: Thursday's Child and first world tour On February 23, 2022, "PS5" by Salem Ilese was released, featuring members Yeonjun and Taehyun. On March 14, it was announced that Yeonjun would be the new MC of SBS's Inkigayo alongside Roh Jeong-eui and Seo Bum-june. TXT released their fourth EP, Minisode 2: Thursday's Child, and its lead single "Good Boy Gone Bad" on May 9. The album surpassed 810,000 pre-ordered copies six days after the sales began. To support the EP, the group embarked on their first world tour, Act: Lovesick, beginning on July 2. On July 22, the group released an English single "Valley of Lies" featuring Puerto Rican rapper Iann Dior. On July 30, TXT became the first K-pop act to perform at Lollapalooza. On August 31, TXT's third Japanese single, "Good Boy Gone Bad" was released. It contained the Japanese version of "Good Boy Gone Bad" and two original Japanese songs, "Hitori no Yoru" and "Kimi janai dareka no (Ring)". "Ring" was used as the theme song for Abema's show Heart Signal Japan, a remake of the Korean reality show Heart Signal. 2023: The Name Chapter: Temptation, second world tour and The Name Chapter: Freefall The band released their fifth EP, The Name Chapter: Temptation, on January 27, 2023. On February 22, the group made available "Goodbye now" which served as the original soundtrack for the Webtoon Love Revolution. On March 22, TXT became the first K-pop group to headline at Lollapalooza, having performed the preivious year. In March, the group embarked on their second world, Act: Sweet Mirage. On July 5, TXT released their second Japanese album, Sweet. The album included the original Japanese song "Ajisai no yōna koi (Hydrangea Love)" which served as the opening theme for the drama Saiko No Seito: Yomei Ichinen No Last Dance. On July 7, the group released the single "Do It Like That" with the Jonas Brothers. In August, The Name Chapter: Temptation was certified Gold by the RIAA. It was TXT's first release to be certified in the United States. On September 15, TXT released the single "Back For More" with Anitta, and the song was performed for the first time at the MTV Video Music Awards. On October 13, the band released their third Korean studio album, The Name Chapter: Freefall. 2024: Minisode 3: Tomorrow and third world tour For the opening theme of the 2024 anime television series Solo Leveling, the band collaborated with Japanese composer Hiroyuki Sawano on a song titled "LEveL". In March 2024, they announced their upcoming world tour Act: Promise. Initial dates for the tour include stops in South Korea and the US, and tickets for the US dates sold out after going on sale. TXT released their sixth EP, Minisode 3: Tomorrow, on April 1, 2024. In July 2024, the music-themed Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California announced that a special K-pop exhibit will take place in August 2024, displaying the accessories and performance gear worn by artists under Hybe, including TXT. Members Soobin (수빈) – leader Yeonjun (연준) Beomgyu (범규) Taehyun (태현) HueningKai (휴닝카이) Artistry Musical style and lyrical themes According to Rolling Stone, Tomorrow X Together's music "dabbles in disco, shoegaze, indie rock, and pop" and discusses "personal stories about the growing pains that come along with being a teenager". NME described the group's discography as mostly "bright, breezy and blissfully free from life’s worries" and "focusing more on fantasy and fun". The members have expressed their desire to be more involved in songwriting. Endorsements In May 2019, TXT was announced as the new ambassadors for Korean skincare brand It's Skin. In December 2019, TXT was announced as exclusive models for Korean student uniform brand Skoolooks' 2020 collections. In February 2021, TXT was selected as "main characters" in TikTok's #BeMyValentine global campaign to celebrate Valentine's Day. In March 2021, the group was announced as models for the Japanese audio brand GLIDiC. In July 2021, the group was revealed to be the newest brand ambassadors of Philippine telecommunications giant Smart Communications for its "Build Your Own Giga" campaign. In August 2021, TXT was selected as models for Korean beauty brand 4OIN. In May 2022, the group was announced as the global ambassadors for Korean skin care brand Ma:nyo factory. In February 2023, TXT was appointed as the first global ambassador for the personal care brand KUNDAL. They were selected as the new global ambassadors for Korean beauty brand Clio in the same month. In August 2023, the group was announced as the new brand ambassadors for Dior. Discography Filmography Television Online shows Radio shows Concerts and tours Headlining tours Act: Lovesick (2022) Act: Sweet Mirage (2023) Act: Promise (2024) Concerts Concert participation 2021 New Year's Eve Live presented by Weverse 2022 Weverse Con [New Era] 2022 Lollapalooza 2022 Summer Sonic Festival 2023 Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2023 Weverse Con Festival 2023 Lollapalooza Awards and nominations References External links Official website

List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Taylor_Swift

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Taylor_Swift

The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has received numerous industry awards and honorary accolades. She is the most-awarded artist of the American Music Awards (40), the Billboard Music Awards (39), the MTV Video Music Awards (30), iHeartRadio Music Awards (25) and she has the most Album of the Year wins at the Grammy Awards (4), the most Video of the Year wins at the MTV Video Music Awards (5), and she is the person most times awarded the Global Recording Artist of the Year by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (4). Swift was included in the Time 100 most influential people list three times (2009, 2015, 2019), she is the first woman to be named Time's Person of the year on two occasions (2017, 2023) and the first entertainer ever to be named Person of the year. As of December 2023, Taylor Swift has registered 118 Guinness World Records. Swift started out as a country singer-songwriter; she released her self-titled debut studio album in 2006 and was nominated for Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008. Her second studio album, Fearless (2008), is the most-awarded album in country music history. It won Album of the Year and Best Country Album at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and won Album of the Year at both the Country Music Association Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards. The Fearless single "White Horse" won the Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The single "Mean" from Swift's third studio album, Speak Now (2010), won the Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance. "Safe & Sound", which Swift co-wrote and recorded for The Hunger Games soundtrack album (2011), won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Her fourth studio album, Red (2012), was her last promoted to country radio, and it received Album of the Year nominations at the Grammy and country-music awards. 1989 (2014), Swift's fifth studio album, was her first official pop album, and it won the Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. At the 2016 BMI Pop Awards, Swift was honored with the Taylor Swift Award, becoming the second artist after Michael Jackson to have an award named after its recipient. Her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017), was supported by the Reputation Stadium Tour, which was awarded Tour of the Year by the American Music Awards, IHeartRadio Music Awards, and People's Choice Awards. In 2019, Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, and was honored as the Woman of the Decade by Billboard and Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards. She became the first woman and fourth musician to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year three times with her eighth studio album, Folklore (2020), at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021. At the Brit Awards 2021, Swift was honored as the Global Icon Award, becoming the first woman to ever win the award. Her ninth and tenth studio albums, Evermore (2020) and Midnights (2022), were both nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The latter won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, making Swift the first artist to win in the former category four times. After receiving her 7th Song of the Year nomination for "Anti-Hero", Taylor Swift became the songwriter with the most Song of the Year nominations at the Grammy Awards. Awards and nominations Other accolades Guinness World Records As of December 2023, Swift has acquired 118 Guinness World Records. Listicles Honorary degree Notes == References ==

New_York_University

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_University

New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institution near City Hall based on a curriculum focused on a secular education. The university moved in 1833 and has maintained its main campus in Greenwich Village surrounding Washington Square Park. Since then, the university has added an engineering school in Brooklyn's MetroTech Center and graduate schools throughout Manhattan. NYU has become the largest private university in the United States by enrollment, with a total of 51,848 enrolled students, including 26,733 undergraduate students and 25,115 graduate students in 2019. It is one of the most applied-to schools in the country and admissions are considered selective. NYU's main campus in New York City is organized into ten undergraduate schools, including the College of Arts & Science, Gallatin School, Steinhardt School, Stern School of Business, Tandon School of Engineering, and Tisch School of the Arts. NYU's 15 graduate schools include the Grossman School of Medicine, School of Law, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, School of Professional Studies, Silver School of Social Work, and Rory Meyers School of Nursing. The university's internal academic centers include the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Center for Data Science, Center for Neural Science, Clive Davis Institute, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, Institute of Fine Arts, and the NYU Langone Health System. NYU is a global university system with degree-granting portal campuses at NYU Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates and NYU Shanghai in China, and academic learning centers in Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C. Past and present faculty and alumni include 39 Nobel Laureates, 8 Turing Award winners, 5 Fields Medalists, 31 MacArthur Fellows, 26 Pulitzer Prize winners, 3 heads of state, 5 U.S. governors, 12 U.S. senators, and 58 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. History Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, declared his intention to establish "in this immense and fast-growing city ... a system of rational and practical education fitting and graciously opened to all." A three-day-long "literary and scientific convention" held in City Hall in 1830 and attended by over 100 delegates debated the terms of a plan for a new university. These New Yorkers believed the city needed a university designed for young men who would be admitted based upon merit rather than birthright or social class. On April 18, 1831, the institution that would become NYU was established with the support of a group of prominent New York City residents from the city's merchants, bankers, and traders. Albert Gallatin was elected as its first president. On April 21, 1831, the new institution received its charter and was incorporated as the University of the City of New York by the New York State Legislature; older documents often refer to it by that name. The university has been popularly known as New York University since its inception and was officially renamed New York University in 1896. In 1832, NYU held its first classes in rented rooms of four-story Clinton Hall, situated near City Hall. In 1835, the School of Law, NYU's first professional school, was established. Although the impetus to found a new school was partly a reaction by evangelical Presbyterians to what they perceived as the Episcopalianism of Columbia College, NYU was created non-denominational, unlike many American colleges at the time. The American Chemical Society was founded in 1876 at NYU. Soon after its founding, it became one of the nation's largest universities, with an enrollment of 9,300 in 1917. The university purchased a campus at University Heights in the Bronx because of overcrowding on the old campus. NYU also had a desire to follow New York City's development further uptown. NYU's move to the Bronx occurred in 1894, spearheaded by the efforts of Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken. The University Heights campus was far more spacious than its predecessor was. As a result, most of the university's operations, along with the undergraduate College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering, were housed there. NYU's administrative operations were moved to the new campus, but the graduate schools of the university remained at Washington Square. In 1914, Washington Square College was founded as the downtown undergraduate college of NYU. In 1935, NYU opened the "Nassau College-Hofstra Memorial of New York University at Hempstead, Long Island." This extension would later become a fully independent Hofstra University. In 1950, NYU was elected to the Association of American Universities, a nonprofit organization of leading public and private research universities. Financial crisis gripped the New York City government in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the troubles spread to the city's institutions, including NYU. Feeling the pressures of imminent bankruptcy, NYU President James McNaughton Hester negotiated the sale of the University Heights campus to the City University of New York, which occurred in 1973. In 1973, the New York University School of Engineering and Science merged into Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, which eventually merged back into NYU in 2014, forming the present Tandon School of Engineering. After the sale of the Bronx campus, University College merged with Washington Square College. In the 1980s, under the leadership of President John Brademas, NYU launched a billion-dollar campaign that was led by Naomi B. Levine and was spent almost entirely on updating facilities. The campaign was set to complete in 15 years, but ended up being completed in 10. In 1991, L. Jay Oliva was inaugurated the 14th president of the university. Following his inauguration, he moved to form the League of World Universities, an international organization consisting of rectors and presidents from urban universities across six continents. The league and its 47 representatives gather every two years to discuss global issues in education. In 2003, President John Sexton launched a $2.5 billion campaign for funds to be spent especially on faculty and financial aid resources. Under Sexton's leadership, NYU also began its transformation into a global university, including the opening of a campus in Abu Dhabi in 2010. Mortgage loans issued to some administrators and faculty by the university were criticized following published reports of August 2013, detailing terms of the loans, including that the school had issued some which approached zero percent interest rates, and some that were partially forgiven. Uniquely, among universities, the school had also issued multi-million-dollar loans for luxury vacation homes. President Sexton would step down at the end of his term in 2016, in the wake of a vote of no confidence in March 2013, closely followed by controversy over having received a vacation home loan from NYU. In August 2018, the New York University Grossman School of Medicine announced it would be offering full-tuition scholarships to all current and future students in its MD program regardless of need or merit, making it the only top-10 medical school in the United States to do so. In Spring 2022, President Andrew D. Hamilton announced that the 2023 academic year would be his last, and that he would be returning to research. He will be succeeded by Linda G. Mills, the university's first female president. Enrollment From 2007 to 2018, NYU experienced a 114% increase in applications to its university system, increasing from around 35,000 applicants to more than 100,000 in 2020. This has also caused the acceptance rate to drop significantly, with a record-low acceptance rate of 8% in 2023 and 2024. In parallel to NYU's expansion in the early 1900s, the university similarly expanded vigorously in the early 2000s, becoming the largest private university in the United States with a combined undergraduate/graduate enrollment of over 59,000 students as of 2018. University logo The university logo, the upheld torch, is derived from the Statue of Liberty, signifying NYU's service to New York City. The torch is depicted on both the NYU seal and the more abstract NYU logo, designed in 1965 by renowned graphic designer Tom Geismar of the branding and design firm Chermayeff & Geismar. There are at least two versions of the possible origin of the university color, violet. Some believe that it may have been chosen because violets are said to have grown abundantly in Washington Square and around the buttresses of the Old University Building. Others argue that the color may have been adopted because the violet was the flower associated with Athens, the center of learning in ancient Greece. Cultural setting Washington Square and Greenwich Village have been hubs of cultural life in New York City since the early 19th century. Much of this culture has intersected with NYU at various points in its history. Artists of the Hudson River School, the United States' first prominent school of painters, settled around Washington Square. Samuel F.B. Morse, a noted artist who also pioneered the telegraph and created the Morse Code, served as the first chair of Painting and Sculpture. He and Daniel Huntington were early tenants of the Old University Building in the mid-19th century. (The university rented out studio space and residential apartments within the "academic" building.) As a result, they had notable interaction with the cultural and academic life of the university. In the 1870s, sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Daniel Chester French lived and worked near the Square. By the 1920s, Washington Square Park was nationally recognized as a focal point for artistic and moral rebellion. As such, the Washington Square campus became more diverse and bustled with urban energy, contributing to academic change at NYU. Famed residents of this time include Eugene O'Neill, John Sloan, and Maurice Prendergast. In the 1930s, the abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, and the realists Edward Hopper and Thomas Hart Benton had studios around Washington Square. In the 1960s the area became one of the centers of the beat and folk generation, when Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan settled there. This led to tension with the university, which at the time was in the midst of an aggressive facilities expansion phase. In 1975, the university opened The Grey Art Gallery at 100 Washington Square East, housing the NYU art collection and featuring museum quality exhibitions. Budget and fundraising NYU has successfully completed a seven-year, $2.5 billion campaign, surpassing expectations by raising more than $3 billion over the seven-year period. Started in 2001, this campaign was the university's largest in its history, in which they planned to "raise $1 million per day for scholarships and financial aid, faculty building, new academic initiatives, and enhancing NYU's physical facilities." The campaign included a $50 million gift from the Tisch family (after which one building and the art school are named) and a $60 million gift from six trustees called "The Partners Fund", aimed at hiring new faculty. On October 15, 2007, the university announced that the Silver family donated $50 million to the School of Social Work, which will be renamed as a result. This is the largest donation ever to a school of social work in the United States. The 2007–2008 academic year was the most successful fundraising year to date for NYU, with the school raising $698 million in only the first 11 months of the year, representing a 70% increase in donations from the prior year. The university also recently announced plans for NYU's Call to Action, a new initiative to ask alumni and donors to support financial aid for students at NYU. The university has announced a 25-year strategic development plan, scheduled to coincide with its bicentennial in 2031. Included in the "NYU 200" plans are increasing resident and academic space, hiring additional faculty, and involving the New York City community in a transparent planning process. Additionally, NYU hopes to make their buildings more environmentally friendly, which will be facilitated by an evaluation of all campus spaces. As a part of this plan, NYU purchased 118 million kilowatt-hours of wind power during the 2006–2007 academic year – the largest purchase of wind power by any university in the country and any institution in New York City. For 2007, the university expanded its purchase of wind power to 132 million kilowatt-hours. As a result, the EPA ranked NYU as one of the greenest colleges in the country in its annual College & University Green Power Challenge. NYU consistently ranks as one of the top fundraising institutions in the country, raising $506.4 million in 2015 and $648 million in 2016. NYU is also the 19th wealthiest university in America with $5.3 billion in cash and investments in fiscal year 2014. Campus NYU's New York City campus includes more than 171 buildings spread between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Most of the school's buildings in Manhattan are located across a roughly 230-acre (93 ha) area bounded by Houston Street to the south, Broadway to the east, 14th Street to the north, and Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) to the west. The core of NYU consists of buildings that surround Washington Square Park. In addition to its New York campus, NYU has 49 additional buildings overseas located throughout two 'portal' campuses and 12 Global Academic Centers. Washington Square campus Since the late 1970s, the central part of NYU has been its Washington Square campus in the heart of Greenwich Village. The Washington Square Arch is an unofficial symbol of NYU. Until 2007, NYU had held its commencement ceremonies in Washington Square Park, but because of renovations to Washington Square moved the 2008 ceremonies to the original Yankee Stadium and all subsequent ones to the current Yankee Stadium. The Silver Center for Arts and Science, home to the College of Arts & Science and the Graduate School of Arts & Science, is one of the main academic buildings on the Washington Square campus. It is located on Washington Square East, between Washington Place and Waverly Place, and many individual departments of the two schools it houses are located in its vicinity. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt Hall, the main building for the School of Law, is located near the southwest corner of Washington Square between Macdougal Street and Sullivan Street on Washington Square South. The Kimmel Center for University Life is also on Washington Square South, and is the primary hub for student life at the university, providing event and meeting space for student organizations and other gatherings. Located closer to the eastern edge of the campus along Broadway are the main buildings for the Tisch School of the Arts and the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, as well as the main office for Liberal Studies and NYU's Bookstore and Student Health Center. Other nearby university buildings and complexes of note include 5 Washington Place, which houses NYU's distinguished Department of Philosophy, 7 East 12th Street, which serves as the main building for the School of Professional Studies, the Brown Building, which was the location of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire before its acquisition by NYU, as well as Washington Square Village and University Village, two housing complexes for faculty members and graduate students. Undergraduate residence halls in the immediate surroundings of Washington Square include Goddard Hall, Lipton Hall, and Weinstein Hall, while those that are slightly farther but still nearby include Brittany Hall and Rubin Hall. In the 1990s, NYU became a "two square" university by building a second community around Union Square, in close proximity to Washington Square. NYU's Union Square community primarily consists of the priority residence halls of Carlyle Court, Palladium Residence Hall, Alumni Hall, Coral Tower, Thirteenth Street Hall, University Hall, Third North Residence Hall, and Founders Hall. On its Washington Square campus, NYU operates theaters and performance facilities that are often used by the Tisch School of the Arts as well as the university's music conservatory, which is within the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. External productions are also occasionally held in NYU's facilities. The largest performance accommodations at NYU are the Skirball Center for Performing Arts (850 seats) at 566 LaGuardia Place, just south of Washington Square South, and the Eisner-Lubin Auditorium (560 seats) in the Kimmel Center. Notably, the Skirball Center has hosted important speeches on foreign policy by John Kerry and Al Gore. The Skirball Center is the largest performing arts facility south of 42nd Street. NYU also has international houses meant to foster the study of particular cultures and languages on its Washington Square campus, including the Deutsches Haus, La Maison Française, Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò, the Glucksman Ireland House to foster Irish studies, the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, the Hagop Kevorkian Center, an Africa House, and a China House. Most of these international houses are located on Washington Mews, a private street north of Washington Square Park. The closest New York City Subway stations servicing the Washington Square campus are Eighth Street–New York University and West Fourth Street–Washington Square. In addition, NYU runs its own shuttle service, University Transportation Services, linking the Washington Square campus to other university locations and major transit hubs. The nearest major highway is the West Side Highway (NY 9A) to the west. The campus is located less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Holland Tunnel, and 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Brooklyn Bridge. Gould Plaza The Jeffrey S. Gould Plaza, located between Washington Square East and Mercer Street on West 4th Street, is surrounded by the buildings for some departments of the College of Arts and Science as well as the main buildings for the Stern School of Business and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Other NYU buildings near the plaza include the Bonomi Family Admissions Center, the Jeffrey S. Gould Welcome Center, the Alumni Relations building, Goddard Hall, Frederick Loewe Theatre, and the main building for the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, as well as unrelated religious institutions such as Judson Memorial Church, the Islamic Center at NYU, and Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. Because of its high student traffic during the academic year, Gould Plaza has become a popular meeting spot for NYU students and a performance area for street musicians and buskers. Bobst Library The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, built between 1967 and 1972, is the largest library at NYU and one of the largest academic libraries in the United States. Designed by Philip Johnson and Richard Foster, the 12-story, 425,000-square-foot (39,500 m2) structure sits on the southern edge of Washington Square Park (at 70 Washington Square South) and is the flagship of an eight-library, 4.5 million-volume system. Bobst Library offers one Multidisciplinary Reference Center, a Research Commons, 28 miles (45 km) of open-stacks shelving, and approximately 2,000 seats for student study. The library is visited by more than 6,800 users each day, and circulates more than one million books annually. Bobst's Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media is one of the world's largest academic media centers, where students and researchers use more than 95,000 audio and video recordings per year. Bobst Library is also home to many special collections. The Fales Collection houses collections of English and American fiction in the United States, the unique Downtown Collection, documenting the New York literary avant-garde arts scene from the 1970s to the present, and the Food and Cookery Collection, which documents American food history with a focus on New York City. Bobst Library also houses the Tamiment Library, which holds collections in labor history, socialism, anarchism, communism, and American radicalism for scholarly research. Tamiment includes the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, the Archives of Irish America, the Center for the Cold War and the U.S., and the Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Center. Bobst Library made headlines in the early 2000s when Steven Stanzak, who is also known as "Bobst Boy", gained a following for living in Bobst Library after he was unable to pay for board at the university and began to write about his life on a self published blog. The story was reported by Washington Square News before becoming an overnight national sensation, which helped Stanzak receive financial assistance from NYU until graduation. Brooklyn campus NYU's Brooklyn campus is located at MetroTech Center, an urban academic-industrial research park. It sits on top of the Jay Street–MetroTech station, is only a few blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge, and is connected to NYU's Manhattan campus via the NYU Shuttle Bus System. It houses the Tandon School of Engineering, the Center for Urban Science and Progress and also several of Tisch School of the Arts and Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development's degree programs. MetroTech Commons, the 3.5-acre (14,000 m2) privately owned public space at the heart of the MetroTech complex, functions as a quad for students at the Brooklyn campus in much the same way that Washington Square Park does for students at the main campus, hosting events including concerts, health fairs, chess tournaments and holiday celebrations. Bounded by Lawrence and Duffield Streets, the square is frequently adorned by modern art exhibits. Two pieces called Alligator and Visionary are part of the Commons' permanent public art collection by the well-known sculptor Tom Otterness. The Brooklyn campus is home to NYU's Game Center Open Library, which is the largest collection of games held by any university in the world, as well as the NYU MakerSpace and Design Lab, which allows all NYU students who undergo training sessions to access advanced 3D printing, prototyping, CNC machining, and stress testing devices. In 2014, NYU Langone Medical Center acquired a 125,000 square feet (11,600 m2) healthcare facility in Brooklyn. Quickly following this announcement, NYU announced in 2017 that it would invest over $500 million in the coming years to renovate and expand its Brooklyn campus, including 370 Jay Street, which opened in December 2017. Other NY metropolitan area facilities The NYU Langone Health medical center is situated near the East River waterfront at 550 First Avenue between East 30th and 34th Streets. The campus hosts the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Tisch Hospital, Kimmel Pavilion, Hassenfeld Children's Hospital, and the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. Other NYU and NYU-affiliated medical centers across the city include the NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, the NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn, and the Bellevue Hospital. In Mineola, Long Island, the NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island campus is home to NYU's second medical school, the NYU Long Island School of Medicine. NYU's Silver School of Social Work (formerly Ehrenkranz School of Social Work) manages branch campus programs in Westchester County at Sarah Lawrence College and in Rockland County at St. Thomas Aquinas College. In Sterling Forest, near Tuxedo, NYU has a research facility that contains various institutes, in particular the Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine. The Midtown Center at 11 West 42nd Street is home to the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate. The Woolworth Building in the financial district is home to some of NYU's professional studies and education programs. NYU has two units located on the Upper East Side. The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, a discrete entity within NYU, independent of any other school or department of the university, is located on East 84th Street, while the Institute of Fine Arts, a graduate school of art history and fine arts, is located at the James B. Duke House at 1 East 78th Street. Additionally, the nearby Stephen Chan House at 14 East 78th Street houses the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, which boasts the oldest graduate degree-granting conservation program in the world. Global campuses and sites NYU has a host of foreign facilities used for study away programs, referred to as Global Academic Centers. As of 2012, NYU operates 12 academic sites in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America, including undergraduate academic-year and summer study away programs in Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C. One of the most noteworthy sites is the 57-acre (230,000 m2) campus of NYU Florence, located at Villa LaPietra in Italy. The estate was bequeathed by the late Sir Harold Acton to NYU in 1994, and at the time it was the largest donation to a university in history. In spring 2014, NYU Paris moved to a new campus, formerly occupied by the École Spéciale des Travaux Publics (ESTP Paris), in the student area of the Quartier Latin, where NYU Law also set up an EU Regulatory Policy Clinic in partnership with HEC Paris taught by Alberto Alemanno and Vincent Chauvet. In addition to the Global Academic Centers, NYU also maintains 10 Global Research Initiative Institutes, 9 of them are located in the academic centers at Berlin, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, and Washington DC, with the other being located in Athens. Meant to provide faculty and graduate students with NYU infrastructural support while conducting international research projects, those who are interested can apply for fellowships at all sites during the academic-year and a limited number of sites during the summer. Abu Dhabi campus Spearheaded by John Sexton, president of the university during 2002—2015; in Fall 2010, New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) opened as the university's first overseas "Portal Campus" with an inaugural class of 150 students. The campus faced controversy even before it opened. In 2009, the university responded to a series of interviews in The New York Times that showed a pattern of labor abuses at its fledgling Abu Dhabi location (which would open for classes the next year), creating a statement of labor values for Abu Dhabi campus workers. A 2014 follow-up article found that while some conditions had improved, contractors for the university were still frequently subjecting their workers to third-world labor conditions. The article documented that these conditions included confiscation of worker passports, forced overtime, recruitment fees and cockroach-filled dorms where workers had to sleep under beds. According to the article, workers who attempted to protest the NYU contractors' conditions were promptly arrested. Reports also claimed that those arrested by police were later abused at the police station. Many workers who were not local were then deported to their home countries. The university quickly responded to the reports with an apology to the workers. Though the campus construction costs were entirely funded by the Abu Dhabi government, as will be the operational costs and any future expansions, in 2015, NYU additionally compensated thousands of migrant workers on its Abu Dhabi complex. Unlike NYU's other study abroad centers, NYUAD functions as a separate liberal arts college within a university, offering complete degree programs to students admitted directly to NYUAD. NYUAD recruits students from all over the world and describes itself as the "World's Honor College". The main campus for NYUAD is on Saadiyat Island and opened in 2014. Until then, the school operated from a campus located in downtown Abu Dhabi. Shanghai campus In 2011, NYU announced plans to open another portal campus, NYU Shanghai, for the fall semester of 2013. It was set to have about 3,000 undergraduate students, the majority of whom would be Chinese. It was approved by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China in January 2011. NYU's local partner would be East China Normal University (ECNU). ECNU's president Yu Lizhong would be the chancellor and play a major role in government relations while Jeffrey S. Lehman, former president of Cornell amongst other positions, would serve as vice chancellor and have "free rein in academic affairs". Since late summer of 2014, NYU Shanghai has been based in Pudong, Shanghai, at 1555 Century Ave. The main campus is contained in a single building, the Academic Center, a new 15-story building with two underground floors. On May 30, 2019, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new campus building in the Qiantan International Business Zone. The Qiantan campus building will also be located in Pudong, and is being designed and built by architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF). The design features four buildings arranged in a pinwheel shape reminiscent of NYU Shanghai's logo, that are connected as one building above the fifth floor. The university hopes to move up to 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students into the new campus by 2022. Former global campuses Tisch School of the Arts, Asia was NYU's first branch campus abroad. The result of a partnership between Tisch School of the Arts and the Singapore Government, it offered Master of Fine Arts degrees in animation and digital arts, dramatic writing, film and international media producing. The campus opened in fall 2007 with the intention to enroll approximately 250 students. Anticipated enrollment figures were not achieved, financial irregularities were alleged, and President Pari Sara Shirazi was dismissed from her post by NYU in November 2011. She subsequently announced her intention to commence legal proceedings against NYU alleging wrongful termination and defamation. In a letter to the Tisch Asia community dated November 8, 2012, Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell announced that the campus would close after 2014 with recruitment and admission of new students suspended with immediate effect. In 2016, three former students of the now defunct Tisch Asia sued NYU. Before moving to its current location at the former campus of ESTP Paris, NYU Paris was located in a small building in the historic neighborhood of Passy. Residence halls NYU houses approximately 12,000 undergraduate and graduate residents, and had the seventh-largest university housing system in the U.S. as of 2007, and one of the largest among private schools. NYU's undergraduate housing system consists of more than 20 residence halls and is governed by the Inter-Residence Hall Council (IRHC), an umbrella student council organization. Uniquely, many of NYU's residence halls are converted apartment complexes or old hotels. In general, NYU residence halls receive favorable ratings, and some are opulent. Many rooms are spacious and contain amenities considered rare for individual college residence hall rooms, such as kitchens, lavatories, living rooms and common areas. The university operates its own transit system to transport its students by bus to its campus. A few of the residence halls are considered to be among the nicest in the nation, being furnished with granite counter-tops, stainless-steel appliances, in-hall gyms, wood flooring, marble bathroom fixtures, large floor lounges, floor to ceiling windows and extensive views of lower and midtown Manhattan. Undergraduate students are guaranteed housing during their enrollment at NYU and are split into two categories, FYRE (First-Year Residential Experience) and TRUE (The Residential Upperclassmen Experience). Most FYRE halls are located near the Washington Square area. While nearly all TRUE halls are located near the Union Square area, two former residence halls were located in the Financial District and one is still in use in Chinatown. Two residence halls are located in and around the MetroTech Commons, intended to serve NYU's Brooklyn Campus. In 2007, the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) named NYU the National School of the Year for IRHC and NRHH's strong efforts over the past year. In addition, NYU was named the National Program of the Year for UltraViolet Live, the annual inter-hall competition that raises funds for Relay For Life. Sustainability NYU has made the greening of its campus a large priority. For example, NYU has been the largest university purchaser of wind energy in the U.S. since 2009. With this switch to renewable power, NYU is achieving benefits equivalent to removing 12,000 cars from the road or planting 72,000 trees. In May 2008, the NYU Sustainability Task Force awarded $150,000 in grants to 23 projects that would focus research and efforts toward energy, food, landscape, outreach, procurement, transportation and waste. These projects include a student-led bike-sharing program modeled after Paris' Velib program with 30 bikes free to students, staff, and faculty. NYU received a grade of "B" on the College Sustainability Report Card 2010 from the Sustainable Endowments Institute. NYU purchased 118 million kilowatt-hours of wind power during the 2006–2007 academic year – the largest purchase of wind power by any university in the country and any institution in New York City. For 2007, the university expanded its purchase of wind power to 132 million kilowatt-hours. The EPA ranked NYU as one of the greenest colleges in the country in its annual College & University Green Power Challenge. NYU 2031 In 2007, NYU created a strategic plan for a six billion-dollar, 25-year, 6,000,000-square-foot (560,000 m2) expansion scheduled to conclude by the university's bicentennial in 2031. Details of the plan include 2,000,000 sq ft (190,000 m2) of additional on-campus housing and 3,500,000 sq ft (330,000 m2) of modern academic spaces spread between NYU's New York City campuses. The expansion started in earnest in 2017 with the groundbreaking of 181 Mercer Street, a new multi-purpose building that will act as the flagship athletic facility for NYU, while also accompanying a 350-bed Residence Hall, 58 general purpose classrooms and a 350-seat theater. The roughly 800,000-square-foot (74,000 m2), $1.1 billion building is directly adjacent to the south eastern corner of the Washington Square campus and represents a significant focus on the university owned super blocks. Work on the plans second project, 370 Jay Street, a 500,000-square-foot (46,000 m2) addition to the Brooklyn campus is scheduled to conclude in 2019. The building will house 'the digital arts and sciences' such as the Tandon School of Engineering departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering; the Tisch School of the Arts Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music and Game Center and various other NYU initiatives such as the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and NYU Wireless (5G research). To date, NYU has confirmed specific construction details for its NYU 2031 plan to the tune of 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2) at a cost of $1.6 billion with roughly 12 years to go until the university's bicentennial. In order to meet the plans outlined goals on time, the university would have to significantly increase spending, fundraising and construction over the next decade. Academics Admissions and scholarships Admission to NYU is highly selective. For the undergraduate first-year class of 2028, 8% were admitted from an applicant pool of more than 118,000. Three of NYU’s undergraduate colleges offered admission to fewer than 5% of applicants. In 2021, NYU became the first private university in the US to top 100,000 applications. Of those admitted, about 6,500 made up the total enrollment for the class, representing 102 countries, all 50 US states, and the District of Columbia. Most freshmen have a typical unweighted GPA of 3.7/A (90–95%) and are in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. The median SAT score was 1540 out of 1600 (within the 99th percentile). The student-to-faculty ratio at the New York campus is 9:1, and less than that at the Abu Dhabi and Shanghai campuses. The average scholarship amount awarded to freshmen is over $35,000, and 20% of freshmen received Pell Grants. As of 2016, NYU's graduate schools have acceptance rates of 1.8% to the School of Medicine, 23% to the School of Business, 28% to the School of Engineering, 29% to the Graduate School of Arts and Science, and 34% to the School of Law. Average MCAT score of students at the School of Medicine is 522, average GMAT score of graduate students at the School of Business is 723, and the median LSAT score of students at the School of Law is 170. Schools and leadership NYU is a private, global, non-sectarian and not-for-profit institution of higher education organized into 10 undergraduate schools and 15 graduate/professional schools, with a roughly even split of students between the divisions. Arts and Science is currently NYU's largest academic division. It has three subdivisions: the College of Arts and Science, the Graduate School of Arts and Science, and the Liberal Studies program. The College of Arts and Science and Liberal Studies program are undergraduate divisions, and the former has existed since the founding of NYU. According to NYU, it has created a "global network university" with its primary campus, two "portal" campuses, and 12 academic sites. The portal campuses at NYU Shanghai and NYU Abu Dhabi function as full-fledged colleges, allowing students to study all four years of their undergraduate studies and receive a degree, never having set foot on NYU's traditional campus in New York. The academic sites at Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C. function as study away sites, allowing students to spend up to a year away from their home campus. NYU, citing a report by the Institute of International Education, asserts that it has sent more students abroad and brought more international students in than any other university for five continuous years. The President of New York University, is selected by the board of trustees and serves as the primary executive officer of the university for an unspecified term length. On July 1st, 2023, Linda G. Mills became the 17th and current President of NYU. Research NYU is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and research expenditures totaled $917.7 million in 2017. The university was the founding institution of the American Chemical Society. The NYU Grossman School of Medicine received $305 million in external research funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2014. NYU was granted 90 patents in 2014, the 19th most of any institution in the world. NYU owns the fastest supercomputer in New York City. As of 2016, NYU hardware researchers and their collaborators enjoy the largest outside funding level for hardware security of any institution in the United States, including grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Naval Research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the United States Army Research Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Semiconductor Research Corporation, and companies including Twitter, Boeing, Microsoft, and Google. In 2019, four NYU Arts & Science departments ranked in Top 10 of Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities by academic subjects (economics, politics, psychology, and sociology). Rankings Nationally, NYU is ranked 17th in the Center for World University Rankings, 9th by QS World University Rankings, 17th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 27th by Business Insider, and 25th by U.S. News & World Report. Globally, NYU is ranked 23 in the Center for World University Rankings, 25th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 26th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and 35th in the QS World University Rankings. Additionally, NYU is ranked 26th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings Reputation Rankings. U.S. News & World Report ranks NYU's graduate schools 6th for law, 10th for public policy, 9th for mathematics (1st for applied mathematics), 8th for Occupational therapy under Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, 10th for business, 11th for economics, 12th for political science, 4th for medical school research, 10th for education, 19th for nursing doctorate, 38th for physical therapy, 30th for computer science, 36th for psychology, and 38th for engineering. Globally, NYU's social sciences are ranked 8th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, 15th by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and 16th by the QS World University Rankings. NYU is globally ranked 11th for psychology by the QS World University Ranking. The Social Psychology Network ranks NYU 5th for industrial/organizational psychology, 14th for clinical psychology, and U.S. News & World Report ranks NYU 9th for social psychology and 9th for behavioral neuroscience. U.S. News & World Report ranks the New York University School of Law 1st for tax law, 1st for international law, 1st for business and corporate law (tie), and 1st in criminal law. The publication also ranks The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service 10th in public policy. The NYU Department of Philosophy is globally ranked 1st by The Philosophical Gourmet Report and the QS World University Rankings. The annual Global Employability Survey in The New York Times ranks NYU 11th nationally and 29th globally for employability. NYU ranks 19th in the world based on the number of patents generated. Globally, NYU is ranked 7th by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for producing alumni who are millionaires, 5th among universities with the highest number of alumni worth $30 million or more, and 4th by Wealth-X for producing ultra high net-worth and billionaire alumni. Student life Student government The Student Government Assembly (SGA) is the governing student body at NYU. The SGA has been involved in controversial debates on campus, including a campus-wide ban on the sale of The Coca-Cola Company's products in 2005 to protest its refusal to investigate apparent human rights violations at their Colombian bottling plant and the Graduate Student Organizing Committee unionization in 2001 and subsequent strike in 2005. The Coke ban was lifted by the University Senate on February 5, 2009. SGA consists of 75 voting members from subsidiary student government organs including the Student Senators Council (SSC) and the Presidents Council, which are elected from their respective individual undergraduate and graduate colleges. In 2018, the structure of the university's student government was called into question by students through school newspapers and social media pages calling for "sweeping changes to its byzantine structure." Advocates claimed the structure of SGA failed to represent all students, wasted university funds and operated in an undemocratic manner. Opponents claimed that advocates were merely motivated by legislation supporting the BDS movement that was likely to pass. Student organizations NYU has over 450 student clubs and organizations on campus. In addition to the sports teams, fraternities, sororities, and study clubs, there are many organizations on campus that focus on entertainment, arts, and culture. Journalism, media, and broadcast organizations These organizations include various student media clubs: for instance, the daily student newspaper the Washington Square News, the NYU Local daily blog, The Plague comedy magazine, "Washington Square Local web-based satire news source, and the literary journals Washington Square Review and The Minetta Review, as well as student-run event producers such as the NYU Program Board and the Inter-Residence Hall Council. It also operates radio station WNYU-FM 89.1 with a diverse college radio format, transmitting to the entire New York metropolitan area from the original campus, and via booster station WNYU-FM1 which fills in the signal in lower Manhattan from atop one of the Silver Towers, next to the football field at the Washington Square campus. Students publish a campus comedy magazine, The Plague. Like many college humor magazines, this often pokes fun at popular culture as well as campus life and the idiosyncrasies of New York University. The Plague was founded in 1978 by Howard Ostrowsky along with Amy Burns, John Rawlins, Joe Pinto and Dan Fiorella, and is currently published once per semester. It is not NYU's first humor magazine, as The Medley was a humor magazine published by the Eucleian Society from 1913 to 1950. Debate team Since winning the national championship in the 2003–2004 season, the NYU Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) debate team is considered one of the perennial collegiate policy debate teams in the country. For the 2020–21 season, they placed 5th in the nation at CEDA Open Nationals and 2nd in the nation at JV Nationals, along with students named the 1st and 4th place speakers at Novice Nationals. In 2021, they ranked 10th in the nation, finishing ahead of Harvard and Cornell. This marked 14 years of Top 20 National finishes dating back to the 2007 season. Mock trial team The New York University Mock Trial team is consistently ranked as one of the best collegiate mock trial teams in the country. NYU has qualified for the National Championship Tournament for 10 consecutive seasons and placed in the top 10 during each of those years. In the 2009–2010 season, NYU won the 26th National Championship Tournament in Memphis over rival Harvard. The following season, they qualified for the final round once more only to be the runners-up to UCLA. In the American Mock Trial Association's 2015–2016 power rankings, NYU ranks third, behind Harvard and Yale. Campus traditions NYU has traditions which have persisted across campuses. Since the beginning of the 20th century initiation ceremonies have welcomed incoming NYU freshmen. At the Bronx University Heights Campus, seniors used to grab unsuspecting freshmen, take them to a horse-watering trough, and then dunk them head-first into what was known colloquially as "the Fountain of Knowledge". This underground initiation took place until the 1970s. Today freshmen take part in university-sponsored activities during what is called "Welcome Week". In addition, throughout the year the university traditionally holds Apple Fest (an apple-themed country fest that began at the University Heights campus), the Violet Ball (a dance in the atrium of Bobst Library), Strawberry Fest (featuring New York City's longest Strawberry Shortcake), and the semi-annual midnight breakfast where Student Affairs administrators serve free breakfast to students before finals. A cappella groups NYU is home to a number of student-run a cappella groups, several of which compete regularly at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). Most notable of these groups is The NYU N'Harmonics, who won the ICCA title in 2019. In 2020, The A Cappella Archive ranked The NYU N'Harmonics at #6 among all ICCA-competing groups. Greek life Some of the first fraternities in the country were formed at NYU. Greek life first formed on the NYU campus in 1837 when Psi Upsilon chartered its Delta Chapter. The first fraternities at NYU were social ones. With their athletic, professional, intellectual, and service activities, later groups sought to attract students who also formed other groups. Since then, Greek letter organizations have proliferated to include 25 social fraternities and sororities. As of 2014, approximately 13% of NYU undergraduate students are members of fraternities or sororities. Four governing boards oversee Greek life at the university. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) has jurisdiction over all twelve recognized fraternities on campus. Eight sororities are under the jurisdiction of the Panhellenic Council (PhC), which features seven national sororities (ΔΦΕ, ΑΕΦ, ΑΣΤ, ΠΒΦ, ΚΚΓ, ΖΤΑ, ΔΓ) and two local sororities (ΑΦΖ and ΘΦΒ). Five multicultural organizations maintain membership in the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), including two fraternities and three sororities. All three of the aforementioned boards are managed under the auspices of the Inter-Greek Council. Greek organizations have historical significance at NYU. Delta Phi Epsilon, Zeta Psi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Tau Delta Phi, Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi were founded at NYU. Zeta Psi was chartered in 1847, Delta Sigma Pi in 1907, Alpha Epsilon Pi in 1913 Delta Phi Epsilon was founded in 1917. The NYU Gamma chapter of Delta Phi, founded in 1841, is the longest continuously active fraternity chapter in the world, having never gone inactive since its establishment. Delta Phi is also the oldest continuously active fraternity in the United States, being the only organization in the original Union Triad to remain active since its institute. The NYU Gamma chapter of Zeta Beta Tau is the oldest active ΖΒΤ chapter in the country. Secret societies During the University Heights era, an apparent rift evolved with some organizations distancing themselves from students from the downtown schools. The exclusive Philomathean Society operated from 1832 to 1888 (formally giving way in 1907 and reconstituted into the Andiron Club). Included among the Andiron's regulations was "Rule No.11: Have no relations save the most casual and informal kind with the downtown schools." The Eucleian Society, rival to the Philomathean Society, was founded in 1832. The Knights of the Lamp was a social organization founded in 1914 at the School of Commerce. This organization met every full moon and had a glowworm as its mascot. The Red Dragon Society, founded in 1898, is thought to be the most selective society at NYU. In addition, NYU's first yearbook was formed by fraternities and "secret societies" at the university. There have been several attempts to restart old societies by both former and incoming undergraduate classes. ROTC NYU does not have an ROTC program on campus. However, NYU students may participate in the U.S. Army ROTC program through NYC Army ROTC (Yankee Battalion), headquartered at Fordham University. Students may also participate in the U.S. Air Force ROTC program through AFROTC Detachment 560 headquartered at Manhattan College. Athletics NYU's sports teams are referred to as the NYU Violets, the colors being the trademarked hue "NYU Violet" and white. Since 1981, the school mascot has been a bobcat, whose origin can be traced back to the abbreviation then being used by the Bobst Library computerized catalog—short: Bobcat. NYU's sports teams include baseball, men's and women's varsity basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. Most of NYU's sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division III and the University Athletic Association, while fencing and ice hockey participate in Division I. While NYU has had All-American football players, the school has not had a varsity football team since 1952. NYU students also compete in club and intramural sports, including badminton, baseball, basketball, crew, cycling, equestrianism, ice hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby, softball, squash, tennis, triathlon, and ultimate. The Palladium Athletic Facility serves as the home base of NYU's Varsity and Club intercollegiate athletic teams, while NYU's 404 and Brooklyn athletic facilities offer additional space for the NYU fitness community. Many of NYU's varsity teams play their games at various facilities and fields throughout Manhattan because of the scarcity of space for playing fields near campus. NYU is currently in the process of building a new billion dollar flagship athletic facility known as 181 Mercer Street. When complete, the new home of NYU Athletics will host a six-lane swimming pool, four full basketball courts, a complete in-door running track and other sports related offerings. Notable faculty Notable alumni As of 2020, multiple heads of state, royalty, one U.S. Supreme Court justice, five U.S. governors, 17 billionaires, 38 Nobel Laureates, 8 Turing Award winners, 5 Fields Medalists, 31 MacArthur Fellows, 167 Guggenheim Fellows, three astronauts, seven Abel Prize winners, seven Lasker Award winners, a Crafoord Prize winner, 26 Pulitzer Prize winners, 37 Academy Award winners, 30 Emmy Award winners, 25 Tony Award winners, 12 Grammy Award winners, multiple Forbes 30 under 30 and Time 100 notables, and numerous members of the National Academies of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, United States Congress, and U.S. diplomats have been affiliated with faculty or alumni. Multiple Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Schwarzman Scholars and a Mitchell Scholar are affiliated with the university, with NYU Abu Dhabi producing more Rhodes Scholars per student than any university in the world. NYU has more than 500,000 living alumni as of 2015. As of October 2020, 38 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated with NYU. The university is also associated with a great number of important inventions and discoveries, such as cardiac defibrillator and artificial cardiac pacemaker (Barouh Berkovits), closed-chest cardiac defibrillator (William B. Kouwenhoven), laser (Gordon Gould), atom bomb (Frederick Reines), polio vaccine (Albert Sabin), RFID (Mario Cardullo), telephone handset (Robert G. Brown), wireless microphone (Hung-Chang Lin), first digital image scanner (Russell A. Kirsch), television (Benjamin Adler), light beer (Joseph Owades), non-stick cookware (John Gilbert), black hole thermodynamics (Jacob Bekenstein), polymer science (Herman Francis Mark), microwave (Ernst Weber), X-ray crystallography (Paul Peter Ewald), barcode (Jerome Swartz), structure of the DNA (Francis Crick), tau lepton (Martin Lewis Perl), processes for creating food coloring, decaffeination and sugar substitute (Torunn Atteraas Garin), processes for the mass production of penicillin (Jasper H. Kane), X-ray generator and rotational radiation therapy (John G. Trump), nuclear reactor and hydrogen bomb (John Archibald Wheeler), and contact lenses (Norman Gaylord), among many others. Alumnus Fred Waller who invented Cinerama and the Waller Gunnery Trainer, also obtained the first patent for a water ski. The first patents for touch screen cash machine (Richard J. Orford), and zoom lens (Leonard Bergstein), were also obtained by NYU alumni. Some of the most prolific inventors in American history are NYU alumni, for example Jerome H. Lemelson whose 605 patents involved the cordless telephone, fax machine, videocassette recorder and camcorder, among others; Samuel Ruben whose inventions include electric battery; James Wood who invented cable-lift elevator, fabricated the steel cables for the Brooklyn Bridge and contributed to the development of lockmaking, submarine, electric generator, electric motor, transformer and the design of the refrigerator; and Albert Macovski whose innovations include the single-tube color camera and real-time phased array imaging for ultrasound. NYU is the birthplace of the tractor beam and 5G. Before and during World War II, NYU's Tandon School of Engineering worked on problems whose solution led to the development of radar, and later broke ground in electromagnetic theory, electronics in general, and solved re-entry problems of the crewed space capsules, as well as helped develop and design the NASDAQ Automated Quote System and trading floors. Developer of the early telephone systems in the United States Bancroft Gherardi Jr., developer of the submarine communications facilities Jack M. Sipress, inventor of Italy's first computer Mario Tchou, designer of the Panama Canal locks Henry C. Goldmark, designer of the Pentagon Hugh John Casey, designer of the Apollo Lunar Module Thomas J. Kelly, as well as the designer of virtually every major bridge in New York City from the George Washington to the Verrazzano, Leopold Just, are also NYU alumni. Many of the world's most renowned companies, such as IBM (Charles Ranlett Flint), Twitter (Jack Dorsey), Bloomberg L.P. (Charles Zegar), Jacobs Engineering Group (Joseph J. Jacobs), Hudson Group (Robert B. Cohen), MTV (Tom Freston), Barnes & Noble (Leonard Riggio), Northrop Grumman (William T. Schwendler), Automatic Data Processing (Henry Taub), Duracell (Samuel Ruben), Bugle Boy (William C. W. Mow), Virgin Mobile USA (Dan Schulman), among many others, were founded or co-founded by NYU alumni. Many of the world's most famous companies were either owned or led by NYU alumni. These include, Lockheed Martin (Robert J. Stevens), Xerox (Ursula Burns), Yahoo! (Alfred Amoroso), TPV Technology (Jason Hsuan), 20th Century Fox (Marvin Davis), BAE Systems Inc (Mark Ronald), AECOM (John Dionisio), Pfizer (John Elmer McKeen), Ingersoll Rand (Herbert L. Henkel), General Motors (Alfred P. Sloan), and Sears (Arthur C. Martinez). Others include The New York Times (Spencer Trask), Stanley Black & Decker (John Trani), American International Group (Harvey Golub), American Express (Edward P. Gilligan), Qwest (Joseph Nacchio), Chase Bank (Walter V. Shipley), CBS (Laurence Alan Tisch), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (Charles A. Heimbold, Jr.), Citigroup (Robert I. Lipp), Morgan Stanley (Robert A. Kindler), Marvel Entertainment (John Turitzin), ConocoPhillips (John Carrig), Deloitte (Barry Salzberg), Sony Pictures Entertainment (Peter Guber), GQ (Steven Florio), Viacom (Thomas E. Dooley), Liberty Media (John C. Malone), Verizon (Lawrence Babbio Jr.) and Chemtura (Vincent A. Calarco). A pioneer of Silicon Valley, Eugene Kleiner, and the World Trade Center site owner, Larry Silverstein, are also alumni. See also Silicon Alley Notes References Further reading Dim, Joan (2000). The Miracle on Washington Square. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Frusciano, Thomas & Pettit, Marilyn (1997). New York University and the City: An Illustrated History. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. Gitlow, Abrahm L. (1995). NYU's Stern School of Business: A Centennial Retrospective. New York: NYU Press. Harris, Luther S. (2003). Around Washington Square : An Illustrated History of Greenwich Village. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Hester, James M. (1971). New York University; the urban university coming of age. New York: Newcomen Society in North America. OCLC 140405. Jones, Theodore F. (1933). New York University, 1832–1932. London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press. Lewis, Naphtali (1968). Greek papyri in the collection of New York University. Leiden: E.J. Brill. Tonne, Herbert A., ed. (1981). Early Leaders in Business Education at New York University. Reston, Virginia: National Business Education Association. Potash, David M. (1991). The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University: A History. New York: NYU Arts and Sciences Publications. External links Official website NYU Athletics website New York University collected news and commentary at The New York Times "New York University" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. "New York University" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

Hazrati_Sultan_District

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazrati_Sultan_District

Hazrati Sultan District is a district in Samangan Province, Afghanistan. It is also locally known as Azrat Sultan. In 2019 the estimated population was 45,962. == References ==

Samangan_Province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samangan_Province

Samangan (Dari: سمنگان; Pashto: سمنګان) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located north of the Hindu Kush mountains in the central part of the country. The province covers 11,218 square kilometres (4,331 sq mi) and is surrounded by Sar-e Pol Province in the west, Balkh in the north, Baghlan in the east, and Bamyan in the south. Samangan province is divided into 7 districts and contains 674 villages. It has a population of about 325,000 [1] which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. The city of Aybak serves as the provincial capital. In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the province during the 2021 Taliban offensive. History The earliest known history of the province is linked to the identification of the Samangan by Aoros Ptolemy as the place of the Varni or Uarni and the fortified city of Samangan on the banks of the Khulm River identical to the Bhaktria regi on the Dargydus river south east of Zariaspa. The ruins found here established the city's founding by Eukratides, the King of Bactria. It was then known as Edrisi the size of the Khulm city. Historicity of the Samangan town dates to the time of the Kushan Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries when it was a famous Buddhist centre. Witness to this period is seen now in the form of ruins at a place called the Takht-e Rostam, which is located 3 km from the town on a hilltop. Arabs and Mongols came to this place when it was already famous as a Buddhist religious centre. Aibak was the name given to this place when, during the medieval period, caravans used to stop here. Afghanistan has various archaeological sites where caves were hewn out of rocks and inhabited by Buddhists. "One of the most spectacular sites is that of Takth i Raustam, near Samangan (Haybak), north of Hindu Kush passes. It includes a complex of stupa with monastery, hewn out of the rock. Other caves have been found near Jalalabad and at the site of Humay Qal'a southwest of Ghazni. The Buddhist in Takth i Raustam here in the form of a mound, located on the hilltop, represents the earliest link to the evolution of Buddhist architecture in Afghanistan The area was conquered by the Hephthalites followed by the Saffarids who brought Islam. The Samanids took it and controlled it until the Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century, they were replaced by the Ghorids. After the Mongol invasion the Timurids took possession. Between the early 16th century and the mid-18th century, the Province was ruled by the Khanate of Bukhara. It was given to Ahmad Shah Durrani by Murad Beg of Bukhara after a treaty of friendship was reached in or about 1750, and became part of the Durrani Empire. It was ruled by the Durranis followed by the Barakzai dynasty, and was untouched by the British during the three Anglo-Afghan wars that were fought in the 19th and 20th centuries. It remained peaceful for about one hundred years until the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War. Recent history After the Afghan Civil War, the town of Darra Souf in Samangan Province was occupied by Ustad Mohammad Mohaqiq and the Taliban in late 1999. The Taliban forces gained control of the area from January to March 2000 including nearby Sar-e-Pol and Baghlan provinces, where they were reported to have massacred an unknown number of civilians. On May 8, 2000, several men from Baghlan were driven up to the Robotak Pass in Samangan province, approximately 20 miles north of the city of Samangan (100 miles south of Mazar-i-Sharif) and were executed, later found by local farmers in shallow graves which the Taliban had dug for them. After the removal of the Taliban government in late 2001, the Karzai administration took over control of Afghanistan. In the meantime, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) established a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the province. After getting training by ISAF, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are providing security for the population of the province. The province has a fairly good security situation, with the United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) reporting a calm and stable condition. However, on 15 February 2011 an ISAF peacekeeper from Finland was killed in a roadside bombing near Samangan City, and on 14 July 2012, Ahmed Khan Samangani, a member of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, was killed when a suicide bomber infiltrated his daughter's wedding party in the city of Samangan. The bomb also killed the provincial head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), and 13 other guests, and 60 were injured, including senior police and army commanders. The deputy provincial governor, Ghulam Sarkhi, claimed that the death toll was likely to rise. Healthcare Health services provided by the Ministry of Health are fairly basic with 6 health centres and 3 hospitals with 60 beds. They are reasonably well staffed with 21 doctors and 33 nurses. To cater to the pharmaceutical needs of the patients, there are 24 pharmacies, two are run by the government and the rest are privately owned. In 2006, two dozen women completed a midwifery course. The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 7% in 2005 to 18% in 2011. The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant fell from 29% in 2005 to 20% in 2011. Education The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 19% in 2005 to 27% in 2011. The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 37% in 2005 to 47% in 2011. Owing to its relative isolation, Samangan province is underdeveloped with no energy infrastructure and has a high rate of illiteracy, although some students have access to education in neighbouring Mazari Sharif. Educational facilities in the province is at a low level with literacy rate recorded at only 19% for the province as a whole, with 28% literacy rate among men and a low of 10% among women. The Kuchi people are the least literate, recording a literacy rate of only 3%, that too among men only. The province has 159 primary and secondary schools with attendance of 59,915 students; 83% of schools are boys' schools with 68% students. While the village schools are within easy reach, the high schools are generally about 10 km away from the villages. Economy Agriculture and some small scale mining are the main industries of the province. Economic condition of the people is very hard with nearly 12% households finding it difficult to meet the food requirements to sustain. This has resulted in allocations of food aid to the province. In October 2010, the first dish-making factory run by women began operations. The women were trained for several months and now work in two shifts. During the last few years, thousands of other women have worked on a variety of different projects such as tailoring and carpet knitting. Status of infrastructure As of 2005, safe drinking water access is available to 7% of households (falls to a low of 4% in rural areas). However, some drinking water facility is available in some form to about 71% of households. Still many households have to travel for long hours to the nearest source of water. Electricity supply is minimal, limited to only about 5% of the population with 80% supplied from government sources. The transport sector is still underdeveloped. Only 28% of roads are good for use by motorized traffic throughout the year with this percentage rising to 41% in some seasons. However roads are non-existent in 28% of the province. Education is still in a nascent state of development with only 19% being literate, as of 2005, with literacy among men limited to 28% and literacy among women limited to a mere 10%; literacy among the Kuchis population is the least at about 3% of men only. There are 59 primary and secondary schools in the province with enrolment of 59,915 students. However, travelling distance to the schools varies, with primary schools being most accessible while High Schools involve about 10 km of travel. As of 2005, basic health services maintained by the Ministry of Health were fairly developed with 6 health centres and 3 hospitals with a total of 60 beds. The health centres were well staffed with 21 doctors and 33 nurses. Food security is a major issue since nearly 12% of the population receive less than the minimum daily caloric intake to sustain good health. Food consumption is poor in both rural and urban areas and as a result food aid has become essential. From the security angle, the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has reported security situation in the province calm and stable. Mineral resource Marble export sustains Afghan economy. The marble is extracted and processed in 21 factories in the country, including the famous brown marble from Samangan province. This adds to the economy of the province. Agriculture The economy revolves around agriculture, with farmers in Samangan province cultivating grains, fruits, and nuts on the region's fertile river plains. The province of Samangan is second only to the northwestern Afghan province of Badghis in terms of pistachio production. As of 2005, 10 Agricultural cooperatives were functioning in the province with 665 enrolled members controlling an area of 5532 ha which brought prosperity to its members. The staple food crops grown in the province are wheat, barley and potato and flax. The horticultural or garden crops grown are grapes, pomegranates and other fruit and nut trees. Cash crops grown in a few villages were sesame, cotton and tobacco; and they are mostly in Dara-i-Soofi-Payin and Aybek districts; cotton was major crop in Hazrat-i-Sultan district while tobacco was produced on a large scale in the Roi-Do-Ab district. Use of fertilizers is also common among 60% of the on both field and garden crops Industries are almost non existent in the province, except for minor leather industry producing the karakul skin and a few small scale handicrafts producing rugs, shawls, jewellery and carpets. Horse breeding also sustains the economy of the province as it caters particularly for the popular sport of buzkashi in Afghanistan. Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, northern Pakistan and Kazakhstan. Irrigation The agricultural economy of the province is further enhanced with irrigation facility provided to 21,242 ha. The irrigated areas deciphered from the land-cover maps, under a collaborative project of FAO, the United Nations Development Programme and the Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office, Kabul are in Aybak, Samangan - 5 426ha, Dara-I-Suf, Samangan - 4 149ha, Hazrati Sult, Samangan -6 884 ha, Khuram Wa Sa, Samangan - 1 733 ha and Ruyi Du Ab, Samangan -3,049 ha. Cultural heritage The historical cultural heritage in the province which is mainly at Samangan City, the provincial headquarters of Samangan are the Takt-e Rostam and the adjacent Buddhist caves and stupas on a top of hill. Takht-i Rustam Takht-i Rustam (Haibak), literal meaning the throne of Rustam, named after Rustam, a king in Persian mythology, is a hilltop settlement. It is dated to the 4th and 5th centuries of the Kushano-Sassanian period, which is corroborated by archaeological, architectural and numismatic evidence. It is located 3 km to the southwest of Samangan town. It is the location of a stupa-monastery complex which is fully carved into the mountain rock. The monastery of major Buddhist tradition of Theravada Buddhism, has five chambers, two are sanctuaries and one is a domed ceiling with an intricate lotus leaf beautification. In the adjacent hill is the stupa, which has a harmika, with several caves at its base. Above one of the caves, there is square building in which there are two conference halls; one is 22 metres square and the other is circular. In one of these caves, Archaeological excavations have revealed a cache of Ghaznavid coins. The Buddhist temples near the Takht are 10 numbers known locally as Kie Tehe. Malek Cave Yar Mohammad Malek cave in Roy Doaab district is a small canyon that consists of a big historical cave, believed to be endless. Many bones, silk clothes, and Islamic symbols were found in this district, but due to the erosion and landslide, the entrance of these places has disappeared. During the civil war, many of the artifacts were found by people who were displaced and lived in those caves.[2] Archived 2021-04-19 at the Wayback Machine Hazar Sum Hazar Sum is another ancient Buddhist centre in north central Afghanistan where several caves have been found and in one of these caves a Buddhist stupa has been carved. Geography Samangan is located in northern central Afghanistan, delimited by Baghlan province in the east, Bamyan in the south, Sar-e-Pul in the south-west and Balkh province in the northwest. Samangan encompasses an area of 11218 km2 consisting 59% of mountainous terrain, 21% of semi mountainous terrain, 12% of flat land, 4.8% of semi-flat land and the balance 2.2% is unclassified land. Some parts of the province are characterised by distinctive rolling hills and mountains and rich green valleys. The provincial jurisdiction is spread over seven administrative districts, with Samangan City as its capital. This town is located on the banks of the Khulm River, in the valley formed below the junction of Hindu Kush mountains and the Central Asian Steppe; the valley has very fertile agricultural land. The highest mountain ranges of the province thus lie to the southwest of the province, southwest of Samangan City. Only 12% of the provincial area consists of flat land. The city of Samangan lies in the Khulm River valley, with mountains to the west and east. It is located to the northwest of the city of Baghlan and about is 190 km (120 mi) north-west of the capital Kabul and the same distance south-east of Mazar-i-Sharif city. Samangan Province has a long history of earthquakes which has led to the loss of thousands of people and their homes. In 1998, two earthquakes struck measuring 5.9 and 6.6 on the Richter scale, claiming some 6,000 lives along the border with Tajikistan. A series of earthquakes struck nearby Baghlan province on March 3, 2002, killing roughly 1,000 people. In April 2010 at least 11 people were killed and more than 70 injured when a 5.7 magnitude quake at a depth of 10 km struck the province. It damaged some 300 houses and killed hundreds of cattle, causing landslides which blocks some of the main roads. Demography As of 2021, the total population of the province is about 438,000, which is predominately rural with only 7% living in urban centres. "Samangan like most of Afghanistan is ethnically diverse with Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazara, Turkomen and even a minority of Pashtuns living throughout the province." Roughly 72.5% people of the province speak Persian and 22.1% people speak Uzbek as their native language. Districts Current Map of the Districts of Samangan (as linked to on the Districts of Afghanistan page) Towns and villages According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, the province has 674 villages. Notable people Tahmina, princess of samangan Sohrab, son of Rustam Basira Paigham, LGBT activist References External links Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1977): An Historical Guide to Afghanistan. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Tourist Organization.

Baghlan_Province

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghlan_Province

Baghlan (Dari and Pashto: بغلان [bɐɣˈlɑːn]) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country. As of 2020, the province has a population of about 1,014,634. Its capital is Puli Khumri, but its name comes from the other major town in the province, Baghlan. The ruins of a Zoroastrian fire temple, the Surkh Kotal, are located in Baghlan. The lead nation of the local Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was Hungary, which operated from 2006 to 2015. History Early history The name Baghlan is derived from Bagolango or "image-temple", inscribed on the temple of Surkh Kotal during the reign of the Kushan emperor Kanishka in the early 2nd century CE. The Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang traveled through Baghlan in the mid-7th century CE, and referred to it as the "kingdom of Fo-kia-lang". In the 13th century CE, a permanent garrison of Mongol troops was quartered in the Kunduz-Baghlan area, and in 1253 fell under the jurisdiction of Sali Noyan Tatar, appointed by Möngke Khan. Sali Noyan's position was later inherited by his son Uladu and grandson Baktut. These Turco-Mongol garrison troops (tamma) formed the Qara'unas faction, and by the 14th Century had allied with the Chaghataite Khanate. Under the rule of Temür the Qara'unas were given to Chekü Barlas, and then to his son Jahānshāh. Beatrice Forbes Manz notes that these Kunduz-Baghlan forces appear to have remained cohesive and influential throughout the Timurid period, though under different leaders and different names, up until the Uzbek invasion. By the Islamic year 900 (1494–1495 CE), the area was noted in the Baburnama as ruled by a Qipchaq emir. 20th century In the mid-20th century, as Afghanistan became the target of international development from both the Western and Soviet world, agricultural-industrial projects were initiated in Baghlan. These included factories for the production of sugar from sugar beets (initiated by Czech experts in the 1940s) and for vegetable oil. Czech expertise also figured heavily into the development of Baghlans' coal-mining industry, centred at Baghlan's Karkar Valley, the only coal mine in Afghanistan to remain operational up through 1992. The modern Baghlan Province was created out of the former Qataghan Province in 1964. During the Soviet–Afghan War, the Soviets in 1982 established the Kayan military zone in southern Baghlan. The area was defended by 10,000 Ismaili militiamen, increasing to 18,000 by 1992, who sided with the Soviets due to differences with the Islamist opposition. Afghan Ismailis overall were inclined to support the Communists, though a local Ismaili leader, Sayed Manuchehr, lead a partisan movement against the Communists until Ismaili leader Sayed Mansur Naderi accepted Soviet support. Large portions of Baghlan and neighbouring Samangan Province were under the sway of the Soviet-aligned Naderi clan, the hereditary Ismaili Sayeds (spiritual leaders) of Kayan. Under their jurisdiction, was largely quiet and societally functional throughout the 1980s, with hospitals, schools, and administrative services, funded by the communist central government. Despite the Naderi's alliance with the Communists, they also maintained positive relations with the Mujahideen as well, permitting them to move through the area provided they refrained from attacks. One of the Soviets' three primary bases in Afghanistan, Kiligai, was located in Baghlan Province, and served as the "largest military supply and armoury centre of the Soviet troops in Afghanistan." The capital of Baghlan province was officially transferred to the city of Puli Khumri from the central city of Baghlan. This transition occurred during the 1980s under the influence of Sayed Mansur Naderi, son of Sayed Kayan, who held significant military and political power at the time. The relocation aimed to enhance public access to administrative offices, leveraging Puli Khumri's strategic location along the Kabul-Mazar highway. The cabinet of Dr. Najibullah, led by Sultan Ali Keshtmand, initially proposed this move through declaration number 492 on March 1, 1989. It was subsequently formalized by Dr. Najibullah through decree number 1603 on March 9, 1989. Recent history As the 2001 Afghan War commenced, Ismaili leader Sayed Mansoor Naderi attempted to retake Baghlan from the Taliban. Naderi was aligned with Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum and his Jumbesh-e Milli party, and the competing Tajik-dominated Jamiat-e Islami party was also keen to seize control of Baghlan as Taliban power eroded. The Jamiat were able to seize the capital of Pul-i Khumri before Naderi, who despite his strong backing among the Afghan Ismailis and Shia Hazaras, was unable to rally enough supporters to control the province. Naderi failed to retake the capital in 2001 and 2003, in the latter event he negotiated a power-sharing agreement with the dominant Andarabi militias and made the Ismaili bastion of the Kayan Valley his base. On 13 June 2012, two earthquakes hit Afghanistan and there was a major landslide in Burka District of Baghlan Province. The village of Sayi Hazara was buried under up to 30 meters of rock, killing an estimated 71 people. On 13 April 2021, an official in Baghlan Province said a group of Taliban militants attacked a checkpoint in the province that day and killed six security personnel. Claiming that the Taliban had not acted in the spirit of amnesty, the Public's Resistance Forces under Khair Muhammad Andarabi reportedly attacked Taliban fighters 20 August 2021 in several parts of Baghlan province, inflicting up to 60 Taliban killed or wounded. They claim to have captured Puli Hisar, Dih Salah and Banu districts, and are advancing on other Taliban-held districts. Clashes were still reported in Baghlan province by January 2022. Warlord of Kayan The Warlord of Kayan is a significant and popular documentary movie, filmed in 1989 by Jeff B. Harmon, featuring the political and social landscape of Baghlan during the civil wars. The former governor of Baghlan Sayed Jafar Naderi was chosen as the central character in this documentary. He, who was also known as Jeff Naderi outside the borders of Afghanistan, is the son of Sayed Mansur Naderi, an influential political and religious figure. The film won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival. The film was also featured in the Sunday Times magazine and a picture of Sayed Jafar Naderi taken by Jeff B. Harmon during one of the filmmaking scenes had gone on the magazine's front cover. Hard copies of magazine collected by Magazine Canteen are still available. Politics and governance The town of Puli Khumri serves as the capital of the province. All law enforcement activities throughout the province are handled by the Afghan National Police (ANP). The provincial police chief represents the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul. The ANP is backed by the Afghan Armed Forces, and previously by NATO-led forces. Taj Mohammad Jahid has been the governor of the province since July 2020. Demographics Languages 70% of people in Baghlan Province speak the Dari variety of Persian and 22% of people in Baghlan Province speak the Pashto language. Ethnic groups According to the National Statistics Agency of Afghanistan, as of 2021, Tajiks and Pashtuns make up the majority of the population, followed by Hazaras and Uzbeks. These are the major tribes of Baghlan province: Hussainkhil (Pashtun), Ahmadzai (Pashtun), Gadi (Pashtun), Aimaq (Tajik) and Arab (Tajik). Baghlan is also home to a small community of Isma'ili Hazaras, led by the Sayeds of Kayan. Healthcare The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 19% in 2005 to 25% in 2011. The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 5.5% in 2005 to 22% in 2011. Education The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 21% in 2005 to 24% in 2011. The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 29% in 2005 to 62% in 2011. Economy Agriculture Baghlan's primary crops (as of 1974) were cotton and sugar beets, industrial sugar production having begun under Czech supervision in the 1940s. The area also produced grapes, pistachios, and pomegranates. The primary livestock is Karakul sheep. Other products The province also produces silk, and coal is mined in the Karkar Valley. Districts See also Baghlan 2007 Baghlan sugar factory bombing Kayan, Baghlan Sayed Kayan Warlord of Kayan Sayed Mansur Naderi Sayed Jafar Naderi References == External links ==

Kushan_Empire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire

The Kushan Empire (c. 30–c. 375 AD) was a syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Eastern Iran and Northern India, at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath, near Varanasi, where inscriptions have been found dating to the era of the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great. The Kushans were most probably one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, an Indo-European nomadic people of possible Tocharian origin, who migrated from northwestern China (Xinjiang and Gansu) and settled in ancient Bactria. The founder of the dynasty, Kujula Kadphises, followed Greek cultural ideas and iconography after the Greco-Bactrian tradition and was a follower of the Shaivite sect of Hinduism. Two later Kushan kings, Vima Kadphises and Vasudeva II, were also patrons of Hinduism. The Kushans in general were also great patrons of Buddhism, and, starting with Emperor Kanishka, they employed elements of Zoroastrianism in their pantheon. They played an important role in the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and China, ushering in a period of relative peace for 200 years, sometimes described as "Pax Kushana". The Kushans possibly used the Greek language initially for administrative purposes but soon began to use the Bactrian language. Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraged travel across the Karakoram, and facilitated the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to China. The Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, the Aksumite Empire, and the Han dynasty of China. The Kushan Empire was at the center of trade relations between the Roman Empire and China: according to Alain Daniélou, "for a time, the Kushana Empire was the centerpoint of the major civilizations". While much philosophy, art, and science was created within its borders, the only textual record of the empire's history today comes from inscriptions and accounts in other languages, particularly Chinese. The Kushan Empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, which fell to the Sasanians invading from the west and establishing the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom in the areas of Sogdiana, Bactria, and Gandhara. In the 4th century, the Guptas, another Indian dynasty, also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian kingdoms were eventually overwhelmed by invaders from the north, known as the Kidarites, and later the Hephthalites. Origins Chinese sources describe the Guìshuāng (貴霜, Old Chinese: *kuj-s [s]raŋ), i.e. the Kushans, as one of the five aristocratic tribes of the Yuezhi. Many scholars believe that the Yuezhi were a people of Indo-European origin. A specifically Tocharian origin of the Yuezhi is often suggested. An Iranian, specifically Saka origin, has also been suggested by some scholars. The Yuezhi were described in the Records of the Great Historian and the Book of Han as living in the grasslands of eastern Xinjiang and northwestern part of Gansu, in the northwest of modern-day China, until their King was beheaded by the Xiongnu (匈奴) who were also at war with China, which eventually forced them to migrate west in 176–160 BC. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì (休密), Guìshuāng (貴霜), Shuāngmǐ (雙靡), Xìdùn (肸頓), and Dūmì (都密). The Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria (in northern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan) around 135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush (in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) and the Indus basin (in present-day Pakistan and India), occupying the western part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. In South Asia, Kushan emperors regularly used the dynastic name ΚΟϷΑΝΟ ("Koshano") on their coinage. Several inscriptions in Sanskrit in the Brahmi script, such as the Mathura inscription of the statue of Vima Kadphises, refer to the Kushan Emperor as , Ku-ṣā-ṇa ("Kushana"). Some later Indian literary sources referred to the Kushans as Turushka, a name which in later Sanskrit sources was confused with Turk, "probably due to the fact that Tukharistan passed into the hands of the western Turks in the seventh century". According to John M. Rosenfield, Turushka, Tukhāra or Tukhāra are variations of the word Tokhari in Indian writings. Yet, according to Wink, "nowadays no historian considers them to be Turkish-Mongoloid or "Hun", although there is no doubt about their Central-Asian origin." Early Kushans Some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana in the 2nd-1st century BC, where they had displaced the Sakas, who moved further south. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-i Sangin, Surkh Kotal (a monumental temple), and in the palace of Khalchayan. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses. Various sculptures and friezes from this period are known, representing horse-riding archers, and, significantly, men such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan with artificially deformed skulls, a practice well attested in nomadic Central Asia. Some of the Khalchayan sculptural scenes are also thought to depict the Kushans fighting against the Sakas. In these portrayals, the Yuezhis are shown with a majestic demeanour, whereas the Sakas are typically represented with side-whiskers, and more or less grotesque facial expressions. The Chinese first referred to these people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire, although the relationship between the Yuezhi and the Kushans is still unclear. Ban Gu's Book of Han tells us the Kushans (Kuei-shuang) divided up Bactria in 128 BC. Fan Ye's Book of Later Han "relates how the chief of the Kushans, Ch'iu-shiu-ch'ueh (the Kujula Kadphises of coins), founded by means of the submission of the other Yueh-chih clans the Kushan Empire." The earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios. He calls himself a "tyrant" in Greek on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation. He may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises. The Chinese Book of Later Han chronicles then gives an account of the formation of the Kushan empire based on a report made by the Chinese general Ban Yong to the Chinese Emperor c. AD 125: More than a hundred years later [than the conquest of Bactria by the Yuezhi], the prince [xihou] of Guishuang (Badakhshan) established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang (Kushan) King. He invaded Anxi (Indo-Parthia), and took the Gaofu (Kabul) region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda (Paktiya) and Jibin (Kapisha and Gandhara). Qiujiuque (Kujula Kadphises) was more than eighty years old when he died. His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk (tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa ], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi. Diverse cultural influences In the 1st century BC, the Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜) gained prominence over the other Yuezhi tribes, and welded them into a tight confederation under commander Kujula Kadphises. The name Guishuang was adopted in the West and modified into Kushan to designate the confederation, although the Chinese continued to call them Yuezhi. Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scythian tribes, the Kushans expanded south into the region traditionally known as Gandhara (an area primarily in Pakistan's Pothowar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region) and established twin capitals in Begram and Charsadda, then known as Kapisa and Pushklavati respectively. The Kushans adopted elements of the Hellenistic culture of Bactria. They adopted the Greek alphabet to suit their own language (with the additional development of the letter Þ "sh", as in "Kushan") and soon began minting coinage on the Greek model. On their coins they used Greek language legends combined with Pali legends (in the Kharoshthi script), until the first few years of the reign of Kanishka. After the middle of Kanishka's reign, they used Kushan language legends (in an adapted Greek script), combined with legends in Greek (Greek script) and legends in Prakrit (Kharoshthi script). Interestingly there is evidence for the collaboration between Greek populations and the Kushans in the 2nd century AD. Apparently the main architect of the Kushan temple at Surkh Kotal was a Greek named Palamedes. A Greek inscription has been found which could be read as: ΔΙΑ ΠΑΛΑΜΕΔΟΥΣ, i.e. dia Palamedous, meaning "through or by Palamedes". This proves that Hellenistic populations still remained in Bactria up into the Kushan era, and also explains how the Greek alphabet could have been applied to the Bactrian language. The Kushans "adopted many local beliefs and customs, including Zoroastrianism and the two rising religions in the region, the Greek cults and Buddhism". From the time of Vima Takto, many Kushans started adopting aspects of Buddhist culture, and like the Egyptians, they absorbed the strong remnants of the Greek culture of the Hellenistic Kingdoms, becoming at least partly Hellenised. The great Kushan emperor Vima Kadphises, father of Kanishka, embraced Shaivism, a sect of Hinduism, as surmised by coins minted during the period. The following Kushan emperors represented a wide variety of faiths including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Hindu Shaivism. The rule of the Kushans linked the seagoing trade of the Indian Ocean with the commerce of the Silk Road through the long-civilized Indus Valley. At the height of the dynasty, the Kushans loosely ruled a territory that extended to the Aral Sea through present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. The loose unity and comparative peace of such a vast expanse encouraged long-distance trade, brought Chinese silks to Rome, and created strings of flourishing urban centers. Territorial expansion Rosenfield notes that archaeological evidence of a Kushan rule of long duration is present in an area stretching from Surkh Kotal, Begram, the summer capital of the Kushans, Peshawar, the capital under Kanishka I, Taxila, and Mathura, the winter capital of the Kushans. The Kushans introduced for the first time a form of governance which consisted of Kshatrapas (Brahmi:, Kṣatrapa, "Satraps") and Mahakshatrapa (Brahmi: , Mahakṣatrapa, "Great Satraps"). Other areas of probable rule include Khwarezm and its capital city of Toprak-Kala, Kausambi (excavations of Allahabad University), Sanchi and Sarnath (inscriptions with names and dates of Kushan kings), Malwa and Maharashtra, and Odisha (imitation of Kushan coins, and large Kushan hoards). Kushan invasions in the 1st century AD had been given as an explanation for the migration of Indians from the Indian Subcontinent toward Southeast Asia according to proponents of a Greater India theory by 20th-century Indian nationalists. However, there is no evidence to support this hypothesis. The Rabatak inscription, discovered in 1993, confirms the account of the Hou Hanshu, Weilüe, and inscriptions dated early in the Kanishka era (incept probably AD 127), that large Kushan dominions expanded into the heartland of northern India in the early 2nd century AD. Lines 4 to 7 of the inscription describe the cities which were under the rule of Kanishka, among which six names are identifiable: Ujjain, Kundina, Saketa, Kausambi, Pataliputra, and Champa (although the text is not clear whether Champa was a possession of Kanishka or just beyond it). The Buddhist text Śrīdharmapiṭakanidānasūtra—known via a Chinese translation made in AD 472—refers to the conquest of Pataliputra by Kanishka. A 2nd century stone inscription by a Great Satrap named Rupiamma was discovered in Pauni, south of the Narmada river, suggesting that Kushan control extended this far south, although this could alternatively have been controlled by the Western Satraps. In the East, as late as the 3rd century AD, decorated coins of Huvishka were dedicated at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the Buddha, suggesting direct Kushan influence in the area during that period. Coins of the Kushans are found in abundance as far as Bengal, and the ancient Bengali state of Samatata issued coins copied from the coinage of Kanishka I, although probably only as a result of commercial influence. Coins in imitation of Kushan coinage have also been found abundantly in the eastern state of Orissa. In the West, the Kushan state covered the Pārata state of Balochistan, western Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan was known for the Kushan Buddhist city of Merv. Northward, in the 1st century AD, the Kujula Kadphises sent an army to the Tarim Basin to support the city-state of Kucha, which had been resisting the Chinese invasion of the region, but they retreated after minor encounters. In the 2nd century AD, the Kushans under Kanishka made various forays into the Tarim Basin, where they had various contacts with the Chinese. Kanishka held areas of the Tarim Basin apparently corresponding to the ancient regions held by the Yüeh-zhi, the possible ancestors of the Kushan. There was Kushan influence on coinage in Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan. According to Chinese chronicles, the Kushans (referred to as Da Yuezhi in Chinese sources) requested, but were denied, a Han princess, even though they had sent presents to the Chinese court. In retaliation, they marched on Ban Chao in AD 90 with a force of 70,000 but were defeated by the smaller Chinese force. Chinese chronicles relate battles between the Kushans and the Chinese general Ban Chao. The Yuezhi retreated and paid tribute to the Chinese Empire. The regions of the Tarim Basin were all ultimately conquered by Ban Chao. Later, during the Yuánchū period (AD 114–120), the Kushans sent a military force to install Chenpan, who had been a hostage among them, as king of Kashgar. Kushan fortresses Several Kushan fortresses are known, particularly in Bactria, which were often rebuilt on top of Hellenistic fortifications, as in Kampir Tepe. They are often characterised by arrow-shaped loopholes for archers. History Kushan rulers are recorded for a period of about three centuries, from circa 30 CE to circa 375 CE, until the invasions of the Kidarites. They ruled around the same time as the Western Satraps, the Satavahanas, and the first Gupta Empire rulers. Kujula Kadphises (c. 30 – c. 80) ...the prince [elavoor] of Guishuang, named thilac [Kujula Kadphises], attacked and exterminated the four other xihou. He established himself as king, and his dynasty was called that of the Guishuang [Kushan] King. He invaded Anxi [Indo-Parthia] and took the Gaofu [Kabul] region. He also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda [Paktiya] and Jibin [Kapisha and Gandhara]. Qiujiuque [Kujula Kadphises] was more than eighty years old when he died." These conquests by Kujula Kadphises probably took place sometime between AD 45 and 60 and laid the basis for the Kushan Empire which was rapidly expanded by his descendants. Kujula issued an extensive series of coins and fathered at least two sons, Sadaṣkaṇa (who is known from only two inscriptions, especially the Rabatak inscription, and apparently never ruled), and seemingly Vima Takto. Kujula Kadphises was the great-grandfather of Kanishka. Vima Taktu or Sadashkana (c. 80 – c. 95) Vima Takto (Ancient Chinese: 閻膏珍 Yangaozhen) is mentioned in the Rabatak inscription (another son, Sadashkana, is mentioned in an inscription of Senavarman, the King of Odi). He was the predecessor of Vima Kadphises, and Kanishka I. He expanded the Kushan Empire into the northwest of South Asia. The Hou Hanshu says: "His son, Yangaozhen [probably Vema Tahk (tu) or, possibly, his brother Sadaṣkaṇa], became king in his place. He defeated Tianzhu [North-western India] and installed Generals to supervise and lead it. The Yuezhi then became extremely rich. All the kingdoms call [their king] the Guishuang [Kushan] king, but the Han call them by their original name, Da Yuezhi." Vima Kadphises (c. 95 – c. 127) Vima Kadphises (Kushan language: Οοημο Καδφισης) was a Kushan emperor from around AD 95–127, the son of Sadashkana and the grandson of Kujula Kadphises, and the father of Kanishka I, as detailed by the Rabatak inscription. Vima Kadphises added to the Kushan territory by his conquests in Bactria. He issued an extensive series of coins and inscriptions. He issued gold coins in addition to the existing copper and silver coinage. Kanishka I (c. 127 – c. 150) The rule of Kanishka the Great, fourth Kushan king, lasted for about 23 years from c. AD 127. Upon his accession, Kanishka ruled a huge territory (virtually all of northern India), south to Ujjain and Kundina and east beyond Pataliputra, according to the Rabatak inscription: In the year one, it has been proclaimed unto India, unto the whole realm of the governing class, including Koonadeano (Kaundiny, Kundina) and the city of Ozeno (Ozene, Ujjain) and the city of Zageda (Saketa) and the city of Kozambo (Kausambi) and the city of Palabotro (Pataliputra) and as far as the city of Ziri-tambo (Sri-Champa), whatever rulers and other important persons (they might have) he had submitted to (his) will, and he had submitted all India to (his) will. His territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan) and Mathura, in northern India. He is also credited (along with Raja Dab) for building the massive, ancient Fort at Bathinda (Qila Mubarak), in the modern city of Bathinda, Indian Punjab. The Kushans also had a summer capital in Bagram (then known as Kapisa), where the "Begram Treasure", comprising works of art from Greece to China, has been found. According to the Rabatak inscription, Kanishka was the son of Vima Kadphises, the grandson of Sadashkana, and the great-grandson of Kujula Kadphises. Kanishka's era is now generally accepted to have begun in 127 on the basis of Harry Falk's ground-breaking research. Kanishka's era was used as a calendar reference by the Kushans for about a century, until the decline of the Kushan realm. Huvishka (c. 150 – c. 190) Huvishka (Kushan: Οοηϸκι, "Ooishki") was a Kushan emperor from the death of Kanishka (assumed on the best evidence available to be in 150) until the succession of Vasudeva I about thirty years later. His rule was a period of retrenchment and consolidation for the Empire. In particular he devoted time and effort early in his reign to the exertion of greater control over the city of Mathura. Vasudeva I (c. 190 – c. 230) Vasudeva I (Kushan: Βαζοδηο "Bazodeo", Chinese: 波調 "Bodiao") was the last of the "Great Kushans". Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kanishka's era suggest his reign extended from at least AD 191 to 225. He was the last great Kushan emperor, and the end of his rule coincides with the invasion of the Sasanians as far as northwestern India, and the establishment of the Indo-Sasanians or Kushanshahs in what is nowadays Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India from around AD 240. Vāsishka (c. 247 – c. 267) Vāsishka was a Kushan emperor who seems to have had a 20-year reign following Kanishka II. His rule is recorded at Mathura, in Gandhara and as far south as Sanchi (near Vidisa), where several inscriptions in his name have been found, dated to the year 22 (the Sanchi inscription of "Vaksushana" – i.e., Vasishka Kushana) and year 28 (the Sanchi inscription of Vasaska – i.e., Vasishka) of a possible second Kanishka era. Little Kushans (AD 270 – 350) Following territorial losses in the west (Bactria lost to the Kushano-Sasanians), and in the east (loss of Mathura to the Gupta Empire), several "Little Kushans" are known, who ruled locally in the area of Punjab with their capital at Taxila: Vasudeva II (270 – 300), Mahi (300 – 305), Shaka (305 – 335) and Kipunada (335 – 350). They probably were vassals of the Gupta Empire, until the invasion of the Kidarites destroyed the last remains of Kushan rule. Kushan deities The Kushan religious pantheon is extremely varied, as revealed by their coins that were made in gold, silver, and copper. These coins contained more than thirty different gods, belonging mainly to their own Iranian, as well as Greek and Indian worlds as well. Kushan coins had images of Kushan Kings, Buddha, and figures from the Indo-Aryan and Iranian pantheons. Greek deities, with Greek names are represented on early coins. During Kanishka's reign, the language of the coinage changes to Bactrian (though it remained in Greek script for all kings). After Huvishka, only two divinities appear on the coins: Ardoxsho and Oesho (see details below). The Iranian entities depicted on coinage include: Ardoxsho (Αρδοχþο): Ashi Vanghuhi Ashaeixsho (Aþαειχþo, "Best righteousness"): Asha Vahishta Athsho (Αθþο, "The Royal fire"): Atar Pharro (Φαρρο, "Royal splendour"): Khwarenah Lrooaspa (Λροοασπο): Drvaspa Manaobago (Μαναοβαγο): Vohu Manah Mao (Μαο, the Lunar deity): Mah Mithro and variants (Μιθρο, Μιιρο, Μιορο, Μιυρο): Mithra Mozdooano (Μοζδοοανο, "Mazda the victorious?"): Mazda *vana Nana (Νανα, Ναναια, Ναναϸαο): variations of pan-Asiatic Nana, Sogdian Nny, Anahita Oado (Οαδο): Vata Oaxsho (Oαxþo): "Oxus" Ooromozdo (Οορομοζδο): Ahura Mazda Ořlagno (Οραλαγνο): Verethragna, the Iranian god of war Rishti (Ριϸτι, "Uprightness"): Arshtat Shaoreoro (Ϸαορηορο, "Best royal power", Archetypal ruler): Khshathra Vairya Tiero (Τιερο): Tir Representation of entities from Greek mythology and Hellenistic syncretism are: Zaoou (Ζαοου): Zeus Ēlios (Ηλιος): Helios Ēphaēstos (Ηφαηστος): Hephaistos Oa nēndo (Οα νηνδο): Nike Salēnē (Ϲαληνη): Selene Anēmos (Ανημος): Anemos Ērakilo (Ηρακιλο): Heracles Sarapo (Ϲαραπο): the Greco-Egyptian god Sarapis The Indic entities represented on coinage include: Boddo (Βοδδο): the Buddha Shakamano Boddho (Ϸακαμανο Βοδδο): Shakyamuni Buddha Metrago Boddo (Μετραγο Βοδδο): the bodhisattava Maitreya Maaseno (Μαασηνο): Mahāsena Skando-Komaro (Σκανδο-kομαρο): Skanda-Kumara Bizago: Viśākha Ommo: Umā, the consort of Siva. Oesho (Οηϸο): long considered to represent Indic Shiva, but also identified as Avestan Vayu conflated with Shiva. Two copper coins of Huvishka bear a "Ganesa" legend, but instead of depicting the typical theriomorphic figure of Ganesha, have a figure of an archer holding a full-length bow with string inwards and an arrow. This is typically a depiction of Rudra, but in the case of these two coins is generally assumed to represent Shiva. Deities on Kushan coinage and seals Kushans and Buddhism The Kushans inherited the Greco-Buddhist traditions of the Indo-Greek Kingdom they replaced, and their patronage of Buddhist institutions allowed them to grow as a commercial power. Between the mid-1st century and the mid-3rd century, Buddhism, patronised by the Kushans, extended to China and other Asian countries through the Silk Road. Kanishka is renowned in Buddhist tradition for having convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. Along with his predecessors in the region, the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda) and the Indian emperors Ashoka and Harsha Vardhana, Kanishka is considered by Buddhism as one of its greatest benefactors. During the 1st century AD, Buddhist books were being produced and carried by monks, and their trader patrons. Also, monasteries were being established along these land routes that went from China and other parts of Asia. With the development of Buddhist books, it caused a new written language called Gandhara. Gandhara consists of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. Scholars are said to have found many Buddhist scrolls that contained the Gandhari language. The reign of Huvishka corresponds to the first known epigraphic evidence of the Buddha Amitabha, on the bottom part of a 2nd-century statue which has been found in Govindo-Nagar, and now at the Mathura Museum. The statue is dated to "the 28th year of the reign of Huvishka", and dedicated to "Amitabha Buddha" by a family of merchants. There is also some evidence that Huvishka himself was a follower of Mahayana Buddhism. A Sanskrit manuscript fragment in the Schøyen Collection describes Huvishka as one who has "set forth in the Mahāyāna." The 12th century historical chronicle Rajatarangini mentions in detail the rule of the Kushan kings and their benevolence towards Buddhism: Then there ruled in this very land the founders of cities called after their own appellations the three kings named Huska, Juska and Kaniska (...) These kings albeit belonging to the Turkish race found refuge in acts of piety; they constructed in Suskaletra and other places monasteries, Caityas and similar edificies. During the glorious period of their regime the kingdom of Kashmir was for the most part an appanage of the Buddhists who had acquired lustre by renunciation. At this time since the Nirvana of the blessed Sakya Simha in this terrestrial world one hundred fifty years, it is said, had elapsed. And a Bodhisattva was in this country the sole supreme ruler of the land; he was the illustrious Nagarjuna who dwelt in Sadarhadvana. Kushan art The art and culture of Gandhara, at the crossroads of the Kushan hegemony, developed the traditions of Greco-Buddhist art and are the best known expressions of Kushan influences to Westerners. Several direct depictions of Kushans are known from Gandhara, where they are represented with a tunic, belt and trousers and play the role of devotees to the Buddha, as well as the Bodhisattva and future Buddha Maitreya. According to Benjamin Rowland, the first expression of Kushan art appears at Khalchayan at the end of the 2nd century BC. It is derived from Hellenistic art, and possibly from the art of the cities of Ai-Khanoum and Nysa, and clearly has similarities with the later Art of Gandhara, and may even have been at the origin of its development. Rowland particularly draws attention to the similarity of the ethnic types represented at Khalchayan and in the art of Gandhara, and also in the style of portraiture itself. For example, Rowland find a great proximity between the famous head of a Yuezhi prince from Khalchayan, and the head of Gandharan Bodhisattvas, giving the example of the Gandharan head of a Bodhisattva in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The similarity of the Gandhara Bodhisattva with the portrait of the Kushan ruler Heraios is also striking. According to Rowland the Bactrian art of Khalchayan thus survived for several centuries through its influence in the art of Gandhara, thanks to the patronage of the Kushans. During the Kushan Empire, many images of Gandhara share a strong resemblance to the features of Greek, Syrian, Persian and Indian figures. These Western-looking stylistic signatures often include heavy drapery and curly hair, representing a composite (the Greeks, for example, often possessed curly hair). As the Kushans took control of the area of Mathura as well, the Art of Mathura developed considerably, and free-standing statues of the Buddha came to be mass-produced around this time, possibly encouraged by doctrinal changes in Buddhism allowing to depart from the aniconism that had prevailed in the Buddhist sculptures at Mathura, Bharhut or Sanchi from the end of the 2nd century BC. The artistic cultural influence of kushans declined slowly due to Hellenistic Greek and Indian influences. Dated Buddhist statuary under the Kushans Kushan monetary system The Kushans used gold ingots as part of their monetary system, as shown by the gold treasure discovered in 1972 in Dalverzin Tepe. The main objects from the treasure were circular and parallelepipedic ingots, followed by various decorative objects and jewellery items. The circular ingots used to be progressively cut up as needed, depending on the amount required for a transaction. On the contrary, the parallelepipedic ingots were used to stock wealth in a not-divisible form; these ingots bear inscriptions in Kharoshthi mentioning their weight and the god Mitra (protector of contractual relations) These ingots are all attributed to the monetary system of the Kushan Empire. The coinage of the Kushans was abundant and an important tool of propaganda in promoting each Kushan ruler. One of the names for Kushan coins was Dinara, which ultimately came from the Roman name Denarius aureus. The coinage of the Kushans was copied as far as the Kushano-Sasanians in the west, and the kingdom of Samatata in Bengal to the east. The coinage of the Gupta Empire was also initially derived from the coinage of the Kushan Empire, adopting its weight standard, techniques and designs, following the conquests of Samudragupta in the northwest. The imagery on Gupta coins then became more Indian in both style and subject matter compared to earlier dynasties, where Greco-Roman and Persian styles were mostly followed. It has long been suggested that the gold contained in Kushan coins was ultimately of Roman origin, and that Roman coins were imported as a consequence of trade and melted in India to mint Kushan coins. However, a recent archaeometallurgical study of trace elements through proton activation analysis has shown that Kushan gold contains high concentrations of platinum and palladium, which rules out the hypothesis of a Roman provenance. To this day, the origin of Kushan gold remains unknown. Contacts with Rome Several Roman sources describe the visit of ambassadors from the Kings of Bactria and India during the 2nd century, probably referring to the Kushans. Historia Augusta, speaking of Emperor Hadrian (117–138) tells: Reges Bactrianorum legatos ad eum, amicitiae petendae causa, supplices miserunt "The kings of the Bactrians sent supplicant ambassadors to him, to seek his friendship." Also in 138, according to Aurelius Victor (Epitome‚ XV, 4), and Appian (Praef., 7), Antoninus Pius, successor to Hadrian, received some Indian, Bactrian, and Hyrcanian ambassadors. Some Kushan coins have an effigy of "Roma", suggesting a strong level of awareness and some level of diplomatic relations. The summer capital of the Kushan Empire in Begram has yielded a considerable amount of goods imported from the Roman Empire—in particular, various types of glassware. The Chinese described the presence of Roman goods in the Kushan realm: "Precious things from Da Qin [the Roman Empire] can be found there [in Tianzhu or Northwestern India], as well as fine cotton cloths, fine wool carpets, perfumes of all sorts, sugar candy, pepper, ginger, and black salt." Parthamaspates of Parthia, a client of Rome and ruler of the kingdom of Osroene, is known to have traded with the Kushan Empire, goods being sent by sea and through the Indus River. Contacts with China During the 1st and 2nd century AD, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily to the north, putting them at the center of the profitable Central Asian commerce. They are related to have collaborated militarily with the Chinese against nomadic incursion, particularly when they allied with the Han dynasty general Ban Chao against the Sogdians in 84, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king of Kashgar. Around 85, they also assisted the Chinese general in an attack on Turpan, east of the Tarim Basin. In recognition for their support to the Chinese, the Kushans requested a Han princess, but were denied, even after they had sent presents to the Chinese court. In retaliation, they marched on Ban Chao in 86 with a force of 70,000, but were defeated by a smaller Chinese force. The Yuezhi retreated and paid tribute to the Chinese Empire during the reign of emperor He of Han (89–106). The Kushans are again recorded to have sent presents to the Chinese court in 158–159 during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han. Following these interactions, cultural exchanges further increased, and Kushan Buddhist missionaries, such as Lokaksema, became active in the Chinese capital cities of Luoyang and sometimes Nanjing, where they particularly distinguished themselves by their translation work. They were the first recorded promoters of Hinayana and Mahayana scriptures in China, greatly contributing to the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism. Decline Kushano-Sassanians After the death of Vasudeva I in 225, the Kushan empire split into western and eastern halves. The Western Kushans (in Afghanistan) were soon subjugated by the Persian Sasanian Empire and lost Sogdiana, Bactria, and Gandhara to them. The Sassanian king Shapur I (240–270) claims in his Naqsh-e Rostam inscription possession of the territory of the Kushans (Kūšān šahr) as far as "Purushapura" (Peshawar), suggesting he controlled Bactria and areas as far as the Hindu-Kush or even south of it: I, the Mazda-worshipping lord, Shapur, king of kings of Iran and An-Iran... (I) am the Master of the Domain of Iran (Ērānšahr) and possess the territory of Persis, Parthian... Hindestan, the Domain of the Kushan up to the limits of Paškabur and up to Kash, Sughd, and Chachestan. This is also confirmed by the Rag-i-Bibi inscription in modern Afghanistan. The Sasanians deposed the Western dynasty and replaced them with Persian vassals known as the Kushanshas (in Bactrian on their coinage: KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟ Koshano Shao) also called Indo-Sasanians or Kushano-Sasanians. The Kushano-Sasanians ultimately became very powerful under Hormizd I Kushanshah (277–286) and rebelled against the Sasanian Empire, while continuing many aspects of the Kushan culture, visible in particular in their titulature and their coinage. "Little Kushans" and Gupta suzerainty The Eastern Kushan kingdom, also known as the "Little Kushans", was based in the Punjab. Around 270 their territories on the Gangetic plain became independent under local dynasties such as the Yaudheyas. Then in the mid-4th century they were subjugated by the Gupta Empire under Samudragupta. In his inscription on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta proclaims that the Dēvaputra-Shāhi-Shāhānushāhi (referring to the last Kushan rulers, being a deformation of the Kushan regnal titles Devaputra, Shao and Shaonanoshao: "Son of God, King, King of Kings") are now under his dominion, and that they were forced to "self-surrender, offering (their own) daughters in marriage and a request for the administration of their own districts and provinces". This suggests that by the time of the Allahabad inscription the Kushans still ruled in Punjab, but under the suzerainty of the Gupta Emperor. Numimastics indicate that the coinage of the Eastern Kushans was much weakened: silver coinage was abandoned altogether, and gold coinage was debased. This suggests that the Eastern Kushans had lost their central trading role on the trade routes that supplied luxury goods and gold. Still, the Buddhist art of Gandhara continued to flourish, and cities such as Sirsukh near Taxila were established. Sasanian, Kidarite and Alchon invasions In the east around 350, Shapur II regained the upper hand against the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom and took control of large territories in areas now known as Afghanistan and Pakistan, possibly as a consequence of the destruction of the Kushano-Sasanians by the Chionites. The Kushano-Sasanian still ruled in the north. Important finds of Sasanian coinage beyond the Indus River in the city of Taxila only start with the reigns of Shapur II (r.309-379) and Shapur III (r.383-388), suggesting that the expansion of Sasanian control beyond the Indus was the result of the wars of Shapur II "with the Chionites and Kushans" in 350-358 as described by Ammianus Marcellinus. They probably maintained control until the rise of the Kidarites under their ruler Kidara. In 360 a Kidarite Hun named Kidara overthrew the Kushano-Sasanians and remnants of the old Kushan dynasty, and established the Kidarite Kingdom. The Kushan style of Kidarite coins indicates they claimed Kushan heritage. The Kidarite seem to have been rather prosperous, although on a smaller scale than their Kushan predecessors. East of the Punjab, the former eastern territories of the Kushans were controlled by the mighty Gupta Empire. The remnants of Kushan culture under the Kidarites in the northwest were ultimately wiped out in the end of the 5th century by the invasions of the Alchon Huns (sometimes considered as a branch of the Hephthalites), and later the Nezak Huns. Rulers One of the most recent list of rulers with dates is as follows: Heraios (c. 1 – 30), first king to call himself "Kushan" on his coinage "Great Kushans"; Kujula Kadphises (c. 50 – c. 90) Vima Takto (c. 90 – c. 113), alias Soter Megas or "Great Saviour." Vima Kadphises (c. 113 – c. 127) First great Kushan Emperor Kanishka the Great (127 – c. 151) Huvishka (c. 151 – c. 190) Vasudeva I (c. 190 – c. 230) Last great Kushan Emperor Kanishka II (c. 230 – 247) Vashishka (c. 247 – 267) "Little Kushans"; Kanishka III (c. 267 – 270) Vasudeva II (c. 270 – 300) Mahi (c. 300 – 305) Shaka (c. 305 – 335) Kipunada (c. 335 – 350) See also History of Afghanistan History of Pakistan History of India Mathura Taxila Kucha, another Tocharian-speaking kingdom (with a related etymology) Iranians in China Kushan script Notes References Sources Further reading Bonmann, Svenja; Halfmann, Jakob; Korobzow, Natalie; Bobomulloev, Bobomullo (12 July 2023). "A Partial Decipherment of the Unknown Kushan Script". Transactions of the Philological Society. 121 (2): 293–329. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.12269. S2CID 259851498. External links Kushan dynasty in Encyclopædia Britannica Metropolitan Museum capsule history New documents help fix controversial Kushan dating at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 February 2005) Coins of the Kushans on wildwinds.com Antique Indian Coins at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 7 February 2013) Brief Guide to Kushan History Archived 25 September 2004 at the Wayback Machine The CoinIndia Online Catalogue of Kushan Coins Dedicated resource to study of Kushan Empire Archived 25 September 2004 at the Wayback Machine imalayan and Central Asian Studies: Journal of Himalayan Research and Cultural Foundation Volume 5 Issue 2

Bactrian_language

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactrian_language

Bactrian (Bactrian: Αριαο, romanized: ariao, [arjaː], meaning "Iranian") is an extinct Eastern Iranian language formerly spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria (present-day Afghanistan) and used as the official language of the Kushan and the Hephthalite empires. Name It was long thought that Avestan represented "Old Bactrian", but this notion had "rightly fallen into discredit by the end of the 19th century". Bactrian, which was written predominantly in an alphabet based on the Greek script, was known natively as αριαο [arjaː] ("Arya"; an endonym common amongst Indo-Iranian peoples). It has also been known by names such as Greco-Bactrian or Kushan or Kushano-Bactrian. Under Kushan rule, Bactria became known as Tukhara or Tokhara, and later as Tokharistan. When texts in two extinct and previously unknown Indo-European languages were discovered in the Tarim Basin of China, during the early 20th century, they were linked circumstantially to Tokharistan, and Bactrian was sometimes referred to as "Eteo-Tocharian" (i.e. "true" or "original" Tocharian). By the 1970s, however, it became clear that there was little evidence for such a connection. For instance, the Tarim "Tocharian" languages were "centum" languages within the Indo-European family, whereas Bactrian was an Iranian, thus "satem" language. Classification Bactrian is a part of the Eastern Iranian languages and shares features with the extinct Middle Iranian languages Sogdian and Khwarezmian (Eastern) and Parthian (Western), as well as sharing affinity with the modern Eastern Iranian languages such as Pamir subgroup of languages like Munji and Yidgha which are part of the same branch of the Pamir languages. Its genealogical position is unclear. According to another source, the present-day speakers of Munji, the modern Eastern Iranian language of the Munjan Valley in the Kuran wa Munjan district of the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan, display the closest possible linguistic affinity with the Bactrian language. History Bactrian became the lingua franca of the Kushan Empire and the region of Bactria, replacing the Greek language. Bactrian was used by successive rulers in Bactria, until the arrival of the Umayyad Caliphate. Historical development Following the conquest of Bactria by Alexander the Great in 323 BC, for about two centuries Greek was the administrative language of his Hellenistic successors, that is, the Seleucid and the Greco-Bactrian kingdoms. Eastern Scythian tribes (the Saka, or Sacaraucae of Greek sources) invaded the territory around 140 BC, and at some time after 124 BC, Bactria was overrun by a confederation of tribes belonging to the Great Yuezhi and Tokhari. In the 1st century AD, the Kushana, one of the Yuezhi tribes, founded the ruling dynasty of the Kushan Empire. The Kushan Empire initially retained the Greek language for administrative purposes but soon began to use Bactrian. The Bactrian Rabatak inscription (discovered in 1993 and deciphered in 2000) records that the Kushan king Kanishka (c. 127 AD) discarded Greek ("Ionian") as the language of administration and adopted Bactrian ("Arya language"). The Greek language accordingly vanished from official use and only Bactrian was later attested. The Greek script, however, remained and was used to write Bactrian. The territorial expansion of the Kushans helped propagate Bactrian in other parts of Central Asia and North India. In the 3rd century, the Kushan territories west of the Indus River fell to the Sasanians, and Bactrian began to be influenced by Middle Persian. The eastern extent of the Kushan Empire in Northwestern India, was conquered by the Gupta Empire. Besides the Pahlavi script and the Brahmi script, some coinage of this period is still in the Aryo (Bactrian) script. From the mid-4th century, Bactria and northwestern India gradually fell under the control the Hephthalite and other Huna tribes. The Hephthalite period is marked by linguistic diversity; in addition to Bactrian, Middle Persian, Indo-Aryan and Latin vocabulary is also attested. The Hephthalites ruled these regions until the 7th century, when they were overrun by the Umayyad Caliphate, after which official use of Bactrian ceased. Although Bactrian briefly survived in other usage, that also eventually ceased, and the latest known examples of the Bactrian script, found in the Tochi Valley in Pakistan, date to the end of the 9th century. Writing system Among Indo-Iranian languages, the use of the Greek script is unique to Bactrian. Although ambiguities remain, some of the disadvantages were overcome by using heta (Ͱ, ͱ) for /h/ and by introducing sho (Ϸ, ϸ) to represent /ʃ/. Xi (Ξ, ξ) and psi (Ψ, ψ) were not used for writing Bactrian as the ks and ps sequences did not occur in Bactrian. They were, however, probably used to represent numbers (just as other Greek letters were). Records The Bactrian language is known from inscriptions, coins, seals, manuscripts, and other documents. Sites at which Bactrian language inscriptions have been found are (in north–south order) Afrasiyab in Uzbekistan; Kara-Tepe, Airtam, Delbarjin, Balkh, Kunduz, Baglan, Ratabak/Surkh Kotal, Oruzgan, Kabul, Dasht-e Navur, Ghazni, Jagatu in Afghanistan; and Islamabad, Shatial Bridge and Tochi Valley in Pakistan. Of eight known manuscript fragments in Greco-Bactrian script, one is from Lou-lan and seven from Toyoq, where they were discovered by the second and third Turpan expeditions under Albert von Le Coq. One of these may be a Buddhist text. One other manuscript, in Manichaean script, was found at Qočo by Mary Boyce in 1958. Over 150 legal documents, accounts, letters and Buddhist texts have surfaced since the 1990s, the largest collection of which is the Khalili Collection of Aramaic Documents. These have greatly increased the detail in which Bactrian is currently known. Phonology The phonology of Bactrian is not known with certainty, owing to the limitations of the native scripts, and also its status as an extinct language. Consonants A major difficulty in determining Bactrian phonology is that affricates and voiced stops were not consistently distinguished from the corresponding fricatives in the Greek script. Proto-Iranian *b, *d, *g have generally become spirants, as in most other Eastern Iranian languages. A distinctive feature of Bactrian, shared within the Iranian languages with Munji, Yidgha and Pashto, is the development of Proto-Iranian *d > *ð further to /l/, which may have been areal in nature. Original *d remains only in a few consonant clusters, e.g. *bandaka > βανδαγο 'servant', *dugdā > λογδο 'daughter'. The clusters /lr/ and /rl/ appear in earlier Bactrian, but revert to /dr/, /rd/ later, e.g. *drauga > λρωγο (4th to 5th century) > δδρωρο (7th to 8th century) 'lie, falsehood'. Proto-Iranian *p, *t, *č, *k have become voiced between vowels, and after a nasal consonant or *r. Inside a word, the digraphs ββ, δδ for original voiceless *p, *t can be found, which probably represent [b], [d]. The former is attested only in a single word, αββο 'water'. Manichaean Bactrian appears to only have had /v/ in native vocabulary. According to Gholami, instances of single δ may indicate a fricative pronunciation, [ð]. γ appears to stand for both the stop [ɡ] and the fricative [ɣ], but it is unclear if a contrast existed, and which instances are which. Evidence from the Manichaean script suggests that γ from *k may have been /ɡ/ and γ from *g may have been /ɣ/. According to Greek orthographic practices, γγ represents [ŋɡ]. σ may continue both Proto-Iranian *c > *s and *č, and the Manichaean script confirms that it represents two phonemes, likely /s/ and /ts/. ζ may continue similarly on one hand Proto-Iranian *dz > *z, and on the other *ǰ and *č, and it represents at least /z/ and /dz/. This distinction is again confirmed by the Manichaean script. Also a third counterpart of ζ is found in Manichaean Bactrian, possibly representing /ʒ/. The status of θ is unclear; it only appears in the word ιθαο 'thus, also', which may be a loanword from another Iranian language. In most positions Proto-Iranian *θ becomes /h/ (written υ), or is lost, e.g. *puθra- > πουρο 'son'. The cluster *θw, however, appears to become /lf/, e.g. *wikāθwan > οιγαλφο 'witness'. ϸ continues, in addition to Proto-Iranian *š, also Proto-Iranian *s in the clusters *sr, *str, *rst. In several cases, however, Proto-Iranian *š becomes /h/ or is lost; the distribution is unclear. E.g. *snušā > ασνωυο 'daughter-in-law', *aštā > αταο 'eight', *xšāθriya > χαρο 'ruler', *pašman- > παμανο 'wool'. Vowels The Greek script does not consistently represent vowel length. Fewer vowel contrasts yet are found in the Manichaean script, but short /a/ and long /aː/ are distinguished in it, suggesting that Bactrian generally retains the Proto-Iranian vowel length contrast. It is not clear if ο might represent short [o] in addition to [u], and if any contrast existed. Short [o] may have occurred at least as a reflex of *a followed by a lost *u in the next syllable, e.g. *madu > μολο 'wine', *pasu > ποσο 'sheep'. Short [e] is also rare. By contrast, long /eː/, /oː/ are well established as reflexes of Proto-Iranian diphthongs and certain vowel-semivowel sequences: η < *ai, *aya, *iya; ω < *au, *awa. An epenthetic vowel [ə] (written α) is inserted before word-initial consonant clusters. Original word-final vowels and word-initial vowels in open syllables were generally lost. A word-final ο is normally written, but this was probably silent, and it is appended even after retained word-final vowels: e.g. *aštā > αταο 'eight', likely pronounced /ataː/. The Proto-Iranian syllabic rhotic *r̥ is lost in Bactrian, and is reflected as ορ adjacent to labial consonants, ιρ elsewhere; this agrees with the development in the western Iranian languages Parthian and Middle Persian. Orthography Examples See also Kidarites Notes References This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tochi Valley". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Falk, Harry. "The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and the era of the Kuṣâṇas". Silk Road Art and Archaeology. Vol. VII. pp. 121–136. Gershevitch, Ilya (1983). "Bactrian Literature". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. pp. 1250–1258. ISBN 0-511-46773-7. Gholami, Saloumeh (2010). Selected Features of Bactrian Grammar (PhD thesis). University of Göttingen. doi:10.53846/goediss-1495. hdl:11858/00-1735-0000-000D-EF94-2. S2CID 247020656. Henning, W. B. (1960). "The Bactrian Inscription". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 23 (1): 47–55. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1989a). "Bactrian Language". Encyclopedia Iranica. Vol. 3. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 344–349. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1989b). "Bactrian". In Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed.). Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden: Reichert. pp. 230–235. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1997). "New Findings in Ancient Afghanistan: the Bactrian documents discovered from the Northern Hindu-Kush". [lecture transcript]. Tokyo: Department of Linguistics, University of Tokyo. Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. External links Bactrian language at britannica.com

Pompeii_(song)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii_(song)

"Pompeii" is a song by British pop rock band Bastille. It is the fourth single from their debut studio album Bad Blood and was released on 11 January 2013. The song's title and lyrics refer to the Roman town of the same name that was destroyed and buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. "Pompeii" became the band's breakthrough hit, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and became the eleventh best-selling song that year and, until June 2014, was the country's most streamed single of all time. It was also successful worldwide, reaching the top ten in fifteen countries, including the United States where it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bastille's most successful single to date, until "Happier" reached number two on both the UK and US charts in October 2018 and February 2019 respectively. The song was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 2014 BRIT Awards. A mashup of the song with Rudimental and Ella Eyre's "Waiting All Night" was performed live by Rudimental, Eyre and Bastille at the aforementioned ceremony, which reached number 21 in the UK. It was also performed at the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where it was nominated for Alternative Rock Song of the Year. Composition The song has a tempo of 127.5 beats per minute and is written in the key of A major with a chord progression of D-A-F#m-E. According to Dan Smith, the song is written as a conversation between two victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, stating in an interview, "I was reading a book that had some picture of the people who got caught up in the volcanic eruption. And it's just such a kind of dark powerful image, and it got me thinking about how boring it must have been emotionally after the event. To be sort of stuck in that same position for hundreds and hundreds of years. So, the song is sort of an imaginary conversation between these two people who are stuck next to each other in their sort of tragic death pose." Music video The official music video was filmed in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, California. It was directed by Jesse John Jenkins and produced by Tova Dann. The video was first released onto YouTube on 20 January 2013 at a total length of three minutes and fifty-two seconds. It currently has 727 million views, the highest out of all the band's songs. The video follows Bastille frontman Dan Smith, as he wanders about an empty-looking Los Angeles, before realizing the few people around all have unnatural vacant black eyes. He steals a car and drives into the desert to escape them, but the car breaks down and he soon realizes he has been infected as well. He climbs a mountain and looks out at the view, before turning around to reveal his own eyes have turned black as well. The story is an allegory for the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD in Pompeii. Grammy Award nomination A dance remix of the track by Audien was nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classic at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. It lost to Tiësto's remix of John Legend's "All of Me". Track listing Commercial performance The song reached number one in Scotland and Ireland, and peaked at number two in Italy and the UK. Previously, the single also held the record (now belonging to Clean Bandit's "Rather Be") for the longest time at number one on the Official Streaming Chart, remaining at the peak for seven weeks, and was the second most streamed track of 2013 in the UK. "Pompeii" spent the anniversary of its debut at number 30, having re-entered the top 40 the previous week following a live performance (a mash-up with Rudimental's "Waiting All Night") at the 2014 BRIT Awards. It spent a record 92 consecutive weeks in the top 100 (since matched by "Happy" by Pharrell Williams). With over 26 million streams by June 2014, "Pompeii" became the most streamed song of all time in the UK at that time and has sold 895,000 copies there. The B-side track "Poet" has also managed to chart in the UK at #121. The song reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in October 2013 and began climbing the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It peaked at number 5 in the Hot 100 in March 2014 and reached a million in sales in the US. By March 2014, the song had reached top 5 in the Hot 100 in its 29th week, and has sold over two million digital copies. By the end of its US run, Pompeii had managed to chart for a total of 53 weeks in the top 100 as well as sell 3 million digital sales mark by June 2014. As of December 2014, the song has sold 3.4 million copies in the US. In September 2023, for the 35th anniversary of Alternative Songs (which by then had been renamed Alternative Airplay), Billboard published a list of the top 100 most successful songs in the chart's history; "Pompeii" was ranked at number 48. Credits and personnel Credits adapted from Bad Blood. Backing vocals – Ralph Pelleymounter, Jon Willoughby, Ian Dudfield, Josh Platman, Alex Martinez Bass – William Farquarson Drums – Chris "Woody" Wood Mastering – Bob Ludwig Mixing – Mark 'Spike' Stent, Matty Green (add.) Recording – Mark Crew Producer, programming, keyboards – Mark Crew, Kyle Simmons Writer, vocals, piano – Dan Smith Label – Virgin Records In popular culture Media The arcade machine featured in the cover art is Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. The song is featured in the trailers for the 2014 DreamWorks animated film Mr. Peabody & Sherman and the 2015 Pixar animated film The Good Dinosaur. The Kat Krazy Remix edit is used in the 2013 video game Need for Speed Rivals. It is featured in the British soap opera Hollyoaks and the TV series Reign in the third episode of the first season, "Kissed". The song is featured in the official soundtrack of the First Touch game First Touch Soccer 15 as No. 1 and the Konami game Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 as No. 3. The cast of Glee performs "Pompeii" as the closing number of the season 5 finale. The song was used for an advert by EE in January 2020 as part of their 5G promotion. The lyrics are referenced in an in-game achievement for the video game Civilization VI, as part of the Gathering Storm DLC. The achievement requires the player to lose a city's population from Vesuvius' eruption while playing as the Romans. In January 2021, the song's chorus became an Internet meme involving a before and after shot of countries, states or provinces viewed on a map, usually disappearing or changing after the line "But if you close your eyes" is sung, as well as a major meme in the NASCAR and Formula One community over similar events that look almost exactly the same, such as finishes or crashes. On August 29th, 2023, The song has been featured in Samba de Amigo: Party Central. In 2024, The song appears in Fortnite in Fortnite Festival as a jam track. Events The song is featured in the official trailer of the Earth Hour 2015. On 18 November 2019, the song was the first to be played on Absolute Radio 10s after an online poll asked for the biggest song of the past decade, which was won by "Pompeii". Cover versions Belgian singer Heleen Uytterhoeven recorded a cover version in Latin, the language spoken in Pompeii, the namesake of the song. Bustle magazine noted that the YouTube video contained commenters arguing in Latin over the accuracy of her translation. In 2023, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the song, Bastille collaborated with German composer Hans Zimmer to produce Pompeii MMXXIII, an orchestral re-arrangement of the original song. Charts Certifications Release history See also List of number-one dance singles of 2014 (U.S.) References External links Song on YouTube

Saturday_Night_Live_season_23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live_season_23

The twenty-third season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 27, 1997, and May 9, 1998. This season saw the deaths of two former cast members. Six weeks after he came back to host, Chris Farley became the fifth SNL cast member to die. Influenced by his idol, John Belushi, Farley died of a speedball overdose at the age of 33. Two weeks after the season finale, long-time performer Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife who then committed suicide. Following their deaths, NBC aired two SNL specials as tributes to Farley and Hartman in dedication to their legacies during this season. Cast Before the season, Mark McKinney left the show after three seasons. Colin Quinn was promoted to repertory status. This season is the first season to not include any featured players or new cast members. During the season, a controversy arose in which Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald was removed from the Update segment. Macdonald's final episode as Update anchor was on December 13, 1997. Quinn was then promoted to the job and anchored the segment in the next live episode, which aired January 10, 1998. Even though Macdonald still performed in sketches, he was not happy and eventually quit the show; his final appearance was on March 14, 1998. This was also the final season for Jim Breuer as he left the show at season's end to move on to other acting opportunities. It was also the only season to have an opening sequence that did not show any shots of New York City, instead featuring a 1950s-inspired design. Cast roster Repertory players bold denotes Weekend Update anchor Writers Future cast member/head writer Tina Fey joins the writing staff in this season. Adam McKay continues as the sole head writer, while Tim Herlihy is promoted to a producer alongside Steve Higgins. With the Sarah Michelle Gellar-hosted episode, future Parks and Recreation/The Good Place creator Michael Schur joined the writing staff. Longtime writer Jim Downey is fired coinciding with Norm Macdonald being taken off of Weekend Update. Downey is still credited as a writer until the end of the season. Episodes Specials == References ==

Nathan_Lane

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Lane

Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. He has received numerous awards, including three Tony Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Lane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, The New York Times hailed Lane as being "the greatest stage entertainer of the decade". Lane made his professional theatre debut in 1978 in an off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. During that time he also briefly appeared as one half of the comedy team of Stack and Lane, until he was cast in the 1982 Broadway revival of Noël Coward's Present Laughter directed by and starring George C. Scott. That led to an extensive career onstage, where he had a long friendship and fruitful collaboration with the playwright Terrence McNally which started in 1989 with the Manhattan Theater Club production of The Lisbon Traviata. A six-time Tony Award nominee, he has won three times, for Best Actor in a Musical for Pseudolus in Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996) and Max Bialystock in Mel Brooks' The Producers (2001), and Best Featured Actor in a Play for Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner's Angels in America (2018). His other Tony-nominated roles were in Guys and Dolls (1992), The Nance (2013), and The Front Page (2016). Among his 25 Broadway credits are The Man Who Came To Dinner (2000), The Odd Couple (2005), Butley (2006), Waiting for Godot (2009), The Addams Family (2010), It's Only a Play (2014), Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (2019), and Pictures from Home (2023). Lane has appeared in over 35 films, including The Lion King (1994), The Birdcage (1996), Mouse Hunt (1997), The Producers (2005), and Beau is Afraid (2023). He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for the Hulu mystery comedy series Only Murders in the Building in 2022. His other Emmy-nominated roles were for Frasier, Mad About You, Modern Family, and The Good Wife. He has also appeared in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016), Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020), The Gilded Age (2022–) and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024). Early life and education Lane was born Joseph Lane in Jersey City, New Jersey on February 3, 1956. His father Daniel Joseph Lane was a truck driver and an aspiring tenor who died in 1967 from alcoholism when Nathan was eleven. His mother Nora Veronica (Finnerty) was a housewife and secretary who suffered from bipolar disorder and died in 2000. Joseph has two older brothers Daniel Jr. and Robert. Their parents were Catholics and all of their grandparents were Irish immigrants. Joseph is named after his uncle, a Jesuit priest. Joseph attended Catholic schools in Jersey City, including Jesuit-run St. Peter's Preparatory School, where he was voted Best Actor in 1974, and in 2011 received the Prep Hall of Fame Professional Achievement Award. Career 1978–1993: Rise to prominence Accepted to Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia on a drama scholarship, Joseph Lane was accompanied on what was supposed to be his first day there by his older brother Dan. Discovering that the scholarship would not cover enough of his expenses, he decided to leave, and work for a year to earn some money. His brother said, "I remember him saying to me, 'College is for people who don't know what they want to do.'" Because there already was a Joseph Lane registered with Actors' Equity, he changed his name to Nathan after the character Nathan Detroit from the musical Guys and Dolls. He moved to New York City where after a long struggle, his career began to take off, first with some brief success in the world of stand-up comedy with partner Patrick Stack and later with Off-Broadway productions at Second Stage Theatre, the Roundabout Theatre, and the Manhattan Theatre Club. He made his Broadway debut in a 1982 revival of Noël Coward's Present Laughter as Roland Maule (Drama Desk nomination) with George C. Scott, Kate Burton, Dana Ivey, Bette Henritze, Elizabeth Hubbard, Jim Piddock, and Christine Lahti. His second Broadway appearance was in the 1983 musical Merlin, starring Chita Rivera and magician Doug Henning. This was followed by Wind in the Willows as Mr. Toad, Some Americans Abroad at Lincoln Center, and the national tour of Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. Off-Broadway productions in which he appeared, included Love (the musical version of Murray Schisgal's Luv), Measure for Measure directed by Joseph Papp in Central Park, for which he received the St. Clair Bayfield Award, The Common Pursuit, The Film Society, In a Pig's Valise, She Stoops to Conquer, The Merry Wives of Windsor and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in The School for Scandal and John Guare's Moon Over Miami. His association with Stephen Sondheim began in 1989 with a workshop reading of Assassins, where he played Samuel Byck, the would-be murderer of Richard Nixon. Lane also appeared in the television shows Miami Vice and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. In 1991, Lane appeared with George C. Scott again in a revival of Paul Osborne's On Borrowed Time at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway. In 1992, he starred in the hit revival of Guys and Dolls, playing Nathan Detroit, the character who lent him his name, opposite Peter Gallagher and Faith Prince. For this performance, he received his first Tony nomination, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. In 1992, he won an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance. His professional association with his close friend the playwright Terrence McNally, whom he met in 1987, includes roles in The Lisbon Traviata (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards, and Outer Critics Circle nomination), Bad Habits, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, Love! Valour! Compassion! (Obie, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, which opened in 2005 (Drama Desk nomination), The Last Mile on PBS' Great Performances, and the film version of Frankie and Johnny. The early 1990s began a stretch of successful Broadway shows for Lane. In 1993, he portrayed Sid Caesar-like Max Prince in Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor, inspired by Simon's early career writing sketches for Your Show of Shows. In 1996, he starred in the hit revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. For his performance he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. In 1998, he appeared Off-Broadway in Jon Robin Baitz's revised 1984 comedy, Mizlansky/Zilinsky or 'Schmucks'. 1994–2009: Breakthrough and acclaim In 1994, Lane voiced Timon, the meerkat, in Disney's blockbuster animated film The Lion King and reprised the role in its sequels. In 1995, Lane was the voice of the meerkat in the early episodes of Timon & Pumbaa. In 1995, he played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz in Concert at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT). In 1996 Lane appeared in the film The Birdcage, for which he received his first Golden Globe nomination. The film, an American remake of the classic French farce La Cage aux Folles, was directed by Mike Nichols with a screenplay by Elaine May, and starred Robin Williams, Lane, and Gene Hackman, and went on to be a big success. The Stephen Sondheim song "Little Dream" in The Birdcage was supposedly written especially for him. In 1999, he appeared with Victor Garber in the workshop of the Sondheim musical Wise Guys (later retitled Road Show). His collaboration with Sondheim would continue when Lane revised the original book for and starred in the Broadway debut of the composer's The Frogs at Lincoln Center in 2004. Lane appeared in the 1997 dark comedy Mouse Hunt, one of the first films to come out of the newly formed DreamWorks Studios, in which he co-starred with British comedian Lee Evans and Christopher Walken. In 1999, he appeared in the Encores! concert revival of Do Re Mi at City Center. That same year he also voiced the role of Snowbell in the family film Stuart Little, opposite his Life With Mikey co-star Michael J. Fox. He is known for his voice work in two Disney animated series, Teacher's Pet and Timon & Pumbaa, as well as George and Martha on HBO. He received Daytime Emmy Awards for his voice performances in Teacher's Pet and Timon & Pumbaa, as well as a nomination for George and Martha. He hosted Saturday Night Live in 1997, and the Tony Awards (once as host for the 50th anniversary telecast, and three times as co-host, with Glenn Close and Gregory Hines; Rosie O'Donnell; and Matthew Broderick respectively). From 1998 to 1999 he starred in the NBC sitcom Encore! Encore! alongside Joan Plowright and Glenne Headly. The New York Times gave a very positive review to the show's debut, writing it possessed the "most accomplished, high-powered cast on television." Although the series got positive reviews it was canceled. He still won the People's Choice Award that year for Favorite New Actor in a Comedy. Lane received Emmy Award nominations for his guest appearances on Frasier and Mad About You in 1995 and 1998, respectively. Lane starred in the Roundabout revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner as Sheridan Whiteside, with Jean Smart and Harriet Harris in 2000. Charles Isherwood of Variety liked his performance, "Nathan Lane, an actor who makes virtually every role he plays seem like a role he was born to play, is the splendidly seething, delightfully acerbic center of Jerry Zaks' splashy production of the 1939 comedy". The production was taped and shown on PBS. That same year he starred in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost (2000). He acted in the comedy Isn't She Great (2000) opposite Bette Midler, the crime drama Trixie (2000), and voiced a character in the animated science fiction film Titan A.E. (2000). In 2001, he starred as Max Bialystock in the blockbuster musical version of Mel Brooks's The Producers. He acted alongside Matthew Broderick. Chris Jones of Variety wrote "Lane's greatest contribution, though, is this performer's innate sense of pace. He's constantly propelling the show forward and giving all this nonsense a necessary sense of urgency." Ben Brantley of The New York Times praised Lane's performance describing it as his "most delicious performance". He complimented Lane's and Broderick's chemistry adding "Mr. Lane and Mr. Broderick, have the most dynamic stage chemistry since Natasha Richardson met Liam Neeson in Anna Christie. The role earned him his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. The next year he reprised his role as Snowbell in Stuart Little 2 (2002). He then appeared as Vincent Crummles in a film adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby (2002) and the cast received the Ensemble Acting award from the National Board of Review. In 2003 he starred Off-Broadway in Trumbo: Red, White, and Blacklisted. In 2004, Lane revised the libretto and portrayed Dionysus in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical The Frogs which opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center on Broadway. That same year he replaced Richard Dreyfuss in The Producers in the West End. Dreyfuss was let go just a week before the show's first preview at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Lane went on to win the Olivier Award as Best Actor in a Musical. His performance in the film version, opposite Broadway co-star Matthew Broderick as Leo Bloom, earned him his second nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2005, Lane rejoined Broderick for a successful limited run of The Odd Couple. In 2006, he took on a primarily dramatic role in a revival of Simon Gray's Butley, having played the role to great success at The Huntington Theater Company in Boston in 2003. He and Broderick received adjacent stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a joint ceremony on January 9, 2006, and were immortalized in wax as Max and Leo at Madame Tussauds Museum in New York City on January 16, 2009. In 2008, he played the President of the United States in the David Mamet political satire, November, directed by Joe Mantello. This was followed by the critically acclaimed 2009 revival of Waiting for Godot (Outer Critics Circle nomination) in which he played Estragon opposite Bill Irwin's Vladimir. He was a 2008 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee. In the 2000s Lane also made guest appearances on Sex and the City, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Absolutely Fabulous, and 30 Rock. 2010–2019: Established actor In 2009, Lane starred in the musical version of The Addams Family as Gomez in Chicago, a role he reprised on Broadway the following year, receiving Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations. That year he also received a Drama League Award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater. Committed to starring in a revival of the Eugene O'Neill play The Iceman Cometh at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2012, Lane assumed the role of Hickey, with Brian Dennehy playing the role of Larry Slade in a production directed by the Goodman's Artistic Director, Robert Falls. Receiving rave reviews, it won six Jeff Awards, including Best Ensemble, director, and Production, and is the most successful play to date in the theater's history. From 2010 to 2019, Lane portrayed Pepper Saltzman in the ABC sitcom Modern Family for which he received three Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nominations. From 2012 to 2014 he played Clarke Hayden in the legal series The Good Wife receiving a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. In the spring of 2013, Lane returned to Broadway in The Nance, a Lincoln Center production of a new play by Douglas Carter Beane that was directed by Jack O'Brien. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised his performance writing, "Lane is masterful, finding new depths in a well-worn sad clown persona" adding, "[The production] at the very least it provides a tremendous vehicle for Lane". He went on to receive Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations and won the Outer Critics Circle Award and the 2013 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. The play aired on PBS Live from Lincoln Center in 2014. In autumn 2014, he appeared in an all-star ensemble of Terrence McNally's revised and updated It's Only a Play, with F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Rupert Grint, Megan Mullally, and Micah Stock. The show became one of the biggest hits of the season. In February 2015 he reprised the role of Hickey in the Robert Falls production of The Iceman Cometh to great acclaim at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. New York Post film critic Elizabeth Vincentelli wrote of his performance, "Lane, one of his generation's most brilliant comic actors...[hits] the sweet spot between pretend perkiness and self-loathing". He later returned to the Broadway run of It's Only a Play. In 2015, he received the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Monte Cristo Award for his body of work. In March 2016, he opened the play White Rabbit, Red Rabbit Off-Broadway. Lane played F. Lee Bailey in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, the first season of American Crime Story, which premiered on the FX channel in February 2016. Daniel Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter described his performance as "understatedly Machiavellian". Emily St. Jones of Vox declared Lane as "hugely enjoyable" in the series. It received 22 Emmy nominations and went on to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series. In fall of 2016, he returned to Broadway to rave reviews in an all-star revival of Hecht and MacArthur's The Front Page, directed by Jack O'Brien and produced by Scott Rudin. He played the ruthless editor Walter Burns opposite John Slattery as Hildy Johnson and John Goodman as Sheriff Hartman, for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He also received nominations for Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. During this time he also guest starred on series such as Difficult People (2016) and The Blacklist (2018). Next he played Roy Cohn with Andrew Garfield as Prior Walter in the revival of Angels in America, directed by Marianne Elliott at the Lyttlelton Theatre of the National Theatre of Great Britain. Lane reprised his acclaimed portrayal on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre, and won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In March 2019, Lane starred in Taylor Mac's absurdist black comedy Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus at the Booth Theatre directed by George C. Wolfe. The play received seven Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. 2020–present Lane played the role of Lewis Michener on Showtime's Penny Dreadful: City of Angels which premiered April 26, 2020, and ran for one season. He has a recurring role in the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. That was Lane's first Primetime Emmy Award after a record-breaking seven nominations in the guest actor categories, making him the most nominated Comedy Guest Actor in Emmy history, a record he still holds after receiving his eighth nomination in 2023 in the same category. He also plays the recurring role of Ward McAllister in the HBO period series, The Gilded Age, written by Julian Fellowes, which received a 2024 Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series and a 2024 Emmy nomination for Best Drama. In 2023, Lane returned to the Broadway stage, marking his 25th Broadway show, in Pictures from Home, a play adapted from the photo memoir by Larry Sultan. Lane portrayed the father and former razor blade salesman to his son a photographer, played by Danny Burstein, who's remembering his visits with his family. Lane's wife in the play was portrayed by Zoë Wanamaker. The production was directed by Bartlett Sher and was helmed at the Studio 54 theatre. The play received mixed reviews but praise for Lane's performance with Marilyn Stasio of Variety writing, "Lane and Burstein are consummate pros, and there are considerable sparks of familial communication between the father and son they play with such warmth and understanding." Also in 2023, Lane co-starred in Ari Aster's new A24 film, Beau Is Afraid alongside Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Ryan, and Patti LuPone. Max Ceo of Esquire praised Aster for the casting of Lane writing, "There's a palpable sense that the director had seasoned character actors such as Nathan Lane in his mind while writing. He milks every dad-ish 'My dude' the script hands him". He co-starred in another A24 film, Dicks: The Musical, formerly known as __ Identical Twins, directed by Larry Charles and written by Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp based on their Upright Citizens Brigade musical stage show which is a twisted take on The Parent Trap. Jackson and Sharp play the twins with Lane and Megan Mullally as the parents. It also features Bowen Yang and Megan Thee Stallion. The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews and won the Midnight Madness People's Choice Award. Kristy Puchko of Mashable wrote, "[Lane] who stole scenes earlier this year as a plucky papa in another A24 movie Beau is Afraid—gives his all, committing to bit after bit" adding "In a career of superb comedy, he's in top form here". He will be part of the voice cast for Spellbound, a new animated film from Skydance for Netflix, as well as the Ryan Murphy miniseries, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, as Dominick Dunne. He is starring in a new Hulu multi-cam comedy, Mid-Century Modern, again produced by Ryan Murphy, created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan who are the creators of Will and Grace, and co-starring Matt Bomer, Linda Lavin, and Nathan Lee Graham. Personal life Lane says that when he told his mother at age 21 that he was gay, she said, "I'd rather you were dead." He replied, "I knew you'd understand." He joked that "once I got her head out of the oven, everything went fine." He came out publicly in 1999 after the killing of Matthew Shepard and has been a long-time board member of and fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He was honored with the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Vito Russo Award, The Trevor Project Hero Award, and the Matthew Shepard Foundation Making A Difference Award for his work in the LGBT community in 2015. Lane has made several critical statements about Republican Party figures. He jokingly compared Paul Ryan to the Wicked Witch of the West, due to Ryan's lack of support for Medicaid. In a 2018 interview about playing Roy Cohn in the Broadway revival of Angels in America, Lane portrayed Donald Trump as a liar and said: "Really, what you learn is what [Trump] learned from Roy Cohn: There are certain tactics that are very familiar, that Trump picked up from him. You know, always go on the attack. The counterattack. Hit the accuser ten times harder and deflect. Never admit defeat... outright lying if all else fails." Lane was an active supporter of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama hosting fundraisers for the Democratic Party. On November 17, 2015, he married his partner of 18 years, theater producer and writer Devlin Elliott. They live in Manhattan and East Hampton, New York. Acting credits Lane has had an extensive career in film, television, and in theater. He has appeared in such films as The Lion King (1994), The Birdcage (1996), Mouse Hunt (1997), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), and the film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Producers (2005). He is also known for numerous guest roles including Frasier, Mad About You, 30 Rock, Absolutely Fabulous, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Blacklist and recurring roles on Modern Family and The Good Wife. He has received critical praise for his roles as F. Lee Bailey in the limited series The People v. O.J. Simpson (2016) and in the 2020 Showtime series Penny Dreadful: City of Angels as Det. Lewis Michener. His roles in theatre range from musical comedies, Guys and Dolls (1992), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996), The Producers (2001) and The Addams Family (2010) to dramatic roles in the work of Terrence McNally, Jon Robin Baitz, and Simon Gray as well as revivals and new plays such as The Odd Couple (2005), November (2008), Waiting for Godot (2009), The Nance (2013), It's Only a Play (2015), The Iceman Cometh (2015), The Front Page (2016), Angels in America (2018), Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (2019), and Pictures From Home (2023). Awards and honors Lane has received six Tony Award nominations for his work on Broadway, winning three times for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996), The Producers (2001), and Angels in America (2018). Also for his work in theatre he has received seven Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Obies, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Drama League Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theater, the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance for The Nance, the Theatre World John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater, the Eugene O'Neill Monte Cristo Award, the New Dramatists Career Achievement Award, the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award, and the Laurence Olivier Award. In 2024 Lane received the Stephen Sondheim Award from the Signature Theatre Company and the Harold S. Prince Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Drama Desk Awards. Lane has received two Golden Globe Award nominations for The Birdcage and The Producers, the National Board of Review Award for Ensemble Acting for Nicholas Nickleby, and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor and for Best Performance by a Cast for The Birdcage, winning the latter. For his work on television Lane has received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations for guest starring roles on Frasier, Mad About You, Modern Family, and The Good Wife and won for Only Murders in the Building. He received two Daytime Emmy Awards for his voice work in Timon & Pumbaa and Teacher's Pet, as well as a nomination for George and Martha for HBO. He has received the People's Choice Award for Favorite New Actor in a Comedy and an American Comedy Award for The Birdcage as well as a nomination for Jeffrey. See also LGBT culture in New York City List of LGBT people from New York City NYC Pride March References External links Nathan Lane at Curlie Nathan Lane at the Internet Broadway Database Nathan Lane at the Internet Off-Broadway Database Nathan Lane at IMDb Nathan Lane at the TCM Movie Database Nathan Lane at Rotten Tomatoes Nathan Lane at AllMovie Nathan Lane at Emmys.com

List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Nathan_Lane

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Nathan_Lane

This article is a List of awards and nominations received by Nathan Lane. Nathan Lane is an American actor and comedian known for his roles on stage and screen. He has received several awards including three Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards, three Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as a nomination for two Golden Globe Awards. Lane has received six Tony Award nominations receiving three wins for his performances as Pseudolus in the Stephen Sondheim musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996), Max Bialystock in the Mel Brooks satirical musical The Producers (2001), and Roy Cohn in Tony Kushner epic play Angels in America (2018). Lane has received eleven Drama Desk Award nominations receiving seven wins, which includes the Harold S. Prince Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as two Obies, the Lucille Lortel Award and six Outer Critics Circle Awards. He also won the Laurence Olivier Award his performance on the West End stage in The Producers in London. For his film work he has received two Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in Mike Nichols' The Birdcage (1996) and the film adaptation of the Mel Brooks Broadway musical The Producers.He received one Screen Actors Guild Award winning for Outstanding Ensemble for The Birdcage (1996) and the National Board of Review Award, also winning for Outstanding Ensemble for Nicholas Nickleby. For his work on television he has received Lane has also received various awards for his work on television including a Primetime Emmy Award, and a record breaking eight nominations in the guest actor category. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Teddy Dimas in the Hulu mystery-comedy series Only Murders in the Building in 2022. He was Emmy-nominated for playing a thief in Frasier (1995), a former lover in Mad About You (1998), and Pepper Saltzman in Modern Family (2011-2014). He also received two Daytime Emmy Awards for voicing Timon in Timon & Pumbaa (1996) and Spot Helperman / Scott Leadready II in Teacher's Pet (2001). Major associations Emmy Awards Golden Globe Award Screen Actors Guild Award Olivier Awards Tony Awards Theatre awards Miscellaneous awards Honorary awards == References ==

Barbie_(film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie_(film)

Barbie is a 2023 fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she wrote with Noah Baumbach. Based on the eponymous fashion dolls by Mattel, it is the first live-action Barbie film after numerous animated films and specials. Starring Margot Robbie as the title character and Ryan Gosling as Ken, the film follows them on a journey of self-discovery through Barbieland and the real world following an existential crisis. It is also a commentary regarding patriarchy and the effects of feminism. The supporting cast includes America Ferrera, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. A live-action Barbie film was announced in September 2009 by Universal Pictures with Laurence Mark producing. Development began in April 2014, when Sony Pictures acquired the film rights. Following multiple writer and director changes and the casting of Amy Schumer and later Anne Hathaway as Barbie, the rights were transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures in October 2018. Robbie was cast in 2019, after Gal Gadot turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts, and Gerwig was announced as director and co-writer with Baumbach in 2020. The rest of the cast was announced in early 2022. Principal photography occurred primarily at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, England, and at the Venice Beach Skatepark in Los Angeles from March to July 2022. Barbie premiered at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on July 9, 2023, and was released in the United States on July 21. Its concurrent release with Universal Pictures' Oppenheimer was the catalyst of the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon, encouraging audiences to see both films as a double feature. The film grossed $1.446 billion and achieved several milestones, including the highest-grossing film of 2023, the highest-grossing film ever released by Warner Bros., and the 14th-highest-grossing film of all time. Named one of the top 10 films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, it received critical acclaim and other accolades, including eight Academy Award nominations (among them Best Picture), winning Best Original Song for "What Was I Made For?"; the song also won Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song while Barbie was awarded Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Plot Barbie ("Stereotypical Barbie") and fellow dolls reside in Barbieland, a matriarchal society populated by different versions of Barbies, Kens, and a group of discontinued models who are treated like outcasts due to their unconventional traits. While the Kens spend their days playing at the beach, considering it their profession, the Barbies hold prestigious jobs in law, science, politics, and so on. Ken ("Beach Ken") is only happy when he is with Barbie, and he seeks a closer relationship with her, but she rebuffs him in favor of other activities and female friendships. One evening at a dance party, Barbie is suddenly stricken with worries about mortality. Overnight, she develops bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet, disrupting her routines and impairing the aura of classic perfection experienced by the Barbies. Weird Barbie, a disfigured doll, tells Barbie to find the child playing with her in the real world to cure her afflictions. Barbie follows the advice and she travels to the real world, with Ken joining Barbie by stowing away in her convertible. After arriving in Venice Beach, Barbie punches a man after he gropes her. Barbie and Ken are briefly arrested. Alarmed by the dolls' presence in the real world, the CEO of Mattel orders their recapture. Barbie tracks down her owner, a teenage girl named Sasha, who criticizes Barbie for encouraging unrealistic beauty standards. Distraught, Barbie discovers that Gloria, a Mattel employee and Sasha's mother, inadvertently caused Barbie's existential crisis after Gloria began playing with Sasha's old Barbie dolls. Mattel attempts to put Barbie in a toy box for remanufacturing, but she escapes with Gloria and Sasha's help, and the three travel to Barbieland with Mattel executives in pursuit. Meanwhile, Ken learns about patriarchy and feels respected for the first time. He returns to Barbieland to persuade the other Kens to take over. The Kens indoctrinate the Barbies into submissive roles, such as agreeable girlfriends, housewives, and maids. Barbie arrives and attempts to convince the Barbies to be independent again. When her attempts fail, she becomes depressed. Gloria expresses her frustration with the conflicting standards women are forced to follow in the real world. Gloria's speech restores Barbie's confidence. With the assistance of Sasha, Weird Barbie, Allan, and the discontinued dolls, Gloria uses her knowledge from the real world to deprogram the Barbies from their indoctrination. The Barbies then manipulate the Kens into fighting among themselves, which distracts them from enshrining male superiority into Barbieland's constitution, allowing the Barbies to regain power. Having now experienced systemic oppression for themselves, the Barbies resolve to rectify the faults of their previous society, emphasizing better treatment of the Kens and all outcasts. Barbie and Ken apologize to each other, acknowledging their past mistakes. When Ken bemoans his lack of purpose without Barbie, she encourages him to find an autonomous identity. Barbie, who remains unsure of her own identity, meets with the spirit of Ruth Handler, Mattel co-founder and creator of the Barbie doll, who explains that Barbie's story has no set ending and her ever-evolving history surpasses her roots. After bidding goodbye to the Barbies, Kens, and Mattel executives, Barbie decides to become human and return to the real world. Some time later, Gloria, her husband, and Sasha take Barbie, now going by the name "Barbara Handler", to her first gynecologist appointment. Cast Tanner, a discontinued toy dog known for his defecating feature that lives with Weird Barbie, makes a non-speaking appearance. Production Development The concept of a live-action Barbie film was in development at Cannon Films in the mid-1980s. Renewed development on a film based on the Barbie toy line began in September 2009, when it was announced that Mattel had signed a partnership with Universal Pictures and producer Laurence Mark, but nothing came to fruition. In April 2014, Mattel teamed with Sony Pictures to produce the film, which would have Jenny Bicks writing the screenplay and Laurie MacDonald and Walter F. Parkes producing through their Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation banner. Filming was anticipated to begin by the end of the year. In March 2015, Diablo Cody was brought onto the project to rewrite the screenplay, and Amy Pascal joined the producing team. Sony ordered further rewrites by Lindsey Beer, Bert V. Royal and Hillary Winston, who submitted separate drafts. In December 2016, Amy Schumer entered negotiations for the title role with Winston's screenplay. She helped rewrite the script with her sister, Kim Caramele. In March 2017, she exited negotiations, initially saying it was due to scheduling conflicts with the planned June 2017 filming; she revealed in 2023 that she left due to creative differences with the film's producers. That July, Anne Hathaway was considered for the title role; Sony hired Olivia Milch to rewrite the screenplay and approached Alethea Jones to direct as a means of interesting Hathaway in signing. Jones was attached to direct by March 2018. In August 2018, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz hired film executive Robbie Brenner, who was later appointed head of Mattel Films. Sony's option on the project expired in October 2018, and film rights were transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures, causing Hathaway, Jones, Macdonald, Parkes and Pascal to leave the project. Margot Robbie entered early talks for the role, and Patty Jenkins was briefly considered as director. Kreiz was determined to cast Robbie after meeting with her; both he and Brenner felt that Robbie's appearance resembled that of a conventional Barbie doll and were impressed by her ideas. Initial meetings occurred at the Polo Lounge located in The Beverly Hills Hotel. Brenner eventually partnered with Robbie's production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, and Robbie's husband Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara were enlisted as producers. Robbie's casting was confirmed in July 2019. In her capacity as a producer, Robbie pitched Barbie to Warner Bros. herself. During the green-light meeting, she compared the film to Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993) and also jokingly suggested that it would gross over $1 billion. Later on, she approached Greta Gerwig—whose previous films, particularly Little Women (2019), Robbie enjoyed—to screenwrite. Gerwig was in post-production for another film, and took the assignment on the condition that her partner, Noah Baumbach, also write the script. Gerwig would sign on to also direct the film in July 2021. Robbie said the film aimed at subverting expectations and giving audiences "the thing you didn't know you wanted". In August 2023, Variety revealed that she would earn "roughly $50 million in salary and box office bonuses" as star and producer. Writing As writers, Gerwig and Baumbach were given full creative freedom. They worked on the screenplay during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns at their house in Long Island. Baumbach felt he understood the film's purpose once Gerwig had shown him the first scene, identifying the "element" as "embracing mortality and sadness and sickness and everything that it means to be human." Gerwig was also inspired by the real-life story of Barbie creator Ruth Handler. Gerwig's film treatment consisted of an abstract poem on Barbie influenced by the Apostles' Creed. For the narrative arc, she was partially inspired by the non-fiction book Reviving Ophelia (1994) by Mary Pipher, which accounts the effects of societal pressures on American teenage girls. She also found inspiration in classic Technicolor musicals such as The Red Shoes (1948) and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), and said: "They have such a high level of what we came to call authentic artificiality. You have a painted sky in a soundstage. Which is an illusion, but it's also really there. The painted backdrop is really there. The tangibility of the artifice is something that we kept going back to." The script also contains candid criticism of Mattel, which created skepticism among Mattel officials when they received the first version. However, Kreiz decided to trust Gerwig. Brenner noted that "being safe in this world doesn't work" as she interpreted Barbie to be a "bold" and "trailblazer" figure. As a result, Will Ferrell's portrayal as the Mattel CEO was meant to be an allegory for corporate America. Kreiz praised Ferrell and said that while Mattel officials took their brands seriously, they did not take themselves seriously. Gerwig and Robbie had felt the film was "most certainly a feminist film", but Mattel officials rejected the description. Gerwig and Robbie informed the studio that they would explore the controversies and problematic parts of Barbie, but also convinced the studio that they would respect the product. Gerwig was also influenced by her childhood experiences with Barbie. Her mother discouraged her from purchasing such dolls, but eventually allowed her to. Opting to acknowledge the controversial nature of the Barbie doll, Gerwig chose to create a film where she would be both "doing the thing and subverting the thing", in the sense that she would be celebrating the feminism behind Barbie while also noting the controversial beauty standards associated with it. She was also fascinated by the idea that humans created dolls, which in turn imitate humans, feeling that "we're in constant conversation with inanimate objects" while also conveying an affirmative message to the audience to "just be yourself and know that that's enough." The film deliberately juxtaposed contradictory messaging, such as critiquing consumerism yet glamorizing plastic products; and in the film's ending, where Barbie desires to be more than just a plastic doll. Gerwig made the film as an "earnest attempt to make amends" between affirming women's worth and conveying the impossibility of perfection, which some perceived to be standards associated with Barbie. Reflecting upon the maximalism of Barbie, Gerwig said the "ontology of Barbie" was similar to what she perceived as William Shakespeare's maximalism, which she enjoyed in his works. She grounded the film in what she described as a "heightened theatricality that allows you to deal with big ideas in the midst of anarchic play." She also described the film as being anarchic, unhinged, and humanist. She felt the film originated from the "deep isolation of the pandemic", opining that the line in which Barbie says "Do you guys ever think about dying?" exemplifies the film's anarchic nature. She also found the idea of Barbie being "constrained in multitudes" as "all of these women are Barbie and Barbie is all of these women" to be "trippy" and felt as a result, Barbie did not need to have her own personal life, as she was attuned to her environment. She also described the story as mirroring a girl's journey from childhood to adolescence, though she did not deem it to be a coming of age film and felt that the film ultimately "ends up, really, about being human." Primarily, she began her writing by interpreting Barbie as living in a utopia and eventually experiencing reality, where she would have to "confront all the things that were shielded from them in this place [Barbieland]." She also drew parallels to the story of Adam and Eve and taking inspiration from John Milton's Paradise Lost, particularly being inspired by the concept that there is "no poetry without pain." To underscore the tragic elements of Barbie and Ken facing the real world, she focused on elements of dissonance. As such, she chose to keep a scene featuring Robbie's Barbie telling an older woman that she is beautiful after being requested to remove it, as she felt that the scene epitomized "the heart of the movie." She also desired to provide a "counterargument" to Barbie by featuring a scene in which Barbie learns that some women do not like her, and felt it gave the film "real intellectual and emotional power." As such, a scene is featured in which Barbie is being stared at inappropriately on the Venice Beach, which Gerwig chose to feature as she felt it was a universal experience, being especially relevant for actors. She was inspired by an audition she did in which she wore overalls and felt that she did not perform well in. The ending of the film features Barbie saying the line "I'm here to see my gynecologist", with Gerwig describing it as a "mic drop kind of joke." She had chosen to include the line as she had wanted to instill confidence in younger girls, as she had been embarrassed about her body when she was younger. Barbie also explores the negative consequences of hierarchical power structures, with Gerwig saying that she extrapolated that "Barbies rule and Kens are an underclass" and felt it was similar to the Planet of the Apes. Ken has low self-esteem and seeks approval from Barbie, which Gerwig identified as a good source for a story. Gosling compared Gerwig's vision to Milton Glaser's I Love New York logo as he felt Gerwig created the film's characters as a way of understanding the contemporary world. Ken has the only power ballad in the film, and Gerwig had identified it as the moment in which she felt the film transcended what a Barbie film traditionally should have been. Casting Gerwig and Robbie searched for actresses with "Barbie energy", a trait they described as "a certain ineffable combination of beauty and exuberance." In October 2021, Ryan Gosling entered final negotiations to play Ken in the film. America Ferrera, Simu Liu and Kate McKinnon were cast in February 2022. Liu auditioned for the film after his agent raved about the script being one of the best they had ever read. In March 2022, Ariana Greenblatt, Alexandra Shipp, and Emma Mackey were revealed to be in the cast. Will Ferrell joined the cast in April, along with Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Hari Nef, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rhea Perlman, Ncuti Gatwa, Emerald Fennell, Sharon Rooney, Scott Evans, Ana Cruz Kayne, Connor Swindells, Ritu Arya and Jamie Demetriou. In April 2023, a trailer revealed that John Cena had joined the cast. It was later reported that Cena had spontaneously been offered a part in the film after paying for Robbie's meal in London during production. Helen Mirren narrated the film's trailer and the film itself. Robbie and Gosling were each paid $12.5 million for their participation as actors. Olivia Colman filmed a cameo but it was cut from the film. Robbie wanted Gal Gadot to play a Barbie in the film, but Gadot was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts. Gerwig wanted her frequent collaborators Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan to make cameo appearances, but neither was available; Gerwig later revealed that during a visit to the set, Chalamet said he should have been in the film. Additionally, Bowen Yang, Dan Levy and Ben Platt were considered to play Kens. Jonathan Groff was the first choice for Allan, played by Cera, but turned it down. Matt Bomer auditioned and was offered a role but ultimately turned it down due to the production schedule. Ben Affleck was initially set to cameo during the beach fight sequence but scheduling conflicts with Air resulted in him having to back out and his role in the film was rewritten for Cera. Set design Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer were the set designer and decorator, respectively, for Barbie. For the Barbie Dreamhouse, they drew inspiration from mid-century modernist architecture found in Palm Springs, including the 1946 Kaufmann Desert House by Richard Neutra, and the photography of Slim Aarons. Gerwig wanted to capture "what was so ridiculously fun about the Dreamhouses", alluding to its previous models, and referenced Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), the paintings of Wayne Thiebaud, and the apartment of Gene Kelly's character in the Technicolor musical An American in Paris (1951). "Everything needed to be tactile, because toys are, above all, things you touch", Gerwig said of the use of practical effects instead of computer-generated imagery (CGI) to capture the sky and the San Jacinto Mountains. The set design is also noted for its extensive use of a specific shade of pink, Pantone 219. Rosco, the film's paint supplier, faced international shortages due to COVID-19-related supply-chain issues, as well as freezing temperatures that damaged stock; the film's sets required the company's entire remaining stock of pink. Because Gerwig also wanted to use practical builds, and had to film sequences in miniature models, then composite the footage onto the actual image. She began discussing the production design with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, Greenwood, and costume designer Jacqueline Durran a year in advance of filming. She also called director Peter Weir for inspiration on Barbie Land, with the idea of creating it as an "interior soundstage world". Costumes, hair, and makeup Costume designer Jacqueline Durran, who previously collaborated with Gerwig on Little Women (2019), employed a practical approach to create Barbie's wardrobe: "The defining characteristic of what she wears is where she's going and what she's doing, [i]t's about being completely dressed for your job or task." To match the film's Barbieland setting, Durran and her team created costumes made of roughly fifteen color combinations "that riffed off the idea of a French Riviera beach in the early 1960s" and drew inspiration from actress Brigitte Bardot. For Ken's outfits, Durran zeroed in a look composed of colorful sportswear from the 1980s, while actor Ryan Gosling suggested a Ken-branded underwear for the character. Durran closely adapted outfits from past iterations of Barbie dolls, such as the 1993 "Western Stampin'" dolls and the 1994 "Hot Skatin'" dolls. She noted the Barbie dolls as "a very useful way to look at different ideas of femininity: what that means, who owns it, and who it's aimed at" and reflected this idea in how she dressed the characters. While the majority of the clothing featured in the film were sourced by Durran and her team, they also pulled pieces from the fashion archives of Chanel. Ivana Primorac was the lead hair and makeup artist for the film. In 2024, Primorac and Marie Larkin and Clare Corsick jointly won the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Award for Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling in a Feature-Length Motion Picture for Barbie. Filming Principal photography began on March 22, 2022, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in England and wrapped on July 21. Among the notable locations was the Venice Beach Skatepark in Los Angeles, California. Rodrigo Prieto served as cinematographer. Prior to filming, Gerwig organized a sleepover with the female cast members for them to establish positive relationships, also feeling that it "would be the most fun way to kick everything off." She opted to use filming techniques from the 1950s (as Barbie had been a popular toy since 1959) to create a period-accurate look. She also watched Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946) to understand how pre-digital visual effects were used to create theatricality. To highlight the tragic nature of Barbie and Ken facing the difficulties of the real world, she directed Robbie and Gosling to act as if they were in a drama. Post-production Editor Nick Huoy returned to work with Greta Gerwig, having also cut Lady Bird and Little Women. Finding the tone of the film was a playful experiment working collaboratively with Gerwig and VFX supervisor Glen Pratt and VFX producer Nick King. Pratt focused on blending the practical with the digital. Practical miniatures were built, scanned and captured with photogrammetry inspiring the creation of hundreds of digital miniatures to populate Barbie Land vistas, set extensions, backdrops and full CG shots. Pratt worked with visual effects studios Framestore on Barbie Land scenes and UPP on the invisible effects deployed in the real world and a car chase sequence. The palette chosen for the scenes in Barbie Land was inspired by the classic three-strip Technicolor look, and was named TechnoBarbie. This required the creation of a software called PPL, a color correcting program which separates the image into the three basic components of blue, green, and red, which can then be manipulated individually. Music Alexandre Desplat, who collaborated with Gerwig on Little Women (2019), was set to score Barbie in early September 2022. However, by May 2023, he had left the project, and Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt assumed scoring duties. The score was released by WaterTower Music on August 4, 2023. Ronson was also tasked with curating a compilation soundtrack that matched Gerwig's vision for Barbie. As the film was being edited, Ronson and Gerwig showed some of its scenes to artists they wanted on the soundtrack. The soundtrack, Barbie the Album, was released on July 21, 2023, and features music by Ava Max, Charli XCX, Dominic Fike, Fifty Fifty, Gayle, Haim, Ice Spice, Kali, Karol G, Khalid, Sam Smith, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Pink Pantheress, Tame Impala, the Kid Laroi, and cast members Ryan Gosling and Dua Lipa. "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa was released as the album's lead single on May 26, 2023. It was followed by "Watati" by Karol G on June 2, 2023. "Angel" by Pink Pantheress was released on June 9, 2023, as the first promotional single. "Barbie World" by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice was released as the album's third single on June 23, 2023. The album's second promotional single, "Speed Drive" by Charli XCX was released on June 30, 2023. On July 6, 2023, the album's third and final promotional single, "Barbie Dreams" by Fifty Fifty and Kaliii was released. On July 10, 2023, Warner Bros. released a preview clip of Ryan Gosling singing "I'm Just Ken." The album's fourth single, "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish, was released on July 13, 2023. Despite fan expectations for the 1997 song "Barbie Girl" by the pop band Aqua to feature in the film, Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen, manager for Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm, said that it was not used; Variety speculated that it was due to bad relations between Mattel and MCA Records, the song's American publisher, who engaged in a series of lawsuits over it from 1997 to 2002. "Barbie World", a rework of the song, was instead used in the film. It samples "Barbie Girl"; Aqua is credited as a performer and co-writer on the track. The film features multiple renditions of the 1989 song "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls and the 1997 song "Push" by Matchbox Twenty, the latter of which Ken adopts as his favorite song after visiting the real world, which becomes "a tongue-in-cheek anthem of patriarchal dominance" in the fictional Barbieland. While many reviews of the film interpreted this as a critique of the song, director Greta Gerwig said that she was a fan of Matchbox Twenty and "I never put anything in a movie I don't love." "Spice Up Your Life" by Spice Girls plays in a flashback scene showing a little girl's rough play creating "Weird Barbie." Marketing Barbie received an extensive marketing campaign. In the months leading up to its release, Mattel entered into several Barbie-themed promotional partnerships and collaborations with various brands, including Airbnb, Aldo Group, Bloomingdale's, Burger King Brazil, Chi Haircare, Forever 21, Gap Inc., Hot Topic, Krispy Kreme Philippines, Primark, Progressive Insurance, Spirit Halloween, Ulta, and Xbox. Studio parent company Warner Bros. Discovery also engaged in cross-promotion through its TV channels, most prominently with an HGTV renovation reality competition series, Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, coproduced by Mattel Television, which premiered shortly before the film's release. Trade publication Variety reported that Warner Bros. spent $150 million promoting Barbie—more than the $145 million budget used to produce the film itself. A first-look image of the film was revealed during a Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon in April 2022. Released to the public on April 27, 2022, it showed Margot Robbie as Barbie, behind the wheel of her iconic pink 1956 Chevrolet Corvette. Collider commented: "This photo is just further proof that Robbie was made to play this role. She just looks like a Barbie doll come to life—it's almost uncanny." On June 15, 2022, a second still featuring Ryan Gosling as Ken was released. Despite noting similarities between his look in the image and his previous roles, The Guardian asserted that "there is a very strong chance that this will be [Gosling's] defining role." A Barbie booth was opened at the 2022 CCXP event in São Paulo, Brazil. The film's first teaser trailer debuted during preview screenings of Avatar: The Way of Water in December 2022. It featured a parody of the opening "Dawn of Man" sequence in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, where Robbie (clad in Barbie's original 1959 outfit) imitates an alien monolith whose influence on the history of dolls is narrated by Helen Mirren. Along with a theatrical poster, the teaser trailer was released to the public on December 16, 2022. Rolling Stone praised the 2001 homage and the trailer's vibrant colors, and remarked on its vague hints of the plot: "One has to wonder when, or better yet how, it will all get shaken up." At the 2023 Academy Awards, Robbie co-presented a tribute to Warner Bros with Morgan Freeman. During the montage, they reflected on the roles and projects they had shared with the company, and Freeman eventually referred to Robbie as 'Barbie'. On April 4, 2023, 24 character posters of the several Barbies and Kens featured in the film, tagged with brief descriptions, were shared on Barbie's social media accounts. Empire remarked: "You might have thought that Multiverse fever would be constrained generally to comic book films and never-would-have-called-it Oscar winners [Everything Everywhere All at Once]. But ... it seems Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie will also be flooding the screen with variants, this time of plastic dolls Barbie and Ken." A second teaser trailer was unveiled shortly after the posters' release, featuring a rendition of the Beach Boys' 1964 surf rock song "Fun, Fun, Fun." The Washington Post noted that the "visually striking" and "polysemic" teaser captivated multiple demographics because of its humor, color palette, and the Barbie doll's cross-generational appeal. An official trailer for the film was released on May 25, 2023. Critics noted its existential tone set against upbeat music. Ben Travis of Empire said: "There's much to discuss here—not least, that it looks visually impeccable" and speculated Academy Awards attention for its production and costume design. A float promoting the film was featured in the 2023 WeHo Pride Parade in Los Angeles; two of its LGBTQ+ cast members, Alexandra Shipp and Scott Evans, were present. In June 2023, a French Barbie poster went viral for including the tagline "Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c'est juste Ken" ("She can do everything. He's just Ken"). Ken is the verlan slang term for "fuck" in French—i.e. the phonological inversion of nique, while c'est ("he is") is a homophone for sait ("he knows how")—so the tagline could also be read as "She can do everything. He just knows how to fuck." Analysts concluded that the pun was most likely intentional, as the slang term is common knowledge among French speakers; Warner Bros. would neither confirm nor deny this. Leading up to the release, pink billboards, blank apart from the film's release date, appeared worldwide, and a real-world "Barbie Dreamhouse" in Malibu, California became available to rent through Airbnb. On July 14, 2023, SAG-AFTRA, an American labor union of film, television and voice actors, declared a strike action, effectively halting any promotional event that involved the guild's members. Robbie showed her support for the action. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher later claimed that the studios "duped" the guild into accepting a 12-day extension for negotiations to continue promoting summer films like Barbie. To coincide with the film's release, a stop motion crossover trailer with the animated film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem from Paramount Pictures, produced by Seth Rogen, was released on July 20, 2023. Release Theatrical Barbie had its world premiere at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on July 9, 2023, followed by the European premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square in London on July 12, 2023. It was released theatrically in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 21, 2023, taking over the original release date of Coyote vs. Acme. Previous iterations of the project were set for June 2, 2017; May 12, 2017; June 29, 2018; August 8, 2018; and May 8, 2020. In August 2023, it was announced that the film would be re-released in IMAX theaters on September 22, 2023, for one week only, along with a new post-credit scene. The IMAX edition starts with an onscreen introduction by Greta Gerwig, who notes the advantages of the IMAX format. The post-credits scene includes an intro of Margot Robbie's Barbie, in her 1959 Barbie bathing suit, taking a human-sized Ken doll on camera, which transforms into Ryan Gosling's Ken; followed by humorous outtakes, e.g. whether Barbie should marry Barney the Dinosaur, and a voiceover by Robbie hoping people enjoyed the experience. Too, as Sarah Little notes on Screen Rant, "The meta post-credits scene features [narrator Helen] Mirren as herself walking in on Midge, played by Emerald Fennell, giving birth." The film also received a Spanish language release in the United States and Puerto Rico on the TheaterEars app. "Barbenheimer" Barbie was released on the same day as Oppenheimer, a biographical film about J. Robert Oppenheimer written and directed by Christopher Nolan based on the book American Prometheus, and distributed by Universal Pictures. Due to the tonal and genre contrast between the two films, many social media users created memes and ironic posts about how the two films appealed to different audiences, and how they should be viewed as a double feature. Hence, the trend was dubbed "Barbenheimer." In an interview with La Vanguardia, Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy endorsed the phenomenon, saying, "My advice would be for people to go see both, on the same day. If they are good films, then that's cinema's gain." The Barbenheimer phenomenon was widely credited with boosting interest in the film, with a total of 79% of tickets sold over the weekend (52% for Barbie) being for the two films, a total of 18.5 million people. Home media Barbie was released on digital download on September 12, 2023, and was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 17, 2023, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The film was available for streaming exclusively on Max on December 15, 2023, including an American Sign Language version. Censorship Nine-dash line controversy The controversy over the alleged appearance of the nine-dash line (a depiction of the South China Sea from Chinese perspective) in the film began when Vietnam's film censorship authority banned the film for allegedly displaying such lines. In contrast, the counterpart from the Philippines requested that the lines in question be blurred. Both countries have banned the films Abominable (2019) and Uncharted (2022) for featuring the actual nine-dash line. The nine-dash line is controversial due to maritime border disputes between China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. Vietnam On July 3, 2023, Vietnamese newspaper Tuổi Trẻ quoted Vi Kiến Thành, head of the Department of Cinema, as announcing that Barbie would be banned in Vietnam because it contained "the offending image of the nine-dash line." The Tiền Phong newspaper reported that the nine-dash line "appears multiple times in the film." The film was originally scheduled to be released in Vietnam on July 21. Speaking to Voice of America, Trịnh Hữu Long (founder of the research group Legal Initiatives for Vietnam) said, "The censors will even be praised for overreacting to the unclear map, by both their superiors and the public, because anti-China sentiment runs deep into the country's political culture", and that "the government is surely using legitimate nationalist reasoning to strengthen its entire censorship system", while Michael Caster at the free expression group Article 19 said, "Maps are political, and borders often bear historical wounds, but rather than ensuring free and open discussion, the knee jerk response to censor seldom supports historical or transitional justice." Speaking to Vox, University of California, Berkeley professor Peter Zinoman said, "To the Chinese, the nine-dash line signifies their legitimate claims to the South China Sea", and "to the Vietnamese, it symbolizes a brazen act of imperialist bullying that elevates Chinese national interest over an older shared set of interests of socialist brotherhood." Harvard University professor Huệ-Tâm Hồ Tài said since the producers of the film were aiming for the mainland Chinese market in the hopes that it would be a blockbuster, "they are ready to accept [mainland China's] view of geography. Disinformation works by repetition." New York University professor Kevin Li said, "In my view, banning [Barbie] was a no-brainer." In response to Vietnam's ban, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated at a press briefing on July 4 that the "South China Sea issue" should not be linked with "normal cultural exchange." The Philippines When news of Vietnam's ban reached the Philippines, Senator Francis Tolentino, vice chairman of the Philippine Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, told CNN Philippines that Barbie may also be banned in the country because it "denigrates" Filipino sovereignty. Senator Jinggoy Estrada called the film to be banned over the alleged inclusion of the nine-dash line; opposition senator Risa Hontiveros quipped "the movie is fiction, and so is the nine-dash line", and suggested adding a disclaimer to the film instead of banning its release. Senator Robin Padilla, chairman of the Senate mass media committee, suggested that the film producers must edit out references to the nine-dash line or risk the film being banned. On July 11, the Philippines' Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) came to the conclusion that there was "no basis" to banning the film as the map was simply "cartoonish" and that there was no clear nor outright depiction of the nine-dash line, as the line in the film was "not U-Shaped" and had "eight dots or dashes" instead of nine. The board gave the film a PG rating, as well as allowing it to be screened in the country, however they requested Warner Bros. to "blur the controversial lines in order to avoid further misinterpretations." Senator Tolentino said that he respected the MTRCB's decision, but expressed his dismay at it emerging a day before the seventh anniversary of Philippines' victory in an arbitration over the nine-dash line on July 12, 2016. The film was released in the Philippines on July 19, 2023. World map drawing and Warner Bros.' statement With the rising concerns over the alleged appearance of the nine-dash line, several media outlets pointed to a drawing of a world map which appears in a trailer for the film. The Los Angeles Times described the particular image as a "map of 'the real world' [which] looks as if it's been drawn in crayon by a child" with a line of dashes "alongside the coast of what should be China." On July 6, 2023, Warner Bros. issued a statement explaining that the map in the concerned image is a "child-like crayon drawing", with the dashed lines depicting Barbie's journey from Barbie Land to the real world and was "not intended to make any type of statement." Jordan Richard Schoenherr from Concordia University said that while the map might seem innocuous, the repeated presentation of images that supported the goals of the Chinese government risks increasing their acceptance by international publics and is therefore a cause for concern. In the world map drawing, dashed lines can be seen near Asia, the United States, Greenland, Brazil and Africa. Religious interpretation and LGBTQ+ themes In some Muslim-majority countries, there were attempts to ban the film on moral grounds or for allegedly showing LGBTQ+ themes. Some of them were successful. Pakistan In Pakistan, the film was released nationwide on July 21, 2023. The Punjab Film Censor Board (which handles the censorship in the Punjab province) and other regional equivalents cleared the film for screening. But on July 22, Punjab province's caretaker Minister of Information and Culture Amir Mir used his authority to halt the screenings of the film in the province, alleging that it "[shows] homosexuality." Punjab's Information Secretary Ali Nawaz Malik told Dawn that the film "has been sent to Dubai for a censorship review." On August 1, the final approval was given for the film to be shown in the province. Middle East In the Middle East, the film was initially scheduled to be released on July 19, 2023, before being delayed to August 31. Later, Vox Cinemas, the distributor of Warner Bros. films in the region, announced that the film would be released in the region on August 10. Although the film censorship authorities in the region initially did not specify any reason, it was suggested that the inclusion of a transgender actress in one of the Barbie roles, and the narrations and dialogs related to LGBTQ+ matters might have been the issues with the film. On August 9, 2023, Lebanon's Minister of Culture Mohammad Mortada, who is backed by Hezbollah, proposed that the film be banned in the country for "[promoting] homosexuality and sexual transformation" and "[contradicting] values of faith and morality" by "diminishing the importance of the family unit." Following Mortada's proposal, the Minister of Interior and Municipalities Bassam Mawlawi asked the relevant authority (which is under the scope of Interior Ministry's General Security) to review the film and give its recommendation. On August 11, it was reported that the Lebanese authority, comprising the representatives from the General Security and the Ministry of Economy and Trade, found no reason to ban the film in the country. On September 1, the film was formally approved for screening in Lebanon for audiences aged 13 and above. Barbie was released in Lebanese theaters on September 7. Also on August 9, 2023, the Kuwaiti authority formally announced the ban of both Barbie and Australian horror film Talk to Me (which stars a transgender actor), with the head of the authority Lafi Al-Subaie accusing the former of "carrying ideas that encourage unacceptable behavior and distort society's values." Algeria On August 13, 2023, just three weeks after its release on July 19, the screenings of Barbie were halted in film theaters in Algeria. According to Reuters, the official source was quoted as saying that the film "promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances" and that it "does not comply with Algeria's religious and cultural beliefs." Reception Box office Barbie grossed $636.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $809.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.446 billion. This was described by Warner Bros. as "reaching a Barbillion." Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $421 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses, television and streaming, and home media revenues placed it second on their list of 2023's "Most Valuable Blockbusters". It was described as a "record-breaking" box office success during its opening weekend, and set the record for any film that was not a sequel, remake, or superhero property. Barbie became the highest-grossing live-action comedy film of all time, smashing the domestic record formerly held by Home Alone (1990) and the worldwide record formerly held by The Hangover Part II (2011) simultaneously. It has also become Gerwig's highest-grossing film, overtaking its predecessor Little Women (2019). The film crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide on August 6, 2023, making it the only film by a solo female director to do so. This was also the fastest Warner Bros. film to reach $1 billion, beating Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). In late August, Barbie surpassed that same film again, becoming Warner Bros.'s highest-grossing film, not adjusted for inflation. By September 2, the film surpassed $1.365 billion at the global box office, replacing The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the highest-grossing film of the year. Additionally, it became the highest-grossing film by a solo female director, surpassing the previous record held by Jia Ling for Hi, Mom (2021). United States and Canada In the United States and Canada, Barbie was released alongside Oppenheimer, and was originally projected to gross $90–125 million from 4,243 theaters in its opening weekend, with Warner Bros. predicting a $75 million debut. The week of their release, AMC Theatres announced that over 40,000 AMC Stubs members had pre-booked tickets to both films on the same day. It earned $70.5 million on its opening day, which included $22.3 million from Wednesday and Thursday night previews, both of which were the best of 2023. Barbie's opening weekend gross of $162 million marked the largest opening since Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($181.3 million in November 2022). It was also the biggest opening ever for a film helmed by a female director, besting Captain Marvel (2019), and surpassed Suicide Squad (2016) to have Robbie's highest opening weekend, as well as Blade Runner 2049 (2017) to have Gosling's largest opening weekend. It scored the third-highest July opening weekend at the time, behind The Lion King (2019) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. This also marked the third-highest opening weekend for a Warner Bros. film, after the latter film and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Barbie also scored the biggest opening for a film based on a toy, surpassing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). Furthermore, it dethroned The Secret Life of Pets (2016) to achieve the biggest non-sequel July opening weekend. Upon opening, Barbie reached the number one spot at the box office, defeating Oppenheimer, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and Sound of Freedom. Following its opening weekend, Barbie surpassed The Dark Knight (2008) as the highest Monday gross ever for a Warner Bros. film, collecting a total of $26.1 million. It also quickly beat La La Land (2016) to become Gosling's highest-grossing film of all time. In its second weekend, the film earned $92 million, dropping by 43%, which was the largest sophomore weekend ever for a Warner Bros. film and the seventh-largest ever. The film remained in first place with $53 million in its third weekend, and $33.7 million in its fourth weekend. On August 16, 2023, Barbie once again surpassed The Dark Knight; this time as the highest-grossing domestic release in Warner Bros. history, having earned $537.5 million. The film was dethroned in its fifth weekend by newcomer Blue Beetle ($25 million), though it continued to hold well with a gross of $21.5 million. On August 24, 2023, Barbie surpassed The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($574 million) to become the highest-grossing film of the year in North America. Barbie finished in second place again in its sixth weekend, this time behind newcomer Gran Turismo. Other territories Outside of the United States and Canada, Barbie earned $194.3 million from 69 offshore markets in its opening weekend. Of the 69 markets, it was the number one film for the weekend in 58, scored the largest opening weekend for a Warner Bros. film in 26 and marked the largest opening for a 2023 film in 24. In the United Kingdom, the film opened with $24.2 million, which was the year's largest opening. In France, it opened with $10.2 million, marking the largest debut for a Warner Bros. film since Joker (2019). The following weekend, Barbie earned $127 million, dropping by just 31%. It remained the number one film of the weekend in 57 markets. Within its sophomore weekend, it became the highest-grossing film of 2023 in Brazil, as well as the highest-grossing Warner Bros. release ever. In Australia, the film scored the largest second week ever, for a running total of $30.6 million after two weekends. In the UK, Barbie began outpacing the ten-day total of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Warner Bros.' highest-grossing film in the country, in its second weekend. In its third weekend, Barbie grossed $74 million from 69 markets for a drop of 41%. The highest-grossing overseas markets were the United Kingdom ($120.8 million), Germany ($56.5 million), Australia ($55.6 million), Mexico ($54.3 million), and France ($47.6 million). In Ireland, Barbie became the highest-grossing film in history with $9.57 million, surpassing Avatar (2009). By contrast, in South Korea (where the film opened on July 19, 2023), Barbie underperformed at the box office. During the period between July 28 and 30, 2023, the film recorded around 81,000 admissions (earning $667,000) and finished in the fifth place in the South Korean box office, falling behind Smugglers (around 1.17 million admissions; $9.31 million), Elemental (around 360,000 admissions; $2.85 million), Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (around 300,000 admissions; $2.43 million) and the Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine (around 89,000 admissions; $703,000). It was suggested that the animosity against feminist messages in the film, the lack of popularity of Barbie dolls in South Korea, and cultural differences between United States and South Korea have contributed to the film's under-performance there. Film critic Youn Sung-Eun told Yonhap News Agency that 'in [South] Korea, where the recognition of feminism is not good, [people] don't want to accept that an amusement like film has a message [about social issues]', and that 'the film uses its later half to preach [about sexual discrimination], which might be hard to accept [to South Koreans]'. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kang Hye-jung, the producer of Smugglers, said "I couldn't understand why Hollywood went so wild about Barbie, perhaps because it has never been our [toy]." Writing for The Korea Times, professor emeritus Mark Peterson at Brigham Young University opined that the film under-performed in South Korea because "it was one fully-loaded package of American culture of the last 50 years, which didn't convey much meaning to [South] Korean audiences." In Japan, Barbie ranked at no. 16. Prior to the release date, public opinion of Barbie had soured after the official Twitter account for the Barbie film had responded positively to several Barbenheimer memes, all of which depicted atomic bombing mushroom clouds comically. This was seen as an endorsement of such jokes, and, in turn, was met with disapproval from the Japanese public, who criticized their ignorance, particularly due to their negligence towards the history of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Mitsuki Takahata, who provided Barbie's voice in the Japanese dub of the film, stated on her Instagram account that she was disappointed and had considered dropping out of one of the film's promotional events. In China, Barbie earned more than $32 million as of August 2023. Critical response Barbie attained critical acclaim. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 502 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Barbie is a visually dazzling comedy whose meta humor is smartly complemented by subversive storytelling." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100, based on 67 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 89% overall positive score, with 79% saying they would definitely recommend the film. In his review for the Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips called Barbie "a lovely, eccentrically imaginative example of brand extension and raw, untrammeled commercialism", applauded the production design, and summed: "The crucial partnership here is the one between director and performer, Gerwig and Robbie; anything Gerwig and Baumbach's verbally dexterous script requires, from Barbie's first teardrop to the final punchline, Robbie handles with unerring precision." Richard Brody of The New Yorker called it "brilliant, beautiful and fun as hell", claiming the "giddily stylized vision of a doll coming to life makes a serious case for the art of adapting even the most sanitized I.P." and commended the "free and wild" direction as well as the "profuse and exquisite" visual aesthetics. Charlotte O'Sullivan of the Evening Standard hailed the film as "easily the comedy of the year" with a large amount of fun, where "star and producer Margot Robbie, and writer-director Greta Gerwig, have done themselves proud" with a "breezily outrageous" film "about a woman's right to be 'weird, dark and crazy'." Eileen Jones of Jacobin said that the film "manages to overcome cumbersome plotting and feminist pieties to provide a delightful spectacle of funny moments that add up to something pretty good." In The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw awarded Barbie a three out of five stars, describing it as "beamingly affectionate and deliriously pink-themed" but "perhaps a giant two-hour commercial for a product" and highlighted Gosling as a scene-stealer, being given "all the best lines." In India Currents, Amann Mahajan notes, "Perhaps the most impactful ... moment[] is one in which Barbie is calmly eviscerated by a teenage girl who dubs her a 'fascist.' [I]t's this scene (though not that particular comment) which comes closest to actually critiquing Barbie's legacy. ... And that's just it: the movie is hemmed in by the fact that it is, at the end of the day, produced by Mattel." Lovia Gyarke of The Hollywood Reporter called the film a "tricky balancing act of corporate fealty and subversion" lauding Gerwig's direction, the set design, costumes, soundtrack and lead performances, but criticizing the "muddled politics and flat emotional landing." Variety critic Peter Debruge praised the humor for giving "permission to challenge what Barbie represents" and lauded Gosling's physical performance, but concluded that the film is "an intellectual experience, not an emotional one, grounded largely in audience nostalgia." In the Vulture component of New York, Alison Willmore commended the lead performances, particularly that of Robbie, whom she characterized "as capable of heartbreaking earnestness as humor, and who sometimes effortlessly achieved both at once", but lamented the themes of the film, opining that it "doesn't ultimately want to do much more than talk itself in circles about these themes." On a similar note, Stephanie Zacharek of Time praised Robbie's "buoyant, charming performance", Gosling's "go-for-broke" effort, and the "inventive production design", but criticized the "self aware" nature of the film especially following the first half-hour, concluding that it is a feminist film "only in the most scattershot way", and that it is not "subversive." A mixed review in Le Monde also expressed doubts about the treatment of the topical issue and found that the "doll drowned herself in kitsch derision" while GQ-France, regretting that the film did not prove as radical as might have been expected, found it was somehow a continuation of Little Women. Camilla Long of The Times wrote that the film featured Mattel's "pink, squealing, corporate grasping", trying to be "ahead of the sexism curve", but "ended up feeling sexist itself" for its portrayal that "men are stupid, go to the gym, run everything and don't care about women, while women are sensible, striving but ultimately conflicted victims." In the review of Kyle Smith of The Wall Street Journal, he stated: "As bubbly as the film appears, its script is like a grumpier-than-average women's studies seminar", exemplified by the Mattel employee character's "long monologue on how miserable it is to be female." MovieWeb ranked it number 1 on its list of the "Best Comedy Movies of the 2020s (So Far)", writing that "Gerwig's ode to the Barbie girl and her Barbie world ... is as surprisingly modern and introspective as audiences have come to expect from her work. Scrunching 60 plus years of history into a two-hour time frame aside, this film gets straight at the heart of what it's like being a woman today while providing more than a laugh or two in the process." Chinese film critic Li Jingfei (李竞菲) praised the film's humor and criticism of patriarchy, qualifying that its themes were too often advanced by slogans rather than the experiences of its characters. According to The New York Times, the script was generally praised for addressing past criticisms of the Barbie brand's portrayal of women and lack of diversity while infusing humor, but some felt that it did not go far enough in critiquing consumerism and beauty standard, with the performances of Robbie and Gosling receiving near universal praise. Accolades The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Barbie one of the top-ten films of 2023. The film's soundtrack album and score received 12 nominations at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Barbie tied with Cabaret (1972) for the second-most nominations in Golden Globe Awards history, earning a leading nine at the 81st edition. It would ultimately win two awards at the ceremony, including Best Original Song (for "What Was I Made For") and the inaugural Golden Globe for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Earning 18 nominations at its 29th ceremony, the film received the most nominations in Critics' Choice Movie Awards history. Longlisted in 15 categories at the 77th British Academy Film Awards, Barbie (along with Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon) equalled the BAFTA longlist record for most nominations set by Edward Berger's German anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front (2022). It also received eight nominations at the 96th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Gosling), Best Supporting Actress (Ferrera) and two nominations for Best Original Song (for "I'm Just Ken" and "What Was I Made For"). It eventually won Best Original Song (for "What Was I Made For"). Themes and analysis As with the doll itself, feminism and related themes in the film were the subject of discussion. Some reviews for the film saw it as satirizing capitalism, while others perceived it as being a satire utilizing capitalist themes. Philosophy Barbie has been characterized as exploring themes of existentialism. Lucy Ford of GQ wrote that the film "ruminates on the very idea of what makes us human, the idea of 'the other', whether there's truly such a thing as autonomy or if we're all simply pawns to be picked up and disposed of when we are no longer useful." Ford observed that, in the film, Barbie and Ken go on "opposite but equal" journeys of self-discovery, after venturing out into the Real World and learning that it is an oppressive patriarchal society as opposed to the matriarchal utopia that is Barbieland, and get "caught in the crosshairs of being both sentient and someone else's idea, battling with free will and the omnipresent predetermined rules about where to go and how to act." In Clark University, Professor of Philosophy Wiebke Deimling compared a scene in the film, in which Barbie has to make a choice between going back to her perfect life in Barbieland or learning the truth about her existence in the Real World, to the experience machine, a thought experiment by American philosopher Robert Nozick. Diemling also observed that gender in Barbieland is performative, noting how the Kens behave before and after a patriarchy is established. Alissa Wilkinson of Vox compared Barbieland to the biblical Garden of Eden, with Barbie and Ken as inverted parallels of Adam and Eve. She saw Barbie and Ken's first impression "that they're suddenly self-conscious and aware of being looked at" in the Real World as the film's version of the Fall. Chinese film critic Li Jingfei (李竞菲) compared Barbie's sudden awareness of death to the moment when Siddhārtha Gautama left the palace of his birth and first learned of suffering and death, which eventually led to his enlightenment. Feminism Katie Pickles of The Conversation said that Barbie shows how the matriarchy can be "as bad" as the patriarchy, with the Kens being the objectified and excluded sex in Barbieland. Pickles further comments that the true heroes were outcasts such as Weird Barbie and Allan, who deprogrammed the Barbies from tolerating the status quo. She believes that this aligns with Gerwig's conception of feminism, where "everyone stands in the sunshine." Jack Butler of National Review rejected the perception of the film as a "shallow, man-hating, and repulsive screed" and argued that the film is instead a "post-feminist satire of what feminists imagine a perfect world looking like and of what they imagine male dominance is like", noted that in the Real World, "Ken is rebuffed in all of his attempts to join the male hierarchy that purportedly dominates the world. He must return to Barbie land to institute it; what he institutes there is so shallow that it collapses almost as quickly as it is set up. Meanwhile, though Robbie's Barbie restores female dominance in Barbieland, she chooses not to stay there, electing instead to become fully human." Ross Douthat writing in The New York Times argued that the film "is a movie with a feminist default, but also [has] complicated and sometimes muddled feelings about what the sexual revolution has done and where feminism ought to go." Douthat comments that the female-centric nature of Barbieland is dystopian, where men are nothing more than "arm-candy", and where pregnant women and children are marginalized. He describes the film as "against the resilient patriarchy, but wary of the girlboss alternative. It wants womanhood and motherhood, but it doesn't want the Kens back in charge, and it doesn't really know what purpose men should serve." Many journalists coupled Barbie with the Eras Tour by Taylor Swift for the concurrent representation of recontextualized mainstream femininity. Michelle Goldberg of The New York Times described the launch of the film and the tour, their rave public reception, and the associated critical discourses as the biggest cultural phenomena of 2023 summer, explaining that "beneath their slick, exuberant pop surfaces, [both the film and the tour] tell female coming-of-age stories marked by existential crises and bitter confrontations with sexism." Ben Sisario considered both the works as critiques of patriarchy, while Talia Lakritz of Business Insider said both of them "reclaim girlhood without rescinding power." Similarly, Chris Willman stated that both use patriarchy as a subject of irony "while being utterly friendly to and welcoming of men as much as anybody", eventually becoming a billion-dollar-earning phenomenon. Masculinity In the Los Angeles Times, Jean Guerrero presented a subtext to the film's feminist exterior, in which "a world that disregards men and their feelings is an inverted form of patriarchy and also cruel", and added: "The film is a rare product of mainstream culture that invites men to reimagine masculinity for their own sake. It acknowledges the identity crisis and loss of hope, economic promise and life purpose among American men. These struggles are often ignored by progressives, but conveniently and poisonously exploited by right-wing manfluencers from Andrew Tate to Josh Hawley [...] The film's reception has focused on its messages of women's empowerment, but what makes it a radical story is that it also invites women to reimagine feminism so that it doesn't ignore male struggles." Nicholas Balaisis contended in Psychology Today that Barbie provides a "relatively nuanced portrayal of masculinity" in two cases that resonated with issues and concerns frequent in clinical psychology and therapy: In the first case, which concerns the "over-valuation of a woman's gaze and attention on male sense of self-esteem, and even an existential sense of identity", Ken turns to patriarchal expression and masculine dominance "over other men, women or objects" because he does not receive the "sense of attractiveness, worth, and general self-value" he wants from Barbie's gaze and attention. In the second case, which concerns "the relationship to shame or existential solitude and the conversion to sex-as-soothing", when Barbie approaches Ken in the third act of the film for consolation, he interprets it as a sexual advance and tries to kiss her, which Dr. Balaisis likened to "the same way that shame can quickly morph into resentment and anger, here we see loneliness and existential angst being converted into a sexual plea — for sex to solve and resolve these bad feelings." Megan Garber of The Atlantic found that Ken and his journey of self-discovery "mimics adolescence", writing: "Like any teenager, Ken is figuring out who he is, and trying the world's possibilities on for size. But his immaturity is not contained, and this is its problem. His adolescent approach to the world, instead, inflicts itself on everyone else." Garber concluded that Ken embodies a "core idea" in the film "that patriarchy is a profound form of immaturity." Eliana Dockterman of Time noted that Ken's radicalization resembles the men's rights movement, particularly in his "feelings of emasculation", male fragility and evangelization of the patriarchy. See also List of Barbie films Existentialism in film and television Message picture Notes References External links Official website Barbie at IMDb

List_of_accolades_received_by_Barbie_(film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accolades_received_by_Barbie_(film)

Barbie is a 2023 fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she wrote with Noah Baumbach. It is the first live-action film based on the eponymous fashion dolls by Mattel, following numerous computer-animated films and specials. The film stars Margot Robbie as the titular character and Ryan Gosling as Ken, and follows the duo on a journey of self-discovery after experiencing an existential crisis; Robbie also serves as one of the film's producers. The supporting cast includes America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film premiered at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on July 9, 2023, and was released to theaters in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 21 through Warner Bros. Pictures. Smashing box office expectations, Barbie grossed $1.44 billion worldwide with an estimated production budget of $128–145 million, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023, the highest-grossing comedy film, and the highest-grossing release by a solo female director. It is currently the fourteenth highest-grossing film of all time. Barbie received widespread critical acclaim, with particular praise towards its direction, screenplay, cast performances, cinematography, costume design, production design, and music. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, surveyed 494 reviews and judged 88% to be positive. Barbie garnered several awards and nominations from critical and industry groups. Barbie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song, along with other accolades, in the 96th Academy Awards. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Barbie one of the top-ten films of 2023. Its accompanying soundtrack album and score, composed by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, received twelve nominations at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. The film received a leading nine nominations at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, winning the inaugural Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, and eighteen nominations at the 29th Critics' Choice Awards, the most for any film in the organization's history. Barbie received five nominations at the 77th British Academy Film Awards. Accolades Notes References External links Awards for Barbie at IMDb

Tusk_(album)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusk_(album)

Tusk is the twelfth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released as a double album on 12 October 1979 in the United States and on 19 October 1979 in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records. It is considered more experimental than their previous albums, partly as a consequence of Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of post-punk. The production costs were initially estimated to be about $1 million but many years later were revealed to be about $1.4 million (equivalent to $5.88 million in 2023), making it the most expensive rock album recorded to that date. The band embarked on a nine-month tour to promote Tusk. They travelled extensively across the world, including the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. In Germany, they shared the bill with Bob Marley. On this world tour, the band recorded music for the Fleetwood Mac Live album, released in 1980. Compared to 1977's Rumours, which sold ten million copies by February 1978, Tusk was regarded as a commercial failure by the label, selling four million copies. In 2013, NME ranked Tusk at number 445 in their list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2000, it was voted number 853 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. Background Going into Tusk, Lindsey Buckingham was adamant about creating an album that sounded nothing like Rumours: "For me, being sort of the culprit behind that particular album, it was done in a way to undermine just sort of following the formula of doing Rumours 2 and Rumours 3, which is kind of the business model Warner Bros. would have liked us to follow." Mick Fleetwood decided early on that Tusk was to be a double album. Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, who was dating Christine McVie at the time, offered to host the band at the Beach Boys' studio, which they were about to renovate. While the band initially agreed to this idea, an attorney for the Beach Boys later told Fleetwood Mac that they would still have to pay for the facility even if they decided not to use it. Fleetwood Mac subsequently backed out of the deal and approached Geordie Hormel, who offered to construct a custom studio for the band at The Village Recorder and presented them with an option to either purchase the studio or rent it. Fleetwood Mac producer Ken Caillat suggested that the band purchase the studio, reckoning that this would be the cheaper option. However, Fleetwood's attorney opted to rent the custom studio, which was named Studio D. Production costs rose beyond a million dollars, far more than Rumours. Regarding the album's production costs, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham stated: "During the making of Tusk, we were in the studio for about 10 months and we got 20 songs out of it. Rumours took the same amount of time. It [Rumours] didn't cost so much because we were in a cheaper studio. There's no denying what it cost, but I think it's been taken out of context." After the studio was built, Buckingham queried Fleetwood about recording some songs at his home studio. Fleetwood acquiesced, but told Buckingham that the other members needed to be integrated at some point. For certain songs, Buckingham played a Kleenex box as a snare drum and had Fleetwood overdub his own drums over Buckingham's demo. Several songs were recorded with Buckingham playing all of the instruments, including "The Ledge", "Save Me a Place", and "That's Enough for Me". Caillat commented on Buckingham's obsessive nature in the studio: "He was a maniac. The first day, I set the studio up as usual. Then he said, 'Turn every knob 180 degrees from where it is now and see what happens.' He'd tape microphones to the studio floor and get into a sort of push-up position to sing. Early on, he came in and he'd freaked out in the shower and cut off all his hair with nail scissors. He was stressed." Buckingham had expressed interest in starting a solo career during the making of Tusk so in an effort to appease him, the rest of the band acquiesced to Buckingham's desire to create a more experimental album. Buckingham – infatuated with bands such as Talking Heads – was "desperate to make Mac relevant to a post-punk world", according to music journalist Bob Stanley, who commented that, compared to Rumours, Tusk was "unleavened weirdness, as close to its predecessor as the Beach Boys' lo-fi Smiley Smile had been to Pet Sounds. Much of it sounded clattery, half-formed, with strange rhythmic leaps and offbeat tics." Journalist Adam Webb described the Tusk recording sessions as a "cocaine blizzard" from which Christine McVie's then-boyfriend, Beach Boy drummer Dennis Wilson, "never really came out." Music historian Domenic Priore claimed that, for research purposes during the album's recording, Buckingham accessed the master tapes for the Beach Boys' unreleased album Smile, and that the tracks "That's All for Everyone" and "Beautiful Child" most strongly exemplify its influence. Bassist John McVie commented that the album "sounds like the work of three solo artists", while Fleetwood said it was his second favourite Fleetwood Mac studio album behind Then Play On. "You got that sweetness [from Nicks and McVie] and me as the complete nutcase," Buckingham observed. "That's what makes us Fleetwood Mac." Artwork Rather than solicit the services of Herbert W. Worthington, who created the cover art for Rumours, the band opted to select three photographers from different disciplines to design the album sleeve for Tusk. Peter Beard, who specialised as a documentary photographer, was enlisted to supply images for the album sleeve and spent two weeks in the recording studio taking Polaroids of the band and its inner circle. He also augmented this footage with images of elephant tusks. During one of those sessions, Beard took a photo of Caillat's dog biting his leg, which ultimately became the cover art for Tusk. Fleetwood had originally promised Nicks that the cover art would feature an image of her twirling and dancing; Nicks later told Caillat that she placed a curse on his dog for "stealing her cover". Norman Seeff recalled that he encountered some difficulties in assembling all five members into one location and likened the experience to "herding cats". It was like being a sort of a school teacher in the kindergarten because everyone was having their own wonderful time...Each of them was individually fascinating, but together you could feel an electricity between everyone. And I’m working with all the stories of what was going on with them, and then they start to touch each other and flow with the music. It was magic, because rather than being five separate people they became one. Jayme Odgers was responsible for creating the upside-down photograph found in the booklet, which featured Fleetwood clinging to a chair on the ceiling, Buckingham and Nicks suspended in the air, and both McVies firmly planted on the ground. When Odgers proposed the idea, the band was uncooperative and refused to be in the same room together, so Odgers instead took photographs of the band individually in different poses. Odgers pieced together the separate shots into a more cohesive photograph and credited the band's obstinance for achieving the final product. "Unbeknownst to them, my photographic forte was putting separate images together seamlessly, so I pushed on. Had they all been willing to be photographed together, the image never would have looked like it does." The photo also served as a point of contention for Warner Bros, who opposed its inclusion in the booklet. According to Odgers, Fleetwood informed him that the band spent two hours discussing the fate of the image; Fleetwood ultimately convinced Warner Bros to keep the image on the grounds that it would potentially elicit further discussion amongst the public. In 2016, a black-and-white version of Odger's photo was used as the front cover of the Alternate Tusk album, a collection issued by Rhino Records consisting of alternate takes and live recordings. Release and reception Tusk peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 in the United States and spent almost nine months on the chart. It was certified double platinum for shipping two million copies. It peaked at number one in the UK and achieved a platinum award for shipments in excess of 300,000 copies. The album gave the group two US top-10 hit singles, with the Buckingham-penned title track (US number eight/UK number six), and the Stevie Nicks composition "Sara" (US number seven/UK number 37). In his review for Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden emphasized the experimental nature of the album, comparing it to the Beatles' "White Album" in that "Tusk is less a collection of finished songs than a mosaic of pop-rock fragments by individual performers." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was more ambivalent, lauding Buckingham's production and experimentation, while dismissing Christine McVie's and Stevie Nicks's contributions. Retrospectively, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found the album to be timeless, calling it "a peerless piece of pop art" that rivals the more accessible Rumours album in terms of quality. Amanda Petrusich of Pitchfork found the album "self-indulgent" and "terrifically strange". Contemporary and retrospective reviewers alike have noted the stark contrast between the album's lush opening track, "Over & Over", and jarring production of the following track, "The Ledge". Though the album sold four million copies worldwide, and earned a Grammy nomination in 1981 for its art design in the category "Best Album Package", the band's record label deemed the project a failure, laying the blame squarely with Buckingham (considering the comparatively huge sales of Rumours and the album's unprecedented recording expense). Fleetwood, however, blames the album's relative failure on the RKO radio chain playing the album in its entirety prior to release, thus allowing mass home recording. In addition, Tusk was a double album, with a high list price of US$16.00, or $56.00 in 2019 terms. The band originally considered the idea of releasing Tusk as two single albums each with the price of $7.98, but the record label decided against this. Further releases from the album "Not That Funny" (UK-only single release), "Think About Me", and "Sisters of the Moon" were slightly remixed for radio, and were less successful. The latter two appear in their 'single versions' on the 2002 compilation The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, while "Sara", which was cut to 41⁄2 minutes for both the single and the first CD release of the album, appears in its unedited form on the 1988 Greatest Hits compilation, the 2002 release The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, and the 2004 reissue of Tusk. The album was remade in its entirety by American alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven and released in 2003. Track listing Notes: On earlier CD pressings, "Sara" is edited to 4:39. The CD mixes of "Not That Funny" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong" differ from their LP mixes. Personnel Fleetwood Mac Lindsey Buckingham – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion Stevie Nicks – vocals, piano Christine McVie – vocals, keyboards John McVie – bass guitar Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion Additional musicians Peter Green – guitar (on "Brown Eyes") USC Trojan Marching Band – horns and percussion (on "Tusk") Production and design Fleetwood Mac – producers Richard Dashut – producer, engineer Ken Caillat – producer, engineer, remastering Rich Feldman – assistant engineer Hernán Rojas – assistant engineer Ken Perry – mastering Peter Beard – photography Jayme Odgers – photography Norman Seeff – photography Vigon Nahas Vigon – art direction, design Charts Certifications See also Album era References Bibliography External links Tusk (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)

Fleetwood_Mac

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleetwood_Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967 by guitarist and singer Peter Green. Green recruited drummer Mick Fleetwood, guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, with John McVie replacing Brunning a few weeks after the band's first public appearance at the 1967 National Jazz & Blues Festival in Windsor. The band became a five-piece in 1968 with the addition of guitarist and singer Danny Kirwan. Primarily a British blues band in their early years, Fleetwood Mac achieved a UK number-one single in 1968 with the instrumental "Albatross", and had other UK top ten hits with "Man of the World", "Oh Well" (both 1969), and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (1970). Green left the band in May 1970, with McVie's wife Christine McVie (who had previously contributed to the band as a session musician) joining as an official member on vocals and keyboards two months later. Spencer and Kirwan also left in 1971 and 1972 respectively, with Bob Welch replacing Spencer, and Bob Weston and Dave Walker replacing Kirwan. By the end of 1974, Weston and Walker had been dismissed and Welch had left, leaving the band without a guitarist or male vocalist. While Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he heard the American folk-rock duo Buckingham Nicks, consisting of guitarist and singer Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks. In December 1974, he asked Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham agreed on the condition that Nicks could also join. The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound and their 1975 album Fleetwood Mac topped the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. Their next album, Rumours (1977), produced four U.S. Top 10 singles and remained at number one on the Billboard 200 for 31 weeks. It also reached the top spot in countries around the world and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Rumours has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history. Although each member of the band went through a breakup (John and Christine McVie, Buckingham and Nicks, and Fleetwood and his wife Jenny Boyd) while recording the album, they continued to write and record together. The line-up remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate. After Buckingham left in 1987, he was replaced by Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, although Vito left in 1990 along with Nicks. A 1993 one-off performance for the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton reunited the classic 1974–1987 line-up for the first time in six years. A full-scale reunion took place four years later, and Fleetwood Mac released their fourth U.S. No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live album marking the 20th anniversary of Rumours and the band's 30th anniversary. Christine McVie left in 1998 after the completion of The Dance tour. Fleetwood Mac released their final studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. Christine McVie rejoined in 2014 and joined them for their On With the Show Tour. In 2018, Buckingham was fired and replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House. After Christine McVie's death in 2022, Nicks said in 2024 that the band would not continue without her. Fleetwood Mac have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands. In 1979, they were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2018, Fleetwood Mac received the MusiCares Person of the Year award from the Recording Academy in recognition of their artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy. History 1967–1970: Formation and early years Fleetwood Mac were formed in July 1967 in London, England, by Peter Green after he left the British blues band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Green had previously replaced guitarist Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers and had received critical acclaim for his work on their album A Hard Road. Green had been in two bands with Mick Fleetwood, Peter B's Looners and the subsequent Shotgun Express (which featured a young Rod Stewart as vocalist), and suggested Fleetwood as a replacement for drummer Aynsley Dunbar when Dunbar left the Bluesbreakers to join the Jeff Beck Group. John Mayall agreed and Fleetwood joined the Bluesbreakers. The Bluesbreakers then consisted of Green, Fleetwood, John McVie and Mayall. Mayall gave Green free recording time as a gift, which Fleetwood, McVie and Green used to record five songs. The fifth song was an instrumental that Green named after the rhythm section, "Fleetwood Mac" ("Mac" being short for McVie). Soon after this, Green suggested to Fleetwood that they form a new band. The pair wanted McVie on bass guitar and named the band "Fleetwood Mac" to entice him, but McVie opted to keep his steady income with Mayall rather than take a risk with a new band. In the meantime, Green and Fleetwood teamed up with slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning. Brunning was in the band on the understanding that he would leave if McVie agreed to join. The band made its debut on Sunday 13 August 1967 at the National Jazz and Blues Festival (a forerunner of the Reading Festival), billed as "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer". Brunning played only a few gigs with Fleetwood Mac. Within a few weeks of their first show, John McVie agreed to join the band as permanent bassist. Fleetwood Mac's self-titled debut album was released by the Blue Horizon label in February 1968. The song "Long Grey Mare" was recorded earlier with Brunning on bass, while the rest of the album was recorded with McVie. The album was successful in the UK and reached no. 4, although no tracks were released as singles. Later in the year, the singles "Black Magic Woman" (later a big hit when covered by Santana) and "Need Your Love So Bad" were released, both going top-forty in the UK. The band's second studio album, Mr. Wonderful, was released in August 1968. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and a PA system, rather than being plugged into the board. The sessions featured a horn section as well as friend of the band, Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack, on keyboards. Later that year, Chicken Shack would score a British hit with a cover of the Etta James classic "I'd Rather Go Blind", with Perfect on lead vocal. Perfect would also be twice voted female artist of the year in England. Shortly after the release of Mr. Wonderful, 18-year-old guitarist Danny Kirwan joined the band, making Fleetwood Mac a five-piece band with three guitarists. Kirwan was in the South London blues trio Boilerhouse with Trevor Stevens (bass) and Dave Terrey (drums). Green and Fleetwood had watched Boilerhouse rehearse in a basement boiler-room, and Green had been so impressed that he invited the band to play support slots for Fleetwood Mac. Green wanted Boilerhouse to become a professional band, but Stevens and Terrey were not prepared to turn professional, so Green tried to find another rhythm section for Kirwan by placing an ad in Melody Maker. There were over 300 applicants, but when Green and Fleetwood ran auditions at the Nag's Head in Battersea (home of the Mike Vernon Blue Horizon Club) the hard-to-please Green could not find anyone good enough. Fleetwood invited Kirwan to join Fleetwood Mac as a third guitarist. Green was frustrated that Jeremy Spencer did not contribute to his songs. Kirwan, a talented self-taught guitarist, had a signature vibrato and a unique style that added a new dimension to the band's sound. In November 1968, with Kirwan in the band, they released their first number-one single in Europe, "Albatross", an instrumental with lead guitar by both Green and Kirwan. Green said later that the success of "Albatross" was thanks to Kirwan: "If it wasn't for Danny, I would never have had a number one hit record." In January 1969, they released their first compilation album English Rose, which contained half of Mr. Wonderful plus new songs from Kirwan. Their next and more successful compilation album The Pious Bird of Good Omen was released in August and contained various singles, B-sides and tracks the band had recorded as back-up for Eddie Boyd. On tour in the US in January 1969, the band recorded Fleetwood Mac in Chicago (released in December as a double album) at the soon-to-close Chess Records Studio with some of the blues legends of Chicago, including Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy and Otis Spann. These were Fleetwood Mac's last all-blues recordings, with the band moving more towards rock. Along with the change of style, the band was also going through label changes. Until that point, they had been on the Blue Horizon label, but with Kirwan in the band the musical possibilities had become too diverse for a blues-only label. The band signed with Immediate Records and released the single "Man of the World", which became another British and European hit. For the B-side, Spencer fronted Fleetwood Mac as "Earl Vince and the Valiants" and recorded "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite", typifying the more raucous rock 'n' roll side of the band. Immediate Records was in bad shape however, so the band shopped around for a new deal. The Beatles wanted the band on Apple Records (Mick Fleetwood and George Harrison were brothers-in-law), but the band's manager Clifford Davis decided to go with Warner Bros. Records (through Reprise Records, a Frank Sinatra-founded label), the label they have stayed with ever since. Under the wing of Reprise, Fleetwood Mac released their third studio album, Then Play On, in September 1969. Although the initial pressing of the American release of this album was the same as the British version, it was altered to contain the song "Oh Well", which featured consistently in live performances from the time of its release through 1997 and again starting in 2009. Then Play On, which saw the band broaden their style away from straight blues, was written by Kirwan and Green, plus a track each by Fleetwood and McVie. Jeremy Spencer, meanwhile, had recorded a solo album of 1950s-style rock and roll songs, backed by the rest of the band except Green. By 1969, Green was using LSD. During a European tour towards the end of that year, he experienced a bad acid trip at a hippie commune in Munich. Clifford Davis, the band's manager, singled out this incident as the crucial point in Green's mental decline. He said: "The truth about Peter Green and how he ended up how he did is very simple. We were touring Europe in late 1969. When we were in Germany, Peter told me he had been invited to a party. I knew there were going to be a lot of drugs around and I suggested that he didn't go. But he went anyway and I understand from him that he took what turned out to be very bad, impure LSD. He was never the same again." German author and filmmaker Rainer Langhans stated in his autobiography that he and his then-girlfriend, model Uschi Obermaier, met Green in Munich and invited him to their Highfisch-Kommune, where the drinks were spiked with acid. Langhans and Obermaier were planning to organise an open-air "Bavarian Woodstock", for which they wanted Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones to be the main acts. Already in contact with Hendrix, they hoped Green would help them to get in contact with The Rolling Stones. Green's last studio recording with Fleetwood Mac was "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and its B-side, "World in Harmony". The tracks were recorded at Warner-Reprise's studios in Hollywood on the band's third US tour in April 1970, a few weeks before Green left the band. Released as a single the following month, it made No. 10 in the UK. Prior to its studio recording, the band had played the song live at the Boston Tea Party in February 1970. Some recordings of the three Boston Tea Party gigs (5–7 February 1970) were eventually released in the 1980s as the Live in Boston album. A more complete remastered three-volume compilation of these shows was released by Snapper Music in the late 1990s. "Green Manalishi" was released as Green's mental stability deteriorated. He wanted the band to give all their money to charity, but the other members of the band disagreed. In 1978, Judas Priest recorded a cover of "Green Manalishi" for their Hell Bent for Leather album, with a live version appearing on their Unleashed in the East album the following year. In April 1970, Green decided to quit the band after the completion of their European tour. His last show with Fleetwood Mac was on 20 May 1970. During that show, the band went past their allotted time and the power was shut off, although Mick Fleetwood kept drumming. 1970–1973: Transitional era The remaining four members, Fleetwood, McVie, Spencer and Kirwan, set about work on their next album. In September 1970, Fleetwood Mac released their fourth studio album, Kiln House, to generally positive reviews. Kirwan's songs on the album moved the band in a melodic rock direction, while Spencer's contributions focused on re-creating the country-tinged "Sun Sound" of the late 1950s. Christine Perfect, now Christine McVie following her marriage to John McVie, had retired from the music business after one unsuccessful solo album, though she contributed (uncredited) to Kiln House, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards. She also drew the album cover. After Kiln House, Fleetwood Mac were progressing and developing a new sound, and she was invited to join the band to help fill in the rhythm section. The first time she had played live with the band had been a guest appearance at Bristol University, England, in May 1969, just as she was leaving Chicken Shack, while her first gig as an official member of the band was on 1 August 1970 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In early 1971, the band released a non-album single, Danny Kirwan's "Dragonfly" b/w "The Purple Dancer" in the UK and certain European countries, but despite good notices in the press, it was not a success. In 1971, CBS Records, which now owned Fleetwood Mac's original record company Blue Horizon (except in the US and Canada), released the band's third compilation album, The Original Fleetwood Mac, containing previously unreleased material from 1967 and 1968. While on a US tour in February 1971, Jeremy Spencer said he was going out to "get a magazine" but never returned. After several days of frantic searching, the band discovered that Spencer had joined a religious group, the Children of God. The band were liable for the remaining shows on the tour and asked Peter Green to step in as a replacement. Green brought along his friend Nigel Watson, who played the congas (twenty-five years later Green and Watson collaborated again to form the Peter Green Splinter Group), and insisted on playing only new material and none he had written. Green and Watson played the last week of the tour, with a show in San Bernardino on 20 February 1971 being recorded. Green did not want to re-join the band permanently and a search for a guitarist to replace Spencer began after the tour was completed. In the summer of 1971, the band held auditions for a replacement guitarist at their large country home, "Benifold", which they had jointly bought with their manager Davis for £23,000 (equivalent to £449,400 in 2023) prior to the Kiln House tour. A friend of the band, Judy Wong, recommended her high school friend Bob Welch, who was living in Paris, France, at the time. The band held a few meetings with Welch and decided to hire him, without actually playing with him, after they heard a tape of his songs. In September 1971, the band released their fifth studio album, Future Games. As a result of Welch's arrival and Spencer's departure, the album was different from anything they had done previously, with the band moving further away from their blues rock roots towards a more melodic rock style, and vocal harmonies starting to become a key part of their sound. While it became the band's first studio album to miss the charts in the UK, it helped to expand the band's appeal in the United States. In Europe, CBS released Fleetwood Mac's first Greatest Hits album in late 1971. In 1972, six months after the release of Future Games, the band released their sixth studio album, Bare Trees. Mostly composed by Kirwan, Bare Trees featured the Welch-penned single "Sentimental Lady", which would be a much bigger hit for Welch five years later when he re-recorded it for his solo album French Kiss, backed by Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie. Bare Trees also featured "Spare Me a Little of Your Love", a Christine McVie song that became a staple of the band's live act throughout the early to mid-1970s. While the band was doing well in the studio, their tours started to be problematic. By 1972, Kirwan had developed an alcohol dependency and was becoming alienated from Welch and the McVies. In August 1972, before a concert on a US tour, Kirwan smashed his Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar and refused to go on stage. The band played the show as a quartet, after which Kirwan criticised their performance, and he was subsequently fired from the band. Fleetwood said later that the pressure had become too much for Kirwan, and he had suffered a breakdown. Following Kirwan's departure, the band recruited guitarist Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker, the latter formerly of Savoy Brown and Idle Race. Bob Weston was well known as a slide guitarist and had known the band from his touring period with Long John Baldry. Fleetwood Mac also hired Savoy Brown's road manager, John Courage. Fleetwood, the McVies, Welch, Weston and Walker recorded the band's seventh studio album, Penguin, which was released in January 1973. After the subsequent tour the band fired Walker because they felt his vocal and performance style did not fit well with the rest of the band. The remaining five members carried on and recorded the band's eighth studio album, Mystery to Me, six months later. This album contained Welch's song "Hypnotized", which received airplay on the radio. While Mystery to Me eventually received a Gold certification from the RIAA, personal problems within the band emerged. The McVies' marriage was under a lot of stress, which was aggravated by their constant working with each other and by John McVie's considerable alcohol abuse. In 1973, Weston had an affair with Fleetwood's wife Jenny Boyd, sister of George Harrison's first wife Pattie Boyd. Fleetwood found out two weeks into a US tour. His devastation led to the band firing Weston and cancelling the remaining 26 dates of the tour. The last date played was Lincoln, Nebraska, on 20 October 1973. In a late-night meeting after that show, the band told their sound engineer that the tour was over and Fleetwood Mac was splitting up. 1973–1974: Name dispute and "fake Fleetwood Mac" In late 1973, after the collapse of the US tour, the band's manager, Clifford Davis, was left with major touring commitments to fulfill and no band. Fleetwood Mac had "temporarily disbanded" in Nebraska and its members had gone their separate ways. Davis was concerned that failing to complete the tour would destroy his reputation with bookers and promoters. He sent the band a letter in which he said he "hadn't slaved for years to be brought down by the whims of irresponsible musicians". Davis claimed that he owned the name 'Fleetwood Mac' and the right to choose the band members. He recruited members of the band Legs, which had recently issued one single under Davis's management, to tour the US in early 1974 under the name "The New Fleetwood Mac" and perform the rescheduled dates. This band—who former vocalist Dave Walker said were "very good"—consisted of Elmer Gantry (Dave Terry, formerly of Velvet Opera: vocals, guitar), Kirby Gregory (formerly of Curved Air: guitar), Paul Martinez (formerly of the Downliners Sect: bass), John Wilkinson (also known as Dave Wilkinson: keyboards) and Australian drummer Craig Collinge (formerly of Manfred Mann Chapter Three, The Librettos, Procession and Third World War). The members of this group were told that Mick Fleetwood would join them on the tour to validate the use of the name. Fleetwood said later that he had not agreed to be part of the tour. The "New Fleetwood Mac" tour began on 16 January 1974 at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was initially successful. One of the band members said the first concert "went down a storm". The promoter was dubious at first but said later that the crowd had loved the band and they were "actually really good". More successful gigs followed, but then word got around that this was not the real Fleetwood Mac and audiences became hostile. The band was turned away from several gigs and the next six shows were pulled by promoters. The band struggled on and played further dates in the face of increasing hostility and heckling. More dates were pulled, the keyboard player quit, and after a concert in Edmonton where bottles were thrown at the stage, the tour collapsed. The band dissolved and the remainder of the tour was cancelled. The lawsuit that followed regarding who owned the rights to the name "Fleetwood Mac" put the real Fleetwood Mac on hiatus for almost a year. Although the band was named after Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, they had apparently signed contracts in which they had forfeited the rights to the name. Their record company, Warner Bros. Records, when appealed to, said they did not know who owned it. The dispute was eventually settled out of court, four years later, in what was described as "a reasonable settlement not unfair to either party". In later years Fleetwood said that, in the end, he was grateful to Davis because the lawsuit was the reason the band moved to California. Nobody from the alternative line-up was ever made a part of the real Fleetwood Mac, although some of them later played in Danny Kirwan's studio band. Gantry and Gregory went on to become members of Stretch, whose 1975 UK hit single "Why Did You Do It?" was written about the touring debacle. Gantry later collaborated with the Alan Parsons Project. Martinez went on to play with the Deep Purple offshoot Paice Ashton Lord, as well as Robert Plant's backing band. 1974: Return of the authentic Fleetwood Mac While the fake Fleetwood Mac were on tour, Welch stayed in Los Angeles and connected with entertainment attorneys. He realised that Fleetwood Mac was being neglected by Warner Bros and that they would need to change their base of operation from England to America, to which the rest of the band agreed. The presence of a false Fleetwood Mac had also confused matters. Rock promoter Bill Graham wrote a letter to Warner Bros to convince them that the real Fleetwood Mac was Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Bob Welch. This did not end the legal battle, but the band was able to record as Fleetwood Mac again. Instead of hiring another manager, Fleetwood Mac, having re-formed, became the only major rock band managed by the artists themselves. In September 1974, Fleetwood Mac signed a new recording contract with Warner Bros, but remained on the Reprise label. In the same month, the band released their ninth studio album, Heroes Are Hard to Find. This was the first time Fleetwood Mac had only one guitarist. While on tour, they briefly added a second keyboardist, Doug Graves, who had been an engineer on Heroes Are Hard to Find. In 1980, Christine McVie said Graves had been there to back her up, but after the first two or three concerts it was decided that she was better off without him: "The band wanted me to expand my role and have a little more freedom, but he didn't play the same way I did." Keyboard player Robert ("Bobby") Hunt, who had been in the band Head West with Bob Welch in 1970, replaced Graves for the remaining dates on the tour but was not invited to join the band full time. By the time the tour ended (on 5 December 1974 at Cal State University), the Heroes album had reached a higher position on the American charts than any of the band's previous records. 1974–1987: Addition of Buckingham and Nicks, and global success In Bob Welch's words, following the Heroes are Hard to Find tour, "the buzz that the Mystery to Me band had started to create...[was] gone. I [was] totally exhausted by writing, singing, touring, negotiating, moving, and frankly so [were] Mick, John and Chris. We were all discouraged that Heroes [hadn't] done better. Something needs to change, but what? … There was also a kind of fatigue, anger and bitterness that all the work we had done hadn't really paid off and we were just all sort of shaking our heads saying 'what do we do now' … Everybody knew that we had to find some new creative juice." Welch himself had grown tired of the constant struggles to keep Fleetwood Mac functioning and was openly considering leaving the band. Whilst Fleetwood was checking out Sound City Studios in Los Angeles during the autumn of 1974, the house engineer, Keith Olsen, played him a track he had recorded, "Frozen Love", from the album Buckingham Nicks (1973). Fleetwood liked it and was introduced to the guitarist from the band, Lindsey Buckingham, who was at Sound City that day recording demos. Fleetwood asked him to join Fleetwood Mac, and Buckingham agreed, on the condition that his music partner and girlfriend, Stevie Nicks, be included. Welch considered remaining as part of this extended lineup but opted to depart for a solo career. Buckingham and Nicks joined the band on New Year's Eve 1974. In 1975, the new line-up released their first album together, the self-titled Fleetwood Mac, the band's tenth studio album overall. The album was a breakthrough for the band and became a huge hit, reaching No. 1 in the US and selling over 7 million copies. Among the hit singles from this album were Christine McVie's "Over My Head" and "Say You Love Me" and Stevie Nicks' "Rhiannon", as well as the much-played album track "Landslide", a live rendition of which became a hit twenty years later on The Dance album. In 1976, the band was suffering from severe stress. With success came the end of John and Christine McVie's marriage, as well as Buckingham and Nicks's long-term romantic relationship. Fleetwood, meanwhile, was in the midst of divorce proceedings from his wife, Jenny, and had also begun an affair with Nicks. The pressure on Fleetwood Mac to release a successful follow-up album, combined with their new-found wealth, led to creative and personal tensions which were allegedly fuelled by high consumption of drugs and alcohol. The band's eleventh studio album, Rumours (the band's first release on the main Warner label after Reprise was retired and all of its acts were reassigned to the parent label), was released in February 1977. In this album, the band members laid bare the emotional turmoil they were experiencing at the time. Rumours was critically acclaimed and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1977. The album generated four top-ten singles: Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way", Nicks' US No. 1 "Dreams", and Christine McVie's "Don't Stop" and "You Make Loving Fun". Buckingham's "Second Hand News", Nicks' "Gold Dust Woman", and "The Chain" (the only song written by all five band members) also received significant radio airplay. By 2003, Rumours had sold over 19 million copies in the US alone (certified as a diamond album by the RIAA) and a total of 40 million copies worldwide, bringing it to eighth on the list of best-selling albums. Fleetwood Mac supported the album with a lucrative tour. On 10 October 1979, Fleetwood Mac were honoured for their contributions to the music industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard. Buckingham convinced Fleetwood to let his work on their next album be more experimental and to be allowed to work on tracks at home before bringing them to the rest of the band in the studio. The result of this, the band's twelfth studio album Tusk, was a 20-track double album released in 1979. It produced three hit singles: Buckingham's "Tusk" (US No. 8), which featured the USC Trojan Marching Band; Christine McVie's "Think About Me" (US No. 20); and Nicks' six-and-a-half minute opus "Sara" (US No. 7). "Sara" was cut to four-and-a-half minutes for both the single and the first CD release of the album in the 1980s, but the full version has since been restored on the 1988 Greatest Hits, the 1992 25 Years – The Chain box set, 2002's The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, and the 2004 remaster of Tusk. Original guitarist Peter Green also took part in the sessions of Tusk, although his playing on the Christine McVie track "Brown Eyes", is not credited on the album. In an interview in 2019, Fleetwood described Tusk as his "personal favourite" and said, "Kudos to Lindsey … for us not doing a replica of Rumours." Tusk sold four million copies worldwide. Fleetwood blamed the album's relative lack of commercial success on the RKO radio chain having played the album in its entirety prior to release, thereby allowing mass home taping. The band embarked on an 11-month tour to support and promote Tusk. They travelled around the world, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Germany, they shared the bill with reggae musician Bob Marley. On this world tour, the band recorded music for their first live album, which was released at the end of 1980. The band's thirteenth studio album, Mirage, was released in 1982. Following 1981 solo albums by Nicks (Bella Donna), Fleetwood (The Visitor), and Buckingham (Law and Order), there was a return to a more conventional approach. Buckingham had been chided by critics, fellow band members, and music business managers for the lesser commercial success of Tusk. Recorded at Château d'Hérouville in France and produced by Richard Dashut, Mirage was an attempt to recapture the huge success of Rumours. Its hits included Christine McVie's "Hold Me" and "Love in Store" (co-written by Robbie Patton and Jim Recor, respectively), Nicks' "Gypsy", and Buckingham's "Oh Diane", which made the Top 10 in the UK. A minor hit was also scored by Buckingham's "Can't Go Back". In contrast to the Tusk Tour, the band embarked on only a short tour of 18 American cities, with the Los Angeles show being recorded and released on video. They also headlined the first US Festival, on 5 September 1982, for which the band was paid $500,000 (equivalent to $1,579,000 in 2024). Mirage was certified double platinum in the US. Following Mirage the band went on hiatus, which allowed members to pursue solo careers. Nicks released two more solo albums (1983's The Wild Heart and 1985's Rock a Little). Buckingham issued Go Insane in 1984, the same year that Christine McVie made an eponymous album (yielding the Top 10 hit "Got a Hold on Me" and the Top 40 hit "Love Will Show Us How"). All three became successful in their solo efforts, with Nicks being the most popular. During this period, Fleetwood had filed for bankruptcy, Nicks was admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic for addiction problems, and John McVie had suffered an addiction-related seizure – all of which were attributed to the lifestyle of excess afforded to them by their worldwide success. It was rumoured that Fleetwood Mac had disbanded, but Buckingham commented that he was unhappy at allowing Mirage to remain the band's last effort. The lineup featuring Fleetwood, the McVies, Buckingham, and Nicks recorded one more album, their fourteenth studio album, Tango in the Night, in 1987. The recording started off as a Buckingham solo album before becoming a full group project. The album went on to become their best-selling release since Rumours, especially in the UK where it hit No. 1 three times in the following year. The album sold three million copies in the US and contained four hits: Christine McVie's "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" ("Little Lies" being co-written with her new husband, Eddy Quintela), Sandy Stewart and Nicks' "Seven Wonders", and Buckingham's "Big Love". "Family Man" (Buckingham and Richard Dashut) and "Isn't It Midnight" (Christine McVie) were also released as singles. 1987–1995: Departures of Buckingham and Nicks With a ten-week tour scheduled, Buckingham held back at the last minute, saying he felt his creativity was being stifled. A group meeting at Christine McVie's house on 7 August 1987 resulted in turmoil. Tensions were coming to a head. Fleetwood said in his autobiography that there was a physical altercation between Buckingham and Nicks. Buckingham left the band the following day. After Buckingham's departure, Fleetwood Mac added two new guitarists to the band, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, again without auditions. Burnette was the son of Dorsey Burnette and nephew of Johnny Burnette, both of The Rock and Roll Trio. He had already worked with Fleetwood in Zoo, with Christine McVie as part of her solo band, had done some session work with Nicks, and backed Buckingham on Saturday Night Live. Fleetwood and Christine McVie had played on his Try Me album in 1985. Vito, a Peter Green admirer, had played with many artists from Bonnie Raitt to John Mayall, to Roger McGuinn in Thunderbyrd and worked with John McVie on two Mayall albums. The 1987–88 "Shake the Cage" tour was the first outing for this line-up. It was successful enough to warrant the release of a concert video, also titled Tango in the Night, which was filmed at San Francisco's Cow Palace arena in December 1987. Capitalising on the success of the Tango in the Night album, the band released a Greatest Hits album in 1988. It featured singles from the 1975–1988 era and included two new compositions, "No Questions Asked" written by Nicks and Kelly Johnston, and "As Long as You Follow", written by Christine McVie and Quintela. 'As Long as You Follow' was released as a single in 1988 but only made No. 43 in the US and No. 66 in the UK, although it reached No.1 on the US Adult Contemporary charts. The Greatest Hits album, which peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 14 in the US (though it has since sold over 8 million copies there) was dedicated by the band to Buckingham, with whom they were now reconciled. In 1990, Fleetwood Mac released their fifteenth studio album, Behind the Mask. With this album, the band veered away from the stylised sound that Buckingham had evolved during his tenure (which was also evident in his solo work) and developed a more adult contemporary style with producer Greg Ladanyi. The album yielded only one Top 40 hit, Christine McVie's "Save Me". Behind the Mask only achieved Gold album status in the US, peaking at No. 18 on the Billboard album chart, though it entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1. It received mixed reviews and was seen by some music critics as a low point for the band in the absence of Buckingham (who had actually made a guest appearance playing on the title track). But Rolling Stone magazine said that Vito and Burnette were "the best thing to ever happen to Fleetwood Mac". The subsequent "Behind the Mask" tour saw the band play sold-out shows at London's Wembley Stadium. In the final show in Los Angeles, Buckingham joined the band onstage. The two women of the band, McVie and Nicks, had decided that the tour would be their last (McVie's father had died during the tour), although both stated that they would still record with the band. In 1991, however, Nicks and Rick Vito left Fleetwood Mac altogether. In 1992, Fleetwood arranged a 4-CD box set, spanning highlights from the band's 25-year history, entitled 25 Years – The Chain (a cut-down 2-CD box set, Selections from 25 Years – The Chain, was also released). A notable inclusion in the box set was "Silver Springs", a Nicks composition that was recorded during the Rumours sessions but was omitted from the album and used as the B-side of "Go Your Own Way". Nicks had requested use of this track for her 1991 best-of compilation TimeSpace, but Fleetwood had refused as he had planned to include it in this collection as a rarity. The disagreement between Nicks and Fleetwood garnered press coverage and was believed to have been the main reason for Nicks leaving the band in 1991. The box set also included a new Nicks/Vito composition, "Paper Doll", which was released in the US as a single and produced by Buckingham and Richard Dashut. There were also two new Christine McVie compositions, "Heart of Stone" and "Love Shines". "Love Shines" was released as a single in the UK and elsewhere. Buckingham also contributed a new song, "Make Me a Mask". Fleetwood also released a deluxe hardcover companion book to coincide with the release of the box set, titled My 25 Years in Fleetwood Mac. The volume featured notes written by Fleetwood detailing the band's 25-year history and many rare photographs. The classic 1974–1987 line-up reunited in 1993 at the request of US President Bill Clinton for his first Inaugural Ball. Clinton had made Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" his campaign theme song. His request for it to be performed at the Inauguration Ball was met with enthusiasm by the band, although this line-up had no intention of reuniting permanently. Inspired by the new interest in the band, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Billy Burnette recorded another album as Fleetwood Mac, with Bekka Bramlett, who had worked a year earlier with Fleetwood's Zoo, joining the band. Solo singer-songwriter/guitarist and original Traffic member Dave Mason, who had worked with Bekka's parents Delaney & Bonnie twenty-five years earlier, was also added. Although she remained an official band member and would be part of the next studio album, Christine McVie chose to take a break from touring around this time. The other five members (Fleetwood, J. McVie, Burnette, Bramlett and Mason) toured in 1994, opening for Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and in 1995 as part of a package with REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar. This tour saw the band perform classic Fleetwood Mac songs spanning the band's whole history to that point. In 1995, at a concert in Tokyo, the band was greeted by former member Jeremy Spencer, who performed a few songs with them. On 10 October 1995, Fleetwood Mac released their sixteenth studio album, Time, which was not a success. Although it hit the UK Top 50 for one week, the album had zero impact in the US. It failed to graze the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, a reversal for a band that had been a mainstay on that chart for most of the previous two decades. Shortly after the album's release, Christine McVie informed the band that the album would be her last. Bramlett and Burnette subsequently formed a country music duo, Bekka & Billy. 1995–2007: Reformation, reunion, and Christine McVie's departure Just weeks after disbanding Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood started working with Lindsey Buckingham again. John McVie was added to the sessions, and later Christine McVie. Stevie Nicks also enlisted Buckingham to produce a song for a soundtrack. In May 1996, Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Nicks performed together at a private party in Louisville, Kentucky, prior to the Kentucky Derby, with Steve Winwood filling in for Buckingham. A week later, the Twister film soundtrack was released, which featured the Nicks-Buckingham duet "Twisted", with Fleetwood on drums. This eventually led to a full reunion of the Rumours line-up, which officially reformed in March 1997. The regrouped Fleetwood Mac performed a live concert on a soundstage at Warner Bros. Burbank, California, on 22 May 1997. The reconvening of this lineup spurred from Buckingham asking Fleetwood to contribute to a solo album he had been working on; he subsequently brought other members of the band to participate. Buckingham said in an interview with Mojo magazine regarding the five of them coming together again that their "chemistry was very present". The concert was recorded and filmed, and from this performance came the 1997 live album and video The Dance, which brought the band back to the top of the US album charts for the first time in ten years. In addition to live performances of their most notable songs, the album also featured new songs including "Bleed to Love Her" and "Temporary One". The album was certified five million units by the RIAA. An arena tour followed the MTV premiere of The Dance video and kept the reunited Fleetwood Mac on the road throughout much of 1997, the 20th anniversary of Rumours. With additional musicians Neale Heywood on guitar, Brett Tuggle on keyboards, Lenny Castro on percussion and Sharon Celani (who had toured with the band in the late 1980s) and Mindy Stein on backing vocals, this would be the final appearance of the classic line-up including Christine McVie for 16 years. Neale Heywood and Sharon Celani remain touring members to this day. In 1998 Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Members inducted included the 1968–1970 band, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, and Danny Kirwan, and Rumours-era members Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buckingham. Bob Welch was not included, despite his key role in keeping the band alive during the early 1970s. The Rumours-era version of the band performed both at the induction ceremony and at the Grammy Awards programme that year. Peter Green attended the induction ceremony but did not perform with his former bandmates, opting instead to perform his composition "Black Magic Woman" with Santana, who were inducted the same night. Neither Jeremy Spencer nor Danny Kirwan attended. Fleetwood Mac also received the "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award at the Brit Awards (British Phonographic Industry Awards) the same year. Shortly after this, Christine McVie officially left the band. 2002 saw the release of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, issued as a 21-track single CD in the UK and a 40-track double CD in the US. Christine McVie's departure left Buckingham and Nicks as the two singer-songwriters on the band's seventeenth studio album, Say You Will, released in 2003 (although Christine contributed some backing vocals and keyboards as a guest). The album debuted at No.3 on the Billboard 200 chart (No. 6 in the UK) and yielded chart hits with "Peacekeeper" and the title track, and a successful world arena tour which lasted through 2004. The tour grossed $27,711,129 and was ranked No. 21 in the top 25 grossing tours of 2004. Around 2004–05 there were rumours of a reunion of the early line-up of Fleetwood Mac involving Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. While these two apparently remained unconvinced, in April 2006 bassist John McVie, during a question-and-answer session on the Penguin Fleetwood Mac fan website, said of the reunion idea: If we could get Peter and Jeremy to do it, I'd probably, maybe, do it. I know Mick would do it in a flash. Unfortunately, I don't think there's much chance of Danny doing it. Bless his heart. In interviews given in November 2006 to support his solo album Under the Skin, Buckingham stated that plans for the band to reunite once more for a 2008 tour were still in the cards. Recording plans had been put on hold for the foreseeable future. In an interview Nicks gave to the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph in September 2007, she stated that she was unwilling to carry on with the band unless Christine McVie returned. 2008–2013: Touring activity In March 2008, it was mooted that Sheryl Crow might work with Fleetwood Mac in 2009. Crow and Stevie Nicks had collaborated in the past and Crow had stated that Nicks had been a great teacher and inspiration to her. Later, Buckingham said that the potential collaboration with Crow had "lost its momentum" and the idea was abandoned. In March 2009, Fleetwood Mac started their "Unleashed" tour, again without Christine McVie. It was a greatest hits show, although album tracks such as "Storms" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong" were also played. During their show on 20 June 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Stevie Nicks premiered part of a new song that she had written about Hurricane Katrina. The song was later released as "New Orleans" on Nicks's 2011 album In Your Dreams with Mick Fleetwood on drums. In October 2009 and November, the band toured Europe, followed by Australia and New Zealand in December. In October, 2002's The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac was re-released in the UK, this time using the US 2-CD track listing, entering at number six on the UK Albums Chart. On 1 November 2009 a one-hour documentary, Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop, was broadcast in the UK on BBC One, featuring recent interviews with all four current band members. During the documentary, Nicks gave a candid summary of the current state of her relationship with Buckingham, saying, "Maybe when we're 75 and Fleetwood Mac is a distant memory, we might be friends." On 6 November 2009, Fleetwood Mac played the last show of the European leg of their Unleashed tour at London's Wembley Arena. Christine McVie was in the audience. Nicks paid tribute to her from the stage to a standing ovation from the audience, saying that she thought about her former bandmate "every day", and dedicated that night's performance of "Landslide" to her. On 19 December 2009, Fleetwood Mac played the second-to-last show of their Unleashed tour to a sell-out crowd in New Zealand, at what was intended to be a one-off event at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands in New Plymouth. Tickets, after pre-sales, sold out within twelve minutes of public release. Another date, Sunday 20 December, was added and also sold out. The tour grossed $84,900,000 and was ranked No. 13 in the highest grossing worldwide tours of 2009. On 19 October 2010, Fleetwood Mac played a private show at the Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona for TPG (Texas Pacific Group). On 3 May 2011, the Fox Network broadcast an episode of Glee entitled "Rumours" that featured six songs from the band's 1977 album. The show sparked renewed interest in the band and its most commercially successful album, and Rumours re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at No.11 in the same week that Nicks's solo album In Your Dreams debuted at No.6. (She was quoted by Billboard saying that her new album was "my own little Rumours.") The two recordings sold about 30,000 and 52,000 units respectively. Music downloads accounted for 91 per cent of the Rumours sales. The spike in sales for Rumours represented an increase of 1,951%. It was the highest chart entry by a previously issued album since The Rolling Stones' reissue of Exile On Main St. re-entered the chart at No. 2 on 5 June 2010. In an interview in July 2012 Nicks confirmed that the band would reunite for a tour in 2013. Original Fleetwood Mac bassist Bob Brunning died on 18 October 2011 at the age of 68. Former guitarist and singer Bob Weston was found dead on 3 January 2012 at the age of 64. Former singer and guitarist Bob Welch was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 7 June 2012 at the age of 66. Don Aaron, a spokesman at the scene, stated, "He died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest." A suicide note was found. Welch had been struggling with health issues and was dealing with depression. His wife discovered his body. The band's 2013 tour, which took place in 34 cities, started on 4 April in Columbus, Ohio. The band performed two new songs ("Sad Angel" and "Without You"), which Buckingham described as some of the most "Fleetwood Mac-ey"-sounding songs since Mirage. "Without You" was rerecorded from the Buckingham-Nicks era. The band released their first new studio material in ten years, Extended Play, on 30 April 2013. The EP debuted and peaked at No. 48 in the US and produced one single, "Sad Angel". On 25 and 27 September 2013, the second and third nights of the band's London O2 shows, Christine McVie joined them on stage for "Don't Stop". "[Buckingham's] words to us were, 'She can't just come and go,'" Nicks recalled. "That's important to him, but it's not so important to me... Much as Lindsey adores her – and he does; she's the only one in Fleetwood Mac he was ever really willing to listen to – he doesn't want the first-night reviews to be all about Christine's one song, rather than the set we rehearsed for two months. But it will be wonderful to have her back up there – and, from there, who knows?" On 27 October 2013, the band cancelled their New Zealand and Australian performances after John McVie had been diagnosed with cancer so that he could undergo treatment. They said: "We are sorry not to be able to play these Australian and New Zealand dates. We hope our Australian and New Zealand fans as well as Fleetwood Mac fans everywhere will join us in wishing John and his family all the best." Also in October 2013, Stevie Nicks appeared in American Horror Story: Coven with Fleetwood Mac's song "Seven Wonders" playing in the background. In November 2013, Christine McVie expressed interest in a return to Fleetwood Mac, and also affirmed that John McVie's prognosis was "really good". 2014–present: Final years On 11 January 2014, Mick Fleetwood confirmed that Christine McVie would be rejoining Fleetwood Mac. On with the Show, a 33-city North American tour, opened in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 30 September 2014. A series of May–June 2015 arena dates in the United Kingdom went on sale on 14 November, selling out in minutes. High demand caused additional dates to be added to the tour, including an Australian leg. In January 2015, Buckingham suggested that the new album and tour might be Fleetwood Mac's last, and that the band would cease operations in 2015 or soon afterwards. He said work would continue on the new album, and solo work would be low priority for a few years. Fleetwood said the new album might take a few years to complete and that they were waiting for contributions from Nicks, who had been ambivalent about committing to a new record. In August 2016, Fleetwood said that while the band had "a huge amount of recorded music", virtually none of it featured Nicks. Buckingham and Christine McVie, however, had contributed many songs to the new project. Nicks explained her reluctance to record another album with Fleetwood Mac. "Do you want to take a chance on [spending a year recording an album with] a bunch of arguing people? And then not wanting to go on tour because you just spent a year arguing?" On 9 June 2017, Buckingham and Christine McVie released a new album, titled Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie, which included contributions from Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. The album was preceded by the single "In My World". A 38-date tour to support the album began on 21 June and concluded 16 November. Fleetwood Mac also planned to embark on another tour in 2018. The band headlined the second night of the Classic West concert on 16 July 2017 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and the second night of the Classic East concert at New York City's Citi Field on 30 July 2017. In January 2018, Fleetwood Mac received the MusiCares Person of the Year award and reunited to perform several songs at the Grammy-hosted gala honouring them. In April 2018, the song "Dreams" re-entered the Hot Rock Songs chart at No. 16 after a viral meme had featured it. This chart re-entry came 40 years after the song had topped the Hot 100. The song's streaming totals also translated into 7,000 "equivalent album units", a jump of 12 per cent, which helped Rumours to go from No. 21 to No. 13 on the Top Rock Albums chart. In April 2018 Buckingham departed from the group a second time, having reportedly been dismissed. The reason was said to have been a disagreement about the nature of the tour, and in particular the question of whether newer or less well-known material would be included, as Buckingham wanted. Fleetwood stated on CBS This Morning on 25 April 2018 that Buckingham would not sign off on a tour that the group had been planning for a year and a half and they had reached a disagreement. When asked if Buckingham had been fired, he said, "We don't use that word because I think it's ugly." He said Buckingham's work in Fleetwood Mac was, and always would be, hugely respected. In October 2018, Buckingham filed a lawsuit against Fleetwood Mac for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, among other claims. He said later that a settlement had been reached and he was happy with it. Buckingham also provided his version of what had led to his departure from the band. He said that after their performance at the MusiCares event, the band's manager, Irving Azoff, had told him that, among other things, Nicks was not happy about his reaction to the intro music for their acceptance speech being "Rhiannon"; and about the way he had allegedly "smirked" during her thank-you speech. Buckingham conceded the first point. "It wasn't about it being 'Rhiannon'. It just undermined the impact of our entrance." Azoff subsequently told him that Nicks had given the rest of the band an ultimatum: either Buckingham went or she would. Former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Neil Finn of Crowded House were named to replace Buckingham. On CBS This Morning, Fleetwood said that Fleetwood Mac had been reborn and that "This is the new lineup of Fleetwood Mac." Aside from touring, the band planned to record new music with Campbell and Finn in the future. The band's "An Evening with Fleetwood Mac" tour started in October 2018. The band launched the tour at the iHeartRadio Music Festival on 21 September 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. On 8 June 2018, former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan died at the age of 68 in a hostel for homeless alcoholics in London, after contracting pneumonia earlier in the year. Mojo quoted Christine McVie as saying: "Nobody else could play like him. He was a one-off. Danny was a perfectionist; a fantastic musician and a fantastic writer." One of Kirwan's songs, "Tell Me All the Things You Do" from Kiln House, was included in the set of the "An Evening with Fleetwood Mac" tour. On 28 May 2020, Neil Finn, featuring Nicks and McVie with Campbell on guitar, released the song "Find Your Way Back Home" for the Auckland homeless shelter Auckland City Mission. Founding member Peter Green died on 25 July 2020 at the age of 73. In October 2020, Rumours again entered the Billboard top 10. The album received 30.6 million streams on streaming platforms the week of 15 October, which was in part due to a viral video featuring the song "Dreams". On 30 November 2022, Christine McVie died at the age of 79. In February 2023, when asked about further activity from the band, Fleetwood replied, "I think right now, I truly think the line in the sand has been drawn with the loss of Chris. I'd say we're done, but then we've all said that before. It's sort of unthinkable right now." He said the other surviving members were keeping themselves busy with musical pursuits outside the band and that he intended to do the same. In an October 2023 interview, Nicks stated that she saw no reason to continue the band after McVie's death. Upon the release of Crowded House's album Gravity Stairs in 2024, Finn expressed surprise that the online encyclopedia Wikipedia still listed him as a member of Fleetwood Mac. In a 2024 interview with Mojo, Nicks reiterated that the band would not continue without Christine McVie. Tours Band members Final lineup Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion (1967–1995, 1997–2022) John McVie – bass (1967–1995, 1997–2022) Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–2022; her death) Stevie Nicks – vocals (1974–1990, 1997–2022) Mike Campbell – lead guitar, vocals (2018–2022) Neil Finn – vocals, rhythm guitar (2018–2022) Timeline Official Touring Discography Studio albums Fleetwood Mac (1968, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac) Mr. Wonderful (1968) Then Play On (1969) Kiln House (1970) Future Games (1971) Bare Trees (1972) Penguin (1973) Mystery to Me (1973) Heroes Are Hard to Find (1974) Fleetwood Mac (1975) Rumours (1977) Tusk (1979) Mirage (1982) Tango in the Night (1987) Behind the Mask (1990) Time (1995) Say You Will (2003) Awards and nominations Grammy Awards Citations Sources Further reading Silver, Murray When Elvis Meets the Dalai Lama, (Bonaventure Books, Savannah, 2005) in which the author recounts his days as a concert promoter in Atlanta, Ga., and having brought Fleetwood Mac to town for the first time in December 1969. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001) External links Official website Fleetwood Mac on the Internet Archive Fleetwood Mac at IMDb

Mariah_Carey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariah_Carey

Mariah Carey (;: 0:01  born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. An influential figure in music, she is known for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whistle register. Referred to as the "Songbird Supreme" by Guinness World Records, she was ranked as the fifth greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone in 2023. Carey rose to fame in 1990 with her self-titled debut album and became the only artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. She achieved an international success with the best-selling albums Music Box (1993) and Daydream (1995), before adopting a new urban image with hip hop-inflected sounds, following the release of Butterfly (1997). With eleven consecutive years of US number-one singles, Billboard ranked Carey as the most successful artist of the decade. Following a career decline and the failure of her 2001 film Glitter, she returned to the top of the charts with The Emancipation of Mimi (2005), one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. Carey's public and personal life, including her diva persona, high-profile relationships and public breakdown in 2001, has received widespread media coverage. She has also been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas" due to the enduring popularity of her holiday music, particularly Merry Christmas (1994), the best-selling holiday album, and its single "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which is the best selling holiday single by a female artist of all time. Outside of music, she has acted in major roles in the films Tennessee (2008), Precious (2009), The Butler (2013), A Christmas Melody (2015), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). Appearing on multiple television series, Carey served as an American Idol judge and starred in the docu-series Mariah's World. She published a memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, in 2020. Carey is one of the best-selling music artists, with over 220 million records sold worldwide. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, and The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Her accolades include 5 competitive Grammy Awards and a Grammy Global Impact Award, 10 American Music Awards, 19 World Music Awards and 20 Billboard Music Awards. Carey's high-charting singles include "One Sweet Day" and "We Belong Together" – Billboard's most successful songs of the 1990s and 2000s, respectively. She holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles by a solo artist (19), a female songwriter (18), and a female producer (15), spending a record 93 weeks atop the chart. Carey is the highest-certified female artist in the United States and 10th overall, with 75 million certified album units. Early life Carey was born on March 27, 1969, in Huntington, New York. Her name is derived from the song "They Call the Wind Maria", originally from the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. She is the youngest of three children born to Patricia (née Hickey), a former opera singer and vocal coach of Irish descent, and Alfred Roy Carey, an aeronautical engineer of both African-American and Afro-Venezuelan lineage. The last name "Carey" was adopted by her Venezuelan grandfather, Francisco Núñez, after he emigrated to New York. Patricia's family disowned her for marrying a black man. Racial tensions prevented the Carey family from integrating into their community. While they lived in Huntington, their neighbors poisoned the family dog and set fire to their car. After her parents' divorce, Carey had little contact with Alfred, and Patricia worked several jobs to support the family. Carey spent much of her time at home alone and began singing at age three, often imitating her mother's take on Verdi's opera Rigoletto in Italian. Her older sister Alison moved in with their father while Mariah and her elder brother Morgan lived with their mother. During her years in elementary school, she excelled in the arts, such as music and literature. Carey began writing poetry and lyrics while attending Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, where she graduated in 1987. Carey began vocal training under her mother's guidance. Though she was a classically trained opera singer, Patricia Carey never pressured her daughter to pursue a career in classical opera. Mariah Carey recalled that she had "never been a pushy mom. She never said, 'Give it more of an operatic feel.' I respect opera like crazy, but it didn't influence me." In high school, Mariah Carey was often absent because of her work as a demo singer. This led to her classmates giving her the nickname Mirage. Working in the Long Island music scene gave her opportunities to work with musicians such as Gavin Christopher and Ben Margulies, with whom she co-wrote material for her demo tape. After moving to New York City, she worked part-time jobs to pay the rent and completed 500 hours of beauty school. Carey moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan with four female students as roommates. She landed a gig singing backup for freestyle singer Brenda K. Starr. Career 1988–1990: Career beginnings and self-titled debut album In December 1988, Carey accompanied Starr to a music executive's party, and handed her demo tape to the head of Columbia Records, Tommy Mottola. After listening to the tape during the ride home, he immediately requested the driver turn around. She had already left the event, and Mottola spent two weeks looking for her. Another record label expressed interest and a bidding war ensued. He signed Carey to Columbia and enlisted producers Ric Wake, Narada Michael Walden, and Rhett Lawrence for her first album. Columbia marketed Carey as the main female artist on their roster, competing with Arista Records's Whitney Houston and Madonna of Sire Records. It spent upwards of $1 million promoting Carey's debut studio album, Mariah Carey. On June 5, 1990, Carey made her first public appearance at the 1990 NBA Finals, singing "America the Beautiful". The highlight was the piercing whistle note toward the song's conclusion, sparking CBS Sports anchor Pat O'Brien to declare, "The palace now has a queen." The album topped the US Billboard 200 for eleven consecutive weeks, after Carey's exposure at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, where she won the award for Best New Artist, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single "Vision of Love". The album's singles "Vision of Love", "Love Takes Time", "Someday", and "I Don't Wanna Cry" all topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Mariah Carey was the best-selling album in the United States in 1991, and achieved worldwide sales of 15 million copies. 1991–1992: Emotions and MTV Unplugged Carey co-wrote, co-produced, and recorded her second studio effort, Emotions, during 1991. She described it as an homage to Motown soul music, and employed the help of Walter Afanasieff, who only had a small role on her debut, as well as Robert Clivillés and David Cole, from the dance group C+C Music Factory. Carey's relationship with Margulies deteriorated over a songwriting royalties dispute. After he filed a lawsuit against Columbia's parent company, Sony Music Entertainment, the songwriting duo parted ways. Emotions was released on September 17 that year. Its title track served as the album's lead single and became Carey's fifth chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist whose first five singles reached the chart's summit. Though critics praised the album's content and described it as a more mature effort, the album was criticized as calculated and lacking originality. While the album managed sales of eight million copies globally, Emotions failed to reach the commercial and critical heights of its predecessor. Carey did not embark on a world tour to promote the album. Although she attributed this to stage fright and the vocally challenging nature of her material, speculation grew that Carey was a "studio worm" and incapable of producing the perfect pitch and five-octave vocal range for which she was known. In hopes of ending any speculation of her being a manufactured artist, Carey booked an appearance on MTV Unplugged. The show presented artists "unplugged" or in a stripped setting and devoid of studio equipment. Days prior to the show's taping, Carey and Afanasieff chose to add a cover of the Jackson 5's 1970 song "I'll Be There" to the set-list. On March 16, 1992, she played and recorded an intimate seven-song show at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. The acclaimed revue was aired more than three times as often as the average episode, and critics heralding it as a "vocal Tour de force". Carey's live version of "I'll Be There" became her sixth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Sony capitalized on its success and released it as an extended play (EP). It earned a triple-Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and earned Gold and Platinum certifications in several European markets. 1993–1994: Music Box and Merry Christmas After Emotions failed to achieve the commercial heights of her debut album, Carey's subsequent release was to be marketed as adult contemporary and pop-friendly. Music Box was produced by Carey and Afanasieff, and began a songwriting partnership that would extend until 1997's Butterfly. The album was released on August 31, 1993, to mixed reviews from music critics. Carey's songwriting was derided as clichéd and her vocal performances were described as less emotive and lazier in their delivery. In his review of the album, AllMusic's Ron Wynn concluded: "sometimes excessive spirit is preferable to an absence of passion." In promotion of the album, Carey embarked on her debut tour, a six-date concert series, the Music Box Tour. Music Box's first and second singles, "Dreamlover" and "Hero", became Carey's seventh and eighth chart-toppers in the United States, while her cover of Badfinger's "Without You" was a commercial breakthrough in Europe, becoming her first number-one single in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Music Box remains Carey's best-seller and one of the best-selling albums, with worldwide sales of over 28 million copies. In mid-1994, Carey and Luther Vandross recorded and released a cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's "Endless Love". Merry Christmas, released on November 1, 1994, became the best-selling Christmas album, with global sales of over 15 million copies. The lead single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You", became a holiday standard and continues to surge in popularity each holiday season. By October 2017, it had become the 11th best-selling single in history with over 16 million copies sold worldwide. 1995–1996: Daydream and Someone's Ugly Daughter Carey's fifth studio album, Daydream, found her consolidating creative control over her career, leading to tensions with Columbia. The album featured a departure from her allegiance to pop and gravitated heavily towards R&B and hip hop. Critically, the album was described as Carey's best to date. The New York Times named this one of 1995's best albums and wrote it "brings R&B candy-making to a new peak of textural refinement ... Carey's songwriting has taken a leap forward and become more relaxed, sexier and less reliant on thudding clichés." Its lead single, "Fantasy", became the first single by a female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the second song overall after Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone". "One Sweet Day", a collaboration with R&B group Boyz II Men, served as the second single from Daydream and remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-breaking 16 consecutive weeks, becoming the longest-running number-one song in the history of the charts at the time. It also opened at the top spot, becoming Carey's second track to do so. The album's third single, "Always Be My Baby", became Carey's eleventh chart-topper, tying her with Madonna and Whitney Houston for the most number-one singles among female artists at the time. Daydream became Carey's biggest-selling album in the United States, and her second album to be certified Diamond by the RIAA, after Music Box. The album continued Carey's dominance in Asian music markets and sold in excess of 2.2 million copies in Japan alone and over 20 million copies globally. Daydream and its singles were nominated in six categories at the 38th Grammy Awards. Though considered a favorite to win the top awards of the evening, Carey was shut out, prompting her to comment "What can you do? I will never be disappointed again." In early 1996, she embarked on her first international string of concerts, the Daydream World Tour. Its seven dates spanned three in Japan and four throughout Europe. Forbes named Carey the top-earning female musician of 1996, collecting an estimated $32 million. During the recording of Daydream, Carey also worked on the alternative rock album Someone's Ugly Daughter by the band Chick, contributing writing, production, vocals and art direction. As Columbia Records refused to release the album with her lead vocals, Carey's friend Clarissa Dane was brought in to become the face of Chick, and her vocals were layered on top of Carey's, masking her voice. Her contributions were secret until the release of her 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey. 1997–2000: New image with Butterfly and Rainbow Carey's subsequent musical releases followed the trend that began with Daydream. Her music began relying less on pop and adult contemporary-tinged balladry and instead incorporating heavy elements of hip-hop and R&B. On Butterfly, she collaborated with a bevy of producers other than Afanasieff, such as Sean Combs, Q-Tip, Missy Elliott and Jean Claude Oliver and Samuel Barnes from Trackmasters. Butterfly was released on September 10, 1997, and introduced a more subdued style of singing, with critics noting Carey's incorporation of breathy vocals. Some viewed her lack of propensity to use her upper range as a sign of maturity, while others questioned whether it forebode waning vocal prowess. The music video for the album's lead single, "Honey", her first since separating from Mottola, introduced a more overtly sexual image. Butterfly became Carey's best-reviewed album, with attention placed on the album's exploration of more mature lyrical themes. In their review of the album, Rolling Stone wrote it was "not as if Carey has totally dispensed with her old saccharine, Houston-style balladry ... but the predominant mood of Butterfly is one of coolly erotic reverie." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Carey's vocals as "sultrier and more controlled than ever," and felt the album "illustrates that Carey continues to improve and refine her music, which makes her a rarity among her '90s peers.'" "Honey" and "My All", the album's fifth single, both topped the Hot 100, making Carey a female artist with the most number-one singles in the chart's history. Though a commercial success, Butterfly failed to reach the commercial heights of her previous albums, Music Box and Daydream. After concluding her Butterfly World Tour, Carey participated in the VH1 Divas benefit concert on April 14, 1998, where she sang alongside Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan, and Carole King. Carey began conceptualizing a film project All That Glitters, later re-titled to simply Glitter (2001), and wrote songs for other projects, such as Men in Black (1997) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). After Glitter fell into developmental hell, Carey postponed the project, and began writing material for a new album. Sony Music executives insisted she prepare a greatest hits collection in time for the holiday season. The album, titled #1's (1998), featured a cover of Brenda K. Starr's "I Still Believe" and a duet with Whitney Houston, "When You Believe", which was included on the soundtrack for The Prince of Egypt (1998). #1's became a phenomenon in Japan, selling over one million copies in its opening week, making Carey the only international artist to accomplish this feat. It sold over 3.25 million copies in Japan in its first three months, and holds the record as the best-selling album by a non-Asian artist. With only one album left to fulfill her contract with Sony, and with a burning desire to separate herself professionally from the record label her ex-husband still headed, Carey completed the album in three months in mid-1999. Titled Rainbow, the album found Carey exploring with producers whom she had not worked with before. Rainbow became Carey's first album to not feature a collaboration with her longtime writing partner, Walter Afanasieff. She instead chose to work with David Foster and Diane Warren. "Heartbreaker" and "Thank God I Found You" both topped the Billboard Hot 100, while her rendition of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" with Irish boy band Westlife became her second number-one song on the UK charts. Rainbow was released on November 2, 1999, to the highest first-week sales of her career at the time, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Carey's tense relationship with Columbia grew increasingly fractious; she began posting messages on her website, sharing inside information with fans on the dispute, as well as instructing them to request "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" on radio stations. Ultimately, the song was only given a very limited and low-promotion release. Critical reception of Rainbow was generally positive, with the general consensus finding: "what began on Butterfly as a departure ends up on Rainbow a progression – perhaps the first compelling proof of Carey's true colors as an artist." Though a commercial success, Rainbow became Carey's lowest selling album at that point in her career. 2001–2004: Personal and professional setbacks, Glitter and Charmbracelet Carey received Billboard's Artist of the Decade Award and the World Music Award for Best-Selling Pop Female Artist of the Millennium, and parted from Columbia Records. She signed an unprecedented $80 million five-album recording contract with Virgin Records (EMI Records) in April 2001. Glitter was a musical departure, recreating a 1980s post-disco era to accompany the film, set in 1983. Carey was given full conceptual and creative control over the project. She said that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. Carey's three-year relationship with Latin singer Luis Miguel ended. In July 2001, Carey suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. She began posting disturbing messages on her website, and behaved erratically in live promotional outings. On July 19, Carey made a surprise appearance on the MTV program Total Request Live (TRL). As the show's host Carson Daly began taping following a commercial break, she came out pushing an ice cream cart while wearing a large men's shirt, and began a striptease that revealed a tight ensemble. Days later, Carey posted irregular voice notes on her website. On July 26, she was hospitalized due to exhaustion and a "physical and emotional breakdown". Carey was admitted to a hospital in Connecticut and remained under doctor's care for two weeks, followed by an extended absence from the public. Virgin Records and 20th Century Fox delayed the release of Glitter and its soundtrack. Critics panned Glitter and its soundtrack; both were unsuccessful commercially. The soundtrack became Carey's lowest-selling album to that point. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch condemned it as "an absolute mess that'll go down as an annoying blemish on [her] career." She attributed the poor performance to her state of mind, its postponement and the soundtrack having been released on September 11. Carey's record deal with Virgin Records was bought out for $28 million. She flew to Capri, Italy, for five months, and wrote material for a new album there. Carey described her time at Virgin "a complete and total stress-fest ... I made a total snap decision which was based on money and I never make decisions based on money. I learned a big lesson from that." She signed a contract with Island Records, valued at more than $24 million, and launched the record label MonarC. Carey's father, Alfred Roy, with whom she had had little contact since childhood, died of cancer that year. Her song "Sunflowers for Alfred Roy" from Charmbracelet is dedicated to his memory. In 2002, she was cast in the independent film WiseGirls alongside Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters, who co-starred as waitresses at a mobster-operated restaurant. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and received negative reviews, though Carey's performance was praised. Roger Friedman of Fox News described her as "a Thelma Ritter for the new millennium", and wrote, "Her line delivery is sharp and she manages to get the right laughs." In December 2002, Carey released her ninth studio album, Charmbracelet, which she said marked "a new lease on life" for her. Sales of Charmbracelet were moderate and the quality of Carey's vocals came under criticism. Joan Anderson from The Boston Globe declared the album "the worst of her career, and revealed a voice [that is] no longer capable of either gravity-defying gymnastics or soft coos", while AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "Mariah's voice is shot, sounding in tatters throughout the record. She can no longer coo or softly croon nor can she perform her trademark gravity-defying vocal runs." To support the album, Carey embarked on the Charmbracelet World Tour, spanning North America and East Asia over three months. While smaller venues were booked throughout the tour's stateside leg, Carey performed in stadiums in Asia and Europe. In the United Kingdom, it was her first tour to feature shows outside London. The tour garnered generally positive reviews, with many praising the production and Carey's vocals. 2005–2007: Resurgence with The Emancipation of Mimi Carey's tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi in 2005, was produced with the Neptunes, Kanye West and Carey's longtime collaborator, Jermaine Dupri. She described the album as "very much like a party record ... the process of putting on makeup and getting ready to go out ... I wanted to make a record that was reflective of that." The Emancipation of Mimi topped the charts in the United States, becoming her fifth number-one album and first since Butterfly (1997), and was warmly accepted by critics. Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian defined it as "cool, focused and urban [... some of] the first Mariah Carey tunes in years which I wouldn't have to be paid to listen to again," while USA Today's Elysa Gardner wrote, "The [songs] truly reflect the renewed confidence of a songbird who has taken her shots and kept on flying." The album's second single, "We Belong Together", became a "career re-defining" song for Carey, after a relatively unsuccessful period and a point when many critics had considered her career over. Music critics heralded the song as her "return to form," as well as the "return of The Voice," while many felt it would revive "faith" in Carey's potential as a balladeer. "We Belong Together" broke several records in the United States and became Carey's sixteenth chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100. After staying at number one for fourteen non-consecutive weeks, the song became the second-longest-running number one song in US chart history, behind Carey's "One Sweet Day". Billboard listed it as the "song of the decade" and the ninth most popular song of all time. The song broke several airplay records, and according to Nielsen BDS, and gathered both the largest one-day and one-week audiences in history. During the week of September 25, 2005, Carey set another record, becoming the first woman to occupy the first two spots atop the Hot 100, as "We Belong Together" remained at number one, and her next single, "Shake It Off", moved into the number two spot (Ashanti had topped the chart in 2002 while being a "featured" singer on the number two single). On the US Billboard Hot 100 Year-end Chart of 2005, "We Belong Together" was declared the number one song, a first for Carey. Billboard listed "We Belong Together" ninth on The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and was declared the most popular song of the 2000s decade by Billboard. The album was re-released as The Ultra Platinum Edition, from which "Don't Forget About Us" became her seventeenth number-one in the United States. The Emancipation of Mimi earned ten Grammy Award nominations: eight in 2006 for the original release, the most received by Carey in a single year, and two in 2007 for the Ultra Platinum Edition. Carey won Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song for "We Belong Together". The Emancipation of Mimi was 2005's best-selling album in the United States, with nearly five million units sold. It was the first album by a solo female artist to become the year's best-selling album within the country since Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill in 1996. At the end of 2005, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that The Emancipation of Mimi had sold more than 7.7 million copies globally, and was the second-best-selling album of the year after Coldplay's X&Y. It has since sold 12 million copies worldwide. In support of the album, Carey embarked on her first headlining tour in three years, named The Adventures of Mimi after a "Carey-centric fan's" music diary. The tour spanned 40 dates, with 32 in the United States and Canada, two in Africa, and six in Japan. It received warm reception from music critics and concert goers, many of which lauded Carey's vocals. 2008–2009: E=MC², Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and Precious In early 2007, Carey began to work on her eleventh studio album, E=MC². Although the album was well received by most critics, some of them criticized it for being very similar to the formula used on The Emancipation of Mimi. Two weeks before the album's release, "Touch My Body", the record's lead single, reached the top position on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Carey's eighteenth number one and making her the solo artist with the most number one singles in United States history, pushing her past Elvis Presley into second place according to the magazine's revised methodology. Carey is second only to The Beatles, who have twenty number-one singles. Additionally, it gave Carey her 79th week atop the Hot 100, tying her with Presley as the artist with the most weeks at number one in the Billboard chart history." E=MC² debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 463,000 copies sold, the biggest opening week sales of her career. In 2008, Carey also played an aspiring singer named Krystal in Tennessee and had a cameo appearance in Adam Sandler's film You Don't Mess with the Zohan, playing herself. Since the album's release, Carey had planned to embark on an extensive tour in support of E=MC². However, the tour was suddenly cancelled in early December 2008. Carey later stated that she had been pregnant during that time period, and suffered a miscarriage, prompting the tour's cancellation. On January 20, 2009, Carey performed "Hero" at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball after Barack Obama was sworn as the first African-American president of the United States. On July 7, 2009, Carey—alongside Trey Lorenz—performed her version of "I'll Be There" at the memorial service for Michael Jackson. In 2009, she appeared as a social worker in Precious, the movie adaptation of the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire. The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics, also for Carey's performance. Variety described her acting as "pitch-perfect." In January 2010, Carey won the Breakthrough Actress Performance Award for her role in Precious at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. On September 25, 2009, Carey's twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, was released. Reception for the album was mostly mixed; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "her most interesting album in a decade," while Jon Caramanica from The New York Times criticized Carey's vocal performances, complaining she overused softer vocal registers at the expense of her more powerful lower and upper registers. Commercially, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 168,000 copies. "Obsessed" served as the lead single, and debuted at number eleven in the US before peaking at number seven, and became Carey's 27th top-ten entry within the nation, tying her with Elton John and Janet Jackson for having the fifth most top-tens. Its follow-up single, a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is", managed to break airplay records in Brazil. The song spent 27 weeks atop the Brasil Hot 100, making it the longest running song in the chart's history. On December 31, 2009, Carey embarked on her seventh concert tour, Angels Advocate Tour, which visited the United States and Canada and ended on September 26, 2010. A planned remix album of Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, titled Angels Advocate, was slated for a March 30, 2010, release but was eventually cancelled after Island Def Jam decided to instead distribute "Up Out My Face" with Nicki Minaj and "Angels Cry" with Ne-Yo as stand-alone releases. 2010–2014: Merry Christmas II You and Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse Following the cancellation of Angels Advocate, it was announced that Carey would return to the studio to start work on her thirteenth studio album. It was later revealed that it would be her second Christmas album, and follow-up to Merry Christmas. The release date for the album, titled Merry Christmas II You, was November 2, 2010; the track list included six new songs as well as a remix of "All I Want for Christmas Is You". Merry Christmas II You debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with sales of 56,000 copies, and number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it only the second Christmas album to top this chart. In February 2011, she recorded a duet with Tony Bennett for his Duets II album, titled "When Do The Bells Ring For Me?", and re-recorded "All I Want for Christmas Is You" with Justin Bieber as a duet for his Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe. In November that year, Carey was included in the remix to the mixtape single "Warning" by Uncle Murda; the remix also features 50 Cent and Young Jeezy. Later that month, Carey released a duet with John Legend titled "When Christmas Comes", originally part of Merry Christmas II You. On March 1, 2012, Carey performed at New York City's Gotham Hall; her first time performing since her pregnancy. She also performed a three-song set at a special fundraiser for US President Barack Obama held in New York's Plaza Hotel. A new song titled "Bring It On Home", which Carey wrote for the event to show her support for Obama's re-election campaign, was also performed. In August 2012, she released a stand-alone single, "Triumphant (Get 'Em)", featuring rappers Rick Ross and Meek Mill. Carey joined the judging panel of the twelfth season of American Idol. Throughout the show there were on-set disagreements between Carey and fellow judge Nicki Minaj. Three years later, Carey did not make an appearance for its original series finale. In 2013, Carey appeared in Lee Daniels' film The Butler and had a guest role voicing as a redneck character on the adult animated series American Dad!. In February 2013, Carey recorded and released a song called "Almost Home", for the soundtrack of The Walt Disney Studios film Oz the Great and Powerful. The video was directed by photographer David LaChapelle. For her 14th album, she worked with producers including DJ Clue?, Randy Jackson, Q-Tip, R. Kelly, David Morales, Afanasieff, Dupri, The-Dream, and Da Brat. Carey told Billboard: "It's about making sure I have tons of good music, because at the end of the day that's the most important thing... There are a lot more raw ballads than people might expect...there are also uptempo and signature-type songs that represent [my] different facets as an artist." The lead single, "Beautiful", featuring singer Miguel, was released on May 6, 2013, and peaked at number 15 on the Hot 100. Carey taped a performance of "Beautiful" along with a medley of her greatest hits on May 15, 2013. This taping aired on the American Idol season finale the following day. After multiple delays, The album, titled Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse, was released on May 27, 2014. In October 2014, Carey announced an annual residency show All I Want for Christmas Is You: A Night of Joy and Festivity. Originally performed at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the residency began on December 15, 2014, and ended in 2019. 2015–2017: #1 to Infinity residency, television and film projects On January 30, 2015, it was announced that Carey had left Universal Music Group's Def Jam Recordings to reunite with L.A. Reid and Sony Music via Epic Records. Carey also announced her new #1 to Infinity residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas the same month. To coincide with the residency, Carey released #1 to Infinity, a greatest hits compilation album containing all of her eighteen Billboard Hot 100 number one singles at the time, along with a new recording, "Infinity", which was released as a single on April 27. In 2015 Carey had her directorial debut for the Hallmark Channel Christmas movie A Christmas Melody, in which she also performed as one of the main characters. In December 2015, Carey announced The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour which spanned a total of 27-dates beginning in March 2016, marking Carey's first major tour of mainland Europe in 13 years. Four stops included shows in South Africa. The tour grossed $30.3 million. On March 15, 2016, Carey announced that she was filming Mariah's World, a docu-series for the E! network documenting her Sweet Sweet Fantasy tour and her wedding planning process. Carey told The New York Times, "I thought it would be a good opportunity to kind of, like, show my personality and who I am, even though I feel like my real fans have an idea of who I am... A lot of people have misperceptions about this and that." The series premiered on December 4, 2016. Carey guest starred on the musical drama Empire, as a superstar singer named Kitty and sung the song "Infamous" featuring Jussie Smollett. On December 5, 2016, Carey participated in the VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night benefit concert, alongside Vanessa Williams, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, and Teyana Taylor. On December 31, 2016, Carey's performance on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve in Times Square received worldwide attention after technical difficulties caused her in-ear monitors to malfunction, resulting in what The New York Times referred to as a "performance train wreck." She said her inability to hear the music without in-ear auditory feedback caused the mishap. Carey's representatives and Dick Clark Productions placed blame on each other. On February 3, 2017, Carey released the single "I Don't" featuring YG. Later that month, she voiced the Mayor of Gotham City in the animated film The Lego Batman Movie. In July 2017, Carey made a cameo in the comedy film Girls Trip and embarked on a tour with Lionel Richie, titled, All the Hits Tour. She was also featured in the official remix for French Montana's single "Unforgettable", alongside Swae Lee. In October 2017, Carey released a new soundtrack single, "The Star", for the movie of the same name She also voiced a hen named Rebecca in the film. The song was nominated for the Best Original Song at the 75th Golden Globe Awards. Carey additionally developed an animated Christmas film, Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You, for which she recorded an original song called "Lil' Snowman". The film was released direct-to-video on November 14, 2017. On December 31, 2017, Carey returned to perform on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve after the technical difficulties that hindered her previous performance, in what The New York Times described as a "made-for-television act of pop culture redemption". 2018–2019: Caution and Merry Christmas reissue In July 2018, Carey embarked on a new Las Vegas residency, The Butterfly Returns, which received critical acclaim. Its first 12 shows in 2018 grossed $3.6 million, with dates later extending into 2019 and 2020. Following the residency, Carey embarked on her Mariah Carey: Live in Concert tour in Asia and returned to Europe with her All I Want for Christmas Is You concert series. In September 2018, Carey announced plans to release her fifteenth studio album later in the year. The project was announced alongside the release of a new song titled "GTFO", which she performed on September 21, 2018, when she headlined the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival. The album's lead single, "With You", was released in October and performed for the first time at the American Music Awards of 2018. It became Carey's highest-charting non-holiday song on the US Adult Contemporary chart since "We Belong Together" in 2005. This was followed by a second single, "A No No". The album, titled Caution, was released on November 16, 2018, and received universal acclaim from critics. Though it debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, it became her lowest-selling album to date and ultimately was her final release with Epic Records; she quietly left the label sometime in 2019. By December 2018, the album had been featured on numerous year-end lists by music critics and publications. In February 2019, Carey commenced the Caution World Tour in support of the album. Later in 2019, Carey engaged in a series of business and television ventures. On September 18, 2019, Carey released "In the Mix", the theme song for the ABC sitcom Mixed-ish. On November 1, 2019, Carey re-released her holiday album Merry Christmas for its 25th anniversary. The album package included the original album and another disc which include live performances from Carey's 1994 concert at St. John the Divine Church, several tracks from Merry Christmas II You, as well as other stand-alone singles such as "Lil Snowman" and "The Star". On December 5, 2019, it was announced that a mini-documentary titled Mariah Carey Is Christmas!, charting the creation and subsequent cultural legacy of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was to be produced and broadcast on Amazon Music; it premiered later that month. Peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time the same year, the song ended up giving Carey her nineteenth chart-topper in the US. 2020–2023: The Rarities and The Meaning of Mariah Carey In January 2020, it was announced that Carey would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Carey celebrated the 30th anniversary of her debut album through 2020, in a promotional campaign billed "#MC30". The first release consisted of the live EP The Live Debut – 1990 which was released on July 17, 2020. Her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey which was co-written with Michaela Angela Davis, was published in September of the same year. The memoir reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list after its first week of release. On October 2, 2020, Carey released a compilation album titled The Rarities, which includes rare and unreleased songs that Carey recorded at various stages of her career. Its songs included "Save the Day" featuring Lauryn Hill and a cover of Irene Cara's "Out Here on My Own". At the end of October, Carey was featured on Busta Rhymes' single "Where I Belong". Carey's 2020 Christmas special, Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special, premiered on December 4, 2020, on Apple TV+ along with a soundtrack. A new version of Carey's 2010 song "Oh Santa!", featuring Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, was released as a single the same day. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" topped the UK chart for the first time that month, becoming her third number one in the nation, and spent an unprecedented 69 weeks in its top 40 before reaching the summit. In July 2021, Carey was featured on the track "Somewhat Loved" from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' debut studio album Jam & Lewis: Volume One. On November 5, 2021, Carey released "Fall in Love at Christmas", which features Khalid and Kirk Franklin. The single was performed on her second Christmas special, Mariah's Christmas: The Magic Continues. In March 2022, Carey was featured alongside DJ Khaled on the remix of Latto's single "Big Energy", which interpolates Carey's 1995 single "Fantasy". In April, an online course from MasterClass based on singing, in which Carey served as a vocal coach, was released. On September 16, 2022, an expanded version of Butterfly was released for the 25th anniversary of the album. In November, Carey released a children's picture book titled The Christmas Princess, co-written with Michaela Angela Davis and illustrated by Fuuji Takashi. In December 2022, Carey performed two pairs of shows at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Carey also served as a co-producer of Some Like It Hot on Broadway, a musical based on the 1959 comedy film Some Like It Hot. It earned her a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Musical. In February 2023, the 2009 track "It's a Wrap" experienced a revival on TikTok, prompting Carey to release an EP for the song, which included a new sped-up version. On September 8, 2023, she released a deluxe version of Music Box in celebration of the album's thirtieth anniversary. A remix of "Workin Hard" by Terry Hunter, which featured on the deluxe album, was nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Carey embarked on her 16-date concert tour, Merry Christmas One and All!, which ran from November 15 to December 17, 2023 in the United States. The tour grossed approximately $30 million and sold more than 200,000 tickets. 2024–present: The Celebration of Mimi On February 16, 2024, Carey featured on the remix of Ariana Grande's single "Yes, And?", which was included in the "slightly deluxe" edition of Grande's seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. On April 12, Carey began a new residency at the Dolby Live in Las Vegas titled The Celebration of Mimi. On May 21, Carey appeared on the remix to Muni Long's "Made for Me". In June, Carey released an expanded edition of Rainbow to coincide with its twenty-fifth anniversary. While promoting the re-release, she said that new music was being worked on. On November 6, 2024, Carey will embark on the "Mariah Carey's Christmas Time" tour, set to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Merry Christmas. It shall conclude the following December 17. Artistry Influences Carey has said that from childhood she has been influenced by Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan as well as R&B and soul musicians including Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, and George Michael. Her music contains strong influences of gospel music, and she credits the Clark Sisters, Shirley Caesar, and Edwin Hawkins as the most influential in her early years. When Carey incorporated hip hop into her sound, speculation arose that she was making an attempt to take advantage of the genre's popularity, but she told Newsweek, "People just don't understand. I grew up with this music." She has expressed appreciation for rappers such as the Sugarhill Gang, Eric B. & Rakim, the Wu-Tang Clan, The Notorious B.I.G. and Mobb Deep, with whom she collaborated on the single "The Roof (Back in Time)" (1998). Carey was heavily influenced by Minnie Riperton, and began experimenting with the whistle register due to her original practice of the range. During Carey's career, her vocal and musical style, along with her level of success, has been compared to Whitney Houston, whom she has also cited as an influence. Carey and her peers, according to Garry Mulholland, are "the princesses of wails... virtuoso vocalists who blend chart-oriented pop with mature MOR torch song." Author and writer Lucy O'Brien attributed the comeback of Barbra Streisand's "old-fashioned showgirl" to Carey and Celine Dion, and described them and Houston as "groomed, airbrushed and overblown to perfection." Carey's musical transition and use of more revealing clothing during the late 1990s were, in part, initiated to distance herself from this image, and she subsequently said that most of her early work was "schmaltzy MOR." Some have noted that unlike Houston and Dion, Carey writes and produces her own music. Musical style Love is the subject of the majority of Carey's lyrics, although she has written about themes such as loss, sex, race, abuse and spirituality. She has said that much of her work is partly autobiographical, but Time magazine's Christopher John Farley wrote: "If only Mariah Carey's music had the drama of her life. Her songs are often sugary and artificial—NutraSweet soul. But her life has passion and conflict," applying it to the first stages of her career. He commented that as her albums progressed, so too her songwriting and music blossomed into more mature and meaningful material. Jim Faber of the New York Daily News, made similar comments, "For Carey, vocalizing is all about the performance, not the emotions that inspired it. Singing, to her, represents a physical challenge, not an emotional unburdening." While reviewing Music Box, Stephen Holden from Rolling Stone commented that Carey sang with "sustained passion," while Arion Berger of Entertainment Weekly wrote that during some vocal moments, Carey becomes "too overwhelmed to put her passion into words." In 2001, The Village Voice wrote that "Carey's Strawberry Shortcake soul still provides the template with which teen-pop cuties draw curlicues around those centerless [Diane] Warren ballads." Following Carey's divorce with Tommy Mottola, Carey broke free of adult contemporary arrangements in favor of what Alex Macpherson of The Guardian described as "a lovingly crafted, hip-hop-inflected quiet storm". Carey often records her layered background vocals, which has been described as "a swooning bank of a hundred Mariahs". The singer claims that "it's because I started out as a backup singer and doing sessions as a background vocalist learning from some of the greatest background vocalists, and also people like Luther Vandross. Growing up, I admired his texture in and of itself but also his use of background vocals". David Foster stated that Carey "thinks like a record producer and lays her vocals down like a virtuoso guitarist". Carey's songwriting is noted for its "eccentric verbosity". Jeffrey Ingold of Vice argues that her lyrics are "among the most verbose in pop music." Carey's output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines, keyboards and synthesizers. Many of her songs contain piano-driven melodies, as she was given piano lessons at age six. Carey said that she cannot read sheet music and prefers to collaborate with a pianist when composing her material, but feels that it is easier to experiment with faster and less-conventional melodies and chord progressions using this technique. While Carey learned to play the piano at a young age, and incorporates several ranges of production and instrumentation into her music, she has maintained that her voice has always been her most important asset: "My voice is my instrument; it always has been." Carey began commissioning remixes of her material early in her career and helped to spearhead the practice of recording entirely new vocals for remixes. Disc jockey David Morales has collaborated with Carey on several occasions, starting with "Dreamlover" (1993), which popularized the tradition of remixing R&B songs into house records, and which Slant Magazine named one of the greatest dance songs. From "Fantasy" (1995) onward, Carey enlisted both hip-hop and house producers to re-structure her album compositions. Entertainment Weekly included two remixes of "Fantasy" on a list of Carey's greatest recordings compiled in 2005: a National Dance Music Award-winning remix produced by Morales, and a Sean Combs production featuring rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. The latter has been credited with popularizing the R&B/hip-hop collaboration trend that has continued into the 2000s, through artists such as Ashanti and Beyoncé. Combs said that Carey "knows the importance of mixes, so you feel like you're with an artist who appreciates your work—an artist who wants to come up with something with you." Voice and timbre Carey possesses a five-octave vocal range. Regarding her type of voice, several critics have described her as a lyric coloratura soprano or just a soprano. Jon Pareles of The New York Times described Carey's lower register as a "rich, husky alto" that extends to "dog-whistle high notes." She once described herself as an alto singer. Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker adds her timbre on "Vision of Love" possesses various colors, stating, "Carey's sound changes with nearly every line, mutating from a steely tone to a vibrating growl and then to a humid, breathy coo." In an analysis of Carey's voice for ClassicFM, singer Catherine Bott claims that Carey's chest voice could go up "higher in pitch" compared to classical singer." Her sense of pitch is admired and Jon Pareles adds "she can linger over sensual turns, growl with playful confidence, syncopate like a scat singer... with startlingly exact pitch." Carey claims that she has had nodules on her vocal cords since childhood, enabling her to sing in a higher register than others. However, tiredness and sleep deprivation can affect them due to the nodules, and Carey explained that she went through a lot of practice as a child to maintain a balance during singing. Carey is noted for her vocal improvisation skills. Towards the late 1990s, she began incorporating breathy vocals into her material. Tim Levell from BBC News described her vocals as "sultry close-to-the-mic breathiness," while USA Today's Elysa Gardner wrote "it's impossible to deny the impact her vocal style, a florid blend of breathy riffing and resonant belting, has had on today's young pop and R&B stars." In an interview, Ron Givens of Entertainment Weekly described it this way, "first, a rippling, soulful ooh comes rolling effortlessly from her throat: alto. Then, after a quick breath, she goes for the stratosphere, with a sound that nearly changes the barometric pressure in the room. In one brief swoop, she seems to squeal and roar at the same time." Alex Macpherson of The Guardian noted that Carey's voice on Butterfly is "an instrument of texture rather than volume, with pillows of lavishly layered vocals and nuanced phrasing magnifying the emotional intensity of the songs." Randy Jackson said that "It's in the tone, that buttery tone that she has with her voice that is unbelievably amazing and unbelievably identifiable." Stage performances and videos Despite being called a "show stopper" and "the 1990s pop phenomenon", Carey suffered from stage fright in her early years in the music industry. One of her earliest performances was at MTV Unplugged, which received positive reception as Carey silenced critics saying her vocals were studio-made. Carey's "The Star-Spangled Banner" rendition at the Super Bowl XXXVI was called "stunning" by Billboard. She also performed "America the Beautiful" at the 1990 NBA Finals in which Rolling Stone writer, Brittany Spanos, stated the players were struck "with awe by the incredible talent of a burgeoning young star". The singer received the only standing ovation of the night at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, after performing the medley of "We Belong Together and "Fly Like a Bird". Although Carey's performance at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2017 was marred by technical issues, she returned to the stage a year later and, according to Time, "effectively redeemed herself". Carey is known for being very static during her live performances. Some reviewers credited her stage fright and lack of confidence as the reasoning, while others pointed out that her performances focus on her vocals and the quality of her songs. Her onstage hand gesticulations have usually been mimicked, as the singer has a tendency for "using her hands to point, flutter and sweep through the air as she deftly crests each run". When reviewing Carey's 2014 concert, Michael Lallo wrote that "If you're Mariah, you ... stroke your hair a lot. When a high note is on the horizon, you brace yourself by touching your ear and adopting a pained expression, provoking the crowd into losing its collective mind." Carey had been open about the fact that she had not been happy with some of her early music videos, and has subsequently been noted for self-directing and co-producing her subsequent videography. The music video for "Fantasy" was the first that Carey directed entirely on her own, and "Honey" pushed Carey further towards hip hop and R&B than before. Its music video gained further attention, as Carey, for the first time in her career, was provocatively dressed, giving viewers a "taste of the freer Mariah." In 2007, author Saul Austerlitz wrote Carey had been "marketed as a whitebread pop princess" in her earlier music videos, adding the plots, directorial styles, clothes, and auras from later videos like "Heartbreaker" were very different and she was displayed as an "R&B diva". Billboard ranked Carey 73rd on its list of "The 100 Greatest Music Video Artists of All Time" in 2020, stating that "over three decades, [Carey] has gone from breezy girl next door, flaunting a denim collection as wide as her vocal range, to secret agent, runaway bride and even her own stalker in a collection of music videos that play like mini-dramas". The music video for "The Roof" was ranked 18th on Slant Magazine's "100 Greatest Music Videos. The music videos for "Honey" and "Heartbreaker" remain among the most expensive ever made, costing over $2 million. In 2021, Carey was honoured at the African American Film Critics Association with a Special Achievement Innovator Award for her "visual storytelling in her music videos and specials". Cultural status Throughout her career, Carey has been called a pop icon, a gay icon, and a fashion icon. She has been labeled a "diva" for her stardom and persona. Her diva persona has received heavy attention, gaining admiration from her fans. Carey's style has often been described as "eccentric" and "over the top". Throughout her career, she has also been used in several social media memes, gaining the "Queen of Shade" title from Elle. Carey's reactions in various interviews have often gone viral, becoming the originator for various memes including "I don't know her". Carey's public image has undergone significant transformations, often receiving heavy media attention. Early in her career, Carey had a polished image, influenced by Mottola and his control over her career. After their separation, Carey took on a more provocative image in her career and has since been called a sex symbol. Her career has received heavy media attention, particularly during the rollout of her 2001 film, Glitter which became "tabloid legend". Carey's enduring popularity as a musician has received extensive recognition and often praised for its longevity. She has been credited for her role in breaking down racial barriers in popular culture and facilitating public discourse surrounding multiracialism in the music industry. Carey has also been credited for popularizing the use of melisma amongst her peers and the generation after her, and has often been considered one of the greatest vocalists in pop music. Carey has influenced numerous artists and her music has also been recorded, performed or sampled by a variety of acts. In a 2010 article for The New York Times, David Browne wrote "beginning [in 1990], melisma overtook pop in a way it hadn't before. Mariah Carey's debut hit from 1990, 'Vision of Love', [set] the bar insanely high for notes stretched louder, longer and knottier than most pop fans had ever heard." Browne further added "A subsequent generation of singers, including Ms. Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé, built their careers around melisma." "All I Want for Christmas Is You", as well as its parent album Merry Christmas, have become such a ubiquitous part of wider popular culture that Carey's name became synonymous with the season, and she has since been dubbed the "Queen of Christmas". Multiple media sources have referred to Carey as a holiday icon. The singer has often incorporated holiday-themed outfits during her Christmas shows and music videos. She has also gone on to utilise the phrase "it's time" every Christmas season beginning on November 1, in reference to declaring that "it's time to start playing Christmas music". Since 2019, she has recorded a video every year to declare "it's time". Achievements Throughout her career, Carey has earned numerous awards and honors. She has won six Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Global Impact Award), nineteen World Music Awards, ten American Music Awards, and twenty Billboard Music Awards. Carey is one of the best-selling recording artists in history, with more than 220 million records sold. She is also an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, according to whom she is "the all-time most successful female songwriter in chart history", and The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Carey was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015, and a Billboard Icon Award in 2019. In 2023, she became one of the first 13 recipients of the BRIT Billion Award, for surpassing the milestone one billion streams in the United Kingdom. Other activities Business ventures Declining offers to appear in commercials in the United States during her early career, Carey was not involved in brand marketing initiatives until 2006, when she participated in endorsements for Intel Centrino personal computers and launched a jewelry and accessories line for teenagers, Glamorized, in American Claire's and Icing stores. During this period, as part of a partnership with Pepsi and Motorola, Carey recorded and promoted a series of exclusive ringtones, including "Time of Your Life". She signed a licensing deal with the cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden, and in 2007, she released her own fragrance, "M". The Elizabeth Arden deal has netted her $150 million. For the fragrance, Carey won a Basenotes Fragrance Award for Best Celebrity Women's Fragrance as well as being nominated in three other categories. She has released a series of fragrances with Elizabeth Arden, including Luscious Pink (2008) and Forever (2009). On November 29, 2010, she debuted a collection on HSN, which included jewelry, shoes and fragrances. In November 2011, Carey was announced as "brand ambassador" for Jenny Craig, Inc. which included "participation in a new company initiative... public service announcements and community and education programs." In 2018, Carey featured in an advertisement for Hostelworld with the tagline "Even Divas are Believers". On August 25, 2019, Carey signed a $12 million contract with the Walkers crisps brand as part of their Christmas campaign and starred in a commercial for the company. In conjunction with the 25th-anniversary release of Merry Christmas in 2019, she organized a gift guide with Amazon, and partnered for an exclusive Christmas ornament with Swarovski. In December 2020, Carey launched a partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts and restaurateur, Robert Earl, for a biscuit line titled Mariah's Cookies. In 2021, Carey announced the launch of a new line of alcohol called Black Irish, an homage to her Black, Venezuelan, and Irish heritage. That same year, Carey also partnered with McDonald's, promoting an entirely new limited time menu. In 2022, Carey recorded nine video lessons for MasterClass titled "Mariah Carey Teaches the Voice as an Instrument", as well as re-recording "The Roof (Back in Time)" alongside Brandy. Philanthropy and activism Carey is a philanthropist who has been involved with several charitable organizations. She became associated with the Fresh Air Fund in the early 1990s, and co-founded a camp located in Fishkill, New York, that enables inner-city youth to embrace the arts and introduces them to career opportunities. The camp was called Camp Mariah "for her generous support and dedication to Fresh Air children," and she received a Congressional Horizon Award for her youth-related charity work. Carey has continued her direct involvement with Camp Mariah, and by 2019 the executive director of The Fresh Air Fund reported that "...the kids who have gone to Camp Mariah have higher graduation rates out of high school and college. In 1999, Carey was presented with a Congressional Award for contributing "to expanding opportunities for all Americans through their own personal contributions, and [setting] exceptional examples for young people through their own successes in life. In 2019, she was honoured by Variety's Power of Women for her work with The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Mariah. Carey also donated royalties from her songs "Hero" and "One Sweet Day" to charities. She has worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and in November 2006 she was awarded the Foundation's Wish Idol for her "extraordinary generosity and her many wish granting achievements." Carey has volunteered for the Police Athletic League of New York City and contributed to the obstetrics department of New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell Medical Center. A percentage of the sales of MTV Unplugged was donated to various other charities. In 2008, Carey was named Hunger Ambassador of the World Hunger Relief Movement. In February 2010, the song, "100%", which was originally written and recorded for the film, Precious, was used as one of the theme songs for the 2010 Winter Olympics, with all money proceeds going to Team USA. In 2017, Carey was awarded with PETA's Angel for Animals Award for promoting animal adoption through her animated movie All I Want for Christmas Is You. One of Carey's most high-profile benefit concert appearances was on VH1's 1998 Divas Live special, during which she performed alongside other female singers in support of the Save the Music Foundation. The concert was a ratings success, and Carey participated in the Divas 2000 special and a 2016 holiday edition. She appeared at the America: A Tribute to Heroes nationally televised fundraiser in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and performed before peacekeeping troops in Kosovo. Carey hosted the CBS television special At Home for the Holidays, which documented real-life stories of adopted children and foster families. In 2005, Carey performed for Live 8 in London and at the Hurricane Katrina relief telethon "Shelter from the Storm". In August 2008, Carey and other singers recorded the charity single, "Just Stand Up" produced by Babyface and L.A. Reid, to support Stand Up to Cancer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Carey participated in the iHeart Living Room Concert for America and Rise Up New York! telethons to raise money for those affected by COVID-19. In response to the murder of George Floyd, Carey took to social media and sang a snippet of her 1990 song "There's Got to Be a Way" while encouraging fans to demand justice. In 2008, Carey performed in a New Year's Eve concert for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. She later said she felt "horrible and embarrassed" to have taken part in the concert. To make amends, in March 2011, Carey's representative Cindi Berger stated that royalties for the song "Save the Day", written for her fourteenth studio album, would be donated to charities that create awareness for human rights. Berger also said that Carey "has and continues to donate her time, money and countless hours of personal service to many organizations both here and abroad." "Save the Day" remained unreleased until 2020. In 2013, human rights activists criticized Carey for performing in a concert for Angola's "father-daughter kleptocracy" and accused her of accepting "dictator cash". Personal life Carey stated in 2006: "I do believe that I have been born again in a lot of ways. I think what I've changed are my priorities and my relationships with God. I feel the difference when I don't have my private moments to pray... I'm a fighter, but I learned that I'm not in charge. Whatever God wants to happen is what's going to happen. I feel like I've had endless second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth chances. It's by the grace of God I'm still here." Carey began dating Tommy Mottola while recording Mariah Carey, and they were married at the Episcopal Saint Thomas Church in New York City on June 5, 1993, in a half-million dollar ceremony. The newlyweds moved into a custom-built mansion, located on a 51-acre (21 ha) estate in Bedford, New York, referred to by Carey as "Sing Sing" (alluding to her feeling imprisoned there). After the release of Daydream and the success that followed, Carey began focusing on her personal life, which was a constant struggle at the time. Their relationship began to deteriorate due to their growing creative differences in terms of her music, as well as Mottola's controlling nature. They separated in December 1996, and announced it publicly on May 30, 1997. The couple divorced on March 4, 1998. Their home together was sold shortly afterwards for $20.5 million to Nelson Peltz and burned down in 1999. Carey was in a relationship with baseball player Derek Jeter from 1997 to 1998, and with singer Luis Miguel from 1998 to 2001. She began dating actor and comedian Nick Cannon while conceiving the music video for her song "Bye Bye", which they filmed together on an island off the coast of Antigua in April 2008. They were married on April 30, 2008, in the Bahamas. That same year, Carey suffered a miscarriage. At 35 weeks into her next pregnancy, she gave birth to their fraternal twins, Moroccan and Monroe, on April 30, 2011, via Caesarean section. In August 2014, Cannon confirmed he and Carey had separated. He filed for divorce on December 12, 2014, which was finalized in 2016. In 2015, Carey began dating Australian billionaire James Packer and, on January 21, 2016, she announced they were engaged. By October, however, they had called off the engagement. In October 2016, she began dating American choreographer Bryan Tanaka. On December 26, 2023, Tanaka confirmed that he and Carey had parted ways after seven years of dating. In April 2018, Carey opened up about taking therapy sessions and medication for her struggle with bipolar II disorder. She was diagnosed in 2001 and initially kept the diagnosis private. Discography Filmography Tours and residencies Written works All I Want for Christmas Is You. Random House Children's Books. November 10, 2015. ISBN 978-0-399-55139-0. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020. The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Henry Holt and Company. September 29, 2020. ISBN 978-1-250-16468-1. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020. The Christmas Princess (The Adventures of Little Mariah). Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. November 1, 2022. ISBN 978-1-250-83711-0. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022. See also List of best-selling singles List of best-selling albums List of best-selling music artists in the United States List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 List of artists who reached number one on the US dance chart Artists with the most number-ones on the US dance chart Forbes list of highest-earning musicians List of music artists by net worth List of largest music deals Notes References Citations Print sources External links Official website Mariah Carey at AllMusic Mariah Carey at IMDb Mariah Carey on Twitter

1969

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969

1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1960s decade. Events January January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. January 5 – Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants. January 14 – An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 28 and injures 314. January 19 – End of the siege of the University of Tokyo, marking the beginning of the end for the 1968–69 Japanese university protests. January 20 – Richard Nixon is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States. January 22 – An assassination attempt is carried out on Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev by deserter Viktor Ilyin. One person is killed, several are injured. Brezhnev escaped unharmed. January 27 Fourteen men, 9 of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel. Reverend Ian Paisley, Northern Irish Unionist leader and founder of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster is jailed for three months for illegal assembly. January 28 – 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill: A blowout on Union Oil's Platform A spills 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude oil into a channel and onto the beaches of Santa Barbara County in Southern California; on February 5 the oil spill closes Santa Barbara's harbor. The incident inspires Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson to organize the first Earth Day in 1970. February February 4 – In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is elected Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress. February 8 The Allende meteorite explodes over Mexico. After 147 years, the last weekly issue of The Saturday Evening Post is published in the United States. (The magazine is later briefly resurrected as a monthly magazine.) February 9 – The Boeing 747 "jumbo jet" is flown for the first time, taking off from the Boeing airfield at Everett, Washington. February 13 – Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorists bomb the Montreal Stock Exchange. February 14 – Pope Paul VI issues Mysterii Paschalis, a motu proprio, deleting many names from the Roman calendar of saints (including Valentine, who was celebrated on this day). February 17 – Aquanaut Berry L. Cannon dies of carbon dioxide poisoning while attempting to repair the SEALAB III habitat off San Clemente Island, California. February 24 – The Mariner 6 Mars probe is launched from the United States. February 28 – The 1969 Portugal earthquake hits Portugal, Spain and Morocco. March March 2 In Toulouse, France the first Concorde test flight is conducted. Soviet and Chinese forces clash at a border outpost on the Ussuri River. March 3 Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 (James McDivitt, Rusty Schweickart, David Scott) to test the lunar module. In a Los Angeles court, Sirhan Sirhan admits that he killed presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. March 13 – Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module. March 16 – Viasa Flight 742 crashes into a neighborhood in Maracaibo, Venezuela, shortly after taking off for Miami; all 84 people on board the DC-9 jet are killed along with 71 people on the ground. March 17 Golda Meir becomes the first female prime minister of Israel. The Longhope life-boat is lost after answering a mayday call during severe storms in the Pentland Firth between Orkney and the northern tip of Scotland; the entire crew of 8 die. March 18 – An annular solar eclipse is visible in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and is the 49th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 129. March 20 One hundred of the 105 passengers and crew on a United Arab Airlines flight, most of them Muslim pilgrims returning to Aswan from Mecca, are killed when the Ilyushin-18 turboprop crashes during a sandstorm. John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married at Gibraltar, and proceed to their honeymoon "Bed-in" for peace in Amsterdam. March 22 UCLA wins its third consecutive NCAA basketball championship by defeating Purdue University, 92 to 72. The landmark art exhibition When Attitudes become Form, curated by Harald Szeemann, opens at the Kunsthalle Bern in Bern, Switzerland. March 28 – Pope Paul VI increases the number of Roman Catholic cardinals by one-third, from 101 to 134. March 29 – The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 is held in Madrid, and results in four co-winners, with 18 votes each, from Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France. March 30 – The body of former United States General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower is brought by caisson to the United States Capitol to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda; Eisenhower had died two days earlier, after a long illness, in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C. March 31 – The Barroterán coal mine disaster kills 153 coal miners in Mexico. April April 3 – The Mass of Paul VI is promulgated in the Catholic Church by the Pope. April 4 – Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart. April 7 - RFC series begins with Network Working Group RFC 1 on ARPANET host software. April 8 – The Montreal Expos become Major League Baseball's first team outside the United States. April 9 – Fermín Monasterio Pérez is murdered by the ETA in Biscay, Spain; the 4th victim in the name of Basque nationalism. April 15 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a US reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board. April 17 – Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is found guilty of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. April 20 – British troops arrive in Northern Ireland to reinforce the Royal Ulster Constabulary. April 22 – English sailor Robin Knox-Johnston becomes the first person to sail around the world solo without stopping. April 28 – Charles de Gaulle steps down as president of France after suffering defeat in a referendum the day before. May May 10 – The Battle of Dong Ap Bia, also known as Hamburger Hill, begins during the Vietnam War. May 13 – May 13 Incident: Race riots occur in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. May 14 – Colonel Muammar Gaddafi visits Mecca, Saudi Arabia. May 15 – An American teenager known as 'Robert R.' dies in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, of a baffling medical condition. In 1984 it will be identified as the earliest confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in North America. May 16 – Venera program: Soviet space probe Venera 5 lands on Venus. May 17 – Venera program: Soviet space probe Venera 6 begins to descend into Venus's atmosphere, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure. May 18 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 (Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, John Young) is launched. It is to be a full rehearsal for the Moon landing, stopping 15 kilometers short of actually reaching the lunar surface. May 20 – United States National Guard helicopters spray skin-stinging powder on anti-war protesters in California. May 21 – Rosariazo: Civil unrest breaks out in Rosario, Argentina, following the death of a 15-year-old student. May 22 – Apollo program: Apollo 10's lunar module flies to within 15,400 m of the Moon's surface. May 26 The Andean Pact (Andean Group) is established. Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth, after a successful 8-day test of all the components needed for the upcoming first crewed Moon landing. May 26–June 2 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono conduct their second bed-in. The follow-up to the Amsterdam event is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. Lennon composes and records the song "Give Peace a Chance" during the event. May 29 – Cordobazo: A general strike and civil unrest break out in Córdoba, Argentina. May 30 – Riots in Curaçao mark the start of an Afro-Caribbean civil rights movement on the island. June June 3 – While operating at sea on SEATO maneuvers, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne accidentally rams and slices into the American destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in the South China Sea, killing 74 American seamen. June 5 – An international communist conference begins in Moscow. June 8 Francisco Franco orders the closing of the Gibraltar–Spain border and communications between Gibraltar and Spain in response to the 1967 Gibraltar sovereignty referendum. The border remains closed until a partial reopening on December 15, 1982. U.S. President Richard Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu meet at Midway Island. Nixon announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn by September. June 15 – Georges Pompidou is elected President of France. June 17 – After a 23-game match, Boris Spassky defeats Tigran Petrosian to become the World Chess Champion in Moscow. June 24 – The United Kingdom and Rhodesia sever diplomatic relations, after the Rhodesian constitutional referendum. June 27 – Gay intercourse is officially legalized in Canada. June 28 – The Stonewall riots, a milestone in the modern gay rights movement in the United States, began in New York City. July July 7 – French is made equal to English throughout the Canadian national government. July 8 – Vietnam War: The first U.S. troop withdrawals are made. July 14 Football War: After Honduras loses an association football match against El Salvador, rioting breaks out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadoran workers in Honduras, tens of thousands are expelled, prompting a brief Salvadoran invasion of Honduras. The OAS works out a cease-fire on July 18, which takes effect on July 20. The Act of Free Choice for West Irian commences in Merauke, Indonesia. July 16 – Apollo program: Apollo 11 (Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins) lifts off from Cape Kennedy in Florida towards the first crewed landing on the Moon. July 19 Chappaquiddick incident: US Senator Edward M. Kennedy drives off a bridge into a tidal pond after leaving a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy does not report the accident for nine or ten hours. John Fairfax lands in Hollywood Beach, Florida, United States and becomes the first person to row across an ocean solo, after 180 days spent at sea on board the 25' ocean rowboat Britannia (left Gran Canaria on January 20, 1969). July 20 Apollo program Moon landing: At 3:17 pm ET (20:17 UTC) Apollo 11's Lunar Module Eagle lands on the Moon's surface. At 10:56 pm ET (02:56 UTC July 21), an estimated 650 million people worldwide, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at this time, watch in awe as Neil Armstrong takes his first historic steps on the surface. 1969 Tour de France: Belgian Eddy Merckx wins the cycle race for the first time. July 22 – Spanish dictator and head of state Francisco Franco appoints Prince Juan Carlos to be his successor as head of state following his death. July 24 Apollo program: Apollo 11 returns from the first successful Moon landing and the astronauts are placed in biological isolation for several days in case they may have brought back lunar germs. The airless lunar environment is later determined to rule out microscopic life. The Soviet Union returns British lecturer Gerald Brooke to the United Kingdom freed from a Soviet prison in exchange for their spies Peter and Helen Kroger (Morris and Lona Cohen). July 26 – A 6.4 earthquake shakes the Chinese city of Yangjiang destroying thousands of homes and killing 3,000 people. July 30 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam, meeting with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders. July 31 – Pope Paul VI arrives in Entebbe, Uganda for the first visit by a reigning Pope to Africa. August August 2 – U.S. President Richard Nixon visits Romania, becoming the first incumbent U.S. president to visit a communist state since the start of the Cold War. August 4 – Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, U.S. representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy begin secret peace negotiations. They eventually fail since the two sides cannot agree to any terms. August 5 – Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometres (2,190 mi)). August 9 – On orders from Charles Manson, members of the Manson Family invade the Los Angeles home of film director Roman Polanski, and murder his pregnant wife, the actress Sharon Tate, and four others. August 10 – A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members of the Manson Family kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in Los Angeles. August 13 – Serious border clashes occur between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. August 14 – The Troubles: British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland to restore order following three days of political and sectarian violence, marking the beginning of the 37-year Operation Banner. August 15–18 – The Woodstock Festival is held near White Lake, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era. August 17 – Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast of the United States, killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 USD). August 21 – Australian Denis Michael Rohan sets fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. August 29 – A Trans World Airlines flight from Rome to Tel Aviv is hijacked and diverted to Syria. September September 1 1969 Libyan coup d'état: A bloodless coup in Libya ousts King Idris and brings Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to power. For Brazil, the Jornal Nacional was created on Monday, 1 September 1969. September 2 – Ho Chi Minh, the president of North Vietnam, dies at the age of 79. September 5 – Lieutenant William Calley is charged with six counts of premeditated murder for the 1968 My Lai Massacre deaths of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, Vietnam. September 9 – Allegheny Airlines Flight 853, a DC-9 airliner, collides in flight with a small Piper PA-28 airplane, and crashes near Fairland, Indiana, killing all 83 people in both aircraft. September 11 – An annular solar eclipse is visible in Pacific Ocean and South America, and is the 41st solar eclipse of Solar Saros 134. September 22–25 – An Islamic conference in Rabat, Morocco, following the al-Aqsa Mosque fire (August 21), condemns the Israeli claim of ownership of Jerusalem. September 23 – China carries out an underground nuclear bomb test. September 25 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference is founded. September 28 – 1969 West German federal election: The Social Democrats, led by Vice Chancellor Willy Brandt, and the Free Democrats led by Walter Scheel, formed a coalition government with Brandt as Chancellor, after the Social Democrats severed their relationship with Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger's Christian Democratic Union. October October 1 In Sweden, Olof Palme is elected Leader of the Social Democratic Worker's Party, replacing Tage Erlander as Prime Minister on October 14. The Beijing Subway begins operation. October 2 – A 1.2 megaton thermonuclear device is tested at Amchitka Island, Alaska. This test is code-named Project Milrow, the 11th test of the Operation Mandrel 1969–1970 underground nuclear test series. This test is known as a "calibration shot" to test if the island is fit for larger underground nuclear detonations. October 5 – Sazae-san first airs on Fuji Television. October 9–12 – Days of Rage: In Chicago, the Illinois National Guard is called in to control demonstrations involving the radical Weathermen, in connection with the "Chicago Eight" Trial. October 11 – The Zodiac Killer shoots and kills taxi driver Paul Stine in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco; this is the serial killer's last known murder. October 11–16 – The New York Mets upset the Baltimore Orioles four games to one in the World Series. October 15 – DZKB-TV Channel 9, the Philippines' sixth TV station, is launched. Vietnam War: Hundreds of thousands of people take part in Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam demonstrations across the United States. October 17 – Willard S. Boyle and George Smith invent the CCD at Bell Laboratories (30 years later, this technology is widely used in digital cameras). October 20 – Experimental research showing that protons were composed of smaller particles, the first evidence of quarks, is published. October 21 Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany. General Siad Barre comes to power in Somalia in a coup, 6 days after the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke. October 25 – 1969 Australian federal election: John Gorton's Liberal/Country Coalition government is narrowly re-elected with a sharply reduced majority, defeating a resurgent Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam. Prime Minister Gorton survived a leadership challenge by his deputy William McMahon as well as David Fairbairn in the immediate aftermath of the election. October 29 – The first electronic message is sent between two computers connected via ARPANET between University of California, Los Angeles and SRI International in California at around 10:30pm local time, the initial forerunning technology to the Internet. November November 3 – Süleyman Demirel of AP forms the new government of Turkey (31st government). November 10 – The television series Sesame Street premiered on National Educational Television, becoming the most famous preschool television series of all time. November 14 Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12 (Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon, Alan Bean), the second crewed mission to the Moon. The SS United States, the last active United States Lines passenger ship, is withdrawn from service. November 15 – Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea. November 17 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki, to begin the SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides. November 19 Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms"), becoming the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon. Professional footballer Pelé scores his 1,000th goal. Vietnam War: A Cleveland, Ohio newspaper, The Plain Dealer, publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. Richard Oakes returns with 90 followers to Alcatraz Island and begins a 19 month long occupation, lasting until June 1971. November 21 U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Satō agree in Washington, D.C. to the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. retains rights to military bases on the island, but they must be nuclear-free. The first ARPANET link is established (the progenitor of the global Internet). November 24 – Apollo program: The Apollo 12 spacecraft splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second crewed mission to the Moon. December December 1 – Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States since World War II is held. September 14 is the first of the 366 days of the year selected, meaning that anyone born on September 14 in the years from 1944 to 1951 would be the first to be summoned. On January 4, 1970, The New York Times will run a long article, "Statisticians Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random". December 2 – The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its first passenger flight. It carries 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle to New York City. December 6 – Meredith Hunter is stabbed to death by Hells Angels at the Altamont Free Concert, an event which came to be viewed as the end of the hippie era and the de facto conclusion of late-1960s American youth culture. December 12 – The Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan, Italy, kills 17 people and injures 88. December 24 Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate-LaBianca murder trial. The oil company Phillips Petroleum made the first oil discovery in the Norwegian sector of North Sea. Nigerian troops capture Umuahia. The last Biafran capital before its dissolution becomes Owerri. December 27 – The Liberal Democratic Party wins 47.6% of the votes in the 1969 Japanese general election. Future prime ministers Yoshirō Mori and Tsutomu Hata and future kingmaker Ichirō Ozawa are elected for the first time. Date unknown Summer – Invention of Unix under the potential name "Unics" (after Multics). Common African, Malagasy and Mauritian Organization (OCAMM) (Organisation Commune Africaine Malgache et Mauricienne) is established. International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, a maritime treaty, is adopted. Births January January 1 – Verne Troyer, American actor (d. 2018) January 2 Robby Gordon, American racing driver Tommy Morrison, American boxer (d. 2013) Christy Turlington, American fashion model January 3 – Michael Schumacher, German seven-time Formula One world champion January 5 Marilyn Manson, American rock musician Shea Whigham, American actor January 6 – Norman Reedus, American actor January 7 Alfredo Romero, Venezuelan activist Rex Lee, American comedian January 11 Kyōko Hikami, Japanese voice actress Kyle Richards, American actress January 13 Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, Mexican writer, wife of Andrés Manuel López Obrador Stephen Hendry, British snooker player January 14 Jason Bateman, American actor, director and producer Dave Grohl, American rock drummer and composer January 15 – Meret Becker, German actress and musician January 16 Roy Jones Jr., American boxer Dead, Swedish vocalist (d. 1991) January 17 Lukas Moodysson, Swedish film director Tiësto, Dutch DJ and music producer January 18 – Dave Bautista, actor and professional wrestler January 19 Predrag Mijatović, Montenegrin footballer Robert Prosinečki, Croatian football player and coach January 27 Cornelius, Japanese rock musician, singer and producer Patton Oswalt, American stand-up comedian, writer, actor and voice artist January 28 – Kathryn Morris, American actress January 29 – Hyde, Japanese rock musician, singer and guitarist January 31 – Bill Huizenga, American politician February February 1 Gabriel Batistuta, Argentine footballer Andrew Breitbart, American writer and publisher (d. 2012) February 2 – Dambisa Moyo, Zambian-born economist February 3 Retief Goosen, South African golfer Beau Biden, American politician, lawyer, and son of Joe Biden (d. 2015) February 5 Bobby Brown, African-American singer Michael Sheen, Welsh actor February 6 – David Hayter, Canadian-American actor, voice actor, screenwriter, director, and producer February 7 – Andrew Micallef, Maltese painter and musician February 11 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress, director, producer and businesswoman February 12 Darren Aronofsky, American filmmaker Hong Myung-bo, South Korean footballer Brad Werenka, Canadian ice-hockey player February 13 Ahlam, Emirati singer JB Blanc, French voice actor February 14 – Adriana Behar, Brazilian volleyball player February 15 Roberto Balado, Cuban boxer (d. 1994) Birdman, American rapper, entertainer, and record producer February 17 – Dorothee Schneider, German dressage rider February 20 – Keiji Takayama, Japanese professional wrestler February 21 James Dean Bradfield, Welsh singer-songwriter Bosson, Swedish singer-songwriter Petra Kronberger, Austrian alpine skier Tony Meola, American soccer player Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, American actress February 22 – Clinton Kelly, American TV personality, author, and consultant February 23 Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer Marc Wauters, Belgian cyclist Daymond John, American businessman, investor, and television personality February 28 Robert Sean Leonard, American actor Pat Monahan, American singer March March 1 – Javier Bardem, Spanish actor March 4 Annie Yi, Taiwanese actress Patrick Roach, Canadian actor March 10 – Paget Brewster, American actress March 11 Terrence Howard, American actor and singer Soraya, Colombian singer and multi-instrumentalist (d. 2006) March 12 Graham Coxon, English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter Akemi Okamura, Japanese voice actress Jake Tapper, American journalist, author, and cartoonist March 13 – Susanna Mälkki, Finnish conductor March 15 Timo Kotipelto, Finnish musician Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey March 16 – Markus Lanz, German-Italian television presenter March 17 – Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer (d. 2010) March 18 Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess grandmaster Jimmy Morales, Guatemalan politician, 37th President of Guatemala March 19 – Patrick Tam, Hong Kong actor March 21 – Ali Daei, Iranian football player March 22 – Tony Fadell, American engineer, inventor, designer and entrepreneur (Nest Labs, Apple Inc) March 24 – Stephan Eberharter, Austrian alpine skier March 25 – Jeffrey Walker, British musician March 26 – Suroosh Alvi, Canadian journalist and filmmaker March 27 Mariah Carey, American pop singer Kevin Corrigan, American actor Pauley Perrette, American actress March 28 Rodney Atkins, American country music singer Brett Ratner, American film director and producer March 29 – Chiaki Ishikawa, Japanese singer (See-Saw) April April 1 Fadl Shaker, Lebanese singer Andrew Vlahov, Australian basketball player April 2 – Ajay Devgn, Indian actor, director and producer April 3 Ben Mendelsohn, Australian actor Lance Storm, Canadian professional wrestler April 6 Paul Rudd, American actor, comedian, writer and producer Anne-Marie Trevelyan, British politician April 11 Oriol Junqueras, Catalan-Spanish politician Cerys Matthews, Welsh singer Caren Miosga, German journalist and television presenter Chisato Moritaka, Japanese singer Dustin Rhodes, American professional wrestler April 16 – Dawn Brancheau, American senior animal trainer (d. 2010) April 18 Shannon Lee, Chinese-American actress Susan Polgár, Hungarian chess player April 19 – Dana Nessel, American politician and lawyer April 20 – Marietta Slomka, German journalist April 21 – Toby Stephens, English actor April 22 – Dion Dublin, English footballer April 23 – Yelena Shushunova, Soviet gymnast (d. 2018) April 25 Vanessa Beecroft, Italian artist Gina Torres, American actress Renée Zellweger, American Academy Award-winning actress and producer May May 1 – Wes Anderson, American filmmaker May 2 Brian Lara, Trinidadian cricketer. Corinna Schumacher, German animal rights activist and accomplished horse rider May 4 – Rabindra Prasad Adhikari, Nepalese politician (d. 2019) May 5 – Hideki Irabu, Japanese baseball player (d. 2011) May 6 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer May 7 – Katerina Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player May 9 – Amber, German musician May 8 – Akebono Tarō, American-born Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2024) May 10 – Dennis Bergkamp, Dutch footballer May 13 Nikos Aliagas, French-born television host Brian Carroll (aka Buckethead), American guitarist May 14 – Cate Blanchett, Australian actress May 15 Assala, Syrian singer Emmitt Smith, American football player May 16 David Boreanaz, American actor Tucker Carlson, American political commentator Steve Lewis, American athlete May 19 – Teresa Ribera, Spanish politician May 21 – Georgiy Gongadze, Ukrainian journalist (d. 2000) May 25 – Anne Heche, American actress (d. 2022) May 26 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete May 28 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (d. 2016) June June 3 – Takako Minekawa, Japanese musician, composer and writer June 4 – Rob Huebel, American comedian June 5 – Brian McKnight, American musician June 7 Alina Astafei, Romanian-German high jumper Prince Joachim of Denmark Kim Rhodes, American actress June 8 – J. P. Manoux, American actor June 11 Peter Dinklage, American actor Steven Drozd, American rock drummer Anatoliy Povedenok, Kazakh football player June 12 Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian rock guitarist (d. 2007) Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian politician June 13 – Søren Rasted, Danish musician June 14 Eugene Chung, Korean-American football player Steffi Graf, German tennis player June 15 Ice Cube, African-American rapper and actor Oliver Kahn, German football goalkeeper Jansher Khan, Pakistani squash player June 16 – MC Ren, American rapper June 17 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan athlete June 18 – Haki Doku, Albanian para-cyclist June 19 – Trine Pallesen, Danish actress June 20 Alexander Schallenberg, current Chancellor of Austria Paulo Bento, Portuguese football player and coach June 23 Noa, Israeli singer Andrey Antonischak, Ukrainian politician (d. 2024) Fernanda Ribeiro, Portuguese long-distance runner Evie Tamala – Indonesian dangdut singer and actress June 24 – Sissel Kyrkjebø, Norwegian singer June 30 – Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lankan cricketer July July 2 Jenni Rivera, Mexican-American singer-songwriter, producer and actress (d. 2012) Tim Rodber, English rugby player July 3 Gedeon Burkhard, German actor Shawnee Smith, American actress July 5 – John LeClair, American hockey player RZA, American rapper July 7 Sylke Otto, German luger Joe Sakic, Canadian hockey player Cree Summer, American-Canadian actress and singer July 8 – Sugizo, Japanese guitarist and singer July 9 – Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, Mongolian-German sport shooter July 10 Gale Harold, American actor Hossan Leong, Singaporean stage and screen actor, television host, radio deejay and comedian Jonas Kaufmann, German operatic tenor Rami Makhlouf, Syrian businessman July 11 – David Tao, Taiwanese singer-songwriter July 13 – Ken Jeong, American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, writer and former physician July 14 – Billy Herrington, American gay pornographic actor (d. 2018) July 16 Björn Dunkerbeck, Danish windsurfer Sahra Wagenknecht, German politician July 17 Jason Clarke, Australian actor Ravi Kishan, Indian actor Kazuki Kitamura, Japanese actor July 18 – The Great Sasuke, Japanese wrestler July 20 Josh Holloway, American actor Johnny Ngauamo, Tonga rugby union player July 21 Avraam Russo, Russian singer Isabell Werth, German equestrian July 22 Jason Becker, American heavy metal guitarist, formerly of Cacophony Anne Le Hénanff, French politician James Arnold Taylor, American voice actor Despina Vandi, Greek singer July 23 – Raphael Warnock, American pastor and junior senator from Georgia July 24 – Jennifer Lopez, American actress and singer July 25 – Annastacia Palaszczuk, Australian politician, Premier of Queensland July 26 – Tanni Grey-Thompson, born Carys Grey, British Paralympian July 27 Dacian Cioloș, 64th Prime Minister of Romania Bryan Fuller, American writer, producer, and director Pavel Hapal, Czech footballer Jonty Rhodes, South African cricketer Triple H, American wrestler July 28 Michael Amott, Swedish guitarist and songwriter Alexis Arquette, American actress, cabaret performer, underground cartoonist, and activist (d. 2016) Dana White, American businessman and president of Ultimate Fighting Championship July 30 – Simon Baker, Australian-American actor and director July 31 – Antonio Conte, Italian football player and manager August August 2 Jan Axel Blomberg, Norwegian drummer Fernando Couto, Portuguese footballer August 3 – Anne Marie DeLuise, Canadian actress August 4 Max Cavalera, Brazilian musician and singer (Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, ex-Sepultura) Michael DeLuise, American actor August 6 – Elliott Smith, American musician (d. 2003) August 8 – Faye Wong, Hong Kong singer and actress August 10 – Brian Drummond, Canadian voice actor August 11 Vanderlei de Lima, Brazilian long-distance runner Ashley Jensen, British actress August 12 – Tanita Tikaram, German-born British singer-songwriter August 13 – Midori Ito, Japanese figure skater August 14 – Chris Pérez, American guitarist August 15 Justin Broadrick, British musician Kevin Cheng, Hong Kong television actor and singer Bernard Fanning, Australian musician (Powderfinger) John Fetterman, American politician, Senator of Pennsylvania August 17 Uhm Jung-hwa, South Korean singer and actress Christian Laettner, American professional basketball player Dick Togo, Japanese professional wrestler Donnie Wahlberg, American singer and actor (New Kids on the Block) August 18 Edward Norton, American actor, film director, screenwriter, and social activist Christian Slater, American actor and producer Timothy Snyder, American author and historian August 19 Nate Dogg, African-American rapper (d. 2011) Matthew Perry, American actor (d. 2023) August 20 – Santeri Kinnunen, Finnish actor August 23 – Jean-Marc Tellier, French politician August 28 – Jack Black, American actor and musician August 29 – Lucero, Mexican singer and actress August 30 – Kent Osborne, American actor and producer September September 3 – Robert Karlsson, Swedish golfer September 4 Giorgi Margvelashvili, politician; 4th President of the Republic of Georgia Noah Taylor, Australian actor Alexander Paul Coe, Welsh DJ and record producer September 6 Michellie Jones, Australian triathlete Cece Peniston, American musician September 7 – Diane Farr, American actress September 8 – Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 2011) September 8 – Rachel Hunter, New Zealand model and actress September 12 Ángel Cabrera, Argentine golfer Shigeki Maruyama, Japanese golfer September 13 Tyler Perry, American actor, film director and screenwriter Shane Warne, Australian cricketer (d. 2022) September 14 – Bong Joon-ho, South Korean film director and screenwriter September 17 Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player Keith Flint, English singer/dancer in the band The Prodigy (d. 2019) September 19 Simona Păucă, Romanian gymnast LeRoy Whitfield, African-American freelance journalist (d. 2005) September 21 – Billy Porter, American actor and singer September 22 – Sue Perkins, English actress and comedian September 24 – Shawn Crahan, American rock percussionist September 25 Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer (d. 2002) Catherine Zeta-Jones, Welsh actress Hal Sparks, American comedian, actor, musician, and political commentator September 29 Erika Eleniak, American model and actress Aleks Syntek, Mexican singer and songwriter September 30 – Jackie Traverse, Canadian artist and activist Chris Von Erich, American professional wrestler (d. 1991) October October 1 Zach Galifianakis, American actor and stand-up comedian Marcus Stephen, President of Nauru Igor Ulanov, Russian hockey player October 3 Gwen Stefani, American singer, actress and television host Tetsuya, Japanese rock musician October 5 – Elizabeth Azcona Bocock, Honduran politician October 6 Muhammad V of Kelantan, 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and Sultan of Kelantan Ogün Temizkanoğlu, Turkish footballer October 7 – Benny Chan Ho Man, Hong Kong actor October 9 Jun Akiyama, Japanese professional wrestler PJ Harvey, British singer-songwriter Steve McQueen, English film director, producer and screenwriter Chan Chun Sing, Singaporean politician October 10 Brett Favre, American football player Wendi McLendon-Covey, American actress October 11 – Merieme Chadid, Moroccan born-French astronomer October 12 – Judit Mascó, Spanish model, television host and writer October 13 Rhett Akins, American country singer Nancy Kerrigan, American figure skater Cady McClain, American actress and director October 15 Kim Raver, American actress Dominic West, English actor, director and musician October 16 – Wendy Wilson, American singer and television personality October 17 Ernie Els, South African golfer Jesús Ángel García, Spanish race walker Wood Harris, American actor Wyclef Jean, Haitian rapper Nancy Sullivan, American actress October 19 Pedro Castillo, 63rd President of Peru Vanessa Marshall, American actress and voice actress Trey Parker, American actor, voice actor, animator, writer, producer, director and composer October 20 Laurie Daley, Australian rugby league player Juan González, American baseball player October 21 – Michael Hancock, Australian rugby league player October 22 – Spike Jonze, American director and filmmaker October 24 Peter Dolving, Swedish metal musician Adela Noriega, Mexican actress October 25 Samantha Bee, Canadian comedian, writer, producer and political commentator Josef Beránek, Czech ice hockey player Oleg Salenko, Russian footballer October 26 – Sarina Wiegman, Dutch footballer and manager October 28 Steven Chamuleau, Dutch cardiologist October 30 Stanislav Gross, 5th Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (d. 2015) Snow, Canadian reggae singer October 31 – Kim Rossi Stuart, Italian actor and director November November 1 – Gary Alexander, American basketball player November 2 Reginald Arvizu (aka Fieldy Snuts), American bassist Madhushree, Indian playback singer November 3 – Robert Miles, Swiss-born Italian record producer and DJ (d. 2017) November 4 Sean Combs, American rapper and entrepreneur Matthew McConaughey, American actor November 7 Michelle Clunie, American actress Hélène Grimaud, French pianist November 8 – Jonathan Slavin, American actor and activist November 9 – Allison Wolfe, American musician November 10 Faustino Asprilla, Colombian football player Jens Lehmann, German football player Ellen Pompeo, American actress November 12 Tomas N'evergreen, Danish singer Rob Schrab, American actor and comic book creator November 13 Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali-born Dutch American activist Gerard Butler, Scottish actor November 14 Butch Walker, American musician Daniel Abraham, American novelist, author, screenwriter, and producer November 17 – Jean-Michel Saive, Belgian table tennis player November 18 Kathleen van Brempt, Belgian politician Sam Cassell, American basketball player Ahmed Helmy, Egyptian actor November 19 Ertuğrul Sağlam, Turkish football coach and former player Viktor Skrypnyk, Ukrainian football coach and former player November 21 – Ken Griffey Jr., American baseball player November 22 – Katrin Krabbe, German sprinter November 23 – Robin Padilla, Filipino actor November 24 – David Adeang, Nauruan politician November 26 – Kara Walker, American artist November 27 Elizabeth Marvel, American actress Carina Ricco, Mexican actress and singer November 28 Colman Domingo, African-American actor Lexington Steele, African-American actor and film director November 29 Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dutch footballer Kasey Keller, American Major League Soccer player Mariano Rivera, Panamanian-American professional baseball player November 30 Trina Gulliver, English darts player Chris Weitz, American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor December December 1 – Richard Carrier, American historian December 4 – Jay-Z, African-American rapper December 5 Sajid Javid, British Pakistani politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer Catherine Tate, English actress, comedian, and writer December 9 Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer Jakob Dylan, American singer-songwriter December 11 – Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess grandmaster December 16 – Michelle Smith, Irish swimmer December 17 Laurie Holden, Canadian and American actress, producer and human rights activist Chuck Liddell, American mixed martial arts fighter Ismail Qasim Naji, Somali politician December 18 Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer Irvin Duguid, Scottish rock keyboard player (Stiltskin) Mille Petrozza, German-Italian rock vocalist and guitarist (Kreator) Joe Randa, American Major League Baseball player and radio talk-show host December 19 Richard Hammond, British television presenter Lauren Sánchez, American news anchor Kristy Swanson, American actress December 21 Julie Delpy, French-American actress Magnus Samuelsson, Swedish bodybuilder, World's Strongest Man December 22 – Dagmar Hase, German swimmer December 23 – Jim Bankoff, American CEO of Vox Media December 24 Milan Blagojevic, Australian retired soccer player Pernille Fischer Christensen, Danish film director Leavander Johnson, American lightweight boxer (d. 2005) Sean Cameron Michael, South African actor and singer Ed Miliband, English academic and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office Mark Millar, Scottish author Luis Musrri, Chilean footballer Oleg Skripochka, Russian cosmonaut Gintaras Staučė, Lithuanian footballer Chen Yueling, American race walker Jonathan Zittrain, American professor December 25 – Nicolas Godin, French musician December 27 Chyna, American professional wrestler (d. 2016) Sarah Vowell, American historian, author, journalist, essayist, social commentator and actress December 28 – Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer programmer December 30 Kersti Kaljulaid, 5th President of Estonia Jay Kay, English singer (Jamiroquai) Deaths January January 1 Barton MacLane, American actor (b. 1902) Bruno Söderström, Swedish athlete (b. 1881) January 3 – Commodore Cochran, American Olympic athlete (b. 1902) January 4 – Paul Chambers, American jazz bassist (b. 1935) January 6 – Shalva Nutsubidze, Georgian philosopher, historian, rustvelologist, literary critic, translator, and public figure (b. 1888) January 8 – Albert Hill, British athlete (b. 1889) January 19 – Jan Palach, Czech student (b. 1948) January 27 – Charles Winninger, American actor (b. 1884) January 29 – Allen Dulles, American director of the Central Intelligence Agency (b. 1893) January 30 – Dominique Pire, Belgian Dominican friar, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1910) January 31 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894) February February 2 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887) February 3 Eduardo Mondlane, leader of the Mozambique nationalist organization FRELIMO (b. 1920) Al Taliaferro, American Disney comics artist (b. 1905) C. N. Annadurai, Indian politician and Chief Minister of Madras State (b. 1909) February 5 – Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1902) February 9 – George "Gabby" Hayes, American actor (b. 1885) February 13 – Florence Mary Taylor, English-born Australian architect (b. 1879) February 14 – Vito Genovese, Italian-American mobster (b. 1897) February 18 – Dragiša Cvetković, 13th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1893) February 19 – Madge Blake, American actress (b. 1899) February 20 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883) February 23 Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902) Madhubala, Indian actress (b. 1933) February 25 – Jan Zajíc, Czech student (b. 1950) February 26 Levi Eshkol, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895) Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883) February 27 – John Boles, American actor (b. 1895) March March 3 Ali Jawdat al-Aiyubi, 11th Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1886) Fred Alexander, American tennis player (b. 1880) March 6 – Óscar Osorio, Salvadorian military leader, 32nd President of El Salvador (b. 1910) March 11 Daniel E. Barbey, American admiral (b. 1889) John Wyndham, English author (b. 1903) March 14 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-American artist (b. 1898) March 15 – Miles Malleson, English actor (b. 1888) March 24 – Joseph Kasavubu, 1st President of Congo-Léopoldville (b. 1917) March 25 – Max Eastman, American writer (b. 1883) March 26 – John Kennedy Toole, American author (b. 1937) March 28 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, American general and politician, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890) April April 2 – Fortunio Bonanova, Spanish actor and singer (b. 1895) April 5 Alberto Bonucci, Italian actor and director (b. 1918) Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan novelist and politician, 48th President of Venezuela (b. 1884) April 9 – FS Hussain, Pakistani aerobatic pilot who fought in World War II (b. 1924) April 10 – Harley Earl, American designer and executive (b. 1893) April 15 – Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen consort of Spain (b. 1887) April 20 – Vjekoslav Luburić, Croatian Ustaše official and concentration camp administrator (b. 1914) April 26 – Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist and founder of aikido (b. 1883) April 27 – René Barrientos, Bolivian general and statesman, 47th President of Bolivia (helicopter crash) (b. 1919) May May 2 – Franz von Papen, 22nd Chancellor of Germany and 26th Prime Minister of Prussia (b. 1879) May 3 Karl Freund, German cinematographer (b. 1890) Zakir Hussain, Indian politician, 3rd President of India (b. 1897) May 4 – Sir Osbert Sitwell, English writer (b. 1892) May 6 – Don Drummond, Jamaican ska musician (b. 1934) May 14 Enid Bennett, American actress (b. 1893) Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (b. 1880) May 15 – Robert Rayford, American HIV/AIDS victim (b. 1953) May 18 – Camille Drevet, French anti-colonialist, feminist activist and pacifist (b. 1881) May 21 – William Lincoln Bakewell, American explorer (b. 1888) May 23 – Jimmy McHugh, American composer (b. 1894) May 24 – Mitzi Green, American actress (b. 1920) May 26 – Paul Hawkins, Australian racing driver (b. 1937) May 27 Muhammad Fareed Didi, Sultan of Maldives (b. 1901) Jeffrey Hunter, American actor (b. 1926) May 28 – Rhys Williams, Welsh actor (b. 1897) June June 1 – Ivar Ballangrud, Norwegian Olympic speed skater (b. 1904) June 4 – Rafael Osuna, Mexican professional tennis player (b. 1938) June 8 – Robert Taylor, American actor (b. 1911) June 11 – John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers of America (b. 1889) June 12 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1899) June 16 – Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, British field marshal and 17th Governor General of Canada (b. 1891) June 18 – Edgar Anderson, American botanist (b. 1897) June 19 – Natalie Talmadge, American actress (b. 1896) June 20 – Mohamed Siddiq El-Minshawi, Egyptian Qur'anic reciter (b. 1920) June 22 – Judy Garland, American actress and singer (b. 1922) June 23 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish athlete (b. 1907) July July 2 – Mikio Naruse, Japanese film director (b. 1905) July 3 – Brian Jones, British rock musician (b. 1942) July 5 Ben Alexander, American actor (b. 1911) Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist (b. 1884) Walter Gropius, German architect (b. 1883) Lambert Hillyer, American film director (b. 1889) Tom Mboya, Kenyan politician (b. 1930) Leo McCarey, American film director (b. 1898) July 9 – Raizō Tanaka, Japanese admiral (b. 1892) July 15 – Peter van Eyck, German actor (b. 1911) July 17 – Ichikawa Raizō VIII, Japanese actor (b. 1931) July 20 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (b. 1929) July 24 – Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist (b. 1904) July 25 – Otto Dix, German painter (b. 1891) July 28 Frank Loesser, American songwriter (b. 1910) Ramón Grau, president of Cuba (b. 1882) August August 5 – Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg (b. 1873) August 6 – Theodor W. Adorno, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1903) August 8 – Choi Seung-hee, Korean modern dancer (b. 1911) August 9 Cecil Frank Powell, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903) Constantin Ion Parhon, Romanian politician (b. 1874) Jay Sebring, American celebrity hair stylist (b. 1933) Sharon Tate, American actress and model (b. 1943) August 13 – Nicolás Fasolino, Argentine Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1887) August 14 – Leonard Woolf, English writer (b. 1880) August 17 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect (b. 1886) Otto Stern, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888) August 18 – Mildred Davis, American actress (b. 1901) August 20 – Marty Barry, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1905) August 26 – Ismail al-Azhari, 2nd Prime Minister, 3rd President of Sudan (b. 1900) August 27 Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, English novelist (b. 1884) Erika Mann, German writer (b. 1905) August 31 – Rocky Marciano, American professional boxer (b. 1923) September September 2 Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese Communist politician, 1st Prime Minister of North Vietnam and 1st President of North Vietnam (b. 1890) Norman Manley, Premier of Jamaica (b. 1893) September 3 – John Lester, American cricketer (b. 1871) September 6 – Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (b. 1892) September 8 Bud Collyer, American radio and television personality (b. 1908) Alexandra David-Néel, French explorer (b. 1868) September 12 – Terry de la Mesa Allen, Sr., American general (b. 1888) September 19 – Rex Ingram, American actor (b. 1895) September 22 Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico, 1958-1964 (b. 1909) Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Lithuania (b. 1885) September 27 – Nicolas Grunitzky, 2nd President of Togo (b. 1913) September 28 – Nicolae Dăscălescu, Romanian general (b. 1884) October October 3 – Skip James, American blues singer (b. 1902) October 6 – Walter Hagen, American golf champion (b. 1892) October 7 Natalya Lisenko, Russian actress (b. 1884) Ture Nerman, Swedish communist leader (b. 1886) October 8 – Eduardo Ciannelli, Italian actor and singer (b. 1888) October 12 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater (b. 1912) October 16 – Leonard Chess, Polish-American record company executive, co-founder of Chess Records (b. 1917) October 21 Jack Kerouac, American author (b. 1922) Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician (b. 1882) October 22 – Vittorio Tur, Italian admiral (b. 1882) October 26 – Gyula Mándi, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1899) October 29 – Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich, 34th President of Costa Rica (b. 1907) October 31 – Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río, 26th President of Ecuador, leader during World War II (b. 1893) November November 1 – Pauline Bush, American actress (b. 1886) November 5 – Lloyd Corrigan, American actor (b. 1900) November 8 Dave O'Brien, American actor (b. 1912) Vesto M. Slipher, American astronomer (b. 1875) November 12 William F. Friedman, American cryptanalyst (b. 1891) Liu Shaoqi, President of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898) November 13 – Iskander Mirza, Pakistani politician, 1st President of Pakistan (b. 1899) November 18 – Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., American politician (b. 1888) November 21 Norman Lindsay, Australian painter (b. 1879) Mutesa II of Buganda, Kabaka of Buganda and 1st President of Uganda (b. 1924) December December 1 – Magic Sam, American musician (b. 1937) December 2 – Kliment Voroshilov, Soviet military commander (b. 1881) December 4 – Fred Hampton, American activist (b. 1948) December 5 Princess Alice of Battenberg (b. 1885) Claude Dornier, German airplane builder, founder of Dornier Flugzeugwerke (b. 1884) December 6 – João Cândido Felisberto, Brazilian sailor, led the Revolt of the Lash (b. 1880) December 7 – Lefty O'Doul, American baseball player and restaurateur (b. 1897) December 8 – Karl Fiehler, German Nazi politician and Lord Mayor of Munich (b. 1895) December 13 Spencer Williams Jr., American actor (b. 1893) Raymond A. Spruance, American admiral (b. 1886) December 21 – Georges Catroux, French Army general and colonial governor (b. 1877) December 22 Josef von Sternberg, Austrian film director (b. 1894) Enrique Peñaranda, Bolivian general, 38th President of Bolivia, leader during World War II (b. 1892) December 29 – Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia Arango, 11th President of Panama, leader during World War II (b. 1899) Nobel Prizes Physics – Murray Gell-Mann Chemistry – Derek Barton, Odd Hassel Medicine – Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey, Salvador Luria Literature – Samuel Beckett Peace – International Labour Organization Economics – Ragnar Frisch, Jan Tinbergen References 1969 – Headlines A report from Rich Lamb of WCBS Newsradio 880 (WCBS-AM New York) Part of WCBS 880's celebration of 40 years of newsradio. 1969 – The Year in Sound An Audiofile produced by Lou Zambrana of WCBS Newsradio 880 (WCBS-AM New York) Part of WCBS 880's celebration of 40 years of newsradio.

Apollo_9

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_9

Apollo 9 (March 3–13, 1969) was the third human spaceflight in NASA's Apollo program. Flown in low Earth orbit, it was the second crewed Apollo mission that the United States launched via a Saturn V rocket, and was the first flight of the full Apollo spacecraft: the command and service module (CSM) with the Lunar Module (LM). The mission was flown to qualify the LM for lunar orbit operations in preparation for the first Moon landing by demonstrating its descent and ascent propulsion systems, showing that its crew could fly it independently, then rendezvous and dock with the CSM again, as would be required for the first crewed lunar landing. Other objectives of the flight included firing the LM descent engine to propel the spacecraft stack as a backup mode (as would be required on the Apollo 13 mission), and use of the portable life support system backpack outside the LM cabin. The three-man crew consisted of Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart. During the ten-day mission, they tested systems and procedures critical to landing on the Moon, including the LM engines, backpack life support systems, navigation systems and docking maneuvers. After launching on March 3, 1969, the crew performed the first crewed flight of a lunar module, the first docking and extraction of the same, one two-person spacewalk (EVA), and the second docking of two crewed spacecraft—two months after the Soviets performed a spacewalk crew transfer between Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5. The mission concluded on March 13 and was a complete success. It proved the LM worthy of crewed spaceflight, setting the stage for the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, Apollo 10, before the ultimate goal, landing on the Moon. Mission background In April 1966, McDivitt, Scott, and Schweickart were selected by Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton as the second Apollo crew. Their initial job was as backup to the first Apollo crew to be chosen, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, for the first crewed Earth orbital test flight of the block I command and service module, designated AS-204. Delays in the block I CSM development pushed AS-204 into 1967. The revised plan had the McDivitt crew scheduled for the second crewed CSM, which was to rendezvous in Earth orbit with an uncrewed LM, launched separately. The third crewed mission, to be commanded by Frank Borman, was to be the first launch of a Saturn V with a crew. On January 27, 1967, Grissom's crew was conducting a launch-pad test for their planned February 21 mission, which they named Apollo 1, when a fire broke out in the cabin, killing all three men. A complete safety review of the Apollo program followed. During this time Apollo 5 took place, an uncrewed launch to test the first lunar module (LM-1). Under the new schedule, the first Apollo crewed mission to go into space would be Apollo 7, planned for October 1968. This mission, which was to test the block II command module, did not include a lunar module. In 1967, NASA had adopted a series of lettered missions leading up to the crewed lunar landing, the "G mission", completion of one being a prerequisite to the next. Apollo 7 would be the "C mission", but the "D mission" required testing of the crewed lunar module, which was running behind schedule and endangering John F. Kennedy's goal of Americans walking on the Moon and returning safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s. McDivitt's crew had been announced by NASA in November 1967 as prime crew for the D mission, lengthy testing of the command and lunar modules in Earth orbit. Seeking to keep Kennedy's goal on schedule, in August 1968, Apollo Program Manager George M. Low proposed that if Apollo 7 in October went well, Apollo 8 would go to lunar orbit without a LM. Until then, Apollo 8 was the D mission with Apollo 9 the "E mission", testing in medium Earth orbit. After NASA approved sending Apollo 8 to the Moon, while making Apollo 9 the D mission, Slayton offered McDivitt the opportunity to stay with Apollo 8 and thus go to lunar orbit. McDivitt turned it down on behalf of his crew, preferring to stay with the D mission, now Apollo 9. Apollo 7 went well, and the crews were switched. The crew swap also affected who would be the first astronauts to land on the Moon, for when the crews for Apollo 8 and 9 were swapped, so were the backup crews. Since the rule of thumb was for backup crews to fly as prime crew three missions later, this put Neil Armstrong's crew (Borman's backup) in position to make the first landing attempt on Apollo 11 instead of Pete Conrad's crew, who made the second landing on Apollo 12. Framework Crew and key Mission Control personnel McDivitt was in the Air Force; selected as a member of the second group of astronauts in 1962, he was command pilot of Gemini 4 (1965). Scott, also Air Force, was selected in the third astronaut group in 1963 and flew alongside Neil Armstrong in Gemini 8, on which the first spacecraft docking was performed. Schweickart, a civilian who had served in the Air Force and Massachusetts Air National Guard, was selected as a Group 3 astronaut but was not assigned to a Gemini mission and had no spaceflight experience. The backup crew consisted of Pete Conrad as commander, Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean. This crew flew as prime on Apollo 12 in November 1969. The support crew for Apollo 9 consisted of Stuart A. Roosa, Jack R. Lousma, Edgar D. Mitchell and Alfred M. Worden. Lousma was not an original member of the Apollo 9 support crew, but was assigned after Fred W. Haise Jr. was moved to the position of backup lunar module pilot on Apollo 8—several astronauts were shifted in the wake of Michael Collins being removed from the Apollo 8 prime crew because of treatment for bone spurs. The flight directors were Gene Kranz, first shift, Gerry Griffin, second shift and Pete Frank, third shift. Capsule communicators were Conrad, Gordon, Bean, Worden, Roosa and Ronald Evans. Mission insignia The circular patch shows a drawing of a Saturn V rocket with the letters USA on it. To its right, an Apollo CSM is shown next to a LM, with the CSM's nose pointed at the "front door" of the LM rather than at its top docking port. The CSM is trailing rocket fire in a circle. The crew's names are along the top edge of the circle, with APOLLO IX at the bottom. The "D" in McDivitt's name is filled with red to mark that this was the "D mission" in the alphabetic sequence of Apollo missions. The patch was designed by Allen Stevens of Rockwell International. Planning and training Apollo 9's main purpose was to qualify the LM for crewed lunar flight, demonstrating, among other things, that it could perform the maneuvers in space that would be needed for a lunar landing, including docking with the CSM. Colin Burgess and Francis French, in their book about the Apollo Program, deemed McDivitt's crew among the best trained ever—they had worked together since January 1966, at first as backups for Apollo 1, and they always had the assignment of being the first to fly the LM. Flight Director Gene Kranz deemed the Apollo 9 crew the best prepared for their mission, and felt Scott was an extremely knowledgeable CMP. Crew members underwent some 1,800 hours of mission-specific training, about seven hours for every hour they would spend in flight. Their training even started on the day before the Apollo 1 fire, in the very first Block II spacecraft in which they were originally intended to fly. They took part in the vehicle checkouts for the CSM at North American Rockwell's facility in Downey, California, and for the LM at Grumman's plant in Bethpage, New York. They also participated in testing of the modules at the launch site. Among the types of the training which the crew underwent were simulations of zero-G, both underwater and in the Vomit Comet. During these exercises, they practiced for the planned extravehicular activities (EVAs). They traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for training on the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) at MIT. The crew studied the sky at the Morehead Planetarium and at the Griffith Planetarium, especially focusing on the 37 stars used by the AGC. They each spent more than 300 hours in the CM and LM simulators at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and at Houston, some involving live participation by Mission Control. Additional time was spent in simulators in other locations. The first mission to use the CSM, the LM and a Saturn V, Apollo 9 allowed the launch preparations team at KSC its first opportunity to simulate the launch of a lunar landing mission. The LM arrived from Grumman in June 1968 and was subjected to extensive testing including in the altitude chamber, simulating space conditions. As this occurred, other technicians assembled the Saturn V inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The CM and SM arrived in October, but even the experienced KSC team from North American had trouble joining them together. When the lander was done with the altitude chamber, the CSM took its place, letting the LM be available for installation of equipment such as rendezvous radar and antennas. There were no lengthy delays, and on January 3, 1969, the launch vehicle was taken out of the VAB and moved to Launch Complex 39A by crawler. Flight readiness reviews for the CM, the LM, and the Saturn V were held and passed in the following weeks. Hardware Launch vehicle The Saturn V (AS-504) used on Apollo 9 was the fourth to be flown, the second to carry astronauts to space, and the first to bear a lunar module. Although similar in configuration to the Saturn V used on Apollo 8, several changes were made. The inner core of the F-1 engine chamber in the first (S-IC) stage was removed, thus saving weight and allowing for a slight increase in specific impulse. Weight was also saved by replacing the skins of the liquid oxygen tanks with lighter ones, and by providing lighter versions of other components. Efficiency was increased in the S-II second stage with uprated J-2 engines, and through a closed-loop propellant utilization system rather than Apollo 8's open-loop system. Of the 3,250 pounds (1,470 kg) weight reduction in the second stage, about half came from a 16 percent reduction in the thickness of the tank side walls. Spacecraft, equipment and call signs Apollo 9 used CSM-104, the third Block II CSM to be flown with astronauts aboard. Apollo 8, lacking a lunar module, did not have docking equipment; Apollo 9 flew the probe-and-drogue assembly used for docking along with other equipment added near the forward hatch of the CM; this allowed for rigid docking of the two craft, and for internal transfer between CM and LM. Had the switch in missions between Apollo 8 and 9 not occurred, the Earth-orbit mission would have flown CSM-103, which flew on Apollo 8. The Earth-orbit mission was originally supposed to use LM-2 as its lunar module, but the crew found numerous flaws in it, many associated with it being the first flight-ready lunar module off Grumman's production line. The delay occasioned by the switch in missions allowed LM-3 to be available, a machine the crew found far superior. Neither LM-2 nor LM-3 could have been sent to the Moon as both were too heavy; Grumman's weight reduction program for the LMs only became fully effective with LM-5, designated for Apollo 11. Small cracks in LM-3's aluminum alloy structure due to stresses such as the insertion of a rivet proved an ongoing issue; Grumman's engineers continued working to fix them until the LM had to be mounted on the Saturn V in December 1968, where it was housed inside the Spacecraft-Lunar Module Adapter, numbered as SLA-11A. LM-2 never flew in space and is in the National Air and Space Museum. The Apollo astronauts were provided with early versions of the Sony Walkman, portable cassette recorders intended to allow them to make observations during the mission. The Apollo 9 crew was the first to be allowed to bring music mixtapes, one each, that could be played in that device. McDivitt and Scott preferred easy listening and country music; Schweickart's cassette tape of classical music went missing until the ninth day of the ten-day mission, when it was presented to him by Scott. After the Gemini 3 craft was dubbed Molly Brown by Grissom, NASA forbade naming spacecraft. The fact that during the Apollo 9 mission, the CSM and LM would separate and need different call signs caused the Apollo 9 astronauts to push for a change. In simulations, they began to refer to the CSM as "Gumdrop", a name inspired by the CM's appearance while in the blue protective wrapping in which it was transported from the manufacturer, and the LM as "Spider", inspired by the LM's appearance with landing legs deployed. Personnel in NASA public relations thought the names were too informal, but the call signs ultimately gained official sanction. NASA required more formal call signs for future missions, starting with Apollo 11. Life Support System backpack The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) backpack flew for the first time on Apollo 9, used by Schweickart during his EVA. This included the Portable Life Support System (PLSS), providing oxygen to the astronaut and water for the Liquid Cooling Garment (LCG), which helped prevent overheating during extravehicular activity. Also present was the Oxygen Purge System (OPS), the "bedroll" atop the backpack, which could provide oxygen for up to roughly an hour if the PLSS failed. A more advanced version of the EMU was used for the lunar landing on Apollo 11. During his stand-up EVA, Scott did not wear a PLSS, but was connected to the CM's life support systems through an umbilical, utilizing a Pressure Control Valve (PCV). This device had been created in 1967 to allow for stand-up EVAs from the hatches of the LM or CM, or for brief ventures outside. It was later used by Scott for his lunar surface stand-up EVA on Apollo 15, and for the deep-space EVAs by the command module pilots of the final three Apollo flights. Mission highlights First through fifth days (March 3–7) Originally scheduled to launch on February 28, 1969, the liftoff of Apollo 9 was postponed because all three astronauts had colds, and NASA did not want to risk that the mission might be affected. Around-the-clock labor shifts were required to keep the spacecraft in readiness; the delay cost $500,000. The rocket launched from KSC at 11:00:00 EST (16:00:00 GMT) on March 3. This was well within the launch window, which would have remained open for another three and a quarter hours. Present in the firing control room was Vice President Spiro Agnew on behalf of the new Nixon administration. McDivitt reported a smooth ride during the launch, although there was some vibration and the astronauts were surprised to be pushed forward when the Saturn V's first stage stopped firing, before its second stage took over, when they were pushed back into their couches. Each of the first two stages slightly underperformed; a deficiency made up, more or less, by the S-IVB third stage. Once the third stage cut out at 00:11:04.7 into the mission, Apollo 9 had entered a parking orbit of 102.3 by 103.9 miles (164.6 by 167.2 km). The crew began their first major orbital task with the separation of the CSM from the S-IVB at 02:41:16 into the mission, seeking to turn around and then dock with the LM, which was on the end of the S-IVB, after which the combined spacecraft would separate from the rocket. If it was not possible to make such a docking, the lunar landing could not take place. It was Scott's responsibility to fly the CSM, which he did to a successful docking, as the probe-and-drogue docking assembly worked properly. After McDivitt and Schweickart inspected the tunnel connecting the CM and LM, the assembled spacecraft separated from the S-IVB. The next task was to demonstrate that two docked spacecraft could be maneuvered by one engine. The five-second burn took place at 05:59.01.1 into the mission, accomplished with the SM's Service Propulsion System (SPS), after which Scott excitedly reported the LM was still in place. Thereafter, the S-IVB was fired again, and the stage was sent into solar orbit. From 09:00:00 to 19:30:00, a sleep period was scheduled. The astronauts slept well, but complained of being woken by non-English transmissions. Scott theorized that they were possibly in Chinese. The highlight of the second day in orbit (March 4) was three SPS burns. The initial burn, at 22:12:04.1, lasted 110 seconds, and including swiveling or "gimbaling" the engine to test whether the autopilot could dampen the induced oscillations, which it did within five seconds. Two more SPS burns followed, lightening the SM's fuel load. The spacecraft and engine passed every test, sometimes proving more robust than expected. The performance of the CSM in remaining stable while the engine was being gimbaled would in 1972 help cause McDivitt, by then manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program, to approve the continuation of Apollo 16 when its CSM was experiencing an unstable gimbal after separation from its LM in lunar orbit. The flight plan for the third day in space was to have the commander and lunar module pilot enter the LM to check out its systems and use its descent engine to move the entire spacecraft. The descent engine was the backup to the SPS; the ability to use it in this manner would prove critical on Apollo 13. The flight plan was thrown into question when Schweickart, suffering from space adaptation sickness, vomited, while McDivitt felt queasy as well. They had been avoiding sudden physical motions, but the contortion-like maneuvers to don their space suits for the LM checkout caused them to feel ill. The experience would teach the doctors enough about the sickness to have the astronauts avoid it on the lunar landings, but at the time Schweickart feared his vomiting might endanger Kennedy's goal. They were well enough to continue with the day's plan, and entered the LM, thus transferring between vehicles for the first time in the US space program, and making the first ever transfer without needing to spacewalk, as Soviet cosmonauts had. The hatches were then closed, though the modules remained docked, showing that Spider's communications and life support systems would work in isolation from those of Gumdrop. On command, the landing legs sprang into the position they would assume for landing on the Moon. In the LM, Schweickart vomited again, causing McDivitt to request a private channel to the doctors in Houston. The first episode had not been reported to the ground because of its brief nature, and when the media learned what had happened to Schweickart, there were "repercussions and a spate of unfriendly stories". They finished the LM checkout, including the successful firing of the descent engine, and returned to Scott in Gumdrop. The burn lasted 367 seconds and simulated the throttle pattern to be used during the landing on the Moon. After they returned, a fifth firing of the SPS was made, designed to circularize Apollo 9's orbit in preparation for the rendezvous. This took place at 54:26:12.3, raising the craft's orbit to 142 by 149 miles (229 by 240 km). The fourth day's program (March 6) was for Schweickart to exit the hatch on the LM and make his way along the outside of the spacecraft to the CM's hatch, where Scott would stand by to assist, demonstrating that this could be done in the event of an emergency. Schweickart was to wear the life support backpack, or PLSS, to be worn on the lunar surface EVAs. This was the only EVA scheduled before the lunar landing, and thus the only opportunity to test the PLSS in space. McDivitt initially canceled the EVA due to Schweickart's condition, but with the lunar module pilot feeling better, decided to allow him to exit the LM, and once he was there, to move around the LM's exterior using handholds. Scott stood in the CM's hatch; both men photographed each other and retrieved experiments from the exterior of their vehicles. Schweickart found moving around easier than it had been in simulations; both he and Scott were confident that Schweickart could have completed the exterior transfer if called upon to do so, but considered it unnecessary. During the EVA, Schweickart used the call sign "Red Rover", a nod to the color of his hair. On March 7, the fifth day, came "the key event of the entire mission: the separation and rendezvous of the lunar module and the command module". The lunar module lacked the capability to return the astronauts to Earth; this was the first time space travelers had flown in a vehicle that could not take them home. McDivitt and Schweickart entered the LM early, having obtained permission to do so without wearing their helmets and gloves, making it easier to set up the LM. When Scott in Gumdrop pushed the button to release the LM, it initially hung on the latches at the end of the docking probe, but he hit the button again and Spider was released. After spending about 45 minutes near Gumdrop, Spider went into a slightly higher orbit, meaning that over time, the two craft would separate, with Gumdrop ahead. Over the next hours, McDivitt fired the LM's descent engine at several throttle settings; by the end of the day the LM was thoroughly test-flown. At a distance of 115 miles (185 km), Spider fired to lower its orbit and thus begin to catch up with Gumdrop, a process that would take over two hours, and the descent stage was jettisoned. The approach and rendezvous were conducted as near as possible to what was planned for the lunar missions. To demonstrate that rendezvous could be performed by either craft, Spider was the active party during the maneuver. McDivitt brought Spider close to Gumdrop, then maneuvered the LM to show each side to Scott, allowing him to inspect for any damage. Then, McDivitt docked the craft. Due to glare from the Sun, he had trouble doing this and Scott guided him in. During the later missions, the job of docking the two spacecraft in lunar orbit would fall to the command module pilot. After McDivitt and Schweickart returned to Gumdrop, Spider was jettisoned, its engine fired to fuel depletion remotely by Mission Control as part of further testing of the engine, simulating an ascent stage's climb from the lunar surface. This raised Spider to an orbit with apogee of over 3,700 nautical miles (6,900 km; 4,300 mi). The only major lunar module system not fully tested was the landing radar, as this could not be done in Earth orbit. Sixth through eleventh days (March 8–13) Apollo 9 was to remain in space for about ten days to check how the CSM would perform over the period of time required for a lunar mission. Most major events had been scheduled for the first days so that they would be accomplished if the flight needed to be ended early. The remaining days in orbit were to be conducted at a more leisurely pace. With the main goals of the mission accomplished, the hatch window was used for special photography of Earth, using four identical Hasselblad cameras, coupled together and using film sensitive to different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such photography allowed different features of the Earth's surface to appear, for example, tracking of water pollution as it exits mouths of rivers into the sea, and the highlighting of agricultural areas using infrared. The camera system was a prototype, and would pave the way for the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, predecessor to the Landsat series. The photography was successful, as the ample time in orbit meant the crew could wait to allow cloud cover to pass, and would inform Skylab's mission planning. Scott used a sextant to track landmarks on the Earth, and turned the instrument to the skies to observe the planet Jupiter, practicing navigation techniques that were to be used on later missions. The crew was able to track the Pegasus 3 satellite (launched in 1965) as well as the ascent stage of Spider. The sixth burn of the SPS engine took place on the sixth day, though it was postponed one orbit as the reaction control system (RCS) thruster burn needed to settle the reactants in their tanks was not properly programmed. The SPS burn lowered the perigee of Apollo 9's orbit, allowing for improved RCS thruster deorbit capability as a backup to the SPS. Considerable testing of the CSM took place, but this was principally Scott's responsibility, allowing McDivitt and Schweickart leisure to observe the Earth; they alerted Scott if anything particularly noteworthy was upcoming, letting him leave his work for a moment to look at Earth too. The seventh burn of the SPS system took place on the eighth day, March 10; its purpose was again to aid RCS deorbit capability, as well as extending Gumdrop's orbital lifetime. It shifted the apogee of the orbit to the Southern Hemisphere, allowing for a longer free-fall time to entry when Apollo 9 returned to Earth. The burn was extended to allow for testing of the propellent gaging system, which had been behaving anomalously during earlier SPS burns. Once it was accomplished, Apollo 9's RCS thrusters could have returned it to Earth and still allowed it to land in the primary recovery zone had the SPS engine failed. The eighth and final SPS burn, to return the vehicle to Earth, was accomplished on March 13, less than an hour after the ten-day mark of the mission, after which the service module was jettisoned. The landing was delayed one orbit because of unfavorable weather in the primary landing zone some 220 nautical miles (410 km; 250 mi) ESE of Bermuda. Instead, Apollo 9 splashed down 160 nautical miles (300 km; 180 mi) east of the Bahamas, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the recovery carrier, the USS Guadalcanal, after a mission lasting 10 days, 1 hour, 54 seconds. Apollo 9 was the last spacecraft to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean for a half century, until the Crew Dragon Demo-1 mission in 2019, and last crewed splashdown in the Atlantic until Inspiration4 in 2021. Hardware disposition The Apollo 9 Command Module Gumdrop (1969-018A) is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Gumdrop was formerly displayed at the Michigan Space and Science Center, Jackson, Michigan, until April 2004, when the center closed. The service module, jettisoned shortly after the deorbit burn, reentered the atmosphere and disintegrated. The ascent stage of LM-3 Spider (1969-018C) reentered on October 23, 1981. The descent stage of LM-3 Spider (1969-018D) reentered on March 22, 1969, landing in the Indian Ocean near North Africa. The S-IVB (1969-018B) was sent into solar orbit, with initial aphelion of 80,093,617 miles (128,898,182 km), perihelion of 44,832,845 miles (72,151,470 km) and orbital period of 245 days. It remains in solar orbit as of 2020. Appraisal and aftermath As NASA Associate Administrator George Mueller put it, "Apollo 9 was as successful a flight as any of us could ever wish for, as well as being as successful as any of us have ever seen." Gene Kranz called Apollo 9 "sheer exhilaration". Apollo Program Director Samuel C. Phillips stated, "in every way, it has exceeded even our most optimistic expectations." Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stood in Mission Control as Spider and Gumdrop docked after their separate flights, and with the docking, according to Andrew Chaikin, "Apollo 9 had fulfilled all its major objectives. At that moment, Aldrin knew Apollo 10 would also succeed, and that he and Armstrong would attempt to land on the Moon. On March 24, NASA made it official." Although he might have been offered command of an Apollo lunar landing mission, McDivitt chose to leave the Astronaut Corps after Apollo 9, becoming manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program later in 1969. Scott was soon given another spaceflight assignment as backup commander of Apollo 12, and then was made mission commander of Apollo 15, landing on the Moon in 1971. Schweickart volunteered for medical investigation of his spacesickness, but was unable to shake its stigma, and was never again assigned to a prime crew. He took a leave of absence from NASA in 1977 that eventually became permanent. Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17, stated that when it came to understanding spacesickness, Schweickart "paid the price for them all". Following the success of Apollo 9, NASA did not conduct the "E mission" (further testing in medium Earth orbit), and even considered skipping the "F mission", the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, going straight to the landing attempt. As the spacecraft designated for the first landing attempt were still being assembled, this was not done. NASA officials also felt that given the past difficulties with the LM, there was a need for a further test flight before the actual landing attempt, and that orbiting the Moon would give them the opportunity to study mass concentrations there, which had affected Apollo 8's orbit. According to French and Burgess in their study of the Apollo program, "Apollo 9's success had ensured that the next Apollo mission would go back to the moon." See also List of spacewalks and moonwalks 1965–1999 Notes References Bibliography External links NASA reports "Apollo 9 flight plan AS-504/CSM-104/LM-3 Final Report" (PDF) by J. V. Rivers, NASA, February 1969 "Apollo Program Summary Report" (PDF), NASA, JSC-09423, April 1975 Multimedia Apollo 9: Three To Make Ready Official NASA documentary film (1969) Apollo 9 16mm onboard film part 1, part 2 raw footage taken from Apollo 9 Apollo 9: The Space Duet of Spider & Gumdrop Official NASA documentary film (1969), OCLC 7682161 Apollo 9 images Archived May 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at NASA'S Kennedy Space Center

Sens%C5%8D-ji

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sens%C5%8D-ji

Sensō-ji ([sẽ̞ꜜɰ̃so̞ːʑi] , 浅草寺, officially Kinryū-zan Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺), also known as Asakusa Kannon (浅草観音)), is an ancient Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest-established temple, and one of its most significant. It is dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. Structures in the temple complex include the main hall, a five-story pagoda and large gates. It is the most widely visited religious site in the world with over 30 million visitors annually. The temple was destroyed during a 10 March 1945 firebombing air raid on Tokyo during World War II. The main hall was rebuilt in the 1950s. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect of Buddhism, the temple became independent after the war. Leading to it is Nakamise-dōri street, containing many shops with traditional goods. Adjacent to the east of Sensō-ji is the Asakusa Shrine of the Shinto religion. History The temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteśvara). According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 AD by two fishermen, brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari. The chief of their village, Hajino Nakamoto, recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in Asakusa so that the villagers could worship Kannon. The first temple was founded in 645 AD, which makes it the oldest-established temple in Tokyo. In the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu designated Sensō-ji as tutelary temple of the Tokugawa clan. During World War II, the temple was destroyed during the 10 March 1945 firebombing air raid on Tokyo. The main hall was rebuilt in 1951–58 and has been perceived as a symbol of rebirth and peace by Japanese people. In the courtyard there is a tree that was hit by a bomb in the air raids, and it had regrown in the husk of the old tree and is a similar symbol as the temple itself. The temple now has a titanium tiled roof that maintains a historic image but is stronger and lighter. The Kaminarimon gate was rebuilt in 1960, the Hōzōmon gate in 1964, and the pagoda in 1973. The Nishinomiya Inari shrine was located within the precincts of Sensō-ji and a torii identified the entry into the hallowed ground of the shrine. A bronze plaque on the gateway structure listed those who contributed to the construction of the torii, which was erected in 1727 (Kyōhō 12, 11th month). After the Meiji government ordered the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in 1868, the Inari shrine was moved to the grounds of the Asakusa Shrine, where it was destroyed in the 10 March 1945 firebombing. Temple grounds Sensō-ji is the focus of Tokyo's largest and most popular festival, Sanja Matsuri. This takes place over 3 to 4 days in late spring, and sees the surrounding streets closed to traffic from dawn until late evening. Dominating the entrance to the temple is the Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate". This imposing Buddhist structure features a massive paper lantern dramatically painted in vivid red-and-black tones to suggest thunderclouds and lightning. Beyond the Kaminarimon is Nakamise-dori with its shops, followed by the Hōzōmon or "Treasure House Gate", which provides the entrance to the inner complex. Within the precincts stand a stately five-story pagoda and the main hall, devoted to Kannon. Many tourists, both Japanese and from abroad, visit Sensō-ji every year. Catering to the visiting crowds, the surrounding area has many traditional shops and eating places that feature traditional dishes (hand-made noodles, sushi, tempura, etc.). Nakamise-Dori, the street leading from the Thunder Gate to the temple itself, is lined with small shops selling souvenirs ranging from fans, ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), kimono and other robes, Buddhist scrolls, traditional sweets, to Godzilla toys, t-shirts and mobile phone straps. These shops themselves are part of a living tradition of selling to pilgrims who walked to Sensō-ji. Within the temple itself, and also at many places on its approach, there are o-mikuji stalls. For a suggested donation of 100 yen, visitors may consult the oracle and divine answers to their questions. Querents shake labelled sticks from enclosed metal containers and read the corresponding answers they retrieve from one of 100 possible drawers. Within the temple is a quiet contemplative garden kept in the distinctive Japanese style. Kaminarimon The Kaminarimon (雷門, "Thunder Gate") is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately lead to the Sensō-ji (the inner being the Hōzōmon) in Asakusa. The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists. It stands 11.7 metres (38 ft) tall, 11.4 metres (37 ft) wide and covers an area of 69.3 square metres (746 sq ft). The first gate was built in 941, but the current gate dates back to 1960, after the previous gate was destroyed in a fire in 1865. History The Kaminarimon was first built in 941 AD by Taira no Kinmasa, a military commander. It was originally located near Komagata, but it was reconstructed in its current location in 1635. This is believed to be when the gods of wind and thunder were first placed on the gate. The gate has been destroyed many times throughout the ages. Four years after its relocation, the Kaminarimon burned down, and in 1649 AD Tokugawa Iemitsu rebuilt the gate along with several other of the major structures in the temple complex. The gate burnt to the ground in 1757 AD and again in 1865 AD. The Kaminarimon's current structure was dedicated in December 1960 AD . Ninety-five years after the last fire, Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (now Panasonic), was asked to rebuild the gate. With monetary donations from Matsushita, it was rebuilt in 1960. Features Four statues are housed in the Kaminarimon, two in the front alcoves and two on the other side. On the front of the gate, the statues of the Shinto gods Fūjin and Raijin are displayed. Fūjin, the god of wind, is located on the east side of the gate, while Raijin, the god of thunder, is located on the west side. The original sculptures were severely damaged in the fire of 1865, with only the heads being saved, and the statues restored for the gate's 1960 reconstruction. Two additional statues stand on the reverse of the gate: the Buddhist god Tenryū on the east, and the goddess Kinryū on the west side. These were donated in 1978 to commemorate the 1350th anniversary of the first appearance of the bodhisattva Kannon (Avalokiteśvara) at Asakusa, which led to the founding of Sensō-ji. The statues were carved by then-106-year-old master sculptor Hirakushi Denchū. A giant red lantern (chōchin) hangs under the center of the gate. It is 3.9 metres (13 ft) tall, 3.3 metres (11 ft) wide and weighs approximately 700 kilograms (1,500 lb). The current lantern, the fifth iteration, was built by Takahashi Chōchin K.K in 2013 and has the same metallic base on the bottom as the previous lantern. The base has a name plate that says "Matsushita Denki", an abbreviated form of Panasonic's old Japanese name, Matsushita Denki Sangyo Kabushiki Gaisha. The front of the lantern displays the gate's name, Kaminarimon (雷門). Painted on the back is the gate's official name, Fūraijinmon (風雷神門). During festivals such as Sanja Matsuri, the lantern is collapsed to let tall objects pass through the gate. The characters 金龍山 (Kinryū-zan) on the tablet above the lantern read from right to left and reference the Sensō-ji. Hōzōmon The Hōzōmon (宝蔵門, "Treasure-House Gate") is the inner of two large entrance gates that lead to the Sensō-ji. It is a two-story gate (nijūmon), and its second story houses many of the Sensō-ji's treasures. The first story houses two statues, three lanterns and two large sandals. It stands 22.7 metres (74 ft) tall, 21 metres (69 ft) wide, and 8 metres (26 ft) deep. History The Hōzōmon was first built in 942 AD by Taira no Kinmasa. Destroyed by fire in 1631, it was rebuilt by Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1636. It stood for 300 more years until it was once again burned down during the Tokyo air raids of 1945. In 1964, the present steel-reinforced concrete structure was built with a donation of ¥150 million from Yonetarō Motoya. Since the gate was reconstructed using flame-resistant materials, the upper story of the Hōzōmon stores the Sensō-ji's treasured sutras. These treasures include a copy of the Lotus Sutra that is designated a Japanese National Treasure and the Issai-kyō, a complete collection of Buddhist scriptures that has been designated an Important Cultural Property. Features Unlike the Kaminarimon, which houses four different statues, the Hōzōmon houses two guardian statues that are located on either side of the gate's south face. These 5.45 metres (17.9 ft) tall statues represent Niō, the guardian deities of the Buddha. Because of these statues, the gate was originally called the Niōmon (仁王門, "Niō Gate") before it was renamed the Hōzōmon. The gate also features three large lanterns. The largest and most prominent lantern is a red chōchin that hangs under the center of the gate's opening. With a height of 3.75 metres (12.3 ft), a diameter of 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) and a weight of 400 kilograms (880 lb), the lantern displays the name of the town Kobunachō (小舟町). The current iteration of the lantern dates back to 2003 when ¥5 million was donated by the people of Kobunachō. Its donation commemorated the 400th-year-anniversary of the start of the Edo period. On either side of the chōchin hangs two 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) tall copper tōrō weighing approximately 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) each. All three lanterns are completely removed during festivals such as Sanja Matsuri. On the Hōzōmon's north (back) face are the waraji, two 4.5 metres (15 ft) long, 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) wide straw sandals that weigh 400 kilograms (880 lb) each. Nakamise-dōri The Nakamise-dōri (仲見世通り) is a street on the approach to the temple. It is said to have come about in the early 18th century, when neighbors of Sensō-ji were granted permission to set up shops on the approach to the temple. However, in May 1885 the government of Tokyo ordered all shop owners to leave. In December of that same year the area was reconstructed in Western-style brick. During the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake many of the shops were destroyed, then rebuilt in 1925 using concrete, only to be destroyed again during the bombings of World War II. The street is approximately 250 metres (820 ft) long and contains around 89 shops. Gallery See also Buddhist temples in Japan Glossary of Japanese Buddhism List of Buddhist temples List of National Treasures of Japan (writings) Notes References McClain, James L., John M. Merriman, Kaoru Ugawa and Ugawa Kaoru. (1997). Edo and Paris: Urban Life and the State in the Early Modern Era. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-8183-3; OCLC 39088759 External links Official website

Avalokite%C5%9Bvara

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara

In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (meaning "the lord who looks down", IPA: ), also known as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a tenth-level bodhisattva associated with great compassion (mahakaruṇā). He is often associated with Amitabha Buddha. Avalokiteśvara has numerous manifestations and is depicted in various forms and styles. In some texts, he is even considered to be the source of all Hindu deities (such as Vishnu, Shiva, Saraswati, Brahma, etc). While Avalokiteśvara was depicted as male in India, in East Asian Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara is most often depicted as a female figure known as Guanyin, Kannon, Gwaneum, and Quan Am in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, respectively. Guanyin is also an important figure in other East Asian religions, particularly Chinese folk religion and Daoism. Avalokiteśvara is also known for his popular mantra, oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ, which is the most popular mantra in Tibetan Buddhism. Etymology The name Avalokiteśvara combines the verbal prefix ava "down", lokita, a past participle of the verb lok "to look, notice, behold, observe", here used in an active sense, and finally īśvara, "lord", "ruler", "sovereign", or "master". In accordance with sandhi (Sanskrit rules of sound combination), a+īśvara becomes eśvara. Combined, the parts mean "lord who gazes down (at the world)". The word loka ("world") is absent from the name, but the phrase is implied. It does appear in the Cambodian form of the name, Lokesvarak. The earliest translation of the name Avalokiteśvara into Chinese by authors such as Xuanzang was as Guānzìzài (Chinese: 觀自在; pinyin: Guān zìzài), not the form used in East Asian Buddhism today, which is Guanyin (Chinese: 觀音; pinyin: Guānyīn). It was initially thought that this was due to a lack of fluency, as Guanyin indicates the original Sanskrit form was instead Avalokitasvara, "who looked down upon sound", i.e., the cries of sentient beings who need help. It is now understood that Avalokitasvara was the original form and is also the origin of Guanyin "perceiving sound, cries". This translation was favored by the tendency of some Chinese translators, notably Kumārajīva, to use the variant GuānshìyīnChinese: 觀世音; pinyin: Guānshìyīn "who perceives the world's lamentations"—wherein lok was read as simultaneously meaning both "to look" and "world" (Sanskrit loka; Chinese: 世; pinyin: shì). The original form of Guanyin's name appears in Sanskrit fragments from the fifth century. This earlier Sanskrit name was supplanted by the form containing the ending -īśvara "lord", but Avalokiteśvara did not occur in Sanskrit before the seventh century. The original meaning of the name fits the Buddhist understanding of the role of a bodhisattva. The reinterpretation presenting him as an īśvara shows a strong influence of Hinduism, as the term īśvara was usually connected to the Hindu notion of Vishnu (in Vaishnavism) or Shiva (in Shaivism) as the Supreme Lord, Creator, and Ruler of the world. Some attributes of such a god were transmitted to the bodhisattva, but the mainstream of those who venerated Avalokiteśvara upheld the Buddhist rejection of the doctrine of any creator god. In Sanskrit, Avalokiteśvara is also referred to as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World"). In Tibetan, Avalokiteśvara is Chenrézig (Tibetan: སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་). The etymology of the Tibetan name Chenrézik is spyan "eye", ras "continuity", and gzig "to look". This gives the meaning of one who always looks upon all beings (with the eye of compassion). Origin Mahayana account The name Avalokiteśvara first appeared in the Avatamsaka Sutra, a Mahayana scripture that precedes the Lotus Sutra. On account of its popularity in Japan and as a result of the works of the earliest Western translators of Buddhist Scriptures, the Lotus Sutra, however, has long been accepted as the earliest literature teaching about the doctrines of Avalokiteśvara. These are found in Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra: The Universal Gate of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Chinese: 觀世音菩薩普門品; pinyin: Guānshìyīn púsà pǔ mén pǐn). This chapter is devoted to Avalokiteśvara, describing him as a compassionate bodhisattva who hears the cries of sentient beings and who works tirelessly to help those who call upon his name. A total of 33 different manifestations of Avalokiteśvara are described, including female manifestations, all to suit the minds of various beings. The chapter consists of both a prose and a verse section. This earliest source often circulates separately as its own sutra, called the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra (Chinese: 觀世音經; pinyin: Guānshìyīn jīng), and is commonly recited or chanted at Buddhist temples in East Asia. When the Chinese monk Faxian traveled to Mathura in India around 400 CE, he wrote about monks presenting offerings to Avalokiteśvara. When Xuanzang traveled to India in the 7th century, he provided eyewitness accounts of Avalokiteśvara statues being venerated by devotees from all walks of life, from kings to monks to laypeople. In Chinese Buddhism and East Asia, Tangmi practices for the 18-armed form of Avalokiteśvara called Cundī are very popular. The popularity of Cundī is attested by the three extant translations of the Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra from Sanskrit to Chinese, made from the end of the seventh century to the beginning of the eighth century. In late imperial China, these early esoteric traditions still thrived in Buddhist communities. Robert Gimello has also observed that in these communities, the esoteric practices of Cundī were extremely popular among both the populace and the elite. In the Tiantai school, six forms of Avalokiteśvara are defined. Each of the bodhisattva's six qualities is said to break the hindrances in one of the six realms of existence: hell-beings, pretas, animals, humans, asuras, and devas. According to the prologue of Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī Sūtra, Gautama Buddha told his disciple Ānanda that Avalokiteśvara had become a Buddha from countless previous incarnations ago, alias Samyaka Dharma-vidya Tathāgata means "Tathāgata who clearly understood the right Dharma". Because of his great compassion and because he wanted to create proper conditions for all the Bodhisattva ranks and bring happiness and peacefulness to sentient beings, he became a Bodhisattva, taking the name of Avalokiteshvara and often abiding in the Sahā world. At the same time, Avalokiteśvara is also the attendant of Amitabha Buddha, assisting Amitabha Buddha to teach the Dharma in his Pure Land. Theravāda account Veneration of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva has continued to the present day in Sri Lanka. In times past, both Tantrayana and Mahayana have been found in some of the Theravada countries, but today the Buddhism of Sri Lanka (formerly, Ceylon), Myanmar (formerly, Burma), Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia is almost exclusively Theravada, based on the Pali Canon. The only Mahayana deity that has entered the worship of ordinary Buddhists in Theravada Buddhism is Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. In Sri Lanka, he is known as Natha-deva and is mistaken by the majority for the Buddha yet to come, Bodhisattva Maitreya. The figure of Avalokitesvara is usually found in the shrine room near the Buddha image. In more recent times, some western-educated Theravādins have attempted to identify Nātha with Maitreya Bodhisattva; however, traditions and basic iconography (including an image of Amitābha Buddha on the front of the crown) identify Nātha as Avalokiteśvara. Andrew Skilton writes: ... It is clear from sculptural evidence alone that the Mahāyāna was fairly widespread throughout Sri Lanka, although the modern account of the history of Buddhism on the island presents an unbroken and pure lineage of Theravāda. (One can only assume that similar trends were transmitted to other parts of Southeast Asia with Sri Lankan ordination lineages.) Relics of an extensive cult of Avalokiteśvara can be seen in the present-day figure of Nātha. Avalokiteśvara is popularly worshipped in Myanmar, where he is called Lokanat or lokabyuharnat, and Thailand, where he is called Lokesvara. The bodhisattva goes by many other names. In Indochina and Thailand, he is Lokesvara, "The Lord of the World." In Tibet, he is Chenrezig, also spelled Spyan-ras gzigs, "With a Pitying Look." In China, the bodhisattva takes a female form and is called Guanyin (also spelled Kwan Yin, Kuanyin, or Kwun Yum), "Hearing the Sounds of the World." In Japan, Guanyin is Kannon or Kanzeon; in Korea, Gwaneum; and in Vietnam, Quan Am. Modern scholarship Avalokiteśvara is worshipped as Nātha in Sri Lanka. The Tamil Buddhist tradition developed in Chola literature, such as Buddamitra's Virasoliyam, states that the Vedic sage Agastya learned Tamil from Avalokiteśvara. The earlier Chinese traveler Xuanzang recorded a temple dedicated to Avalokitesvara in the south Indian Mount Potalaka, a Sanskritization of Pothigai, where Tamil Hindu tradition places Agastya as having learned the Tamil language from Shiva. Avalokitesvara worship gained popularity with the growth of the Abhayagiri vihāra's Tamraparniyan Mahayana sect. Western scholars have not reached a consensus on the origin of the reverence for Avalokiteśvara. Some have suggested that Avalokiteśvara, along with many other supernatural beings in Buddhism, was a borrowing or absorption by Mahayana Buddhism of one or more deities from Hinduism, in particular Shiva or Vishnu. This seems to be based on the name Avalokiteśvara. On the basis of the study of Buddhist scriptures and ancient Tamil literary sources as well as a field survey, Japanese scholar Shu Hikosaka proposes the hypothesis that ancient Mount Potalaka, the residence of Avalokiteśvara described in the Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra and Xuanzang’s Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is Mount Potigai in Ambasamudram, Tirunelveli, at the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. Shu also said that Mount Potalaka has been a sacred place for the people of South India since time immemorial. It is the traditional residence of Siddhar Agastya at Agastya Mala. With the spread of Buddhism in the region beginning at the time of the great king Aśoka in the third century BCE, it became a holy place also for Buddhists, who gradually became dominant as a number of their hermits settled there. The local people, though, mainly remained followers of the Tamil animist religion. The mixed Tamil-Buddhist cult culminated in the formation of the figure of Avalokiteśvara. The name Lokeśvara should not be confused with that of Lokeśvararāja, the Buddha under whom Dharmakara became a monk and made forty-eight vows before becoming Amitābha. Avalokiteśvara's six armed manifestation as Cintāmaṇicakra is also widely venerated in East Asia. The Cintāmaṇicakra Dharani (Chinese: 如意寶輪王陀羅尼; pinyin: Rúyì Bǎolún Wáng Tuóluóní) is another popular dharani associated with the bodhisattva. Mantras and Dharanis There are various mantras and dharanis associated with Avalokiteśvara. Mani mantra In Tibetan Buddhism, the central mantra is the six-syllable mantra oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ (Sanskrit: ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ, also called the Mani mantra. Due to his association with this mantra, one form of Avalokiteśvara is called Ṣaḍākṣarī ("Lord of the Six Syllables") in Sanskrit. The Mani mantra is also popular in East Asian Mahayana. There are also different variations of the mani mantra, the most common which is oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ hrīḥ. Hrīḥ is the seed syllable of the Lotus Buddha family and the Buddha Amitabha. Recitation of this mantra while using prayer beads is the most popular religious practice in Tibetan Buddhism. Another popular religious practice associated with om mani padme hum is the spinning of prayer wheels clockwise, which contains numerous repetitions of this mantra and effectively benefits everyone within the vicinity of the practitioner. The connection between this famous mantra and Avalokiteśvara is documented for the first time in the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra. This text is dated to around the late 4th century CE to the early 5th century CE. In this sūtra, a bodhisattva is told by the Buddha that recitation of this mantra while focusing on the sound can lead to the attainment of eight hundred samādhis. Ārolik mantra Another mantra for Avalokiteśvara commonly recited in East Asian Buddhism is "three and a half syllables" (ardhacaturthākṣara) heart-mantra: "oṃ ārolik svāha" (or sometimes just Ārolik or oṁ ārolik), which is found (in many forms and variations like ārolika, arulika, etc.) in numerous pre-tenth-century Indian texts, including the 7th century Chinese translation of the Dhāraṇīsaṁgraha, the Susiddhikarasūtra, the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa, and the Guhyasamājatantra. This is also the main mantra for the bodhisattva in Shingon Buddhism and is considered to be the main mantra of the Lotus Buddha family. One text (Taisho Tripitaka no. 1031) describes a visualization practice done after reciting oṁ ārolik svāhā seven times which includes meditating on the meanings of the four letters of ārolik which are: a: all dharmas are originally unborn (ādyanutpanna); ra: all dharmas are dissociated from defilement (rajas); la: characteristics (lakṣaṇa) are inapprehensible in all dharmas; ka: all dharmas are without action (kārya). The Ārolik mantra has also been found engraved on a few sculptures found in north India. One of these begins with "ārolik oṁ hrīḥ". Another one of these found in Bihar also included other mantras, including ye dharma hetu, followed by "namo ratnatrayāya namo Āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisatvāya mahāsatvāya mahākāruṇikāya Ārolok Oṁ hriḥ hriḥ". Another longer mantra appears in a translation by Amoghavajra (T. 1033, 20: 9b1–7): namoratnatrayāya | nama āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisattvāya mahāsattvāya mahākāruṇikāya | tadyathā padmapāṇi sara sara ehy ehi bhagavann āryāvalokiteśvara ārolik | In Chinese, oṃ ārolik svāha is pronounced Ǎn ālǔlēi jì suōpóhē (唵 阿嚕勒繼 娑婆訶). In Korean, it is pronounced Om aroreuk Ge Sabaha (옴 아로늑계 사바하). In Japanese, it is pronounced On arori kya sowa ka (おん あろりきゃ そわか). Dharanis The Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra also features the first appearance of the dhāraṇī of Cundī, which occurs at the end of the sūtra text. After the bodhisattva finally attains samādhi with the mantra "oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ", he is able to observe 77 koṭīs of fully enlightened buddhas replying to him in one voice with the Cundī Dhāraṇī: namaḥ saptānāṃ samyaksaṃbuddha koṭīnāṃ tadyathā, oṃ cale cule cunde svāhā. The Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī is an 82-syllable dhāraṇī for Avalokiteśvara also known as the Great Compassion Mantra. It is very popular in East Asian Buddhism. Another popular Avalokiteśvara dharani in East Asian Buddhism is Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara Heart Dharani. This dharani is associated with Avalokiteśvara's eleven face form, known as Ekādaśamukha, one of the six forms of Guanyin. East Asian chants and phrases In East Asian Buddhism, the most popular form of Avalokiteśvara is the feminine white robed Guanyin. A common phrase which is widely chanted and recited by East Asian Buddhists is:Chinese: 南無觀世音菩薩, Pinyin: Námó Guānshìyīn Púsà (Japanese: Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu)In English: Homage to Guanyin Bodhisattva. There are also longer chants, usually termed "White Robed Guanyin" (Baiyin Guanyin) sutras (jing) or mantras (zhou). The most well known is the "Divine White-robed Guanyin Mantra" (c. 11th century). This longer mantra is as follows:南無 大慈 大悲 救苦 救難 廣大 靈感 觀世音 菩薩 (Námó dàcí dàbēi jiùkǔ jiùnàn guǎngdà línggǎn Guānshìyīn púsà) English: Homage to Guanyin Bodhisattva [who is] loving, compassionate and powerful, delivering sentient beings from unhappiness and hardship. 南無佛南無法南無僧 (Námó Fó Námó Fǎ Námó Sēng, Homage to the Buddha, Homage to the Dharma, Homage to the Sangha) 南無 救苦 救難 觀世音 菩薩 (Námó jiùkǔ jiùnàn Guānshìyīn púsà) English: Homage to Guanyin Bodhisattva who delivers sentient beings from unhappiness and hardship 怛垤哆唵 伽囉伐哆伽囉伐哆伽訶佛哆 囉伽佛哆囉伽佛哆娑婆訶 (DA ZHI DUO ONG QIE LA FA DUO QIE LA FA DUO QIE HE FA DUO LA QIE FA DUO LA QIE FA DUO SA PO HE) Sanskrit Mantra: Tadyatha Om, khara varta, khara varta, gaha varta, raga varta, raga varta, Svaha 天羅神 地羅神 人離難 難離身 一切 災殃 化 為塵。 Tiān luó shén Dì luó shén Rén lí nán Nán lí shēn Yīqiè zāiyāng huà wéichén English: Heavenly deities and earthly deities, may people be free from difficulties, may their hardships disappear, may all disasters and calamities turn to dust. 南無 摩訶 般若波羅蜜 (Námó Móhē Bōrěbōluómi) English: Homage to MahāprajñāpāramitāAnother popular dharani of Guanyin is associated with her power over children and childbirth. This is called the "Dharani Sutra of White-Robed Guanyin's Heart of Five Seals". In Japanese Buddhism, a popular longer chant to Kannon or Kanzeon (Guanyin) is the jikku kan’on gyō (十句觀音經), the “10 Verse Kannon Sutra”. It is the following:觀世音 (kan ze on) 南無佛 (na mu butsu): Homage to Buddha 與佛有因 (yo butsu u in): forged a causal connection with Buddha, 與佛有縁 (yo butsu u en): a karmic affinity with Buddha, 佛法僧縁 (butsu ho so en): a karmic affinity with Buddha, Dharma, Sangha 常樂我淨 (jo raku ga jo): thus attaining permanence, ease, selfhood, and purity. 朝念觀世音 (cho nen kan ze on): In the morning think of Kanzeon, 暮念觀世音 (bo nen kan ze on): in the evening think of Kanzeon. 念念從心起 (nen nen ju shin ki): Thought after thought arises from mind; 念念不離心 (nen nen fu ri shin): thought after thought is not separate from mind. Manifestations Avalokiteśvara has an extraordinarily large number of forms, emanations or manifestations, including wisdom goddesses (vidyās) directly associated with him in images and texts. Furthermore, at least two separate female Buddhist deities, Cundī and Tara also later came to be associated with Avalokiteśvara (and were even seen as manifestations of him). Some of the more commonly mentioned forms include: Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara One prominent Buddhist story tells of Avalokiteśvara vowing never to rest until he had freed all sentient beings from saṃsāra. Despite strenuous effort, he realizes that many unhappy beings were yet to be saved. After struggling to comprehend the needs of so many, his head splits into eleven pieces. Amitābha, seeing his plight, gives him eleven heads with which to hear the cries of the suffering. Upon hearing these cries and comprehending them, Avalokiteśvara tries to reach out to all those who needed aid, but found that his two arms shattered into pieces. Once more, Amitābha comes to his aid and invests him with a thousand arms with which to aid the suffering multitudes. Avalokiteśvara as a cosmic maheśvara ("great lord") According to various Mahayana sources, numerous Hindu deities are considered to be emanations of Avalokiteshvara. For example, in the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra, Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Saraswati are all said to have emerged from Avalokiteshvara. The passage states: Āditya and Candra came from his eyes, Maheśvara came from his forehead, Brahmā came from his shoulders, Nārāyaṇa came from his heart, Devi Sarasvatī came from his canines, Vāyu came from his mouth, Dharaṇī came from his feet, and Varuṇa came from his stomach. In a similar manner, Hindu deities like Nīlakaṇṭha and Harihara are cited in the Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī, possibly as forms of Avalokiteshvara or as associated bodhisattvas (the text is not clear, though traditionally these have been interpreted as various names or forms of Avalokiteshvara). Alexander Studholme writes that these sources are influenced by Puranic Hinduism, and its concepts of an Īśvara ("lord") and Maheśvara ("great lord"), both of which are terms that refer to a transcendent and all pervasive being. The name Maheśvara is also applied to Avalokiteshvara three times in the Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra, and some passages he is described as a cosmic man, similar to how the Puranas depict Vishnu or Shiva. However, this Buddhist myth only focuses on how Avalokiteshvara gives birth to all the gods (devas), and he is not depicted as a true Creator God (who creates the cosmos, like the Hindu Īśvara), instead he is depicted as a great cosmic being that manifests in myriad ways as a skillful means to guide living beings to Buddhahood. Tibetan Buddhist beliefs Avalokiteśvara is an important deity in Tibetan Buddhism. He is regarded in the Vajrayana teachings as a Buddha. In Tibetan Buddhism, Tãrã came into existence from a single tear shed by Avalokiteśvara. When the tear fell to the ground it created a lake, and a lotus opening in the lake revealed Tara. In another version of this story, Tara emerges from the heart of Avalokiteśvara. In either version, it is Avalokiteśvara's outpouring of compassion which manifests Tãrã as a being. Certain living tulku lineages, including the Dalai Lamas and the Karmapas, are considered by many Tibetan Buddhists to also be manifestations of Avalokiteśvara. Gallery See also Virupaksha Temple, Hampi Guanyin Ishvara Pure Land Buddhism Ushnishasitatapattra Vishnu Dalai Lama Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa References Sources Buswell, Robert; Lopez, Donald S. (2013). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3. Doniger, Wendy, ed. (1993), Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts, State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-7914-1381-0 Ducor, Jérôme (2010). Le regard de Kannon (in French). Gollion: Infolio éditions / Genève: Musée d'ethnographie de Genève. p. 104. ISBN 978-2-88474-187-3. ill. colour Getty, Alice (1914). The gods of northern Buddhism: their history, iconography and progressive evolution through the northern Buddhist countries. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Holt, John (1991). Buddha in the Crown: Avalokitesvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195064186. McDermott, James P. (1999). "Buddha in the Crown: Avalokitesvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 119 (1): 195–196. doi:10.2307/605604. JSTOR 605604. Studholme, Alexander (2002). The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum. Albany NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-5389-8. Tsugunari, Kubo; Akira (tr.), Yuyama (2007). The Lotus Sutra (PDF) (Revised 2nd ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 978-1-886439-39-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-02. Yü, Chün-fang (2001). Kuan-Yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12029-6. External links The Origin of Avalokiteshvara of Potala An Explanation of the Name Avalokiteshvara The Bodhisattva of Compassion and Spiritual Emanation of Amitabha - from Buddhanature.com Depictions at the Bayon in Cambodia of Avalokiteshvara as the Khmer King Jayavarman VII Mantra Avalokitesvara Avalokiteshvara at Britannica.com Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia

Mount_Rushmore

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed the sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development, and preservation, respectively. Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually to the memorial park which covers 1,278 acres (2.00 sq mi; 5.17 km2). The mountain's elevation is 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level. The sculptor chose Mount Rushmore in part because it faces southeast for maximum sun exposure. The carving was the idea of Doane Robinson, a historian for the state of South Dakota. Robinson originally wanted the sculpture to feature American West heroes, such as Lewis and Clark, their expedition guide Sacagawea, Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse. Borglum chose the four presidents instead. Peter Norbeck, U.S. senator from South Dakota, sponsored the project and secured federal funding. Construction began in 1927 and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. After Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, his son Lincoln took over as leader of the construction project. Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941, and only Washington's sculpture includes any detail below chin level. The sculpture at Mount Rushmore is built on land that was illegally taken from the Sioux Nation in the 1870s. The Sioux continue to demand return of the land, and in 1980 the US Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians that the taking of the Black Hills required just compensation, and awarded the tribe $102 million. The Sioux have refused the money, and demand the return of the land. This conflict continues, leading some critics of the monument to refer to it as a "Shrine of Hypocrisy". History "Six Grandfathers" to "Mount Rushmore" Mount Rushmore and the surrounding Black Hills (Pahá Sápa) are considered sacred by Plains Indians such as the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Lakota Sioux, who used the area for centuries as a place to pray and gather food, building materials, and medicine. The Lakota called the mountain "Six Grandfathers" (Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe), symbolizing ancestral deities personified as the six directions: north, south, east, west, above (sky), and below (earth). In the latter half of the 19th century, expansion by the United States into the Black Hills led to the Sioux Wars. In the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the U.S. government granted exclusive use of all of the Black Hills, including Six Grandfathers, to the Sioux in perpetuity. Six Grandfathers was a significant part of the spiritual journey taken in the early 1870s by Lakota leader Black Elk (Heȟáka Sápa, also known as "The Sixth Grandfather"), that culminated at the nearby Black Elk Peak, (Hiŋháŋ Káǧa, "Making of Owls") U.S. general George Armstrong Custer summited Black Elk Peak a few years later in 1874 during the Black Hills Expedition, which triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush and Great Sioux War of 1876. In 1877, the U.S. broke the Treaty of Fort Laramie and asserted control over the area, leading to an influx of settlers and prospectors. Among those prospectors was New York mining promoter James Wilson, who organized the Harney Peak Tin Company, and hired New York attorney Charles E. Rushmore to visit the Black Hills and confirm the company's land claims. During a visit in 1884 or 1885, Rushmore saw Six Grandfathers and asked his guide, Bill Challis, the mountain's name; Challis replied that the mountain didn't have a name, but that it would henceforth be named after Rushmore. The name "Mount Rushmore" continued to be used locally, and was officially recognized by the United States Board of Geographic Names in June 1930. Concept, design and funding By the 1920s, South Dakota had become a U.S. state, and was a popular destination for road trippers visiting the Black Hills National Forest, Wind Cave National Park, and Needles Highway. In 1923, the Secretary of the South Dakota State Historical Society, Doane Robinson, who would come to be known as the "Father of Mount Rushmore", learned about the "Shrine to the Confederacy", a project to carve the likenesses of Confederate generals into the side of Stone Mountain, Georgia, that had been underway since 1915. Seeking to boost tourism to South Dakota, Robinson began promoting the idea of a similar monument in the Black Hills, representing "not only the wild grandeur of its local geography but also the triumph of western civilization over that geography through its anthropomorphic representation." Robinson initially approached sculptor Lorado Taft, but Taft was ill at the time and uninterested in Robinson's project. Robinson next sought the help of then-U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck, who had established Custer State Park when he was Governor in 1919. Norbeck cautiously supported Robinson's plan, and Robinson began campaigning for it publicly. Some in the local community also supported Robinson's plan, but many opposed it vigorously. On August 20, 1924, Robinson wrote to Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of "Shrine to the Confederacy", asking him to travel to the Black Hills region to determine whether the carving could be accomplished. Borglum, who had involved himself with the Ku Klux Klan, one of the Stone Mountain memorial's funders, had been having disagreements with the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, and on September 24, 1924, travelled to South Dakota to meet Robinson. Borglum's original plan was to make the carvings in 150-meter-high granite pillars known as the Needles (Hiŋháŋ Káǧa). However, the eroded Needles were too thin to support sculpting. Also, some in the Black Hills such as Cora Babbitt Johnson, protested against carving the Needles on environmental and religious grounds. On August 14, 1925, Borglum summitted Black Elk Peak while scouting alternative locations, and reportedly said upon seeing Mount Rushmore, "America will march along that skyline." He chose Mount Rushmore, a grander location, partly because it faced southeast and enjoyed maximum exposure to sunlight. Borglum rejected Robinson's original plan of depicting characters from the Old West, such as Lewis and Clark, Red Cloud, Sacagawea, John C. Fremont, and Crazy Horse, and instead decided to depict four American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. The four presidential faces were said to be carved into the granite with the intention of symbolizing "an accomplishment born, planned, and created in the minds and by the hands of Americans for Americans". The Lakota and other local indigenous communities objected to the overall plan as constituting desecration of their sacred lands, and to the racist and sometimes violent anti-indigenous policies of the four presidents depicted. For the Lakota and other tribes, the monument "came to epitomize the loss of their sacred lands and the injustices they've suffered under the U.S. government." Senator Norbeck and Congressman William Williamson of South Dakota introduced bills in early 1925 for permission to use federal land, which passed easily. South Dakota legislation had less support, only passing narrowly on its third attempt, which Governor Carl Gunderson signed into law on March 5, 1925. Private funding came slowly and Borglum invited President Calvin Coolidge to an August 1927 dedication ceremony, at which he promised federal funding. Congress passed the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act, signed by Coolidge, which authorized up to $250,000 in matching funds. The 1929 presidential transition to Herbert Hoover delayed funding until an initial federal match of $54,670.56 was acquired. Carving started in 1927 and ended in 1941 with no fatalities. Construction Between October 4, 1927, and October 31, 1941, Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the colossal 60-foot-high (18 m) carvings of United States Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln to represent the first 150 years of American history. These presidents were selected by Borglum because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory. The carving of Mount Rushmore involved the use of dynamite, followed by the process of "honeycombing", where workers drill holes close together, allowing small pieces to be removed by hand. In total, about 450,000 short tons (410,000 t) of rock were blasted off the mountainside. The image of Thomas Jefferson was originally intended to appear in the area at Washington's right, but after the work there was begun, the rock was found to be unsuitable, so the work on Jefferson's figure was dynamited, and a new figure was sculpted to Washington's left. The chief carver of the mountain was Luigi Del Bianco, an artisan and stonemason who emigrated to the U.S. from Friuli in Italy and was chosen to work on this project because of his understanding of sculptural language and ability to imbue emotion in the carved portraits. The national monument is in an unincorporated area in Pennington County, adjacent to the town of Keystone. In 1933, the National Park Service took Mount Rushmore under its jurisdiction. Julian Spotts helped with the project by improving its infrastructure. For example, he had the tram upgraded so it could reach the top of Mount Rushmore for the ease of workers. By July 4, 1934, Washington's face had been completed and was dedicated. The face of Thomas Jefferson was dedicated in 1936, and Abraham Lincoln's on September 17, 1937. In 1937, a bill was introduced in Congress to add the head of civil-rights leader Susan B. Anthony, but a rider was passed on an appropriations bill requiring federal funds be used to finish only those heads that had already been started at that time. In 1939, the face of Theodore Roosevelt was dedicated. The Sculptor's Studio – a display of unique plaster models and tools related to the sculpting – was built in 1939 under the direction of Borglum. Borglum died from an embolism in March 1941. His son, Lincoln Borglum, continued the project. Originally, it was planned that the figures would be carved from head to waist, but insufficient funding forced the carving to end. Borglum had also planned a massive panel in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase commemorating in eight-foot-tall (2.4 m) gilded letters the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Louisiana Purchase, and seven other territorial acquisitions from the Alaska purchase to the Panama Canal Zone. In total, the entire project cost US$989,992.32 (equivalent to $20.5 million in 2023). Nick Clifford, the last remaining carver, died in November 2019 at age 98. Later developments Harold Spitznagel and Cecil Doty designed the original visitor center, finished in 1957, as part of the Mission 66 effort to improve visitors' facilities at national parks and monuments across the country. Ten years of redevelopment work culminated with the completion of extensive visitor facilities and sidewalks in 1998, such as a Visitor Center, the Lincoln Borglum Museum, and the Presidential Trail. On October 15, 1966, Mount Rushmore was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A 500-word essay giving the history of the United States by Nebraska student William Andrew Burkett was selected as the college-age group winner in a 1934 competition, and that essay was placed on the Entablature on a bronze plate in 1973. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush officially dedicated Mount Rushmore. In 2004, Gerard Baker was appointed superintendent of the park, the first and so far only Native American in that role. Baker stated that he will open up more "avenues of interpretation", and that the four presidents are "only one avenue and only one focus." Proposals to add additional faces In 1937, when the sculpture was not yet complete, a bill in Congress supporting the addition of women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony failed. When the sculpture was completed in 1941, the sculptors said that the remaining rock was not suitable for additional carvings. This stance was shared by RESPEC, an engineering firm charged with monitoring the stability of the rock in 1989. Proposals of additional sculptures include John F. Kennedy after his assassination in 1963, and Ronald Reagan in 1985 and 1999 – the latter proposal receiving a debate in Congress at the time. Barack Obama was asked about his own potential addition in 2008 and he joked that his ears were too large. Donald Trump has on occasion expressed interest in his own addition to the mountain. During a 2017 rally in Ohio, Trump said, "I'd ask whether or not you some day think I will be on Mount Rushmore ... If I did it joking, totally joking, having fun, the fake news media will say, 'He believes he should be on Mount Rushmore.' So I won't say it." South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, described the potential addition as Trump's "dream" in 2018. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an August 2024 interview that President Joe Biden is a “Mount Rushmore kind of president” and stated his likeness should be added to the monument. Tourism Tourism is South Dakota's second-largest industry, and Mount Rushmore is the state's top tourist attraction. 2,185,447 people visited the park in 2012. The popularity of the location, as with many other national monuments, derives from its immediate recognizability; "there are no substitutes for iconic resources such as the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, or Mount Rushmore. These locations are one of a kind places". However, Mount Rushmore also provides access to a surrounding environment of wilderness, which distinguishes it from the typical proximity of national monuments to urban centers like Washington, D.C., and New York City. In the 1950s and 1960s, local Lakota Sioux elder Benjamin Black Elk (son of medicine man Black Elk, who had been present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn) was known as the "Fifth Face of Mount Rushmore", posing for photographs with thousands of tourists daily in his native attire. The South Dakota State Historical Society notes that he was one of the most photographed people in the world over that 20-year period. Hall of Records Borglum originally envisioned a grand Hall of Records where America's greatest historical documents and artifacts could be protected and shown to tourists. He managed to start the project, but cut only 70 feet (21 m) into the rock before work stopped in 1939 to focus on the faces. In 1998, a repository was constructed inside the mouth of the cave housing 16 enamel panels with biographical and historical information about Mount Rushmore as well as the texts of the documents Borglum wanted to preserve there. The repository consists of a teakwood box inside of a titanium vault placed in the ground with a granite capstone. Conservation The ongoing conservation of the site is overseen by the National Park Service. Maintenance of the memorial requires mountain climbers to monitor and seal cracks annually. Due to budget constraints, the memorial is not regularly cleaned to remove lichens. However, in 2005 Alfred Kärcher, a German manufacturer of pressure washing and steam cleaning machines, conducted a free cleanup operation which lasted several weeks, using pressurized water at over 200 °F (93 °C). Other efforts to conserve the monument have included replacement of the sealant applied originally to cracks in the stone by Gutzon Borglum, which had proved ineffective at providing water resistance. The components of Borglum's sealant included linseed oil, granite dust, and white lead, but a modern silicone replacement for the cracks is now used, disguised with granite dust. In 1998, electronic monitoring devices were installed to track movement in the topology of the sculpture to an accuracy of three millimeters. The site was digitally recorded in 2009 using a terrestrial laser scanning method as part of the international Scottish Ten project, providing a high-resolution record to aid the conservation of the site. This data was made publicly accessible online. Ecology The flora and fauna of Mount Rushmore are similar to those of the rest of the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Birds including the turkey vulture, golden eagle, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, swallows and white-throated swifts fly around Mount Rushmore and nest in the ledges of the mountain. Smaller birds, including songbirds, nuthatches, woodpeckers and flycatchers inhabit the surrounding pine forests. Terrestrial mammals include the mouse, least chipmunk, red squirrel, skunk, porcupine, raccoon, beaver, badger, coyote, bighorn sheep, bobcat, elk, mule deer, yellow-bellied marmot, and American bison. The striped chorus frog, western chorus frog, and northern leopard frog also inhabit the area, along with several species of snake. Grizzly Bear Brook and Starling Basin Brook, the two streams in the memorial, support fish such as the longnose dace and the brook trout. Mountain goats are not indigenous to the region. Those living near Mount Rushmore are descendants of a herd that Canada gifted to Custer State Park in 1924, which later escaped. At lower elevations, coniferous trees, mainly the ponderosa pine, surround most of the monument. Other trees include the bur oak, the Black Hills spruce, and the cottonwood. Nine species of shrubs grow near Mount Rushmore. There is also a wide variety of wildflowers, including especially the snapdragon, sunflower, and violet. Towards higher elevations, plant life becomes sparser. However, only approximately five percent of the plant species found in the Black Hills are indigenous to the region. The area receives about 18 inches (460 mm) of precipitation on average per year, enough to support abundant animal and plant life. Trees and other plants help to control surface runoff. Dikes, seeps, and springs help to dam up water that is flowing downhill, providing watering spots for animals. In addition, stones like sandstone and limestone help to hold groundwater, creating aquifers. A 2016 investigation by the U.S. Geological Survey found unusually high concentrations of perchlorate in the surface water and groundwater of the area. A sample collected from a stream had a maximum perchlorate concentration of 54 micrograms per liter, roughly 270 times higher than samples taken from locations outside the area. The report concluded the probable cause of the contamination was the aerial fireworks displays that had taken place on Independence Days from 1998 to 2009. The National Park Service also reported that at least 27 forest fires around Mount Rushmore in that same period (1998 to 2009) have been caused by fireworks displays. A study of the fire scars present in tree ring samples indicates that forest fires occur in the ponderosa forests surrounding Mount Rushmore around every 27 years. Large fires are not common. Most events have been ground fires that serve to clear forest debris. The area is a climax community with an equilibrium such that a pine beetle infestation would threaten the forest. Geography Geology Mount Rushmore is largely composed of granite. The memorial is carved on the northwest margin of the Black Elk Peak granite batholith in the Black Hills of South Dakota, so the geologic formations of the heart of the Black Hills region are also evident at Mount Rushmore. The batholith magma intruded into the pre-existing mica schist rocks during the Proterozoic, 1.6 billion years ago. Coarse grained pegmatite dikes are associated with the granite intrusion of Black Elk Peak and are visibly lighter in color, thus explaining the light-colored streaks on the foreheads of the presidents. The Black Hills granites were exposed to erosion during the Neoproterozoic, but were later buried by sandstone and other sediments during the Cambrian. Remaining buried throughout the Paleozoic, they were re-exposed again during the Laramide orogeny around 70 million years ago. The Black Hills area was uplifted as an elongated geologic dome. Subsequent erosion stripped the granite of the overlying sediments and the softer adjacent schist. Some schist does remain and can be seen as the darker material just below the sculpture of Washington. The tallest mountain in the region is Black Elk Peak (7,242 ft or 2,207 m). Borglum selected Mount Rushmore as the site for several reasons. The rock of the mountain is composed of smooth, fine-grained granite. The durable granite erodes only 1 inch (25 mm) every 10,000 years, thus was more than sturdy enough to support the sculpture and its long-term exposure. The mountain's height of 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level made it suitable, and because it faces the southeast, the workers also had the advantage of sunlight for most of the day. It is not possible to add another president to the memorial, because the rock that surrounds the existing faces is not suitable for additional carving, and because additional sculpting could create instabilities in the existing carvings. Soils The Mount Rushmore area is underlain by well drained alfisol soils of very gravelly loam (Mocmount) to silt loam (Buska) texture, brown to dark grayish brown. Climate Mount Rushmore has a dry-winter humid continental climate (Dwb in the Köppen climate classification). It is inside a USDA Plant Hardiness Zone of 5a, meaning certain plant life in the area can withstand a low temperature of no less than −20 °F (−29 °C). The two wettest months of the year are May and June. Orographic lift causes brief but strong afternoon thunderstorms during the summer. In popular culture Mount Rushmore has been depicted in multiple films, comic books, and television series. Its functions vary from settings for action scenes to the site of hidden locations. Its most famous appearance is as the location of the final chase scene in the 1959 film North by Northwest. It is used as a secret base of operations by the protagonists in the 2004 film Team America: World Police, and the secret underground city of Cíbola is located there in the 2007 film National Treasure: Book of Secrets. In the Phineas and Ferb episode Candace Loses Her Head, both Phineas and Ferb sculpt Candace's face on the monument for her 15th birthday. In some films, the presidential faces are replaced with others; examples include the 1980 film Superman II and the 1996 film Mars Attacks! where the villains add their faces to the monument, and the 2003 film Head of State where the newly elected president's face is added. In works showing attacks on landmarks to signify the scope of a threat, Mount Rushmore is a common target; examples include the aforementioned facial replacements in Superman II and Mars Attacks! as well as natural disasters in works like the 2006 miniseries 10.5: Apocalypse and terrorist attacks as in the 1997 film The Peacekeeper. An atypical representation of the monument appears in the 2013 film Nebraska, where instead of being treated with reverence it is criticized for being unfinished. Land dispute The Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) had granted the Black Hills to the Lakota people in perpetuity, but the United States took the area from the tribe after the Great Sioux War of 1876. Members of the American Indian Movement led an occupation of the monument in 1971, naming it "Mount Crazy Horse", and Lakota holy man John Fire Lame Deer planted a prayer staff on top of the mountain. Lame Deer said that the staff formed a symbolic shroud over the presidents' faces "which shall remain dirty until the treaties concerning the Black Hills are fulfilled." The 1980 United States Supreme Court decision United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians ruled that the Sioux had not received just compensation for their land in the Black Hills, which includes Mount Rushmore. The court proposed $102 million as compensation for the loss of the Black Hills. This compensation was valued at $1.3 billion in 2011, and – with accumulated interest – nearly $2 billion in 2021. In 2020, Oglala Lakota Nation citizen and Indigenous activist Nick Tilsen explained that his people would not accept a settlement, "because we won't settle for anything less than the full return of our lands as stipulated by the treaties our nations signed and agreed upon." Construction on the Crazy Horse Memorial began in 1940 elsewhere in the Black Hills. Ostensibly to commemorate the Native American leader and as a response to Mount Rushmore, if completed it would be larger than Mount Rushmore. The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation has rejected offers of federal funds. Its construction has the support of some Lakota chiefs, but it is the subject of controversy, even among Native American tribes. Legacy and commemoration Borglum titled his sculpture at Mount Rushmore as the Shrine of Democracy, but the illegal seizure of the Black Hills where the memorial is located has led to some critics to refer to it as the "Shrine of Hypocrisy". On August 11, 1952, the U.S. Post Office issued the Mount Rushmore Memorial 3-cent commemorative stamp on the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. On January 2, 1974, a 26-cent airmail stamp depicting the monument was also issued. In 1991 the United States Mint released commemorative silver dollar, half-dollar, and five-dollar coins celebrating the 50th anniversary of the monument's dedication, and the sculpture was the main subject of the 2006 South Dakota state quarter. In music, American composer Michael Daugherty's 2010 piece for chorus and orchestra, "Mount Rushmore", depicts each of the four presidents in separate movements. The piece sets texts by George Washington, William Billings, Thomas Jefferson, Maria Cosway, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. By contrast, the song, "Little Snakes", by Protest The Hero, "addresses the violent colonial history involved in the sculpting of Mount Rushmore", critiquing the monument as a symbol of colonialism, referencing the genocide of indigenous peoples and the ownership of slaves by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The Washington Nationals baseball club uses large foam rubber depictions of the "Rushmore Four" in both their marketing campaigns and in a series of in-stadium promotions such as the Presidents Race. See also List of colossal sculpture in situ List of tallest statues List of national memorials of the United States List of statues of George Washington List of statues of Thomas Jefferson List of statues of Abraham Lincoln List of sculptures of presidents of the United States Presidential memorials in the United States Crazy Horse Memorial, another large sculpture in the Black Hills Young Mao Zedong statue, a large relief carved of granite, although not carved into the rock Atatürk Mask, a large relief sculpture, although not carved into the rock References Further reading "Making Mount Rushmore". Oh, Ranger!. APN Media. Archived from the original on November 20, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2013. Buckingham, Matthew (Summer 2002). "The Six Grandfathers, Paha Sapa, in the Year 502,002 C.E." Cabinet Magazine. Immaterial Incorporated. Retrieved January 27, 2013. Coutant, Arnaud (2014). Les Visages de l'Amérique, les constructeurs d'une démocratie fédérale. Mare et Martin (ISBN 978-2-84934-160-5). French study about the Four Presidents, Life, presidency, influence about American political evolution. (Archived link) Del Bianco, Lou. "Luigi Del Bianco: chief stone carver on Mount Rushmore, 1933–1940". Lou Del Bianco. Retrieved January 27, 2013. Dobrzynski, Judith H. (July 15, 2006). "A Monumental Achievement". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2013. Larner, Jesse (2002). Mount Rushmore: An Icon Reconsidered. New York: Nation Books. Taliaferro, John (2002). Great White Fathers: The Story of the Obsessive Quest to Create Mount Rushmore. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-205-3. The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior. OCLC 53228516. "The Six Grandfathers Before It Was Known as Mount Rushmore". Native Hope. Retrieved April 2, 2021. "Untold Stories Discussion Guide: Baker and Mount Rushmore" (PDF). The National Parks: America's Best Idea. PBS. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2015. Smith, Rex Alan (2011). The Carving of Mount Rushmore. New York: Abbeville Press. ISBN 978-0-7892-6008-6. OCLC 784885603. External links Official website

George_Washington

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was a Founding Father of the United States, military officer, and farmer who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Second Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army in 1775, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and then served as president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which drafted the current Constitution of the United States. Washington has thus become commonly known as the "Father of his Country". Washington's first public office, from 1749 to 1750, was as surveyor of Culpeper County in the Colony of Virginia. In 1752, he received military training and was granted the rank of major in the Virginia Regiment. During the French and Indian War, Washington was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1754 and subsequently became head of the Virginia Regiment in 1755. He was later elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was named a delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which appointed him commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. Washington led American forces to a decisive victory over the British in the Revolutionary War, leading the British to sign the Treaty of Paris, which acknowledged the sovereignty and independence of the United States. He resigned his commission in 1783 after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War. Washington played an indispensable role in adopting and ratifying the Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation in 1789. He was then twice elected president unanimously by the Electoral College in 1788 and 1792. As the first U.S. president, Washington implemented a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in a fierce rivalry that emerged between cabinet members Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. During the French Revolution, he proclaimed a policy of neutrality while additionally sanctioning the Jay Treaty. He set enduring precedents for the office of president, including republicanism, a peaceful transfer of power, the use of the title "Mr. President", and the two-term tradition. His 1796 farewell address became a preeminent statement on republicanism in which he wrote about the importance of national unity and the dangers that regionalism, partisanship, and foreign influence pose to it. Washington's image is an icon of American culture. He has been memorialized by monuments, a federal holiday, various media depictions, geographical locations including the national capital, the State of Washington, stamps, and currency. In 1976, Washington was posthumously promoted to the rank of general of the Armies, the highest rank in the U.S. Army. Washington consistently ranks in both popular and scholarly polls as one of the greatest presidents in American history. Early life (1732–1752) George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. His father was a justice of the peace and a prominent public figure who had four additional children from his first marriage to Jane Butler. The family moved to Little Hunting Creek in 1734 before eventually settling in Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia. When Augustine died in 1743, Washington inherited Ferry Farm and ten slaves; his older half-brother Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek and renamed it Mount Vernon. Washington did not have the formal education his elder brothers received at Appleby Grammar School in England, but he did attend the Lower Church School in Hartfield. He learned mathematics, including trigonometry, and land surveying, and became a talented draftsman and mapmaker. By early adulthood, he was writing with "considerable force" and "precision". As a teenager, to practice his penmanship, Washington compiled over a hundred rules for social interaction styled Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation, copied from an English translation of a French book of manners. Washington often visited Mount Vernon and Belvoir, the plantation of William Fairfax, Lawrence's father-in-law. Fairfax became Washington's patron and surrogate father. In 1748, Washington spent a month with a team surveying Fairfax's Shenandoah Valley property. The following year, he received a surveyor's license from the College of William & Mary. Even though Washington had not served the customary apprenticeship, Thomas Fairfax appointed him surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, where he took his oath of office on July 20, 1749. He subsequently familiarized himself with the frontier region, and though he resigned from the job in 1750, he continued to do surveys west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. By 1752, he had bought almost 1,500 acres (600 ha) in the Valley and owned 2,315 acres (937 ha). In 1751, Washington left mainland North America for the first and only time, when he accompanied Lawrence to Barbados, hoping the climate would cure his brother's tuberculosis. Washington contracted smallpox during that trip, which left his face slightly scarred. Lawrence died in 1752, and Washington leased Mount Vernon from his widow Anne; he inherited it outright after her death in 1761. Colonial military career (1752–1758) Lawrence Washington's service as adjutant general of the Virginia militia inspired George to seek a commission. Virginia's lieutenant governor, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed Washington as a major and commander of one of the four militia districts. The British and French were competing for control of the Ohio Valley: the British were constructing forts along the Ohio River, and the French between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. In October 1753, Dinwiddie appointed Washington as a special envoy. He had sent Washington to demand French forces to vacate land that was claimed by the British. Washington was also appointed to make peace with the Iroquois Confederacy, and to gather further intelligence about the French forces. Washington met with Half-King Tanacharison, and other Iroquois chiefs, at Logstown, and gathered information about the numbers and locations of the French forts, as well as intelligence concerning individuals taken prisoner by the French. Washington was nicknamed Conotocaurius by Tanacharison. The name, meaning "devourer of villages", had been given to his great-grandfather John Washington in the late 17th century by the Susquehannock. Washington's party reached the Ohio River in November 1753, and was intercepted by a French patrol. The party was escorted to Fort Le Boeuf, where Washington was received in a friendly manner. He delivered the British demand to vacate to the French commander Saint-Pierre, but the French refused to leave. Saint-Pierre gave Washington his official answer after a few days' delay, as well as food and winter clothing for his party's journey back to Virginia. Washington completed the precarious mission in 77 days, in difficult winter conditions, achieving a measure of distinction when his report was published in Virginia and London. French and Indian War In February 1754, Dinwiddie promoted Washington to lieutenant colonel and second-in-command of the 300-strong Virginia Regiment, with orders to confront French forces at the Forks of the Ohio. Washington set out with half the regiment in April and soon learned a French force of 1,000 had begun construction of Fort Duquesne there. In May, having set up a defensive position at Great Meadows, he learned that the French had made camp seven miles (11 km) away; he decided to take the offensive. The French detachment proved to be only about 50 men, so Washington advanced on May 28 with a small force of Virginians and Indian allies to ambush them. During the ambush, French forces were killed outright with muskets and hatchets, including French commander Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, who had been carrying a diplomatic message for the British. The French later found their countrymen dead and scalped, blaming Washington, who had retreated to Fort Necessity. The full Virginia Regiment joined Washington at Fort Necessity the following month with news that he had been promoted to command of the regiment and colonel upon the regimental commander's death. The regiment was reinforced by an independent company of a hundred South Carolinians led by Captain James Mackay; his royal commission outranked Washington's and a conflict of command ensued. On July 3, a French force attacked with 900 men, and the ensuing battle ended in Washington's surrender. He signed a surrender document in which he unwittingly took responsibility for "assassinating" Jumonville, later blaming the translator for not properly translating it. In the aftermath, Colonel James Innes took command of intercolonial forces, the Virginia Regiment was divided, and Washington was offered a captaincy in one of the newly formed regiments. He refused, however, as it would have been a demotion and instead resigned his commission. The "Jumonville affair" became the incident which ignited the French and Indian War, later to become part of the Seven Years' War. In 1755, Washington served voluntarily as an aide to General Edward Braddock, who led a British expedition to expel the French from Fort Duquesne and the Ohio Country. On Washington's recommendation, Braddock split the army into one main column and a lightly equipped "flying column". Suffering from severe dysentery, Washington was left behind, and when he rejoined Braddock at Monongahela the French and their Indian allies ambushed the divided army. Two-thirds of the British force became casualties, including the mortally wounded Braddock. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage, Washington, still very ill, rallied the survivors and formed a rear guard, allowing the remnants of the force to disengage and retreat. During the engagement, he had two horses shot from under him, and his hat and coat were bullet-pierced. His conduct under fire redeemed his reputation among critics of his command in the Battle of Fort Necessity, but he was not included by the succeeding commander (Colonel Thomas Dunbar) in planning subsequent operations. The Virginia Regiment was reconstituted in August 1755, and Dinwiddie appointed Washington its commander, again with the rank of colonel. Washington clashed over seniority almost immediately, this time with John Dagworthy, another captain of superior royal rank, who commanded a detachment of Marylanders at the regiment's headquarters in Fort Cumberland. Washington, impatient for an offensive against Fort Duquesne, was convinced Braddock would have granted him a royal commission and pressed his case in February 1756 with Braddock's successor as Commander-in-Chief, William Shirley, and again in January 1757 with Shirley's successor, Lord Loudoun. Shirley ruled in Washington's favor only in the matter of Dagworthy; Loudoun humiliated Washington, refused him a royal commission and agreed only to relieve him of the responsibility of manning Fort Cumberland. In 1758, the Virginia Regiment was assigned to the British Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. Washington disagreed with General John Forbes' tactics and chosen route. Forbes nevertheless made Washington a brevet brigadier general and gave him command of one of the three brigades that would assault the fort. The French had abandoned the fort and the valley before the assault, however, and Washington only saw a friendly fire incident which left 14 dead and 26 injured. Frustrated, he resigned his commission soon afterwards and returned to Mount Vernon. Under Washington, the Virginia Regiment had defended 300 miles (480 km) of frontier against twenty Indian attacks in ten months. He increased the professionalism of the regiment as it grew from 300 to 1,000 men, and Virginia's frontier population suffered less than other colonies. Though he failed to realize a royal commission, he gained self-confidence, leadership skills, and knowledge of British military tactics. The destructive competition Washington witnessed among colonial politicians fostered his later support of a strong central government. Marriage, civilian, and political life (1755–1775) On January 6, 1759, Washington, at age 26, married Martha Dandridge Custis, the 27-year-old widow of wealthy plantation owner Daniel Parke Custis. The marriage took place at Martha's estate; she was intelligent, gracious, and experienced in managing a planter's estate, and the couple had a happy marriage. They moved to Mount Vernon, near Alexandria, where he lived as a planter of tobacco and wheat and emerged as a political figure. Washington's 1751 bout with smallpox is thought to have rendered him sterile, though it is equally likely that "Martha may have sustained injury during the birth of Patsy, her final child, making additional births impossible." The couple lamented not having any children together. Despite this, the two raised Martha's two children John Parke Custis (Jacky) and Martha Parke Custis (Patsy), and later Jacky's two youngest children Eleanor Parke Custis (Nelly) and George Washington Parke Custis (Washy), along with numerous nieces and nephews. The marriage gave Washington control over Martha's one-third dower interest in the 18,000-acre (7,300 ha) Custis estate, and he managed the remaining two-thirds for Martha's children; the estate also included 84 slaves. As a result, he became one of the wealthiest men in Virginia, which increased his social standing. At Washington's urging, Governor Lord Botetourt fulfilled Dinwiddie's 1754 promise of land bounties to all-volunteer militia during the French and Indian War. In late 1770, Washington inspected the lands in the Ohio and Great Kanawha regions, and he engaged surveyor William Crawford to subdivide it. Crawford allotted 23,200 acres (9,400 ha) to Washington; Washington told the veterans that their land was hilly and unsuitable for farming, and he agreed to purchase 20,147 acres (8,153 ha), leaving some feeling they had been duped. He also doubled the size of Mount Vernon to 6,500 acres (2,600 ha) and, by 1775, had increased its slave population by more than a hundred. As a respected military hero and large landowner, Washington held local offices and was elected to the Virginia provincial legislature, representing Frederick County in the House of Burgesses for seven years beginning in 1758. He first ran for the seat in 1755 but was soundly beaten by Hugh West. When he ran in 1758, Washington plied voters with beer, brandy, and other beverages. Despite being away serving on the Forbes Expedition, he won the election with roughly 40 percent of the vote, defeating three opponents with the help of local supporters. Early in his legislative career, Washington rarely spoke or even attended legislative sessions. He would later become a prominent critic of Britain's taxation policy and mercantilist policies towards the American colonies and became more politically active starting in the 1760s. Washington imported luxuries and other goods from England, paying for them by exporting tobacco. His profligate spending combined with low tobacco prices left him £1,800 in debt by 1764, prompting him to diversify his holdings. In 1765, because of erosion and other soil problems, he changed Mount Vernon's primary cash crop from tobacco to wheat and expanded operations to include corn flour milling and fishing. Washington soon was counted among the political and social elite in Virginia. From 1768 to 1775, he invited some 2,000 guests to Mount Vernon, mostly those whom he considered people of rank, and was known to be exceptionally cordial toward guests. Washington also took time for leisure with fox hunting, fishing, dances, theater, cards, backgammon, and billiards. Washington's stepdaughter Patsy suffered from epileptic attacks from age 12, and she died at Mount Vernon in 1773. The following day, he wrote to Burwell Bassett: "It is easier to conceive, than to describe, the distress of this Family". He canceled all business activity and remained with Martha every night for three months. Opposition to the British Parliament and Crown Washington played a central role before and during the American Revolution. His distrust of the British military had begun when he was passed over for promotion into the Regular Army. Opposed to taxes imposed by the British Parliament on the Colonies without proper representation, he and other colonists were also angered by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 which banned American settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains and protected the British fur trade. Washington believed the Stamp Act 1765 was an "Act of Oppression" and celebrated its repeal the following year. In March 1766, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act asserting that Parliamentary law superseded colonial law. In the late 1760s, the interference of the British Crown in American lucrative western land speculation spurred the American Revolution. Washington was a prosperous land speculator, and in 1767, he encouraged "adventures" to acquire backcountry western lands. Washington helped lead widespread protests against the Townshend Acts passed by Parliament in 1767, and he introduced a proposal in May 1769 which urged Virginians to boycott British goods; the Acts were mostly repealed in 1770. Parliament sought to punish Massachusetts colonists for their role in the Boston Tea Party in 1774 by passing the Coercive Acts, which Washington saw as "an invasion of our rights and privileges". He said Americans must not submit to acts of tyranny since "custom and use shall make us as tame and abject slaves, as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway". That July, he and George Mason drafted a list of resolutions for the Fairfax County committee, including a call to end the Atlantic slave trade, which were adopted. On August 1, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention. There, he was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. As tensions rose in 1774, he helped train militias in Virginia and organized enforcement of the Continental Association boycott of British goods instituted by the Congress. The American Revolutionary War broke out on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Siege of Boston. Upon hearing the news, Washington was "sobered and dismayed", and he hastily departed Mount Vernon on May 4, 1775, to join the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Commander in chief (1775–1783) On June 14, 1775, Congress created the Continental Army and John Adams nominated Washington as its commander-in-chief, mainly because of his military experience and the belief that a Virginian would better unite the colonies. He was unanimously elected by Congress the next day. Washington appeared before Congress in uniform and gave an acceptance speech on June 16, declining a salary, though he was later reimbursed expenses. Washington was commissioned on June 19 and officially appointed by Congress as "General & Commander in chief of the army of the United Colonies and of all the forces raised or to be raised by them". He was instructed to take charge of the Siege of Boston on June 22, 1775. Congress chose his primary staff officers, including Major General Artemas Ward, Adjutant General Horatio Gates, Major General Charles Lee, Major General Philip Schuyler, and Major General Nathanael Greene. Henry Knox, a young bookkeeper, impressed Adams and Washington with ordnance knowledge and was subsequently promoted to colonel and chief of artillery. Similarly, Washington was impressed by Alexander Hamilton's intelligence and bravery. He would later promote him to colonel and appoint him his aide-de-camp. Washington initially banned the enlistment of blacks, both free and enslaved, into the Continental Army. The British saw an opportunity to divide the colonies, and the colonial governor of Virginia issued a proclamation, which promised freedom to slaves if they joined the British. Desperate for manpower by late 1777, Washington relented and overturned his ban. By the end of the war, around one-tenth of Washington's army were blacks. Following the British surrender, Washington sought to enforce terms of the preliminary Treaty of Paris (1783) by reclaiming slaves freed by the British and returning them to servitude. He arranged to make this request to Sir Guy Carleton on May 6, 1783. Instead, Carleton issued 3,000 freedom certificates and all former slaves in New York City were able to leave before the city was evacuated by the British in late November 1783. Siege of Boston Early in 1775, in response to the growing rebellious movement, London sent British troops to occupy Boston, led by General Thomas Gage, commander of British forces in America. They set up fortifications, making the city impervious to attack. Local militias surrounded the city and effectively trapped the British troops, resulting in a standoff. As Washington headed for Boston, word of his march preceded him, and he was greeted everywhere; gradually, he became a symbol of the Patriot cause. Upon Washington's arrival on July 2, 1775, two weeks after the Battle of Bunker Hill, he set up headquarters in Cambridge. When he went to inspect the army, he found undisciplined militia. After consultation, he initiated Benjamin Franklin's suggested reforms: drilling the soldiers and imposing strict discipline. Washington ordered his officers to identify the skills of recruits to ensure military effectiveness, while removing incompetent officers. He petitioned Gage, his former superior, to release captured Patriot officers from prison and treat them humanely. In October 1775, King George III declared that the colonies were in open rebellion and relieved Gage of command for incompetence, replacing him with General William Howe. The Continental Army, reduced to only 9,600 men by January 1776 due to expiring short-term enlistments, had to be supplemented with militia. Soon, they were joined by Knox with heavy artillery captured from Fort Ticonderoga. When the Charles River froze over, Washington was eager to cross and storm Boston, but General Gates and others were opposed to untrained militia striking well-garrisoned fortifications. Instead, he agreed to secure the Dorchester Heights, 100 feet (30 m) above Boston, with Knox's artillery to try to force the British out. On March 9, under cover of darkness, Washington's troops bombarded British ships in Boston harbor. On March 17, 9,000 British troops and Loyalists began a chaotic ten-day evacuation aboard 120 ships. Soon after, Washington entered the city with 500 men, with explicit orders not to plunder the city. He refrained from exerting military authority in Boston, leaving civilian matters in the hands of local authorities. New York and New Jersey Battle of Long Island After the victory at Boston, Washington correctly guessed that the British would return to New York City, a Loyalist stronghold, and retaliate. He arrived there on April 13, 1776, and ordered the construction of fortifications to thwart the expected British attack. He also ordered his occupying forces to treat civilians and their property with respect, to avoid the abuses Bostonians suffered at the hands of British troops. Howe transported his resupplied army, with the British fleet, from Halifax to New York City. George Germain, who ran the British war effort in England, believed it could be won with one "decisive blow". The British forces, including more than a hundred ships and thousands of troops, began arriving on Staten Island on July 2 to lay siege to the city. After the Declaration of Independence was unanimously adopted on July 4, Washington informed his troops on July 9 that Congress had declared the united colonies to be "free and independent states". Howe's troop strength totaled 32,000 regulars and Hessian auxiliaries, and Washington's consisted of 23,000, mostly raw recruits and militia. In August, Howe landed 20,000 troops at Gravesend, Brooklyn, and approached Washington's fortifications Opposing his generals, Washington chose to fight, based on inaccurate information that Howe's army had only 8,000-plus troops. In the Battle of Long Island, Howe assaulted Washington's flank and inflicted 1,500 Patriot casualties, the British suffering 400. Washington retreated, instructing General William Heath to acquire river craft. On August 30, General William Alexander held off the British and gave cover while the army crossed the East River under darkness to Manhattan without loss of life or materiel, although Alexander was captured. Howe was emboldened by his Long Island victory and dispatched Washington as "George Washington, Esq." in futility to negotiate peace. Washington declined, demanding to be addressed with diplomatic protocol, as general and fellow belligerent, not as a "rebel", lest his men be hanged as such if captured. The Royal Navy bombarded the unstable earthworks on lower Manhattan Island. Despite misgivings, Washington heeded the advice of Generals Greene and Putnam to defend Fort Washington. They were unable to hold it; Washington abandoned the fort and ordered his army north to the White Plains. Howe's pursuit forced Washington to retreat across the Hudson River to Fort Lee to avoid encirclement. Howe landed his troops on Manhattan in November and captured Fort Washington, inflicting high casualties on the Americans. Washington was responsible for delaying the retreat, though he blamed Congress and General Greene. Loyalists in New York City considered Howe a liberator and spread a rumor that Washington had set fire to the city. Patriot morale reached its lowest when Lee was captured. Now reduced to 5,400 troops, Washington's army retreated through New Jersey, and Howe broke off pursuit to set up winter quarters in New York. Crossing the Delaware, Trenton, and Princeton Washington crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, where Lee's replacement General John Sullivan joined him with 2,000 more troops. The future of the Continental Army was in doubt due to lack of supplies, a harsh winter, expiring enlistments, and desertions. Washington was disappointed that many New Jersey residents were Loyalists or skeptical about independence. Howe split up his army and posted a Hessian garrison at Trenton to hold western New Jersey and the east shore of the Delaware. Desperate for a victory, Washington and his generals devised a surprise attack on Trenton. The army was to cross the Delaware in three divisions: one led by Washington (2,400 troops), another by General James Ewing (700), and the third by Colonel John Cadwalader (1,500). The force was to then split, with Washington taking the Pennington Road and General Sullivan traveling south on the river's edge. Washington ordered a 60-mile search for Durham boats to transport his army, and the destruction of vessels that could be used by the British. He personally risked capture while staking out the Jersey shoreline alone leading up to the crossing. Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas night, 1776. His men followed across the ice-obstructed river from McConkey's Ferry, with 40 men per vessel. The wind churned up the waters, and they were pelted with hail, but by 3:00 a.m. on December 26, they made it across with no losses. Knox was delayed, managing frightened horses and about 18 field guns on flat-bottomed ferries. Cadwalader and Ewing failed to cross due to the ice and heavy currents. Once Knox arrived, Washington proceeded to Trenton, rather than risk being spotted returning his army to Pennsylvania. The troops spotted Hessian positions a mile from Trenton, so Washington split his force into two columns, rallying his men: "Soldiers keep by your officers. For God's sake, keep by your officers." The two columns were separated at the Birmingham crossroads. General Greene's column took the upper Ferry Road, led by Washington, and General Sullivan's column advanced on River Road. The Americans marched in sleet and snowfall. Many were shoeless with bloodied feet, and two died of exposure. At sunrise, Washington, aided by Colonel Knox and artillery, led his men in a surprise attack on the unsuspecting Hessians and their commander, Colonel Johann Rall. The Hessians had 22 killed, including Colonel Rall, 83 wounded, and 850 captured with supplies. Washington retreated across the Delaware to Pennsylvania and returned to New Jersey on January 3, 1777, launching an attack on British regulars at Princeton, with 40 Americans killed or wounded and 273 British killed or captured. American Generals Hugh Mercer and John Cadwalader were being driven back by the British when Mercer was mortally wounded. Washington arrived and led the men in a counterattack which advanced to within 30 yards (27 m) of the British line. Some British troops retreated after a brief stand, while others took refuge in Nassau Hall, which became the target of Colonel Alexander Hamilton's cannons. Washington's troops charged, the British surrendered in less than an hour, and 194 soldiers laid down their arms. Howe retreated to New York City where his army remained inactive until early the next year. Washington took up winter headquarters in Jacob Arnold's Tavern in Morristown, New Jersey, while he received munition from the Hibernia mines. While in Morristown, Washington's troops disrupted British supply lines and expelled them from parts of New Jersey. During his stay in Morristown, Washington ordered the inoculation of Continental troops against smallpox. This went against the wishes of the Continental Congress who had issued a proclamation prohibiting it, but Washington feared the spread of smallpox in the army. The mass inoculation proved successful, with only isolated infections occurring and no regiments incapacitated by the disease. The British still controlled New York, and many Patriot soldiers did not re-enlist or deserted after the harsh winter campaign. Congress instituted greater rewards for re-enlisting and punishments for desertion to effect greater troop numbers. Strategically, Washington's victories at Trenton and Princeton were pivotal; they revived Patriot morale and quashed the British strategy of showing overwhelming force followed by offering generous terms, changing the course of the war. In February 1777, word of the American victories reached London, and the British realized the Patriots were in a position to demand unconditional independence. Philadelphia Brandywine, Germantown, and Saratoga In July 1777, British General John Burgoyne led the Saratoga campaign south from Quebec through Lake Champlain and recaptured Fort Ticonderoga intending to divide New England, including control of the Hudson River. However, General Howe in British-occupied New York City blundered, taking his army south to Philadelphia rather than up the Hudson River to join Burgoyne near Albany. Washington and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette rushed to Philadelphia to engage Howe. In the Battle of Brandywine, on September 11, 1777, Howe outmaneuvered Washington and marched unopposed into the nation's capital at Philadelphia. A Patriot attack failed against the British at Germantown in October. In Upstate New York, the Patriots were led by General Horatio Gates. Concerned about Burgoyne's movements southward, Washington sent reinforcements north with Generals Benedict Arnold, his most aggressive field commander, and Benjamin Lincoln. On October 7, 1777, Burgoyne tried to take Bemis Heights but was isolated from support by Howe. He was forced to retreat to Saratoga and ultimately surrendered after the Battles of Saratoga. As Washington suspected, Gates' victory emboldened his critics. Biographer John Alden maintains, "It was inevitable that the defeats of Washington's forces and the concurrent victory of the forces in upper New York should be compared." Admiration for Washington was waning, including little credit from John Adams. Valley Forge and Monmouth Washington and his Continental Army of 11,000 men went into winter quarters at Valley Forge north of Philadelphia in December 1777. There they lost between 2,000 and 3,000 men as a result of disease and lack of food, clothing, and shelter. The British were comfortably quartered in Philadelphia, paying for supplies in pounds sterling, while Washington struggled with a devalued American paper currency. The woodlands were soon exhausted of game. By February, Washington was facing lowered morale and increased desertions among his troops. An internal revolt by his officers, led by Major General Thomas Conway, prompted some members of Congress to consider removing Washington from command. Washington's supporters resisted, and the matter was dropped after much deliberation. Once the plot was exposed, Conway wrote an apology to Washington, resigned, and returned to France. Washington made repeated petitions to Congress for provisions. He received a congressional delegation to check the Army's conditions and expressed the urgency of the situation, proclaiming: "Something must be done. Important alterations must be made." He recommended that Congress expedite supplies, and Congress agreed to strengthen and fund the army's supply lines by reorganizing the commissary department. By late February, supplies began arriving. Meanwhile, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben's incessant drilling transformed Washington's recruits into a disciplined fighting force by the end of winter camp. For his services, Washington promoted Von Steuben to Major General and made him chief of staff. In early 1778, the French responded to Burgoyne's defeat and entered into a Treaty of Alliance with the Americans. Congress ratified the treaty in May, which amounted to a French declaration of war against Britain. In May 1778, Howe resigned and was replaced by Sir Henry Clinton. The British evacuated Philadelphia for New York that June and Washington summoned a war council of American and French generals. He chose a partial attack on the retreating British at the Battle of Monmouth. Generals Charles Lee and Lafayette moved with 4,000 men, without Washington's knowledge, and bungled their first attack on June 28. Washington relieved Lee and achieved a draw after an expansive battle. At nightfall, the British continued their retreat to New York, and Washington moved his army outside the city. Monmouth was Washington's last battle in the North. West Point espionage Washington became America's first spymaster by designing an espionage system against the British. In 1778, Major Benjamin Tallmadge formed the Culper Ring at Washington's direction to covertly collect information about the British in New York. Washington had disregarded incidents of disloyalty by Benedict Arnold, who had distinguished himself in many campaigns, including his invasion of Quebec and the Battle of Saratoga. In 1780, Arnold began supplying British spymaster John André with sensitive information intended to compromise Washington and capture West Point, a key American defensive position on the Hudson River. Historians Nathaniel Philbrick and Ron Chernow noted possible reasons for Arnold's defection to be his anger at losing promotions to junior officers, or repeated slights from Congress. He was also deeply in debt, profiteering from the war, and disappointed by Washington's lack of support during his eventual court-martial. After repeated requests, Washington agreed to give Arnold command of West Point in August. On September 21, Arnold met André and gave him plans to take over the garrison. While returning to British lines, André was captured by militia who discovered the plans; upon hearing the news of André's capture on September 24, while waiting to greet and have breakfast with Washington, Arnold immediately fled to HMS Vulture, the ship that had brought André to West Point, and escaped to New York. Upon being told about Arnold's treason, Washington recalled the commanders positioned under Arnold at key points around the fort to prevent any complicity. He assumed personal command at West Point and reorganized its defenses. André's trial for espionage ended in a death sentence, and Washington offered to return him to the British in exchange for Arnold, but Clinton refused. André was hanged on October 2, 1780, despite his request for a firing squad, to deter other spies. Southern theater and Yorktown In late 1778, General Clinton shipped 3,000 troops from New York to Georgia and launched a Southern invasion against Savannah, reinforced by 2,000 British and Loyalist troops. They repelled an attack by American patriots and French naval forces, which bolstered the British war effort. In June 1778, Iroquois warriors joined with Loyalist rangers led by Walter Butler and killed more than 200 frontiersmen, laying waste to the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania. In mid-1779, in response to this and other attacks on New England towns, Washington ordered General John Sullivan to lead an expedition to force the Iroquois out of New York by effecting "the total destruction and devastation" of their villages and taking their women and children hostage. The expedition systematically destroyed Iroquois villages and food stocks, and forced at least 5,036 Iroquois to flee to British Canada. The campaign directly killed a few hundred Iroquois, but according to historian Rhiannon Koehler, the net effect was to reduce the Iroquois by half. They became unable to survive the harsh winter of 1779–1780; some historians now describe the campaign as a genocide. Washington's troops went into quarters at Morristown, New Jersey for their worst winter of the war, with temperatures well below freezing. New York Harbor was frozen, snow covered the ground for weeks, and the troops again lacked provisions. In January 1780, Clinton assembled 12,500 troops and attacked Charles Town, South Carolina, defeating General Benjamin Lincoln. By June, they occupied the South Carolina Piedmont. Clinton returned to New York and left 8,000 troops under the command of General Charles Cornwallis. Congress replaced Lincoln with Horatio Gates; after his defeat in the Battle of Camden, Gates was replaced by Nathanael Greene, Washington's initial choice, but the British had firm control of the South. Washington was reinvigorated, however, when Lafayette returned from France with more ships, men, and supplies, and 5,000 veteran French troops led by Marshal Rochambeau arrived at Newport, Rhode Island in July 1780. French naval forces then landed, led by Admiral de Grasse. Washington's army went into winter quarters at New Windsor, New York in December 1780; he urged Congress and state officials to expedite provisions so the army would not "continue to struggle under the same difficulties they have hitherto endured". On March 1, 1781, Congress ratified the Articles of Confederation, but the government that took effect on March 2 did not have the power to levy taxes, and it loosely held the states together. General Clinton sent Benedict Arnold, now a British Brigadier General with 1,700 troops, to Virginia to capture Portsmouth and conduct raids on Patriot forces; Washington responded by sending Lafayette south to counter Arnold's efforts. Washington initially hoped to bring the fight to New York, drawing off British forces from Virginia and ending the war there, but Rochambeau advised him that Cornwallis in Virginia was the better target. De Grasse's fleet arrived off the Virginia coast, cutting off British retreat. Seeing the advantage, Washington made a feint towards Clinton in New York, then headed south to Virginia. Yorktown The siege of Yorktown was a decisive victory by the combined forces of the Continental Army commanded by Washington, the French Army commanded by General Comte de Rochambeau, and the French Navy commanded by Admiral de Grasse. On August 19, the march to Yorktown led by Washington and Rochambeau began, which is known now as the "celebrated march". Washington was in command of an army of 7,800 Frenchmen, 3,100 militia, and 8,000 Continentals. Inexperienced in siege warfare, he often deferred to the judgment of General Rochambeau and relied on his advice. Despite this, Rochambeau never challenged Washington's authority as the battle's commanding officer. By late September, Patriot-French forces surrounded Yorktown, trapped the British Army, and prevented British reinforcements from Clinton in the North, while the French navy emerged victorious at the Battle of the Chesapeake. The final American offensive began with a shot fired by Washington. The siege ended with a British surrender on October 19, 1781; over 7,000 British soldiers became prisoners of war. Washington negotiated the terms of surrender for two days, and the official signing ceremony took place on October 19; Cornwallis claimed illness and was absent, sending General Charles O'Hara as his proxy. As a gesture of goodwill, Washington held a dinner for the American, French, and British generals, all of whom fraternized on friendly terms and identified with one another as members of the same professional military caste. Afterwards, Washington moved the army to New Windsor, New York where they remained stationed until the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, formally ending the war. Although the peace treaty did not happen for two years following the end of the battle, Yorktown proved to be the last significant battle or campaign of the Revolutionary War, with the British Parliament agreeing to cease hostilities in March 1782. Demobilization and resignation When peace negotiations began in April 1782, both the British and French began gradually evacuating their forces. With the American treasury empty, unpaid and mutinous soldiers forced the adjournment of Congress. In March 1783, Washington successfully calmed the Newburgh Conspiracy, a planned munity by American officers; Congress promised each a five-year bonus. Washington submitted an account of $450,000 in expenses which he had advanced to the army, equivalent to $9.53 million in 2023. The account was settled, though it was allegedly vague about large sums and included expenses his wife had incurred through visits to his headquarters. The following month, a Congressional committee led by Alexander Hamilton began adapting the army for peacetime. In August 1783, Washington gave the Army's perspective to the committee in his Sentiments on a Peace Establishment, which advised Congress to keep a standing army, create a "national militia" of separate state units, and establish a navy and a national military academy. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, and Britain officially recognized American independence. Washington disbanded his army, giving a farewell address to his soldiers on November 2. During this time, Washington oversaw the evacuation of British forces in New York and was greeted by parades and celebrations. Along with Governor George Clinton, he took formal possession of the city on November 25. In early December 1783, Washington bade farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern and resigned as commander-in-chief soon thereafter. In a final appearance in uniform, he gave a statement to the Congress: "I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping." Washington's resignation was acclaimed at home and abroad and showed a skeptical world that the new republic would not degenerate into chaos. The same month, Washington was appointed president-general of the Society of the Cincinnati, a newly established hereditary fraternity of Revolutionary War officers. He served in this capacity for the remainder of his life. Early republic (1783–1789) Return to Mount Vernon Washington was longing to return home after spending just ten days at Mount Vernon out of 8+1⁄2 years of war. He arrived on Christmas Eve, delighted to be "free of the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life". He was a celebrity and was fêted during a visit to his mother at Fredericksburg in February 1784, and he received a constant stream of visitors wishing to pay their respects at Mount Vernon. Washington reactivated his interests in the Great Dismal Swamp and Potomac canal projects begun before the war, though neither paid him any dividends, and he undertook a 34-day, 680-mile (1,090 km) trip to check on his land holdings in the Ohio Country. He oversaw the completion of the remodeling work at Mount Vernon, which transformed his residence into the mansion that survives to this day—although his financial situation was not strong. Creditors paid him in depreciated wartime currency, and he owed significant amounts in taxes and wages. Mount Vernon had made no profit during his absence, and he saw persistently poor crop yields due to pestilence and poor weather. His estate recorded its eleventh year running at a deficit in 1787, and there was little prospect of improvement. To make his estate profitable again, Washington undertook a new landscaping plan and succeeded in cultivating a range of fast-growing trees and native shrubs. He also began breeding mules after being gifted a Spanish jack by King Charles III of Spain in 1784. There were few mules in the United States at that time, and he believed that they would revolutionize agriculture and transportation. Constitutional Convention of 1787 Before returning to private life in June 1783, Washington called for a strong union. Though he was concerned that he might be criticized for meddling in civil matters, he sent a circular letter to the states, maintaining that the Articles of Confederation was no more than "a rope of sand". He believed the nation was on the verge of "anarchy and confusion", was vulnerable to foreign intervention, and that a national constitution would unify the states under a strong central government. When Shays' Rebellion erupted in Massachusetts over taxation, Washington was further convinced that a national constitution was needed. Some nationalists feared that the new republic had descended into lawlessness, and they met on September 11, 1786, at Annapolis to ask Congress to revise the Articles of Confederation. One of their biggest efforts was getting Washington to attend. Congress agreed to a Constitutional Convention to be held in Philadelphia in Spring 1787, with each state to send delegates. On December 4, 1786, Washington was chosen to lead the Virginia delegation, but he declined on December 21. He had concerns about the legality of the convention and consulted James Madison, Henry Knox, and others. They persuaded him to attend as his presence might induce reluctant states to send delegates and smooth the way for the ratification process while also giving legitimacy to the convention. On March 28, Washington told Governor Edmund Randolph that he would attend the convention but made it clear that he was urged to attend. Washington arrived in Philadelphia on May 9, 1787, though a quorum was not attained until May 25. Benjamin Franklin nominated Washington to preside over the convention, and he was unanimously elected to serve as president general. The convention's state-mandated purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation, and the new government would be established when the resulting document was "duly confirmed by the several states". Randolph introduced Madison's Virginia Plan on May 27, the third day of the convention. It called for an entirely new constitution and a sovereign national government, which Washington highly recommended. On July 10, Washington wrote to Alexander Hamilton: "I almost despair of seeing a favorable issue to the proceedings of our convention and do therefore repent having had any agency in the business." Nevertheless, he lent his prestige to the work of the other delegates, unsuccessfully lobbying many to support ratification of the Constitution, such as anti-federalists Edmund Randolph and George Mason. The final version was voted on and signed by 39 of 55 delegates on September 17, 1787. Chancellor of William & Mary In 1788, the Board of Visitors of the College of William & Mary decided to re-establish the position of Chancellor, and elected Washington to the office on January 18. The College Rector Samuel Griffin wrote to Washington inviting him to the post, and in a letter dated April 30, 1788, Washington accepted the position of the 14th Chancellor of the College of William & Mary. He continued to serve through his presidency until his death on December 14, 1799. First presidential election The delegates to the Convention anticipated a Washington presidency and left it to him to define the office once elected. The state electors under the Constitution voted for the president on February 4, 1789, and Washington suspected that most Republicans had not voted for him. The mandated March 4 date passed without a Congressional quorum to count the votes, but a quorum was reached on April 5. The votes were tallied the next day, and Washington won the majority of every state's electoral votes. He was informed of his election as president by Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson. John Adams received the next highest number of votes and was elected vice president. Despite feeling "anxious and painful sensations" about leaving Mount Vernon, he departed for New York City on April 16 to be inaugurated. Presidency (1789–1797) Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, taking the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City. His coach was led by militia and a marching band and followed by statesmen and foreign dignitaries in an inaugural parade, with a crowd of 10,000. Chancellor Robert R. Livingston administered the oath, using a Bible provided by the Masons, after which the militia fired a 13-gun salute. Washington read a speech in the Senate Chamber, asking "that Almighty Being ... consecrate the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States". Though he wished to serve without a salary, Congress insisted that he accept it, later providing Washington $25,000 per year to defray costs of the presidency, equivalent to $6.39 million today. Washington wrote to James Madison: "As the first of everything in our situation will serve to establish a precedent, it is devoutly wished on my part that these precedents be fixed on true principles." To that end, he preferred the title "Mr. President" over more majestic names proposed by the Senate, including "His Excellency" and "His Highness the President". His executive precedents included the inaugural address, messages to Congress, and the cabinet form of the executive branch. Washington planned to resign after his first term, but political strife convinced him to remain in office. He was an able administrator and a judge of talent and character, and he regularly talked with department heads to get their advice. He tolerated opposing views, despite fears that a democratic system would lead to political violence, and he conducted a smooth transition of power to his successor. He remained non-partisan throughout his presidency (the only United States president to do so), and opposed the divisiveness of political parties, but he favored a strong central government, was sympathetic to a Federalist form of government, and leery of the Republican opposition. Washington dealt with major problems. The old Confederation lacked the powers to handle its workload and had weak leadership, no executive, a small bureaucracy of clerks, large debt, worthless paper money, and no power to establish taxes. He had the task of assembling an executive department and relied on Tobias Lear for advice selecting its officers. Britain refused to relinquish its forts in the American West, and Barbary pirates preyed on American merchant ships in the Mediterranean before the United States even had a navy. Cabinet and executive departments Congress created executive departments in 1789, including the State Department in July, the War Department in August, and the Treasury Department in September. Washington appointed Edmund Randolph as Attorney General, Samuel Osgood as Postmaster General, Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, Henry Knox as Secretary of War, and Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury. Washington's cabinet became a consulting and advisory body, not mandated by the Constitution. Washington's cabinet members formed rival parties with sharply opposing views, most fiercely illustrated between Hamilton and Jefferson. Washington restricted cabinet discussions to topics of his choosing, without participating in the debate. He occasionally requested cabinet opinions in writing and expected department heads to agreeably carry out his decisions. Domestic issues Washington was apolitical and opposed the formation of parties, suspecting that conflict would undermine republicanism. He exercised great restraint in using his veto power, writing that "I give my Signature to many Bills with which my Judgment is at variance..." His closest advisors formed two factions, portending the First Party System. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton formed the Federalist Party to promote national credit and a financially powerful nation. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson opposed Hamilton's agenda and founded the Jeffersonian Republicans. Washington favored Hamilton's agenda, however, and it ultimately went into effect—resulting in bitter controversy. Washington proclaimed November 26, 1789, as a day of Thanksgiving to encourage national unity. "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor." He spent that day fasting and visiting debtors in prison to provide them with food and beer. African Americans In response to two antislavery petitions that were presented to Congress in 1790, slaveholders in Georgia and South Carolina threatened to "blow the trumpet of civil war". Washington and Congress responded with a series of racist measures: naturalization was denied to black immigrants; blacks were barred from serving in state militias; the Southwest Territory (later the state of Tennessee) was permitted to maintain slavery; and two more slave states were admitted (Kentucky in 1792 and Tennessee in 1796). On February 12, 1793, Washington signed into law the Fugitive Slave Act, which overrode state laws and courts, allowing agents to cross state lines to return escaped slaves. Many free blacks in the north decried the law believing it would allow bounty hunting and kidnapping. The Fugitive Slave Act gave effect to the Constitution's Fugitive Slave Clause, and the Act was passed overwhelmingly in Congress. At the same time, Washington signed a reenactment of the Northwest Ordinance in 1789, which had freed all slaves brought after 1787 into a vast expanse of federal territory north of the Ohio River, except for slaves escaping from slave states. The 1787 law lapsed when the new U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1789. He also signed the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which sharply limited American involvement in the Atlantic slave trade. On February 18, 1791, Congress admitted the free state of Vermont into the Union as the 14th state as of March 4, 1791. National Bank Washington's first term was largely devoted to economic concerns. Establishment of public credit became a primary challenge for the federal government. Hamilton submitted a report to a deadlocked Congress, and he, Madison, and Jefferson reached the Compromise of 1790 in which Jefferson agreed to Hamilton's debt proposals in exchange for moving the nation's capital temporarily to Philadelphia and then south near Georgetown on the Potomac River. The terms were legislated in the Funding Act of 1790 and the Residence Act, both of which Washington signed into law. Congress authorized the assumption and payment of the nation's debts, with funding provided by customs duties and excise taxes. Hamilton caused controversy in Cabinet by advocating for the establishment of the First Bank of the United States. Madison and Jefferson objected to the idea, but legislation creating the bank easily passed Congress. Jefferson and Randolph insisted the federal government was going beyond its constitutional authority. Hamilton argued the government could charter the bank under the implied powers granted by the constitution. Washington sided with Hamilton and signed the bank legislation on February 25, 1791. The rift between Hamilton and Jefferson, meanwhile, became openly hostile. The nation's first financial crisis occurred in March 1792. Hamilton's Federalists exploited large loans to gain control of U.S. debt securities, causing a run on the national bank; the markets returned to normal by mid-April. Jefferson believed Hamilton was part of the scheme, despite Hamilton's efforts to ameliorate. Jefferson–Hamilton feud Jefferson and Hamilton adopted diametrically opposed political principles. Hamilton believed in a strong national government requiring a national bank and foreign loans to function, while Jefferson believed the states and the farm element should primarily direct the government; he also resented the idea of banks and foreign loans. To Washington's dismay, the two men persistently entered into disputes and infighting. Hamilton demanded that Jefferson resign if he could not support Washington, and Jefferson told Washington that Hamilton's fiscal system would lead to the overthrow of the republic. Washington urged them to call a truce for the sake of the nation, but they ignored him. Jefferson's political actions, his support of Freneau's National Gazette, and his attempts to undermine Hamilton nearly led Washington to dismiss him from the cabinet; he ultimately resigned his position in December 1793, and Washington forsook him. The feud led to the well-defined Federalist and Republican parties, and party affiliation became necessary for election to Congress by 1794. Washington remained aloof from congressional attacks on Hamilton, but did not publicly protect him. The Hamilton–Reynolds sex scandal opened Hamilton to disgrace, but Washington continued to hold him in "very high esteem". Whiskey Rebellion In March 1791, at Hamilton's urging, with support from Madison, Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits to help curtail the national debt, which took effect in July. Grain farmers strongly protested in Pennsylvania's frontier districts; they argued that they were unrepresented and were shouldering too much of the debt, comparing their situation to British taxation pre-Revolution. On August 2, Washington assembled his cabinet to discuss the situation. Unlike Washington, who had reservations about using force, Hamilton was eager to suppress the rebellion with federal authority. Wanting to avoid involving the federal government, Washington first called on Pennsylvania state officials to take the initiative, but they declined. On August 7, Washington issued his first proclamation for calling up state militias. After appealing for peace, he reminded the protestors that, unlike the rule of the British crown, the Federal law was issued by state-elected representatives. Threats and violence against tax collectors, however, escalated into defiance against federal authority in 1794 and gave rise to the Whiskey Rebellion. Washington issued a final proclamation on September 25, threatening the use of military force to no avail. The federal army was not up to the task, so Washington invoked the Militia Act of 1792 to summon state militias. Governors sent troops, initially commanded by Washington, who handed over command to Henry Lee to lead them into the rebellious districts. They took 150 prisoners, and the remaining rebels dispersed. Two of the prisoners were condemned to death, but Washington exercised his Constitutional authority for the first time and pardoned them. Washington's forceful action demonstrated that the new government could protect itself and its tax collectors. This represented the first use of federal military force against the states and citizens. Washington justified his action against "certain self-created societies", which he regarded as "subversive organizations" that threatened the national union. He did not dispute their right to protest, but he insisted that their dissent must not violate federal law. Congress agreed and extended their congratulations to him; only Madison and Jefferson expressed indifference. Foreign affairs In April 1792, the French Revolutionary Wars began between Britain and France, and Washington declared America's neutrality. The revolutionary government of France sent diplomat Edmond-Charles Genêt to America, and he was welcomed with great enthusiasm. He created a network of new Democratic-Republican Societies promoting France's interests, but Washington denounced them and demanded that the French recall Genêt. The National Assembly of France granted Washington honorary French citizenship on August 26, 1792, during the early stages of the French Revolution. Hamilton formulated the Jay Treaty to normalize trade relations with Britain while removing them from western forts, and also to resolve financial debts remaining from the Revolution. Chief Justice John Jay acted as Washington's negotiator and signed the treaty on November 19, 1794; critical Jeffersonians, however, supported France. Washington deliberated, then supported the treaty because it avoided war with Britain, but was disappointed that its provisions favored Britain. He mobilized public opinion and secured ratification in the Senate but faced frequent public criticism. The British agreed to abandon their forts around the Great Lakes, and the United States modified the boundary with Canada. The government liquidated numerous pre-Revolution debts, and the British opened the British West Indies to American trade. The treaty secured peace with Britain and a decade of prosperous trade. Jefferson claimed that it angered France and "invited rather than avoided" war. Relations with France deteriorated afterward and, two days before Washington's term ended, the French Directory declared the authority to seize American ships, leaving succeeding president John Adams with prospective war. Native American affairs During the fall of 1789, Washington had to contend with the British refusing to evacuate their forts in the Northwest frontier and their concerted efforts to incite Indian tribes to attack American settlers. The Northwest tribes under Miami chief Little Turtle allied with the British to resist American expansion, and killed 1,500 settlers between 1783 and 1790. Washington declared that "the Government of the United States are determined that their Administration of Indian Affairs shall be directed entirely by the great principles of Justice and humanity", and provided that treaties should negotiate their land interests. The administration regarded powerful tribes as foreign nations, and Washington even smoked a peace pipe and drank wine with them at the President's House in Philadelphia. He made numerous attempts to conciliate them; he equated killing indigenous peoples with killing whites and sought to integrate them into European American culture. In the Southwest, negotiations failed between federal commissioners and raiding Indian tribes seeking retribution. Washington invited Creek Chief Alexander McGillivray and 24 leading chiefs to New York to negotiate a treaty and treated them like foreign dignitaries. Knox and McGillivray concluded the Treaty of New York on August 7, 1790, which provided the tribes with agricultural supplies and McGillivray with the rank of Brigadier General and an annual salary of $1,200, equivalent to $29,573 in 2023. In 1790, Washington sent Brigadier General Josiah Harmar to pacify the Northwest tribes, but Little Turtle routed him twice and forced him to withdraw. The Northwestern Confederacy of tribes used guerrilla tactics and were an effective force against the sparsely manned American Army. Washington sent Major General Arthur St. Clair from Fort Washington on an expedition to restore peace in the territory in 1791. On November 4, St. Clair's forces were ambushed and soundly defeated by tribal forces with few survivors. Washington replaced the disgraced St. Clair with the Revolutionary War hero Anthony Wayne. From 1792 to 1793, Wayne instructed his troops on Native American warfare tactics and instilled discipline which was lacking under St. Clair. In August 1794, Washington sent Wayne into tribal territory with authority to drive them out by burning their villages and crops in the Maumee Valley. On August 24, the American army defeated the Northwestern Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, and the Treaty of Greenville in August 1795 opened two-thirds of the Ohio Country for American settlement. Second term Washington initially planned to retire after his first term, weary of office and in poor health. After dealing with the infighting in his own cabinet and with partisan critics, he showed little enthusiasm for a second term, while Martha also wanted him not to run. Washington's nephew George Augustine Washington, managing Mount Vernon in his absence, was critically ill, further increasing Washington's desire to retire. Many, however, urged him to run for a second term. Madison told him that his absence would only allow the dangerous political rift in his cabinet and the House to worsen. Jefferson also pleaded with him not to retire, agreeing to drop his attacks on Hamilton, and stating that he would also retire if Washington did. Hamilton maintained that Washington's absence would be "deplored as the greatest evil" to the country. With the election of 1792 nearing, Washington relented and agreed to run. On February 13, 1793, the Electoral College unanimously re-elected Washington president, and John Adams as vice president by a vote of 77 to 50. He was sworn into office by Associate Justice William Cushing on March 4, 1793, in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia. Afterwards, Washington gave a brief address before immediately retiring to the President's House. On April 22, 1793, when the French Revolutionary Wars broke out, Washington issued a proclamation which declared American neutrality. He was resolved to pursue "a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent Powers" while also warning Americans not to intervene in the conflict. Although Washington recognized France's revolutionary government, he would eventually ask French minister to the United States Edmond-Charles Genêt be recalled over the Citizen Genêt affair. Genêt was a diplomatic troublemaker who was openly hostile toward Washington's neutrality policy. He procured four American ships as privateers to strike at Spanish forces (British allies) in Florida while organizing militias to strike at other British possessions. However, his efforts failed to draw the United States into the conflict. On July 31, 1793, Jefferson submitted his resignation from cabinet. Hamilton, desiring more income for his family, resigned from office in January 1795 and was replaced by Oliver Wolcott Jr.. While his relationship with Washington would remain friendly, Washington's relationship with his Secretary of War Henry Knox deteriorated after rumors that Knox had profited from contracts for the construction of U.S. frigates which had been commissioned under the Naval Act of 1794 in order to combat Barbary pirates, forcing Knox to resign. In the final months of his presidency, Washington was assailed by his political foes and a partisan press who accused him of being ambitious and greedy. He came to regard the press as a disuniting, "diabolical" force of falsehoods. At the end of his second term, Washington retired for personal and political reasons, dismayed with personal attacks, and to ensure that a truly contested presidential election could be held. He did not feel bound to a two-term limit, but his retirement set a significant precedent. Farewell Address In 1796, Washington declined to run for a third term of office. In May 1792, in anticipation of his retirement, Washington instructed James Madison to prepare a "valedictory address", an initial draft of which was entitled the "Farewell Address". In May 1796, Washington sent the manuscript to Alexander Hamilton who did an extensive rewrite, while Washington provided final edits. On September 19, 1796, David Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser published the final version. Washington stressed that national identity was paramount, as a united America would safeguard freedom and prosperity. He warned the nation of three eminent dangers: regionalism, partisanship, and foreign entanglements, and said the "name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism". Washington called for men to move beyond partisanship for the common good, stressing that the United States must concentrate on its own interests. He warned against foreign alliances and their influence in domestic affairs, and bitter partisanship and the dangers of political parties. He counseled friendship and commerce with all nations, but advised against involvement in European wars. He stressed the importance of religion, asserting that "religion and morality are indispensable supports" in a republic. Washington's address favored Hamilton's Federalist ideology and economic policies. He closed the address by reflecting on his legacy: Though in reviewing the incidents of my Administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence, and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. After initial publication, many Republicans, including Madison, criticized the Address and described it as an anti-French campaign document, with Madison believing that Washington was strongly pro-British. In 1839, Washington biographer Jared Sparks maintained that Washington's "Farewell Address was printed and published with the laws, by order of the legislatures, as an evidence of the value they attached to its political precepts, and of their affection for its author." In 1972, Washington scholar James Flexner referred to the Farewell Address as receiving as much acclaim as Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. In 2010, historian Ron Chernow called the Farewell Address one of the most influential statements on republicanism. Post-presidency (1797–1799) Retirement Washington retired to Mount Vernon in March 1797 and devoted time to his plantations and other business interests. His plantation operations were only minimally profitable, and his lands in the west (Piedmont) were under Indian attacks and yielded little income, with squatters there refusing to pay rent. He attempted to sell these but without success. He became an even more committed Federalist. He vocally supported the Alien and Sedition Acts and convinced Federalist John Marshall to run for Congress to weaken the Jeffersonian hold on Virginia. Washington grew restless in retirement, prompted by tensions with France; in a continuation of the French Revolutionary Wars, French privateers began seizing American ships in 1798, and relations deteriorated with France and led to the "Quasi-War". Washington wrote to Secretary of War James McHenry offering to organize President Adams' army. Adams nominated him for a lieutenant general commission on July 4, 1798, and the position of commander-in-chief of the armies. Washington served as the commanding general from July 13, 1798, until his death 17 months later. He participated in planning for a provisional army, but avoided involvement in details. In advising McHenry of potential officers for the army, he appeared to make a complete break with Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans: "you could as soon scrub the blackamoor white, as to change the principles of a profest Democrat; and that he will leave nothing unattempted to overturn the government of this country." Washington delegated the active leadership of the army to Hamilton, a major general. No army invaded the United States during this period, and Washington did not assume a field command. Washington was known to be rich because of the well-known "glorified façade of wealth and grandeur" at Mount Vernon, but nearly all his wealth was in the form of land and slaves rather than ready cash. To supplement his income, he erected a distillery for substantial whiskey production. He bought land parcels to spur development around the new Federal City named in his honor, and he sold individual lots to middle-income investors rather than multiple lots to large investors, believing they would more likely commit to making improvements. Final days and death On December 12, 1799, Washington inspected his farms on horseback. He returned home late and had guests for dinner, sitting down for the meal without changing his damp clothes from the inclement weather of the day. He had a sore throat the next day but was well enough to mark trees for cutting. That evening, Washington complained of chest congestion. The next morning, however, he awoke to an inflamed throat and difficulty breathing. He ordered estate overseer George Rawlins to remove nearly a pint of his blood; bloodletting was a common practice of the time. His family summoned doctors James Craik, Gustavus Richard Brown, and Elisha C. Dick. A fourth doctor, William Thornton, arrived some hours after Washington died. Brown initially believed Washington had quinsy; Dick thought the condition was a more serious "violent inflammation of the throat". They continued the process of bloodletting to approximately five pints, but Washington's condition deteriorated further. Dick proposed a tracheotomy, but the other physicians were not familiar with that procedure and disapproved. Washington instructed Brown and Dick to leave the room, while he assured Craik, "Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go." Washington's death came more swiftly than expected. On his deathbed, out of fear of being entombed alive, he instructed his private secretary Tobias Lear to wait three days before his burial. According to Lear, Washington died between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on December 14, 1799, with Martha seated at the foot of his bed. His last words were "'Tis well", from his conversation with Lear about his burial. He was 67. Congress immediately adjourned for the day upon news of Washington's death, and the Speaker's chair was shrouded in black the next morning. The funeral was held four days after his death on December 18, 1799, at Mount Vernon, where his body was interred. Cavalry and foot soldiers led the procession, and six colonels served as the pallbearers. The Mount Vernon funeral service was restricted mostly to family and friends. Reverend Thomas Davis read the funeral service by the vault with a brief address, followed by a ceremony performed by members of Washington's Masonic lodge in Alexandria, Virginia. Word of his death traveled slowly, but as it reached other regions of the nation, church bells rang in the cities and many businesses closed. Memorial processions were held in major cities of the United States. Martha wore a black mourning cape for one year, and she burned her correspondence with Washington to protect its privacy, though five letters between the couple are known to have survived: two from Martha to George and three from him to her. The diagnosis of Washington's illness and the immediate cause of his death have been subjects of debate since his death. The published account of doctors Craik and Brown stated that his symptoms were consistent with cynanche trachealis, a term then used to describe severe inflammation of the upper windpipe, including quinsy. Accusations have persisted since Washington's death concerning medical malpractice. Modern medical authors, however, largely have concluded that he likely died from severe epiglottitis complicated by the treatments, including multiple doses of calomel, a purgative, and extensive bloodletting which likely caused hypovolemic shock. Burial, net worth, and aftermath Washington was buried in the Washington family vault at Mount Vernon. At the time of his death, his estate was worth an estimated $780,000 in 1799, equivalent to $14.29 million in 2023. Washington's peak net worth was $587 million, including 300 slaves. Washington held title to more than 65,000 acres of land in 37 different locations. In 1830, a disgruntled ex-employee of the estate attempted to steal what he thought was Washington's skull, prompting the construction of a more secure vault. In his will, Washington had left instructions for the construction of a new vault as the old family vault was crumbling and needed repair even before his death. A new vault was constructed at Mount Vernon the following year to receive the remains of George and Martha and other relatives. In 1832, a joint Congressional committee debated moving his body from Mount Vernon to a crypt in the United States Capitol. The crypt had been built by architect Charles Bulfinch in the 1820s during the reconstruction of the burned-out capital, after the Burning of Washington by the British during the War of 1812. Southern opposition was intense, antagonized by an ever-growing rift between North and South; many were concerned that Washington's remains could end up on "a shore foreign to his native soil" if the country became divided, and Washington's remains stayed in Mount Vernon. On October 7, 1837, Washington's remains, still in the original lead coffin, were placed within a marble sarcophagus designed by William Strickland and constructed by John Struthers. The sarcophagus was sealed and encased with planks, and an outer vault was constructed around it. The outer vault has the sarcophagi of both George and Martha Washington; the inner vault has the remains of other Washington family members and relatives. Personal life Washington was somewhat reserved in personality, but was known for having a strong presence. He made speeches and announcements when required, but he was not a noted orator nor debater. He was taller than most of his contemporaries; accounts of his height vary from 6 ft (1.83 m) to 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m) tall, he weighed between 210–220 pounds (95–100 kg) as an adult, and was known for his great strength. He had grey-blue eyes and long reddish-brown hair. He did not wear a powdered wig; instead he wore his hair curled, powdered, and tied in a queue in the fashion of the day. Washington frequently suffered from severe tooth decay and ultimately lost all his teeth but one. He had several sets of false teeth during his presidency. Contrary to common lore, these were not made of wood, but of metal, ivory, bone, animal teeth, and human teeth possibly obtained from slaves. These dental problems left him in constant pain, which he treated with laudanum. Washington was a talented equestrian, with Thomas Jefferson describing him as "the best horseman of his age". He collected thoroughbreds at Mount Vernon, his two favorite horses being Blueskin and Nelson. He enjoyed hunting foxes, deer, ducks, and other game. He was an excellent dancer and frequently attended the theater. He drank alcohol in moderation but was morally opposed to excessive drinking, smoking tobacco, gambling, and profanity. Religious and spiritual views Washington was descended from Anglican minister Lawrence Washington, whose troubles with the Church of England may have prompted his heirs to emigrate to America. He was baptized as an infant in April 1732 and became a devoted member of the Anglican Church. He served more than 20 years as a vestryman and churchwarden at Fairfax Parish and Truro Parish in Virginia. He privately prayed and read the Bible daily, and publicly encouraged people and the nation to pray. He may have taken communion on a regular basis prior to the Revolution, but he did not do so following the war. Washington believed in a "wise, inscrutable, and irresistible" Creator God who was active in the Universe, contrary to deistic thought. He referred to God in American Enlightenment terms, including Providence, the Creator, or the Almighty, and the Divine Author or Supreme Being. He believed in a divine power who watched over battlefields, was involved in the outcome of war, protected his life, and was involved in American politics and specifically the creation of the United States. Historian Ron Chernow has argued that Washington avoided evangelistic Christianity or hellfire-and-brimstone speech along with communion or anything inclined to "flaunt his religiosity", saying that he "never used his religion as a device for partisan purposes or in official undertakings". No mention of Jesus Christ appears in his private correspondence, and such references are rare in his public writings. At the same time, Washington frequently quoted from the Bible or paraphrased it, and often referred to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Washington emphasized religious toleration in a nation with numerous denominations and religions. He publicly attended services of different Christian denominations and prohibited anti-Catholic celebrations in the Army. He engaged workers at Mount Vernon without regard for religious belief or affiliation. While president, he acknowledged major religious sects and gave speeches on religious toleration. He was distinctly rooted in the ideas, values, and modes of thinking of the Enlightenment, but he harbored no contempt of organized Christianity and its clergy, "being no bigot myself to any mode of worship". In 1793, speaking to members of the New Church in Baltimore, Washington said, "We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition." Freemasonry was a widely accepted institution in the late 18th century, known for advocating moral teachings. Washington was attracted to the Masons' dedication to the Enlightenment principles of rationality, reason, and brotherhood. American Masonic lodges did not share the anti-clerical views of the controversial European lodges. A Masonic lodge was established in Fredericksburg, Virginia in September 1752, and Washington was initiated two months later at the age of 20 as one of its first Entered Apprentices. Within a year, he progressed through its ranks to become a Master Mason. Washington had high regard for the Masonic Order, but his lodge attendance was sporadic. In 1777, a convention of Virginia lodges asked him to be Grand Master of the newly established Grand Lodge of Virginia, but he declined due to his commitments leading the Continental Army. After 1782, he frequently corresponded with Masonic lodges and members, and served as charter Master of Alexandria Masonic lodge No. 22 (now Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 22) in 1788–89. Slavery In Washington's lifetime, slavery was deeply ingrained in the economic and social fabric of the Colony of Virginia, which continued after the Revolution and the establishment of Virginia as a state. Slavery was legal in all of the Thirteen Colonies prior to the American Revolution. Washington's slaves Washington owned and rented enslaved African Americans, and during his lifetime over 577 slaves lived and worked at Mount Vernon. He inherited some, gained control of 84 dower slaves upon his marriage to Martha, and purchased at least 71 slaves between 1752 and 1773. From 1786, he rented slaves; at the time of his death he was renting 41. Prior to the Revolutionary War, Washington's view on slavery was the same as most Virginia planters of the time. Beginning in the 1760s, however, Washington gradually grew to oppose it. His first doubts were prompted by his transition from tobacco to grain crops, which left him with a costly surplus of slaves, causing him to question the system's economic efficiency. His growing disillusionment with the institution was spurred by the principles of the Revolution and revolutionary friends such as Lafayette and Hamilton. Most historians agree the Revolution was central to the evolution of Washington's attitudes on slavery; "After 1783," Kenneth Morgan writes, "... [Washington] began to express inner tensions about the problem of slavery more frequently, though always in private". Regardless, Washington would remain dependent on slave labor to work his farms. The many contemporary reports of slave treatment at Mount Vernon are varied and conflicting. Historian Kenneth Morgan maintains that Washington was frugal on spending for clothes and bedding for his slaves, and only provided them with just enough food, and that he maintained strict control over his slaves, instructing his overseers to keep them working hard from dawn to dusk year-round. In contrast, historian Dorothy Twohig said: "Food, clothing, and housing seem to have been at least adequate". Washington faced growing debts involved with the costs of supporting slaves. He held an "engrained sense of racial superiority" towards African Americans but harbored no ill feelings toward them. Some enslaved families worked at different locations on the plantation but were allowed to visit one another on their days off. Washington's slaves received two hours off for meals during the workday and were given time off on Sundays and religious holidays. Some accounts report that Washington opposed flogging but at times sanctioned its use, generally as a last resort, on both men and women slaves. Washington used both reward and punishment to encourage discipline and productivity in his slaves. He tried appealing to an individual's sense of pride, gave better blankets and clothing to the "most deserving", and motivated his slaves with cash rewards. He believed "watchfulness and admonition" were better deterrents against transgressions but would punish those who "will not do their duty by fair means". Punishment ranged in severity from demotion back to fieldwork, through whipping and beatings, to permanent separation from friends and family by sale. Historian Ron Chernow maintains that overseers were required to warn slaves before resorting to the lash and required Washington's written permission before whipping, though his extended absences did not always permit this. During his presidency, Washington brought several of his slaves to the federal capital. When the capital moved from New York City to Philadelphia in 1791, the president began rotating his slave household staff periodically between the capital and Mount Vernon. This was done deliberately to circumvent Pennsylvania's Slavery Abolition Act, which stated that any slave who lived there for more than six months was automatically freed. In May 1796, Martha's personal and favorite slave Ona Judge escaped to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. At Martha's behest, Washington attempted to capture Ona, using a Treasury agent, but failed. In February 1797, around the time of his 65th birthday, Washington's personal slave Hercules Posey escaped from Mount Vernon to the North and was never found. In February 1786, Washington took a census of Mount Vernon and recorded 224 slaves. By 1799, the slave population at Mount Vernon totaled 317, including 143 children. Washington owned 124 slaves, leased 40, and held 153 for his wife's dower interest. Washington supported many slaves who were too young or too old to work, greatly increasing Mount Vernon's slave population and causing the plantation to operate at a loss. Abolition and manumission Based on his private papers and on accounts from his contemporaries, Washington slowly developed a cautious sympathy toward abolitionism that eventually ended with his will freeing his long-time valet Billy Lee, and then subsequently freeing the rest of his personally owned slaves outright upon Martha's death. As president, he remained publicly silent on the topic of slavery, believing it was a nationally divisive issue that could undermine the union. During the Revolutionary War, Washington's views on slavery began to change. In a 1778 letter to Lund Washington, he made clear his desire "to get quit of Negroes" when discussing the exchange of slaves for the land he wanted to buy. The next year, Washington stated his intention not to separate enslaved families as a result of "a change of masters". During the 1780s, Washington privately expressed his support for gradual emancipation. In the 1780s, he gave moral support to a plan proposed by Lafayette to purchase land and free slaves to work on it, but declined to participate in the experiment. Washington privately expressed support for emancipation to prominent Methodists Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury in 1785 but declined to sign their petition. In personal correspondence the next year, he made clear his desire to see the institution of slavery ended by a gradual legislative process, a view that correlated with the mainstream antislavery literature published in the 1780s that Washington possessed. He significantly reduced his purchases of slaves after the war but continued to acquire them in small numbers. In 1788, Washington declined a suggestion from a leading French abolitionist, Jacques Brissot, to establish an abolitionist society in Virginia, stating that although he supported the idea, the time was not yet right. Historian Philip D. Morgan wrote that Washington was determined not to risk national unity. Washington never responded to any of the antislavery petitions he received, and the subject was not mentioned in either his last address to Congress or his Farewell Address. The first clear indication that Washington seriously intended to free his slaves appears in a letter written to his secretary, Tobias Lear, in 1794. Washington instructed Lear to find buyers for his land in western Virginia, explaining in a private coda that he was doing so "to liberate a certain species of property which I possess, very repugnantly to my own feelings". The plan, along with others Washington considered in 1795 and 1796, could not be realized because he failed to find buyers for his land, his reluctance to break up slave families, and the refusal of the Custis heirs to help prevent such separations by freeing their dower slaves at the same time. On July 9, 1799, Washington finished making his last will; the longest provision concerned slavery. All his slaves were to be freed after the death of his wife. Washington said he did not free them immediately because his slaves intermarried with his wife's dower slaves. He forbade their sale or transportation out of Virginia. The provision also provided that old and young freed people be taken care of indefinitely; younger ones were to be taught to read and write and placed in suitable occupations. Washington emancipated 123 slaves, one of the few large slave-holding Virginians during the Revolutionary Era to do so. On January 1, 1801, one year after George Washington's death, Martha Washington signed an order to free his slaves. Many of them, having never strayed far from Mount Vernon, were reluctant to leave; others refused to abandon spouses or children still held as dower slaves by the Custis estate and also stayed with or near Martha. Following Washington's instructions in his will, funds were used to feed and clothe the young, aged, and infirm slaves until the early 1830s. Historical reputation and legacy Washington's legacy endures as one of the most influential in American history since he served as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, a hero of the Revolution, and the first president of the United States. Various historians maintain that he also was a dominant factor in America's founding. Revolutionary War comrade Henry Lee eulogized him as "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". Lee's words became the hallmark by which Washington's reputation was impressed upon the American memory, with some biographers regarding him as the great exemplar of republicanism. He set many precedents for the national government and the presidency in particular, and he was called the "Father of His Country" as early as 1778. Washington is among the highest-ranked U.S. Presidents. Washington became an international symbol for liberation and nationalism as the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire. The Federalists made him the symbol of their party, but the Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence for years and delayed building the Washington Monument. Washington was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on January 31, 1781. In 1879, Congress proclaimed Washington's Birthday to be a federal holiday. Through a congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479, passed on January 19, 1976, with an effective appointment date of July 4, 1976, he was posthumously appointed to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States during the American Bicentennial. President Gerald Ford stated that Washington would "rank first among all officers of the Army, past and present". On March 13, 1978, Washington was militarily promoted to the rank of General of the Armies. In 1809, Mason Locke Weems wrote a hagiographic biography to honor Washington. Historian Ron Chernow maintains that Weems attempted to humanize Washington, making him look less stern, and to inspire "patriotism and morality" and to foster "enduring myths", such as Washington's refusal to lie about damaging his father's cherry tree. Weems' accounts have never been proven or disproven. Historian John Ferling, however, maintains that Washington remains the only founder and president ever to be referred to as "godlike", and points out that his character has been the most scrutinized by historians. Biographer Douglas Southall Freeman concluded, "The great big thing stamped across that man is character." Expanding on Freeman's assessment, historian David Hackett Fischer defined Washington's character as "integrity, self-discipline, courage, absolute honesty, resolve, and decision, but also forbearance, decency, and respect for others". Polls of historians have consistently placed Washington among the highest-ranked of presidents. In the 21st century, Washington's reputation has been critically scrutinized. Ron Chernow describes Washington as always trying to be even-handed in dealing with the Natives. He states that Washington hoped they would abandon their itinerant hunting life and adapt to fixed agricultural communities in the manner of white settlers. He also maintains that Washington never advocated outright confiscation of tribal land or the forcible removal of tribes and that he berated American settlers who abused natives, admitting that he held out no hope for peaceful relations as long as "frontier settlers entertain the opinion that there is not the same crime (or indeed no crime at all) in killing a native as in killing a white man." By contrast, Colin G. Calloway wrote that, "Washington had a lifelong obsession with getting Indian land, either for himself or for his nation, and initiated policies and campaigns that had devastating effects in Indian country." He stated: The growth of the nation demanded the dispossession of Indian people. Washington hoped the process could be bloodless and that Indian people would give up their lands for a "fair" price and move away. But if Indians refused and resisted, as they often did, he felt he had no choice but to "extirpate" them and that the expeditions he sent to destroy Indian towns were therefore entirely justified. Along with other Founding Fathers, Washington has been condemned for holding enslaved people. Though he expressed the desire to see the abolition of slavery come through legislation, he did not initiate or support any initiatives for bringing about its end. This has led to calls from some activists to remove his name from public buildings and his statue from public spaces. Places, namesakes, and monuments Many places and monuments have been named in honor of Washington, most notably Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and the state of Washington, the only U.S. state to be named after a president. On February 21, 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated. The 555-foot marble obelisk, which stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was built between 1848–1854 and 1879–1884 and was the tallest structure in the world between 1884 and 1889. Washington appears as one of four U.S. presidents on the Shrine of Democracy, a colossal statue by Gutzon Borglum on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. A number of secondary schools and universities are named in honor of Washington, including George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis. Currency and postage Washington appears on contemporary U.S. currency, including the one-dollar bill, the Presidential one-dollar coin and the quarter-dollar coin (the Washington quarter). Washington and Benjamin Franklin appeared on the nation's first postage stamps in 1847. Washington has since appeared on many postage issues, more than any other person. See also Founders Online List of American Revolutionary War battles List of Continental Forces in the American Revolutionary War Timeline of the American Revolution The Washington Papers Notes References Bibliography Further reading Curtis, Wayne (May 1, 2006). "The Father of the Pina Colada?". The Atlantic. Cohen, Andrew (November 1, 2011). "What George Washington Thought About the Constitution". The Atlantic. Lewis, Danny (September 22, 2016). "George Washington's Biracial Family Is Getting New Recognition". Smithsonian. Good, Cassandra (September 28, 2018). "Did George Washington 'Have a Couple of Things in His Past'?". The Atlantic. Zegart, Amy (November 25, 2018). "George Washington Was a Master of Deception". The Atlantic. Wulf, Karin (April 7, 2020). "The President's Cabinet Was an Invention of America's First President". Smithsonian. Coe, Alexis (February 12, 2020). "George Washington Saw a Future for America: Mules". Smithsonian. Immerwahr, Daniel (January 31, 2023). "Did George Washington Burn New York?". The Atlantic. External links George Washington's Mount Vernon The Papers of George Washington, subset of Founders Online from the National Archives Works by George Washington at Project Gutenberg Works by George Washington at Biodiversity Heritage Library In Our Time: Washington & the American Revolution, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Carol Berkin, Simon Middleton, & Colin Bonwick (June 24, 2004) Great Lives: George Washington, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Matthew Parris, Michael Rose, & Frank Grizzard (October 21, 2016) George Washington on C-SPAN Scholarly coverage of Washington at the Miller Center, University of Virginia

Thomas_Jefferson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, planter, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Following the American Revolutionary War and before becoming president in 1801, Jefferson was the nation's first U.S. secretary of state under George Washington and then the nation's second vice president under John Adams. Jefferson was a leading proponent of democracy, republicanism, and natural rights, and he produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels. Jefferson was born into the Colony of Virginia's planter class, dependent on slave labor. During the American Revolution, Jefferson represented Virginia at the Second Continental Congress. He served as the second governor of revolutionary Virginia from 1779 to 1781. In 1785, Congress appointed Jefferson U.S. minister to France, where he served from 1785 to 1789. President Washington then appointed Jefferson the nation's first secretary of state, where he served from 1790 to 1793. During this time, in the early 1790s, Jefferson and political ally James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the nation's First Party System. Jefferson and Federalist John Adams became both personal friends and political rivals. In the 1796 U.S. presidential election between the two, Jefferson came in second, which made him Adams' vice president under the electoral laws of the time. Four years later, in the 1800 presidential election, Jefferson again challenged Adams and won the presidency. In 1804, Jefferson was reelected overwhelmingly to a second term. As president, Jefferson assertively defended the nation's shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies, promoted a western expansionist policy with the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the nation's geographic size and was able to reduce military forces and expenditures following successful negotiations with France. In his second presidential term, Jefferson was beset by difficulties at home, including the trial of his former vice president Aaron Burr. In 1807, Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act to defend the nation's industries from British threats to U.S. shipping, limiting foreign trade and stimulating the birth of the American manufacturing industry. Jefferson is ranked by both scholars and in public opinion among the upper tier of American presidents. Presidential scholars and historians praise Jefferson's public achievements, including his advocacy of religious freedom and tolerance, his peaceful acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France, and his leadership in supporting the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They acknowledge the fact of his lifelong ownership of large numbers of slaves and give differing interpretations of his views on and relationship with slavery. Early life and career Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743, Old Style, Julian calendar), at the family's Shadwell Plantation in the British Colony of Virginia, the third of ten children. He was of English and possibly Welsh descent, and was born a British subject. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen; his mother was Jane Randolph. Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 on the death of William Randolph III, the plantation's owner and Jefferson's friend, who in his will had named Peter guardian of Randolph's children. The Jeffersons returned to Shadwell before October 1753. Peter died in 1757, and his estate was divided between his sons Thomas and Randolph. John Harvie Sr. became 13-year-old Thomas' guardian. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres (2,000 ha; 7.8 sq mi), which included Monticello, and he assumed full legal authority over the property at age 21. Education and early family life Jefferson began his education together with the Randolph children at Tuckahoe under tutors. Thomas' father Peter, who was self-taught and regretted not having a formal education, entered Thomas into an English school at age five. In 1752, at age nine, he attended a local school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister and also began studying the natural world, which he grew to love. At this time he began studying Latin, Greek, and French, while learning to ride horses as well. Thomas also read books from his father's modest library. He was taught from 1758 to 1760 by the Reverend James Maury near Gordonsville, Virginia, where he studied history, science, and the classics while boarding with Maury's family. Jefferson came to know various American Indians, including the Cherokee chief Ostenaco, who often stopped at Shadwell to visit on their way to Williamsburg to trade. In Williamsburg, the young Jefferson met and came to admire Patrick Henry, eight years his senior, and shared a common interest in the playing of the violin. Jefferson entered the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1761, at the age of eighteen, and studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy with William Small. Under Small's tutelage, Jefferson encountered the ideas of the British Empiricists, including John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. Small introduced Jefferson to George Wythe and Francis Fauquier. Small, Wythe, and Fauquier recognized Jefferson as a man of exceptional ability and included him in their inner circle, where he became a regular member of their Friday dinner parties. Jefferson later wrote that, while there, he "heard more common good sense, more rational & philosophical conversations than in all the rest of my life". During his first year at the college, Jefferson spent considerable time attending parties and dancing and was not very frugal with his expenditures; in his second year, regretting that he had squandered away time and money in his first year, he committed to studying fifteen hours a day. While at William & Mary, Jefferson became a member of the Flat Hat Club. Jefferson concluded his formal studies in April 1762. He read the law under Wythe's tutelage while working as a law clerk in his office. Jefferson was well-read in a broad variety of subjects, which, along with law and philosophy, included history, natural law, natural religion, ethics, and several areas in science, including agriculture. During his years of study under the watchful eye of Wythe, Jefferson authored a Commonplace Book, a survey of his extensive readings. Wythe was so impressed with Jefferson that he later bequeathed his entire library to him. On July 20, 1765, Jefferson's sister Martha married his close friend and college companion Dabney Carr, which was greatly pleasing to Jefferson. In October of that year, however, Jefferson mourned his sister Jane's unexpected death at age 25; he wrote a farewell epitaph for her in Latin. Jefferson treasured his books and amassed three sizable libraries in his lifetime. He began assembling his first library, which grew to 200 volumes, in his youth. It included books inherited from his father and left to him by Wythe. In 1770, however, Jefferson's first library was destroyed in a fire at his Shadwell home. His second library replenished the first. It grew to 1,250 titles by 1773, and to nearly 6,500 volumes by 1814. Jefferson organized his books into three broad categories corresponding with elements of the human mind: memory, reason, and imagination. After British forces burnt the Library of Congress during the 1814 Burning of Washington, Jefferson sold his second library to the U.S. government for $23,950, hoping to help jumpstart the Library of Congress's rebuilding. Jefferson used a portion of the proceeds to pay off some of his large debt. However, Jefferson soon resumed collecting what amounted to his third personal library, writing to John Adams, "I cannot live without books." By the time of his death a decade later, the library had grown to nearly 2,000 volumes. Lawyer and House of Burgesses Jefferson was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767, and lived with his mother at Shadwell. He represented Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 until 1775. He pursued reforms to slavery, including writing and sponsoring legislation in 1769 to strip power from the royal governor and courts, instead providing masters of slaves with the discretion to emancipate them. Jefferson persuaded his cousin Richard Bland to spearhead the legislation's passage, but it faced strong opposition in a state whose economy was largely agrarian. Jefferson took seven cases of freedom-seeking enslaved people and waived his fee for one he claimed should be freed before the minimum statutory age for emancipation. Jefferson invoked natural law, arguing "everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will ... This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance." The judge cut him off and ruled against his client. As a consolation, Jefferson gave his client some money, which was conceivably used to aid his escape shortly thereafter. However, Jefferson's underlying intellectual argument that all people were entitled by their creator to what he labeled a "natural right" to liberty is one he would later incorporate as he set about authoring the Declaration of Independence. He also took on 68 cases for the General Court of Virginia in 1767, in addition to three notable cases: Howell v. Netherland (1770), Bolling v. Bolling (1771), and Blair v. Blair (1772). Jefferson wrote a resolution calling for a "Day of Fasting and Prayer" and a boycott of all British goods in protest of the British Parliament passing the Intolerable Acts in 1774. Jefferson's resolution was later expanded into A Summary View of the Rights of British America, in which he argued that people have the right to govern themselves. Monticello, marriage, and family In 1768, Jefferson began constructing his primary residence, Monticello, whose name in Italian means "Little Mountain", on a hilltop overlooking his 5,000-acre (20 km2; 7.8 sq mi) plantation. He spent most of his adult life designing Monticello as an architect and was quoted as saying, "Architecture is my delight, and putting up, and pulling down, one of my favorite amusements." Construction was done mostly by local masons and carpenters, assisted by Jefferson's slaves. He moved into the South Pavilion in 1770. Turning Monticello into a neoclassical masterpiece in the Palladian style was his perennial project. On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married his third cousin Martha Wayles Skelton, the 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton. She was a frequent hostess for Jefferson and managed the large household. Biographer Dumas Malone described the marriage as the happiest period of Jefferson's life. Martha read widely, did fine needlework, and was a skilled pianist; Jefferson often accompanied her on the violin or cello. During their ten years of marriage, Martha bore six children: Martha "Patsy" (1772–1836); Jane Randolph (1774–1775); an unnamed son who lived for only a few weeks in 1777; Mary "Polly" (1778–1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781); and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1784). Only Martha and Mary survived to adulthood. Martha's father John Wayles died in 1773, and the couple inherited 135 enslaved people, 11,000 acres (45 km2; 17 sq mi), and the estate's debts. The debts took Jefferson years to satisfy, contributing to his financial problems. Martha later suffered from ill health, including diabetes, and frequent childbirth weakened her. Her mother had died young, and Martha lived with two stepmothers as a girl. A few months after the birth of her last child, she died on September 6, 1782, with Jefferson at her bedside. Shortly before her death, Martha made Jefferson promise never to marry again, telling him that she could not bear to have another mother raise her children. Jefferson was grief-stricken by her death, relentlessly pacing back and forth. He emerged after three weeks, taking long rambling rides on secluded roads with his daughter Martha, by her description "a solitary witness to many a violent burst of grief". After serving as U.S. Secretary of State from 1790 to 1793 during Washington's presidency, Jefferson returned to Monticello and initiated a remodeling based on architectural concepts he had learned and acquired in Europe. The work continued throughout most of his presidency and was completed in 1809. Revolutionary War Declaration of Independence Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. At age 33, he was one of the youngest delegates to the Second Continental Congress beginning in 1775 at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, where a formal declaration of independence from Britain was overwhelmingly favored. Jefferson was inspired by the Enlightenment ideals of the sanctity of the individual, and the writings of Locke and Montesquieu. Jefferson sought out John Adams, a Continental Congress delegate from Massachusetts and an emerging leader in the Congress. They became close friends, and Adams supported Jefferson's appointment to the Committee of Five, charged by the Congress with authoring a declaration of independence. The five chosen were Adams, Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The committee initially thought that Adams should write the document, but Adams persuaded the committee to choose Jefferson. His choice was due to Jefferson being a Virginian, popular, and being considered a good writer by Adams. Jefferson consulted with his fellow committee members, but mostly wrote the Declaration of Independence in isolation between June 11 and 28, 1776, in a home he was renting at 700 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia. Jefferson drew considerably on his proposed draft of the Virginia Constitution, George Mason's draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and other sources. Other committee members made some changes, and a final draft was presented to Congress on June 28, 1776. The declaration was introduced on Friday, June 28, and Congress began debate over its contents on Monday, July 1, resulting in the removal of roughly a fourth of Jefferson's original draft. Jefferson resented the changes, but he did not speak publicly about the revisions. On July 4, 1776, the Congress ratified the Declaration, and delegates signed it on August 2; in so doing, the delegates were knowingly committing an act of high treason against The Crown, which was deemed the most serious criminal offense and was punishable by torture and death. Jefferson's preamble is regarded as an enduring statement on individual and human rights, and the phrase "all men are created equal" has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language". The Declaration of Independence, historian Joseph Ellis wrote in 2008, represents "the most potent and consequential words in American history". Virginia state legislator and governor At the start of the Revolution, Colonel Jefferson was named commander of the Albemarle County Militia on September 26, 1775. He was then elected to the Virginia House of Delegates for Albemarle County in September 1776, when finalizing the state constitution was a priority. For nearly three years, he assisted with the constitution and was especially proud of his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, which prohibited state support of religious institutions or enforcement of religious doctrine. The bill failed to pass, as did his legislation to disestablish the Anglican Church, but both were later revived by James Madison. In 1778, Jefferson was given the task of revising the state's laws. He drafted 126 bills in three years, including laws to streamline the judicial system. He proposed statutes that provided for general education, which he considered the basis of "republican government". Jefferson also was concerned that Virginia's powerful landed gentry were becoming a hereditary aristocracy and took the lead in abolishing what he called "feudal and unnatural distinctions." He targeted laws such as entail and primogeniture by which a deceased landowner's oldest son was vested with all land ownership and power. Jefferson was elected governor for one-year terms in 1779 and 1780. He transferred the state capital from Williamsburg to Richmond, and introduced additional measures for public education, religious freedom, and inheritance. During General Benedict Arnold's 1781 invasion of Virginia, Jefferson escaped Richmond just ahead of the British forces, which razed the city. He sent emergency dispatches to Colonel Sampson Mathews and other commanders in an attempt to repel Arnold's efforts. General Charles Cornwallis that spring dispatched a cavalry force led by Banastre Tarleton to capture Jefferson and members of the Assembly at Monticello, but Jack Jouett of the Virginia militia thwarted the British plan. Jefferson escaped to Poplar Forest, his plantation to the west. When the General Assembly reconvened in June 1781, it conducted an inquiry into Jefferson's actions which eventually concluded that Jefferson had acted with honor—but he was not re-elected. In April of the same year, his daughter Lucy died at age one. A second daughter of that name was born the following year, but she died at age two. In 1782, Jefferson refused a partnership offer by North Carolina Governor Abner Nash, in a profiteering scheme involving the sale of confiscated Loyalist lands. Unlike some Founders, Jefferson was content with his Monticello estate and the land he owned in the vicinity of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Jefferson thought of Monticello as an intellectual gathering place for his friends James Madison and James Monroe. Notes on the State of Virginia In 1780, Jefferson received from French diplomat François Barbé-Marbois a letter of inquiry into the geography, history, and government of Virginia, as part of a study of the United States. Jefferson organized his responses in a book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785). He compiled the book over five years, including reviews of scientific knowledge, Virginia's history, politics, laws, culture, and geography. The book explores what constitutes a good society, using Virginia as an exemplar. Jefferson included extensive data about the state's natural resources and economy and wrote at length about slavery and miscegenation; he articulated his belief that blacks and whites could not live together as free people in one society because of justified resentments of the enslaved. He also wrote of his views on the American Indians, equating them to European settlers. Notes was first published in 1785 in French and appeared in English in 1787. Biographer George Tucker considered the work "surprising in the extent of the information which a single individual had been thus far able to acquire, as to the physical features of the state"; Merrill D. Peterson described it as an accomplishment for which all Americans should be grateful. Member of Congress Jefferson was appointed a Virginia delegate to the Congress of the Confederation organized following the peace treaty with Great Britain in 1783. He was a member of the committee setting foreign exchange rates and recommended an American currency based on the decimal system that was adopted. He advised the formation of the Committee of the States to fill the power vacuum when Congress was in recess. The committee met when Congress adjourned, but disagreements rendered it dysfunctional. In the Congress's 1783–1784 session, Jefferson acted as chairman of committees to establish a viable system of government for the new Republic and to propose a policy for settlement of the western territories. He was the principal author of the Land Ordinance of 1784, whereby Virginia ceded to the national government the vast area that it claimed northwest of the Ohio River. He insisted that this territory should not be used as colonial territory by any of the thirteen states, but that it should be divided into sections that could become states. He plotted borders for nine new states in their initial stages and wrote an ordinance banning slavery in all the nation's territories. Congress made extensive revisions and rejected the ban on slavery. The provisions banning slavery, known as the "Jefferson Proviso", were modified and implemented three years later in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and became the law for the entire Northwest Territory. Minister to France On May 7, 1784, Jefferson was appointed by the Congress of the Confederation to join Benjamin Franklin and John Adams in Paris as Minister Plenipotentiary for Negotiating Treaties of Amity and Commerce with Great Britain and other countries. With his young daughter Patsy and two servants, he departed in July 1784, arriving in Paris the next month. Jefferson had Patsy educated at the Pentemont Abbey. Less than a year later he was assigned the additional duty of succeeding Franklin as Minister to France. French foreign minister Count de Vergennes commented, "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear." Jefferson replied, "I succeed. No man can replace him." During his five years in Paris, Jefferson played a leading role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. In 1786, he met and fell in love with Maria Cosway, an accomplished—and married—Italian-English musician of 27. She returned to Great Britain after six weeks, but they maintained a lifelong correspondence. During the summer of 1786, Jefferson arrived in London to meet with John Adams, the US Ambassador to Britain. Adams had official access to George III and arranged a meeting between Jefferson and the king. Jefferson later described the king's reception of the men as "ungracious." According to Adams's grandson, George III turned his back on both in a gesture of public insult. Jefferson returned to France in August. Jefferson sent for his youngest surviving child, nine-year-old Polly, in June 1787. She was accompanied by a young slave from Monticello, Sally Hemings. Jefferson had taken her older brother, James Hemings, to Paris as part of his domestic staff and had him trained in French cuisine. According to Sally's son, Madison Hemings, the 16-year-old Sally and Jefferson began a sexual relationship in Paris, where she became pregnant. The son indicated Hemings agreed to return to the United States only after Jefferson promised to free her children when they came of age. While in France, Jefferson became a regular companion of the Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero of the American Revolution, and Jefferson used his influence to procure trade agreements with France. As the French Revolution began, he allowed his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Langeac, to be used for meetings by Lafayette and other republicans. He was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille and consulted with Lafayette while the latter drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Jefferson often found his mail opened by postmasters, so he invented his own enciphering device, the "Wheel Cipher"; he wrote important communications in code for the rest of his career. Unable to attend the 1787 Constitution Convention, Jefferson supported the Constitution but desired the addition of the promised Bill of Rights. Jefferson left Paris for America in September 1789. He remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution while opposing its more violent elements. Secretary of State Soon after returning from France, Jefferson accepted President Washington's invitation to serve as Secretary of State. Pressing issues at this time were the national debt and the permanent location of the capital. He opposed a national debt, preferring that each state retire its own, in contrast to Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who desired consolidation of states' debts by the federal government. Hamilton also had bold plans to establish national credit and a national bank, but Jefferson strenuously opposed this and attempted to undermine his agenda, which nearly led Washington to dismiss him from the cabinet. He later left the cabinet voluntarily. The second major issue was the capital's permanent location. Hamilton favored a capital close to the major commercial centers of the Northeast, while Washington, Jefferson, and other agrarians wanted it further south. After lengthy deadlock, the Compromise of 1790 was struck, permanently locating the capital on the Potomac River, and the federal government assumed the war debts of all original 13 states. Jefferson's goals were to decrease American dependence on British commerce and to expand commercial trade with France. He sought to weaken Spanish colonialism of the trans-Appalachian West and British control in the North, believing this would aid in the pacification of Native Americans. Jefferson and political protegé Congressman James Madison founded the National Gazette in 1791, along with author Phillip Freneau, to counter Hamilton's Federalist policies, which Hamilton was promoting through the influential Federalist newspaper the Gazette of the United States. The National Gazette made particular criticism of the policies promoted by Hamilton, often through anonymous essays signed by the pen name Brutus at Jefferson's urging, which were written by Madison. In Spring 1791, Jefferson and Madison took a vacation to Vermont; Jefferson had been suffering from migraines and was tiring of the in-fighting with Hamilton. In May 1792, Jefferson became alarmed at the political rivalries taking shape; he wrote to Washington, imploring him to run for reelection that year as a unifying influence. He urged the president to rally the citizenry to a party that would defend democracy against the corrupting influence of banks and monied interests, as espoused by the Federalists. Historians recognize this letter as the earliest delineation of Democratic-Republican Party principles. Jefferson, Madison, and other Democratic-Republican organizers favored states' rights and local control and opposed the federal concentration of power, whereas Hamilton sought more power for the federal government. Jefferson supported France against Britain when the two nations fought in 1793, though his arguments in the Cabinet were undercut by French Revolutionary envoy Edmond-Charles Genêt's open scorn for Washington. In his discussions with British Minister George Hammond, he tried in vain to persuade the British to vacate their posts in the Northwest and to compensate the U.S. for enslaved people whom the British had freed at the end of the war. Jefferson sought a return to private life, and resigned from the cabinet position in December 1793; he may also have wanted to bolster his political influence from outside the administration. After the Washington administration negotiated the Jay Treaty with Britain in 1794, Jefferson saw a cause around which to rally his party and organized a national opposition from Monticello. The treaty, designed by Hamilton, aimed to reduce tensions and increase trade. Jefferson warned that it would increase British influence and subvert republicanism, calling it "the boldest act [Hamilton and Jay] ever ventured on to undermine the government". The Treaty passed, but it expired in 1805 during Jefferson's presidential administration and was not renewed. Jefferson continued his pro-France stance; during the violence of the Reign of Terror, he declined to disavow the revolution: "To back away from France would be to undermine the cause of republicanism in America." Election of 1796 and vice presidency In the presidential campaign of 1796, Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Federalist John Adams 71–68 and was thus elected vice president. As presiding officer of the Senate, he assumed a more passive role than his predecessor John Adams. He allowed the Senate to freely conduct debates and confined his participation to procedural issues, which he called an "honorable and easy" role. Jefferson had previously studied parliamentary law and procedure for 40 years, making him quite qualified to serve as presiding officer. In 1800, he published his assembled notes on Senate procedure as A Manual of Parliamentary Practice. He cast only three tie-breaking votes in the Senate. In four confidential talks with French consul Joseph Létombe in the spring of 1797, Jefferson attacked Adams and predicted that his rival would serve only one term. He also encouraged France to invade England, and advised Létombe to stall any American envoys sent to Paris. This toughened the tone that the French government adopted toward the Adams administration. After Adams's initial peace envoys were rebuffed, Jefferson and his supporters lobbied for the release of papers related to the incident, called the XYZ Affair after the letters used to disguise the identities of the French officials involved. However, the tactic backfired when it was revealed that French officials had demanded bribes, rallying public support against France. The U.S. began an undeclared naval war with France known as the Quasi-War. During the Adams presidency, the Federalists rebuilt the military, levied new taxes, and enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson believed these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered them unconstitutional. To rally opposition, he and James Madison anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, declaring that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states. The resolutions followed the "interposition" approach of Madison, that states may shield their citizens from federal laws that they deem unconstitutional. Jefferson advocated nullification, allowing states to invalidate federal laws altogether. He warned that, "unless arrested at the threshold", the Alien and Sedition Acts would "drive these states into revolution and blood". Historian Ron Chernow claims that "the theoretical damage of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions was deep and lasting, and was a recipe for disunion", contributing to the American Civil War as well as later events. Washington was so appalled by the resolutions that he told Patrick Henry that, if "systematically and pertinaciously pursued", the resolutions would "dissolve the union or produce coercion." Jefferson had always admired Washington's leadership skills but felt that his Federalist party was leading the country in the wrong direction. He decided not to attend Washington's funeral in 1799 because of acute differences with him while serving as secretary of state. Election of 1800 Jefferson contended for president once more against John Adams in 1800. Adams' campaign was weakened by unpopular taxes and vicious Federalist infighting over his actions in the Quasi-War. Democratic-Republicans pointed to the Alien and Sedition Acts and accused the Federalists of being secret pro-Britain monarchists, while Federalists charged that Jefferson was a godless libertine beholden to the French. Historian Joyce Appleby said the election was "one of the most acrimonious in the annals of American history". The Democratic-Republicans ultimately won more electoral college votes, due in part to the electors that resulted from the addition of three-fifths of the South's slaves to the population calculation under the Three-Fifths Compromise. Jefferson and his vice-presidential candidate Aaron Burr unexpectedly received an equal total. Because of the tie, the election was decided by the Federalist-dominated House of Representatives. Hamilton lobbied Federalist representatives on Jefferson's behalf, believing him a lesser political evil than Burr. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson president and Burr vice president. The win was marked by Democratic-Republican celebrations throughout the country. Some of Jefferson's opponents argued that he owed his victory to the South's inflated number of electors. Others alleged that Jefferson secured James Asheton Bayard's tie-breaking electoral vote by guaranteeing the retention of various Federalist posts in the government. Jefferson disputed the allegation, and the historical record is inconclusive. The transition proceeded smoothly, marking a watershed in American history. As historian Gordon S. Wood writes, "it was one of the first popular elections in modern history that resulted in the peaceful transfer of power from one 'party' to another." Presidency (1801–1809) Jefferson was sworn in as president by Chief Justice John Marshall at the new Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 1801. His inauguration was not attended by outgoing President Adams. In contrast to his two predecessors, Jefferson exhibited a dislike of formal etiquette. Plainly dressed, he chose to walk alongside friends to the Capitol from his nearby boardinghouse that day instead of arriving by carriage. His inaugural address struck a note of reconciliation and commitment to democratic ideology, declaring, "We have been called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." Ideologically, he stressed "equal and exact justice to all men", minority rights, and freedom of speech, religion, and press. He said that a free and republican government was "the strongest government on earth." He nominated moderate Republicans to his cabinet: James Madison as secretary of state, Henry Dearborn as secretary of war, Levi Lincoln as attorney general, and Robert Smith as secretary of the navy. Widowed since 1782, Jefferson first relied on his two daughters to serve as his official hostesses. In late May 1801, he asked Dolley Madison, wife of his long-time friend James Madison, to be the permanent White House hostess. She was also in charge of the completion of the White House mansion. Dolley served as White House hostess for the rest of Jefferson's two terms and then for another eight years as First Lady while her husband was president. Financial affairs Jefferson's first challenge as president was shrinking the $83 million national debt. He began dismantling Hamilton's Federalist fiscal system with help from the secretary of the treasury, Albert Gallatin. Gallatin devised a plan to eliminate the national debt in sixteen years by extensive annual appropriations and reduction in taxes. The administration eliminated the whiskey excise and other taxes after closing "unnecessary offices" and cutting "useless establishments and expenses". Jefferson believed that the First Bank of the United States represented a "most deadly hostility" to republican government. He wanted to dismantle the bank before its charter expired in 1811, but was dissuaded by Gallatin. Gallatin argued that the national bank was a useful financial institution and set out to expand its operations. Jefferson looked to other corners to address the growing national debt. He shrank the Navy, for example, deeming it unnecessary in peacetime, and incorporated a fleet of inexpensive gunboats intended only for local defense to avoid provocation against foreign powers. After two terms, he had lowered the national debt from $83 million to $57 million. Domestic affairs Jefferson pardoned several of those imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts. Congressional Republicans repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which removed nearly all of Adams's "midnight judges". A subsequent appointment battle led to the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Marbury v. Madison, asserting judicial review over executive branch actions. Jefferson appointed three Supreme Court justices: William Johnson (1804), Henry Brockholst Livingston (1807), and Thomas Todd (1807). Jefferson strongly felt the need for a national military university, producing an officer engineering corps for a national defense based on the advancement of the sciences, rather than having to rely on foreign sources. He signed the Military Peace Establishment Act on March 16, 1802, founding the United States Military Academy at West Point. The act documented a new set of laws and limits for the military. Jefferson was also hoping to bring reform to the Executive branch, replacing Federalists and active opponents throughout the officer corps to promote Republican values. Jefferson took great interest in the Library of Congress, which had been established in 1800. He often recommended books to acquire. In 1802, Congress authorized Jefferson to name the first Librarian of Congress, and formed a committee to establish library regulations. Congress also granted both the president and vice president the right to use the library. Foreign affairs (1801–1805) First Barbary War American merchant ships had been protected from Barbary Coast pirates by the Royal Navy when the states were British colonies. After independence, however, pirates often captured U.S. merchant ships, pillaged cargoes, and enslaved or held crew members for ransom. Jefferson had opposed paying tribute to the Barbary States since 1785. In 1801, he authorized a U.S. Navy fleet under Commodore Richard Dale to make a show of force in the Mediterranean, the first American naval squadron to cross the Atlantic. Following the fleet's first engagement, he successfully asked Congress for a declaration of war. The "First Barbary War" was the first foreign war fought by the U.S. Pasha of Tripoli Yusuf Karamanli captured the USS Philadelphia, so Jefferson authorized William Eaton, the U.S. Consul to Tunis, to lead a force to restore the pasha's older brother to the throne. The American navy forced Tunis and Algiers into breaking their alliance with Tripoli. Jefferson ordered five separate naval bombardments of Tripoli, leading the pasha to sign a treaty that restored peace in the Mediterranean. This victory proved only temporary, but according to Wood, "many Americans celebrated it as a vindication of their policy of spreading free trade around the world and as a great victory for liberty over tyranny." Louisiana Purchase Spain ceded ownership of the Louisiana territory in 1800 to France. Jefferson was concerned that Napoleon's interests in the vast territory would threaten the security of the continent and Mississippi River shipping. He wrote that the cession "works most sorely on the U.S. It completely reverses all the political relations of the U.S." In 1802, he instructed James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans and adjacent coastal areas. In early 1803, Jefferson offered Napoleon nearly $10 million for 40,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometres) of tropical territory. Napoleon realized that French military control was impractical over such a vast remote territory, and he was in dire need of funds for his wars on the home front. In early April 1803, he unexpectedly made negotiators a counter-offer to sell 827,987 square miles (2,144,480 square kilometres) of French territory for $15 million (~$371 million in 2023), doubling the size of the United States. U.S. negotiators accepted the offer and signed the treaty on April 30, 1803. Word of the unexpected purchase did not reach Jefferson until July 3, 1803. He unknowingly acquired the most fertile tract of land of its size on Earth, making the new country self-sufficient in food and other resources. The sale also significantly curtailed European presence in North America, removing obstacles to U.S. westward expansion. Most thought that this was an exceptional opportunity, despite Republican reservations about the Constitutional authority of the federal government to acquire land. Jefferson initially thought that a Constitutional amendment was necessary to purchase and govern the new territory; but he later changed his mind, fearing that this would give cause to oppose the purchase, and urged a speedy debate and ratification. On October 20, 1803, the Senate ratified the purchase treaty by a vote of 24–7. Jefferson personally was humble about acquiring the Louisiana Territory, but he resented complainers who called the vast domain a "howling wilderness". After the purchase, Jefferson preserved the region's Spanish legal code and instituted a gradual approach to integrating settlers into American democracy. He believed that a period of the federal rule would be necessary while Louisianans adjusted to their new nation. Historians have differed in their assessments regarding the constitutional implications of the sale, but they typically hail the Louisiana acquisition as a major accomplishment. Frederick Jackson Turner called the purchase the most formative event in American history. Expeditions Jefferson anticipated further westward settlements due to the Louisiana Purchase and arranged for the exploration and mapping of the uncharted territory. He sought to establish a U.S. claim ahead of competing European interests and to find the rumored Northwest Passage. Jefferson and others were influenced by exploration accounts of Le Page du Pratz in Louisiana (1763) and James Cook in the Pacific (1784), and they persuaded Congress in 1804 to fund an expedition to explore and map the newly acquired territory to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson appointed secretary Meriwether Lewis and acquaintance William Clark to lead the Corps of Discovery (1803–1806). In the months leading up to the expedition, Jefferson tutored Lewis in the sciences of mapping, botany, natural history, mineralogy, and astronomy and navigation, giving him unlimited access to his library at Monticello, which included the largest collection of books in the world on the subject of the geography and natural history of the North American continent, along with an impressive collection of maps. The expedition lasted from May 1804 to September 1806 and obtained a wealth of scientific and geographic knowledge, including knowledge of many Indian tribes. Jefferson organized three other western expeditions: the William Dunbar and George Hunter Expedition on the Ouachita River (1804–1805), the Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis Expedition (1806) on the Red River, and the Zebulon Pike Expedition (1806–1807) into the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. All three produced valuable information about the American frontier. Native American affairs Jefferson refuted the contemporary notion that Indians were inferior and maintained that they were equal in body and mind to people of European descent, although he believed them to be inferior in terms of culture and technology. As governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, Jefferson recommended moving the Cherokee and Shawnee tribes, who had allied with the British, to west of the Mississippi River. But when he took office as president, he quickly took measures to avert another major conflict, as American and Indian societies were in collision and the British were inciting Indian tribes from Canada. In Georgia, he stipulated that the state would release its legal claims for lands to its west in exchange for military support in expelling the Cherokee from Georgia. This facilitated his policy of western expansion, to "advance compactly as we multiply". In keeping with his Enlightenment thinking, President Jefferson adopted an assimilation policy toward American Indians known as his "civilization program" which included securing peaceful U.S.–Indian treaty alliances and encouraging agriculture. Jefferson advocated that Indian tribes should make federal purchases by credit holding their lands as collateral. Various tribes accepted Jefferson's policies, including the Shawnees led by Black Hoof, the Muscogee, and the Cherokee. However, some Shawnees, led by Tecumseh, broke off from Black Hoof, and opposed Jefferson's assimilation policies. Historian Bernard Sheehan argues that Jefferson believed that assimilation was best for American Indians, and next-best was removal to the west; he felt that the worst outcome of the conflict would be their attacking the whites. Jefferson told U.S. Secretary of War Henry Dearborn, who then oversaw Indian affairs, "If we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe, we will never lay it down until that tribe is exterminated or driven beyond the Mississippi." Miller agrees that Jefferson believed that Indians should assimilate to American customs and agriculture. Historians such as Peter S. Onuf and Merrill D. Peterson argue that Jefferson's actual Indian policies did little to promote assimilation and were a pretext to seize lands. Re-election in 1804 and second term Jefferson was nominated for reelection by the Republican party, with George Clinton replacing Burr as his running mate. The Federalist party ran Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, John Adams's vice-presidential candidate in the 1800 election. The Jefferson-Clinton ticket won overwhelmingly in the electoral college vote, by 162 to 14, promoting their achievement of a strong economy, lower taxes, and the Louisiana Purchase. In March 1806, a split developed in the Republican party, led by fellow Virginian and former Republican ally John Randolph, who viciously accused President Jefferson on the floor of the House of moving too far in the Federalist direction. In so doing, Randolph permanently set himself apart politically from Jefferson. Jefferson and Madison had backed resolutions to limit or ban British imports in retaliation for British seizures of American shipping. Also, in 1808, Jefferson was the first president to propose a broad Federal plan to build roads and canals across several states, asking for $20 million, further alarming Randolph and believers of limited government. Jefferson's popularity further suffered in his second term due to his response to wars in Europe. Positive relations with Britain had diminished, due partly to the antipathy between Jefferson and British diplomat Anthony Merry. After Napoleon's decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, Napoleon became more aggressive in his negotiations over trading rights, which American efforts failed to counter. Jefferson then led the enactment of the Embargo Act of 1807, directed at both France and Britain. This triggered economic chaos in the U.S. and was strongly criticized, resulting in Jefferson having to abandon the policy a year later. During the revolutionary era, the states abolished the international slave trade, but South Carolina reopened it. In his annual message of December 1806, Jefferson denounced the "violations of human rights" attending the international slave trade, calling on the newly elected Congress to criminalize it immediately. In 1807, Congress passed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, which Jefferson signed. The act established severe punishment against the international slave trade, although it did not address the issue domestically. In Haiti, Jefferson's neutrality had allowed arms to enable the slave independence movement during its Revolution, and blocked attempts to assist Napoleon, who was defeated there in 1803. But his administration refused official recognition of the country during his second term, in deference to southern complaints about the racial violence against slave-holders; it was eventually extended to Haiti in 1862. Controversies Burr conspiracy and trial Following the 1801 electoral deadlock, Jefferson's relationship with his vice president, Aaron Burr, rapidly eroded. Jefferson suspected Burr of seeking the presidency for himself, while Burr was angered by Jefferson's refusal to appoint some of his supporters to federal office. Burr was dropped from the Democratic-Republican ticket in 1804 in favor of charismatic George Clinton. The same year, Burr was soundly defeated in his bid to be elected New York governor. During the campaign, Alexander Hamilton publicly made callous remarks regarding Burr's moral character. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, mortally wounding him on July 11, 1804. Burr was indicted for Hamilton's murder in New York and New Jersey, causing him to flee to Georgia, although he remained president of the Senate during Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase's impeachment trial. Both indictments quietly died and Burr was not prosecuted. Also during the election, certain New England separatists approached Burr, desiring a New England federation and intimating that he would be their leader. However, nothing came of the plot, since Burr had lost the election and his reputation was ruined after killing Hamilton. In August 1804, Burr contacted British Minister Anthony Merry offering to cede U.S. western territory in return for money and British ships. After leaving office in April 1805, Burr traveled west and conspired with Louisiana Territory governor James Wilkinson, beginning a large-scale recruitment for a military expedition. Other plotters included Ohio Senator John Smith and Irishman Harman Blennerhassett. Burr discussed seizing control of Mexico or Spanish Florida, or forming a secessionist state in New Orleans or the Western U.S.; historians remain unclear as to his true goal. In the fall of 1806, Burr launched a military flotilla carrying about 60 men down the Ohio River. Wilkinson renounced the plot and reported Burr's expedition to Jefferson, who ordered Burr's arrest. On February 13, 1807, Burr was captured in Louisiana and sent to Virginia to be tried for treason. Burr's 1807 conspiracy trial became a national issue. Jefferson attempted to preemptively influence the verdict by telling Congress that Burr's guilt was "beyond question", but the case came before his longtime political foe John Marshall, who dismissed the treason charge. Burr's legal team subpoenaed Jefferson, but Jefferson refused to testify, making the first argument for executive privilege. Instead, Jefferson provided relevant legal documents. After a three-month trial, the jury found Burr not guilty, while Jefferson denounced his acquittal. Jefferson subsequently removed Wilkinson as territorial governor but retained him in the U.S. military. Historian James N. Banner criticized Jefferson for continuing to trust Wilkinson, a "faithless plotter". Wilkinson's misconduct Commanding General James Wilkinson was a holdover of the Washington and Adams administrations. In 1804, Wilkinson received 12,000 pesos from the Spanish for information on American boundary plans. Wilkinson also received advances on his salary and payments on claims submitted to Secretary of War Henry Dearborn. This damaging information apparently was unknown to Jefferson. In 1805, Jefferson trusted Wilkinson and appointed him Louisiana Territory governor, admiring Wilkinson's work ethic. In January 1806, Jefferson received information from Kentucky U.S. Attorney Joseph Davies that Wilkinson was on the Spanish payroll. Jefferson took no action against Wilkinson, since there was not then significant evidence against him. An investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives in December 1807 exonerated Wilkinson. In 1808, a military court looked into the allegations against Wilkinson but also found a lack of evidence. Jefferson retained Wilkinson in the U.S. Army. Evidence found in Spanish archives in the 20th century proved Wilkinson was on the Spanish payroll. Foreign affairs (1805–1809) Attempted annexation of Florida In the aftermath of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson attempted to annex West Florida from Spain. In his annual message to Congress, on December 3, 1805, Jefferson railed against Spain over Florida border depredations. A few days later Jefferson secretly requested a two-million-dollar expenditure to purchase Florida. Floor leader John Randolph opposed annexation and was upset over Jefferson's secrecy on the matter, and believed the money would land in the coffers of Napoleon. The Two Million Dollar bill passed only after Jefferson successfully maneuvered to replace Randolph with Barnabas Bidwell as floor leader. This aroused suspicion of Jefferson and charges of undue executive influence over Congress. Jefferson signed the bill into law in February 1806. Six weeks later the law was made public. The two million dollars was to be given to France as payment, in turn, to put pressure on Spain to permit the annexation of Florida by the United States. France, however, refused the offer and Florida remained under Spanish control. The failed venture damaged Jefferson's reputation among his supporters. Chesapeake–Leopard affair The British conducted seizures of American shipping to search for British deserters from 1806 to 1807; American citizens were thus impressed into the British naval service. In 1806, Jefferson issued a call for a boycott of British goods; on April 18, Congress passed the Non-Importation Acts, but they were never enforced. Later that year, Jefferson asked James Monroe and William Pinkney to negotiate an end to the harassment of American shipping, though Britain showed no signs of improving relations. The Monroe–Pinkney Treaty was finalized but lacked any provisions to end the British policies, and Jefferson refused to submit it to the Senate for ratification. The British ship HMS Leopard fired upon the USS Chesapeake off the Virginia coast in June 1807. Jefferson issued a proclamation banning armed British ships from U.S. waters. He presumed unilateral authority to call on the states to prepare 100,000 militia and ordered the purchase of arms, ammunition, and supplies, writing, "The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation [than strict observance of written laws]". The USS Revenge was dispatched to demand an explanation from the British government; it also was fired upon. Jefferson called for a special session of Congress in October to enact an embargo or alternatively to consider war. Embargo (1807–1809) In December 1807, news arrived that Napoleon had extended the Berlin Decree, globally banning British imports. In Britain, King George III ordered redoubling efforts at impressment, including American sailors. But Congress had no appetite to prepare the U.S. for war. Jefferson asked for and received the Embargo Act, an alternative that allowed the U.S. more time to build up defensive works, militias, and naval forces. Meacham said that the Embargo Act was a projection of power that surpassed the Alien and Sedition Acts, and R. B. Bernstein said that Jefferson "was pursuing policies resembling those he had cited in 1776 as grounds for independence and revolution". In November 1807, Jefferson, for several days, met with his cabinet to discuss the deteriorating foreign situation. Secretary of State James Madison supported the embargo, while Treasury Secretary Gallatin opposed it, due to its indefinite time frame and the risk to the policy of American neutrality. The U.S. economy suffered, criticism grew, and opponents began evading the embargo. Instead of retreating, Jefferson sent federal agents to secretly track down smugglers and violators. Three acts were passed in Congress during 1807 and 1808, called the Supplementary, the Additional, and the Enforcement acts. The government could not prevent American vessels from trading with the European belligerents once they had left American ports, although the embargo triggered a devastating decline in exports. In December 1807, Jefferson announced his intention not to seek a third term. He turned his attention increasingly to Monticello during the last year of his presidency, giving Madison and Gallatin almost total control of affairs. Shortly before leaving office in March 1809, Jefferson signed the repeal of the Embargo. In its place, the Non-Intercourse Act was passed, but it proved no more effective. The day before Madison was inaugurated as his successor, Jefferson said that he felt like "a prisoner, released from his chains". Cabinet Post-presidency (1809–1826) After his presidency, Jefferson remained influential and continued to correspond with many of the country's leaders (including his two protégées, Madison and Monroe, who succeeded him as president); the Monroe Doctrine strongly resembles solicited advice that Jefferson gave to Monroe in 1823. University of Virginia Jefferson envisioned a university free of church influences where students could specialize in new areas not offered at other colleges. He believed that education engendered a stable society, which should provide publicly funded schools accessible based solely on ability. He initially proposed his university in a letter to Joseph Priestley in 1800 and, in 1819, founded the University of Virginia. He organized the state legislative campaign for its charter and, with the assistance of Edmund Bacon, purchased the location. He was the principal designer of the buildings, planned the university's curriculum, and served as the first rector upon its opening in 1825. Jefferson was a strong disciple of Greek and Roman architectural styles, which he believed to be most representative of American democracy. Each academic unit, called a pavilion, was designed with a two-story temple front, while the library "Rotunda" was modeled on the Roman Pantheon. Jefferson referred to the university's grounds as the "Academical Village", and he reflected his educational ideas in its layout. The ten pavilions included classrooms and faculty residences; they formed a quadrangle and were connected by colonnades, behind which stood the student rooms. Gardens and vegetable plots were placed behind the pavilions and were surrounded by serpentine walls, affirming the importance of the agrarian lifestyle. The university had a library rather than a church at its center, emphasizing its secular nature—controversial at the time. When Jefferson died in 1826, James Madison replaced him as rector. Jefferson bequeathed most of his reconstructed library of almost 2,000 volumes to the university. Only one other ex-president has founded a university; Millard Fillmore founded the University at Buffalo in 1846. Reconciliation with Adams Jefferson and John Adams became good friends in the first decades of their political careers, serving together in the Continental Congress in the 1770s and in Europe in the 1780s. The Federalist/Republican split of the 1790s divided them, however, and Adams felt betrayed by Jefferson's sponsorship of partisan attacks, such as those of James Callender. Jefferson was angered by Adams' appointment of "midnight judges". The two men did not communicate directly for more than a decade after Jefferson succeeded Adams as president. A brief correspondence took place between Abigail Adams and Jefferson after Jefferson's daughter Polly died in 1804, in an attempt at reconciliation unknown to Adams. However, an exchange of letters resumed open hostilities between Adams and Jefferson. As early as 1809, Benjamin Rush began to prod the two through correspondence to re-establish contact. In 1812, Adams wrote a short New Year's greeting to Jefferson, prompted earlier by Rush, to which Jefferson warmly responded. This initial correspondence began what historian David McCullough calls "one of the most extraordinary correspondences in American history". Over the next 14 years, Jefferson and Adams exchanged 158 letters discussing their political differences, justifying their respective roles in events, and debating the revolution's import to the world. When Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, his last words were an acknowledgment of his longtime friend and rival. "Thomas Jefferson survives", Adams said, unaware that Jefferson had died a few hours earlier. Autobiography In 1821, at the age of 77, Jefferson began writing his Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson: 1743–1790, in which he said he sought to "state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself". He focused on the struggles and achievements he experienced until July 29, 1790, where the narrative stopped short. He excluded his youth, emphasizing the revolutionary era. He related that his ancestors came from Wales to America in the early 17th century and settled in the western frontier of the Virginia colony, which influenced his zeal for individual and state rights. Jefferson described his father as uneducated, but with a "strong mind and sound judgement". He also addressed his enrollment in the College of William and Mary and his election to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775. He expressed opposition to the idea of a privileged aristocracy made up of large landowning families partial to the King, and instead promoted "the aristocracy of virtue and talent, which nature has wisely provided for the direction of the interests of society, & scattered with equal hand through all its conditions, was deemed essential to a well-ordered republic". The work is primarily concerned with the Declaration and reforming the government of Virginia. He used notes, letters, and documents to tell many of the stories. He suggested that this history was so rich that his personal affairs were better overlooked, but he incorporated a self-analysis using the Declaration and other patriotism. Greek War of Independence Thomas Jefferson was a philhellene, lover of Greek culture, who sympathized with the Greek War of Independence. He has been described as the most influential of the Founding Fathers who supported the Greek cause, viewing it as similar to the American Revolution. By 1823, Jefferson was exchanging ideas with Greek scholar Adamantios Korais. Jefferson advised Korais on building the political system of Greece by using classical liberalism and examples from the American governmental system, ultimately prescribing a government akin to that of a U.S. state. He also suggested the application of a classical education system for the newly founded First Hellenic Republic. Jefferson's philosophical instructions were welcomed by the Greek people. Korais became one of the designers of the Greek constitution and urged his associates to study Jefferson's works and other literature from the American Revolution. Lafayette's visit In the summer of 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette accepted an invitation from President James Monroe to visit the country. Jefferson and Lafayette had not seen each other since 1789. After visits to New York, New England, and Washington, Lafayette arrived at Monticello on November 4. Jefferson's grandson Randolph was present and recorded the reunion: "As they approached each other, their uncertain gait quickened itself into a shuffling run, and exclaiming, 'Ah Jefferson!' 'Ah Lafayette!', they burst into tears as they fell into each other's arms." Jefferson and Lafayette then retired to the house to reminisce. The next morning Jefferson, Lafayette, and James Madison attended a tour and banquet at the University of Virginia. Jefferson had someone else read a speech he had prepared for Lafayette, as his voice was weak and could not carry. This was his last public presentation. After an 11-day visit, Lafayette bid Jefferson goodbye and departed Monticello. Final days, death, and burial Jefferson's approximately $100,000 of debt weighed heavily on his mind in his final months, as it became increasingly clear that he would have little to leave to his heirs. In February 1826, he successfully applied to the General Assembly to hold a public lottery as a fundraiser. His health began to deteriorate in July 1825, due to a combination of rheumatism from arm and wrist injuries, and intestinal and urinary disorders. By June 1826, he was confined to bed. On July 3, overcome by fever, Jefferson declined an invitation to attend an anniversary celebration of the Declaration in Washington. During his last hours, he was accompanied by family members and friends. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, at 12:50 p.m. at age 83, on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. In the moments prior to his death, Jefferson instructed his treating physician, "No, doctor, nothing more", refusing laudanum. But his final significant words were, "Is it the Fourth?" or "This is the Fourth". When John Adams died later that same day, his last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives", though Adams was unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before. The sitting president was Adams's son, John Quincy Adams, and he called the coincidence of their deaths on the nation's anniversary "visible and palpable remarks of Divine Favor". Shortly after Jefferson died, attendants found a gold locket on a chain around his neck, containing a small faded blue ribbon around a lock of his wife Martha's hair. Jefferson was interred at Monticello, under an epitaph that he wrote: HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. In his advanced years, Jefferson became increasingly concerned that people would understand the principles in the Declaration of Independence, and the people responsible for writing it, and he continually defended himself as its author. He considered the document one of his greatest life achievements, in addition to authoring the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and founding the University of Virginia. Absent from his epitaph were his political roles, including his presidency. Jefferson died deeply in debt, and was unable to pass on his estate freely to his heirs. He gave instructions in his will for disposal of his assets, including the freeing of Sally Hemings's children; but his estate, possessions, and slaves were sold at public auctions starting in 1827. In 1831, Monticello was sold by Martha Jefferson Randolph and the other heirs. Political, social, and religious views Jefferson subscribed to the political ideals expounded by John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton, whom he considered the three greatest men who ever lived. He was also influenced by the writings of Gibbon, Hume, Robertson, Bolingbroke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire. Jefferson thought that the independent yeoman and agrarian life were ideals of republican virtues. He distrusted cities and financiers, favored decentralized government power, and believed that the tyranny that had plagued the common man in Europe was due to corrupt political establishments and monarchies. He supported efforts to disestablish the Church of England, wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and he pressed for a wall of separation between church and state. The Republicans under Jefferson were strongly influenced by the 18th-century British Whig Party, which believed in limited government. His Democratic-Republican Party became dominant in early American politics, and his views became known as Jeffersonian democracy. Philosophy, society, and government Jefferson wrote letters and speeches prolifically; these show him to be well-read in the philosophical literature of his day and of antiquity. Nevertheless, some scholars do not take Jefferson seriously as a philosopher mainly because he did not produce a formal work on philosophy. However, he has been described as one of the most outstanding philosophical figures of his time because his work provided the theoretical background to, and the substance of, the social and political events of the revolutionary years and the development of the American Constitution in the 1770s and 1780s. Jefferson continued to attend to more theoretical questions of natural philosophy and subsequently left behind a rich philosophical legacy in the form of presidential messages, letters, and public papers. Jefferson described himself as an Epicurean and, although he adopted the Stoic belief in intuition and found comfort in the Stoic emphasis on the patient endurance of misfortune, he rejected most aspects of Stoicism with the notable exception of Epictetus' works. He rejected the Stoics' doctrine of a separable soul and their fatalism, and was angered by their misrepresentation of Epicureanism as mere hedonism. Jefferson knew Epicurean philosophy from original sources, but also mentioned Pierre Gassendi's Syntagma philosophicum as influencing his ideas on Epicureanism. According to Jefferson's philosophy, citizens have "certain inalienable rights" and "rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others." A staunch advocate of the jury system, he proclaimed in 1801, "I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." Jeffersonian government not only prohibited individuals in society from infringing on the liberty of others, but also restrained itself from diminishing individual liberty as a protection against tyranny of the majority. Initially, Jefferson favored restricted voting to those who could actually have the free exercise of their reason by escaping any corrupting dependence on others. He advocated enfranchising a majority of Virginians, seeking to expand suffrage to include "yeoman farmers" who owned their own land while excluding tenant farmers, city day laborers, vagrants, most American Indians, and women. He was convinced that individual liberties were the fruit of political equality, which was threatened by the arbitrary government. Excesses of democracy in his view were caused by institutional corruption rather than human nature. He was less suspicious of a working democracy than many contemporaries. As president, Jefferson feared that the federal system enacted by Washington and Adams had encouraged corrupting patronage and dependence. He tried to restore a balance between the state and federal governments more nearly reflecting the Articles of Confederation, seeking to reinforce state prerogatives where his party was in the majority. According to Stanford Scholar Jack Rakove, "[w]hen Jefferson wrote “all men are created equal” in the preamble to the Declaration, he was not talking about individual equality. What he really meant was that the American colonists, as a people, had the same rights of self-government as other peoples, and hence could declare independence, create new governments and assume their “separate and equal station” among other nations." Jefferson's famous mantra later became a statement "of individual equality that everyone and every member of a deprived group could claim for himself or herself." Historian Henry Wiencek has noted Jefferson included slaves, when he penned "all men are created equal" in the Declaration. As early as 1774, Jefferson had supported ending domestic slavery, and making slaves citizens. Later, writing in Notes (1781), Jefferson supported gradual emancipation of slaves, to be sent away from the U.S. to an unspecified place. The former slaves would be replaced by white immigrant workers. Jefferson was steeped in the Whig tradition of the oppressed majority set against a repeatedly unresponsive court party in the Parliament. He justified small outbreaks of rebellion as necessary to get monarchial regimes to amend oppressive measures compromising popular liberties. In a republican regime ruled by the majority, he acknowledged "it will often be exercised when wrong". But "the remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them". As Jefferson saw his party triumph in two terms of his presidency and launch into a third term under James Madison, his view of the U.S. as a continental republic and an "empire of liberty" grew more upbeat. On departing the presidency, he described America as "trusted with the destines of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, and the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom and self-government". Jefferson was a supporter of American expansionism, writing in 1801 that "it is impossible not to look forward to distant times when our rapid multiplication will expand itself beyond those limits, and cover the whole northern, if not the southern continent." Democracy Jefferson considered democracy to be the expression of society and promoted national self-determination, cultural uniformity, and education of all males of the commonwealth. He supported public education and a free press as essential components of a democratic nation. After resigning as secretary of state in 1795, Jefferson focused on the electoral bases of the Republicans and Federalists. The "Republican" classification for which he advocated included "the entire body of landholders" everywhere and "the body of laborers" without land. Republicans united behind Jefferson as vice president, with the election of 1796 expanding democracy nationwide at grassroots levels. Jefferson promoted Republican candidates for local offices. Beginning with Jefferson's electioneering for the "revolution of 1800", his political efforts were based on egalitarian appeals. In his later years, he referred to the 1800 election "as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of '76 was in its form", one "not effected indeed by the sword ... but by the ... suffrage of the people". Voter participation grew during Jefferson's presidency, increasing to "unimaginable levels" compared to the Federalist Era, with turnout of about 67,000 in 1800 rising to about 143,000 in 1804. At the onset of the American Revolution, Jefferson accepted William Blackstone's argument that property ownership would sufficiently empower voters' independent judgement, but he sought to further expand suffrage by land distribution to the poor. In the heat of the Revolutionary Era and afterward, several states expanded voter eligibility from landed gentry to all propertied male, tax-paying citizens with Jefferson's support. In retirement, he gradually became critical of his home state for violating "the principle of equal political rights"—the social right of universal male suffrage. He sought a "general suffrage" of all taxpayers and militia-men, and equal representation by population in the General Assembly to correct preferential treatment of the slave-holding regions. Religion Baptized in his youth, Jefferson became a governing member of his local Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, which he later attended with his daughters. Jefferson, however, spurned Biblical views of Christianity. Influenced by Deist authors during his college years, Jefferson abandoned orthodox Christianity after his review of New Testament teachings. Jefferson has sometimes been portrayed as a follower of the liberal religious strand of Deism that values reason over revelation. Nonetheless, in 1803, Jefferson asserted, "I am Christian, in the only sense in which [Jesus] wished any one to be". Jefferson later defined being a Christian as one who followed the simple teachings of Jesus. Influenced by Joseph Priestley, Jefferson selected New Testament passages of Jesus' teachings into a private work he called The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, known today as the Jefferson Bible, which was never published during his lifetime. Jefferson believed that Jesus' message had been obscured and corrupted by Paul the Apostle, the Gospel writers and Protestant reformers. Peterson states that Jefferson was a theist "whose God was the Creator of the universe ... all the evidences of nature testified to His perfection; and man could rely on the harmony and beneficence of His work". In a letter to John Adams, Jefferson wrote that what he believed was genuinely Christ's, found in the Gospels, was "as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill". By omitting miracles and the resurrection, Jefferson made the figure of Jesus more compatible with a worldview based on reason. Jefferson was firmly anticlerical, writing in "every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty ... they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon." The full letter to Horatio Spatford can be read at the National Archives. Jefferson once supported banning clergy from public office but later relented. In 1777, he drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Ratified in 1786, it made compelling attendance or contributions to any state-sanctioned religious establishment illegal and declared that men "shall be free to profess ... their opinions in matters of religion". The Statute is one of only three accomplishments he chose for his epitaph. Early in 1802, Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Connecticut Baptist Association that "religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God". He interpreted the First Amendment as having built "a wall of separation between Church and State". The phrase 'Separation of Church and State' has been cited several times by the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the Establishment Clause. Jefferson donated to the American Bible Society, saying the Four Evangelists delivered a "pure and sublime system of morality" to humanity. He thought Americans would rationally create "Apiarian" religion, extracting the best traditions of every denomination. He contributed generously to several local denominations near Monticello. Acknowledging organized religion would always be factored into political life, he encouraged reason over supernatural revelation to make inquiries into religion. He believed in a creator god, an afterlife, and the sum of religion as loving God and neighbors. But he also controversially rejected fundamental Christian beliefs, denying the conventional Christian Trinity, Jesus's divinity as the Son of God and miracles, the Resurrection of Christ, atonement from sin, and original sin. Jefferson believed that original sin was a gross injustice. Jefferson's unorthodox religious beliefs became an important issue in the 1800 presidential election. Federalists attacked him as an atheist. As president, Jefferson countered the accusations by praising religion in his inaugural address and attending services at the Capitol. Banks Jefferson distrusted government banks and opposed public borrowing, which he thought created long-term debt, bred monopolies, and invited dangerous speculation as opposed to productive labor. In one letter to Madison, he argued each generation should curtail all debt within 19 years, and not impose a long-term debt on subsequent generations. In 1791, President Washington asked Jefferson, then secretary of state, and Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, if the Congress had the authority to create a national bank. While Hamilton believed so, Jefferson and Madison thought a national bank would ignore the needs of individuals and farmers, and would violate the Tenth Amendment by assuming powers not granted to the federal government by the states. Hamilton successfully argued that the implied powers given to the federal government in the Constitution supported the creation of a national bank, among other federal actions. Jefferson used agrarian resistance to banks and speculators as the first defining principle of an opposition party, recruiting candidates for Congress on the issue as early as 1792. As president, Jefferson was persuaded by Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin to leave the bank intact but sought to restrain its influence. Slavery Scholars give radically differing interpretations on Jefferson's views and relationship with slavery. Opinions range from "emancipationists" who view him as an early proto-abolitionist, who subsequently made pragmatic compromises with the slave power to preserve the union; to "revisionists", who argue that he in fact entrenched the institution in American society; with people also having more nuanced opinions, who either argue that Jefferson held inconsistent views on the institution throughout his lifetime or that both interpretations are too overly simplistic. Jefferson lived in a planter economy largely dependent upon slavery, and as a wealthy landholder, used slave labor for his household, plantation, and workshops. He first recorded his slaveholding in 1774, when he counted 41 enslaved people. Over his lifetime he enslaved about 600 people; he inherited about 175 people while most of the remainder were people born on his plantations. Jefferson purchased some slaves in order to reunite their families. He sold approximately 110 people for economic reasons, primarily slaves from his outlying farms. In 1784, when the number of people he enslaved likely was approximately 200, he began to divest himself of many slaves, and by 1794 he had divested himself of 161 individuals. Approximately 100 slaves lived at Monticello at any given time. In 1817, the plantation recorded its largest slave population of 140 individuals. Jefferson once said, "My first wish is that the labourers may be well treated". Jefferson did not work his slaves on Sundays and Christmas and he allowed them more personal time during the winter months. Some scholars doubt Jefferson's benevolence, noting cases of excessive slave whippings in his absence. His nail factory was staffed only by enslaved children. Many of the enslaved boys became tradesmen. Burwell Colbert, who started his working life as a child in Monticello's Nailery, was later promoted to the supervisory position of butler. Jefferson felt slavery was harmful to both slave and master but had reservations about releasing slaves from captivity, and advocated for gradual emancipation. In 1779, he proposed gradual voluntary training and resettlement to the Virginia legislature, and three years later drafted legislation allowing slaveholders to free their own slaves. In his draft of the Declaration of Independence, he included a section, stricken by other Southern delegates, criticizing King George III for supposedly forcing slavery onto the colonies. In 1784, Jefferson proposed the abolition of slavery in all western U.S. territories, limiting slave importation to 15 years. Congress, however, failed to pass his proposal by one vote. In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, a partial victory for Jefferson that terminated slavery in the Northwest Territory. Jefferson freed his slave Robert Hemings in 1794 and he freed his cook slave James Hemings in 1796. Jefferson freed his runaway slave Harriet Hemings in 1822. Upon his death in 1826, Jefferson freed five male Hemings slaves in his will. During his presidency, Jefferson allowed the diffusion of slavery into the Louisiana Territory hoping to prevent slave uprisings in Virginia and to prevent South Carolina secession. In 1804, in a compromise, Jefferson and Congress banned domestic slave trafficking for one year into the Louisiana Territory. In 1806 he officially called for anti-slavery legislation terminating the import or export of slaves. Congress passed the law in 1807. In 1819, Jefferson strongly opposed a Missouri statehood application amendment that banned domestic slave importation and freed slaves at the age of 25 on grounds it would destroy the union. In Notes on the State of Virginia, he created controversy by calling slavery a moral evil for which the nation would ultimately have to account to God. Jefferson wrote of his "suspicion" that Black people were mentally and physically inferior to Whites, but argued that they nonetheless had innate human rights. He therefore supported colonization plans that would transport freed slaves to another country, such as Liberia or Sierra Leone, though he recognized the impracticability of such proposals. According to Eric Foner, "In 1824 Jefferson proposed that the federal government purchase and deport 'the increase of each year' (that is, children), so that the slave population would age and eventually disappear." During his presidency, Jefferson was for the most part publicly silent on the issue of slavery and emancipation, as the Congressional debate over slavery and its extension caused a dangerous north–south rift among the states, with talk of a northern confederacy in New England. The violent attacks on white slave owners during the Haitian Revolution due to injustices under slavery supported Jefferson's fears of a race war, increasing his reservations about promoting emancipation. After numerous attempts and failures to bring about emancipation, Jefferson wrote privately in an 1805 letter to William A. Burwell, "I have long since given up the expectation of any early provision for the extinguishment of slavery among us." That same year he also related this idea to George Logan, writing, "I have most carefully avoided every public act or manifestation on that subject." Jefferson–Hemings controversy Claims that Jefferson fathered children with his slave Sally Hemings after his wife's death have been debated since 1802. In that year James T. Callender, after being denied a position as postmaster, alleged Jefferson had taken Hemings as a concubine and fathered several children with her. In 1998, a panel of researchers conducted a Y-DNA study of living descendants of Jefferson's uncle, Field, and of a descendant of Hemings's son, Eston Hemings. The results showed a match with the male Jefferson line. Subsequently, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (TJF) formed a nine-member research team of historians to assess the matter. The TJF report concluded that "the DNA study ... indicates a high probability that Thomas Jefferson fathered Eston Hemings". The TJF also concluded that Jefferson likely fathered all of Hemings's children listed at Monticello. In July 2017, the TJF announced that archeological excavations at Monticello had revealed what they believe to have been Sally Hemings's quarters, adjacent to Jefferson's bedroom. Since the results of the DNA tests were made public, the consensus among most historians has been that Jefferson had a sexual relationship with Sally Hemings and that he was the father of her son Eston Hemings. Still, a minority of scholars maintain the evidence is insufficient to prove Jefferson's paternity conclusively. Based on DNA and other evidence, they note the possibility that additional Jefferson males, including his brother Randolph Jefferson and any one of Randolph's four sons, or his cousin, could have fathered Sally Hemings's children. In 2002, historian Merrill Peterson said: "in the absence of direct documentary evidence either proving or refuting the allegation, nothing conclusive can be said about Jefferson's relations with Sally Hemings." Concerning the 1998 DNA study, Peterson said that "the results of the DNA testing of Jefferson and Hemings descendants provided support for the idea that Jefferson was the father of at least one of Sally Hemings's children". After Jefferson's death in 1826, although not formally manumitted, Sally Hemings was allowed by Jefferson's daughter Martha to live in Charlottesville as a free woman with her two sons until her death in 1835. The Monticello Association refused to allow Sally Hemings' descendants the right of burial at Monticello. Interests and activities Jefferson was a farmer, obsessed with new crops, soil conditions, garden designs, and scientific agricultural techniques. His main cash crop was tobacco, but its price was usually low and it was rarely profitable. He tried to achieve self-sufficiency with wheat, vegetables, flax, corn, hogs, sheep, poultry, and cattle to supply his family, slaves, and employees, but he lived perpetually beyond his means and was always in debt. Jefferson mastered architecture through self-study. His primary authority was Andrea Palladio's 1570 The Four Books of Architecture, which outlines the principles of classical design. Jefferson helped popularize the Neo-Palladian style in the United States utilizing designs for the Virginia State Capitol, the University of Virginia, Monticello, and others. It has been speculated that he was inspired by the Château de Rastignac in south-west France—the plans of which he saw during his ambassadorship—to convince the architect of the White House to modify the South Portico to resemble the château. In the field of archaeology, in 1784, Jefferson, using the trench method, started excavating several Native American burial mounds in Virginia. His excavations were prompted by the "Moundbuilders" question and his careful methods allowed him to witness the stratigraphic layout, the various human remains and other artifacts inside the mound. The evidence present at the site granted him enough insight to admit that he saw no reason why the ancestors of the present-day Native Americans could not have raised those mounds. He was interested in birds and wine, and was a noted gourmet. As a naturalist, he was fascinated by the Natural Bridge geological formation, and in 1774 successfully acquired the Bridge by a grant from George III. American Philosophical Society Jefferson was a member of the American Philosophical Society for 35 years, beginning in 1780. Through the society he advanced the sciences and Enlightenment ideals, emphasizing that knowledge of science reinforced and extended freedom. His Notes on the State of Virginia was written in part as a contribution to the society. He became the society's third president on March 3, 1797, a few months after he was elected Vice President of the United States. In accepting, Jefferson stated: "I feel no qualification for this distinguished post but a sincere zeal for all the objects of our institution and an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated through the mass of mankind that it may at length reach even the extremes of society, beggars and kings." On March 10, 1797, Thomas Jefferson gave a lecture, later published as a paper in 1799, which reported on the skeletal remains of an extinct large sloth, which he named Megalonyx, unearthed by saltpeter workers from a cave in what is now Monroe County, West Virginia. Jefferson is considered to be a pioneer of scientific paleontology research in North America. Jefferson served as APS president for the next eighteen years, including through both terms of his presidency. He introduced Meriwether Lewis to the society, where various scientists tutored him in preparation for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He resigned on January 20, 1815, but remained active through correspondence. Linguistics Jefferson had a lifelong interest in linguistics, and could speak, read, and write in a number of languages, including French, Greek, Italian, and German. In his early years, he excelled in classical languages. Jefferson later came to regard Greek as the "perfect language" as expressed in its laws and philosophy. While attending the College of William & Mary, he taught himself Italian. Here Jefferson first became familiar with the Anglo-Saxon language, studying it in a linguistic and philosophical capacity. He owned 17 volumes of Anglo-Saxon texts and grammar and later wrote an essay on the Anglo-Saxon language. Jefferson claimed to have taught himself Spanish during his nineteen-day journey to France, using only a grammar guide and a copy of Don Quixote. Linguistics played a significant role in how Jefferson modeled and expressed political and philosophical ideas. He believed that the study of ancient languages was essential in understanding the roots of modern language. Jefferson criticized language purists and supported the introduction of neologisms to English, foreseeing the emergence of "an American dialect". He described the Académie Française, a body designated to regulate the French language, as an "endeavor to arrest the progress of their language". He collected and understood a number of American Indian vocabularies and instructed Lewis and Clark to record and collect various Indian languages during their Expedition. When Jefferson moved from Washington after his presidency, he took 50 Native American vocabulary lists back to Monticello along with the rest of his possessions. Somewhere along the journey, a thief stole the heavy chest, thinking it was full of valuables, but its contents were dumped into the James River when the thief discovered it was only filled with papers. Thirty years of collecting were lost, with only a few fragments rescued from the muddy banks of the river. Jefferson was not an outstanding orator and preferred to communicate through writing or remain silent if possible. Instead of delivering his State of the Union addresses himself, Jefferson wrote the annual messages and sent a representative to read them aloud in Congress. This started a tradition that continued until 1913 when President Woodrow Wilson chose to deliver his own State of the Union address. Inventions Jefferson invented many small practical devices and improved contemporary inventions, including a revolving book-stand and a "Great Clock" powered by the gravitational pull on cannonballs. He improved the pedometer, the polygraph (a device for duplicating writing), and the moldboard plow, an idea he never patented and gave to posterity. Jefferson can also be credited as the creator of the swivel chair, the first of which he created and used to write much of the Declaration of Independence. He first opposed patents but later supported them. In 1790–1793, as Secretary of State, he was the ex officio head of the three-person patent review board. He drafted reforms of US patent law which led to him being relieved of this duty in 1793, and also drastically changed the patent system. As Minister to France, Jefferson was impressed by the military standardization program known as the Système Gribeauval, and initiated a program as president to develop interchangeable parts for firearms. For his inventiveness and ingenuity, he received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Harvard University. Legacy Historical reputation Jefferson is seen as an icon of individual liberty, democracy, and republicanism, hailed as the author of the Declaration of Independence, an architect of the American Revolution, and a renaissance man who promoted science and scholarship. The participatory democracy and expanded suffrage he championed defined his era and became a standard for later generations. Meacham opined that Jefferson was the most influential figure of the democratic republic in its first half-century, succeeded by presidential adherents James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren. The Siena Research Institute poll of presidential scholars, begun in 1982, has consistently ranked Jefferson as one of the five best U.S. presidents, and a 2015 Brookings Institution poll of American Political Science Association members ranked him as the fifth greatest president. Memorials and honors Jefferson has been memorialized with buildings, sculptures, postage, and currency. In the 1920s, Jefferson, together with George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, was chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and approved by President Calvin Coolidge to be depicted in a stone national memorial at Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., in 1943, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. The interior of the memorial includes a 19-foot (6 m) statue of Jefferson by Rudulph Evans and engravings of passages from Jefferson's writings. Most prominent among these passages are the words inscribed around the Jefferson Memorial: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man", a quote from Jefferson's September 23, 1800, letter to Benjamin Rush. In October 2021, in response to lobbying, the New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously to remove the plaster model of the statue of Jefferson that currently stands in the United States Capitol rotunda from the chamber of the New York City Council, where it had been for more than a century, due to him fathering children with people he enslaved. The statue was taken down the next month. Writings A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775) Declaration of Independence (1776) Memorandums taken on a journey from Paris into the southern parts of France and Northern Italy, in the year 1787 Notes on the State of Virginia (1781) Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States A report submitted to Congress (1790) "An Essay Towards Facilitating Instruction in the Anglo-Saxon and Modern Dialects of the English Language" (1796) Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States (1801) Autobiography (1821) Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth See also Notes Citations Works cited Scholarly studies Thomas Jefferson Foundation sources Primary sources Web site sources External links Scholarly coverage of Jefferson at Miller Center, U of Virginia United States Congress. "Thomas Jefferson (id: J000069)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive at the Massachusetts Historical Society Thomas Jefferson collection at the University of Virginia Library The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, subset of Founders Online from the National Archives Jefferson, Thomas (1774). Summary View of the Rights of British America. Printed by Clementina Rind – via World Digital Library. The Thomas Jefferson Hour, a radio show about all things Thomas Jefferson The Thomas Jefferson Hour "The Papers of Thomas Jefferson". Avalon Project. Works by Thomas Jefferson at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Thomas Jefferson at the Internet Archive Works by Thomas Jefferson at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) "Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts and Letters". "Thomas Jefferson's Family: A Genealogical Chart". Jefferson Quotes & Family Letters.

Theodore_Roosevelt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or T. R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. He previously was involved in New York politics, including serving as the state's 33rd governor for two years. He was the vice president under President William McKinley for six months in 1901, assuming the presidency after McKinley's assassination. As president, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies. A sickly child with debilitating asthma, Roosevelt overcame health problems through a strenuous lifestyle. He was homeschooled and began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard College. His book The Naval War of 1812 established his reputation as a historian and popular writer. Roosevelt became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in the New York State Legislature. His first wife and mother died on the same night, devastating him psychologically. He recuperated by buying and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. Roosevelt served as assistant secretary of the Navy under McKinley, and in 1898 helped plan the successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish Army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, Roosevelt was elected New York's governor in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to choose him as his running mate in the 1900 presidential election; the McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory. Roosevelt assumed the presidency aged 42, and is the youngest person to become U.S. president. As a leader of the progressive movement, he championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, which called for fairness for all citizens, breaking bad trusts, regulating railroads, and pure food and drugs. Roosevelt prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests, and monuments to preserve U.S. natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America, beginning construction of the Panama Canal. Roosevelt expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project naval power. His successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, the first American to win a Nobel Prize. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and groomed William Howard Taft to succeed him in 1908. Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and tried, and failed, to win the 1912 Republican presidential nomination. He founded the new Progressive Party and ran in 1912; the split allowed the Democratic Woodrow Wilson to win. Roosevelt led a four-month expedition to the Amazon basin, where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the U.S. out; his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. Roosevelt's health deteriorated and he died in 1919. Polls of historians and political scientists rank him as one of the greatest American presidents. Early life Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan. He was the second of four children born to Martha Stewart Bulloch and businessman Theodore Roosevelt Sr. He had an older sister (Anna), younger brother (Elliott) and younger sister (Corinne). Roosevelt's youth was shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma attacks, which terrified him and his parents. Doctors had no cure. Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. His lifelong interest in zoology began aged seven when he saw a dead seal at a market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and cousins formed the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals he killed or caught. Aged nine, he recorded his observation in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". Family trips, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped his cosmopolitan perspective. Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt discovered the benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits. Roosevelt began a heavy regimen of exercise. After being manhandled by older boys on the way to a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to train him. Education Roosevelt was homeschooled. Biographer H. W. Brands wrote that, "The most obvious drawback...was uneven coverage of...various areas of...knowledge." He was solid in geography and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in mathematics and the classical languages. In September 1876, he entered Harvard College. His father instructed him to, "take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies." His father's sudden death in 1878 devastated Roosevelt. He inherited $60,000 (equivalent to $1,894,345 in 2023), enough on which he could live comfortably for the rest of his life. His father, a devout Presbyterian, regularly led the family in prayers. Young Theodore emulated him by teaching Sunday School for more than three years at Christ Church in Cambridge. When the minister at Christ Church, which was an Episcopal church, eventually insisted he become an Episcopalian to continue teaching, Roosevelt declined, and began teaching a mission class in a poor section of Cambridge. Roosevelt did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but struggled in Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost photographic memory. Roosevelt participated in rowing and boxing, and was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society, the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of 177) with an A.B. magna cum laude. Henry F. Pringle wrote: Roosevelt, attempting to analyze his college career and weigh the benefits he had received, felt that he had obtained little from Harvard. He had been depressed by the formalistic treatment of many subjects, by the rigidity, the attention to minutiae that were important in themselves, but which somehow were never linked up with the whole. Roosevelt gave up his plan of studying natural science and attended Columbia Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York. Although Roosevelt was an able student, he found law to be irrational. Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics. Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party and defeated a Republican state assemblyman tied to the political machine of Senator Roscoe Conkling closely. After his election victory, Roosevelt dropped out of law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class." Naval history and strategy While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the United States Navy in the War of 1812. He ultimately published The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book included comparisons of British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship level. It was praised for its scholarship and style, and remains a standard study of the war. With the 1890 publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, Alfred Thayer Mahan was hailed as the world's outstanding naval theorist by European leaders. Mahan popularized a concept that only nations with significant naval power had been able to influence history, dominate oceans, exert their diplomacy to the fullest, and defend their borders. It has been believed Roosevelt's naval ideas were derived from Mahan's book, but naval historian, Nicolaus Danby felt Roosevelt's ideas predated Mahan's book. First marriage and widowerhood In 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee. Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days later, the new mother died of undiagnosed kidney failure, on the same day as Roosevelt's mother Martha died of typhoid fever. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large "X" on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life." Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the care of his sister Bamie while he grieved; he assumed custody of Alice when she was three. After the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City government, which arose from a bill proposing power be centralized in the mayor's office. For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice and did not write about her in his autobiography. Early political career State Assemblyman In 1881, Roosevelt won election to the New York State Assembly, representing the 21st district, then centered on the "Silk Stocking District" of New York County's Upper East Side. He served in the 1882, 1883, and 1884 sessions of the legislature. He began making his mark immediately: he blocked a corrupt effort of financier Jay Gould to lower his taxes. Roosevelt exposed the collusion of Gould and Judge Theodore Westbrook and successfully argued for an investigation, aiming for the judge to be impeached. Although the investigation committee rejected the impeachment, Roosevelt had exposed corruption in Albany and assumed a high and positive profile in New York publications. Roosevelt's anti-corruption efforts helped him win re-election in 1882 by a margin greater than two-to-one, an achievement made more impressive by the victory that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Grover Cleveland won in Roosevelt's district. With Conkling's Stalwart faction of the Republican Party in disarray following the assassination of President James Garfield, Roosevelt won election as party leader in the state assembly. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill. Roosevelt won re-election and sought the office of Speaker, but Titus Sheard obtained the position. Roosevelt served as Chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities, during which he wrote more bills than any other legislator. Presidential election of 1884 With numerous presidential hopefuls, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont. The state Republican Party preferred incumbent president, Chester Arthur, who was known for passing the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Roosevelt succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention. He then took control of the convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine; consequently, he gained a national reputation as a key politician in his state. Roosevelt attended the 1884 Republican National Convention in Chicago, where he gave a speech convincing delegates to nominate African American John R. Lynch, an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers against Blaine. However, Blaine gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, and won the nomination. In a crucial moment of his budding career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of fellow Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged: "We achieved a victory in getting up a combination to beat the Blaine nominee for temporary chairman...this needed...skill, boldness and energy... to get the different factions to come in... to defeat the common foe." He was impressed by an invitation to speak before an audience of ten thousand, the largest crowd he had addressed up to then. Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. Roosevelt refused to join other Mugwumps in supporting Cleveland, the Democratic nominee in the general election. After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt carelessly said he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". When a reporter asked if he would support Blaine, Roosevelt replied, "I decline to answer." In the end, he realized he had to support Blaine to maintain his role in the party and did so in a press release. Having lost the support of many reformers, and still reeling from the deaths of his wife and mother, Roosevelt decided to retired from politics and moved to North Dakota. Cattle rancher in Dakota Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. Exhilarated by the western lifestyle and with the cattle business booming, Roosevelt invested $14,000 ($457,800 in 2023) in hope of becoming a prosperous cattle rancher. For several years, he shuttled between his home in New York and ranch in Dakota. Following the 1884 United States presidential election, Roosevelt built Elkhorn Ranch 35 mi (56 km) north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. A cowboy, he said, possesses, "few of the emasculated, milk-and-water moralities admired by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does possess, to a very high degree, the stern, manly qualities that are invaluable to a nation". He wrote about frontier life for national magazines and published books: Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, and The Wilderness Hunter. Roosevelt successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address the problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns, which resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association. He formed the Boone and Crockett Club, whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats. In 1886, Roosevelt served as a deputy sheriff in Billings County, North Dakota. He and ranch hands hunted down three boat thieves. The severe winter of 1886–1887 wiped out his herd and over half of his $80,000 investment ($2.71 million in 2023). He ended his ranching life and returned to New York, where he escaped the damaging label of an ineffectual intellectual. Second marriage On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married his childhood friend, Edith Kermit Carow, at St George's, Hanover Square, in London, England. Roosevelt felt deeply troubled that his second marriage was soon after the death of his first wife and he faced resistance from his sisters. The couple had five children: Theodore "Ted" III in 1887, Kermit in 1889, Ethel in 1891, Archibald in 1894, and Quentin in 1897. They also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother. Reentering public life Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, Republican leaders approached him about running for mayor of New York City in the 1886 election. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democrat Abram Hewitt. Roosevelt campaigned hard, but Hewitt won with 41%, taking the votes of many Republicans who feared George's radical policies. George was held to 31%, and Roosevelt took third with 27%. Fearing his political career might never recover, Roosevelt turned to writing The Winning of the West, tracking the westward movement of Americans; it was a great success, earning favorable reviews and selling all copies from the first printing. Civil Service Commission After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican National Convention, Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison. On the insistence of Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission, where he served until 1895. While many of his predecessors had approached the office as a sinecure, Roosevelt fought the spoilsmen and demanded enforcement of civil service laws. The Sun described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic". Roosevelt clashed with Postmaster General John Wanamaker, who handed out patronage positions to Harrison supporters, and Roosevelt's attempt to force out several postal workers damaged Harrison politically. Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection in the 1892 presidential election, the winner, Grover Cleveland, reappointed him. Roosevelt's close friend and biographer, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, described his assault on the spoils system: The very citadel of spoils politics, the hitherto impregnable fortress that had existed unshaken since it was erected on the foundation laid by Andrew Jackson, was tottering to its fall under the assaults of this audacious and irrepressible young man... Whatever may have been the feelings of the (fellow Republican party) President (Harrison)—and there is little doubt that he had no idea when he appointed Roosevelt that he would prove to be so veritable a bull in a china shop—he refused to remove him and stood by him firmly till the end of his term. New York City Police Commissioner In 1894, reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after, he realized he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas; Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed there would be no repeat. William Lafayette Strong won the 1894 mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners. Roosevelt became president of commissioners and radically reformed the police force: he implemented regular inspections of firearms and physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals, closed corrupt police hostelries, and had telephones installed in station houses. In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt: When Roosevelt read [my] book, he came... No one ever helped as he did. For two years we were brothers in (New York City's crime-ridden) Mulberry Street. When he left I had seen its golden age... There is very little ease where Theodore Roosevelt leads, as we all of us found out. The lawbreaker found it out who predicted scornfully that he would "knuckle down to politics the way they all did", and lived to respect him, though he swore at him, as the one of them all who was stronger than pull... that was what made the age golden, that for the first time a moral purpose came into the street. In the light of it everything was transformed. Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. He made a concerted effort to uniformly enforce New York's Sunday closing law; in this, he ran up against Tom Platt and Tammany Hall—he was notified the Police Commission was being legislated out of existence. His crackdowns led to protests. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he accept, but he delighted in the insults and lampoons directed at him, and earned goodwill. Roosevelt chose to defer rather than split with his party. As Governor of New York State, he would later sign an act replacing the Police Commission with a Police Commissioner. Emergence as national figure Assistant Secretary of the Navy In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt strongly opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics. He gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was in poor health and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley and was adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897: I would regard war with Spain from two viewpoints: first, the advisability on the grounds both of humanity and self-interest of interfering on behalf of the Cubans, and of taking one more step toward the complete freeing of America from European dominion; second, the benefit done our people by giving them something to think of which is not material gain, and especially the benefit done our military forces by trying both the Navy and Army in actual practice. On February 15, 1898, the armored cruiser USS Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war on Spain, beginning the Spanish–American War. War in Cuba With the beginning of the Spanish–American War in 1898, Roosevelt resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Along with Army Colonel Leonard Wood, he formed the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. His wife and many friends begged Roosevelt to remain in Washington, but Roosevelt was determined to see battle. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications. Referred to by the press as the "Rough Riders", it was one of many temporary units active only during the war. The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas; in his autobiography, Roosevelt wrote that his experience with the New York National Guard enabled him to immediately begin teaching basic soldiering skills. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers, athletes, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs. The Rough Riders were part of the cavalry division commanded by former Confederate general Joseph Wheeler. Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquirí, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent the Rough Riders on a parallel road northwest running along a ridge up from the beach. Roosevelt took command of the regiment; he had his first experience in combat when the Rough Riders met Spanish troops in a skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas. They fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions. On July 1, in a combined assault with the Regulars, under Roosevelt's leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for charges up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill. Roosevelt was the only soldier on horseback, as he rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of orders. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The assaults would become known as the Battle of San Juan Heights. The victories came at a cost of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded. In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt recalled San Juan Heights as "the great day of my life". After returning to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel"; "Teddy" remained much more popular with the public, though Roosevelt openly despised that moniker. Governor of New York Shortly after Roosevelt's return, Republican Congressman Lemuel E. Quigg, a lieutenant of New York machine boss Thomas C. Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the 1898 gubernatorial election. Prospering politically from the Platt machine, Roosevelt's rise to power was marked by the pragmatic decisions of Platt, who disliked Roosevelt. Platt feared Roosevelt would oppose his interests in office and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics, but needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black. Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. Roosevelt defeated Black in the Republican caucus, and faced Democrat Augustus Van Wyck, a well-respected judge, in the general election. Roosevelt campaigned on his war record, winning by just 1%. As governor, Roosevelt learned about economic issues and political techniques that proved valuable in his presidency. He studied the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. G. Wallace Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large". By holding twice-daily press conferences—an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class base. Roosevelt successfully pushed the Ford Franchise-Tax bill, which taxed public franchises granted by the state and controlled by corporations, declaring that "a corporation which derives its powers from the State, should pay to the State a just percentage of its earnings as a return for the privileges it enjoys". He rejected Platt worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises. Power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor. Platt insisted he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate people with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in spring 1899, when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America". Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the poor. Roosevelt sought to position himself against the excesses of large corporations and radical movements. As chief executive of the most populous state, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run. Roosevelt had no interest in challenging McKinley for the nomination in 1900 and was denied his preferred post of Secretary of War. As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a 1904 run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in 1900. Vice presidency (1901) In November 1899, Vice President Garret Hobart died, leaving an open spot on the 1900 Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in 1900, Roosevelt issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination. Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination. Roosevelt attended the 1900 Republican National Convention as a state delegate and struck a bargain with Platt: Roosevelt would accept the nomination if the convention offered it to him but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Mark Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously. Roosevelt's vice-presidential campaigning proved highly energetic and a match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's barnstorming style. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made 480 stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of those who won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism. Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. The voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in 1896. Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901. The office was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt's six months as vice president were uneventful and boring for a man of action. He had no power; he presided over the Senate for a mere four days before it adjourned. On September 2, 1901, Roosevelt first publicized an aphorism that thrilled his supporters: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far." Presidency (1901–1909) On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, when he was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt, vacationing in Isle La Motte, Vermont, traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. When McKinley seemed to recover, Roosevelt resumed his vacation. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt rushed back to Buffalo. He was in North Creek when he learned of McKinley's death on September 14. Roosevelt then continued to Buffalo and was sworn in as the 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House. McKinley's supporters were uneasy about Roosevelt, with Ohio Senator Mark Hanna particularly bitter, given his strong opposition at the convention. Although Roosevelt assured party leaders that he would adhere to McKinley's policies and retained his Cabinet, he sought to establish himself as the party's leader and position himself for the 1904 election. Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House, sparking a bitter reaction across the heavily segregated South. While Roosevelt initially planned more dinners with Washington, he later avoided further invitations in favor of business appoinrments to retain political support in the white South. Domestic policies: The Square Deal Trust busting and regulation Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster" for his aggressive use of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors. He viewed big business as essential to the American economy, prosecuting only "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. Roosevelt brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly, and regulating Standard Oil, the largest oil company. His predecessors, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley, had together prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations. After winning large majorities in the 1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed creating the United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which included the Bureau of Corporations. Congress was receptive to the department but skeptical of the antitrust powers Roosevelt wanted within the Bureau. Roosevelt appealed to the public, pressuring Congress, which overwhelmingly passed his version of the bill. House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands notes, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." Roosevelt's willingness to exercise power extended to attempted rule changes in American football, forcing retention of martial arts classes at the U.S. Naval Academy, revising disciplinary rules, altering the design of a disliked coin, and ordering simplified spellings for 300 words, though he rescinded the latter after ridicule from the press and a House protest. Coal strike In May 1902, anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, stopping the strike. The accord with J. P. Morgan resulted in miners getting more pay for fewer hours but no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." He was the first president to help settle a labor dispute. Prosecuted misconduct During Roosevelt's second year in office, corruption was uncovered in the Indian Service, the United States General Land Office, and the Post Office Department. He prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated Native American tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation involving Oregon timberlands, led to him and Ethan A. Hitchcock forcing General Land Office Commissioner Binger Hermann from office, in November 1902. Special prosecutor Francis J. Heney obtained 146 indictments in the Oregon Land Office bribery ring. Roosevelt also prosecuted 44 postal employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians agree he moved "quickly and decisively" to address misconduct in his administration. Railroads Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906 Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich, resisted. Roosevelt worked with Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. They ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, allowing railroads to appeal to federal courts on what was "reasonable". The Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and other aspects of railroad operations. Pure food and drugs Roosevelt responded to public outrage over abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Conservatives initially opposed the bill, but Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, galvanized support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act banned misleading labels and preservatives with harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned impure or falsely labeled food and drugs from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908 and convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children in 1909. Conservation Roosevelt was proudest of his work in conserving natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. He worked closely with Interior Secretary James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that met resistance from Western Congress members, such as Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States he placed under public protection totals approximately 230 million acres (930,000 square kilometers). Roosevelt was the first honorary member of the Camp-Fire Club of America. Roosevelt extensively used executive orders to protect forest and wildlife lands during his presidency. By the end of his second term, Roosevelt used executive orders to reserve 150 million acres (600,000 square kilometers) of forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite Congress's perception that he was encroaching on too many lands. Eventually, Senator Charles Fulton attached an amendment to an agricultural appropriations bill preventing the president from reserving further land. Before signing the bill, Roosevelt established an additional 21 forest reserves, waiting until the last minute to sign it into law. In total, Roosevelt established 121 forest reserves in 31 states through executive orders. Roosevelt issued 1,081 executive orders, more than any previous president except Grover Cleveland (253). The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1,262 executive orders. Business panic of 1907 In 1907, Roosevelt faced the greatest domestic economic crisis since the Panic of 1893. Wall Street's stock market entered a slump in early 1907, and many investors blamed Roosevelt's regulatory policies for the decline in stock prices. Roosevelt ultimately helped calm the crisis by meeting with the leaders of U.S. Steel on November 4, 1907, and approving their plan to purchase a Tennessee steel company near bankruptcy—its failure would ruin a major New York bank. However, in August, Roosevelt had exploded in anger at the super-rich for their economic malfeasance, calling them "malefactors of great wealth" in a major speech, "The Puritan Spirit and the Regulation of Corporations". Trying to restore confidence, he blamed the crisis primarily on Europe, but then, after saluting the unbending rectitude of the Puritans, he went on:It may well be that the determination of the government...to punish certain malefactors of great wealth, has been responsible for something of the trouble; at least to the extent of having caused these men to combine to bring about as much financial stress as possible, in order to discredit the policy of the government and thereby secure a reversal of that policy, so that they may enjoy unmolested the fruits of their own evil-doing. Regarding the very wealthy, Roosevelt privately scorned, "their entire unfitness to govern the country, and ... the lasting damage they do by much of what they think are the legitimate big business operations of the day". Foreign policy Japan The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that Japan would dominate or seize the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan. In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the local insurrection ended in 1902, Roosevelt wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values, but he did not envision any new acquisitions. One of Roosevelt's priorities was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905 Japan and Russia were at war. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Though he proclaimed that the United States would be neutral during the Russo-Japanese War, Roosevelt secretly favored Imperial Japan to emerge victorious against the Russian Empire. In California, anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a "Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. It ended explicit discrimination against the Japanese, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment, the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome. This goodwill facilitated the Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines. China Following the Boxer Rebellion, foreign powers, including the United States, required China to pay indemnities as part of the Boxer protocol. In 1908, Roosevelt appropriated these indemnities for the Boxer Indemnity Scholarships, which funded tens of thousands of Chinese students to study in the U.S. over the next 40 years.: 91 Europe Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad. He also played a major role in mediating the First Moroccan Crisis by calling the Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany. Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of directing most of its attention to the rising German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the U.S. signed the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the U.S. from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the U.S.; as Roosevelt later put it, this "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves." Latin America and the Panama Canal As president, Roosevelt primarily directed the nation's overseas ambitions towards the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term, the U.S. had more battleships than any country other than Britain. The Panama Canal, when it opened in 1914, allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters. In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of Venezuela to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned about the motives of German Emperor Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at The Hague, and successfully defused the crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power. Two possible routes for an isthmus canal in Central America were under consideration: through Nicaragua and through Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia. Roosevelt persuaded Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40,000,000 (equivalent to $13.56 billion in 2023) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the New York World and the Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the newspapers but are divided on whether actual corruption took place. In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines, if necessary, without congressional approval. Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard reports that: The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and real politician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century...yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism. On November 6, 1906, Roosevelt was the first president to depart the continental United States on an official diplomatic trip. Roosevelt made a 17-day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico. He visited the Panama Canal worksite and attended diplomatic receptions in both Panama and Puerto Rico. Media Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing. The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage. Aside from the Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases, Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. Election of 1904 With the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the 1904 nomination. In deference to Mark Hanna's conservative loyalists, Roosevelt at first offered the party chairmanship to Cornelius Bliss, but he declined. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. Cortelyou of New York, the first Secretary of Commerce and Labor. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered opposing the President. The President secured his own nomination, but his preferred vice-presidential running mate, Robert R. Hitt, was not nominated. Senator Charles Warren Fairbanks of Indiana, a favorite of conservatives, gained the nomination. While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access. The Democratic Party's nominee in 1904 was Alton Brooks Parker. Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt himself. Roosevelt denied corruption while at the same time ordering Cortelyou to return $100,000 (equivalent to $3.4 million in 2023) of a campaign contribution from Standard Oil. Parker said that Roosevelt was accepting corporate donations to keep damaging information from the Bureau of Corporations from going public. Roosevelt strongly denied Parker's charge and responded that he would "go into the Presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise, or understanding of any kind, sort, or description...". Allegations from Parker and the Democrats, however, had little impact on the election, as Roosevelt promised to give every American a "square deal". Roosevelt won 56% of the popular vote to Parker's 38%, and won the Electoral College vote 336 to 140. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. Democrats would continue to charge Roosevelt and the Republicans of being influenced by corporate donations. Second term As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, as his promise to forego a third term made him a lame duck and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national incorporation law, called for a federal income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.), and an inheritance tax. Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas, he also sought a postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws. The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery that financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $5.1 million in 2023) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple". Rhetoric of righteousness Roosevelt's rhetoric was characterized by an intense moralism of personal righteousness. The tone was typified by his denunciation of "predatory wealth" in a message he sent Congress in January 1908 calling for passage of new labor laws: Predatory wealth--of the wealth accumulated on a giant scale by all forms of iniquity, ranging from the oppression of wageworkers to unfair and unwholesome methods of crushing out competition, and to defrauding the public by stock jobbing and the manipulation of securities. Certain wealthy men of this stamp, whose conduct should be abhorrent to every man of ordinarily decent conscience, and who commit the hideous wrong of teaching our young men that phenomenal business success must ordinarily be based on dishonesty, have during the last few months made it apparent that they have banded together to work for a reaction. Their endeavor is to overthrow and discredit all who honestly administer the law, to prevent any additional legislation which would check and restrain them, and to secure if possible a freedom from all restraint which will permit every unscrupulous wrongdoer to do what he wishes unchecked provided he has enough money....The methods by which the Standard Oil people and those engaged in the other combinations of which I have spoken above have achieved great fortunes can only be justified by the advocacy of a system of morality which would also justify every form of criminality on the part of a labor union, and every form of violence, corruption, and fraud, from murder to bribery and ballot box stuffing in politics. Post-presidency (1909–1919) Election of 1908 Roosevelt enjoyed being president but believed limited terms provided a check against dictatorship. He decided to honor his 1904 pledge not to run for a third term. Though he favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, Root's ill health made him unsuitable. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes was a strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt considered him too independent. He settled on his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who had been his friend since 1890 and consistently supported Roosevelt's policies. Roosevelt was determined to install the successor of his choice, and wrote to Taft: "Dear Will: Do you want any action about those federal officials? I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word!" Just weeks later, he branded as "false and malicious" the charge he was using the offices at his disposal to favor Taft. At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Henry Cabot Lodge made it clear Roosevelt was not interested. In the 1908 election, Taft easily defeated Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted progressivism emphasizing the rule of law; he preferred that judges, rather than politicians, make decisions about fairness. However, Taft proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt, lacking the energy, personal magnetism, and public support that made Roosevelt so formidable. When Roosevelt realized lowering the tariff would create severe tensions inside the Republican Party, he stopped talking about it. Taft, ignoring the risks, tackled the tariff boldly, resulting in the Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909, which alienated reformers on all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, allowing Taft space. Africa and Europe (1909–1910) In March 1909, the ex-president left for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition. Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa in East Africa and traveled to the Belgian Congo before following the Nile River to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Well-financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and American Museum of Natural History. The group, led by hunter-tracker R.J. Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian, and was joined by Frederick Selous, famous big game hunter and explorer. Participants included Kermit Roosevelt, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring. The team killed or trapped 11,400 animals, from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants. The 1,000 large animals included 512 big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted carcasses and skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all. Regarding the large number taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned". He wrote a detailed account of the trip in African Game Trails. After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule, stating Egypt was not yet ready for independence. He refused a meeting with the Pope due to a dispute over a group of Methodists active in Rome. He met with Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George V of Great Britain, and other leaders. In Oslo, Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. He delivered the Romanes Lecture at Oxford, where he denounced those who sought parallels between the evolution of animal life and the development of society. Though Roosevelt attempted to avoid domestic politics, he quietly met with Gifford Pinchot, who related his disappointment with the Taft Administration. Pinchot had been forced to resign as head of the forest service after clashing with Taft's Interior Secretary, Richard Ballinger. Roosevelt returned to the U.S. in June 1910. Four months later, Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to fly in a plane, staying aloft for 4 minutes in a Wright brothers-designed craft. Roosevelt relied on Carnegie for financing his expedition. In return, Carnegie asked the ex-president to mediate the growing conflict between the cousins who ruled Britain and Germany. Roosevelt started to, but the scheme collapsed when King Edward VII suddenly died. David Nasaw argues Roosevelt systematically deceived and manipulated Carnegie and held the elderly man in contempt. Republican Party schism Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a copy of himself, but recoiled as Taft began to display his individuality. He was offended on election night when Taft indicated his success had been possible not just through Roosevelt, but also Taft's half-brother Charles P. Taft. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Roosevelt and other progressives were ideologically dissatisfied over Taft's conservation policies and his handling of the tariff, when he concentrated power with conservative party leaders in Congress. Others have argued that Taft abided by the goals and procedures of the "Square Deal" promoted by Roosevelt in his first term. The problem was Roosevelt and the more radical progressives had moved on to more aggressive goals, such as curbing the judiciary, which Taft rejected. Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party, and to avoid splitting it in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in 1912. To that end, Roosevelt publicly expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in June 1910. Dispute over court power Roosevelt gave speeches in the West in the late summer and early fall of 1910 in which he severely criticized the nation's judiciary. Roosevelt not only attacked the Supreme Court's 1905 decision in Lochner v. New York, he accused federal courts of undermining democracy, branding the suspect jurists "fossilized judges," and compared their tendency to strike down progressive reform legislation, to Justice Roger B. Taney's ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). To ensure the constitution served the public interests, Roosevelt joined other progressives in calling for the "judicial recall," which would enable popular majorities to remove judges from office and reverse unpopular judicial decisions. This attack horrified Taft, who, though he privately agreed that Lochner and other decisions had been poorly decided, was an adamant believer in judicial authority preserving constitutional government. His horror was shared with other prominent members of the elite legal community, and solidified in Taft's mind that Roosevelt must not be permitted to regain the presidency. Roosevelt's "New Nationalism" In August 1910, Roosevelt escalated the rivalry with a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, which was the most radical of his career. It marked his public break with Taft and conservative Republicans. Advocating a program he called the "New Nationalism", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and the need to control corporate creation and combination. He called for a ban on corporate political contributions. Returning to New York, Roosevelt began a battle to take control of the state Republican party from William Barnes Jr.. Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the 1910 state convention. Roosevelt campaigned for the Republicans in the 1910 elections, in which the Democrats gained control of the House for the first time since 1892. Among the newly elected Democrats was senator Franklin D. Roosevelt, who argued he represented his distant cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent. The Republican progressives interpreted the defeats as a compelling argument for reorganization of the party in 1911. Senator Robert M. La Follette joined with Pinchot, William White, and California Governor Hiram Johnson to create the National Progressive Republican League; their objectives were to defeat the power of political bossism at the state level and replace Taft at the national level. Despite his skepticism of the league, Roosevelt expressed general support for progressive principles. Between January and April 1911, Roosevelt wrote articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy". With Roosevelt apparently uninterested in running in 1912, La Follette declared his own candidacy in June 1911. Roosevelt continually criticized Taft after the 1910 elections, and the break between them became final after the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against US Steel in September 1911; Roosevelt was humiliated because he had personally approved an acquisition the Justice Department was now challenging. However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in 1912; he hoped to run in 1916 against whichever Democrat beat Taft in 1912. Battling Taft over arbitration treaties Taft was world leader for arbitration as a guarantee of world peace. In 1911 he and Secretary of State Philander C. Knox negotiated treaties with Britain and France providing that differences be arbitrated. Disputes had to be submitted to the Hague Court or another tribunal. These were signed in August 1911, but had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. Neither Taft nor Knox consulted with Senate leaders during negotiations. By then many Republicans were opposed to Taft, and the president felt lobbying too hard for the treaties might cause their defeat. He made speeches supporting the treaties in October, but the Senate added amendments Taft could not accept, killing them. Arbitration revealed a dispute among American progressives. One faction, led by Taft looked to it as the best alternative to warfare. Taft was a constitutional lawyer, understanding the legal issues. Taft's base was the conservative business community that supported peace movements before 1914. However, he failed to mobilize them. The businessmen believed economic rivalries were the cause of war, and that trade led to an interdependent world that would make war expensive and useless. However, an opposing faction, led by Roosevelt, ridiculed arbitration as foolhardy idealism, and insisted on the realism of war as the only solution to serious international disputes. Roosevelt worked with close friend Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to impose those amendments that ruined the treaties. Roosevelt was acting to sabotage Taft's campaign promises. At a deeper level, Roosevelt truly believed arbitration was a naïve solution and great issues had to be decided by war. The Rooseveltian approach incorporated a near-mystical faith of the ennobling nature of war. It endorsed jingoistic nationalism as opposed to the businessmen's calculation of profit and national interest. Election of 1912 Republican primaries and convention In November 1911, a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president. Roosevelt conspicuously declined to refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft... I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership." In January 1912, Roosevelt declared "if the people make a draft on me I shall not decline to serve". Roosevelt spoke before the Constitutional Convention in Ohio, identifying as a progressive and endorsing progressive reforms—even endorsing popular review of state judicial decisions. In reaction to Roosevelt's proposals Taft said, "Such extremists are not progressives—they are political emotionalists or neurotics". Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the party from defeat in the upcoming election. In February 1912 in Boston, Roosevelt said, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me". Elihu Root and Henry Cabot Lodge thought division would lead to defeat in the election, while Taft believed he would be defeated either in the primary or general election. The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. The Republican primaries in the South, where party regulars dominated, went for Taft, as did New York, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Roosevelt won in Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. At the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Taft won the nomination on the first ballot. According to Lewis L. Gould, in 1912 Roosevelt saw Taft as the agent of "the forces of reaction and of political crookedness".... Roosevelt had become the most dangerous man in American history, said Taft, "because of his hold upon the less intelligent voters and the discontented." The Republican National Committee, dominated by the Taft forces, awarded 235 delegates to the president and 19 to Roosevelt...Roosevelt believed himself entitled to 72 delegates from Arizona, California, Texas and Washington that had been given to Taft. Firm in his conviction that the nomination was being stolen from him, Roosevelt ....told cheering supporters that there was "a great moral issue" at stake and he should have "sixty to eighty lawfully elected delegates" added to his total....Roosevelt ended his speech declaring: "Fearless of the future; unheeding of our individual fates; with unflinching hearts and undimmed eyes; we stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord!" Progressive Party Once his defeat appeared probable, Roosevelt announced he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose". Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive". Roosevelt left the Republican Party and created the Progressive Party. Leadership of the new party included a range of reformers. Jane Addams campaigned vigorously for the party as a breakthrough in social reform. Gifford Pinchot represented environmentalists and anti-trust crusaders. Publisher Frank Munsey provided cash and George W. Perkins, a Wall Street financier came from the efficiency movement. He handled the new party's finances efficiently but was distrusted by many reformers. Governor Hiram Johnson controlled the California party, forcing out the Taft supporters. He was nominated as Roosevelt's running mate. Roosevelt's platform echoed his radical 1907–1908 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from selfish interests: To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day. This country belongs to the people. Its resources, its business, its laws, its institutions, should be utilized, maintained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general interest. This assertion is explicit... Mr. Wilson must know that every monopoly in the United States opposes the Progressive party... I challenge him... to name the monopoly that did support the Progressive party, whether... the Sugar Trust, the US Steel Trust, the Harvester Trust, the Standard Oil Trust, the Tobacco Trust, or any other... Ours was the only program to which they objected, and they supported either Mr. Wilson or Mr. Taft. Though many Progressive party activists in the North opposed the steady loss of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt ran a "lily-white" campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations. Nevertheless, he won few votes outside traditional Republican strongholds. Out of 1,100 counties in the South, Roosevelt won two counties in Alabama, one in Arkansas, seven in North Carolina, three in Georgia, 17 in Tennessee, two in Texas, one in Virginia, and none in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, or South Carolina. Attempted assassination On October 14, 1912, while arriving at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot by delusional saloonkeeper John Schrank, who believed the ghost of assassinated president William McKinley had directed him to kill Roosevelt. The bullet lodged in Roosevelt's chest after penetrating his eyeglass case and passing through a 50-page folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual". Schrank was disarmed and captured by Roosevelt's stenographer, Elbert E. Martin as he attempted to fire a second time, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take Schrank and make sure no violence was done to him. As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined to go to hospital immediately and instead delivered a 90-minute speech with blood seeping into his shirt. Only afterwards did he accept medical attention. Probes and an x-ray showed the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded it would be less dangerous to leave it than attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet in him for the rest of his life. Taft and Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson suspended their campaigning until Roosevelt resumed his. When asked if the shooting would affect his election campaign, he said to the reporter "I'm fit as a bull moose." The bull moose became a symbol of Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, and it often was referred to as the Bull Moose Party. He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to campaign. He wrote a friend about the bullet, "I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat-pocket." Democratic victory After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson, Roosevelt did not expect to win the election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to progressive Democrats who might have considered voting for Roosevelt. Roosevelt still campaigned vigorously, and the election developed into a two-person contest despite Taft's quiet presence. Roosevelt respected Wilson, but they differed on various issues; Wilson opposed federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor, and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses. Roosevelt won 4.1 million votes (27%), compared to Taft's 3.5 million (23%) and Wilson's gained 6.3 million (42%). Wilson scored a massive landslide in the Electoral College, with 435 electoral votes; Roosevelt won 88, while Taft won 8. Pennsylvania was the only eastern state won by Roosevelt; in the Midwest, he carried Michigan, Minnesota, and South Dakota; in the West, California, and Washington. Roosevelt garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third-party presidential candidate in history and won the most states of any third-party candidate after the Civil War. South American expedition (1913–1914) In 1907 a friend of Roosevelt's, John Augustine Zahm, invited Roosevelt to help plan a research expedition to South America. To finance it, Roosevelt obtained support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back new animal specimens. Roosevelt's popular book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness describes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition, co-named after its leader, Brazilian Cândido Rondon. Once in South America, a more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the river Duvida and trace it north to the Madeira and thence to the Amazon River. Duvida was later renamed Roosevelt River. Roosevelt's crew consisted of his son Kermit, Colonel Rondon, naturalist George Kruck Cherrie, Brazilian Lieutenant João Lira, team physician José Antonio Cajazeira, and 16 skilled paddlers and porters. The initial expedition started tenuously on December 9, 1913, at the height of rainy season. The trip down Duvida started on February 27, 1914. Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped in to try to prevent canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba. The infection weakened Roosevelt so greatly that six weeks in, he had to be attended to constantly by the expedition's physician and Kermit. By then, he could not walk because of the infection and an infirmity in the other leg, due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Roosevelt had chest pains and a fever that soared to 103 °F (39 °C) and made him delirious. Regarding his condition as a threat to others' survival, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed, preparing to commit suicide with morphine. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue. Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of 50 pounds (23 kg), Rondon reduced the pace for map-making, which required regular stops to fix their position by sun-based survey. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that it had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, critics raised doubts over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over 625 miles (1,006 km) long. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, by the National Geographic Society and satisfactorily defended his claims. Final years Roosevelt returned to the U.S. in May 1914. Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the U.S. had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many reforms passed. Roosevelt made campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the 1914 elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party. Roosevelt began to envision another campaign for president, this time with himself at the head of the Republican Party, but conservative party leaders remained opposed to Roosevelt. In hopes of engineering a joint nomination, the Progressives scheduled the 1916 Progressive National Convention at the same time as the 1916 Republican National Convention. When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. Though Roosevelt had long disliked Hughes, he disliked Wilson even more, and campaigned energetically for the Republican nominee. However, Wilson won the 1916 election by a narrow margin. The Progressives disappeared as a party, and Roosevelt and many of his followers re-joined the Republican Party. World War I When the First World War began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights. In 1916, while campaigning for Hughes, Roosevelt repeatedly denounced Irish Americans and German Americans whom he described as unpatriotic; he insisted that one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. In March 1917, Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders. However, President Wilson announced to the press that he would not send Roosevelt and his volunteers to France, but instead an American Expeditionary Force under the command of General John J. Pershing. Roosevelt never forgave Wilson, and published The Foes of Our Own Household, an indictment of the sitting president. Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot with the American forces in France, was killed when shot down behind German lines on July 14, 1918, aged 20. Roosevelt never recovered from his loss. League of Nations Roosevelt was an early supporter of the modern view that there needs to be a global order. In his Nobel prize address of 1910, he said, "it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, not only to keep the peace among themselves, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others." It would have executive power such as the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 lacked. He called for American participation. When World War I broke out, Roosevelt proposed "a World League for the Peace of Righteousness", in September 1914, which would preserve sovereignty but limit armaments and require arbitration. He added it should be "solemnly covenanted that if any nations refused to abide by the decisions of such a court, then others draw the sword in behalf of peace and justice." In 1915 he outlined this plan more specifically, urging nations guarantee their entire military force, if necessary, against any nation that refused to carry out arbitration decrees or violated rights of other nations. Though Roosevelt had some concerns about the impact on United States sovereignty, he insisted that such a league would only work if the United States participated as one of the "joint guarantors". Roosevelt referred to this plan in a 1918 speech as "the most feasible for...a league of nations". By this time Wilson was strongly hostile to Roosevelt and Lodge and developed his own plans for a different League of Nations. It became reality along Wilson's lines at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Roosevelt denounced Wilson's approach but died before it was adopted at Paris. However, Lodge was willing to accept it with serious reservations. In the end, on March 19, 1920, Wilson had Democratic Senators vote against the League with the Lodge Reservations and the United States never joined the League of Nations. Final political activities Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1918. He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points, calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. Though his health was uncertain, he was seen as a leading contender for the 1920 Republican nomination, but insisted that, "If they take me, they'll have to take me without a single modification of the things that I have always stood for!" He wrote William Allen White, "I wish to do everything in my power to make the Republican Party the Party of sane, constructive radicalism, just as it was under Lincoln." Accordingly, he told the 1918 state convention of the Maine Republican Party that he stood for old-age pensions, insurance for sickness and unemployment, construction of public housing for low-income families, the reduction of working hours, aid to farmers, and more regulation of large corporations. While his political profile remained high, Roosevelt's physical condition deteriorated throughout 1918 due to the long-term effects of jungle diseases. He was hospitalized for seven weeks and never fully recovered. Death On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, George W. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were either "Please put out that light, James" or "James, will you please out out the light.", said to his family servant James E. Amos. Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt died at the age of 60 in his sleep at Sagamore Hill of a blood clot in his lungs. Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: "The old lion is dead." Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight." Following a private farewell service in the North Room at Sagamore Hill, a simple funeral was held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, former New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes, Senators Warren G. Harding and Henry Cabot Lodge, and former President William Howard Taft were among the mourners. The procession route to Youngs Memorial Cemetery was lined with spectators and a squad of mounted policemen who had ridden from New York City. Roosevelt was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster Bay. Writer Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry." As an editor of The Outlook, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his autobiography, The Rough Riders, History of the Naval War of 1812, and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four-volume narrative The Winning of the West, focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Roosevelt said that the American character—indeed a new "American race"—had emerged from the heroic wilderness hunters and Indian fighters, acting on the frontier with little government help. In 1905, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts, and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms and published several essays denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism. Character and beliefs British scholar Marcus Cunliffe evaluates the liberal argument that Roosevelt was an opportunist, exhibitionist, and imperialist. Cunliffe praises Roosevelt's versatility, his respect for law, and his sincerity. He argues that Roosevelt's foreign policy was better than his detractors allege. Cunliffe calls him "a big man in several respects". Roosevelt was an active Freemason and member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He was also a member of The Explorers Club. Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life". To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as president until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye (a fact not made public until many years later). Roosevelt began to believe in the utility of jiu-jitsu training after training with Yoshitsugu Yamashita. Concerned that the U.S. would lose its military supremacy to rising powers like Japan, Roosevelt began to advocate for jiu-jitsu training for American soldiers. Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly, showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in 1905. Historians have often emphasized Roosevelt's warrior persona. Richard D. White Jr states, "Roosevelt's warrior spirit framed his views of national politics, [and] international relations." He took aggressive positions regarding war with Spain in 1898, Colombia in 1903, and especially with Germany, from 1915 to 1917. As a demonstration of American naval might, he sent the Great White Fleet around the world in 1907–1909. He boasted in his autobiography: When I left the Presidency I finished seven and a half years of administration, during which not one shot had been fired against a foreign foe. We were at absolute peace, and there was no nation in the world with whom a war cloud threatened, no nation in the world whom we had wronged, or from whom we had anything to fear. The cruise of the battle fleet was not the least of the causes which ensured so peaceful an outlook. Historian Howard K. Beale has argued: He and his associates came close to seeking war for its own sake. Ignorant of modern war, Roosevelt romanticized war. ... Like many young men tamed by civilization into law-abiding but adventurous living, he needed an outlet for the pent-up primordial man in him and found it in fighting and killing, vicariously or directly, in hunting or in war. Indeed he had a fairly good time in war when war came. ... There was something dull and effeminate about peace. ... He gloried in war, was thrilled by military history, and placed warlike qualities high in his scale of values. Without consciously desiring it, he thought a little war now and then stimulated admirable qualities in men. Certainly preparedness for war did. Roosevelt often praised moral behavior but apparently never made a spiritual confession of his own faith. After the 1884 death of his wife, he almost never mentioned Jesus in public or private. His rejection of dogma and spirituality, says biographer William Harbaugh, led to a broad tolerance. Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance and was a conscientious churchgoer himself, a lifelong adherent of the Dutch Reformed church. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home to the local church and back, even after a serious operation. According to Christian Reisner, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing", and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected". In an address delivered to the Long Island Bible Society in 1901, Roosevelt declared that: Every thinking man, when he thinks, realizes what a very large number of people tend to forget, that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally—I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally—impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with more or less of resolution, strive to raise ourselves. Almost every man who has by his lifework added to the sum of human achievement of which the race is proud, has based his lifework largely upon the teachings of the Bible ... Among the greatest men a disproportionately large number have been diligent and close students of the Bible at first hand. Political positions When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating that "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions. Foreign policy beliefs In the analysis by Henry Kissinger, Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was the duty of the United States to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a social Darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the Monroe Doctrine, the United States had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine. Roosevelt was a realist and a conservative. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argued that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: I regard the Wilson–Bryan attitude of trusting to fantastic peace treaties, too impossible promises, to all kinds of scraps of paper without any backing in efficient force, as abhorrent. It is infinitely better for a nation and for the world to have the Frederick the Great and Bismarck tradition as regards foreign policy than to have the Bryan or Bryan–Wilson attitude as a permanent national attitude.... A milk-and-water righteousness unbacked by force is...as wicked as and even more mischievous than force divorced from righteousness. On his international outlook, Roosevelt favored spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However, he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia. Legacy Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by placing the "bully pulpit" of the presidency at center stage and emphasizing character as much as issues. His accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. He is a hero to liberals and progressives for his early proposals that foreshadowed the modern welfare state, including federal taxation, labor reforms, and more direct democracy. Conservationists admire Roosevelt for prioritizing the environment and selflessness towards future generations. Conservatives and nationalists respect his commitment to law and order, civic duty, and military values. Dalton states, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century." Liberals and socialists criticize his interventionist and imperialist approach, while libertarians reject his vision of the welfare state. Historians typically rank Roosevelt among the top five presidents. Persona and masculinity Dalton says Roosevelt is remembered as "one of the most picturesque personalities who has ever enlivened the landscape". His friend, historian Henry Adams, proclaimed: "Roosevelt, more than any other man... showed the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter—the quality that medieval theology assigned to God—he was pure act". Cooper compared him with Woodrow Wilson, highlighting their roles as warrior and priest. Dalton stressed Roosevelt's strenuous life. Brands calls Roosevelt "the last romantic", viewing his romantic notion of life as emerging from his belief in physical bravery as the highest virtue. Henry F. Pringle, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Theodore Roosevelt (1931), stated the "Roosevelt of later years was the most adolescent of men." Roosevelt as the exemplar of American masculinity has become a major theme. He often warned that men were becoming too complacent, failing in their duties to propagate the race and exhibit masculine vigor. Historian Serge Ricard noted that Roosevelt's advocacy of the "Strenuous Life" made him an ideal subject for psycho-historical analysis of aggressive manhood in his era. He promoted competitive sports for physically strengthening American men and supported organizations like the Boy Scouts, to mold and strengthen the character of American boys. Brands shows that heroic displays of bravery were central to Roosevelt's image: What makes the hero a hero is the romantic notion that he stands above the tawdry give and take of everyday politics, occupying an ethereal realm where partisanship gives way to patriotism, and division to unity, and where the nation regains its lost innocence... In 1902, Théobald Chartran was commissioned to paint Roosevelt's presidential portrait. Roosevelt hid it in a closet before having it destroyed because it made him look like a "meek kitten". Roosevelt instead chose John Singer Sargent to paint his portrait. Memorials and cultural depictions Roosevelt was included with Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927. Roosevelt's "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick" ideology is still quoted by politicians and columnists—not only in English, but in many translations. Another popular legacy is the teddy bear—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the Medal of Honor. However, the recommendation lacked any eyewitnesses, and the effort was tainted by Roosevelt's lobbying of the War Department. In the 1990s, Roosevelt's supporters again recommended the award, which was denied by the Secretary of the Army on the basis the decorations board determined "Roosevelt's bravery in battle did not rise to the level that would justify the Medal of Honor and, indeed, it did not rise to the level of men who fought in that engagement." Nevertheless, politicians apparently convinced the secretary to reconsider and reverse himself, leading to the charge it was a "politically motivated award". In 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded Theodore Roosevelt the Medal of Honor for his charge. He is the only president to have received it. The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the USS Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600), a submarine in commission from 1961 to 1982, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), an aircraft carrier on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986. Roosevelt has appeared on five U.S. Postage stamps, the first being issued in 1922. In 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt. A 32¢ stamp was issued in 1998, as part of the Celebrate the Century series. Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is named after him. The America the Beautiful Quarters series features Roosevelt riding a horse on the national park's quarter. Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt, discovered in 2005, was named after him. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8, 2019 (M.P.C. 118221). Robert Peary named the Roosevelt Range and Roosevelt Land after him. Roosevelt has also been portrayed in films and television series such as Brighty of the Grand Canyon, The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, My Friend Flicka, and Law of the Plainsman. Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequels. Roosevelt is the leader of the American civilization in the video game Civilization VI. For 80 years, an equestrian statue of Roosevelt, sitting above a Native American and an African American, stood in front of New York's American Museum of Natural History. In 2022, after years of lobbying by activists, the statue was removed. Museum president Ellen V. Futter said the decision did not reflect a judgment about Roosevelt but the sculpture's "hierarchical composition". Audiovisual media Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive. A 1912 voice recording of The Right of the People to Rule, which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is available from the Michigan State University libraries. The audio clip sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense of the Progressive Party in 1912, wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" – in contrast with the other major parties. See also Electoral history of Theodore Roosevelt List of famous big game hunters Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps Teddy bear SS President Roosevelt (1921) SS President Roosevelt (1944) SS Roosevelt (1905) Notes References Sources External links Organizations Boone and Crockett Club Theodore Roosevelt Association Libraries and collections Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Medora, North Dakota. Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University Theodore Roosevelt Collection, at the Houghton Library, Harvard University Theodore Roosevelt Hunting Library at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Theodore Roosevelt's journalism at The Archive of American Journalism Theodore Roosevelt American Museum of Natural History Works by Theodore Roosevelt at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Theodore Roosevelt at the Internet Archive Works by Theodore Roosevelt at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Media Theodore Roosevelt Speech Edison Recordings Campaign - 1912, audio recording Theodore Roosevelt collected news and commentary at The New York Times "Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, September 3, 1999 "Writings of Theodore Roosevelt" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History Other Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt Archived May 1, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide – Library of Congress Theodore Roosevelt on Nobelprize.org

Abraham_Lincoln

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln ( LINK-ən; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defending the nation as a constitutional union, defeating the Confederacy, playing a major role in the abolition of slavery, expanding the power of the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy. Lincoln was born into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky and was raised on the frontier, mainly in Indiana. He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator, and U.S. representative from Illinois. In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois. In 1854, angered by the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which opened the territories to slavery, he re-entered politics. He soon became a leader of the new Republican Party. He reached a national audience in the 1858 Senate campaign debates against Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln ran for president in 1860, sweeping the North to gain victory. Pro-slavery elements in the South viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and Southern states began seceding from the nation. They formed the Confederate States of America, which began seizing federal military bases in the South. A little over one month after Lincoln assumed the presidency, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, a U.S. fort in South Carolina. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the union. Lincoln, a moderate Republican, had to navigate a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from both the Democratic and Republican parties. His allies, the War Democrats and the Radical Republicans, demanded harsh treatment of the Southern Confederates. He managed the factions by exploiting their mutual enmity, carefully distributing political patronage, and by appealing to the American people. Anti-war Democrats (called "Copperheads") despised Lincoln, and some irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements went so far as to plot his assassination. His Gettysburg Address came to be seen as one of the greatest and most influential statements of American national purpose. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the South's trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere, and he averted war with Britain by defusing the Trent Affair. In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the slaves in the states "in rebellion" to be free. It also directed the Army and Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons" and to receive them "into the armed service of the United States." Lincoln unsuccessfully pressured border states to outlaw slavery, and he promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime. Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. He sought to heal the war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, he was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary, when he was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. Lincoln is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the greatest president in American history. Family and childhood Early life Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk, to its namesake, Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1638. The family then migrated west, passing through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Lincoln was also a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia; his paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln and wife Bathsheba (née Herring) moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Kentucky. The captain was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, Abraham's father, witnessed the attack. Thomas then worked at odd jobs in Kentucky and Tennessee before the family settled in Hardin County, Kentucky, in the early 1800s. Lincoln's mother Nancy Lincoln is widely assumed to be the daughter of Lucy Hanks. Through his mother’s family, he is related to American actor Tom Hanks. Thomas and Nancy married on June 12, 1806, in Washington County, and moved to Elizabethtown, Kentucky. They had three children: Sarah, Abraham, and Thomas, who died as an infant. Thomas Lincoln bought multiple farms in Kentucky, but could not get clear titles to any, losing hundreds of acres of land in property disputes. In 1816, the family moved to Indiana, where the land surveys and titles were more reliable. They settled in an "unbroken forest" in Hurricane Township, Perry County, Indiana. When the Lincolns moved to Indiana it "had just been admitted to the Union" as a "free" (non-slaveholding) state, except that, though "no new enslaved people were allowed, ... currently enslaved individuals remained so". In 1860, Lincoln noted that the family's move to Indiana was "partly on account of slavery", but mainly due to land title difficulties. In Kentucky and Indiana, Thomas worked as a farmer, cabinetmaker, and carpenter. At various times he owned farms, livestock, and town lots, paid taxes, sat on juries, appraised estates, and served on county patrols. Thomas and Nancy were members of the Separate Baptist Church, "condemned profanity, intoxication, gossip, horse racing, and dancing." Most of its members opposed slavery. Overcoming financial challenges, Thomas in 1827 obtained clear title to 80 acres (32 ha) in Indiana, an area that became known as Little Pigeon Creek Community. Mother's death On October 5, 1818, Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness, leaving 11-year-old Sarah in charge of a household including her father, nine-year-old Abraham, and Nancy's 19-year-old orphan cousin, Dennis Hanks. Ten years later, on January 20, 1828, Sarah died while giving birth to a stillborn son, devastating Lincoln. On December 2, 1819, Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, with three children of her own. Abraham became close to his stepmother and called her "Mother". Dennis Hanks said he was lazy, for all his "reading—scribbling—writing—ciphering—writing poetry". His stepmother acknowledged he did not enjoy "physical labor" but loved to read. Education and move to Illinois Lincoln was largely self-educated. His formal schooling was from itinerant teachers. It included two short stints in Kentucky, where he learned to read, but probably not to write. In Indiana at age seven, due to farm chores, he attended school only sporadically, for a total of fewer than 12 months in aggregate by age 15. Nonetheless, he remained an avid reader and retained a lifelong interest in learning. Family, neighbors, and schoolmates recalled that his readings included the King James Bible, Aesop's Fables, John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Despite being self-educated, Lincoln was the recipient of honorary degrees later in life, including an honorary Doctor of Laws from Columbia University in June 1861. When Lincoln was a teen, his "father grew more and more to depend on him for the 'farming, grubbing, hoeing, making fences' necessary to keep the family afloat. He also regularly hired his son out to work ... and by law, he was entitled to everything the boy earned until he came of age". Lincoln was tall, strong, and athletic, and became adept at using an ax. He was an active wrestler during his youth and trained in the rough catch-as-catch-can style (also known as catch wrestling). He became county wrestling champion at the age of 21. He gained a reputation for his strength and audacity after winning a wrestling match with the renowned leader of ruffians known as the Clary's Grove boys. In March 1830, fearing another milk sickness outbreak, several members of the extended Lincoln family, including Abraham, moved west to Illinois, a free state, and settled in Macon County. Abraham then became increasingly distant from Thomas, in part, due to his father's lack of interest in education. In 1831, as Thomas and other family members prepared to move to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois, Abraham struck out on his own. He made his home in New Salem, Illinois, for six years. Lincoln and some friends took goods, including live hogs, by flatboat to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he first witnessed slavery. Marriage and children Speculation persists that Lincoln's first romantic interest was Ann Rutledge, whom he met when he moved to New Salem. However, witness testimony, given decades afterward, showed a lack of any specific recollection of a romance between the two. Rutledge died on August 25, 1835, most likely of typhoid fever; Lincoln took the death very hard saying that he could not bear the idea of rain falling on Ann's grave. Lincoln sank into a serious episode of depression, and this gave rise to speculation that he had been in love with her. In the early 1830s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky. Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match with Owens if she returned to New Salem. Owens arrived that November and he courted her; however, they both had second thoughts. On August 16, 1837, he wrote Owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship, and she never replied. In 1839, Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois, and the following year they became engaged. She was the daughter of Robert Smith Todd, a wealthy lawyer and businessman in Lexington, Kentucky. Their wedding, which was set for January 1, 1841, was canceled because Lincoln did not appear, but they reconciled and married on November 4, 1842, in the Springfield home of Mary's sister. While anxiously preparing for the nuptials, he was asked where he was going and replied, "To hell, I suppose". In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near his law office. Mary kept house with the help of a hired servant and a relative. Lincoln was an affectionate husband and father of four sons, though his work regularly kept him away from home. The eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, was born in 1843, and was the only child to live to maturity. Edward Baker Lincoln (Eddie), born in 1846, died February 1, 1850, probably of tuberculosis. Lincoln's third son, "Willie" Lincoln was born on December 21, 1850, and died of a fever at the White House on February 20, 1862. The youngest, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, was born on April 4, 1853, and survived his father, but died of heart failure at age 18 on July 16, 1871. Lincoln "was remarkably fond of children" and the Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their own. In fact, Lincoln's law partner William H. Herndon would grow irritated when Lincoln brought his children to the law office. Their father, it seemed, was often too absorbed in his work to notice his children's behavior. Herndon recounted, "I have felt many and many a time that I wanted to wring their little necks, and yet out of respect for Lincoln I kept my mouth shut. Lincoln did not note what his children were doing or had done." The deaths of their sons Eddie and Willie had profound effects on both parents. Lincoln suffered from "melancholy", a condition now thought to be clinical depression. Later in life, Mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons, and in 1875 Robert committed her to an asylum. Early career and militia service During 1831 and 1832, Lincoln worked at a general store in New Salem, Illinois. In 1832, he declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representatives, but interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War. When Lincoln returned home from the Black Hawk War, he planned to become a blacksmith, but instead formed a partnership with 21-year-old William Berry, with whom he purchased a New Salem general store on credit. Because a license was required to sell customers beverages, Berry obtained bartending licenses for $7 each for Lincoln and himself, and in 1833 the Lincoln-Berry General Store became a tavern as well. As licensed bartenders, Lincoln and Berry were able to sell spirits, including liquor, for 12 cents a pint. They offered a wide range of alcoholic beverages as well as food, including takeout dinners. But Berry became an alcoholic, was often too drunk to work, and Lincoln ended up running the store by himself. Although the economy was booming, the business struggled and went into debt, causing Lincoln to sell his share. In his first campaign speech after returning from his military service, Lincoln observed a supporter in the crowd under attack, grabbed the assailant by his "neck and the seat of his trousers", and tossed him. In the campaign, Lincoln advocated for navigational improvements on the Sangamon River. He could draw crowds as a raconteur, but lacked the requisite formal education, powerful friends, and money, and lost the election. Lincoln finished eighth out of 13 candidates (the top four were elected), though he received 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem precinct. Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, but continued his voracious reading and decided to become a lawyer. Rather than studying in the office of an established attorney, as was the custom, Lincoln borrowed legal texts from attorneys John Todd Stuart and Thomas Drummond, purchased books including Blackstone's Commentaries and Chitty's Pleadings, and read law on his own. He later said of his legal education that "I studied with nobody." Illinois state legislature (1834–1842) Lincoln's second state house campaign in 1834, this time as a Whig, was a success over a powerful Whig opponent. Then followed his four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives for Sangamon County. He championed construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and later was a Canal Commissioner. He voted to expand suffrage beyond white landowners to all white males, but adopted a "free soil" stance opposing both slavery and abolition. In 1837, he declared, "[The] Institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils." He echoed Henry Clay's support for the American Colonization Society which advocated a program of abolition in conjunction with settling freed slaves in Liberia. He was admitted to the Illinois bar on September 9, 1836, and moved to Springfield and began to practice law under John T. Stuart, Mary Todd's cousin. Lincoln emerged as a formidable trial combatant during cross-examinations and closing arguments. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Logan, and in 1844, began his practice with William Herndon, "a studious young man". On January 27, 1838, Abraham Lincoln, then 28 years old, delivered his first major speech at the Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois, after the murder of newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy in Alton. Lincoln warned that no trans-Atlantic military giant could ever crush the U.S. as a nation. "It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher", said Lincoln. Prior to that, on April 28, 1836, a black man, Francis McIntosh, was burned alive in St. Louis, Missouri. Zann Gill describes how these two murders set off a chain reaction that ultimately prompted Abraham Lincoln to run for President. U.S. House of Representatives (1847–1849) True to his record, Lincoln professed to friends in 1861 to be "an old line Whig, a disciple of Henry Clay". Their party favored economic modernization in banking, tariffs to fund internal improvements including railroads, and urbanization. In 1843, Lincoln sought the Whig nomination for Illinois's 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives; he was defeated by John J. Hardin, though he prevailed with the party in limiting Hardin to one term. Lincoln not only pulled off his strategy of gaining the nomination in 1846, but also won the election. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but as dutiful as any participated in almost all votes and made speeches that toed the party line. He was assigned to the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads and the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department. Lincoln teamed with Joshua R. Giddings on a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for the owners, enforcement to capture fugitive slaves, and a popular vote on the matter. He dropped the bill when it eluded Whig support. Political views On foreign and military policy, Lincoln spoke against the Mexican–American War, which he imputed President James K. Polk's desire for "military glory — that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood". He supported the Wilmot Proviso, a failed proposal to ban slavery in any U.S. territory won from Mexico. Lincoln emphasized his opposition to Polk by drafting and introducing his Spot Resolutions. The war had begun with a killing of American soldiers by Mexican cavalry patrol in disputed territory, and Polk insisted that Mexican soldiers had "invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil". Lincoln demanded that Polk show Congress the exact spot on which blood had been shed and prove that the spot was on American soil. The resolution was ignored in both Congress and the national papers, and it cost Lincoln political support in his district. One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln". Lincoln later regretted some of his statements, especially his attack on presidential war-making powers. Lincoln had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in the House. Realizing Clay was unlikely to win the presidency, he supported General Zachary Taylor for the Whig nomination in the 1848 presidential election. Taylor won and Lincoln hoped in vain to be appointed Commissioner of the United States General Land Office. The administration offered to appoint him secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory as consolation. This distant territory was a Democratic stronghold, and acceptance of the post would have disrupted his legal and political career in Illinois, so he declined and resumed his law practice. Prairie lawyer In his Springfield practice, Lincoln handled "every kind of business that could come before a prairie lawyer". Twice a year he appeared for 10 consecutive weeks in county seats in the Midstate county courts; this continued for 16 years. Lincoln handled transportation cases in the midst of the nation's western expansion, particularly river barge conflicts under the many new railroad bridges. As a riverboat man, Lincoln initially favored those interests, but ultimately represented whoever hired him. He later represented a bridge company against a riverboat company in Hurd v. Rock Island Bridge Company, a landmark case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a bridge. In 1849 he received a patent for a flotation device for the movement of boats in shallow water. The idea was never commercialized, but it made Lincoln the only president to hold a patent. Lincoln appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 175 cases; he was sole counsel in 51 cases, of which 31 were decided in his favor. From 1853 to 1860, one of his largest clients was the Illinois Central Railroad. His legal reputation gave rise to the nickname "Honest Abe". In an 1858 criminal trial, Lincoln represented William "Duff" Armstrong, who was on trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker. The case is famous for Lincoln's use of a fact established by judicial notice to challenge the credibility of an eyewitness. After an opposing witness testified to seeing the crime in the moonlight, Lincoln produced a Farmers' Almanac showing the Moon was at a low angle, drastically reducing visibility. Armstrong was acquitted. In an 1859 murder case, leading up to his presidential campaign, Lincoln elevated his profile with his defense of Simeon Quinn "Peachy" Harrison, who was a third cousin; Harrison was also the grandson of Lincoln's political opponent, Rev. Peter Cartwright. Harrison was charged with the murder of Greek Crafton who, as he lay dying of his wounds, confessed to Cartwright that he had provoked Harrison. Lincoln angrily protested the judge's initial decision to exclude Cartwright's testimony about the confession as inadmissible hearsay. Lincoln argued that the testimony involved a dying declaration and was not subject to the hearsay rule. Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as expected, the judge, a Democrat, reversed his ruling and admitted the testimony into evidence, resulting in Harrison's acquittal. Republican politics (1854–1860) Emergence as Republican leader The debate over the status of slavery in the territories failed to alleviate tensions between the slave-holding South and the free North, with the failure of the Compromise of 1850, a legislative package designed to address the issue. In his 1852 eulogy for Clay, Lincoln highlighted the latter's support for gradual emancipation and opposition to "both extremes" on the slavery issue. As the slavery debate in the Nebraska and Kansas territories became particularly acrimonious, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed popular sovereignty as a compromise; the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery. The legislation alarmed many Northerners, who sought to prevent the spread of slavery that could result, but Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act narrowly passed Congress in May 1854. Lincoln did not comment on the act until months later in his "Peoria Speech" of October 1854. Lincoln then declared his opposition to slavery, which he repeated en route to the presidency. He said the Kansas Act had a "declared indifference, but as I must think, a covert real zeal for the spread of slavery. I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world...." Lincoln's attacks on the Kansas–Nebraska Act marked his return to political life. Nationally the Whigs were irreparably split by the Kansas–Nebraska Act and other efforts to compromise on the slavery issue. Reflecting on the demise of his party, Lincoln wrote in 1855, "I think I am a Whig, but others say there are no Whigs, and that I am an abolitionist. ... I do no more than oppose the extension of slavery." The new Republican Party was formed as a northern party dedicated to antislavery, drawing from the antislavery wing of the Whig Party and combining Free Soil, Liberty, and antislavery Democratic Party members, Lincoln resisted early Republican entreaties, fearing that the new party would become a platform for extreme abolitionists. Lincoln held out hope for rejuvenating the Whigs, though he lamented his party's growing closeness with the nativist Know Nothing movement. In 1854, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature, but before the term began in January he declined to take his seat so that he would be eligible to be a candidate in the upcoming U.S. Senate election. The year's elections showed the strong opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, and in the aftermath Lincoln sought election to the U.S. Senate. At that time, senators were elected by state legislatures. After leading in the first six rounds of voting, he was unable to obtain a majority. Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull. Trumbull was an antislavery Democrat and had received few votes in the earlier ballots; his supporters, also antislavery Democrats, had vowed not to support any Whig. Lincoln's decision to withdraw enabled his Whig supporters and Trumbull's antislavery Democrats to combine and defeat the mainstream Democratic candidate, Joel Aldrich Matteson. 1856 campaign Violent political confrontations in Kansas continued, and opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act remained strong throughout the North. As the 1856 elections approached, Lincoln joined the Republicans and attended the Bloomington Convention, which formally established the Illinois Republican Party. The convention platform endorsed Congress's right to regulate slavery in the territories and backed the admission of Kansas as a free state. Lincoln gave the final speech of the convention supporting the party platform and called for the preservation of the Union. At the June 1856 Republican National Convention, though Lincoln received support to run as vice president, John C. Frémont and William Dayton were on the ticket, which Lincoln supported throughout Illinois. The Democrats nominated former Secretary of State James Buchanan and the Know-Nothings nominated former Whig President Millard Fillmore. Buchanan prevailed, while Republican William Henry Bissell won election as Governor of Illinois, and Lincoln became a leading Republican in Illinois. Dred Scott v. Sandford Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him from a slave state to a territory that was free as a result of the Missouri Compromise. After Scott was returned to the slave state, he petitioned a federal court for his freedom. His petition was denied in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). In his opinion, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote that black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional for infringing upon slave owners' "property" rights. While many Democrats hoped that Dred Scott would end the dispute over slavery in the territories, the decision sparked further outrage in the North. Lincoln denounced it as the product of a conspiracy of Democrats to support the Slave Power. He argued the decision was at variance with the Declaration of Independence; he said that while the founding fathers did not believe all men equal in every respect, they believed all men were equal "in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Lincoln–Douglas debates and Cooper Union speech In 1858, Douglas was up for re-election in the U.S. Senate, and Lincoln hoped to defeat him. Many in the party felt that a former Whig should be nominated in 1858, and Lincoln's 1856 campaigning and support of Trumbull had earned him a favor. Some eastern Republicans supported Douglas for his opposition to the Lecompton Constitution and admission of Kansas as a slave state. Many Illinois Republicans resented this eastern interference. For the first time, Illinois Republicans held a convention to agree upon a Senate candidate, and Lincoln won the nomination with little opposition. Lincoln accepted the nomination with great enthusiasm and zeal. After his nomination he delivered his House Divided Speech, with the biblical reference Mark 3:25, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other." The speech created a stark image of the danger of disunion. The stage was then set for the election of the Illinois legislature which would, in turn, select Lincoln or Douglas. When informed of Lincoln's nomination, Douglas stated, "[Lincoln] is the strong man of the party ... and if I beat him, my victory will be hardly won." The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas. These were the most famous political debates in American history; they had an atmosphere akin to a prizefight and drew crowds in the thousands. The principals stood in stark contrast both physically and politically. Lincoln warned that the Slave Power was threatening the values of republicanism, and he accused Douglas of distorting the Founding Fathers' premise that all men are created equal. In his Freeport Doctrine, Douglas argued that, despite the Dred Scott decision, which he claimed to support, local settlers, under the doctrine of popular sovereignty, should be free to choose whether to allow slavery within their territory, and he accused Lincoln of having joined the abolitionists. Lincoln's argument assumed a moral tone, as he claimed that Douglas represented a conspiracy to promote slavery. Douglas's argument was more legal in nature, claiming that Lincoln was defying the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court as exercised in the Dred Scott decision. Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature re-elected Douglas. However, Lincoln's articulation of the issues had given him a national political presence. In May 1859, Lincoln purchased the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger, a German-language newspaper that was consistently supportive; most of the state's 130,000 German Americans voted for Democrats, but the German-language paper mobilized Republican support. In the aftermath of the 1858 election, newspapers frequently mentioned Lincoln as a potential Republican presidential candidate, rivaled by William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Simon Cameron. While Lincoln was popular in the Midwest, he lacked support in the Northeast and was unsure whether to seek the office. In January 1860, Lincoln told a group of political allies that he would accept the presidential nomination if offered and, in the following months, several local papers endorsed his candidacy. Over the coming months Lincoln was tireless, making nearly fifty speeches along the campaign trail. By the quality and simplicity of his rhetoric, he quickly became the champion of the Republican party. However, despite his overwhelming support in the Midwestern United States, he was less appreciated in the east. Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, at that time wrote up an unflattering account of Lincoln's compromising position on slavery and his reluctance to challenge the court's Dred Scott ruling, which was promptly used against him by his political rivals. On February 27, 1860, powerful New York Republicans invited Lincoln to give a speech at Cooper Union, in which he argued that the Founding Fathers of the United States had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery. He insisted that morality required opposition to slavery and rejected any "groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong". Many in the audience thought he appeared awkward and even ugly. But Lincoln demonstrated intellectual leadership, which brought him into contention. Journalist Noah Brooks reported, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience". Historian David Herbert Donald described the speech as "a superb political move for an unannounced presidential aspirant. Appearing in Seward's home state, sponsored by a group largely loyal to Chase, Lincoln shrewdly made no reference to either of these Republican rivals for the nomination." In response to an inquiry about his ambitions, Lincoln said, "The taste is in my mouth a little". 1860 presidential election On May 9–10, 1860, the Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur. Lincoln's followers organized a campaign team led by David Davis, Norman Judd, Leonard Swett, and Jesse DuBois, and Lincoln received his first endorsement. Exploiting his embellished frontier legend (clearing land and splitting fence rails), Lincoln's supporters adopted the label of "The Rail Candidate". In 1860, Lincoln described himself: "I am in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and gray eyes." Michael Martinez wrote about the effective imaging of Lincoln by his campaign. At times he was presented as the plain-talking "Rail Splitter" and at other times he was "Honest Abe", unpolished but trustworthy. On May 18 at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot, beating candidates such as Seward and Chase. A former Democrat, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket. Lincoln's success depended on his campaign team, his reputation as a moderate on the slavery issue, and his strong support for internal improvements and the tariff. Pennsylvania put him over the top, led by the state's iron interests who were reassured by his tariff support. Lincoln's managers had focused on this delegation while honoring Lincoln's dictate to "Make no contracts that will bind me". As the Slave Power tightened its grip on the national government, most Republicans agreed with Lincoln that the North was the aggrieved party. Throughout the 1850s, Lincoln had doubted the prospects of civil war, and his supporters rejected claims that his election would incite secession. When Douglas was selected as the candidate of the Northern Democrats, delegates from eleven slave states walked out of the Democratic convention; they opposed Douglas's position on popular sovereignty, and selected incumbent Vice President John C. Breckinridge as their candidate. A group of former Whigs and Know Nothings formed the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell of Tennessee. Lincoln and Douglas competed for votes in the North, while Bell and Breckinridge primarily found support in the South. Before the Republican convention, the Lincoln campaign began cultivating a nationwide youth organization, the Wide Awakes, which it used to generate popular support throughout the country to spearhead voter registration drives, thinking that new voters and young voters tended to embrace new parties. People of the Northern states knew the Southern states would vote against Lincoln and rallied supporters for Lincoln. As Douglas and the other candidates campaigned, Lincoln gave no speeches, relying on the enthusiasm of the Republican Party. The party did the leg work that produced majorities across the North and produced an abundance of campaign posters, leaflets, and newspaper editorials. Republican speakers focused first on the party platform, and second on Lincoln's life story, emphasizing his childhood poverty. The goal was to demonstrate the power of "free labor", which allowed a common farm boy to work his way to the top by his own efforts. The Republican Party's production of campaign literature dwarfed the combined opposition; a Chicago Tribune writer produced a pamphlet that detailed Lincoln's life and sold 100,000–200,000 copies. Though he did not give public appearances, many sought to visit him and write him. In the runup to the election, he took an office in the Illinois state capitol to deal with the influx of attention. He also hired John George Nicolay as his personal secretary, who would remain in that role during the presidency. On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected the 16th president. He was the first Republican president and his victory was entirely due to his support in the North and West. No ballots were cast for him in 10 of the 15 Southern slave states, and he won only two of 996 counties in all the Southern states, an omen of the impending Civil War. Lincoln received 1,866,452 votes, or 39.8% of the total in a four-way race, carrying the free Northern states, as well as California and Oregon. His victory in the Electoral College was decisive: Lincoln had 180 votes to 123 for his opponents. Presidency (1861–1865) Secession and inauguration The South was outraged by Lincoln's election, and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina took the lead by adopting an ordinance of secession; by February 1, 1861, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed. Six of these states declared themselves to be a sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America, and adopted a constitution. The upper South and border states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas) initially rejected the secessionist appeal. President Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy, declaring secession illegal. The Confederacy selected Jefferson Davis as its provisional president on February 9, 1861. Attempts at compromise followed but Lincoln and the Republicans rejected the proposed Crittenden Compromise as contrary to the Party's platform of free-soil in the territories. Lincoln said, "I will suffer death before I consent ... to any concession or compromise which looks like buying the privilege to take possession of this government to which we have a constitutional right". Lincoln supported the Corwin Amendment to the Constitution, which passed Congress and was awaiting ratification by the states when Lincoln took office. That doomed amendment would have protected slavery in states where it already existed. On March 4, 1861, in his first inaugural address, Lincoln said that, because he holds "such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable". A few weeks before the war, Lincoln sent a letter to every governor informing them Congress had passed a joint resolution to amend the Constitution. On February 11, 1861, Lincoln gave a particularly emotional farewell address upon leaving Springfield; he would never again return to Springfield alive. Lincoln traveled east in a special train. Due to secessionist plots, a then-unprecedented attention to security was given to him and his train. En route to his inauguration, Lincoln addressed crowds and legislatures across the North. The president-elect evaded suspected assassins in Baltimore. He traveled in disguise, wearing a soft felt hat instead of his customary stovepipe hat and draping an overcoat over his shoulders while hunching slightly to conceal his height. His friend Congressman Elihu B. Washburne recognized him on the platform upon arrival and loudly called out to him. On February 23, 1861, he arrived in Washington, D.C., which was placed under substantial military guard. Lincoln directed his inaugural address to the South, proclaiming once again that he had no inclination to abolish slavery in the Southern states: Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration, their property, and their peace, and personal security, are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." Lincoln cited his plans for banning the expansion of slavery as the key source of conflict between North and South, stating "One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute." The president ended his address with an appeal to the people of the South: "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.... The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." The failure of the Peace Conference of 1861 signaled that legislative compromise was impossible. By March 1861, no leaders of the insurrection had proposed rejoining the Union on any terms. Meanwhile, Lincoln and the Republican leadership agreed that the dismantling of the Union could not be tolerated. In his second inaugural address, Lincoln looked back on the situation at the time and said: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came." Civil War Major Robert Anderson, commander of the Union's Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, sent a request for provisions to Washington, and Lincoln's order to meet that request was seen by the secessionists as an act of war. On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter and began the fight. Historian Allan Nevins argued that the newly inaugurated Lincoln made three miscalculations: underestimating the gravity of the crisis, exaggerating the strength of Unionist sentiment in the South, and overlooking Southern Unionist opposition to an invasion. William Tecumseh Sherman talked to Lincoln during inauguration week and was "sadly disappointed" at his failure to realize that "the country was sleeping on a volcano" and that the South was preparing for war. Donald concludes, "His repeated efforts to avoid collision in the months between inauguration and the firing on Fort Sumter showed he adhered to his vow not to be the first to shed fraternal blood. But he had also vowed not to surrender the forts.... The only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the Confederates to fire the first shot". They did just that. On April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send a total of 75,000 volunteer troops to recapture forts, protect Washington, and "preserve the Union", which, in his view, remained intact despite the seceding states. This call forced states to choose sides. Virginia seceded and was rewarded with the designation of Richmond as the Confederate capital, despite its exposure to Union lines. North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas followed over the following two months. Secession sentiment was strong in Missouri and Maryland, but did not prevail; Kentucky remained neutral. The Fort Sumter attack rallied Americans north of the Mason-Dixon line to defend the nation. As states sent Union regiments south, on April 19 Baltimore mobs in control of the rail links attacked Union troops who were changing trains. Local leaders' groups later burned critical rail bridges to the capital and the Army responded by arresting local Maryland officials. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in an effort to protect the troops trying to reach Washington. John Merryman, one Maryland official hindering the U.S. troop movements, petitioned Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney to issue a writ of habeas corpus. In June, in Ex parte Merryman, Taney, not ruling on behalf of the Supreme Court, issued the writ, believing that Article I, section 9 of the Constitution authorized only Congress and not the president to suspend it. But Lincoln invoked nonacquiescence and persisted with the policy of suspension in select areas. Union military strategy Lincoln took executive control of the war and shaped the Union military strategy. He responded to the unprecedented political and military crisis as commander-in-chief by exercising unprecedented authority. He expanded his war powers, imposed a blockade on Confederate ports, disbursed funds before appropriation by Congress, suspended habeas corpus, and arrested and imprisoned thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers. Lincoln gained the support of Congress and the northern public for these actions. Lincoln also had to reinforce Union sympathies in the border slave states and keep the war from becoming an international conflict. It was clear from the outset that bipartisan support was essential to success, and that any compromise alienated factions on both sides of the aisle, such as the appointment of Republicans and Democrats to command positions. Copperheads criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on slavery. The Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. On August 6, 1861, Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act of 1861, which authorized judicial proceedings to confiscate and free slaves who were used to support the Confederates. The law had little practical effect, but it signaled political support for abolishing slavery. In August 1861, General John C. Frémont, the 1856 Republican presidential nominee, without consulting Washington, issued a martial edict freeing slaves of the rebels. Lincoln canceled the proclamation as violating the Confiscation Act of 1861 and beyond Frémont's authority to issue. As a result, Union enlistments from Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri increased by over 40,000. Internationally, Lincoln wanted to forestall foreign military aid to the Confederacy. He relied on his combative Secretary of State William Seward while working closely with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Charles Sumner. In the 1861 Trent Affair, which threatened war with Great Britain, the U.S. Navy illegally intercepted a British mail ship, the Trent, on the high seas and seized two Confederate envoys; Britain protested vehemently while the U.S. cheered. Lincoln ended the crisis by releasing the two diplomats. Biographer James G. Randall dissected Lincoln's successful techniques: his restraint, his avoidance of any outward expression of truculence, his early softening of State Department's attitude toward Britain, his deference toward Seward and Sumner, his withholding of his paper prepared for the occasion, his readiness to arbitrate, his golden silence in addressing Congress, his shrewdness in recognizing that war must be averted, and his clear perception that a point could be clinched for America's true position at the same time that full satisfaction was given to a friendly country. Lincoln painstakingly monitored the telegraph reports coming into the War Department. He tracked all phases of the effort, consulting with governors and selecting generals based on their success, their state, and their party. In January 1862, after complaints of inefficiency and profiteering in the War Department, Lincoln replaced War Secretary Simon Cameron with Edwin Stanton. Stanton centralized the War Department's activities, auditing and canceling contracts, saving the federal government $17,000,000. Stanton was a staunch Unionist, pro-business, conservative Democrat who gravitated toward the Radical Republican faction. He worked more often and more closely with Lincoln than did any other senior official. "Stanton and Lincoln virtually conducted the war together", say Thomas and Hyman. Lincoln's war strategy had two priorities: ensuring that Washington was well-defended and conducting an aggressive war effort for a prompt, decisive victory. Twice a week, Lincoln met with his cabinet in the afternoon. Occasionally Mary prevailed on him to take a carriage ride, concerned that he was working too hard. For his edification Lincoln relied upon a book by his chief of staff General Henry Halleck entitled Elements of Military Art and Science; Halleck was a disciple of the European strategist Antoine-Henri Jomini. Lincoln began to appreciate the critical need to control strategic points, such as the Mississippi River. Lincoln saw the importance of Vicksburg and understood the necessity of defeating the enemy's army, rather than merely capturing territory. In directing the Union's war strategy, Lincoln valued the advice of Gen. Winfield Scott, even after his retirement as Commanding General of the United States Army. On June 23–24, 1862, Lincoln made an unannounced visit to West Point, where he spent five hours consulting with Scott regarding the handling of the Civil War and the staffing of the War Department. General McClellan After the Union rout at Bull Run and Winfield Scott's retirement, Lincoln appointed Major General George B. McClellan general-in-chief. McClellan then took months to plan his Virginia Peninsula Campaign. McClellan's slow progress frustrated Lincoln, as did his position that no troops were needed to defend Washington. McClellan, in turn, blamed the failure of the campaign on Lincoln's reservation of troops for the capital. In 1862, Lincoln removed McClellan for the general's continued inaction. He elevated Henry Halleck in July and appointed John Pope as head of the new Army of Virginia. Pope satisfied Lincoln's desire to advance on Richmond from the north, thereby protecting Washington from counterattack. But in the summer of 1862 Pope was soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run, forcing the Army of the Potomac back to defend Washington. Despite his dissatisfaction with McClellan's failure to reinforce Pope, Lincoln restored him to command of all forces around Washington. Two days after McClellan's return to command, General Robert E. Lee's forces crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, leading to the Battle of Antietam. That battle, a Union victory, was among the bloodiest in American history; it facilitated Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in January. McClellan then resisted the president's demand that he pursue Lee's withdrawing army, while General Don Carlos Buell likewise refused orders to move the Army of the Ohio against rebel forces in eastern Tennessee. Lincoln replaced Buell with William Rosecrans; and after the 1862 midterm elections he replaced McClellan with Ambrose Burnside. The appointments were both politically neutral and adroit on Lincoln's part. Against presidential advice Burnside launched an offensive across the Rappahannock River and was defeated by Lee at Fredericksburg in December. Desertions during 1863 came in the thousands and only increased after Fredericksburg, so Lincoln replaced Burnside with Joseph Hooker. In the 1862 midterm elections, the Republicans suffered severe losses due to rising inflation, high taxes, rumors of corruption, suspension of habeas corpus, military draft law, and fears that freed slaves would come North and undermine the labor market. The Emancipation Proclamation gained votes for Republicans in rural New England and the upper Midwest, but cost votes in the Irish and German strongholds and in the lower Midwest, where many Southerners had lived for generations. In the spring of 1863, Lincoln was sufficiently optimistic about upcoming military campaigns to think the end of the war could be near; the plans included attacks by Hooker on Lee north of Richmond, Rosecrans on Chattanooga, Grant on Vicksburg, and a naval assault on Charleston. Hooker was routed by Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, then resigned and was replaced by George Meade. Meade followed Lee north into Pennsylvania and beat him in the Gettysburg Campaign, but then failed to follow up despite Lincoln's demands. At the same time, Grant captured Vicksburg and gained control of the Mississippi River, splitting the far western rebel states. Emancipation Proclamation The Federal government's power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution, which before 1865, was understood to reserve the issue to the individual states. Lincoln believed that slavery would be rendered obsolete if its expansion into new territories were prevented, because these territories would be admitted to the Union as free states, and free states would come to outnumber slave states. He sought to persuade the states to agree to compensation for emancipating their slaves. Lincoln rejected Major General John C. Frémont's August 1861 emancipation attempt, as well as one by Major General David Hunter in May 1862, on the grounds that it was not within their power and might upset loyal border states enough for them to secede. In June 1862, Congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory, which Lincoln signed. In July, the Confiscation Act of 1862 was enacted, providing court procedures to free the slaves of those convicted of aiding the rebellion; Lincoln approved the bill despite his belief that it was unconstitutional. He felt such action could be taken only within the war powers of the commander-in-chief, which he planned to exercise. On July 22, 1862, Lincoln reviewed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet. Peace Democrats (Copperheads) argued that emancipation was a stumbling block to peace and reunification, but Republican editor Horace Greeley of the New-York Tribune, in his public letter, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions", implored Lincoln to embrace emancipation. In a public letter of August 22, 1862, Lincoln replied to Greeley, writing that while he personally wished all men could be free, his first obligation as president was to preserve the Union: My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union ... [¶] I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. When Lincoln published his reply to Greeley, he had already decided to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and therefore had already chosen the third option he mentioned in his letter to Greeley: to free some of the slaves, namely those in the states in rebellion. Some scholars, therefore, believe that his reply to Greeley was disingenuous and was intended to reassure white people who would have opposed a war for emancipation that emancipation was merely a means to preserve the Union. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which announced that, in states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, the slaves would be freed. He spent the next 100 days, between September 22 and January 1, preparing the army and the nation for emancipation, while Democrats rallied their voters by warning of the threat that freed slaves posed to northern whites. At the same time, during those 100 days, Lincoln made efforts to end the war with slavery intact, suggesting that he still took seriously the first option he mentioned in his letter to Greeley: saving the Union without freeing any slave. But, on January 1, 1863, keeping his word, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in 10 states not then under Union control, with exemptions specified for areas under such control. Lincoln's comment on signing the Proclamation was: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper." With the abolition of slavery in the rebel states now a military objective, Union armies advancing south "enable[d] thousands of slaves to escape to freedom". The Emancipation Proclamation having stated that freedmen would be "received into the armed service of the United States," enlisting these freedmen became official policy. By the spring of 1863, Lincoln was ready to recruit black troops in more than token numbers. In a letter to Tennessee military governor Andrew Johnson encouraging him to lead the way in raising black troops, Lincoln wrote, "The bare sight of fifty thousand armed, and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once". By the end of 1863, at Lincoln's direction, General Lorenzo Thomas "had enrolled twenty regiments of African Americans" from the Mississippi Valley. Gettysburg Address (1863) Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery on November 19, 1863. In 272 words, and three minutes, Lincoln asserted that the nation was born not in 1789, but in 1776, "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal". He defined the war as dedicated to the principles of liberty and equality for all. He declared that the deaths of so many brave soldiers would not be in vain, that the future of democracy would be assured, and that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth". Defying his prediction that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here", the Address became the most quoted speech in American history. Promoting General Grant General Ulysses Grant's victories at the Battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign impressed Lincoln. Responding to criticism of Grant after Shiloh, Lincoln had said, "I can't spare this man. He fights." With Grant in command, Lincoln felt the Union Army could advance in multiple theaters, while also including black troops. Meade's failure to capture Lee's army after Gettysburg and the continued passivity of the Army of the Potomac persuaded Lincoln to promote Grant to supreme commander. Grant then assumed command of Meade's army. Lincoln was concerned that Grant might be considering a presidential candidacy in 1864. He arranged for an intermediary to inquire into Grant's political intentions, and once assured that he had none, Lincoln promoted Grant to the newly revived rank of Lieutenant General, a rank which had been unoccupied since George Washington. Authorization for such a promotion "with the advice and consent of the Senate" was provided by a new bill which Lincoln signed the same day he submitted Grant's name to the Senate. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on March 2, 1864. Grant in 1864 waged the bloody Overland Campaign, which exacted heavy losses on both sides. When Lincoln asked what Grant's plans were, the persistent general replied, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." Grant's army moved steadily south. Lincoln traveled to Grant's headquarters at City Point, Virginia, to confer with Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Lincoln reacted to Union losses by mobilizing support throughout the North. Lincoln authorized Grant to target infrastructure—plantations, railroads, and bridges—hoping to weaken the South's morale and fighting ability. He emphasized defeat of the Confederate armies over destruction (which was considerable) for its own sake. Lincoln's engagement became distinctly personal on one occasion in 1864 when Confederate general Jubal Early raided Washington, D.C. Legend has it that while Lincoln watched from an exposed position, Union Captain (and future Supreme Court Justice) Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. shouted at him, "Get down, you damn fool, before you get shot!" But this story is commonly regarded as apocryphal. As Grant continued to weaken Lee's forces, efforts to discuss peace began. Confederate Vice President Stephens led a group meeting with Lincoln, Seward, and others at Hampton Roads. Lincoln refused to negotiate with the Confederacy as a coequal; his objective to end the fighting was not realized. On April 1, 1865, Grant nearly encircled Petersburg in a siege. The Confederate government evacuated Richmond and Lincoln visited the conquered capital. On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, officially ending the war. Reelection Lincoln ran for reelection in 1864, while uniting the main Republican factions along with War Democrats Edwin M. Stanton and Andrew Johnson. Lincoln used conversation and his patronage powers—greatly expanded from peacetime—to build support and fend off the Radicals' efforts to replace him. At its convention, the Republican Party selected Johnson as his running mate. To broaden his coalition to include War Democrats as well as Republicans, Lincoln ran under the label of the new Union Party. Grant's bloody stalemates damaged Lincoln's re-election prospects, and many Republicans feared defeat. Lincoln confidentially pledged in writing that if he should lose the election, he would still defeat the Confederacy before turning over the White House; Lincoln did not show the pledge to his cabinet, but asked them to sign the sealed envelope. The pledge read as follows:This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterward. The Democratic platform followed the "Peace wing" of the party and called the war a "failure"; but their candidate, McClellan, supported the war and repudiated the platform. Meanwhile, Lincoln emboldened Grant with more troops and Republican party support. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in September and David Farragut's capture of Mobile ended defeatism. The Democratic Party was deeply split, with some leaders and most soldiers openly for Lincoln. The National Union Party was united by Lincoln's support for emancipation. State Republican parties stressed the perfidy of the Copperheads. On November 8, Lincoln carried all but three states, including 78 percent of Union soldiers. On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. In it, he deemed the war casualties to be God's will. Historian Mark Noll places the speech "among the small handful of semi-sacred texts by which Americans conceive their place in the world;" it is inscribed in the Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln said: Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether". With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. Among those present for this speech was actor John Wilkes Booth, who, on April 14, 1865, just over a month after Lincoln’s second inauguration, assassinated him. Reconstruction Reconstruction preceded the war's end, as Lincoln and his associates considered the reintegration of the nation, and the fates of Confederate leaders and freed slaves. When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates were to be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy." Lincoln was determined to find meaning in the war in its aftermath, and did not want to continue to outcast the southern states. His main goal was to keep the union together, so he proceeded by focusing not on whom to blame, but on how to rebuild the nation as one. Lincoln led the moderates in Reconstruction policy and was opposed by the Radicals, under Rep. Thaddeus Stevens, Sen. Charles Sumner and Sen. Benjamin Wade, who otherwise remained Lincoln's allies. Determined to reunite the nation and not alienate the South, Lincoln urged that speedy elections under generous terms be held. His Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office and had not mistreated Union prisoners, if they were willing to sign an oath of allegiance. As Southern states fell, they needed leaders while their administrations were restored. In Tennessee and Arkansas, Lincoln respectively appointed Johnson and Frederick Steele as military governors. In Louisiana, Lincoln ordered General Nathaniel P. Banks to promote a plan that would reestablish statehood when 10 percent of the voters agreed, and only if the reconstructed states abolished slavery. Democratic opponents accused Lincoln of using the military to ensure his and the Republicans' political aspirations. The Radicals denounced his policy as too lenient, and passed their own plan, the 1864 Wade–Davis Bill, which Lincoln vetoed. The Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat elected representatives from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Lincoln's appointments were designed to harness both moderates and Radicals. To fill Chief Justice Taney's seat on the Supreme Court, he named the Radicals' choice, Salmon P. Chase, whom Lincoln believed would uphold his emancipation and paper money policies. After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery throughout the nation with a constitutional amendment. He declared that such an amendment would "clinch the whole subject" and by December 1863 an amendment was brought to Congress. The Senate passed it on April 8, 1864, but the first vote in the House of Representatives fell short of the required two-thirds majority. Passage became part of Lincoln's reelection platform, and after his successful reelection, the second attempt in the House passed on January 31, 1865. With ratification, it became the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 6, 1865. Lincoln believed the federal government had limited responsibility to the millions of freedmen. He signed Senator Charles Sumner's Freedmen's Bureau bill that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate needs of former slaves. The law opened land for a lease of three years with the ability to purchase title for the freedmen. Lincoln announced a Reconstruction plan that involved short-term military control, pending readmission under the control of southern Unionists. Historians agree that it is impossible to predict how Reconstruction would have proceeded had Lincoln lived. Biographers James G. Randall and Richard Current, according to David Lincove, argue that: It is likely that had he lived, Lincoln would have followed a policy similar to Johnson's, that he would have clashed with congressional Radicals, that he would have produced a better result for the freedmen than occurred, and that his political skills would have helped him avoid Johnson's mistakes. Eric Foner argues that: Unlike Sumner and other Radicals, Lincoln did not see Reconstruction as an opportunity for a sweeping political and social revolution beyond emancipation. He had long made clear his opposition to the confiscation and redistribution of land. He believed, as most Republicans did in April 1865, that voting requirements should be determined by the states. He assumed that political control in the South would pass to white Unionists, reluctant secessionists, and forward-looking former Confederates. But time and again during the war, Lincoln, after initial opposition, had come to embrace positions first advanced by abolitionists and Radical Republicans. ... Lincoln undoubtedly would have listened carefully to the outcry for further protection for the former slaves. ... It is entirely plausible to imagine Lincoln and Congress agreeing on a Reconstruction policy that encompassed federal protection for basic civil rights plus limited black suffrage, along the lines Lincoln proposed just before his death. Native Americans Lincoln's relationship with Native Americans started before he was born, with their killing of his grandfather in front of his sons, including Lincoln's father Thomas. Lincoln himself served as a captain in the state militia during the Black Hawk War but saw no combat. Lincoln used appointments to the Indian Bureau as a reward to supporters from Minnesota and Wisconsin. While in office his administration faced difficulties guarding Western settlers, railroads, and telegraphs, from Indian attacks. On August 17, 1862, the Dakota War broke out in Minnesota. Hundreds of settlers were killed, 30,000 were displaced from their homes, and Washington was deeply alarmed. Some feared incorrectly that it might represent a Confederate conspiracy to start a war on the Northwestern frontier. Lincoln ordered thousands of Confederate prisoners of war sent by railroad to put down the uprising. When the Confederates protested forcing Confederate prisoners to fight Indians, Lincoln revoked the policy and none arrived in Minnesota. Lincoln sent General John Pope as commander of the new Department of the Northwest two weeks into the hostilities. Before he arrived, the Fond Du Lac band of Chippewa sent Lincoln a letter asking to go to war for the United States against the Sioux, so Lincoln could send Minnesota's troops to fight the South. Shortly after, a Mille Lacs Band Chief offered the same at St. Cloud, Minnesota. In it the Chippewa specified they wanted to use the indigenous rules of warfare. That meant there would be no prisoners of war, no surrender, no peace agreement. Lincoln did not accept the Chippewa offer, as he could not control the Chippewa, and women and children were considered legitimate casualties in native American warfare. Serving under Gen. Pope was Minnesota Congressman Henry H. Sibley. Minnesota's Governor had made Sibley a Colonel United States Volunteers to command the U.S. force tasked with fighting the war and that eventually defeated Little Crow's forces at the Battle of Wood Lake. The day the Mdewakanton force surrendered at Camp Release, a Chippewa war council met at Minnesota's capitol with another Chippewa offer to Lincoln, to fight the Sioux. Sibley ordered a military commission to review the actions of the captured, to try those that had committed war crimes. The legitimacy of military commissions trying opposing combatants had been established during the Mexican War. Sibley thought he had 16-20 of the men he wanted for trial, while Gen. Pope ordered all detained be tried. 303 were given death sentences that were subject to Presidential review. Lincoln ordered Pope send all trial transcripts to Washington, where Lincoln and two of his staff examined them. Lincoln realized the trials could be divided into two groups: combat between combatants and combat against civilians. The groups could be identified by their transcripts, the first group all had three pages in length while the second group had more, some up to twelve pages. He placed 263 cases into the first group and commuted their sentences. In the second group were forty cases. One he commuted for becoming a state's witness. Sibley dismissed another when proof surfaced exonerating the defendant. The remaining 38 were executed in the largest mass hanging in U.S. history. Questions arose concerning three executions that have not been answered. Less than 4 months afterwards, Lincoln issued the Lieber Code, which governed wartime conduct of the Union Army, by defining command responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Congressman Alexander Ramsey told Lincoln in 1864, he would have gotten more re-election support in Minnesota had he executed all 303 of the Mdewakanton. Lincoln responded, "I could not afford to hang men for votes." The men whose sentences he commuted were sent to a military prison at Davenport, Iowa. Some he released due to the efforts of Bishop Henry Whipple. Whig theory of a presidency Lincoln adhered to the Whig theory of a presidency focused on executing laws while deferring to Congress' responsibility for legislating. Under this philosophy, Lincoln vetoed only four bills during his presidency, including the Wade-Davis Bill with its harsh Reconstruction program. The 1862 Homestead Act made millions of acres of Western government-held land available for purchase at low cost. The 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state. The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' first transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869. The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was enabled by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s. In the selection and use of his cabinet Lincoln employed the strengths of his opponents in a manner that emboldened his presidency. Lincoln commented on his thought process, "We need the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet. We needed to hold our own people together. I had looked the party over and concluded that these were the very strongest men. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their services." Goodwin described the group in her biography as a Team of Rivals. There were two measures passed to raise revenues for the Federal government: tariffs (a policy with long precedent), and a Federal income tax. In 1861, Lincoln signed the second and third Morrill Tariffs, following the first enacted by Buchanan. He also signed the Revenue Act of 1861, creating the first U.S. income tax—a flat tax of 3 percent on incomes above $800 (equivalent to $27,129 in 2023). The Revenue Act of 1862 adopted rates that increased with income. The Lincoln Administration presided over the expansion of the federal government's economic influence in other areas. The National Banking Act created the system of national banks. The U.S. issued paper currency for the first time, known as greenbacks—printed in green on the reverse side. In 1862, Congress created the Department of Agriculture. In response to rumors of a renewed draft, the editors of the New York World and the Journal of Commerce published a false draft proclamation that created an opportunity for the editors and others to corner the gold market. Lincoln attacked the media for such behavior, and ordered a military seizure of the two papers which lasted for two days. Lincoln is largely responsible for the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving had become a regional holiday in New England in the 17th century. It had been sporadically proclaimed by the federal government on irregular dates. The prior proclamation had been during James Madison's presidency 50 years earlier. In 1863, Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November of that year to be a day of Thanksgiving. In June 1864 Lincoln approved the Yosemite Grant enacted by Congress, which provided unprecedented federal protection for the area now known as Yosemite National Park. Supreme Court appointments Lincoln's philosophy on court nominations was that "we cannot ask a man what he will do, and if we should, and he should answer us, we should despise him for it. Therefore we must take a man whose opinions are known." Lincoln made five appointments to the Supreme Court. Noah Haynes Swayne was an anti-slavery lawyer who was committed to the Union. Samuel Freeman Miller supported Lincoln in the 1860 election and was an avowed abolitionist. David Davis was Lincoln's campaign manager in 1860 and had served as a judge in the Illinois court circuit where Lincoln practiced. Democrat Stephen Johnson Field, a previous California Supreme Court justice, provided geographic and political balance. Finally, Lincoln's Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase, became Chief Justice. Lincoln believed Chase was an able jurist, would support Reconstruction legislation, and that his appointment united the Republican Party. Foreign policy Lincoln named his main political rival, William H. Seward, as Secretary of State and left most diplomatic issues in Seward's portfolio. However, Lincoln did select some top diplomats as part of his patronage policy. He also closely watched the handling of the Trent Affair in late 1861 to make sure the situation did not escalate into war with Britain. Seward's main role was to keep Britain and France from supporting the Confederacy. He was successful after indicating to Britain and France that the Union would declare war on them if they supported the South. Assassination John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland; though he never joined the Confederate army, he had contacts with the Confederate secret service. After attending Lincoln's last public address, on April 11, 1865, in which Lincoln stated his preference that the franchise be conferred on some black men, specifically "on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers", Booth hatched a plot to assassinate the President. When Booth learned of the Lincolns' intent to attend a play with General Grant, he planned to assassinate Lincoln and Grant at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln and his wife attended the play Our American Cousin on the evening of April 14, just five days after the Union victory at the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse. At the last minute, Grant decided to go to New Jersey to visit his children instead of attending the play. At 10:15 in the evening Booth entered the back of Lincoln's theater box, crept up from behind, and fired at the back of Lincoln's head, mortally wounding him. Lincoln's guest, Major Henry Rathbone, momentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped. After being attended by Doctor Charles Leale and two other doctors, Lincoln was taken across the street to Petersen House. After remaining in a coma for eight hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 in the morning on April 15. Stanton saluted and said, "Now he belongs to the ages." Lincoln's body was placed in a flag-wrapped coffin, which was loaded into a hearse and escorted to the White House by Union soldiers. President Johnson was sworn in later that same day. Two weeks later, Booth, refusing to surrender, was tracked to a farm in Virginia. He was mortally shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett and died on April 26. Secretary of War Stanton had issued orders that Booth be taken alive, so Corbett was initially arrested to be court martialed. After a brief interview, Stanton declared him a patriot and dismissed the charge. Funeral and burial The late President lay in state, first in the East Room of the White House, and then in the Capitol Rotunda from April 19 to 21. The caskets containing Lincoln's body and the body of his son Willie traveled for three weeks on the Lincoln Special funeral train. The train followed a circuitous route from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, stopping at many cities for memorials attended by hundreds of thousands. Many others gathered along the tracks as the train passed with bands, bonfires, and hymn singing or in silent grief. Poet Walt Whitman composed "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" to eulogize him, one of four poems he wrote about Lincoln. African Americans were especially moved; they had lost their "Moses". In a larger sense, the reaction was in response to the deaths of so many men in the war. Historians emphasized the widespread shock and sorrow, but noted that some Lincoln haters celebrated his death. Lincoln's body was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield and now lies within the Lincoln Tomb. Religious and philosophical beliefs As a young man Lincoln was a religious skeptic. He was deeply familiar with the Bible, quoting and praising it. He was private about his position on organized religion and respected the beliefs of others. He never made a clear profession of Christian beliefs. Throughout his public career, Lincoln often quoted Scripture. His three most famous speeches—the House Divided Speech, the Gettysburg Address, and his second inaugural—all contain direct allusions to Providence and quote from Scripture. In the 1840s Lincoln subscribed to the Doctrine of Necessity, a belief that the human mind was controlled by a higher power. With the death of his son Edward in 1850 he more frequently expressed a dependence on God. He never joined a church, although he frequently attended First Presbyterian Church with his wife beginning in 1852. In the 1850s Lincoln asserted his belief in "providence" in a general way and rarely used the language or imagery of the evangelicals; instead, he regarded the republicanism of the Founding Fathers with an almost religious reverence. The death of his son Willie in February 1862 may have caused him to look toward religion for solace. After Willie's death, he questioned the divine necessity of the war's severity. He wrote at this time that God "could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds." Lincoln did believe in an all-powerful God that shaped events and by 1865 was expressing that belief in major speeches. By the end of the war, he increasingly appealed to the Almighty for solace and to explain events, writing on April 4, 1864, to a newspaper editor in Kentucky: I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of three years struggle the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man devised, or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.This spirituality can best be seen in his second inaugural address, considered by some scholars as the greatest such address in American history, and by Lincoln himself as his own greatest speech, or one of them at the very least. Lincoln explains therein that the cause, purpose, and result of the war was God's will. Lincoln's frequent use of religious imagery and language toward the end of his life may have reflected his own personal beliefs or might have been a device to reach his audiences, who were mostly evangelical Protestants. On the day Lincoln was assassinated, he reportedly told his wife he desired to visit the Holy Land. Health Lincoln is believed to have had depression, smallpox, and malaria. He took blue mass pills, which contained mercury, to treat constipation. It is unknown to what extent this may have resulted in mercury poisoning. Several claims have been made that Lincoln's health was declining before the assassination. These are often based on photographs of Lincoln appearing to show weight loss and muscle wasting. It is also suspected that he might have had a rare genetic disease such as Marfan syndrome or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B. Legacy Republican values Lincoln's redefinition of republican values has been stressed by historians such as John Patrick Diggins, Harry V. Jaffa, Vernon Burton, Eric Foner, and Herman J. Belz. Lincoln called the Declaration of Independence—which emphasized freedom and equality for all—the "sheet anchor" of republicanism beginning in the 1850s. He did this at a time when the Constitution, which "tolerated slavery", was the focus of most political discourse. Diggins notes, "Lincoln presented Americans a theory of history that offers a profound contribution to the theory and destiny of republicanism itself" in the 1860 Cooper Union speech. Instead of focusing on the legality of an argument, he focused on the moral basis of republicanism. His position on war was founded on a legal argument regarding the Constitution as essentially a contract among the states, and all parties must agree to pull out of the contract. Furthermore, it was a national duty to ensure the republic stands in every state. Many soldiers and religious leaders from the north, though, felt the fight for liberty and freedom of slaves was ordained by their moral and religious beliefs. As a Whig activist Lincoln was a spokesman for business interests, favoring high tariffs, banks, infrastructure improvements, and railroads, in opposition to Jacksonian democrats. Lincoln shared the sympathies that the Jacksonians professed for the common man, but he disagreed with the Jacksonian view that the government should be divorced from economic enterprise. Nevertheless, Lincoln admired Andrew Jackson's steeliness as well as his patriotism. According to historian Sean Wilentz: Just as the Republican Party of the 1850s absorbed certain elements of Jacksonianism, so Lincoln, whose Whiggery had always been more egalitarian than that of other Whigs, found himself absorbing some of them as well. And some of the Jacksonian spirit resided inside the Lincoln White House. William C. Harris found that Lincoln's "reverence for the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the laws under it, and the preservation of the Republic and its institutions strengthened his conservatism." James G. Randall emphasizes his tolerance and moderation "in his preference for orderly progress, his distrust of dangerous agitation, and his reluctance toward ill digested schemes of reform." Randall concludes that "he was conservative in his complete avoidance of that type of so-called 'radicalism' which involved abuse of the South, hatred for the slaveholder, thirst for vengeance, partisan plotting, and ungenerous demands that Southern institutions be transformed overnight by outsiders." Reunification of the states In Lincoln's first inaugural address, he explored the nature of democracy. He denounced secession as anarchy, and he explained that majority rule had to be balanced by constitutional restraints. He said, "A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people." The successful reunification of the states had consequences for how people viewed the country. The term "the United States" has historically been used sometimes in the plural ("these United States") and other times in the singular. The Civil War was a significant force in the eventual dominance of the singular usage by the end of the 19th century. Historical reputation In his company, I was never reminded of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color. In surveys of U.S. scholars ranking presidents conducted since 1948, the top three presidents are generally Lincoln, Washington, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, although the order varies. Between 1999 and 2011, Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan were the top-ranked presidents in eight public opinion surveys, according to Gallup. A 2004 study found that scholars in the fields of history and politics ranked Lincoln number one, while legal scholars placed him second after George Washington. Lincoln's assassination left him a national martyr. He was viewed by abolitionists as a champion of human liberty. Republicans linked Lincoln's name to their party. Many, though not all, in the South considered Lincoln as a man of outstanding ability. Historians have said he was "a classical liberal" in the 19th-century sense. Allen C. Guelzo states that Lincoln was a "classical liberal democrat—an enemy of artificial hierarchy, a friend to trade and business as ennobling and enabling, and an American counterpart to Mill, Cobden, and Bright", whose portrait Lincoln hung in his White House office. Sociologist Barry Schwartz argues that Lincoln's American reputation grew slowly from the late 19th century until the Progressive Era (1900–1920s), when he emerged as one of America's most venerated heroes, even among white Southerners. The high point came in 1922 with the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Union nationalism, as envisioned by Lincoln, "helped lead America to the nationalism of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt." In the New Deal era, liberals honored Lincoln not so much as the self-made man or the great war president, but as the advocate of the common man who they claimed would have supported the welfare state. Schwartz argues that in the 1930s and 1940s the memory of Abraham Lincoln was practically sacred and provided the nation with "a moral symbol inspiring and guiding American life." During the Great Depression, he argues, Lincoln served "as a means for seeing the world's disappointments, for making its sufferings not so much explicable as meaningful." Franklin D. Roosevelt, preparing America for war, used the words of the Civil War president to clarify the threat posed by Germany and Japan. Americans asked, "What would Lincoln do?" However, Schwartz also finds that since World War II Lincoln's symbolic power has lost relevance, and this "fading hero is symptomatic of fading confidence in national greatness." He suggested that postmodernism and multiculturalism have diluted greatness as a concept. In the Cold War years Lincoln's image shifted to a symbol of freedom who brought hope to those oppressed by Communist regimes. He had long been known as the Great Emancipator, but, by the late 1960s, some African American intellectuals, led by Lerone Bennett Jr., denied that Lincoln deserved that title. Bennett won wide attention when he called Lincoln a white supremacist in 1968. He noted that Lincoln used ethnic slurs and told jokes that ridiculed blacks. Bennett argued that Lincoln opposed social equality and proposed that freed slaves voluntarily move to another country. The emphasis shifted away from Lincoln the emancipator to an argument that blacks had freed themselves from slavery, or at least were responsible for pressuring the government to emancipate them. Defenders of Lincoln retorted that he was a "moral visionary" who deftly advanced the abolitionist cause, as fast as politically possible. Brian Dirck stated that few Civil War scholars take Bennett (or Thomas DiLorenzo) seriously, pointing to their "narrow political agendas and faulty research". By the 1970s Lincoln had become a hero to political conservatives—apart from neo-Confederates such as Mel Bradford, who denounced his treatment of the white South—for his intense nationalism, his support for business, his insistence on stopping the spread of slavery, his acting on Lockean and Burkean principles on behalf of both liberty and tradition, and his devotion to the principles of the Founding Fathers. Lincoln became a favorite of liberal intellectuals across the world. Barry Schwartz wrote in 2009 that Lincoln's image suffered "erosion, fading prestige, benign ridicule" in the late 20th century. On the other hand, Donald opined in his 1996 biography that Lincoln was distinctly endowed with the personality trait of negative capability, defined by the poet John Keats and attributed to extraordinary leaders who were "content in the midst of uncertainties and doubts, and not compelled toward fact or reason". In the 21st century President Barack Obama named Lincoln his favorite president and insisted on using the Lincoln Bible for his inaugural ceremonies. Lincoln has often been portrayed by Hollywood, almost always in a flattering light. Lincoln has also been admired by political figures outside the U.S., including German political theorist Karl Marx, Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, leader of the Italian Risorgimento, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Libyan revolutionary Muammar Gaddafi. Memory and memorials Lincoln's portrait appears on two denominations of United States currency, the penny and the $5 bill. He appears on postage stamps across the world. While he is usually portrayed bearded, he did not grow a beard until 1860 at the suggestion of 11-year-old Grace Bedell. He was the first of five presidents to do so. He has been memorialized in many town, city, and county names, including the capital of Nebraska. The United States Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is named after Lincoln, the second Navy ship to bear his name. The Lincoln Memorial is one of the most visited monuments in the nation's capital and is one of the most visited National Park Service sites in the country. Ford's Theatre, among the most visited sites in Washington, D.C., is across the street from Petersen House, where Lincoln died. Memorials in Springfield, Illinois, include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln's home, and his tomb. A portrait carving of Lincoln appears with those of three other presidents on Mount Rushmore, which receives about 3 million visitors a year. An influential statue of Lincoln stands in Lincoln Park, Chicago, with recastings given as diplomatic gifts standing in Parliament Square, London, and Parque Lincoln, Mexico City. In 2019, Congress officially dedicated room H-226 in the United States Capitol to Abraham Lincoln. The room is located off National Statuary Hall and served as the post office of the House while then-Representative Abraham Lincoln served in Congress from 1847 to 1849. See also Lincoln (film) from 2012, by Steven Spielberg Linconia, a proposed colony in Central America named for Lincoln List of civil rights leaders Outline of Abraham Lincoln The Towers (Ohio State) - Lincoln Tower Notes References Bibliography External links Official Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum The Lincoln Presidential Library's ongoing digitization of all documents written by or to Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln – complete collected works as edited by Basler et al. (1958) – an online edition available through University of Michigan Library Digital Collections Organizations Abraham Lincoln Association Archived April 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation Media coverage Abraham Lincoln collected news and commentary at The New York Times Other United States Congress. "Abraham Lincoln (id: L000313)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Abraham Lincoln: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress "Life Portrait of Abraham Lincoln", from C-SPAN's American presidents: Life Portraits, June 28, 1999 "Writings of Abraham Lincoln" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History Abraham Lincoln: Original Letters and Manuscripts – Shapell Manuscript Foundation Lincoln/Net: Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project – Northern Illinois University Libraries Teaching Abraham Lincoln Archived December 10, 2017, at the Wayback Machine – National Endowment for the Humanities Works by Abraham Lincoln at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Abraham Lincoln at the Internet Archive Works by Abraham Lincoln at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) In Popular Song: Our Noble Chief Has Passed Away by Cooper/Thomas Abraham Lincoln Recollections and Newspaper Articles Collection Archived November 13, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, McLean County Museum of History Digitized items in the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division in the Library of Congress

Presidency_of_Joe_Biden

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Joe_Biden

Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a member of the Democratic Party who previously served as vice president for two terms under President Barack Obama, took office after his victory in the 2020 presidential election over the incumbent president, Donald Trump of the Republican Party. Upon his inauguration, he became the oldest president in American history, breaking the record set by Ronald Reagan. Biden entered office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis, and increased political polarization. Biden withdrew his bid for a second term in the 2024 presidential election because of concerns around his age and opposition within his party. Day one actions of his presidency included restoring U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement, revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and halting funding for Trump's border wall. On his second day, he issued a series of executive orders to reduce the impact of COVID-19, including invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950, and set an early goal of achieving one hundred million COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States in his first 100 days. The first major legislation signed into law by Biden was the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that temporarily established expanded unemployment insurance and sent $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans in response to continued economic pressure from COVID-19. He signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a ten-year plan brokered by Biden alongside Democrats and Republicans in Congress to invest in American roads, bridges, public transit, ports and broadband access. Biden proposed a significant expansion of the U.S. social safety net through the Build Back Better Act, but those efforts, along with voting rights legislation, failed in Congress. In August 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a domestic appropriations bill that included some of the provisions of the Build Back Better Act after the entire bill failed to pass. It included significant federal investment in climate and domestic clean energy production, tax credits for solar panels, electric cars and other home energy programs as well as a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, an insulin price cap, and a provision allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. In late 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and codified same-sex and interracial marriage in the United States. Other domestic legislation signed during his term included the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major federal gun control law in nearly three decades; the CHIPS and Science Act, bolstering the semiconductor and manufacturing industry; the Honoring our PACT Act, expanding health care for US veterans; the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act; and the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, making Juneteenth a federal holiday in the United States. He appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court—the first Black woman to serve on the court. In response to the debt-ceiling crisis of 2023, Biden negotiated and signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which restrains federal spending for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, implements minor changes to SNAP and TANF, includes energy permitting reform, claws back some IRS funding and unspent money for COVID-19, and suspends the debt ceiling to January 1, 2025. He established the American Climate Corps and created the first ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. On September 26, 2023, Biden visited a United Auto Workers picket line during the 2023 United Auto Workers strike, making him the first US president to visit one. Biden also rigorously enforced antitrust laws by appointing Lina Khan to head the FTC. The foreign policy goal of the Biden administration is to restore the US to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address the challenges posed by Russia and China. Biden signed AUKUS, an international security alliance together with Australia and the United Kingdom. He supported the expansion of NATO with the additions of Finland and Sweden. Biden approved a raid which led to the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the leader of the Islamic State, and approved a drone strike which killed Ayman Al Zawahiri, leader of Al-Qaeda. He completed the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, declaring an end to nation-building efforts and shifting U.S. foreign policy toward strategic competition with China and, to a lesser extent, Russia. However, during the withdrawal, the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, leading to Biden receiving bipartisan criticism. He responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia as well as providing Ukraine with over $100 billion in combined military, economic, and humanitarian aid. During the Israel–Hamas war, Biden condemned the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian militants as terrorism and announced American military support for Israel; he also sent humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and brokered a four-day temporary pause and hostage exchange. Biden negotiated and oversaw the 2024 Ankara prisoner exchange, the largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, involving the release of twenty-six individuals, including American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former United States Marine Paul Whelan. Biden began his term with over 50% approval ratings; however, these fell significantly after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and remained low as the country experienced high inflation and rising gas prices, even as they would eventually reduce over his presidency. His age and mental fitness remained a frequent subject of discussion throughout his presidency, ultimately culminating in his late decision to not seek re-election. Despite this, Biden oversaw the strongest economic recovery of any G7 nation post COVID-19 and one of the strongest economic recoveries in United States history, breaking a 70-year record for low unemployment, and the creation of over 16 million new jobs, the most of any single term president. 2020 election Joe Biden officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election on April 25, 2019, having previously sought the Democratic nomination in 1988 and 2008, being unsuccessful both times. In June 2020, Biden clinched the nomination by winning a majority of the delegates. Biden selected Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate, and they were officially nominated as the Democratic ticket at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. On November 7, four days after the Election Day, Biden was projected to have defeated the incumbent Republican president Donald Trump, becoming president-elect of the United States with 306 of the total 538 electoral votes and 51.3% of the popular votes. The Trump campaign launched at least 63 lawsuits against the results, especially in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, raising unevidenced claims of widespread voter fraud that were subsequently dismissed by courts. In the concurrent congressional elections, Democrats retained a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and narrowly took control of the Senate, leaving the partisan balance in the Senate at fifty Democrats and fifty Republicans. Transition period, inauguration, and first 100 days Though Biden was generally acknowledged as the winner, General Services Administration head Emily W. Murphy initially refused to begin the transition to the president-elect, thereby denying funds and office space to his team. On November 23, after Michigan certified its results, Murphy issued the letter of ascertainment, granting the Biden transition team access to federal funds and resources for an orderly transition. Two days after becoming the projected winner of the 2020 election, Biden announced the formation of a task force to advise him on the COVID-19 pandemic during the transition, co-chaired by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former FDA commissioner David A. Kessler, and Yale University's Marcella Nunez-Smith. On January 5, 2021, the Democratic Party won control of the United States Senate, effective January 20, as a result of electoral victories in Georgia by Jon Ossoff in a runoff election for a six-year term and Raphael Warnock in a special runoff election for a two-year term. President-elect Biden had supported and campaigned for both candidates prior to the runoff elections on January 5. On January 6, a mob of thousands of Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol in the hope of overturning Biden's election, forcing Congress to evacuate during the counting of the Electoral College votes. More than 26,000 National Guard members were deployed to the capital for the inauguration, with thousands remaining into the spring. On January 20, 2021, Biden was sworn in by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts as the 46th president of the United States, completing the oath of office at 11:49 am EST, eleven minutes before the legal start of his term. Inaugural address Biden's inaugural speech laid out his vision to unite the nation, prefaced by the various impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic strife, climate change, political polarization, and racial injustice. Biden called for an end to the "uncivil war" of political, demographic, and ideological American cultures through a greater embrace of diversity. He cited the American Civil War, Great Depression, world wars, and September 11 attacks as moments in American history where citizens' "better angels" prevailed, saying that the unity, the solution, must again be invoked to rise from the "cascading" crises of the present; this unity, he proclaimed, exists in the "common objects" that define America: "opportunity, liberty, dignity, respect, honor, and ... truth." He explicitly decried white supremacy and nativism, calling them an "ugly reality" of American life he vows to defeat that clouds the "American ideal" set out in the U.S. Declaration of Independence — that all Americans are equal. Biden pledged that the U.S. would "engage with the world once again", "repair our alliances", and act as a "trusted partner for peace and security". Near the conclusion of his speech, Biden held a moment of silence for those who died in the COVID-19 pandemic. Quoting the Gene Scheer composition "American Anthem", he implored Americans to consider their legacy in answering the "call of history" to protect "democracy, hope, truth, and justice", "secure liberty", and make America a "beacon to the world", insisting that generations of their descendants would judge them on their actions. Administration Biden was inaugurated alongside Kamala Harris, the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American vice president. On November 11, 2020, Biden selected Ron Klain, who served as his vice presidential chief of staff, to serve as his White House Chief of Staff. Biden chose Jen Psaki, deputy White House press secretary and U.S. Department of State spokesperson during the presidency of Barack Obama, as his White House press secretary. Psaki announced, and has held, daily press briefings for White House reporters. On March 25, 2021, Biden held his first solo press conference after 64 days in office, unlike his most recent predecessors (back to Herbert Hoover in 1929), who all held their first solo press conferences within 33 days of taking office. On November 17, 2020, Biden announced that he had selected Mike Donilon as senior advisor and Steve Ricchetti as counselor. Jen O'Malley Dillon, who had served as campaign manager for Biden's successful presidential campaign, was named as deputy chief of staff. Cabinet Biden selected Antony Blinken to be secretary of state, Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador to the United Nations, and Jake Sullivan as national security advisor. On November 23, 2020, Biden announced Alejandro Mayorkas to be his choice for Secretary of Homeland Security and Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence. Throughout December and January, Biden continued to select cabinet members, including Marty Walsh, the then current mayor of Boston, as his Secretary of Labor. Biden altered his cabinet structure, elevating the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and ambassador to the United Nations as cabinet-level positions. Biden removed the director of the Central Intelligence Agency from his official cabinet at the onset of his presidency, but he restored it to the cabinet in 2023. While administering the oath of office to hundreds of White House officials through video conferencing, Biden called for more civility in politics, saying: "If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot. ... No ifs, ands, or buts." Judicial appointments As of September 25, 2024, the United States Senate has confirmed 213 Article III judges nominated by Biden: one associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 44 judges for the United States courts of appeals, 166 judges for the United States district courts and two judges for the United States Court of International Trade. United States Supreme Court nominations Domestic affairs Health care Biden strongly campaigned for the presidency on the public option, a policy that, if enacted into law, would have offered Americans a choice between maintaining their private healthcare insurance or buying into Medicare. The idea was viewed as a compromise between the progressive and moderate flanks of the Democratic Party. The Biden campaign described the public option as a "plan to protect and build on ObamaCare". However, shortly before taking office in January 2021, Biden's team abruptly dropped the proposal, frustrating many online progressives who already viewed the public option healthcare proposal as a failure to fight the status quo. The Biden administration rescinded work requirements for Medicaid recipients. The administration opened a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act as well as extending the normal enrollment period, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. The administration provided larger premium subsidies. In August 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The law allocates $64 billion for a three-year expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies originally expanded under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and $265 billion for prescription drug price reform to lower prices, including providing Medicare the authority to negotiate the prices for certain drugs with pharmaceutical companies. That same month, Biden signed into law the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, which expands federal health care access, services, and funding for veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during their service, including toxic smoke from burn pits. Opioid epidemic Drug overdoses killed 106,699 in the United States in 2021. Opioids were involved in 80,411 overdose deaths in 2021, up from around 10,000 in 1999. In June 2023, U.S. federal prosecutors announced criminal indictments of fentanyl precursor producers in China. In October 2023, OFAC sanctioned a China-based network of fentanyl manufacturers and distributors. In 2023, the Biden administration announced a crackdown on Mexican drug cartels smuggling fentanyl into the United States. Rahul Gupta led White House efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. COVID-19 pandemic On January 20, 2021, his first day as president, Biden implemented a federal mask mandate, requiring the use of masks and social distancing in all federal buildings, on federal lands, and by federal employees and contractors. Biden also signed an executive order that reversed the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO), making Dr. Anthony Fauci the head of the delegation to the WHO. On January 21, the administration released a 200-page document titled "National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness". On his second day in office, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to speed up the vaccination process and ensure the availability of glass vials, syringes, and other vaccine supplies at the federal level. In justifying his use of the act, Biden said: "And when I say wartime, people kind of look at me like 'wartime?' Well, as I said last night, 400,000 Americans have died. That's more than have died in all of World War II. 400,000. This is a wartime undertaking." Biden established the White House COVID-19 Response Team, a White House Office dedicated to coordinating a unified federal government response. According to a report by Reuters, in mid-2021 the Biden administration ended a military-run propaganda campaign to spread disinformation about the Sinovac Chinese COVID-19 vaccine which had begun in 2020 during the Trump administration. The campaign was described as "payback" for COVID-19 disinformation by China directed against the U.S. Primarily targeting people in the Philippines, the campaign used fake social media accounts to spread disinformation, including that the Sinovac vaccine contained pork-derived ingredients and was therefore haram under Islamic law. On January 21, 2021, Biden signed ten executive orders pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to meet his vaccination goal of a hundred million shots in his first 100 days in office, Biden signed an executive order increasing needed supplies. Biden signed an order on January 21 that directed FEMA to offer full reimbursements to states for the cost of using their own National Guard personnel and emergency supplies such as Personal Protective Equipment in schools. On January 24, 2021, Biden reinstated a travel ban imposed by President Trump on Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, and 26 other European countries. The travel ban prevents non-U.S. citizens living in the prospective countries from entering the U.S. Biden implemented a face mask requirement on nearly all forms of public transportation and inside of transportation hubs; previously, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had recommended that such a policy be enacted but it was blocked by the Trump administration, under which the CDC issued strong, albeit non-binding recommendations for mask use in these settings. In mid-March 2021, Biden dismissed a request by the European Union to export unused COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca out of the U.S. even though the manufacturer endorsed it and vowed to resupply the doses. The rationale for this decision, which contributed to low European vaccination rates, was that the U.S. had to be "over-supplied and over-prepared", according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki. Whereas the U.S. exported no vaccines, the European Union exported 77 million doses to the world from December 2020 to March 2021. Eventually, the U.S. reversed course and gave vaccine doses from AstraZeneca to Mexico, Canada, and Japan by the end of March. On May 6, 2021, the Biden administration announced that it supports waiving patent protections on existing COVID-19 vaccines so that other countries can produce generic variants, after weeks of pressure from the international community. On 7 May, French president Emmanuel Macron called on the U.S. "to put an end to export bans not only on vaccines but on vaccine ingredients, which prevent production." On May 26, 2021, Biden ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to increase their investigations into the origin of the virus, after reports that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became ill a month before the pandemic began. In July 2021, amid a slowing of the COVID-19 vaccination rate in the country and the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, Biden said that the U.S. has "a pandemic for those who haven't gotten the vaccination" and that it was therefore "gigantically important" for Americans to be vaccinated, touting the vaccines' effectiveness against hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19. He also criticized the prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation on social media, saying it was "killing people". Despite months of vaccine availability and incentives, by September many Americans continued to resist vaccination amid rising cases in several states, hampering prospects towards herd immunity. On September 9, Biden stated, "We've been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us." That day he issued an executive order directing businesses with more than 100 employees to require vaccination of their workers or weekly testing, affecting about 80 million Americans. The order also required the roughly 17 million employees of health facilities receiving federal Medicare or Medicaid to be vaccinated. Many Republicans asserted Biden's order was an unconstitutional overreach of federal authority, and some Republican governors said they would sue to block it. The Biden administration responded to the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in December 2021 by advocating response by the states instead of the federal government. Throughout the surge, the Biden administration has been criticized for a lack of COVID-19 tests, exacerbating the spread of the Omicron variant. When questioned about the apparent shortage of tests, Jen Psaki replied, "Should we just send one to every American? Then what happens if every American has one test? How much does that cost and what happens after that?", causing backlash. The Biden administration responded by promising an increased supply of at-home tests later in 2022. In the midst of an all-time high of new COVID-19 cases, the Centers for Disease Control revised their guidelines, recommending five days of quarantine rather than ten without requiring a negative COVID-19 test. This move was criticized by health experts who worry that without rapid testing, COVID-positive people may unknowingly spread COVID-19 in workplaces under the recommended CDC guidelines. Others criticize the CDC for implementing this change after lobbying by Delta Airlines, leading to social media backlash against the federal government. Cancer research Biden gave a speech at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on September 12, 2022, the 60th anniversary of Kennedy's We Choose to Go to the Moon speech, promoting his administration's revival of the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot, including the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. Economy The New Republic praised Biden's economic record in July 2024, highlighting record low unemployment leading to a growth in wages at the lower end of the wage distribution as workers had more bargaining power. While inflation was painful, it has returned near its pre-pandemic rate and was similar to peer countries, though the U.S. has grown faster than its peers. The expansion of the Affordable Care Act, the child tax credit, $1400 stimulus checks, and the expansion of SNAP benefits also boosted balance sheets for low and middle-income Americans. New business formation rose 30% from pre-pandemic levels, and was notably strong among women. Biden also signed three major pieces of longer-term economic legislation to repair infrastructure like roads, bridges and water pipes, boost semiconductor investment, and expand green energy. In February 2024, the total federal government debt grew to $34.4 trillion after having grown by approximately $1 trillion in both of two separate 100-day periods since the previous June. Build Back Better Plan Consumer price reductions The administration also pursued lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices it pays and capping the price of insulin. In 2024, Biden pushed to limit junk fees through the FTC, FCC and CFPB. Biden took antitrust more seriously than presidents in recent memory, as seen by the work of Lina Khan at the FTC, a historic court victory against Google's search monopoly, and a lawsuit to break-up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 On January 14, 2021, Biden revealed a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The plan includes $1 trillion in direct aid, including $1,400 per-person checks, for working Americans, and would provide for direct housing and nutrition assistance, expanding access to safe and reliable childcare and affordable healthcare, increasing the minimum wage, extending unemployment insurance, and giving families with kids and childless workers an emergency boost this year. It would also expand the eligibility of these checks to adult dependents who have been left out of previous rounds of relief. The plan additionally includes $440 billion in community support, providing $350 billion of community support to first responders while the rest goes to grants for small businesses and transit agencies; $400 billion for a national vaccination plan and school reopenings; and $10 billion for information technology, modernizing federal cybersecurity infrastructure. In her first press briefing, press secretary Psaki said the plan was likely to change as negotiations continued, with the provision to increase the minimum wage later being excluded from the relief plan. Biden signed the Plan into law on March 11, 2021, passing through both chambers of Congress with a party-line vote. The plan invokes the Defense Production Act of 1950 to ensure the production of personal protective equipment, glass vials, syringes, and other supplies exceeds the demand. It allows partners of states to create vaccine centers in stadiums, convention centers and pharmacies. The federal government would identify communities that have been hit hardest by COVID-19, and ensure the vaccine does not reach them at an unfair pace. In addition, the plan would launch a national campaign to educate Americans about the vaccine and COVID-19, targeting misinformation related to the pandemic. Vaccines would also be freely available to all citizens regardless of immigration status. In Biden's plan, he would issue a national testing strategy that attempts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by increasing laboratory capacity and expanding testing. The plan would also develop new treatments for COVID-19. American Families Plan On 28 April, during Biden's speech to Congress he unveiled the American Families Plan, a roughly $1.8 trillion proposal to significantly increase federal spending in areas related to childcare, paid leave, pre-kindergarten, community college, and healthcare. It is considered to be the third part of Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda (the first being the American Rescue Plan and the second being the American Jobs Plan). The bill was effectively merged with climate change and other provisions that didn't make it into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, for a total $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act. However, the bill did not have Republican support, and Democrats struggled to win the support of Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia to pass it on a party-line vote through budget reconciliation, even as the price was lowered to $2.2 trillion. After the bill ultimately failed to match his envisioned cost, Manchin publicly rejected it, dooming its passage. Labor On January 22, 2021, Biden signed an executive order that removed schedule F, overturning a number of Trump's policies that limited the collective bargaining power of federal unions. Biden's executive order also promotes a $15 minimum wage for federal workers and repeals three of Trump's executive orders which made the employee discipline process stricter and restricted union representatives' access to office space. As well as promoting a $15 minimum wage, Biden's executive order increases the amount of money going to the families of children who are missing meals because of school closures due to the pandemic by 15%. The repealing of Trump's three executive orders comes as the orders were used to transfer civil servants and career scientists and replace them with employees friendly to the Trump administration. On inauguration day 2021, Biden fired pro-business Peter Robb, then general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, replacing him with pro-union Jennifer Abruzzo in February 2021. Biden's NLRB has pursued action against Starbucks' and Amazon's alleged anti-union activities. On August 24, 2023, the NLRB reinstated Obama-era policies regarding union elections, speeding up the timeline by removing restrictions such as resolving litigation before holding an election. In late 2022, Biden signed a bill forcing an agreement between union workers and rail companies in order to prevent a strike, earning him criticism from progressives and rail workers. Afterwards, Biden pressured the rail companies to offer paid sick leave to workers, which had been a key demand in the original planned strike. More than 60% of rail workers had sick leave agreements in June 2023. On the 2023 United Auto Workers strike, Biden repeated union leader Shawn Fain's motto "record profits, record contracts" and expressed support for the workers in negotiations. Biden assigned two White House officials to aid in negotiation efforts, senior adviser Gene Sperling and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su. On September 26, Biden joined striking UAW workers on the picket line in Michigan, becoming the first President to do so. Biden became the first US president to run for election with a unionized campaign staff for his 2024 election run. Banking After the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023, Biden expressed opposition to a bailout that was borne by taxpayers. He also claimed that the partial roll-back of Dodd-Frank regulations contributed to the bank failures. Domestic manufacturing Biden signed an executive order intended to support domestic manufacturers by increasing a federal preference for purchasing goods made wholly or partly in the U.S. Using the broad term "Made in America laws", the executive order's stated goal is to strengthen "all statutes, regulations, rules, and Executive Orders relating to Federal financial assistance awards or Federal procurement, including those that refer to 'Buy America' or 'Buy American.'" On August 9, 2022, Biden actively promoted and signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, which authorized $52 billion for domestic semiconductor research and manufacturing. On August 16, 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law, which included provisions to support the domestic production of solar panels, wind turbines, and other infrastructure. Due to incentives from the CHIPS and Science Act, Micron Technology will invest billions in new semiconductor manufacturing in New York. Trade The Wall Street Journal reported that instead of negotiating access to Chinese markets for large American financial-service firms and pharmaceutical companies, the Biden administration may focus on trade policies that boost exports or domestic jobs. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the administration wants a "worker-centered trade policy". U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said she planned to aggressively enforce trade rules to combat unfair practices by China. In March 2021, in her first interview since taking office, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told The Wall Street Journal the U.S. would not lift tariffs on Chinese imports in the near future, despite lobbying efforts from "free traders" including former U.S. Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson and the Business Roundtable, a big-business group in the U.S., that pressed for tariff repeal. In 2021, the U.S. suspended its diplomatic trade engagement with Myanmar after a rise in violence perpetrated by the Burmese military against anti-coup protesters. In May 2024, the Biden administration raised tariffs on Chinese imports, including a doubling for solar cells; tripling for lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries; and increases for steel, aluminum, and medical equipment. This marks the first time that critical minerals, including rare earth magnets—key components in electric and hybrid vehicles—have been specifically included in the tariffs. China produces and refines over 90 percent of the world's rare earth material. The tariff increases will be phased in over a period of three years. Infrastructure As a part of the Build Back Better Plan, the Biden administration aimed for massive spending on the nation's infrastructure on the order of $2 trillion. Several of the physical infrastructure provisions featured in the proposal were included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Biden signed the Act into law on November 15, 2021. This final version included approximately $1.2 trillion in spending, with $550 billion being newly authorized spending on top of what Congress was planning to authorize regularly. The bill included $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging. As of March 2024, seven charging stations with a total of 38 spots for charging vehicles had been built. International taxation Finance officials from 130 countries agreed on July 1, 2021, to plans for a new international taxation policy. All the major economies agreed to pass national laws that would require corporations to pay at least 15% income tax in the countries they operate. This new policy would end the practice of locating world headquarters in small countries with very low taxation rates. Governments hope to recoup some of the lost revenue, estimated at $100 billion to $240 billion each year. The new system was promoted by the Biden administration and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Secretary-General Mathias Cormann of the OECD said: "This historic package will ensure that large multinational companies pay their fair share of tax everywhere." Inflation Longer-term variables that preceded the pandemic and contributed to the rise in inflation include structural housing shortages, impacts of climate change on food, energy and home insurance prices, as well as the size of government debt and deficits. In the midst of recovery from COVID-19, inflation rose to the highest rate in forty years peaking at 9.1% in 2022, with many other major global economies reaching similar level. Biden stated during his first State of the Union Address on March 1, 2022, that addressing inflation was his "top priority", while touting an anti-inflation plan that he said would address ocean shipping costs and prescription drug prices. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in increases in food and energy prices. At the end of 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau found that without housing inflation, inflation would have been just 1.8%, instead of 3.2%. Katy O'Donnell of Politico argued that housing shortages, caused by artificial scarcity driven by NIMBYism, had been the single-biggest contributor to inflation. Freddie Mac estimated that the housing shortage surged 52% between 2018 and 2020. Between 2020 and 2023 climate-change exacerbated home insurance premiums in the U.S. by 33%. July 2024 data showed that inflation had dropped to 2.9%, with rising rents and childcare costs as the main drivers. Most economists surveyed by the WSJ in July 2024 found that inflation would be worse under a second Trump administration compared to a second Biden term, due in part to tariffs, a crack down on illegal immigration, and larger deficits. Energy, environment, and climate General During his first week in office, Biden established the position of White House National Climate Advisor, appointing environmental health and air quality expert Gina McCarthy to the role. Biden also created the position of U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, appointing former Secretary of State John Kerry. On January 20, 2021, Biden signed an executive order rejoining the U.S. to the Paris Agreement. With the U.S. rejoining the agreement, countries responsible for two-thirds of the global greenhouse gas emissions would make pledges of becoming carbon neutral, while without United States it is only half. On the same day, Biden also issued an executive order that cancelled the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, an extension of the Keystone Pipeline. The pipeline was heavily criticized by environmental and Native American activists and groups. This order also directed agencies to review and reverse more than 100 actions made by Trump on the environment. On March 27, 2021, Biden invited more than forty world leaders for a climate summit. In August 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law, a domestic spending bill born out of continued negotiations on the Build Back Better Act after its collapse that fulfilled some of its initial provisions. The bill included significant federal investment in domestic clean energy production, combating climate change, and healthcare; it aims to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by 40% from peak 2005 levels by 2030, included a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, and empowered Medicare to begin negotiating lower prescription drug costs for the first time. In May 2022, the White House Council on Environmental Quality released a report in which it describes how Biden's administration followed the around 200 recommendations of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. The full report has around 150 pages. The report summarizes many of the steps taken by the administration on environmental issues. Among others, it mentions significant achievements in the domains of energy efficiency, weatherization, transit-oriented development, walking, cycling, mixed-use development, cooperation with Indigenous peoples of the Americas. In April 2024 Biden delivered $20 billion to eight environmental NGOs. The aim is to reduce the country's CO2 emissions by 40 million tonnes per year with the money, while giving 70% of the benefits to low income communities. In the same month, the American Climate Corps is expected to begin function with several hundred members. The tasks will probably be "things like installing solar panels, restoring vulnerable habitats, and fire hazard prevention." Biden plans increase the number of participants to 20,000 during the first year and then 50,000 more will be added each year by 2031. However, this plan is opposed by Republicans. In May 2024, the administration announced guidelines around carbon markets. They push for increased verifiability from suppliers and transparency from buyers. The guidelines are not binding or enforceable. Oil, gas extraction and transportation On January 21, 2021, the Biden administration issued a 60-day ban on oil and gas leases and permits on federal land and waters. On January 27, 2021, Biden signed a number of executive orders aimed at combating climate change, one of them setting climate change as a key consideration for U.S. national security and foreign policy. In an attempt to encourage U.S. membership to the Kigali Amendment, an international agreement aimed to reduce the production of hydrofluorocarbons, Biden's executive order directed the U.S. Department of State to submit the Kigali Amendment to the Senate. In March 2021, 21 Republican state attorneys general of 21 states sued the Biden administration for revoking the Keystone XL pipeline permit. The suit claims Biden's executive order exceeded his authority. In May 2021, the EPA rolled back a Trump administration rule that prohibited the EPA from using certain studies. The previous rule, which made it more difficult to use major scientific studies to justify pollution reduction policies, had already been invalidated by a federal court. On June 1, 2021, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland suspended all oil and gas drilling leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, pending further review of their environmental impacts. In January 2021, Biden had issued a 60-day ban on oil and gas leases and permits on federal land and waters. A group of Republican state attorneys general successfully obtained a decision in federal court to lift the moratorium. The Biden administration appealed the decision but agreed to continue with the sales, and in September 2021 held the largest federal gas and oil lease auction in U.S. history, selling leases to extract 1.7 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico. The areas that were purchased by oil companies can be expected to produce around 4.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.12 billion barrels of oil over the next 50 years. The administration has also proposed another round of gas and oil lease sales in 2022, in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and other western states. The Biden administration supported the Line 3 pipeline, which transports oil from Canada's oil sands region. In November 2021, a closely watched Interior Department report on federal oil and gas lease policy, ordered by Biden, was completed. The report recommended increasing the 12.5% federal royalty rate for oil and gas drilling, which had not been raised by a century, and was significantly lower than rates charged for leasing on state and private land. The report also recommended an increase in the bond rates that drilling companies are required to pay for future cleanup efforts before beginning extraction at new sites, and recommended that leases be focused on sites with "moderate to high potential" for production in proximity to existing fossil-fuel infrastructure. The report stopped short of banning the leasing program, which generates billions of dollars for the federal government, but reformed its terms to be less favorable for industry; environmental groups praised the reforms, but also said they were insufficient to address the U.S. contribution to the climate crisis. In 2021, the Biden administration proposed a 20-year ban on oil and gas drilling around Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a site in northwestern New Mexico that contain important Ancestral Puebloan sites. Environmental science In May 2021, the EPA rolled back a Trump administration rule that prohibited the EPA from using certain studies. The previous rule, which made it more difficult to use major scientific studies to justify pollution reduction policies, had already been invalidated by a federal court. Renewable energy The Biden administration set a goal of achieving 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy generated in the U.S. by 2030 (sufficient to provide electricity to about 10 million homes). In 2021, the Biden administration approved the South Fork Wind project, a major (130 MW, 12-turbine) commercial offshore wind power project located southeast of Rhode Island's Block Island and east of New York's Montauk Point, the wind farm is projected to provide electricity to proved 70,000 Long Island homes. The project is the country's second large-scale offshore wind project (after a similar wind-power development in Massachusetts). Nature conservation The U.S. is part of the 30 by 30 initiative which aims to preserve 30% of the global land and sea territory by 2030. For the U.S. to accomplish its part, Biden launched a campaign called "America the Beautiful". The campaign seeks to work in cooperation with indigenous people and farmers, as well as better serve disadvantaged communities. In November 2021, Biden promised to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, joining more than 100 other global leaders in the COP26 climate summit's first major agreement. According to a report from the Center for American Progress during the first 3 years of his presidency Biden broke several records in conservation, which is "a proven defense against the changing climate". In 2023 alone he turned 12.5 million acres into protected areas and made 200 agreements with indigenous people about co-management of the protected areas. He advanced a proposal to ban logging in old growth forests from 2025 which is also important for the climate. Electoral and ethical reform In response to what Biden describes as the growing influence of special interests and gerrymandering in elections, he has pledged to seek electoral and government ethics reforms. Biden supported the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. In January 2022, he endorsed a change to senate filibuster rules after they both failed to invoke cloture. However, the rules change failed when two Democratic senators joined Senate Republicans in opposing it. Known for his generally bipartisan tone, Biden avoided directly referring to his predecessor during his first year in office. Beginning in 2022, Biden condemned Trump and Trumpism in stronger terms; he likened the "MAGA philosophy" to "semi-fascism" and, in a 2022 speech outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, said the "extreme ideology" of Trump, and a Republican Party dominated by him, "threatens the very foundation of our republic." Biden specifically condemned Trump and "MAGA Republicans" for promoting authoritarian leaders, using violent rhetoric, refusing to disavow political violence, and refusing to acknowledge election losses. Biden suggested that the 2022 United States elections could be illegitimate if federal laws are not passed to combat enacted voter-suppression legislation from state legislatures. After the attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, Biden called for reforms to the 1887 Electoral Count Act to clarify the roles of Congress and the Vice President in certifying electoral votes. The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 raised the threshold for objections to electoral votes, clarified that the vice president cannot decertify electoral votes, and modified the process for which electors are certified. It was included as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act. Housing Due to ongoing decreases in housing affordability exacerbated by the pandemic, inflation, and snarls in the global supply chain, Biden launched the Housing Supply Action Plan on May 16, 2022, to increase housing supply and construction through executive initiatives, administrative deregulation and funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Due to the statutory limits upon federal intervention in housing policy, the plan relied heavily upon partnerships with willing municipal governments and the private sector to reform zoning and permitting laws and secure construction supply, issuing financial incentives to municipal governments for cooperation with the plan, issuing financial support to renters, landlords and first-time homeowners, and disincentivizing large institutional investors from acquiring government-owned or funded home properties. Biden also called upon Congress to pass an Unlocking Possibilities Program to allow HUD to issue grants to states and localities to help reform permitting for affordable housing, as well as further mortgage assistance for first-time homebuyers. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration secured over $25 billion to invest in a variety of programs and tax credits that incentivize renovations and energy efficiency in housing through five federal agencies (HUD, IRS, DOE, DOT, EPA). Immigration On January 20, 2021, Biden halted the construction of the U.S.–Mexico barrier and ended a related national emergency declared by Trump in February 2018. Biden issued a proclamation that ended the Trump travel ban imposed on predominantly Muslim countries in January 2017. Biden also reaffirmed protections to recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The same day, Biden sent a memorandum to the U.S. Department of State reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians. On January 20, 2021, the Biden administration issued a moratorium on deportations from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the first 100 days of his presidency. On January 22, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration for violating Biden's written pledge to cooperatively work with the state of Texas. A federal judge in Texas subsequently issued a temporary restraining order barring the Biden administration from enforcing its moratorium, citing the lack of "any concrete, reasonable justification for a 100-day pause on deportations." On January 21, 2021, Biden proposed a bill that, if passed, would replace the word alien with noncitizen in U.S. immigration law. The next day, Biden had a call with Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. On the call, Biden and López Obrador spoke about immigration, where Biden spoke of reducing immigration from Mexico to the U.S. by targeting what Biden deemed as root causes. According to an Associated Press report, López Obrador noted that Biden pledged $4 billion to "help development in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala — nations whose hardships have spawned tides of migration through Mexico toward the United States." On January 23, Biden proposed an immigration bill aiming to give a path to citizenship to eleven million immigrants living in the U.S. without a permanent legal status. The bill would also make it easier for certain foreign workers to stay in the U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin called the bill "aspirational". It is widely expected not to pass both houses of Congress without significant revision. According to a 2021 Politico report, Republicans expected prior to Biden taking office that there would be a border surge at the start of 2021 (due to seasonal patterns and regional crises) and coordinated to make it a central issue in the lead-up to the 2022 mid-term elections. The number of migrants arriving in the U.S. from Central America had been rising since April 2020 due to ongoing violence, natural disasters, food insecurity, and poverty in the region. In February 2021, the U.S. Border Patrol reported a 61% increase in encounters with unaccompanied children from the month before, the largest one-month percentage increase in encounters with unaccompanied children since U.S. Customs and Border Protection began recording data in 2010. Biden instructed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to focus on violent offenders of immigration laws rather than all offenders of immigration laws. In February 2021, it was reported that DHS agents who had been empowered by Trump to enact his anti-immigration policies were resisting and defying Biden's immigration policies. The union representing ICE agents signaled that its agents would not accept reversals of Trump policies. In March 2021, the Biden administration granted temporary protected status to Venezuelans fleeing the country amidst the ongoing political and economic crisis.On March 24, 2021, Biden tasked Vice President Harris to reduce the number of unaccompanied minors and adult asylum seekers. She is also tasked with leading the negotiations with Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The number of migrant families and unaccompanied children entering the U.S. from across the Southwest border steeply declined in August, September, and October 2021. On June 1, 2021, the DHS officially terminated the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy, which mandated that all asylum seekers from Central America were to wait in Mexico pending their court cases; however, a health order from March 2020 allowed the border authorities to send migrants back for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic have remained in place. However, on August 14, 2021, a federal judge in Texas ordered the Biden administration to reimplement the policy; the Supreme Court placed a pause on the ruling to give the administration time for arguments. On August 24, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the Biden administration must comply with the lower court's ruling to reinstate the policy. In fiscal year 2022, over one million immigrants (most of whom entered through family reunification) were granted legal residence, up from 707,000 in 2020. Up until 2022 during Biden's presidency, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States steadily rose. On October 5, 2023, Joe Biden's administration said on Thursday it will add sections to a border wall to stave off record migrant crossings from Mexico, carrying forward a signature policy of former President Donald Trump. One of Biden's first actions after taking office in January 2021 was to issue a proclamation pledging that "no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall" as well as a review of all resources that had already been committed. The administration said Thursday's action did not deviate from Biden's proclamation because money that was allocated during Trump's term in 2019 had to be spent now. Former president Trump was quick to claim victory and demand an apology: "As I have stated often, over thousands of years, there are only two things that have consistently worked, wheels, and walls!" Trump wrote on social media. "Will Joe Biden apologize to me and America for taking so long to get moving...". Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called the move "a step backwards." On October 31, 2023, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee that more than 600,000 people illegally made their way into the United States without being apprehended by border agents during the 2023 fiscal year. President Biden pledged to welcome 125,000 refugees in 2024. The Biden administration considered accepting Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip. On March 29, 2024, in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by lawyers representing detained migrant children, the Biden administration argued in front of a federal court that it had no responsibility to feed and house migrant children that were waiting in Border Patrol camps along the U.S.-Mexico border. This argument was rejected by Judge Dolly M. Gee, who ordered the administration to "expeditiously" house all detained migrant children. On June 4, 2024, President Biden issued a new executive order granting immigration officials the authority to deport certain asylum seekers without processing their claims. This measure targets migrants who enter the United States "without permission and against the law," making it easier for authorities to deport them. Under the new order, if migrants express fear of returning to their home countries, they may be given an interview with an asylum officer. However, agents are no longer required to ask migrants if they have such fears. As part of the new action, the Biden administration announced the closure of the South Texas Family Residential Center, the largest immigrant detention center in the United States. The primary reason cited for this decision was the high cost of operating the facility. Separation of church and state Biden, a practicing Catholic, has taken a public position of dissent against the Church's position opposing free-choice in the abortion issue. This has raised the question of whether his public office might allow him to influence the outcomes of current debates with the Church concerning abortion. The Vatican has taken a mediating position concerning Biden's dissent by allowing him to take Communion in Rome while visiting the Pope. Social issues During his early days in office, Biden focused on "advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice and equal opportunity." According to The New York Times, Biden's early actions in office focused on racial equality more than any president since Lyndon B. Johnson, who passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On January 25, 2021, Biden signed an executive order that lifted the ban on transgender military service members. This reversed a memorandum imposed by Trump. The Biden administration is seeking to put Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill. This effort follows that of the Obama administration, which was blocked by Steven Mnuchin. Press secretary Psaki said it was important that U.S. money and notes reflect the "history and diversity" of the country and that putting Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill would do so. On January 20, 2021, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order entitled Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government increasing the federal government's anti-bias enforcement against government contractors. The intent is heightened investigations and audits by the Department of Justice as well as more detailed follow-up inquiries with government contractors, with an emphasis on combatting pay discrimination. Also in January, Biden directed the U.S. Department of Justice to reduce their usage of private prisons and ordered the attorney general to not renew contracts with private prisons, citing the need to "reduce profit-based incentives" for the incarceration of racial minorities. Three days after the Atlanta spa shootings that killed 8 people, including 6 Asian women, Biden and Vice President Harris travelled to Atlanta. They spoke to Asian American and Pacific Islander advocates and leaders and condemned sexism, and racism against Asian Americans. Biden made Juneteenth (June 19) a federal holiday in 2021, celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S. In March 2022, Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law. With the enactment of that legislation, lynching was made a federal hate crime for the first time in American history. In October 2022, Biden pardoned all past federal marijuana possession charges and announced an inquiry into whether cannabis should be removed from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. In December 2022, Biden signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act which was the first standalone cannabis-related bill ever passed by the United States Congress. LGBT rights The United States Department of Agriculture unveiled efforts in 2022 to prevent anti-LGBT discrimination in food programs, including school lunch programs, resulting in 20 lawsuits from 20 Republican attorneys general. In December 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), required states to recognize other states' marriage certificates for LGBT Americans, and ensured some religious liberties. The bill came from a push from Democrats to codify same-sex marriage after the Dobbs decision, particularly Clarence Thomas's push to reconsider other precedents. In January 2023, the Biden administration released an "evidence agenda" for LGBTQI+ Americans to learn about "their experiences engaging with federal agencies and the disparities they face in their daily lives," as well as documenting how many LGBT people live in the United States. Abortion In December 2021, the Biden administration ended a long-standing restriction on sales of abortion pills through the mail. This decision came amidst legal cases and Supreme Court decisions that jeopardized abortion access in the United States. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey on June 24, 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Biden addressed the nation in the Cross Hall of the White House. He mentioned that "it's a sad day ... for the country" and "with Roe gone, ... The health and life of women in this nation are now at risk." In addition, he attacked the Court saying "With this decision, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shows how extreme it is" and "They have made the United States an outlier among developed nations in the world." Regarding action, Biden stated that his administration will defend the right of women to seek an abortion in another state where abortion is legal and help protect a woman's access to contraception and abortion pills approved by the FDA. He also called on Congress to codify Roe v. Wade, saying "No executive action ... can do that.". But stated that if Congress did not have the votes to codify, that the voters would have to take action by "elect[ing] more senators and representatives who will codify a woman's right to choose into federal law." The Biden administration rejected the call from progressives to allow abortions on federal land, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying, "in states where abortion is now illegal, women and providers who are not federal employees, as you look at the federal land, could be potentially – be prosecuted." During a press conference at the 2022 Madrid NATO Summit, Biden expressed support for providing an exception to the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade. Criminal justice and crime rates The Biden administration rescinded a Trump administration policy that curtailed the use of consent decrees that had been used by previous administrations in their investigations of misconduct in police departments. Biden proposed in his fiscal 2022 budget to more than double funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program, which helps state and local governments to hire law enforcement officers. Despite perceptions, notably by Republicans and conservative media, of a "crime crisis" of soaring violent crime under Biden, FBI data indicated the violent crime rate had declined significantly during the president's first two years in office, after a spike in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. By 2022, the violent crime rate was near a 50-year low, and preliminary data released in early 2024 indicated continuing declines in 2023. As of July 1, 2024 violent crime was down and homicides were on pace to drop to 2015 levels by the end of the year. Gun control In a national address in March 2021, after mass shootings in the Atlanta area and Boulder, Colorado, Biden advocated further gun regulations, such as a restored ban on assault weapons and a high-capacity magazine ban, as well as reinforcing preexisting background checks. After the Robb Elementary School shooting on May 24, 2022, President Biden addressed the nation. The next week, he again called on Congress to pass an assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban, as well as red flag laws and other legislation. As a result of the shooting, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was eventually passed by Congress and signed into law. It marked the first federal gun safety law to have been enacted in 30 years. After the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting, Biden called again for an assault weapons ban. Space policy The Biden administration reversed the Trump administration's method of using the National Space Council to coordinate commercial, civil, and military space policies, instead using the National Security Council to issue national security memoranda instead of the Space Council's space policy directives. The Biden administration renewed the National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Harris, "to assist the president in generating national space policies, strategies, and synchronizing America's space activities." Harris held meetings with the leaders of five countries to discuss international cooperation on space issues. The Biden administration continued the Artemis program to send people back to the Moon. The administration also emphasized the role of NASA in studying climate change. Biden appointed Bill Nelson, an astronaut and former U.S. Senator, to the post of NASA administrator. Nelson was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in April 2021. In April 2021, as part of his first annual budget request, Biden proposed a $24.8 billion budget for NASA in 2022, a $1.5 billion increase on what Congress allocated to 2021. The proposal includes funding for the Artemis program for a new crewed Moon landing mission. The proposal also included a 12.5% increase for NASA's Earth Science Division, as well as a 22% increase for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operates a fleet of weather satellites; both measures aimed to use space tools to study and mitigate climate change. On December 1, 2021, Biden announced his new framework for US space policy, the United States Space Priorities Framework, which explains Biden's approach for commercial, civil, and military space activity. There is a new emphasis on combating climate change and investing in STEM education. Supreme Court On July 29, 2024, Biden announced a plan to reform the Supreme Court of the United States. The plan called for three major changes. The first was an amendment to the Constitution, the No One Is Above the Law Amendment, which would eliminate immunity for presidents. This would effectively reverse the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. United States. Second, Biden laid out a plan for creating term limits for Supreme Court justices. Under his plan, every two years presidents would appoint justices to 18 year terms. Lastly, he pushed for "a binding code of conduct" to replace the Supreme Court's existing self-enforced ethics code. Foreign affairs Defense On January 22, 2021, Biden signed his first bill, H.R. 335 into law, providing a waiver to the law preventing appointment of a Secretary of Defense who had been on active duty in the armed forces within the past seven years; this was the third time such a waiver was granted by Congress. Retired army four-star general Lloyd Austin was confirmed by the Senate in a 93–2 vote that same day, making Austin the first African-American Defense Secretary. Austin said his number one priority was to assist COVID-19 relief efforts, pledging he would "quickly review the Department's contributions to COVID-19 relief efforts, ensuring that we're doing everything that we can to help distribute vaccines across the country and to vaccinate our troops and preserve readiness." On February 10, 2021, Biden visited the Pentagon for the first time as president. In remarks to service members alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Biden announced a U.S. Department of Defense-led China task force "to provide a baseline assessment of department policies, programs and processes in regard to the challenge China poses." On June 18, 2021, the administration removed eight MIM-104 Patriot anti-missile batteries from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, and Iraq, removed the THAAD anti-missile defense system from Saudi Arabia, and announced that most jet squadrons and hundreds of American troops would be withdrawn from the region. The changes come in light of both de-escalating tensions with Iran and the administration changing its focus on countering China. After taking office, Biden heavily restricted the use of armed drones and drone strikes. After Biden's first year in office, drone strikes had hit a 20-year low and were heavily limited by the administration. In October 2023, President Biden asked Congress for nearly $106 billion in funding for Israel, Ukraine, countering China in the Indo-Pacific, and operations on the southern U.S. border. Biden signed a record $886 billion defense spending bill into law on December 22, 2023. China Biden has said the U.S. needs to "get tough" on China and build "a united front of U.S. allies and partners to confront China's abusive behaviors and human rights violations." He described China as the "most serious competitor" that poses challenges on the "prosperity, security, and democratic values" of the U.S. Biden nominated Antony Blinken to serve as Secretary of State who took office on January 26, 2021. During his nomination hearing, Blinken said that previous optimistic approaches to China were flawed, and that Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, "was right in taking a tougher approach to China" but he "disagree[s] very much with the way [Trump] went about it in a number of areas." He endorsed former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's report that China is committing a genocide against Uyghur Muslims. In March 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other administration officials met with the Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, and other Chinese officials in Alaska with heated exchanges on China's human rights abuses, cyberattacks, its threats against Taiwan, its crackdown in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and other issues of U.S. interest. The Chinese side countered: "The U.S. does not have the qualification to speak to China from a position of strength [and] does not serve as a model to others [and] China's development and strengthening is unstoppable." The Washington Post reported that the Biden administration got "a taste of China's 'wolf warrior' diplomacy" during the first meeting with its Chinese counterpart, which was "remarkably undiplomatic", adding "China's diplomats appeared more forceful than they had been in any public meeting during President Trump's term." The Atlantic published an article saying that the Biden team "flushed Beijing's true intentions out into the open for the world to see", quoting a senior administration official's comment that it is "increasingly difficult to argue that we don't know what China wants." In April 2021, it was reported that the Biden administration was rallying U.S. allies in consideration of a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The U.S. Department of State spokesman Ned Price told reporters that a joint boycott "is something that we certainly wish to discuss." In May 2021, the administration removed Chinese mobile manufacturer Xiaomi from the Chinese military blacklist, reversing the previous administration's decision. On June 3, 2021, Biden announced an executive order that would come into effect from August 2, and ban Americans from investing into 59 Chinese firms, including Huawei. Before it was announced, China said it would retaliate against it. In October 2021, Biden said he is concerned about Chinese hypersonic missiles, days after China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile that circled the globe before speeding towards its target. In December 2021, a coalition of Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Committee and the Rabbinical Assembly, issued an open letter to Biden urging additional action in response to what they describe as an Uyghur genocide. In late January and early February 2023, U.S. and Canadian defense officials were tracking a China-operated high-altitude balloon that had been seen hovering in North American airspace. The balloon's first reported sighting was on February 1, 2023, when a commercial airliner reported flying in close proximity to it. Biden ordered the U.S. Air Force to shoot down the balloon on February 4, on the possibility of it being a surveillance device, when it was spotted over territorial waters near South Carolina; at 2:39 p.m. that day, the balloon was downed by an F-22 Raptor that had departed from Langley Air Force Base. In response to the downing of the balloon, China admitted it belonged to them, but claimed the balloon was a weather device that had been blown off course. Chinese officials accused the U.S. of indiscriminately using force against the civilian airship in violation of international law. The incident increased tensions between the U.S. and China. On February 9, Biden stated that he did not believe that relations with China will be negatively affected by his decision to shoot down the balloon. The incident did prompt Secretary Blinken to delay a diplomatic visit to Beijing. Taiwan On 18 September 2022, it was reported by Reuters that "Joe Biden said U.S forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, his most explicit statement on the issue, drawing an angry response from China that said it sent the wrong signal to those seeking an independent Taiwan." The policy was stated in contrast to Biden's previous exclusion of boots-on-the-ground and planes-in-the-air for U.S. support for Ukraine in its current conflict with Russia. Cuba Afghanistan In February 2020, the Trump administration made a deal with the Taliban to completely withdraw U.S. forces by May 1, 2021. In April 2021, President Biden formally announced that American troops would instead withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, which would signal an end to the U.S.'s longest war. According to Princeton professor Julian E. Zelizer, Biden "clearly learned a great deal from his time in the Obama presidency", and demonstrated that "he is a politician capable of learning and evolving, contrary to some of the skeptics in the primaries who thought he didn't understand how politics had changed." According to Washington Post journalist Steven Levingston, "Obama listened to military leaders who advised him that withdrawal would be a mistake. Biden, meanwhile, was the top administration official arguing for a much more limited role for American forces in Afghanistan. Later, Biden would go on to say that he could tell by Obama's 'body language' that he agreed with that assessment — even though he ultimately rejected it." Soon after the withdrawal of U.S. troops started, the Taliban launched an offensive against the Afghan government, quickly advancing in front of a collapsing Afghan Armed Forces. President Biden defended the withdrawal, saying "I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped and ... more competent in terms of conducting war." By early July 2021, most of the American troops in Afghanistan were withdrawn. Biden addressed the withdrawal, stating that: "The likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely." On August 15, amid an offensive by the Taliban, the Afghan government collapsed, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and Kabul fell to the Taliban. Biden reacted by ordering 6,000 American troops to assist in the evacuation of American personnel and Afghan allies. He has been criticized over the manner of the American withdrawal. On August 16, Biden addressed the "messy" situation, taking responsibility for it ("the buck stops with me"), and admitting that the situation "unfolded more quickly than we had anticipated". He defended his decision to withdraw, saying that Americans should not be "dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves", since the "Afghan military collapsed [against the Taliban], sometimes without trying to fight". Biden partly attributed the lack of early evacuation of Afghan civilians to the Afghan government's opposition of a "mass exodus" which they thought would cause a "crisis of confidence". On August 26, a suicide attack was carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan Province at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, killing more than 170 people, including at least 62 Afghan civilians, 13 US service members, two British nationals and the child of a third British national. Biden made a public address after the attack, in which he honored the American service members who were killed, calling them "heroes" and saying they lost their lives "in the service of liberty", and stated that the US had evacuated more than 100,000 Americans, Afghans, and others. He expressed deep sorrow for the Afghan victims as well. Biden said to those who wished harm upon the US that "we will hunt you down and make you pay." Biden received increasingly harsh criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress, with Republicans calling for his resignation or for his impeachment. After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the Biden administration froze about $9 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank, blocking the Taliban from accessing these billions of dollars in reserves held in U.S. bank accounts. In February 2022, Biden signed an executive order that seeks to unfreeze approximately $3.5 billion of Afghan assets in the U.S. for the purpose of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. On July 31, 2022, Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in Kabul by an American drone strike approved by Biden. Africa Biden hosted a three-day U.S.-Africa summit in Washington in December 2022, attended by 49 African national leaders. The meeting was the first such summit since 2014. The leaders of every African nation in good standing with the African Union (AU), except Eritrea, were invited to the summit. The leaders of African nations not in good standing with the AU (mostly those who had come to power through military coups) were also not invited. At the summit, Biden announced U.S. support for the AU joining the G20 group of major economies, a long-sought goal for Africa. The summit was part of a broader effort by the U.S. to rebuild U.S.-African relations and counter Chinese influence on the continent. During the summit, the administration announced $800 million in new deals with Cisco Systems and Cybastion to combat cyberthreats targeting Africa, a bid to blunt the dominance of the Chinese firm Huawei in Africa. The administration also signed a memorandum of understanding in support of the African Continental Free Trade Area to reduce trade barriers in Africa, and committed $55 billion to Africa over the next three years, focused on preexisting U.S. initiatives, such as the trade-focused Prosper Africa and Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, as well as the Power Africa initiative, which aims to increase connections of Africans to the electric grid. The administration also emphasized initiatives in technology and cybersecurity, health, clean energy and the environment, and other areas. Biden committed an additional $2 billion for emergency humanitarian aid and $11 billion for food security programs in Africa. The administration also expanded ties with West Africa, including support for infrastructure improvements at the Benin seaport of Cotonou, a key part of the West African economy. Biden appointed a longtime U.S. diplomat, Johnnie Carson, to coordinate implementation of U.S. actions following up the summit. During the 2022 summit, Biden and senior administration officials also met privately with six African leaders facing elections in 2023, pushing them to ensure free and fair elections in their nations. Senator Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has criticized the Biden administration for hesitating to impose sanctions on the governments of Sudan and Ethiopia, where many atrocities and war crimes were committed in the Tigray War. Armenian genocide On April 24, 2021, the Biden administration declared that the Turkish killings of Armenians at the start of the 20th century were a genocide. He is the first U.S. president to ever officially recognize the Armenian genocide. Americans detained abroad In July 2022, President Biden signed an executive order aimed at deterring the wrongful detention of Americans abroad. According to an estimate by The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, there are at least 67 U.S. citizens who are currently imprisoned abroad. The foundation further estimates that 90% of those are wrongly detained by foreign governments hostile to the U.S., including Venezuela, Russia, China, Iran, and others. Dozens of families of Americans who are detained abroad say President Biden has failed to adequately address the crisis. They formed a group called "Bring Our Families Home Campaign" to pressure Biden to do more. In September 2023, President Biden reached a deal to release five prisoners held by Iran. In exchange, $6 billion of frozen Iranian assets were released. The U.S. said the unfrozen money would be held in restricted accounts so that it could only be spent on humanitarian goods such as food and medicine. In August 2024, President Biden reached a deal to secure the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War. The exchange included the release of Americans Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva; thirteen others from Russia and Belarus; and Russians held by the U.S., Slovenia, Norway, Poland, and Germany. Turkey and Estonia were also involved in the deal. Biden stressed the importance of alliances on the world stage by describing the achievement as "a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world." Quad and the Indo-Pacific region In March 2021, Biden held a virtual meeting with leaders of Japan, India and Australia, an alliance of countries known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, that work together to address China's expansionism in the Indo-Pacific region. A few days later, the administration officials, including secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defense Lloyd Austin, met with U.S. allies in Asia and imposed sanctions on senior Chinese officials. Austin also visited India to deepen the defense ties between the two countries. In September 2021, Biden hosted the first in-person meeting of Quad at the White House. On May 23, 2022, Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to counter growing Chinese economic and political influence in the Indo-Pacific region. At the time of its launch, the IPEF had 12 partners including Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. In response, China described the proposed grouping as a "closed and exclusive club". National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan defended the IPEF by highlighting the diverse nature of the grouping's membership. In November 2023, under pressure from Congressional Democrats, the Biden administration halted plans for the IPEF's trade component. In August 2022, the Biden administration announced that it will be hosting the US–Pacific Island Country Summit in September 2022 which will coincide with the week of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly. On August 18, 2023, Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David. The meeting, amid a period of strained Japan–South Korea relations, resulted in the Camp David Principles relating to joint military exercises, preventing supply chain disruptions, and united criticism of North Korea, Russia, and China. Russia On the day of Biden's inauguration, the Russian government urged the new U.S. administration to take a "more constructive" approach in talks over the extension of the 2010 New START treaty, the sole remaining agreement limiting the number of U.S. and Russian long-range nuclear warheads. In Biden's first telephone call as president with Russian President Vladimir Putin, on January 26, 2021, Biden and Putin agreed to extend the New START treaty (which was set to expire in February 2021) by an additional five years. Biden and his administration condemned human rights violations by the Russian authorities, calling for the release of detained dissident and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, his wife, and the thousands of Russians who had demonstrated in his support; the U.S. called for the unconditional release of Navalny and the protestors and a credible investigation into Navalny's poisoning. On March 2, 2021, the U.S. and European Union imposed coordinated additional sanctions on Russian officials, as well as the FSB and GRU, over Navalny's poisoning and imprisonment. The State Department also expanded existing sanctions from the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act that had been imposed after the poisoning of Skripal. The Biden administration is also planning to impose sanctions against Russia because of the 2020 SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign, which compromised the computer systems of nine federal agencies. Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the response "will include a mix of tools seen and unseen, and it will not simply be sanctions." The Biden administration's comprehensive review into Russian activities has included an examination of reports that the Russian government offered bounties to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The Biden administration said intelligence community has only "low to moderate" confidence in reports due to the fact that the bounty reports originated from "detainee reporting and because of the difficult operating environment in Afghanistan." Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "killer" in an ABC News interview, and said that Russia would pay a price for election meddling. On May 19, 2021, the Biden administration lifted CAATSA sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project between Russia and Germany. Despite Biden's personal opposition to the project, the U.S. State Department says that it concluded that it was in the "U.S. national interest" to waive the sanctions. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov welcomed the move as "a chance for a gradual transition toward the normalization of our bilateral ties." On June 16, 2021, Biden met with Putin in Geneva, Switzerland. The two presidents discussed a number of topics, including stable policy on climate change, nuclear proliferation, and cybersecurity. Russia's activities regarding Ukraine, Alexei Navalny, Belarus, and nationals jailed in each other's countries. The summit was significantly shorter than expected, only lasting three and a half of the predicted five hours. Putin praised Biden as a knowledgeable and shrewd negotiator the next day. In November 2021, Putin stated that an expansion of NATO's presence in Ukraine, especially the deployment of any long-range missiles capable of striking Russian cities or missile defense systems similar to those in Romania and Poland, would be a "red line" issue for Russia. In December 2021, Putin asked President Joe Biden for legal guarantees that NATO wouldn't expand eastward or put "weapons systems that threaten us in close vicinity to Russian territory." The U.S. and NATO have rejected Putin's demands. On February 24, 2022, Biden condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying Putin "chose this war" and calling him "the aggressor". He announced new sanctions against Russia. On February 25, the White House announced the US would personally sanction Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. On February 28, the Biden administration announced sanctions against Russia's central bank, prohibiting Americans from doing business with the bank and freezing the bank's assets. On March 29, 2022, Biden appeared to heighten his condemnation concerning Putin made at the end of his NATO trip to Europe, stating that he makes "no apologies" for previously stating that "Putin cannot remain in power". On April 12, he called the war a "genocide". Biden criticized the Kremlin for "idle comments" on the possible use of nuclear weapons. On April 28, Biden asked Congress for an additional $33 billion to assist Ukraine, including $20 billion to provide weapons to Ukraine. On May 10, the House passed legislation that would provide $40 billion in new aid to Ukraine. The New York Times reported that the United States provided real-time battlefield targeting intelligence to Ukraine that helped Ukrainian forces kill Russian generals and sink the Russian warship Moskva. The Biden administration has pledged to help the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Putin and others for war crimes committed during the invasion of Ukraine. On September 27, 2022, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre encouraged Russian men fleeing their home country to avoid being drafted to apply for asylum in the United States. In early 2023, the Biden administration resumed deportations of Russians who had fled Russia because of mobilization and political persecution. In January 2024, the Biden administration rejected Putin's proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine. Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan informed Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov that the United States would not discuss a ceasefire without Ukraine's participation. On May 30, 2024, Biden gave Ukraine permission to strike targets inside Russia using American-supplied weapons. Biden said "They are authorized to be used in proximity to the border. We are not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia." On August 9, 2024, a convoy of Russian troops in the Kursk Oblast of Russia was destroyed in a strike by U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket system in what Russian milbloggers described as one of the bloodiest attacks of the entire war. Ukraine In February 2022, amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the Biden administration faced questions for its year-long failure to nominate an ambassador to Ukraine. The Russian invasion of Ukraine instigated significant and substantial support to Ukraine during the Biden presidency including two dozen military aid packages to assist them against the invasion. On 28 October 2022 the Pentagon announced the 24th presidential drawdown of materiel worth $275 million; the security assistance has totaled $18.5 billion to Ukraine since January 2021. The aid includes 500 Excalibur precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds, 2000 155mm remote anti-armor mine systems, more than 1,300 anti-armor weapons, more than 2.75 million rounds of small arms ammunition, more HIMARS rockets, 125 Humvees, and four satellite communications antennas for Ukraine's command and control systems, as well as training for operation of the NASAMS units. Two NASAMS units arrived in Ukraine on 7 November 2022. On February 20, 2023, four days before the one-year anniversary of the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Biden visited Kyiv and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska. While there, Biden affirmed more military aid to Ukraine and denounced the war. The trip was unannounced, and involved major security coordinations to ensure safety. In 2022, Congress approved more than $112 billion in aid to Ukraine. In October 2023, the Biden administration requested $61.4 billion more in aid for Ukraine for the year ahead. Europe President Biden promised to repair "strained" relationships with European allies in contrast to his predecessor Trump. "An attack on one is an attack on all. That is our unshakeable vow," Biden said, referring to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty (the mutual defense clause). Biden pledged support for the European project and for Ukraine's sovereignty as well as the need for global cooperation on fighting the pandemic and climate change. U.S. relations with France deteriorated in September 2021 due to fallout from the AUKUS security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, which aimed to counter Chinese power in the Indo-Pacific region. As part of the agreement, the U.S. agreed to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. After entering into the agreement, the Australian government canceled an agreement that it had made with France for the provision of French conventionally powered submarines. The deal angered the French government, which recalled its ambassador to the U.S. (Philippe Étienne) as well as the ambassador to Australia. Amid the diplomatic row, the French Foreign Ministry contended that it had been subjected to "duplicity, disdain and lies" and French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the deal a "stab in the back". In a conciliatory call a few days later, Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to reduce bilateral tensions, and the White House acknowledged the crisis could have been averted if there had been open consultations between allies. A month later, Biden met Macron, telling him his administration was "clumsy" and that he was "under the impression that France had been informed long before" that France's deal with Australia was "not going through". In July 2024, the Biden administration announced its intention to deploy long-range missiles in Germany beginning in 2026. In response, Russian President Putin warned of a Cold War-style missile crisis and threatened to deploy long-range missiles within striking distance of the West. US weapons in Germany would include SM-6 and Tomahawk cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons. The United States' decision to deploy long-range missiles in Germany has been compared to the deployment of Pershing II launchers in Western Europe in 1979. Critics say the move would trigger a new arms race. According to Russian military analysts, it would be extremely difficult to distinguish between a conventionally armed missile and a missile carrying a nuclear warhead, and Russia could respond by deploying longer-range nuclear systems targeting Germany. Iran The Biden administration has expressed interest in re-engaging with Iran on the Iran nuclear deal. Biden's predecessor, President Trump, withdrew from the deal in 2018, resulting in swift backlash from international community. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. would be interested in re-entering the agreement so long as Iran shows "strict compliance". Blinken did not rule out a military intervention to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. On February 25, 2021, President Biden ordered retaliatory airstrikes on buildings in Syria that the Department of Defense said were used by Iranian-backed militias to carry out rocket attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq. The operation was the first known use of military force by the Biden administration. The attacks prompted condemnation from many Democratic members of Congress. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia questioned the administration's "legal justification for acting without coming to Congress." Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) claimed that "the Administration should have sought Congressional authorization." In July 2022, Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid to discuss the Iran nuclear deal and said that he continued to favor diplomacy. Lapid, however, expressed that only military threat would deter Iran from pursuing a nuclear program. Myanmar On February 1, 2021, Biden condemned the Myanmar coup d'état and called for the release of detained officials. Biden also left open the door to re-imposing sanctions on the country, saying in a statement that "[t]he United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action." On March 5, 2021, Biden imposed sanctions on Myanmar's Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence and certain junta conglomerates. On March 22, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced sanctions on several military generals in response to a violent crackdown on peaceful protests. Northern Ireland Biden has reiterated his commitment to maintaining peace in Northern Ireland by resisting the possibility of a hard border as a result of Brexit. When asked by The Irish Times in March 2021 about comments made by Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney that the UK "cannot be trusted" on the Northern Ireland protocol, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that "President Biden has been unequivocal about his support for the Good Friday Agreement." As part of his own Irish-American heritage, Psaki said that Biden "has a special place in his heart for the Irish", underpinning his commitment to Northern Ireland's peace. Saudi Arabia and Yemen Biden ordered a halt in the arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates which the Trump administration had previously agreed to. Two years after Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence under Biden's administration, announced that the intelligence report into the case against the Saudi government would be declassified. It was reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would be blamed for the murder, as was concluded by the CIA. On February 4, 2021, the Biden administration announced that the U.S. was ending its support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen. President Biden in his first visit to the State Department as president said "this war has to end" and that the conflict has created "a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe". However, the details of the end of American involvement in the war have yet to be released as of April 2021. In September 2021, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan met in Saudi Arabia with Crown Prince Bin Salman to discuss the high oil prices. The record-high energy prices were driven by a global surge in demand as the world quit the economic recession caused by COVID-19. The Biden administration was pressed on potential oil deals with Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Iran that would have them increase their oil production. However, so far, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have declined requests from the US. As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden had vowed to make the Saudis "pay the price" and make them a "pariah" state, citing the Kingdom's involvement in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. But, in June 2022, the White House confirmed that Biden was to visit Saudi Arabia and meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during his Middle East trip in July. The announcement came after inflation in the US rose to a 40-year high. The Russian invasion of Ukraine also had an impact on the oil and gas prices in the US. Biden repeatedly appealed to the Saudis to increase oil production, but the Kingdom turned down such requests. Biden's planned visit was seen as a move to seek Saudi assistance to ease the oil and gas prices at home. However, human rights activists and Democratic lawmakers warned Biden that the visit could send signals to Saudi that their horrific human rights violations could be exempted. Saudi dissidents living in the US said that as Saudi activists who were wronged by Prince Mohammed, they "feel betrayed by Biden". Son of Saad Aljabri, Khalid AlJabri said Biden's meeting with MbS would be "equivalent of a presidential pardon for murder". Democratic Representative Adam Schiff also criticized the visit saying, "I wouldn't go. I wouldn't shake his hand. This is someone who butchered an American resident, cut him up into pieces and in the most terrible and premeditated way." On 10 July 2022, president Biden defended his trip to Saudi Arabia, saying humans rights were on his agenda. In an op-ed, he wrote that he aims to "reorient and not rupture relations with a country that's been a strategic partner for 80 years", and that Saudi Arabia has helped to restore unity among the six countries of Gulf Cooperation Council and has fully supported the truce in the context of the Yemen war. Ahead of Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia, reports revealed that the Biden administration could possibly lift a ban on sales of Offensive weapons to Riyadh. However, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan they were focused on a "real ceasefire", and on Saudi efforts to end the war. After the meeting with Saudi officials, Biden announced that the Kingdom committed to extend the truce in Yemen. On 2 August 2022, the State Department approved the potential sale of 300 MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical Ballistic Missiles (GEM-T) for the Patriot missile defense system to Saudi Arabia. It also approved support equipment, spares and technical support to the Arab nation. In addition, the State Department also approved the potential sale of 96 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system interceptors and support equipment to the UAE. However, Human Rights Watch said the US should suspend sales of both offensive and defensive arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have used American weapons in unlawful airstrikes. HRW said a policy reversal by the US could lead to added rights violations in Yemen. United Arab Emirates The U.S. authorities indicted Thomas J. Barrack Jr., an outside adviser to Donald Trump during and after the 2016 United States presidential election campaign. They alleged he acted as an unregistered foreign lobbyist for the United Arab Emirates. Barrack was also accused of obstruction of justice by giving false statements to the investigators. He was found not guilty on all charges in November 2022. The DOJ also prosecuted some men for funneling more than $3.5 million to Hillary Clinton from George Nader, the royal adviser of the UAE. While federal prosecutors accused the Emirates of interfering in American politics from both sides, the relations with the Arab nation during Biden's presidency didn't witness much of the expected changes. The UAE was seen escaping its blunder-filled history of relations with the US, despite Biden's repetitive criticism against the Emirates' human rights violations and its attempts of infiltrating the US politics. Moreover, the Biden administration also permitted the arms sales of $23 billion to the UAE, which was initiated by Donald Trump and involved a transfer of sophisticated weaponry like the F-35 fighter jets. The US Justice Department did not charge any Emirati in the case. However, Barrack's indictment identified three UAE officials who were hosts at his reception in the Gulf nation after Trump's 2016 elections, and two others who were involved. Amongst the hosts was Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed, the UAE's national security adviser Tahnoun bin Zayed and director of the Emirati intelligence service, Ali Mohammed Hammad Al Shamsi. The fourth Emirati official was Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli, who "tasked" Barrack to push Emirati interests with America. Another official was Yousef Al Otaiba, who asked to remain anonymous in discussions over private matters. On 23 September 2024, the UAE president Mohammed bin Zayed visited the White House to hold meetings with President Biden and Kamala Harris. It marked the first ever meeting of an Emirati President to Washington. Biden and Harris met MbZ separately, focusing on future bilateral economic and technological relations. Prior to the meeting, Biden received a letter from the lawmakers to raise concerns with the UAE around its military support to RSF in Sudan. Appreciating Biden’s efforts towards the Sudan crisis, the lawmakers stated that the Emirati actions could become an obstruction. They urged Biden to address the concerns to Sheikh Mohammed and press the UAE to cease the support to RSF. Israel Early on, the Biden administration addressed Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The White House confirmed that the U.S. Embassy would remain in Jerusalem and it would continue to be recognized as the capital. The administration also expressed support for the Abraham Accords while wanting to expand on them, although it shied away from using that name, instead referring to it simply as "the normalization process". On 13 May 2021, in the aftermath of the Al-Aqsa mosque conflict, the Biden administration was accused of being indifferent towards the violent conflict between Israeli statehood and the Palestinian minority there. Critics on both sides identified the reaction by the White House as "lame and late". On 21 May 2021, a ceasefire was brokered between Israel and Hamas after eleven days of clashes. According to Biden, the US will be playing a key role to rebuild damaged infrastructure in the Gaza alongside the Palestinian authority. Israel–Hamas War After the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel perpetrated by Hamas, Biden stated, "We stand with Israel" three days later and emphasized the US's role in potentially freeing American hostages in Gaza. On October 14, Biden condemned the murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old Muslim boy in Chicago, by the boy's landlord. The murder was an alleged hate crime inspired by the conflict. Biden said, "There is no place in America for hate against anyone." During a speech at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner on October 15, a protestor chanted "let Gaza live" and "ceasefire now" to which Biden responded that he could not hear the protestor, but then later said "I get it. I'm not sure that's a good thing. No, I'm only joking." Biden's trip to Jordan to meet King Abdullah II, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Mahmoud Abbas was "mutually" canceled on October 17 and indefinitely postponed. President Biden traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel on October 18 and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resulting in humanitarian aid being allowed into Gaza, including food, water, and medicine. During the trip, Biden blamed the al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion on "an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza," citing US intelligence reports. He also promised to ask congress for an "unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense," potentially tied to a bill with support for Ukraine, Taiwan, and the Southern Border. Biden called on Congress to pass $14.3 billion in emergency military aid to Israel. Israel already receives $3.8 billion a year in military aid. Biden also announced that the US would send $100 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank. On November 1, after Jessica Rosenberg, a rabbi and activist from Jewish Voice for Peace, heckled Biden during a speech in Northfield, Minnesota calling for a ceasefire, Biden said, "I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out." Starting November 9, Biden negotiated four-hour pauses for civilians to flee every day after his push for three-day pauses failed. Starting on November 23, Israel agreed to a four-day ceasefire for north of Gaza for six hours a day and a complete ceasefire south of Gaza in exchange for hostages taken by Hamas. The deal was brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist, stated the Biden administration's position unconditionally supporting Israel had left him as isolated on the world stage as Russia's president Vladimir Putin. Biden has reportedly expressed frustration with Netanyahu's handling of the war, although this has not lead to a major shift in American policy. Congressional oversight on arms sales has been sidestepped by the Biden administration on two occasions in December 2023. Usually the Arms Export Control Act would require the State Department, on behalf of the president, to provide U.S. Congress advance notification of government-to-government foreign military sales of defense equipment. But the secretary of state Antony Blinken certified the existence of an "emergency" and therefore the requirement was lifted twice which raised objections from lawmakers from the Democratic Party. In February 2024, the Biden administration warned the government of Israel against its announced advance against Rafah, and NBC news reported that Biden "has been venting his frustration in recent private conversations, some of them with campaign donors, over his inability to persuade Israel to change its military tactics in the Gaza Strip". On 16 February 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported that the administration is pushing for a cease-fire deal but on the other hand is preparing another delivery of bombs and other weapons and that the administration has to notify "congressional committee leaders who would need to approve the transfer." On 20 February, the U.S. government vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. After the killing of Palestinian civilians receiving food aid on February 29, Biden expressed that the current level of aid flowing into Gaza was insufficient. On March 3, US military began airdropping food aid into Gaza. Some experts called the US airdrops performative and claimed they would do little to alleviate the food situation in Gaza. In July 2024, following Biden's decision not to seek re-election, Palestinian advocacy groups stated they believed that the war would define Biden's presidential legacy. On July 10, 2024, the Biden administration resumed shipments of the 500-pound bombs to Israel, which were halted in May over concerns about the humanitarian impact of Israel's use of them in killing Palestinians in Gaza. On September 17, 2024, thousands of handheld pagers used by Hezbollah simultaneously exploded across Lebanon and Syria. The attack came just a day after the Biden administration's special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel and warned Benjamin Netanyahu against provoking a major escalation in Lebanon. Palestine During a July 2022 visit to Israel, Biden stressed the importance of keeping the two-state vision alive. He met with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and announced a new aid package to the Palestinians. During the administration of his predecessor Donald Trump, U.S. contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees had been defunded. On the Israeli end, Prime Minister Yair Lapid reaffirmed his position on a two-state solution. Worldwide LGBT rights On February 4, 2021, Biden issued a presidential memorandum for expanding protection of LGBT rights worldwide, which includes the possibility to impose financial sanctions. The US State Department released a statement on Intersex Awareness Day promoting LGBTQI+ rights around the globe, saying, "Intersex persons often face stigma and discrimination in accessing education, healthcare, and legal recognition, and are subjected to medically unnecessary surgeries. These harmful practices, which can cause lifelong negative physical and emotional consequences, are a medical form of so-called conversion therapy practices in that they seek to physically “convert” Intersex children into non-Intersex children." Biden announced he would be removing Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade deal over the country's anti-LGBT bill that included the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" and life-in-prison for identifying as LGBT. Investigations of Biden Hur special counsel investigation Biden's attorneys informed the National Archives Administration in November 2022 that classified documents from before Biden's presidency had been found at the Penn Biden Center. Days later Attorney General Garland tasked U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. with conducting an initial investigation. On January 5, 2023, Lausch advised Garland that the assignment of a special counsel was warranted. On January 12, Garland announced that he was appointing a special counsel to investigate "possible unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or other records", and appointed Robert K. Hur as special counsel. Hur released his report on February 8, 2024, stating that the "evidence does not establish Mr. Biden's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt". The report's final conclusion was that "no criminal charges are warranted in this matter" and that it would be "the same even if there was no policy against charging a sitting president". Congressional investigations On September 12, 2023, Speaker McCarthy acceded to the right wing of the House Republican Conference and announced the launch of an impeachment inquiry into Biden. McCarthy claimed that earlier findings of House investigations "paint a picture of corruption" involving Biden and his relatives. Prior investigations have failed to find evidence of wrongdoing by the president. The impeachment inquiry fizzled out by April 2024. Elections during the Biden presidency 2022 midterm elections Despite Biden's low approvals, a red wave did not occur during the president's midterm as many had anticipated. Democrats expanded their narrow Senate majority while Republicans took control of the House of Representatives by a far smaller margin than expected. This was largely attributed to a backlash against the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, as well as the perceived extremeness of certain Republican candidates in competitive races. It was the first midterm election since 1986 in which the party of the incumbent president achieved a net gain in governorships, and the first since 1934 in which the president's party didn't lose any state legislative chambers or incumbent senators. Many pundits had failed to predict the Democrats' resilient performance; Simon Rosenberg was one exception. Polls for the election cycle were the most accurate since 1998, though Republican-aligned pollsters such as the Trafalgar Group had a notable polling miss. The results drew praise from the Democratic Party, and Biden celebrated the results as a strong day for democracy. 2024 elections Initial Biden campaign and withdrawal After speculation Biden would not seek re-election due to his advanced age and poor job approval, Biden officially announced his reelection campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election on April 25, 2023. He became the presumptive Democratic party nominee on March 12, 2024, facing no effective challengers in the primaries. Following what was widely viewed as a lackluster performance in the first presidential debate against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and numerous age and health concerns, Biden faced repeated calls to suspend his candidacy. On July 21, 2024, Biden announced in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he was suspending his campaign. He stated that "while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term", and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in his stead. General election Following the attempted assassination of his then-opponent Donald Trump, Biden condemned the shooting and, in an Oval Office address the next day, spoke about the "need for to lower the temperature" of its political rhetoric. Biden defended his record as president at the Democratic National Convention and advocated for the election of Harris in one of the last speeches of his presidency. The convention was largely portrayed as an honoring of his political legacy. Approval ratings and image Very early in Biden's presidency, opinion polls found that Biden's approval ratings were steadier than Trump's, with an average approval rating of 55% and an average disapproval rate of 39%. Biden's early approval ratings have been more polarized than Trump's, with 98% of Democrats, 61% of independents and 11% of Republicans approving of Biden's presidency in February 2021, a party gap of 87%. Around the end of his first hundred days in office, Biden's approval rating was higher than Trump's but was the third worst since the presidency of Harry Truman; only Trump and Gerald Ford scored lower. After the fall of Kabul and the surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant in July and August 2021, Biden's approval rating began to steadily decline, from a high of 52.7% approval on July 26, 2021, to 45.9% approval by September 3, 2021, according to FiveThirtyEight. While the White House emphasized COVID-19 as causing his low approval rating, inflation, the highest in nearly 40 years, has also been described as a cause. Biden's lowest approval rating on record comes from a Quinnipiac University poll in July 2022, which showed just 31% of respondents approving of his performance as president. By the one-year anniversary of Biden's presidency on January 20, 2022, Gallup recorded the average approval rating for Biden's first year as 49%, which was the second-lowest first-year average approval rating for any American president since World War II; only Trump's first-year average of 38.4% was lower. Gallup further noted that there was greater political polarization in Biden's approval ratings than any other first-year president in modern history, with 91% of Democrats supporting Biden while just 8% of Republicans supported him, resulting in a party gap of 83%. The only other year of any presidency that saw greater polarization was Trump's final year in office. The July 2022 Gallup survey saw Biden's sixth quarter approval rating of 40%, the lowest sixth quarter rating of any president in modern history dating back to Dwight Eisenhower. Until April 23, according to figures compiled by FiveThirtyEight, Biden's approval rating stood at 42.3 percent, a slight improvement from the sub-40 percent level reached in the summer of 2022, but still well below the peak of 53 percent when he began his presidency in January 2021. An October 30, 2023 poll by the Arab American Institute, support for Biden among Arab Americans dropped from 59% in 2020 to 17%. The drop in support has been attributed to the administration's handling of the 2023 Israel–Hamas War. According to Gallup, in July 2024, Biden's approval rating dropped to 36%, the lowest of his presidency, prior to his decision to end his re-election campaign; his highest approval rating dated back to 57% in April 2021. Media appearances Biden has been interviewed for several news outlets and appeared on several late-night talk shows throughout his presidency. In December 2021, Biden appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon where they discussed "his Build Back Better Plan, the importance of his bipartisan friendship with the late Sen. Bob Dole, rejecting extremism and getting Americans vaccinated against COVID-19." In June 2022, Biden appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! where he discussed "27 school shootings in America in 2022, why he believes nothing has been done so far about gun violence, an overwhelming amount of Americans supporting background checks, meeting with families after the tragic events in Uvalde, Texas, the idea of passing an Executive Order, the strides made in regard to Climate Change, Joe Manchin & Kyrsten Sinema's voting record, housing, food and gas prices being very high and what he intends to do about inflation, the negative impact that the pandemic has had on families and the need for mental health care, being optimistic about this generation of young people, changes in the press, his process for flushing documents down the toilets, what his intentions are if Roe v Wade does in fact get overturned, and his hopes for America." In July 2022, comedian and host of The Late Late Show, James Corden, visited the White House and spoke with Biden, Jen Psaki, and White House custodian staff. He also gave a fake press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. Biden has also been interviewed by Drew Barrymore, Jake Tapper, Jonathan Capehart, Yonit Levi, George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Scott Pelley, Lester Holt, and Norah O'Donnell, for The Drew Barrymore Show, CNN, MSNBC, Channel 12 in Israel, ABC News, 60 Minutes, NBC, and CBS News, as well as a solo interview by Heather Cox Richardson and Brian Tyler Cohen. Notably, Biden has not sat down with Fox News, despite its popularity in the United States. News outlets have criticized Biden for only doing a limited amount of interviews during his tenure. Biden participated in 23 interviews in his first 100 days, compared to 95 for Donald Trump, 187 for Barack Obama, 60 for George W. Bush, 64 for Bill Clinton, 70 for George H. W. Bush, and 78 for Ronald Reagan. Notes References Further reading Foer, Franklin (2023). The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-101-98114-6. OCLC 1395141546. Excerpt. Wayne, Stephen J. (2022). The Biden Presidency: Politics, Policy, and Polarization. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-01007-6. OCLC 1306538369. Excerpt; covers first 18 months. Whipple, Chris (2023). The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden's White House. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1-9821-0643-0. OCLC 1333841502. Excerpt; comprehensive history of first two years. External links Coverage of Joe Biden's presidency at the Miller Center of Public Affairs

Ordinal_number

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinal_number

In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, nth, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets. A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the least natural number that has not been previously used. To extend this process to various infinite sets, ordinal numbers are defined more generally using linearly ordered greek letter variables that include the natural numbers and have the property that every set of ordinals has a least or "smallest" element (this is needed for giving a meaning to "the least unused element"). This more general definition allows us to define an ordinal number ω {\displaystyle \omega } (omega) to be the least element that is greater than every natural number, along with ordinal numbers ⁠ ω + 1 {\displaystyle \omega +1} ⁠, ⁠ ω + 2 {\displaystyle \omega +2} ⁠, etc., which are even greater than ⁠ ω {\displaystyle \omega } ⁠. A linear order such that every non-empty subset has a least element is called a well-order. The axiom of choice implies that every set can be well-ordered, and given two well-ordered sets, one is isomorphic to an initial segment of the other. So ordinal numbers exist and are essentially unique. Ordinal numbers are distinct from cardinal numbers, which measure the size of sets. Although the distinction between ordinals and cardinals is not always apparent on finite sets (one can go from one to the other just by counting labels), they are very different in the infinite case, where different infinite ordinals can correspond to sets having the same cardinal. Like other kinds of numbers, ordinals can be added, multiplied, and exponentiated, although none of these operations are commutative. Ordinals were introduced by Georg Cantor in 1883 in order to accommodate infinite sequences and classify derived sets, which he had previously introduced in 1872 while studying the uniqueness of trigonometric series. Ordinals extend the natural numbers A natural number (which, in this context, includes the number 0) can be used for two purposes: to describe the size of a set, or to describe the position of an element in a sequence. When restricted to finite sets, these two concepts coincide, since all linear orders of a finite set are isomorphic. When dealing with infinite sets, however, one has to distinguish between the notion of size, which leads to cardinal numbers, and the notion of position, which leads to the ordinal numbers described here. This is because while any set has only one size (its cardinality), there are many nonisomorphic well-orderings of any infinite set, as explained below. Whereas the notion of cardinal number is associated with a set with no particular structure on it, the ordinals are intimately linked with the special kind of sets that are called well-ordered. A well-ordered set is a totally ordered set in which every non-empty subset has a least element (a totally ordered set is an ordered set such that, given two distinct elements, one is less than the other). Equivalently, assuming the axiom of dependent choice, it is a totally ordered set without any infinite decreasing sequence — though there may be infinite increasing sequences. Ordinals may be used to label the elements of any given well-ordered set (the smallest element being labelled 0, the one after that 1, the next one 2, "and so on"), and to measure the "length" of the whole set by the least ordinal that is not a label for an element of the set. This "length" is called the order type of the set. Any ordinal is defined by the set of ordinals that precede it. In fact, the most common definition of ordinals identifies each ordinal as the set of ordinals that precede it. For example, the ordinal 42 is generally identified as the set {0, 1, 2, ..., 41}. Conversely, any set S of ordinals that is downward closed — meaning that for any ordinal α in S and any ordinal β < α, β is also in S — is (or can be identified with) an ordinal. This definition of ordinals in terms of sets allows for infinite ordinals. The smallest infinite ordinal is ⁠ ω {\displaystyle \omega } ⁠, which can be identified with the set of natural numbers (so that the ordinal associated with every natural number precedes ω {\displaystyle \omega } ). Indeed, the set of natural numbers is well-ordered—as is any set of ordinals—and since it is downward closed, it can be identified with the ordinal associated with it. Perhaps a clearer intuition of ordinals can be formed by examining a first few of them: as mentioned above, they start with the natural numbers, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ... After all natural numbers comes the first infinite ordinal, ω, and after that come ω+1, ω+2, ω+3, and so on. (Exactly what addition means will be defined later on: just consider them as names.) After all of these come ω·2 (which is ω+ω), ω·2+1, ω·2+2, and so on, then ω·3, and then later on ω·4. Now the set of ordinals formed in this way (the ω·m+n, where m and n are natural numbers) must itself have an ordinal associated with it: and that is ω2. Further on, there will be ω3, then ω4, and so on, and ωω, then ωωω, then later ωωωω, and even later ε0 (epsilon nought) (to give a few examples of relatively small—countable—ordinals). This can be continued indefinitely (as every time one says "and so on" when enumerating ordinals, it defines a larger ordinal). The smallest uncountable ordinal is the set of all countable ordinals, expressed as ω1 or ⁠ Ω {\displaystyle \Omega } ⁠. Definitions Well-ordered sets In a well-ordered set, every non-empty subset contains a distinct smallest element. Given the axiom of dependent choice, this is equivalent to saying that the set is totally ordered and there is no infinite decreasing sequence (the latter being easier to visualize). In practice, the importance of well-ordering is justified by the possibility of applying transfinite induction, which says, essentially, that any property that passes on from the predecessors of an element to that element itself must be true of all elements (of the given well-ordered set). If the states of a computation (computer program or game) can be well-ordered—in such a way that each step is followed by a "lower" step—then the computation will terminate. It is inappropriate to distinguish between two well-ordered sets if they only differ in the "labeling of their elements", or more formally: if the elements of the first set can be paired off with the elements of the second set such that if one element is smaller than another in the first set, then the partner of the first element is smaller than the partner of the second element in the second set, and vice versa. Such a one-to-one correspondence is called an order isomorphism, and the two well-ordered sets are said to be order-isomorphic or similar (with the understanding that this is an equivalence relation). Formally, if a partial order ≤ is defined on the set S, and a partial order ≤' is defined on the set S' , then the posets (S,≤) and (S' ,≤') are order isomorphic if there is a bijection f that preserves the ordering. That is, f(a) ≤' f(b) if and only if a ≤ b. Provided there exists an order isomorphism between two well-ordered sets, the order isomorphism is unique: this makes it quite justifiable to consider the two sets as essentially identical, and to seek a "canonical" representative of the isomorphism type (class). This is exactly what the ordinals provide, and it also provides a canonical labeling of the elements of any well-ordered set. Every well-ordered set (S,<) is order-isomorphic to the set of ordinals less than one specific ordinal number under their natural ordering. This canonical set is the order type of (S,<). Essentially, an ordinal is intended to be defined as an isomorphism class of well-ordered sets: that is, as an equivalence class for the equivalence relation of "being order-isomorphic". There is a technical difficulty involved, however, in the fact that the equivalence class is too large to be a set in the usual Zermelo–Fraenkel (ZF) formalization of set theory. But this is not a serious difficulty. The ordinal can be said to be the order type of any set in the class. Definition of an ordinal as an equivalence class The original definition of ordinal numbers, found for example in the Principia Mathematica, defines the order type of a well-ordering as the set of all well-orderings similar (order-isomorphic) to that well-ordering: in other words, an ordinal number is genuinely an equivalence class of well-ordered sets. This definition must be abandoned in ZF and related systems of axiomatic set theory because these equivalence classes are too large to form a set. However, this definition still can be used in type theory and in Quine's axiomatic set theory New Foundations and related systems (where it affords a rather surprising alternative solution to the Burali-Forti paradox of the largest ordinal). Von Neumann definition of ordinals Rather than defining an ordinal as an equivalence class of well-ordered sets, it will be defined as a particular well-ordered set that (canonically) represents the class. Thus, an ordinal number will be a well-ordered set; and every well-ordered set will be order-isomorphic to exactly one ordinal number. For each well-ordered set T, a ↦ T < a {\displaystyle a\mapsto T_{<a}} defines an order isomorphism between T and the set of all subsets of T having the form T < a := { x ∈ T ∣ x < a } {\displaystyle T_{<a}:=\{x\in T\mid x<a\}} ordered by inclusion. This motivates the standard definition, suggested by John von Neumann at the age of 19, now called definition of von Neumann ordinals: "each ordinal is the well-ordered set of all smaller ordinals". In symbols, ⁠ λ = [ 0 , λ ) {\displaystyle \lambda =[0,\lambda )} ⁠. Formally: A set S is an ordinal if and only if S is strictly well-ordered with respect to set membership and every element of S is also a subset of S. The natural numbers are thus ordinals by this definition. For instance, 2 is an element of 4 = {0, 1, 2, 3}, and 2 is equal to {0, 1} and so it is a subset of {0, 1, 2, 3}. It can be shown by transfinite induction that every well-ordered set is order-isomorphic to exactly one of these ordinals, that is, there is an order preserving bijective function between them. Furthermore, the elements of every ordinal are ordinals themselves. Given two ordinals S and T, S is an element of T if and only if S is a proper subset of T. Moreover, either S is an element of T, or T is an element of S, or they are equal. So every set of ordinals is totally ordered. Further, every set of ordinals is well-ordered. This generalizes the fact that every set of natural numbers is well-ordered. Consequently, every ordinal S is a set having as elements precisely the ordinals smaller than S. For example, every set of ordinals has a supremum, the ordinal obtained by taking the union of all the ordinals in the set. This union exists regardless of the set's size, by the axiom of union. The class of all ordinals is not a set. If it were a set, one could show that it was an ordinal and thus a member of itself, which would contradict its strict ordering by membership. This is the Burali-Forti paradox. The class of all ordinals is variously called "Ord", "ON", or "∞". An ordinal is finite if and only if the opposite order is also well-ordered, which is the case if and only if each of its non-empty subsets has a maximum. Other definitions There are other modern formulations of the definition of ordinal. For example, assuming the axiom of regularity, the following are equivalent for a set x: x is a (von Neumann) ordinal, x is a transitive set, and set membership is trichotomous on x, x is a transitive set totally ordered by set inclusion, x is a transitive set of transitive sets. These definitions cannot be used in non-well-founded set theories. In set theories with urelements, one has to further make sure that the definition excludes urelements from appearing in ordinals. Transfinite sequence If α is any ordinal and X is a set, an α-indexed sequence of elements of X is a function from α to X. This concept, a transfinite sequence (if α is infinite) or ordinal-indexed sequence, is a generalization of the concept of a sequence. An ordinary sequence corresponds to the case α = ω, while a finite α corresponds to a tuple, a.k.a. string. Transfinite induction Transfinite induction holds in any well-ordered set, but it is so important in relation to ordinals that it is worth restating here. Any property that passes from the set of ordinals smaller than a given ordinal α to α itself, is true of all ordinals. That is, if P(α) is true whenever P(β) is true for all β < α, then P(α) is true for all α. Or, more practically: in order to prove a property P for all ordinals α, one can assume that it is already known for all smaller β < α. Transfinite recursion Transfinite induction can be used not only to prove things, but also to define them. Such a definition is normally said to be by transfinite recursion – the proof that the result is well-defined uses transfinite induction. Let F denote a (class) function F to be defined on the ordinals. The idea now is that, in defining F(α) for an unspecified ordinal α, one may assume that F(β) is already defined for all β < α and thus give a formula for F(α) in terms of these F(β). It then follows by transfinite induction that there is one and only one function satisfying the recursion formula up to and including α. Here is an example of definition by transfinite recursion on the ordinals (more will be given later): define function F by letting F(α) be the smallest ordinal not in the set {F(β) | β < α}, that is, the set consisting of all F(β) for β < α. This definition assumes the F(β) known in the very process of defining F; this apparent vicious circle is exactly what definition by transfinite recursion permits. In fact, F(0) makes sense since there is no ordinal β < 0, and the set {F(β) | β < 0} is empty. So F(0) is equal to 0 (the smallest ordinal of all). Now that F(0) is known, the definition applied to F(1) makes sense (it is the smallest ordinal not in the singleton set {F(0)} = {0}), and so on (the and so on is exactly transfinite induction). It turns out that this example is not very exciting, since provably F(α) = α for all ordinals α, which can be shown, precisely, by transfinite induction. Successor and limit ordinals Any nonzero ordinal has the minimum element, zero. It may or may not have a maximum element. For example, 42 has maximum 41 and ω+6 has maximum ω+5. On the other hand, ω does not have a maximum since there is no largest natural number. If an ordinal has a maximum α, then it is the next ordinal after α, and it is called a successor ordinal, namely the successor of α, written α+1. In the von Neumann definition of ordinals, the successor of α is α ∪ { α } {\displaystyle \alpha \cup \{\alpha \}} since its elements are those of α and α itself. A nonzero ordinal that is not a successor is called a limit ordinal. One justification for this term is that a limit ordinal is the limit in a topological sense of all smaller ordinals (under the order topology). When ⟨ α ι | ι < γ ⟩ {\displaystyle \langle \alpha _{\iota }|\iota <\gamma \rangle } is an ordinal-indexed sequence, indexed by a limit γ {\displaystyle \gamma } and the sequence is increasing, i.e. α ι < α ρ {\displaystyle \alpha _{\iota }<\alpha _{\rho }} whenever ι < ρ , {\displaystyle \iota <\rho ,} its limit is defined as the least upper bound of the set { α ι | ι < γ } , {\displaystyle \{\alpha _{\iota }|\iota <\gamma \},} that is, the smallest ordinal (it always exists) greater than any term of the sequence. In this sense, a limit ordinal is the limit of all smaller ordinals (indexed by itself). Put more directly, it is the supremum of the set of smaller ordinals. Another way of defining a limit ordinal is to say that α is a limit ordinal if and only if: There is an ordinal less than α and whenever ζ is an ordinal less than α, then there exists an ordinal ξ such that ζ < ξ < α. So in the following sequence: 0, 1, 2, ..., ω, ω+1 ω is a limit ordinal because for any smaller ordinal (in this example, a natural number) there is another ordinal (natural number) larger than it, but still less than ω. Thus, every ordinal is either zero, or a successor (of a well-defined predecessor), or a limit. This distinction is important, because many definitions by transfinite recursion rely upon it. Very often, when defining a function F by transfinite recursion on all ordinals, one defines F(0), and F(α+1) assuming F(α) is defined, and then, for limit ordinals δ one defines F(δ) as the limit of the F(β) for all β<δ (either in the sense of ordinal limits, as previously explained, or for some other notion of limit if F does not take ordinal values). Thus, the interesting step in the definition is the successor step, not the limit ordinals. Such functions (especially for F nondecreasing and taking ordinal values) are called continuous. Ordinal addition, multiplication and exponentiation are continuous as functions of their second argument (but can be defined non-recursively). Indexing classes of ordinals Any well-ordered set is similar (order-isomorphic) to a unique ordinal number α {\displaystyle \alpha } ; in other words, its elements can be indexed in increasing fashion by the ordinals less than ⁠ α {\displaystyle \alpha } ⁠. This applies, in particular, to any set of ordinals: any set of ordinals is naturally indexed by the ordinals less than some ⁠ α {\displaystyle \alpha } ⁠. The same holds, with a slight modification, for classes of ordinals (a collection of ordinals, possibly too large to form a set, defined by some property): any class of ordinals can be indexed by ordinals (and, when the class is unbounded in the class of all ordinals, this puts it in class-bijection with the class of all ordinals). So the γ {\displaystyle \gamma } -th element in the class (with the convention that the "0-th" is the smallest, the "1-st" is the next smallest, and so on) can be freely spoken of. Formally, the definition is by transfinite induction: the γ {\displaystyle \gamma } -th element of the class is defined (provided it has already been defined for all β < γ {\displaystyle \beta <\gamma } ), as the smallest element greater than the β {\displaystyle \beta } -th element for all ⁠ β < γ {\displaystyle \beta <\gamma } ⁠. This could be applied, for example, to the class of limit ordinals: the γ {\displaystyle \gamma } -th ordinal, which is either a limit or zero is ω ⋅ γ {\displaystyle \omega \cdot \gamma } (see ordinal arithmetic for the definition of multiplication of ordinals). Similarly, one can consider additively indecomposable ordinals (meaning a nonzero ordinal that is not the sum of two strictly smaller ordinals): the γ {\displaystyle \gamma } -th additively indecomposable ordinal is indexed as ⁠ ω γ {\displaystyle \omega ^{\gamma }} ⁠. The technique of indexing classes of ordinals is often useful in the context of fixed points: for example, the γ {\displaystyle \gamma } -th ordinal α {\displaystyle \alpha } such that ω α = α {\displaystyle \omega ^{\alpha }=\alpha } is written ⁠ ε γ {\displaystyle \varepsilon _{\gamma }} ⁠. These are called the "epsilon numbers". Closed unbounded sets and classes A class C {\displaystyle C} of ordinals is said to be unbounded, or cofinal, when given any ordinal ⁠ α {\displaystyle \alpha } ⁠, there is a β {\displaystyle \beta } in C {\displaystyle C} such that α < β {\displaystyle \alpha <\beta } (then the class must be a proper class, i.e., it cannot be a set). It is said to be closed when the limit of a sequence of ordinals in the class is again in the class: or, equivalently, when the indexing (class-)function F {\displaystyle F} is continuous in the sense that, for δ {\displaystyle \delta } a limit ordinal, F ( δ ) {\displaystyle F(\delta )} (the δ {\displaystyle \delta } -th ordinal in the class) is the limit of all F ( γ ) {\displaystyle F(\gamma )} for γ < δ {\displaystyle \gamma <\delta } ; this is also the same as being closed, in the topological sense, for the order topology (to avoid talking of topology on proper classes, one can demand that the intersection of the class with any given ordinal is closed for the order topology on that ordinal, this is again equivalent). Of particular importance are those classes of ordinals that are closed and unbounded, sometimes called clubs. For example, the class of all limit ordinals is closed and unbounded: this translates the fact that there is always a limit ordinal greater than a given ordinal, and that a limit of limit ordinals is a limit ordinal (a fortunate fact if the terminology is to make any sense at all!). The class of additively indecomposable ordinals, or the class of ε ⋅ {\displaystyle \varepsilon _{\cdot }} ordinals, or the class of cardinals, are all closed unbounded; the set of regular cardinals, however, is unbounded but not closed, and any finite set of ordinals is closed but not unbounded. A class is stationary if it has a nonempty intersection with every closed unbounded class. All superclasses of closed unbounded classes are stationary, and stationary classes are unbounded, but there are stationary classes that are not closed and stationary classes that have no closed unbounded subclass (such as the class of all limit ordinals with countable cofinality). Since the intersection of two closed unbounded classes is closed and unbounded, the intersection of a stationary class and a closed unbounded class is stationary. But the intersection of two stationary classes may be empty, e.g. the class of ordinals with cofinality ω with the class of ordinals with uncountable cofinality. Rather than formulating these definitions for (proper) classes of ordinals, one can formulate them for sets of ordinals below a given ordinal α {\displaystyle \alpha } : A subset of a limit ordinal α {\displaystyle \alpha } is said to be unbounded (or cofinal) under α {\displaystyle \alpha } provided any ordinal less than α {\displaystyle \alpha } is less than some ordinal in the set. More generally, one can call a subset of any ordinal α {\displaystyle \alpha } cofinal in α {\displaystyle \alpha } provided every ordinal less than α {\displaystyle \alpha } is less than or equal to some ordinal in the set. The subset is said to be closed under α {\displaystyle \alpha } provided it is closed for the order topology in ⁠ α {\displaystyle \alpha } ⁠, i.e. a limit of ordinals in the set is either in the set or equal to α {\displaystyle \alpha } itself. Arithmetic of ordinals There are three usual operations on ordinals: addition, multiplication, and exponentiation. Each can be defined in essentially two different ways: either by constructing an explicit well-ordered set that represents the operation or by using transfinite recursion. The Cantor normal form provides a standardized way of writing ordinals. It uniquely represents each ordinal as a finite sum of ordinal powers of ω. However, this cannot form the basis of a universal ordinal notation due to such self-referential representations as ε0 = ωε0. Ordinals are a subclass of the class of surreal numbers, and the so-called "natural" arithmetical operations for surreal numbers are an alternative way to combine ordinals arithmetically. They retain commutativity at the expense of continuity. Interpreted as nimbers, a game-theoretic variant of numbers, ordinals can also be combined via nimber arithmetic operations. These operations are commutative but the restriction to natural numbers is generally not the same as ordinary addition of natural numbers. Ordinals and cardinals Initial ordinal of a cardinal Each ordinal associates with one cardinal, its cardinality. If there is a bijection between two ordinals (e.g. ω = 1 + ω and ω + 1 > ω), then they associate with the same cardinal. Any well-ordered set having an ordinal as its order-type has the same cardinality as that ordinal. The least ordinal associated with a given cardinal is called the initial ordinal of that cardinal. Every finite ordinal (natural number) is initial, and no other ordinal associates with its cardinal. But most infinite ordinals are not initial, as many infinite ordinals associate with the same cardinal. The axiom of choice is equivalent to the statement that every set can be well-ordered, i.e. that every cardinal has an initial ordinal. In theories with the axiom of choice, the cardinal number of any set has an initial ordinal, and one may employ the Von Neumann cardinal assignment as the cardinal's representation. (However, we must then be careful to distinguish between cardinal arithmetic and ordinal arithmetic.) In set theories without the axiom of choice, a cardinal may be represented by the set of sets with that cardinality having minimal rank (see Scott's trick). One issue with Scott's trick is that it identifies the cardinal number 0 {\displaystyle 0} with ⁠ { ∅ } {\displaystyle \{\emptyset \}} ⁠, which in some formulations is the ordinal number ⁠ 1 {\displaystyle 1} ⁠. It may be clearer to apply Von Neumann cardinal assignment to finite cases and to use Scott's trick for sets which are infinite or do not admit well orderings. Note that cardinal and ordinal arithmetic agree for finite numbers. The α-th infinite initial ordinal is written ⁠ ω α {\displaystyle \omega _{\alpha }} ⁠, it is always a limit ordinal. Its cardinality is written ⁠ ℵ α {\displaystyle \aleph _{\alpha }} ⁠. For example, the cardinality of ω0 = ω is ⁠ ℵ 0 {\displaystyle \aleph _{0}} ⁠, which is also the cardinality of ω2 or ε0 (all are countable ordinals). So ω can be identified with ⁠ ℵ 0 {\displaystyle \aleph _{0}} ⁠, except that the notation ℵ 0 {\displaystyle \aleph _{0}} is used when writing cardinals, and ω when writing ordinals (this is important since, for example, ℵ 0 2 {\displaystyle \aleph _{0}^{2}} = ℵ 0 {\displaystyle \aleph _{0}} whereas ω 2 > ω {\displaystyle \omega ^{2}>\omega } ). Also, ω 1 {\displaystyle \omega _{1}} is the smallest uncountable ordinal (to see that it exists, consider the set of equivalence classes of well-orderings of the natural numbers: each such well-ordering defines a countable ordinal, and ω 1 {\displaystyle \omega _{1}} is the order type of that set), ω 2 {\displaystyle \omega _{2}} is the smallest ordinal whose cardinality is greater than ⁠ ℵ 1 {\displaystyle \aleph _{1}} ⁠, and so on, and ω ω {\displaystyle \omega _{\omega }} is the limit of the ω n {\displaystyle \omega _{n}} for natural numbers n (any limit of cardinals is a cardinal, so this limit is indeed the first cardinal after all the ω n {\displaystyle \omega _{n}} ). Cofinality The cofinality of an ordinal α {\displaystyle \alpha } is the smallest ordinal δ {\displaystyle \delta } that is the order type of a cofinal subset of ⁠ α {\displaystyle \alpha } ⁠. Notice that a number of authors define cofinality or use it only for limit ordinals. The cofinality of a set of ordinals or any other well-ordered set is the cofinality of the order type of that set. Thus for a limit ordinal, there exists a δ {\displaystyle \delta } -indexed strictly increasing sequence with limit ⁠ α {\displaystyle \alpha } ⁠. For example, the cofinality of ω2 is ω, because the sequence ω·m (where m ranges over the natural numbers) tends to ω2; but, more generally, any countable limit ordinal has cofinality ω. An uncountable limit ordinal may have either cofinality ω as does ω ω {\displaystyle \omega _{\omega }} or an uncountable cofinality. The cofinality of 0 is 0. And the cofinality of any successor ordinal is 1. The cofinality of any limit ordinal is at least ⁠ ω {\displaystyle \omega } ⁠. An ordinal that is equal to its cofinality is called regular and it is always an initial ordinal. Any limit of regular ordinals is a limit of initial ordinals and thus is also initial even if it is not regular, which it usually is not. If the Axiom of Choice, then ω α + 1 {\displaystyle \omega _{\alpha +1}} is regular for each α. In this case, the ordinals 0, 1, ⁠ ω {\displaystyle \omega } ⁠, ⁠ ω 1 {\displaystyle \omega _{1}} ⁠, and ω 2 {\displaystyle \omega _{2}} are regular, whereas 2, 3, ⁠ ω ω {\displaystyle \omega _{\omega }} ⁠, and ωω·2 are initial ordinals that are not regular. The cofinality of any ordinal α is a regular ordinal, i.e. the cofinality of the cofinality of α is the same as the cofinality of α. So the cofinality operation is idempotent. Some "large" countable ordinals As mentioned above (see Cantor normal form), the ordinal ε0 is the smallest satisfying the equation ⁠ ω α = α {\displaystyle \omega ^{\alpha }=\alpha } ⁠, so it is the limit of the sequence 0, 1, ⁠ ω {\displaystyle \omega } ⁠, ⁠ ω ω {\displaystyle \omega ^{\omega }} ⁠, ⁠ ω ω ω {\displaystyle \omega ^{\omega ^{\omega }}} ⁠, etc. Many ordinals can be defined in such a manner as fixed points of certain ordinal functions (the ι {\displaystyle \iota } -th ordinal such that ω α = α {\displaystyle \omega ^{\alpha }=\alpha } is called ⁠ ε ι {\displaystyle \varepsilon _{\iota }} ⁠, then one could go on trying to find the ι {\displaystyle \iota } -th ordinal such that ⁠ ε α = α {\displaystyle \varepsilon _{\alpha }=\alpha } ⁠, "and so on", but all the subtlety lies in the "and so on"). One could try to do this systematically, but no matter what system is used to define and construct ordinals, there is always an ordinal that lies just above all the ordinals constructed by the system. Perhaps the most important ordinal that limits a system of construction in this manner is the Church–Kleene ordinal, ω 1 C K {\displaystyle \omega _{1}^{\mathrm {CK} }} (despite the ω 1 {\displaystyle \omega _{1}} in the name, this ordinal is countable), which is the smallest ordinal that cannot in any way be represented by a computable function (this can be made rigorous, of course). Considerably large ordinals can be defined below ⁠ ω 1 C K {\displaystyle \omega _{1}^{\mathrm {CK} }} ⁠, however, which measure the "proof-theoretic strength" of certain formal systems (for example, ε 0 {\displaystyle \varepsilon _{0}} measures the strength of Peano arithmetic). Large countable ordinals such as countable admissible ordinals can also be defined above the Church-Kleene ordinal, which are of interest in various parts of logic. Topology and ordinals Any ordinal number can be made into a topological space by endowing it with the order topology; this topology is discrete if and only if the ordinal is a countable cardinal, i.e. at most ω. A subset of ω + 1 is open in the order topology if and only if either it is cofinite or it does not contain ω as an element. See the Topology and ordinals section of the "Order topology" article. History The transfinite ordinal numbers, which first appeared in 1883, originated in Cantor's work with derived sets. If P is a set of real numbers, the derived set P′ is the set of limit points of P. In 1872, Cantor generated the sets P(n) by applying the derived set operation n times to P. In 1880, he pointed out that these sets form the sequence P' ⊇ ··· ⊇ P(n) ⊇ P(n + 1) ⊇ ···, and he continued the derivation process by defining P(∞) as the intersection of these sets. Then he iterated the derived set operation and intersections to extend his sequence of sets into the infinite: P(∞) ⊇ P(∞ + 1) ⊇ P(∞ + 2) ⊇ ··· ⊇ P(2∞) ⊇ ··· ⊇ P(∞2) ⊇ ···. The superscripts containing ∞ are just indices defined by the derivation process. Cantor used these sets in the theorems: These theorems are proved by partitioning P′ into pairwise disjoint sets: P′ = (P′\ P(2)) ∪ (P(2) \ P(3)) ∪ ··· ∪ (P(∞) \ P(∞ + 1)) ∪ ··· ∪ P(α). For β < α: since P(β + 1) contains the limit points of P(β), the sets P(β) \ P(β + 1) have no limit points. Hence, they are discrete sets, so they are countable. Proof of first theorem: If P(α) = ∅ for some index α, then P′ is the countable union of countable sets. Therefore, P′ is countable. The second theorem requires proving the existence of an α such that P(α) = ∅. To prove this, Cantor considered the set of all α having countably many predecessors. To define this set, he defined the transfinite ordinal numbers and transformed the infinite indices into ordinals by replacing ∞ with ω, the first transfinite ordinal number. Cantor called the set of finite ordinals the first number class. The second number class is the set of ordinals whose predecessors form a countably infinite set. The set of all α having countably many predecessors—that is, the set of countable ordinals—is the union of these two number classes. Cantor proved that the cardinality of the second number class is the first uncountable cardinality. Cantor's second theorem becomes: If P′ is countable, then there is a countable ordinal α such that P(α) = ∅. Its proof uses proof by contradiction. Let P′ be countable, and assume there is no such α. This assumption produces two cases. In both cases, P′ is uncountable, which contradicts P′ being countable. Therefore, there is a countable ordinal α such that P(α) = ∅. Cantor's work with derived sets and ordinal numbers led to the Cantor-Bendixson theorem. Using successors, limits, and cardinality, Cantor generated an unbounded sequence of ordinal numbers and number classes. The (α + 1)-th number class is the set of ordinals whose predecessors form a set of the same cardinality as the α-th number class. The cardinality of the (α + 1)-th number class is the cardinality immediately following that of the α-th number class. For a limit ordinal α, the α-th number class is the union of the β-th number classes for β < α. Its cardinality is the limit of the cardinalities of these number classes. If n is finite, the n-th number class has cardinality ⁠ ℵ n − 1 {\displaystyle \aleph _{n-1}} ⁠. If α ≥ ω, the α-th number class has cardinality ⁠ ℵ α {\displaystyle \aleph _{\alpha }} ⁠. Therefore, the cardinalities of the number classes correspond one-to-one with the aleph numbers. Also, the α-th number class consists of ordinals different from those in the preceding number classes if and only if α is a non-limit ordinal. Therefore, the non-limit number classes partition the ordinals into pairwise disjoint sets. See also Counting Even and odd ordinals First uncountable ordinal Ordinal space Surreal number, a generalization of ordinals which includes negative, real, and infinitesimal values. Notes References External links "Ordinal number", Encyclopedia of Mathematics, EMS Press, 2001 [1994] Ordinals at ProvenMath Ordinal calculator GPL'd free software for computing with ordinals and ordinal notations Chapter 4 of Don Monk's lecture notes on set theory is an introduction to ordinals.

Mexico

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. Covering 1,972,550 km2 (761,610 sq mi), it is the world's 13th largest country by area; with a population of almost 130 million, it is the 10th most populous country and has the most Spanish speakers in the world. Mexico is a constitutional republic comprising 31 states and Mexico City, its capital and largest city, which is among the world's most populous metropolitan areas. The country shares land borders with the United States to the north, with Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; as well as maritime borders with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Human presence in Pre-Columbian Mexico dates back to 8,000 BC as one of six cradles of civilization. Mesoamerica hosted civilizations including the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Purepecha. Aztec domination of the area preceded Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, which established the colony of New Spain centered in the former capital, Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). The colonial era ended in the early 19th century with the Mexican War of Independence, followed by political and socioeconomic upheaval. The Mexican–American War resulted in significant territorial losses in 1848. Liberal reforms introduced in the Constitution of 1857 prompted domestic conflict, French intervention, and the establishment of an Empire, countered by the Republican resistance led by Benito Juárez. The rise of Porfirio Díaz's dictatorship in the 19th century sparked the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which led to profound changes, such as the 1917 Constitution. Over the 20th century, Mexico experienced significant economic growth; as well as issues of repression and electoral fraud. The late 20th century saw a shift towards neoliberal policies, exemplified by the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, amidst unrest in Chiapas. Mexico is a newly industrialized and developing country, with the world's 12th-largest economy by nominal GDP and 12th-largest by PPP. Mexico ranks first in the Americas and seventh in the world by the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is also one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, ranking fifth in natural biodiversity. It is a major tourist destination: as of 2022, it is the sixth most-visited country in the world, with 42.2 million international arrivals. Mexico's large economy and population, global cultural influence, and steady democratization make it a regional and middle power, and it is increasingly identified as an emerging power. Although Mexico has made significant political and socioeconomic gains in recent decades, it continues to struggle with social inequality, poverty, systemic corruption, and extensive crime. Since 2006, an ongoing conflict between drug trafficking syndicates has led to over 120,000 deaths. Mexico is a member of United Nations, the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the Organization of American States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and the Organization of Ibero-American States. Etymology Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely the Valley of Mexico and surrounding territories, with its people being known as the Mexica. It is generally believed that the toponym for the valley was the origin of the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance, but it may have been the other way around. In the colonial era (1521–1821) Mexico was known as New Spain. In the eighteenth century, this central region became the Intendency of Mexico, during the reorganization of the empire, the Bourbon Reforms. After New Spain achieved independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821 and became a sovereign state, the territory came to be known as the State of Mexico, with the new country being named after its capital: Mexico City. The country's official name has changed as the form of government has changed. The declaration of independence signed on 6 November 1813 by the deputies of the Congress of Anáhuac called the territory América Septentrional (Northern America); the 1821 Plan of Iguala also used América Septentrional. On two occasions (1821–1823 and 1863–1867), the country was known as Imperio Mexicano (Mexican Empire). All three federal constitutions (1824, 1857, and 1917, the current constitution) used the name Estados Unidos Mexicanos—or the variant Estados-Unidos Mexicanos, all of which have been translated as "United Mexican States". The phrase República Mexicana, "Mexican Republic", was used in the 1836 Constitutional Laws. History Indigenous civilizations before European contact (pre-1519) The earliest human artifacts in Mexico are chips of stone tools found near campfire remains in the Valley of Mexico and radiocarbon-dated to circa 10,000 years ago. Mexico is the site of the domestication of maize, tomato, and beans, which produced an agricultural surplus. This enabled the transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers to sedentary agricultural villages beginning around 5000 BC. In the subsequent formative eras, maize cultivation and cultural traits such as a mythological and religious complex, and a vigesimal (base 20) numeric system, were diffused from the Mexican cultures to the rest of the Mesoamerican culture area. In this period, villages became more dense in terms of population, becoming socially stratified with an artisan class, and developing into chiefdoms. The most powerful rulers had religious and political power, organizing the construction of large ceremonial centers. The earliest complex civilization in Mexico was the Olmec culture, which flourished on the Gulf Coast from around 1500 BC. Olmec cultural traits diffused through Mexico into other formative-era cultures in Chiapas, Oaxaca, and the Valley of Mexico. The formative period saw the spread of distinct religious and symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes. The formative-era of Mesoamerica is considered one of the six independent cradles of civilization. In the subsequent pre-classical period, the Maya and Zapotec civilizations developed complex centers at Calakmul and Monte Albán, respectively. During this period the first true Mesoamerican writing systems were developed in the Epi-Olmec and Zapotec cultures. The Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the Classic Maya Hieroglyphic script. The earliest written histories date from this era. The tradition of writing was important after the Spanish conquest in 1521, with indigenous scribes learning to write their languages in alphabetic letters, while also continuing to create pictorial texts. In Central Mexico, the height of the classic period saw the ascendancy of Teotihuacán, which formed a military and commercial empire. Teotihuacan, with a population of more than 150,000 people, had some of the largest pyramidal structures in the pre-Columbian Americas. After the collapse of Teotihuacán around 600 AD, competition ensued between several important political centers in central Mexico such as Xochicalco and Cholula. At this time, during the Epi-Classic, Nahua peoples began moving south into Mesoamerica from the North, and became politically and culturally dominant in central Mexico, as they displaced speakers of Oto-Manguean languages. During the early post-classic era (ca. 1000–1519 AD), Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec, and the lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán. Toward the end of the post-Classic period, the Aztecs (or Mexica) established dominance, establishing a political and economic empire based in the city of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City), extending from central Mexico to the border with Guatemala. Spanish conquest and colonial era (1519–1821) Although the Spanish Empire had established colonies in the Caribbean starting in 1493 the Spanish first learned of Mexico during the Juan de Grijalva expedition of 1518. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire began in February 1519 when Hernán Cortés founded the Spanish city of Veracruz. The 1521 capture of Tenochtitlan and posterior founding of the Spanish capital Mexico City on its ruins was the beginning of a 300-year-long colonial era during which Mexico was known as Nueva España (New Spain). Two factors made Mexico a jewel in the Spanish Empire: the existence of large, hierarchically organized Mesoamerican populations that rendered tribute and performed obligatory labor and the discovery of vast silver deposits in northern Mexico. The Kingdom of New Spain was created from the remnants of the Aztec empire. The two pillars of Spanish rule were the State and the Roman Catholic Church, both under the authority of the Spanish crown. In 1493 the pope had granted sweeping powers to the Spanish monarchy for its overseas empire, with the proviso that the crown spread Christianity in its new realms. In 1524, King Charles I created the Council of the Indies based in Spain to oversee State power in its overseas territories; in New Spain the crown established a high court in Mexico City, the Real Audiencia ('royal audience' or 'royal tribunal'), and then in 1535 created the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The viceroy was the highest official of the State. In the religious sphere, the Diocese of Mexico was created in 1530 and elevated to the Archdiocese of Mexico in 1546, with the archbishop as the head of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Castilian Spanish was the language of rulers. The Catholic faith was the only one permitted, with non-Catholics and Catholics (excluding Indians) holding unorthodox views being subject to the Mexican Inquisition, established in 1571. Spanish military forces, sometimes accompanied by native allies, led expeditions to conquer territory or quell rebellions through the colonial era. Notable Amerindian revolts in sporadically populated northern New Spain include the Chichimeca War (1576–1606), Tepehuán Revolt (1616–1620), and the Pueblo Revolt (1680), the Tzeltal Rebellion of 1712 was a regional Maya revolt. Most rebellions were small-scale and local, posing no major threat to the ruling elites. To protect Mexico from the attacks of English, French, and Dutch pirates and protect the Crown's monopoly of revenue, only two ports were open to foreign trade—Veracruz on the Atlantic (connecting to Spain) and Acapulco on the Pacific (connecting to the Philippines). Among the best-known pirate attacks are the 1663 Sack of Campeche and 1683 Attack on Veracruz. Of greater concern to the crown was the issue of foreign invasion, especially after Britain seized in 1762 the Spanish ports of Havana and Manila in the Seven Years' War. It created a standing military, increased coastal fortifications, and expanded the northern presidios and missions into Alta California. The volatility of the urban poor in Mexico City was evident in the 1692 riot in the Zócalo. The riot over the price of maize escalated to a full-scale attack on the seats of power, with the viceregal palace and the archbishop's residence attacked by the mob. Independence era (1808–1855) On 16 September 1810, secular priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declared against "bad government" in the small town of Dolores, Guanajuato. This event, known as the Cry of Dolores (Spanish: Grito de Dolores) is commemorated each year, on 16 September, as Mexico's independence day. The upheaval in the Spanish Empire that resulted in the independence of most of its New World territories was due to Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Spain in 1808. Hidalgo and some of his soldiers were eventually captured, Hidalgo was defrocked, and they were executed by firing squad on 31 July 1811. The first 35 years after Mexico's independence were marked by political instability and the changing of the Mexican state from a transient monarchy to a fragile federated republic. There were military coups d'état, foreign invasions, ideological conflict between Conservatives and Liberals, and economic stagnation. Former Royal Army General Agustín de Iturbide became regent, as newly independent Mexico sought a constitutional monarch from Europe. When no member of a European royal house desired the position, Iturbide himself was declared Emperor Agustín I. The United States was the first country to recognize Mexico's independence, sending an ambassador to the court and sending a message to Europe via the Monroe Doctrine not to intervene in Mexico. The emperor's rule was short (1822–1823) and he was overthrown by army officers in the Plan of Casa Mata. After the forced abdication of the monarch, Central America and Chiapas left the union to form the Federal Republic of Central America. In 1824, the First Mexican Republic was established. Former insurgent General Guadalupe Victoria became the first president of the republic — the first of many army generals to hold the presidency. In 1829, former insurgent general and fierce Liberal Vicente Guerrero, a signatory of the Plan of Iguala that achieved independence, became president in a disputed election. During his short term in office, from April to December 1829, he abolished slavery. His Conservative vice president, former Royalist General Anastasio Bustamante, led a coup against him and Guerrero was judicially murdered. Mexico's ability to maintain its independence and establish a viable government was in question. Spain attempted to reconquer its former colony during the 1820s but eventually recognized its independence. France attempted to recoup losses it claimed for its citizens during Mexico's unrest and blockaded the Gulf Coast during the so-called Pastry War of 1838–1839. General Antonio López de Santa Anna emerged as a national hero because of his role in both these conflicts; Santa Anna came to dominate the politics for the next 25 years, often known as the "Age of Santa Anna", until his overthrow in 1855. Mexico also contended with indigenous groups that controlled the territory that Mexico claimed in the north. For example, the Comanche controlled a huge territory in sparsely populated central and northern Texas. Wanting to stabilize and develop that area — and as few people from central Mexico had chosen to resettle to this remote and hostile territory — the Mexican government encouraged Anglo-American immigration into present-day Texas, a region that bordered that United States. Mexico by law was a Catholic country; the Anglo-Americans were primarily Protestant English speakers from the southern United States. Some brought their black slaves, which after 1829 was contrary to Mexican law. In 1835, Santa Anna sought to centralize government rule in Mexico, suspending the 1824 constitution and promulgating the Seven Laws, which placed power in his hands. As a result, civil war spread across the country. Three new governments declared independence: the Republic of Texas, the Republic of the Rio Grande and the Republic of Yucatán.: 129–137  The largest blow to Mexico was the U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846 in the Mexican–American War. Mexico lost much of its sparsely populated northern territory, sealed in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Despite that disastrous loss, Santa Anna returned to the presidency yet again before being ousted and exiled in the Liberal Revolution of Ayutla. Liberal era (1855–1911) The overthrow of Santa Anna and the establishment of a civilian government by Liberals allowed them to enact laws that they considered vital for Mexico's economic development. The Liberal Reform attempted to modernize Mexico's economy and institutions along liberal principles. They promulgated a new Constitution of 1857, separating Church and State, stripping the Church and the military of their special privileges (fueros); mandating the sale of Church-owned property and sale of indigenous community lands, and secularizing education. Conservatives revolted, touching off civil war between rival Liberal and Conservative governments (1858–1861). The Liberals defeated the Conservative army on the battlefield, but Conservatives sought another solution to gain power via foreign intervention by the French, asking Emperor Napoleon III to place a European monarch as head of state in Mexico. The French Army defeated the Mexican Army and placed Maximilian Habsburg on the newly established throne of Mexico, supported by Mexican Conservatives and propped up by the French Army. The Liberal Republic under Benito Juárez was a government in internal exile, but with the end of the Civil War in the United States in April 1865, the Reunified U.S. government began aiding the Mexican Republic. Two years later, the French Army withdrew its support, but Maximilian remained in Mexico. Republican forces captured him and he was executed. The "Restored Republic" saw the return of Juárez, "the personification of the embattled republic," as president. The Conservatives had been not only defeated militarily but also discredited politically for their collaboration with the French invaders and Liberalism became synonymous with patriotism. The Mexican Army that had its roots in the colonial royal army and then the army of the early republic was destroyed and new military leaders had emerged from the War of the Reform and the conflict with the French, most notably Porfirio Díaz, a hero of the Cinco de Mayo, who now sought civilian power and challenged Juárez on his re-election in 1867. Díaz then rebelled but was crushed by Juárez. Having won re-election, Juárez died in office in July 1872, and Liberal Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada became president, declaring a "religion of the state" for the rule of law, peace, and order. When Lerdo ran for re-election, Díaz rebelled against the civilian president, issuing the Plan of Tuxtepec. Díaz had more support and waged guerrilla warfare against Lerdo. On the verge of Díaz's victory on the battlefield, Lerdo fled from office into exile. After the turmoil in Mexico from 1810 to 1876, the 35-year rule of Liberal General Porfirio Díaz (r.1876–1911) allowed Mexico to rapidly modernize in a period characterized as one of "order and progress". The Porfiriato was characterized by economic stability and growth, significant foreign investment and influence, an expansion of the railroad network and telecommunications, and investments in the arts and sciences. Díaz ruled with a group of advisors that became known as the científicos ('scientists'). The most influential científico was Secretary of Finance José Yves Limantour. The Porfirian regime was influenced by positivism. They rejected theology and idealism in favor of scientific methods being applied towards national development. An integral aspect of the liberal project was secular education. The Díaz government led a protracted conflict against the Yaqui that culminated with the forced relocation of thousands of Yaqui to Yucatán and Oaxaca. As the centennial of independence approached, Díaz gave an interview where he said he was not going to run in the 1910 elections, when he would be 80. Political opposition had been suppressed and there were few avenues for a new generation of leaders. But his announcement set off a frenzy of political activity, including the unlikely candidacy of the scion of a rich landowning family, Francisco I. Madero. Madero won a surprising amount of political support when Díaz changed his mind and ran in the election, jailing Madero. The September centennial celebration of independence was the last celebration of the Porfiriato. The Mexican Revolution starting in 1910 saw a decade of civil war, the "wind that swept Mexico." Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) The Mexican Revolution was a decade-long transformational conflict. It began with scattered uprisings against President Díaz after the fraudulent 1910 election, his resignation in May 1911, demobilization of rebel forces, an interim presidency of a member of the old guard and the democratic election of a rich, civilian landowner, Francisco I. Madero in fall 1911. In February 1913, a military coup d'état overthrew Madero's government, with the support of the U.S., resulting in Madero's murder by agents of Federal Army General Victoriano Huerta. During the Revolution, the U.S. Republican administration of Taft supported the Huerta coup against Madero, but when Democrat Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as president in March 1913, Wilson refused to recognize Huerta's regime and allowed arms sales to the Constitutionalists. Wilson ordered troops to occupy the strategic port of Veracruz in 1914, which was lifted. A coalition of anti-Huerta forces in the North, the Constitutional Army led by Governor of Coahuila Venustiano Carranza, and a peasant army in the South under Emiliano Zapata defeated the Federal Army in 1914, leaving only revolutionary forces. Following the revolutionaries' victory against Huerta, they sought to broker a peaceful political solution, but the coalition splintered, plunging Mexico again into a civil war. Constitutionalist general Pancho Villa, commander of the Division of the North, broke with Carranza and allied with Zapata. Carranza's best general Alvaro Obregón defeated Villa, his former comrade-in-arms in the Battle of Celaya in 1915, and Villa's northern forces melted away Carranza became the de facto head of Mexico, and the U.S. recognized his government while Zapata's forces in the south reverted to guerrilla warfare. After Pancho Villa was defeated by revolutionary forces in 1915, he led an incursion raid into Columbus, New Mexico, prompting the U.S. to send 10,000 troops led by General John J. Pershing in an unsuccessful attempt to capture Villa. Carranza pushed back against U.S. troops being in northern Mexico. The expeditionary forces withdrew as the U.S. entered World War I. Although often viewed as an internal conflict, the revolution had significant international elements: Germany attempted to get Mexico to side with it, sending a coded telegram in 1917 to incite war between the U.S. and Mexico, with Mexico to regain the territory it lost in the Mexican-American War but Mexico remained neutral in the conflict. In 1916, the winners of the Mexican revolution met at a constitutional convention to draft the Constitution of 1917, which was ratified in February 1917. The Constitution empowered the government to expropriate resources including land, gave rights to labor, and strengthened anticlerical provisions of the 1857 Constitution. With amendments, it remains the governing document of Mexico. It is estimated that the revolutionary war killed 900,000 people out of Mexico's 15 million population at the time. Consolidating power, President Carranza had peasant leader Emiliano Zapata assassinated in 1919. Carranza had gained the support of the peasantry during the Revolution, but once in power, he did little to institute land reform, which had motivated many to fight in the Revolution. Carranza returned some confiscated land to their original owners. President Carranza's best general, Obregón, served briefly in his administration but returned to his home state of Sonora to position himself to run in the 1920 presidential election. Since Carranza could not run for re-election, he chose a civilian to succeed him, intending to remain the power behind the presidency. Obregón and two other Sonoran revolutionary generals drew up the Plan of Agua Prieta, overthrowing Carranza, who died fleeing Mexico City in 1920. General Adolfo de la Huerta became interim president, followed by the election of General Álvaro Obregón. Political consolidation and one-party rule (1920–2000) The first quarter-century of the post-revolutionary period (1920–1946) was characterized by revolutionary generals serving as Presidents of Mexico, including Álvaro Obregón (1920–24), Plutarco Elías Calles (1924–28), Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–40), and Manuel Avila Camacho (1940–46). The post-revolutionary project of the Mexican government sought to bring order to the country, end military intervention in politics, and create organizations of interest groups. Workers, peasants, urban office workers, and even the army for a short period were incorporated as sectors of the single party that dominated Mexican politics from its founding in 1929. Obregón instigated land reform and strengthened the power of organized labor. He gained recognition from the United States and took steps to settle claims with companies and individuals that lost property during the Revolution. He imposed his fellow former Sonoran revolutionary general, Calles, as his successor, prompting an unsuccessful military revolt. As president, Calles provoked a major conflict with the Catholic Church and Catholic guerrilla armies when he strictly enforced anticlerical articles of the 1917 Constitution wich ended with an agreement. Although the constitution prohibited the reelection of the president, Obregón wished to run again and the constitution was amended to allow non-consecutive re-election and won the 1928 elections but was assassinated by a Catholic activist, causing a political crisis of succession. Calles could not become president again, so he sought to set up a structure to manage presidential succession, founding the party that was to dominate Mexico until the late twentieth century. Despite not holding the presidency, Calles remained the key political figure during the period known as the Maximato (1929–1934), that ended during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas, who expelled Calles from the country and implemented many economic and social reforms. This included the Mexican oil expropriation in March 1938, which nationalized the U.S. and Anglo-Dutch oil company known as the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company, wich would result in the creation of the state-owned Pemex. Cárdenas's successor, Manuel Ávila Camacho (1940–1946) was more moderate, and relations between the U.S. and Mexico vastly improved during World War II, when Mexico was a significant ally. From 1946 the election of Miguel Alemán, the first civilian president in the post-revolutionary period, Mexico embarked on an aggressive program of economic development, known as the Mexican miracle, which was characterized by industrialization, urbanization, and the increase of inequality between urban and rural areas. The Green Revolution, a technological movement that led to a significant worldwide increase in crop production, began in the Yaqui Valley of Sonora in the middle of the 20th century. With robust economic growth, Mexico sought to showcase it to the world by hosting the 1968 Summer Olympics. The government poured huge resources into building new facilities, prompting political unrest among university students and others. Demonstrations in central Mexico City went on for weeks before the planned opening of the games, with the government of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz cracking down. The culmination was the Tlatelolco Massacre, which killed around 300 protesters based on conservative estimates and perhaps as many as 800. Although the economy continued to flourish for some, social inequality remained a factor of discontent. PRI rule became increasingly authoritarian and at times oppressive in what is now referred to as the Mexican Dirty War. In the 1980s the first cracks emerged in the PRI's complete political dominance. In Baja California, the PAN candidate was elected as governor. When De la Madrid chose Carlos Salinas de Gortari as the candidate for the PRI, and therefore a foregone presidential victor, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, son of former President Lázaro Cárdenas, broke with the PRI and challenged Salinas in the 1988 elections. In 1988 there was massive electoral fraud, with results showing that Salinas had won the election by the narrowest percentage ever. There were massive protests in Mexico City over the stolen election. Salinas took the oath of office on 1 December 1988. In 1990 the PRI was famously described by Mario Vargas Llosa as the "perfect dictatorship", but by then there had been major challenges to the PRI's hegemony. Salinas embarked on a program of neoliberal reforms that fixed the exchange rate of the peso, controlled inflation, opened Mexico to foreign investment, and began talks with the U.S. and Canada to join their free-trade agreement, which culminated in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on 1 January 1994; the same day, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas began armed peasant rebellion against the federal government, which captured a few towns but brought world attention to the situation in Mexico. The armed conflict was short-lived and has continued as a non-violent opposition movement against neoliberalism and globalization. In 1994, following the assassination of the PRI's presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio, Salinas was succeeded by victorious PRI candidate Ernesto Zedillo. Salinas left Zedillo's government to deal with the Mexican peso crisis, requiring a $50 billion IMF bailout. Major macroeconomic reforms were started by Zedillo, and the economy rapidly recovered and growth peaked at almost 7% by the end of 1999. Contemporary Mexico After 71 years of rule, the incumbent PRI lost the 2000 presidential election to Vicente Fox of the opposing conservative National Action Party (PAN). In the 2006 presidential election, Felipe Calderón from the PAN was declared the winner, with a very narrow margin (0.58%) over leftist politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). López Obrador, however, contested the election and pledged to create an "alternative government". After twelve years, in the 2012 presidential election, the PRI again won the presidency with the election of Enrique Peña Nieto. However, he won with a plurality of around 38% and did not have a legislative majority. During the twenty-first century, Mexico has contended with high crime rates, bureaucratic corruption, narcotrafficking, and a stagnant economy. Many state-owned industrial enterprises were privatized starting in the 1990s with neoliberal reforms, but Pemex, the state-owned petroleum company is only slowly being privatized, with exploration licenses being issued. In a push against government corruption, the ex-CEO of Pemex, Emilio Lozoya Austin, was arrested in 2020. After founding the new political party MORENA, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (commonly known as AMLO) won the 2018 presidential election with over 50% of the vote. His political coalition, led by his left-wing party founded after the 2012 elections, included parties and politicians from across the political spectrum. The coalition also won a majority in both the upper and lower Congress chambers. His success is attributed to the country's opposing political forces exhausting their chances as well as AMLO's adoption of a moderate discourse with a focus on reconciliation. Claudia Sheinbaum, López Obrador's political successor, won the 2024 presidential election in a landslide and upon taking office in October became the first woman to lead the country in Mexico's history. Geography Mexico is located between latitudes 14° and 33°N, and longitudes 86° and 119°W in the southern portion of North America. Almost all of Mexico lies in the North American Plate, with small parts of the Baja California peninsula on the Pacific and Cocos Plates. Geophysically, some geographers include the territory east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (around 12% of the total) within Central America. Geopolitically, however, Mexico is entirely considered part of North America, along with Canada and the United States. Mexico's total area is 1,972,550 km2 (761,606 sq mi), making it the world's 13th largest country by total area. It has coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, the latter two forming part of the Atlantic Ocean. Within these seas are about 6,000 km2 (2,317 sq mi) of islands (including the remote Pacific Guadalupe Island and the Revillagigedo Islands). From its farthest land points, Mexico is a little over 2,000 mi (3,219 km) in length. Mexico has nine distinct regions: Baja California, the Pacific Coastal Lowlands, the Mexican Plateau, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica, the Gulf Coastal Plain, the Southern Highlands, and the Yucatán Peninsula. Although Mexico is large, much of its land mass is incompatible with agriculture due to aridity, soil, or terrain. In 2018, an estimated 54.9% of land is agricultural; 11.8% is arable; 1.4% is in permanent crops; 41.7% is permanent pasture; and 33.3% is forest. Mexico is crossed from north to south by two mountain ranges known as Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental, which are the extension of the Rocky Mountains from northern North America. From east to west at the center, the country is crossed by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt also known as the Sierra Nevada. A fourth mountain range, the Sierra Madre del Sur, runs from Michoacán to Oaxaca. The majority of the Mexican central and northern territories are located at high altitudes, and as such the highest elevations are found at the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt: Pico de Orizaba (5,700 m or 18,701 ft), Popocatépetl (5,462 m or 17,920 ft) and Iztaccihuatl (5,286 m or 17,343 ft) and the Nevado de Toluca (4,577 m or 15,016 ft). An important geologic feature of the Yucatán peninsula is the Chicxulub crater. The scientific consensus is that the Chicxulub impactor was responsible for the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Mexico is subject to several natural hazards, including hurricanes on both coasts, tsunamis on the Pacific coast, and volcanism. Climate The climate of Mexico is quite varied due to the country's size and topography. Tropic of Cancer effectively divides the country into temperate and tropical zones. Land north of the Tropic of Cancer experiences cooler temperatures during the winter months. South of the Tropic of Cancer, temperatures are fairly constant year-round and vary solely as a function of elevation. This gives Mexico one of the world's most diverse weather systems. Maritime air masses bring seasonal precipitation from May until August. Many parts of Mexico, particularly the north, have a dry climate with only sporadic rainfall, while parts of the tropical lowlands in the south average more than 2,000 mm (78.7 in) of annual precipitation. For example, many cities in the north like Monterrey, Hermosillo, and Mexicali experience temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) or more in summer. In the Sonoran Desert temperatures reach 50 °C (122 °F) or more. Descriptors of regions are by temperature, with the tierra caliente (hot land) being coastal up to 900 meters; tierra templada (temperate land) being from 1,800 meters; tierra fría (cold land) extending to 3,500 meters. Beyond the cold lands are the páramos, alpine pastures, and the tierra helada (frozen land) (4,000-4,200 meters) in central Mexico. Areas south of the Tropic of Cancer with elevations up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft) (the southern parts of both coastal plains as well as the Yucatán Peninsula), have a yearly median temperature between 24 and 28 °C (75.2 and 82.4 °F). Temperatures here remain high throughout the year, with only a 5 °C (9 °F) difference between winter and summer median temperatures. Both Mexican coasts, except for the south coast of the Bay of Campeche and northern Baja California, are also vulnerable to serious hurricanes during the summer and fall. Although low-lying areas north of the Tropic of Cancer are hot and humid during the summer, they generally have lower yearly temperature averages (from 20 to 24 °C or 68.0 to 75.2 °F) because of more moderate conditions during the winter. Biodiversity Mexico ranks fourth in the world in biodiversity and is one of the 17 megadiverse countries. With over 200,000 different species, Mexico is home of 10–12% of the world's biodiversity. Mexico ranks first in biodiversity in reptiles with 707 known species, second in mammals with 438 species, fourth in amphibians with 290 species, and fourth in flora, with 26,000 different species. Mexico is also considered the second country in the world in ecosystems and fourth in overall species. About 2,500 species are protected by Mexican legislation. In 2002, Mexico had the second fastest rate of deforestation in the world, second only to Brazil. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.82/10, ranking it 63rd globally out of 172 countries. According to SGI there is Deforestation and soil erosion especially in rural areas of Mexico. In the 2022 report it was noted environmental protection laws have improved in major cities but remain unenforced or unregulated in rural regions. In Mexico, 170,000 square kilometers (65,637 sq mi) are considered "Protected Natural Areas". These include 34 biosphere reserves (unaltered ecosystems), 67 national parks, 4 natural monuments (protected in perpetuity for their aesthetic, scientific or historical value), 26 areas of protected flora and fauna, 4 areas for natural resource protection (conservation of soil, hydrological basins, and forests) and 17 sanctuaries (zones rich in diverse species). Plants indigenous to Mexico are grown in many parts of the world and integrated into their national cuisines. Some of Mexico's native culinary ingredients include maize, tomato, beans, squash, chocolate, vanilla, avocado, guava, chayote, epazote, camote, jícama, nopal, zucchini, tejocote, huitlacoche, sapote, mamey sapote, and a great variety of chiles, such as the habanero and the jalapeño. Most of these names come from the indigenous language of Nahuatl. Tequila, the distilled alcoholic drink made from cultivated agave cacti is a major industry. Because of its high biodiversity Mexico has also been a frequent site of bioprospecting by international research bodies. The first highly successful instance was the discovery in 1947 of the tuber "Barbasco" (Dioscorea composita) which has a high content of diosgenin, revolutionizing the production of synthetic hormones in the 1950s and 1960s and eventually leading to the invention of combined oral contraceptive pills. Government and politics The United Mexican States are a federation whose government is representative, democratic, and republican based on a presidential system according to the 1917 Constitution. The Constitution establishes three levels of government: the federal Union, the state governments, and the municipal governments. The federal legislature is the bicameral Congress of the Union, composed of the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies. The Congress makes federal law, declares war, imposes taxes, approves the national budget and international treaties, and ratifies diplomatic appointments. The federal Congress, as well as the state legislatures, are elected by a system of parallel voting that includes plurality and proportional representation. The Chamber of Deputies has 500 deputies. Of these, 300 are elected by plurality vote in single-member districts (the federal electoral districts) and 200 are elected by proportional representation with closed party lists for which the country is divided into five electoral constituencies. The Senate comprises 128 senators: 64 (two for each state and two for Mexico City) are elected by plurality vote in pairs, 32 are the first minority or first-runner-up (one for each state and one for Mexico City), and 32 are elected by proportional representation from national closed party lists. The executive is the President of the United Mexican States, who is the head of state and government, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Mexican military forces. The President also appoints the Cabinet and other officers. The President is responsible for executing and enforcing the law and has the power to veto bills. The highest organ of the judicial branch of government is the Supreme Court of Justice, the national supreme court, which has eleven judges appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. The Supreme Court of Justice interprets laws and judges cases of federal competency. Other institutions of the judiciary are the Federal Electoral Tribunal, collegiate, unitary, and district tribunals, and the Council of the Federal Judiciary. Three parties have historically been the dominant parties in Mexican politics: the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), a catch-all party and member of the Socialist International that was founded in 1929 to unite all the factions of the Mexican Revolution and held an almost hegemonic power in Mexican politics since then; the National Action Party (PAN), a conservative party founded in 1939 and belonging to the Christian Democrat Organization of America; and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) a left-wing party, founded in 1989 as the successor of the coalition of socialists and liberal parties. Foreign relations The foreign relations of Mexico are directed by the President of Mexico and managed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The principles of the foreign policy are constitutionally recognized in the Article 89, Section 10, which include: respect for international law and legal equality of states, their sovereignty and independence, trend to non-interventionism in the domestic affairs of other countries, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and promotion of collective security through active participation in international organizations. Since the 1930s, the Estrada Doctrine has served as a crucial complement to these principles. Mexico is a founding member of several international organizations, most notably the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the OPANAL and the CELAC. In 2008, Mexico contributed over 40 million dollars to the United Nations regular budget. In addition, it was the only Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since it joined in 1994 until Chile gained full membership in 2010. Mexico is considered a regional power hence its presence in major economic groups such as the G8+5 and the G-20. Since the 1990s Mexico has sought a reform of the United Nations Security Council and its working methods with the support of Canada, Italy, Pakistan and other nine countries, which form a group informally called the Coffee Club. Military The Mexican Armed Forces are administered by the Secretariat of National Defense (Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, SEDENA). There are two branches: the Mexican Army (which includes the Mexican Air Force), and the Mexican Navy. The Secretariat of Public Security and Civil Protection has jurisdiction over the National Guard, which was formed in 2019 from the disbanded Federal Police and military police of the Army and Navy. Figures vary on personnel, but as of are approximately 223,000 armed forces personnel (160,000 Army; 8,000 Air Force; 55,000 Navy, including about 20,000 Marines); approximately 100,000 National Guard (2021). Government expenditures on the military are a small proportion of GDP: 0.7% of GDP (2021 est.), 0.6% of GDP (2020). The Mexican Armed Forces maintain significant infrastructure, including facilities for the design, research, and testing of weapons, vehicles, aircraft, naval vessels, defense systems and electronics; military industry manufacturing centers for building such systems, and advanced naval dockyards that build heavy military vessels and advanced missile technologies. Since the 1990s, when the military escalated its role in the war on drugs, increasing importance has been placed on acquiring airborne surveillance platforms, aircraft, helicopters, digital war-fighting technologies, urban warfare equipment and rapid troop transport. Mexico has the capabilities to manufacture nuclear weapons, but abandoned this possibility with the Treaty of Tlatelolco in 1968 and pledged to use its nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes. Mexico signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Historically, Mexico has remained neutral in international conflicts, with the exception of World War II. However, in recent years some political parties have proposed an amendment of the Constitution to allow the Mexican Army, Air Force or Navy to collaborate with the United Nations in peacekeeping missions, or to provide military help to countries that officially ask for it. Law enforcement and human rights The Mexican Federal Police was dissolved in 2019 by a constitutional amendment during the administration of President López Obrador and the Mexican National Guard established, amalgamating units of the Federal Police, Military Police, and Naval Police. As of 2022, the National Guard is estimated at 110,000. López Obrador has increasingly used military forces for domestic law enforcement, particularly against drug cartels. There have been serious abuses of power reported in security operations in the southern part of the country and in indigenous communities and poor urban neighborhoods. The National Human Rights Commission has had little impact in reversing this trend, engaging mostly in documentation but failing to use its powers to issue public condemnations to the officials who ignore its recommendations. Most Mexicans have low confidence in the police or the judicial system, and therefore, few crimes are actually reported by the citizens. There have been public demonstrations of outrage against what is considered a culture of impunity. Mexico has fully recognised same-sex marriage since 2022, and anti-discrimination laws regarding sexual orientation have existed in the nation since 2003. However, hate crimes towards the LGBT community remain an issue in Mexico. Other crime and human rights violations in Mexico have been criticized, including enforced disappearances (kidnappings), abuses against migrants, extrajudicial killings, gender-based violence, especially femicide, and attacks on journalists and human rights advocates. A 2020 report by the BBC gives statistics on crime in Mexico, with 10.7 million households with at least one victim of crime. As of May 2022, 100,000 people are officially listed as missing, most since 2007 when President Calderón attempted to stop the drug cartels. Drug cartels remain a major issue in Mexico, with a proliferation of smaller cartels when larger ones are broken up and increasingly the use of more sophisticated military equipment and tactics. Mexico's drug war, ongoing since 2006, has left over 120,000 dead and perhaps another 37,000 missing. Mexico's National Geography and Statistics Institute estimated that in 2014, one-fifth of Mexicans were victims of some sort of crime. The mass kidnapping of 43 students in Iguala on 26 September 2014 triggered nationwide protests against the government's weak response to the disappearances and widespread corruption that gives free rein to criminal organizations. More than 100 journalists and media workers have been killed or disappeared since 2000, and most of these crimes remained unsolved, improperly investigated, and with few perpetrators arrested and convicted. Administrative divisions The boundaries and constituent units of Mexico evolved from its colonial-era origins. Central America peacefully separated from Mexico after independence in 1821. Yucatán was briefly an independent republic. Texas separated in the Texas Revolution and when it was annexed to the U.S. in 1845, it set the stage for the Mexican–American War and major territorial loss to the U.S. The sale of northern territory known in the U.S. as the Gadsden Purchase was the last loss of Mexican territory. The United Mexican States are a federation of 31 free and sovereign states, which form a union that exercises a degree of jurisdiction over Mexico City. Each state has its constitution, congress, and a judiciary, and its citizens elect by direct voting a governor for a six-year term, and representatives to their respective unicameral state congresses for three-year terms. Mexico City is a special political division that belongs to the federation as a whole and not to a particular state. Formerly known as the Federal District, its autonomy was previously limited relative to that of the states. It dropped this designation in 2016 and is in the process of achieving greater political autonomy by becoming a federal entity with its constitution and congress. The states are divided into municipalities, the smallest administrative political entity in the country, governed by a mayor or municipal president (presidente municipal), elected by its residents by plurality. Economy As of April 2018, Mexico has the 15th largest nominal GDP (US$1.15 trillion) and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity (US$2.45 trillion). GDP annual average growth was 2.9% in 2016 and 2% in 2017. Agriculture has comprised 4% of the economy over the last two decades, while industry contributes 33% (mostly automotive, oil, and electronics) and services (notably financial services and tourism) contribute 63%. Mexico's GDP in PPP per capita was US$18,714.05. The World Bank reported in 2009 that the country's gross national income in market exchange rates was the second highest in Latin America, after Brazil at US$1,830.392 billion, which led to the highest income per capita in the region at $15,311. Mexico is established as an upper-middle-income country. After the slowdown of 2001 the country recovered and grew 4.2, 3.0 and 4.8 percent in 2004, 2005 and 2006, even though it is considered to be well below Mexico's potential growth. The International Monetary Fund predicts growth rates of 2.3% and 2.7% for 2018 and 2019, respectively. By 2050, Mexico could potentially become the world's fifth or seventh-largest economy. The electronics industry of Mexico has grown enormously within the last decade. Mexico has the sixth largest electronics industry in the world after China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Mexico is the second-largest exporter of electronics to the United States where it exported $71.4 billion worth of electronics in 2011. The Mexican electronics industry grew 20% between 2010 and 2011, up from its constant growth rate of 17% between 2003 and 2009. Mexico produces the most automobiles of any North American nation. The industry produces technologically complex components and engages in some research and development activities. The "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have been operating in Mexico since the 1930s, while Volkswagen and Nissan built their plants in the 1960s. In Puebla alone, 70 industrial part-makers cluster around Volkswagen. In the 2010s expansion of the sector was surging. In September 2016 Kia opened a $1 billion factory in Nuevo León, with Audi also opening an assembling plant in Puebla the same year. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan currently have plants in construction. The domestic car industry is represented by DINA S.A., which has built buses and trucks since 1962, and the new Mastretta company that builds the high-performance Mastretta MXT sports car. In 2006, trade with the United States and Canada accounted for almost 50% of Mexico's exports and 45% of its imports. During the first three quarters of 2010, the United States had a $46.0 billion trade deficit with Mexico. In August 2010 Mexico surpassed France to become the 9th largest holder of US debt. The commercial and financial dependence on the US is a cause for concern. The remittances from Mexican citizens working in the United States are significant; after dipping during the 2008 Great Recession and again during COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 they are topping other sources of foreign income. Remittances are directed to Mexico by direct links from a U.S. government banking program. Although multiple international organizations coincide and classify Mexico as an upper middle income country, or a middle class country, Mexico's National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), which is the organization in charge to measure the country's poverty reports that a huge percentage of Mexico's population lives in poverty. According to said council, from 2006 to 2010 (the year on which the CONEVAL published its first nationwide report of poverty) the portion of Mexicans who live in poverty rose from 18%–19% to 46% (52 million people). Despite this situation, CONEVAL reported in 2023 that the country's poverty rate has been decreasing in recent years, as the organization registered, within the period between 2018 and 2022, a 5.6% decrease, from 41.9% to 36.3% (from 51.9 million to 46.8 million people), according to its Multidimensional Poverty Index, though the extreme poverty rate rose by 0.1% (410 thousand people) within the same period, remaining at 7.1% (9.1 million people), and the number of people lacking access to healthcare services has significantly increased, from 16.2% to 39.1% (50.4 million people), though some specialists have expressed a degree of doubt regarding the accuracy of these rates. According to the OECD's own poverty line (defined as the percentage of a country's population who earns 60% or less of the national median income) 20% of Mexico's population lived in a situation of poverty in 2019. Among the OECD countries, Mexico has the second-highest degree of economic disparity between the extremely poor and extremely rich, after Chile – although it has been falling over the last decade, being one of few countries in which this is the case. The bottom ten percent in the income hierarchy disposes of 1.36% of the country's resources, whereas the upper ten percent dispose of almost 36%. The OECD also notes that Mexico's budgeted expenses for poverty alleviation and social development are only about a third of the OECD average. This is also reflected by the fact that infant mortality in Mexico is three times higher than the average among OECD nations whereas its literacy levels are in the median range of OECD nations. Nevertheless, according to a Goldman Sachs report published in 2007, by 2050 Mexico will have the 5th largest economy in the world. According to a 2008 UN report the average income in a typical urbanized area of Mexico was $26,654, while the average income in rural areas just miles away was only $8,403. Daily minimum wages are set annually. The daily minimum wage will be $248.93 Mexican pesos (US$13.24) in 2024 ($375 in the country's northern border), making it comparable to the minimum wages of countries like Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador. The minimum wage has rapidly increased throughout the last few years, as it was set at 88.15 pesos in 2018. Communications The telecommunications industry is mostly dominated by Telmex (Teléfonos de México), previously a government monopoly privatized in 1990. By 2006, Telmex had expanded its operations to Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and the United States. Other players in the domestic industry are Axtel, Maxcom, Alestra, Marcatel, AT&T Mexico. Because of Mexican orography, providing a landline telephone service at remote mountainous areas is expensive, and the penetration of line-phones per capita is low compared to other Latin American countries, at 51.8% percent; however, 81.2% of Mexican households have an internet connection and 81.4% of Mexicans over the age of 6 have a mobile phone. Mobile telephony has the advantage of reaching all areas at a lower cost, and the total number of mobile lines is almost two times that of landlines, with an estimation of 97.2 million lines. The telecommunication industry is regulated by the government through Cofetel (Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones). The Mexican satellite system is domestic and operates 120 earth stations. There is also extensive microwave radio relay network and considerable use of fiber-optic and coaxial cable. Mexican satellites are operated by Satélites Mexicanos (Satmex), a private company, leader in Latin America and servicing both North and South America. It offers broadcast, telephone, and telecommunication services to 37 countries in the Americas, from Canada to Argentina. Through business partnerships Satmex provides high-speed connectivity to ISPs and Digital Broadcast Services. Satmex maintains its satellite fleet with most of the fleet being designed and built in Mexico. Major players in the broadcasting industry are Televisa, the largest Mexican media company in the Spanish-speaking world, TV Azteca and Imagen Televisión. Energy Energy production in Mexico is managed by the state-owned companies Federal Commission of Electricity and Pemex. Pemex, the public company in charge of exploration, extraction, transportation, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas, as well as the refining and distribution of petroleum products and petrochemicals, is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, making US$86 billion in sales a year. Mexico is the sixth-largest oil producer in the world, with 3.7 million barrels per day. In 1980 oil exports accounted for 61.6% of total exports; by 2000 it was only 7.3%. Mexico owns 7 oil refineries on its territory, with the newest one being built in 2022 and another refinery within the United States. Mexico has 60 hydroelectric power plants which generate 12% of the country's electricity with the largest being the 2,400 MW Manuel Moreno Torres Dam on the Grijalva River in Chicoasén, Chiapas. This is the world's fourth most productive hydroelectric plant. Mexico is the country with the world's third-largest solar power potential. The country's gross solar potential is estimated at 5kWh/m2 daily, which corresponds to 50 times the national electricity generation. Currently, there is over 1 million square meters of solar thermal panels installed in Mexico, while in 2005 there were only 115,000 square meters of solar PV (photo-voltaic) panels. The project SEGH-CFE 1 located in Puerto Libertad, Sonora in the Northwest of Mexico was completed in December 2018 and has a capacity of 46.8 MW from an array of 187,200 solar panels, all of its generated electricity is sold directly to the CFE and absorbed into the utility's transmission system for distribution throughout their existing network. The Villanueva solar park in Coahuila which opened in 2019, is the largest solar power plant in the Americas with a capacity of 828 MW. Mexico does have one nuclear power plant, the Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Station located in the state of Veracruz and numerous wind farms, with the largest wind farm in Latin America being located in the state of Oaxaca. Science and technology The National Autonomous University of Mexico was officially established in 1910, and the university became one of the most important institutes of higher learning in Mexico. UNAM provides world class education in science, medicine, and engineering. Many scientific institutes and new institutes of higher learning, such as National Polytechnic Institute (founded in 1936), were established during the first half of the 20th century. Most of the new research institutes were created within UNAM. Twelve institutes were integrated into UNAM from 1929 to 1973. In 1959, the Mexican Academy of Sciences was created to coordinate scientific efforts between academics. In 1995, the Mexican chemist Mario J. Molina shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Paul J. Crutzen and F. Sherwood Rowland for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone. Molina, an alumnus of UNAM, became the first Mexican citizen to win the Nobel Prize in science. In recent years, the largest scientific project being developed in Mexico was the construction of the Large Millimeter Telescope (Gran Telescopio Milimétrico, GMT), the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture telescope in its frequency range. It was designed to observe regions of space obscured by stellar dust. Mexico was ranked 56th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024. Tourism As of 2017, Mexico was the 6th most visited country in the world and had the 15th highest income from tourism in the world which is also the highest in Latin America. The vast majority of tourists come to Mexico from the United States and Canada followed by Europe and Asia. A smaller number also come from other Latin American countries. In the 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, Mexico was ranked 22nd in the world, which was 3rd in the Americas. The coastlines of Mexico are rich in sunny beach stretches. According to the Constitution of Mexico Article 27, the entirety of the coastlines is under federal ownership. On the Yucatán peninsula, one of the most popular beach destinations is the resort town of Cancún, especially among university students during spring break. To the south of Cancun is the coastal strip called Riviera Maya which includes the beach town of Playa del Carmen and the ecological parks of Xcaret and Xel-Há. To the south of Cancún is the town of Tulum, notable for its ruins of Maya civilization. Other notable tourist destinations include Acapulco with crowded beaches and multi-story hotels on the shores. At the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula is the resort town of Cabo San Lucas, noted for its marlin fishing. Closer to the United States border is the weekend draw of San Felipe, Baja California. In Mexican cities along the Mexico–United States border, the most lucrative hospitality industry is now medical tourism, with remnants of the traditional motivations that drove tourists to Mexico's northern borderlands for nearly a century. Dominant medical tourism for tourism planning are the purchase of medication, dentistry, elective surgery, optometry, and chiropractic. Transportation Despite its difficult topography, Mexico's roadway is extensive and most areas in the country are covered. The roadway network in Mexico has an extent of 366,095 km (227,481 mi), of which 116,802 km (72,577 mi) are paved, making it 9th largest of any country and has the 7th best connectivity index in the world. Of these, 10,474 km (6,508 mi) are multi-lane expressways: 9,544 km (5,930 mi) are four-lane highways and the rest have 6 or more lanes. Starting in the late nineteenth century, Mexico was one of the first Latin American countries to promote railway development, and the network covers 30,952 km (19,233 mi). The Secretary of Communications and Transport of Mexico proposed a high-speed rail link that will transport its passengers from Mexico City to Guadalajara, Jalisco. The train, which will travel at 300 kilometers per hour (190 miles per hour), will allow passengers to travel from Mexico City to Guadalajara in just 2 hours. The whole project was projected to cost 240 billion pesos, or about 25 billion US$ and is being paid for jointly by the Mexican government and the local private sector including one of the wealthiest men in the world, Mexico's billionaire business tycoon Carlos Slim. The federal government has also been funding the construction of an inter city railway line connecting cities such as Cozumel, Mérida, Chichen Itza, Cancún and Palenque; another inter city train connecting the city of Toluca and Mexico City and has restored the Interoceanic train corridor, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Mexico has 233 airports with paved runways; of these, 10 carry 72% of national cargo and 97% of international cargo. The Mexico City International Airport remains the busiest in Latin America and the 36th busiest in the world transporting 45 million passengers a year. Two additional airports operate simultaneously to help relieve congestion from the Mexico City International Airport: the Toluca International Airport and the Felipe Ángeles International Airport. Demographics According to Mexico's National Geography and Statistics Institute, the country's estimated population in 2022 was of 129,150,971 people. Since at least the 1970s, Mexico has been the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. Throughout the 19th century, the population of Mexico had barely doubled. This trend continued during the first two decades of the 20th century, in 1900 the Mexican population was a little more than 13 million. The Mexican Revolution (c. 1910–1920) greatly impacted population growth with the 1921 census reporting a loss of about 1 million inhabitants. The growth rate increased dramatically between the 1930s and the 1980s when the country registered growth rates of over 3% (1950–1980). The Mexican population doubled in twenty years, and at that rate, it was expected that by 2000 there would be 120 million people living in Mexico. Mexico's population grew from 70 million in 1982 to 123.5 million inhabitants in 2017. Life expectancy increased from 36 years in 1895 to 75 years in 2020. Ethnicity and race Mexico's population is highly diverse, but research on Mexican ethnicity has felt the impact of nationalist discourses on identity. Since the 1930s, the Mexican government has promoted the view that all Mexicans are part of the Mestizo community, within which they are distinguished only by residence in or outside of an indigenous community, degree of fluency in an indigenous language, and degree of adherence to indigenous customs, according to Mexico's 2020 census, 6.1% of Mexico's population speaks an Indigenous language and 19.4% of the population identifies as indigenous. It is not until very recently that the Mexican government began conducting surveys that account for other ethnic groups that live in the country, such as Afro-Mexicans (who comprised 2% of Mexico's population in 2020) or White Mexicans who range from 27% to 47% of the population using skin color as reference. Asians and Middle Easterners represent around 1% of the population each. While Mestizos are a prominent ethnic group in contemporary Mexico, the subjective and ever-changing definition of this category has led to its estimations being imprecise. Languages Spanish is the de facto national language spoken by the vast majority of the population, making Mexico the world's most populous Hispanophone country. Mexican Spanish refers to the varieties of the language spoken in the country, which differs from one region to another in sound, structure, and vocabulary. The federal government officially recognizes sixty-eight linguistic groups and 364 varieties of indigenous languages. It is estimated that around 8.3 million citizens speak these languages, with Nahuatl being the most widely spoken by more than 1.7 million, followed by Yucatec Maya used daily by nearly 850,000 people. Tzeltal and Tzotzil, two other Mayan languages, are spoken by around half a million people each, primarily in the southern state of Chiapas. Mixtec and Zapotec, with an estimated 500,000 native speakers each, are two other prominent language groups. Since its creation in March 2003, the National Indigenous Languages Institute has been in charge of promoting and protecting the use of the country's indigenous languages, through the General Law of Indigenous Peoples' Linguistic Rights, which recognizes them de jure as "national languages" with status equal to that of Spanish. That notwithstanding, in practice, indigenous peoples often face discrimination and do not have full access to public services such as education and healthcare, or to the justice system, as Spanish is the prevailing language. Aside from indigenous languages, there are several minority languages spoken in Mexico due to international migration such as Low German by the 80,000-strong Mennonite population, primarily settled in the northern states, fueled by the tolerance of the federal government towards this community by allowing them to set their educational system compatible with their customs and traditions. The Chipilo dialect, a variance of the Venetian language, is spoken in the town of Chipilo, located in the central state of Puebla, by around 2,500 people, mainly descendants of Venetians that migrated to the area in the late 19th century. English is the most commonly taught foreign language in Mexico. It is estimated that nearly 24 million, or around a fifth of the population, study the language through public schools, private institutions, or self-access channels, however, a high level of English proficiency is limited to only 5% of the population. French is the second most widely taught foreign language, as every year between 200,000 and 250,000 Mexican students enroll in language courses. Emigration and immigration As of 2019, it is estimated that 11.7 million Mexicans live outside Mexico, in addition to 13.5 million born abroad and another 12 million descendants; the vast majority of this combined population (98–99%) are in the U.S. The largest Mexican communities outside Mexico are in the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth. Between 1965 and 2015, more than 16 million Mexicans migrated to the United States alone—by far the top destination for both temporary and permanent migration—representing one of the largest mass migrations in modern history. As a result of these major migration flows in recent decades, an estimated 37.2 million U.S. residents, or 11.2% of the country's population, identified as being of full or partial Mexican ancestry. Among the remaining 2% of Mexican expatriates not residing in the U.S., the most popular destinations are Canada (86,780), primarily the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, followed by Spain (60,850) and Germany (20,270); the latter two countries account for two-thirds of all Mexicans living in Europe. It is estimated that 69,000 Mexicans live in Latin America, led by Guatemala (18,870) followed by Bolivia (10,610), Chile (10,560), and Panama (5,000). Historically, and relative to other countries in the Western Hemisphere, Mexico has not been a destination of mass migration. As of 2020, an estimated 1.2 million foreigners settled in Mexico, up from nearly 1 million in 2010. In 2021, Mexico officially received 68,000 new immigrants, a 16% increase from the prior year; the overall number of migrants, including those unauthorized to enter or stay in the country, may be higher than official figures. The vast majority of migrants in Mexico come from the United States (900,000), making Mexico the top destination for U.S. citizens abroad. The second largest group comes from neighboring Guatemala (54,500), followed by Spain (27,600). Other major sources of migration are fellow Latin American countries, which include Colombia (20,600), Argentina (19,200) and Cuba (18,100). Communities descended from the Lebanese diaspora and German-born Mennonites have had an outsized impact in the country's culture, particularly in its cuisine and traditional music. Urban areas In 2020 there were 48 metropolitan areas in Mexico, in which close to 53% of the country's population lives. The most populous metropolitan area in Mexico is the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico, or Greater Mexico City, which in 2020 had a population of 21.8 million, or around 18% of the nation's population. The next four largest metropolitan areas in Mexico are Greater Monterrey (5.3 million), Greater Guadalajara (5.2 million), Greater Puebla (3.2 million) and Greater Toluca (2.3 million). Urban areas contain 76.81% of Mexico's total population. Religion Although the Constitutions of 1857 and 1917 put limits on the role of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico, Roman Catholicism remains the country's dominant religious affiliation. The 2020 census by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (National Institute of Statistics and Geography) gives Roman Catholicism as the main religion, with 77.7% (97,864,218) of the population, while 11.2% (14,095,307) belong to Protestant/Evangelical Christian denominations—including Other Christians (6,778,435), Evangelicals (2,387,133), Pentecostals (1,179,415), Jehovah's Witnesses (1,530,909), Seventh-day Adventists (791,109), and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (337,998)—; 8.1% (9,488,671) declared having no religion; 0.4% (491,814) were unspecified. The 97,864,218 Catholics of Mexico constitute in absolute terms the second largest Catholic community in the world, after Brazil's. 47% percent of them attend church services weekly. The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, is celebrated on 12 December and is regarded by many Mexicans as the most important religious holiday of their country. The Pentecostalism is the second Christian creed in Mexico, with more than 1.3 million adherents. Migratory phenomena have led to the spread of different aspects of Christianity, including branches Protestants, Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodox Church. The presence of Jews in Mexico dates back to 1521, when Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs, accompanied by several Conversos. According to the 2020 census, there are 58,876 Jews in Mexico. Islam in Mexico (with 7,982 members) is practiced mostly by Arab Mexicans. In the 2010 census 36,764 Mexicans reported belonging to a spiritualist religion, a category which includes a tiny Buddhist population. There is often a syncretism between shamanism and Catholic traditions. Another religion of popular syncretism in Mexico (especially in recent years) is the Santería, mainly due to the large number of Cubans who settled in the territory after the Cuban Revolution. One of the most exemplary cases of popular religiosity is the cult of Holy Dead (Santa Muerte). Other examples are the representations of the Passion of Christ and the celebration of Day of the Dead, which take place within the framework of the Catholic Christian imaginary, but under a very particular reinterpretation. Health In the 1930s, Mexico made a commitment to rural health care, mandating that mostly urban medical students receive training in it and to make them agents of the state to assess marginal areas. Since the early 1990s, Mexico entered a transitional stage in the health of its population and some indicators such as mortality patterns are identical to those found in highly developed countries like Germany or Japan. Mexico's medical infrastructure is highly rated for the most part and is usually excellent in major cities, but rural communities still lack equipment for advanced medical procedures, forcing patients in those locations to travel to the closest urban areas to get specialized medical care. Social determinants of health can be used to evaluate the state of health in Mexico. State-funded institutions such as Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) play a major role in health and social security. Private health services are also very important and account for 13% of all medical units in the country. Medical training is done mostly at public universities with many specializations done in vocational or internship settings. Some public universities in Mexico, such as the University of Guadalajara, have signed agreements with the U.S. to receive and train American students in medicine. Health care costs in private institutions and prescription drugs in Mexico are on average lower than that of its North American economic partners. Education As of 2020, the literacy rate in Mexico is 95.25%, a slight increase from 94.86% in 2018, and significantly higher than 82.99% in 1980. Literacy between males and females is relatively equal. According to most rankings, the publicly funded National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is the best university in the country. Other prominent public universities include the National Polythechnic Institute, the Metropolitan Autonomous University, the University of Guadalajara and the Autonomous University of Nuevo León and El Colegio de México. In terms of private academic institutions, among the most highly ranked is the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education; other prominent private universities include Universidad Iberoamericana, Universidad Panamericana, ITAM and Universidad Anáhuac. Culture Mexican culture reflects a long and complex history of interactions between various peoples through migration, conquest, and trade. Three centuries of Spanish rule resulted in the blending of Spanish culture with those of different indigenous groups. Efforts to assimilate the native population into Christian European culture during the colonial era were only partially successful, with many pre-Columbian customs, traditions, and norms persisting regionally (particularly in rural areas) or becoming syncretized; conversely, many Spanish settlers integrated into local communities through acculturation or intermarriage. However, a high degree of stratification along the lines of class, ethnicity, and race perpetuated distinct subcultures. The Porfirian era (el Porfiriato) (1876–1911), which brough relative peace after four decades of civil unrest and war, saw the development of philosophy and art, often with government support. Since that time, as accentuated during the Mexican Revolution, cultural identity has had its foundation in mestizaje: the blending of different races and cultures, of which the indigenous (i.e. Amerindian) element is the core. In light of the various ethnicities that formed the Mexican people, José Vasconcelos in La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race) (1925) defined Mexico and Latin America to be the melting pot of all races (thus extending the definition of the mestizo) not only biologically but culturally as well. Other Mexican intellectuals grappled with the idea of Lo Mexicano, which seeks "to discover the national ethos of Mexican culture." Nobel laureate Octavio Paz explores the notion of a Mexican national character in The Labyrinth of Solitude. Art Painting is one of the oldest arts in Mexico. Cave painting in Mexican territory is about 7500 years old and has been found in the caves of the Baja California Peninsula. Pre-Columbian Mexico is present in buildings and caves, in Aztec codices, in ceramics, in garments, etc.; examples of this are the Maya mural paintings of Bonampak, or those of Teotihuacán, those of Cacaxtla and those of Monte Albán. Mural painting with Christian religious themes had an important flowering during the 16th century, early colonial era in newly constructed churches and monasteries. Examples can be found in Acolman, Actopan, Huejotzingo, Tecamachalco and Zinacantepec. As with most art during the early modern era in the West, colonial-era Mexican art was religious during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Starting in the late seventeenth century, and, most prominently in the eighteenth century, secular portraits and images of racial types, so-called casta painting appeared. Important painters of the late colonial period were Juan Correa, Cristóbal de Villalpando and Miguel Cabrera. In early post-independence Mexico, nineteenth-century painting had a marked romantic influence; landscapes and portraits were the greatest expressions of this era. Hermenegildo Bustos is one of the most appreciated painters of the historiography of Mexican art. Other painters include Santiago Rebull, Félix Parra, Eugenio Landesio, and his noted pupil, the landscape artist José María Velasco. In the 20th century artists such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco, the so-called "Big Three" of Mexican muralism achieved worldwide recognition. They were commissioned by the Mexican government to paint large-scale historical murals on the walls of public buildings, which helped shape popular perceptions of the Mexican Revolution and Mexican cultural identity. Frida Kahlo's largely personal portraiture is considered by many as the most important historical work by a female artist. In the 21st century, Mexico City became home to the highest concentration of art museums in the world. Institutions like the Museo Jumex, the largest collection of its kind, founded by collector Eugenio López Alonso and bolstered by art advisor Esthella Provas, changed the notion of contemporary art in Latin America. The Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneous founded by Rufino Tamayo is also considered a preeminent institution and introduced foreign artists to a wider population. The country is also an epicenter for International art galleries including Kurimanzutto and FF Projects, and leading artists including Gabriel Orozco, Bosco Sodi, Stefan Brüggemann, and Mario García Torres. Architecture The architecture of Mesoamerican civilizations evolved in style from simple to complex. Teotihuacan, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, is one of the foremost examples of ancient pyramid construction. The cities of the Maya stand out to modern architects as examples of integration between large urban centers (with elaborate stone construction) and a thick jungle, generally with a complex network of roads. Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica also saw distinctive architectural influences from the Puuc and oasiamerican peoples. With the arrival of the Spanish, architectural theories of the Greco-Latin order with Arab influences were introduced. In the first few decades of Spanish presence in the continent, the high level of Christian missionary activity, especially by mendicant orders like the Dominicans or Franciscans, meant the construction of many monasteries, often with Romanesque, Gothic or Mudéjar elements. In addition, the interaction between Spaniards and Indigenous people gave rise to artistic styles such as the tequitqui (from the Nahuatl: worker or builder). Years later, Baroque and Mannerist styles prevailed in large cathedrals and civil buildings, while in rural areas, haciendas or stately estates with Mozarabic tendencies were built. In the 19th century, the neoclassical movement arose as the country gained independence and sought to establish itself as a republic. A famous example is the Hospicio Cabañas, an orphanage and hospital complex completed in 1829. The art nouveau, and the art deco were styles introduced into the design of the Palacio de Bellas Artes to mark the identity of the Mexican nation with Greek-Roman and pre-Columbian symbols. As a new sense of nationalism developed in the 20th century, a strengthened central government issued formal policies that sought to use architecture to show Mexico's modernity and differentiation from other nations. The development of a Mexican modernist architecture was especially manifested in the mid-1950s construction of the Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, the main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Designed by the most prestigious architects of the era, including Mario Pani, Eugenio Peschard, and Enrique del Moral, the buildings feature murals by artists Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Chávez Morado. It has since been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Juan O'Gorman was one of the first environmental architects in modern Mexico to develop the "organic" theory, trying to integrate buildings onto the landscape within the same approaches of Frank Lloyd Wright. In the search for a new architecture that does not resemble the styles of the past, it achieves a joint manifestation with the mural painting and the landscaping. Luis Barragán combined the shape of the space with forms of rural vernacular architecture of Mexico and Mediterranean countries (Spain-Morocco), integrating color that handles light and shade in different tones and opens a look at the international minimalism. He won the 1980 Pritzker Prize, the highest award in architecture. Cuisine The origin of the current Mexican cuisine was established during the Spanish colonial era, a mixture of the foods of Spain with native indigenous ingredients. Foods indigenous to Mexico include corn, pepper vegetables, calabazas, avocados, sweet potato, turkey, many beans, and other fruits and spices. Similarly, some cooking techniques used today are inherited from pre-Columbian peoples, such as the nixtamalization of corn, the cooking of food in ovens at ground level, grinding in molcajete and metate. With the Spaniards came the pork, beef and chicken meats; peppercorn, sugar, milk and all its derivatives, wheat and rice, citrus fruits and another constellation of ingredients that are part of the daily diet of Mexicans. From this meeting of two millennia old culinary traditions, were born pozole, mole sauce, barbacoa and tamale in its current forms, chocolate, a large range of breads, tacos, and the broad repertoire of Mexican street foods. Beverages such as atole, champurrado, milk chocolate and aguas frescas were born; desserts such as acitrón and the full range of crystallized sweets, rompope, cajeta, jericaya and the wide repertoire of delights created in the convents of nuns in all parts of the country. In 2005, Mexico presented the candidature of its gastronomy for World Heritage Site of UNESCO, the first time a country had presented its gastronomic tradition for this purpose. The result was negative, because the committee did not place the proper emphasis on the importance of corn in Mexican cuisine. On 16 November 2010 Mexican gastronomy was recognized as Intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. In addition, Daniela Soto-Innes was named the best female chef in the world by The World's Best 50 Restaurants in April 2019 and Elena Reygadas in 2023. Literature Mexican literature has its antecedents in the literature of the indigenous settlements of Mesoamerica. Poetry had a rich cultural tradition in pre-Columbian Mexico, being divided into two broad categories—secular and religious. Aztec poetry was sung, chanted, or spoken, often to the accompaniment of a drum or a harp. While Tenochtitlan was the political capital, Texcoco was the cultural center; the Texcocan language was considered the most melodious and refined. The best well-known pre-Columbian poet is Nezahualcoyotl. There are historical chronicles of the conquest of Mexico by participants, and, later, by historians. Bernal Díaz del Castillo's True History of the Conquest of the New Spain is still widely read today. Spanish-born poet Bernardo de Balbuena extolled the virtues of Mexico in Grandeza mexicana (Mexican grandeur) (1604). Baroque literature flourished in the 17th century; the most notable writers of this period were Juan Ruiz de Alarcón and Juana Inés de la Cruz. Sor Juana was famous in her own time, called the "Ten Muse." Nineteenth-century liberal of Nahua origin Ignacio Manuel Altamirano is an important writer of the era, along with Vicente Riva Palacio, the grandson of Mexican hero of independence Vicente Guerrero, who authored a series of historical novels as well as poetry, the late colonial-era novel by José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, The Mangy Parrot ("El Periquillo Sarniento"), is said to be the first Latin American novel. In the modern era, the novel of the Mexican Revolution by Mariano Azuela (Los de abajo, translated to English as The Underdogs) is noteworthy. Poet and Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz, novelist Carlos Fuentes, Alfonso Reyes, Renato Leduc, essayist Carlos Monsiváis, journalist and public intellectual Elena Poniatowska, and Juan Rulfo (Pedro Páramo), Martín Luis Guzmán, Nellie Campobello, (Cartucho). Cinema Mexican films from the Golden Age in the 1940s and 1950s are the greatest examples of Latin American cinema, with a huge industry comparable to the Hollywood of those years. Mexican films were exported and exhibited in all of Latin America and Europe. María Candelaria (1943) by Emilio Fernández, was one of the first films awarded a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946, the first time the event was held after World War II. The famous Spanish-born director Luis Buñuel realized in Mexico between 1947 and 1965 some of his masterpieces like Los Olvidados (1949) and Viridiana (1961). Famous actors and actresses from this period include María Félix, Pedro Infante, Dolores del Río, Jorge Negrete and the comedian Cantinflas. More recently, films such as Como agua para chocolate (1992), Sex, Shame, and Tears (1999), Y tu mamá también (2001), and The Crime of Father Amaro (2002) have been successful in creating universal stories about contemporary subjects, and were internationally recognized. Mexican directors Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman, The Revenant, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths), Alfonso Cuarón (A Little Princess, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Gravity, Roma), Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley), screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and photographer Emmanuel Lubezki are some of the most known present-day film makers. Music and dance Mexico has a long tradition of music from the prehispanic era to the present. Much of the music from the colonial era was composed for religious purposes. Although the traditions of European opera and especially Italian opera had initially dominated the Mexican music conservatories and strongly influenced native opera composers (in both style and subject matter), elements of Mexican nationalism had already appeared by the latter part of the 19th century with operas such as Aniceto Ortega del Villar's 1871 Guatimotzin, a romanticized account of the defense of Mexico by its last Aztec ruler, Cuauhtémoc. The most well-known Mexican composer of the twentieth century is Carlos Chávez (1899–1978), who composed six symphonies with indigenous themes, and rejuvenated Mexican music, founding the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional. Traditional Mexican music includes mariachi, banda, norteño, ranchera, and corridos. Corridos were particularly popular during the Mexican Revolution (1910–20) and in the present era include narcocorridos. The embrace of rock and roll by young Mexicans in the 1960s and 1970s brought Mexico into the transnational, counterculture movement of the era. In Mexico, the native rock culture merged into the larger countercultural and political movement of the late 1960s, culminating in the 1968 protests and redirected into counterculture rebellion, La Onda (the wave). On an everyday basis most Mexicans listen to contemporary music such as pop, rock, and others in both English and Spanish. Folk dance of Mexico along with its music is both deeply regional and traditional. Founded in 1952, the Ballet Folklórico de México performs music and dance of the prehispanic period through the Mexican Revolution in regional attire in the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Media Telenovelas, or soap operas are very traditional in Mexico and are translated to many languages and seen all over the world. Mexico was a pioneer in edutainment, with TV producer Miguel Sabido creating in 1970s "soap operas for social change". The "Sabido method" has been adopted in many other countries subsequently, including India, Peru, Kenya, and China. The Mexican government successfully used a telenovela to promote family planning in the 1970s to curb the country's high birth rate. Bilingual government radio stations broadcasting in Spanish and indigenous languages were a tool for indigenous education (1958–65) and since 1979 the Instituto Nacional Indigenista has established a national network of bilingual radio stations. There was a major reform of the telecommunications industry in 2013, with the creation of new broadcast television channels. There had been a longstanding limitation on the number of networks, with Televisa, with a virtual monopoly; TV Azteca, and Imagen Television. New technology has allowed the entry of foreign satellite and cable companies. Mexico became the first Latin American country to transition from analog to all digital transmissions. Sports Organized sport in Mexico largely dates from the late nineteenth century, with only bullfighting having a long history dating to the early colonial era. Once the political turmoil of the early republic was replaced by the stability of the Porfiriato did organized sport become public diversions, with structured and ordered play governed by rules and authorities. Baseball was introduced from the United States and also via Cuba in the 1880s and organized teams were created. After the Mexican Revolution, the government sponsored sports to counter the international image of political turmoil and violence. Mexico's most popular sport is association football. The bid to host the 1968 Summer Olympics was to burnish Mexico's stature internationally, with it being the first Latin American country to host the games. The government spent abundantly on sporting facilities and other infrastructure to make the games a success, but those expenditures helped fuel public discontent with the government's lack of spending on social programs. Mexico City hosted the XIX Olympic Games in 1968, making it the first Latin American city to do so. The country has also hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1970 and 1986. With its past hosting of the 1970 and 1986 tournaments, Mexico will become the first country to host or co-host the men's World Cup three times. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three North American countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Mexico is an international power in professional boxing. Fourteen Olympic boxing medals have been won by Mexico. The Mexican professional baseball league is named the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. While usually not as strong as the United States, the Caribbean countries and Japan, Mexico has nonetheless achieved several international baseball titles. Lucha Libre (freestyle professional wrestling) is also major crowd draw with national promotions such as AAA, CMLL and others. Despite efforts by animal rights activists to outlaw bullfighting, it remains a popular sport in the country, and almost all large cities have bullrings. Plaza México in Mexico City, which seats 45,000 people, is the largest bullring in the world. See also Index of Mexico-related articles Outline of Mexico Mexican War of Independence Notes References Further reading External links Government The Government of Mexico VisitMexico.com – Official tourism website (Archived 3 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine) General information The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Mexico. U.S. Agency for International Development. Mexico. U.S.-Mexico foreign trade balance. Mexico. Mexico from BBC News Mexico at Encyclopædia Britannica Wikimedia Atlas of Mexico Key Development Forecasts for Mexico from International Futures

United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal union of 50 states, the federal capital district of Washington, D.C., and 326 Indian reservations. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The State of Alaska lies to the northwest, while the State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands. The country has the world's third-largest land area, largest exclusive economic zone, and third-largest population, exceeding 334 million. Paleo-Indians migrated across the Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and went on to form various civilizations and societies. British colonization led to the first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution, with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783 Revolutionary War, the country continued to expand across North America. As more states were admitted, a North-South sectional division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America, which fought the remaining states of the Union during the 1861–1865 American Civil War. With the Union's victory and preservation, slavery was abolished nationally. By 1890, the United States had established itself as a great power. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II. Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War, during which both countries engaged in a struggle for ideological dominance and international influence. Following the Soviet Union's collapse and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower, wielding significant geopolitical influence globally. The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. It has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives, a lower house based on population; and the Senate, an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Substantial autonomy is provided by federalism, with a political culture promoting liberty, equality, individualism, personal autonomy, and limited government. One of the world's most developed countries, the United States has had the largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 15% of the global economy in 2023. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness, productivity, innovation, human rights, and higher education. Its hard power and cultural influence have a global reach. The U.S. is a founding member of the World Bank, Organization of American States, NATO, and United Nations, as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Etymology The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan, a Continental Army aide to General George Washington, wrote to Joseph Reed, Washington's aide-de-camp, seeking to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette, on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government, with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to the United States, despite the usage of "the Americas" as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is sometimes used as a corresponding adjective. History Indigenous peoples The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago; the Clovis culture, which appeared around 11,000 BC, is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas. Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the Mississippian culture, developed agriculture, architecture, and complex societies. In the post-archaic period, the Mississippian cultures were located in the midwestern, eastern, and southern regions, and the Algonquian in the Great Lakes region and along the Eastern Seaboard, while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the southwest. Native population estimates of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million. European settlement and conflict (1607–1765) Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California. France established its own settlements along the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620). The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies. While European settlers in what is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts. Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity. Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through the Atlantic slave trade. The original Thirteen Colonies that would later found the United States were administered by Great Britain, and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners. The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations; by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for the development of self-governance, and the First Great Awakening, a series of Christian revivals, fueled colonial interest in religious liberty. For a century, the American colonists had been providing their own troops and materiel in conflicts with indigenous peoples and Britain’s colonial rivals, especially France, and the Americans had begun to develop a sense of self-defense and self-reliance separate from Britain. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) took on new significance for all North American colonists after Parliament under William Pitt the Elder concluded that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America to win the war against France. For the first time, the continent became one of the main theaters of what could be termed a "world war". The British colonies' position as an integral part of the British Empire became more apparent during the war, with British military and civilian officials becoming a more significant presence in American life. The war increased a sense of American identity as well. Men who otherwise never left their own colony now traveled across the continent to fight alongside men from decidedly different backgrounds but who were no less "American". British officers trained American officers for battle, most notably George Washington; these officers would lend their skills and expertise to the colonists' cause during the American Revolutionary War to come. In addition, colonial legislatures and officials found it necessary to cooperate intensively in pursuit of a coordinated, continent-wide military effort. Finally, deteriorating relations between the British military establishment and the colonists, relations that were already less than positive, set the stage for further distrust and dislike of British troops. American Revolution and the early republic (1765–1800) Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance; one of the primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen, particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them. To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 and passed the Continental Association, a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord, igniting the American Revolutionary War. At the Second Continental Congress, the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and created a committee that named Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. Two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation the Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776. The political values of the American Revolution included liberty, inalienable individual rights; and the sovereignty of the people; supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy, aristocracy, and all hereditary political power; civic virtue; and vilification of political corruption. The Founding Fathers of the United States, who included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, Thomas Paine, John Adams and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman, Renaissance, and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and established a decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida. The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which the country's territory would expand with the admission of new states, rather than the expansion of existing states. The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a federal republic governed by three separate branches that together ensured a system of checks and balances. George Washington was elected the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in the United States and the peaceful transfer of power, respectively. Westward expansion and Civil War (1800–1865) The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. Lingering issues with Britain remained, leading to the War of 1812, which was fought to a draw. Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward, many with a sense of manifest destiny. The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. With the exception of Missouri, it also prohibited slavery in all lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ parallel. As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans, the federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation. Organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi. The Republic of Texas was annexed in 1845, and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest. Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest. Political tension over the possible introduction of slavery in these newly acquired territories was temporarily reduced by the Compromise of 1850. During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies, though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in the North enacted abolition laws, though support for slavery strengthened in Southern states, as inventions such as the cotton gin made the institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites. This sectional conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America, while the other states remained in the Union. War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter. After the January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, many freed slaves joined the Union Army. The war began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg, and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the Battle of Appomattox Court House. The Reconstruction era followed the war. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Reconstruction Amendments were passed to protect the rights of African Americans. National infrastructure, including transcontinental telegraph and railroads, spurred growth in the American frontier. Post–Civil War era (1865–1917) From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the port of New York City, and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish, Irish, and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to the Midwest. At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England. During the Great Migration, millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics. African Americans endured a period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations. A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson, emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country, which would be reinforced by the policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation. An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to rapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by a few prominent industrialists, largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent competition. Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad, petroleum, and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry. These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic inequality, slum conditions, and social unrest, creating the environment for labor unions to begin to flourish. This period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era, which was characterized by significant reforms. Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy; the islands were annexed in 1898. That same year, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in the Spanish–American War. (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.) American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War. The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917. Rise as a superpower (1917–1945) The United States entered World War I alongside the Allies of World War I, helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers. In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage. During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with the New Deal, a series of sweeping programs and public works projects combined with financial reforms and regulations. All were intended to protect against future economic depressions. Initially neutral during World War II, the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. developed the first nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the "Four Policemen" who met to plan the post-war world, alongside the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China. The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater economic power and international political influence. Cold War (1945–1991) After World War II, the United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to dominate world affairs. The U.S. engaged in regime change against governments perceived to be aligned with the Soviet Union, and competed in the Space Race, culminating in the first crewed Moon landing in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. experienced economic growth, urbanization, and population growth following World War II. The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming a prominent leader in the early 1960s. The Great Society plan of President Lyndon Johnson's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering institutional racism. The counterculture movement in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality. It also encouraged open defiance of the military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). A societal shift in the roles of women was partly responsible for the large increase in female labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which marked the end of the Cold War and solidified the position of the U.S. as the world's sole superpower. Contemporary (1991–present) The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history, a dramatic decline in U.S. crime rates, and advances in technology. Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the World Wide Web, the evolution of the Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, the first gene therapy trial, and cloning either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998. In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait. The September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror, and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting. The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession, the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in the 2010s, political polarization in the country increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the January 2021 Capitol attack, when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S. Capitol and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an attempted self-coup d'état. Geography The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km2). The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the Piedmont plateau region. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest. The Mississippi River System, the world's fourth-longest river system, runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado. Farther west are the rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua, Sonoran, and Mojave deserts. In the northwest corner of Arizona, carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon, a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast. The lowest and highest points in the contiguous United States are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone Caldera, is the continent's largest volcanic feature. In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland. Climate With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The western Great Plains are semi-arid. Many mountainous areas of the American West have an alpine climate. The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and oceanic in coastal Oregon, Washington, and southern Alaska. Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar. Hawaii, the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical. States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of the world's tornadoes occur in the country, mainly in Tornado Alley. Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the American Southwest, droughts became more persistent and more severe. Biodiversity and conservation The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species: about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians, and around 91,000 insect species. There are 63 national parks, and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas, managed by the National Park Service and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the Western States. Most of this land is protected, though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes. Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy, air and water pollution, biodiversity, logging and deforestation, and climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues. The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index. The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments. Government and politics The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions. The world's oldest surviving federation, the Constitution of the United States is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Its presidential system of government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent nations following decolonization. It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." The U.S. Constitution serves as the country's supreme legal document, also establishing the structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. According to V-Dem Institute's 2023 Human Rights Index, the United States ranks among the highest in the world for human rights. National government Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of checks and balances. The U.S. Congress, a bicameral legislature, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the power of impeachment. The Senate has 100 members (2 from each state), elected for a six-year term. The House of Representatives has 435 members, each elected for a two-year term; all representatives serve one congressional district of equivalent population. The Congress also organizes a collection of committees, each of which handles a specific task or duty. One of Congress's foremost non-legislative functions is the power to investigate and oversee the executive branch. Congressional oversight is usually delegated to committees and is facilitated by Congress's subpoena power. Appointment to a committee enables a member to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under its purview. The various committees monitor ongoing governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to the U.S. Congress, including but not limited to new legislation. The two major political parties have appointment power in deciding each committee's membership. Committee chairs are assigned to a member of the majority party. The U.S. president is the commander-in-chief of the military and chief executive of the federal government, with the ability to veto legislative bills from the U.S. Congress before they become law. However, presidential vetoes can be overridden by a two-thirds supermajority vote in both chambers of Congress. The president appoints the members of the Cabinet, subject to Senate approval, and names other officials who administer and enforce federal laws through their respective agencies. The president also has clemency power for federal crimes and can issue pardons. Finally, the president has the right to issue expansive "executive orders", subject to judicial review, in a number of policy areas. Candidates for president campaign with a vice-presidential running mate. Both candidates are elected together, or defeated together, in a presidential election. Unlike other votes in American politics, this is technically an indirect election in which the winner will be determined by the U.S. Electoral College. There, votes are officially cast by individual electors selected by their state legislature. In practice, however, each of the 50 states chooses a group of presidential electors who are required to confirm the winner of their state's popular vote. This group of electors equals their state's number of U.S. representatives, plus two more electors for the two U.S. senators the state sends to Congress. (The District of Columbia, with no representatives or senators, is allocated three electoral votes.) Both the president and the vice president serve a four-year term, and the president may be reelected to the office only once, for one additional four-year term. The U.S. federal judiciary, whose judges are all appointed for life by the president with Senate approval, consists primarily of the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. courts of appeals, and the U.S. district courts. The U.S. Supreme Court interprets laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has nine members led by the Chief Justice of the United States. The members are appointed by the sitting president when a vacancy becomes available. In a number of ways the federal court system operates differently than state courts. For civil cases that is apparent in the types of cases that can be heard in the federal system. Their limited jurisdiction restricts them to cases authorized by the United States Constitution or federal statutes. In criminal cases, states may only bring criminal prosecutions in state courts, and the federal government may only bring criminal prosecutions in federal court. The first level in the federal courts is federal district court for any case under "original jurisdiction", such as federal statutes, the Constitution, or treaties. There are twelve federal circuits that divide the country into different regions for federal appeals courts. After a federal district court has decided a case, it can then be appealed to a United States court of appeal. The next and highest court in the system is the Supreme Court of the United States. It has the power to decide appeals on all cases brought in federal court or those brought in state court but dealing with federal law. Unlike circuit court appeals, however, the Supreme Court is usually not required to hear the appeal. A "petition for writ of certiorari" may be submitted to the court, asking it to hear the case. If it is granted, the Supreme Court will take briefs and conduct oral arguments. If it is not granted, the opinion of the lower court stands. Certiorari is not often granted, and less than 1% of appeals to the Supreme Court are actually heard by it. Usually, the Court only hears cases when there are conflicting decisions across the nation on a particular issue, or when there is an obvious error in a case. The three-branch system is known as the presidential system, in contrast to the parliamentary system, where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States, especially in the Americas. Political parties The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties. Since then, the United States has operated as a de facto two-party system, though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican. The former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the latter is perceived as relatively conservative. Subdivisions In the American federal system, sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in the states are also represented by local elected governments, which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents, and further divided into municipalities. The District of Columbia is a federal district that contains the capital of the United States, the city of Washington. The territories and the District of Columbia are administrative divisions of the federal government. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations. Foreign relations The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has the world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and home to the United Nations headquarters. The United States is a member of the G7, G20, and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with the United States, except Iran, North Korea, and Bhutan. Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan. The United States has a "Special Relationship" with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Israel, and several European Union countries (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries in the Americas through the Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement. In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau through the Compact of Free Association. It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India, but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014, the U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion. Military The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Department of Defense, which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of the six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime. The United States spent $916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country, making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of the country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons—the second-largest share after Russia. The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces. The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries. State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor. They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933, which created the Guard and provides for the integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force. Law enforcement and criminal justice There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff departments in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The state police departments have authority in their respective state, and federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights, national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals of state court decisions. There is no unified "criminal justice system" in the United States. The American prison system is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: federal prisons, state prisons, local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities. Federal prisons are run by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees. State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses. Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under a year). Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined. As of January 2023, the United States has the sixth-highest per capita incarceration rate in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in the world, with almost 2 million people incarcerated. An analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database from 2010 showed U.S. homicide rates "were 7 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25 times higher". Economy The U.S. has been the world's largest economy nominally since about 1890. The 2023 nominal U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $27 trillion was the highest in the world, constituting over 25% of the global economy or 15% at purchasing power parity (PPP). From 1983 to 2008, U.S. real compounded annual GDP growth was 3.3%, compared to a 2.3% weighted average for the rest of the Group of Seven. The country ranks first in the world by nominal GDP, second when adjusted for purchasing power parities (PPP), and ninth by PPP-adjusted GDP per capita. It possesses the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. As of February 2024, the total federal government debt was $34.4 trillion. Of the world's 500 largest companies by revenue, 136 are headquartered in the U.S. as of 2023—the highest number of any country. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions and is the world's foremost reserve currency, backed by the country's dominant economy, its military, the petrodollar system, and its linked eurodollar and large U.S. treasuries market. Several countries use it as their official currency, and in others it is the de facto currency. It has free trade agreements with several countries, including the USMCA. The U.S. ranked second in the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019, after Singapore. Although the United States has reached a post-industrial level of development and is often described as having a service economy, it remains a major industrial power. As of 2021, the U.S. is the second-largest manufacturing country after China. New York City is the world's principal financial center and the epicenter of the world's largest metropolitan economy. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, both located in New York City, are the world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and trade volume. The United States is at or near the forefront of technological advancement and innovation in many economic fields, especially in artificial intelligence; electronics and computers; pharmaceuticals; and medical, aerospace and military equipment. The country's economy is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. The largest trading partners of the United States are the European Union, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, India, and Taiwan. The United States is the world's largest importer and the second-largest exporter. It is by far the world's largest exporter of services. Americans have the highest average household and employee income among OECD member states, and the fourth-highest median household income, up from sixth-highest in 2013. With personal consumption expenditures of over $18.5 trillion in 2023, the U.S. has a heavily consumer-driven economy and is by far the world's largest consumer market. Wealth in the United States is highly concentrated; the richest 10% of the adult population own 72% of the country's household wealth, while the bottom 50% own just 2%. Income inequality in the U.S. remains at record highs, with the top fifth of earners taking home more than half of all income and giving the U.S. one of the widest income distributions among OECD members. The U.S. ranks first in the number of dollar billionaires and millionaires, with 735 billionaires and nearly 22 million millionaires as of 2023. There were about 582,500 sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons in the U.S. in 2022, with 60% staying in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program. In 2022, 6.4 million children experienced food insecurity. Feeding America estimates that around one in five, or approximately 13 million, children experience hunger in the U.S. and do not know where they will get their next meal or when. As of 2022, 37.9 million people, or 11.5% of the U.S. population, were living in poverty. The United States has a smaller welfare state and redistributes less income through government action than most other high-income countries. It is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation nationally and is one of a few countries in the world without federal paid family leave as a legal right. The United States has a higher percentage of low-income workers than almost any other developed country, largely because of a weak collective bargaining system and lack of government support for at-risk workers. Science, technology, spaceflight and energy The United States has been a leader in technological innovation since the late 19th century and scientific research since the mid-20th century. Methods for producing interchangeable parts and the establishment of a machine tool industry enabled the large-scale manufacturing of U.S. consumer products in the late 19th century. By the early 20th century, factory electrification, the introduction of the assembly line, and other labor-saving techniques created the system of mass production. The United States is widely considered to be the leading country in the development of artificial intelligence technology. In 2022, the United States was (after China) the country with the second-highest number of published scientific papers. As of 2021, the U.S. ranked second (also after China) by the number of patent applications, and third by trademark and industrial design applications. In both 2023 and 2024, the United States ranked third (after Switzerland and Sweden) in the Global Innovation Index. The U.S. has the highest total research and development expenditure of any country and ranks ninth as a percentage of GDP. In 2023, the United States was ranked the second most technologically advanced country in the world (after South Korea) by Global Finance magazine. The United States has maintained a space program since the late 1950s, beginning with the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958. NASA's Apollo program (1961–1972) achieved the first crewed Moon landing with the 1969 Apollo 11 mission; it remains one of the agency's most significant milestones. Other major endeavors by NASA include the Space Shuttle program (1981–2011), the Voyager program (1972–present), the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes (launched in 1990 and 2021, respectively), and the multi-mission Mars Exploration Program (Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance). NASA is one of five agencies collaborating on the International Space Station (ISS); U.S. contributions to the ISS include several modules, including Destiny (2001), Harmony (2007), and Tranquility (2010), as well as ongoing logistical and operational support. The United States private sector dominates the global commercial spaceflight industry. Prominent American spaceflight contractors include Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX. NASA programs such as the Commercial Crew Program, Commercial Resupply Services, Commercial Lunar Payload Services, and NextSTEP have facilitated growing private-sector involvement in American spaceflight. As of 2023, the United States receives approximately 84% of its energy from fossil fuel and the largest source of the country's energy came from petroleum (38%), followed by natural gas (36%), renewable sources (9%), coal (9%), and nuclear power (9%). The United States constitutes less than 4% of the world's population, but consumes around 16% of the world's energy. The U.S. ranks as the second-highest emitter of greenhouse gases. Transportation The U.S. Department of Transportation and its divisions provide regulation, supervision, and funding for all aspects of transportation except for customs, immigration, and security. (The latter remain the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.) Each U.S. state has its own department of transportation, which builds and maintains state highways. Depending upon the state, this department might also directly operate or supervise other modes of transportation. Aviation law is almost entirely the jurisdiction of the federal government; the Federal Aviation Administration regulates all aspects of civil aviation, air traffic management, certification and compliance, and aviation safety. Vehicle traffic laws, however, are enacted and enforced by state and local authorities, with the exception of roads located on federal property (national parks, military bases) or in the unorganized U.S. territories. The United States Coast Guard is the primary enforcer of law and security on U.S. waterways, inland as well as coastal, but economic jurisdiction over coastal tidelands is shared between state and federal governments. The country's inland waterways are the world's fifth-longest, totaling 41,009 km (25,482 mi). Passenger and freight rail systems, bus systems, water ferries, and dams may be under either public or private ownership and operation. U.S. civilian airlines are all privately owned. Most U.S. airports are owned and operated by local government authorities, and there are also some private airports. The Transportation Security Administration has provided security at most major airports since 2001. Privately owned railroads and trains were the dominant mode of transportation in the U.S. until the mid-twentieth century. The introduction of jet airplanes and airports serving the same major city routes accelerated a decline in demand for intercity rail passenger service by the 1960s. The completion of the Interstate Highway System also hastened the sharp curtailment of passenger service by the railroads. These significant developments led to the creation of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, now called Amtrak, by the U.S. federal government in 1971. Amtrak helps to maintain limited intercity rail passenger service in most parts of the country. It serves most major U.S. cities, but outside the Northeast, California, and Illinois it typically runs only a few trains per day. More frequent Amtrak service is available in regional corridors between certain major cities, particularly the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston; between New York City and Albany; in metropolitan Chicago; and in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest. Amtrak does not serve several major U.S. destinations, including Las Vegas and Phoenix, Arizona. The American civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned. The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; American Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by US Airways. Of the world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As of 2022, there are 19,969 airports in the U.S., of which 5,193 are designated as "public use", including for general aviation and other activities. The overwhelming majority of roads in the United States are owned and maintained by state and local governments. Roads maintained only by the U.S. federal government are generally found on federal lands (such as national parks) or at federal facilities (like military bases). The Interstate Highway System, with its large, open freeways linking the states, is partly funded by the federal government but owned and maintained by the state government hosting its section of the interstate. Some states fund and build their own large expressways—often called "parkways" or "turnpikes"—that generally use tolls to pay for construction and maintenance. Likewise, some privately owned roads may use tolls for this purpose. Public transportation in the United States includes bus, commuter rail, ferry, and sometimes airline service. Public transit systems serve areas of higher population density where demand is greatest. Many U.S. cities, towns, and suburbs are car-dependent, however, and public transit there is less common and service far less frequent. Most U.S. urban areas have some form of public transit, notably city buses, while the largest (e.g. New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon) operate extensive systems that also include subways or light rail. Most public transit service in the United States is run by local governments, but national and regional commuter lines serve major U.S. urban corridors. Personal transportation in the United States is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of public roads, making it the longest in the world. The country's rail transport network, also the longest in the world at 182,412.3 mi (293,564.2 km), handles mostly freight. Of the world's 50 busiest container ports, four are located in the United States. The busiest in the U.S. is the Port of Los Angeles. The Oldsmobile Curved Dash and the Ford Model T, both American cars, are considered the first mass-produced and mass-affordable cars, respectively. As of 2023, the United States is the second-largest manufacturer of motor vehicles and is home to Tesla, the world's most valuable car company. American automotive company General Motors held the title of the world's best-selling automaker from 1931 to 2008. The American automotive industry is the world's second-largest automobile market by sales, having been overtaken by China in 2010, and the U.S. has the highest vehicle ownership per capita in the world, with 910 vehicles per 1000 people. By value, the U.S. was the world's largest importer and third-largest exporter of cars in 2022. Demographics Population The U.S. Census Bureau reported 331,449,281 residents as of April 1, 2020, making the United States the third-most-populous country in the world, after China and India. According to the Bureau's U.S. Population Clock, on July 1, 2024, the U.S. population had a net gain of one person every 16 seconds, or about 5400 people per day. In 2023, 51% of Americans age 15 and over were married, 6% were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 34% had never been married. In 2023, the total fertility rate for the U.S. stood at 1.6 children per woman, and, at 23%, it had the world's highest rate of children living in single-parent households in 2019. The United States has a diverse population; 37 ancestry groups have more than one million members. White Americans with ancestry from Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa form the largest racial and ethnic group at 57.8% of the United States population. Hispanic and Latino Americans form the second-largest group and are 18.7% of the United States population. African Americans constitute the country's third-largest ancestry group and are 12.1% of the total U.S. population. Asian Americans are the country's fourth-largest group, composing 5.9% of the United States population. The country's 3.7 million Native Americans account for about 1%, and some 574 native tribes are recognized by the federal government. In 2022, the median age of the United States population was 38.9 years. Language While many languages are spoken in the United States, English is by far the most commonly spoken and written. Although there is no official language at the federal level, some laws, such as U.S. naturalization requirements, standardize English, and most states have declared it the official language. Three states and four U.S. territories have recognized local or indigenous languages in addition to English, including Hawaii (Hawaiian), Alaska (twenty Native languages), South Dakota (Sioux), American Samoa (Samoan), Puerto Rico (Spanish), Guam (Chamorro), and the Northern Mariana Islands (Carolinian and Chamorro). In total, 169 Native American languages are spoken in the United States. In Puerto Rico, Spanish is more widely spoken than English. According to the American Community Survey in 2010, some 229 million people out of the total U.S. population of 308 million spoke only English at home. About 37 million spoke Spanish at home, making it the second most commonly used language. Other languages spoken at home by one million people or more include Chinese (2.8 million), Tagalog (1.6 million), Vietnamese (1.4 million), French (1.3 million), Korean (1.1 million), and German (1 million). Immigration America's immigrant population of nearly 51 million is by far the world's largest in absolute terms. In 2022, there were 87.7 million immigrants and U.S.-born children of immigrants in the United States, accounting for nearly 27% of the overall U.S. population. In 2017, out of the U.S. foreign-born population, some 45% (20.7 million) were naturalized citizens, 27% (12.3 million) were lawful permanent residents, 6% (2.2 million) were temporary lawful residents, and 23% (10.5 million) were unauthorized immigrants. In 2019, the top countries of origin for immigrants were Mexico (24% of immigrants), India (6%), China (5%), the Philippines (4.5%), and El Salvador (3%). In fiscal year 2022, over one million immigrants (most of whom entered through family reunification) were granted legal residence. The United States led the world in refugee resettlement for decades, admitting more refugees than the rest of the world combined. Religion The First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion in the country and forbids Congress from passing laws respecting its establishment. Religious practice is widespread, among the most diverse in the world, and profoundly vibrant. The country has the world's largest Christian population. Other notable faiths include Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, many New Age movements, and Native American religions. Religious practice varies significantly by region. "Ceremonial deism" is common in American culture. The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in a higher power or spiritual force, engage in spiritual practices such as prayer, and consider themselves religious or spiritual. In the "Bible Belt", located within the Southern United States, evangelical Protestantism plays a significant role culturally, whereas New England and the Western United States tend to be more secular. Mormonism—a Restorationist movement, whose members migrated westward from Missouri and Illinois under the leadership of Brigham Young in 1847 after the assassination of Joseph Smith—remains the predominant religion in Utah to this day. Urbanization About 82% of Americans live in urban areas, including suburbs; about half of those reside in cities with populations over 50,000. In 2022, 333 incorporated municipalities had populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than one million residents, and four cities—New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston—had populations exceeding two million. Many U.S. metropolitan populations are growing rapidly, particularly in the South and West. Health According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), average American life expectancy at birth was 77.5 years in 2022 (74.8 years for men and 80.2 years for women). This was a gain of 1.1 years from 76.4 years in 2021, but the CDC noted that the new average "didn't fully offset the loss of 2.4 years between 2019 and 2021". The health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and higher overall mortality due to opioid overdoses and suicides were held mostly responsible for the previous drop in life expectancy. The same report stated that the 2022 gains in average U.S. life expectancy were especially significant for men, Hispanics, and American Indian–Alaskan Native people (AIAN). Starting in 1998, the life expectancy in the U.S. fell behind that of other wealthy industrialized countries, and Americans' "health disadvantage" gap has been increasing ever since. The U.S. has one of the highest suicide rates among high-income countries. Approximately one-third of the U.S. adult population is obese and another third is overweight. The U.S. healthcare system far outspends that of any other country, measured both in per capita spending and as a percentage of GDP, but attains worse healthcare outcomes when compared to peer countries for reasons that are debated. The United States is the only developed country without a system of universal healthcare, and a significant proportion of the population that does not carry health insurance. Government-funded healthcare coverage for the poor (Medicaid) and for those age 65 and older (Medicare) is available to Americans who meet the programs' income or age qualifications. In 2010, former President Obama passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Abortion in the United States is not federally protected, and is illegal or restricted in 17 states. Education American primary and secondary education (known in the U.S. as K-12, "kindergarten through 12th grade") is decentralized. It is operated by state, territorial, and sometimes municipal governments and regulated by the U.S. Department of Education. In general, children are required to attend school or an approved homeschool from the age of five or six (kindergarten or first grade) until they are 18 years old. This often brings students through the 12th grade, the final year of a U.S. high school, but some states and territories allow them to leave school earlier, at age 16 or 17. The U.S. spends more on education per student than any country in the world, an average of $18,614 per year per public elementary and secondary school student in 2020–2021. Among Americans age 25 and older, 92.2% graduated from high school, 62.7% attended some college, 37.7% earned a bachelor's degree, and 14.2% earned a graduate degree. The U.S. literacy rate is near-universal. The country has the most Nobel Prize winners of any country, with 411 (having won 413 awards). U.S. tertiary or higher education has earned a global reputation. Many of the world's top universities, as listed by various ranking organizations, are in the United States, including 19 of the top 25. American higher education is dominated by state university systems, although the country's many private universities and colleges enroll about 20% of all American students. Local community colleges generally offer coursework and degree programs covering the first two years of college study. They often have more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition. As for public expenditures on higher education, the U.S. spends more per student than the OECD average, and Americans spend more than all nations in combined public and private spending. Colleges and universities directly funded by the federal government do not charge tuition and are limited to military personnel and government employees, including: the U.S. service academies, the Naval Postgraduate School, and military staff colleges. Despite some student loan forgiveness programs in place, student loan debt increased by 102% between 2010 and 2020, and exceeded $1.7 trillion as of 2022. Culture and society Americans have traditionally been characterized by a unifying political belief in an "American Creed" emphasizing consent of the governed, liberty, equality under the law, democracy, social equality, property rights, and a preference for limited government. Culturally, the country has been described as having the values of individualism and personal autonomy, as well as having a strong work ethic, competitiveness, and voluntary altruism towards others. According to a 2016 study by the Charities Aid Foundation, Americans donated 1.44% of total GDP to charity—the highest rate in the world by a large margin. The United States is home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values. It has acquired significant cultural and economic soft power. Nearly all present Americans or their ancestors came from Europe, Africa, or Asia (the "Old World") within the past five centuries. Mainstream American culture is a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of European immigrants with influences from many other sources, such as traditions brought by slaves from Africa. More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has added to a cultural mix that has been described as a homogenizing melting pot, and a heterogeneous salad bowl, with immigrants contributing to, and often assimilating into, mainstream American culture. The American Dream, or the perception that Americans enjoy high social mobility, plays a key role in attracting immigrants. Whether this perception is accurate has been a topic of debate. While mainstream culture holds that the United States is a classless society, scholars identify significant differences between the country's social classes, affecting socialization, language, and values. Americans tend to greatly value socioeconomic achievement, but being ordinary or average is promoted by some as a noble condition as well. The United States is considered to have the strongest protections of free speech of any country under the First Amendment, which protects flag desecration, hate speech, blasphemy, and lese-majesty as forms of protected expression. A 2016 Pew Research Center poll found that Americans were the most supportive of free expression of any polity measured. They are the "most supportive of freedom of the press and the right to use the Internet without government censorship." The U.S. is a socially progressive country with permissive attitudes surrounding human sexuality. LGBT rights in the United States are advanced by global standards. Literature Colonial American authors were influenced by John Locke and various other Enlightenment philosophers. The American Revolutionary Period (1765–1783) is notable for the political writings of Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson. Shortly before and after the Revolutionary War, the newspaper rose to prominence, filling a demand for anti-British national literature. An early novel is William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy, published in 1791. Writer and critic John Neal in the early- to mid-nineteenth century helped advance America toward a unique literature and culture by criticizing predecessors such as Washington Irving for imitating their British counterparts, and by influencing writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, who took American poetry and short fiction in new directions. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller pioneered the influential Transcendentalism movement; Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden, was influenced by this movement. The conflict surrounding abolitionism inspired writers, like Harriet Beecher Stowe, and authors of slave narratives, such as Frederick Douglass. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850) explored the dark side of American history, as did Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851). Major American poets of the nineteenth century American Renaissance include Walt Whitman, Melville, and Emily Dickinson. Mark Twain was the first major American writer to be born in the West. Henry James achieved international recognition with novels like The Portrait of a Lady (1881). As literacy rates rose, periodicals published more stories centered around industrial workers, women, and the rural poor. Naturalism, regionalism, and realism were the major literary movements of the period. While modernism generally took on an international character, modernist authors working within the United States more often rooted their work in specific regions, peoples, and cultures. Following the Great Migration to northern cities, African-American and black West Indian authors of the Harlem Renaissance developed an independent tradition of literature that rebuked a history of inequality and celebrated black culture. An important cultural export during the Jazz Age, these writings were a key influence on Négritude, a philosophy emerging in the 1930s among francophone writers of the African diaspora. In the 1950s, an ideal of homogeneity led many authors to attempt to write the Great American Novel, while the Beat Generation rejected this conformity, using styles that elevated the impact of the spoken word over mechanics to describe drug use, sexuality, and the failings of society. Contemporary literature is more pluralistic than in previous eras, with the closest thing to a unifying feature being a trend toward self-conscious experiments with language. As of 2024 there have been 12 American laureates for the Nobel Prize in literature. Mass media Media is broadly uncensored, with the First Amendment providing significant protections, as reiterated in New York Times Co. v. United States. The four major broadcasters in the U.S. are the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX). The four major broadcast television networks are all commercial entities. Cable television offers hundreds of channels catering to a variety of niches. As of 2021, about 83% of Americans over age 12 listen to broadcast radio, while about 40% listen to podcasts. As of 2020, there were 15,460 licensed full-power radio stations in the U.S. according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Much of the public radio broadcasting is supplied by NPR, incorporated in February 1970 under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. U.S. newspapers with a global reach and reputation include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. About 800 publications are produced in Spanish. With few exceptions, newspapers are privately owned, either by large chains such as Gannett or McClatchy, which own dozens or even hundreds of newspapers; by small chains that own a handful of papers; or, in an increasingly rare situation, by individuals or families. Major cities often have alternative newspapers to complement the mainstream daily papers, such as The Village Voice in New York City and LA Weekly in Los Angeles. The five most popular websites used in the U.S. are Google, YouTube, Amazon, Yahoo, and Facebook—all of them American-owned. As of 2022, the video game market of the United States is the world's largest by revenue. There are 444 publishers, developers, and hardware companies in California alone. Theater The United States is well known for its theater. Mainstream theater in the United States derives from the old European theatrical tradition and has been heavily influenced by the British theater. By the middle of the 19th century America had created new distinct dramatic forms in the Tom Shows, the showboat theater and the minstrel show. The central hub of the American theater scene is the Theater District in Manhattan, with its divisions of Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway. Many movie and television stars have gotten their big break working in New York productions. Outside New York City, many cities have professional regional or resident theater companies that produce their own seasons. The biggest-budget theatrical productions are musicals. U.S. theater has an active community theater culture. The Tony Awards recognizes excellence in live Broadway theater and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for regional theater. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. Visual arts Folk art in colonial America grew out of artisanal craftsmanship in communities that allowed commonly trained people to individually express themselves. It was distinct from Europe's tradition of high art, which was less accessible and generally less relevant to early American settlers. Cultural movements in art and craftsmanship in colonial America generally lagged behind those of Western Europe. For example, the prevailing medieval style of woodworking and primitive sculpture became integral to early American folk art, despite the emergence of Renaissance styles in England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The new English styles would have been early enough to make a considerable impact on American folk art, but American styles and forms had already been firmly adopted. Not only did styles change slowly in early America, but there was a tendency for rural artisans there to continue their traditional forms longer than their urban counterparts did—and far longer than those in Western Europe. The Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century movement in the visual arts tradition of European naturalism. The 1913 Armory Show in New York City, an exhibition of European modernist art, shocked the public and transformed the U.S. art scene. Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, and others experimented with new and individualistic styles, which would become known as American modernism. Major artistic movements such as the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning and the pop art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein developed largely in the United States. Major photographers include Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, James Van Der Zee, Ansel Adams, and Gordon Parks. The tide of modernism and then postmodernism has brought global fame to American architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, and Frank Gehry. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan is the largest art museum in the United States. Music American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as traditional music, traditional folk music, contemporary folk music, or roots music. Many traditional songs have been sung within the same family or folk group for generations, and sometimes trace back to such origins as the British Isles, mainland Europe, or Africa. The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African-American music in particular have influenced American music. Banjos were brought to America through the slave trade. Minstrel shows incorporating the instrument into their acts led to its increased popularity and widespread production in the 19th century. The electric guitar, first invented in the 1930s, and mass-produced by the 1940s, had an enormous influence on popular music, in particular due to the development of rock and roll. Elements from folk idioms such as the blues and old-time music were adopted and transformed into popular genres with global audiences. Jazz grew from blues and ragtime in the early 20th century, developing from the innovations and recordings of composers such as W.C. Handy and Jelly Roll Morton. Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington increased its popularity early in the 20th century. Country music developed in the 1920s, rock and roll in the 1930s, and bluegrass and rhythm and blues in the 1940s. In the 1960s, Bob Dylan emerged from the folk revival to become one of the country's most celebrated songwriters. The musical forms of punk and hip hop both originated in the United States in the 1970s. The United States has the world's largest music market with a total retail value of $15.9 billion in 2022. Most of the world's major record companies are based in the U.S.; they are represented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Mid-20th-century American pop stars, such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, became global celebrities and best-selling music artists, as have artists of the late 20th century, such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Prince, and the early 21st century, such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Fashion The United States is the world's largest apparel market by revenue. Apart from professional business attire, American fashion is eclectic and predominantly informal. Americans' diverse cultural roots are reflected in their clothing; however, sneakers, jeans, T-shirts, and baseball caps are emblematic of American styles. New York, with its fashion week, is considered to be one of the "Big Four" global fashion capitals, along with Paris, Milan, and London. A study demonstrated that general proximity to Manhattan's Garment District has been synonymous with American fashion since its inception in the early 20th century. The headquarters of many designer labels reside in Manhattan. Labels cater to niche markets, such as pre teens. There has been a trend in the United States fashion towards sustainable clothing. New York Fashion Week is one of the most influential fashion weeks in the world, and occurs twice a year; while the annual Met Gala in Manhattan is commonly known as the fashion world's "biggest night". Cinema The U.S. film industry has a worldwide influence and following. Hollywood, a district in northern Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city, is also metonymous for the American filmmaking industry. The major film studios of the United States are the primary source of the most commercially successful and most ticket-selling movies in the world. Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, although in the 21st century an increasing number of films are not made there, and film companies have been subject to the forces of globalization. The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, have been held annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1929, and the Golden Globe Awards have been held annually since January 1944. The industry peaked in what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Hollywood", from the early sound period until the early 1960s, with screen actors such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe becoming iconic figures. In the 1970s, "New Hollywood", or the "Hollywood Renaissance", was defined by grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of the post-war period. The 21st century was marked by the rise of American streaming platforms, which came to rival traditional cinema. Cuisine Early settlers were introduced by Native Americans to foods such as turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup. Of the most enduring and pervasive examples are variations of the native dish called succotash. Early settlers and later immigrants combined these with foods they were familiar with, such as wheat flour, beef, and milk, to create a distinctive American cuisine. New World crops, especially pumpkin, corn, potatoes, and turkey as the main course are part of a shared national menu on Thanksgiving, when many Americans prepare or purchase traditional dishes to celebrate the occasion. Characteristic American dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, doughnuts, french fries, macaroni and cheese, ice cream, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrant groups. Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos preexisted the United States in areas later annexed from Mexico, and adaptations of Chinese cuisine as well as pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are all widely consumed. American chefs have had a significant impact on society both domestically and internationally. In 1946, the Culinary Institute of America was founded by Katharine Angell and Frances Roth. This would become the United States' most prestigious culinary school, where many of the most talented American chefs would study prior to successful careers. The United States restaurant industry was projected at $899 billion in sales for 2020, and employed more than 15 million people, representing 10% of the nation's workforce directly. It is the country's second-largest private employer and the third-largest employer overall. The United States is home to over 220 Michelin Star-rated restaurants, 70 of which are in New York City alone. Wine has been produced in what is now the United States since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in what is now New Mexico in 1628. In the modern U.S., wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84 percent of all U.S. wine. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine-producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France. The American fast-food industry developed alongside the nation's car culture. American restaurants developed the drive-in format in the 1920s, which they began to replace with the drive-through format by the 1940s. American fast-food restaurant chains, such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dunkin' Donuts and many others, have numerous outlets around the world. Sports The most popular spectator sports in the U.S. are American football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and ice hockey. While most major U.S. sports such as baseball and American football have evolved out of European practices, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, and snowboarding are American inventions, many of which have become popular worldwide. Lacrosse and surfing arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate European contact. The market for professional sports in the United States was approximately $69 billion in July 2013, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined. American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport in the United States; the National Football League has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and the Super Bowl is watched by tens of millions globally. However, baseball has been regarded as the U.S. "national sport" since the late 19th century. After American football, the next four most popular professional team sports are basketball, baseball, soccer, and ice hockey. Their premier leagues are, respectively, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the National Hockey League. The most-watched individual sports in the U.S. are golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR and IndyCar. On the collegiate level, earnings for the member institutions exceed $1 billion annually, and college football and basketball attract large audiences, as the NCAA March Madness tournament and the College Football Playoff are some of the most watched national sporting events. In the U.S., the intercollegiate sports level serves as a feeder system for professional sports. This differs greatly from practices in nearly all other countries, where publicly and privately funded sports organizations serve this function. Eight Olympic Games have taken place in the United States. The 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, were the first-ever Olympic Games held outside of Europe. The Olympic Games will be held in the U.S. for a ninth time when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics. U.S. athletes have won a total of 2,968 medals (1,179 gold) at the Olympic Games, the most of any country. In international professional competition, the U.S. men's national soccer team has qualified for eleven World Cups, while the women's national team has won the FIFA Women's World Cup and Olympic soccer tournament four times each. The United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup and will co-host, along with Canada and Mexico, the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was also hosted by the United States. Its final match was watched by 90,185, setting the world record for most-attended women's sporting event at the time. See also Lists of U.S. state topics Outline of the United States Notes References Sources External links Key Development Forecasts for the United States from International Futures Government Official U.S. Government web portal – gateway to government sites House – official website of the United States House of Representatives Senate – official website of the United States Senate White House – official website of the president of the United States Supreme Court – official website of the Supreme Court of the United States History "Historical Documents" – website from the National Center for Public Policy Research "U.S. National Mottos: History and Constitutionality". Religious Tolerance. Analysis by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. "Historical Statistics" – links to U.S. historical data Maps "National Atlas of the United States" – official maps from the U.S. Department of the Interior Wikimedia Atlas of the United States Geographic data related to United States at OpenStreetMap "Measure of America" – a variety of mapped information relating to health, education, income, safety and demographics in the United States

Schenectady_Blue_Jays

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenectady_Blue_Jays

The Schenectady Blue Jays baseball club was an American minor league baseball franchise based in Schenectady, New York, for 12 consecutive seasons, 1946–57. It was a member of the Class C Canadian–American League through 1950, and the Class A Eastern League thereafter. The Blue Jays were affiliated with Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies and played at McNearney Stadium from the middle of 1946 through their final season. Franchise history The Blue Jays were founded at the beginning of the post-World War II boom in minor league baseball. Schenectady had previously been represented by a team in the Negro leagues, the Mohawk Giants (1913–1914), and by the Schenectady Dorpians, Schenectady Electricians and Schenectady Frog Alleys teams of the New York State League (1895–1904) and the Eastern Association (1909). The Phillies, purchased during the war by the R. R. M. Carpenter family, began to build out their farm system in 1946 and added Schenectady to their roster of affiliates. The nickname Blue Jays became the Phillies' secondary moniker before the start of the 1944 season and was common to at least two other Philadelphia farm teams, the Class C Salina Blue Jays and Class D Green Bay Blue Jays. The 1946 Schenectady Jays finished seventh in the eight-team Can-Am League. But the 1947 edition, managed by Leon Riley, father of future National Basketball Association player, coach and executive Pat Riley, won the league pennant by 13 games and the playoff championship; it drew over 146,000 fans, almost 60,000 more than the second-most-popular Can-Am League team. After the 1950 season, the Phillies replaced their Eastern League affiliate, the Utica Blue Sox, with the Schenectady Blue Jays, who moved up two levels to Class A, which was then almost equivalent to today's Double-A ranking. Schenectady won the Eastern League championship in 1956 and finished a strong second in 1957, but attendance had fallen to below 60,000 and the Phillies transferred their affiliation to the Williamsport Grays for 1958, thus ending the Blue Jays' 12-year lifespan. Year-by-year record Notable alumni References External links Q&A with Baseball Historian on Schenectady Blue Jays, The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, New York Information at Baseball Reference Finding Aid to Frank Keetz Professional Baseball Collection (includes material on Schenectady Blue Jays), Schenectady County Historical Society.

Skeeter_Newsome

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeeter_Newsome

Lamar Ashby "Skeeter" Newsome (October 18, 1910 – August 31, 1989) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1935–39), Boston Red Sox (1941–45) and Philadelphia Phillies (1946–47). Born in Phenix City, Alabama, he finished 27th in voting for the 1943 American League MVP Award after playing in 114 games and having 449 at-bats, 48 runs, 119 hits, 21 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 22 RBI, 5 stolen bases, 21 walks, .265 batting average, .301 on-base percentage, .327 slugging percentage, 147 total bases and 8 sacrifice hits. He finished 32nd in voting for the 1945 AL MVP for playing in 125 games and having 438 at-bats, 45 runs, 127 hits, 30 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 48 RBI, 6 stolen bases, 20 walks, .290 batting average, .322 on-base percentage, .370 slugging percentage, 162 total bases and 17 sacrifice hits. In 12 seasons he played in 1,128 games and had 3,716 at-bats, 381 runs, 910 hits, 164 doubles, 15 triples, 9 home runs, 292 RBI, 67 stolen bases, 246 walks, .245 batting average, .293 on-base percentage, .304 slugging percentage, 1,131 total bases and 120 sacrifice hits. Newsome managed in the minor leagues for the Phillies and Detroit Tigers after his playing career ended. He died in Columbus, Georgia, at the age of 78. References External links Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors) Skeeter Newsome at Find a Grave

Postcolonial_Love_Poem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcolonial_Love_Poem

Postcolonial Love Poem is a poem collection by Natalie Diaz which is her second collection. Awards Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Finalist or Shortlist in National Book Award for Poetry Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry. Forward Prize for Best Collection T. S. Eliot Prize == References ==

Natalie_Diaz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Diaz

Natalie Diaz (born September 4, 1978) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Mojave American poet, language activist, former professional basketball player, and educator. She is enrolled in the Gila River Indian Community and identifies as Akimel O'odham. She is currently an Associate Professor at Arizona State University. Early life Natalie Diaz was born in Needles, California, on September 4. 1978. She grew up in the Fort Mojave Indian Village in Needles, California, on the border of California, Arizona, and Nevada. She attended Old Dominion University, where she played point guard on the women's basketball team, reaching the NCAA Final Four as a freshman and the bracket of sixteen her other three years. She earned a bachelor's degree. After playing professional basketball in Europe and Asia, she returned to Old Dominion University, and completed an MFA in poetry and fiction, in 2006. Career Her work appeared in Narrative, Poetry magazine, Drunken Boat, Prairie Schooner, Iowa Review, and Crab Orchard Review. Diaz's debut book of poetry, When My Brother Was an Aztec, "portrays experiences rooted in Native American life with personal and mythic power." It was a 2012 Lannan Literary Selection, was shortlisted for the 2013 PEN/Open Book Award, and was a 2013 American Book Award winner. One important focus of the book is a sister struggling with her brother's addiction to crystal meth. In 2012, she was interviewed about her poetry and language rehabilitation work on the PBS NewsHour. In 2018, she was named as the Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Chair in Modern and Contemporary Poetry at Arizona State University. In 2019, she was faculty at the CantoMundo Retreat. In 2021, her book Postcolonial Love Poem won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. It was called "a collection of tender, heart-wrenching and defiant poems that explore what it means to love and be loved in an America beset by conflict." The book was also a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award, a finalist for the 2020 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a finalist for the 2020 Forward Prize for Best Collection, and shortlisted for the 2020 T. S. Eliot Prize. Personal life Diaz currently lives in Mohave Valley, Arizona, where she used to work on language revitalization at Fort Mojave, her home reservation. She worked with the last Elder speakers of the Mojave language. She is enrolled as member of the Gila Indian Community. Poetry When My Brother Was an Aztec. Copper Canyon Press. October 10, 2013. ISBN 978-1-61932-033-8. Postcolonial Love Poem. Graywolf Press. March 3, 2020. ISBN 978-1-64445-014-7. In anthology Kurt Schweigman and Lucille Lang Day, eds. (2016). Red Indian Road West: Native American Poetry from California. Scarlet Tanager Books. ISBN 978-0976867654 Melissa Tuckey, ed. (2018). Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0820353159. Awards and honors References External links "One on One with Natalie Diaz". GBall. 2000. Natalie Diaz, Blue Flower Arts Natalie Diaz poems, Academy of American Poets

MacArthur_Fellows_Program

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Fellows_Program

The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals working in any field who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States. According to the foundation's website, "the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishments but rather an investment in a person's originality, insight, and potential", but it also says such potential is "based on a track record of significant accomplishments". The current prize is $800,000 paid over five years in quarterly installments. Previously, it was $625,000. This figure was increased from $500,000 in 2013 with the release of a review of the MacArthur Fellows Program. The award has been called "one of the most significant awards that is truly 'no strings attached'". The program does not accept applications. Anonymous and confidential nominations are invited by the foundation and reviewed by an anonymous and confidential selection committee of about a dozen people. The committee reviews all nominees and recommends recipients to the president and board of directors. Most new fellows first learn of their nomination and award upon receiving a congratulatory phone call. MacArthur Fellow Jim Collins described this experience in an editorial column of The New York Times. Marlies Carruth is the program's current director. Recipients As of 2023, since 1981, 1131 people have been named MacArthur Fellows, ranging in age from 18 to 82. In the five broad categories defined by the foundation, the breakdown for recipient focus is as follows: Arts 336; Humanities 170; Public Issues 257; STEM 335; and Social Sciences 120. Of the 965 terminal degrees earned by 928 fellows during the period 1981 through 2018, 540 (56%) are doctorates, with the Ph.D. accounting for 514 (53.3%). Ivy league schools awarded 306 (31.7%) degrees to 300 (32.3%) fellows. The award is made to individuals of varying educational background but among the 1131 fellowship awards through the class of 2023, the following ten institutions have the most alumni fellows, with Harvard University having the most overall and the California Institute of Technology having the most per capita. 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Source: Notes References External links Official website

Dominique_Morisseau

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominique_Morisseau

Dominique Morisseau (born March 13, 1978) is an American playwright and actress from Detroit, Michigan. She has written more than nine plays, three of which are part of a cycle titled The Detroit Project. She received a MacArthur Fellowship (also known as the 'Genius Grant') in 2018. Early life Morisseau was born and grew up in Detroit, Michigan, with her mother and father. Her mother's family is from Mississippi and her father's family is from Haiti. She attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she received her BFA in Acting in 2000. There she met J. Keys, who is also from Michigan. They married in 2013. Keys was born in Detroit but grew up in Southfield, Michigan, a nearby suburb of the city. He works as a music industry promoter, emcee and hip hop musician. Career Acting Morisseau began her performance career as a live poetry speaker, primarily in her hometown community of Harmonie Park in Detroit. After graduating from college, she continued acting and worked with several organizations. At the Lark Play Development Center, she worked as an actor in a workshop production of The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, developing the role of Camae. In 2013, in a production at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, she reprised the role of Camae. She continues acting but has said that she would not act in any of her plays' premieres. Writing Morisseau began writing plays in college. She has said that the lack of suitable roles at the University of Michigan drove her to write plays and create the roles she wanted to perform. She wrote The Blackness Blues: Time to Change the Tune, A Sister's Story at this time. After college, in 2012 and 2013, she received a Playwrights of New York (PoNY) fellowship at the Lark Play Development Center. She has also worked as a Teaching Artist with City University of New York's Creative Arts Team. Morisseau has said that music plays a huge part in her work and often informs the work that she is writing. "It's a resource and clue to my work, and music plays a unifier among cultural barriers." Morisseau was on the list of Top 20 Most Produced Playwrights in America in 2015–16, with 10 productions of her plays nationwide. Morisseau is a story editor for the television series Shameless on Showtime and is also credited as a co-producer. She wrote the book for the jukebox musical Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations, which is directed by Des McAnuff. The musical opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in March 2019. It played pre-Broadway engagements at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre (2017), the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles (August to September 2018), and the Kennedy Center (July 2018). This play marked Morisseau's Broadway debut. She received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, the third Black woman to do so. Work The Detroit Project Morisseau has written a three-play cycle, titled The Detroit Project. The three plays (in order) are: Detroit '67 This play "explores an explosive and decisive moment in a great American city. The play's compelling characters struggle with racial tension and economic instability." It was developed and workshopped at The Public Theater in New York. Detroit '67 eventually was featured at the Classical Theatre of Harlem with the National Black Theatre. It was nominated for eight AUDELCO Theatre Awards and received the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. Paradise Blue Former musician Blue decides to sell his beloved jazz club in order to live out his dreams. He is left with the moral dilemma of leaving his partner, Pumpkin, and his loyal jazz band behind. Morisseau developed this play first at Williamstown Theatre Festival, where it eventually had its world premiere in July 2015. Paradise Blue continued its development at the McCarter Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, and the Signature Theatre Company. For this play, Morisseau received the L. Arnold Weissberger Award in 2012. Skeleton Crew The final play in the cycle revolves around a group of auto-plant workers grappling with the likely possibility of foreclosure and impending unemployment. Skeleton Crew received a developmental production at the Lark Play Development Center. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, this play had its world premiere at the Off-Broadway Linda Gross Theater with the Atlantic Theater Company in May 2016. Morisseau won the 2016 Obie Award Special Citation for Collaboration, along with director Santiago-Hudson and the Atlantic Theater Company for Skeleton Crew. The play won the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award in 2015. Skeleton Crew opened on Broadway in January 2022. It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. Works Awards Morisseau received a MacArthur Fellowship (also known as the 'Genius Grant') fin 2018, which included a stipend of $625,000. She is one of 25 fellows in the 2018 Class. Morisseau was named an Honoree for the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, which recognizes plays and performance texts created by women that present a feminist perspective and contain significant opportunities for female performers. She is a two-time award winner of the NAACP Image Award, which celebrates the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts, as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors. Primus Prize by the American Theatre Critics Association (honoree) for Follow Me to Nellie's in 2012 Stavis Playwriting Award University of Michigan: Emerging Leader Award City of Detroit: Spirit of Detroit Award Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, 2014, for her play Detroit '67 Steinberg Playwright Award, 2015 OBIE Award for "Special Citation: Collaboration" for her and Ruben Santiago-Hudson (director) for Skeleton Crew at Atlantic Theater Company, 2016 Windham Campbell Literature Prize for drama, 2023. References External links Dominique Morisseau at IMDb

Lee_Vaughn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Vaughn

Lee Vaughn (born November 27, 1974) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at the University of Wyoming. Early years Vaughn attended East High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he practiced football, basketball and track. As a senior, he received All-state honors at cornerback and return specialist. He also was named the Class 4A Back of the Year. In track as a senior, he broke the state records in the 100 metres, 200 metres and long jump (originally set in 1963). He also received the Milward Simpson award, given annually to the state's outstanding prep athlete. College career Vaughn accepted a football scholarship from the University of Wyoming. As a freshman, he was a backup player, making 10 tackles. As a sophomore, he started 11 games at free safety, tallying 65 tackles, one interception and 3 pass deflections. He also contributed to the team winning the WAC title with an 8–4 record. As a junior, he was moved to the starting right cornerback position, registering 70 tackles (3 for loss), 3 interceptions, 14 pass deflections, one sack and one quarterback pressure. As a senior, he registered 75 tackles (51 solo), one interception, 10 pass deflections and 2 fumble recoveries. He contributed to the team achieving a 10–1 regular season record, the WAC's Pacific title and a 22 ranking in the AP Poll. He finished his college career with 220 tackles (4 for loss), 5 interceptions and 27 pass deflections. Professional career Dallas Cowboys Vaughn was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round (187th overall) of the 1997 NFL draft. On July 23, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and was placed on the injured reserve list on August 14. He was waived on August 24, 1998. Amsterdam Admirals (NFLEL) Vaughn was selected by the Amsterdam Admirals in the 19th round (111th overall) of the 1999 NFL Europe Draft. He was released on March 29. Grand Rapids Rampage (AFL) On July 3, 2001, he was signed by the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League. He was released on July 6. BC Lions (CFL) On May 24, 2001, he was signed by the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. He posted 38 defensive tackles, 2 special teams tackles, one interception and 2 fumble recoveries. He was released on October 1. Wichita Stealth (AF2) In 2003, he was signed by the Wichita Stealth of the AF2 League. In June, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and was placed on the injured reserve list. References External links Lee Vaughn Stats

1997_NFL_draft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_NFL_draft

The 1997 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 19–20, 1997, at the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. No teams chose to claim any players in the supplemental draft this year. This draft was notable for its high-profile offensive linemen. The first overall selection was Orlando Pace, who appeared in seven consecutive Pro Bowls from 2000 to 2006 and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2016. Tarik Glenn was selected 19th overall and was also named to three Pro Bowls. Walter Jones, who made nine Pro Bowls (including eight consecutive from 2001 to 2008), was a seven time All-Pro, and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2014, was selected sixth overall. Others include Chris Naeole, Dan Neil, Ryan Tucker, Jeff Mitchell, Mike Flynn, and Joe Andruzzi. The 1997 Draft is also known for its running backs. Warrick Dunn, Corey Dillon, and Tiki Barber each rushed for over 10,000 yards in their careers, and Antowain Smith, and Duce Staley all enjoyed productive seasons in the NFL. This draft is also well known for its undrafted Pro Bowl players, including Jake Delhomme, Priest Holmes, and Pat Williams. Player selections Notable undrafted players Hall of Famers Walter Jones, offensive tackle from Florida State University taken 1st round 6th overall by the Seattle Seahawks. inducted: Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2014. Orlando Pace, offensive tackle from Ohio State University taken 1st round 1st overall by the St. Louis Rams. inducted: Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2016. Jason Taylor, defensive end from University of Akron taken 3rd round 73rd overall by the Miami Dolphins. inducted: Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2017. Tony Gonzalez, tight end from University of California taken 1st round 13th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs. inducted: Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2019. Ronde Barber, cornerback from University of Virginia taken 3rd round 66th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. inducted: Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2023. Trades In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the 1994 Draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft. Chicago bears Round one Round two Round three Round four Round five Round six Round seven References External links NFL.com – 1997 Draft databaseFootball.com – 1997 Draft Pro Football Hall of Fame

Tony_McCombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_McCombs

Tony McCombs (born August 24, 1974) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 1997 NFL draft. He played for the Arizona Cardinals from 1997 to 1998. == References ==

Egon_Sendler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Sendler

Egon Sendler (1 August 1923 – 17 March 2014) was a Catholic priest of the Jesuit order and one of the world's foremost experts on the painting of Eastern Orthodox icons. He was also an author, teacher, theologian, and artist. He earned considerable respect from many Orthodox experts on icons. Biography Sendler was born in Waldtal/Małkowice, Silesia, in 1923. After the Second World War and three years of war captivity in Russia, he joined the Jesuits in Germany in 1948. He was educated in Munich, Rome in the Russicum and Paris, where he studied Byzantine art history. He was fluent in French, Russian, German, Italian, and Polish. From 1959 he lived and taught at the Jesuit College Saint-Georges of Meudon, France. After retiring, he lived in Versailles. In 1970, he established the icons section of the Centre d'Études Russes Saint-Georges, located in Meudon, just outside Paris. In 2002, this centre was renamed Atelier Saint-Georges and relocated to Versailles. It provides workshops for both beginner and advanced icon painters. For more than thirty years, he has also taught icon workshops in countries throughout the world, including Italy, Argentina, the United States, and Réunion. To supplement this instruction, he frequently leads his students on tours/pilgrimages to Russia, Greece and Cyprus. Sendler was a prolific icon painter, painting in both the Russian and Byzantine traditions; his icons and frescoes are displayed in France, Italy, Lebanon and the United States. In recent years, an icon workshop named Atelier Saint-André was established in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is a community of independent painters who follow the teachings of Sendler and work in cooperation with the Atelier Saint-Georges. Their murals, frescoes, and icons "strictly adhere to the canonical and aesthetic rules of traditional iconography which have developed through the past two thousand years". He wrote three books on icons: L'icône: Image de l'Invisible (1981), Les icônes Byzantines de la Mère de Dieu (1992), and Les mystères du Christ: Icônes de la liturgie (2001). All of these books are published by Desclée de Brouwer. The first of these books has been translated from French into many languages; its title in English is The Icon: Image of the Invisible. It is a comprehensive study of the theology and history of the icon, as well as its aesthetics and techniques. It includes technical details and preparations, from pigment colours to selection of wood. Regarding the differences between Western and Eastern religious art, Sendler stated:Western religious art, indisputably, has dogmatic content and is rooted in Sacred Scripture and Tradition. However, in its forms and techniques it relies to a great extent on the art of one era or another. Eastern art, on the contrary, requires that the artist in his interpretation of a given theme closely adhere to the theological content of Tradition. This Tradition is precise and rich. For this reason the forms created by Byzantine art are always motivated by the eyes of faith, to a greater extent than those created by the Western tradition. Sendler died in Paris on 17 March 2014, aged 90. Frescoes of Sendler in Russicum == References ==

Elections_in_New_Hampshire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_New_Hampshire

Elections in the U.S. state of New Hampshire are held at national, state and local (county and municipal) level. The state holds the first presidential primary in the national cycle. Elections for a range of state positions coincide with biennial elections for the House of Representatives. In a 2020 study, New Hampshire was ranked as the 6th hardest state for citizens to vote in. Elections for state offices The state of New Hampshire holds its state general elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (better known as Election Day) in even-numbered years. As a result of this, general elections in New Hampshire systematically coincide with the biennial elections for the United States House of Representatives. During general elections in New Hampshire, elections are held for the positions of Governor, Executive Councilor, state Senator, state Representative, Sheriff, County Attorney, County Treasurer, Register of Deeds, and Register of Probate. Officials elected to all nine of these offices are elected for a term of two years. Election of County Commissioners also occurs during the state's general elections, but rules for these elections vary by county. In Strafford County, for example, three County Commissioners are elected to two-year terms at every general election. In Carroll County, by contrast, three County Commissioners are elected to rotating four-year terms. New Hampshire's Governor is elected at large; Executive Councilors, state Senators, and state Representatives are elected by district; Sheriff, County Attorney, County Treasurer, Register of Deeds, and Register of Probate are elected by county; and County Commissioners are elected, again, by rules that vary from county to county. New Hampshire currently has 400 seats in its House of Representatives, 24 seats in its Senate, and five seats on its Executive Council. National elections New Hampshire is well known in national politics for holding the first primary in the quadrennial U.S. presidential election cycle. This New Hampshire primary is actually mandated by state law. New Hampshire RSA 653:9 requires that the state's presidential primary elections be scheduled on the earlier of: the second Tuesday in March, or no less than seven days prior to the holding of a "similar election" in any other state History New Hampshire voters selected Republicans for office during the 19th and 20th centuries until 1992. Since then, voters have chosen Democrats for U.S. President all but once, while voting Democratic for most state offices in 2006 and 2008 and Republican for most state offices in 2010. On selected issues, political debate in New Hampshire centers on personal liberty. Historically, New Hampshire was a staunchly conservative state and regularly voted Republican. Some sources trace the founding of the Republican Party to the town of Exeter in 1853. Prior to 1992, New Hampshire had only strayed from the Republican Party for three presidential candidates—Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson. The state voted for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan twice by overwhelming majorities. Beginning in 1992, New Hampshire became a swing state in both national and local elections. The state supported Democrats Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, John Kerry in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. It was the only U.S. state to support George W. Bush in the 2000 election and go Democratic in the 2004 election. The state has elected three Democrats to the Governorship during this period. The voters selected Democrats in New Hampshire as they did nationally in 2006 and 2008. In 2006, Democrats won both congressional seats (electing Carol Shea-Porter in the 1st district and Paul Hodes in the 2nd district), re-elected Governor John Lynch, and gained a majority on the Executive Council and in both houses of the legislature for the first time since 1911. Democrats had not held both the legislature and the governorship since 1874. Neither U.S. Senate seat was up for a vote in 2006. In 2008, Democrats retained their majorities, governorship, and congressional seats; and former governor Jeanne Shaheen defeated incumbent Republican John E. Sununu for the U.S. Senate in a rematch of the 2002 contest. Barack Obama won the simultaneous presidential election and carried every New Hampshire county for the Democrats for the first time since 1852. It had been thought that Democrats moving in from Massachusetts were responsible for the shift. A 2006 University of New Hampshire survey found that those immigrants were mostly Republican. Their moving had helped the border towns to remain Republican, while other areas had become increasingly Democratic. The study indicated that immigrants from states other than Massachusetts tended to lean Democratic. The 2008 elections resulted in women holding 13 of the 24 seats in the New Hampshire Senate, a first for any legislative body in the United States. At the end of the 2008 election cycle, voters registered Democratic outnumbered those registered Republican. In the 2010 midterm elections, New Hampshire voted out both of its Democratic members in the House of Representatives in favor of Republicans. Republicans also won control of both chambers of the State House by veto-proof majorities, while Governor John Lynch won an unprecedented fourth term. Two years later, in the 2012 elections, New Hampshire voted out both of its Republican members in the House of Representatives in favor of Democrats. At the same time, voters returned Democrats to the majority in the State House of Representatives, while Republicans held on to a narrow 13-11 majority in the State Senate, despite losing the popular vote. Democrat Maggie Hassan won the 2012 gubernatorial election with a 12% margin of victory, with 54.6% of the vote in the gubernatorial election, becoming the first Democrat to succeed another Democrat as Governor of New Hampshire since 1854. However, Republicans gained control of the State House in 2014, and in 2016 elections, Republican Executive Councilor Chris Sununu was elected as Governor, giving Republicans full control over state government. However, the state narrowly went to Democrat Hillary Clinton over Republican Donald Trump in that year's presidential election. Meanwhile, Democratic governor Maggie Hassan defeated incumbent Republican Kelly Ayotte to join Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representatives Carol Shea-Porter and Ann McLane Kuster to make the entire congressional delegation represented by the Democratic party for the first time since 1854. In the 2018 midterm elections, both chambers of the state legislature returned to Democratic control, while Sununu was reelected as governor, resulting in divided government. While New Hampshire Democrats retained their seats in the 2020 federal elections, Republicans regained the majority in the state's Senate, House of Representatives, and Executive Council. New Hampshire's incumbent Republican Gov. Chris Sununu also won the election to his third term in office against Democrat Dan Feltes. This election signaled Republican strength on a state level, flipping the Senate from a 14-10 Democratic majority to a 14-10 Republican majority. The house flipped to the GOP with 213 Republicans and 187 Democrats. See also 2020 New Hampshire elections Government of New Hampshire Elections in the United States New Hampshire primary New Hampshire primary, 2008 Political party strength in New Hampshire United States presidential elections in New Hampshire References External links Elections Division at the New Hampshire Secretary of State official website New Hampshire Election Law New Hampshire at Ballotpedia Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "New Hampshire", Voting & Elections Toolkits "New Hampshire: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA "League of Women Voters of New Hampshire". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters) "New Hampshire", A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society and Tufts Archival Research Center "State Elections Legislation Database", Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures, State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020

Nemanja_Markovi%C4%87

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemanja_Markovi%C4%87

Nemanja Marković (born 7 July 1915, date of death unknown) was a Yugoslav sports shooter. He competed in two events at the 1952 Summer Olympics. References External links 1915 births Year of death missing Yugoslav male sport shooters Olympic shooters for Yugoslavia Shooters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing

Brian_Bergstein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Bergstein

Brian Bergstein is the National Technology Editor for the American Associated Press news agency, based in Boston, Massachusetts. His work focuses mainly on the economic, legal, and social implications of upcoming technologies. Personal He is a graduate of Northwestern University. Bergstein was raised in Los Angeles, California. He, his wife, and two children currently live in Brookline, Massachusetts. Awards and honors From 2004 to 2005, he held one of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships. Career Bergstein has been a technology journalist for 13 years. He has worked on the Web, computing, telecom, and in the business of technology from Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston. Previously a technology writer for the Associated Press's New York bureau, Bergstein was promoted to Technology Editor in mid-2008 when the AP reorganised to cover stories by topic rather than geographical areas. He has worked as a journalism instructor at Boston University. He is also deputy editor of MIT Technology Review. == References ==

Associated_Press

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press

The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major U.S. daily newspapers and radio and television broadcasters. Since the award was established in 1917, the AP has earned 59 Pulitzer Prizes, including 36 for photography. The AP is also known for its widely used AP Stylebook, its AP polls tracking NCAA sports, and its election polls and results during US elections. By 2016, news collected by the AP was published and republished by more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcasters. The AP operates 235 news bureaus in 94 countries, and publishes in English, Spanish, and Arabic. It also operates the AP Radio Network, which provides twice hourly newscasts and daily sportscasts for broadcast and satellite radio and television stations. Many newspapers and broadcasters outside the United States are AP subscribers, paying a fee to use AP material without being contributing members of the cooperative. As part of their cooperative agreement with the AP, most member news organizations grant automatic permission for the AP to distribute their local news reports. History The Associated Press was formed in May 1846 by five daily newspapers in New York City to share the cost of transmitting news of the Mexican–American War. The venture was organized by Moses Yale Beach (1800–68), second publisher of The Sun, joined by the New York Herald, the New York Courier and Enquirer, The Journal of Commerce, and the New York Evening Express. Some historians believe that the New-York Tribune joined at this time; documents show it was a member in 1849. The New York Times became a member in September 1851. Initially known as the New York Associated Press (NYAP), the organization faced competition from the Western Associated Press (1862), which criticized its monopolistic news gathering and price setting practices. An investigation completed in 1892 by Victor Lawson, editor and publisher of the Chicago Daily News, revealed that several principals of the NYAP had entered into a secret agreement with United Press, a rival organization, to share NYAP news and the profits of reselling it. The revelations led to the demise of the NYAP and in December 1892, the Western Associated Press was incorporated in Illinois as the Associated Press. A 1900 Illinois Supreme Court decision (Inter Ocean Publishing Co. v. Associated Press) holding that the AP was a public utility and operating in restraint of trade resulted in the AP's move from Chicago to New York City, where corporation laws were more favorable to cooperatives. Melville Stone, who had founded the Chicago Daily News in 1875, served as AP general manager from 1893 to 1921. The cooperative grew rapidly under the leadership of Kent Cooper, who served from 1925 to 1948 and who built up bureau staff in South America, Europe and (after World War II), the Middle East. He introduced the "telegraph typewriter" or teletypewriter into newsrooms in 1914. In 1935, the AP launched the Wirephoto network, which allowed transmission of news photographs over leased private telephone lines on the day they were taken. This gave the AP a major advantage over other news media outlets. While the first network was only between New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, eventually the AP had its network across the whole United States. In 1945, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Associated Press v. United States that the AP had been violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by prohibiting member newspapers from selling or providing news to nonmember organizations as well as making it very difficult for nonmember newspapers to join the AP. The AP entered the broadcast field in 1941 when it began distributing news to radio stations; it created its own radio network in 1974. In 1994, it established APTV, a global video newsgathering agency. APTV merged with Worldwide Television News in 1998 to form APTN, which provides video to international broadcasters and websites. In 2004, the AP moved its headquarters from its long time home at 50 Rockefeller Plaza to 450 West 33rd Street in Manhattan. In 2019, AP had more than 240 bureaus globally. Its mission—"to gather with economy and efficiency an accurate and impartial report of the news"—has not changed since its founding, but digital technology has made the distribution of the AP news report an interactive endeavor between the AP and its 1,400 U.S. newspaper members as well as broadcasters, international subscribers, and online customers. The AP began diversifying its news gathering capabilities. By 2007 the AP was generating only about 30% of its revenue from United States newspapers, and by 2024, this had declined to 10%. 37% came from the global broadcast customers, 15% from online ventures and 18% came from international newspapers and from photography. In March 2024, Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation, announced that effective March 25, 2024, it would no longer use content from the AP. A spokesperson for AP said that they were "shocked and disappointed" by this development. Newspaper chain McClatchy announced that it would also stop using some AP services. Gannett and McClatchy will both continue to use AP's election results data. Web resources The AP's multi-topic structure has resulted in web portals such as Yahoo! and MSN posting its articles, often relying on the AP as their first source for news coverage of breaking news items. This and the constant updating evolving stories require has had a major impact on the AP's public image and role, giving new credence to the AP's ongoing mission of having staff for covering every area of news fully and promptly. In 2007, Google announced that it was paying to receive AP content, to be displayed in Google News, interrupted from late 2009 to mid-2010 due to a licensing dispute. A 2017 study by NewsWhip revealed that AP content was more engaged with on Facebook than content from any individual English-language publisher. Nonprofit In June 2024, Axios reported that the AP would be launching a nonprofit with the goal of expanding state and local news, hoping to raise $100 million. Timeline 1849: The Harbor News Association opened the first news bureau outside the United States in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to meet ships sailing from Europe before they reached dock in New York. 1876: Mark Kellogg, a stringer, was the first AP news correspondent to be killed while reporting the news, at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. 1893: Melville E. Stone became the general manager of the reorganized the AP, a post he held until 1921. Under his leadership, the AP grew to be one of the world's most prominent news agencies. 1899: The AP used Guglielmo Marconi's wireless telegraph to cover the America's Cup yacht race off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, the first news test of the new technology. 1914: The AP introduced the teleprinter, which transmitted directly to printers over telegraph wires. Eventually a worldwide network of 60-word-per-minute teleprinter machines is built. 1935: The AP initiated WirePhoto, the world's first wire service for photographs. The first photograph to transfer over the network depicted an airplane crash in Morehouse, New York, on New Year's Day, 1935. 1938: The AP expanded new offices at 50 Rockefeller Plaza (known as "50 Rock") under an agreement made as part of the construction of Rockefeller Center in New York City. The building would remain its headquarters for 66 years. 1941: The AP expanded from print to radio broadcast news. 1941: Wide World News Photo Service purchased from The New York Times. 1943: The AP sends Ruth Cowan Nash to cover the deployment of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps to Algeria. Nash is the first American woman war correspondent. 1945: AP war correspondent Joseph Morton was executed along with nine OSS men and four British SOE agents by the Germans at Mauthausen concentration camp. Morton was the only Allied correspondent to be executed by the Axis during World War II. That same year, AP Paris bureau chief Edward Kennedy defied an Allied headquarters news blackout to report Nazi Germany's surrender, touching off a bitter episode that led to his eventual dismissal by the AP. Kennedy maintains that he reported only what German radio already had broadcast. 1951: AP war correspondent Prague bureau chief William N. Oatis was arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia. He was not released until 1953. 1974: The AP launches the Associated Press Radio Network headquartered in Washington, D.C. 1987: The AP switches to color photography completely after the public suicide of American politician R. Budd Dwyer. 1994: The AP launches APTV, a global video news gathering agency, headquartered in London. 2004: The AP moves its headquarters from 50 Rock to 450 West 33rd Street, New York City. 2006: The AP joins YouTube. 2008: The AP launched AP Mobile (initially known as the AP Mobile News Network), a multimedia news portal that gives users news they can choose and provides anytime access to international, national and local news. The AP was the first to debut a dedicated iPhone application in June 2008 on stage at Apple's WWDC event. The app offered AP's own worldwide coverage of breaking news, sports, entertainment, politics and business as well as content from more than 1,000 AP members and third-party sources. 2008: The AP opens its Pyongyang bureau. 2010: The AP launched multi-device World Cup Soccer Applications providing real-time news coverage of the 2010 World Cup on desktop, Apple and Android devices. 2010: AP earnings fall 65% from 2008 to just $8.8 million. The AP also announced that it would have posted a loss of $4.4 million had it not liquidated its German-language news service for $13.2 million. 2011: AP revenue dropped $14.7 million in 2010. 2010 revenue totaled $631 million, a decline of 7% from the previous year. The AP rolled out price cuts designed to help newspapers and broadcasters cope with declining revenue. 2012: Gary B. Pruitt succeeded Tom Curley to become president and CEO. Pruitt is the 13th leader of the AP in its 166-year history. 2016: The AP reported that income dropped to $1.6 million from $183.6 million in 2015. The 2015 profit figure was bolstered by a one-time, $165 million tax benefit. 2017: The AP moved its headquarters to 200 Liberty Street, New York City. 2018: The AP unveiled AP Votecast to replace exit polls for the 2018 US midterm elections. Governance The AP is governed by an elected board of directors. Since April 2022, the chairperson is Gracia C. Martore, former president and CEO of Tegna, Inc. Election polls The AP is the only organization that collects and verifies election results in every city and county across the United States, including races for the U.S. president, the Senate and House of Representatives, and governors as well as other statewide offices. Known for accuracy, the organization has collected and published presidential election data since 1848. Major news outlets rely on the polling data and results provided by the Associated Press before declaring a winner in major political races, particularly the presidential election. In declaring the winners, the AP has historically relied on a robust network of local reporters with first-hand knowledge of assigned territories who also have long-standing relationships with county clerks as well as other local officials. Moreover, the AP monitors and gathers data from county websites and electronic feeds provided by states. The research team further verifies the results by considering demographics, number of absentee ballots, and other political issues that may have an effect on the final results. In 2018, the AP introduced a new system called AP VoteCast, which was developed together with NORC at the University of Chicago in order to further improve the reliability of its data and overcome biases of its legacy exit poll. Sports polls The AP conducts polls for numerous college sports in the United States. The AP college football rankings were created in 1936, and began including the top 25 teams in 1989. Since 1969, the final poll of each season has been released after all bowl games have been played. The AP released its all-time Top 25 in 2016. As of 2017, 22 different programs had finished in the number one spot of the poll since its inception. In the pre-bowl game determination era, the AP poll was often used as the distinction for a national champion in football. The AP college basketball poll has been used as a guide for which teams deserve national attention. The AP first began its poll of college basketball teams in 1949, and has since conducted over 1,100 polls. The college basketball poll started with 20 teams and was reduced to 10 during the 1960-61 college basketball season. It returned to 20 teams in 1968-69 and expanded to 25 beginning in 1989–90. The final poll for each season is released prior to the conclusion of the NCAA tournament, so all data includes regular season games only. In 2017, The AP released a list of the Top 100 teams of all time. The poll counted poll appearances (one point) and No. 1 rankings (two points) to rank each team. Sports awards Baseball The AP began its Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award in 1959, for a manager in each league. From 1984 to 2000, the award was given to one manager in all of MLB. The winners were chosen by a national panel of AP baseball writers and radio men. The award was discontinued in 2001. Basketball Every year, the AP releases the names of the winners of its AP College Basketball Player of the Year and AP College Basketball Coach of the Year awards. It also honors a group of All-American players. Football AP NFL Coach of the Year AP NFL Most Valuable Player AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year AP NFL Rookie of the Year AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year Associated Press Television News In 1994, London-based Associated Press Television (APTV) was founded to provide agency news material to television broadcasters. In 1998, the AP purchased Worldwide Television News (WTN) from the ABC News division of The Walt Disney Company, Nine Network Australia and ITN London. The AP publishes 70,000 videos and 6,000 hours of live video per year, as of 2016. The agency also provides seven simultaneous live video channels, AP Direct for broadcasters, and six live channels on AP Live Choice for broadcasters and digital publishers. The AP was the first news agency to launch a live video news service in 2003. AP Stylebook Litigation and controversies Kidnapping of Tina Susman In 1994, Tina Susman was on her fourth trip to Somalia, reporting for the AP. She was reporting on U.S. peacekeeping troops leaving the country. Somali rebels outnumbered her bodyguards in Mogadishu, dragged her from her car in broad daylight, and held her for 20 days. She told The Quill that she believes being a woman was an advantage in her experience there. The AP had requested news organizations including The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and The Washington Post to suppress the story to discourage the emboldening of the kidnappers. Christopher Newton In September 2002, Washington, D.C. bureau reporter Christopher Newton, an AP reporter since 1994, was fired after he was accused of fabricating sources since 2000, including at least 40 people and organizations. Prior to his firing, Newton had been focused on writing about federal law-enforcement while based at the Justice Department. Some of the nonexistent agencies quoted in his stories included "Education Alliance", the "Institute for Crime and Punishment in Chicago", "Voice for the Disabled", and "People for Civil Rights". FBI impersonation case In 2007, an FBI agent working in Seattle impersonated an AP journalist and infected the computer of a 15-year-old suspect with a malicious surveillance software. The incident sparked a strongly worded statement from the AP demanding the bureau never impersonate a member of the news media again. In September 2016 the incident resulted in a report by the Justice Department, which the AP said "effectively condone[d] the FBI's impersonation". In December 2017, following a US court appearance, a judge ruled in favor of the AP in a lawsuit against the FBI for fraudulently impersonating a member of the news media. Fair-use controversy In June 2008, the AP sent numerous DMCA take-down demands and threatened legal action against several blogs. The AP contended that the internet blogs were violating the AP's copyright by linking to AP material and using headlines and short summaries in those links. Many bloggers and experts noted that the use of the AP news fell squarely under commonly accepted internet practices and within fair-use standards. Others noted and demonstrated that the AP routinely takes similar excerpts from other sources, often without attribution or licenses. The AP responded that it was defining standards regarding citations of AP news. Shepard Fairey In March 2009, the AP counter-sued artist Shepard Fairey over his famous image of Barack Obama, saying the uncredited, uncompensated use of an AP photo violated copyright laws and signaled a threat to journalism. Fairey had sued the AP the previous month over his artwork, titled "Obama Hope" and "Obama Progress", arguing that he did not violate copyright law because he dramatically changed the image. The artwork, based on an April 2006 picture taken for the AP by Mannie Garcia, was a popular image during the 2008 presidential election and now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. According to the AP lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, Fairey knowingly "misappropriated The AP's rights in that image". The suit asked the court to award the AP profits made off the image and damages. Fairey said he looked forward to "upholding the free expression rights at stake here" and disproving the AP's accusations. In January 2011 this suit was settled with neither side declaring their position to be wrong but agreeing to share reproduction rights and profits from Fairey's work. All Headline News In January 2008, the AP sued competitor All Headline News (AHN) claiming that AHN allegedly infringed on its copyrights and a contentious "quasi-property" right to facts. The AP complaint asserted that AHN reporters had copied facts from AP news reports without permission and without paying a syndication fee. After AHN moved to dismiss all but the copyright claims set forth by the AP, a majority of the lawsuit was dismissed. The case has been dismissed and both parties settled. Hoax tweet and flash crash On April 23, 2013, hackers posted a tweet to AP's Twitter account about fictional attacks on the White House, falsely claiming that President Obama had been injured. The hoax caused a flash crash on the American stock markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly falling by 143 points. Justice Department subpoena of phone records On May 13, 2013, the AP announced telephone records for 20 of their reporters during a two-month period in 2012, had been subpoenaed by the U.S. Justice Department and described these acts as a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" into news-gathering operations. The AP reported that the Justice Department would not say why it sought the records, but sources stated that the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia's office was conducting a criminal investigation into a May 7, 2012 AP story about a CIA operation that prevented a terrorist plot to detonate an explosive device on a commercial flight. The DOJ did not direct subpoenas to the AP, instead going to their phone providers, including Verizon Wireless. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified under oath in front of the House Judiciary Committee that he recused himself from the leak investigations to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. Holder said his Deputy Attorney General, James M. Cole, was in charge of the AP investigation and would have ordered the subpoenas. AP collaboration with Nazi Germany The AP collaborated with Nazi Germany and gave to it access to its photographic archives for its antisemitic Nazi propaganda. AP also cooperated with the Nazi regime through censorship. In 2017, the German historian Norman Domeier of the University of Vienna brought to wider attention the deal between the AP and the Nazi government related to the interchange of press photos during the period in which the United States were at war with Nazi Germany. This relationship involved the Bureau Laux, run by the Waffen-SS photographer Helmut Laux. The mechanism for this interchange involved a courier flying to Lisbon and back each day transporting photos from and for Nazi Germany's wartime enemy, the United States, via diplomatic pouch. The transactions were initially conducted at the AP bureau under Luiz Lupi in Lisbon, and from 1944, when the exchange via Lisbon took too long, also at the AP bureau in Stockholm under Eddie Shanke. Here, as a cover, the Swedish agency, Pressens Bild, was involved as an intermediary. An estimated 40,000 photos were exchanged between the enemies in this way. The AP was kicked out of Nazi Germany when the United States entered World War II in December 1941. Israeli–Palestinian conflict In his book Broken Spring: An American-Israeli Reporter's Close-up View of How Egyptians Lost Their Struggle for Freedom, former AP correspondent Mark Lavie claimed that the editorial line of the Cairo bureau was that the conflict was Israel's fault and the Arabs and Palestinians were blameless. Israeli journalist Matti Friedman accused the AP of killing a story he wrote about the "war of words", "between Israel and its critics in human rights organizations", in the aftermath of the Israel/Gaza conflict of 2008–09. Tuvia Grossman photograph On September 29, 2000, the first day of the Second Intifada, the AP published a photograph of a badly bloodied young man behind whom a police officer could be seen with a baton raised in a menacing fashion; a gas station with Hebrew lettering could also be seen in the background. The AP labelled it with the caption "An Israeli policeman and a Palestinian on the Temple Mount", and the picture and caption were subsequently published in several major American newspapers, including the New York Times. In reality, the injured man in the photograph was a Jewish yeshiva student from Chicago named Tuvia Grossman, and the police officer, a Druze named Gidon Tzefadi, was protecting Grossman from a Palestinian mob who had clubbed, stoned, and stabbed Grossman. There are also no gas stations with Hebrew lettering on the Temple Mount. The episode is often cited by those who accuse the media of having an anti-Israel bias, and was the impetus for the founding of HonestReporting. After a letter from Grossman's father noted the error, the AP, the New York Times, and other papers published corrections; despite these corrections, the photograph continues to be used by critics of Israel as a symbol of Israeli aggression and violence. Israeli airstrike on the AP office building During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, the Israeli army destroyed the al-Jalaa Highrise, a building housing the AP's Gaza offices and Al Jazeera offices. Israel stated that the building housed Hamas military intelligence and had given advanced warning of the strike, and no civilians were harmed. AP CEO Gary Pruitt released a statement on May 16, stating that he "had no indication Hamas was in the building" and called on the Israeli government to provide the evidence. He said that "the world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today." On 17 May, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he had not seen any evidence that Hamas operated from the building housing the AP and Al Jazeera, but it is the job of others to handle intelligence matters. Israel reportedly shared intelligence with American officials and U.S. president Joe Biden showing Hamas offices inside the building. Reporters Without Borders asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the bombing as a possible war crime. On June 8, Israeli Ambassador to the US Gilad Erdan met with AP CEO Gary Pruitt and vice president for foreign news, Ian Phillips, to discuss the operation. In coordination with the IDF, Erdan said the site was used by Hamas intelligence officials to develop and carry out electronic warfare operations, and that IDF did not suspect the AP was aware of the alleged covert Hamas presence. After the meeting the AP stated "We have yet to receive evidence to support these claims". Erdan later tweeted "Israel is willing to assist AP in rebuilding its offices and operations in Gaza." Firing of Emily Wilder In May 2021, the AP said it would launch a review of its social media policies after questions were raised about the firing of a journalist who expressed pro-Palestinian views on social media. The announcement came after some AP journalists signed a letter expressing concern over the termination of former news associate Emily Wilder, whom the AP said committed multiple violations of the company's social media policy. The AP has said that Wilder's previous activism played no role in her termination. Removal of Israel-Palestine Livestream In May 2024, Israeli officials seized equipment broadcasting a live stream of Northern Gaza from the town of Sderot as part of a ban on Al Jazeera Media in Israel which had received footage from the broadcast. The move was condemned by multiple journalism organizations, Israeli opposition politicians, and US government officials. In a press briefing, the spokesperson for the National Security Council commented on the seizure, saying "The White House and the State Department immediately engaged with the government of Israel at high levels to express our serious concern and ask them to reverse this action." Later that day, Israeli Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi announced via Twitter that the equipment would be returned to the AP and the Israeli Government would review the positioning of the AP broadcast to determine if it posed a security risk. Migrant Boat NFT On January 10, 2022, AP announced it would start selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of their photographs in partnership with a company named Xooa, with the proceeds being used to fund their operations. One of the NFTs they promoted on Twitter on 24 February was an aerial shot depicting an overcrowded migrant boat in the Mediterranean Sea. The tweet received negative backlash from users and other journalists, with AP being accused of profiting off of human suffering and the picture choice being "dystopian" and "in extremely poor taste". The tweet was subsequently deleted and the NFT, which was to be sold the next day, was pulled from market. Global director of media relations Lauren Easton apologized, saying "This was a poor choice of imagery for an NFT. It has not and will not be put up for auction [...] AP's NFT marketplace is a very early pilot program, and we are immediately reviewing our efforts". Awards received The AP has earned 58 Pulitzer Prizes, including 35 for photography, since the award was established in 1917. In May 2020, Dar Yasin, Mukhtar Khan, and Channi Anand of the AP were honored with the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. The choice caused controversy, because it was taken by some as questioning "India's legitimacy over Kashmir" as it had used the word "independence" in regard to revocation of Article 370. The AP won an Oscar in 2024 for 20 Days in Mariupol, a first-person account of the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. See also Agence France-Presse, French news agency AP Stylebook Associated Press v. Meltwater Australian Associated Press, Australian news agency The Canadian Press, Canadian news agency EFE, Spanish news agency George Emil Bria International Press Telecommunications Council Jewish Telegraphic Agency, described as the "Associated Press of Jewish media" List of news agencies List of online image archives NewsML News Industry Text Format Reuters TweenTribune, children-focused news References Citations Sources Further reading Blanchard, Margaret A. "The Associated Press antitrust suit: A philosophical clash over ownership of first amendment rights." Business History Review 61.1 (1987): 43–85. Blondheim, Menahem. News over the Wires: The Telegraph and the Flow of Public Information in America, 1844-1897 (Harvard U. Press, 1994). Blondheim, Menahem. "The click: Telegraphic technology, journalism, and the transformations of the New York Associated Press." American Journalism 17.4 (2000): 27–52. Coopersmith, Jonathan. "From lemons to lemonade: The development of AP Wirephoto." American Journalism 17.4 (2000): 55–72. Dell'Orto, Giovanna. AP foreign correspondents in action: World War II to the present (Cambridge University Press, 2016) online. Halberstam, David. Breaking news: how the Associated Press has covered war, peace, and everything else (Princeton Architectural Press, 2007) online. Kirat, Mohamed, and David Weaver. "Foreign news coverage in three wire services: A study of AP, UPI, and the nonaligned news agencies pool." Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands) 35.1 (1985): 31–47. Rantanen, Terhi. "Foreign dependence and domestic monopoly: The European news cartel and US associated presses, 1861–1932." Media History 12.1 (2006): 19–35. Renaud, Jean-Luc. "US government assistance to AP's world-wide expansion." Journalism Quarterly 62.1 (1985): 10–36. Seo, Soomin. "Blue-Collar witnesses to power: The culture of photographers at the Associated Press." Journalism Studies 20.15 (2019): 2200–2217. online Smethers, J. Steven. "Pounding Brass for the Associated Press: Delivering News by Telegraph in a Pre-Teletype Era." American Journalism 19.2 (2002): 13–30. Watts, Liz. "AP's first female reporters." Journalism History 39.1 (2013): 15–28. online External links Official website Corporate website AP film and video archive's channel on YouTube The Associated Press Statement of News Values and Principles Archived October 31, 2023, at the Wayback Machine

Associated_Press_v._United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press_v._United_States

Associated Press v. United States, 326 U.S. 1 (1945), was a ruling of the United States Supreme Court. concerning both antitrust law and freedom of the press. The ruling confirmed that anticompetitive behavior in the news industry should be subjected to a First Amendment analysis on the ability of the public to receive information from multiple sources. Background The Associated Press (AP), which included more than 1,200 American newspapers in its membership, had prohibited its members from selling or providing news content to organizations that were not members, regardless of whether that content had been created by the AP as branded content, or by its member newspapers in the form of "spontaneous news". This rule made it difficult for non-member news organizations to compete with or join the AP network. A similar rule had been enacted by another news conglomerate, the Tribune Company, and the United States government sued both that company and the AP for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Action against the AP was first heard at the District Court for the Southern District of New York, which held that the AP had violated antitrust law. The AP appealed, and the concurrent government action against the Tribune Company was combined into the Supreme Court proceeding under the name Associated Press v. United States in 1945. Opinion of the court The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice Hugo Black, held that the Associated Press had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. While the AP had argued that the First Amendment allowed it to control the distribution of its own content, the court disagreed, ruling that freedom of the press did not allow news organizations to violate antitrust law. The AP bylaws, as written, constituted restraint of trade. Furthermore, the bylaws restricted interstate commerce in a fashion prohibited by the Sherman Act. The fact that the AP had not yet achieved a true monopoly on the distribution of news content was deemed irrelevant, While the ruling essentially focused on antitrust law, the parts of Black's opinion discussing journalism and public knowledge have become more influential. In Black's words: "Freedom to publish is guaranteed by the Constitution, but freedom to combine to keep others from publishing is not. Freedom of the press from governmental interference under the First Amendment does not sanction repression of that freedom by private interests." Impact Associated Press v. United States, thanks to Black's comment on the control of private media interests, is widely cited as an important precedent supporting efforts in the United States to restrict media concentration. This applies to both the growth of news conglomerates in that era, and the later growth of mass media firms. The ruling has regained influence in the newspaper industry in the 2000s, this time due to the consolidation of newspaper ownership as the industry declines in profitability. The ruling has also been cited as justification for many regulations by the Federal Communications Commission toward broadcasting content, as media firms may try to prevent certain viewpoints from being seen/heard on stations that they control. In the more recent era, Black's comments on the power of media conglomerates have been applied in arguments to regulate the size of big tech firms, who have pioneered new techniques for controlling the flow of information to the public. References External links Text of Associated Press v. United States, 326 U.S. 1 (1945) is available from: CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress

Sherman_Antitrust_Act

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1–7) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce and consequently prohibits unfair monopolies. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. The Sherman Act broadly prohibits 1) anticompetitive agreements and 2) unilateral conduct that monopolizes or attempts to monopolize the relevant market. The Act authorizes the Department of Justice to bring suits to enjoin (i.e. prohibit) conduct violating the Act, and additionally authorizes private parties injured by conduct violating the Act to bring suits for treble damages (i.e. three times as much money in damages as the violation cost them). Over time, the federal courts have developed a body of law under the Sherman Act making certain types of anticompetitive conduct per se illegal, and subjecting other types of conduct to case-by-case analysis regarding whether the conduct unreasonably restrains trade. The law attempts to prevent the artificial raising of prices by restriction of trade or supply. "Innocent monopoly", or monopoly achieved solely by merit, is legal, but acts by a monopolist to artificially preserve that status, or nefarious dealings to create a monopoly, are not. The purpose of the Sherman Act is not to protect competitors from harm from legitimately successful businesses, nor to prevent businesses from gaining honest profits from consumers, but rather to preserve a competitive marketplace to protect consumers from abuses. Background In Spectrum Sports, Inc. v. McQuillan 506 U.S. 447 (1993) the Supreme Court said: The purpose of the [Sherman] Act is not to protect businesses from the working of the market; it is to protect the public from the failure of the market. The law directs itself not against conduct which is competitive, even severely so, but against conduct which unfairly tends to destroy competition itself. According to its authors, it was not intended to impact market gains obtained by honest means, by benefiting the consumers more than the competitors. Senator George Hoar of Massachusetts, another author of the Sherman Act, said the following: ... [a person] who merely by superior skill and intelligence...got the whole business because nobody could do it as well as he could was not a monopolist...(but was if) it involved something like the use of means which made it impossible for other persons to engage in fair competition." At Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader 310 U.S. 469, 310 U. S. 492-93 and n. 15: The legislative history of the Sherman Act, as well as the decisions of this Court interpreting it, show that it was not aimed at policing interstate transportation or movement of goods and property. The legislative history and the voluminous literature which was generated in the course of the enactment and during fifty years of litigation of the Sherman Act give no hint that such was its purpose. They do not suggest that, in general, state laws or law enforcement machinery were inadequate to prevent local obstructions or interferences with interstate transportation, or presented any problem requiring the interposition of federal authority. In 1890, when the Sherman Act was adopted, there were only a few federal statutes imposing penalties for obstructing or misusing interstate transportation. With an expanding commerce, many others have since been enacted safeguarding transportation in interstate commerce as the need was seen, including statutes declaring conspiracies to interfere or actual interference with interstate commerce by violence or threats of violence to be felonies. The law was enacted in the era of "trusts" and of "combinations" of businesses and of capital organized and directed to control of the market by suppression of competition in the marketing of goods and services, the monopolistic tendency of which had become a matter of public concern. The goal was to prevent restraints of free competition in business and commercial transactions which tended to restrict production, raise prices, or otherwise control the market to the detriment of purchasers or consumers of goods and services, all of which had come to be regarded as a special form of public injury. For that reason the phrase "restraint of trade," which, as will presently appear, had a well understood meaning in common law, was made the means of defining the activities prohibited. The addition of the words "or commerce among the several States" was not an additional kind of restraint to be prohibited by the Sherman Act, but was the means used to relate the prohibited restraint of trade to interstate commerce for constitutional purposes, Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers v. United States, 286 U. S. 427, 286 U. S. 434, so that Congress, through its commerce power, might suppress and penalize restraints on the competitive system which involved or affected interstate commerce. Because many forms of restraint upon commercial competition extended across state lines so as to make regulation by state action difficult or impossible, Congress enacted the Sherman Act, 21 Cong.Rec. 2456. It was in this sense of preventing restraints on commercial competition that Congress exercised "all the power it possessed." Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers v. United States, supra, 286 U. S. 435. At Addyston Pipe and Steel Company v. United States, 85 F.2d 1, affirmed, 175 U. S. 175 U.S. 211; At Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U. S. 1, 221 U. S. 54-58. Provisions Original text The Sherman Act is divided into three sections. Section 1 delineates and prohibits specific means of anticompetitive conduct, while Section 2 deals with end results that are anti-competitive in nature. Thus, these sections supplement each other in an effort to prevent businesses from violating the spirit of the Act, while technically remaining within the letter of the law. Section 3 simply extends the provisions of Section 1 to U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Section 1: Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby declared to be illegal. Section 2: Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor [. . . ] Subsequent legislation expanding its scope The Clayton Antitrust Act, passed in 1914, proscribes certain additional activities that had been discovered to fall outside the scope of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Clayton Antitrust Act added certain practices to the list of impermissible activities: price discrimination against competing companies conditioning sales on "exclusive dealing" agreements one person serving on the board of directors for two competing companies mergers and acquisitions that may significantly reduce market competition The Clayton Antitrust Act specifically states that unions are exempt from this ruling. The Robinson–Patman Act of 1936 amended the Clayton Act. The amendment proscribed certain anti-competitive practices in which manufacturers engaged in price discrimination against equally-situated distributors. Legacy The federal government began filing cases under the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890. Some cases were successful and others were not; many took several years to decide, including appeals. Notable cases filed under the act include: United States v. Workingmen's Amalgamated Council of New Orleans (1893), which was the first to hold that the law applied to labor unions. Chesapeake & Ohio Fuel Co. v. United States (1902), in which the trust was dissolved Northern Securities Co. v. United States (1904), which reached the Supreme Court, dissolved the company and set many precedents for interpretation. Hale v. Henkel (1906) also reached the Supreme Court. Precedent was set for the production of documents by an officer of a company, and the self-incrimination of the officer in his or her testimony to the grand jury. Hale was an officer of the American Tobacco Co. Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States (1911), which broke up the company based on geography, and contributed to the Panic of 1910–1911. United States v. American Tobacco Co. (1911), which split the company into four. United States v. General Electric Co (1911), where GE was judged to have violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, along with International General Electric, Philips, Sylvania, Tungsol, and Consolidated and Chicago Miniature. Corning and Westinghouse made consent decrees. Fleischman vs Albany Medical Center (2010), where nurses alleged Albany Medical Center suppressed their wages in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, by sharing wage information with other area hospitals. References: (1) Casetext Fleischman vs Albany Medical Center (2) Justia Docket No. 10-0846-mv United States v. Motion Picture Patents Co. (1915), which ruled that the company was abusing its monopolistic rights, and therefore, violated the Sherman act. Federal Baseball Club v. National League (1922) in which the Supreme Court ruled that Major League Baseball was not interstate commerce and was not subject to the antitrust law. United States v. National City Lines (1953), related to the General Motors streetcar conspiracy. United States v. AT&T Co., which was settled in 1982 and resulted in the breakup of the company. Wilk v. American Medical Association (1990) Judge Getzendanner issued her opinion that the AMA had violated Section 1, but not 2, of the Sherman Act, and that it had engaged in an unlawful conspiracy in restraint of trade "to contain and eliminate the chiropractic profession." United States v. Microsoft Corp. was settled in 2001 without the breakup of the company. United States v. Google LLC (2020), wherein Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search. Legal application Constitutional basis for legislation Congress claimed power to pass the Sherman Act through its constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce. Therefore, federal courts only have jurisdiction to apply the Act to conduct that restrains or substantially affects either interstate commerce. (Congress also has ultimate authority over economic rules within the District of Columbia and US territories under the 17th enumerated power and the Territorial Clause, respectively.) This requires that the plaintiff must show that the conduct occurred during the flow of interstate commerce or had an appreciable effect on some activity that occurs during interstate commerce. Elements A Section 1 violation has three elements: an agreement; which unreasonably restrains competition; and which affects interstate commerce. A Section 2 monopolization violation has two elements: the possession of monopoly power in the relevant market; and the willful acquisition or maintenance of that power as distinguished from growth or development as a consequence of a superior product, business acumen, or historic accident. Section 2 also bans attempted monopolization, which has the following elements: qualifying exclusionary or anticompetitive acts designed to establish a monopoly specific intent to monopolize; and dangerous probability of success (actual monopolization). Violations "per se" and violations of the "rule of reason" Violations of the Sherman Act fall (loosely) into two categories: Violations "per se": These are violations that meet the strict characterization of Section 1 ("agreements, conspiracies or trusts in restraint of trade"). A per se violation requires no further inquiry into the practice's actual effect on the market or the intentions of those individuals who engaged in the practice. Conduct characterized as unlawful per se is that which has been found to have a "'pernicious effect on competition' or 'lack[s] ... any redeeming virtue'" Such conduct "would always or almost always tend to restrict competition and decrease output". When a per se rule is applied (in contrast to a rule of reason analysis), a civil violation of the antitrust laws is found merely by proving that the conduct occurred and that it fell within a per se category. Conduct considered unlawful per se includes horizontal price-fixing, horizontal market division, and concerted refusals to deal. Violations of the "rule of reason": A totality of the circumstances test, asking whether the challenged practice promotes or suppresses market competition. Unlike with per se violations, intent and motive are relevant when predicting future consequences. The rule of reason is said to be the "traditional framework of analysis" to determine whether Section 1 is violated. The court analyzes "facts peculiar to the business, the history of the restraining, and the reasons why it was imposed", to determine the effect on competition in the relevant product market. A restraint violates Section 1 if it unreasonably restrains trade. Quick-look: A "quick look" analysis under the rule of reason may be used when "an observer with even a rudimentary understanding of economics could conclude that the arrangements in question would have an anticompetitive effect on customers and markets", yet the violation is also not one considered unlawful per se. Taking a "quick look", economic harm is presumed from the questionable nature of the conduct, and the burden is shifted to the defendant to prove harmlessness or justification. The quick-look became a popular way of disposing of cases where the conduct was in a grey area between illegality "per se" and demonstrable harmfulness under the "rule of reason". Modern trends Inference of conspiracy A modern trend has increased difficulty for antitrust plaintiffs as courts have come to hold plaintiffs to increasing burdens of pleading. Under older Section 1 precedent, it was not settled how much evidence was required to show a conspiracy. For example, a conspiracy could be inferred based on parallel conduct, etc. That is, plaintiffs were only required to show that a conspiracy was conceivable. Since the 1970s, however, courts have held plaintiffs to higher standards, giving antitrust defendants an opportunity to resolve cases in their favor before significant discovery under FRCP 12(b)(6). That is, to overcome a motion to dismiss, plaintiffs, under Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, must plead facts consistent with FRCP 8(a) sufficient to show that a conspiracy is plausible (and not merely conceivable or possible). This protects defendants from bearing the costs of antitrust "fishing expeditions"; however it deprives plaintiffs of perhaps their only tool to acquire evidence (discovery). Manipulation of market Second, courts have employed more sophisticated and principled definitions of markets. Market definition is necessary, in rule of reason cases, for the plaintiff to prove a conspiracy is harmful. It is also necessary for the plaintiff to establish the market relationship between conspirators to prove their conduct is within the per se rule. In early cases, it was easier for plaintiffs to show market relationship, or dominance, by tailoring market definition, even if it ignored fundamental principles of economics. In U.S. v. Grinnell, 384 U.S. 563 (1966), the trial judge, Charles Wyzanski, composed the market only of alarm companies with services in every state, tailoring out any local competitors; the defendant stood alone in this market, but had the court added up the entire national market, it would have had a much smaller share of the national market for alarm services that the court purportedly used. The appellate courts affirmed this finding; however, today, an appellate court would likely find this definition to be flawed. Modern courts use a more sophisticated market definition that does not permit as manipulative a definition. Monopoly Section 2 of the Act forbids monopoly. In Section 2 cases, the court has, again on its own initiative, drawn a distinction between coercive and innocent monopoly. The act is not meant to punish businesses that come to dominate their market passively or on their own merit, only those that intentionally dominate the market through misconduct, which generally consists of conspiratorial conduct of the kind forbidden by Section 1 of the Sherman Act, or Section 3 of the Clayton Act. Application of the act outside pure commerce While the Act was aimed at regulating businesses, its prohibition of contracts restricting commerce was applied to the activities of labor unions until the 1930s. This is because unions were characterized as cartels as well (cartels of laborers). In 1914 the Clayton Act created exceptions for certain union activities, but the Supreme Court ruled in Duplex Printing Press Co. v. Deering that the actions allowed by the Act were already legal. Congress included provisions in the Norris–La Guardia Act in 1932 to more explicitly exempt organized labor from antitrust enforcement, and the Supreme Court upheld these exemptions in United States v. Hutcheson 312 U.S. 219. Preemption by Section 1 of state statutes that restrain competition To determine whether the Act preempts a state law, courts will engage in a two-step analysis, as set forth by the Supreme Court in Rice v. Norman Williams Co. First, they will inquire whether the state legislation "mandates or authorizes conduct that necessarily constitutes a violation of the antitrust laws in all cases, or ... places irresistible pressure on a private party to violate the antitrust laws in order to comply with the statute." Rice v. Norman Williams Co., 458 U.S. 654, 661; see also 324 Liquor Corp. v. Duffy, 479 U.S. 335 (1987) ("Our decisions reflect the principle that the federal antitrust laws pre-empt state laws authorizing or compelling private parties to engage in anticompetitive behavior.") Second, they will consider whether the state statute is saved from preemption by the state action immunity doctrine (aka Parker immunity). In California Retail Liquor Dealers Ass'n v. Midcal Aluminum, Inc., 445 U.S. 97, 105 (1980), the Supreme Court established a two-part test for applying the doctrine: "First, the challenged restraint must be one clearly articulated and affirmatively expressed as state policy; second, the policy must be actively supervised by the State itself." Id. (citation and quotation marks omitted). The antitrust laws allow coincident state regulation of competition. The Supreme Court enunciated the test for determining when a state statute is in irreconcilable conflict with Section 1 of the Sherman Act in Rice v. Norman Williams Co. Different standards apply depending on whether a statute is attacked on its face or for its effects. A statute can be condemned on its face only when it mandates, authorizes or places irresistible pressure on private parties to engage in conduct constituting a per se violation of Section 1. If the statute does not mandate conduct violating a per se rule, the conduct is analyzed under the rule of reason, which requires an examination of the conduct's actual effects on competition. If unreasonable anticompetitive effects are created, the required conduct violates Section 1 and the statute is in irreconcilable conflict with the Sherman Act. Then statutory arrangement is analyzed to determine whether it qualifies as "state action" and is thereby saved from preemption. Rice sets out guidelines to aid in preemption analysis. Preemption should not occur "simply because in a hypothetical situation a private party's compliance with the statute might cause him to violate the antitrust laws". This language suggests that preemption occurs only if economic analysis determines that the statutory requirements create "an unacceptable and unnecessary risk of anticompetitive effect", and does not occur simply because it is possible to use the statute in an anticompetitive manner. It should not mean that preemption is impossible whenever both procompetitive and anticompetitive results are conceivable. The per se rule "reflects the judgment that such cases are not sufficiently common or important to justify the time and expense necessary to identify them". Another important, yet, in the context of Rice, ambiguous guideline regarding preemption by Section 1 is the Court's statement that a "state statute is not preempted by the federal antitrust laws simply because the state scheme might have an anticompetitive effect". The meaning of this statement is clarified by examining the three cases cited in Rice to support the statement. In New Motor Vehicle Board v. Orrin W. Fox Co., automobile manufacturers and retail franchisees contended that the Sherman Act preempted a statute requiring manufacturers to secure the permission of a state board before opening a new dealership if and only if a competing dealer protested. They argued that a conflict existed because the statute permitted "auto dealers to invoke state power for the purpose of restraining intrabrand competition". In Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland, oil companies challenged a state statute requiring uniform statewide gasoline prices in situations where the Robinson-Patman Act would permit charging different prices. They reasoned that the Robinson-Patman Act is a qualification of our "more basic national policy favoring free competition" and that any state statute altering "the competitive balance that Congress struck between the Robinson-Patman and Sherman Acts" should be preempted. In both New Motor Vehicle and Exxon, the Court upheld the statutes and rejected the arguments presented as Merely another way of stating that the ... statute will have an anticompetitive effect. In this sense, there is a conflict between the statute and the central policy of the Sherman Act – 'our charter of economic liberty'. ... Nevertheless, this sort of conflict cannot itself constitute a sufficient reason for invalidating the ... statute. For if an adverse effect on competition were, in and of itself, enough to render a state statute invalid, the States' power to engage in economic regulation would be effectively destroyed. This indicates that not every anticompetitive effect warrants preemption. In neither Exxon nor New Motor Vehicle did the created effect constitute an antitrust violation. The Rice guideline therefore indicates that only when the effect unreasonably restrains trade, and is therefore a violation, can preemption occur. The third case cited to support the "anticompetitive effect" guideline is Joseph E. Seagram & Sons v. Hostetter, in which the Court rejected a facial Sherman Act preemption challenge to a statute requiring that persons selling liquor to wholesalers affirm that the price charged was no higher than the lowest price at which sales were made anywhere in the United States during the previous month. Since the attack was a facial one, and the state law required no per se violations, no preemption could occur. The Court also rejected the possibility of preemption due to Sherman Act violations stemming from misuse of the statute. The Court stated that rather than imposing "irresistible economic pressure" on sellers to violate the Sherman Act, the statute "appears firmly anchored to the assumption that the Sherman Act will deter any attempts by the appellants to preserve their ... price level [in one state] by conspiring to raise the prices at which liquor is sold elsewhere in the country". Thus, Seagram indicates that when conduct required by a state statute combines with other conduct that, taken together, constitutes an illegal restraint of trade, liability may be imposed for the restraint without requiring preemption of the state statute. Rice v. Norman Williams Co. supports this misuse limitation on preemption. Rice states that while particular conduct or arrangements by private parties would be subject to per se or rule of reason analysis to determine liability, "[t]here is no basis ... for condemning the statute itself by force of the Sherman Act." Thus, when a state requires conduct analyzed under the rule of reason, a court must carefully distinguish rule of reason analysis for preemption purposes from the analysis for liability purposes. To analyze whether preemption occurs, the court must determine whether the inevitable effects of a statutory restraint unreasonably restrain trade. If they do, preemption is warranted unless the statute passes the appropriate state action tests. But, when the statutory conduct combines with other practices in a larger conspiracy to restrain trade, or when the statute is used to violate the antitrust laws in a market in which such a use is not compelled by the state statute, the private party might be subjected to antitrust liability without preemption of the statute. Evidence from legislative history The Act was not intended to regulate existing state statutes regulating commerce within state borders. The House committee, in reporting the bill which was adopted without change, declared: No attempt is made to invade the legislative authority of the several States or even to occupy doubtful grounds. No system of laws can be devised by Congress alone which would effectually protect the people of the United States against the evils and oppression of trusts and monopolies. Congress has no authority to deal, generally, with the subject within the States, and the States have no authority to legislate in respect of commerce between the several States or with foreign nations. See also the statement on the floor of the House by Mr. Culberson, in charge of the bill, There is no attempt to exercise any doubtful authority on this subject, but the bill is confined strictly and alone to subjects over which, confessedly, there is no question about the legislative power of Congress. And see the statement of Senator Edmunds, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee which reported out the bill in the form in which it passed, that in drafting that bill the committee thought that "we would frame a bill that should be clearly within our constitutional power, that we would make its definition out of terms that were well known to the law already, and would leave it to the courts in the first instance to say how far they could carry it or its particular definitions as applicable to each particular case as the occasion might arise." Similarly Senator Hoar, a member of that committee who with Senator Edmunds was in charge of the bill, stated Now we are dealing with an offense against interstate or international commerce, which the State cannot regulate by penal enactment, and we find the United States without any common law. The great thing that this bill does, except affording a remedy, is to extend the common-law principles, which protected fair competition in trade in old times in England, to international and interstate commerce in the United States. Criticism Alan Greenspan, in his essay entitled Antitrust, described the Sherman Act as stifling innovation and harming society. "No one will ever know what new products, processes, machines, and cost-saving mergers failed to come into existence, killed by the Sherman Act before they were born. No one can ever compute the price that all of us have paid for that Act which, by inducing less effective use of capital, has kept our standard of living lower than would otherwise have been possible." Greenspan summarized the nature of antitrust law as "a jumble of economic irrationality and ignorance". Greenspan at that time was a disciple and friend of Ayn Rand, and he first published Antitrust in Rand's monthly publication The Objectivist Newsletter. Rand, who described herself as "a radical for capitalism", opposed antitrust law not only on economic grounds but also morally, as a violation of property rights, asserting that the "meaning and purpose" of antitrust law is "the penalizing of ability for being ability, the penalizing of success for being success, and the sacrifice of productive genius to the demands of envious mediocrity". In 1890, Representative William E. Mason said "trusts have made products cheaper, have reduced prices; but if the price of oil, for instance, were reduced to one cent a barrel, it would not right the wrong done to people of this country by the trusts which have destroyed legitimate competition and driven honest men from legitimate business enterprise." Consequently, if the primary goal of the act is to protect consumers, and consumers are protected by lower prices, the act may be harmful if it reduces economy of scale, a price-lowering mechanism, by breaking up big businesses. Mason put small business survival, a justice interest, on a level concomitant with the pure economic rationale of consumer interest. Economist Thomas DiLorenzo notes that Senator Sherman sponsored the 1890 William McKinley tariff just three months after the Sherman Act, and agrees with The New York Times which wrote on October 1, 1890: "That so-called Anti-Trust law was passed to deceive the people and to clear the way for the enactment of this Pro-Trust law relating to the tariff." The New York Times went on to assert that Sherman merely supported this "humbug" of a law "in order that party organs might say ... 'Behold! We have attacked the trusts. The Republican Party is the enemy of all such rings.'" Dilorenzo writes: "Protectionists did not want prices paid by consumers to fall. But they also understood that to gain political support for high tariffs they would have to assure the public that industries would not combine to increase prices to politically prohibitive levels. Support for both an antitrust law and tariff hikes would maintain high prices while avoiding the more obvious bilking of consumers." Robert Bork was well known for his outspoken criticism of the antitrust regime. Another conservative legal scholar and judge, Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit, does not condemn the entire regime, but expresses concern with the potential that it could be applied to create inefficiency, rather than to avoid inefficiency. Posner further believes, along with a number of others, including Bork, that genuinely inefficient cartels and coercive monopolies, the target of the act, would be self-corrected by market forces, making the strict penalties of antitrust legislation unnecessary. Conversely, liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas criticized the judiciary for interpreting and enforcing the antitrust law unequally: "From the beginning it [the Sherman Act] has been applied by judges hostile to its purposes, friendly to the empire builders who wanted it emasculated ... trusts that were dissolved reintegrated in new forms ... It is ironic that the Sherman Act was truly effective in only one respect, and that was when it was applied to labor unions. Then the courts read it with a literalness that never appeared in their other decisions." According to a 2018 study in the journal Public Choice, "Senator John Sherman of Ohio was motivated to introduce an antitrust bill in late 1889 partly as a way of enacting revenge on his political rival, General and former Governor Russell Alger of Michigan, because Sherman believed that Alger personally had cost him the presidential nomination at the 1888 Republican national convention ... Sherman was able to pursue his revenge motive by combining it with the broader Republican goals of preserving high tariffs and attacking the trusts." See also Notes and references External links Sherman Act as amended (PDF/details) in the GPO Statute Compilations collection Official websites U.S. Department of Justice: Antitrust Division U.S. Department of Justice: Antitrust Division – text of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1–7 Additional information Antitrust Division's "Corporate Leniency Policy" Antitrust Archived May 11, 2014, at the Wayback Machine by Alan Greenspan "Labor and the Sherman Act" (1940). Yale Law Journal 49(3) p. 518. JSTOR 792668. Dr. Edward W. Younkins (February 19, 2000). "Antitrust Laws Should Be Abolished".

2021_Scottish_Parliament_election

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Scottish_Parliament_election

The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 11 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Senedd election in Wales, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election. The election campaign started on 25 March 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. Parliament was officially dissolved on 5 May, the day before the election. The main parties fielding candidates were: the Scottish National Party (SNP), led by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon; the Scottish Conservatives, led by Douglas Ross; Scottish Labour, led by Anas Sarwar; the Scottish Liberal Democrats, led by Willie Rennie, and the Scottish Greens, jointly led Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater. Of those five parties, three had changed their leader since the 2016 election. Newer parties set up since the 2016 election included: Reform UK Scotland, led by Michelle Ballantyne; the Alba Party, led by former First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond; and All for Unity, led by George Galloway. These parties only competed for seats on the regional lists. They all failed to win any seats. The election resulted in the SNP winning a fourth consecutive term in government. They won 64 seats, a net increase of one. The SNP gained Edinburgh Central, Ayr, and East Lothian, as well as winning the largest share of the popular vote and the largest number of constituency seats in any Scottish Parliament election (62). The Greens won eight seats, their best result to date at a Scottish Parliament election, while the Conservatives retained second place with 31 seats. Labour had its worst-ever result with 22 seats, and the lowest share of the vote in both constituency and list votes for either Westminster or Holyrood since 1910. The Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) also had their worst showing at a Holyrood election to date, winning only four seats. The SNP and the Greens, both of which support Scottish independence, won 72 of the 129 seats in the parliament. Unionist parties (that is, those against independence) achieved a small majority of votes in constituency contests, whilst pro-independence parties achieved a small majority in the regional lists. The turnout was 63.5%, which is the highest ever at a Scottish Parliament election. Following the election, the third Sturgeon government was formed. It initially consisted of just the SNP, but later included Slater and Harvie of the Scottish Greens as junior ministers after the two parties negotiated a power-sharing agreement. Background Electoral events 2016 Scottish Parliament election At the 2016 election, the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) lost its parliamentary majority but was able to continue governing under Nicola Sturgeon as a minority administration. At the same election, the Conservatives overtook Labour to place second, whilst the Greens overtook the Liberal Democrats to place fourth. No representatives of minor parties were elected to the Parliament. Other elections Four further elections affecting Scotland took place between the 2016 and 2021 Scottish Parliament elections: May 2017: Scottish local government elections. The SNP retained its position as the largest party in terms of votes and councillors. The Conservatives displaced Labour as the second largest party, while the Liberal Democrats suffered a net loss of councillors despite increasing their share of the vote. June 2017: United Kingdom general election. The SNP lost 21 of its MPs, winning 35 seats. The Conservatives won 13 seats, with their highest vote share in any election in Scotland since 1979. Labour won seven seats, while the Liberal Democrats won four. May 2019: European Parliament election. This was dominated by the impending Brexit-deadline. The SNP won three of the six seats in Scotland, with the Brexit Party, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats each winning one seat. December 2019: United Kingdom general election. The SNP increased its share of the vote, reclaiming thirteen of the seats they lost in 2017. The Conservatives won six Scottish seats with a net lost of seven. The Liberal Democrats won four seats with no no net losses, but their leader, Jo Swinson, lost her own seat to the SNP. Labour was reduced to a single Scottish seat, a net loss of six. Leadership changes Three parties underwent leadership changes during the parliamentary term leading up to the election. In August 2017, Kezia Dugdale resigned as leader of Scottish Labour and was replaced by Richard Leonard. In January 2021, less than four months before the election, Leonard resigned. Anas Sarwar won the subsequent leadership election. In August 2019, Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie became co-leaders of the Scottish Greens. Also in August 2019, Ruth Davidson resigned as leader of the Scottish Conservatives and was succeeded by Jackson Carlaw. Carlaw resigned as leader in July 2020, with Douglas Ross winning the subsequent leadership election unopposed. Expansion of the electorate This is the first election after the passage of the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act, which extended the franchise to those serving prison sentences of 12 months or less. In 2005, the United Kingdom was found in breach of Protocol 1, Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights in regards of prisoner voting rights in the European Court of Human Rights as a result of Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2); the Act brings Scotland in line with the court ruling. This act also allows all foreign nationals resident in Scotland to vote and all those with indefinite leave to remain or equivalent status, including pre–settled status in the United Kingdom, to stand as candidates. A BBC News report in April 2021 said that there were around 55,000 foreign nationals who had been given the right to vote as a result of these changes, including 20,000 refugees. Date Under the Scotland Act 1998, an ordinary general election to the Scottish Parliament would normally have been held on the first Thursday in May four years after the 2016 election, i.e. in May 2020. This would have clashed with the proposed date of a UK general election, although this became a moot point when a snap UK general election was held in June 2017 (a further UK general election was held in December 2019). In November 2015, the Scottish Government published a Scottish Elections (Dates) Bill, which proposed to extend the term of the Parliament to five years. That Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 February 2016 and received Royal Assent on 30 March 2016, setting the new date for the election as 6 May 2021. The Scottish Elections (Dates) Act did not affect the legal possibilities for the Parliament to be dissolved earlier, those being; That the date of the poll may be varied by up to one month either way by the monarch, on the proposal of the Presiding Officer. If Parliament itself resolves that it should be dissolved, with at least two-thirds of the Members (i.e. 86 Members) voting in favour, the Presiding Officer proposes a date for an extraordinary general election and the Parliament is dissolved by the monarch by royal proclamation. If Parliament fails to nominate one of its members to be First Minister within 28 days, irrespective of whether at the beginning or in the middle of a parliamentary term. Therefore, if the First Minister resigned, Parliament would then have 28 days to elect a successor and if no new First Minister was elected then the Presiding Officer would ask for Parliament to be dissolved. This process could also be triggered if the First Minister lost a vote of confidence by a simple majority, as they must then resign. Nevertheless, no extraordinary general elections have been held to date. Any extraordinary general election would be in addition to the ordinary general elections, unless held less than six months before the due date of an ordinary general election, in which case it would supplant it. This would not affect the year in which the subsequent ordinary general election would be held. On 16 November 2020, the Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Bill was introduced. This draft legislation stated that while the next election was intended to be held on 6 May 2021, the Presiding Officer would gain the power to postpone the election by up to six months if the spread of COVID-19 made that date impractical. The bill also proposed to change the date of dissolution to the day before the election, meaning that the Parliament could be recalled during the election period. The bill was enacted and received Royal Assent on 29 January 2021. Parliament was in fact recalled on 12 April, to allow MSPs to mark the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Retiring MSPs James Dornan announced in February 2020 his intention to retire at the next Holyrood election, but reversed this decision some months later. Parties The SNP, Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats fielded candidates in all 73 constituencies and all eight of the regional ballots. Five other parties contested both all eight regions and at least one constituency: the Scottish Greens (12 constituencies) the Scottish Libertarian Party (9), the Scottish Family Party (7), UKIP (5) and the Freedom Alliance (4). Four parties – Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party, Alba Party, All for Unity, and Reform UK – stood in all eight electoral regions, but did not contest any constituencies. Six other parties contested some of the regions and at least one constituency: TUSC (3 regions and 3 constituencies), Restore Scotland (2 regions, 4 constituencies), Scotia Future (2 of each), the Communist Party of Britain (2 regions and 1 constituency), the Reclaim Party (1 of each) and the Vanguard Party (also 1 of each). Five other parties – Independent Green Voice (5 regions), Renew (5), the Social Democratic Party (2), Women's Equality (2) and Animal Welfare (1) – contested some of the regions, but not any constituencies. The Scottish Socialist Party, which participated in the last election as part of the electoral alliance RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance, opted not to participate in this election, for the first time since its inception. List of parties contesting all regional ballots Election system, seats and regions The total number of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) elected to the Parliament is 129. The Scottish Parliament uses an additional member system (AMS), designed to produce approximate proportional representation for each region. There are 8 regions, each sub-divided into smaller constituencies. There is a total of 73 constituencies. Each constituency elects one MSP by the plurality (first past the post) system of election. Each region elects 7 additional MSPs using an additional member system. A modified D'Hondt method using the constituency results is used to elect these additional MSPs. The boundaries of the 73 constituencies last changed as of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, as did the configuration of the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament. These revisions were the outcome of the First Periodical Review of the Scottish Parliament's constituencies and regions conducted by the Boundary Commission for Scotland; the Review was announced on 3 July 2007 and the Commission published its final report on 26 May 2010. The Scottish Parliament constituencies have not been coterminous with Scottish Westminster constituencies since the 2005 general election, when the 72 former UK Parliament constituencies were replaced with a new set of 59, generally larger, constituencies (see Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004). The size difference between Westminster and Holyrood boundaries was due to diverge further upon the implementation of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which has not been voted upon by Parliament. The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for a UK total of 650 MPs commenced in England in 2021 and will complete for the UK by 2023. Campaign The election campaign started on 25 March 2021. The Scottish Conservatives launched their campaign the same day, with a focus on promoting Scotland's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. On 26 March 2021, the Alba Party was publicly launched by former First Minister of Scotland and SNP leader, Alex Salmond. The party announced plans to stand list-only candidates. Two sitting SNP MPs later defected to the Alba party. The Action for Independence party, which had intended to pursue a similar list-only strategy, announced they would stand down their candidates in favour of Alba. Sturgeon said she would refuse to have any dealings with Salmond unless he apologises to the women who had accused him of harassment. BBC Scotland announced that it would broadcast two debates between the main parties' leaders; the first was aired on 30 March 2021 and was moderated by the corporation's Scotland editor Sarah Smith. The debate included key questions from the audience on the COVID-19 recovery, climate change, and a second referendum on Scottish independence. The second BBC debate was held on 4 May 2021 and was moderated by BBC Scotland's political editor Glenn Campbell. Commercial broadcaster STV held their leaders' debate on 13 April, moderated by their political editor Colin Mackay. NUS Scotland held a debate on specifically on student issues which was moderated by NUS Scotland president, Matt Crilly on 20 April which featured the three main party leaders. On 1 April, Planet Radio announced that their Clyde 2 station would be hosting a Leaders Phone-In with the main parties' leaders every Sunday before the election. Douglas Ross was the first to be interviewed on 4 April, with Willie Rennie following on 18 April. Whilst Nicola Sturgeon was set to be interviewed on 11 April, campaigning was delayed following the death of Prince Philip and her phone-in was instead held on 22 April. Patrick Harvie followed on 25 April; and Anas Sarwar had the final phone-in on 2 May. Following Prince Philip's death on 9 April, the SNP, Conservatives, Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats said they would suspend election campaigning until further notice. After discussion between the parties, they agreed to resume campaigning after a special parliamentary session on 12 April to make tributes and to pause activities again on the day of the funeral (17 April). Election debates Opinion polling Graph of opinion poll results prior to the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. Trendlines are 30-day moving averages. Key SNP – Scottish National Party Conservative – Scottish Conservatives Labour – Scottish Labour Lib Dem – Scottish Liberal Democrats Green – Scottish Greens UKIP – UK Independence Party Reform – Reform UK SSP – Scottish Socialist Party Alba – Alba Party AFU – All for Unity Target seats Below are listed all the constituencies which required a swing of less than 5% from the 2016 result to change hands. The most marginal opportunity for the Greens was in Glasgow Kelvin, which they needed a 7.1% swing to gain. The Liberal Democrats' best bet was Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, which required a 6.1% swing. The SNP ended up holding both of these constituencies. SNP targets Conservative targets Labour targets Results Overall Votes summary Central Scotland Glasgow Highlands and Islands Lothian Mid Scotland and Fife North East Scotland South Scotland West Scotland Constituency seat changes compared to 2016 MSPs who lost their seats Analysis The SNP won 64 seats, falling one seat short of an overall majority. Some commentators put this down to unionists voting tactically for Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem candidates. According to psephologist John Curtice, "Denying the SNP an overall majority was, indeed, a collective effort – at least on the part of Unionist voters, who on the constituency ballot demonstrated a remarkable willingness to back whichever pro-Union party appeared to be best placed locally to defeat the SNP. [...] These patterns had a decisive impact on the outcome." This was apparent in seats like Dumbarton, where incumbent Labour MSP Jackie Baillie saw her 0.3% majority increased to 3.9%, whilst both the Conservative and Lib Dem vote share decreased. In The National, Emer O'Toole questioned whether social media adverts with "a lack of transparency over funding" may have cost the SNP key seats as well. The day before the election, The Guardian reported that anti-independence groups and campaigners had "spent tens of thousands of pounds in the past week", including on Facebook adverts, calling for tactical voting to prevent the SNP getting a majority. One of these groups was Scotland Matters, whose founder, Professor Hugh Pennington said, "Across the country as a whole, tactical voting is obviously one of the ways forward to basically harm the SNP, not to put too fine a point on it." Additionally, the Greens claimed that they may have been deprived of two seats because of Independent Green Voice (IGV), a far-right party which has nothing to do with the Scottish Greens (who support Scottish independence). IGV received nearly 10,000 votes, including 2,210 in Glasgow (where the Greens were 1,000 short of gaining a seat) and 1,690 in South Scotland (where the Greens fell 100 short). This potentially prevented pro-independence parties from having a 19-seat majority instead of 15 seats. The Scottish and Welsh Election Studies 2021, revealed on 13 June, found that around a third of Scottish voters who decided to vote differently in the run-up to the election did so to stop another party, and that 90% of those who did this did so in a bid to prevent the SNP winning the seat. Rob Johns, Professor in Politics at the University of Essex, said: "[W]e found a lot more switching than we had expected. The polls had suggested that not much was changing and obviously the overall election result was almost eerily similar to 2016. That can mean that nobody has changed their mind or it can mean lots of people have changed their mind – but these have cancelled out as people have moved in opposing directions. We found there was quite a lot more of that than we had expected." Voter demographics Data from Savanta ComRes: Campaign spending Aftermath Nicola Sturgeon was nominated as First Minister by a vote of the parliament on 18 May 2021. Her cabinet was approved by the parliament two days later and thus the Third Sturgeon government, a minority government, was formed. On 3 August 2021, it was reported that a co-operation agreement between the SNP and the Greens was "on the brink of being finalised" and could see Green MSPs take ministerial positions in government. On 19 August, the power-sharing agreement between the two parties was announced. Under the terms of the agreement, the Greens have two MSPs appointed as junior ministers in the government who are invited to attend cabinet meetings when their portfolios are being discussed. The Greens signed up to the bulk of the SNP's policies, but in areas of disagreement such as international relations and fee-paying schools the two parties are free to publicly disagree. The agreement states that the Greens support the government on votes of confidence and supply. A deal that would see Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater made ministers was revealed on 26 August, subject to being voted upon by Green Party members. Two days later, members of both parties overwhelmingly voted in favour of the deal. See also Other elections in the UK which were held on the same day: 2021 London Assembly election 2021 London mayoral election 2021 Senedd election 2021 United Kingdom local elections Footnotes References External links Election 2021 Archived 23 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine (on the Scottish Parliament website)

2016_Scottish_Parliament_election

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Scottish_Parliament_election

The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary election in Scotland in which 16 and 17 year olds were eligible to vote, under the provisions of the Scottish Elections (Reduction of Voting Age) Act. It was also the first time the three largest parties were led by women. Parliament went into dissolution on 24 March 2016, allowing the official period of campaigning to get underway. Five parties had MSPs in the previous parliament: Scottish National Party (SNP) led by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Labour led by Kezia Dugdale, Scottish Conservatives led by Ruth Davidson, Scottish Liberal Democrats led by Willie Rennie, Scottish Greens, led by their co-conveners Patrick Harvie and Maggie Chapman. Of those five parties, four changed their leader since the 2011 election. During the campaign, a series of televised debates took place, including party leaders of the elected parties. BBC Scotland held the first leaders' debate on 24 March, STV broadcast the next on 29 March, and BBC Scotland hosted the final debate on 1 May. The election resulted in a hung parliament with the Scottish National Party winning a third term in government, but falling two seats short of securing a second consecutive overall majority. The Conservatives saw a significant increase in support and replaced the Labour Party as the second-largest party and main opposition in the Scottish Parliament. This was the first time that Labour had finished in third place at a Scottish election in 98 years. The Scottish Greens won six seats on the regional list and overtook the Liberal Democrats, who remained on five seats. Although the SNP had lost their majority, it was still by far the largest single party in the Scottish Parliament, with more than double the seats of the Conservatives. Accordingly, Sturgeon announced she would form a minority SNP government. She was voted in for a second term as First Minister on 17 May. Date Under the Scotland Act 1998, an ordinary election to the Scottish Parliament would normally have been held on the first Thursday in May four years after the 2011 election, i.e. in May 2015. In May 2010, the new UK Government stated in its coalition agreement that the next general election would also be held in May 2015. This proposal was criticised by the Scottish National Party and Labour, as it had been recommended after the 2007 election that elections with different voting systems should be held on separate days: a recommendation which all of the political parties had then accepted. In response to this criticism, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg offered the right to vary the date of the Scottish Parliament election by a year either way. All the main political parties then stated their support for delaying the election by a year. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, a statute of the UK Parliament, moved the date of the Scottish Parliament election to 5 May 2016. The date of the poll may be varied by up to one month either way by the monarch, on the proposal of the Presiding Officer. If Parliament itself resolves that it should be dissolved, with at least two-thirds of the Members (i.e. 86 Members) voting in favour, the Presiding Officer proposes a date for an extraordinary election and the Parliament is dissolved by the monarch by royal proclamation. It does not necessarily require a two-thirds majority to precipitate an extraordinary election, because under the Scotland Act Parliament is also dissolved if it fails to nominate one of its members to be First Minister within certain time limits, irrespective of whether at the beginning or in the middle of a parliamentary term. Therefore, if the First Minister resigned, Parliament would then have 28 days to elect a successor (s46(2)b and s46(3)a). If no new First Minister was elected then the Presiding Officer would ask for Parliament to be dissolved under s3(1)a. This process could also be triggered if the First Minister lost a vote of confidence by a simple majority (i.e. more than 50%), as they must then resign (Scotland Act 1998 s45(2)). To date the Parliament has never held a vote of no confidence in a First Minister. No extraordinary elections have been held to date. Any extraordinary elections would be in addition to ordinary elections, unless held less than six months before the due date of an ordinary election, in which case they supplant it. The subsequent ordinary election reverts to the first Thursday in May, a multiple of four years after 1999. It was envisaged that the election would still have taken place as scheduled if Scotland had voted in favour of independence in 2014. Retiring MSPs Deselected MSPs Changes to the SNP's selection procedures the previous year in order to ensure gender balance of candidates meant that any incumbent constituency MSP who chose to retire would have their replacement selected from an all-woman shortlist. The only ways for a new male candidate to receive a constituency nomination would be to stand in a constituency currently held by an opposition MSP or to run a de-selection campaign against a sitting MSP. For that reason there were far more challenges than normal within the SNP, but only two were successful: Election system, seats, and regions The total number of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) elected to the Parliament is 129. The First Periodical Review of the Scottish Parliament's constituencies and regions by the Boundary Commission for Scotland, was announced on 3 July 2007. The Commission published its provisional proposals for the regional boundaries in 2009. The Scottish Parliament uses an Additional Members System, designed to produce approximate proportional representation for each region. There are 8 regions, each sub-divided into smaller constituencies. There are a total of 73 constituencies. Each constituency elects one MSP by the plurality (first past the post) system of election. Each region elects 7 additional MSPs using an additional member system. A modified D'Hondt method, using the constituency results, is used to elect these additional MSPs. The Scottish Parliament constituencies have not been coterminous with Scottish Westminster constituencies since the 2005 general election, when the 72 former UK Parliament constituencies were replaced with a new set of 59, generally larger, constituencies (see Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004). The boundaries used for the Scottish Parliament elections were then revised for the 2011 election. The Boundary Commission also recommended changes to the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament, which were also implemented in 2011. Campaign On 29 February 2016, BBC Scotland's Scotland 2016 current affairs programme held a debate focusing on education featuring the Education Minister Angela Constance and three party leaders: Kezia Dugdale, Ruth Davidson and Willie Rennie. On 24 March 2016, BBC Scotland held a debate in Glasgow which was televised that featured Dugdale, Davidson, Rennie, Nicola Sturgeon, Patrick Harvie and David Coburn. On 29 March 2016, STV hosted a televised leaders' debate, featuring the five leaders of the parties which held seats in the last Parliament. From 5–26 April 2016, Scotland 2016 also held a series of weekly subject debates on Tuesday nights. The subjects were Tax, Health, Energy & Environment, and Housing. Of these, six parties (SNP, Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Greens and UKIP) were invited to the Tax debate. Parties contesting the election The official nomination period closed on 1 April 2016, lists of candidates were then published by local councils once the applications had been processed. In March 2015, the Scottish Greens balloted their members to select candidates for their regional lists. The SNP released their regional candidate list in October 2015. The Conservative regional candidate list followed in December. In January 2016, RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance announced list candidates for all regions except the North East. Labour had announced a new selection process for regional candidates in November 2013, then revealed their full list of regional candidates in February 2016. UKIP's regional candidates were picked by their executive committee, prompting one prospective candidate to resign his party membership. Contesting constituency and regional ballot The SNP, the Scottish Labour, the Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Liberal Democrats fielded candidates in all 73 constituencies. Scottish National Party (SNP) Scottish Labour Scottish Conservatives Scottish Liberal Democrats Scottish Greens – contesting all regions and Coatbridge and Chryston, Edinburgh Central and Glasgow Kelvin constituencies. Scottish Libertarian Party − contesting West of Scotland, Mid Scotland Fife, North East Scotland region only and Edinburgh Central constituency Contesting regional ballot only Clydesdale and South Scotland Independent – contesting South Scotland Communist Party – contesting North East Scotland National Front – contesting North East Scotland only RISE – Respect, Independence, Socialism and Environmentalism – contesting all regions Scottish Christian Party "Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship" – contesting Highlands and Islands and North East Solidarity – Scotland's Socialist Movement – contesting all regions UK Independence Party – contesting all regions Women's Equality Party – contesting Lothian and Glasgow Contesting constituency ballot only Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC): Glasgow Cathcart, Glasgow Pollok, Glasgow Shettleston, Renfrewshire North and West, Dundee City East and Dundee City West Independent candidates Opinion polling The chart shows the relative state of the parties since polling began from 2012, until the date of the election. The constituency vote is shown as semi-transparent lines, while the regional vote is shown in full lines. Result Votes summary Central Scotland Glasgow Highlands and Islands Lothian Margo MacDonald had been elected on the Lothian regional list in 2011, as an Independent; she died in 2014. Mid Scotland and Fife North East Scotland South Scotland West Scotland Target seats Below are listed all the constituencies which required a swing of less than 5% from the 2011 result to change hands. SNP targets Labour targets Conservative targets Liberal Democrat targets Incumbents defeated * Formerly SNP See also Other elections in the UK being held on the same day 2016 London Assembly election 2016 London mayoral election 2016 National Assembly for Wales election 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election 2016 United Kingdom local elections UK parliamentary by-elections 2016 Ogmore by-election 2016 Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election References External links McNeill and Stone's Guide to candidates report on 2016 election by Electoral Commission Party manifestos RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance: Another Scotland is possible Scottish Conservatives: A strong opposition – A stronger Scotland Scottish Green Party: A better Scotland needs a bolder Holyrood Scottish Liberal Democrats: Be the best again Scottish National Party: The next steps to a better Scotland UK Independence Party: Shake up Holyrood Women's Equality Party: Scotland Manifesto

Sea_of_Galilee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee

The Sea of Galilee (Hebrew: יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, Arabic: بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world (after the Dead Sea, a salt lake), at levels between 215 and 209 metres (705 and 686 ft) below sea level. It is approximately 53 km (33 mi) in circumference, about 21 km (13 mi) long, and 13 km (8.1 mi) wide. Its area is 166.7 km2 (64.4 sq mi) at its fullest, and its maximum depth is approximately 43 metres (141 ft). The lake is fed partly by underground springs, but its main source is the Jordan River, which flows through it from north to south and exits the lake at the Degania Dam. Geography The Sea of Galilee is situated in northeast Israel, between the Golan Heights and the Galilee region, in the Jordan Rift Valley, formed by the separation of the African and Arabian plates. Consequently, the area is subject to earthquakes, and in the past, volcanic activity. This is evident from the abundant basalt and other igneous rocks that define the geology of Galilee. Names The lake has been called by different names throughout its history, usually depending on the dominant settlement on its shores. With the changing fate of the towns, the lake's name also changed. The modern Hebrew name Kineret comes from the Hebrew Bible, where it appears as the "sea of Kineret" in Numbers 34:11 and Joshua 13:27, and spelled כנרות "Kinerot" in Hebrew in Joshua 11:2. This name was also found in the scripts of Ugarit, in the Aqhat Epic. As the name of a city, Kinneret was listed among the "fenced cities" in Joshua 19:35. A persistent, though likely erroneous, popular etymology presumes that the name Kinneret may originate from the Hebrew word kinnor ("harp" or "lyre"), because of the shape of the lake. The scholarly consensus, however, is that the origin of the name is derived from the important Bronze and Iron Age city of Kinneret, excavated at Tell el-'Oreimeh. The city of Kinneret may have been named after the body of water rather than vice versa, and there is no evidence for the origin of the town's name. All Old and New Testament writers use the term "sea" (Hebrew יָם yam, Greek θάλασσα), with the exception of Luke, who calls it "the Lake of Gennesaret" (Luke 5:1), from the Greek λίμνη Γεννησαρέτ (limnē Gennēsaret), the "Grecized form of Chinnereth." The Babylonian Talmud as well as Flavius Josephus mention the sea by the name "Sea of Ginosar" after the small fertile plain of Ginosar that lies on its western side. Ginosar is yet another name derived from "Kinneret". The word Galilee comes from the Hebrew Haggalil (הַגָלִיל), which literally means "The District", a compressed form of Gelil Haggoyim "The District of Nations" (Isaiah 8:23). Toward the end of the 1st century CE, the Sea of Galilee became widely known as the Sea of Tiberias after the city of Tiberias founded on its western shore in honour of the second Roman emperor, Tiberius. In the New Testament, the term "sea of Galilee" (Greek: θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας, thalassan tēs Galilaias) is used in the Gospel of Matthew 4:18; 15:29, the Gospel of Mark 1:16; 7:31, and in the Gospel of John 6:1 as "the sea of Galilee, which is [the sea] of Tiberias" (θαλάσσης τῆς Γαλιλαίας τῆς Τιβεριάδος, thalassēs tēs Galilaias tēs Tiberiados), the late 1st century CE name. Sea of Tiberias is also the name mentioned in Roman texts and in the Jerusalem Talmud, and it was adopted into Arabic as (بحيرة طبريا), "Lake Tiberias". From the Umayyad through the Mamluk period, the lake was known in Arabic as Bahr al-Minya, the "Sea of Minya", after the Umayyad qasr complex, whose ruins are still visible at Khirbat al-Minya. This is the name used by the medieval Persian and Arab scholars Al-Baladhuri, Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir. History Prehistory In 1989, remains of a hunter-gatherer site were found under the water at the southern end. Remains of mud huts were found in Ohalo. Nahal Ein Gev, located about 3 km (1.9 mi) east of the lake, contains a village from the late Natufian period. The site is considered one of the first permanent human settlements in the world from a time predating the Neolithic Revolution. Hellenistic and Roman periods The Sea of Galilee lies on the ancient Via Maris, which linked Egypt with the northern empires. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, and Romans founded flourishing towns and settlements on the lake including Hippos and Tiberias. Contemporary Roman–Jewish historian Flavius Josephus was so impressed by the area that he wrote, "One may call this place the ambition of Nature"; he also reports a thriving fishing industry at this time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake. Archaeologists discovered one such boat, nicknamed the Jesus Boat, in 1986. In the New Testament, much of the ministry of Jesus occurs on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. In those days, there was a continuous ribbon development of settlements and villages around the lake and plenty of trade and ferrying by boat. The Synoptic Gospels of Mark 1:14–20), Matthew 4:18–22), and Luke 5:1–11) describe how Jesus recruited four of his apostles from the shores of the Kinneret: the fishermen Simon and his brother Andrew and the brothers John and James. One of Jesus' famous teaching episodes, the Sermon on the Mount, is supposed to have been given on a hill overlooking the Kinneret. Many of his miracles are also said to have occurred here including his walking on water, calming the storm, the disciples and the miraculous catch of fish, and his feeding five thousand people (in Tabgha). In John's Gospel the sea provides the setting for Jesus' third post-resurrection appearance to his disciples (John 21). In 135 CE, Bar Kokhba's revolt was put down which was part of the Jewish–Roman wars. The Romans responded by banning all Jews from Jerusalem. The center of Jewish culture and learning shifted to the region of Galilee and the Kinneret, particularly Tiberias. It was in this region that the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled. Middle Ages The Sea of Galilee's importance declined when the Byzantines lost control, and the area was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate and subsequent Islamic empires. The palace of Minya was built by the lake during the reign of al-Walid I (705–715 CE). Apart from Tiberias, the major towns and cities in the area were gradually abandoned. In 1187, Sultan Saladin defeated the armies of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin, largely because he was able to cut the Crusaders off from the valuable fresh water of the Sea of Galilee. The lake had little importance within the early Ottoman Empire. Tiberias did see a significant revival of its Jewish community in the 16th century but had gradually declined until the city was destroyed in 1660. In the early 18th century, Tiberias was rebuilt by Zahir al-Umar, becoming the center of his rule over Galilee, and seeing also a revival of its Jewish community. Early 20th century In 1908, Jewish pioneers established the Kinneret Farm at the same time as and next to Moshavat Kinneret in the immediate vicinity of the lake. The farm trained Jewish immigrants in modern farming. One group of youth from the training farm established Kvutzat Degania in 1909–1910, popularly considered as the first kibbutz, another group founded Kvutzat Kinneret in 1913, and yet another the first proper kibbutz, Ein Harod, in 1921, the same year when the first moshav, Nahalal, was established by a group trained at the farm. The Jewish settlements around Kinneret Farm are considered the cradle of the kibbutz culture of early Zionism; Kvutzat Kinneret is the birthplace of Naomi Shemer, buried at the Kinneret Cemetery next to Rachel—two prominent national poets. In 1917, the British defeated Ottoman Turkish forces and took control of Palestine, while France took control of Syria. In the carve-up of the Ottoman territories between Britain and France, it was agreed that Britain would retain control of Palestine while France would control Syria. However, the allies had to fix the border between the Mandatory Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria. The boundary was defined in broad terms by the Franco-British Boundary Agreement of December 1920, which drew it across the middle of the lake. However, the commission established by the 1920 treaty redrew the boundary. The Zionist movement pressured the French and British to assign as many water sources as possible to Mandatory Palestine during the demarcating negotiations. The High Commissioner of Palestine, Herbert Samuel, had sought full control of the Sea of Galilee. The negotiations led to the inclusion into the Palestine territory of the whole Sea of Galilee, both sides of the River Jordan, Lake Hula, Dan spring, and part of the Yarmouk. The final border approved in 1923 followed a 10-meter wide strip along the lake's northeastern shore, cutting the Mandatory Syria (State of Damascus) off from the lake. The British and French Agreement provided that existing rights over the use of the waters of the River Jordan by the inhabitants of Syria would be maintained; the government of Syria would have the right to erect a new pier at Semakh on Lake Tiberias or jointly use the existing pier; persons or goods passing between the landing-stage on the Lake of Tiberias and Semakh would not be subject to customs regulations, and the Syrian government would have access to the said landing-stage; the inhabitants of Syria and Lebanon would have the same fishing and navigation rights on Lakes Huleh, Tiberias and River Jordan, while the government of Palestine would be responsible for policing of lakes. State of Israel On 15 May 1948, Syria invaded the newborn state of Israel, capturing territory along the Sea of Galilee. Under the 1949 armistice agreement between Israel and Syria, Syria occupied the northeast shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. The agreement stated that the armistice line was "not to be interpreted as having any relation whatsoever to ultimate territorial arrangements." Syria remained in possession of the lake's northeast shoreline until the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In the 1950s, Israel formulated a plan to link the Kinneret with the rest of the country's water infrastructure via the National Water Carrier, in order to supply the water demand of the growing country. The carrier was completed in 1964. The Israeli plan, to which the Arab League opposed its own plan to divert the headwaters of the Jordan River, sparked political and sometimes even armed confrontations over the Jordan basin. Geology The lake lies in the center of the Jordan Valley, in the northern part of the Syrian-African rift. Several directions of tectonic movements characterize the region, mirroring the patterns typical of the entire Syrian-African rift: north–south movements, which started about 20 million years ago; stretching movements in the east–west direction, which began later, at the beginning of the Pleistocene (about 1.8 million years ago), and caused the subsidence of the lake area. As a result of horizontal shifts in the north–south direction and subsidence of the area, a lake was formed, with an asymmetrical bottom—steeper in the east and a gentler in the west. In the southern part an underwater cliff is present, covered by the lake's sediments. The cliff is distinct in the western part and less so in the east. The Sea of Galilee in its current form was preceded by Lake Lisan, which extended from the northern Sea of Galilee to Hatzeva in the south, more than 200 km (120 mi) from the present southernmost point of the lake. Lake Lisan was preceded by Lake Ovadia, a much smaller fresh water lake. Lake Kinneret was formed in its current form less than 20,000 years ago, as a result of tectonic subsidence and the shrinking up of Lake Lisan. Archaeology In 1986 the Ancient Galilee Boat, also known as the Jesus Boat, was discovered on the northwest shore during a drought when water levels receded. It is an ancient fishing boat from the 1st century AD, and although there is no evidence directly linking the boat to Jesus and his disciples, it nevertheless is an example of the kind of boat that Jesus and his disciples, some of whom were fishermen, may have used. During a routine sonar scan in 2003 (finding published in 2013), archaeologists discovered an enormous conical stone structure. The structure, which has a diameter of around 230 feet (70 m), is made of boulders and stones. The ruins are estimated to be between 2,000 and 12,000 years old and are about 10 metres (33 ft) underwater. The estimated weight of the monument is over 60,000 tons. Researchers explain that the site resembles early burial sites in Europe and was likely built in the early Bronze Age. In February 2018, archaeologists discovered seven intact mosaics with Greek inscriptions. One inscription, at five meters one of the longest found to date in western Galilee, gives the names of donors and the names and positions of church officials, including Irenaeus, bishop of Tyre in 445. Another mosaic mentions a woman as a donor to the church's construction. This inscription is the first in the region to mention a female donor. Water level The water level is monitored and regulated. There are three levels at which the alarm is rung: The upper red line, 208.9 m (685 ft) below sea level (BSL), where facilities on the shore start being flooded. The lower red line, 213.2 m (699 ft) BSL, where pumping should stop. The black (low-level) line, 214.4 m (703 ft) BSL, where irreversible damage occurs. Daily monitoring of the Sea of Galilee's water level began in 1969, and the lowest level recorded since then was November 2001, which today constitutes the "black line" of 214.87 meters below sea level (although it is believed the water level had fallen lower than the current black line, during droughts earlier in the 20th century). The Israeli government monitors water levels and publishes the results daily. Increasing water demand in Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, as well as dry winters, have resulted in stress on the lake and a decreasing water line to dangerously low levels at times. The Sea of Galilee is at risk of becoming irreversibly salinized by the salt water springs under the lake, which are held in check by the weight of the freshwater on top of them. After five years of drought up to 2018, the Sea of Galilee was expected to drop near the black line. In February 2018, the city of Tiberias requested a desalination plant to treat the water coming from the Sea of Galilee and demanded a new water source for the city. March 2018 was the lowest point in water income to the lake since 1927. In September 2018 the Israeli energy and water office announced a project to pour desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea into the Sea of Galilee using a tunnel. The tunnel is expected to be the largest of its kind in Israel and will transfer half of the Mediterranean desalted water and will move 300 to 500 million cubic meters of water per year. The plan is said to cost five billion shekels. Since the beginning of the 2018–19 rainy season, the Sea of Galilee has risen considerably. From being near the ecologically dangerous black line of −214.4 m, the level has risen by April 2020 to just 16 cm (6.3 in) below the upper red line, a result of strong rains and a radical decrease in pumping. During the entire 2018–19 rainy season the water level rose by a historical record of 3.47 meters (11.4 ft), while the 2019–20 winter brought a 2.82 meters (9 ft 3 in) rise. The Water Authority dug a new canal in order to let 5 billion liters (1.1×109 imp gal; 1.3×109 U.S. gal) of water flow from the lake directly into the Jordan River, bypassing the existing dams system for technical and financial reasons. Water use The National Water Carrier of Israel, completed in 1964, transports water from the lake to the population centers of Israel, and in the past supplied most of the country's drinking water. In 2016 the lake supplied approximately 10% of Israel's drinking water needs. In 1964, Syria attempted construction of a Headwater Diversion Plan that would have blocked the flow of water into the Sea of Galilee, sharply reducing the water flow into the lake. This project and Israel's attempt to block these efforts in 1965 were factors which played into regional tensions culminating in the 1967 Six-Day War. During the war, Israel captured the Golan Heights, which contain some of the sources of water for the Sea of Galilee. Up until the mid-2010s, about 400 million m3 (14 billion cu ft) of water was pumped through the National Water Carrier each year. Under the terms of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, Israel also supplies 50 million m3 (1.8 billion cu ft) of water annually from the lake to Jordan. In recent years the Israeli government has made extensive investments in water conservation, reclamation and desalination infrastructure in the country. This has allowed it to significantly reduce the amount of water pumped from the lake annually in an effort to restore and improve its ecological environment, as well as respond to some of the most extreme drought conditions in hundreds of years affecting the lake's intake basin since 1998. Therefore, it was expected that in 2016 only about 25 million m3 (880 million cu ft) of water would be drawn from the lake for Israeli domestic consumption, a small fraction of the amount typically drawn from the lake over the previous decades. Tourism Tourism around the Sea of Galilee is an important economic segment. Historical and religious sites in the region draw both local and foreign tourists. The Sea of Galilee is an attraction for Christian pilgrims who visit Israel to see the places where Jesus performed miracles according to the New Testament. Alonzo Ketcham Parker, a 19th-century American traveler, called visiting the Sea of Galilee "a 'fifth gospel' which one read devoutly, his heart overflowing with quiet joy". In April 2011, Israel unveiled a 40-mile (64 km) hiking trail in Galilee for Christian pilgrims, called the "Jesus Trail". It includes a network of footpaths, roads and bicycle paths linking sites central to the lives of Jesus and his disciples. It ends at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus expounded his teachings. Another key attraction is the site where the Sea of Galilee's water flows into the Jordan River, to which thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come to be baptized every year. Israel's most well-known open water swim race, the Kinneret Crossing, is held every year in September, drawing thousands of open water swimmers to participate in competitive and noncompetitive events. Tourists also partake in the building of rafts on Lavnun Beach, called Rafsodia. Here many different age groups work together to build a raft with their bare hands and then sail that raft across the sea. Other economic activities include fishing in the lake and agriculture, particularly bananas, dates, mangoes, grapes and olives in the fertile belt of land surrounding it. The Turkish Aviators Monument, erected during the Ottoman era, stands near Kibbutz Ha'on on the lakeshore, commemorating the Turkish pilots whose monoplanes crashed en route to Jerusalem. Ecology The warm waters of the Sea of Galilee support various flora and fauna, which have supported a significant commercial fishery for more than two millennia. Local flora include various reeds along most of the shoreline as well as phytoplankton. Fauna include zooplankton, benthos and a number of fish species such as Mirogrex terraesanctae. The Fishing and Agricultural Division of the Ministry of Water and Agriculture of Israel lists 10 families of fish living in the lake, with a total of 27 species – 19 native and 8 introduced species. Local fishermen talk of four types of fish: "مشط musht" (tilapia); sardin (the Kinneret bleak, Mirogrex terraesanctae); "بني biny" or Jordan barbel, Luciobarbus longiceps (barb-like); and North African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus). The tilapia species include the Galilean tilapia (Sarotherodon galilaeus), the blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus), and the redbelly tilapia (Tilapia zillii). Fish caught commercially include Tristramella simonis and the Galilean tilapia, locally called "St. Peter's fish". In 2005, 300 short tons (270 t) of tilapia were caught by local fishermen. This dropped to 8 short tons (7.3 t) in 2009 because of overfishing. A fish species that is unique to the lake, Tristramella sacra, used to spawn in the marsh and has not been seen since the 1990s droughts. Conservationists fear this species may have become extinct. Low water levels in drought years have stressed the lake's ecology. This may have been aggravated by over-extraction of water for either the National Water Carrier to supply other parts of Israel or, since 1994, for the supply of water to Jordan. Droughts of the early and mid-1990s dried out the marshy northern margin of the lake. It is hoped that drastic reductions in the amount of water pumped through the National Water Carrier will help restore the lake's ecology over the span of several years. The lake, with its immediate surrounds, has been recognised as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports populations of black francolins and non-breeding griffon vultures as well as many wintering waterbirds, including marbled teals, great crested grebes, grey herons, great white egrets, great cormorants and black-headed gulls. See also Miracles of Jesus The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633 Rembrandt painting) References Further reading Tamar Zohary, Assaf Sukenik, Tom Berman (2014). Lake Kinneret: Ecology and Management. Springer. ISBN 978-94-017-8944-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) C. Serruya (1978). Lake Kinneret. Springer. ISBN 978-90-6193-085-3. External links World Lakes Database entry for Sea of Galilee Kinneret Data Center // Kinneret Limnological Laboratory Sea of Galilee – official government page (in Hebrew) Sea of Galilee water level – official government page (in Hebrew) Database: Water levels of Sea of Galilee since 1966 (in Hebrew) Bibleplaces.com: Sea of Galilee Updated elevation of the Kinneret's level (in Hebrew) – elevation (meters below sea level) is shown on the line following the date line

Black_francolin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_francolin

The black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. It was formerly known as the black partridge. It is the state bird of Haryana state, India (locally known as kaala teetar, काला तीतर). Fried black francolin is eaten in Azerbaijani cuisine. Taxonomy There are six recognized subspecies: F. f. francolinus (Linnaeus, 1766) – western black francolin - Cyprus, southern Turkey to Iraq and Iran F. f. arabistanicus (Zarudny and Harms, 1913) – Iranian black francolin – southern Iraq and western Iran F. f. asiae (Bonaparte, 1856) – Indian black francolin – northern India F. f. henrici (Bonaparte, 1856) - South Persian black francolin – southern Pakistan to western India F. f. bogdanovi (Zarudny, 1906) – southern Iran and Afghanistan to southern Pakistan F. f. melanonotus (Hume, 1888) – eastern India to Sikkim and Bangladesh. Description The black francolin has a length range around 33 to 36 cm (13 to 14 in) and weight about 453 g (16 oz). The male is black with a white patch on the cheek, a chestnut collar and white spots on the flanks. The back and wings are scalloped with shades of golden brown with sub-terminal tawny-buff bands and pale edges. The rounded tail is black with narrow white or greyish bars. The legs and neck are reddish-brown to red. The extent of the white spotting on the flanks varies substantially across the species' range and the depth of colour of the females similarly varies. The female is mainly brown, but has a chestnut hind neck. The head is curved with brown irises, brown crown and black throat. The upper plumage, wings and tail as in the male, but the black is replaced by mottled brown and the brown bars on the lower back and tail are wider. The female is duller, with no cheek patch, and the collar is replaced with a nuchal patch. The head and underparts are buff where the male shows black. The rump and upper tail coverts are light brown. Similar species: the grey francolin has a grey-brown and buff body, buff instead of black throat, and lacks the rufous collar. Voice The call of the black francolin, described as a loud ringing "klik cheek-cheek-cheerakik", "kik-kik-kik" or "kwee-kweeeee-kwee", can be heard in the mornings and evenings and almost all day during the breeding season. The male calls while standing on an earth mound, bund, rock or a low tree branch and is soon joined by other birds answering from all directions. Distribution and habitat Black francolins are resident breeders from south-eastern Turkey eastwards through Iran to southwest Turkmenistan and northeast India, and Kazipara, Panchagarh of Bangladesh. The species' range was formerly more extensive, but over-hunting has reduced its distribution and numbers. Fragmented populations occur in the western part of its range. Black francolins were introduced to the Calcasieu and Cameron parishes of southwestern Louisiana in 1961. Additional introductions have also occurred in south Florida. Elsewhere, black francolins have been introduced to Guam and the Hawaiian Islands. The birds are found in scrubby habitats with plenty of cultivated crops tall enough to offer shelter and open beneath to provide escape routes and easy travel. They prefer areas of thick vegetation, usually near water. They are not forest birds but will frequent scrubland and forest edges associated with grassland. They appear to be more closely associated to water than chukars are, and in drier areas. Behaviour The black francolin only flies when disturbed. It has a pheasant's explosive flight, but prefers to creep away unseen. The flight is short and direct, punctuated by glides on rounded wings. Breeding Black francolins are monogamous. They normally nest in tall grasslands from late March to May. The male may be seen standing on a rock or low tree attracting attention with its extraordinary creaking call. It may be heard all day long in April, during nesting, and less persistently in March and May as well as the summer months. Both parents tend chicks after hatching. Young stay with parents through their first winter. The most likely breeding locations Savanna, Grasslands, Scrub vegetation areas under the cultivated crops. They have a loud call during the breeding season. Males may also become aggressive during the breeding season, make sure there is plenty of cover and escape routes for the hen and it maybe necessary to house her separate and allow limited access for breeding only. They are generally monogamous in the wild. In aviculture it is best to house only one pair per aviary. Well planted aviaries with little surrounding traffic would be best for breeding. They are fairly winter hardy, but always provide some shelter during the coldest months breeds from late March to September depending on the range. The normal clutch size lies between 10 and 14 eggs, and only the hen incubates. The eggs are white-spotted olive or pale brown. The incubation period is 18 to 19 days, the breeding season is April to June and the young appear from April to October. Feeding The birds forage on the ground for plant material and small invertebrates, including grain, grass seeds, fallen berries, shoots, tubers, termites and ants. In aviculture they eat small mealworms and wax worms, but care must be used when feeding chicks as they are prone to toe-picking. . References External links Informations and photos Photograph and description Avicultural data

Tennis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis

Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player unable to return the ball validly will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Playable at all levels of society and at all ages, tennis can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The original forms of tennis developed in France during the late Middle Ages. The modern form of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis. It had close connections to various field (lawn) games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport today called real tennis. The rules of modern tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that until 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point-challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a point, a system known as Hawk-Eye. Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is a popular worldwide spectator sport. The four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the majors) are especially popular and are considered the highest level of competition for the sport. These tournaments are the Australian Open, played on hardcourts; the French Open, played on red clay courts; Wimbledon, played on grass courts; and the US Open, also played on hardcourts. Additionally, tennis was one of the original Olympic sports, and has been consistently competed in the Summer Olympic Games since 1988. History Predecessors Historians believe that the game's ancient origin lay in 12th-century northern France, where a ball was struck with the palm of the hand. Louis X of France was a keen player of jeu de paume ("game of the palm"), which evolved into real tennis, and became notable as the first person to construct indoor tennis courts in the modern style. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, enclosed courts made in Paris "around the end of the 13th century". In due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe. In June 1316 at Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, and following a particularly exhausting game, Louis drank a large quantity of cooled wine and subsequently died of either pneumonia or pleurisy, although there was also suspicion of poisoning. Because of the contemporary accounts of his death, Louis X is history's first tennis player known by name. Another of the early enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France, who had a court set up at the Louvre Palace. It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use and the game began to be called "tennis", from the French term tenez, which can be translated as "hold!", "receive!" or "take!", an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent. It was popular in England and France, although the game was only played indoors, where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, which is now known as real tennis. An epitaph in St Michael's Church, Coventry, written c. 1705, read, in part: During the 18th and early 19th centuries, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England. The invention of the first lawn mower in Britain in 1830 is believed to have been a catalyst for the preparation of modern-style grass courts, sporting ovals, playing fields, pitches, greens, etc. This in turn led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls and others. Origins of the modern game Between 1859 and 1865, Harry Gem, a solicitor, and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of racquets and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, England. In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club on Avenue Road, Leamington Spa. This is where "lawn tennis" was used as the name of an activity by a club for the first time. In Tennis: A Cultural History, Heiner Gillmeister reveals that on 8 December 1874, British army officer Walter Clopton Wingfield wrote to Harry Gem, commenting that he (Wingfield) had been experimenting with his version of lawn tennis "for a year and a half". In December 1873, Wingfield designed and patented a game which he called sphairistikè (Greek: σφαιριστική, meaning "ball-playing"), and which was soon known simply as "sticky" – for the amusement of guests at a garden party on his friend's estate of Nantclwyd Hall, in Llanelidan, Wales. According to R. D. C. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, "Sports historians all agree that [Wingfield] deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis." According to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield "popularized this game enormously. He produced a boxed set which included a net, poles, rackets, balls for playing the game – and most importantly you had his rules. He was absolutely terrific at marketing and he sent his game all over the world. He had very good connections with the clergy, the law profession, and the aristocracy and he sent thousands of sets out in the first year or so, in 1874." The world's oldest annual tennis tournament took place at Leamington Lawn Tennis Club in Birmingham in 1874. This was three years before the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club would hold its first championships at Wimbledon, in 1877. The first Championships culminated in a significant debate on how to standardise the rules. In the United States in 1874, Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda with a sphairistikè set. She became fascinated by the game of tennis after watching British army officers play. She laid out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club at Camp Washington, Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York. The first American National championship was played there in September 1880. An Englishman named O.E. Woodhouse won the singles title, and a silver cup worth $100, by defeating Canadian I. F. Hellmuth. There was also a doubles match which was won by a local pair. There were different rules at each club. The ball in Boston was larger than the one normally used in New York. On 21 May 1881, the oldest nationwide tennis organization in the world was formed, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) in order to standardize the rules and organize competitions. The US National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at the Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island. The US National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887 in Philadelphia. Tennis also became popular in France, where the French Championships date to 1891, although until 1925 they were open only to tennis players who were members of French clubs. Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis. Together, these four events are called the Majors or Slams (a term borrowed from bridge rather than baseball). In 1913, the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), now the International Tennis Federation (ITF), was founded and established three official tournaments as the major championships of the day. The World Grass Court Championships were awarded to Great Britain. The World Hard Court Championships were awarded to France; the term "hard court" was used for clay courts at the time. Some tournaments were held in Belgium instead. And the World Covered Court Championships for indoor courts were awarded annually; Sweden, France, Great Britain, Denmark, Switzerland and Spain each hosted the tournament. At a meeting held on 16 March 1923 in Paris, the title "World Championship" was dropped and a new category of "Official Championship" was created for events in Great Britain, France, the US and Australia – today's Grand Slam events. The impact on the four recipient nations to replace the "world championships" with "official championships" was simple in a general sense: each became a major nation of the federation with enhanced voting power, and each now operated a major event. The comprehensive rules promulgated in 1924 by the ILTF have remained largely stable in the ensuing 80 years, the one major change being the addition of the tiebreak system designed by Jimmy Van Alen. That same year, tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games, but returned 60 years later as a 21-and-under demonstration event in 1984. This reinstatement was credited by the efforts of then ITF president Philippe Chatrier, ITF general secretary David Gray and ITF vice president Pablo Llorens, with support from International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch. The success of the event was overwhelming, and the IOC decided to reintroduce tennis as a full-medal sport at Seoul in 1988. The Davis Cup, an annual competition between men's national teams, dates to 1900. The analogous competition for women's national teams, the Fed Cup, was founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF. In 1926, promoter C. C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences. The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen. Players turned pro would no longer be permitted to compete in the major (amateur) tournaments. In 1968, commercial pressures and rumours of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the Open Era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis. With the beginning of the Open Era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its middle-class English-speaking image (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists). In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a nonprofit museum in Newport, Rhode Island. The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honouring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world. Equipment Part of the appeal of tennis stems from the simplicity of equipment required for play. Beginners need only a racket and balls. Rackets The components of a tennis racket include a handle, known as the grip, connected to a neck which joins a roughly elliptical frame that holds a matrix of tightly pulled strings. For the first 100 years of the modern game, rackets were made of wood and of standard size, and strings were of animal gut. Laminated wood construction yielded more strength in rackets used through most of the 20th century until first metal and then composites of carbon graphite, ceramics, and lighter metals such as titanium were introduced. These stronger materials enabled the production of oversized rackets that yielded yet more power. Meanwhile, technology led to the use of synthetic strings that match the feel of gut yet with added durability. Under modern rules of tennis, the rackets must adhere to the following guidelines; The hitting area, composed of the strings, must be flat and generally uniform. The frame of the hitting area may not be more than 29 inches (74 cm) in length and 12.5 inches (32 cm) in width. The entire racket must be of a fixed shape, size, weight, and weight distribution. There may not be any energy source built into the rackets. The rackets must not provide any kind of communication, instruction or advice to the player during the match. The rules regarding rackets have changed over time, as material and engineering advances have been made. For example, the maximum length of the frame had been 32 inches (81 cm) until 1997, when it was shortened to 29 inches (74 cm). Many companies manufacture and distribute tennis rackets. Wilson, Head and Babolat are three of the most commonly used brands; however, many more companies exist. The same companies sponsor players to use these rackets in the hopes that the company name will become better known by the public. Strings There are multiple types of tennis strings, including natural gut and synthetic stings made from materials such as nylon, kevlar, or polyester. Natural gut The first type of tennis strings available were natural gut strings, introduced by Babolat. They were the only type used until synthetic strings were introduced in the 1950s. Natural gut strings are still used frequently by players such as Roger Federer. They are made from cow intestines, and provide increased power, and are easier on the arm than most strings. Synthetic Most synthetic strings are made from monofilament or multifiliament nylon strings. Monofilament strings are cheap to buy, and are used widely by many recreational level players for their all round performance, while multifilament strings are created to mimic natural gut more closely by weaving together fibres, but are generally more expensive than their monofilament counterparts. Polyester strings allow for more spin on the ball than any other string, due to their firm strings, while keeping control of the ball, and this is why many players use them, especially higher player ones. Kevlar tennis strings are highly durable, and are mostly used by players that frequently break strings, because they maintain tension well, but these strings can be stiff on the arm. Hybrid strings Hybrid stringing is when a tennis racket is strung with two different strings for the mains (the vertical strings) and the crosses (the horizontal strings). This is most commonly done with two different strings that are made of different materials, but can also be done with two different types of the same string. A notable example of a player using hybrid strings is Roger Federer, using natural gut strings in his mains and polyester strings in his crosses. Balls Tennis balls were originally made of cloth strips stitched together with thread and stuffed with feathers. Modern tennis balls are made of hollow vulcanized rubber with a felt coating. Traditionally white, the predominant colour was gradually changed to optic yellow in the latter part of the 20th century to allow for improved visibility. Tennis balls must conform to certain criteria for size, weight, deformation, and bounce to be approved for regulation play. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) defines the official diameter as 65.41–68.58 mm (2.575–2.700 in). Balls must weigh between 56.0 and 59.4 g (1.98 and 2.10 oz). Tennis balls were traditionally manufactured in the United States and Europe. Although the process of producing the balls has remained virtually unchanged for the past 100 years, the majority of manufacturing now takes place in the Far East. The relocation is due to cheaper labour costs and materials in the region. Tournaments that are played under the ITF Rules of Tennis must use balls that are approved by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and be named on the official ITF list of approved tennis balls. Manner of play Court Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface. The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.2 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (11 m) for doubles matches. Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. It is held up by either a cord or metal cable of diameter no greater than 0.8 cm (1⁄3 in). The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (0.91 m) high in the centre. The net posts are 3 feet (0.91 m) outside the doubles court on each side or, for a singles net, 3 feet (0.91 m) outside the singles court on each side. The modern tennis court owes its design to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield. In 1873, Wingfield patented a court much the same as the current one for his stické tennis (sphairistike). This template was modified in 1875 to the court design that exists today, with markings similar to Wingfield's version, but with the hourglass shape of his court changed to a rectangle. Tennis is unusual in that it is played on a variety of surfaces. Grass, clay, and hard courts of concrete or asphalt topped with acrylic are the most common. Occasionally carpet is used for indoor play, with hardwood flooring having been historically used. Artificial turf courts can also be found. Lines The lines that delineate the width of the court are called the baseline (farthest back) and the service line (middle of the court). The short mark in the centre of each baseline is referred to as either the hash mark or the centre mark. The outermost lines that make up the length are called the doubles sidelines; they are the boundaries for doubles matches. The lines to the inside of the doubles sidelines are the singles sidelines, and are the boundaries in singles play. The area between a doubles sideline and the nearest singles sideline is called the doubles alley, playable in doubles play. The line that runs across the centre of a player's side of the court is called the service line because the serve must be delivered into the area between the service line and the net on the receiving side. Despite its name, this is not where a player legally stands when making a serve. The line dividing the service line in two is called the centre line or centre service line. The boxes this centre line creates are called the service boxes; depending on a player's position, they have to hit the ball into one of these when serving. A ball is out only if none of it has hit the area inside the lines, or the line, upon its first bounce. All lines are required to be between 1 and 2 inches (25 and 51 mm) in width, with the exception of the baseline which can be up to 4 inches (100 mm) wide, although in practice it is often the same width as the others. Play of a single point The players or teams start on opposite sides of the net. One player is designated the server, and the opposing player is the receiver. The choice to be server or receiver in the first game and the choice of ends is decided by a coin toss before the warm-up starts. Service alternates game by game between the two players or teams. For each point, the server starts behind the baseline, between the centre mark and the sideline. The receiver may start anywhere on their side of the net. When the receiver is ready, the server will serve, although the receiver must play to the pace of the server. For a service to be legal, the ball must travel over the net without touching it into the diagonally opposite service box. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service box, this is a let or net service, which is void, and the server retakes that serve. The player can serve any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as voids and not as faults. A fault is a serve that falls long or wide of the service box, or does not clear the net. There is also a "foot fault" when a player's foot touches the baseline or an extension of the centre mark before the ball is hit. If the second service, after a fault, is also a fault, the server double faults, and the receiver wins the point. However, if the serve is in, it is considered a legal service. A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. A legal return consists of a player hitting the ball so that it falls in the server's court, before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures except the net. A player or team cannot hit the ball twice in a row. The ball must travel over or round the net into the other players' court. A ball that hits the net during a rally is considered a legal return as long as it crosses into the opposite side of the court. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point. The server then moves to the other side of the service line at the start of a new point. Scoring Game, set, match Game A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero to three points are described as "love", "15", "30", and "40", respectively. If at least three points have been scored by each player, making the player's scores equal at 40 apiece, the score is not called out as "40–40", but rather as "deuce". If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is "advantage" for the player in the lead. During informal games, advantage can also be called "ad in" or "van in" when the serving player is ahead, and "ad out" or "van out" when the receiving player is ahead; alternatively, either player may simply call out "my ad" or "your ad". The score of a tennis game during play is always read with the serving player's score first. In tournament play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., "15–love") after each point. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score. Set A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent. If one player has won six games and the opponent five, an additional game is played. If the leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 7–5. If the trailing player wins the game (tying the set 6–6) a tiebreak is played. A tiebreak, played under a separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7–6. A tiebreak game can be won by scoring at least seven points and at least two points more than the opponent. In a tiebreak, two players serve by 'ABBA' system which has been proven to be fair. If a tiebreak is not played, the set is referred to as an advantage set, where the set continues without limit until one player leads by a two-game margin. A "love set" means that the loser of the set won zero games, colloquially termed a "jam donut" in the US. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and the overall score. The final score in sets is always read with the winning player's score first, e.g. "6–2, 4–6, 6–0, 7–5". Match A match consists of a sequence of sets. The outcome is determined through a best of three or five sets system. On the professional circuit, men play best-of-five-set matches at all four Grand Slam tournaments, Davis Cup, and the final of the Olympic Games and best-of-three-set matches at all other tournaments, while women play best-of-three-set matches at all tournaments. The first player to win two sets in a best-of-three, or three sets in a best-of-five, wins the match. Only in the final sets of matches at the Olympic Games and Fed Cup are tiebreaks not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely until one player has a two-game lead, occasionally leading to some remarkably long matches. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase "Game, set, match" followed by the winning person's or team's name. Special point terms Game point A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40–love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play. Break point A break point occurs if the receiver, not the server, has a chance to win the game with the next point. Break points are of particular importance because serving is generally considered advantageous, with servers being expected to win games in which they are serving. A receiver who has one (score of 30–40 or advantage), two (score of 15–40) or three (score of love–40) consecutive chances to win the game has break point, double break point or triple break point, respectively. If the receiver does, in fact, win their break point, the game is awarded to the receiver, and the receiver is said to have converted their break point. If the receiver fails to win their break point it is called a failure to convert. Winning break points, and thus the game, is also referred to as breaking serve, as the receiver has disrupted, or broken the natural advantage of the server. If in the following game the previous server also wins a break point it is referred to as breaking back. Except where tiebreaks apply, at least one break of serve is required to win a set (otherwise a two-game lead would never occur). Rule variations No ad From 'No advantage'. Scoring method created by Jimmy Van Alen. The first player or doubles team to win four points wins the game, regardless of whether the player or team is ahead by two points. When the game score reaches three points each, the receiver chooses which side of the court (advantage court or deuce court) the service is to be delivered on the seventh and game-deciding point. Utilized by World Team Tennis professional competition, ATP tours, WTA tours, ITF Pro Doubles and ITF Junior Doubles. Pro set Instead of playing multiple sets, players may play one pro set. A pro set is first to 8 (or 10) games by a margin of two games, instead of first to 6 games. A 12-point tiebreak is usually played when the score is 8–8 (or 10–10). These are often played with no-ad scoring. Match tiebreak This is sometimes played instead of a third set. A match tiebreak (also called super tiebreak) is played like a regular tiebreak, but the winner must win ten points instead of seven. Match tiebreaks are used in the Hopman Cup, Grand Slams (excluding Wimbledon) and the Olympic Games for mixed doubles; on the ATP (since 2006), WTA (since 2007) and ITF (excluding four Grand Slam tournaments and the Davis Cup) tours for doubles and as a player's choice in USTA league play. Fast4 Fast4 is a shortened format that offers a "fast" alternative, with four points, four games and four rules: there are no advantage scores, lets are played, tiebreakers apply at three games all, with it being first to five points with a "sudden death" point at four points all, and the first to four games wins the set. In the event of a no advantage deuce, the receiver gets to choose the service side. If a let occurs, the point continues as normal, and the non-receiver (in a doubles game) is permitted to return the serve. When players swap sides, they are not permitted to sit down and must be ready to play within sixty seconds. Between sets, players are permitted to sit down, and must be ready to play within ninety seconds. Another, however informal, tennis format is called Canadian doubles. This involves three players, with one person playing against a doubles team. The single player gets to utilize the alleys normally reserved only for a doubles team. Conversely, the doubles team does not use the alleys when executing a shot. The scoring is the same as for a regular game. This format is not sanctioned by any official body. "Australian doubles", another informal and unsanctioned form of tennis, is played with similar rules to the Canadian doubles style, only in this version, players rotate court position after each game, each player taking a turn at playing alone against the other two. As such, each player plays doubles and singles over the course of a match, with the singles player always serving. Scoring styles vary, but one popular method is to assign a value of 2 points to each game, with the server taking both points if he or she holds serve and the doubles team each taking one if they break serve. Wheelchair tennis can be played by able-bodied players as well as people who require a wheelchair for mobility. An extra bounce is permitted. This rule makes it possible to have mixed wheelchair and able-bodied matches. It is possible for a doubles team to consist of a wheelchair player and an able-bodied player (referred to as "one-up, one-down"), or for a wheelchair player to play against an able-bodied player. In such cases, the extra bounce is permitted for the wheelchair users only. Match play Continuity A tennis match is intended to be continuous. Because stamina is a relevant factor, arbitrary delays are not permitted. In most cases, service is required to occur no more than 20 seconds after the end of the previous point. This is increased to 90 seconds when the players change ends (after every odd-numbered game), and a 2-minute break is permitted between sets. Other than this, breaks are permitted only when forced by events beyond the players' control, such as rain, damaged footwear, damaged racket, or the need to retrieve an errant ball. Should a player be deemed to be stalling repeatedly, the chair umpire may initially give a warning followed by subsequent penalties of "point", "game", and default of the match for the player who is consistently taking longer than the allowed time limit. In the event of a rain delay, darkness or other external conditions halting play, the match is resumed at a later time, with the same score as at the time of the delay, and each player at the same end of the court as when rain halted play, or as close to the same relative compass point if play is resumed on a different court. Ball changes Balls wear out quickly in serious play and, therefore, in ATP and WTA tournaments, they are changed after every nine games with the first change occurring after only seven games, because the first set of balls is also used for the pre-match warm-up. In ITF tournaments like Fed Cup, the balls are changed after every eleven games (rather than nine) with the first change occurring after only nine games (instead of seven). An exception is that a ball change may not take place at the beginning of a tiebreaker, in which case the ball change is delayed until the beginning of the second game of the next set. As a courtesy to the receiver, the server will often signal to the receiver before the first serve of the game in which new balls are used as a reminder that they are using new balls. Continuity of the balls' condition is considered part of the game, so if a re-warm-up is required after an extended break in play (usually due to rain), then the re-warm-up is done using a separate set of balls, and use of the match balls is resumed only when play resumes. On-court coaching A recent rule change is to allow coaching on court on a limited basis during a match. This has been introduced in women's tennis for WTA Tour events in 2009 and allows the player to request her coach once per set. Stance Stance refers to the way a player prepares themselves in order to best be able to return a shot. Essentially, it enables them to move quickly in order to achieve a particular stroke. There are four main stances in modern tennis: open, semi-open, closed, and neutral. All four stances involve the player crouching in some manner: as well as being a more efficient striking posture, it allows them to isometrically preload their muscles in order to play the stroke more dynamically. What stance is selected is strongly influenced by shot selection. A player may quickly alter their stance depending on the circumstances and the type of shot they intend to play. Any given stance also alters dramatically based upon the actual playing of the shot with dynamic movements and shifts of body weight occurring. Open stance This is the most common stance in tennis. The player's feet are placed parallel to the net. They may be pointing sideways, directly at the net or diagonally towards it. This stance allows for a high degree of torso rotation which can add significant power to the stroke. This process is sometimes likened to the coiling and uncoiling of a spring. i.e. the torso is rotated as a means of preloading the muscular system in preparation for playing the stroke: this is the coiling phase. When the stroke is played the torso rotates to face forwards again, called uncoiling, and adds significant power to the stroke. A disadvantage of this stance is that it does not always allow ‘for proper weight transfer and maintenance of balance’ when making powerful strokes. It is commonly used for forehand strokes; double-handed backhands can also be made effectively from it. Semi-open stance This stance is somewhere between open and closed and is a very flexible stance. The feet are aligned diagonally towards the net. It allows for a lot of shoulder rotation and the torso can be coiled, before being uncoiled into the shot in order to increase the power of the shot. It is commonly used in modern tennis especially by ‘top professional players on the forehand’. Two-handed backhands can also be employed from this stance. Closed stance The closed stance is the least commonly used of the three main stances. One foot is placed further towards the net with the other foot further from it; there is a diagonal alignment between the feet. It allows for effective torso rotation in order to increase the power of the shot. It is usually used to play backhand shots and it is rare to see forehand shots played from it. A stroke from this stance may entail the rear foot coming completely off the floor with bodyweight being transferred entirely to the front foot. Neutral stance This is sometimes also referred to as the square stance. One foot is positioned closer to the net and ahead of the other which is behind and in line with it. Both feet are aligned at a 90 degree angle to the net. The neutral stance is often taught early because ‘It allows beginners to learn about shifting weight and rotation of the body.’ Forehands and backhands may be made from it. Shots Competent tennis players have eight basic shots in their repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob. Grip A grip is a way of holding the racket in order to hit shots during a match. The grip affects the angle of the racket face when it hits the ball and influences the pace, spin, and placement of the shot. Players use various grips during play, including the Continental (The "Handshake Grip"), Eastern (either semi-eastern or full eastern, usually used for backhands), and Western (semi-western or full western, usually for forehand grips) grips. Most players change grips during a match depending on what shot they are hitting; for example, slice shots and serves call for a Continental grip. Serve A serve (or, more formally, a "service") in tennis is a shot to start a point. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net. The serve may be hit under- or overhand although underhand serving remains a rarity. If the ball hits the net on the first serve and bounces over into the correct diagonal box then it is called a "let" and the server gets two more additional serves to get it in. There can also be a let if the server serves the ball and the receiver isn't prepared. If the server misses his or her first serve and gets a let on the second serve, then they get one more try to get the serve in the box. Experienced players strive to master the conventional overhand serve to maximize its power and placement. The server may employ different types of serve including flat serve, topspin serve, slice serve, and kick (American twist) serve. A reverse type of spin serve is hit in a manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the spin direction depending upon right- or left-handedness. If the ball is spinning counterclockwise, it will curve right from the hitter's point of view and curve left if spinning clockwise. Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the point; however, advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with their serve. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is called an "ace". Forehand For a right-handed player, the forehand is a stroke that begins on the right side of the body, continues across the body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the left side of the body. There are various grips for executing the forehand, and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the continental, the eastern, the semi-western, and the western. For a number of years, the small, frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western grip. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players. No matter which grip is used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the racket, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. In the 1940s and 50s, the Ecuadorian/American player Pancho Segura used a two-handed forehand to achieve a devastating effect against larger, more powerful players. Players such as Monica Seles or France's Fabrice Santoro and Marion Bartoli are also notable players known for their two-handed forehands. Backhand For right-handed players, the backhand is a stroke that begins on the left side of their body, continues across their body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right side of their body. It can be executed with either one hand or with both and is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. For most of the 20th century, the backhand was performed with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip. The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich, but they were lone exceptions. The two-handed grip gained popularity in the 1970s as Björn Borg, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, and later Mats Wilander and Marat Safin used it to great effect, and it is now used by a large number of the world's best players, including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. Two hands give the player more control, while one hand can generate a slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory bounce. Reach is also limited with the two-handed shot. The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, Don Budge, had a powerful one-handed stroke in the 1930s and 1940s that imparted topspin onto the ball. Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used a very accurate slice backhand through the 1950s and 1960s. A small number of players, notably Monica Seles, use two hands on both the backhand and forehand sides. Other shots A volley is a shot returned to the opponent in mid-air before the ball bounces, generally performed near the net, and is usually made with a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent's court. The half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, also generally in the vicinity of the net, and played with the racket close to the ground. The swinging volley is hit out of the air as the player approaches the net. It is an offensive shot used to take preparation time away from the opponent, as it returns the ball into the opponent's court much faster than a standard volley. From a poor defensive position on the baseline, the lob can be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon, hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court to either enable the lobber to get into better defensive position or to win the point outright by hitting it over the opponent's head. If the lob is not hit deeply enough into the other court, however, an opponent near the net may then hit an overhead smash, a hard, serve-like shot, to try to end the point. A difficult shot in tennis is the return of an attempted lob over the backhand side of a player. When the contact point is higher than the reach of a two-handed backhand, most players will try to execute a high slice (under the ball or sideways). Fewer players attempt the backhand sky-hook or smash. Rarely, a player will go for a high topspin backhand, while themselves in the air. A successful execution of any of these alternatives requires balance and timing, with less margin of error than the lower contact point backhands, since this shot is a break in the regular pattern of play. If their opponent is deep in their court, a player may suddenly employ an unexpected drop shot, by softly tapping the ball just over the net so that the opponent is unable to run in fast enough to retrieve it. Advanced players will often apply back spin to a drop shot, causing the ball to "skid" upon landing and bounce sideways, with less forward momentum toward their opponent, or even backwards towards the net, thus making it even more difficult to return. Tournaments Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players. Common tournament configurations include men's singles, women's singles, and doubles, where two players play on each side of the net. Tournaments may be organized for specific age groups, with upper age limits for youth and lower age limits for senior players. Example of this include the Orange Bowl and Les Petits As junior tournaments. There are also tournaments for players with disabilities, such as wheelchair tennis and deaf tennis. In the four Grand Slam tournaments, the singles draws are limited to 128 players for each gender. Most large tournaments seed players, but players may also be matched by their skill level. According to how well a person does in sanctioned play, a player is given a rating that is adjusted periodically to maintain competitive matches. For example, the United States Tennis Association administers the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP), which rates players between 1.0 and 7.0 in 1/2 point increments. Average club players under this system would rate 3.0–4.5 while world class players would be 7.0 on this scale. Grand Slam tournaments The four Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious tennis events in the world. They are held annually and comprise, in chronological order, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Apart from the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and Hopman Cup, they are the only tournaments regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The ITF's national associations, Tennis Australia (Australian Open), the Fédération Française de Tennis (French Open), the Lawn Tennis Association (Wimbledon) and the United States Tennis Association (US Open) are delegated the responsibility to organize these events. Aside from the historical significance of these events, they also carry larger prize funds than any other tour event and are worth double the number of ranking points to the champion than in the next echelon of tournaments, the ATP Masters 1000 (men) and Premier events (women). Another distinguishing feature is the number of players in the singles draw. There are 128, more than any other professional tennis tournament. This draw is composed of 32 seeded players, other players ranked in the world's top 100, qualifiers, and players who receive invitations through wild cards. Grand Slam men's tournaments have best-of-five set matches while the women play best-of-three. Grand Slam tournaments are among the small number of events that last two weeks, the others being the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Masters. Currently, the Grand Slam tournaments are the only tour events that have mixed doubles contests. Grand Slam tournaments are held in conjunction with wheelchair tennis tournaments and junior tennis competitions. These tournaments also contain their own idiosyncrasies. For example, players at Wimbledon are required to wear predominantly white. Andre Agassi chose to skip Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 citing the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress code. Wimbledon has its own particular methods for disseminating tickets, often leading tennis fans to follow complex procedures to obtain tickets. The French became an international tournament in 1925. Men's tournament structure Masters Series The ATP Masters 1000 is a group of nine tournaments that form the second-highest echelon in men's tennis. Each event is held annually, and a win at one of these events is worth 1000 ranking points. When the ATP, led by Hamilton Jordan, began running the men's tour in 1990, the directors designated the top nine tournaments, outside of the Grand Slam events, as "Super 9" events. In 2000 this became the Tennis Masters Series and in 2004 the ATP Masters Series. In November at the end of the tennis year, the world's top eight players compete in the ATP Finals, a tournament with a rotating locale. It is currently held in Turin. In August 2007 the ATP announced major changes to the tour that were introduced in 2009. The Masters Series was renamed to the "ATP Masters 1000", the addition of the number 1000 referring to the number of ranking points earned by the winner of each tournament. Contrary to earlier plans, the number of tournaments was not reduced from nine to eight and the Monte-Carlo Masters remains part of the series although, unlike the other events, it does not have a mandatory player commitment. The Hamburg Masters has been downgraded to a 500-point event. The Madrid Masters moved to May and onto clay courts, and a new tournament in Shanghai took over Madrid's former indoor October slot. As of 2011 six of the nine "1000" level tournaments are combined ATP and WTA events. 500 and 250 series The third and fourth tier of men's tennis tournaments are formed by the ATP 500 series, consisting of 11 tournaments, and the ATP 250 series with 40 tournaments. Like the ATP Masters 1000, these events offer various amounts of prize money and the numbers refer to the number of ranking points earned by the winner of a tournament. The Dubai Tennis Championships offer the largest financial incentive to players, with total prize money of US$2,313,975 (2012). These series have various draws of 28, 32, 48 and 56 for singles and 16 and 24 for doubles. It is mandatory for leading players to enter at least four 500 events, including at least one after the US Open. Challenger Tour and Futures tournaments The Challenger Tour for men is the lowest level of tournament administered by the ATP. It is composed of about 150 events and, as a result, features a more diverse range of countries hosting events. The majority of players use the Challenger Series at the beginning of their career to work their way up the rankings. Andre Agassi, between winning Grand Slam tournaments, plummeted to World No. 141 and used Challenger Series events for match experience and to progress back up the rankings. The Challenger Series offers prize funds of between US$25,000 and US$150,000. Below the Challenger Tour are the Futures tournaments, events on the ITF Men's Circuit. These tournaments also contribute towards a player's ATP rankings points. Futures Tournaments offer prize funds of between US$10,000 and US$15,000. Approximately 530 Futures Tournaments are played each year. Women's tournament structure In 2021, the WTA rebranded, resembling the men's tournament series, and also providing extra simplicity for fans and consumers. The numbers do not indicate ranking points, or prize money, but is a system to help define different levels of women's tennis. WTA 1000 The WTA 1000 Tournaments (formerly the Premier Mandatory and Premier 5 Tournaments), are a series of seven tournaments that are part of the second-highest tier in women's tennis. 500 and 250 Series The third and fourth tier of women's tennis tournaments are formed from the WTA 500 Series (formerly Premier 700), with fifteen tournaments, and the WTA 250 Series (formerly International), consisting of thirty tournaments. WTA 125 The WTA 125 Series (formerly 125K Series), is the lowest tier of women's tennis, with fourteen tournaments. Players Professional players Professional tennis players enjoy the same relative perks as most top sports personalities: clothing, equipment and endorsements. Like players of other individual sports such as golf, they are not salaried, but must play and finish highly in tournaments to obtain prize money. In recent years, professional tennis players have been mocked by tabloids and fans for the involuntary or deliberate noise caused by players' grunting. This controversy has spurred the Grand Slam Committee, the International Tennis Association, and the Women's Tennis Association to teach players techniques to avoid grunting. Singles and doubles professional careers While players are gradually less competitive in singles by their late 20s and early 30s, they can still continue competitively in doubles (as instanced by Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe, who won doubles titles in their 40s). In the Open Era, several female players such as Martina Navratilova, Margaret Court, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams (the latter two sisters playing together) have been prolific at both singles and doubles events throughout their careers. John McEnroe is one of the very few professional male players to be top ranked in both singles and doubles at the same time, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov is the most recent male player to win multiple Grand Slams in both singles and doubles during the same period of his career. In terms of public attention and earnings (see below), singles champions have far surpassed their doubles counterparts. The Open Era, particularly the men's side, has seen many top-ranked singles players that only sparingly compete in doubles, while having "doubles specialists" who are typically being eliminated early in the singles draw but do well in the doubles portion of a tournament. Notable doubles pairings include The Woodies (Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde) and the Bryan brothers (identical twin brothers Robert Charles "Bob" Bryan and Michael Carl "Mike" Bryan). Woodbridge has disliked the term "doubles 'specialists'", saying that he and Woodforde "set a singles schedule and doubles fitted in around that", although later in Woodbridge's career he focused exclusively on doubles as his singles ranking fell too low that it was no longer financially viable to recover at that age. Woodbridge noted that while top singles players earn enough that they do not need to nor want to play doubles, he suggested that lower-ranked singles players outside the Top Ten should play doubles to earn more playing time and money. Olympics The Olympics doubles tennis tournament necessitates that both members of a doubles pairing be from the same country, hence several top professional pairs such as Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares cannot compete in the Olympics. Top-ranked singles players that are usually rivals on the professional circuit, such as Boris Becker and Michael Stich, and Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have formed a rare doubles partnership for the Olympics. Unlike professional tennis tournaments (see below) where singles players receive much more prize money than doubles players, an Olympic medal for both singles and doubles has similar prestige. The Olympics is more of a priority for doubles champions while singles champions often skip the tournament. While the ATP has voted for Olympic results to count towards player ranking points, WTA players voted against it. For the 2000 Olympics, Lisa Raymond was passed over for Team USA in favour of Serena Williams by captain Billie Jean King, even though Raymond was the top-ranked doubles player in the world at the time, and Raymond unsuccessfully challenged the selection. Prize money In professional tennis tournaments such as Wimbledon, the singles competition receives the most prize money and coverage, followed by doubles, and then mixed doubles usually receive the lowest monetary awards. For instance in the US Open as of 2018, the men's and women's singles prize money (US$40,912,000) accounts for 80.9 percent of total player base compensation, while men's and women's doubles (US$6,140,840), men's and women's singles qualifying (US$3,008,000), and mixed doubles (US$505,000) account for 12.1 percent, 5.9 percent, and 1.0 percent, respectively. The singles winner receives US$3,800,000, while the doubles winning pair receives $700,000 and the mixed doubles winning pair receives US$155,000. Grand Slam tournament winners The following players have won at least five singles titles at Grand Slam tournaments (active players in bold): Greatest male players A frequent topic of discussion among tennis fans and commentators is who was the greatest male singles player of all time. By a large margin, an Associated Press poll in 1950 named Bill Tilden as the greatest player of the first half of the 20th century. From 1920 to 1930, Tilden won singles titles at Wimbledon three times and the US Championships seven times. In 1938, however, Donald Budge became the first person to win all four major singles titles during the same calendar year, the Grand Slam, and won six consecutive major titles in 1937 and 1938. Tilden called Budge "the finest player 365 days a year that ever lived." In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer said that, based on consistent play, Budge was the greatest player ever. Some observers, however, also felt that Kramer deserved consideration for the title. Kramer was among the few who dominated amateur and professional tennis during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Tony Trabert has said that of the players he saw before the start of the Open Era, Kramer was the best male champion. By the 1960s, Budge and others had added Pancho Gonzales and Lew Hoad to the list of contenders. Budge reportedly believed that Gonzales was the greatest player ever. Gonzales said about Hoad, "When Lew's game was at its peak nobody could touch him. ... I think his game was the best game ever. Better than mine. He was capable of making more shots than anybody. His two volleys were great. His overhead was enormous. He had the most natural tennis mind with the most natural tennis physique." Before and during the Open Era, Rod Laver remains the only male player in history to have won the calendar year Grand Slam twice in 1962 and 1969 and also the calendar year Professional Grand Slam in 1967. Jimmy Connors, Björn Borg, and John McEnroe had a fierce rivalry in the late 1970s and early 1980s that propelled "the men's game to new heights of popularity". Connors had a long and prolific career and holds the Open Era men's singles records of 109 titles including eight Grand Slams, 1,557 matches played, and 1,274 match wins. Borg was regarded by his contemporaries as among the greatest ever, having a calm court demeanor and unrivalled physical conditioning, winning six French Opens and five straight Wimbledon titles, retiring at age 26 when he was still in his prime. McEnroe attained the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, finishing his career with 77 singles and 78 doubles titles; this remains the highest men's combined total of the Open Era. The Agassi–Sampras rivalry showcased the two best players in the 1990s. Sampras had a precise and powerful serve while Agassi was considered to be one of the best service returners in the history of the game. By the early 2000s, Pete Sampras had won a then-record of 14 Grand Slam titles which was by far the most among his contemporaries. Sampras also held the record for most weeks at No. 1 with 286 until it was broken a decade later by Federer and Djokovic after that. Andre Agassi, was the first player to complete the Career Grand Slam on all modern three surfaces (hard, grass, and clay courts) as previous winners of Grand Slam tournaments played in an era of grass and clay only (Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall also won major Pro tournaments on the three surfaces). Agassi also is the only player to win all four Grand Slam titles along with the year-end championships and the olympics. Both Sampras and Agassi are regarded to be among the greatest players of all time. By the early twenty-first century, the 'Big Three' of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have dominated men's singles tennis for two decades, collectively winning 66 major singles tournaments; Djokovic with an all-time record 24 titles, Nadal with 22 and Federer with 20. They have been ranked as world No. 1s in singles for a total 947 weeks (equivalent to 18 years); Djokovic for a record 428 weeks, Federer for 310, and Nadal for 209. Greatest female players As with the men there are frequent discussions about who is the greatest female singles player of all time with Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams being the three players most often nominated. In March 2012 the Tennis Channel published a combined list of the 100 greatest men and women tennis players of all time. It ranked Steffi Graf as the greatest female player (in 3rd place overall), followed by Martina Navratilova (4th place) and Margaret Court (8th place). The rankings were determined by an international panel. Sportswriter John Wertheim of Sports Illustrated stated in an article in July 2010 that Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player ever with the argument that "Head-to-head, on a neutral surface (i.e. hard courts), everyone at their best, I can't help feeling that she crushes the other legends.". In a reaction to this article Yahoo sports blog Busted Racket published a list of the top-10 women's tennis players of all time placing Martina Navratilova in first spot. This top-10 list was similar to the one published in June 2008 by the Bleacher Report who also ranked Martina Navratilova as the top female player of all time. Steffi Graf is considered by some to be the greatest female player. Billie Jean King said in 1999, "Steffi is definitely the greatest women's tennis player of all time." Martina Navratilova has included Graf on her list of great players. In December 1999, Graf was named the greatest female tennis player of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by the Associated Press. Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, named her as the best female player of the 20th century, directly followed by Martina Navratilova. Tennis magazine selected Martina Navratilova as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005. Tennis historian and journalist Bud Collins has called Navratilova "arguably, the greatest player of all time." Billie Jean King said about Navratilova in 2006, "She's the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who's ever lived." In 2018, a Tennis.com panel selected Serena Williams as the greatest female tennis player in the Open Era. In May 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Williams as the greatest female tennis player of all time. In November 2018, Tennis.com polled its readers to choose the greatest women's tennis player of all time and Graf came in first. In July 2020, The Guardian polled its readers to determine the greatest female tennis player of the past 50 years, and Graf was the clear favorite, picking up nearly twice as many votes as any other player. Officials In most professional play and some amateur competition, there is an officiating head judge or chair umpire (usually referred to simply as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one side of the court. The umpire has absolute authority to make factual determinations. The umpire may be assisted by line judges, who determine whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and who also call foot faults. There also may be a net judge who determines whether the ball has touched the net during service. The umpire has the right to overrule a line judge or a net judge if the umpire is sure that a clear mistake has been made. In past tournaments, line judges tasked with calling the serve were sometimes assisted by electronic sensors that beeped to indicate an out-of-bounds serve; one such system was called "Cyclops". Cyclops has since largely been replaced by the Hawk-Eye system. In professional tournaments using this system, players are allowed three unsuccessful appeals per set, plus one additional appeal in the tiebreak to challenge close line calls by means of an electronic review. The US Open, Miami Masters, US Open Series, and World Team Tennis started using this challenge system in 2006 and the Australian Open and Wimbledon introduced the system in 2007. In clay-court matches, such as at the French Open, a call may be questioned by reference to the mark left by the ball's impact on the court surface. The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final authority about tennis rules. When called to the court by a player or team captain, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision if the tennis rules were violated (question of law) but may not change the umpire's decision on a question of fact. If, however, the referee is on the court during play, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision. (This would only happen in Davis Cup or Fed Cup matches, not at the World Group level, when a chair umpire from a non-neutral country is in the chair.) Junior tennis In tennis, a junior is a player under 18 who is still legally protected by a parent or guardian. Players on the main adult tour who are under 18 must have documents signed by a parent or guardian. These players, however, are still eligible to play in junior tournaments. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) conducts a junior tour that allows juniors to establish a world ranking and an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. Most juniors who enter the international circuit do so by progressing through ITF, Satellite, Future, and Challenger tournaments before entering the main circuit. The latter three circuits also have adults competing in them. Some juniors, however, such as Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Frenchman Gaël Monfils, have catapulted directly from the junior tour to the ATP tour by dominating the junior scene or by taking advantage of opportunities given to them to participate in professional tournaments. In 2004, the ITF implemented a new rankings scheme to encourage greater participation in doubles, by combining two rankings (singles and doubles) into one combined tally. Junior tournaments do not offer prize money except for the Grand Slam tournaments, which are the most prestigious junior events. Juniors may earn income from tennis by participating in the Future, Satellite, or Challenger tours. Tournaments are broken up into different tiers offering different amounts of ranking points, culminating with Grade A. Leading juniors are allowed to participate for their nation in the Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions. To succeed in tennis often means having to begin playing at a young age. To facilitate and nurture a junior's growth in tennis, almost all tennis playing nations have developed a junior development system. Juniors develop their play through a range of tournaments on all surfaces, accommodating all different standards of play. Talented juniors may also receive sponsorships from governing bodies or private institutions. Injuries Muscle strain is one of the most common injuries in tennis. When an isolated large-energy appears during the muscle contraction and at the same time body weight apply huge amount of pressure to the lengthened muscle, muscle strain can occur. Inflammation and bleeding are triggered when muscle strain occurs, which can result in redness, pain and swelling. Overuse is also common in tennis players of all levels. Muscle, cartilage, nerves, bursae, ligaments and tendons may be damaged from overuse. The repetitive use of a particular muscle without time for repair and recovery is the most common cause of injury. In popular culture "Tennis balles" are mentioned by William Shakespeare in his play Henry V (1599), when a basket of them is given to King Henry as a mockery of his youth and playfulness. David Foster Wallace, an amateur tennis player himself at Urbana High School in Illinois, included tennis in many of his works of non-fiction and fiction including "Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness", the autobiographical piece "Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley", and Infinite Jest, which is partially set at the fictional "Enfield Tennis Academy" in Massachusetts. Japanese manga series The Prince of Tennis revolves around the tennis prodigy Echizen Ryoma and tennis matches between rival schools. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) is a film that features Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson), a tennis pro who suffers from depression and has a breakdown on court in front of thousands of fans. Wimbledon (2004) is a film about a discouraged pro tennis player (Paul Bettany) who meets a young woman on the women's tennis circuit (Kirsten Dunst) who helps him find his drive to go and win Wimbledon. In The Squid and the Whale (2005), Joan (Laura Linney) has an affair with her kids' tennis coach, Ivan (William Baldwin). In a symbolic scene, Joan's ex-husband, Bernard (Jeff Daniels), loses a tennis match against Ivan in front of the kids. Woody Allen's Match Point (2005) features a love affair between a former tennis pro, Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), and his best friend's fiancé, Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson). A scene of the movie includes a brief comparison between Andre Agassi and Tim Henman, with Chris Wilton calling both of them "geniuses". Confetti (2006) is a mockumentary which sees three couples competing to win the title of "Most Original Wedding of the Year". One competing couple (Meredith MacNeill and Stephen Mangan) are a pair of hyper-competitive professional tennis players holding a tennis-themed wedding. There are several tennis video games including the Mario Tennis series, the TopSpin series, the Virtua Tennis series, Sega Superstars Tennis, Grand Slam Tennis and Wii Sports. See also American handball Outline of tennis Tennis games Tennis strategy Tennis technology Tennis statistics Tennis injuries International Tennis Integrity Agency References Further reading External links International Tennis Federation (ITF) Association of Tennis Players (ATP) – men's professional tennis organization Women's Tennis Association (WTA) – women's professional tennis organization International Tennis Hall of Fame Grand Slam history (Reference book) Tennis at Curlie

Grand_Slam_(tennis)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_(tennis)

The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year. In doubles, a Grand Slam may be achieved as a team or as an individual with different partners. Winning all four major championships consecutively but not within the same calendar year is referred to as a "non-calendar-year Grand Slam", while winning the four majors at any point during the course of a career is known as a "Career Grand Slam". The term Grand Slam is also attributed to the Grand Slam tournaments, usually referred to as Majors, and they are the world's four most important annual professional tennis tournaments. They offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of the field and, in recent years, the longest matches for men (best of five sets, best of three for the women). The tournaments are overseen by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), rather than the separate men's and women's tour organizing bodies, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA), but both the ATP and WTA award ranking points based on players' performances in them. The four Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open in January, the French Open from late May to early June, Wimbledon in late June to early July, and the US Open in late August to early September, with each played over two weeks. The Australian and the United States tournaments are played on hard courts, the French on clay, and Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest tournament, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891 (major in 1925), and the Australian in 1905, but it was not until 1925 that all four were held as officially sanctioned majors. History With the growing popularity of tennis, and with the hopes of unifying the sport's rules internationally, the British and French tennis associations started discussions at their Davis Cup tie, and in October 1912 organized a meeting in Paris, joined by the Australasian, Austrian, Belgian, Spanish, and Swiss associations. They subsequently formed the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), holding their first meeting in 1913, joined by the Danish, German, Dutch, Russian, South African, and Swedish organizations. Voting rights were divided based on the perceived importance of the individual countries, with Great Britain's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) receiving the maximum six votes. Three tournaments were established, being designated as "World Championships": World Grass Court Championships, played on grass courts. World Hard Court Championships, played on clay courts. World Covered Court Championships, played on an indoor wood surface. The LTA was given the perpetual right to organize the World Grass Court Championships, to be held at Wimbledon, and France received permission to stage the World Hard Court Championships until 1916. Anthony Wilding of New Zealand won all three of these World Championships in 1913. The United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) expressed disagreement over the power distribution within the ILTF and the designation of "World Championship" status to the British and French tournaments, and thus initially refused to join the Federation, choosing instead to be bystanders to their meetings. By the 1920s, with the World Covered Court Championships failing to attract top players and the growing success of American and Australian tennis, the ILTF worked to convince the USNLTA to join them, meeting their demand to drop the designation of "World Championships" from all three tournaments in March 1923, which led to the demise of both the World Covered Court Championships and the World Hard Court Championships. A new category of "Official Championships" was created for the national championships of Britain, France, Australia, and the US. By the 1930s, these four tournaments had become well defined as the most prestigious in the sport. In 1933, Jack Crawford won the Australian, French, and Wimbledon Championships, leaving him just needing to win the last major event of the year, the U.S. Championships, to become the reigning champion of all four major tournaments, a feat described as "a grand slam" by sports columnist Alan J. Gould of The Reading Eagle, and later that year by John Kieran of The New York Times, who stated that if Crawford won at Forest Hills it "would be something like scoring a grand slam on the courts, doubled and vulnerable." The term 'Grand Slam' originates from the card game contract bridge, where it is used for winning all possible tricks. In golf it was used for the first time to describe a total of four wins, specifically Bobby Jones' achievement of winning the four major golf tournaments of the era, which he accomplished in 1930. "Grand Slam" or "Slam" has since also become used to refer to the tournaments individually. The first player to win all four majors in a calendar year and thus complete a Grand Slam was Don Budge in 1938. At the time, only amateur players were allowed to participate in the Grand Slam and other ILTF-sanctioned tournaments. Amateur standing, regulated by the ILTF alongside its associated national federations, forbade players from receiving prize money, earning pay by teaching tennis, being contracted by promoters and playing paid exhibition matches, though expense payments were allowed along with certain monies from sporting goods companies or other benefactors. Amateurs who "defected" to become professional were banned from competing in amateur tournaments and dropped from their national associations. The first major professional tour was established in 1926 by promoter C. C. Pyle with a troupe of American and French players, most notably Suzanne Lenglen, playing exhibition matches to paying audiences. Over the next decades many other head-to-head tours were run and professional tournaments established, with three, the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, French Pro Championship and Wembley Championships, standing out, and considered to have been the professional majors. By the 1950s, largely due to efforts of player/promoter Jack Kramer, this lucrative parallel circuit was luring in most of the star amateurs on the men's side, much to the ire of the ILTF and organizers of the Grand Slam tournaments. It was an open secret that the top players who remained as amateurs were receiving undeclared under-the-table payments from tournament promoters, an arrangement tolerated by their national tennis associations to dissuade them from joining the pro ranks and secure their availability for the majors and Davis Cup. This system was derisively referred to as 'shamateurism' that was seen as undermining the integrity of the sport. Ramanathan Krishnan and Roy Emerson, for example declined large contract offers from the professional promoters, with the latter stating that he was better paid in the amateur circuit. Tensions over this status quo, which had been building for decades, finally came to a head in 1967. The first tournament open to professional tennis players played on Centre Court at Wimbledon, the Wimbledon Pro, was staged by the All England Lawn Tennis Club in August, offering a prize fund of US$45,000. The tournament was deemed very successful, with packed crowds and the play seen as being of higher quality than the amateur-only Wimbledon final held two weeks earlier. This success in combination with large signings of top players to two new professional tours—World Championship Tennis and the National Tennis League—convinced the LTA on the need for open tennis. After a British proposal for this at the annual ILTF meeting was voted down, the LTA revolted, and in its own annual meeting in December it voted overwhelmingly to admit players of all statuses to the 1968 Wimbledon Championships and other future tournaments in Britain, "come hell or high water". The eventual backing of the USNLTA that came after a February 1968 vote forced the ILTF to yield and allow each nation to determine its own legislation regarding amateur and professional players, which it voted for in a special meeting in March 1968. This marked the start of the Open Era of tennis, with its first tournament, the 1968 British Hard Court Championships, beginning three weeks later on 22 April in Bournemouth, England, while the first open Grand Slam tournament, the 1968 French Open, was held in May. Even after the advent of the Open Era, players including John McEnroe and Chris Evert have pointed out that skipping the Australian Open was the norm because of the travelling distance involved and the inconvenient dates close to Christmas and New Year. There were also the contracted professional players who had to skip some major events like the French Open in the 1970s because they were committed to the more profitable pro circuits. In one case, Australian players including Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Roy Emerson who had contracts with George MacCall's National Tennis League were prevented from participating in the 1970 Australian Open because the financial guarantees were deemed insufficient. Although it has been possible to complete a Grand Slam in most years and most disciplines since 1925, it was not possible from 1940 to 1945 because of interruptions at Wimbledon, the Australian and French Championships due to World War II, the years from 1970 to 1985 when there was no Australian tournament in mixed doubles, 1986 when there was no Australian Open, and 2020 when Wimbledon was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tournaments The Grand Slam of tennis comprises these four major tournaments: Australian Open The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, played annually in late January and early February. The inaugural edition took place in November 1905 on the grass courts of the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia. It was held as the Australasian Championships until 1927 and thereafter as the Australian Championships until the onset of the Open Era in 1969, passing through various venues in Australia and New Zealand before settling at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne between 1972 and 1987. Since 1988, it has been played on the hard courts of the Melbourne Park sports complex, which currently uses GreenSet as its court manufacturer. Managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA), the tournament struggled until the mid-1980s to attract the top international players due to its distance from Europe and America and proximity to the Christmas and holiday season, but it has since grown to become one of the biggest sporting events in the Southern Hemisphere and the highest attended Grand Slam tournament, with more than 1,020,000 people attending the 2024 edition. Nicknamed the "Happy Slam" and billed as "the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific", it has become known for its modernity and innovation, being the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play and install retractable roofs on its main courts, the first to schedule night-time men's singles finals, and the first to substitute electronic line calling for line judges, using an expanded version of the Hawk-Eye technology known as "Hawk-Eye Live". The tournament was designated a major championship by the International Lawn Tennis Federation in 1923. Nowadays, its draws host 256 singles players, 128 doubles teams and 32 mixed doubles teams, with the total prize money for the 2024 tournament being A$86,500,000. French Open The French Open, also known as Roland Garros, is the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, played annually in late May and early June. A French championships closed event (restricted to members of French clubs) was first held in 1891 on the sand courts of the Societé de Sport de Île de Puteaux, in Puteaux, Île-de-France, and changed venues over the years. In 1925 the French championships became open to all amateurs and since 1928 has been held on clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. Both the venue and the tournament are named "Roland Garros" after the pioneering French aviator. Organized by the Fédération française de tennis (FFT), formerly known as the Fédération Française de Lawn Tennis until 1976, the French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament played on a red clay surface. It is generally considered to be the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world. The World Hard Court Championships was considered the premier clay championship in France from 1912–1923 (apart from one year held in Belgium) as it admitted international competitors, and it is therefore often seen as the true precursor to the French Open before 1925. The French championships was first held as an International Lawn Tennis Federation–sanctioned major championship in 1925. Today, it has draws that host 256 singles players, 128 doubles teams and 32 mixed doubles teams, with the total prize money for the 2024 tournament being €53,478,000. The 2018 edition saw a record attendance of 480,575 spectators. Wimbledon The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known as Wimbledon, is the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, played annually in late June and early July. It was first held in 1877 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, at the time located off Nursery Road in Wimbledon, London, England. The tournament has always been contested at this club, which moved to its present site off Church Road in 1922 in order to increase its attendance capacity. Wimbledon is organized by a committee of management consisting of nineteen members, with twelve being club members and the remaining seven nominated by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). As the world's oldest tennis event, it is widely regarded as the most prestigious tennis tournament, and it is known for its commitment to longstanding traditions and guidelines. It is one of few tournaments and the only Grand Slam event that is still played on grass courts, tennis's original surface, and where "lawn tennis" originated in the 1800s. Players are required to wear all-white attire during matches, and they are referred to as "Gentlemen" and "Ladies". There is also a tradition where the players are asked to bow or curtsy towards the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court when either the Prince of Wales or the monarch are present. The tournament was given the title "World Grass Court Championships" by the International Lawn Tennis Federation between 1912 and 1923, and was designated a major championship following the abolition of the three ILTF World Championships. Since 1937, the BBC has broadcast the tournament on television in the United Kingdom, with the finals shown live and in full on television in the country each year. The BBC's broadcast of the 1967 edition was among the first colour television broadcasts in the UK. Today, the event has draws that host 256 singles players, 128 doubles teams and 32 mixed doubles teams, with the total prize money for the 2021 tournament being £35,016,000, and 500,397 people attending the 2019 edition. The tournament has some of the longest running sponsorships in sports history, having been associated with Slazenger since 1902, and with the Robinsons fruit drink brand since 1935. US Open The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year, played annually in late August and early September. It was first held in August 1881 on grass courts at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The tournament changed venues in its early years, with each discipline continuing to be held separately at various venues until 1923, when the tournament settled at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City. In 1978, it moved to the hardcourts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, where it has been contested ever since. Organized by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), previously known as the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) until 1920, and as United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) until 1975, it is the only Grand Slam tournament to have been played every year since its inception. In 1997, Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis stadium in the world with a capacity of 23,771 spectators, was opened. It is named after Arthur Ashe, the winner of the 1968 tournament—the first in which professionals were allowed to compete. Over the years, the tournament has pioneered changes that other tournaments later adopted, including the introduction of a tiebreak system to decide the outcome of sets tied at 6–6 in 1970, being the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to the men's and women's events in 1975, the installation of floodlights in 1975 in order to allow matches to be played at night, and the introduction of instant replay reviews of line calls using the Hawk-Eye computer system in 2006. The ILTF officially designated it as a major tournament in 1923. Today, the event has draws that host 256 singles players, 128 doubles teams and 32 mixed doubles teams, with the total prize money for the 2020 tournament being US$53,400,000, and a US television viewership of 700,000. From 2004-2023, the tournament was preceded by the US Open Series, composed of North American hardcourt professional tournaments that lead up to and culminate with the US Open itself. The season was organized by the USTA as a way to focus more attention on American tennis tournaments by getting more of them on domestic television. Grand Slam A Grand Slam (sometimes called a Calendar-year Grand Slam, Calendar Grand Slam, or Calendar Slam) is the achievement of winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open in the same year. Margaret Court is the only player to complete a Grand Slam in two disciplines, singles and mixed doubles (twice), while wheelchair players Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott have completed one in both the singles and doubles disciplines of their respective classes. The following is a list of players that achieved it. Current champions Each entry has an asterisk (*) linking to the tournament of that year. Former champions Per discipline Singles finals Men Women Related concepts Non-calendar-year Grand Slam In 1982, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) began offering a $1 million bonus to any singles player to win the four majors consecutively regardless the tournaments order of winning them while the Men's International Professional Tennis Council, which was the governing body of men's professional tennis at the time, stated that 'Grand Slam' need not necessarily be won in the same year. This revision by the Council and reportedly the ITF was approved by the representatives of the four Grand Slam tournaments at Wimbledon. Neil Amdur and Allison Danzig of the New York Times both criticised the changed definition of the term Grand Slam, whereas in 1985 Hal Bock of Associated Press backed the change. Despite newspaper reports claiming that ITF President Philippe Chatrier had said "the four big events no longer have to be won in the same calendar year for a player to be recognized as Grand Slam champion", ITF General Secretary David Gray in a 1983 letter claimed that it was never the intention of ITF to alter anything regarding the definition of the classic Grand Slam: There seems to be some confusion. The ITF's only initiative in this matter has been the organisation of the offer of a bonus of $1 million to any player who holds all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously ... Despite all that we have read on this matter, it has never been my Committee of Management's intention to alter the basis of the classic Grand Slam i.e., the capture of all four titles in a year. When Martina Navratilova won the 1984 French Open and became the reigning champion of all four women's singles discipline, she was the first player to receive the bonus prize in recognition of her achievement. Some media outlets said that she had won a Grand Slam. Curry Kirkpatrick of Sports Illustrated wrote "Whether the Slam was Grand or Bland or a commercial sham tainted with an asterisk the size of a tennis ball, Martina Navratilova finally did it." When Rafael Nadal was on the verge of completing a non-calendar-year Grand Slam at the 2011 Australian Open, one writer observed, "Most traditionalists insist that the 'Grand Slam' should refer only to winning all four titles in a calendar year, although the constitution of the International Tennis Federation, the sports governing body, spells out that 'players who hold all four of these titles at the same time achieve the Grand Slam'." In 2012 the ambiguity was resolved, with the ITF's current constitution stating "The Grand Slam titles are the championships of Australia, France, the United States of America and Wimbledon. Players who hold all four of these titles in one calendar year achieve the 'Grand Slam'." Combining the Grand Slam and the non-calendar-year Grand Slam, only eight singles players on 11 occasions achieved the feat of being the reigning champion of all four majors, three men (Don Budge, Rod Laver, Novak Djokovic) and five women (Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams). The following list is for those players who achieved a non-calendar-year Grand Slam by holding the four major titles at the same time but not in the calendar year. Players who completed a Grand Slam within the same streak as a non-calendar-year Grand Slam are not included here. Career Grand Slam The career achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline is termed a "Career Grand Slam", or "Career Slam". In singles, eight men (Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) and ten women (Maureen Connolly, Doris Hart, Shirley Fry Irvin, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova) have completed a Career Grand Slam. Four men (Emerson, Laver, Djokovic, and Nadal) and five women (Court, Evert, Navratilova, Graf, Williams) have achieved the feat more than once over the course of their careers. Only six players have completed a Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles: one male (Roy Emerson) and five females (Margaret Court, Doris Hart, Shirley Fry Irvin, Martina Navratilova, and Serena Williams). Boxed Set A "Boxed Set" refers to winning one of every possible major title in the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles disciplines throughout a player's career. Only three players have completed a Boxed Set, all females: Doris Hart, Margaret Court, and Martina Navratilova. Court's second Boxed Set, completed in 1969, spans the Amateur and Open Eras, but she later completed a set entirely within the Open Era in 1973. The event at which the Boxed Set was completed indicated in bold. S Singles D Doubles X Mixed doubles Golden Slam The term "Golden Slam" (also known as "Golden Grand Slam", "Calendar-year Golden Slam" or "Calendar Golden Slam") refers to the achievement of winning all four majors and the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal in a calendar year. The achievement was first established in 1988, when Steffi Graf won all the aforementioned titles in singles. She is currently the only singles able-bodied player to achieve it, while Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott also accomplished the feat, in wheelchair singles and wheelchair quad singles respectively. Non-calendar-year Golden Slam: refers to the achievement of winning all four majors and the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal consecutively across two calendar years. It has been used since 2013, when Bob and Mike Bryan won the aforementioned titles consecutively in doubles between 2012 and 2013. Their achievement was also dubbed the "Golden Bryan Slam". Career Golden Slam: refers to the achievement of winning all four majors and the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal during their career. Other concepts Super Slam: Combination of the Golden Slam and year-end championship title (ATP Finals for the men's tour, WTA Finals for the women's tour, and the Wheelchair Tennis Masters for the wheelchair tennis tour) in a calendar year, also known as "Calendar-year Super Slam" or "Calendar Super Slam". Diede de Groot is currently the only player to do so, in women's wheelchair singles in 2021. Non-calendar-year Super Slam: refers to the achievement of winning all four majors, the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal, and the year-end championship consecutively across two calendar years. Steffi Graf is currently the only one to achieve it, with her Golden Slam in 1988 following her victory at the year-end championship in 1987. Career Super Slam: refers to the achievement of winning all four majors, the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal, and the year-end championship throughout a career. Three-Quarter Slam: refers to the achievement of winning three of the four majors in a calendar year, missing out on the Grand Slam by only one title. Surface Slam: refers to the achievement of winning a major title on each of three current surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts) in a calendar year. It's been possible since 1978, when the US Open changed its playing surface from clay to hard courts. From 1978 to 1987, the Australian Open and Wimbledon were played on grass, the French Open on clay and the US Open on hard, but since 1988 the Australian Open has also been played on hard courts. Channel Slam: refers to the achievement of winning both the French Open and Wimbledon in a calendar year. The name makes reference to the English Channel, the body of water separating France from the United Kingdom, the host countries of the French Open and Wimbledon. These tournaments are held clay and grass courts, respectively, surfaces very different from each other, usually being held a few weeks from each other, meaning that players who have deep runs in the French Open have little time to adapt to the different surface conditions found at Wimbledon. Pro Slam Before the start of the Open Era in 1968, only amateur players were allowed to compete in the four Grand Slam tournaments. Many male top players "went pro" in order to win prize money legally, competing on a professional world tour comprising completely separate events. From 1927 to 1967, the three tournaments considered by many to have been the "majors" of the professional tour were: U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, French Pro Championship, Wembley Championships. A player who won all three in a calendar year was considered retrospectively to have achieved a "Professional Grand Slam", or "Pro Slam". In the pre-open era the terms did not exist. The feat was accomplished by Ken Rosewall in 1963 and Rod Laver in 1967, while Ellsworth Vines, Hans Nüsslein and Don Budge have won the three major trophies during their careers. The professional majors did not have a women's draw except for the Cleveland tournament in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1959. See also List of Grand Slam–related tennis records Lists of tennis records and statistics Grand Slam (golf) Notes References Bibliography External links Official website of the Australian Open Official website of the French Open Official website of Wimbledon Official website of the US Open All-time Grand Slam tournament winners – Reference book

Jordanne_Whiley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordanne_Whiley

Jordanne Joyce Whiley MBE (born 11 June 1992) is a British retired wheelchair tennis player. Aged 14, she became Britain's youngest ever national women's singles champion in wheelchair tennis. She has osteogenesis imperfecta as does her father, Keith, who was also a Paralympian and won a bronze medal in 1984 in New York. As well as the 2015 US Open in wheelchair singles, Whiley has won 9 Grand Slam doubles titles, and she & Japanese Yui Kamiji are the fourth team in women's wheelchair doubles (as well as the most recent players) to complete the Calendar Year Grand Slam. Whiley was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2015 Queens Birthday Honours list for services to wheelchair tennis. Career Junior In 2006 at the age of 14 Whiley claimed her first senior main draw titles when she won the singles and doubles at the Cardiff Wheelchair Tennis tournament, also winning the girls title. At the end of 2006 Whiley had moved up from 112 to 48 in the rankings and had won junior titles in Poland and the Netherlands. Whiley won two awards at the British Wheelchair Tennis Association awards: Most improved female player and players' player of the year. Whiley created history in 2007 when she defeated Katharine Kruger in Tarbes. She became the first Briton to claim the Cruyff Foundation Wheelchair Juniors Masters title, Whiley also claimed the doubles title with Louise Hunt. Following on from the Masters success Whiley won her second senior title at the North West Challenge. Whiley followed this up by becoming the youngest national British Champion and winning the doubles title as well. Whiley then successfully defended her Cardiff wheelchair tennis tournament titles. In 2008 Whiley successfully defended her Masters titles; defeating Emmy Kaiser in the singles before partnering Hunt to back to back doubles titles. The following week Whiley claimed her first international title the Sion Indoor. Whiley then successfully defended both titles at the North West Challenge. She was named in the team for the 2008 Paralympic Games. Senior In 2012, she reached the finals of Women's wheelchair doubles at Wimbledon. She competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics where she shared a bronze with Lucy Shuker in women's doubles. Whiley and Shuker won another bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, where Whiley was eliminated in the women's singles quarterfinals. Whiley and her partner Yui Kamiji of Japan achieved a calendar Grand Slam by winning the wheelchair doubles at the Australian Open (beating the Dutch pair Marjolein Buis and Jiske Griffioen), the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open (overcoming Griffioen and fellow Dutchwoman Aniek van Koot in all three finals). They finished the year by adding the Masters crown after defeating Louise Hunt and Katharina Kruger in the final. However, despite the absence of van Koot and Griffioen the pair did not go undefeated throughout the tournament as they lost to Marjolein Buis and Michaela Spaanstra during the round robin group stage. Whiley and Kamiji are four times doubles champions at Wimbledon, and Whiley was 11 weeks pregnant when they won their 4th title, in 2017. Whiley did not participate at the Championships in 2018, after giving birth to her son, earlier that year. She planned a comeback in late 2018. In the 2020 season, she won the Australian Open and US Open doubles titles. In June 2021 she and Lucy Shuker were among six tennis players named to represent the UK at the postponed 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. Shuker and Whiley won the silver medal in the women's doubles, with Whiley winning bronze in the women's singles. Grand Slam performance timelines Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles References External links Jordanne Whiley MBE at ParalympicsGB Jordanne Whiley at the International Paralympic Committee Jordanne Whiley at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived) Jordanne Whiley at the International Tennis Federation Jordanne Whiley at the LTA

Gordon_Reid_(tennis)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Reid_(tennis)

Gordon James Reid (born 2 October 1991) is a British professional wheelchair tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 in singles and world No. 1 in doubles. He holds two Paralympic gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal, and is a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, and record holding twenty-five time Grand Slam doubles champion. He has competed for Great Britain at the Summer Paralympics when tennis made its first appearance at Beijing 2008. He reached the quarterfinals in the singles in London 2012 as well as the quarterfinals in doubles. He won Paralympic gold in the men's singles event at Rio 2016 and silver in the doubles event with partner Alfie Hewett, whom he beat in the singles final. At Tokyo 2020, Reid won bronze in the singles and silver in the doubles with Hewett. The pair later went on to complete a calendar year Grand Slam, winning all four majors in 2021. At Paris 2024 he won his second gold medal, partnering Hewett again in the men's doubles. He currently holds the record for most doubles slam titles won by a wheelchair player in any division (men's, women's, and quads), with 25. Reid was born able-bodied, claiming that he enjoyed a wide variety of sports as a kid including football and tennis. However, at the age of 12, he contracted a rare neurological condition called transverse myelitis which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Early life Reid was born in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, on 2 October 1991. He comes from a tennis-playing family and started playing tennis at the age of six, alongside his two brothers and sister at Helensburgh Lawn Tennis Club, where he was a good junior player, before contracting rare spinal condition, transverse myelitis in 2004. He was paralysed from the waist down for over a decade but then gradually regained limited ability to stand and walk. He first began playing wheelchair tennis in 2005, when he was introduced to the sport at Scotstoun Leisure Centre in Glasgow. He was acknowledged for his sporting credentials in 2006, when he was among the 10 shortlisted finalists for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. In 2007, Reid became Britain's youngest men's Singles National Champion and he was also part of Great Britain's winning junior team at the 2007 World Team Cup. He feels his greatest achievement was representing ParalympicsGB at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games when he was 16 years old. When he was younger, Reid combined his training commitments with his studies and in 2009 he passed Highers in Maths, English and Biology after attending Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute. He is a lifelong supporter of Rangers FC and regularly attends their home matches. Tennis career Reid won his first wheelchair tennis title in April 2005, six weeks after coming out of hospital, when he won the B Division Singles at the Glasgow Wheelchair Tennis Tournament. He became Britain's youngest National champion at the age of 15 in 2007 and the youngest British men's No 1 shortly before his 18th birthday at the end of September 2008. At the 2006 British Open he won both the Men's Second Draw Singles and Boys' Junior Singles and ended the year among the 10 shortlisted finalists for the 2006 BBC Young Sports Person of the Year. In 2007 he won the boys' doubles at the Junior Masters in Tarbes, France and shortly afterwards won the men's singles at the 2007 North West Challenge in Preston to collect his first senior international NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour singles title. He was undefeated as a member of the winning GB Junior team in the Junior event at the 2007 Invacare World Team Cup (Davis and Fed Cups of wheelchair tennis). In 2008 and 2009 he won both the boys' singles and boys' doubles at the Junior Masters in Tarbes, France and in January 2009 became world No 1 junior in the boys' singles rankings, a position he maintained throughout his final season as a junior. He helped Great Britain to win men's World Group 2 at the 2008 Invacare World Team Cup, to finish fifth in World Group 1 in 2009 and to finish fourth in Turkey in 2010, which was Britain's best Invacare World Team Cup result in the men's event since 2002. Reid was named Tennis Scotland Junior Male Player of the Year in 2009 and Tennis Scotland Disabled Player of the Year in 2010. As a doubles player, he qualified for the year-end Doubles Masters for the first time in 2009, where he and his Hungarian partner Laszlo Farkas finished fifth of the eight partnerships. Reid also played in the men's wheelchair doubles at Wimbledon in 2008. Reid ended 2010 having beaten three world top ranked players on his way to winning three NEC Tour singles titles during the season, as well as winning four doubles titles during the year. He beat Austrian world No 9 Martin Legner to win his last tournament of the season in December, the Prague Cup Czech Indoor. In January 2016 Reid won his first ever Grand Slam singles wheelchair title at the Australian Open. In July 2016, Reid followed up with his second Grand Slam victory in the inaugural singles wheelchair championships at Wimbledon. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics Reid won the gold medal for the men's wheelchair singles tennis, beating fellow Briton Alfie Hewett in straight sets, 6–2, 6–1. He competed in wheelchair tennis at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, where he won silver in the doubles with Hewett and bronze in the singles. After 2016, Reid's grand slam success continued primarily with his accolades in the doubles alongside Hewett. Together, they were the first men's wheelchair tennis pair to win the calendar year grand slam, which they completed in 2021. Their title at the Australian Open in 2022 marked their 9th consecutive victory in a slam, overtaking Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver's record for most consecutive slam titles. Reid kicked off 2024 by winning a fifth Australian Open doubles title in a row with Hewett. In May 2024 Reid was part of the Great Britain team which won the World Team Cup for a second successive year beating Spain 2-0 in the final of the event held in Turkey. It was the team's fourth win in the competition since 2015. Reid and Hewett won a fifth straight French Open in June with a 6-1 6-4 victory over second-seeded Japanese duo Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in the final. At the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, Reid and Hewett won the doubles title for a sixth time, defeating Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in the final, 6–4, 7–6(7–2). Personal life Reid was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to wheelchair tennis. After giving him his MBE, Queen Elizabeth II referred to him as a "charming young man". Reid was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to tennis. Career statistics Grand Slam performance timelines Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles Finals Wheelchair singles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runner-ups) Wheelchair doubles: 36 (25 titles, 11 runner-ups) References External links Gordon Reid at ParalympicsGB Gordon Reid at the International Paralympic Committee Gordon Reid at the International Tennis Federation Gordon Reid at the Tennis Foundation at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-09-09) London 2012 Paralympic Profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-11-16) Gordon Reid London 2012 Paralympic Information at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-09-01)

Alfie_Hewett

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfie_Hewett

Alfie Hewett (born 6 December 1997 in Norwich, Norfolk) is a British professional wheelchair tennis player. He is the current world No. 1 in both singles and doubles. He has won a total of 30 Grand Slam titles, with 9 singles and 21 doubles titles. Hewett is a 30-time major champion, having won nine titles in singles and 21 in doubles, the latter all partnering Gordon Reid. The pair completed the Grand Slam in 2021, becoming the first to do so in wheelchair men's doubles since Stéphane Houdet in 2014. Hewett won Paralympic gold in men's doubles at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, and is a three-time silver medalist. He won the Wheelchair Tennis Masters in both singles and doubles in 2017, 2021 and 2023. Hewett was born with a congenital heart defect that required surgery at six months, and suffered from Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease, a condition that inhibits blood flow from the pelvis to the hip joint. His ability to walk was severely impaired and from the age of six he has been a wheelchair user. Though able to walk, Hewett is not fully mobile in the conventional sense and cannot do able-bodied sports. Tennis career Hewett attended Acle High School and went on to study Sport and Exercise Science at City College Norwich. In July 2016 Hewett won the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Wheelchair men's doubles, alongside Gordon Reid, coming back from a set down to win against the French pair Stéphane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer. He won a silver medal in the men's singles event at Rio 2016 and silver in the doubles event with Reid, who beat him in the singles final. In May 2017 Hewett won his first Grand Slam in singles at the French Open, beating Gustavo Fernández of Argentina in three sets, despite losing the first to love. In July 2017, in a repeat of the final a year earlier, Hewett won the 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Wheelchair men's doubles, alongside Reid, winning in three sets against Houdet and Peifer. Hewett won the 2017 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters in Loughborough, UK. He ended 2017 ranked No 2 in the world, then a career-high. On 29 January 2018 Hewett became the world number 1. In March 2018 Hewett won his first Super Series singles title at the Cajun Classic in Baton Rouge, USA. On 2 September 2018 he claimed his second Super Series title at the US Open USTA Wheelchair Championships in St. Louis. Later that month Hewett won the singles title at the US Open as well as the doubles title with Reid. In September 2019 he successfully defended both his singles and, with Reid, doubles titles at the US Open. In 2020 Hewett won the French Open singles title in three sets against Joachim Gérard and partnered Reid to win all three available Grand Slam doubles titles at the Australian Open, US Open and French Open, with the Wimbledon Championships cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After winning a silver medal in the men's doubles with Reid at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and losing the bronze medal singles match to Reid, world number 2 Hewett spoke about his Paralympic future being "out of his hands", due to a review into whether his disability is severe enough to qualify him to play in a wheelchair under the 2019 revision of International Tennis Federation rules. Hewett was allowed to continue his tennis career after an alteration to the new ITF rules in November 2021. Hewett was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to tennis. Hewett kicked off 2024 by winning a fifth Australian Open doubles title in a row with Reid. In May 2024 Hewett was part of the Great Britain team which won the World Team Cup for a second successive year beating Spain 2-0 in the final of the event held in Turkey. It was the team's fourth win in the competition since 2015. Hewett and Reid won a fifth straight French Open in June with a 6-1 6-4 victory over second-seeded Japanese duo Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in the final. At the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, Hewett defeated Martín de la Puente in the final, 6–2, 6–3, to complete the singles career Grand Slam. He and Reid also won doubles title, defeating Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in the final, 6–4, 7–6(7–2). Hewett won the doubles gold medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France. He lost in Paralympic wheelchair tennis men's singles final. Career statistics Grand Slam performance timelines Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles Grand Slam tournament finals Wheelchair singles: 18 (9 titles, 9 runner-ups) Wheelchair doubles: 27 (21 titles, 6 runner-ups) References External links Alfie Hewett at the International Tennis Federation Alfie Hewett at the International Paralympic Committee Alfie Hewett at ParalympicsGB

Boston_Marathon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon

The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was inspired by the success of the first marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of six World Marathon Majors. Its course runs from Hopkinton in southern Middlesex County to Copley Square in Boston. The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has organized this event annually since 1897, including a "virtual alternative" after the 2020 road race was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race has been managed by DMSE Sports since 1988. Amateur and professional runners from all over the world compete in the Boston Marathon each year, braving the hilly Massachusetts terrain and varying weather to take part in the race. The event attracts 500,000 spectators along the route, making it New England's most viewed sporting event. Starting with just 15 participants in 1897, the event has grown to an average of about 30,000 registered participants each year, with 30,251 people entering in 2015. The Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996 established a record as the world's largest marathon with 38,708 entrants, 36,748 starters, and 35,868 finishers. History Men Since 1897 Women Since 1966 Men's Wheelchair Since 1975 Women's Wheelchair Since 1977 Men's Handcycle Since 2017 Women's Handcycle Since 2017 All Editions Results The Boston Marathon was first run in April 1897, having been inspired by the revival of the marathon for the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Until 2020 it was the oldest continuously running marathon, and the second longest continuously running footrace in North America, having debuted five months after the Buffalo Turkey Trot. On April 19, 1897, ten years after the establishment of the B.A.A., the association held the 24.5 miles (39.4 km) marathon to conclude its athletic competition, the B.A.A. Games. The winner of the inaugural edition was John J. "JJ" McDermott, who ran the 24.5 mile course in 2:55:10, leading a field of 15. The event was scheduled for the recently established holiday of Patriots' Day, with the race linking the Athenian and American struggles for liberty. The race, which became known as the Boston Marathon, has been held in some form every year since then, even during the World War years and the Great Depression, making it the world's oldest annual marathon. In 1924, the starting line was moved from Metcalf's Mill in Ashland to the neighboring town of Hopkinton. The course was lengthened to 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km) to conform to the standard set by the 1908 Summer Olympics and codified by the IAAF in 1921. The first 1.9 miles (3.1 km) are run in Hopkinton before the runners enter Ashland. The Boston Marathon was originally a local event, but its fame and status have attracted runners from all over the world. For most of its history, the Boston Marathon was a free event, and the only prize awarded for winning the race was a wreath woven from olive branches. However, corporate-sponsored cash prizes began to be awarded in the 1980s, when professional athletes refused to run the race unless a cash award was available. The first cash prize for winning the marathon was awarded in 1986. Walter A. Brown was the President of the Boston Athletic Association from 1941 to 1964. During the height of the Korean War in 1951, Brown denied Koreans entry into the Boston Marathon. He stated: "While American soldiers are fighting and dying in Korea, every Korean should be fighting to protect his country instead of training for marathons. As long as the war continues there, we positively will not accept Korean entries for our race on April 19." Bobbi Gibb, Kathrine Switzer, and Nina Kuscik The Boston Marathon rule book made no mention of gender until after the 1967 race. Nor did the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) exclude women from races that included men until after the 1967 Boston Marathon. Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb's attempt to register for the 1966 race was refused by race director Will Cloney in a letter in which he claimed women were physiologically incapable of running 26 miles. Gibb nevertheless ran unregistered and finished the 1966 race in three hours, twenty-one minutes and forty seconds, ahead of two-thirds of the runners. Much later, she would be recognized by the race organizers as the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon. In 1967, Kathrine Switzer, who registered for the race using her official AAU registration number, paying the entry fee, providing a properly acquired fitness certificate, and signing her entry form with her usual signature 'K. V. Switzer', was the first woman to run and finish with a valid official race registration. As a result of Switzer's completion of the race as the first officially registered woman runner, the AAU changed its rules to ban women from competing in races against men. Switzer finished the race despite race official Jock Semple repeatedly assaulting her in an attempt to rip off her race numbers and eject her from the race. Nina Kuscsik was instrumental in influencing the Amateur Athletic Union, in late 1971, to increase its maximum distance for sanctioned women's races, leading to official participation by women in marathons, beginning at Boston in 1972. Kuscsik was the first woman to officially win the Boston Marathon, which occurred in 1972. In 1996, the B.A.A. retroactively recognized as champions the unofficial women's leaders of 1966 through 1971. In 2015, about 46 percent of the entrants were female. Rosie Ruiz, the impostor In 1980, Rosie Ruiz crossed the finish line first in the women's race. However, marathon officials became suspicious, and it was discovered that she did not appear in race videotapes until near the end of the race, with a subsequent investigation concluding that she had skipped most of the race and blended into the crowd about a half-mile (800 m) from the finish line, where she then ran to her false victory. She was disqualified eight days later, and Canadian Jacqueline Gareau was proclaimed the winner. Participant deaths In 1905, James Edward Brooks of North Adams, Massachusetts, died of pneumonia shortly after running the marathon. In 1996, a 61-year-old Swedish man, Humphrey Siesage, died of a heart attack during the 100th running. In 2002, Cynthia Lucero, 28, died of hyponatremia. 2011: Geoffrey Mutai and the IAAF On April 18, 2011, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the 2011 Boston Marathon in a time of 2:03:02:00. Although this was the fastest marathon ever run at the time, the International Association of Athletics Federations noted that the performance was not eligible for world record status given that the course did not satisfy rules that regarded elevation drop and start/finish separation (the latter requirement being intended to prevent advantages gained from a strong tailwind, as was the case in 2011). The Associated Press (AP) reported that Mutai had the support of other runners who describe the IAAF's rules as "flawed". According to the Boston Herald, race director Dave McGillivray said he was sending paperwork to the IAAF in an attempt to have Mutai's mark ratified as a world record. Although this was not successful, the AP indicated that the attempt to have the mark certified as a world record "would force the governing bodies to reject an unprecedented performance on the world's most prestigious marathon course". 2013: Bombing On April 15, 2013, the Boston Marathon was still in progress at 2:49 p.m. EDT (nearly three hours after the winner crossed the finish line), when two homemade bombs were set off about 200 yards (180 m) apart on Boylston Street, in approximately the last 225 yards (200 m) of the course. The race was halted, preventing many from finishing. Three spectators were killed and an estimated 264 were injured. Entrants who completed at least half the course and did not finish due to the bombing were given automatic entry in 2014. In 2015, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the perpetrators of the bombing, was found guilty of 30 federal offenses in connection with the attack and was sentenced to death. His older brother Tamerlan died after a gunfight with police and after Dzhokhar ran him over with a stolen vehicle. 2014: Women's race disqualification Bizunesh Deba of Ethiopia was eventually named women's winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon, following the disqualification of Kenyan Rita Jeptoo from the event due to confirmed doping. Deba finished in a time of 2:19:59, and became the course record holder. Her performance bested that of Margaret Okayo, who ran a time of 2:20:43 in 2002. 2016: Bobbi Gibb as grand marshal In the 2016 Boston Marathon, Jami Marseilles, an American, became the first female double amputee to finish the Boston Marathon. Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon (1966), was the grand marshal of the race. The Women's Open division winner, Atsede Baysa, gave Gibb her trophy; Gibb said that she would go to Baysa's native Ethiopia in 2017 and return it to her. 2020: Cancellation Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Boston Marathon was initially rescheduled from April 20 to September 14. It was the first postponement in the more than 100 year uninterrupted history of the event. On May 28, 2020, it was announced that the rescheduled marathon set for September 14 was canceled. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said of the decision to cancel the race, "There's no way to hold this usual race format without bringing large numbers of people into close proximity. While our goal and our hope was to make progress in containing the virus and recovering our economy, this kind of event would not be responsible or realistic on September 14 or any time this year." Runners were issued full refunds of entry fees. Organizers later staged a "virtual alternative" in September 2020 as the 124th running of the marathon. This was the second time that the format of the marathon was modified, the first having been in 1918, when the race was changed from a marathon to a military relay race (ekiden) because of World War I. 2021: Rescheduled to October On October 28, 2020, the B.A.A. announced that the 2021 edition of the marathon would not be held in April; organizers stated that they hoped to stage the event later in the year, possibly in the autumn. In late January 2021, organizers announced October 11 as the date for the marathon, contingent upon road races being allowed in Massachusetts at that time. In March, organizers announced that the field would be limited to 20,000 runners. The race was the fourth of the five World Marathon Majors held in 2021; all the events in the series were run in the space of six weeks between late September and early November. In 2021, the B.A.A. also offered a virtual alternative to the in-person race to be completed anytime between 8–10 October. Race Qualifying The Boston Marathon is open to runners 18 or older from any nation, but they must meet certain qualifying standards. To qualify, a runner must first complete a standard marathon course certified by a national governing body affiliated with the World Athletics within a certain period of time before the date of the desired Boston Marathon (usually within approximately 18 months prior). In the 1980s and 1990s, membership in USA Track & Field was required of all runners, but this requirement has been eliminated. Qualifying standards for the 2013 race were tightened on February 15, 2011, by five minutes in each age-gender group for marathons run after September 23, 2011. Prospective runners in the age range of 18–34 must run a time of no more than 3:00:00 (3 hours) if male, or 3:30:00 (3 hours 30 minutes) if female; the qualifying time is adjusted upward as age increases. In addition, the 59-second grace period on qualifying times has been eliminated; for example, a 40- to 44-year-old male will no longer qualify with a time of 3:10:01. For many marathoners, to qualify for Boston (to "BQ") is a goal and achievement in itself. An exception to the qualification times is for runners who receive entries from partners. About one-fifth of the marathon's spots are reserved each year for charities, sponsors, vendors, licensees, consultants, municipal officials, local running clubs, and marketers. In 2010, about 5,470 additional runners received entries through partners, including 2,515 charity runners. The marathon currently allocates spots to two dozen charities who in turn are expected to raise more than $10 million a year. In 2017, charity runners raised $34.2 million for more than 200 non-profit organizations. The Boston Athletic Association's Official Charity Program raised $17.96 million, John Hancock's Non-Profit Program raised $12.3 million, and the last $3.97 million was raised by other qualified and invitational runners. On October 18, 2010, the 20,000 spots reserved for qualifiers were filled in a record-setting eight hours and three minutes. The speed of registration prompted the B.A.A. to change its qualifying standards for the 2013 marathon onward. In addition to lowering qualifying times, the change includes a rolling application process, which gives faster runners priority. Organizers decided not to significantly adjust the number of non-qualifiers. On September 27, 2018, the B.A.A. announced that they were lowering the qualifying times for the 2020 marathon by another five minutes, with male runners in the 18-34 age group required to run a time of 3:00:00 (3 hours) or less and female runners in the 18-34 age group required to run a time of 3:30:00 (3 hours, 30 minutes) or less in order to qualify. In September 2024, the B.A.A. announced new qualifying times for the 2026 race, lowering the former qualifying times by five minutes for most age groups. The 18-34 age group needs to run a time of 2:55 (two hours, 55 minutes) for males, and 3:25 (3 hours, 25 minutes) for female and non-binary runners to qualify for the 2026 race. Race day The race has traditionally been held on Patriots' Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts, and until 1969 that was every April 19, whichever day of the week that fell on. From 1969 to 2019, the holiday was observed on the third Monday in April and so the marathon date was correspondingly fixed to that Monday, often referred to by local residents as "Marathon Monday". Starting times Through 2005, the race began at noon (wheelchair race at 11:25 a.m., and elite women at 11:31 a.m.), at the official starting point in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. In 2006, the race used a staggered "wave start", where top-seeded runners (the elite men's group) and a first batch of up to 10,000 runners started at noon, with a second group starting at 12:30. The next year the starting times for the race were moved up, allowing runners to take advantage of cooler temperatures and enabling the roads to be reopened earlier. The marathon later added third and fourth waves to help further stagger the runners and reduce congestion. The starting times for 2019 were: Men's Push Rim Wheelchair: 9:02 a.m. Women's Push Rim Wheelchair: 9:04 a.m. Handcycles and Duos: 9:25 a.m. Elite Women: 9:32 a.m. Elite Men: 10 a.m. Wave One: 10:02 a.m. Wave Two: 10:25 a.m. Wave Three: 10:50 a.m. Wave Four: 11:15 a.m. Course The course runs through 26 miles 385 yards (42.195 km) of winding roads, following Route 135, Route 16, Route 30 and city streets into the center of Boston, where the official finish line is located at Copley Square, alongside the Boston Public Library. The race runs through eight Massachusetts cities and towns: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and Boston. The Boston Marathon is considered to be one of the more difficult marathon courses because of the Newton hills, which culminate in Heartbreak Hill near Boston College. While the three hills on Commonwealth Avenue (Route 30) are better known, a preceding hill on Washington Street (Route 16), climbing from the Charles River crossing at 16 miles (26 km), is regarded by Dave McGillivray, the long-term race director, as the course's most difficult challenge. This hill, which follows a 150-foot (46 m) rise over a 1⁄2 mile (800 m) stretch, forces many lesser-trained runners to a walking pace. Heartbreak Hill Heartbreak Hill is an ascent over 0.4 miles (600 m) between the 20- and 21-mile (32- and 34-km) marks, near Boston College. It is the last of four "Newton hills", which begin at the 16-mile (26 km) mark and challenge contestants with late (if modest) climbs after the course's general downhill trend to that point. Though Heartbreak Hill itself rises only 88 feet (27 m) vertically (from an elevation of 148 to 236 feet (45 to 72 m)), it comes in the portion of a marathon distance where muscle glycogen stores are most likely to be depleted—a phenomenon referred to by marathoners as "hitting the wall". It was on this hill that, in 1936, defending champion John A. "Johnny" Kelley overtook Ellison "Tarzan" Brown, giving him a consolatory pat on the shoulder as he passed. This gesture renewed the competitive drive in Brown, who rallied, pulled ahead of Kelley, and went on to win—thereby, it was said, breaking Kelley's heart. Records Because the course drops 459 feet (140 m) from start to finish and the start is quite far west of the finish, allowing a helpful tailwind, the Boston Marathon does not satisfy two of the criteria necessary for the ratification of world or American records. At the 2011 Boston Marathon on April 18, 2011, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya ran a time of 2:03:02, which was the fastest ever marathon at the time (since surpassed by Eliud Kipchoge's 2:01:39 in Berlin 2018). However, due to the reasons listed above, Mutai's performance was not ratified as an official world record. Bezunesh Deba from Ethiopia set the women's course record with a 2:19:59 performance on April 21, 2014. This was declared after Rita Jeptoo from Kenya was disqualified following a confirmed doping violation. Other course records include: Men's Masters: John Campbell (New Zealand), 2:11:04 (set in 1990) Women's Masters: Firiya Sultanova-Zhdanova (Russia), 2:27:58 (set in 2002) Men's Push Rim Wheelchair: Marcel Hug (Switzerland), 1:17:06 (set in 2023) Women's Push Rim Wheelchair: Manuela Schär (Switzerland), 1:28:17 (set in 2017) Men's Handcycle: Tom Davis (United States), 0:58:36 (set in 2017) Women's Handcycle: Alicia Dana (United States), 1:18:15 (set in 2023) On only four occasions have world record times for marathon running been set in Boston. In 1947, the men's record time set was 2:25:39, by Suh Yun-Bok of South Korea. In 1975, a women's world record of 2:42:24 was set by Liane Winter of West Germany, and in 1983, Joan Benoit Samuelson of the United States ran a women's world record time of 2:22:43. In 2012 Joshua Cassidy of Canada set a men's wheelchair marathon world-record time of 1:18:25. In 2007, astronaut Sunita Williams was an official entrant of the race, running a marathon distance while on the International Space Station, becoming the first person to run a marathon in space. She was sent a specialty bib and medal by the B.A.A. on the STS-117 flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The race's organizers keep a standard time clock for all entries, though official timekeeping ceases after the six-hour mark. The B.A.A. The Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit, organized sports association that organizes the Boston Marathon and other events. Divisions In 1975, the Boston Marathon became the first major marathon to include a wheelchair division competition. Bob Hall wrote race director Will Cloney to ask if he could compete in the race in his wheelchair. Cloney wrote back that he could not give Hall a race number, but would recognize Hall as an official finisher if he completed the race in under 3 hours and 30 minutes. Hall finished in 2 hours and 58 minutes, paving the way for the wheelchair division. Ernst Van Dyk, in 2004, set a course record at 1:18.29, almost 50 minutes faster than the fastest runner. Also in 1975, the Boston Marathon first included a women's masters division, which Sylvia Weiner won, at age 44 with a time of 3:21:38. Handcyclists have competed in the race since at least 2014. Starting in 2017, handcyclists are honored the same way runners and wheelchair racers are: with wreaths, prize money, and the playing of the men's and women's winners' national anthems. In addition to the push rim wheelchair division, the Boston Marathon also hosts a blind/visually impaired division, and a mobility impaired program. Similar to the running divisions, a set of qualifying times has been developed for these divisions to motivate aspiring athletes and ensure competitive excellence. In 1986, the introduction of prize money at the Boston Marathon gave the push rim wheelchair division the richest prize purse in the sport. More than 1,000 people with disabilities and impairments have participated in the wheelchair division, while the other divisions have gained popularity each year. In 2013, 40 blind runners participated. The nonbinary division of the Boston Marathon was first included in 2023; it was won by Kae Ravichandran with a time of 2:38:57. Memorial The Boston Marathon Memorial in Copley Square, which is near the finish line, was installed to mark the one-hundredth running of the race. A circle of granite blocks set in the ground surrounds a central medallion that traces the race course and other segments that show an elevation map of the course and the names of the winners. Notable features Spectators With approximately 500,000 spectators, the Boston Marathon is New England's most widely viewed sporting event. About 1,000 media members from more than 100 outlets received media credentials in 2011. For the entire distance of the race, thousands line the sides of the course to cheer the runners on, encourage them, and provide free water and snacks to the runners. Scream Tunnel At Wellesley College, a women's college, it is traditional for the students to cheer on the runners in what is referred to as the Scream Tunnel. For about a quarter of a mile (400 m), the students line the course, scream, and offer kisses. The Scream Tunnel is so loud runners claim it can be heard from a mile away. The tunnel is roughly half a mile (0.8 km) prior to the halfway mark of the course. Boston Red Sox Every year, the Boston Red Sox play a home game at Fenway Park, starting at 11:05 a.m. When the game ends, the crowd empties into Kenmore Square to cheer as the runners enter the final mile. This tradition started in 1903. In the 1940s, the Red Sox from the American League and the Boston Braves from the National League (who moved to Milwaukee after the 1953 season) alternated yearly as to which would play the morning game. In 2007, the game between the Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was delayed until 12:18 p.m. due to heavy rain. The marathon, which had previously been run in a wide variety of weather conditions, was not delayed. The 2018 game hosting the Baltimore Orioles was postponed into May due to rain, while 2020 saw the game not played resulting from the pandemic. Dick and Rick Hoyt Dick and Rick Hoyt entered the Boston Marathon 32 times. Dick was the father of Rick, who had cerebral palsy. While doctors said that Rick would never have a normal life and thought that institutionalizing him was the best option, Dick and his wife disagreed and raised him at home. Eventually, a computer device was developed that helped Rick communicate with his family, and they learned that one of his biggest passions was sports. "Team Hoyt" (Dick and Rick) started competing in charity runs, with Dick pushing Rick in a wheelchair. Through August 2008, Dick and Rick had competed in 66 marathons and 229 triathlons. Their fastest marathon finish was 2:40:47. The team completed their 30th Boston Marathon in 2012, when Dick was 72 and Rick was 50. They had intended the 2013 marathon to be their final one, but due to the Boston Marathon bombing, they were stopped a mile short of completing their run, and decided to run one more marathon the following year. They completed the 2014 marathon on April 21, 2014, having previously announced that it would be their last. In tribute to his connection with the race, Dick was named the Grand Marshal of the 2015 marathon. He died in 2021, aged 80. Rick died in May 2023. Bandits Unlike many other races, the Boston Marathon tolerated "bandits" (runners who do not register and obtain a bib number). They used to be held back until after all the registered runners had left the starting line, and then were released in an unofficial fourth wave. They were generally not pulled off the course and mostly allowed to cross the finish line. For decades, these unofficial runners were treated like local folk heroes, celebrated for their endurance and spunk for entering a contest with the world's most accomplished athletes. Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray was once a teenage bandit. Given the increased field that was expected for the 2014 Marathon, however, organizers planned "more than ever" to discourage bandits from running. As of September 2015 the B.A.A. website states: Q: Can I run in the Boston Marathon as an unofficial or "bandit" runner? A: No, please do NOT run if you have not been officially entered in the race. Race amenities along the course and at the finish, such as fluids, medical care, and traffic safety, are provided based on the number of expected official entrants. Any addition to this by way of unofficial participants, adversely affects our ability to ensure a safe race for everyone. Costumes A number of people choose to run the course in a variety of costumes each year. During the 100th running in 1996, one runner wore a scale model of the Old North Church steeple on his back. Old North Church is where the signal was lit that set Paul Revere off on his midnight ride, which is commemorated each year on the same day as the Marathon. During the 2014 marathon, runners and spectators were discouraged from wearing "costumes covering the face or any non-form fitting, bulky outfits extending beyond the perimeter of the body," for security reasons following the 2013 bombing. However, state authorities and the Boston Athletic Association did not outright ban such costumes. Ondekoza taiko drummers Starting in the mid-1970s, members of Ondekoza, a group from Japan, would run the marathon and right after finishing the race would start playing their taiko drums at the finish line. They repeated the tradition several times in the 1970s and 1980s. The 700-pound (320 kg) drum would be set up at the finish line to encourage runners finishing the marathon. Bill Rodgers was a guest on Sado Island and ran marathons in Japan with Ondekoza members. The group also ran the New York City Marathon and Los Angeles Marathon, and ran 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of the perimeter of the United States from 1990 to 1993. See also List of winners of the Boston Marathon List of marathon races in North America The Sports Museum (at TD Garden) References Further reading History of the Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon: The First Century of the World's Premier Running Event, by Tom Derderian, Human Kinetics Publishers, 1996, 634 pages, ISBN 0-88011-479-7 Boston Marathon, updated third edition, by Tom Derderian 2017, 827 pages. ISBN 978-1-5107-2428-0, EBook, 978-1-5107-2429-7 External links General reference Official website History of the Boston Marathon "Boston Marathon". MarathonGuide.com. Boston Marathon: What to Expect on Race Day Boston Marathon Course Pace Band Weather history Course map and elevation Course elevation The 1918 Boston Marathon Military Relay Photo and video stories Boston Marathon Photos-2005 Boston Marathon Course Photos: Runner's View from Start to Finish

Jacqueline_Gareau

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Gareau

Jacqueline Gareau (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian runner who won the Boston Marathon on April 21, 1980. Gareau led the women's field for most of the race, only to find another runner, Rosie Ruiz, wearing the traditional victor's laurels when she crossed the finish line. Ruiz was later disqualified after it was determined she had cheated and did not run the entire race. Gareau was awarded the victory in a special ceremony one week later. Her official time for the 1980 marathon, 2:34:28, was the fastest time recorded for a woman in the event's history at the time. Gareau met Ruiz two years after the marathon as she prepared to run a 10K race in Miami, Florida. The encounter was brief and Ruiz refused (as she continued to do until her death) to concede that she did not win the 1980 marathon. Gareau served as the Grand Marshal of the 2005 Boston Marathon and was allowed to "break the tape" in a special ceremony. She married her former coach, Montreal banker Gilles Lapierre. She has a son, Yannick Lapierre, who participates in Nordic skiing. Achievements References External links Jacqueline Gareau at World Athletics Jacqueline Gareau at Athletics Canada Jacqueline Gareau at Team Canada Jacqueline Gareau at Olympics.com Jacqueline Gareau at Olympedia Faker Still Famous 20 Years Later, by Bill Burt at archive.today (archived May 17, 2001) Lapierre Ultimate Cycles website at the Wayback Machine (archived December 25, 2005) Official website

Christie%27s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christie%27s

Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Amsterdam, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of François Pinault. In 2022 Christie's sold US$8.4 billion in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house. On 15 November 2017, the Salvator Mundi was sold at Christie's in New York for $450 million to Saudi Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, the highest price ever paid for a painting. History Founding The official company literature states that founder James Christie (1730–1803) conducted the first sale in London on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766. However, other sources note that James Christie rented auction rooms from 1762, and newspaper advertisements for Christie's sales dating from 1759 have also been traced. After his death, Christie's son, James Christie the Younger (1773–1831) took over the business. 20th century Christie's was a public company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, from 1973 to 1999. In 1974, Jo Floyd was appointed chairman of Christie's. He served as chairman of Christie's International plc from 1976 to 1988, until handing over to Lord Carrington, and later was a non-executive director until 1992. Christie's International Inc. held its first sale in the United States in 1977. Christie's growth was slow but steady since 1989, when it had 42% of the auction market. In 1990, the company reversed a long-standing policy and guaranteed a minimum price for a collection of artworks in its May auctions. In 1996, sales exceeded those of Sotheby's for the first time since 1954. However, profits did not grow at the same pace; from 1993 through 1997, Christie's annual pretax profits were about $60M , whereas Sotheby's annual pretax profits were about $265M for those years. In 1993, Christie's paid $10.9M for the London gallery Spink & Son, which specialised in Oriental art and British paintings; the gallery was run as a separate entity. The company bought Leger Gallery for $3.3M in 1996, and merged it with Spink to become Spink-Leger. Spink-Leger closed in 2002. To make itself competitive with Sotheby's in the property market, Christie's bought Great Estates in 1995, then the largest network of independent estate agents in North America, changing its name to Christie's Great Estates Inc. In December 1997, under the chairmanship of Lord Hindlip, Christie's put itself on the auction block, but after two months of negotiations with the consortium-led investment firm SBC Warburg Dillon Read it did not attract a bid high enough to accept. In May 1998, François Pinault's holding company, Groupe Artémis S.A., first bought 29.1 per cent of the company for $243.2M, and subsequently purchased the rest of it in a deal that valued the entire company at $1.2bn. The company has since not been reporting profits, though it gives sale totals twice a year. Its policy, in line with UK accounting standards, is to convert non-UK results using an average exchange rate weighted daily by sales throughout the year. 21st century In 2002, Christie's France held its first auction in Paris. Like Sotheby's, Christie's became increasingly involved in high-profile private transactions. In 2006, Christie's offered a reported $21M guarantee to the Donald Judd Foundation and displayed the artist's works for five weeks in an exhibition that later won an AICA award for "Best Installation in an Alternative Space". In 2007 it brokered a $68M deal that transferred Thomas Eakins's The Gross Clinic (1875) from the Jefferson Medical College at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia to joint ownership by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In the same year, the Haunch of Venison gallery became a subsidiary of the company. On 28 December 2008, The Sunday Times reported that Pinault's debts left him "considering" the sale of Christie's and that a number of "private equity groups" were thought to be interested in its acquisition. In January 2009, the company employed 2,100 people worldwide, though an unspecified number of staff and consultants were soon to be cut due to a worldwide downturn in the art market; later news reports said that 300 jobs would be cut. With sales for premier Impressionist, Modern, and contemporary artworks tallying only US$248.8M in comparison to US$739M just a year before, a second round of job cuts began after May 2009. In 2012, Impressionist works, which dominated the market during the 1980s boom, were replaced by contemporary art as Christie's top category. Asian art was the third most lucrative area. With income from classic auctioneering falling, treaty sales made £413.4 million ($665M) in the first half of 2012, an increase of 53% on the same period last year; they now represent more than 18% of turnover. The company has since promoted curated events, centred on a theme rather than an art classification or time period. As part of a companywide review in 2017, Christie's announced the layoffs of 250 employees, or 12 per cent of the total work force, based mainly in Britain and Europe. In June 2021, Christie's Paris held its first sale dedicated to women artists, most notably Louise Moillon's Nature morte aux raisins et pêches. In 2022 Christie's sold $8.4bn in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house. Christie's agreed to acquire American classic car auction house, Gooding & Company, in September 2024. Commissions From 2008 until 2013, Christie's charged 25 per cent for the first $50,000; 20 per cent on the amount between $50,001 and $1M, and 12 per cent on the rest. From 2013, it charged 25 per cent for the first $75,000; 20 per cent on the next $75,001 to $1.5M and 12 per cent on the rest. As of 2023, Christie's commission (buyer's premium) is 26 per cent of the hammer price of each lot up to £800,000/US$1,000,000, plus 21 per cent of the hammer price from £800,001/US$1,000,001 up to and including £4,500,000/US$6,000,000, and 15 per cent on the rest. Locations As of 2023, Christie's has offices in 46 countries worldwide, with salerooms in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Europe Christie's flagship saleroom is in London on King Street in St. James's, where it has been based since 1823. It had a second London saleroom in South Kensington which opened in 1975 and primarily handled the middle market. Christie's permanently closed the South Kensington saleroom in July 2017 as part of their restructuring plans announced in March 2017. The closure was due in part to a considerable decrease in sales between 2015 and 2016 in addition to the company expanding its online sales presence. In early 2017, Christie's also announced plans to scale back its operation in Amsterdam. Americas In 1977, led by then Chairman Stephen Lash, the company opened its first international branch on Park Avenue in New York City in the Delmonico's Hotel grand ballroom on the second floor; in 1997 it took a 30-year lease on a 28,000 m2 (300,000 sq ft) space in Rockefeller Center for $40M. Until 2001, Christie's East, a division that sold lower-priced art and objects, was located at 219 East 67th Street. In 1996, Christie's bought a townhouse on East 59th Street in Manhattan as a separate gallery where experts could show clients art in complete privacy to conduct private treaty sales. Christie's opened a Beverly Hills saleroom in 1997. In April 2017, in moved to a 4,500 sq ft (420 m2) two-story flagship space in Beverly Hills, designed by wHY. Asia Christie's has been operating a space in Hong Kong's Alexandra House since 2014. In 2021, the company announced plans to move its Hong Kong headquarters to the Zaha Hadid-designed luxury tower The Henderson in 2024, where it will launch year-round auctions. Measuring more than 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) over four storeys, the new space, which incorporates a permanent saleroom and galleries, is comparable in size to Christie's London headquarters. Notable auctions In 1848 the sale of the contents of Stowe House after the bankruptcy of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos was one of the first and most publicised British country house contents auctions. The sale raised £75,400 and included the Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare. The 1882 sale of the Hamilton Palace collection raised £332,000. In March 1987, Vincent van Gogh's Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers fetched an auction record of $39.9M at Christie's, making it the most expensive painting in the world at the time, at more than three times the price of the previous worldwide record for the highest paid for any painting. In November 1987, during the Royal Albert Hall auction, Christie's auctioned a Bugatti Royale automobile for a world record price of £5.5M. In May 1989, Pontormo's Portrait of a Halberdier was sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum for $35.2M, more than tripling the previous auction record for an Old Master painting. On 11 November 1994, the Codex Leicester was sold to Bill Gates for US$30,802,500. In 1998, Christie's in New York sold the famous Archimedes Palimpsest after the conclusion of a lawsuit in which its ownership was disputed. In November 1999, a single strand necklace of 41 natural and graduated pearls, which belonged to Barbara Hutton, was auctioned by Christie's Geneva for $1,476,000. In June 2001, Elton John sold 20 of his cars at Christie's, saying he didn't drive them often because he was frequently out of the country. The sale, which included a 1993 Jaguar XJ220, the most expensive at £234,750, and several Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys, raised nearly £2M. In 2006, a single Imperial Qing dynasty porcelain bowl, another item which belonged to Barbara Hutton, was auctioned by Christie's Hong Kong for a price of US$19.5M. On 16 May 2006, Christie's auctioned a Stradivarius called The Hammer for a record US$3,544,000. It was, at that time, the most paid at public auction for any musical instrument. In November 2006, four celebrated paintings by Gustav Klimt were sold for a total of $192M, after being restituted by Austria to Jewish heirs after a lengthy legal battle. In December 2006, one of the three versions of the Givenchy black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's was sold for £467,200 at Christie's South Kensington. In 2006, controversy arose after Christie's auctioned artefacts known to be looted from Bulgaria. In November 2007, an album of eight leaves, ink on paper, by China's Ming dynasty court painter Dong Qichang was sold at the Christie's Hong Kong Chinese Paintings Auction for US$6,235,500, a world auction record for the artist. In 2008, the ink wash painting of Gundam painted by Tenmyouya Hisashi in 2005 was sold in the Christie's auction held in Hong Kong at a price of US$600,000. In June 2008, Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas by Claude Monet was sold for a price of $80.4M, the highest price ever for a Monet. Over a three-day sale in Paris in February 2009, Christie's auctioned the monumental private collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé for a record-breaking 370M euros. It was the most expensive private collection ever sold at auction, breaking auction records for Brâncuși, Matisse, and Mondrian. The "Dragons" armchair by Irish furniture designer Eileen Gray sold for 21.9M euros, setting an auction record for a piece of 20th century decorative art. In 2009, controversy arose again after the auction of two imperial bronze zodiac sculptures (for US$36M) collected by Yves Saint Laurent, as the items had been looted in 1860 from the Old Summer Palace of Beijing by French and British forces at the close of the Second Opium War. Christie's Hong Kong, November 2009 sale of Fine Modern Chinese Paintings, sold a work by Fu Baoshi titled Landscape inspired by Dufu's Poetic Sentiments, for HK$60M (US$7.7M) – a world record for the artist. Christie's auctioned Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust on 4 May 2010. The piece sold for US$106.5M, making the sale among the most expensive paintings ever sold. On 14 June 2010 Amedeo Modigliani's Tête, a limestone sculpture of a woman's head, sold for $52.6M, making it one of the most expensive sculpture ever sold, and at the time the most expensive work of art sold in France. On 18 April 2012, the silver cup given to the marathon winner, Greek athlete Spyridon Louis, at the first modern Olympic Games staged in Athens in 1896 sold for £541,250, breaking the auction record for Olympic memorabilia. On 22 June 2012, George Washington's personal annotated copy of the Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America from 1789, which includes The Constitution of the United States and a draft of the Bill of Rights, was sold at Christie's for a record $9,826,500, with fees the final cost, to The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. This was the record for a document sold at auction. On 12 November 2013, Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud sold for US$142.4M(including the buyer's premium) to an unnamed buyer, nominally becoming the most expensive work of art ever to be sold at auction. On 11 May 2015, Pablo Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger ("Version O") sold for US$179.3M to an unnamed buyer, becoming the most expensive work of art ever to be sold at auction at Christie's New York. In November of the same year, Amedeo Modigliani's Nu Couché (1917–18) sold at Christie's in New York for $170.4M, making it the second most expensive work sold at auction. In May 2016, the Oppenheimer Blue diamond sold for CHF56,837,000, a record price for a jewel at auction. On 7 July 2016, the highest price ever sold for an old master painting at Christie's was achieved with £44,882,500 for Rubens' Lot and his Daughters. On 11 November 2017, a Patek Philippe Titanium wristwatch Ref. 5208T-010 was sold for $6.226M (CHF6,200,000) in Geneva, making it one of the most expensive watches ever sold at auction. On 15 November 2017, Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi sold for a record $450.3M (including buyer's premium). On 4 July 2019, a bust fragment of Tutankhamun was sold for £4.7M. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities had tried to stop the auction, citing concerns that the bust had been looted from a temple and illegally taken from Egypt in the 1970s. On 25 June 2020, Christie's sold a Timurid Quran manuscript, described as "rare and breathtaking", for £7M (with fees), ten times its estimate. The price was the highest price ever paid for a Quran manuscript. Probably created at a Timurid prince's court, the manuscript comprised 534 folios of Arabic calligraphy on "gold-flecked, coloured paper from Ming China". The sale was criticized that since the "object apparently has no provenance prior to the 1980s, we can't know anything about the context in which it was removed from its country of origin." In October 2020, Christie's sold Stan, one of the world's most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons for US$31.8M, setting a new world record for any dinosaur skeleton or fossil ever sold at auction at the time. In May 2022, Andy Warhol's silkscreen painting Shot Sage Blue Marilyn sold at Christie's New York for $195M, making it the most expensive work of American art sold at auction and the most expensive work of 20th-century art sold at auction. In September and October 2022 at Christie's, the James Bond film franchise auctioned 61 lots of vehicles, watches, costumes, props, posters, and memorabilia from the 25 Bond films. The auction raised nearly £7M from 28 countries, and proceeds went to over 45 charities. In November 2022, the art collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was auctioned at Christie's New York. It was the biggest sale in art auction history, surpassing $1.5bn in sales. Six works sold for more than $100M: Seurat's Les Poseuses Ensemble (Petite version), ($149M, with fees); Paul Cézanne's 1888–90 La Montagne Sainte-Victoire ($138M); van Gogh's Verger avec cyprès ($117M); and Gustav Klimt's 1903 Birch Forest ($105M). The auction also included paintings by Botticelli, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Jan Brueghel the Younger. Proceeds from the auction benefitted undisclosed philanthropies. In May 2023, the jewellery collection once owned by Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten, who died in 2022, set a record for the most valuable single collection of jewels in an auction, fetching CHF180M ($201M). In August 2023, Christie's cancelled a second Horten jewellery sale, which had been scheduled for November, after Jewish charities and organizations refused to accept portions of the proceeds from the first sale citing the source of Horten's wealth. Criticism Price-fixing scandal in 2000 In 2000, allegations surfaced of a price-fixing arrangement between Christie's and Sotheby's. Executives from Christie's subsequently alerted the Department of Justice of their suspicions of commission-fixing collusion. Christie's gained immunity from prosecution in the United States as a longtime employee of Christie's confessed and cooperated with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Numerous members of Sotheby's senior management were fired soon thereafter, and A. Alfred Taubman, the largest shareholder of Sotheby's at the time, took most of the blame; he and Dede Brooks (the CEO) were given jail sentences, and Christie's, Sotheby's and their owners also paid a civil lawsuit settlement of $512M. Insufficient or invalid provenance for looted works Christie's has been criticised for "an embarrassing history of a lack of transparency around provenance". In 2003, Christie's was criticised for its handling of two Nazi-looted artworks claimed by heirs of the original Jewish owners. In one case, it refused to divulge to the heirs the location of an Italian painting formerly owned by Jewish Viennese banker Heinrich Graf, looted by the Gestapo. Christie's eventually revealed the holder's name after the Jewish Community of Vienna filed a successful suit in the UK on behalf of Graf's American daughters in late 2004. In the other 2003 case Christie's declined to inform the family that it had discovered that a painting consigned to it had been looted from Ulla and Moriz Rosenthal, a Jewish couple murdered in Auschwitz. On 19 May 2020, the craft supply company Hobby Lobby, who purchased material for loan or donation to The Museum of the Bible, filed a diversity action on the auction house regarding the sale and purchase of the Gilgamesh tablet by private sale agreement on 14 July 2014, allegedly while knowing the Iraqi-origin cuneiform object had a fake provenance. In June 2020, they were forced to withdraw four Greek and Roman antiquities from sale after it was discovered that they came from "sites linked to convicted antiquities traffickers". The same month, they were criticised for putting up a Benin plaque and two Igbo alusi figures for auction. The plaque was tied to similar plaques taken from Nigeria during the Benin Expedition of 1897 and remained unsold after an auction was held. The alusi figures are alleged to have been taken from Nigeria during the Nigerian Civil War and were sold for €212,500 (after fees), below their low estimate of €250,000. Christie's claims to require "verifiable documented provenance that the object was taken out of its source nation prior to the earlier date of 2000, or the date which is legally applicable between the country in which the sale takes place and the source nation". In November 2014, Christie's had to withdraw a prehistoric sculpture from Sardinia, valued at $800,000–$1.2m, put on auction by Michael Steinhardt, a US-billionaire, who was given a lifetime ban on acquiring further antiquities by the Manhattan district attorney's office in 2021. After having acquired artworks with unverified provenance for years, for example by convicted art dealer Giacomo Medici, Steinhard's collection had been subjected to search warrants and investigations since 2017. He finally surrendered 180 looted and illegally smuggled antiquities valued at $70m. According to The Guardian, the district attorney said: "For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artefacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe. In February 2023 a French court ordered Christie's to unconditionally restitute Dutch painting The Penitent Magdalene, signed Adriaen van der Werff (1707), looted in 1942 from Lionel Hauser in Paris and last sold by the auction house without any provenance in London in April 2005. Christie's had offered the Hauser heirs 50 per cent of the sale price; the heirs refused the offer and took the case to court. Christie's Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS) Christie's first ventured into storage services for outside clients in 1984, when it opened a 100,000 square feet brick warehouse in London that was granted "Exempted Status" by HM Revenue and Customs, meaning that property may be imported into the United Kingdom and stored without incurring import duties and VAT. Christie's Fine Art Storage Services, or CFASS, is a wholly owned subsidiary that runs Christie's storage operation. In September 2008, Christie's signed a 50-year lease on an early 1900s warehouse of the historic New York Dock Company in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and subsequently spent $30M converting it into a six-storey, 250,000 square feet art-storage facility. The facility opened in 2010 and features high-tech security and climate controls that maintain a virtually constant 70° and 50% relative humidity. Located near the Upper Bay tidal waterway near the Atlantic Ocean, the Brooklyn facility was hit by at least one storm surge during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. CFASS subsequently faced client defections and complaints arising from damage to works of art. In 2013, AXA Art Insurance filed a lawsuit in New York court alleging that CFASS' "gross negligence" during the hurricane damaged art collected by late cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and his wife Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild. Later that year, StarNet Insurance Co., the insurer for the LeRoy Neiman Foundation and the artist's estate, also filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court claiming that the storage company's negligence caused more than $10M in damages to Neiman's art. Educational and other ventures Christie's Education previously offered master's degree programs in London and New York, but they were planned to be phased out in 2019. In 2020, in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, Christie's noted that there was a lack of racial diversity in the art world, and admitted that Christie's degree programs only exacerbated these inequities. However, Christie's continue to offer non-degree programmes in London, New York, Hong Kong and Amsterdam as well as online. In addition they offer an Art Business Masterclass Certificate and the Luxury Masterclass Certificate. With Bonhams, Christie's is a shareholder in the London-based Art Loss Register, a privately owned database used by law enforcement services worldwide to trace and recover stolen art. Management Since its acquisition by François Pinault, Christie's CEOs have been as follows: 1999–2010: Edward Dolman 2010–2014: Steven Murphy 2014–2017: Patricia Barbizet 2017–present: Guillaume Cerutti References Bibliography J. Herbert, Inside Christie's, London, 1990 (ISBN 978-0340430439) P. A. Colson, The Story of Christie's, London, 1950 H. C. Marillier, Christie's, 1766–1925, London, 1926 M. A. Michael, A Brief History of Christie's Education... , London, 2008 (ISBN 978-0955780707) W. Roberts, Memorials of Christie's, 2 vols, London, 1897 "Going Once." Phaidon Press, 2016. ISBN 978-0-7148-7202-5. External links Official website Christie's Education Graduate Programmes official website Christie's International Real Estate – Luxury Properties and Estates official website Christie's page on Arcadja Art database with several auction catalogs Bill Brooks – Daily Telegraph obituary Christie's Fine Art Storage Services – Official website

1992

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992

1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1992nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 992nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 92nd year of the 20th century, and the 3rd year of the 1990s decade. 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. January 6 The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is proclaimed by the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. 1991–92 Georgian coup d'état: President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia flees the country as a result of the military coup. January 7 – 1992 European Community Monitor Mission helicopter downing: A Yugoslav Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 attacks two Italian Army Agusta-Bell AB-206L LongRanger helicopters carrying observers from the European Community Monitor Mission. One crashes, killing five people on board. The other helicopter crash-lands, but its occupants survive. January 9 Bosnian Serbs declare their own republic within Bosnia and Herzegovina, in protest at the decision by Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats to seek recognition by the European Communities. First confirmed detection of exoplanets with announcement of the discovery of several terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12, by radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail working in the United States. January 15 – The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia begins to break up; Slovenia and Croatia gain independence and international recognition in some Western countries. January 16 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives. January 19 In the Bulgarian presidential election, the first held by direct vote, Zhelyu Zhelev, leader of the Union of Democratic Forces, retains office. Paramount Leader of China Deng Xiaoping speaks in Shenzhen during his southern tour, a move that would return China on its right-wing march towards free market economics. January 22 – Rebel forces occupy Zaire's national radio station in Kinshasa and broadcast a demand for the government's resignation. January 24 – China and Israel establish diplomatic relations. January 26 Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting cities of the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons. In return President George H. W. Bush announces that the United States and its allies will stop targeting Russia and the remaining communist states with nuclear weapons. In Mauritania, security forces open fire on violent extremist opponents of President of Mauritania Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, allegedly killing at least four people. January 27 – First Nagorno-Karabakh War: in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, fighting between Armenians and Azeris leaves at least 60 people dead. January 30 – North Korea signs an accord with the International Atomic Energy Agency allowing for international inspections of North Korea's nuclear power plants. February February 1 – President of the United States George H. W. Bush meets with President of Russia Boris Yeltsin at Camp David, where they formally declare that the Cold War is over. February 3 – South African State President F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela, African National Congress leader, are jointly awarded the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. February 4 – In Venezuela, Hugo Chávez leads an unsuccessful coup attempt against President of Venezuela Carlos Andrés Pérez. February 6 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms celebrates her Ruby Jubilee, marking 40 years since her accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. February 7 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, founding the European Union. February 8 – The opening ceremony for the 1992 Winter Olympics is held in Albertville, France. February 9 – Algerian Civil War: The government of Algeria declares a state of emergency and begins a crackdown on the Islamic Salvation Front. February 14 – Ukraine and four other nations in the Commonwealth of Independent States reject Russia's proposal to maintain unified armed forces. Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan announce they will go ahead with plans to create their own military forces. February 16 – In Lebanon, Israeli helicopter gunships assassinate Abbas al-Musawi, the leader of Hezbollah, and his son, in retaliation for a February 14 raid that killed three Israeli soldiers. February 18 – Iraq disarmament crisis: The Executive Chairman of UNSCOM details Iraq's refusal to abide by UN Security Council disarmament resolutions. February 21 – The United Nations Security Council approves Resolution 743 to send a UNPROFOR peacekeeping force to Yugoslavia. February 25–26 – 613 Azerbaijani civilians are massacred in Khojaly. February 26 – The Supreme Court of Ireland rules that a 14-year-old rape victim may travel to the United Kingdom to have an abortion. February 28 – Ownership of the port town of Walvis Bay is transferred from South Africa to Namibia. March March 1 – The first victims of the Bosnian War are a Serb bridegroom's father and an Orthodox priest in a Sarajevo shooting. In the Bosnian independence referendum, held from February 29 to March 1 and boycotted by Bosnian Serbs, the majority of the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat communities have voted for Bosnia-Herzegovina's independence. March 2 – In Dubăsari, Moldova, escalating tensions turn into open hostilities and the beginning of the Transnistria War. March 4 – The Supreme Court of Algeria bans the Islamic Salvation Front, which is poised to win control of the Parliament of Algeria in runoff elections. March 12 – Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. March 13 – The 6.7 Mw Erzincan earthquake affects eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), killing 498–652 and injuring around 2,000. March 18 – White South Africans vote in favour of political reforms which will end the apartheid regime and create a power-sharing multi-racial government. March 22 In French regional elections, the conservative Rally for the Republic and the centre-right Union for French Democracy win in a landslide, capturing 20 of 22 metropolitan regional presidencies. STS-45: Space Shuttle Atlantis takes off from Cape Canaveral carrying instruments designed to study global warming. March 24 – The Treaty on Open Skies is signed in Helsinki, Finland, to establish a program of unarmed surveillance flights over the 34 member states. It went into effect on January 1, 2002. March 25 – The International Atomic Energy Agency orders Iraq to destroy an industrial complex at Al Atheer that is being used to manufacture nuclear weapons. March 31 – The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act of Singapore comes into force. April April 5 The Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (without the presence of Serb political delegates) proclaims independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Bosnian War: Serb troops, following a mass rebellion of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Bosnian declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, besiege the city of Sarajevo. President of Peru Alberto Fujimori issues Decree Law 25418, dissolving the Congress of the Republic of Peru, imposing censorship and having opposition politicians arrested, setting off the 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis. April 6 – The Republic of Ilirida is proclaimed by Albanian Macedonian activists in Struga, Republic of Macedonia. April 7 – The United States recognizes the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The European Communities also recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina. April 9 A jury in Miami, USA, convicts former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega of assisting Colombia's cocaine cartel. In the United Kingdom general election the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom John Major narrowly retains power. April 10 First Nagorno-Karabakh War: Maraga massacre – At least 43 Armenian civilians are killed as their village of Maraga, Azerbaijan, is captured and destroyed by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb explodes at the Baltic Exchange in the City of London; three are killed, 91 injured. April 13 – The 5.3 Mw Roermond earthquake affects the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). April 15 – The National Assembly of Vietnam adopts the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. April 16 – President of Afghanistan Mohammad Najibullah is ousted and detained by Muslim rebels moving towards Kabul, setting the stage for the civil war in Afghanistan (1992–96). April 20 – The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, held at Wembley Stadium, London, is televised live to over one billion people and raises millions of dollars for AIDS research. April 21 – The death of Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia results in a succession dispute between Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia and Vladimir's daughter Maria for the leadership of the Imperial Family of Russia. April 22 – Fuel leaking into a sewer causes a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico; 215 are killed, 1,500 injured. April 27 – Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman elected Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. April 28 – The two remaining constituent republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – Serbia and Montenegro – form a new state, named the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (which in 2003 becomes Serbia and Montenegro), bringing to an end the official state union of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Montenegrins, Bosniaks and Macedonians that has existed since 1918 (with the exception of an occupation period during World War II). April 29 Los Angeles riots: The acquittal of four police officers in the Rodney King beating criminal trial triggers massive rioting in Los Angeles. The riots will last for six days resulting in 63 deaths and over $1 billion in damages before order is restored by the military. In Sierra Leone, a group of young soldiers launch a military coup that sends president Joseph Saidu Momoh into exile in Guinea, and the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) is established with 25-year-old Captain Valentine Strasser as its chairman and Head of State of the country. April 30 – Brčko bridge massacre: around 100 Croat and Bosniak civilians are blown up while crossing the bridge across the Sava in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. May May 1 – Lithuania introduces a new temporary currency, the talonas. May 5 Russian leaders in Crimea declare their separation from Ukraine as a new republic. They withdraw the secession on May 10. Armand Césari Stadium disaster in Bastia on Corsica: 18 people are killed and 2,300 are injured when one of the terraces collapses before a football match between SC Bastia and Olympique de Marseille. May 7 STS-49: Space Shuttle Endeavour makes its maiden flight, as a replacement for Space Shuttle Challenger. In the Sydney River McDonald's murders in Nova Scotia, Canada, three McDonald's employees are killed and a fourth is left permanently disabled during a botched robbery. May 9 The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted in New York. The Westray Mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, explodes, killing all 26 miners working the night shift. May 10 – Sweden wins the Ice Hockey World Championships in Czechoslovakia defeating Finland, 5–2, in the final game in Prague. May 13 – Falun Gong is introduced by Li Hongzhi in China. May 15 – The Collective Security Treaty Organization is established by six post-Soviet states belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States (effective April 20, 1994). May 16–17 – Bosnian War: U.N. peacekeepers withdraw from Sarajevo. May 17 – Protests begin in Bangkok, Thailand, against the government of General Suchinda Kraprayoon, sparking a bloody crackdown. May 23 – Capaci bombing: A Mafia bomb on the autostrada in Sicily kills five people, including Italian anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone. May 24 In Thailand, Suchinda Kraprayoon agrees to resign. Parliamentary election held in Burkina Faso, for the first time since 1978. May 30 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 imposes economic sanctions on Yugoslavia in an effort to end its attacks on Bosnia and Herzegovina. June June 2 – In a national referendum Denmark rejects the Maastricht Treaty by a narrow margin. June 3–14 – The Earth Summit is held in Rio de Janeiro. June 8 – The first World Oceans Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. June 10–26 – Sweden hosts the UEFA Euro 1992 football tournament, which is won by Denmark. June 16 – A "Joint Understanding" agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this is later codified in START II). June 17 Two German relief workers held since 1989, Thomas Kemptner and Heinrich Struebig, are handed over to the German authorities after their release; they are the last Western hostages in Lebanon. Violence breaks out between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party in Boipatong, South Africa, leaving 46 dead. June 18 – Ireland votes for the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland to accept the Maastricht Treaty with a popular vote of over 69%. June 20 Estonia adopts the kroon as currency, becoming the first former Soviet Republic to replace the Soviet rouble. In Paraguay the National Constituent Assembly approves the new Constitution of Paraguay. June 21 – Nelson Mandela announces that the African National Congress will halt negotiations with the government of South Africa following the Boipatong massacre of June 17. June 23 – The Israeli legislative election is won by the Israeli Labor Party under the leadership of Yitzhak Rabin, ousting a Likud government. June 25 – The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) is founded. June 26 – Denmark beats Germany 2–0 in the final to win the 1992 UEFA European Football Championship at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. June 28 – Estonia holds a referendum on its constitution, which will come into effect on July 3. July July 6–8 – The 18th G7 summit is held in Munich. July 6–29 – Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses a U.N. inspection team access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. UNSCOM claims that it has reliable information that the site contains archives related to illegal weapons activities. U.N. inspectors stage a 17-day "sit-in" outside of the building, but leave when their safety is threatened by Iraqi soldiers. July 10 In Miami, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for participating in the illegal drug trade and racketeering. The Giotto spacecraft flies past Comet 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup, gathering measurements about the comet. July 13 – Yitzhak Rabin becomes prime minister of Israel. July 16 – At the 1992 Democratic National Convention, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton accepts his party's presidential nomination on behalf of the "forgotten middle class". July 17 – The Slovak National Council declares Slovakia an independent country, signaling the breakup of Czechoslovakia. July 19 Via D'Amelio bombing: A car bomb placed by the Sicilian Mafia (with the collaboration of Italian intelligence) kills judge Paolo Borsellino and five members of his police escort. The Cabinet of Israel approves a freeze on new Israeli settlement in the occupied territories, a move expected to reinvigorate the Middle East Peace Process. July 20 – Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia. July 21 – Transnistria War ends with a ceasefire. July 22 – Near Medellín, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escapes from his luxury prison, fearing extradition to the United States. July 23 – Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia. July 25–August 9 – The 1992 Summer Olympics are held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. July 26 – Iraq agrees to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to search the Iraqi Agricultural Ministry building in Baghdad. When inspectors arrive on July 28 and 29, they find nothing and voice suspicions that Iraqi records have been removed. July 31 Georgia becomes the 179th member of the United Nations after seceding from the Soviet Union the previous year. Thai Airways International Flight 311, an Airbus A310-300, crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board. China General Aviation Flight 7552 bound for Xiamen crashes soon after taking off from Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport, killing 108 of the 116 people on board. August August 3–4 – Millions of black South Africans participate in a general strike called by the African National Congress to protest the lack of progress in negotiations with the government of State President of South Africa F. W. de Klerk. August 12 – Canada, Mexico and the United States announce that a deal has been reached on the North American Free Trade Agreement; this will be formally signed on December 17. August 18 – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom John Major announces the creation of Iraqi no-fly zones (→ Operation Southern Watch). August 24 Concordia University massacre: Valery Fabrikant murders four colleagues and seriously wounds another in a shooting at Concordia University, in Montreal, Quebec. China and South Korea establish diplomatic relations. August 24–28 – Hurricane Andrew hits south Florida and Louisiana and dissipates over the Tennessee valley when it merges with a storm system; 23 are killed. August 29 – In Rostock, Germany, tens of thousands rally to protest neo-Nazi attacks on refugees and immigrants begun on August 22. September September 1 – In Beijing, police arrest Shen Tong for his role in organizing the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. September 2 – The 7.7 Mw Nicaragua earthquake affects the west coast of Nicaragua. With a Ms –Mw  disparity of half a unit, this tsunami earthquake triggers a tsunami that causes most of the damage and casualties, with at least 116 killed. Average runup heights are 3–8 meters (9.8–26.2 ft). September 7 In Ciskei, members of the Ciskei Defence Force loyal to dictator Oupa Gqozo open fire into a crowd of anti-Gqozo protestors organized by the African National Congress, killing at least 28 people and wounding nearly 200. President of Tajikistan Rahmon Nabiyev is forced to resign following weeks of clan and religious warfare that have left nearly 2,000 people dead. September 12 – In Peru, police arrest Abimael Guzmán, the leader of the Shining Path guerilla movement, who has evaded capture for 12 years. September 16 – Black Wednesday: The pound sterling and the Italian lira are forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. September 20 – French voters narrowly approve the Maastricht Treaty in the French Maastricht Treaty referendum. September 21 – Mexico establishes diplomatic relations with Vatican City, ending a break that has lasted over 130 years. September 28 Law enforcement officials in the United States, Colombia and Italy announce that they have arrested more than 165 people on money laundering charges related to cocaine trafficking. Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 crashes into a mountain while on approach to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. All 167 occupants on board were killed. The crash of PIA Flight 268 occurred just 2 months after Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashed into a mountain near Kathmandu under similar circumstances, killing all 113 occupants on board. September 29 – The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil votes to impeach President of Brazil Fernando Collor, the country's first democratically elected leader in 29 years. Vice President Itamar Franco becomes acting president. October October 2 – A riot breaks out in the Carandiru Penitentiary in São Paulo, Brazil, resulting in the Carandiru massacre. October 3 – After performing a song protesting against alleged Catholic Church child sexual abuse, Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor rips up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on the US television programme Saturday Night Live, causing huge controversy. October 4 The government of Mozambique signs the Rome General Peace Accords with leaders of RENAMO, ending the 16-year-old Mozambican Civil War. Israeli cargo plane El Al Flight 1862 crashes into residential buildings in Amsterdam's Bijlmermeer, Netherlands, after taking off from Schiphol Airport and losing two engines, killing all 4 people on board and 39 on the ground. October 6 – Lennart Meri becomes the first President of Estonia after regaining independence. The Estonian Government in Exile resigns on the next day. October 7 – In Peru, Shining Path leader Abimael Guzmán is convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison. October 11 – The Catechism of the Catholic Church is promulgated by Pope John Paul II with his apostolic constitution, Fidei depositum. October 12 In the Dominican Republic, Pope John Paul II celebrates the 500th anniversary of the meeting of two cultures. The 5.8 mb Cairo earthquake affects the city with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 545 dead and 6,512 injured. October 19 – The Chinese Communist Party promotes several market-oriented reformers to the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, signaling a defeat for hard-line ideologues. October 20 – The last Yugoslav Army troops leave Croatia. October 21 – 150,000 coal miners march in London to protest government plans to close coal mines and reduce the number of miners. October 23 – Emperor of Japan Akihito begins the first imperial visit to China, telling a Beijing audience he feels deep sorrow for the suffering of the Chinese people during World War II. October 25 – Lithuania holds a referendum on its first constitution after declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. October 26 – In a national referendum, voters in Canada reject the Charlottetown Accord. October 31 – Pope John Paul II issues an apology and lifts the 1633 edict of the Inquisition against Galileo Galilei. November November 3 – In the 1992 United States presidential election, Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton defeats Republican President George H. W. Bush and Independent Ross Perot. November 8 – More than 350,000 people rally in Berlin to protest right-wing violence against immigrants; stones and eggs are thrown at President of Germany Richard von Weizsäcker and Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl. November 11 – The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests. November 13 The government of Peru announces it has arrested a small group of army officers who were plotting the assassination of President Alberto Fujimori. A report by the World Meteorological Organization reports an unprecedented level of ozone depletion in both the Arctic and Antarctic. November 14 – In poor conditions caused by Cyclone Forrest, Vietnam Airlines Flight 474 crashes near Nha Trang, killing 30. November 15 – The Lithuanian parliamentary election sees the Communists of the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, led by Algirdas Brazauskas, return to power. November 18 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin releases the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of Korean Air Flight 007, which was shot down by the Soviets in 1983. November 24 – In China, China Southern Airlines Flight 3943, a China Southern Airlines domestic flight, crashes, killing all 141 people on board. November 25 The Czechoslovakia Federal Assembly votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, starting on January 1, 1993. In a national referendum related to abortion, voters in Ireland reject the proposed Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1992 but approve the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland and the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland. November 27 – The government of Venezuela puts down a coup attempt by a group of Air Force officers who have bombed the presidential palace. December December 1 – South Korea and South Africa reestablish diplomatic relations. South Korea previously had diplomatic relations with South Africa from 1961 to 1978, when they were severed by the former due to the latter's policy of apartheid. December 3 – UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, tasked with ensuring that humanitarian aid gets distributed and establishing peace in Somalia. December 4 – U.S. military forces land in Somalia. December 6 – Demolition of Babri Masjid: Extremist Hindu activists in India demolish Babri Masjid – a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya which has been used as a temple since 1949 – leading to widespread communal violence, including the Bombay riots, in all killing over 1,500 people. December 12 – The 7.8 Mw Flores earthquake affects the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) leaving at least 2,500 dead. A destructive tsunami with wave heights of 25 m (82 ft) follows. December 16 – The Czech National Council adopts the Constitution of the Czech Republic. December 18 – The South Korean presidential election is won by Kim Young-sam, the first non-military candidate elected since 1961. December 21 – President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević defeats Milan Panić in the Serbian presidential election. December 22 – The Archives of Terror are discovered by Martín Almada in Asunción, detailing the fates of thousands of Latin Americans who have been secretly kidnapped, tortured and killed by the security services of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay in Operation Condor. Births and deaths Nobel Prizes Physics – Georges Charpak Chemistry – Rudolph A. Marcus Medicine – Edmond H. Fischer, Edwin G. Krebs Literature – Derek Walcott Peace – Rigoberta Menchú Economics – Gary Becker References Sources 1992 House by Bill Frolick – article about 1992 from The New Yorker magazine.

HIV/AIDS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. It can be managed with treatment. Without treatment it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Effective treatment for HIV-positive people (people living with HIV) involves a life-long regimen of medicine to suppress the virus, making the viral load undetectable. There is no vaccine or cure for HIV. An HIV-positive person on treatment can expect to live a normal life, and die with the virus, not of it. Treatment is recommended as soon as the diagnosis is made. An HIV-positive person who has an undetectable viral load as a result of long-term treatment has effectively no risk of transmitting HIV sexually. Campaigns by UNAIDS and organizations around the world have communicated this as Undetectable = Untransmittable. Without treatment the infection can interfere with the immune system, and eventually progress to AIDS, sometimes taking many years. Following initial infection an individual may not notice any symptoms, or may experience a brief period of influenza-like illness. During this period the person may not know that they are HIV-positive, yet they will be able to pass on the virus. Typically, this period is followed by a prolonged incubation period with no symptoms. Eventually the HIV infection increases the risk of developing other infections such as tuberculosis, as well as other opportunistic infections, and tumors which are rare in people who have normal immune function. The late stage is often also associated with unintended weight loss. Without treatment a person living with HIV can expect to live for 11 years. Early testing can show if treatment is needed to stop this progression and to prevent infecting others. HIV is spread primarily by unprotected sex (including anal and vaginal sex), contaminated hypodermic needles or blood transfusions, and from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding. Some bodily fluids, such as saliva, sweat, and tears, do not transmit the virus. Oral sex has little risk of transmitting the virus. Ways to avoid catching HIV and preventing the spread include safe sex, treatment to prevent infection ("PrEP"), treatment to stop infection in someone who has been recently exposed ("PEP"), treating those who are infected, and needle exchange programs. Disease in a baby can often be prevented by giving both the mother and child antiretroviral medication. Recognized worldwide in the early 1980s, HIV/AIDS has had a large impact on society, both as an illness and as a source of discrimination. The disease also has large economic impacts. There are many misconceptions about HIV/AIDS, such as the belief that it can be transmitted by casual non-sexual contact. The disease has become subject to many controversies involving religion, including the Catholic Church's position not to support condom use as prevention. It has attracted international medical and political attention as well as large-scale funding since it was identified in the 1980s. HIV made the jump from other primates to humans in west-central Africa in the early-to-mid-20th century. AIDS was first recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1981 and its cause—HIV infection—was identified in the early part of the decade. Between the first time AIDS was readily identified through 2021, the disease is estimated to have caused at least 40 million deaths worldwide. In 2021, there were 650,000 deaths and about 38 million people worldwide living with HIV. An estimated 20.6 million of these people live in eastern and southern Africa. HIV/AIDS is considered a pandemic—a disease outbreak which is present over a large area and is actively spreading. The United States' National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Gates Foundation have pledged $200 million focused on developing a global cure for AIDS. While there is no cure or vaccine, antiretroviral treatment can slow the course of the disease and may lead to a near-normal life expectancy. Signs and symptoms There are three main stages of HIV infection: acute infection, clinical latency, and AIDS. First main stage: acute infection The initial period following infection with HIV is called acute HIV, primary HIV or acute retroviral syndrome. Many individuals develop an illness like influenza, mononucleosis or glandular fever 2–4 weeks after exposure while others have no significant symptoms. Symptoms occur in 40–90% of cases and most commonly include fever, large tender lymph nodes, throat inflammation, a rash, headache, tiredness, and/or sores of the mouth and genitals. The rash, which occurs in 20–50% of cases, presents itself on the trunk and is maculopapular, classically. Some people also develop opportunistic infections at this stage. Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea may occur. Neurological symptoms of peripheral neuropathy or Guillain–Barré syndrome also occur. The duration of the symptoms varies, but is usually one or two weeks. These symptoms are not often recognized as signs of HIV infection. Family doctors or hospitals can misdiagnose cases as one of the many common infectious diseases with similar symptoms. Someone with an unexplained fever who may have been recently exposed to HIV should consider testing to find out if they have been infected. Second main stage: clinical latency The initial symptoms are followed by a stage called clinical latency, asymptomatic HIV, or chronic HIV. Without treatment, this second stage of the natural history of HIV infection can last from about three years to over 20 years (on average, about eight years). While typically there are few or no symptoms at first, near the end of this stage many people experience fever, weight loss, gastrointestinal problems and muscle pains. Between 50% and 70% of people also develop persistent generalized lymphadenopathy, characterized by unexplained, non-painful enlargement of more than one group of lymph nodes (other than in the groin) for over three to six months. Although most HIV-1 infected individuals have a detectable viral load and in the absence of treatment will eventually progress to AIDS, a small proportion (about 5%) retain high levels of CD4+ T cells (T helper cells) without antiretroviral therapy for more than five years. These individuals are classified as "HIV controllers" or long-term nonprogressors (LTNP). Another group consists of those who maintain a low or undetectable viral load without anti-retroviral treatment, known as "elite controllers" or "elite suppressors". They represent approximately 1 in 300 infected persons. Third main stage: AIDS Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is defined as an HIV infection with either a CD4+ T cell count below 200 cells per μL or the occurrence of specific diseases associated with HIV infection. In the absence of specific treatment, around half of people infected with HIV develop AIDS within ten years. The most common initial conditions that alert to the presence of AIDS are pneumocystis pneumonia (40%), cachexia in the form of HIV wasting syndrome (20%), and esophageal candidiasis. Other common signs include recurrent respiratory tract infections. Opportunistic infections may be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites that are normally controlled by the immune system. Which infections occur depends partly on what organisms are common in the person's environment. These infections may affect nearly every organ system. People with AIDS have an increased risk of developing various viral-induced cancers, including Kaposi's sarcoma, Burkitt's lymphoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma, and cervical cancer. Kaposi's sarcoma is the most common cancer, occurring in 10% to 20% of people with HIV. The second-most common cancer is lymphoma, which is the cause of death of nearly 16% of people with AIDS and is the initial sign of AIDS in 3% to 4%. Both these cancers are associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Cervical cancer occurs more frequently in those with AIDS because of its association with human papillomavirus (HPV). Conjunctival cancer (of the layer that lines the inner part of eyelids and the white part of the eye) is also more common in those with HIV. Additionally, people with AIDS frequently have systemic symptoms such as prolonged fevers, sweats (particularly at night), swollen lymph nodes, chills, weakness, and unintended weight loss. Diarrhea is another common symptom, present in about 90% of people with AIDS. They can also be affected by diverse psychiatric and neurological symptoms independent of opportunistic infections and cancers. Transmission HIV is spread by three main routes: sexual contact, significant exposure to infected body fluids or tissues, and from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding (known as vertical transmission). There is no risk of acquiring HIV if exposed to feces, nasal secretions, saliva, sputum, sweat, tears, urine, or vomit unless these are contaminated with blood. It is also possible to be co-infected by more than one strain of HIV—a condition known as HIV superinfection. Sexual The most frequent mode of transmission of HIV is through sexual contact with an infected person. However, an HIV-positive person who has an undetectable viral load as a result of long-term treatment has effectively no risk of transmitting HIV sexually, known as Undetectable = Untransmittable. The existence of functionally noncontagious HIV-positive people on antiretroviral therapy was controversially publicized in the 2008 Swiss Statement, and has since become accepted as medically sound. Globally, the most common mode of HIV transmission is via sexual contacts between people of the opposite sex; however, the pattern of transmission varies among countries. As of 2017, most HIV transmission in the United States occurred among men who had sex with men (82% of new HIV diagnoses among males aged 13 and older and 70% of total new diagnoses). In the US, gay and bisexual men aged 13 to 24 accounted for an estimated 92% of new HIV diagnoses among all men in their age group and 27% of new diagnoses among all gay and bisexual men. With regard to unprotected heterosexual contacts, estimates of the risk of HIV transmission per sexual act appear to be four to ten times higher in low-income countries than in high-income countries. In low-income countries, the risk of female-to-male transmission is estimated as 0.38% per act, and of male-to-female transmission as 0.30% per act; the equivalent estimates for high-income countries are 0.04% per act for female-to-male transmission, and 0.08% per act for male-to-female transmission. The risk of transmission from anal intercourse is especially high, estimated as 1.4–1.7% per act in both heterosexual and homosexual contacts. While the risk of transmission from oral sex is relatively low, it is still present. The risk from receiving oral sex has been described as "nearly nil"; however, a few cases have been reported. The per-act risk is estimated at 0–0.04% for receptive oral intercourse. In settings involving prostitution in low-income countries, risk of female-to-male transmission has been estimated as 2.4% per act, and of male-to-female transmission as 0.05% per act. Risk of transmission increases in the presence of many sexually transmitted infections and genital ulcers. Genital ulcers increase the risk approximately fivefold. Other sexually transmitted infections, such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, and bacterial vaginosis, are associated with somewhat smaller increases in risk of transmission. The viral load of an infected person is an important risk factor in both sexual and mother-to-child transmission. During the first 2.5 months of an HIV infection, a person's infectiousness is twelve times higher due to the high viral load associated with acute HIV. If the person is in the late stages of infection, rates of transmission are approximately eightfold greater. Commercial sex workers (including those in pornography) have an increased likelihood of contracting HIV. Rough sex can be a factor associated with an increased risk of transmission. Sexual assault is also believed to carry an increased risk of HIV transmission as condoms are rarely worn, physical trauma to the vagina or rectum is likely, and there may be a greater risk of concurrent sexually transmitted infections. Body fluids The second-most frequent mode of HIV transmission is via blood and blood products. Blood-borne transmission can be through needle-sharing during intravenous drug use, needle-stick injury, transfusion of contaminated blood or blood product, or medical injections with unsterilized equipment. The risk from sharing a needle during drug injection is between 0.63% and 2.4% per act, with an average of 0.8%. The risk of acquiring HIV from a needle stick from an HIV-infected person is estimated as 0.3% (about 1 in 333) per act and the risk following mucous membrane exposure to infected blood as 0.09% (about 1 in 1000) per act. This risk may, however, be up to 5% if the introduced blood was from a person with a high viral load and the cut was deep. In the United States, intravenous drug users made up 12% of all new cases of HIV in 2009, and in some areas more than 80% of people who inject drugs are HIV-positive. HIV is transmitted in about 90% of blood transfusions using infected blood. In developed countries the risk of acquiring HIV from a blood transfusion is extremely low (less than one in half a million) where improved donor selection and HIV screening is performed; for example, in the UK the risk is reported at one in five million and in the United States it was one in 1.5 million in 2008. In low-income countries, only half of transfusions may be appropriately screened (as of 2008), and it is estimated that up to 15% of HIV infections in these areas come from transfusion of infected blood and blood products, representing between 5% and 10% of global infections. It is possible to acquire HIV from organ and tissue transplantation, although this is rare because of screening. Unsafe medical injections play a role in HIV spread in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2007, between 12% and 17% of infections in this region were attributed to medical syringe use. The World Health Organization estimates the risk of transmission as a result of a medical injection in Africa at 1.2%. Risks are also associated with invasive procedures, assisted delivery, and dental care in this area of the world. People giving or receiving tattoos, piercings, and scarification are theoretically at risk of infection but no confirmed cases have been documented. It is not possible for mosquitoes or other insects to transmit HIV. Mother-to-child HIV can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, during delivery, or through breast milk, resulting in the baby also contracting HIV. As of 2008, vertical transmission accounted for about 90% of cases of HIV in children. In the absence of treatment, the risk of transmission before or during birth is around 20%, and in those who also breastfeed 35%. Treatment decreases this risk to less than 5%. Antiretrovirals when taken by either the mother or the baby decrease the risk of transmission in those who do breastfeed. If blood contaminates food during pre-chewing it may pose a risk of transmission. If a woman is untreated, two years of breastfeeding results in an HIV/AIDS risk in her baby of about 17%. Due to the increased risk of death without breastfeeding in many areas in the developing world, the World Health Organization recommends either exclusive breastfeeding or the provision of safe formula. All women known to be HIV-positive should be taking lifelong antiretroviral therapy. Virology HIV is the cause of the spectrum of disease known as HIV/AIDS. HIV is a retrovirus that primarily infects components of the human immune system such as CD4+ T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. It directly and indirectly destroys CD4+ T cells. HIV is a member of the genus Lentivirus, part of the family Retroviridae. Lentiviruses share many morphological and biological characteristics. Many species of mammals are infected by lentiviruses, which are characteristically responsible for long-duration illnesses with a long incubation period. Lentiviruses are transmitted as single-stranded, positive-sense, enveloped RNA viruses. Upon entry into the target cell, the viral RNA genome is converted (reverse transcribed) into double-stranded DNA by a virally encoded reverse transcriptase that is transported along with the viral genome in the virus particle. The resulting viral DNA is then imported into the cell nucleus and integrated into the cellular DNA by a virally encoded integrase and host co-factors. Once integrated, the virus may become latent, allowing the virus and its host cell to avoid detection by the immune system. Alternatively, the virus may be transcribed, producing new RNA genomes and viral proteins that are packaged and released from the cell as new virus particles that begin the replication cycle anew. HIV is now known to spread between CD4+ T cells by two parallel routes: cell-free spread and cell-to-cell spread, i.e. it employs hybrid spreading mechanisms. In the cell-free spread, virus particles bud from an infected T cell, enter the blood/extracellular fluid and then infect another T cell following a chance encounter. HIV can also disseminate by direct transmission from one cell to another by a process of cell-to-cell spread. The hybrid spreading mechanisms of HIV contribute to the virus' ongoing replication against antiretroviral therapies. Two types of HIV have been characterized: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is the virus that was originally discovered (and initially referred to also as LAV or HTLV-III). It is more virulent, more infective, and is the cause of the majority of HIV infections globally. The lower infectivity of HIV-2 as compared with HIV-1 implies that fewer people exposed to HIV-2 will be infected per exposure. Because of its relatively poor capacity for transmission, HIV-2 is largely confined to West Africa. Pathophysiology After the virus enters the body, there is a period of rapid viral replication, leading to an abundance of virus in the peripheral blood. During primary infection, the level of HIV may reach several million virus particles per milliliter of blood. This response is accompanied by a marked drop in the number of circulating CD4+ T cells. The acute viremia is almost invariably associated with activation of CD8+ T cells, which kill HIV-infected cells, and subsequently with antibody production, or seroconversion. The CD8+ T cell response is thought to be important in controlling virus levels, which peak and then decline, as the CD4+ T cell counts recover. A good CD8+ T cell response has been linked to slower disease progression and a better prognosis, though it does not eliminate the virus. Ultimately, HIV causes AIDS by depleting CD4+ T cells. This weakens the immune system and allows opportunistic infections. T cells are essential to the immune response and without them, the body cannot fight infections or kill cancerous cells. The mechanism of CD4+ T cell depletion differs in the acute and chronic phases. During the acute phase, HIV-induced cell lysis and killing of infected cells by CD8+ T cells accounts for CD4+ T cell depletion, although apoptosis may also be a factor. During the chronic phase, the consequences of generalized immune activation coupled with the gradual loss of the ability of the immune system to generate new T cells appear to account for the slow decline in CD4+ T cell numbers. Although the symptoms of immune deficiency characteristic of AIDS do not appear for years after a person is infected, the bulk of CD4+ T cell loss occurs during the first weeks of infection, especially in the intestinal mucosa, which harbors the majority of the lymphocytes found in the body. The reason for the preferential loss of mucosal CD4+ T cells is that the majority of mucosal CD4+ T cells express the CCR5 protein which HIV uses as a co-receptor to gain access to the cells, whereas only a small fraction of CD4+ T cells in the bloodstream do so. A specific genetic change that alters the CCR5 protein when present in both chromosomes very effectively prevents HIV-1 infection. HIV seeks out and destroys CCR5 expressing CD4+ T cells during acute infection. A vigorous immune response eventually controls the infection and initiates the clinically latent phase. CD4+ T cells in mucosal tissues remain particularly affected. Continuous HIV replication causes a state of generalized immune activation persisting throughout the chronic phase. Immune activation, which is reflected by the increased activation state of immune cells and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, results from the activity of several HIV gene products and the immune response to ongoing HIV replication. It is also linked to the breakdown of the immune surveillance system of the gastrointestinal mucosal barrier caused by the depletion of mucosal CD4+ T cells during the acute phase of disease. Diagnosis HIV/AIDS is diagnosed via laboratory testing and then staged based on the presence of certain signs or symptoms. HIV screening is recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force for all people 15 years to 65 years of age, including all pregnant women. Additionally, testing is recommended for those at high risk, which includes anyone diagnosed with a sexually transmitted illness. In many areas of the world, a third of HIV carriers only discover they are infected at an advanced stage of the disease when AIDS or severe immunodeficiency has become apparent. HIV testing Most people infected with HIV develop seroconverted (antigen-specific) antibodies within three to twelve weeks after the initial infection. Diagnosis of primary HIV before seroconversion is done by measuring HIV-RNA or p24 antigen. Positive results obtained by antibody or PCR testing are confirmed either by a different antibody or by PCR. Antibody tests in children younger than 18 months are typically inaccurate, due to the continued presence of maternal antibodies. Thus HIV infection can only be diagnosed by PCR testing for HIV RNA or DNA, or via testing for the p24 antigen. Much of the world lacks access to reliable PCR testing, and people in many places simply wait until either symptoms develop or the child is old enough for accurate antibody testing. In sub-Saharan Africa between 2007 and 2009, between 30% and 70% of the population were aware of their HIV status. In 2009, between 3.6% and 42% of men and women in sub-Saharan countries were tested; this represented a significant increase compared to previous years. Classifications Two main clinical staging systems are used to classify HIV and HIV-related disease for surveillance purposes: the WHO disease staging system for HIV infection and disease, and the CDC classification system for HIV infection. The CDC's classification system is more frequently adopted in developed countries. Since the WHO's staging system does not require laboratory tests, it is suited to the resource-restricted conditions encountered in developing countries, where it can also be used to help guide clinical management. Despite their differences, the two systems allow a comparison for statistical purposes. The World Health Organization first proposed a definition for AIDS in 1986. Since then, the WHO classification has been updated and expanded several times, with the most recent version being published in 2007. The WHO system uses the following categories: Primary HIV infection: May be either asymptomatic or associated with acute retroviral syndrome Stage I: HIV infection is asymptomatic with a CD4+ T cell count (also known as CD4 count) greater than 500 per microlitre (μL or cubic mm) of blood. May include generalized lymph node enlargement. Stage II: Mild symptoms, which may include minor mucocutaneous manifestations and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections. A CD4 count of less than 500/μL Stage III: Advanced symptoms, which may include unexplained chronic diarrhea for longer than a month, severe bacterial infections including tuberculosis of the lung, and a CD4 count of less than 350/μL Stage IV or AIDS: severe symptoms, which include toxoplasmosis of the brain, candidiasis of the esophagus, trachea, bronchi, or lungs, and Kaposi's sarcoma. A CD4 count of less than 200/μL The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also created a classification system for HIV, and updated it in 2008 and 2014. This system classifies HIV infections based on CD4 count and clinical symptoms, and describes the infection in five groups. In those greater than six years of age it is: Stage 0: the time between a negative or indeterminate HIV test followed less than 180 days by a positive test Stage 1: CD4 count ≥ 500 cells/μL and no AIDS-defining conditions Stage 2: CD4 count 200 to 500 cells/μL and no AIDS-defining conditions Stage 3: CD4 count ≤ 200 cells/μL or AIDS-defining conditions Unknown: if insufficient information is available to make any of the above classifications. For surveillance purposes, the AIDS diagnosis still stands even if, after treatment, the CD4+ T cell count rises to above 200 per μL of blood or other AIDS-defining illnesses are cured. Prevention Sexual contact Consistent condom use reduces the risk of HIV transmission by approximately 80% over the long term. When condoms are used consistently by a couple in which one person is infected, the rate of HIV infection is less than 1% per year. There is some evidence to suggest that female condoms may provide an equivalent level of protection. Application of a vaginal gel containing tenofovir (a reverse transcriptase inhibitor) immediately before sex seems to reduce infection rates by approximately 40% among African women. By contrast, use of the spermicide nonoxynol-9 may increase the risk of transmission due to its tendency to cause vaginal and rectal irritation. Circumcision in sub-Saharan Africa "reduces the acquisition of HIV by heterosexual men by between 38% and 66% over 24 months". Owing to these studies, both the World Health Organization and UNAIDS recommended male circumcision in 2007 as a method of preventing female-to-male HIV transmission in areas with high rates of HIV. However, whether it protects against male-to-female transmission is disputed, and whether it is of benefit in developed countries and among men who have sex with men is undetermined. Programs encouraging sexual abstinence do not appear to affect subsequent HIV risk. Evidence of any benefit from peer education is equally poor. Comprehensive sexual education provided at school may decrease high-risk behavior. A substantial minority of young people continues to engage in high-risk practices despite knowing about HIV/AIDS, underestimating their own risk of becoming infected with HIV. Voluntary counseling and testing people for HIV does not affect risky behavior in those who test negative but does increase condom use in those who test positive. Enhanced family planning services appear to increase the likelihood of women with HIV using contraception, compared to basic services. It is not known whether treating other sexually transmitted infections is effective in preventing HIV. Pre-exposure Antiretroviral treatment among people with HIV whose CD4 count ≤ 550 cells/μL is a very effective way to prevent HIV infection of their partner (a strategy known as treatment as prevention, or TASP). TASP is associated with a 10- to 20-fold reduction in transmission risk. Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV ("PrEP") with a daily dose of the medications tenofovir, with or without emtricitabine, is effective in people at high risk including men who have sex with men, couples where one is HIV-positive, and young heterosexuals in Africa. It may also be effective in intravenous drug users, with a study finding a decrease in risk of 0.7 to 0.4 per 100 person years. The USPSTF, in 2019, recommended PrEP in those who are at high risk. Universal precautions within the health care environment are believed to be effective in decreasing the risk of HIV. Intravenous drug use is an important risk factor, and harm reduction strategies such as needle-exchange programs and opioid substitution therapy appear effective in decreasing this risk. Post-exposure A course of antiretrovirals administered within 48 to 72 hours after exposure to HIV-positive blood or genital secretions is referred to as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). The use of the single agent zidovudine reduces the risk of an HIV infection five-fold following a needle-stick injury. As of 2013, the prevention regimen recommended in the United States consists of three medications—tenofovir, emtricitabine and raltegravir—as this may reduce the risk further. PEP treatment is recommended after a sexual assault when the perpetrator is known to be HIV-positive, but is controversial when their HIV status is unknown. The duration of treatment is usually four weeks and is frequently associated with adverse effects—where zidovudine is used, about 70% of cases result in adverse effects such as nausea (24%), fatigue (22%), emotional distress (13%) and headaches (9%). Mother-to-child Programs to prevent the vertical transmission of HIV (from mothers to children) can reduce rates of transmission by 92–99%. This primarily involves the use of a combination of antiviral medications during pregnancy and after birth in the infant, and potentially includes bottle feeding rather than breastfeeding. If replacement feeding is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe, mothers should avoid breastfeeding their infants; however, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended during the first months of life if this is not the case. If exclusive breastfeeding is carried out, the provision of extended antiretroviral prophylaxis to the infant decreases the risk of transmission. In 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to eradicate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Vaccination Currently there is no licensed vaccine for HIV or AIDS. The most effective vaccine trial to date, RV 144, was published in 2009; it found a partial reduction in the risk of transmission of roughly 30%, stimulating some hope in the research community of developing a truly effective vaccine. Treatment There is currently no cure, nor an effective HIV vaccine. Treatment consists of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART), which slows progression of the disease. As of 2022, 39 million people globally were living with HIV, and 29.8 million people were accessing ART. Treatment also includes preventive and active treatment of opportunistic infections. As of July 2022, four people have been successfully cleared of HIV. Rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy within one week of diagnosis appear to improve treatment outcomes in low and medium-income settings and is recommend for newly diagnosed HIV patients. Antiviral therapy Current ART options are combinations (or "cocktails") consisting of at least three medications belonging to at least two types, or "classes", of antiretroviral agents. There are eight classes of antiretroviral agents (ARVs), and over 30 individual drugs: nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase, inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors (PIs), integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), a fusion inhibitor, a CCR5 antagonist, a CD4 T lymphocyte (CD4) post-attachment inhibitor, and a gp120 attachment inhibitor. There are also two drugs, ritonavir (RTV) and cobicistat (COBI) which can be used as pharmacokinetic (PK) enhancers (or boosters) to improve the PK profiles of PIs and the INSTI elvitegravir (EVG). Depending on the guidelines being followed, initial treatment generally consists of two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors along with a third ARV, either an integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), or a protease inhibitor with a pharmacokinetic enhancer (also known as a booster). The World Health Organization and the United States recommend antiretrovirals in people of all ages (including pregnant women) as soon as the diagnosis is made, regardless of CD4 count. Once treatment is begun, it is recommended that it is continued without breaks or "holidays". Many people are diagnosed only after treatment ideally should have begun. The desired outcome of treatment is a long-term plasma HIV-RNA count below 50 copies/mL. Levels to determine if treatment is effective are initially recommended after four weeks and once levels fall below 50 copies/mL checks every three to six months are typically adequate. Inadequate control is deemed to be greater than 400 copies/mL. Based on these criteria treatment is effective in more than 95% of people during the first year. Benefits of treatment include a decreased risk of progression to AIDS and a decreased risk of death. In the developing world, treatment also improves physical and mental health. With treatment, there is a 70% reduced risk of acquiring tuberculosis. Additional benefits include a decreased risk of transmission of the disease to sexual partners and a decrease in mother-to-child transmission. The effectiveness of treatment depends to a large part on compliance. Reasons for non-adherence to treatment include poor access to medical care, inadequate social supports, mental illness and drug abuse. The complexity of treatment regimens (due to pill numbers and dosing frequency) and adverse effects may reduce adherence. Even though cost is an important issue with some medications, 47% of those who needed them were taking them in low- and middle-income countries as of 2010, and the rate of adherence is similar in low-income and high-income countries. Specific adverse events are related to the antiretroviral agent taken. Some relatively common adverse events include: lipodystrophy syndrome, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus, especially with protease inhibitors. Other common symptoms include diarrhea, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Newer recommended treatments are associated with fewer adverse effects. Certain medications may be associated with birth defects and therefore may be unsuitable for women hoping to have children. Treatment recommendations for children are somewhat different from those for adults. The World Health Organization recommends treating all children less than five years of age; children above five are treated like adults. The United States guidelines recommend treating all children less than 12 months of age and all those with HIV RNA counts greater than 100,000 copies/mL between one year and five years of age. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended the granting of marketing authorizations for two new antiretroviral (ARV) medicines, rilpivirine (Rekambys) and cabotegravir (Vocabria), to be used together for the treatment of people with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. The two medicines are the first ARVs that come in a long-acting injectable formulation. This means that instead of daily pills, people receive intramuscular injections monthly or every two months. The combination of Rekambys and Vocabria injection is intended for maintenance treatment of adults who have undetectable HIV levels in the blood (viral load less than 50 copies/mL) with their current ARV treatment, and when the virus has not developed resistance to a certain class of anti-HIV medicines called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INIs). Cabotegravir combined with rilpivirine (Cabenuva) is a complete regimen for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in adults to replace a current antiretroviral regimen in those who are virologically suppressed on a stable antiretroviral regimen with no history of treatment failure and with no known or suspected resistance to either cabotegravir or rilpivirine. Opportunistic infections Measures to prevent opportunistic infections are effective in many people with HIV/AIDS. In addition to improving current disease, treatment with antiretrovirals reduces the risk of developing additional opportunistic infections. Adults and adolescents who are living with HIV (even on anti-retroviral therapy) with no evidence of active tuberculosis in settings with high tuberculosis burden should receive isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT); the tuberculin skin test can be used to help decide if IPT is needed. Children with HIV may benefit from screening for tuberculosis. Vaccination against hepatitis A and B is advised for all people at risk of HIV before they become infected; however, it may also be given after infection. Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis between four and six weeks of age, and ceasing breastfeeding of infants born to HIV-positive mothers, is recommended in resource-limited settings. It is also recommended to prevent PCP when a person's CD4 count is below 200 cells/uL and in those who have or have previously had PCP. People with substantial immunosuppression are also advised to receive prophylactic therapy for toxoplasmosis and MAC. Appropriate preventive measures reduced the rate of these infections by 50% between 1992 and 1997. Influenza vaccination and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine are often recommended in people with HIV/AIDS with some evidence of benefit. Diet The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued recommendations regarding nutrient requirements in HIV/AIDS. A generally healthy diet is promoted. Dietary intake of micronutrients at RDA levels by HIV-infected adults is recommended by the WHO; higher intake of vitamin A, zinc, and iron can produce adverse effects in HIV-positive adults, and is not recommended unless there is documented deficiency. Dietary supplementation for people who are infected with HIV and who have inadequate nutrition or dietary deficiencies may strengthen their immune systems or help them recover from infections; however, evidence indicating an overall benefit in morbidity or reduction in mortality is not consistent. People with HIV/AIDS are up to four times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who are not tested positive with the virus. Evidence for supplementation with selenium is mixed with some tentative evidence of benefit. For pregnant and lactating women with HIV, multivitamin supplement improves outcomes for both mothers and children. If the pregnant or lactating mother has been advised to take anti-retroviral medication to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, multivitamin supplements should not replace these treatments. There is some evidence that vitamin A supplementation in children with an HIV infection reduces mortality and improves growth. Alternative medicine In the US, approximately 60% of people with HIV use various forms of complementary or alternative medicine, whose effectiveness has not been established. There is not enough evidence to support the use of herbal medicines. There is insufficient evidence to recommend or support the use of medical cannabis to try to increase appetite or weight gain. Prognosis HIV/AIDS has become a chronic rather than an acutely fatal disease in many areas of the world. Prognosis varies between people, and both the CD4 count and viral load are useful for predicted outcomes. Without treatment, average survival time after infection with HIV is estimated to be 9 to 11 years, depending on the HIV subtype. After the diagnosis of AIDS, if treatment is not available, survival ranges between 6 and 19 months. ART and appropriate prevention of opportunistic infections reduces the death rate by 80%, and raises the life expectancy for a newly diagnosed young adult to 20–50 years. This is between two thirds and nearly that of the general population. If treatment is started late in the infection, prognosis is not as good: for example, if treatment is begun following the diagnosis of AIDS, life expectancy is ~10–40 years. Half of infants born with HIV die before two years of age without treatment. The primary causes of death from HIV/AIDS are opportunistic infections and cancer, both of which are frequently the result of the progressive failure of the immune system. Risk of cancer appears to increase once the CD4 count is below 500/μL. The rate of clinical disease progression varies widely between individuals and has been shown to be affected by a number of factors such as a person's susceptibility and immune function; their access to health care, the presence of co-infections; and the particular strain (or strains) of the virus involved. Tuberculosis co-infection is one of the leading causes of sickness and death in those with HIV/AIDS being present in a third of all HIV-infected people and causing 25% of HIV-related deaths. HIV is also one of the most important risk factors for tuberculosis. Hepatitis C is another very common co-infection where each disease increases the progression of the other. The two most common cancers associated with HIV/AIDS are Kaposi's sarcoma and AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Other cancers that are more frequent include anal cancer, Burkitt's lymphoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma, and cervical cancer. Even with anti-retroviral treatment, over the long term HIV-infected people may experience neurocognitive disorders, osteoporosis, neuropathy, cancers, nephropathy, and cardiovascular disease. Some conditions, such as lipodystrophy, may be caused both by HIV and its treatment. Epidemiology HIV/AIDS is considered a global pandemic. As of 2022, approximately 39.0 million people worldwide are living with HIV, the number of new infections that year being about 1.3 million. This is down from 2.1 million new infections in 2010. Among new infections, 46% are in women and are children globally. There were 630,000 AIDS related deaths in 2022, down from a peak of 2 million in 2005. The World Health Organization has reported that deaths from HIV and AIDS have "fallen by 61%, moving from the world’s seventh leading cause of death in 2000 to the twenty-first in 2021." Among persons living with HIV (PLWH), the largest proportion reside in eastern and southern Africa (20.6 million, 54.6%). This region also had the highest rate of adult and child deaths due to AIDS in 2020 (310,000, 46.6%). Sub-Saharan African adolescent girls and young women (aged 15–24 years) account for 77% of new infections among this age-range globally. Here, in contrast to other regions, adolescent girls and young women are three times more likely to acquire HIV than age-matched males. Despite these statistics, overall, new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have substantially decreased in this region since 2010. Eastern Europe and central Asia has observed a 43% increase in new HIV infections and 32% increase in AIDS-related deaths since 2010, the highest of all global regions. These infections are predominantly distributed in persons who inject drugs, with gay men and other men who have sex with men or persons who engage in transaction sex the second and third populations most impacted in this region. At the end of 2019, United States indicated that approximately 1.2 million people aged ≥13 years were living with HIV, resulting in about 18,500 deaths in 2020. There were 34,800 estimated new infections in the US in 2019, 53% of which were in the southern region of the country. In addition to geographic location, significant disparities in HIV incidence exist among men, Black or Hispanic populations, and men who reported male-to-male sexual contact. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that in that year, 158,500 people or 13% of infected Americans were unaware of their infection. In the United Kingdom as of 2015, there were approximately 101,200 cases which resulted in 594 deaths. In Canada as of 2008, there were about 65,000 cases causing 53 deaths. Between the first recognition of AIDS (in 1981) and 2009, it has led to nearly 30 million deaths. Rates of HIV are lowest in North Africa and the Middle East (0.1% or less), East Asia (0.1%), and Western and Central Europe (0.2%). The worst-affected European countries, in 2009 and 2012 estimates, are Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Moldova, Portugal and Belarus, in decreasing order of prevalence. Groups at higher risk of acquiring HIV include persons who engage in transactional sex, gay men and other men who have sex with men, persons who inject drugs, transgender persons, and those who are incarcerated or detained. History Discovery The first news story on the disease appeared on May 18, 1981, in the gay newspaper New York Native. AIDS was first clinically reported on June 5, 1981, with five cases in the United States. The initial cases were a cluster of injecting drug users and gay men with no known cause of impaired immunity who showed symptoms of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), a rare opportunistic infection that was known to occur in people with very compromised immune systems. Soon thereafter, a large number of homosexual men developed a generally rare skin cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Many more cases of PCP and KS emerged, alerting U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a CDC task force was formed to monitor the outbreak. In the early days, the CDC did not have an official name for the disease, often referring to it by way of diseases associated with it, such as lymphadenopathy, the disease after which the discoverers of HIV originally named the virus. They also used Kaposi's sarcoma and opportunistic infections, the name by which a task force had been set up in 1981. At one point the CDC referred to it as the "4H disease", as the syndrome seemed to affect heroin users, homosexuals, hemophiliacs, and Haitians. The term GRID, which stood for gay-related immune deficiency, had also been coined. However, after determining that AIDS was not isolated to the gay community, it was realized that the term GRID was misleading, and the term AIDS was introduced at a meeting in July 1982. By September 1982 the CDC started referring to the disease as AIDS. In 1983, two separate research groups led by Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier declared that a novel retrovirus may have been infecting people with AIDS, and published their findings in the same issue of the journal Science. Gallo claimed a virus which his group had isolated from a person with AIDS was strikingly similar in shape to other human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLVs) that his group had been the first to isolate. Gallo's group called their newly isolated virus HTLV-III. At the same time, Montagnier's group isolated a virus from a person presenting with swelling of the lymph nodes of the neck and physical weakness, two characteristic symptoms of AIDS. Contradicting the report from Gallo's group, Montagnier and his colleagues showed that core proteins of this virus were immunologically different from those of HTLV-I. Montagnier's group named their isolated virus lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV). As these two viruses turned out to be the same, in 1986, LAV and HTLV-III were renamed HIV. Origins The origin of HIV / AIDS and the circumstances that led to its emergence remain unsolved. Both HIV-1 and HIV-2 are believed to have originated in non-human primates in West-central Africa and were transferred to humans in the early 20th century. HIV-1 appears to have originated in southern Cameroon through the evolution of SIV(cpz), a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) that infects wild chimpanzees (HIV-1 descends from the SIVcpz endemic in the chimpanzee subspecies Pan troglodytes troglodytes). The closest relative of HIV-2 is SIV (smm), a virus of the sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys atys), an Old World monkey living in coastal West Africa (from southern Senegal to western Ivory Coast). New World monkeys such as the owl monkey are resistant to HIV-1 infection, possibly because of a genomic fusion of two viral resistance genes. HIV-1 is thought to have jumped the species barrier on at least three separate occasions, giving rise to the three groups of the virus, M, N, and O. There is evidence that humans who participate in bushmeat activities, either as hunters or as bushmeat vendors, commonly acquire SIV. However, SIV is a weak virus which is typically suppressed by the human immune system within weeks of infection. It is thought that several transmissions of the virus from individual to individual in quick succession are necessary to allow it enough time to mutate into HIV. Furthermore, due to its relatively low person-to-person transmission rate, SIV can only spread throughout the population in the presence of one or more high-risk transmission channels, which are thought to have been absent in Africa before the 20th century. Specific proposed high-risk transmission channels, allowing the virus to adapt to humans and spread throughout society, depend on the proposed timing of the animal-to-human crossing. Genetic studies of the virus suggest that the most recent common ancestor of the HIV-1 M group dates back to c. 1910. Proponents of this dating link the HIV epidemic with the emergence of colonialism and growth of large colonial African cities, leading to social changes, including a higher degree of sexual promiscuity, the spread of prostitution, and the accompanying high frequency of genital ulcer diseases (such as syphilis) in nascent colonial cities. While transmission rates of HIV during vaginal intercourse are low under regular circumstances, they are increased manyfold if one of the partners has a sexually transmitted infection causing genital ulcers. Early 1900s colonial cities were notable for their high prevalence of prostitution and genital ulcers, to the degree that, as of 1928, as many as 45% of female residents of eastern Kinshasa were thought to have been prostitutes, and, as of 1933, around 15% of all residents of the same city had syphilis. An alternative view holds that unsafe medical practices in Africa after World War II, such as unsterile reuse of single-use syringes during mass vaccination, antibiotic and anti-malaria treatment campaigns, were the initial vector that allowed the virus to adapt to humans and spread. The earliest well-documented case of HIV in a human dates back to 1959 in the Congo. The virus may have been present in the U.S. as early as the mid-to-late 1950s, as a sixteen-year-old male named Robert Rayford presented with symptoms in 1966 and died in 1969. In the 1970s, there were cases of getting parasites and becoming sick with what was called "gay bowel disease", but what is now suspected to have been AIDS. The earliest retrospectively described case of AIDS is believed to have been in Norway beginning in 1966, that of Arvid Noe. In July 1960, in the wake of Congo's independence, the United Nations recruited Francophone experts and technicians from all over the world to assist in filling administrative gaps left by Belgium, who did not leave behind an African elite to run the country. By 1962, Haitians made up the second-largest group of well-educated experts (out of the 48 national groups recruited), that totaled around 4,500 in the country. Dr. Jacques Pépin, a Canadian author of The Origins of AIDS, stipulates that Haiti was one of HIV's entry points to the U.S. and that a Haitian may have carried HIV back across the Atlantic in the 1960s. Although there was known to have been at least one case of AIDS in the U.S. from 1966, the vast majority of infections occurring outside sub-Saharan Africa (including the U.S.) can be traced back to a single unknown individual who became infected with HIV in Haiti and brought the infection to the U.S. at some time around 1969. The epidemic rapidly spread among high-risk groups (initially, sexually promiscuous men who have sex with men). By 1978, the prevalence of HIV-1 among gay male residents of New York City and San Francisco was estimated at 5%, suggesting that several thousand individuals in the country had been infected. Society and culture Stigma AIDS stigma exists around the world in a variety of ways, including ostracism, rejection, discrimination and avoidance of HIV-infected people; compulsory HIV testing without prior consent or protection of confidentiality; violence against HIV-infected individuals or people who are perceived to be infected with HIV; and the quarantine of HIV-infected individuals. Stigma-related violence or the fear of violence prevents many people from seeking HIV testing, returning for their results, or securing treatment, possibly turning what could be a manageable chronic illness into a death sentence and perpetuating the spread of HIV. AIDS stigma has been further divided into the following three categories: Instrumental AIDS stigma—a reflection of the fear and apprehension that are likely to be associated with any deadly and transmissible illness. Symbolic AIDS stigma—the use of HIV/AIDS to express attitudes toward the social groups or lifestyles perceived to be associated with the disease. Courtesy AIDS stigma—stigmatization of people connected to the issue of HIV/AIDS or HIV-positive people. Often, AIDS stigma is expressed in conjunction with one or more other stigmas, particularly those associated with homosexuality, bisexuality, promiscuity, prostitution, and intravenous drug use. In many developed countries, there is an association between AIDS and homosexuality or bisexuality, and this association is correlated with higher levels of sexual prejudice, such as anti-homosexual or anti-bisexual attitudes. There is also a perceived association between AIDS and all male-male sexual behavior, including sex between uninfected men. However, the dominant mode of spread worldwide for HIV remains heterosexual transmission. The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was conceived in 1985 to celebrate the lives of those who had died of AIDS when stigma prevented many from receiving funerals. It is now cared for by the National AIDS Memorial in San Francisco. In 2003, as part of an overall reform of marriage and population legislation, it became legal for those diagnosed with AIDS to marry in China. In 2013, the U.S. National Library of Medicine developed a traveling exhibition titled Surviving and Thriving: AIDS, Politics, and Culture; this covered medical research, the U.S. government's response, and personal stories from people with AIDS, caregivers, and activists. Stigma has proved an obstacle to the update of PrEP. Within the MSM community, the greatest barrier to PrEP use has been the stigma surrounding HIV and gay men. Gay men on PrEP have experienced "slut-shaming". Numerous other barriers have been identified, including lack of quality LGBTQ care, cost, and adherence to medication use. Economic impact HIV/AIDS affects the economics of both individuals and countries. The gross domestic product of the most affected countries has decreased due to the lack of human capital. Without proper nutrition, health care and medicine, large numbers of people die from AIDS-related complications. Before death they will not only be unable to work, but will also require significant medical care. It is estimated that as of 2007 there were 12 million AIDS orphans. Many are cared for by elderly grandparents. Returning to work after beginning treatment for HIV/AIDS is difficult, and affected people often work less than the average worker. Unemployment in people with HIV/AIDS also is associated with suicidal ideation, memory problems, and social isolation. Employment increases self-esteem, sense of dignity, confidence, and quality of life for people with HIV/AIDS. Anti-retroviral treatment may help people with HIV/AIDS work more, and may increase the chance that a person with HIV/AIDS will be employed (low-quality evidence). By affecting mainly young adults, AIDS reduces the taxable population, in turn reducing the resources available for public expenditures such as education and health services not related to AIDS, resulting in increasing pressure on the state's finances and slower growth of the economy. This causes a slower growth of the tax base, an effect that is reinforced if there are growing expenditures on treating the sick, training (to replace sick workers), sick pay, and caring for AIDS orphans. This is especially true if the sharp increase in adult mortality shifts the responsibility from the family to the government in caring for these orphans. At the household level, AIDS causes both loss of income and increased spending on healthcare. A study in Côte d'Ivoire showed that households having a person with HIV/AIDS spent twice as much on medical expenses as other households. This additional expenditure also leaves less income to spend on education and other personal or family investment. Religion and AIDS The topic of religion and AIDS has become highly controversial, primarily because some religious authorities have publicly declared their opposition to the use of condoms. The religious approach to prevent the spread of AIDS, according to a report by American health expert Matthew Hanley titled The Catholic Church and the Global AIDS Crisis, argues that cultural changes are needed, including a re-emphasis on fidelity within marriage and sexual abstinence outside of it. Some religious organizations have claimed that prayer can cure HIV/AIDS. In 2011, the BBC reported that some churches in London were claiming that prayer would cure AIDS, and the Hackney-based Centre for the Study of Sexual Health and HIV reported that several people stopped taking their medication, sometimes on the direct advice of their pastor, leading to many deaths. The Synagogue Church Of All Nations advertised an "anointing water" to promote God's healing, although the group denies advising people to stop taking medication. Media portrayal One of the first high-profile cases of AIDS was the American gay actor Rock Hudson. He had been diagnosed during 1984, announced that he had had the virus on July 25, 1985, and died a few months later on October 2, 1985. Another notable British casualty of AIDS that year was Nicholas Eden, a gay politician and son of former prime minister Anthony Eden. On November 24, 1991, British rock star Freddie Mercury died from an AIDS-related illness, having revealed the diagnosis only on the previous day. One of the first high-profile heterosexual cases of the virus was American tennis player Arthur Ashe. He was diagnosed as HIV-positive on August 31, 1988, having contracted the virus from blood transfusions during heart surgery earlier in the 1980s. Further tests within 24 hours of the initial diagnosis revealed that Ashe had AIDS, but he did not tell the public about his diagnosis until April 1992. He died as a result on February 6, 1993, aged 49. Therese Frare's photograph of gay activist David Kirby, as he lay dying from AIDS while surrounded by family, was taken in April 1990. Life magazine said the photo became the one image "most powerfully identified with the HIV/AIDS epidemic." The photo was displayed in Life, was the winner of the World Press Photo, and acquired worldwide notoriety after being used in a United Colors of Benetton advertising campaign in 1992. Many famous artists and AIDS activists such as Larry Kramer, Diamanda Galás and Rosa von Praunheim campaign for AIDS education and the rights of those affected. These artists worked with various media formats. Criminal transmission Criminal transmission of HIV is the intentional or reckless infection of a person with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Some countries or jurisdictions, including some areas of the United States, have laws that criminalize HIV transmission or exposure. Others may charge the accused under laws enacted before the HIV pandemic. In 1996, Ugandan-born Canadian Johnson Aziga was diagnosed with HIV; he subsequently had unprotected sex with eleven women without disclosing his diagnosis. By 2003, seven had contracted HIV; two died from complications related to AIDS. Aziga was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Misconceptions There are many misconceptions about HIV and AIDS. Three misconceptions are that AIDS can spread through casual contact, that sexual intercourse with a virgin will cure AIDS, and that HIV can infect only gay men and drug users. In 2014, some among the British public wrongly thought one could get HIV from kissing (16%), sharing a glass (5%), spitting (16%), a public toilet seat (4%), and coughing or sneezing (5%). Other misconceptions are that any act of anal intercourse between two uninfected gay men can lead to HIV infection, and that open discussion of HIV and homosexuality in schools will lead to increased rates of AIDS. A small group of individuals continue to dispute the connection between HIV and AIDS, the existence of HIV itself, or the validity of HIV testing and treatment methods. These claims, known as AIDS denialism, have been examined and rejected by the scientific community. However, they have had a significant political impact, particularly in South Africa, where the government's official embrace of AIDS denialism (1999–2005) was responsible for its ineffective response to that country's AIDS epidemic, and has been blamed for hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths and HIV infections. Several discredited conspiracy theories have held that HIV was created by scientists, either inadvertently or deliberately. Operation INFEKTION was a worldwide Soviet active measures operation to spread the claim that the United States had created HIV/AIDS. Surveys show that a significant number of people believed—and continue to believe—in such claims. Research HIV/AIDS research includes all medical research which attempts to prevent, treat, or cure HIV/AIDS, along with fundamental research about the nature of HIV as an infectious agent, and about AIDS as the disease caused by HIV. Many governments and research institutions participate in HIV/AIDS research. This research includes behavioral health interventions such as sex education, and drug development, such as research into microbicides for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV vaccines, and antiretroviral drugs. Other medical research areas include the topics of pre-exposure prophylaxis, post-exposure prophylaxis, and circumcision and HIV. Public health officials, researchers, and programs can gain a more comprehensive picture of the barriers they face, and the efficacy of current approaches to HIV treatment and prevention, by tracking standard HIV indicators. Use of common indicators is an increasing focus of development organizations and researchers. References Notes Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. (2010). Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases (PDF) (7th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-443-06839-3. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (2011). Global HIV/AIDS Response, Epidemic update and health sector progress towards universal access (PDF). Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. External links HIV/AIDS at Curlie UNAIDS – Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS HIVinfo – Information on HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2018 Recommendations of the International Antiviral Society

List_of_countries_by_population_(United_Nations)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_(United_Nations)

This is a list of countries and other inhabited territories of the world by total population, based on estimates published by the United Nations in the 2024 revision of World Population Prospects. It presents population estimates from 1950 to the present. List Data are mid-year estimates from the United Nations and are for 2022 and 2023. See also World List of countries and dependencies by population List of countries by past and projected future population List of countries by population in 2000 List of countries by population in 2010 List of countries by population in 2024 Continental Demographics of Antarctica List of African countries by population List of Asian countries by population List of European countries by population List of European countries by population growth rate List of North American countries by population List of Oceanian countries by population List of South American countries by population Transcontinental List of Arab countries by population List of countries in the Americas by population List of Latin American countries by population List of Eurasian countries by population List of Middle Eastern countries by population Subregional List of Caribbean countries by population Others List of European Union member states by population List of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations by population List of population concern organizations Explanatory notes References External links World Population Prospects, the 2019 Revision Data sources for the World Population Prospects Methodology of the United Nations Population Estimates and Projections

India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

India, officially the Republic of India (ISO: Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country from June 2023 and from the time of its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity. Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE. By 1200 BCE, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, had diffused into India from the northwest. Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the Rigveda. Preserved by an oral tradition that was resolutely vigilant, the Rigveda records the dawning of Hinduism in India. The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions. By 400 BCE, stratification and exclusion by caste had emerged within Hinduism, and Buddhism and Jainism had arisen, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity. Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires based in the Ganges Basin. Their collective era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity, but also marked by the declining status of women, and the incorporation of untouchability into an organised system of belief. In South India, the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of Southeast Asia. In the early medieval era, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts. Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains, eventually founding the Delhi Sultanate, and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan networks of medieval Islam. In the 15th century, the Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India. In the Punjab, Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion. The Mughal Empire, in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace, leaving a legacy of luminous architecture. Gradually expanding rule of the British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy, but also consolidating its sovereignty. British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly, but technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and the public life took root. A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became the major factor in ending British rule. In 1947 the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions, a Hindu-majority Dominion of India and a Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan, amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration. India has been a federal republic since 1950, governed through a democratic parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society. India's population grew from 361 million in 1951 to almost 1.4 billion in 2022. During the same time, its nominal per capita income increased from US$64 annually to US$2,601, and its literacy rate from 16.6% to 74%. From being a comparatively destitute country in 1951, India has become a fast-growing major economy and a hub for information technology services, with an expanding middle class. India has a space programme with several planned or completed extraterrestrial missions. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture. India has substantially reduced its rate of poverty, though at the cost of increasing economic inequality. India is a nuclear-weapon state, which ranks high in military expenditure. It has disputes over Kashmir with its neighbours, Pakistan and China, unresolved since the mid-20th century. Among the socio-economic challenges India faces are gender inequality, child malnutrition, and rising levels of air pollution. India's land is megadiverse, with four biodiversity hotspots. Its forest cover comprises 21.7% of its area. India's wildlife, which has traditionally been viewed with tolerance in India's culture, is supported among these forests, and elsewhere, in protected habitats. Etymology According to the Oxford English Dictionary (third edition 2009), the name "India" is derived from the Classical Latin India, a reference to South Asia and an uncertain region to its east. In turn the name "India" derived successively from Hellenistic Greek India ( Ἰνδία), ancient Greek Indos ( Ἰνδός), Old Persian Hindush (an eastern province of the Achaemenid Empire), and ultimately its cognate, the Sanskrit Sindhu, or "river", specifically the Indus River and, by implication, its well-settled southern basin. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ἰνδοί), which translates as "The people of the Indus". The term Bharat (Bhārat; pronounced [ˈbʱaːɾət] ), mentioned in both Indian epic poetry and the Constitution of India, is used in its variations by many Indian languages. A modern rendering of the historical name Bharatavarsha, which applied originally to North India, Bharat gained increased currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India. Hindustan ([ɦɪndʊˈstaːn] ) is a Middle Persian name for India that became popular by the 13th century, and was used widely since the era of the Mughal Empire. The meaning of Hindustan has varied, referring to a region encompassing the northern Indian subcontinent (present-day northern India and Pakistan) or to India in its near entirety. History Ancient India By 55,000 years ago, the first modern humans, or Homo sapiens, had arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa, where they had earlier evolved. The earliest known modern human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago. After 6500 BCE, evidence for domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared in Mehrgarh and other sites in Balochistan, Pakistan. These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, the first urban culture in South Asia, which flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade. During the period 2000–500 BCE, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic cultures to the Iron Age ones. The Vedas, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism, were composed during this period, and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain. Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the north-west. The caste system, which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure, arose during this period. On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation. In South India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period, as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions. In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas. The emerging urbanisation gave rise to non-Vedic religious movements, two of which became independent religions. Jainism came into prominence during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira. Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India. In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal, and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire. The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent except the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas. The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma. The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the southern peninsula was ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and Southeast Asia. In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women. By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created a complex system of administration and taxation in the greater Ganges Plain; this system became a model for later Indian kingdoms. Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion, rather than the management of ritual, began to assert itself. This renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons among an urban elite. Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances. Medieval India The Indian early medieval age, from 600 to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. When Harsha of Kannauj, who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan. When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal. When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south. No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond their core region. During this time, pastoral peoples, whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy, were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes. The caste system consequently began to show regional differences. In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language. They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent. Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronised drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well. Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation. By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in Southeast Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; Southeast Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages. After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206. The sultanate was to control much of North India and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs. By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north. The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire. Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India, and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards. Early modern India In the early 16th century, northern India, then under mainly Muslim rulers, fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors. The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule. Instead, it balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices and diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status. The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency, caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion, resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture. Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience. Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India. As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs. By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established coastal outposts. The East India Company's control of the seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly assert its military strength and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; these factors were crucial in allowing the company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies. Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s. India was then no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British Empire with raw materials. Many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period. By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and having effectively been made an arm of British administration, the East India Company began more consciously to enter non-economic arenas, including education, social reform, and culture. Modern India Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe. However, disaffection with the company also grew during this time and set off the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule. Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and the direct administration of India by the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest. In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885. The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks, and many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets. There was an increase in the number of large-scale famines, and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians. There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption. The railway network provided critical famine relief, notably reduced the cost of moving goods, and helped nascent Indian-owned industry. After World War I, in which approximately one million Indians served, a new period began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a nonviolent movement of non-co-operation, of which Mahatma Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol. During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections. The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress's final push for non-co-operation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism. All were capped by the advent of independence in 1947, but tempered by the partition of India into two states: India and Pakistan. Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic. Per the London Declaration, India retained its membership of the Commonwealth, becoming the first republic within it. Economic liberalisation, which began in the 1980s and the collaboration with Soviet Union for technical know-how, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies, and increased its geopolitical clout. Yet, India is also shaped by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban; by religious and caste-related violence; by Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies; and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and in Northeast India. It has unresolved territorial disputes with China and with Pakistan. India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's newer nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved. Geography India accounts for the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the Indian tectonic plate, a part of the Indo-Australian Plate. India's defining geological processes began 75 million years ago when the Indian Plate, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloor spreading to its south-west, and later, south and south-east. Simultaneously, the vast Tethyan oceanic crust, to its northeast, began to subduct under the Eurasian Plate. These dual processes, driven by convection in the Earth's mantle, both created the Indian Ocean and caused the Indian continental crust eventually to under-thrust Eurasia and to uplift the Himalayas. Immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast crescent-shaped trough that rapidly filled with river-borne sediment and now constitutes the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The original Indian plate makes its first appearance above the sediment in the ancient Aravalli range, which extends from the Delhi Ridge in a southwesterly direction. To the west lies the Thar Desert, the eastern spread of which is checked by the Aravallis. The remaining Indian Plate survives as peninsular India, the oldest and geologically most stable part of India. It extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east. To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats; the plateau contains the country's oldest rock formations, some over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44′ and 35° 30′ north latitude and 68° 7′ and 97° 25′ east longitude. India's coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains. According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores. Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal. Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient, caused by long-term silt deposition, leads to severe floods and course changes. Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal; and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea. Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea. Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and winter monsoons. The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane. Temperatures in India have risen by 0.7 °C (1.3 °F) between 1901 and 2018. Climate change in India is often thought to be the cause. The retreat of Himalayan glaciers has adversely affected the flow rate of the major Himalayan rivers, including the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. According to some current projections, the number and severity of droughts in India will have markedly increased by the end of the present century. Biodiversity India is a megadiverse country, a term employed for 17 countries which display high biological diversity and contain many species exclusively indigenous, or endemic, to them. India is a habitat for 8.6% of all mammal species, 13.7% of bird species, 7.9% of reptile species, 6% of amphibian species, 12.2% of fish species, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species. Fully a third of Indian plant species are endemic. India also contains four of the world's 34 biodiversity hotspots, or regions that display significant habitat loss in the presence of high endemism. According to official statistics, India's forest cover is 713,789 km2 (275,595 sq mi), which is 21.71% of the country's total land area. It can be subdivided further into broad categories of canopy density, or the proportion of the area of a forest covered by its tree canopy. Very dense forest, whose canopy density is greater than 70%, occupies 3.02% of India's land area. It predominates in the tropical moist forest of the Andaman Islands, the Western Ghats, and Northeast India. Moderately dense forest, whose canopy density is between 40% and 70%, occupies 9.39% of India's land area. It predominates in the temperate coniferous forest of the Himalayas, the moist deciduous sal forest of eastern India, and the dry deciduous teak forest of central and southern India. Open forest, whose canopy density is between 10% and 40%, occupies 9.26% of India's land area. India has two natural zones of thorn forest, one in the Deccan Plateau, immediately east of the Western Ghats, and the other in the western part of the Indo-Gangetic plain, now turned into rich agricultural land by irrigation, its features no longer visible. Among the Indian subcontinent's notable indigenous trees are the astringent Azadirachta indica, or neem, which is widely used in rural Indian herbal medicine, and the luxuriant Ficus religiosa, or peepul, which is displayed on the ancient seals of Mohenjo-daro, and under which the Buddha is recorded in the Pali canon to have sought enlightenment. Many Indian species have descended from those of Gondwana, the southern supercontinent from which India separated more than 100 million years ago. India's subsequent collision with Eurasia set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes later caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms. Still later, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes flanking the Himalayas. This had the effect of lowering endemism among India's mammals, which stands at 12.6%, contrasting with 45.8% among reptiles and 55.8% among amphibians. Among endemics are the vulnerable hooded leaf monkey and the threatened Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172 IUCN-designated threatened animal species, or 2.9% of endangered forms. These include the endangered Bengal tiger and the Ganges river dolphin. Critically endangered species include the gharial, a crocodilian; the great Indian bustard; and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which has become nearly extinct by having ingested the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle. Before they were extensively used for agriculture and cleared for human settlement, the thorn forests of Punjab were mingled at intervals with open grasslands that were grazed by large herds of blackbuck preyed on by the Asiatic cheetah; the blackbuck, no longer extant in Punjab, is now severely endangered in India, and the cheetah is extinct. The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was expanded substantially. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988. India hosts more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and eighteen biosphere reserves, four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; seventy-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention. Politics and government Politics A parliamentary republic with a multi-party system, India has six recognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 50 regional parties. The Congress is considered center in Indian political culture, and the BJP right-wing. For most of the period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the Congress held a majority in the Parliament. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP, as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalition governments at the center. In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957, and 1962, the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi, who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977; the then-new Janata Party, which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; Morarji Desai and Charan Singh. Voted back into power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived, lasting just under two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar. Elections were held again in 1991; no party won an absolute majority. The Congress, as the largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. V. Narasimha Rao. A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of 1996. Several short-lived alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. There were two prime ministers during this period; H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral. In 1998, the BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to complete a five-year term. Again in the 2004 Indian general elections, no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful coalition: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had the support of left-leaning parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general election with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from India's communist parties. That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term. In the 2014 general election, the BJP became the first political party since 1984 to win a majority and govern without the support of other parties. In the 2019 general election, the BJP was victorious again. In the 2024 general election, the BJP failed to achieve simple majority and the BJP-led NDA coalition formed the government. Narendra Modi, a former chief minister of Gujarat, is serving as the 14th Prime Minister of India in his third term since May 26, 2014. Government India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India—the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic. Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the union and the states. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950, originally stated India to be a "sovereign, democratic republic;" this characterisation was amended in 1971 to "a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic". India's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states, has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes. The Government of India comprises three branches: Executive: The President of India is the ceremonial head of state, who is elected indirectly for a five-year term by an electoral college comprising members of national and state legislatures. The Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power. Appointed by the president, the prime minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance having a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament. The executive of the Indian government consists of the president, the vice-president, and the Union Council of Ministers—with the cabinet being its executive committee—headed by the prime minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of parliament. In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature; the prime minister and their council are directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament. Civil servants act as permanent executives and all decisions of the executive are implemented by them. Legislature: The legislature of India is the bicameral parliament. Operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system, it comprises an upper house called the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and a lower house called the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body of 245 members who serve staggered six-year terms with elections every 2 years. Most are elected indirectly by the state and union territorial legislatures in numbers proportional to their state's share of the national population. All but two of the Lok Sabha's 545 members are elected directly by popular vote; they represent single-member constituencies for five-year terms. Two seats of parliament, reserved for Anglo-Indians in the article 331, have been scrapped. Judiciary: India has a three-tier unitary independent judiciary comprising the supreme court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, 25 high courts, and a large number of trial courts. The supreme court has original jurisdiction over cases involving fundamental rights and over disputes between states and the centre and has appellate jurisdiction over the high courts. It has the power to both strike down union or state laws which contravene the constitution and invalidate any government action it deems unconstitutional. Administrative divisions India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories. All states, as well as the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments following the Westminster system of governance. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the central government through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis. There are over a quarter of a million local government bodies at city, town, block, district and village levels. States Union territories Foreign, economic and strategic relations In the 1950s, India strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and Asia and played a leading role in the Non-Aligned Movement. After initially cordial relations with neighbouring China, India went to war with China in 1962 and was widely thought to have been humiliated. This was followed by another military conflict in 1967 in which India successfully repelled Chinese attack. India has had tense relations with neighbouring Pakistan; the two nations have gone to war four times: in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999. Three of these wars were fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir, while the third, the 1971 war, followed from India's support for the independence of Bangladesh. In the late 1980s, the Indian military twice intervened abroad at the invitation of the host country: a peace-keeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990; and an armed intervention to prevent a 1988 coup d'état attempt in the Maldives. After the 1965 war with Pakistan, India began to pursue close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest arms supplier. Aside from its ongoing special relationship with Russia, India has wide-ranging defence relations with Israel and France. In recent years, it has played key roles in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organization. The nation has provided 100,000 military and police personnel to serve in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. It participates in the East Asia Summit, the G8+5, and other multilateral forums. India has close economic ties with countries in South America, Asia, and Africa; it pursues a "Look East" policy that seeks to strengthen partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan, and South Korea that revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment and regional security. China's nuclear test of 1964, as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war, convinced India to develop nuclear weapons. India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out additional underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, considering both to be flawed and discriminatory. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and is developing a nuclear triad capability as a part of its "Minimum Credible Deterrence" doctrine. It is developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, a fifth-generation fighter jet. Other indigenous military projects involve the design and implementation of Vikrant-class aircraft carriers and Arihant-class nuclear submarines. Since the end of the Cold War, India has increased its economic, strategic, and military co-operation with the United States and the European Union. In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India became the sixth de facto nuclear weapons state. India subsequently signed co-operation agreements involving civilian nuclear energy with Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 1.45 million active troops, they compose the world's second-largest military. It comprises the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Coast Guard. The official Indian defence budget for 2011 was US$36.03 billion, or 1.83% of GDP. Defence expenditure was pegged at US$70.12 billion for fiscal year 2022–23 and, increased 9.8% than previous fiscal year. India is the world's second-largest arms importer; between 2016 and 2020, it accounted for 9.5% of the total global arms imports. Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean. In May 2017, the Indian Space Research Organisation launched the South Asia Satellite, a gift from India to its neighbouring SAARC countries. In October 2018, India signed a US$5.43 billion (over ₹400 billion) agreement with Russia to procure four S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile defence systems, Russia's most advanced long-range missile defence system. Economy According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Indian economy in 2024 was nominally worth $3.94 trillion; it was the fifth-largest economy by market exchange rates and is, at around $15.0 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). With its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1% during 2011–2012, India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies. However, the country ranks 136th in the world in nominal GDP per capita and 125th in GDP per capita at PPP. Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced the nation to liberalise its economy; since then, it has moved increasingly towards a free-market system by emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows. India has been a member of World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995. The 522-million-worker Indian labour force is the world's second largest, as of 2017. The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector 18.1%. India's foreign exchange remittances of US$100 billion in 2022, highest in the world, were contributed to its economy by 32 million Indians working in foreign countries. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software. In 2006, the share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985. In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.7%; In 2021, India was the world's ninth-largest importer and the sixteenth-largest exporter. Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and manufactured leather goods. Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals. Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%. India was the world's second-largest textile exporter after China in the 2013 calendar year. Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007, India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century. Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580 million by 2030. Though ranking 68th in global competitiveness, as of 2010, India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, 24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication, and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies. With seven of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, as of 2009, the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States. India is ranked 39th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.As of 2023, India's consumer market was the world's fifth largest. Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita increased steadily from US$308 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to US$1,380 in 2010, to an estimated US$2,731 in 2024. It is expected to grow to US$3,264 by 2026. However, it has remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to remain so in the near future. According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States by 2045. During the next four decades, Indian GDP is expected to grow at an annualised average of 8%, making it potentially the world's fastest-growing major economy until 2050. The report highlights key growth factors: a young and rapidly growing working-age population; growth in the manufacturing sector because of rising education and engineering skill levels; and sustained growth of the consumer market driven by a rapidly growing middle-class. The World Bank cautions that, for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to focus on public sector reform, transport infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, education, energy security, and public health and nutrition. According to the Worldwide Cost of Living Report 2017 released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which was created by comparing more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services, four of the cheapest cities were in India: Bangalore (3rd), Mumbai (5th), Chennai (5th) and New Delhi (8th). Industries India's telecommunication industry is the second-largest in the world with over 1.2 billion subscribers. It contributes 6.5% to India's GDP. After the third quarter of 2017, India surpassed the US to become the second-largest smartphone market in the world after China. The Indian automotive industry, the world's second-fastest growing, increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009–2010, and exports by 36% during 2008–2009. In 2022, India became the world's third-largest vehicle market after China and the United States, surpassing Japan. At the end of 2011, the Indian IT industry employed 2.8 million professionals, generated revenues close to US$100 billion equalling 7.5% of Indian GDP, and contributed 26% of India's merchandise exports. The pharmaceutical industry in India emerged as a global player. As of 2021, with 3000 pharmaceutical companies and 10,500 manufacturing units India is the world's third-largest pharmaceutical producer, largest producer of generic medicines and supply up to 50–60% of global vaccines demand, these all contribute up to US$24.44 billions in exports and India's local pharmaceutical market is estimated up to US$42 billion. India is among the top 12 biotech destinations in the world. The Indian biotech industry grew by 15.1% in 2012–2013, increasing its revenues from ₹204.4 billion (Indian rupees) to ₹235.24 billion (US$3.94 billion at June 2013 exchange rates). Energy India's capacity to generate electrical power is 300 gigawatts, of which 42 gigawatts is renewable. The country's usage of coal is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions by India but its renewable energy is competing strongly. India emits about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This equates to about 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide per person per year, which is half the world average. Increasing access to electricity and clean cooking with liquefied petroleum gas have been priorities for energy in India. Socio-economic challenges Despite economic growth during recent decades, India continues to face socio-economic challenges. In 2006, India contained the largest number of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. The proportion decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005. Under the World Bank's later revised poverty line, it was 21% in 2011. 30.7% of India's children under the age of five are underweight. According to a Food and Agriculture Organization report in 2015, 15% of the population is undernourished. The Midday Meal Scheme attempts to lower these rates. A 2018 Walk Free Foundation report estimated that nearly 8 million people in India were living in different forms of modern slavery, such as bonded labour, child labour, human trafficking, and forced begging, among others. According to the 2011 census, there were 10.1 million child labourers in the country, a decline of 2.6 million from 12.6 million in 2001. Since 1991, economic inequality between India's states has consistently grown: the per-capita net state domestic product of the richest states in 2007 was 3.2 times that of the poorest. Corruption in India is perceived to have decreased. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index, India ranked 78th out of 180 countries in 2018 with a score of 41 out of 100, an improvement from 85th in 2014. Demographics, languages and religion With an estimated 1,428,627,663 residents in 2023, India is the world's most populous country. 1,210,193,422 residents were reported in the 2011 provisional census report. Its population grew by 17.64% from 2001 to 2011, compared to 21.54% growth in the previous decade (1991–2001). The human sex ratio, according to the 2011 census, is 940 females per 1,000 males. The median age was 28.7 as of 2020. The first post-colonial census, conducted in 1951, counted 361 million people. Medical advances made in the last 50 years as well as increased agricultural productivity brought about by the "Green Revolution" have caused India's population to grow rapidly. The life expectancy in India is at 70 years—71.5 years for women, 68.7 years for men. There are around 93 physicians per 100,000 people. Migration from rural to urban areas has been an important dynamic in India's recent history. The number of people living in urban areas grew by 31.2% between 1991 and 2001. Yet, in 2001, over 70% still lived in rural areas. The level of urbanisation increased further from 27.81% in the 2001 Census to 31.16% in the 2011 Census. The slowing down of the overall population growth rate was due to the sharp decline in the growth rate in rural areas since 1991. According to the 2011 census, there are 53 million-plus urban agglomerations in India; among them Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, in decreasing order by population. The literacy rate in 2011 was 74.04%: 65.46% among females and 82.14% among males. The rural-urban literacy gap, which was 21.2 percentage points in 2001, dropped to 16.1 percentage points in 2011. The improvement in the rural literacy rate is twice that of urban areas. Kerala is the most literate state with 93.91% literacy; while Bihar the least with 63.82%. Among speakers of the Indian languages, 74% speak Indo-Aryan languages, the easternmost branch of the Indo-European languages; 24% speak Dravidian languages, indigenous to South Asia and spoken widely before the spread of Indo-Aryan languages and 2% speak Austroasiatic languages or the Sino-Tibetan languages. India has no national language. Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the government. English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a "subsidiary official language"; it is important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. Each state and union territory has one or more official languages, and the constitution recognises in particular 22 "scheduled languages". The 2011 census reported the religion in India with the largest number of followers was Hinduism (79.80% of the population), followed by Islam (14.23%); the remaining were Christianity (2.30%), Sikhism (1.72%), Buddhism (0.70%), Jainism (0.36%) and others (0.9%). India has the third-largest Muslim population—the largest for a non-Muslim majority country. Culture Indian cultural history spans more than 4,500 years. During the Vedic period (c. 1700 BCE – c. 500 BCE), the foundations of Hindu philosophy, mythology, theology and literature were laid, and many beliefs and practices which still exist today, such as dhárma, kárma, yóga, and mokṣa, were established. India is notable for its religious diversity, with Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, and Jainism among the nation's major religions. The predominant religion, Hinduism, has been shaped by various historical schools of thought, including those of the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras, the Bhakti movement, and by Buddhist philosophy. Visual art India has a very ancient tradition of art, which has exchanged many influences with the rest of Eurasia, especially in the first millennium, when Buddhist art spread with Indian religions to Central, East and Southeast Asia, the last also greatly influenced by Hindu art. Thousands of seals from the Indus Valley Civilization of the third millennium BCE have been found, usually carved with animals, but a few with human figures. The "Pashupati" seal, excavated in Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, in 1928–29, is the best known. After this there is a long period with virtually nothing surviving. Almost all surviving ancient Indian art thereafter is in various forms of religious sculpture in durable materials, or coins. There was probably originally far more in wood, which is lost. In north India Mauryan art is the first imperial movement. In the first millennium CE, Buddhist art spread with Indian religions to Central, East and Southeast Asia, the last also greatly influenced by Hindu art. Over the following centuries a distinctly Indian style of sculpting the human figure developed, with less interest in articulating precise anatomy than ancient Greek sculpture but showing smoothly flowing forms expressing prana ("breath" or life-force). This is often complicated by the need to give figures multiple arms or heads, or represent different genders on the left and right of figures, as with the Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva and Parvati. Most of the earliest large sculpture is Buddhist, either excavated from Buddhist stupas such as Sanchi, Sarnath and Amaravati, or is rock cut reliefs at sites such as Ajanta, Karla and Ellora. Hindu and Jain sites appear rather later. In spite of this complex mixture of religious traditions, generally, the prevailing artistic style at any time and place has been shared by the major religious groups, and sculptors probably usually served all communities. Gupta art, at its peak c. 300 CE – c. 500 CE, is often regarded as a classical period whose influence lingered for many centuries after; it saw a new dominance of Hindu sculpture, as at the Elephanta Caves. Across the north, this became rather stiff and formulaic after c. 800 CE, though rich with finely carved detail in the surrounds of statues. But in the South, under the Pallava and Chola dynasties, sculpture in both stone and bronze had a sustained period of great achievement; the large bronzes with Shiva as Nataraja have become an iconic symbol of India. Ancient painting has only survived at a few sites, of which the crowded scenes of court life in the Ajanta Caves are by far the most important, but it was evidently highly developed, and is mentioned as a courtly accomplishment in Gupta times. Painted manuscripts of religious texts survive from Eastern India about the 10th century onwards, most of the earliest being Buddhist and later Jain. No doubt the style of these was used in larger paintings. The Persian-derived Deccan painting, starting just before the Mughal miniature, between them give the first large body of secular painting, with an emphasis on portraits, and the recording of princely pleasures and wars. The style spread to Hindu courts, especially among the Rajputs, and developed a variety of styles, with the smaller courts often the most innovative, with figures such as Nihâl Chand and Nainsukh. As a market developed among European residents, it was supplied by Company painting by Indian artists with considerable Western influence. In the 19th century, cheap Kalighat paintings of gods and everyday life, done on paper, were urban folk art from Calcutta, which later saw the Bengal School of Art, reflecting the art colleges founded by the British, the first movement in modern Indian painting. Architecture Much of Indian architecture, including the Taj Mahal, other works of Indo-Islamic Mughal architecture, and South Indian architecture, blends ancient local traditions with imported styles. Vernacular architecture is also regional in its flavours. Vastu shastra, literally "science of construction" or "architecture" and ascribed to Mamuni Mayan, explores how the laws of nature affect human dwellings; it employs precise geometry and directional alignments to reflect perceived cosmic constructs. As applied in Hindu temple architecture, it is influenced by the Shilpa Shastras, a series of foundational texts whose basic mythological form is the Vastu-Purusha mandala, a square that embodied the "absolute". The Taj Mahal, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by orders of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, has been described in the UNESCO World Heritage List as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, developed by the British in the late 19th century, drew on Indo-Islamic architecture. Literature The earliest literature in India, composed between 1500 BCE and 1200 CE, was in the Sanskrit language. Major works of Sanskrit literature include the Rigveda (c. 1500 BCE – c. 1200 BCE), the epics: Mahābhārata (c. 400 BCE – c. 400 CE) and the Ramayana (c. 300 BCE and later); Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Śakuntalā, and other dramas of Kālidāsa (c. 5th century CE) and Mahākāvya poetry. In Tamil literature, the Sangam literature (c. 600 BCE – c. 300 BCE) consisting of 2,381 poems, composed by 473 poets, is the earliest work. From the 14th to the 18th centuries, India's literary traditions went through a period of drastic change because of the emergence of devotional poets like Kabīr, Tulsīdās, and Guru Nānak. This period was characterised by a varied and wide spectrum of thought and expression; as a consequence, medieval Indian literary works differed significantly from classical traditions. In the 19th century, Indian writers took a new interest in social questions and psychological descriptions. In the 20th century, Indian literature was influenced by the works of the Bengali poet, author and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, who was a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Performing arts and media Indian music ranges over various traditions and regional styles. Classical music encompasses two genres and their various folk offshoots: the northern Hindustani and the southern Carnatic schools. Regionalised popular forms include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the bauls is a well-known form of the latter. Indian dance also features diverse folk and classical forms. Among the better-known folk dances are: bhangra of Punjab, bihu of Assam, Jhumair and chhau of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, garba and dandiya of Gujarat, ghoomar of Rajasthan, and lavani of Maharashtra. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniyattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri of Manipur, odissi of Odisha, and the sattriya of Assam. Theatre in India melds music, dance, and improvised or written dialogue. Often based on Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from medieval romances or social and political events, Indian theatre includes: the bhavai of Gujarat, the jatra of West Bengal, the nautanki and ramlila of North India, tamasha of Maharashtra, burrakatha of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and the yakshagana of Karnataka. India has a theatre training institute the National School of Drama (NSD) that is situated at New Delhi. It is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of culture, Government of India. The Indian film industry produces the world's most-watched cinema. Established regional cinematic traditions exist in the Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, and Telugu languages. The Hindi language film industry (Bollywood) is the largest sector representing 43% of box office revenue, followed by the South Indian Telugu and Tamil film industries which represent 36% combined. Television broadcasting began in India in 1959 as a state-run medium of communication and expanded slowly for more than two decades. The state monopoly on television broadcast ended in the 1990s. Since then, satellite channels have increasingly shaped the popular culture of Indian society. Today, television is the most penetrative media in India; industry estimates indicate that as of 2012 there are over 554 million TV consumers, 462 million with satellite or cable connections compared to other forms of mass media such as the press (350 million), radio (156 million) or internet (37 million). Society Traditional Indian society is sometimes defined by social hierarchy. The Indian caste system embodies much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found on the Indian subcontinent. Social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis, or "castes". India abolished untouchability in 1950 with the adoption of the constitution and has since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives. Family values are important in the Indian tradition, and multi-generational patrilineal joint families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas. An overwhelming majority of Indians, with their consent, have their marriages arranged by their parents or other family elders. Marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low, with less than one in a thousand marriages ending in divorce. Child marriages are common, especially in rural areas; many women wed before reaching 18, which is their legal marriageable age. Female infanticide in India, and lately female foeticide, have created skewed gender ratios; the number of missing women in the country quadrupled from 15 million to 63 million in the 50-year period ending in 2014, faster than the population growth during the same period, and constituting 20 percent of India's female electorate. According to an Indian government study, an additional 21 million girls are unwanted and do not receive adequate care. Despite a government ban on sex-selective foeticide, the practice remains commonplace in India, the result of a preference for boys in a patriarchal society. The payment of dowry, although illegal, remains widespread across class lines. Deaths resulting from dowry, mostly from bride burning, are on the rise, despite stringent anti-dowry laws. Many Indian festivals are religious in origin. The best known include Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Thai Pongal, Holi, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas, and Vaisakhi. Education In the 2011 census, about 73% of the population was literate, with 81% for men and 65% for women. This compares to 1981 when the respective rates were 41%, 53% and 29%. In 1951 the rates were 18%, 27% and 9%. In 1921 the rates 7%, 12% and 2%. In 1891 they were 5%, 9% and 1%, According to Latika Chaudhary, in 1911 there were under three primary schools for every ten villages. Statistically, more caste and religious diversity reduced private spending. Primary schools taught literacy, so local diversity limited its growth. The education system of India is the world's second-largest. India has over 900 universities, 40,000 colleges and 1.5 million schools. In India's higher education system, a significant number of seats are reserved under affirmative action policies for the historically disadvantaged. In recent decades India's improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to its economic development. Clothing From ancient times until the advent of the modern, the most widely worn traditional dress in India was draped. For women it took the form of a sari, a single piece of cloth many yards long. The sari was traditionally wrapped around the lower body and the shoulder. In its modern form, it is combined with an underskirt, or Indian petticoat, and tucked in the waist band for more secure fastening. It is also commonly worn with an Indian blouse, or choli, which serves as the primary upper-body garment, the sari's end—passing over the shoulder—serving to cover the midriff and obscure the upper body's contours. For men, a similar but shorter length of cloth, the dhoti, has served as a lower-body garment. The use of stitched clothes became widespread after Muslim rule was established at first by the Delhi sultanate (c. 1300 CE) and then continued by the Mughal Empire (c. 1525 CE). Among the garments introduced during this time and still commonly worn are: the shalwars and pyjamas, both styles of trousers, and the tunics kurta and kameez. In southern India, the traditional draped garments were to see much longer continuous use. Salwars are atypically wide at the waist but narrow to a cuffed bottom. They are held up by a drawstring, which causes them to become pleated around the waist. The pants can be wide and baggy, or they can be cut quite narrow, on the bias, in which case they are called churidars. When they are ordinarily wide at the waist and their bottoms are hemmed but not cuffed, they are called pyjamas. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic, its side seams left open below the waistline. The kurta is traditionally collarless and made of cotton or silk; it is worn plain or with embroidered decoration, such as chikan; and typically falls to either just above or just below the wearer's knees. In the last 50 years, fashions have changed a great deal in India. Increasingly, in urban northern India, the sari is no longer the apparel of everyday wear, though they remain popular on formal occasions. The traditional shalwar kameez is rarely worn by younger urban women, who favour churidars or jeans. In white-collar office settings, ubiquitous air conditioning allows men to wear sports jackets year-round. For weddings and formal occasions, men in the middle- and upper classes often wear bandgala, or short Nehru jackets, with pants, with the groom and his groomsmen sporting sherwanis and churidars. The dhoti, once the universal garment of Hindu males, the wearing of which in the homespun and handwoven khadi allowed Gandhi to bring Indian nationalism to the millions, is seldom seen in the cities. Cuisine The foundation of a typical Indian meal is a cereal cooked in a plain fashion and complemented with flavourful savoury dishes. The cooked cereal could be steamed rice; chapati, a thin unleavened bread made from wheat flour, or occasionally cornmeal, and griddle-cooked dry; the idli, a steamed breakfast cake, or dosa, a griddled pancake, both leavened and made from a batter of rice- and gram meal. The savoury dishes might include lentils, pulses and vegetables commonly spiced with ginger and garlic, but also with a combination of spices that may include coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamon and others as informed by culinary conventions. They might also include poultry, fish, or meat dishes. In some instances, the ingredients might be mixed during the process of cooking. A platter, or thali, used for eating usually has a central place reserved for the cooked cereal, and peripheral ones for the flavourful accompaniments, which are often served in small bowls. The cereal and its accompaniments are eaten simultaneously rather than a piecemeal manner. This is accomplished by mixing—for example of rice and lentils—or folding, wrapping, scooping or dipping—such as chapati and cooked vegetables or lentils. India has distinctive vegetarian cuisines, each a feature of the geographical and cultural histories of its adherents. The appearance of ahimsa, or the avoidance of violence toward all forms of life in many religious orders early in Indian history, especially Upanishadic Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, is thought to have contributed to the predominance of vegetarianism among a large segment of India's Hindu population, especially in southern India, Gujarat, the Hindi-speaking belt of north-central India, as well as among Jains. Although meat is eaten widely in India, the proportional consumption of meat in the overall diet is low. Unlike China, which has increased its per capita meat consumption substantially in its years of increased economic growth, in India the strong dietary traditions have contributed to dairy, rather than meat, becoming the preferred form of animal protein consumption. The most significant import of cooking techniques into India during the last millennium occurred during the Mughal Empire. Dishes such as the pilaf, developed in the Abbasid caliphate, and cooking techniques such as the marinating of meat in yogurt, spread into northern India from regions to its northwest. To the simple yogurt marinade of Persia, onions, garlic, almonds, and spices began to be added in India. Rice was partially cooked and layered alternately with the sauteed meat, the pot sealed tightly, and slow cooked according to another Persian cooking technique, to produce what has today become the Indian biryani, a feature of festive dining in many parts of India. In the food served in Indian restaurants worldwide the diversity of Indian food has been partially concealed by the dominance of Punjabi cuisine. The popularity of tandoori chicken—cooked in the tandoor oven, which had traditionally been used for baking bread in the rural Punjab and the Delhi region, especially among Muslims, but which is originally from Central Asia—dates to the 1950s, and was caused in large part by an entrepreneurial response among people from the Punjab who had been displaced by the 1947 partition of India. Sports and recreation Several traditional indigenous sports—such as kabaddi, kho kho, pehlwani, gilli-danda, hopscotch and martial arts such as Kalarippayattu and marma adi—remain popular. Chess is commonly held to have originated in India as chaturaṅga; in recent years, there has been a rise in the number of Indian grandmasters. Viswanathan Anand became the Chess World Champion in 2007 and held the status until 2013. He also won the Chess World Cup in 2000 and 2002. In 2023, R Praggnanandhaa finished as runner-up in the tournament. Parcheesi is derived from Pachisi, another traditional Indian pastime, which in early modern times was played on a giant marble court by Mughal emperor Akbar the Great. Cricket is the most popular sport in India. The major domestic league is the Indian Premier League. Professional leagues in other sports include the Indian Super League (football) and the Pro Kabaddi league. India has won two Cricket World Cups, the 1983 edition and the 2011 edition. India became the inaugural ICC Men's T20 World Cup Champions in 2007, and won it again in 2024. India has also won the Champions Trophy twice, in 2002 and 2013. The only edition of the World Championship of Cricket was won by India in 1985. India also has eight field hockey gold medals in the summer olympics. The improved results garnered by the Indian Davis Cup team and other tennis players in the early 2010s have made tennis increasingly popular in the country. India has a comparatively strong presence in shooting sports, and has won several medals at the Olympics, the World Shooting Championships, and the Commonwealth Games. Other sports in which Indians have succeeded internationally include badminton (Saina Nehwal and P. V. Sindhu are two of the top-ranked female badminton players in the world), boxing, and wrestling. Football is popular in West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the north-eastern states.India has traditionally been the dominant country at the South Asian Games. An example of this dominance is the basketball competition where the Indian team won four out of five tournaments to date. India has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events: the 1951 and 1982 Asian Games; the 1987, 1996, 2011 and 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup tournaments (and is also scheduled to host it in 2031); the 1978, 1997 and 2013 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup tournaments (and is also scheduled to host it in 2025); the 1987, 1985 and 2016 South Asian Games; the 1990–91 Men's Asia Cup; the 2002 Chess World Cup; the 2003 Afro-Asian Games; the 2006 ICC Cricket Champion's Trophy (and is also scheduled to host it in 2029); the 2006 Women's Asia Cup; the 2009 World Badminton Championships; the 2010 Hockey World Cup; the 2010 Commonwealth Games; the 2016 ICC Men's Cricket T20 World Cup (and is also scheduled to host it in 2026); the 2016 ICC Women's Cricket T20 World Cup and the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Major international sporting events held annually in India include the Maharashtra Open, the Mumbai Marathon, the Delhi Half Marathon, and the Indian Masters. The first Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix featured in late 2011 but has been discontinued from the F1 season calendar since 2014. See also Administrative divisions of India Outline of India Notes References Bibliography Overview Etymology History Geography Biodiversity Politics Foreign relations and military Economy Demographics Art Culture External links Government Official website of the Government of India Government of India Web Directory General information India. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. India web resources provided by GovPubs at the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries India from BBC News Wikimedia Atlas of India Geographic data related to India at OpenStreetMap Key Development Forecasts for India from International Futures

China

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the world's second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land. With an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third-largest country by total land area. The country is divided into 33 province-level divisions: 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two semi-autonomous special administrative regions. Beijing is the country's capital, while Shanghai is its most populous city by urban area and largest financial center. China is considered one of the cradles of civilization: the first human inhabitants in the region arrived during the Paleolithic; by the late second millennium BCE, the earliest dynastic states had emerged in the Yellow River basin. The eighth to third centuries BCE saw a breakdown in the authority of the Zhou dynasty, accompanied by the emergence of administrative and military techniques, literature, philosophy, and historiography. In 221 BCE, China was unified under an emperor for the first time. Appointed non-hereditary officials began ruling counties instead of the aristocracy, ushering in more than two millennia of imperial dynasties including the Qin, Han, Tang, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. With the invention of gunpowder and paper, the establishment of the Silk Road, and the building of the Great Wall, Chinese culture—including languages, traditions, architecture, philosophy and technology—flourished and has heavily influenced both its neighbors and lands further afield. However, China began to cede parts of the country in the late 19th century to various European powers by a series of unequal treaties. After decades of struggle, the 1911 Revolution resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC) the following year. The country under the nascent Beiyang government was unstable and ultimately fragmented during the Warlord Era, which was ended upon the Northern Expedition conducted by the Kuomintang (KMT) to reunify the country. The Chinese Civil War began in 1927, when KMT forces purged members of the rival Chinese Communist Party (CCP), who proceeded to engage in sporadic fighting against the KMT-led Nationalist government. Following the country's invasion by the Empire of Japan in 1937, the KMT and CCP temporarily agreed to a truce in favor of a united front against the Japanese. The Second Sino-Japanese War eventually ended in a Chinese victory; however, atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre had a lasting impact on the country. The end of war with Japan in 1945 was quickly followed by a resumption of hostilities between the KMT and CCP. In 1949, the resurgent Communists established control over most of the country, proclaiming the People's Republic of China and forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to the island of Taiwan. The country was split, with both sides claiming to be the sole legitimate government of China. Following the implementation of land reforms, further attempts by the PRC to realize communism failed: the Great Leap Forward was largely responsible for the Great Chinese Famine that ended with millions of Chinese people having died, and the subsequent Cultural Revolution was a period of social turmoil and persecution characterized by Maoist populism. Following the Sino-Soviet split, the Shanghai Communiqué in 1972 would precipitate the normalization of relations with the United States. Economic reforms that began in 1978 led by reformists within the CCP moved the country away from a socialist planned economy towards an increasingly capitalist market economy, spurring significant economic growth. The corresponding movement for increased democracy and liberalization stalled after the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989. China is a unitary one-party socialist republic led by the CCP. It is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; the UN representative for China was changed from the ROC to the PRC in 1971. It is a founding member of several multilateral and regional organizations such as the AIIB, the Silk Road Fund, the New Development Bank, and the RCEP. It is a member of the BRICS, the G20, APEC, the SCO, and the East Asia Summit. Making up around one-fifth of the world economy, the Chinese economy is the world's largest economy by GDP at purchasing power parity, the second-largest economy by nominal GDP, and the second-wealthiest country, albeit ranking poorly in measures of democracy, human rights and religious freedom. The country has been one of the fastest-growing major economies and is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter, as well as the second-largest importer. China is a nuclear-weapon state with the world's largest standing army by military personnel and the second-largest defense budget. It is a great power and a regional power, and has been described as an emerging superpower. China is known for its cuisine and culture, and has 59 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the second-highest number of any country. Etymology The word "China" has been used in English since the 16th century; however, it was not used by the Chinese themselves during this period. Its origin has been traced through Portuguese, Malay, and Persian back to the Sanskrit word Cīna, used in ancient India. "China" appears in Richard Eden's 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. Barbosa's usage was derived from Persian Chīn (چین), which in turn derived from Sanskrit Cīna (चीन). Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahabharata (5th century BCE) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BCE). In 1655, Martino Martini suggested that the word China is derived ultimately from the name of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE). Although use in Indian sources precedes this dynasty, this derivation is still given in various sources. The origin of the Sanskrit word is a matter of debate. Alternative suggestions include the names for Yelang and the Jing or Chu state. The official name of the modern state is the "People's Republic of China" (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó). The shorter form is "China" (中国; 中國; Zhōngguó), from zhōng ('central') and guó ('state'), a term which developed under the Western Zhou dynasty in reference to its royal demesne. It was used in official documents as an synonym for the state under the Qing. The name Zhongguo is also translated as 'Middle Kingdom' in English. China is sometimes referred to as "mainland China" or "the Mainland" when distinguishing it from the Republic of China or the PRC's Special Administrative Regions. History Prehistory Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China 2.25 million years ago. The hominid fossils of Peking Man, a Homo erectus who used fire, have been dated to between 680,000 and 780,000 years ago. The fossilized teeth of Homo sapiens (dated to 125,000–80,000 years ago) have been discovered in Fuyan Cave. Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 6600 BCE, at Damaidi around 6000 BCE, Dadiwan from 5800 to 5400 BCE, and Banpo dating from the 5th millennium BCE. Some scholars have suggested that the Jiahu symbols (7th millennium BCE) constituted the earliest Chinese writing system. Early dynastic rule According to traditional Chinese historiography, the Xia dynasty was established during the late third millennium BC, marking the beginning of the dynastic cycle that was understood to underpin China's entire political history. In the modern era, the Xia's historicity came under increasing scrutiny, in part due to the earliest known attestation of the Xia being written millennia after the date given for their collapse. In 1958, archaeologists discovered sites belonging to the Erlitou culture that existed during the early Bronze Age; they have since been characterized as the remains of the historical Xia, but this conception is often rejected. The Shang dynasty that traditionally succeeded the Xia is the earliest for which there are both contemporary written records and undisputed archaeological evidence. The Shang ruled much of the Yellow River valley until the 11th century BCE, with the earliest hard evidence dating to c. 1300 BCE. The oracle bone script, attested from c. 1250 BCE but generally assumed to be considerably older, represents the oldest known form of written Chinese, and is the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters. The Shang were overthrown by the Zhou, who ruled between the 11th and 5th centuries BCE, though the centralized authority of Son of Heaven was slowly eroded by fengjian lords. Some principalities eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou and continually waged war with each other during the 300-year Spring and Autumn period. By the time of the Warring States period of the 5th–3rd centuries BCE, there were seven major powerful states left. Imperial China Qin and Han The Warring States period ended in 221 BCE after the state of Qin conquered the other six states, reunited China and established the dominant order of autocracy. King Zheng of Qin proclaimed himself the Emperor of the Qin dynasty, becoming the first emperor of a unified China. He enacted Qin's legalist reforms, notably the standardization of Chinese characters, measurements, road widths, and currency. His dynasty also conquered the Yue tribes in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Northern Vietnam. The Qin dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after the First Emperor's death. Following widespread revolts during which the imperial library was burned, the Han dynasty emerged to rule China between 206 BCE and CE 220, creating a cultural identity among its populace still remembered in the ethnonym of the modern Han Chinese. The Han expanded the empire's territory considerably, with military campaigns reaching Central Asia, Mongolia, Korea, and Yunnan, and the recovery of Guangdong and northern Vietnam from Nanyue. Han involvement in Central Asia and Sogdia helped establish the land route of the Silk Road, replacing the earlier path over the Himalayas to India. Han China gradually became the largest economy of the ancient world. Despite the Han's initial decentralization and the official abandonment of the Qin philosophy of Legalism in favor of Confucianism, Qin's legalist institutions and policies continued to be employed by the Han government and its successors. Three Kingdoms, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties After the end of the Han dynasty, a period of strife known as Three Kingdoms followed, at the end of which Wei was swiftly overthrown by the Jin dynasty. The Jin fell to civil war upon the ascension of a developmentally disabled emperor; the Five Barbarians then rebelled and ruled northern China as the Sixteen States. The Xianbei unified them as the Northern Wei, whose Emperor Xiaowen reversed his predecessors' apartheid policies and enforced a drastic sinification on his subjects. In the south, the general Liu Yu secured the abdication of the Jin in favor of the Liu Song. The various successors of these states became known as the Northern and Southern dynasties, with the two areas finally reunited by the Sui in 581. Sui, Tang and Song The Sui restored the Han to power through China, reformed its agriculture, economy and imperial examination system, constructed the Grand Canal, and patronized Buddhism. However, they fell quickly when their conscription for public works and a failed war in northern Korea provoked widespread unrest. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese economy, technology, and culture entered a golden age. The Tang dynasty retained control of the Western Regions and the Silk Road, which brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa, and made the capital Chang'an a cosmopolitan urban center. However, it was devastated and weakened by the An Lushan rebellion in the 8th century. In 907, the Tang disintegrated completely when the local military governors became ungovernable. The Song dynasty ended the separatist situation in 960, leading to a balance of power between the Song and the Liao dynasty. The Song was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent navy which was supported by the developed shipbuilding industry along with the sea trade. Between the 10th and 11th century CE, the population of China doubled to around 100 million people, mostly because of the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song dynasty also saw a revival of Confucianism, in response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang, and a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and porcelain were brought to new levels of complexity. However, the military weakness of the Song army was observed by the Jin dynasty. In 1127, Emperor Huizong of Song and the capital Bianjing were captured during the Jin–Song wars. The remnants of the Song retreated to southern China. Yuan The Mongol conquest of China began in 1205 with the campaigns against Western Xia by Genghis Khan, who also invaded Jin territories. In 1271, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty, which conquered the last remnant of the Song dynasty in 1279. Before the Mongol invasion, the population of Song China was 120 million citizens; this was reduced to 60 million by the time of the census in 1300. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty as the Hongwu Emperor. Under the Ming dynasty, China enjoyed another golden age, developing one of the strongest navies in the world and a rich and prosperous economy amid a flourishing of art and culture. It was during this period that admiral Zheng He led the Ming treasure voyages throughout the Indian Ocean, reaching as far as East Africa. Ming In the early Ming dynasty, China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing. With the budding of capitalism, philosophers such as Wang Yangming critiqued and expanded Neo-Confucianism with concepts of individualism and equality of four occupations. The scholar-official stratum became a supporting force of industry and commerce in the tax boycott movements, which, together with the famines and defense against Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) and Later Jin incursions led to an exhausted treasury. In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of peasant rebel forces led by Li Zicheng. The Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing dynasty, then allied with Ming dynasty general Wu Sangui, overthrew Li's short-lived Shun dynasty and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty. Qing The Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. The Ming-Qing transition (1618–1683) cost 25 million lives, but the Qing appeared to have restored China's imperial power and inaugurated another flowering of the arts. After the Southern Ming ended, the further conquest of the Dzungar Khanate added Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang to the empire. Meanwhile, China's population growth resumed and shortly began to accelerate. It is commonly agreed that pre-modern China's population experienced two growth spurts, one during the Northern Song period (960–1127), and other during the Qing period (around 1700–1830). By the High Qing era China was possibly the most commercialized country in the world, and imperial China experienced a second commercial revolution by the end of the 18th century. On the other hand, the centralized autocracy was strengthened in part to suppress anti-Qing sentiment with the policy of valuing agriculture and restraining commerce, like the Haijin during the early Qing period and ideological control as represented by the literary inquisition, causing some social and technological stagnation. Fall of the Qing dynasty In the mid-19th century, the Opium Wars with Britain and France forced China to pay compensation, open treaty ports, allow extraterritoriality for foreign nationals, and cede Hong Kong to the British under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, the first of what have been termed as the "unequal treaties". The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the cession of Taiwan to Japan. The Qing dynasty also began experiencing internal unrest in which tens of millions of people died, especially in the White Lotus Rebellion, the failed Taiping Rebellion that ravaged southern China in the 1850s and 1860s and the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) in the northwest. The initial success of the Self-Strengthening Movement of the 1860s was frustrated by a series of military defeats in the 1880s and 1890s. In the 19th century, the great Chinese diaspora began. Losses due to emigration were added to by conflicts and catastrophes such as the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879, in which between 9 and 13 million people died. The Guangxu Emperor drafted a reform plan in 1898 to establish a modern constitutional monarchy, but these plans were thwarted by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The ill-fated anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901 further weakened the dynasty. Although Cixi sponsored a program of reforms known as the late Qing reforms, the Xinhai Revolution of 1911–1912 ended the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China. Puyi, the last Emperor, abdicated in 1912. Establishment of the Republic and World War II On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT) was proclaimed provisional president. In March 1912, the presidency was given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general who in 1915 proclaimed himself Emperor of China. In the face of popular condemnation and opposition from his own Beiyang Army, he was forced to abdicate and re-establish the republic in 1916. After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented. Its Beijing-based government was internationally recognized but virtually powerless; regional warlords controlled most of its territory. During this period, China participated in World War I and saw a far-reaching popular uprising (the May Fourth Movement). In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political maneuverings known collectively as the Northern Expedition. The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People program for transforming China into a modern democratic state. The Kuomintang briefly allied with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Northern Expedition, though the alliance broke down in 1927 after Chiang violently suppressed the CCP and other leftists in Shanghai, marking the beginning of the Chinese Civil War. The CCP declared areas of the country as the Chinese Soviet Republic (Jiangxi Soviet) in November 1931 in Ruijin, Jiangxi. The Jiangxi Soviet was wiped out by the KMT armies in 1934, leading the CCP to initiate the Long March and relocate to Yan'an in Shaanxi. It would be the base of the communists before major combat in the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949. In 1931, Japan invaded and occupied Manchuria. Japan invaded other parts of China in 1937, precipitating the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a theater of World War II. The war forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the CCP. Japanese forces committed numerous war atrocities against the civilian population; as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died. An estimated 40,000 to 300,000 Chinese were massacred in Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation. China, along with the UK, the United States, and the Soviet Union, were recognized as the Allied "Big Four" in the Declaration by United Nations. Along with the other three great powers, China was one of the four major Allies of World War II, and was later considered one of the primary victors in the war. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan, including the Penghu, was handed over to Chinese control; however, the validity of this handover is controversial. People's Republic China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of civil war. Constitutional rule was established in 1947, but because of the ongoing unrest, many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China. Afterwards, the CCP took control of most of mainland China, and the ROC government retreated offshore to Taiwan. On 1 October 1949, CCP Chairman Mao Zedong formally proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. In 1950, the PRC captured Hainan from the ROC and annexed Tibet. However, remaining Kuomintang forces continued to wage an insurgency in western China throughout the 1950s. The CCP consolidated its popularity among the peasants through the Land Reform Movement, which included the state-tolerated executions of between 1 and 2 million landlords by peasants and former tenants. Though the PRC initially allied closely with the Soviet Union, the relations between the two communist nations gradually deteriorated, leading China to develop an independent industrial system and its own nuclear weapons. The Chinese population increased from 550 million in 1950 to 900 million in 1974. However, the Great Leap Forward, an idealistic massive industrialization project, resulted in an estimated 15 to 55 million deaths between 1959 and 1961, mostly from starvation. In 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb. In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, sparking a decade of political recrimination and social upheaval that lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the ROC in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. Reforms and contemporary history After Mao's death, the Gang of Four was arrested by Hua Guofeng and held responsible for the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution was rebuked, with millions rehabilitated. Deng Xiaoping took power in 1978, and instituted large-scale political and economic reforms, together with the "Eight Elders", most senior and influential members of the party. The government loosened its control and the communes were gradually disbanded. Agricultural collectivization was dismantled and farmlands privatized. While foreign trade became a major focus, special economic zones (SEZs) were created. Inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were restructured and some closed. This marked China's transition away from planned economy. China adopted its current constitution on 4 December 1982. In 1989, there were protests such those in Tiananmen Square, and then throughout the entire nation. Zhao Ziyang was put under house arrest for his sympathies to the protests and was replaced by Jiang Zemin. Jiang continued economic reforms, closing many SOEs and trimming down "iron rice bowl" (life-tenure positions). China's economy grew sevenfold during this time. British Hong Kong and Portuguese Macau returned to China in 1997 and 1999, respectively, as special administrative regions under the principle of one country, two systems. The country joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.At the 16th CCP National Congress in 2002, Hu Jintao succeeded Jiang as the general secretary. Under Hu, China maintained its high rate of economic growth, overtaking the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan to become the world's second-largest economy. However, the growth also severely impacted the country's resources and environment, and caused major social displacement. Xi Jinping succeeded Hu as paramount leader at the 18th CCP National Congress in 2012. Shortly after his ascension to power, Xi launched a vast anti-corruption crackdown, that prosecuted more than 2 million officials by 2022. During his tenure, Xi has consolidated power unseen since the initiation of economic and political reforms. Geography China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts in the arid north to the subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, respectively, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 km (9,000 mi) long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China connects through the Kazakh border to the Eurasian Steppe. The territory of China lies between latitudes 18° and 54° N, and longitudes 73° and 135° E. The geographical center of China is marked by the Center of the Country Monument at 35°50′40.9″N 103°27′7.5″E. China's landscapes vary significantly across its vast territory. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains, while on the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, broad grasslands predominate. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Other major rivers include the Xi, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. To the west sit major mountain ranges, most notably the Himalayas. High plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of the north, such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert. The world's highest point, Mount Everest (8,848 m), lies on the Sino-Nepalese border. The country's lowest point, and the world's third-lowest, is the dried lake bed of Ayding Lake (−154 m) in the Turpan Depression. Climate China's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons, which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist. A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert. Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced the frequency of sandstorms, prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices have resulted in dust storms plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts of East Asia, including Japan and Korea. Water quality, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could potentially lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people. According to academics, in order to limit climate change in China to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) electricity generation from coal in China without carbon capture must be phased out by 2045. With current policies, the GHG emissions of China will probably peak in 2025, and by 2030 they will return to 2022 levels. However, such pathway still leads to three-degree temperature rise. Official government statistics about Chinese agricultural productivity are considered unreliable, due to exaggeration of production at subsidiary government levels. Much of China has a climate very suitable for agriculture and the country has been the world's largest producer of rice, wheat, tomatoes, eggplant, grapes, watermelon, spinach, and many other crops. In 2021, 12 percent of global permanent meadows and pastures belonged to China, as well as 8% of global cropland. Biodiversity China is one of 17 megadiverse countries, lying in two of the world's major biogeographic realms: the Palearctic and the Indomalayan. By one measure, China has over 34,687 species of animals and vascular plants, making it the third-most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil and Colombia. The country is a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity; its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan was received by the convention in 2010. China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest in the world), 1,221 species of birds (eighth), 424 species of reptiles (seventh) and 333 species of amphibians (seventh). Wildlife in China shares habitat with, and bears acute pressure from, one of the world's largest population of humans. At least 840 animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in danger of local extinction, due mainly to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution and poaching for food, fur and traditional Chinese medicine. Endangered wildlife is protected by law, and as of 2005, the country has over 2,349 nature reserves, covering a total area of 149.95 million hectares, 15 percent of China's total land area. Most wild animals have been eliminated from the core agricultural regions of east and central China, but they have fared better in the mountainous south and west. The Baiji was confirmed extinct on 12 December 2006. China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants, and is home to a variety of forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as moose and Asian black bear, along with over 120 bird species. The understory of moist conifer forests may contain thickets of bamboo. In higher montane stands of juniper and yew, the bamboo is replaced by rhododendrons. Subtropical forests, which are predominate in central and southern China, support a high density of plant species including numerous rare endemics. Tropical and seasonal rainforests, though confined to Yunnan and Hainan, contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China. China has over 10,000 recorded species of fungi. Environment In the early 2000s, China has suffered from environmental deterioration and pollution due to its rapid pace of industrialization. Regulations such as the 1979 Environmental Protection Law are fairly stringent, though they are poorly enforced, frequently disregarded in favor of rapid economic development. China has the second-highest death toll because of air pollution, after India, with approximately 1 million deaths. Although China ranks as the highest CO2 emitting country, it only emits 8 tons of CO2 per capita, significantly lower than developed countries such as the United States (16.1), Australia (16.8) and South Korea (13.6). Greenhouse gas emissions by China are the world's largest. The country has significant water pollution problems; only 87.9% of China's national surface water was graded suitable for human consumption by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2022. China has prioritized clamping down on pollution, bringing a significant decrease in air pollution in the 2010s. In 2020, the Chinese government announced its aims for the country to reach its peak emissions levels before 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 in line with the Paris Agreement, which, according to Climate Action Tracker, would lower the expected rise in global temperature by 0.2–0.3 degrees – "the biggest single reduction ever estimated by the Climate Action Tracker". China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy and its commercialization, with $546 billion invested in 2022; it is a major manufacturer of renewable energy technologies and invests heavily in local-scale renewable energy projects. Long heavily relying on non-renewable energy sources such as coal, China's adaptation of renewable energy has increased significantly in recent years, with their share increasing from 26.3 percent in 2016 to 31.9 percent in 2022. In 2023, 60.5% of China's electricity came from coal (largest producer in the world), 13.2% from hydroelectric power (largest), 9.4% from wind (largest), 6.2% from solar energy (largest), 4.6% from nuclear energy (second-largest), 3.3% from natural gas (fifth-largest), and 2.2% from bioenergy (largest); in total, 31% of China's energy came from renewable energy sources. Despite its emphasis on renewables, China remains deeply connected to global oil markets and next to India, has been the largest importer of Russian crude oil in 2022. Political geography China is the third-largest country in the world by land area after Russia, and the third- or fourth-largest country in the world by total area. China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi). Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook, and The World Factbook.China has the longest combined land border in the world, measuring 22,117 km (13,743 mi) and its coastline covers approximately 14,500 km (9,000 mi) from the mouth of the Yalu River (Amnok River) to the Gulf of Tonkin. China borders 14 nations and covers the bulk of East Asia, bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar in Southeast Asia; India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia; Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia; and Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea in Inner Asia and Northeast Asia. It is narrowly separated from Bangladesh and Thailand to the southwest and south, and has several maritime neighbors such as Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. China has resolved its land borders with 12 out of 14 neighboring countries, having pursued substantial compromises in most of them. China currently has a disputed land border with India and Bhutan. China is additionally involved in maritime disputes with multiple countries over territory in the East and South China Seas, such as the Senkaku Islands and the entirety of South China Sea Islands. Government and politics The People's Republic of China is a one-party state governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which considers itself to be Marxist–Leninist. This makes China one of the few countries governed by a communist party. The Chinese constitution states that the PRC "is a socialist state governed by a people's democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants," that the state institutions "shall practice the principle of democratic centralism," and that "the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party." The PRC officially terms itself as a democracy, using terms such as "socialist consultative democracy", and "whole-process people's democracy". However, the country is commonly described as an authoritarian one-party state and a dictatorship, with among the heaviest restrictions worldwide in many areas, most notably against freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, free formation of social organizations, freedom of religion and free access to the Internet. China has consistently been ranked amongst the lowest as an "authoritarian regime" by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, ranking at 148th out of 167 countries in 2023. Other sources suggest that terming China as "authoritarian" does not sufficiently account for the multiple consultation mechanisms that exist in Chinese government. Chinese Communist Party According to the CCP constitution, its highest body is the National Congress held every five years. The National Congress elects the Central Committee, who then elects the party's Politburo, Politburo Standing Committee and the general secretary (party leader), the top leadership of the country. The general secretary holds ultimate power and authority over state and government and serves as the informal paramount leader. The current general secretary is Xi Jinping, who took office on 15 November 2012. At the local level, the secretary of the CCP committee of a subdivision outranks the local government level; CCP committee secretary of a provincial division outranks the governor while the CCP committee secretary of a city outranks the mayor. The CCP is officially guided by Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances. Government The government in China is under the sole control of the CCP. The CCP controls appointments in government bodies, with most senior government officials being CCP members. The National People's Congress (NPC), with nearly 3,000-members, is constitutionally the "highest organ of state power", though it has been also described as a "rubber stamp" body. The NPC meets annually, while the NPC Standing Committee, around 150 members elected from NPC delegates, meets every couple of months. Elections are indirect and not pluralistic, with nominations at all levels being controlled by the CCP. The NPC is dominated by the CCP, with another eight minor parties having nominal representation under the condition of upholding CCP leadership. The president is elected by the NPC. The presidency is the ceremonial state representative, but not the constitutional head of state. The incumbent president is Xi Jinping, who is also the general secretary of the CCP and the chairman of the Central Military Commission, making him China's paramount leader and supreme commander of the Armed Forces. The premier is the head of government, with Li Qiang being the incumbent. The premier is officially nominated by the president and then elected by the NPC, and has generally been either the second- or third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). The premier presides over the State Council, China's cabinet, composed of four vice premiers, state councilors, and the heads of ministries and commissions. The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body that is critical in China's "united front" system, which aims to gather non-CCP voices to support the CCP. Similar to the people's congresses, CPPCC's exist at various division, with the National Committee of the CPPCC being chaired by Wang Huning, fourth-ranking member of the PSC. The governance of China is characterized by a high degree of political centralization but significant economic decentralization.: 7  Policy instruments or processes are often tested locally before being applied more widely, resulting in a policy that involves experimentation and feedback.: 14  Generally, central government leadership refrains from drafting specific policies, instead using the informal networks and site visits to affirm or suggest changes to the direction of local policy experiments or pilot programs.: 71  The typical approach is that central government leadership begins drafting formal policies, law, or regulations after policy has been developed at local levels.: 71 Administrative divisions The PRC is constitutionally a unitary state divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions (each with a designated minority group), and four direct-administered municipalities—collectively referred to as "mainland China"—as well as the special administrative regions (SARs) of Hong Kong and Macau. The PRC regards the island of Taiwan as its Taiwan Province, Kinmen and Matsu as a part of Fujian Province and islands the ROC controls in the South China Sea as a part of Hainan Province and Guangdong Province, although all these territories are governed by the Republic of China (ROC). Geographically, all 31 provincial divisions of mainland China can be grouped into six regions: North China, East China, Southwestern China, Northwestern China, South Central China, and Northeast China. Foreign relations The PRC has diplomatic relations with 179 United Nation members states and maintains embassies in 174. As of 2024, China has one of the largest diplomatic networks of any country in the world. In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China (ROC) as the sole representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. It is a member of intergovernmental organizations including the G20, the SCO, the East Asia Summit, and the APEC. China was also a former member and leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and still considers itself an advocate for developing countries. Along with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, China is a member of the BRICS group of emerging major economies and hosted the group's third official summit in April 2011. The PRC officially maintains the one-China principle, which holds the view that there is only one sovereign state in the name of China, represented by the PRC, and that Taiwan is part of that China. The unique status of Taiwan has led to countries recognizing the PRC to maintain unique "one-China policies" that differ from each other; some countries explicitly recognize the PRC's claim over Taiwan, while others, including the U.S. and Japan, only acknowledge the claim. Chinese officials have protested on numerous occasions when foreign countries have made diplomatic overtures to Taiwan, especially in the matter of armament sales. Most countries have switched recognition from the ROC to the PRC since the latter replaced the former in the UN in 1971.Much of current Chinese foreign policy is reportedly based on Premier Zhou Enlai's Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and is also driven by the concept of "harmony without uniformity", which encourages diplomatic relations between states despite ideological differences. This policy may have led China to support or maintain close ties with states that are regarded as dangerous and repressive by Western nations, such as Sudan, North Korea and Iran. China's close relationship with Myanmar has involved support for its ruling governments as well as for its ethnic rebel groups, including the Arakan Army. China has a close political, economic and military relationship with Russia, and the two states often vote in unison in the UN Security Council. China's relationship with the United States is complex, and includes deep trade ties but significant political differences. Since the early 2000s, China has followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation. It maintains extensive and highly diversified trade links with the European Union, and became its largest trading partner for goods. China is increasing its influence in Central Asia and South Pacific. The country has strong trade ties with ASEAN countries and major South American economies, and is the largest trading partner of Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and several others. In 2013, China initiated the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a large global infrastructure building initiative with funding on the order of $50–100 billion per year. BRI could be one of the largest development plans in modern history. It has expanded significantly over the last six years and, as of April 2020, includes 138 countries and 30 international organizations. In addition to intensifying foreign policy relations, the focus is particularly on building efficient transport routes, especially the maritime Silk Road with its connections to East Africa and Europe. However many loans made under the program are unsustainable and China has faced a number of calls for debt relief from debtor nations. Military The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is considered one of the world's most powerful militaries and has rapidly modernized in the recent decades. It has also been accused of technology theft by some countries. Since 2024, it consists of four services: the Ground Force (PLAGF), the Navy (PLAN), the Air Force (PLAAF) and the Rocket Force (PLARF). It also has four independent arms: the Aerospace Force, the Cyberspace Force, the Information Support Force, and the Joint Logistics Support Force, the first three of which were split from the disbanded Strategic Support Force (PLASSF). Its nearly 2.2 million active duty personnel is the largest in the world. The PLA holds the world's third-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, and the world's second-largest navy by tonnage. China's official military budget for 2023 totalled US$224 billion (1.55 trillion Yuan), the second-largest in the world, though SIPRI estimates that its real expenditure that year was US$296 billion, making up 12% of global military spending and accounting for 1.7% of the country's GDP. According to SIPRI, its military spending from 2012 to 2021 averaged US$215 billion per year or 1.7 per cent of GDP, behind only the United States at US$734 billion per year or 3.6 per cent of GDP. The PLA is commanded by the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the party and the state; though officially two separate organizations, the two CMCs have identical membership except during leadership transition periods and effectively function as one organization. The chairman of the CMC is the commander-in-chief of the PLA. Sociopolitical issues and human rights The situation of human rights in China has attracted significant criticism from foreign governments, foreign press agencies, and non-governmental organizations, alleging widespread civil rights violations such as detention without trial, forced confessions, torture, restrictions of fundamental rights, and excessive use of the death penalty. Since its inception, Freedom House has ranked China as "not free" in its Freedom in the World survey, while Amnesty International has documented significant human rights abuses. The Chinese constitution states that the "fundamental rights" of citizens include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, universal suffrage, and property rights. However, in practice, these provisions do not afford significant protection against criminal prosecution by the state. China has limited protections regarding LGBT rights. Although some criticisms of government policies and the ruling CCP are tolerated, censorship of political speech and information are amongst the harshest in the world and routinely used to prevent collective action. China also has the most comprehensive and sophisticated Internet censorship regime in the world, with numerous websites being blocked. The government suppresses popular protests and demonstrations that it considers a potential threat to "social stability". China additionally uses a massive espionage network of cameras, facial recognition software, sensors, and surveillance of personal technology as a means of social control of persons living in the country. China is regularly accused of large-scale repression and human rights abuses in Tibet and Xinjiang, where significant numbers of ethnic minorities reside, including violent police crackdowns and religious suppression. Since 2017, the Chinese government has been engaged in a harsh crackdown in Xinjiang, with around one million Uyghurs and other ethnic and religion minorities being detained in internment camps aimed at changing the political thinking of detainees, their identities, and their religious beliefs. According to Western reports, political indoctrination, torture, physical and psychological abuse, forced sterilization, sexual abuse, and forced labor are common in these facilities. According to a 2020 Foreign Policy report, China's treatment of Uyghurs meets the UN definition of genocide, while a separate UN Human Rights Office report said they could potentially meet the definitions for crimes against humanity. The Chinese authorities have also cracked down on dissent in Hong Kong, especially after the passage of a national security law in 2020. In 2017 and 2020, the Pew Research Center ranked the severity of Chinese government restrictions on religion as being among the world's highest, despite ranking religious-related social hostilities in China as low in severity. The Global Slavery Index estimated that in 2016 more than 3.8 million people (0.25% of the population) were living in "conditions of modern slavery", including victims of human trafficking, forced labor, forced marriage, child labor, and state-imposed forced labor. The state-imposed re-education through labor (laojiao) system was formally abolished in 2013, but it is not clear to what extent its practices have stopped. The much larger reform through labor (laogai) system includes labor prison factories, detention centers, and re-education camps; the Laogai Research Foundation has estimated in June 2008 that there were nearly 1,422 of these facilities, though it cautioned that this number was likely an underestimate. Public views of government Political concerns in China include the growing gap between rich and poor and government corruption. Nonetheless, international surveys show the Chinese public have a high level of satisfaction with their government.: 137  These views are generally attributed to the material comforts and security available to large segments of the Chinese populace as well as the government's attentiveness and responsiveness. : 136  According to the World Values Survey (2022), 91% of Chinese respondents have significant confidence in their government.: 13  A Harvard University survey published in July 2020 found that citizen satisfaction with the government had increased since 2003, also rating China's government as more effective and capable than ever in the survey's history. Economy China has the world's second-largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, and the world's largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). As of 2022, China accounts for around 18% of the global economy by nominal GDP. China is one of the world's fastest-growing major economies, with its economic growth having been almost consistently above 6 percent since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978. According to the World Bank, China's GDP grew from $150 billion in 1978 to $17.96 trillion by 2022. It ranks at 64th at nominal GDP per capita, making it an upper-middle income country. Of the world's 500 largest companies, 135 are headquartered in China. As of at least 2024, China has the world's second-largest equity markets and futures markets, as well as the third-largest bond market.: 153  China was one of the world's foremost economic powers throughout the arc of East Asian and global history. The country had one of the largest economies in the world for most of the past two millennia, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since economic reforms began in 1978, China has developed into a highly diversified economy and one of the most consequential players in international trade. Major sectors of competitive strength include manufacturing, retail, mining, steel, textiles, automobiles, energy generation, green energy, banking, electronics, telecommunications, real estate, e-commerce, and tourism. China has three out of the ten largest stock exchanges in the world—Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen—that together have a market capitalization of over $15.9 trillion, as of October 2020. China has four (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shenzhen) out of the world's top ten most competitive financial centers, which is more than any other country in the 2020 Global Financial Centres Index. Modern-day China is often described as an example of state capitalism or party-state capitalism. The state dominates in strategic "pillar" sectors such as energy production and heavy industries, but private enterprise has expanded enormously, with around 30 million private businesses recorded in 2008. According to official statistics, privately owned companies constitute more than 60% of China's GDP. China has been the world's largest manufacturing nation since 2010, after overtaking the U.S., which had been the largest for the previous hundred years. China has also been the second-largest in high-tech manufacturing country since 2012, according to US National Science Foundation. China is the second-largest retail market after the United States. China leads the world in e-commerce, accounting for over 37% of the global market share in 2021. China is the world's leader in electric vehicle consumption and production, manufacturing and buying half of all the plug-in electric cars (BEV and PHEV) in the world as of 2022. China is also the leading producer of batteries for electric vehicles as well as several key raw materials for batteries. Tourism China received 65.7 million international visitors in 2019, and in 2018 was the fourth-most-visited country in the world. It also experiences an enormous volume of domestic tourism; Chinese tourists made an estimated 6 billion travels within the country in 2019. China hosts the world's second-largest number of World Heritage Sites (56) after Italy, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations (first in the Asia-Pacific). Wealth China accounted for 17.9% of the world's total wealth in 2021, second highest in the world after the U.S. China brought more people out of extreme poverty than any other country in history—between 1978 and 2018, China reduced extreme poverty by 800 million.: 23  From 1990 to 2018, the proportion of the Chinese population living with an income of less than $1.90 per day (2011 PPP) decreased from 66.3% to 0.3%, the share living with an income of less than $3.20 per day from 90.0% to 2.9%, and the share living with an income of less than $5.50 per day decreased from 98.3% to 17.0%. From 1978 to 2018, the average standard of living multiplied by a factor of twenty-six. Wages in China have grown significantly in the last 40 years—real (inflation-adjusted) wages grew seven-fold from 1978 to 2007. Per capita incomes have also risen significantly – when the PRC was founded in 1949, per capita income in China was one-fifth of the world average; per capita incomes now equal the world average itself. China's development is highly uneven. Its major cities and coastal areas are far more prosperous compared to rural and interior regions. It has a high level of economic inequality, which has increased quickly after the economic reforms, though has decreased significantly in the 2010s. In 2021, China's Gini coefficient was 0.357, according to the World Bank. As of March 2024, China was second in the world, after the U.S., in total number of billionaires and total number of millionaires, with 473 Chinese billionaires and 6.2 million millionaires. In 2019, China overtook the U.S. as the home to the highest number of people who have a net personal wealth of at least $110,000, according to the global wealth report by Credit Suisse. China had 85 female billionaires as of January 2021, two-thirds of the global total. China has had the world's largest middle-class population since 2015; the middle-class grew to 500 million by 2024. China in the global economy China has been a member of the WTO since 2001 and is the world's largest trading power. By 2016, China was the largest trading partner of 124 countries. China became the world's largest trading nation in 2013 by the sum of imports and exports, as well as the world's largest commodity importer, accounting for roughly 45% of maritime's dry-bulk market. China's foreign exchange reserves reached US$3.246 trillion as of March 2024, making its reserves by far the world's largest. In 2022, China was amongst the world's largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $180 billion, though most of these were speculated to be from Hong Kong. In 2021, China's foreign exchange remittances were $US53 billion making it the second-largest recipient of remittances in the world. China also invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $147.9 billion in 2023, and a number of major takeovers of foreign firms by Chinese companies. Economists have argued that the renminbi is undervalued, due to currency intervention from the Chinese government, giving China an unfair trade advantage. China has also been widely criticized for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods. The U.S. government has also alleged that China does not respect intellectual property (IP) rights and steals IP through espionage operations. In 2020, Harvard University's Economic Complexity Index ranked complexity of China's exports 17th in the world, up from 24th in 2010. The Chinese government has promoted the internationalization of the renminbi in order to wean off of its dependence on the U.S. dollar as a result of perceived weaknesses of the international monetary system. The renminbi is a component of the IMF's special drawing rights and the world's fourth-most traded currency as of 2023. However, partly due to capital controls that make the renminbi fall short of being a fully convertible currency, it remains far behind the Euro, the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen in international trade volumes. Science and technology Historical China was a world leader in science and technology until the Ming dynasty. Ancient and medieval Chinese discoveries and inventions, such as papermaking, printing, the compass, and gunpowder (the Four Great Inventions), became widespread across East Asia, the Middle East and later Europe. Chinese mathematicians were the first to use negative numbers. By the 17th century, the Western World surpassed China in scientific and technological advancement. The causes of this early modern Great Divergence continue to be debated by scholars. After repeated military defeats by the European colonial powers and Imperial Japan in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement. After the Communists came to power in 1949, efforts were made to organize science and technology based on the model of the Soviet Union, in which scientific research was part of central planning. After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology were promoted as one of the Four Modernizations, and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed. Modern era Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has made significant investments in scientific research and is quickly catching up with the U.S. in R&D spending. China officially spent around 2.6% of its GDP on R&D in 2023, totaling to around $458.5 billion. According to the World Intellectual Property Indicators, China received more applications than the U.S. did in 2018 and 2019 and ranked first globally in patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, and creative goods exports in 2021. It was ranked 11th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024, a considerable improvement from its rank of 35th in 2013. Chinese supercomputers ranked among the fastest in the world. Its efforts to develop the most advanced semiconductors and jet engines have seen delays and setbacks. China is developing its education system with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Its academic publication apparatus became the world's largest publisher of scientific papers in 2016. In 2022, China overtook the US in the Nature Index, which measures the share of published articles in leading scientific journals. Space program The Chinese space program started in 1958 with some technology transfers from the Soviet Union. However, it did not launch the nation's first satellite until 1970 with the Dong Fang Hong I, which made China the fifth country to do so independently. In 2003, China became the third country in the world to independently send humans into space with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5. As of 2023, eighteen Chinese nationals have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China launched its first space station testbed, Tiangong-1. In 2013, a Chinese robotic rover Yutu successfully touched down on the lunar surface as part of the Chang'e 3 mission. In 2019, China became the first country to land a probe—Chang'e 4—on the far side of the Moon. In 2020, Chang'e 5 successfully returned Moon samples to the Earth, making China the third country to do so independently. In 2021, China became the third country to land a spacecraft on Mars and the second one to deploy a rover (Zhurong) on Mars. China completed its own modular space station, the Tiangong, in low Earth orbit on 3 November 2022. On 29 November 2022, China performed its first in-orbit crew handover aboard the Tiangong. In May 2023, China announced a plan to land humans on the Moon by 2030. To that end, China currently is developing a lunar-capable super-heavy launcher, the Long March 10, a new crewed spacecraft, and a crewed lunar lander. China sent Chang'e 6 on 3 May 2024, which conducted the first lunar sample return from Apollo Basin on the far side of the Moon. This is China's second lunar sample return mission, the first was achieved by Chang'e 5 from the lunar near side 4 years ago. It also carried a Chinese rover called Jinchan to conduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface and imaged Chang'e 6 lander on lunar surface. The lander-ascender-rover combination was separated with the orbiter and returner before landing on 1 June 2024, at 22:23 UTC. It landed on the Moon's surface on 1 June 2024. The ascender was launched back to lunar orbit on 3 June 2024, at 23:38 UTC, carrying samples collected by the lander, which later completed another robotic rendezvous, before docking in lunar orbit. The sample container was then transferred to the returner, which landed on Inner Mongolia in June 2024, completing China's far side extraterrestrial sample return mission. Infrastructure After a decades-long infrastructural boom, China has produced numerous world-leading infrastructural projects: it has the largest high-speed rail network, the most supertall skyscrapers, the largest power plant (the Three Gorges Dam), and a global satellite navigation system with the largest number of satellites. Telecommunications China is the largest telecom market in the world and currently has the largest number of active cellphones of any country, with over 1.7 billion subscribers, as of February 2023. It has the largest number of internet and broadband users, with over 1.09 billion Internet users as of December 2023—equivalent to around 77.5% of its population. By 2018, China had more than 1 billion 4G users, accounting for 40% of world's total. China is making rapid advances in 5G—by late 2018, China had started large-scale and commercial 5G trials. As of December 2023, China had over 810 million 5G users and 3.38 million base stations installed. China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, are the three large providers of mobile and internet in China. China Telecom alone served more than 145 million broadband subscribers and 300 million mobile users; China Unicom had about 300 million subscribers; and China Mobile, the largest of them all, had 925 million users, as of 2018. Combined, the three operators had over 3.4 million 4G base-stations in China. Several Chinese telecommunications companies, most notably Huawei and ZTE, have been accused of spying for the Chinese military. China has developed its own satellite navigation system, dubbed BeiDou, which began offering commercial navigation services across Asia in 2012 as well as global services by the end of 2018. Beidou followed GPS and GLONASS as the third completed global navigation satellite. Transport Since the late 1990s, China's national road network has been significantly expanded through the creation of a network of national highways and expressways. In 2022, China's highways had reached a total length of 177,000 km (110,000 mi), making it the longest highway system in the world. China has the world's largest market for automobiles, having surpassed the United States in both auto sales and production. The country is the world's largest exporter of cars by number as of 2023. A side-effect of the rapid growth of China's road network has been a significant rise in traffic accidents. In urban areas, bicycles remain a common mode of transport, despite the increasing prevalence of automobiles – as of 2023, there are approximately 200 million bicycles in China. China's railways, which are operated by the state-owned China State Railway Group Company, are among the busiest in the world, handling a quarter of the world's rail traffic volume on only 6 percent of the world's tracks in 2006. As of 2023, the country had 159,000 km (98,798 mi) of railways, the second-longest network in the world. The railways strain to meet enormous demand particularly during the Chinese New Year holiday, when the world's largest annual human migration takes place. China's high-speed rail (HSR) system started construction in the early 2000s. By the end of 2023, high speed rail in China had reached 45,000 kilometers (27,962 miles) of dedicated lines alone, making it the longest HSR network in the world. Services on the Beijing–Shanghai, Beijing–Tianjin, and Chengdu–Chongqing lines reach up to 350 km/h (217 mph), making them the fastest conventional high speed railway services in the world. With an annual ridership of over 2.3 billion passengers in 2019, it is the world's busiest. The network includes the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway, the single longest HSR line in the world, and the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway, which has three of longest railroad bridges in the world. The Shanghai maglev train, which reaches 431 km/h (268 mph), is the fastest commercial train service in the world. Since 2000, the growth of rapid transit systems in Chinese cities has accelerated. As of December 2023, 55 Chinese cities have urban mass transit systems in operation. As of 2020, China boasts the five longest metro systems in the world with the networks in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen being the largest. The civil aviation industry in China is mostly state-dominated, with the Chinese government retaining a majority stake in the majority of Chinese airlines. The top three airlines in China, which collectively made up 71% of the market in 2018, are all state-owned. Air travel has expanded rapidly in the last decades, with the number of passengers increasing from 16.6 million in 1990 to 551.2 million in 2017. China had approximately 259 airports in 2024. China has over 2,000 river and seaports, about 130 of which are open to foreign shipping. Of the fifty busiest container ports, 15 are located in China, of which the busiest is the Port of Shanghai, also the busiest port in the world. The country's inland waterways are the world's sixth-longest, and total 27,700 km (17,212 mi). Water supply and sanitation Water supply and sanitation infrastructure in China is facing challenges such as rapid urbanization, as well as water scarcity, contamination, and pollution. According to the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation, about 36% of the rural population in China still did not have access to improved sanitation in 2015. The ongoing South–North Water Transfer Project intends to abate water shortage in the north. Demographics The 2020 Chinese census recorded the population as approximately 1,411,778,724. About 17.95% were 14 years old or younger, 63.35% were between 15 and 59 years old, and 18.7% were over 60 years old. Between 2010 and 2020, the average population growth rate was 0.53%. Given concerns about population growth, China implemented a two-child limit during the 1970s, and, in 1979, began to advocate for an even stricter limit of one child per family. Beginning in the mid-1980s, however, given the unpopularity of the strict limits, China began to allow some major exemptions, particularly in rural areas, resulting in what was actually a "1.5"-child policy from the mid-1980s to 2015; ethnic minorities were also exempt from one-child limits. The next major loosening of the policy was enacted in December 2013, allowing families to have two children if one parent is an only child. In 2016, the one-child policy was replaced in favor of a two-child policy. A three-child policy was announced on 31 May 2021, due to population aging, and in July 2021, all family size limits as well as penalties for exceeding them were removed. In 2023, the total fertility rate was reported to be 1.09, ranking among the lowest in the world. In 2023, National Bureau of Statistics estimated that the population fell 850,000 from 2021 to 2022, the first decline since 1961. According to one group of scholars, one-child limits had little effect on population growth or total population size. However, these scholars have been challenged. The policy, along with traditional preference for boys, may have contributed to an imbalance in the sex ratio at birth. The 2020 census found that males accounted for 51.2% of the total population. However, China's sex ratio is more balanced than it was in 1953, when males accounted for 51.8% of the population. The cultural preference for male children, combined with the one-child policy, led to an excess of female child orphans in China, and in the 1990s through around 2007, there was an active stream of adoptions of (mainly female) babies by American and other foreign parents. However, increased restrictions by the Chinese Government slowed foreign adoptions significantly in 2007 and again in 2015. Urbanization China has urbanized significantly in recent decades. The percent of the country's population living in urban areas increased from 20% in 1980 to over 66% in 2023. China has over 160 cities with a population of over one million, including the 17 megacities as of 2021 (cities with a population of over 10 million) of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xi'an, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Linyi, Shijiazhuang, Dongguan, Qingdao and Changsha. The total permanent population of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu is above 20 million. Shanghai is China's most populous urban area while Chongqing is its largest city proper, the only city in China with a permanent population of over 30 million. The figures in the table below are from the 2020 census, and are only estimates of the urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists for total municipal populations. The large "floating populations" of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult; the figures below include only long-term residents. Ethnic groups China legally recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, who comprise the Zhonghua minzu. The largest of these nationalities are the Han Chinese, who constitute more than 91% of the total population. The Han Chinese – the world's largest single ethnic group – outnumber other ethnic groups in every place excluding Tibet, Xinjiang, Linxia, and autonomous prefectures like Xishuangbanna. Ethnic minorities account for less than 10% of the population of China, according to the 2020 census. Compared with the 2010 population census, the Han population increased by 60,378,693 persons, or 4.93%, while the population of the 55 national minorities combined increased by 11,675,179 persons, or 10.26%. The 2020 census recorded a total of 845,697 foreign nationals living in mainland China. Languages There are as many as 292 living languages in China. The languages most commonly spoken belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which contains Mandarin (spoken by 80% of the population), and other varieties of Chinese language: Jin, Wu, Min, Hakka, Yue, Xiang, Gan, Hui, Ping and unclassified Tuhua (Shaozhou Tuhua and Xiangnan Tuhua). Languages of the Tibeto-Burman branch, including Tibetan, Qiang, Naxi and Yi, are spoken across the Tibetan and Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. Other ethnic minority languages in southwestern China include Zhuang, Thai, Dong and Sui of the Tai-Kadai family, Miao and Yao of the Hmong–Mien family, and Wa of the Austroasiatic family. Across northeastern and northwestern China, local ethnic groups speak Altaic languages including Manchu, Mongolian and several Turkic languages: Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Salar and Western Yugur. Korean is spoken natively along the border with North Korea. Sarikoli, the language of Tajiks in western Xinjiang, is an Indo-European language. Taiwanese indigenous peoples, including a small population on the mainland, speak Austronesian languages. Standard Mandarin, a variety of Mandarin based on the Beijing dialect, is the national language and de facto official language of China. It is used as a lingua franca between people of different linguistic backgrounds. In the autonomous regions of China, other languages may also serve as a lingua franca, such as Uyghur in Xinjiang, where governmental services in Uyghur are constitutionally guaranteed. Religion Freedom of religion is guaranteed by China's constitution (Chapter 2, Article 36), although religious organizations that lack official approval can be subject to state persecution. The government of the country is officially atheist. Religious affairs and issues in the country are overseen by the National Religious Affairs Administration, under the United Front Work Department. Over the millennia, the Chinese civilization has been influenced by various religious movements. The "three doctrines", including Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism (Chinese Buddhism), historically have a significant role in shaping Chinese culture, enriching a theological and spiritual framework of traditional religion which harks back to the early Shang and Zhou dynasty. Chinese folk religion, which is framed by the three doctrines and by other traditions, consists in allegiance to the shen (神), a character that signifies the "energies of generation", who can be deities of the surrounding nature or ancestral principles of human groups, concepts of civility, culture heroes, many of whom feature in Chinese mythology and history. Amongst the most popular cults of folk religion are those of Huangdi, embodiment of the God of Heaven and one of the two divine patriarchs of the Chinese people, of Mazu (goddess of the seas), Guandi (god of war and business), Caishen (god of prosperity and richness), Pangu and many others. In the early decades of the 21st century, the Chinese government has been engaged in a rehabilitation of folk cults — formally recognizing them as "folk beliefs" (a category different from that of doctrinal religions), and often reconstructing them into forms of "highly curated" civil religion — as well as in a national and international promotion of Buddhism. China is home to many of the world's tallest religious statues, representing either deities of Chinese folk religion or enlightened beings of Buddhism; the tallest of all is the Spring Temple Buddha in Henan. Statistics on religious affiliation in China are difficult to gather due to complex and varying definitions of religion and the diffusive nature of Chinese religious traditions. Scholars note that in China there is no clear boundary between the three doctrines and local folk religious practices. Chinese religions or some of their currents are also definable as non-theistic and humanistic, since they do not hold that divine creativity is completely transcendent, but that it is inherent in the world and in particular in the human being. According to studies published in 2023, compiling reliable demographic analyses holden throughout the 2010s and the early 2020s, 70% of the Chinese population believes in or practices Chinese folk religion; among them, with an approach of non-exclusivity, 33.4% may be identified as Buddhists, 19.6% as Taoists, and 17.7% as adherents of other types of folk religion. Of the remaining population, 25.2% are fully non-believers or atheists, 2.5% are adherents of Christianity, and 1.6% are adherents of Islam. Chinese folk religion also comprises a variety of salvationist doctrinal organized movements which emerged since the Song dynasty. There are also ethnic minorities in China who maintain their own indigenous religions, while major religions characteristic of specific ethnic groups include Tibetan Buddhism among Tibetans, Mongols and Yugurs, and Islam among the Hui, Uyghur, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz peoples, and other ethnicities in the northern and northwestern regions of the country. Education Compulsory education in China comprises primary and junior secondary school, which together last for nine years from the age of 6 and 15. The Gaokao, China's national university entrance exam, is a prerequisite for entrance into most higher education institutions. Vocational education is available to students at the secondary and tertiary level. More than 10 million Chinese students graduated from vocational colleges every year. In 2023, about 91.8 percent of students continued their education at a three-year senior secondary school, while 60.2 percent of secondary school graduates were enrolled in higher education. China has the largest education system in the world, with about 291 million students and 18.92 million full-time teachers in over 498,300 schools in 2023. Annual education investment went from less than US$50 billion in 2003 to more than US$817 billion in 2020. However, there remains an inequality in education spending. In 2010, the annual education expenditure per secondary school student in Beijing totalled ¥20,023, while in Guizhou, one of the poorest provinces, only totalled ¥3,204. China's literacy rate has grown dramatically, from only 20% in 1949 and 65.5% in 1979, to 97% of the population over age 15 in 2020. As of 2023, China has over 3,074 universities, with over 47.6 million students enrolled in mainland China, giving China the largest higher education system in the world. As of 2023, China had the world's highest number of top universities. Currently, China trails only the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of representation on lists of the top 200 universities according to the 2023 Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities, a composite ranking system of three world-most followed university rankings (ARWU+QS+ THE). China is home to two of the highest-ranking universities (Tsinghua University and Peking University) in Asia and emerging economies, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the QS World University Rankings. These universities are members of the C9 League, an alliance of elite Chinese universities offering comprehensive and leading education. Health The National Health Commission, together with its counterparts in the local commissions, oversees the health needs of the population. An emphasis on public health and preventive medicine has characterized Chinese health policy since the early 1950s. The Communist Party started the Patriotic Health Campaign, which was aimed at improving sanitation and hygiene, as well as treating and preventing several diseases. Diseases such as cholera, typhoid and scarlet fever, which were previously rife in China, were nearly eradicated by the campaign. After Deng Xiaoping began instituting economic reforms in 1978, the health of the Chinese public improved rapidly because of better nutrition, although many of the free public health services provided in the countryside disappeared. Healthcare in China became mostly privatized, and experienced a significant rise in quality. In 2009, the government began a three-year large-scale healthcare provision initiative worth US$124 billion. By 2011, the campaign resulted in 95% of China's population having basic health insurance coverage. By 2022, China had established itself as a key producer and exporter of pharmaceuticals, producing around 40 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients in 2017. As of 2023, the life expectancy at birth exceeds 78 years.: 163  As of 2021, the infant mortality rate is 5 per thousand. Both have improved significantly since the 1950s. Rates of stunting, a condition caused by malnutrition, have declined from 33.1% in 1990 to 9.9% in 2010. Despite significant improvements in health and the construction of advanced medical facilities, China has several emerging public health problems, such as respiratory illnesses caused by widespread air pollution, hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers, and an increase in obesity among urban youths. In 2010, air pollution caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China. Chinese mental health services are inadequate. China's large population and densely populated cities have led to serious disease outbreaks, such as SARS in 2003, although this has since been largely contained. The COVID-19 pandemic was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019; pandemic led the government to enforce strict public health measures intended to completely eradicate the virus, a goal that was eventually abandoned in December 2022 after protests against the policy. Culture and society Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism. Chinese culture, in turn, has heavily influenced East Asia and Southeast Asia. For much of the country's dynastic era, opportunities for social advancement could be provided by high performance in the prestigious imperial examinations, which have their origins in the Han dynasty. The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, such as the belief that calligraphy, poetry and painting were higher forms of art than dancing or drama. Chinese culture has long emphasized a sense of deep history and a largely inward-looking national perspective. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. Today, the Chinese government has accepted numerous elements of traditional Chinese culture as being integral to Chinese society. With the rise of Chinese nationalism and the end of the Cultural Revolution, various forms of traditional Chinese art, literature, music, film, fashion and architecture have seen a vigorous revival, and folk and variety art in particular have sparked interest nationally and even worldwide. Access to foreign media remains heavily restricted. Architecture Chinese architecture has developed over millennia in China and has remained a vestigial source of perennial influence on the development of East Asian architecture, including in Japan, Korea, and Mongolia. and minor influences on the architecture of Southeast and South Asia including the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Chinese architecture is characterized by bilateral symmetry, use of enclosed open spaces, feng shui (e.g. directional hierarchies), a horizontal emphasis, and an allusion to various cosmological, mythological or in general symbolic elements. Chinese architecture traditionally classifies structures according to type, ranging from pagodas to palaces. Chinese architecture varies widely based on status or affiliation, such as whether the structures were constructed for emperors, commoners, or for religious purposes. Other variations in Chinese architecture are shown in vernacular styles associated with different geographic regions and different ethnic heritages, such as the stilt houses in the south, the Yaodong buildings in the northwest, the yurt buildings of nomadic people, and the Siheyuan buildings in the north. Literature Chinese literature has its roots in the Zhou dynasty's literary tradition. The classical texts of China encompass a wide range of thoughts and subjects, such as the calendar, military, astrology, herbology, and geography, as well as many others. Among the most significant early works are the I Ching and the Shujing, which are part of the Four Books and Five Classics. These texts were the cornerstone of the Confucian curriculum sponsored by the state throughout the dynastic periods. Inherited from the Classic of Poetry, classical Chinese poetry developed to its floruit during the Tang dynasty. Li Bai and Du Fu opened the forking ways for the poetic circles through romanticism and realism respectively. Chinese historiography began with the Shiji, the overall scope of the historiographical tradition in China is termed the Twenty-Four Histories, which set a vast stage for Chinese fictions along with Chinese mythology and folklore. Pushed by a burgeoning citizen class in the Ming dynasty, Chinese classical fiction rose to a boom of the historical, town and gods and demons fictions as represented by the Four Great Classical Novels which include Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber. Along with the wuxia fictions of Jin Yong and Liang Yusheng, it remains an enduring source of popular culture in the Chinese sphere of influence. In the wake of the New Culture Movement after the end of the Qing dynasty, Chinese literature embarked on a new era with written vernacular Chinese for ordinary citizens. Hu Shih and Lu Xun were pioneers in modern literature. Various literary genres, such as misty poetry, scar literature, young adult fiction and the xungen literature, which is influenced by magic realism, emerged following the Cultural Revolution. Mo Yan, a xungen literature author, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012. Music Chinese music covers a highly diverse range of music from traditional music to modern music. Chinese music dates back before the pre-imperial times. Traditional Chinese musical instruments were traditionally grouped into eight categories known as bayin (八音). Traditional Chinese opera is a form of musical theatre in China originating thousands of years and has regional style forms such as Beijing and Cantonese opera. Chinese pop (C-Pop) includes mandopop and cantopop. Chinese hip hop and Hong Kong hip hop have become popular. Fashion Hanfu is the historical clothing of the Han people in China. The qipao or cheongsam is a popular Chinese female dress. The hanfu movement has been popular in contemporary times and seeks to revitalize Hanfu clothing. China Fashion Week is the country's only national-level fashion festival. Cinema Cinema was first introduced to China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, Dingjun Mountain, was released in 1905. China has the largest number of movie screens in the world since 2016; China became the largest cinema market in 2020. The top three highest-grossing films in China as of 2023 were The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021), Wolf Warrior 2 (2017), and Hi, Mom (2021). Cuisine Chinese cuisine is highly diverse, drawing on several millennia of culinary history and geographical variety, in which the most influential are known as the "Eight Major Cuisines", including Sichuan, Cantonese, Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian, Hunan, Anhui, and Zhejiang cuisines. Chinese cuisine is known for its breadth of cooking methods and ingredients. China's staple food is rice in the northeast and south, and wheat-based breads and noodles in the north. Bean products such as tofu and soy milk remain a popular source of protein. Pork is now the most popular meat in China, accounting for about three-fourths of the country's total meat consumption. There is also the vegetarian Buddhist cuisine and the pork-free Chinese Islamic cuisine. Chinese cuisine, due to the area's proximity to the ocean and milder climate, has a wide variety of seafood and vegetables. Offshoots of Chinese food, such as Hong Kong cuisine and American Chinese cuisine, have emerged in the Chinese diaspora. Sports China has one of the oldest sporting cultures. There is evidence that archery (shèjiàn) was practiced during the Western Zhou dynasty. Swordplay (jiànshù) and cuju, a sport loosely related to association football date back to China's early dynasties as well. Physical fitness is widely emphasized in Chinese culture, with morning exercises such as qigong and tai chi widely practiced, and commercial gyms and private fitness clubs are gaining popularity. Basketball is the most popular spectator sport in China. The Chinese Basketball Association and the American National Basketball Association also have a huge national following amongst the Chinese populace, with native-born and NBA-bound Chinese players and well-known national household names such as Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian being held in high esteem. China's professional football league, known as Chinese Super League, is the largest football market in East Asia. Other popular sports include martial arts, table tennis, badminton, swimming and snooker. China is home to a huge number of cyclists, with an estimated 470 million bicycles as of 2012. China has the world's largest esports market. Many more traditional sports, such as dragon boat racing, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are also popular. China has participated in the Olympic Games since 1932, although it has only participated as the PRC since 1952. China hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where its athletes received 48 gold medals – the highest number of any participating nation that year. China also won the most medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, with 231 overall, including 95 gold. In 2011, Shenzhen hosted the 2011 Summer Universiade. China hosted the 2013 East Asian Games in Tianjin and the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the first country to host both regular and Youth Olympics. Beijing and its nearby city Zhangjiakou collaboratively hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, making Beijing the first dual Olympic city by holding both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. See also Outline of China Notes References Sources This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023​, FAO, FAO. Further reading External links Government The Central People's Government of People's Republic of China (in English) General information China at a Glance from People's Daily China at the Encyclopædia Britannica Country profile – China at BBC News China. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. China, People's Republic of from UCB Libraries GovPubs Maps Google Maps—China Wikimedia Atlas of the People's Republic of China Geographic data related to China at OpenStreetMap

Indonesia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles). With over 280 million people, Indonesia is the world's fourth-most-populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world's most populous island, is home to more than half of the country's population. Indonesia is a presidential republic with an elected legislature. It has 38 provinces, of which nine have special autonomous status. The country's largest city, Jakarta, is the world's second-most-populous urban area. Indonesia shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the eastern part of Malaysia, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Peninsula Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and India. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity. The Indonesian archipelago has been a valuable region for trade since at least the seventh century when Sumatra's Srivijaya and later Java's Majapahit kingdoms engaged in commerce with entities from mainland China and the Indian subcontinent. Over the centuries, local rulers assimilated foreign influences, leading to the flourishing of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms. Sunni traders and Sufi scholars later brought Islam, and European powers fought one another to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratisation process, and periods of rapid economic growth. Indonesia consists of thousands of distinct native ethnic and hundreds of linguistic groups, with Javanese being the largest. A shared identity has developed with the motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one"), defined by a national language, cultural diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. The economy of Indonesia is the world's 16th-largest by nominal GDP and the 7th-largest by PPP. It is the world's third-largest democracy, a regional power, and is considered a middle power in global affairs. The country is a member of several multilateral organisations, including the United Nations, World Trade Organization, G20, and a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, East Asia Summit, D-8, APEC, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Etymology The name Indonesia derives from the Greek words Indos (Ἰνδός) and nesos (νῆσος), meaning "Indian islands". The name dates back to the 19th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, Malayunesians—for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malay Archipelago". In the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia. They preferred Malay Archipelago (Dutch: Maleische Archipel); the Netherlands East Indies (Nederlandsch Oost Indië), popularly Indië; the East (de Oost); and Insulinde. After 1900, Indonesia became more common in academic circles outside the Netherlands, and native nationalist groups adopted it for political expression. Adolf Bastian of the University of Berlin popularized the name through his book Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipels, 1884–1894. The first native scholar to use the name was Ki Hajar Dewantara when in 1913, he established a press bureau in the Netherlands, Indonesisch Pers-bureau. History Early history Fossilised remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as the "Java Man", suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago. Homo sapiens reached the region around 43,000 BCE. Austronesian peoples, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to Southeast Asia from what is now Taiwan. They arrived in the archipelago around 2,000 BCE and confined the native Melanesians to the far eastern regions as they spread east. Ideal agricultural conditions and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth century BCE allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE. The archipelago's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade, including with Indian kingdoms and Chinese dynasties, from several centuries BCE. Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history. From the seventh century CE, the Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished due to trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism. Between the eighth and tenth centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra's Borobudur and Mataram's Prambanan. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of present-day Indonesia. This period is often referred to as the "Golden Age" in Indonesian history. The earliest evidence of Islamized populations in the archipelago dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra. Other parts of the archipelago gradually adopted Islam, and it was the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java. Colonial era The first Europeans arrived in the archipelago in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in the Maluku Islands. Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie; VOC) and became the dominant European power for almost 200 years. The VOC was dissolved in 1799 following bankruptcy, and the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalised colony. For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous. Dutch forces were engaged continuously in quelling rebellions on and off Java. The influence of local leaders such as Prince Diponegoro in central Java, Imam Bonjol in central Sumatra, Pattimura in Maluku, and the bloody thirty-year Aceh War weakened the Dutch and tied up the colonial military forces. Only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries. During World War II, the Japanese invasion and occupation ended Dutch rule and encouraged the independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, influential nationalist leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta issued the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence. Sukarno, Hatta and Sutan Sjahrir, were appointed president, vice-president and prime minister, respectively. The Netherlands attempted to re-establish their rule, beginning the Indonesian National Revolution which ended in December 1949 when the Dutch recognised Indonesian independence in the face of international pressure. Despite extraordinary political, social, and sectarian divisions, Indonesians, on the whole, found unity in their fight for independence. Post-World War II As president, Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism and maintained power by balancing the opposing forces of the military, political Islam, and the increasingly powerful Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Tensions between the military and the PKI culminated in an attempted coup in 1965. The army, led by Major General Suharto, countered by instigating a violent anti-communist purge that killed between 500,000 and one million people and incarcerated roughly a million more in concentration camps. The PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed. Suharto capitalised on Sukarno's weakened position, and following a drawn-out power play with Sukarno, Suharto was appointed president in March 1968. His US-backed "New Order" administration encouraged foreign direct investment, which was a crucial factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth. Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It brought out popular discontent with the New Order's corruption and suppression of political opposition and ultimately ended Suharto's presidency. In 1999, East Timor seceded from Indonesia, following its 1975 invasion by Indonesia and a 25-year occupation marked by international condemnation of human rights abuses. Since 1998, democratic processes have been strengthened by enhancing regional autonomy and instituting the country's first direct presidential election in 2004. Political, economic and social instability, corruption, and instances of terrorism remained problems in the 2000s; however, the economy has performed strongly since 2007. Although relations among the diverse population are mostly harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain problematic in some areas. A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005. Geography Indonesia is the southernmost country in Asia. The country lies between latitudes 11°S and 6°N and longitudes 95°E and 141°E. A transcontinental country spanning Southeast Asia and Oceania, it is the world's largest archipelagic state, extending 5,120 kilometres (3,181 mi) from east to west and 1,760 kilometres (1,094 mi) from north to south. The country's Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investments Affairs says Indonesia has 17,504 islands (with 16,056 registered at the UN) scattered over both sides of the equator, around 6,000 of which are inhabited. The largest are Sumatra, Java, Borneo (shared with Brunei and Malaysia), Sulawesi, and New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea). Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia on Borneo and Sebatik, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, East Timor on the island of Timor, and maritime borders with Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Palau, and Australia. At 4,884 metres (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya is Indonesia's highest peak, and Lake Toba in Sumatra is the largest lake, with an area of 1,145 km2 (442 sq mi). Indonesia's largest rivers are in Kalimantan and New Guinea and include Kapuas, Barito, Mamberamo, Sepik and Mahakam. They serve as communication and transport links between the island's river settlements. Climate Indonesia lies along the equator, and its climate tends to be relatively even year-round. Indonesia has two seasons—a dry season and a wet season—with no extremes of summer or winter. For most parts of Indonesia, the dry season falls between May and October, while the wet season falls between November and April. Indonesia's climate is almost entirely tropical, dominated by the tropical rainforest climate found on every large island of Indonesia. Cooler climate types exist in mountainous regions that are 1,300 to 1,500 metres (4,300 to 4,900 feet) above sea level. The oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) prevails in highland areas adjacent to rainforest climates, with uniform precipitation year-round. In highland areas near the tropical monsoon and tropical savanna climates, the subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) is more pronounced during dry season. Some regions, such as Kalimantan and Sumatra, experience only slight differences in rainfall and temperature between the seasons, whereas others, such as Nusa Tenggara, experience far more pronounced differences with droughts in the dry season and floods in the wet season. Rainfall varies across regions, with more in western Sumatra, Java, and the interiors of Kalimantan and Papua, and less in areas closer to Australia, such as Nusa Tenggara, which tends to be relatively dry. The almost uniformly warm waters that constitute 81% of Indonesia's area ensure that land temperatures remain relatively constant. Humidity is quite high, at between 70 and 90%. Winds are moderate and generally predictable, with monsoons usually blowing in from the south and east in May through October and from the north and west in November through April. Typhoons and large-scale storms pose little hazard to mariners; significant dangers come from swift currents in channels, such as the Lombok and Sape straits. Several studies consider Indonesia to be at severe risk from the projected effects of climate change. These include unreduced emissions resulting in an average temperature rise of around 1 °C (2 °F) by mid-century, raising the frequency of drought and food shortages (with an impact on precipitation and the patterns of wet and dry seasons, and thus Indonesia's agriculture system) as well as numerous diseases and wildfires. Rising sea levels would also threaten most of Indonesia's population, who live in low-lying coastal areas. Impoverished communities would likely be affected the most by climate change. Geology Tectonically, most of Indonesia's area is highly unstable, making it a site of numerous volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. It lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the Indo-Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate are pushed under the Eurasian Plate, where they melt at about 100 kilometres (62 miles) deep. A string of volcanoes runs through Sumatra, Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara, and then to the Banda Islands of Maluku to northeastern Sulawesi. Of the 400 volcanoes, around 130 are active. Between 1972 and 1991, there were 29 volcanic eruptions, mostly on Java. Volcanic ash has made agricultural conditions unpredictable in some areas. However, it has also resulted in fertile soils, a factor in historically sustaining the high population densities of Java and Bali. A massive supervolcano erupted at present-day Lake Toba around 70,000 BCE. It is believed to have caused a global volcanic winter and cooling of the climate and subsequently led to a genetic bottleneck in human evolution, though this is still in debate. The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora and the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa were among the largest in recorded history. The former caused 92,000 deaths and created an umbrella of volcanic ash that spread and blanketed parts of the archipelago and made much of the Northern Hemisphere without summer in 1816. The latter produced the loudest sound in recorded history and caused 36,000 deaths due to the eruption itself and the resulting tsunamis, with significant additional effects around the world years after the event. Recent catastrophic disasters due to seismic activity include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake. Biodiversity and conservation Indonesia's size, tropical climate, and archipelagic geography support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity, and it is among the 17 megadiverse countries identified by Conservation International. Its flora and fauna are a mixture of Asian and Australasian species. The Sunda Shelf islands (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Bali) were once linked to mainland Asia and have a wealth of Asian fauna. Large species such as the Sumatran tiger, rhinoceros, orangutan, Asian elephant, and leopard were once abundant as far east as Bali, but numbers and distribution have dwindled drastically. Having been long separated from the continental landmasses, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku have developed their unique flora and fauna. Papua was part of the Australian landmass and is home to a unique fauna and flora closely related to that of Australia, including over 600 bird species. Indonesia is second only to Australia in terms of total endemic species, with 36% of its 1,531 species of bird and 39% of its 515 species of mammal being endemic. Indonesia harbours 83% of Southeast Asia's old-growth forest, and the highest amount of forest carbon in the region. Tropical seas surround Indonesia's 80,000 kilometres (50,000 miles) of coastline. The country has a range of sea and coastal ecosystems, including beaches, dunes, estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass beds, coastal mudflats, tidal flats, algal beds, and small island ecosystems. Indonesia is one of the Coral Triangle countries with the world's most enormous diversity of coral reef fish, with more than 1,650 species in eastern Indonesia only. British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described a dividing line (Wallace Line) between the distribution of Indonesia's Asian and Australasian species. It runs roughly north–south along the edge of the Sunda Shelf, between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and along the deep Lombok Strait, between Lombok and Bali. Flora and fauna on the west of the line are generally Asian, while east from Lombok is increasingly Australian until the tipping point at the Weber Line. In his 1869 book, The Malay Archipelago, Wallace described numerous species unique to the area. The region of islands between his line and New Guinea is now termed Wallacea. Indonesia's large and growing population and rapid industrialisation present serious environmental issues. They are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels and weak, under-resourced governance. Problems include the destruction of peatlands, large-scale illegal deforestation (causing extensive haze across parts of Southeast Asia), over-exploitation of marine resources, air pollution, garbage management, and reliable water and wastewater services. These issues contribute to Indonesia's low ranking (number 116 out of 180 countries) in the 2020 Environmental Performance Index. The report also indicates that Indonesia's performance is generally below average in both regional and global context. Indonesia has one of the world's fastest deforestation rates. In 2020, forests covered approximately 49.1% of the country's land area, down from 87% in 1950. Since the 1970s, log production, various plantations and agriculture have been responsible for much of the deforestation in Indonesia. Most recently, it has been driven by the palm oil industry, which has been criticised for its environmental impact and displacement of local communities. The situation has made Indonesia the world's largest forest-based emitter of greenhouse gases. It also threatens the survival of indigenous and endemic species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identified 140 species of mammals as threatened and 15 as critically endangered, including the Bali myna, Sumatran orangutan, and Javan rhinoceros. Some academics describe the deforestation and other environmental destruction in the country as an ecocide. Government and politics Indonesia is a republic with a presidential system. Following the fall of the New Order in 1998, political and governmental structures have undergone sweeping reforms, with four constitutional amendments revamping the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Chief among them is the delegation of power and authority to various regional entities while remaining a unitary state. The President of Indonesia is the head of state and head of government, commander-in-chief of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, TNI), and the director of domestic governance, policy-making, and foreign affairs. The president may serve a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms. The highest representative body at the national level is the People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat, MPR). Its main functions are supporting and amending the constitution, inaugurating and impeaching the president, and formalising broad outlines of state policy. The MPR comprises two houses; the People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR), with 575 members, and the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, DPD), with 136. The DPR passes legislation and monitors the executive branch. Reforms since 1998 have markedly increased its role in national governance, while the DPD is a new chamber for matters of regional management. Most civil disputes appear before the State Court (Pengadilan Negeri); appeals are heard before the High Court (Pengadilan Tinggi). The Supreme Court of Indonesia (Mahkamah Agung) is the highest level of the judicial branch and hears final cessation appeals and conducts case reviews. Other courts include the Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) which listens to constitutional and political matters, and the Religious Court (Pengadilan Agama), which deals with codified Islamic Personal Law (sharia) cases. Additionally, the Judicial Commission (Komisi Yudisial) monitors the performance of judges. Parties and elections Since 1999, Indonesia has had a multi-party system. In all legislative elections since the fall of the New Order, no political party has won an overall majority of seats. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which secured the most votes in the 2019 elections, is the party of the incumbent president, Joko Widodo. Other notable parties include the Party of the Functional Groups (Golkar), the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), the Democratic Party, and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). The first general election was held in 1955 to elect members of the DPR and the Constitutional Assembly (Konstituante). The most recent elections in 2019 resulted in nine political parties in the DPR, with a parliamentary threshold of 4% of the national vote. At the national level, Indonesians did not elect a president until 2004. Since then, the president is elected for a five-year term, as are the party-aligned members of the DPR and the non-partisan DPD. Beginning with the 2015 local elections, elections for governors and mayors have occurred on the same date. In 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled that legislative and presidential elections would be held simultaneously, starting in 2019. Administrative divisions Indonesia has several levels of subdivisions. The first level are the provinces, which have a legislature (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah, DPRD) and an elected governor. A total of 38 provinces have been established from the original eight in 1945, the most recent change being the split of Southwest Papua from the province of West Papua in 2022. The second level are the regencies (kabupaten) and cities (kota), led by regents (bupati) and mayors (walikota) respectively and a legislature (DPRD Kabupaten/Kota). The third level are the districts (kecamatan, distrik in Papua, or kapanewon and kemantren in Yogyakarta), and the fourth are the villages (either desa, kelurahan, kampung, nagari in West Sumatra, or gampong in Aceh). The village is the lowest level of government administration. It is divided into several community groups (rukun warga, RW), which are further divided into neighbourhood groups (rukun tetangga, RT). In Java, the village (desa) is divided into smaller units called dusun or dukuh (hamlets), which are the same as RW. Following the implementation of regional autonomy measures in 2001, regencies and cities have become chief administrative units responsible for providing most government services. The village administration level is the most influential on a citizen's daily life and handles village or neighbourhood matters through an elected village head (lurah or kepala desa). Nine provinces—Aceh, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Papua, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua and West Papua—are granted a special autonomous status (otonomi khusus) from the central government. Aceh, a conservative Islamic territory, has the right to create some aspects of an independent legal system implementing sharia. Yogyakarta is the only pre-colonial monarchy legally recognised within Indonesia, with the positions of governor and vice governor being prioritised for the reigning Sultan of Yogyakarta and Duke of Pakualaman, respectively. The six Papuan provinces are the only ones where the indigenous people have privileges in their local government. Foreign relations Indonesia maintains 132 diplomatic missions abroad, including 95 embassies. The country adheres to what it calls a "free and active" foreign policy, seeking a role in regional affairs in proportion to its size and location but avoiding involvement in conflicts among other countries. Indonesia was a significant battleground during the Cold War. Numerous attempts by the United States and the Soviet Union, and China to some degree, culminated in the 1965 coup attempt and subsequent upheaval that led to a reorientation of foreign policy. Quiet alignment with the Western world while maintaining a non-aligned stance has characterised Indonesia's foreign policy since then. Today, it maintains close relations with its neighbours and is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit. In common with most of the Muslim world, Indonesia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and has actively supported Palestine. However, observers have pointed out that Indonesia has ties with Israel, albeit discreetly. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950 and was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Indonesia is a signatory to the ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement, the Cairns Group, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and a former member of OPEC. Indonesia has been a humanitarian and development aid recipient since 1967, and recently, the country established its first overseas aid programme in late 2019. Military Indonesia's Armed Forces (TNI) include the Army (TNI–AD), Navy (TNI–AL, which includes Marine Corps), and Air Force (TNI–AU). The army has about 400,000 active-duty personnel. Defence spending in the national budget was 0.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018, with controversial involvement of military-owned commercial interests and foundations. The Armed Forces were formed during the Indonesian National Revolution when it undertook guerrilla warfare along with informal militia. Since then, territorial lines have formed the basis of all TNI branches' structure, aimed at maintaining domestic stability and deterring foreign threats. The military has possessed a strong political influence since its founding, which peaked during the New Order. Political reforms in 1998 included the removal of the TNI's formal representation from the legislature. Nevertheless, its political influence remains, albeit at a reduced level. Since independence, the country has struggled to maintain unity against local insurgencies and separatist movements. Some, notably in Aceh and Papua, have led to an armed conflict and subsequent allegations of human rights abuses and brutality from all sides. The former was resolved peacefully in 2005, while the latter has continued amid a significant, albeit imperfect, implementation of regional autonomy laws. Reports from Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, and the UNHRC have raised the issue of human rights abuses committed by Indonesian troops in Papua such as extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances. Past engagements of the army include the conflict against the Netherlands over the Dutch New Guinea, the opposition to the British-sponsored creation of Malaysia ("Konfrontasi"), the mass killings of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), and the invasion of East Timor, the latter having been Indonesia's most massive military operation. Economy Indonesia has a mixed economy in which the private sector and government play vital roles. As the only G20 member state in Southeast Asia, the country has the largest economy in the region and is classified as a newly industrialised country. Per a 2023 estimate, it is the world's 16th largest economy by nominal GDP and 7th in terms of GDP at PPP, estimated to be US$1.417 trillion and US$4.393 trillion, respectively. Per capita GDP in PPP is US$15,835, while nominal per capita GDP is US$5,108. Services are the economy's largest sector and account for 43.4% of GDP (2018), followed by industry (39.7%) and agriculture (12.8%). Since 2009, it has employed more people than other sectors, accounting for 47.7% of the total labour force, followed by agriculture (30.2%) and industry (21.9%). Over time, the structure of the economy has changed considerably. Historically, it has been weighted heavily towards agriculture, reflecting both its stage of economic development and government policies in the 1950s and 1960s to promote agricultural self-sufficiency. A gradual process of industrialisation and urbanisation began in the late 1960s and accelerated in the 1980s as falling oil prices saw the government focus on diversifying away from oil exports and towards manufactured exports. This development continued throughout the 1980s and into the next decade despite the 1990 oil price shock, during which the GDP rose at an average rate of 7.1%. As a result, the official poverty rate fell from 60% to 15%. Trade barriers reduction from the mid-1980s made the economy more globally integrated. The growth ended with the 1997 Asian financial crisis that severely impacted the economy, including a 13.1% real GDP contraction in 1998 and a 78% inflation. The economy reached its low point in mid-1999 with only 0.8% real GDP growth.Relatively steady inflation and an increase in GDP deflator and the Consumer Price Index have contributed to strong economic growth in recent years. From 2007 to 2019, annual growth accelerated to between 4% and 6% due to improvements in the banking sector and domestic consumption, helping Indonesia weather the 2008–2009 Great Recession, and regain in 2011 the investment grade rating it had lost in 1997. As of 2019, 9.41% of the population lived below the poverty line, and the official open unemployment rate was 5.28%. During the first year of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the economy suffered its first recession since the 1997 crisis but recovered in the following year. Indonesia has abundant natural resources. Its primary industries are fishing, petroleum, timber, paper products, cotton cloth, tourism, petroleum mining, natural gas, bauxite, coal and tin. Its main agricultural products are rice, coconuts, soybeans, bananas, coffee, tea, palm, rubber, and sugar cane. Indonesia is the world's largest producer of nickel. These commodities make up a large portion of the country's exports, with palm oil and coal briquettes as the leading export commodities. In addition to refined and crude petroleum as the primary imports, telephones, vehicle parts and wheat cover the majority of additional imports. China, the United States, Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand are Indonesia's principal export markets and import partners. Tourism Tourism contributed around US$9.8 billion to GDP in 2020, and in the previous year, Indonesia received 15.4 million visitors. Overall, Australia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan are the top five sources of visitors to Indonesia. Since 2011, Wonderful Indonesia has been the country's international marketing campaign slogan to promote tourism. Nature and culture are prime attractions of Indonesian tourism. The country has a well-preserved natural ecosystem with rainforests stretching over about 57% of Indonesia's land (225 million acres). Forests on Sumatra and Kalimantan are examples of popular destinations, such as the Orangutan wildlife reserve. Moreover, Indonesia has one of the world's longest coastlines, measuring 54,716 kilometres (33,999 mi). The ancient Borobudur and Prambanan temples, as well as Toraja and Bali with their traditional festivities, are some of the popular destinations for cultural tourism. Indonesia has ten UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Komodo National Park and the Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta and its Historic Landmarks; and a further 18 in a tentative list that includes Bunaken National Park and Raja Ampat Islands. Other attractions include specific points in Indonesian history, such as the colonial heritage of the Dutch East Indies in the old towns of Jakarta and Semarang and the royal palaces of Pagaruyung and Ubud. Science and technology Government expenditure on research and development is relatively low (0.3% of GDP in 2019), and Indonesia ranked 54th (from 133 countries) on the 2024 Global Innovation Index report and performance above expectation for level of development in uppermiddle-income group. Historical examples of scientific and technological developments include the paddy cultivation technique terasering, which is common in Southeast Asia, and the pinisi boats by the Bugis and Makassar people. In the 1980s, Indonesian engineer Tjokorda Raka Sukawati invented a road construction technique named Sosrobahu that later became widely used in several countries. The country is also an active producer of passenger trains and freight wagons with its state-owned company, the Indonesian Railway Industry (INKA), and has exported trains abroad. Indonesia has a long history of developing military and small commuter aircraft. It is the only country in Southeast Asia to build and produce aircraft. The state-owned Indonesian Aerospace company (PT. Dirgantara Indonesia) has provided components for Boeing and Airbus. The company also collaborated with EADS CASA of Spain to develop the CN-235, which has been used by several countries. Former President B. J. Habibie played a vital role in this achievement. Indonesia has also joined the South Korean programme to manufacture the 4.5-generation fighter jet KAI KF-21 Boramae. Indonesia has a space programme and space agency, the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lembaga Penerbangan dan Antariksa Nasional, LAPAN). In the 1970s, Indonesia became the first developing country to operate a satellite system called Palapa, a series of communication satellites owned by Indosat. The first satellite, PALAPA A1, was launched on 8 July 1976 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. As of 2024, Indonesia has launched 19 satellites for various purposes. In May 2024, Indonesia granted licensure to satellite internet provider Starlink aimed at bringing Internet connectivity to the rural and underserved regions of Indonesia. Infrastructure Transport Indonesia's transport system has been shaped over time by the economic resource base of an archipelago and the distribution of its 275 million people highly concentrated on Java. All transport modes play a role in the country's transport system and are generally complementary rather than competitive. In 2016, the transport sector generated about 5.2% of GDP. The road transport system is predominant, with a total length of 542,310 kilometres (336,980 miles) as of 2018. Jakarta has the most extended bus rapid transit system globally, boasting 251.2 kilometres (156.1 miles) in 13 corridors and ten cross-corridor routes. Rickshaws such as bajaj and becak and share taxis such as Angkot and Minibus are a regular sight in the country. Most railways are in Java, and partly Sumatra and Sulawesi, used for freight and passenger transport, such as local commuter rail services (mainly in Greater Jakarta and Yogyakarta–Solo) complementing the inter-city rail network in several cities. In the late 2010s, Jakarta and Palembang were the first cities in Indonesia to have rapid transit systems, with more planned for other cities in the future. In 2023, a high-speed rail called Whoosh connecting the cities of Jakarta and Bandung commenced operations, a first for Southeast Asia and the Southern Hemisphere. Indonesia's largest airport, Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, is among the busiest in the Southern Hemisphere, serving 49 million passengers in 2023. Ngurah Rai International Airport and Juanda International Airport are the country's second-and third-busiest airport, respectively. Garuda Indonesia, the country's flag carrier since 1949, is one of the world's leading airlines and a member of the global airline alliance SkyTeam. The Port of Tanjung Priok is the busiest and most advanced Indonesian port, handling more than 50% of Indonesia's trans-shipment cargo traffic. Energy In 2019, Indonesia produced 4,999 terawatt-hours (17.059 quadrillion British thermal units) and consumed 2,357 terawatt-hours (8.043 quadrillion British thermal units) worth of energy. The country has substantial energy resources, including 22 billion barrels (3.5 billion cubic metres) of conventional oil and gas reserves (of which about 4 billion barrels are recoverable), 8 billion barrels of oil-equivalent of coal-based methane (CBM) resources, and 28 billion tonnes of recoverable coal. In late 2020, Indonesia's total national installed power generation capacity stands at 72,750.72 MW. Although reliance on domestic coal and imported oil has increased between 2010 and 2019, Indonesia has seen progress in renewable energy, with hydropower and geothermal being the most abundant sources that account for more than 8% in the country's energy mix. A prime example of the former is the country's largest dam, Jatiluhur, which has an installed capacity of 186.5 MW that feeds into the Java grid managed by the State Electricity Company (Perusahaan Listrik Negara, PLN). Furthermore, Indonesia has the potential for solar, wind, biomass and ocean energy, although as of 2021, power generation from these sources remain small. Demographics The 2020 census recorded Indonesia's population as 270.2 million, the fourth largest in the world, with a moderately high population growth rate of 1.25%. Java is the world's most populous island, where 56% of the country's population lives. The population density is 141 people per square kilometre (370 people/sq mi), ranking 88th in the world, although Java has a population density of 1,067 people per square kilometre (2,760 people/sq mi). In 1961, the first post-colonial census recorded a total of 97 million people. It is expected to grow to around 295 million by 2030 and 321 million by 2050. The country currently possesses a relatively young population, with a median age of 30.2 years (2017 estimate). The spread of the population is uneven throughout the archipelago, with a varying habitats and levels of development, ranging from the megacity of Jakarta to uncontacted tribes in Papua. As of 2017, about 54.7% of the population lives in urban areas. Jakarta is the country's primate city and the second-most populous urban area globally, with over 34 million residents. About 8 million Indonesians live overseas; most settled in Malaysia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, and Australia. Ethnic groups and languages Indonesia is an ethnically diverse country, with around 1,300 distinct native ethnic groups. Most Indonesians are descended from Austronesian peoples whose languages had origins in Proto-Austronesian, which possibly originated in what is now Taiwan. Another major grouping is the Melanesians, who inhabit eastern Indonesia (the Maluku Islands, Western New Guinea and the eastern part of the Lesser Sunda Islands). The Javanese are the largest ethnic group, constituting 40.2% of the population, and are politically dominant. They are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of Java and also in sizeable numbers in most provinces. The Sundanese are the next largest group (15.4%), followed by Malay, Batak, Madurese, Betawi, Minangkabau, and Bugis people. A sense of Indonesian nationhood exists alongside strong regional identities. The country's official language is Indonesian, a variant of Malay based on its prestige dialect, which had been the archipelago's lingua franca for centuries. It was promoted by nationalists in the 1920s and achieved official status in 1945 under the name Bahasa Indonesia. Due to centuries-long contact with other languages, it is rich in local and foreign influences. Nearly every Indonesian speaks the language due to its widespread use in education, academics, communications, business, politics, and mass media. Most Indonesians also speak at least one of more than 700 local languages, often as their first language. Most belong to the Austronesian language family, while over 270 Papuan languages are spoken in eastern Indonesia. Of these, Javanese is the most widely spoken and has co-official status in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. In 1930, Dutch and other Europeans (Totok), Eurasians, and derivative people like the Indos, numbered 240,000 or 0.4% of the total population. Historically, they constituted only a tiny fraction of the native population and remain so today. Also, the Dutch language never had a substantial number of speakers or official status despite the Dutch presence for almost 350 years. The small minorities that can speak it or Dutch-based creole languages fluently are the aforementioned ethnic groups and descendants of Dutch colonisers. This reflected the Dutch colonial empire's primary purpose, which was commercial exchange as opposed to sovereignty over homogeneous landmasses. Today, there is some degree of fluency by either educated members of the oldest generation or legal professionals, as specific law codes are still only available in Dutch. Religion Although the government officially recognises only six religions: Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and indigenous religions for administrative purpose, religious freedom is guaranteed in the country's constitution. With 231 million adherents (86.7%) in 2018, Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, with Sunnis being the majority (99%). The Shias and Ahmadis, respectively, constitute 1% (1–3 million) and 0.2% (200,000–400,000) of Muslims. About 10% of Indonesians are Christians, who form the majority in several provinces in eastern Indonesia. Most Hindus are Balinese, and most Buddhists are Chinese Indonesians. The natives of the Indonesian archipelago originally practised indigenous animism and dynamism, beliefs that are common to Austronesian peoples. They worshipped and revered ancestral spirits and believed that supernatural spirits (hyang) might inhabit certain places such as large trees, stones, forests, mountains, or sacred sites. Examples of Indonesian native belief systems include the Sundanese Sunda Wiwitan, Dayak's Kaharingan, and the Javanese Kejawèn. They have significantly impacted how other faiths are practised, evidenced by a large proportion of people—such as the Javanese abangan, Balinese Hindus, and Dayak Christians—practising a less orthodox, syncretic form of their religion. Hindu influences reached the archipelago as early as the first century CE. The Sundanese Kingdom of Salakanagara in western Java around 130 was the first historically recorded Indianised kingdom in the archipelago. Buddhism arrived around the 6th century, and its history in Indonesia is closely related to that of Hinduism, as some empires based on Buddhism had their roots around the same period. The archipelago has witnessed the rise and fall of powerful and influential Hindu and Buddhist empires such as Majapahit, Sailendra, Srivijaya, and Mataram. Though no longer a majority, Hinduism and Buddhism remain to have a substantial influence on Indonesian culture. Islam was introduced by Sunni traders of the Shafi'i school as well as Sufi traders from the Indian subcontinent and southern Arabia as early as the 8th century CE. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, resulting in a distinct form of Islam (santri). Trade, Islamic missionary activity such as by the Wali Sanga and Chinese explorer Zheng He, and military campaigns by several sultanates helped accelerate the spread of Islam. By the end of the 16th century, it had supplanted Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religion of Java and Sumatra. Catholicism was brought by Portuguese traders and missionaries such as Jesuit Francis Xavier, who visited and baptised several thousand locals. Its spread faced difficulty due to the Dutch East India Company policy of banning the religion and the Dutch hostility due to the Eighty Years' War against Catholic Spain's rule. Protestantism is mostly a result of Calvinist and Lutheran missionary efforts during the Dutch colonial era. Although they are the most common branch, there is a multitude of other denominations elsewhere in the country. There is a small Jewish presence in the archipelago, mostly the descendants of Dutch and Iraqi Jews, and some local converts. Most of them left in the decades after Indonesian independence, with only a tiny number of Jews remain today mostly in Jakarta, Manado, and Surabaya. Judaism was once officially listed as Hebrani under the Sukarno government but ceased to be recorded separately like other religions with few adherents since 1965. Presently, one of the only remaining Synagogue in Indonesia is Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue located in Tondano, North Sulawesi, around 31 km from Manado. At the national and local level, Indonesia's political leadership and civil society groups have played a crucial role in interfaith relations, both positively and negatively. The invocation of the first principle of Indonesia's philosophical foundation, Pancasila (i.e. the belief in the one and only God), often serves as a reminder of religious tolerance, though instances of intolerance have occurred. An overwhelming majority of Indonesians consider religion to be essential and an integral part of life. Education Education is compulsory for 12 years. Parents can choose between state-run, non-sectarian schools or private or semi-private religious (usually Islamic) schools, supervised by the ministries of Education and Religion, respectively. Private international schools that do not follow the national curriculum are also available. The enrolment rate is 93% for primary education, 79% for secondary education, and 36% for tertiary education (2018). The literacy rate is 96% (2018), and the government spends about 3.6% of GDP (2015) on education. In 2018, there were 4,670 higher educational institutions in Indonesia, with most (74%) located in Sumatra and Java. According to the QS World University Rankings, Indonesia's top universities are the University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University and the Bandung Institute of Technology. Healthcare Government expenditure on healthcare was about 3.3% of GDP in 2016. As part of an attempt to achieve universal health care, the government launched the National Health Insurance (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional, JKN) in 2014. It includes coverage for a range of services from the public and also private firms that have opted to join the scheme. Despite remarkable improvements in recent decades, such as rising life expectancy (from 62.3 years in 1990 to 71.7 years in 2019) and declining child mortality (from 84 deaths per 1,000 births in 1990 to 23.9 deaths in 2019), challenges remain, including maternal and child health, low air quality, malnutrition, high rate of smoking, and infectious diseases. Issues In the economic sphere, there is a gap in wealth, unemployment rate, and health between densely populated islands and economic centres (such as Sumatra and Java) and sparsely populated, disadvantaged areas (such as Maluku and Papua). This is created by a situation in which nearly 80% of Indonesia's population lives in the western parts of the archipelago and yet grows slower than the rest of the country. In the social arena, numerous cases of racism and discrimination, especially against Chinese Indonesians and Papuans, have been well documented throughout Indonesia's history. Such cases have sometimes led to violent conflicts, most notably the May 1998 riots and the Papua conflict, which has continued since 1962. LGBT people also regularly face challenges. Although LGBT issues have been relatively obscure, the 2010s (especially after 2016) has seen a rapid surge of anti-LGBT rhetoric, putting LGBT Indonesians into a frequent subject of intimidation, discrimination, and even violence. In addition, Indonesia has been reported to have sizeable numbers of child and forced labourers, with the former being prevalent in the palm oil and tobacco industries, while the latter in the fishing industry. Culture The cultural history of the Indonesian archipelago spans more than two millennia. Influences from the Indian subcontinent, mainland China, the Middle East, Europe, Melanesian and Austronesian peoples have historically shaped the cultural, linguistic and religious makeup of the archipelago. As a result, modern-day Indonesia has a multicultural, multilingual and multi-ethnic society, with a complex cultural mixture that differs significantly from the original indigenous cultures. Indonesia currently holds thirteen items of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, including a wayang puppet theatre, kris, batik, pencak silat, angklung, gamelan, and the three genres of traditional Balinese dance. Art and architecture Indonesian arts include both age-old art forms developed through centuries and recently developed contemporary art. Despite often displaying local ingenuity, Indonesian arts have absorbed foreign influences—most notably from India, the Arab world, China and Europe, due to contacts and interactions facilitated, and often motivated by trade. Painting is an established and developed art in Bali, where its people are famed for their artistry. Their painting tradition started as classical Kamasan or Wayang style visual narrative, derived from visual art discovered on candi bas reliefs in eastern Java. There have been numerous discoveries of megalithic sculptures in Indonesia. Subsequently, tribal art has flourished within the culture of Nias, Batak, Asmat, Dayak and Toraja. Wood and stone are common materials used as the media for sculpting among these tribes. Between the 8th and 15th centuries, the Javanese civilisation developed refined stone sculpting art and architecture influenced by the Hindu-Buddhist Dharmic civilisation. The temples of Borobudur and Prambanan are among the most famous examples of the practice. As with the arts, Indonesian architecture has absorbed foreign influences that have brought cultural changes and profound effects on building styles and techniques. The most dominant has traditionally been Indian; however, Chinese, Arab, and European influences have also been significant. Traditional carpentry, masonry, stone and woodwork techniques and decorations have thrived in vernacular architecture, with numbers of traditional houses' (rumah adat) styles that have been developed. The traditional houses and settlements vary by ethnic group, and each has a specific custom and history. Examples include Toraja's Tongkonan, Minangkabau's Rumah Gadang and Rangkiang, Javanese style Pendopo pavilion with Joglo style roof, Dayak's longhouses, various Malay houses, Balinese houses and temples, and also different forms of rice barns (lumbung). Music, dance and clothing The music of Indonesia predates historical records. Various indigenous tribes incorporate chants and songs accompanied by musical instruments in their rituals. Angklung, kacapi suling, gong, gamelan, talempong, kulintang, and sasando are examples of traditional Indonesian instruments. The diverse world of Indonesian music genres results from the musical creativity of its people and subsequent cultural encounters with foreign influences. These include gambus and qasida from the Middle East, keroncong from Portugal, and dangdut—one of Indonesia's most popular music genres—with notable Hindi influence as well as Malay orchestras. Today, the Indonesian music industry enjoys both nationwide and regional popularity in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, due to the common culture and mutual intelligibility between Indonesian and Malay. Indonesian dances have a diverse history, with more than 3,000 original dances. Scholars believe that they had their beginning in rituals and religious worship. Examples include war dances, a dance of witch doctors, and a dance to call for rain or any agricultural rituals such as Hudoq. Indonesian dances derive their influences from the archipelago's prehistoric and tribal, Hindu-Buddhist, and Islamic periods. Recently, modern dances and urban teen dances have gained popularity due to the influence of Western culture and those of Japan and South Korea to some extent. However, various traditional dances, including those of Java, Bali and Dayak, remain a living and dynamic tradition. Indonesia has various clothing styles due to its long and rich cultural history. The national costume originates from the country's indigenous culture and traditional textile traditions. The Javanese Batik and Kebaya are arguably Indonesia's most recognised national costumes, though they have Sundanese and Balinese origins as well. Each province has a representation of traditional attire and dress, such as Ulos of Batak from North Sumatra; Songket of Malay and Minangkabau from Sumatra; and Ikat of Sasak from Lombok. People wear national and regional costumes during traditional weddings, formal ceremonies, music performances, government and official occasions, and they vary from traditional to modern attire. Theatre and cinema Wayang, the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese shadow puppet theatre displays several legends from Hindu mythology such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Other forms of local drama include the Javanese Ludruk and Ketoprak, the Sundanese Sandiwara, Betawi Lenong, and various Balinese dance dramas. They incorporate humour and jest and often involve audiences in their performances. Some theatre traditions also include music, dancing and silat martial art, such as Randai from the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra. It is usually performed for traditional ceremonies and festivals and based on semi-historical Minangkabau legends and love story. Modern performing art also developed in Indonesia with its distinct style of drama. Notable theatre, dance, and drama troupe such as Teater Koma are famous as it often portrays social and political satire of Indonesian society. The first film produced in the archipelago was Loetoeng Kasaroeng, a silent film by Dutch director L. Heuveldorp. The film industry expanded after independence, with six films made in 1949 rising to 58 in 1955. Usmar Ismail, who made significant imprints in the 1950s and 1960s, is generally considered the pioneer of Indonesian films. The latter part of the Sukarno era saw the use of cinema for nationalistic, anti-Western purposes, and foreign films were subsequently banned, while the New Order used a censorship code that aimed to maintain social order. Production of films peaked during the 1980s, although it declined significantly in the next decade. Notable films in this period include Pengabdi Setan (1980), Nagabonar (1987), Tjoet Nja' Dhien (1988), Catatan Si Boy (1989), and Warkop's comedy films. Independent film making was a rebirth of the film industry since 1998, when films started addressing previously banned topics, such as religion, race, and love. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of films released each year steadily increased. Riri Riza and Mira Lesmana were among the new generation of filmmakers who co-directed Kuldesak (1999), Petualangan Sherina (2000), Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (2002), and Laskar Pelangi (2008). In 2022, KKN di Desa Penari smashed box office records, becoming the most-watched Indonesian film with 9.2 million tickets sold. Indonesia has held annual film festivals and awards, including the Indonesian Film Festival (Festival Film Indonesia) held intermittently since 1955. It hands out the Citra Award, the film industry's most prestigious award. From 1973 to 1992, the festival was held annually and then discontinued until its revival in 2004. Mass media and literature Media freedom increased considerably after the fall of the New Order, during which the Ministry of Information monitored and controlled domestic media and restricted foreign media. The television market includes several national commercial networks and provincial networks that compete with public TVRI, which held a monopoly on TV broadcasting from 1962 to 1989. By the early 21st century, the improved communications system had brought television signals to every village, and people can choose from up to 11 channels. Private radio stations carry news bulletins while foreign broadcasters supply programmes. The number of printed publications has increased significantly since 1998. Like other developing countries, Indonesia began developing Internet in the early 1990s. Its first commercial Internet service provider, PT. Indo Internet began operation in Jakarta in 1994. The country had 171 million Internet users in 2018, with a penetration rate that keeps increasing annually. Most are between the ages of 15 and 19 and depend primarily on mobile phones for access, outnumbering laptops and computers. The oldest evidence of writing in the Indonesian archipelago is a series of Sanskrit inscriptions dated to the 5th century. Many of Indonesia's peoples have firmly rooted oral traditions, which help define and preserve their cultural identities. In written poetry and prose, several traditional forms dominate, mainly syair, pantun, gurindam, hikayat and babad. Examples of these forms include Syair Abdul Muluk, Hikayat Hang Tuah, Sulalatus Salatin, and Babad Tanah Jawi. Early modern Indonesian literature originates in the Sumatran tradition. Literature and poetry flourished during the decades leading up to and after independence. Balai Pustaka, the government bureau for popular literature, was instituted in 1917 to promote the development of indigenous literature. Many scholars consider the 1950s and 1960s to be the Golden Age of Indonesian Literature. The style and characteristics of modern Indonesian literature vary according to the dynamics of the country's political and social landscape, most notably the war of independence in the second half of the 1940s and the anti-communist mass killings in the mid-1960s. Notable literary figures of the modern era include Hamka, Chairil Anwar, Mohammad Yamin, Merari Siregar, Marah Roesli, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and Ayu Utami. Cuisine Indonesian cuisine is one of the world's most diverse, vibrant, and colourful, full of intense flavour. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon indigenous culture and foreign influences such as Chinese, African, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian precedents. Rice is the leading staple food and is served with side dishes of meat and vegetables. Spices (notably chilli), coconut milk, fish and chicken are fundamental ingredients. Some popular dishes such as nasi goreng, gado-gado, sate, and soto are ubiquitous and considered national dishes. The Ministry of Tourism, however, chose tumpeng as the official national dish in 2014, describing it as binding the diversity of various culinary traditions. Other popular dishes include rendang, one of the many Minangkabau cuisines along with dendeng and gulai. Another fermented food is oncom, similar in some ways to tempeh but uses a variety of bases (not only soy), created by different fungi, and is prevalent in West Java. Sports Badminton and football are the most popular sports in Indonesia. Indonesia is among the few countries that have won the Thomas and Uber Cup, the world team championship of men's and women's badminton. Along with weightlifting, it is the sport that contributes the most to Indonesia's Olympic medal tally. Liga 1 is the country's premier football club league. On the international stage, Indonesia was the first Asian team to participate in the FIFA World Cup in 1938 as the Dutch East Indies. On a regional level, Indonesia won a bronze medal at the 1958 Asian Games as well as three gold medals at the 1987, 1991 and 2023 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games). Indonesia's first appearance at the AFC Asian Cup was in 1996. Other popular sports include boxing and basketball, which were part of the first National Games (Pekan Olahraga Nasional, PON) in 1948. Sepak takraw and karapan sapi (bull racing) in Madura are some examples of Indonesia's traditional sports. In areas with a history of tribal warfare, mock fighting contests are held, such as caci in Flores and pasola in Sumba. Pencak Silat is an Indonesian martial art that, in 2018, became one of the sporting events in the Asian Games, with Indonesia appearing as one of the leading competitors. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is one of the top sports powerhouses, topping the SEA Games medal table ten times since 1977, most recently in 2011. See also List of Indonesia-related topics Index of Indonesia-related articles Outline of Indonesia Notes References Citations Bibliography External links Indonesia. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Indonesia from BBC News Key Development Forecasts for Indonesia from International Futures Government Minister of The State Secretary (in Indonesian) Statistics Indonesia Chief of State and Cabinet Members Archived 2014-10-12 at the Wayback Machine General Indonesia UCB Libraries GovPubs Indonesia Encyclopædia Britannica Wikimedia Atlas of Indonesia Geographic data related to Indonesia at OpenStreetMap Official site of Indonesian Tourism

Pakistan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. Islamabad is the nation's capital, while Karachi is its largest city and financial centre. Pakistan is the 33rd-largest country by area. Bounded by the Arabian Sea on the south, the Gulf of Oman on the southwest, and the Sir Creek on the southeast, it shares land borders with India to the east; Afghanistan to the west; Iran to the southwest; and China to the northeast. It shares a maritime border with Oman in the Gulf of Oman, and is separated from Tajikistan in the northwest by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor. Pakistan is the site of several ancient cultures, including the 8,500-year-old Neolithic site of Mehrgarh in Balochistan, the Indus Valley Civilisation of the Bronze Age, and the ancient Gandhara civilisation. The regions that compose the modern state of Pakistan were the realm of multiple empires and dynasties, including the Gandhāra, the Achaemenid, the Maurya, the Kushan, the Parthian, the Paratarajas, the Gupta; the Umayyad Caliphate in its southern regions, the Hindu Shahis, the Ghaznavids, the Delhi Sultanate, the Samma, the Shah Miris, the Mughals, the Durranis, the Sikhs and most recently, the British Raj from 1858 to 1947. Spurred by the Pakistan Movement, which sought a homeland for the Muslims of British India, and election victories in 1946 by the All-India Muslim League, Pakistan gained independence in 1947 after the Partition of the British Indian Empire, which awarded separate statehood to its Muslim-majority regions and was accompanied by an unparalleled mass migration and loss of life. Initially a Dominion of the British Commonwealth, Pakistan officially drafted its constitution in 1956, and emerged as a declared Islamic republic. In 1971, the exclave of East Pakistan seceded as the new country of Bangladesh after a nine-month-long civil war. In the following four decades, Pakistan has been ruled by governments whose descriptions, although complex, commonly alternated between civilian and military, democratic and authoritarian, relatively secular and Islamist. Pakistan is considered a middle power nation, with the world's sixth-largest standing armed forces. It is a declared nuclear-weapons state, and is ranked amongst the emerging and growth-leading economies, with a large and rapidly-growing middle class. Pakistan's political history since independence has been characterized by periods of significant economic and military growth as well as those of political and economic instability. It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with similarly diverse geography and wildlife. The country continues to face challenges, including poverty, illiteracy, corruption, and terrorism. Pakistan is a member of the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition, and is designated as a major non-NATO ally by the United States. Etymology The name Pakistan was coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan Movement activist, who in January 1933 first published it (originally as "Pakstan") in a pamphlet Now or Never, using it as an acronym. Rahmat Ali explained: "It is composed of letters taken from the names of all our homelands, Indian and Asian, Panjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan." He added, "Pakistan is both a Persian and Urdu word... It means the land of the Paks, the spiritually pure and clean." Etymologists note that پاک pāk, is 'pure' in Persian and Pashto and the Persian suffix ـستان -stan means 'land' or 'place of'. Rahmat Ali's concept of Pakistan only related to the northwestern area of the Indian subcontinent. He also proposed the name "Banglastan" for the Muslim areas of Bengal and "Osmanistan" for Hyderabad State, as well as a political federation between the three. History Indus Valley Civilisation Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan. The earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom artefacts have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab. The Indus region, which covers most of the present-day Pakistan, was the site of several successive ancient cultures including the Neolithic (7000–4300 BCE) site of Mehrgarh, and the 5,000-year history of urban life in South Asia to the various sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation, including Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Vedic period Following the decline of the Indus valley civilization, Indo-Aryan tribes moved into the Punjab from Central Asia in several waves of migration in the Vedic period (1500–500 BCE), bringing with them their distinctive religious traditions and practices which fused with local culture. The Indo-Aryans religious beliefs and practices from the Bactria–Margiana culture and the native Harappan Indus beliefs of the former Indus Valley civilization eventually gave rise to Vedic culture and tribes. Most notable among them was Gandhara civilization, which flourished at the crossroads of India, Central Asia, and the Middle East, connecting trade routes and absorbing cultural influences from diverse civilizations. The initial early Vedic culture was a tribal, pastoral society centered in the Indus Valley, of what is today Pakistan. During this period, the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed. Classical period The western regions of Pakistan became part of Achaemenid Empire around 517 BCE. In 326 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered the region by defeating various local rulers, most notably, the King Porus, at Jhelum. It was followed by the Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great, until 185 BCE. The Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria (180–165 BCE) included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander (165–150 BCE), prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world, which was established during the late Vedic period in the 6th century BCE. The ancient university was documented by the invading forces of Alexander the Great and was also recorded by Chinese pilgrims in the 4th or 5th century CE. At its zenith, the Rai dynasty (489–632 CE) ruled Sindh and the surrounding territories. Islamic conquest The Arab conqueror Muhammad ibn Qasim conquered Sindh and some regions of Punjab in 711 CE. The Pakistan government's official chronology claims this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid. The Early Medieval period (642–1219 CE) witnessed the spread of Islam in the region. Before the arrival of Islam beginning in the 8th century, the region of Pakistan was home to a diverse plethora of faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism. During this period, Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting a majority of the regional population to Islam. Upon the defeat of the Turk and Hindu Shahi dynasties which governed the Kabul Valley, Gandhara (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkwa), and western Punjab in the 7th to 11th centuries CE, several successive Muslim empires ruled over the region, including the Ghaznavid Empire (975–1187 CE), the Ghorid Kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526 CE). The Lodi dynasty, the last of the Delhi Sultanate, was replaced by the Mughal Empire (1526–1857 CE). The Mughals introduced Persian literature and high culture, establishing the roots of Indo-Persian culture in the region. In the region of modern-day Pakistan, key cities during the Mughal period were Multan, Lahore, Peshawar and Thatta, which were chosen as the site of impressive Mughal buildings. In the early 16th century, the region remained under the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the slow disintegration of the Mughal Empire was hastened by the emergence of the rival powers of the Maratha Confederacy and later the Sikh Empire, as well as invasions by Nader Shah from Iran in 1739 and the Durrani Empire of Afghanistan in 1759. The growing political power of the British in Bengal had not yet reached the territories of modern Pakistan. Colonial rule None of modern Pakistan was under British rule until 1839 when Karachi, a small fishing village governed by Talpurs of Sindh with a mud fort guarding the harbour, was taken, and used as an enclave with a port and military base for the First Afghan War that ensued. The remainder of Sindh was acquired in 1843, and subsequently, through a series of wars and treaties, the East India Company, and later, after the post-Sepoy Mutiny (1857–1858), direct rule by Queen Victoria of the British Empire, acquired most of the region. Key conflicts included those against the Baloch Talpur dynasty, resolved by the Battle of Miani (1843) in Sindh, the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845–1849), and the Anglo-Afghan Wars (1839–1919). By 1893, all modern Pakistan was part of the British Indian Empire, and remained so until independence in 1947. Under British rule, modern Pakistan was primarily divided into the Sind Division, Punjab Province, and the Baluchistan Agency. The region also included various princely states, with the largest being Bahawalpur. The major armed struggle against the British in the region was the rebellion known as the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. Divergence in the relationship between Hinduism and Islam resulted in significant tension in British India, leading to religious violence. The language controversy further exacerbated tensions between Hindus and Muslims. A Muslim intellectual movement, led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to counter the Hindu renaissance, advocated for the two-nation theory and led to the establishment of the All-India Muslim League in 1906. In March 1929, in response to the Nehru Report, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, issued his fourteen points, which included proposals to safeguard the interests of the Muslim minority in a united India. These proposals were rejected. In his December 29, 1930 address, Allama Iqbal advocated the amalgamation of Muslim-majority states in North-West India, including Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind, and Baluchistan. The perception that Congress-led British provincial governments neglected the Muslim League from 1937 to 1939 motivated Jinnah and other Muslim League leaders to embrace the two-nation theory. This led to the adoption of the Lahore Resolution of 1940, presented by Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Haque, also known as the Pakistan Resolution. By 1942, Britain faced considerable strain during World War II, with India directly threatened by Japanese forces. Britain had pledged voluntary independence for India in exchange for support during the war. However, this pledge included a clause stating that no part of British India would be compelled to join the resulting dominion, which could be interpreted as support for an independent Muslim nation. Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement, demanding an immediate end to British rule. In contrast, the Muslim League chose to support the UK's war efforts, thereby nurturing the possibility of establishing a Muslim nation. Independence The 1946 elections saw the Muslim League secure 90 percent of the Muslim seats, supported by the landowners of Sindh and Punjab. This forced the Indian National Congress, initially skeptical of the League's representation of Indian Muslims, to acknowledge its significance. Jinnah's emergence as the voice of the Indian Muslims, compelled the British to consider their stance, despite their reluctance to partition India. In a final attempt to prevent partition, they proposed the Cabinet Mission Plan. As the Cabinet Mission failed, the British announced their intention to end rule by June 1948. Following rigorous discussions involving Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the All-India Muslim League, and Jawaharlal Nehru of Congress, the formal declaration to partition British India into two independent dominions—namely Pakistan and India—was issued by Mountbatten on the evening of 3 June 1947. In Mountbatten's oval office, the prime ministers of around a dozen major princely states gathered to receive their copies of the plan before its worldwide broadcast. At 7:00 P.M., All India Radio transmitted the public announcement, starting with the viceroy's address, followed by individual speeches from Nehru, and Jinnah. The founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah concluded his address with the slogan Pakistan Zindabad (Long Live Pakistan). As the United Kingdom agreed to the partitioning of India, the modern state of Pakistan was established on 14 August 1947 (27th of Ramadan in 1366 of the Islamic Calendar, considered to be the most blessed date from an Islamic perspective). This new nation amalgamated the Muslim-majority eastern and northwestern regions of British India, comprising the provinces of Balochistan, East Bengal, the North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab, and Sindh. In the riots that accompanied the partition in Punjab Province, between 200,000 and 2,000,000 people were killed in what some have described as a retributive genocide between the religions. Around 50,000 Muslim women were abducted and raped by Hindu and Sikh men, while 33,000 Hindu and Sikh women experienced the same fate at the hands of Muslims. Around 6.5 million Muslims moved from India to West Pakistan and 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs moved from West Pakistan to India. It was the largest mass migration in human history. A subsequent dispute over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir eventually sparked the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. Post Independence After independence in 1947, Jinnah, the President of the Muslim League, became Pakistan's first Governor-General and the first President-Speaker of the Parliament, but he succumbed to tuberculosis on 11 September 1948. Meanwhile, Pakistan's founding fathers agreed to appoint Liaquat Ali Khan, the secretary-general of the party, the nation's first Prime Minister. From 1947 to 1956, Pakistan was a monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations, and had two monarchs before it became a republic. The creation of Pakistan was never fully accepted by many British leaders including Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten expressed his lack of support and faith in the Muslim League's idea of Pakistan. Jinnah refused Mountbatten's offer to serve as Governor-General of Pakistan. When Mountbatten was asked by Collins and Lapierre if he would have sabotaged Pakistan had he known that Jinnah was dying of tuberculosis, he replied 'most probably'. Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, a respected Deobandi alim (scholar) who held the position of Shaykh al-Islam in Pakistan in 1949, and Maulana Mawdudi of Jamaat-i-Islami played key roles in advocating for an Islamic constitution. Mawdudi insisted that the Constituent Assembly declare the "supreme sovereignty of God" and the supremacy of the shariah in Pakistan. The efforts of Jamaat-i-Islami and the ulama led to the passage of the Objectives Resolution in March 1949. This resolution, described by Liaquat Ali Khan as the second most significant step in Pakistan's history, affirmed that "sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to God Almighty alone and the authority which He has delegated to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust". It was later included as a preamble to the constitutions of 1956, 1962, and 1973. Democracy faced setbacks due to the martial law imposed by President Iskander Mirza, who was succeeded by General Ayub Khan. After adopting a presidential system in 1962, Pakistan witnessed significant growth until the second war with India in 1965, resulting in an economic downturn and widespread public discontent in 1967. In 1969, President Yahya Khan consolidated control, but faced a devastating cyclone in East Pakistan resulting in 500,000 deaths. In 1970, Pakistan conducted its first democratic elections since independence, intending to transition from military rule to democracy. However, after the East Pakistani Awami League emerged victorious over the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Yahya Khan and the military refused to transfer power. This led to Operation Searchlight, a military crackdown, and eventually sparked the war of liberation by Bengali Mukti Bahini forces in East Pakistan, described in West Pakistan as a civil war rather than a liberation struggle. Independent researchers estimate that between 300,000 and 500,000 civilians died during this period while the Bangladesh government puts the number of dead at three million, a figure that is now nearly universally regarded as excessively inflated. Some academics such as Rudolph Rummel and Rounaq Jahan say both sides committed genocide; others such as Richard Sisson and Leo E. Rose believe there was no genocide. In response to India's support for the insurgency in East Pakistan, preemptive strikes on India by Pakistan's air force, navy, and marines sparked a conventional war in 1971 that resulted in an Indian victory and East Pakistan gaining independence as Bangladesh. With Pakistan surrendering in the war, Yahya Khan was replaced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as president; the country worked towards promulgating its constitution and putting the country on the road to democracy. In 1972 Pakistan embarked on an ambitious plan to develop its nuclear deterrence capability with the goal of preventing any foreign invasion; the country's first nuclear power plant was inaugurated in that same year. India's first nuclear test in 1974 gave Pakistan additional justification to accelerate its nuclear program. Democracy ended with a military coup in 1977 against the leftist PPP, which saw General Zia-ul-Haq become the president in 1978. From 1977 to 1988, President Zia's corporatisation and economic Islamisation initiatives led to Pakistan becoming one of the fastest-growing economies in South Asia. While building up the country's nuclear program, increasing Islamisation, and the rise of a homegrown conservative philosophy, Pakistan helped subsidise and distribute US resources to factions of the mujahideen against the USSR's intervention in communist Afghanistan. Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province became a base for the anti-Soviet Afghan fighters, with the province's influential Deobandi ulama playing a significant role in encouraging and organising the 'jihad'. President Zia died in a plane crash in 1988, and Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the country's first female Prime Minister. The PPP was followed by conservative Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML (N)), and over the next decade the leaders of the two parties fought for power, alternating in office. This period is marked by prolonged stagflation, political instability, corruption, misgovernment, geopolitical rivalry with India, and the clash of left wing-right wing ideologies. As PML (N) secured a supermajority in elections in 1997, Nawaz Sharif authorised nuclear testings, as a retaliation to the second nuclear tests conducted by India in May 1998. Military tension between the two countries in the Kargil district led to the Kargil War of 1999, and turmoil in civil-military relations allowed General Pervez Musharraf to take over through a bloodless coup d'état. Musharraf governed Pakistan as chief executive from 1999 to 2002 and as President from 2001 to 2008—a period of enlightenment, social liberalism, extensive economic reforms, and direct involvement in the US-led war on terrorism. By its own financial calculations, Pakistan's involvement in the war on terrorism has cost up to $118 billion, over eighty one thousand casualties, and more than 1.8 million displaced civilians. The National Assembly historically completed its first full five-year term on 15 November 2007. After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the PPP secured the most votes in the elections of 2008, appointing party member Yusuf Raza Gilani as Prime Minister. Threatened with impeachment, President Musharraf resigned on 18 August 2008, and was succeeded by Asif Ali Zardari. Clashes with the judicature prompted Gilani's disqualification from the Parliament and as the Prime Minister in June 2012. The general election held in 2013 saw the PML (N) achieve victory, following which Nawaz Sharif was elected as Prime Minister for the third time. In 2018, PTI won the general election and Imran Khan became the 22nd Prime Minister. In April 2022, Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister, after Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote. During 2024 general election, PTI-backed independents became the largest bloc, but Shehbaz Sharif was elected prime minister for a second term, as a result of a coalition between PML (N) and PPPP. Geography Pakistan's diverse geography and climate host a wide array of wildlife. Covering 881,913 km2 (340,509 sq mi), Pakistan's size is comparable to France and the UK combined. It ranks as the 33rd-largest nation by total area, but this varies based on Kashmir's disputed status. Pakistan boasts a 1,046 km (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman, and shares land borders totaling 6,774 km (4,209 mi), including 2,430 km (1,510 mi) with Afghanistan, 523 km (325 mi) with China, 2,912 km (1,809 mi) with India, and 909 km (565 mi) with Iran. It has a maritime border with Oman, and shares a border with Tajikistan via the Wakhan Corridor. Situated at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia, Pakistan's location is geopolitically significant. Geologically, Pakistan straddles the Indus–Tsangpo Suture Zone and the Indian tectonic plate in Sindh and Punjab, while Balochistan and most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sit on the Eurasian Plate, primarily on the Iranian plateau. Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, along the Indian plate's edge, are susceptible to powerful earthquakes. Pakistan's landscapes vary from coastal plains to glaciated mountains, offering deserts, forests, hills, and plateaus. Pakistan is divided into three major geographic areas: the northern highlands, the Indus River plain, and the Balochistan Plateau. The northern highlands feature the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and Pamir mountain ranges, hosting some of the world's highest peaks, including five of the fourteen eight-thousanders (mountain peaks over 8,000 metres or 26,250 feet), notably K2 (8,611 m or 28,251 ft) and Nanga Parbat (8,126 m or 26,660 ft). The Balochistan Plateau lies in the west and the Thar Desert in the east. The 1,609 km (1,000 mi) Indus River and its tributaries traverse the nation from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea, sustaining alluvial plains along the Punjab and Sindh regions. The climate varies from tropical to temperate, with arid conditions in the coastal south. There is a monsoon season with frequent flooding due to heavy rainfall, and a dry season with significantly less rainfall or none at all. Pakistan experiences four distinct seasons: a cool, dry winter from December through February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy season, or southwest monsoon period, from June through September; and the retreating monsoon period of October and November. Rainfall varies greatly from year to year, with patterns of alternate flooding and drought common. Flora and fauna The diverse landscape and climate in Pakistan support a wide range of trees and plants. From coniferous alpine and subalpine trees like spruce, pine, and deodar cedar in the northern mountains to deciduous trees like shisham in the Sulaiman Mountains, and palms such as coconut and date in the southern regions. The western hills boast juniper, tamarisk, coarse grasses, and scrub plants. Mangrove forests dominate the coastal wetlands in the south. Coniferous forests span altitudes from 1,000 to 4,000 metres (3,300 to 13,100 feet) in most northern and northwestern highlands. In Balochistan's xeric regions, date palms and Ephedra are prevalent. In Punjab and Sindh's Indus plains, tropical and subtropical dry and moist broadleaf forests as well as tropical and xeric shrublands thrive. Approximately 4.8% or 36,845.6 square kilometres (3,684,560 ha) of Pakistan was forested in 2021. Pakistan's fauna mirrors its diverse climate. The country boasts around 668 bird species, including crows, sparrows, mynas, hawks, falcons, and eagles. Palas, Kohistan, is home to the western tragopan, with many migratory birds visiting from Europe, Central Asia, and India. The southern plains harbor mongooses, small Indian civet, hares, the Asiatic jackal, the Indian pangolin, the jungle cat, and the sand cat. Indus is home to mugger crocodiles, while surrounding areas host wild boars, deer, and porcupines. Central Pakistan's sandy scrublands shelter Asiatic jackals, striped hyenas, wildcats, and leopards. The mountainous north hosts a variety of animals like the Marco Polo sheep, urial, markhor goat, ibex goat, Asian black bear, and Himalayan brown bear. The lack of vegetative cover, severe climate, and grazing impact on deserts have endangered wild animals. The chinkara is the only animal found in significant numbers in Cholistan, with a few nilgai along the Pakistan–India border and in some parts of Cholistan. Rare animals include the snow leopard and the blind Indus river dolphin, of which there are believed to be about 1,816 remaining, protected at the Indus Dolphin Reserve in Sindh. In total, 174 species of mammals, 177 species of reptiles, 22 species of amphibians, 198 species of freshwater fish, 668 species of birds, over 5,000 species of insects, and over 5,700 species of plants have been recorded in Pakistan. Pakistan faces deforestation, hunting, and pollution, with a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.42/10, ranking 41st globally out of 172 countries. Government and politics Pakistan operates as a democratic parliamentary federal republic, with Islam designated as the state religion. Initially adopting a constitution in 1956, Pakistan saw it suspended by Ayub Khan in 1958, replaced by a second constitution in 1962. A comprehensive constitution emerged in 1973, suspended by Zia-ul-Haq in 1977 but reinstated in 1985, shaping the country's governance. The military's influence in mainstream politics has been significant throughout Pakistan's history. The eras of 1958–1971, 1977–1988, and 1999–2008 witnessed military coups, leading to martial law and military leaders governing de facto as presidents. Presently, Pakistan operates a multi-party parliamentary system, with distinct checks and balances among government branches. The first successful democratic transition occurred in May 2013. Pakistani politics revolves around a blend of socialism, conservatism, and the third way, with the three main political parties being the conservative PML (N), socialist PPP, and centrist PTI. Constitutional amendments in 2010 curtailed presidential powers, enhancing the role of the prime minister. Head of State: The ceremonial head of the state and civilian commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces is the President, elected by an Electoral College. The Prime Minister advises the President on key appointments, including military and judicial positions, and the President is constitutionally bound to act on this advice. The President also holds powers to pardon and grant clemency. Legislative: The bicameral legislature includes a 96-member Senate (upper house) and a 336-member National Assembly (lower house). National Assembly members are elected via first-past-the-post under universal adult suffrage, representing National Assembly constituencies. The constitution reserves 70 seats for women and religious minorities, allocated to political parties based on proportional representation. Senate members are elected by provincial legislators, ensuring equal representation across all provinces. Executive: The Prime Minister, typically the leader of the majority rule party or coalition in the National Assembly (the lower house), serves as the country's chief executive and head of government. Responsibilities include forming a cabinet, making executive decisions, and appointing senior civil servants, subject to executive confirmation. Provincial governments: Each of the four provinces follows a similar governance system, with a directly elected Provincial Assembly choosing the Chief Minister, usually from the largest party or coalition. Chief Ministers lead the provincial cabinet and oversee provincial governance. The Chief Secretary, appointed by the Prime Minister, heads the provincial bureaucracy. Provincial assemblies legislate and approve the provincial budget, typically presented by the provincial finance minister annually. Ceremonial heads of provinces, the Provincial Governors, are appointed by the President based on the binding advice of the Prime Minister. Judicature: The judiciary in Pakistan has two classes: the superior and subordinate judiciary. The superior judiciary includes the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Federal Shariat Court, and five high courts, with the Supreme Court at the top. It's responsible for safeguarding the constitution. Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have their own court systems. Role of Islam Pakistan, the only country established in the name of Islam, had overwhelming support among Muslims, especially in provinces like the United Provinces, where Muslims were a minority. This idea, articulated by the Muslim League, the Islamic clergy, and Jinnah, envisioned an Islamic state. Jinnah, closely associated with the ulama, was described upon his death by Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as the greatest Muslim after Aurangzeb, aspiring to unite Muslims worldwide under Islam. The Objectives Resolution of March 1949 marked the initial step towards this goal, affirming God as the sole sovereign. Muslim League leader Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman asserted that Pakistan could only truly become an Islamic state after bringing all believers of Islam into a single political unit. Keith Callard observed that Pakistanis believed in the essential unity of purpose and outlook in the Muslim world, expecting similar views on religion and nationality from Muslims worldwide. Pakistan's desire for a united Islamic bloc, called Islamistan, wasn't supported by other Muslim governments, though figures like the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Al-Haj Amin al-Husseini, and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood were drawn to the country. Pakistan's desire for an international organization of Muslim countries was fulfilled in the 1970s when the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) was formed. East Pakistan's Bengali Muslims, opposed to an Islamist state, clashed with West Pakistanis who leaned towards Islamic identity. The Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami backed an Islamic state and opposed Bengali nationalism. After the 1970 general elections, the Parliament crafted the 1973 Constitution. It declared Pakistan an Islamic Republic, with Islam as the state religion, and mandated laws to comply with Islamic teachings laid down in the Quran and Sunnah and that no law repugnant to such injunctions could be enacted. Additionally, it established institutions like the Shariat Court and the Council of Islamic Ideology to interpret and apply Islam. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto faced opposition under the banner of Nizam-e-Mustafa ("Rule of the Prophet"), advocating an Islamic state. Bhutto conceded to some Islamist demands before being ousted in a coup. General Zia-ul-Haq, after seizing power, committed to establishing an Islamic state and enforcing sharia law. He instituted Shariat judicial courts, and court benches, to adjudicate using Islamic doctrine. Zia aligned with Deobandi institutions, exacerbating sectarian tensions with anti-Shia policies. Most Pakistanis, according to a Pew Research Center (PEW) poll, favor Sharia law as the official law, and 94 percent of them identify more with religion than nationality compared to Muslims in other nations. Administrative units Pakistan, a federal parliamentary republic, consists of four provinces: Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan, along with three territories: Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir. The Government of Pakistan governs the western parts of the Kashmir Region, organized into separate political entities, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. In 2009, the constitutional assignment (the Gilgit–Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order) granted Gilgit-Baltistan semi-provincial status, providing it with self-government. The local government system consists of districts, tehsils, and union councils, with an elected body at each tier. Foreign relations Since independence, Pakistan has aimed to maintain an independent foreign policy. Pakistan's foreign policy and geostrategy focus on the economy, security, national identity, and territorial integrity, as well as building close ties with other Muslim nations. According to Hasan Askari Rizvi, a foreign policy expert, "Pakistan highlights sovereign equality of states, bilateralism, mutuality of interests, and non-interference in each other's domestic affairs as the cardinal features of its foreign policy." The Kashmir conflict remains a major issue between Pakistan and India, with three of their four wars fought over it. Due partly to strained relations with India, Pakistan has close ties with Turkey and Iran, both focal points in its foreign policy. Saudi Arabia also holds importance in Pakistan's foreign relations. As a non-signatory of the Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Pakistan holds influence in the IAEA. For years, Pakistan has blocked an international treaty to limit fissile material, arguing that its stockpile does not meet its long-term needs. Pakistan's nuclear program in the 20th century aimed to counter India's nuclear ambitions in the region, and reciprocal nuclear tests ensued after India's nuclear tests, solidifying Pakistan as a nuclear power. Pakistan maintains a policy of Full spectrum deterrence, considering its nuclear program vital for deterring foreign aggression. Located strategically in the world's major maritime oil supply lines and communication fiber optic corridors, Pakistan also enjoys proximity to the natural resources of Central Asian countries. Pakistan actively participates in the United Nations with a Permanent Representative representing its positions in international politics. It has advocated for the concept of "enlightened moderation" in the Muslim world. Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, SAARC, ECO, and the G20 developing nations. Pakistan is designated as an "Iron Brother" by China, emphasizing the significance of their close and supportive relationship. In the 1950s, Pakistan opposed the Soviet Union for geopolitical reasons. During the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s, it was a close ally of the United States. Relations with Russia have improved since the end of the Cold War, but Pakistan's relationship with the United States has been "on-and-off." Initially a close ally during the Cold War, Pakistan’s relations with the US soured in the 1990s due to sanctions over its secretive nuclear program. Since 9/11, Pakistan has been a US ally on counterterrorism, but their relationship has been strained due to diverging interests and mistrust during the 20-year war and terrorism issues. Although Pakistan was granted major non-NATO ally status by the U.S. in 2004, it faced accusations of supporting the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel; nonetheless, an exchange occurred between the two countries in 2005, with Turkey acting as an intermediary. Relations with China Pakistan was among the first nations to establish formal diplomatic ties with the China, forging a strong relationship since China's 1962 conflict with India, culminating in a special bond. During the 1970s, Pakistan played a crucial role in China's global outreach, facilitating US President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China. Despite changes in Pakistani governance and regional/global dynamics, China's influence in Pakistan remains paramount. In reciprocation, China stands as Pakistan's largest trading partner, with substantial investment in Pakistani infrastructure, notably the Gwadar port. In 2015 alone, they inked 51 agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for cooperative efforts. Both nations signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2006, with China making its largest investment in Pakistan's history through CPEC. Pakistan acts as China's liaison to the Muslim world, and both nations support each other on sensitive issues like Kashmir, Taiwan, Xinjiang, and more. Relations with the Muslim world After Independence, Pakistan vigorously pursued bilateral relations with other Muslim countries. The Ali brothers sought to project Pakistan as the natural leader of the Islamic world, partly due to its significant manpower and military strength. Khaliquzzaman, a prominent Muslim League leader, declared Pakistan's ambition to unite all Muslim countries into Islamistan, a pan-Islamic entity. These developments, alongside Pakistan's creation, didn't receive approval from the United States, with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee expressing a hope for India and Pakistan to reunite. However, due to a nationalist awakening in the Arab world at that time, there was little interest in Pakistan's Pan-Islamic aspirations. Some Arab countries perceived the 'Islamistan' project as Pakistan's bid to dominate other Muslim states. Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, consistently advocated for the Palestinian cause, shaping Pakistan's foreign policy to support Palestinian rights within the broader framework of Muslim solidarity. During the 1967 Arab-Israel war, Pakistan supported the Arab states and played a key role in securing Iran's backing for the Arab cause both within the U.N. and beyond. Pakistan's relations with Iran have been strained by sectarian tensions, with both Iran and Saudi Arabia using Pakistan as a battleground for their proxy sectarian war. Since the early days of the Iran–Iraq war, President Zia-ul-Haq played an important mediatory role, with Pakistan actively engaging in efforts to end the conflict. Pakistan provided support to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. Pakistan chose to remain neutral during Operation Decisive Storm, refraining from sending military support to Saudi Arabia in its offensive against Yemen. Instead, Pakistan aimed to play a proactive diplomatic role in resolving the crisis, which led to tensions between the two countries. In 2016, Pakistan mediated between Saudi Arabia and Iran following the execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, with visits to both countries by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Chief of Army Staff, Raheel Sharif. Pakistan provided refuge to millions of displaced Afghans after the Soviet invasion and supported the Afghan mujahideen in their efforts to expel Soviet forces from Afghanistan. After the Soviets withdrew, infighting erupted among Mujahideen factions over control of Afghanistan. Pakistan facilitated peace talks to help end the conflict. After four years of unresolved conflict between rival Mujahideen groups, Pakistan helped establish the Taliban as a stabilizing force. Pakistan’s support for the Sunni Taliban in Afghanistan challenged Shia-led Iran, which opposed a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Pakistan vigorously advocated for self-determination among Muslims globally. Its efforts in supporting independence movements in countries like Indonesia, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Eritrea fostered strong ties. Due to its support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Pakistan has not established diplomatic relations with Armenia. Pakistan and Bangladesh have experienced strained relations, particularly under the Awami League governments led by Sheikh Hasina, driven by her pro-India stance and historical grievances. Pakistan, a prominent member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), prioritizes maintaining cultural, political, social, and economic relations with Arab and other Muslim-majority nations in its foreign policy. Kashmir conflict Kashmir, a Himalayan region at the northern tip of the Indian subcontinent, was governed as the autonomous princely state of Jammu and Kashmir during the British Raj before the Partition of India in August 1947. This sparked a major territorial dispute between India and Pakistan, resulting in several conflicts over the region. India controls about 45.1% of Kashmir, including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, while Pakistan controls roughly 38.2%, comprising Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit−Baltistan. Additionally, about 20% of the region, known as Aksai Chin and the Shaksgam Valley, is under Chinese control. India claims the entire Kashmir region based on the Instrument of Accession signed by the princely state's ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, while Pakistan argues for its Muslim-majority population, and geographical proximity to Pakistan. The United Nations was involved in resolving the conflict, leading to a ceasefire in 1949 and the establishment of the Line of Control (LoC) as a de facto border. India, fearing Kashmir's secession, did not hold the promised plebiscite, as it believed Kashmiris would vote to join Pakistan. Pakistan claims that its position is for the right of the Kashmiri people to determine their future through impartial elections as mandated by the United Nations, while India has stated that Kashmir is an "integral part" of India, referring to the 1972 Simla Agreement and to the fact that regional elections take place regularly. Certain Kashmiri independence groups believe that Kashmir should be independent of both India and Pakistan. Military The armed forces of Pakistan rank sixth globally in personnel size, with about 660,000 on active duty and 291,000 paramilitary personnel as of 2024. Established in 1947, they've wielded significant influence over national politics. The main branches include the Army, Navy, and Air Force, supported by numerous paramilitaries. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) is the highest-ranking military officer, advising the civilian government. However, they lack direct command over the branches and serve as intermediaries, ensuring communication between the military and civilian leadership. Overseeing the Joint Staff Headquarters, they coordinate inter-service cooperation and joint military missions. Command and control over Pakistan's strategic arsenal development and employment is vested in the National Command Authority, overseeing work on nuclear doctrine to maintain Full spectrum deterrence. The United States, Turkey, and China maintain close military relations with Pakistan Armed Forces, regularly exporting military equipment and technology transfer. According to SIPRI, Pakistan was the 5th-largest recipient and importer of arms between 2019 and 2023. Joint exercises and war games are occasionally conducted with the militaries of China and Turkey. The Constitution of Pakistan introduces the philosophical basis for the military draft in times of emergency, though it has never been imposed. Military history Since 1947, Pakistan has been involved in four conventional wars with India. The first conflict occurred in Kashmir, with Pakistan gaining control of Western Kashmir and India retaining Eastern Kashmir. Territorial disputes led to another war in 1965. The 1971 war resulted in Pakistan's unconditional surrender of East Pakistan. Tensions in Kargil brought the two countries to the brink of war. Since 1947, unresolved territorial problems with Afghanistan saw border skirmishes kept mostly at the mountainous border. In 1961, the military and intelligence community repelled an Afghan incursion near the Durand Line border. During the Soviet-Afghan War, Pakistan's intelligence community, mostly the ISI, coordinated US resources to support Afghan mujahideen and foreign fighters against Soviet presence. The PAF engaged with Soviet and Afghan Air Forces during the conflict. Pakistan has been an active participant in UN peacekeeping missions, playing a major role in operations like the rescue mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993. According to UN reports, the Pakistani military is the third largest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping missions after Ethiopia and India. Pakistan has deployed its military in some Arab countries, providing defense, training, and advisory roles. The PAF and Navy's fighter pilots served in Arab nations' militaries against Israel in the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War. Pakistani special forces assisted Saudi forces in Mecca during the Grand Mosque Seizure. Pakistan also sent 5,000 troops as part of a US-led coalition for the defense of Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. Despite the UN arms embargo on Bosnia, the ISI under General Javed Nasir airlifted anti-tank weapons and missiles to Bosnian mujahideen, shifting the tide in favor of Bosnian Muslims. ISI, under Nasir's leadership, supported Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang, rebel groups in the Philippines, and religious groups in Central Asia. Since 2004, the military has been engaged in an insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, primarily against Tehrik-i-Taliban factions. Major operations include Operation Black Thunderstorm, Operation Rah-e-Nijat, and Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Law enforcement Law enforcement in Pakistan consists of federal and provincial police agencies. Each of the four provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan) has its own police force, while the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has the Islamabad Police. Provincial police forces are led by an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) appointed by provincial governments. However, top officers are from the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), ensuring national standards across provincial forces. Specialized Units: National Highways & Motorway Police (NHMP): Enforces traffic laws and ensures safety on Pakistan's inter-provincial motorway network. Elite Police Units: Each provincial police force, such as the Punjab Elite Force, focuses on counter-terrorism operations and high-risk situations. The Civil Armed Forces (CAF) support regular law enforcement agencies, aiding in tasks like riot control, counter-insurgency, and border security, enhancing Pakistan's law enforcement capabilities. The National Intelligence Coordination Committee oversees intelligence activities at federal and provincial levels, including the ISI, MI, IB, FIA, Police, and Civil Armed Forces. Pakistan's primary intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was established within a year of Pakistan's independence in 1947. Human rights In 2018, Pakistan ranked 139 out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, highlighting restrictions on freedom of the press. Television stations and newspapers face closures for publishing reports critical of the government or military. Male homosexuality is illegal in Pakistan, punishable with up to life in prison. Economy Pakistan's economy ranks 24th globally by purchasing power parity (PPP) and 43rd by nominal GDP. Historically, Pakistan was part of the wealthiest region in the first millennium CE, but lost ground to regions like China and Western Europe by the 18th century. Pakistan is a developing country, and part of the Next Eleven, poised to become one of the world's largest economies in the 21st century, alongside the BRICS. In recent years, Pakistan has faced social instability and macroeconomic imbalances, with deficiencies in services like rail transportation and electrical energy generation. The semi-industrialized economy has growth centers along the Indus River. The diversified economies of Karachi and Punjab's urban centers coexist with less-developed areas in other parts of the country, particularly in Balochistan. Pakistan ranks as the 67th-largest export economy and the 106th-most complex economy globally, with a negative trade balance of US$23.96 billion in fiscal year 2015–16. As of 2022, Pakistan's estimated nominal GDP is US$376.493 billion. The GDP by PPP is US$1.512 trillion. The estimated nominal per capita GDP is US$1,658, the GDP (PPP)/capita is US$6,662 (international dollars), According to the World Bank, Pakistan has important strategic endowments and development potential. The increasing proportion of Pakistan's youth provides the country with both a potential demographic dividend and a challenge to provide adequate services and employment. 21.04% of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. The unemployment rate among the aged 15 and over population is 5.5%. Pakistan has an estimated 40 million middle class citizens, projected to increase to 100 million by 2050. A 2015 report published by the World Bank ranked Pakistan's economy at 24th-largest in the world by purchasing power and 41st-largest in absolute terms. It is South Asia's second-largest economy, representing about 15.0% of regional GDP. Pakistan's economic growth varied over time, with slow progress during democratic transitions but robust expansion under martial law, lacking sustainable foundations. Rapid reforms in the early to mid-2000s, including increased development spending, reduced poverty by 10% and boosted GDP by 3%. The economy cooled post-2007, with inflation peaking at 25.0% in 2008, necessitating IMF intervention to prevent bankruptcy. The Asian Development Bank later noted easing economic strain in Pakistan. Inflation for fiscal year 2010–11 stood at 14.1%. Since 2013, Pakistan's economy has seen growth under an IMF program. Goldman Sachs predicted Pakistan's economy could grow 15 times by 2050, and Ruchir Sharma in his 2016 book anticipated a transformation to a middle-income country by 2020. Pakistan's vast natural commodity production and 10th-largest labour market, along with a US$19.9 billion contribution from its 7-million-strong diaspora in 2015–16, position it significantly. However, Pakistan's global export share is declining, accounting for just 0.13% in 2007 according to the World Trade Organization. Agriculture and mining sector The Pakistani economy has shifted from agriculture to services, with agriculture contributing only 20.9% of the GDP as of 2015. Despite this, Pakistan's wheat production in 2005 surpassed Africa's and nearly matched South America's, highlighting its agricultural significance. The sector employs 43.5% of the labor force and is a major source of foreign exchange. Manufactured exports, heavily reliant on agricultural raw materials like cotton and hides, face inflationary pressures due to supply shortages and market disruptions. Pakistan ranks fifth in cotton production, self-sufficient in sugarcane, and the fourth-largest milk producer globally. Though land and water resources haven't increased proportionately, productivity gains, especially from the Green Revolution in the late 1960s and 1970s, significantly boosted wheat and rice yields. Private tube wells and High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) further augmented crop yields. Meat industry accounts for 1.4 percent of overall GDP. Industry Industry, constituting 19.74% of GDP and 24% of total employment, is the second-largest sector. Large-scale manufacturing (LSM) dominates, representing 12.2% of GDP, with cement production thriving due to demand from Afghanistan and the domestic real estate sector. In 2013, Pakistan exported 7,708,557 metric tons of cement, with an installed capacity of 44,768,250 metric tons. The textile industry, a key player in Pakistan's manufacturing, contributes 9.5% to GDP and employs around 15 million people. Pakistan ranks fourth globally in cotton production, with substantial spinning capacity, making it a major exporter of textile products in Asia. China is a significant buyer of Pakistani textiles, importing US$1.527 billion worth of textiles last fiscal year. Services As of 2014–15, the services sector contributes 58.8% to GDP, serving as the main driver of economic growth in Pakistan, with a consumption-oriented society. The sector's growth rate surpasses that of agriculture and industry, accounting for 54% of GDP and over one-third of total employment. It has strong linkages with other sectors, providing essential inputs to agriculture and manufacturing. Pakistan's IT sector is one of the fastest-growing, ranked 110th for ICT development by the World Economic Forum. With around 82 million internet users as of May 2020, Pakistan ranks 9th globally, and its ICT industry is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2020. With 12,000 employees, Pakistan is among the top five freelancing nations, and its export performance in telecom, computer, and information services has notably improved. Tourism With its diverse cultures, landscapes, and attractions, Pakistan drew around 6.6 million foreign tourists in 2018. However, this was a decline from the peak of tourism in the 1970s driven by the popular Hippie trail. Pakistan boasts attractions from mangroves in the south to Himalayan hill stations in the northeast, including ancient Buddhist ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and Taxila, the 5,000-year-old Indus Valley civilization sites such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, and numerous mountain peaks over 7,000 metres (23,000 feet). The northern part of Pakistan boasts numerous old fortresses, showcasing ancient architecture. It encompasses the Hunza and Chitral valleys, where the small pre-Islamic Kalasha community resides, claiming descent from Alexander the Great. Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital, showcases numerous examples of Mughal architecture, including the Badshahi Masjid, the Shalimar Gardens, the Tomb of Jahangir, and the Lahore Fort. Following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, The Guardian highlighted "The top five tourist sites in Pakistan" to boost tourism, featuring destinations like Taxila, Lahore, the Karakoram Highway, Karimabad, and Lake Saiful Muluk. Festivals and government initiatives aim to promote Pakistan's cultural heritage. In 2015, the World Economic Forum ranked Pakistan 125th out of 141 countries in its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report. Infrastructure Pakistan was lauded as the top nation for infrastructure development in South Asia during the 2016 annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank. Power and energy As of May 2021, Pakistan operates six licensed commercial nuclear power plants. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) oversees these plants, while the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority ensures their safe operation. These plants contribute approximately 5.8% to Pakistan's electricity supply, while fossil fuels (crude oil and natural gas) provide 64.2%, hydroelectric power provides 29.9%, and coal contributes 0.1%. The KANUPP-I, Pakistan's first commercial nuclear power plant, was supplied by Canada in 1971. Sino-Pakistani nuclear cooperation began in the 1980s, leading to the establishment of CHASNUPP-I. In 2005, both countries proposed a joint energy security plan, aiming for a generation capacity exceeding 160,000 MWe by 2030. Pakistan's Nuclear Energy Vision 2050 targets a capacity of 40,000 MWe, with 8,900 MWe expected by 2030. In June 2008, the nuclear complex at Chashma in Punjab Province expanded with the installation of Chashma-III and Chashma–IV reactors, each with 325–340 MWe, costing ₨129 billion, with ₨80 billion from international sources, mainly China. Another agreement for China's assistance was signed in October 2008, seen as a response to the US–India agreement. The project's cost was then US$1.7 billion, with a foreign loan of US$1.07 billion. In 2013, Pakistan established a second nuclear complex in Karachi with plans for additional reactors, similar to Chashma. Electrical energy in Pakistan is generated by various corporations and distributed evenly among the four provinces by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). However, Karachi-based K-Electric and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) generate much of the electricity used in Pakistan and collect revenue nationwide. In 2023, Pakistan's installed electricity generation capacity was ~45,885 MWt. Pakistan produced 1,135 megawatts of renewable energy for the month of October 2016. Pakistan expects to produce 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2025. Transport Pakistan boasts 2567 km of motorways and approximately 263,942 km of highways, which handle 92% of passengers and 96% of freight traffic. Despite constituting only 4.6% of the total road length, these north-south links manage 85% of the nation's traffic. They connect southern seaports such as Karachi port and Port Qasim in Sindh, along with Gwadar Port and Port of Pasni in Balochistan, to populous provinces like Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa domestically, and neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Central Asia, and China through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. According to the WEF's Global Competitiveness Report, Pakistan's port infrastructure quality ratings rose from 3.7 to 4.1 between 2007 and 2016. The railway's share of inland traffic is reduced to below 8% for passengers and 4% for freight. This shift led to a decrease in total rail track from 8,775 kilometres (5,453 miles) in 1990–91 to 7,791 kilometres (4,841 miles) in 2011. The transport landscape of Pakistan features various modern transit systems. The Orange Line Metro Train in Lahore, inaugurated in 2020, spans 27.1 km (16.8 mi), and includes both elevated and underground sections, accommodating over 250,000 passengers daily. Lahore also boasts the Lahore Metrobus, the first of its kind in Pakistan, operational since February 2013. The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus, stretching 48.1 km, commenced its first phase in June 2015, with subsequent extensions, and employs e-ticketing and an Intelligent Transportation System. Multan Metrobus, inaugurated in January 2017, serves Multan with its rapid transit services. Peshawar's Bus Rapid Transit, inaugurated in August 2020, marks the fourth BRT system in Pakistan. Karachi's Green Line Metrobus, operational since December 2021, is part of a larger metrobus project financed by the Government of Pakistan and initiated in February 2016. Meanwhile, Faisalabad awaits its proposed rapid transit project, the Faisalabad Metrobus. Karachi Circular Railway, partially revived in November 2020, offers public transit services in the Karachi metropolitan area. Additionally, plans are underway to resurrect Karachi's tramway service, which ceased operations in 1975, in collaboration with Austrian experts. As of 2013, Pakistan boasts approximately 151 airports and airfields, encompassing both military and civilian installations. Despite Jinnah International Airport serving as the primary international gateway, significant international traffic also flows through Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sialkot, and Multan airports. The civil aviation industry, deregulated in 1993, operates with a blend of public and private entities while state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) dominates, carrying 73% of domestic passengers and all domestic freight. Science and technology Developments in science and technology have played a significant role in Pakistan's infrastructure, linking the nation to the global community. Each year, the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and the government invite scientists worldwide to the International Nathiagali Summer College on Physics. In 2005, Pakistan hosted an international seminar on "Physics in Developing Countries" for the International Year of Physics. Pakistani theoretical physicist Abdus Salam won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the electroweak interaction. Pakistani scientists have made notable contributions in mathematics, biology, economics, computer science, and genetics. In chemistry, Salimuzzaman Siddiqui identified the medicinal properties of the neem tree's components. Ayub K. Ommaya developed the Ommaya reservoir for treating brain conditions. Scientific research is integral to Pakistani universities, national laboratories, science parks, and the industry. Abdul Qadeer Khan spearheaded Pakistan's HEU-based gas-centrifuge uranium enrichment program for its atomic bomb project. He established the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1976, serving as both its senior scientist and the Director-General until his retirement in 2001. Besides atomic bomb project, he made significant contributions in molecular morphology, physical martensite, and their applications in condensed and material physics. In 2010, Pakistan ranked 43rd globally in published scientific papers. The influential Pakistan Academy of Sciences guides the government on science policies. Pakistan climbed from 107th to 88th in the Global Innovation Index by 2023. The 1960s marked the rise of Pakistan's space program, led by SUPARCO, yielding advancements in rocketry, electronics, and aeronomy. Notably, Pakistan launched its first rocket into space, pioneering South Asia's space exploration. In 1990, it successfully launched its first satellite, becoming the first Muslim nation and second in South Asia to achieve this milestone. Following the 1971 war with India, Pakistan hastily developed atomic weapons to deter foreign intervention and entered the atomic age. Tensions with India led to Pakistan's 1998 underground nuclear tests, making it the seventh country to possess such weapons. Pakistan is the sole Muslim nation active in Antarctica research, maintaining its Jinnah Antarctic Research Station since 1992. By May 2020, Pakistan had 82 million internet users, ranking ninth globally. The government invests heavily in information technology projects, focusing on e-government and infrastructure. Demographics Urbanisation Since independence due to the partition of India, urbanisation has surged for various reasons. In the south, Karachi stands as the most populous commercial hub along the Indus River. In the east, west, and north, a dense population arc spans cities like Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sheikhupura, Nowshera, Mardan, and Peshawar. By 1990–2008, city dwellers constituted 36% of Pakistan's population, making it South Asia's most urbanized nation, with over 50% living in towns of 5,000+ inhabitants. Immigration, both domestic and international, significantly fuels urban growth. Migration from India, especially to Karachi, the largest metropolis, and from nearby countries, accelerates urbanization, posing new political and socio-economic challenges. Economic shifts like the green revolution and political developments also play crucial roles. Ethnicity and languages Pakistan is a diverse society with estimates suggesting it has between 75 to 85 languages. Urdu and English serve as the official languages, with Urdu being a unifying force among over 75% of Pakistanis. According to the 2023 national census, the largest ethnolinguistic groups include the Punjabis (36.98%), Pashtuns (18.15%), Sindhis (14.31%), Saraikis (12%), Urdu speaking people (9.25%), Balochs (3.38%), Hindkowans/Hazarewals (2.32%), and Brahuis (1.16%). The remaining population consists of various ethnic minorities such as Kashmiris, Paharis, Chitralis, various peoples of Gilgit-Baltistan, Kohistanis, Torwalis, Meos, Hazaras, Kalash and Siddis. The Pakistani diaspora, numbering over seven million, is the sixth largest in the world. Immigration Even post-1947 partition, Indian Muslims kept migrating to Pakistan, especially Karachi and Sindh province. Wars in neighboring Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s pushed millions of Afghan refugees into Pakistan, mainly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas, with some in Karachi and Quetta. Pakistan hosts one of the world's largest refugee populations. Additionally, around 2 million Bangladeshis and half a million undocumented individuals, purportedly from Myanmar, Iran, Iraq, and Africa, reside in Pakistan. In October 2023, Pakistan ordered the expulsion of Afghans from Pakistan. Migration of Bengalis and Rohingya to Pakistan started in the 1980s and continued till 1998. Karachi hosts a significant number of Bengali settlements, and large Rohingya migration made it one of their largest populations outside Myanmar. Karachi's Burmese community resides in various slums across the city. Thousands of Uyghur Muslims sought refuge in Gilgit-Baltistan, fleeing persecution in Xinjiang, China. Since 1989, thousands of Kashmiri Muslim refugees fled to Pakistan, alleging rape and forced displacement by Indian soldiers. Diaspora According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Pakistan has the sixth-largest diaspora globally. Approximately 7 million Pakistanis reside abroad, mainly in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Pakistan ranks 10th globally for remittances sent home. Saudi Arabia is the largest source of remittances, contributing $5.9 billion as of 2016. The term Overseas Pakistani is officially recognized by the Government of Pakistan, with the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development addressing their needs, welfare, and issues. Overseas Pakistanis constitute the second-largest source of foreign exchange remittances to Pakistan, with remittances increasing by over 100% from US$8.9 billion in 2009–10 to US$19.9 billion in 2015–16. Religion Islam is the state religion, with freedom of religion guaranteed by the constitution. The majority are Muslims (96.47%), followed by Hindus (2.14%) and Christians (1.27%). Minorities include Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians (Parsi), and the unique Kalash people who practice animism. Additionally, a small percentage profess no faith, as seen in the 1998 census. Islam Islam dominates in Pakistan, with about 96.5% of the population being Muslim. Pakistan ranks second globally in Muslim population, and is home to 10.5% of the world's Muslims. Karachi is the largest Muslim city in the world. The majority follow Sunni Islam, with a significant presence of Sufism, while Shia Muslims constitute a minority. Shias represent between 5–25%. The Shia population in Pakistan was estimated at 42 million in 2019. As of 2012, 12% of Pakistani Muslims self-identify as non-denominational Muslims. The Ahmadis are a minority, officially considered non-Muslims. Ahmadis face persecution, banned from calling themselves Muslims since 1974. Hinduism Hinduism is the second-largest religion, followed by 2.14% of the population according to 2017 census. Pakistan had the fifth-largest Hindu population globally in 2010. In 2017, Hindus numbered 4,444,437. They reside across Pakistan but are concentrated in Sindh, where they make up 8.73% of the population. Umerkot district is the only Hindu majority area. Tharparkar district hosts the largest Hindu population. Four districts – Umerkot, Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas, and Sanghar – have over half of Pakistan's Hindus. At Pakistan's inception, the 'hostage theory' suggested fair treatment of Hindus to safeguard Muslims in India. However, some Pakistani Hindus felt marginalized, leading to emigration to India. They faced violence post the Babri Masjid demolition, enduring forced conversions and abductions. Christianity and other religions Christians are the next largest religious minority after Hindus, constituting 1.27% of the population. They are concentrated in Lahore District (5%) and Islamabad Capital Territory (over 4%). Karachi hosts a historic Roman Catholic community established by Goan and Tamil migrants during British colonial rule. Following Christianity, the Bahá'í Faith had 30,000 followers in 2008, followed by Sikhism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism, each with around 20,000 adherents in 2008, alongside a small Jain community. In 2005, 1% of the population identified as atheist. By 2012, this figure had risen to 2.0% according to Gallup. Education Pakistan's constitution mandates free primary and secondary education, with public universities established in each province, including Punjab University, Sindh University, Peshawar University, Karachi University, and Balochistan University. The country's educational landscape encompasses both public and private universities, fostering collaboration to enhance research and higher education opportunities, albeit with concerns regarding teaching quality in newer institutions. Technical and vocational institutions in Pakistan number approximately 3,193, complemented by madrassahs providing free Islamic education to students, with government efforts to regulate and monitor their quality amidst concerns over extremists recruitment. Education is divided into six main levels, including nursery, primary, middle, matriculation, intermediate, and university programs. Additionally, private schools offer a parallel secondary education system based on the curriculum set by the Cambridge International Examinations, with 439 international schools reported in Pakistan. Initiatives since 2007 made English medium education mandatory nationwide. Following a 2012 attack on activist Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban, she became the youngest Nobel laureate for her education advocacy. Reforms in 2013 mandated Chinese language courses in Sindh, reflecting China's growing influence. As of 2018, Pakistan's literacy rate stands at 62.3%, with significant regional and gender disparities. Government initiatives, including computer literacy since 1995, aim to eradicate illiteracy, targeting 100% enrollment among primary school-age children and an ~86% literacy rate by 2015. Pakistan allocates 2.3% of its GDP to education, among the lowest in South Asia. Culture Civil society in Pakistan is hierarchical, emphasizing local cultural etiquette and traditional Islamic values. The primary family unit is the extended family, but there's a rising trend towards nuclear families due to socio-economic factors. Both men and women typically wear Shalwar Kameez; men also favor trousers, jeans, and shirts. The middle class has grown to about 35 million, with another 17 million in the upper and upper-middle classes, leading to a shift in power from rural landowners to urban elites. Festivals like Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Ramadan, Christmas, Easter, Holi, and Diwali are primarily religious. Pakistan ranks 56th on the A.T. Kearney/FP Globalization Index due to increasing globalization. Architecture Four periods define Pakistani architecture: pre-Islamic, Islamic, colonial, and post-colonial. The onset of the Indus civilization around the mid-3rd millennium BCE heralded an urban culture, evidenced by surviving large structures. Notable pre-Islamic settlements include Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, and Kot Diji. The fusion of Buddhism and Greek influences birthed a distinctive Greco-Buddhist style from the 1st century CE, exemplified by the renowned Gandhara style. Notable Buddhist architectural remnants include the Takht-i-Bahi monastery in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The advent of Islam in present-day Pakistan marked the cessation of Buddhist architecture, ushering in Islamic architecture. The notable Indo-Islamic structure, the tomb of Shah Rukn-i-Alam in Multan, remains significant. During the Mughal era, Persian-Islamic design merged with Hindustani art, seen in Lahore's architectural gems like the Badshahi Mosque and the Lahore Fort with the iconic Alamgiri Gate. Lahore also boasts the vibrant Wazir Khan Mosque, and the lush Shalimar Gardens. In the British colonial period, Indo-European buildings emerged, blending European and Indian-Islamic styles. Post-colonial identity shines through modern landmarks like the Faisal Mosque, Minar-e-Pakistan, and Mazar-e-Quaid. British architectural influence persists in structures across Lahore, Peshawar, and Karachi. Clothing, arts, and fashion The Shalwar Kameez is Pakistan's national dress, worn in all provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Azad Kashmir. Each province has its own style. Pakistanis wear a variety of fabrics like silk, chiffon, and cotton. In addition to the national dress, men often wear domestically tailored suits and neckties, especially in offices, schools, and social gatherings. Pakistan's fashion industry has thrived, blending traditional and modern styles to create a unique cultural identity. Regional and traditional dress remain significant symbols of native tradition, evolving into both modern and purer forms. Organizations like the Pakistan Fashion Design Council in Lahore and the Fashion Pakistan Council in Karachi host events like PFDC Fashion Week and Fashion Pakistan Week. Pakistan's inaugural fashion week took place in November 2009. Literature and philosophy Pakistan boasts literature in various languages including Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Baluchi, Persian, English, and more. The Pakistan Academy of Letters actively promotes literature and poetry both domestically and internationally. National Library contributes to literary dissemination. Historically, Pakistani literature consisted mainly of lyric, religious, and folkloric works, later diversifying under colonial influence into prose fiction, now widely embraced. The national poet of Pakistan, Muhammad Iqbal, wrote influential poetry in Urdu and Persian, advocating for Islamic civilizational revival. Notable figures in contemporary Urdu literature include Josh Malihabadi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and Saadat Hasan Manto. Popular Sufi poets like Shah Abdul Latif and Bulleh Shah are revered. Mirza Kalich Beg is hailed as the father of modern Sindhi prose. Pakistani philosophy has been shaped by influences from British and American philosophy, with notable figures like M. M. Sharif contributing to its development. Post-1971, Marxist thought gained prominence in Pakistani philosophy through figures like Jalaludin Abdur Rahim. Media and entertainment The private print media, state-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) dominated media until the 21st century. Pakistan now boasts a vast network of domestic, privately owned 24-hour news media and television channels. A 2021 report by the Reporters Without Borders ranked Pakistan 157th among 180 nations on the Press Freedom Index, citing pressures faced by Pakistani reporters, particularly when reporting against the army or government. The BBC describes Pakistani media as "among the most outspoken in South Asia". Pakistani media has been instrumental in exposing corruption. The Lollywood, Punjabi, and Pashto film industry is centered in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar. Although Bollywood films were banned from public cinemas from 1965 to 2008, they remained influential in Pakistani popular culture. However, in 2019, the screening of Bollywood movies faced an indefinite ban. Despite challenges faced by the Pakistani film industry, Urdu televised dramas and theatrical performances remain popular, frequently broadcast by many entertainment media outlets. Urdu dramas dominate the television entertainment industry, renowned for their quality since the 1990s. Pakistani music encompasses diverse forms, from provincial folk music and traditional styles like Qawwali and Ghazal Gayaki to modern fusions of traditional and western music. Pakistan boasts numerous renowned folk singers, and the arrival of Afghan refugees in western provinces has sparked interest in Pashto music, despite occasional intolerance. Cuisine Pakistani cuisine, rooted in the royal kitchens of 16th-century Mughal emperors, blends influences from British, Indian, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern culinary traditions. Unlike Middle Eastern fare, Pakistani dishes are heavily spiced with garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili, and garam masala. Roti, a wheat-based flatbread, accompanies most meals, alongside curry, meat, vegetables, and lentils. Rice is also common, served plain, spiced, or in sweet dishes. Lassi, a traditional drink from the Punjab region, and black tea with milk and sugar are popular beverages enjoyed nationwide. Sohan halwa, a beloved sweet dish from southern Punjab, is savored across Pakistan. Sports Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan, followed by football. Field hockey is the national sport. Other sports like squash, polo, and traditional games are also enjoyed. In cricket, Pakistan boasts victories in all major ICC tournaments, including the ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20, and ICC Champions Trophy. The Pakistan Super League ranks among the top T20 leagues globally. In football, Pakistan established the Pakistan Football Federation soon after its creation, and it is known for producing FIFA World Cup balls. In field hockey, Pakistan boasts four Hockey World Cup wins, eight Asian Games gold medals, and three Olympic gold medals. Squash player Jahangir Khan holds the record for the longest winning streak in professional sport history, winning 555 consecutive matches. Pakistan has hosted various international events, including Cricket and Hockey World Cups and Asian Games. See also Outline of Pakistan Government of Pakistan Administrative units of Pakistan Notes References Bibliography Overview Etymology History Geography Government and politics Further reading External links Government Official website Pakistan Public Policies & Researches General information Pakistan. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Pakistan from UCB Libraries GovPubs Pakistan at Curlie Pakistan from BBC News Wikimedia Atlas of Pakistan Key Development Forecasts for Pakistan from International Futures Geographic data related to Pakistan at OpenStreetMap

Hind%27s_Hall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hind%27s_Hall

"Hind's Hall" is a protest song by American rapper Macklemore, released as a single on May 6, 2024. Written and produced by Macklemore, it expresses support for the pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses that call for divestment from Israel and a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war. The song's title is a reference to pro-Palestinian activists' renaming of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University to "Hind's Hall" in honor of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. In the song, Macklemore is critical of the United States's funding of Israel; he describes Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories as apartheid. Additionally, Macklemore announces his opposition to the music industry for their silence on the issue, and to President Joe Biden because of Biden's support for the Israeli government and military. Background In 2024, pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses have taken place across the world, particularly in the United States, as protesters called on their universities to sever links with Israeli entities due to Israel's actions in the Israel-Hamas war. Protestor encampments have been raided by US police, who arrested more than 2,300 students, many of whom face expulsion and campus bans. Protests at Columbia University have been prominent. At Columbia, activists occupied Hamilton Hall and renamed the building as "Hind's Hall" in honor of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza City along with her relatives and paramedics who came to her rescue. On April 30, 2024, New York police sieged Hamilton Hall and arrested the protestors inside. Composition "Hind's Hall" was composed and produced by Macklemore, and samples "Ana La Habibi" by Lebanese singer Fairuz. In his lyrics, Macklemore is critical of the United States' funding of Israel. He describes Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories as apartheid. He also criticizes US politicians' acceptance of donations from pro-Israel lobbying organizations such as Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Macklemore characterizes Israel's military operations within the Israel–Hamas war as "a genocide", and makes references to the Nakba and the Israeli military's killing of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. Macklemore calls for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war. He condemns the music industry's "platform of silence" on the war. He also references the ongoing feud between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar, saying he considers it a minor issue compared to the war. Additionally, Macklemore declares President Joe Biden to be complicit in the Israeli government's mass murder of Palestinian civilians, saying "The blood is on your hands, Biden". Macklemore proclaims that he will not vote for Biden in the 2024 United States presidential election, and that he is undecided. The song also denounces Congress' banning of TikTok, the white supremacy apparent in policing and policy decisions, and the conflation of antisemitism with anti-Zionism. Macklemore quotes the title of the 1988 song "Fuck tha Police" by hip hop group N.W.A. Release The single was released on social media on May 6, 2024. Macklemore announced that once the song was available on streaming services, all of the single's proceeds would be donated to UNRWA. Macklemore performed the song live for the first time on May 9, 2024 in New Zealand, saying, "I stand here today and every day forward for the rest of my life in solidarity with the people of Palestine, with an open heart, in the belief that our collective liberation is at stake – that we all deserve freedom in this life of ours". On May 11, the song was made available on major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The song's music video includes a photo of a college building spray-painted with the phrase "Free Palastine [sic]". Some internet users erroneously believed the photo was taken at Columbia University and used it to criticize the protesters. The photo was taken of Tabaret Hall at the University of Ottawa in Canada. Reception Solcyre Burga in Time called it "the latest addition to the catalog of American protest songs that includes Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" and Crosby, Stills, and Nash & Young's [sic] "Ohio." Guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine tweeted: "Honestly @macklemore’s 'Hind’s Hall' is the most Rage Against The Machine song since Rage Against The Machine." Jill Stein, the Green Party's presidential candidate in 2024, publicly thanked Macklemore for making the song. Reception from social media has been positive, with many users praising Macklemore's use of his platform to protest. Aja Romano of Vox called the song "electrifying" due to its surprise release. They noted that Macklemore's position as a white independent artist has helped him to express himself freely without career-ending consequences, especially considering the song's contentious subject matter. Sequel On September 21, 2024, Macklemore released a sequel to Hind's Hall titled Hind's Hall 2, featuring Palestinian and Palestinian American artists Anees, MC Abdul, Amer Zahr, the LA Palestinian Kids Choir, the Lifted! Youth Gospel Choir, and Tiffany Wilson. In the song, he endorsed the Uncommitted National Movement, warning presidential candidate Kamala Harris that she would lose the state of Michigan in the 2024 United States presidential election unless she supported an arms embargo on Israel. All proceeds from the sequel would also be donated to UNRWA. He performed the song at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival in Seward Park Amphitheatre in Seattle on September 21, 2024. Charts Release history See also List of anti-war songs "FDT", anti–Donald Trump protest song with remix featuring Macklemore Blockout 2024 References External links Official video on YouTube VIDEO: Hind's Hall by Macklemore, The Independent (May 2024) Official video on Twitter