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1887, was the first Christian king of Niue. The island was visited by Captain John Erskine in H.M.S. Havannah in July 1849. British protectorate In 1887, King Fataaiki wrote to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, requesting that Niue be placed under British protection, but his request was turned down. In 1900, in response to renewed requests, the island became a British protectorate, and the following year it was annexed by New Zealand. Niue's remoteness, as well as cultural and linguistic differences between its Polynesian inhabitants and those of the Cook Islands, caused it to be separately administered. World War I 148 Niuean men, 4% of the island's population, served as soldiers in the New Zealand armed forces during World War I. Autonomy Niue gained its autonomy in 1974 in free association with New Zealand, which handles the island's military and foreign affairs. Niue had been offered autonomy in 1965 (along with the Cook Islands, which accepted), but had asked for its autonomy to be deferred another decade. Niueans continue to be New Zealand citizens, and use standard New Zealand passports. Niueans who meet normal residence criteria in either country may vote or stand in that country's elections. Niue continues to use New Zealand currency, but issues its own postage stamps (New Zealand stamps are not valid for postage in Niue, nor Niuean stamps | settled by Polynesian sailors from Samoa in around 900 AD. Further settlers (or possibly invaders) arrived from Tonga in the 16th century. The first known sighting of the island by a European was by Captain James Cook in 1774 during his second Pacific voyage. The pioneering missionary John Williams was the first European to land on the island in 1830. After years of British missionary activity, negotiations with the local kings for British protection of the island began in 1879. Lord Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand proclaimed British Sovereignty over Niue in 1900, therefore laid the island under the patronage of New Zealand. Niue lost around 4% of its population in World War I as 150 Niuean men were sent to France under the New Zealand army, of which nearly none returned. World War II however did not directly affect the island. Niue became self-governing in 1974. Since then, the island has been shrinking in population from emigration due to frequent devastating natural disasters and lack of economic opportunities. Early history Until the beginning of the 18th century, there appears to have been no national government or national leader in Niue. Before that time, chiefs and heads of family exercised authority over segments of the population. Around 1700, the concept and practice of kingship appears to have been introduced through contact with Samoa or Tonga. From then on, a succession of |
slash-and-burn agriculture. Niue is a party to the following international agreements regarding the environment: Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification. Niue has signed but not ratified the Law of the Sea agreement. Boundaries Niue has signed a treaty with the United States in which the parties delimited the east–west maritime boundary between Niue and American Samoa. Niue is south of American Samoa. Extreme points This is a list of the extreme points of Niue, the points that are | It claims an exclusive economic zone of 200 nm, and a territorial sea of 12 nm. It is one of world's largest coral islands. Climate Niue's climate is tropical, modified by south-east trade winds. Cyclones pose a natural hazard. Terrain The terrain consists of steep coastal cliffs made from limestone and a central plateau. The lowest point is at sea level, and the highest is an unnamed point near Mutalau settlement, at 68 m. Natural resources The island's natural resources are fish and arable land. Land use in 1993 was as in the following table: Environmental issues A current environmental issue is increasing attention to conservationist practices to counter loss of soil fertility from traditional slash-and-burn agriculture. Niue is a party |
diplomatic agent of, the New Zealand Government. The cabinet is chosen by the premier and appointed by the Speaker of the Niue Assembly and collectively responsible to Parliament. Cabinet The Cabinet is made up of four ministers, each overseeing a different portfolio. Each minister, with the exception of the Premier, has another Member of the Assembly assisting him/her in the operations of their portfolio. Each ministry also has Directory Generals serving as permanent employees of the ministries, as well as directors for each division. Legislative branch The Assembly has 20 members elected for a three-year term, 6 elected on a nationwide list, called the common roll, and 14 representatives of the villages. Electors must be New Zealand citizens, resident for at least three months, and candidates must have been electors, resident for twelve months. The speaker is elected from among the members. Political parties and elections In Niue, political parties have never played an important role. There is, at present, no political party, and candidates to elections therefore run as independents. The only party ever to have existed, the Niue People's Party, disbanded in 2003. As there are no political parties, there is no formal parliamentary Opposition, though there are MPs who oppose the government. Latest election By-elections Below is a list of recent by-elections: Judicial branch The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sitting in the United Kingdom is Niue's highest court. On the island, there is a Court of Appeal (which sat in New Zealand until 2009), and the High Court of Niue. The current chief justice is Patrick Savage. Previous chief justices include Gaven Donne (1975–1982) and Heta Kenneth Hingston, who served as such for 14 years prior to Patrick Savage. Public Defender of Niue Initially, it was the Crown Counsel of New Zealand that provided legal assistance to those accused of serious offenses such as murder. In 1971, the Select Committee on the Appointment of a Public Defender recommended that the Government of Niue provide any offenders with court representation. John Funaki (a non-attorney) was the first to serve as the Public Defender of Niue in 1976. Even today, the government provides funding for a Public Defender. Administrative divisions Niue is divided in 14 villages each with its own village council whose members are elected and serve three-year terms. International organization participation African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (Cotounu Convention) U.N. Economic and Social Committee for Asia and the Pacific (associate) Intelsat (nonsignatory user) Pacific Islands Forum South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic | Politics of Niue takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Chief Minister is the head of government, and of a non-partisan system. Niue is self-governing in free association with New Zealand and is fully responsible for internal affairs. New Zealand retains some responsibility for external affairs, in consultation with Niue. The Niue Constitution Act 1974 (NZ) vests executive authority in Her Majesty the Queen in Right of New Zealand and the Governor-General of New Zealand. The constitution specifies that in everyday practice, it is exercised by a Cabinet of the Premier of Niue and three other ministers. The premier and ministers must be members of the Niue Assembly, the nation's legislative assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Executive branch |Monarch |Elizabeth II | |6 February 1952 |- |Governor-General |Cindy Kiro | |28 September 2021 |- |Premier |Dalton Tagelagi |Independent |11 June 2020 |} The monarch is hereditary; her representative in relation to Niue (the Governor-General of New Zealand) is appointed by the monarch. The New Zealand high commissioner is appointed by, and acts solely as a diplomatic agent of, the New Zealand Government. The cabinet is chosen by the premier and appointed by the Speaker of the Niue Assembly and collectively responsible to Parliament. Cabinet The Cabinet is made up of four ministers, each overseeing a different portfolio. Each minister, with the exception of the Premier, has another Member of the Assembly assisting him/her in the operations of their portfolio. Each ministry also has Directory Generals serving as permanent employees of the ministries, as well as directors for each division. Legislative branch The Assembly has 20 members elected for a three-year term, 6 elected on a nationwide list, called the common roll, and 14 representatives of the villages. Electors must be New Zealand citizens, resident for at least three months, and candidates must have been electors, resident for twelve months. The speaker is elected from among the members. Political parties and elections In Niue, political parties have never played an important role. There is, at present, no political party, and candidates to elections therefore run as independents. The only party ever to have existed, the Niue People's Party, disbanded in 2003. As there are no political parties, there is no formal parliamentary Opposition, though there are MPs who oppose the government. Latest election By-elections Below is a list of recent by-elections: Judicial branch The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sitting in the United Kingdom is Niue's highest court. On the island, there is a Court of Appeal (which sat in New Zealand until 2009), and the High Court of Niue. The current chief justice is Patrick Savage. Previous chief justices include Gaven Donne (1975–1982) and |
take off with maximum weight. Boeing 737-300, 737-800 and Boeing 757 aircraft have used the airport. Air New Zealand is the only airline serving Niue, with a weekly flight from Auckland. The flight is operated with an A320 departing Auckland on Saturday and arriving the previous day due to the International Date Line. The flight from Niue departs on Friday. Niue has a sea port, Sir Robert's Wharf in Alofi, which can be used only by flat-bottomed smaller vessels. The cargo ship Forum Pacific from Reef Shipping uses the wharf when the sea is calm. Otherwise cargo vessels and fishing boats use moorings about 100 metres from the reef, and barges are used to offload their cargo. Most Niuean households own | extended in 1995 to allow Boeing 737 aircraft to take off with maximum weight. Boeing 737-300, 737-800 and Boeing 757 aircraft have used the airport. Air New Zealand is the only airline serving Niue, with a weekly flight from Auckland. The flight is operated with an A320 departing Auckland on Saturday and arriving the previous day due to the International Date Line. The flight from Niue departs on Friday. Niue has a sea port, Sir Robert's Wharf in Alofi, which can be used only by flat-bottomed smaller vessels. The cargo ship Forum Pacific from Reef Shipping uses the wharf when the sea is calm. Otherwise cargo vessels and fishing boats use moorings about 100 metres from the reef, and barges are used to offload their cargo. Most Niuean households own a vehicle. There are four |
cellular: undisclosed (2011) Telephone system: domestic: single-line telephone system connects all villages on island international: provided by Telecom Niue (IDD code: 683) Radio Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) Radios: 1,000 (1997) Television broadcast stations: 1 (1997) Televisions: NA Newspapers Niue has only one printed newspaper, the Niue Star, founded in 1993. Until 2002, the Auckland-based Pasifika Times was also circulated in Niue. Internet service Niue has free Internet service through the efforts of the Internet Users Society Niue, established 1999. However users need to | system connects all villages on island international: provided by Telecom Niue (IDD code: 683) Radio Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) Radios: 1,000 (1997) Television broadcast stations: 1 (1997) Televisions: NA Newspapers Niue has only one printed newspaper, the Niue Star, founded in 1993. Until 2002, the Auckland-based Pasifika Times was also circulated in Niue. Internet service Niue has free Internet service through the efforts of the Internet Users Society Niue, established 1999. However users need to pay NZD$25 to a local IT company to register the MAC address of their WiFi card before being able to log into this WiFi network. Alternatively, where ADSL is available, users can |
the terms of a trusteeship agreement. In 1976, Congress approved the mutually negotiated Covenant to establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America. The Covenant was codified on March 24, 1976, as Public Law 94-241. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) government adopted its own constitution in 1977, and the new government took office in January 1978. Implementation of Covenant, which took effect on January 1, 1978, was completed on November 3, 1986, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation no. 5564; which placed into effect the Covenant With the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Compacts of Free Association With the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This allowed the CNMI to be represented to the United States Government in Washington, DC by a Resident Representative, elected at-large by CNMI voters and whose office was paid for by the CNMI government. The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 ("CNRA"), approved by the U.S. Congress on May 8, 2008, established a CNMI delegate's seat; Democrat Gregorio Sablan was elected in November 2008 as the first CNMI delegate and took office in the 111th Congress. Like the other five delegates in the House, the CNMI delegate participates in debates and vote in committee but has no vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, and has no role in the U.S. Senate, but is equal to a Senator when serving on a conference committee. On December 22, 1990, the United Nations Trusteeship Council terminated the TTPI as it applied to the CNMI and five other of the TTPI's original seven districts (the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap)), this was acknowledged in United Nations Security Council Resolution 683 passed on the same day. Under the Covenant, in general, United States federal law applies to CNMI. However, the CNMI is outside the customs territory of the United States and, although the internal revenue code does apply in the form of a local income tax, the income tax system is largely locally determined. According to the Covenant, the federal minimum wage and federal immigration laws "will not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands except in the manner and to the extent made applicable to them by the Congress by law after termination of the Trusteeship Agreement." Local control of minimum wage was superseded by the United States Congress in 2007; it was slowly raised until in 2015 it reached parity with the 50 states. Initially under the Covenant a separate immigration system existed in the CNMI, and U.S. immigration laws did not apply. After reports surfaced of abusive practices for immigrant workers, on November 28, 2009, the CNRA unilaterally amended the Covenant to match US law; specifically, CNRA § 702(a) amended the Covenant to state that "the provisions of the 'immigration laws' (as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) shall apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands." Further, under CNRA § 702(a), the "immigration laws," as well as the amendments to the Covenant, "shall...supersede and replace all laws, provisions, or programs of the Commonwealth relating to the admission of aliens and the removal of aliens from the Commonwealth." Transition to U.S. immigration laws began November 28, 2009. Judicial system Cases under federal law are heard by the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, which was established by act of Congress in 1977, and began operations in January 1978. The court sits on the island of Saipan, but may sit other places within the commonwealth. The district court has the same jurisdiction as all other United States district courts, including diversity jurisdiction and bankruptcy jurisdiction. Appeals are taken to the Ninth Circuit. As a United States territorial court established under Congress's territorial power granted by Article IV of the United States Constitution, judges do not have lifetime appointments, unlike the Article III courts in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Cases under territorial law are heard by the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, with appeals heard by the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Citizenship Article III of the Covenant conferred United States citizenship on legally qualified CNMI residents, which generally included all citizens of the CNMI, and established U.S. birthright citizenship for persons born in the CNMI. Economy The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands benefits from its trading relationship with the federal government of the United States and cheap trained labor from Asia. Historically, the CNMI's economy has relied on tourism, mostly from Japan, and on the garment manufacturing sector. The economy has declined since quotas were lifted in 2005, eventually leading all the garment factories on Saipan to close by February 2009. Tourism also declined after 2005 when Japan Airlines stopped serving the Marianas. Agricultural production, primarily of tapioca, cattle, coconuts, breadfruit, tomatoes and melons, exists, but is relatively unimportant in the economy, representing only 1.7% of its GDP as of 2016. Non-native islanders are not allowed to own land, but can lease it. Labor controversies The Northern Mariana Islands had successfully used its position as a free trade area with the U.S., while at the same time not being subject to the same labor laws. For example, the $3.05 per hour minimum wage in the commonwealth, which lasted from 1997 to 2007, was lower than in the U.S. and some other worker protections are weaker, leading to lower production costs. That allowed garments to be labeled "Made in USA" without having to comply with all U.S. labor laws. However, the U.S. minimum wage law signed by President George W. Bush on May 25, 2007, resulted in stepped increases in the Northern Marianas' minimum wage, which allowed it to reach the U.S. level in 2015. The first step (to $3.55) became effective July 25, 2007, and a yearly increase of $0.50 will take effect every May thereafter until the CNMI minimum wage equals the nationwide minimum wage. However, a law signed by President Obama in December 2009 delayed the yearly increase from May to September. In 2018 the minimum wage finally reached $7.25, matching the U.S. federal minimum wage. The island's exemption from U.S. labor laws had led to many alleged exploitations, including recent claims of sweatshops, child labor, child prostitution and forced abortions. An immigration system mostly outside of federal U.S. control (which ended on November 28, 2009) resulted in a large number of Chinese migrant workers (about 15,000 during the peak years) employed in the islands' garment trade. However, the lifting of World Trade Organization restrictions on Chinese imports to the U.S. in 2005 had put the commonwealth-based trade under severe pressure, leading to a number of recent factory closures. Adding to the U.S.-imposed scheduled wage increases, the garment industry became extinct by 2009. Infrastructure The islands have over 220 miles (350 km) of highways, three airports with paved runways (one about 9,800 feet [3,000 m] long; two around 6,600 feet [2,000 m]), three airports with unpaved runways, and one heliport. The main commercial airport is Saipan International Airport. Mail service for the islands is provided by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Each major island has its own ZIP code in the 96950–96952 range, and the USPS two-letter abbreviation for the CNMI is MP ("Marianas Pacific", NM and MI being taken). "CM" has been used previously and is still used in some contexts, but can be confused with Cameroon. For phone service, the islands are included in the North American Numbering Plan, using area code 670. Television service is provided by KPPI-LP, Channel 7, which simulcasts Guam's ABC affiliate KTGM, as well as WSZE, Channel 10, which simulcasts Guam's NBC affiliate KUAM-TV. About 10 radio stations broadcast within the CNMI. In 2012 Michael Calabrese, Daniel Calarco, and Colin Richardson of Slate stated that CNMI internet prices were five times those of Guam, and that the price per megabit increases if a customer chooses a higher level internet package due to the limited bandwidth. Demographics According to the 2020 census, the population of the CNMI was 47,329, down from 69,221 in 2000. The decrease was reportedly due to a combination of factors including the demise of the garment industry (the vast majority of whose employees were females from China), economic crises, and a decline in tourism, one of the CNMI's primary sources of revenue. Except for the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands are the second least populous sub-federal jurisdiction in the United States, next to American Samoa. Languages The official languages on the Northern Mariana Islands include English, Chamorro, and Carolinian. Few people still speak the nearly extinct Tanapag language. Many Philippine languages, Chinese, and other Pacific island languages are also spoken. Spanish is still retained in surnames but is no longer commonly used, though it is still familiar to some elders as a third or fourth language. Ethnic groups Asian (including Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Bangladeshi and other Asian) 49.9% Chamorro, Carolinian, Palauan and Other Pacific Islander 34.9% Multiracial 12.7% Others 2.5% Religion Owing to the Spanish missionaries in the Marianas, a large majority of Chamorros and Carolinians practice Roman Catholicism. The Japanese occupation had the effect of creating a sizable Buddhist community which remained even after their departure. Due to influence of the United States, diverse denominations of Protestantism also entered the islands. Many people on the Northern Mariana Islands are Roman Catholic or have traditional beliefs. According to the Pew Research Center, 2010: Roman Catholic 64.1% Protestants 16% Buddhists 10.6% Folk religions 5.3% Other Christians 1.2% Other religions 1.1% Unaffiliated 1.0% Eastern Orthodox <1% Hindu <1% Muslim <1% Jews <1% The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 865 members in a ward (congregation) in the Northern Mariana Islands. Education The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Public School System operates public schools in the commonwealth and there are numerous private schools. Northern Marianas College is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and offers a range of programs similar to other small U.S. community colleges. Culture Much of the Chamorro culture in the Mariana Islands was heavily influenced by the Spanish during the Spanish era, as well as by the Germans and Japanese. Respect is an important part of Chamorro culture, and one common display is the tradition of "manngingi'". This tradition has been around for centuries and involves an elder and a young Chamorro child. The child takes the hand of the elder, places it on their nose | was no electricity or public water supply for weeks. In April 1990, the inhabitants of the western coast of Anatahan were evacuated after earthquake swarms and active fumaroles indicated that an eruption might be imminent, but no eruption occurred at that time. A further earthquake swarm occurred in May 1992. The first historical eruption of Anatahan occurred in May 2003, when a large explosive eruption with a VEI of 4 took place forming a new crater inside the eastern caldera and causing an ash plume high which impaired air traffic to Saipan and Guam. The Northern Mariana Islands does not have voting representation in the United States Congress, but, since 2009, has been represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by a delegate who may participate in debate but may not vote on the floor. The commonwealth has no representation in the U.S. Senate. Geography The Northern Mariana Islands, together with Guam to the south, compose the Mariana Islands archipelago. The southern islands are limestone, with level terraces and fringing coral reefs. The northern islands are volcanic, with active volcanoes on several islands, including Anatahan, Pagan, and Agrihan. The volcano on Agrihan, Mount Agrihan, has the highest elevation at . An expedition organized by John D. Mitchler and Reid Larson made the first complete ascent to the summit of this peak on June 1, 2018. Anatahan Volcano is a small volcanic island north of Saipan. It is about long and wide. Anatahan began erupting from its east crater on May 10, 2003. It has since alternated between eruptive and calm periods. On April 6, 2005, an estimated of ash and rock were ejected, causing a large, black cloud to drift south over Saipan and Tinian. Northernmost point – Farallon de Pajaros Easternmost point – Farallon de Medinilla Southernmost point – Puntan Malikok, Rota Westernmost point – Farallon de Pajaros The islands lie in the Marianas tropical dry forests terrestrial ecoregion. Climate The Northern Mariana Islands have a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen: Af) moderated by seasonal northeast trade winds, with little seasonal temperature variation. The dry season runs from December to June; the rainy season runs from July to November and can include typhoons. The Guinness Book of World Records has said Saipan has the most equable climate in the world. Politics and government The Northern Mariana Islands have a multiparty presidential representative democratic system. They are a commonwealth of the United States. Federal funds to the commonwealth are administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Replicating the separation of powers elsewhere in the United States, the executive branch is headed by the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands; legislative power is vested in the bicameral Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature and the judicial power is vested in the CNMI Supreme Court and the trial courts inferior to it. Some critics, including the author of the political website Saipan Sucks, say that politics in the Northern Mariana Islands is often "more a function of family relationships and personal loyalties" where the size of one's extended family is more important than a candidate's personal qualifications. They charge that this is nepotism carried out within the trappings of democracy. In April 2012, anticipating a loss of funding by 2014, the commonwealth's public pension fund declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The retirement fund is a defined benefit-type pension plan and was only partially funded by the government, with only $268.4 million in assets and $911 million in liabilities. The plan experienced low investment returns and a benefit structure that had been increased without raises in funding. In August 2012, cries for impeachment arose, as the sitting governor Benigno Fitial was being held responsible for withholding payments from the pension fund, not paying the local utility (Commonwealth Utilities or "CUC") for government offices, cutting off funding to the only hospital in the Northern Marianas, interfering with the delivery of a subpoena to his attorney general, withholding required funds from the public schools, and for signing a sole source $190 million contract for power generation. Northern Mariana Islands’ delegation to the 2016 Republican National Convention boasted about being "the most Republican territory" in the U.S. As of 2017, the Republican Party had large majorities in both the Northern Mariana Islands Senate and the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives. Administrative divisions The islands total . The table gives an overview, with the individual islands listed from north to south: Administratively, the CNMI is divided into four municipalities: The Northern Islands (north of Saipan) form the Northern Islands Municipality. The three main islands of the Southern Islands form the municipalities of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, with uninhabited Aguijan forming part of Tinian municipality. Because of volcanic threat, the northern islands have been evacuated. Human habitation was limited to Agrihan, Pagan, and Alamagan, but population varied due to various economic factors, including children's education. The 2020 census showed only seven residents in the Northern Islands Municipality, and the Northern Islands' mayor office is located in "exile" on Saipan. Saipan, Tinian, and Rota have the only ports and harbors and are the only permanently populated islands. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau counts the four municipalities of the Northern Mariana Islands as county equivalents. Political status and autonomy In 1947, the Northern Mariana Islands became part of the post–World War II United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). The United States became the TTPI's administering authority under the terms of a trusteeship agreement. In 1976, Congress approved the mutually negotiated Covenant to establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America. The Covenant was codified on March 24, 1976, as Public Law 94-241. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) government adopted its own constitution in 1977, and the new government took office in January 1978. Implementation of Covenant, which took effect on January 1, 1978, was completed on November 3, 1986, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation no. 5564; which placed into effect the Covenant With the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Compacts of Free Association With the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This allowed the CNMI to be represented to the United States Government in Washington, DC by a Resident Representative, elected at-large by CNMI voters and whose office was paid for by the CNMI government. The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 ("CNRA"), approved by the U.S. Congress on May 8, 2008, established a CNMI delegate's seat; Democrat Gregorio Sablan was elected in November 2008 as the first CNMI delegate and took office in the 111th Congress. Like the other five delegates in the House, the CNMI delegate participates in debates and vote in committee but has no vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, and has no role in the U.S. Senate, but is equal to a Senator when serving on a conference committee. On December 22, 1990, the United Nations Trusteeship Council terminated the TTPI as it applied to the CNMI and five other of the TTPI's original seven districts (the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap)), this was acknowledged in United Nations Security Council Resolution 683 passed on the same day. Under the Covenant, in general, United States federal law applies to CNMI. However, the CNMI is outside the customs territory of the United States and, although the internal revenue code does apply in the form of a local income tax, the income tax system is largely locally determined. According to the Covenant, the federal minimum wage and federal immigration laws "will not apply to the Northern Mariana Islands except in the manner and to the extent made applicable to them by the Congress by law after termination of the Trusteeship Agreement." Local control of minimum wage was superseded by the United States Congress in 2007; it was slowly raised until in 2015 it reached parity with the 50 states. Initially under the Covenant a separate immigration system existed in the CNMI, and U.S. immigration laws did not apply. After reports surfaced of abusive practices for immigrant workers, on November 28, 2009, the CNRA unilaterally amended the Covenant to match US law; specifically, CNRA § 702(a) amended the Covenant to state that "the provisions of the 'immigration laws' (as defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17))) shall apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands." Further, under CNRA § 702(a), the "immigration laws," as well as the amendments to the Covenant, "shall...supersede and replace all laws, provisions, or programs of the Commonwealth relating to the admission of aliens and the removal of aliens from the Commonwealth." Transition to U.S. immigration laws began November 28, 2009. Judicial system Cases under federal law are heard by the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, which was established by act of Congress in 1977, and began operations in January 1978. The court sits on the island of Saipan, but may sit other places within the commonwealth. The district court has the same jurisdiction as all other United States district courts, including diversity jurisdiction and bankruptcy jurisdiction. Appeals are taken to the Ninth Circuit. As a United States territorial court established under Congress's territorial power granted by Article IV of the United States Constitution, judges do not have lifetime appointments, unlike the Article III courts in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Cases under territorial law are heard by the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, with appeals heard by the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Citizenship Article III of the Covenant conferred United States citizenship on legally qualified CNMI residents, which generally included all citizens of the CNMI, and established U.S. birthright citizenship for persons born in the CNMI. Economy The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands benefits from its trading relationship with the federal government of the United States and cheap trained labor from Asia. Historically, the CNMI's economy has relied on tourism, mostly from Japan, and on the garment manufacturing sector. The economy has declined since quotas were lifted in 2005, eventually leading all the garment factories on Saipan to close by February 2009. Tourism also declined after 2005 when Japan Airlines stopped serving the Marianas. Agricultural production, primarily of tapioca, cattle, coconuts, breadfruit, tomatoes and melons, exists, but is relatively unimportant in the economy, representing only 1.7% of its GDP as of 2016. Non-native islanders are not allowed to own land, but can lease it. Labor controversies The Northern Mariana Islands had successfully used its position as a free trade area with the U.S., while at the same time not being subject to the same labor laws. For example, the $3.05 per hour minimum wage in the commonwealth, which lasted from 1997 to 2007, was |
active volcanoes on Anatahan, Pagan and Agrihan. The volcano on Agrihan has the highest elevation at . About one-fifth of the land is arable; another tenth is pasture. The primary natural resource is fish, some of which are endangered species, which leads to conflict. Also, development has created landfills which have contaminated the groundwater on Saipan, which could lead to disease. Anatahan Volcano is a small volcanic island north of Saipan. It is | its east crater on May 10, 2003, at about 6 p.m. (0800 UTC). It has since alternated between eruptive and calm periods. On April 6, 2005, approximately of ash and rock were ejected, causing a large, black cloud to drift south over Saipan and Tinian. Climate The islands have a tropical marine climate moderated by seasonal northeast trade winds. There is little seasonal temperature variation. The dry season runs from December to June, and the rainy season from July to November and can include typhoons. The Guinness Book of World Records has cited Saipan as having the most equable climate in the world. From 1927 to 1935, the temperature ranged from 19.6 |
-0.55% Birth rate 15.1 births/1,000 population Death rate 5.3 deaths/1,000 population Net migration rate -15.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population Sex ratio At birth: 1.16 male(s)/female 0–14 years: 1.17 male(s)/female 15–24 years: 1.17 male(s)/female 25–54 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 55–64 years: 1.19 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.15 male(s)/female Total population: 1.13 male(s)/female (2020 est.) Infant mortality rate Total: 11.5 deaths/1,000 live births Male: 13.7 deaths/1,000 live births Female: 9 deaths/1,000 live births (2020 est.) Total fertility rate 2.7 children born/woman Nationality | Population growth rate -0.55% Birth rate 15.1 births/1,000 population Death rate 5.3 deaths/1,000 population Net migration rate -15.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population Sex ratio At birth: 1.16 male(s)/female 0–14 years: 1.17 male(s)/female 15–24 years: 1.17 male(s)/female 25–54 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 55–64 years: 1.19 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.15 male(s)/female Total population: 1.13 male(s)/female (2020 est.) Infant mortality rate Total: 11.5 deaths/1,000 live births Male: 13.7 deaths/1,000 live births Female: 9 deaths/1,000 live births |
"Resident Representative" in Washington, DC. As authorized by , the Commonwealth now elects a nonvoting delegate to the U.S. Congress, similar to other U.S. insular areas. The first election was held on November 4, 2008. Political parties and elections Judicial branch Commonwealth Supreme Court; Superior Court; Federal District Court Federal representation In November 2008, the Northern Mariana Islands held its first election for a delegate to the United States Congress. Gregorio "Kilili" Sablan won the election, and began his term of office in January 2009. The delegate serves as a member to some House committees and may vote in those committees, but the delegate is not permitted to vote on bills up for vote among all members of the House. International organization participation United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (associate) INTERPOL (subbureau) Pacific Community Political culture Historically the Northern Mariana Islands have been subject | the Commonwealth now elects a nonvoting delegate to the U.S. Congress, similar to other U.S. insular areas. The first election was held on November 4, 2008. Political parties and elections Judicial branch Commonwealth Supreme Court; Superior Court; Federal District Court Federal representation In November 2008, the Northern Mariana Islands held its first election for a delegate to the United States Congress. Gregorio "Kilili" Sablan won the election, and began his term of office in January 2009. The delegate serves as a member to some House committees and may vote in those committees, but the delegate is not permitted to vote on bills up for vote among all members of the House. International organization participation United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (associate) |
the canopy of which was made of Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island pine) in exposed areas, and the palm Rhopalostylis baueri and tree ferns Cyathea brownii and C. australis in moister protected areas. The understory was thick with lianas and ferns covering the forest floor. Only one small tract, , of rainforest remains, which was declared as the Norfolk Island National Park in 1986. This forest has been infested with several introduced plants. The cliffs and steep slopes of Mount Pitt supported a community of shrubs, herbaceous plants, and climbers. A few tracts of cliff top and seashore vegetation have been preserved. The rest of the island has been cleared for pasture and housing. Grazing and introduced weeds currently threaten the native flora, displacing it in some areas. In fact, there are more weed species than native species on Norfolk Island. Fauna As a relatively small and isolated oceanic island, Norfolk has few land birds but a high degree of endemicity among them. Norfolk Island is home to a radiation of about 40 endemic snail species. Many of the endemic bird species and subspecies have become extinct as a result of massive clearance of the island's native vegetation of subtropical rainforest for agriculture, hunting and persecution as agricultural pests. The birds have also suffered from the introduction of mammals such as rats, cats, pigs and goats, as well as from introduced competitors such as common blackbirds and crimson rosellas. Although the island is politically part of Australia, many of Norfolk Island's native birds show affinities to those of neighbouring New Zealand, such as the Norfolk kaka, Norfolk pigeon, and Norfolk boobook. Extinctions include that of the endemic Norfolk kaka, Norfolk ground dove and Norfolk pigeon, while of the endemic subspecies the starling, triller, thrush and boobook owl are extinct, although the latter's genes persist in a hybrid population descended from the last female. Other endemic birds are the white-chested white-eye, which may be extinct, the Norfolk parakeet, the Norfolk gerygone, the slender-billed white-eye and endemic subspecies of the Pacific robin and golden whistler. Subfossil bones indicate that a species of Coenocorypha snipe was also found on the island and is now extinct, but the taxonomic relationships of this are unclear and have not been scientifically described yet. The Norfolk Island Group Nepean Island is also home to breeding seabirds. The providence petrel was hunted to local extinction by the beginning of the 19th century but has shown signs of returning to breed on Phillip Island. Other seabirds breeding there include the white-necked petrel, Kermadec petrel, wedge-tailed shearwater, Australasian gannet, red-tailed tropicbird and grey ternlet. The sooty tern (known locally as the whale bird) has traditionally been subject to seasonal egg harvesting by Norfolk Islanders. Norfolk Island, with neighbouring Nepean Island, has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area because it supports the entire populations of white-chested and slender-billed white-eyes, Norfolk parakeets and Norfolk gerygones, as well as over 1% of the world populations of wedge-tailed shearwaters and red-tailed tropicbirds. Nearby Phillip Island is treated as a separate IBA. Norfolk Island also has a botanical garden, which is home to a sizeable variety of plant species. However, the island has only one native mammal, Gould's wattled bat (Chalinolobus gouldii). It is very rare, and may already be extinct on the island. The Norfolk swallowtail (Papilio amynthor) is a species of butterfly that is found on Norfolk Island and the Loyalty Islands. Cetaceans were historically abundant around the island as commercial hunts on the island were operating until 1956. Today, numbers of larger whales have disappeared, but even today many species such humpback whale, minke whale, sei whale, and dolphins can be observed close to shore, and scientific surveys have been conducted regularly. Southern right whales were once regular migrants to Norfolk, but were severely depleted by historical hunts, and further by recent illegal Soviet and Japanese whaling, resulting in none or very few, if remnants still live, right whales in these regions along with Lord Howe Island. Whale sharks can be encountered off the island, too. List of endemic and extirpated native birds Norfolk parakeet, Cyanoramphus cookii (endangered) Norfolk kaka, Nestor productus (extinct) Brown goshawk, Accipiter fasciatus (extirpated) Norfolk pigeon, Hemiphaga novaseelandiae spadicea (extinct, subspecies of NZ pigeon) Norfolk ground dove, Aloepecoenas norfolkensis (extinct) Norfolk snipe, Coenocorypha spp. (extinct, undescribed) Norfolk rail, Gallirallus spp. (extinct, undescribed) Norfolk robin, Petroica multicolor (endangered) Norfolk golden whistler, Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta (vulnerable, subspecies of golden whistler) Norfolk triller, Lalage leucopyga leucopyga (extinct, nominate subspecies of long-tailed triller) Norfolk Island thrush, Turdus poliocephalus poliocephalus (extinct, nominate subspecies of Island thrush) Norfolk Island starling, Aplonis fusca fusca (extinct, nominate subspecies of extinct Tasman starling) Norfolk boobook, Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata (extinct except for hybrids with nominate subspecies, subspecies of Morepork\Southern boobook) White-chested white-eye, Zosterops albogularis (critically endangered, possibly extinct) Slender-billed white-eye, Zosterops tenuirostris (near threatened) Norfolk gerygone, Gerygone modesta (near threatened) Norfolk grey fantail, Rhiphidura albiscapa pelzelni (least concern, subspecies of grey fantail) Norfolk petrel, Pterodroma spp. (extinct, undescribed) Demographics The population of Norfolk Island was 1,748 in the 2016 census, which had declined from a high of 2,601 in 2001. In 2011, residents were 78% of the census count, with the remaining 22% being visitors. 16% of the population were 14 years and under, 54% were 15 to 64 years, and 24% were 65 years and over. The figures showed an ageing population, with many people aged 20–34 having moved away from the island. Most islanders are of either European-only (mostly British) or combined European-Tahitian ancestry, being descendants of the Bounty mutineers as well as more recent arrivals from Australia and New Zealand. About half of the islanders can trace their roots back to Pitcairn Island. This common heritage has led to a limited number of surnames among the islanders – a limit constraining enough that the island's telephone directory also includes nicknames for many subscribers, such as Cane Toad, Dar Bizziebee, Lettuce Leaf, Goof, Paw Paw, Diddles, Rubber Duck, Carrots, and Tarzan. Population (as of the 2016 census) Population growth rate 0.01% Nationality Australian (22.8%) English (22.4%) Pitcairn Islander (20%) Scottish (6%) Irish (5.2%) Citizenship (as of the 2011 census) Australia 79.5% New Zealand 13.3% Fiji 2.5% Philippines 1.1% United Kingdom 1% Other 1.8% Unspecified 0.8% Religion 62% of the islanders are Christians. After the death of the first chaplain Rev G. H. Nobbs in 1884, a Methodist church was formed and in 1891 a Seventh-day Adventist congregation led by one of Nobbs' sons. Some unhappiness with G. H. Nobbs, the more organised and formal ritual of the Church of England service arising from the influence of the Melanesian Mission, decline in spirituality, the influence of visiting American whalers, literature sent by Christians overseas impressed by the Pitcairn story, and the adoption of Seventh-day Adventism by the descendants of the mutineers still on Pitcairn, all contributed to these developments. The Roman Catholic Church began work in 1957 and in the late 1990s a group left the former Methodist (then Uniting Church) and formed a charismatic fellowship. In 2011, 34% of the ordinary residents identified as Anglican, 13% as Uniting Church, 12% as Roman Catholic and 3% as Seventh-day Adventist. 9% were from other religions. 24% had no religion, and 7% did not indicate a religion. Typical ordinary congregations in any church do not exceed 30 local residents . The three older denominations have good facilities. Ministers are usually short-term visitors. Statistics: Protestant 49.6% Anglican 31.8% Uniting Church in Australia 10.6% Seventh-Day Adventist 3.2% Roman Catholic 11.7% Other 8.6% None 23.5% Unspecified 6.6% Country of birth All information below is from the 2016 Census. Australia (39.7%) Norfolk Island (22.1%) New Zealand (17.6%) Fiji (2.7%) England (2.6%) Philippines (2.3%) Language Islanders speak both English and a creole language known as Norfuk, a blend of eighteenth century English and Tahitian based on Pitkern. The Norfuk language is decreasing in popularity as more tourists come to the island and more young people leave for work and study reasons. However, efforts are being made to keep it alive via dictionaries and the renaming of some tourist attractions to their Norfuk equivalents. In 2004 an act of the Norfolk Island Assembly made it a co-official language of the island. The act is long-titled: "An Act to recognise the Norfolk Island Language (Norf'k) as an official language of Norfolk Island". The "language known as 'Norf'k'" is described as the language "that is spoken by descendants of the first free settlers of Norfolk Island who were descendants of the settlers of Pitcairn Island". The act recognises and protects use of the language but does not require it; in official use, it must be accompanied by an accurate translation into English. 32% of the total population reported speaking a language other than English in the 2011 census, and just under three-quarters of the ordinarily resident population could speak Norfuk. Languages All information below is from the 2016 Census. English (45.5%) Norfuk (40.9%) Fijian (2.0%) Tagalog (1%) Filipino (0.8%) Mandarin Chinese (0.7%) Population who speaks a non-English language at home (51.7%) Population that only speaks English at home (45.5%) Education The sole school on the island, Norfolk Island Central School, provides education from kindergarten through to Year 12. The school has a contractual arrangement referred to as a Memorandum of Understanding with the New South Wales Department of Education regarding the teaching staff of the school, the latest of which took effect in January 2015. In 2015 enrolment at the Norfolk Island Central School was students. Children on the island learn English as well as Norfuk, in efforts to revive the language. No public tertiary education infrastructure exists on the Island. The Norfolk Island Central School works in partnership with Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and local employers to support students accessing Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses. Literacy is not recorded officially, but can be assumed to be roughly at a par with Australia's literacy rate, as islanders attend a school which uses a New South Wales curriculum, before traditionally moving to the mainland for further study. Culture While there was no "indigenous" culture on the island at the time of settlement, the Tahitian influence of the Pitcairn settlers has resulted in some aspects of Polynesian culture being adapted to that of Norfolk, including the hula dance. Local cuisine also shows influences from the same region. Islanders traditionally spend a lot of time outdoors, with fishing and other aquatic pursuits being common pastimes, an aspect which has become more noticeable as the island becomes more accessible to tourism. Most island families have at least one member involved in primary production in some form. Religious observance remains an important part of life for some islanders, particularly the older generations, but actual attendance is about 8% of the resident population plus some tourists. In the 2006 census 19.9% had no religion compared with 13.2% in 1996. Businesses are closed on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and Sundays. One of the island's long-term residents was the novelist Colleen McCullough, whose works include The Thorn Birds and the Masters of Rome series as well as Morgan's Run, set, in large part, on Norfolk Island. Ruth Park, notable author of The Harp in the South and many other works of fiction, also lived on the island for several years after the death of her husband, writer D'Arcy Niland. Actress/singer Helen Reddy also moved to the island in 2002, and maintained a house there. American novelist James A. Michener, who served in the United States Navy during World War II, set one of the chapters of his episodic novel Tales of the South Pacific on Norfolk Island. The island is one of the few locations outside North America to celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. Government and politics Norfolk Island is the only non-mainland Australian territory to have had self-governance. The Norfolk Island Act 1979, passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1979, is the Act under which the island was governed until the passing of the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015 (Cth). The Australian government maintains authority on the island through an Administrator, currently Eric Hutchinson. From 1979 to 2015, a Legislative Assembly was elected by popular vote for terms of not more than three years, although legislation passed by the Australian Parliament could extend its laws to the territory at will, including the power to override any laws made by the assembly. The Assembly consisted of nine seats, with electors casting nine equal votes, of which no more than two could be given to any individual candidate. It is a method of voting called a "weighted first past the post system". Four of the members of the Assembly formed the Executive Council, which devised policy and acted as an advisory body to the Administrator. The last Chief Minister of Norfolk Island was Lisle Snell. Other ministers included: Minister for Tourism, Industry and Development; Minister for Finance; Minister for Cultural Heritage and Community Services; and Minister for Environment. All seats were held by independent candidates. Norfolk Island did not embrace party politics. In 2007, a branch of the Australian Labor Party was formed on Norfolk Island, with the aim of reforming the system of government. Since July 2016 after the loss of self-government, residents of Norfolk Island have been required to enrol in the Division of Canberra. As is the case for all Australian citizens, enrolment and voting for Norfolk Islanders is compulsory. Disagreements over the island's relationship with Australia were put in sharper relief by a 2006 review undertaken by the Australian government. Under the more radical of two models proposed in the review, the island's legislative assembly would have been reduced to the status of a local council. However, in December 2006, citing the "significant disruption" that changes to the governance would impose on the island's economy, the Australian government ended the review leaving the existing governance arrangements unaltered. In a move that apparently surprised many islanders, the Chief Minister of Norfolk Island, David Buffett, announced on 6 November 2010 that the island would voluntarily surrender its self-government status in return for a financial bailout from the federal government to cover significant debts. It was announced on 19 March 2015 that self-governance for the island would be revoked by the Commonwealth and replaced by a local council with the state of New South Wales providing services to the island. A reason given was that the island had never gained self-sufficiency and was being heavily subsidised by the Commonwealth, being given $12.5 million in 2015 alone. It meant that residents would have to start paying Australian income tax, but they would also be covered by Australian welfare schemes such as Centrelink and Medicare. The Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly decided to hold a referendum on the proposal. On 8 May 2015, voters were asked if Norfolk Islanders should freely determine their political status and their economic, social and cultural development, and to "be consulted at referendum or plebiscite on the future model of governance for Norfolk Island before such changes are acted upon by the Australian parliament". 68% out of 912 voters voted in favour. The Norfolk Island Chief Minister, Lisle Snell, said that "the referendum results blow a hole in Canberra's assertion that the reforms introduced before the Australian Parliament that propose abolishing the Legislative Assembly and Norfolk Island Parliament were overwhelmingly supported by the people of Norfolk Island". The Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015 passed the Australian Parliament on 14 May 2015 (assented on 26 May 2015), abolishing self-government on Norfolk Island and transferring Norfolk Island into a council as part of New South Wales law. From 1 July 2016 Norfolk Island legislation will be transferred to New South Wales and subject to NSW legislation. The island's official capital is Kingston; it is, however, more a centre of government than a sizeable settlement. The largest settlement is at Burnt Pine. The most important local holiday is Bounty Day, celebrated on 8 June, in memory of the arrival of the Pitcairn Islanders in 1856. Local ordinances and acts apply on the island, where most laws are based on the Australian legal system. Australian common law applies when not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law. Suffrage is universal at age eighteen. As a territory of Australia, Norfolk Island does not have diplomatic representation abroad, or within the territory, and is also not a participant in any international organisations, other than sporting organisations. The flag is three vertical bands of green, white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centred in the slightly wider white band. The Norfolk Island Regional Council was established in July 2016 to govern the territory at the local level in line with local governments in mainland Australia. Constitutional status From 1788 until 1844, Norfolk Island was a part of the Colony of New South Wales. In 1844, it was severed from New South Wales and annexed to the Colony of Van Diemen's Land. With the demise of the third settlement and in contemplation that the inhabitants of Pitcairn Island would move to Norfolk Island, the Australian Waste Lands Act 1855 (Imp), gave the Queen in Council the power to "separate Norfolk Island from the Colony of Van Diemen's Land and to make such provision for the government of Norfolk Island as might seem expedient". In 1856, the Queen in Council ordered that Norfolk Island be a distinct and separate settlement, appointing the Governor of New South Wales to also be the Governor of Norfolk Island with "full power and authority to make laws for the order, peace, and good government" of the island. Under these arrangements Norfolk Island was effectively self-governing, Although Norfolk Island was a colony acquired by settlement, it was never within the British Settlements Act. The constitutional status of Norfolk Island was revisited in 1894 when the British Government appointed an inquiry into the administration of justice on the island. By this time, there had been steps in Australia towards federation including the 1891 constitutional convention. There was a correspondence between the Governor of Norfolk Island, the British colonial office and the Governor of New Zealand as to how the island should be governed and by whom. Even within NSW, it was felt that "the laws and system of government in the Colony of New South Wales would not prove suitable to the Island Community". In 1896, the Governor of New Zealand wrote "I am advised that, as far as my Ministers can ascertain, if any change is to take place in the government of Norfolk Island, the Islanders, while protesting against any change, would prefer to come under the control of New Zealand rather than that of New South Wales". The British government decided not to annex Norfolk Island to the Colony of NSW and instead that the affairs of Norfolk Island would be administered by the Governor of NSW in that capacity rather than having a separate office as Governor of Norfolk Island. The order-in-council contemplated the future annexation of Norfolk Island to the Colony of NSW or to any federal body of which NSW form part. Norfolk Island was not a part of NSW and residents of Norfolk Island were not entitled to have their names placed on the NSW electoral roll. Norfolk Island was accepted as a territory of Australia, separate from any state, by the Norfolk Island Act 1913 (Cth), passed under the territories power, and made effective in 1914. Norfolk Island was given a limited form of self-government by the Norfolk Island Act 1979 (Cth). There have been four challenges to the constitutional validity of the Australian Government's authority to administer Norfolk Island: In 1939, Samuel Hadley argued that the only valid laws in Norfolk Island were those made under the 1856 Order in Council and that all subsequent laws were invalid; his case was rejected by the High Court. In 1965, the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island rejected Henry Newbery's appeal against conviction for failing to apply to be enrolled to vote in Norfolk Island Council elections. He had argued that in 1857 Norfolk Island had a constitution and a legislature such that the Crown could not abolish the legislature nor place Norfolk Island under the authority of Australia. In the Supreme Court, Eggleston J considered the constitutional history of Norfolk Island and concluded that the Australian Waste Lands Act 1855 (Imp) authorised any form of government, representative or non-representative, and that this included placing Norfolk Island under the authority of Australia. As a result of the Australian Government's decision in 1972 to prevent Norfolk Island from being used as a tax haven, Berwick Ltd claimed to be resident in Norfolk Island but was convicted of failing to lodge a tax return. One of the arguments for Berwick Ltd was that Norfolk Island, as an external territory, was not part of Australia in the constitutional sense. In 1976, the High Court unanimously rejected this argument, approving the Newbery decision and holding that Norfolk Island was a part of Australia. In 2004 the Australian Government amended the Norfolk Island Act 1979 (Cth) to remove the right for non-Australian citizens to enrol and stand for election to the Legislative Assembly of Norfolk Island. The validity of the amendments was challenged in the High Court, arguing that as an external territory Norfolk Island was not part of Australia in the constitutional sense and that disenfranchising residents of Norfolk Island who were not Australian citizens was inconsistent with self-government. In 2007 the High Court of Australia rejected these arguments, again approving the Newbery decision and holding that Norfolk Island was part of Australia and that self-government did not require residency rather than citizenship to determine the entitlement to vote. The Government of Australia thus holds that: Norfolk Island has been an integral part of the Commonwealth of Australia since 1914 when it was accepted as an Australian territory under section 122 of the Constitution. The Island has no international status independent of Australia. Much of the self-government under the 1979 legislation was repealed with effect from 2016. The reforms included, to the | and found that 37% preferred free association with New Zealand, 35% preferred free association with Australia, 25% preferred full independence, and 3% preferred full integration with Australia. Geography The Territory of Norfolk Island is located in the South Pacific Ocean, east of the Australian mainland. Norfolk Island itself is the main island of the island group that the territory encompasses and is located at . It has an area of , with no large-scale internal bodies of water and of coastline. Norfolk was formed from several volcanic eruptions between 3.1 and 2.3 million years ago. The island's highest point is Mount Bates reaching above sea level, located in the northwest quadrant of the island. The majority of the terrain is suitable for farming and other agricultural uses. Phillip Island, the second largest island of the territory, is located at , south of the main island. The coastline of Norfolk Island consists, to varying degrees, of cliff faces. A downward slope exists towards Slaughter Bay and Emily Bay, the site of the original colonial settlement of Kingston. There are no safe harbour facilities on Norfolk Island, with loading jetties existing at Kingston and Cascade Bay. All goods not domestically produced are brought in by ship, usually to Cascade Bay. Emily Bay, protected from the Pacific Ocean by a small coral reef, is the only safe area for recreational swimming, although surfing waves can be found at Anson and Ball Bays. The climate is subtropical and mild, with little seasonal differentiation. The island is the eroded remnant of a basaltic volcano active around 2.3 to 3 million years ago, with inland areas now consisting mainly of rolling plains. It forms the highest point on the Norfolk Ridge, part of the submerged continent Zealandia. The area surrounding Mount Bates is preserved as the Norfolk Island National Park. The park, covering around 10% of the land of the island, contains remnants of the forests which originally covered the island, including stands of subtropical rainforest. The park also includes the two smaller islands to the south of Norfolk Island, Nepean Island and Phillip Island. The vegetation of Phillip Island was devastated due to the introduction during the penal era of pest animals such as pigs and rabbits, giving it a red-brown colour as viewed from Norfolk; however, pest control and remediation work by park staff has recently brought some improvement to the Phillip Island environment. The major settlement on Norfolk Island is Burnt Pine, located predominantly along Taylors Road, where the shopping centre, post office, bottle shop, telephone exchange and community hall are located. The settlement also exists over much of the island, consisting largely of widely separated homesteads. Government House, the official residence of the Administrator, is located on Quality Row in what was the penal settlement of Kingston. Other government buildings, including the court, Legislative Assembly and Administration, are also located there. Kingston's role is largely a ceremonial one, however, with most of the economic impetus coming from Burnt Pine. Climate Norfolk Island has a mid-latitude and marine subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa). The temperature never falls below or rises above . The absolute maximum recorded temperature is , while the absolute minimum is . Average annual precipitation is around , with most rain falling from April to August. Other months receive significant amounts of precipitation as well. Environment Norfolk Island is part of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia region "Pacific Subtropical Islands" (PSI), and forms subregion PSI02, with an area of . The country is home to the Norfolk Island subtropical forests terrestrial ecoregion. Flora Norfolk Island has 174 native plants; 51 of them are endemic. At least 18 of the endemic species are rare or threatened. The Norfolk Island palm (Rhopalostylis baueri) and the smooth tree-fern (Cyathea brownii), the tallest tree-fern in the world, are common in the Norfolk Island National Park but rare elsewhere on the island. Before European colonisation, most of Norfolk Island was covered with subtropical rain forest, the canopy of which was made of Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island pine) in exposed areas, and the palm Rhopalostylis baueri and tree ferns Cyathea brownii and C. australis in moister protected areas. The understory was thick with lianas and ferns covering the forest floor. Only one small tract, , of rainforest remains, which was declared as the Norfolk Island National Park in 1986. This forest has been infested with several introduced plants. The cliffs and steep slopes of Mount Pitt supported a community of shrubs, herbaceous plants, and climbers. A few tracts of cliff top and seashore vegetation have been preserved. The rest of the island has been cleared for pasture and housing. Grazing and introduced weeds currently threaten the native flora, displacing it in some areas. In fact, there are more weed species than native species on Norfolk Island. Fauna As a relatively small and isolated oceanic island, Norfolk has few land birds but a high degree of endemicity among them. Norfolk Island is home to a radiation of about 40 endemic snail species. Many of the endemic bird species and subspecies have become extinct as a result of massive clearance of the island's native vegetation of subtropical rainforest for agriculture, hunting and persecution as agricultural pests. The birds have also suffered from the introduction of mammals such as rats, cats, pigs and goats, as well as from introduced competitors such as common blackbirds and crimson rosellas. Although the island is politically part of Australia, many of Norfolk Island's native birds show affinities to those of neighbouring New Zealand, such as the Norfolk kaka, Norfolk pigeon, and Norfolk boobook. Extinctions include that of the endemic Norfolk kaka, Norfolk ground dove and Norfolk pigeon, while of the endemic subspecies the starling, triller, thrush and boobook owl are extinct, although the latter's genes persist in a hybrid population descended from the last female. Other endemic birds are the white-chested white-eye, which may be extinct, the Norfolk parakeet, the Norfolk gerygone, the slender-billed white-eye and endemic subspecies of the Pacific robin and golden whistler. Subfossil bones indicate that a species of Coenocorypha snipe was also found on the island and is now extinct, but the taxonomic relationships of this are unclear and have not been scientifically described yet. The Norfolk Island Group Nepean Island is also home to breeding seabirds. The providence petrel was hunted to local extinction by the beginning of the 19th century but has shown signs of returning to breed on Phillip Island. Other seabirds breeding there include the white-necked petrel, Kermadec petrel, wedge-tailed shearwater, Australasian gannet, red-tailed tropicbird and grey ternlet. The sooty tern (known locally as the whale bird) has traditionally been subject to seasonal egg harvesting by Norfolk Islanders. Norfolk Island, with neighbouring Nepean Island, has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area because it supports the entire populations of white-chested and slender-billed white-eyes, Norfolk parakeets and Norfolk gerygones, as well as over 1% of the world populations of wedge-tailed shearwaters and red-tailed tropicbirds. Nearby Phillip Island is treated as a separate IBA. Norfolk Island also has a botanical garden, which is home to a sizeable variety of plant species. However, the island has only one native mammal, Gould's wattled bat (Chalinolobus gouldii). It is very rare, and may already be extinct on the island. The Norfolk swallowtail (Papilio amynthor) is a species of butterfly that is found on Norfolk Island and the Loyalty Islands. Cetaceans were historically abundant around the island as commercial hunts on the island were operating until 1956. Today, numbers of larger whales have disappeared, but even today many species such humpback whale, minke whale, sei whale, and dolphins can be observed close to shore, and scientific surveys have been conducted regularly. Southern right whales were once regular migrants to Norfolk, but were severely depleted by historical hunts, and further by recent illegal Soviet and Japanese whaling, resulting in none or very few, if remnants still live, right whales in these regions along with Lord Howe Island. Whale sharks can be encountered off the island, too. List of endemic and extirpated native birds Norfolk parakeet, Cyanoramphus cookii (endangered) Norfolk kaka, Nestor productus (extinct) Brown goshawk, Accipiter fasciatus (extirpated) Norfolk pigeon, Hemiphaga novaseelandiae spadicea (extinct, subspecies of NZ pigeon) Norfolk ground dove, Aloepecoenas norfolkensis (extinct) Norfolk snipe, Coenocorypha spp. (extinct, undescribed) Norfolk rail, Gallirallus spp. (extinct, undescribed) Norfolk robin, Petroica multicolor (endangered) Norfolk golden whistler, Pachycephala pectoralis xanthoprocta (vulnerable, subspecies of golden whistler) Norfolk triller, Lalage leucopyga leucopyga (extinct, nominate subspecies of long-tailed triller) Norfolk Island thrush, Turdus poliocephalus poliocephalus (extinct, nominate subspecies of Island thrush) Norfolk Island starling, Aplonis fusca fusca (extinct, nominate subspecies of extinct Tasman starling) Norfolk boobook, Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata (extinct except for hybrids with nominate subspecies, subspecies of Morepork\Southern boobook) White-chested white-eye, Zosterops albogularis (critically endangered, possibly extinct) Slender-billed white-eye, Zosterops tenuirostris (near threatened) Norfolk gerygone, Gerygone modesta (near threatened) Norfolk grey fantail, Rhiphidura albiscapa pelzelni (least concern, subspecies of grey fantail) Norfolk petrel, Pterodroma spp. (extinct, undescribed) Demographics The population of Norfolk Island was 1,748 in the 2016 census, which had declined from a high of 2,601 in 2001. In 2011, residents were 78% of the census count, with the remaining 22% being visitors. 16% of the population were 14 years and under, 54% were 15 to 64 years, and 24% were 65 years and over. The figures showed an ageing population, with many people aged 20–34 having moved away from the island. Most islanders are of either European-only (mostly British) or combined European-Tahitian ancestry, being descendants of the Bounty mutineers as well as more recent arrivals from Australia and New Zealand. About half of the islanders can trace their roots back to Pitcairn Island. This common heritage has led to a limited number of surnames among the islanders – a limit constraining enough that the island's telephone directory also includes nicknames for many subscribers, such as Cane Toad, Dar Bizziebee, Lettuce Leaf, Goof, Paw Paw, Diddles, Rubber Duck, Carrots, and Tarzan. Population (as of the 2016 census) Population growth rate 0.01% Nationality Australian (22.8%) English (22.4%) Pitcairn Islander (20%) Scottish (6%) Irish (5.2%) Citizenship (as of the 2011 census) Australia 79.5% New Zealand 13.3% Fiji 2.5% Philippines 1.1% United Kingdom 1% Other 1.8% Unspecified 0.8% Religion 62% of the islanders are Christians. After the death of the first chaplain Rev G. H. Nobbs in 1884, a Methodist church was formed and in 1891 a Seventh-day Adventist congregation led by one of Nobbs' sons. Some unhappiness with G. H. Nobbs, the more organised and formal ritual of the Church of England service arising from the influence of the Melanesian Mission, decline in spirituality, the influence of visiting American whalers, literature sent by Christians overseas impressed by the Pitcairn story, and the adoption of Seventh-day Adventism by the descendants of the mutineers still on Pitcairn, all contributed to these developments. The Roman Catholic Church began work in 1957 and in the late 1990s a group left the former Methodist (then Uniting Church) and formed a charismatic fellowship. In 2011, 34% of the ordinary residents identified as Anglican, 13% as Uniting Church, 12% as Roman Catholic and 3% as Seventh-day Adventist. 9% were from other religions. 24% had no religion, and 7% did not indicate a religion. Typical ordinary congregations in any church do not exceed 30 local residents . The three older denominations have good facilities. Ministers are usually short-term visitors. Statistics: Protestant 49.6% Anglican 31.8% Uniting Church in Australia 10.6% Seventh-Day Adventist 3.2% Roman Catholic 11.7% Other 8.6% None 23.5% Unspecified 6.6% Country of birth All information below is from the 2016 Census. Australia (39.7%) Norfolk Island (22.1%) New Zealand (17.6%) Fiji (2.7%) England (2.6%) Philippines (2.3%) Language Islanders speak both English and a creole language known as Norfuk, a blend of eighteenth century English and Tahitian based on Pitkern. The Norfuk language is decreasing in popularity as more tourists come to the island and more young people leave for work and study reasons. However, efforts are being made to keep it alive via dictionaries and the renaming of some tourist attractions to their Norfuk equivalents. In 2004 an act of the Norfolk Island Assembly made it a co-official language of the island. The act is long-titled: "An Act to recognise the Norfolk Island Language (Norf'k) as an official language of Norfolk Island". The "language known as 'Norf'k'" is described as the language "that is spoken by descendants of the first free settlers of Norfolk Island who were descendants of the settlers of Pitcairn Island". The act recognises and protects use of the language but does not require it; in official use, it must be accompanied by an accurate translation into English. 32% of the total population reported speaking a language other than English in the 2011 census, and just under three-quarters of the ordinarily resident population could speak Norfuk. Languages All information below is from the 2016 Census. English (45.5%) Norfuk (40.9%) Fijian (2.0%) Tagalog (1%) Filipino (0.8%) Mandarin Chinese (0.7%) Population who speaks a non-English language at home (51.7%) Population that only speaks English at home (45.5%) Education The sole school on the island, Norfolk Island Central School, provides education from kindergarten through to Year 12. The school has a contractual arrangement referred to as a Memorandum of Understanding with the New South Wales Department of Education regarding the teaching staff of the school, the latest of which took effect in January 2015. In 2015 enrolment at the Norfolk Island Central School was students. Children on the island learn English as well as Norfuk, in efforts to revive the language. No public tertiary education infrastructure exists on the Island. The Norfolk Island Central School works in partnership with Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and local employers to support students accessing Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses. Literacy is not recorded officially, but can be assumed to be roughly at a par with Australia's literacy rate, as islanders attend a school which uses a New South Wales curriculum, before traditionally moving to the mainland for further study. Culture While there was no "indigenous" culture on the island at the time of settlement, the Tahitian influence of the Pitcairn settlers has resulted in some aspects of Polynesian culture being adapted to that of Norfolk, including the hula dance. Local cuisine also shows influences from the same region. Islanders traditionally spend a lot of time outdoors, with fishing and other aquatic pursuits being common pastimes, an aspect which has become more noticeable as the island becomes more accessible to tourism. Most island families have at least one member involved in primary production in some form. Religious observance remains an important part of life for some islanders, particularly the older generations, but actual attendance is about 8% of the resident population plus some tourists. In the 2006 census 19.9% had no religion compared with 13.2% in 1996. Businesses are closed on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and Sundays. One of the island's long-term residents was the novelist Colleen McCullough, whose works include The Thorn Birds and the Masters of Rome series as well as Morgan's Run, set, in large part, on Norfolk Island. Ruth Park, notable author of The Harp in the South and many other works of fiction, also lived on the island for several years after the death of her husband, writer D'Arcy Niland. Actress/singer Helen Reddy also moved to the island in 2002, and maintained a house there. American novelist James A. Michener, who served in the United States Navy during World War II, set one of the chapters of his episodic novel Tales of the South Pacific on Norfolk Island. The island is one of the few locations outside North America to celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. Government and politics Norfolk Island is the only non-mainland Australian territory to have had self-governance. The Norfolk Island Act 1979, passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1979, is the Act under which the island was governed until the passing of the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015 (Cth). The Australian government maintains authority on the island through an Administrator, currently Eric Hutchinson. From 1979 to 2015, a Legislative Assembly was elected by popular vote for terms of not more than three years, although legislation passed by the Australian Parliament could extend its laws to the territory at will, including the power to override any laws made by the assembly. The Assembly consisted of nine seats, with electors casting nine equal votes, of which no more than two could be given to any individual candidate. It is a method of voting called a "weighted first past the post system". Four of the members of the Assembly formed the Executive Council, which devised policy and acted as an advisory body to the Administrator. The last Chief Minister of Norfolk Island was Lisle Snell. Other ministers included: Minister for Tourism, Industry and Development; Minister for Finance; Minister for Cultural Heritage and Community Services; and Minister for Environment. All seats were held by independent candidates. Norfolk Island did not embrace party politics. In 2007, a branch of the Australian Labor Party was formed on Norfolk Island, with the aim of reforming the system of government. Since July 2016 after the loss of self-government, residents of Norfolk Island have been required to enrol in the Division of Canberra. As is the case for all Australian citizens, enrolment and voting for Norfolk Islanders is compulsory. Disagreements over the island's relationship with Australia were put in sharper relief by a 2006 review undertaken by the Australian government. Under the more radical of two models proposed in the review, the island's legislative assembly would have been reduced to the status of a local council. However, in December 2006, citing the "significant disruption" that changes to the governance would impose on the island's economy, the Australian government ended the review leaving the existing governance arrangements unaltered. In a move that apparently surprised many islanders, the Chief Minister of Norfolk Island, David Buffett, announced on 6 November 2010 that the island would voluntarily surrender its self-government status in return for a financial bailout from the federal government to cover significant debts. It was announced on 19 March 2015 that self-governance for the island would be revoked by the Commonwealth and replaced by a local council with the state of New South Wales providing services to the island. A reason given was that the island had never gained self-sufficiency and was being heavily subsidised by the Commonwealth, being given $12.5 million in 2015 alone. It meant that residents would have to start paying Australian income tax, but they would also be covered by Australian welfare schemes such as Centrelink and Medicare. The Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly decided to hold a referendum on the proposal. On 8 May 2015, voters were asked if Norfolk Islanders should freely determine their political status and their economic, social and cultural development, and to "be consulted at referendum or plebiscite on the future model of governance for Norfolk Island before such changes are acted upon by the Australian parliament". 68% out of 912 voters voted in favour. The Norfolk Island Chief Minister, Lisle Snell, said that "the referendum results blow a hole in Canberra's assertion that the reforms introduced before the Australian Parliament that propose abolishing the Legislative Assembly and Norfolk Island Parliament were overwhelmingly supported by the people of Norfolk Island". The Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Act 2015 passed the Australian Parliament on 14 May 2015 (assented on 26 May 2015), abolishing self-government on Norfolk Island and transferring Norfolk Island into a council as part of New South Wales law. From 1 July 2016 Norfolk Island legislation will be transferred to New South Wales and subject to NSW legislation. The island's official capital is Kingston; it is, however, more a centre of government than a sizeable settlement. The largest settlement is at Burnt Pine. The most important local holiday is Bounty Day, celebrated on 8 June, in memory of the arrival of the Pitcairn Islanders in 1856. Local ordinances and acts apply on the island, where most laws are based on the Australian legal system. Australian common law applies when not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law. Suffrage is universal at age eighteen. As a territory of Australia, Norfolk Island does not have diplomatic representation abroad, or within the territory, and is also not a participant in any international organisations, other than sporting organisations. The flag is three vertical bands of green, white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centred in the slightly wider white band. The Norfolk Island Regional Council was established in July 2016 to govern the territory at the local level in line with local governments in mainland Australia. Constitutional status From 1788 until 1844, Norfolk Island was a part of the Colony of New South Wales. In 1844, it was severed from New South Wales and annexed to the Colony of Van Diemen's Land. With the demise of the third settlement and in contemplation that the inhabitants of Pitcairn Island would move to Norfolk Island, the Australian Waste Lands Act 1855 (Imp), gave the Queen in Council the power to "separate Norfolk Island from the Colony of Van Diemen's Land and to make such provision for the government of Norfolk Island as might seem expedient". In 1856, the Queen in Council ordered that Norfolk Island be a distinct and separate settlement, appointing the Governor of New South Wales to also be the Governor of Norfolk Island with "full power and authority to make laws for the order, peace, and good government" of the island. Under these arrangements Norfolk Island was effectively self-governing, Although Norfolk Island was a colony acquired by settlement, it was never within the British Settlements Act. The constitutional status of Norfolk Island was revisited in 1894 when the British Government appointed an inquiry into the administration of justice on the island. By this time, there had been steps in Australia towards federation including the 1891 constitutional convention. There was a correspondence between the Governor of Norfolk Island, the British colonial office and the Governor of New Zealand as to how the island should be governed and by whom. Even within NSW, it was felt that "the laws and system of government in the Colony of New South Wales would not prove suitable to the Island Community". In 1896, the Governor of New Zealand wrote "I am advised that, as far as my Ministers can ascertain, if any change is to take place in the government of Norfolk Island, the Islanders, while protesting against any change, would prefer to come under the control of New Zealand rather than that of New South Wales". The British government decided not to annex Norfolk Island to the Colony of NSW and instead that the affairs of Norfolk Island would be administered by the Governor of NSW in that capacity rather than having a separate office as Governor of Norfolk Island. The order-in-council contemplated the future annexation of Norfolk Island to the Colony of NSW or to any federal body of which NSW form part. Norfolk Island was not a part of NSW and residents of Norfolk Island were not entitled to have their names placed on the NSW electoral roll. Norfolk Island was accepted as a territory of Australia, separate from any state, by the Norfolk Island Act 1913 (Cth), passed under the territories power, and made effective in 1914. Norfolk Island was given a limited form of self-government by the Norfolk Island Act 1979 (Cth). There have been four challenges to the constitutional validity of the Australian Government's authority to administer Norfolk Island: In 1939, Samuel Hadley argued that the only valid laws in Norfolk Island were those made under the 1856 Order in Council and that all subsequent laws were invalid; his case was rejected by the High Court. In 1965, the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island rejected Henry Newbery's appeal against conviction for failing to apply to be enrolled to vote in Norfolk Island Council elections. He had argued that in 1857 Norfolk Island had a constitution and a legislature such that the Crown could not abolish the legislature nor place Norfolk Island under the authority of Australia. In the Supreme Court, Eggleston J considered the constitutional history of Norfolk Island and concluded that the Australian Waste Lands Act 1855 (Imp) authorised any form of government, representative or non-representative, and that this included placing Norfolk Island under the authority of Australia. As a result of the Australian Government's decision in 1972 to prevent Norfolk Island from being used as a tax haven, Berwick Ltd claimed to be resident in Norfolk Island but was convicted of failing to lodge a tax return. One of the arguments for Berwick Ltd was that Norfolk Island, as an external territory, was not part of Australia in the constitutional sense. In 1976, the High Court unanimously rejected this argument, approving the Newbery decision and holding that Norfolk Island was a part of Australia. In 2004 the Australian Government amended the Norfolk Island Act 1979 (Cth) to remove the right for non-Australian citizens to enrol and stand for election to the Legislative Assembly of Norfolk Island. The validity of the amendments was challenged in the High Court, arguing that as an external territory Norfolk Island was not part of Australia in the constitutional sense and that disenfranchising residents of Norfolk Island who were not Australian citizens was inconsistent with self-government. In 2007 the High Court of Australia rejected these arguments, again approving the Newbery decision and holding that Norfolk Island was part of Australia and that self-government did not require residency rather than citizenship to determine the entitlement to vote. The Government of Australia thus holds that: Norfolk Island has been an integral part of the Commonwealth of Australia since 1914 when it was accepted as an Australian territory under section 122 of the Constitution. The Island has no international status independent of Australia. Much of the self-government under the 1979 legislation was repealed with effect from 2016. The reforms included, to the chagrin of some of the locals of Norfolk Island, a repeal of the preambular sections of the Act which originally were 3–4 pages recognising the particular circumstances in the history of Norfolk Island. Consistent with the Australian position, the United Nations Decolonization Committee does not include Norfolk Island on its list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. This legal position is disputed by some residents on the island. Some islanders claim that Norfolk Island was actually granted independence at the time Queen Victoria granted permission to Pitcairn Islanders to re-settle on the island. Following reforms to the status of Norfolk Island, there were mass protests by the local population. In 2015 it was reported that Norfolk Island was taking its argument for self-governance to the United Nations. A campaign to preserve the island's autonomy was formed, named Norfolk's Choice. A formal petition was lodged with the United Nations by Geoffrey Robertson on behalf of the local population on 25 April 2016. Various suggestions for retaining the island's self-government have been proposed. In 2006, a UK MP, Andrew Rosindell, raised the possibility of the island becoming a self-governing British Overseas Territory. In 2013, the island's last chief minister, Lisle Snell, suggested independence, to be supported by income from fishing, offshore banking and foreign aid. The laws of Norfolk Island were in a transitional state, under the Norfolk Island Applied Laws Ordinance 2016 (Cth), from 2016 until 2018. Laws of New South Wales as applying in Norfolk Island were suspended (with five major exceptions, which the 2016 Ordinance itself amended) until the end of June |
12 August 1788: “There is no Topick so common in the Mouths of the Russian Ministers, as to insist on the Facility with which the Empress, when Mistress of the Baltic, either by Conquest, Influence, or Alliance with the other two Northern Powers, could keep England in a State of Dependence for its Baltic Commerce and Naval Stores”. On 6 December 1786, an Order in Council was issued, designating "the Eastern Coast of New South Wales, or some one or other of the Islands adjacent" as the destination for transported convicts, as required by the Transportation Act of 1784 (24 Geo.III, c.56) that authorised the sending of convicted felons to any place appointed by the King in Council. Norfolk Island was thereby brought officially within the bounds of the projected colony. An article in The Daily Universal Register (the forerunner of The Times) of 23 December 1786 revealed the plan for a dual colonisation of Norfolk Island and Botany Bay: “The ships for Botany Bay are not to leave all the convicts there; some of them are to be taken to Norfolk Island, which is about eight hundred miles East of Botany Bay, and about four hundred miles short of New Zealand”. The advantage of Britain's new colony in providing a non-Russian source of flax and hemp for naval supplies was referred to in an article in Lloyd’s Evening Post of 5 October 1787 which urged: “It is undoubtedly the interest of Great-Britain to remain neutral in the present contest between the Russians and the Turks” and observed, “Should England cease to render her services to the Empress of Russia, in a war against the Turks, there can be little of nothing to fear from her ill-will. England will speedily be enabled to draw from her colony of New South Wales, the staple of Russia, hemp and flax.” First penal settlement Before the First Fleet sailed to found a convict settlement in New South Wales, Governor Arthur Phillip's final instructions, received less than three weeks before sailing, included the requirement to colonise Norfolk Island to prevent it falling into the hands of France, whose naval leaders were also showing interest in the Pacific. Phillip's instructions given to him in April 1787 included an injunction to send a party to secure Norfolk Island "as soon as Circumstances may admit of it…. to prevent its being occupied by the Subjects of any other European Power". This could only have been a reference to the expedition then in the Pacific commanded by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse. The Daily Universal Register of 11 November 1786 had stated: "the Botany Bay scheme is laid aside, as there is a strong presumption that a squadron from Brest are now, or soon will be, in possession of the very spot we meant to occupy in New Holland". This may have been a reference to a report from the British Ambassador in Paris, who had believed that when La Pérouse's expedition set out from Brest in August 1785 it had as one of its objectives the establishment of a settlement in New Zealand to forestall the British. La Pérouse did attempt to visit Norfolk Island, but only to investigate, not to take possession. He had instructions to investigate any colonies the British may have established and learned of the intention to settle Botany Bay and Norfolk Island from despatches sent to him from Paris through St. Petersburg and by land across Siberia to Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, where he received them on 26 September 1787, just four days before his departure from that port. His ships, the Boussole and Astrolabe, anchored off the northern side of the island on 13 January 1788, but at the time high seas were running that made it too dangerous for the two ships’ boats that were put out to attempt a landing: “It was obvious that I would have had to wait maybe for a very long time for a moment suitable for a landing and a visit to this island was not worth this sacrifice”, he recorded in his journal. Having noted that the island was still uninhabited, he was presumably the less inclined to risk a landing when there was no British settlement there to report on. When the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson in January 1788, Phillip ordered Lieutenant Philip Gidley King to lead a party of 15 convicts and seven free men, including surgeon Thomas Jamison (the future Principal Surgeon of New South Wales), to take control of the island and prepare for its commercial development. They arrived on 6 March 1788. During the first year of the settlement, which was also called "Sydney" like its parent, more convicts and soldiers were sent to the island from New South Wales. A second village was started at Ball Bay, named after the captain of HMS Supply, Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball. On 8 January 1789, the first child was born, Norfolk King, the son of Philip Gidley King and a convict, Ann Inett. (Norfolk King went on to become the first British Naval officer born in Australia, and was a Lieutenant, commanding the schooner Ballahoo when an American privateer captured her.) A "Letter from an Officer of Marines at New South Wales, 16 November 1788", published in the London newspaper, The World, 15 May 1789, reported the glowing description of the island and its prospects by Philip Gidley King, but also drew attention to the fatal defect of the lack of a safe port: “The said Island lies near Port Jackson, and is nearly as large as the Isle of Wight. Lieutenant King, who was sent with a detachment of marines and some convicts, to settle there, gives the most flattering portrayal of it. The island is fully wooded. Its timber is in the opinion of everyone the most beautiful and finest in the world...they are most suitable for masts, yards, spars and such. The New Zealand flax-plant grows there in abundance. European grains and seeds also thrive wonderfully well on Norfolk Island. It only lacks a good port and suitable landing places, without which the island is of no use, but with them it would be of the greatest importance for Great Britain. How far these deficiencies can be improved by art and the hand of man, time must decide.” An idealised vision of the new British settlement was given in the novel by Therese Forster, Abentheuer auf einer Reise nach Neu-Holland [Adventures on a Voyage to New Holland], published in the German women's magazine, Flora for 1793 and 1794: We went towards the centre of this small island where at the foot of a round hill a crystal-clear river rushes forth, dividing up further on into several arms. Towards North and West the hill is covered with the most beautiful ploughed fields all the way down to the sea. The sight of these great flax fields is one of the loveliest I ever beheld. The slender stalks, of the most beautiful green and reaching far above a man's head, bent in the gentle breeze that blew from the sea. Their red blossoms, shining like rubies, danced in the green waves. The top of the hill and the whole of the south and east sides are covered with enormous pines whose dark green is enhanced by a pleasant foreground of cabbage palms and banana trees, and I also observed a low bush among them the fruit of which resembles our red currants but is much larger and hangs in purple and red clusters that help to give the whole a gay appearance. The dwellings of the colonists are strewn along the fringes of the forest and from my post I could see several of them. Simple houses surrounded by barns and stalls and the fields all enclosed with hedges give the region a youthful appearance the like of which is rarely found in Europe. And plants here bloom more luxuriantly and more perfectly with a natural vigour that knows no exhaustion and fears no poverty, a vigour that has disappeared from our continent. It was soon found that the flax was difficult to prepare for manufacturing and no one had the necessary skills. An attempt was made to bring two Māori men to teach the skills of dressing and weaving flax, but this failed when it was discovered that weaving was considered women's work and | from the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand or from the North Island of New Zealand. They arrived in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and survived for several generations before disappearing. Their main village site has been excavated at Emily Bay, and they also left behind stone tools, the Polynesian rat, and banana trees as evidence of their sojourn. The harakeke (Phormium tenax), or New Zealand flax plant, was brought to Norfolk Island either from New Zealand directly or from Raoul Island (Sunday Island) by these Polynesian settlers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Atholl |last2=White |first2=Peter |year=2001 |title=Prehistoric 'Bold text''''Bold text'''''''</ref> The so-called flax is, in fact, no relation of the European flax but is related to the daylily and other genera within the sub-family Hemerocallidaceae. The final fate of the early settlers remains a mystery. The first European known to have sighted the island was Captain James Cook, in 1774, on his second voyage to the South Pacific on HMS Resolution. He named it after the Duchess of Norfolk (c. 1712 – 1773). The Duchess was dead at the time of the island's sighting by Cook, but Cook had set out from England in 1772 and could not have known of her May 1773 death. Cook went ashore on Tuesday 11 October 1774, and is said to have been impressed with the tall straight trees and New Zealand flax plants, which, although not related to the Northern Hemisphere flax plants after which they are named, produce fibres of economic importance. He took samples back to Britain and reported on their potential uses for the Royal Navy. Andrew Kippis as the biographer of this voyage puts it as follows: The cabbage palm referred to is a cabbage tree species Cordyline obtecta, also found in New Zealand, the edible heart of which resembles a small cabbage. At the time, Britain was heavily dependent on flax (Linum usitatissimum) (for sails) and hemp (Cannabis sp.) (for ropes) from the shores of the Baltic Sea ports. Any threat to their supply endangered Britain's sea power. The UK also relied on timbers from New England for mainmasts, and these were not supplied after the American War of Independence. The alternative source of Norfolk Island for these, (or in the case of flax and hemp, similar) supplies is argued by some historians, notably Geoffrey Blainey in Tyranny of Distance, as being a major reason for the founding of the convict settlement of New South Wales by the First Fleet in 1788. James Cook said that, "except for New Zealand, in no other island in the South Sea was wood and mast-timber so ready to hand". Sir John Call, member of Parliament and the Royal Society, and former chief engineer of the East India Company, stated the advantages of Norfolk Island in a proposal for colonisation he put to the Home Office in August 1784: "This Island has an Advantage not common to New Caledonia, New Holland and New Zealand by not being inhabited, so that no Injury can be done by possessing it to the rest of Mankind…there seems to be nothing wanting but Inhabitants and Cultivation to make it a delicious Residence. The Climate, Soil, and Sea provide everything that can be expected from them. The Timber, Shrubs, Vegetables and Fish already found there need no Embellishment to pronounce them excellent samples; but the most invaluable of all is the Flax-plant, which grows more luxuriant than in New Zealand." George Forster, who had been on Cook's second voyage to the Pacific and had been with him when he landed on Norfolk Island, was at the time professor of natural history at the University of Vilna (or Vilnius) in Polish Lithuania: Forster discussed the proposed Botany Bay colony in an article written in November 1786, "Neuholland, und die brittische Colonie in Botany Bay". Though unaware of the British intention to settle Norfolk Island, which was not announced until 5 December 1786, Forster referred to "the nearness of New Zealand; the excellent flax plant (Phormium) that grows so abundantly there; its incomparable shipbuilding timber", as among the advantages of the new colony. The proposal written by James Matra under the supervision of Sir Joseph Banks for establishing a settlement in New South Wales, stated that Botany Bay was: “no further than a fortnight from New Zealand, which is covered with timber even to the water's edge. The trees are so big and tall that a single tree is enough to make a mast of a first rate man of war. New Zealand produces in addition flax, which is an object equally of utility and curiosity. Any quantity of it might be raised in the colony, as this plant grows naturally in New Zealand. It can be made to serve the various purposes of cotton, hemp and linen, and is easier manufactured than any of them. In naval affairs, it could not fail of being of the utmost consequence; a cable of ten inches (250 mm) being supposed to be of equal strength and durability to one of European hemp of eighteen inches. In 1786 the British government included Norfolk Island as an auxiliary settlement, as proposed by John Call, in its plan for colonisation of New South Wales. The flax and ship timber of New Zealand were attractive, but these prospective advantages were balanced by the obvious impossibility of forming a settlement there in the face of undoubted opposition from the native Maori. There was no native population to oppose a settlement on Norfolk Island, which also possessed those desirable natural resources, but the island was too small of itself to sustain a colony. Hence the ultimate decision for a dual colonisation along the lines proposed by Call. The decision to settle Norfolk Island was taken under the impetus of the shock Britain had just received from Empress Catherine II of Russia. Practically all the hemp and flax required by the Royal Navy for cordage and sailcloth was imported from the Russian dominions through the ports of St. Petersburg (Kronstadt) and Riga. Comptroller of the Navy Sir Charles Middleton explained to Prime Minister Pitt in a letter of 5 September 1786: "It is for Hemp only we are dependent on Russia. Masts can be procured from Nova Scotia, and Iron in plenty from the Ores of this Country; but as it is impracticable to carry on a Naval War without Hemp, it is materially necessary to promote the growth of it in this Country and Ireland". In the summer of 1786, the Empress Catherine, in the context of tense negotiations on a renewed treaty of commerce, had emphasised her control over this vital commodity by asking the merchants who supplied it to restrict sales to English buyers: “the Empress has contrary to Custom speculated on this Commodity”, complained the author of a subsequent memorandum to the Home Secretary. “It is unnecessary”, said the memorandum, “to remark the Consequences which might result from a prohibition of supply from that Quarter altogether”. This implicit threat to the viability of the Royal Navy became apparent in mid-September (a month after the decision had been taken to settle Botany Bay) and caused the Pitt Administration to begin an urgent search for new sources of supply, including from Norfolk Island, which was then added to the plan to colonise New South Wales. The need for an alternative non-Russian source of naval stores is indicated by the information from the British Ambassador in Copenhagen, Hugh Elliott, who wrote to Foreign Secretary, Lord Carmarthen on 12 August 1788: “There is no Topick so common in the Mouths of the Russian Ministers, as to insist on the Facility with which the Empress, when Mistress of the Baltic, either by Conquest, Influence, or Alliance with the other two Northern Powers, could keep England in a State of Dependence for its Baltic Commerce and Naval Stores”. On 6 December 1786, an Order in Council was issued, designating "the Eastern Coast of New South Wales, or some one or other of the Islands adjacent" as the destination for transported convicts, as required by the Transportation Act of 1784 (24 Geo.III, c.56) that authorised the sending of convicted felons to any place appointed by the King in Council. Norfolk Island was thereby brought officially within the bounds of the projected colony. An article in The Daily Universal Register (the forerunner of The Times) of 23 December 1786 revealed the plan for a dual colonisation of Norfolk Island and Botany Bay: “The ships for Botany Bay are not to leave all the convicts there; some of them are to be taken to Norfolk Island, which is about eight hundred miles East of Botany Bay, and about four hundred miles short of New Zealand”. The advantage of Britain's new colony in providing a non-Russian source of flax and hemp for naval supplies was referred to in an article in Lloyd’s Evening Post of 5 October 1787 which urged: “It is undoubtedly the interest of Great-Britain to remain neutral in the present contest between the Russians and the Turks” and observed, “Should England cease to render her services to the Empress of Russia, in a war against the Turks, there can be little of nothing to fear from her ill-will. England will speedily be enabled to draw from her colony of New South Wales, the staple of Russia, hemp and flax.” First penal settlement Before the First Fleet sailed to found a convict settlement in New South Wales, Governor Arthur Phillip's final instructions, received less than three weeks before sailing, included the requirement to colonise Norfolk Island to prevent it falling into the hands of France, whose naval leaders were also showing interest in the Pacific. Phillip's instructions given to him in April 1787 included an injunction to send a party to secure Norfolk Island "as soon as Circumstances may admit of it…. to prevent its being occupied by the Subjects of any other European Power". This could only have been a reference to the expedition then in the Pacific commanded by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse. The Daily Universal Register of 11 November 1786 had stated: "the Botany Bay scheme is laid aside, as there is a strong presumption that a squadron from Brest are now, or soon will be, in possession of the very spot we meant to occupy in New Holland". This may have been a reference to a report from the British Ambassador in Paris, who had believed that when La Pérouse's expedition set out from Brest in August 1785 it had as one of its objectives the establishment of a settlement in New Zealand to forestall the British. La Pérouse did attempt to visit Norfolk Island, but only to investigate, not to take possession. He had instructions to investigate any colonies the British may have established and learned of the intention to settle Botany Bay and Norfolk Island from despatches sent to him from Paris through St. Petersburg and by land across Siberia to Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka, where he received them on 26 September 1787, just four days before his departure from that port. His ships, the Boussole and Astrolabe, anchored off the northern side of the island on 13 January 1788, but at the time high seas were running that made it too dangerous for the two ships’ boats that were put out to attempt a landing: “It was obvious that I would have had to wait maybe for a very long time for a moment suitable for a landing and a visit to this island was not worth this sacrifice”, he recorded in his journal. Having noted that the island was still uninhabited, he was presumably the less inclined to risk a landing when there was no British settlement there to report on. When the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson in January 1788, Phillip ordered Lieutenant Philip Gidley King to lead a party of 15 convicts and seven free men, including surgeon Thomas Jamison (the future Principal Surgeon of New South Wales), to take control of the island and prepare for its commercial development. They arrived on 6 March 1788. During the first year of the settlement, which was also called "Sydney" like its parent, more convicts and soldiers were sent to the island from New South Wales. A second village was started at Ball Bay, named after the captain of HMS Supply, Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball. On 8 January 1789, the first child was born, Norfolk King, the son of Philip Gidley King and a convict, Ann Inett. (Norfolk King went on to become the first British Naval officer born in Australia, and was a Lieutenant, commanding the schooner Ballahoo when an American privateer captured her.) A "Letter from an Officer of Marines at New South Wales, 16 November 1788", published in the London newspaper, The World, 15 May 1789, reported the glowing description of the island and its prospects by Philip Gidley King, but also drew attention to the fatal defect of the lack of a safe port: “The said Island lies near Port Jackson, and is nearly as large as the Isle of Wight. Lieutenant King, who was sent with a detachment of marines and some convicts, to settle there, gives the most flattering portrayal of it. The island is fully wooded. Its timber is in the opinion of everyone the most beautiful and finest in the world...they are most suitable for masts, yards, spars and such. The New Zealand flax-plant grows there in abundance. European grains and seeds also thrive wonderfully well on Norfolk Island. It only lacks a good port and suitable landing places, without which the island is of no use, but with them it would be of the greatest importance for Great Britain. How far these deficiencies can be improved by art and the hand of man, time must decide.” An idealised vision of the new British settlement was given in the novel by Therese Forster, Abentheuer auf einer Reise nach Neu-Holland [Adventures on a Voyage to New Holland], published in the German women's magazine, Flora for 1793 and 1794: We went towards the centre of this small island where at the foot of a round hill a crystal-clear river rushes forth, dividing up further on into several arms. Towards North and West the hill is covered with the most beautiful ploughed fields all the way down to the sea. The sight of these great flax fields is one of the loveliest I ever beheld. The slender stalks, of the most beautiful green and reaching far above a man's head, bent in the gentle breeze that blew from the sea. Their red blossoms, shining like rubies, danced in the green waves. The top of the hill and the whole of the south and east sides are covered with enormous pines whose dark green is enhanced by a pleasant foreground of cabbage palms and banana trees, and I also observed a low bush among them the fruit of which resembles our red currants but is much larger and hangs in purple and red clusters that help to give the whole a gay appearance. The dwellings of the colonists are strewn along the fringes of the forest and from my post I could see several of them. Simple houses surrounded |
Norfolk Island Regional Council was established to govern Norfolk Island at the local level as a local government area subject to the laws of New South Wales. Executive branch The Norfolk Island legislative Assembly was abolished on 1 July 2015 and replaced with the Australian Government maintaining authority on the island through an Administrator (currently Eric Hutchinson) who is appointed by the Governor-General of Australia. Two of the members of the Assembly would form the Executive Council, which devises policy and acts as an advisory body to the Administrator. This council would be headed by the Administrator of Norfolk Island. Relationship with Australia Controversy exists as to the exact status of Norfolk Island. Despite the island's status as a self-governing territory of Australia, some Islanders claim that it was actually granted independence at the time Queen Victoria granted permission to Pitcairn Islanders to re-settle on the island. These views have been repeatedly rejected by the Australian parliament's joint committee on territories, most recently in 2004, and were also rejected by the High Court of Australia in Berwick Ltd v Gray. Disagreements over the island's relationship with Australia have been put in sharper relief by a 2006 review undertaken by the Australian government. Under the more radical of two proposed models proposed as a result of the review, the island's legislative assembly would be reduced to the status of a local council. Changes from July 2016 Residents of Norfolk Island who are citizens of Australia and meet the normal enrolment requirements are required to enrol to vote in | Island and transferring Norfolk Island into a council as part of New South Wales law. From 1 July 2016 Norfolk Island legislation will be transferred to New South Wales and subject to NSW legislation. From 1 July 2016, the Norfolk Island Regional Council was established to govern Norfolk Island at the local level as a local government area subject to the laws of New South Wales. Executive branch The Norfolk Island legislative Assembly was abolished on 1 July 2015 and replaced with the Australian Government maintaining authority on the island through an Administrator (currently Eric Hutchinson) who is appointed by the Governor-General of Australia. Two of the members of the Assembly would form the Executive Council, which devises policy and acts as an advisory body to the Administrator. This council would be headed by the Administrator of Norfolk Island. Relationship with Australia Controversy exists as to the exact status of Norfolk Island. Despite the island's status as a self-governing territory of Australia, some Islanders claim that it was actually granted independence at the time Queen Victoria granted permission to Pitcairn Islanders to re-settle on the island. These views have been repeatedly rejected by the Australian parliament's joint committee on territories, most recently in 2004, and were also rejected by the High Court of Australia in Berwick Ltd v Gray. Disagreements over the island's relationship with Australia have been put in sharper relief by a 2006 review undertaken by the Australian government. Under the more radical of two proposed models proposed as a result of the review, the island's legislative assembly would be reduced to the status of a local council. Changes from July 2016 Residents of Norfolk Island who are citizens of Australia and meet the normal enrolment requirements are required to enrol to vote in Australian federal and once enrolled must vote. 393 people voted at the polling booths on Norfolk Island for the Canberra electorate at the 2016 Federal election, with 16.5% of votes being informal. 777 Norfolk Island residents were on the Commonwealth electoral roll , and 669 people voted at the booths on Norfolk Island in the 2019 Federal election in the newly created Bean electorate, with 17.8% of votes being informal. The election for the inaugural Norfolk Island Regional Council occurred on 28 May 2016, with |
given to a family of texts with similar readings due to common ancestors and mutual correction. Many early manuscripts contain individual readings from several different earlier forms of text. Modern textual critics have identified the following text-types among textual witnesses to the New Testament: The Alexandrian text-type is usually considered to generally preserve many early readings. It is represented, e.g., by Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus and the Bodmer Papyri. The Western text-type is generally longer and can be paraphrastic, but can also preserve early readings. The Western version of the Acts of the Apostles is, notably, 8.5% longer than the Alexandrian form of the text. Examples of the Western text are found in Codex Bezae, Codex Claromontanus, Codex Washingtonianus, the Old Latin (i.e., Latin translations made prior to the Vulgate), as well as in quotations by Marcion, Tatian, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Cyprian. A text-type referred to as the "Caesarean text-type" and thought to have included witnesses such as Codex Koridethi and minuscule 565, can today be described neither as "Caesarean" nor as a text-type as was previously thought. The Gospel of Mark in Papyrus 45, Codex Washingtonianus and in Family 13 reflects a distinct type of text. Increasing standardization of distinct (and once local) text-types eventually gave rise to the Byzantine text-type. Since most manuscripts of the New Testament do not derive from the first several centuries, that is, they were copied after the rise of the Byzantine text-type, this form of text is found the majority of extant manuscripts and is therefore often called the "Majority Text." As with all of the other (earlier) text-types, the Byzantine can also occasionally preserve early readings. Biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." Viewing biblical texts as having human rather than supernatural origins, it asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work in its production; what sources were used in its composition; and what message it was intended to convey. It will vary slightly depending on whether the focus is on the Old Testament, the letters of the New Testament, or the Canonical Gospels. It also plays an important role in the quest for the historical Jesus. It also addresses the physical text, including the meaning of the words and the way in which they are used, its preservation, history, and integrity. Biblical criticism draws upon a wide range of scholarly disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, folklore, linguistics, narrative criticism, Oral Tradition studies, history, and religious studies. Establishing a critical text The textual variation among manuscript copies of books in the New Testament prompted attempts to discern the earliest form of text already in antiquity (e.g., by the 3rd-century Christian author Origen). The efforts began in earnest again during the Renaissance, which saw a revival of the study of ancient Greek texts. During this period, modern textual criticism was born. In this context, Christian humanists such as Lorenzo Valla and Erasmus promoted a return to the original Greek of the New Testament. This was the beginning of modern New Testament textual criticism, which over subsequent centuries would increasingly incorporate more and more manuscripts, in more languages (i.e., versions of the New Testament), as well as citations of the New Testament by ancient authors and the New Testament text in lectionaries in order to reconstruct the earliest recoverable form of the New Testament text and the history of changes to it. Relationship to earlier and contemporaneous literature Books that later formed the New Testament, like other Christian literature of the period, originated in a literary context that reveals relationships not only to other Christian writings, but also to Graeco-Roman and Jewish works. Of singular importance is the extensive use of and interaction with the Jewish Bible and what would become the Christian Old Testament. Both implicit and explicit citations, as well as countless allusions, appear throughout the books of the New Testament, from the Gospels and Acts, to the Epistles, to the Apocalypse. Early versions The first translations (usually called "versions") of the New Testament were made beginning already at the end of 2nd century. The earliest versions of the New Testament are the translations into the Syriac, Latin, and Coptic languages. These three versions were made directly from the Greek, and are frequently cited in the apparatuses of modern critical editions. Syriac Syriac was spoken in Syria, and Mesopotamia, and with dialect in Roman and Byzantine Palestine where it was known as Jewish Palestinian Aramaic. Several Syriac translations were made and have come to us. Most of the Old Syriac, as well as the Philoxonian version have been lost. Tatian, the Assyrian, created the Diatessaron, a gospel harmony written in Syriac around 170 AD and the earliest form of the gospel not only in Syriac but probably also in Armenian. In the 19th century, manuscript evidence was discovered for an "Old Syriac" version of the four distinct (i.e., not harmonized) gospels. These "separated" (Syriac: da-Mepharreshe) gospels, though old, have been shown to be later than the Diatessaron. The Old Syriac gospels are fragmentarily preserved in two manuscripts: the 5th-century Curetonian Syriac and the Sinaitic Syriac from the 4th or 5th century. No Old Syriac manuscripts of other portions of the New Testament survive, though Old Syriac readings, e.g. from the Pauline Epistles, can be discerned in citations made by Eastern fathers and in later Syriac versions. The Old Syriac version is a representative of the Western text-type. The Peshitta version was prepared in the beginning of the 5th century. It contains only 22 books (neither the Minor Catholic Epistles of 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Jude, nor the Book of Revelation were part of this translation). The Philoxenian probably was produced in 508 for Philoxenus, Bishop of Mabung. Latin The Gospels were likely translated into Latin as early as the last quarter of the 2nd century in North Africa (Afra). Not much later, there were also European Latin translations (Itala). There are about 80 Old Latin manuscripts. The Vetus Latina ("Old Latin") versions often contain readings with a Western type of text. (For the avoidance of confusion, these texts were written in Late Latin, not the early version of the Latin language known as Old Latin, pre 75 BC.) The bewildering diversity of the Old Latin versions prompted Jerome to prepare another translation into Latin—the Vulgate. In many respects it was merely a revision of the Old Latin. There are currently around 8,000 manuscripts of the Vulgate. Coptic There are several dialects of the Coptic language: Bohairic (northern dialect), Fayyumic, Sahidic (southern dialect), Akhmimic, and others. The first translation was made by at least the 3rd century into the Sahidic dialect (copsa). This translation represents a mixed text, mostly Alexandrian, though also with Western readings. A Bohairic translation was made later, but existed already in the 4th century. Though the translation makes less use of Greek words than the Sahidic, it does employ some Greek grammar (e.g., in word-order and the use of particles such as the syntactic construction μεν—δε). For this reason, the Bohairic translation can be helpful in the reconstruction of the early Greek text of the New Testament. Other ancient translations The continued spread of Christianity, and the foundation of national churches, led to the translation of the Bible—often beginning with books from the New Testament—into a variety of other languages at a relatively early date: Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic, Persian, Sogdian, and eventually Gothic, Old Church Slavonic, Arabic, and Nubian. Modern translations Historically, throughout the Christian world and in the context of Christian missionary activity, the New Testament (or portions thereof) has been that part of the Christian Bible first translated into the vernacular. The production of such translations grew out of the insertion of vernacular glosses in biblical texts, as well as out of the production of biblical paraphrases and poetic renditions of stories from the life of Christ (e.g., the Heliand). The 16th century saw the rise of Protestantism and an explosion of translations of the New (and Old) Testament into the vernacular. Notable are those of Martin Luther (1522), Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples (1523), the Froschau Bible (1525–1529, revised in 1574), William Tyndale (1526, revised in 1534, 1535 and 1536), the Brest Bible (1563), and the Authorized Version (also called the "King James Version") (1611). Most of these translations relied (though not always exclusively) upon one of the printed editions of the Greek New Testament edited by Erasmus, the Novum Instrumentum omne; a form of this Greek text emerged as the standard and is known as the Textus Receptus. This text, based on the majority of manuscripts is also used in the majority of translations that were made in the years 100 to 400 AD. Translations of the New Testament made since the appearance of critical editions of the Greek text (notably those of Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, and von Soden) have largely used them as their base text. Unlike the Textus Receptus, these have a pronounced Alexandrian character. Standard critical editions are those of Nestle-Åland (the text, though not the full critical apparatus of which is reproduced in the United Bible Societies' "Greek New Testament"), Souter, Vogels, Bover and Merk. Notable translations of the New Testament based on these most recent critical editions include the Revised Standard Version (1946, revised in 1971), La Bible de Jérusalem (1961, revised in 1973 and 2000), the Einheitsübersetzung (1970, final edition 1979), the New American Bible (1970, revised in 1986 and 2011), the New International Version (1973, revised in 1984 and 2011), the Traduction Oecuménique de la Bible (1988, revised in 2004), the New Revised Standard Version (1989) and the English Standard Version (2001, revised in 2007, 2011 and 2016). Theological interpretation in Christian churches Though all Christian churches accept the New Testament as scripture, they differ in their understanding of the nature, extent, and relevance of its authority. Views of the authoritativeness of the New Testament often depend on the concept of inspiration, which relates to the role of God in the formation of the New Testament. Generally, the greater the role of God in one's doctrine of inspiration, the more one accepts the doctrine of biblical inerrancy or authoritativeness of the Bible. One possible source of confusion is that these terms are difficult to define, because many people use them interchangeably or with very different meanings. This article will use the terms in the following manner: Infallibility relates to the absolute correctness of the Bible in matters of doctrine. Inerrancy relates to the absolute correctness of the Bible in factual assertions (including historical and scientific assertions). Authoritativeness relates to the correctness of the Bible in questions of practice in morality. According to Gary T. Meadors: All of these concepts depend for their meaning on the supposition that the text of Bible has been properly interpreted, with consideration for the intention of the text, whether literal history, allegory or poetry, etc. Especially the doctrine of inerrancy is variously understood according to the weight given by the interpreter to scientific investigations of the world. Unity in diversity The notion of unity in diversity of Scripture claims that the Bible presents a noncontradictory and consistent message concerning God and redemptive history. The fact of diversity is observed in comparing the diversity of time, culture, authors' perspectives, literary genre, and the theological themes. Studies from many theologians considering the "unity in diversity" to be found in the New Testament (and the Bible as a whole) have been collected and summarized by New Testament theologian Frank Stagg. He describes them as some basic presuppositions, tenets, and concerns common among the New Testament writers, giving to the New Testament its "unity in diversity": The reality of God is never argued but is always assumed and affirmed Jesus Christ is absolutely central: he is Lord and Savior, the foretold Prophet, the Messianic King, the Chosen, the way, the truth, and the light, the One through whom God the Father not only acted but through whom He came The Holy Spirit came anew with Jesus Christ. The Christian faith and life are a calling, rooted in divine election. The plight of everyone as sinner means that each person is completely dependent upon the mercy and grace of God Salvation is both God's gift and his demand through Jesus Christ, to be received by faith The death and resurrection of Jesus are at the heart of the total event of which he was the center God creates a people of his own, designated and described by varied terminology and analogies History must be understood eschatologically, being brought along toward its ultimate goal when the kingdom of God, already present in Christ, is brought to its complete triumph In Christ, all of God's work of creation, revelation, and redemption is brought to fulfillment Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Classical Anglicanism For the Roman Catholic Church, there are two modes of Revelation: Scripture and Tradition. Both of them are interpreted by the teachings of the Church. The Roman Catholic view is expressed clearly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1997): § 82: As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence. § 107: The inspired books teach the truth. Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.In Catholic terminology the teaching office is called the Magisterium. The Catholic view should not be confused with the two-source theory. As the Catechism states in §§ 80 and 81, Revelation has "one common source ... two distinct modes of transmission." While many Eastern Orthodox writers distinguish between Scripture and Tradition, Bishop Kallistos Ware says that for the Orthodox there is only one source of the Christian faith, Holy Tradition, within which Scripture exists. Traditional Anglicans believe that "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation", (Article VI), but also that the Catholic Creeds "ought thoroughly to be received and believed" (Article VIII), and that the Church "hath authority in Controversies of Faith" and is "a witness and keeper of Holy Writ" (Article XX). Classical Anglicanism, therefore, like Orthodoxy, holds that Holy Tradition is the only safe guardian against perversion and innovation in the interpretation of Scripture. In the famous words of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells: "As for my religion, I dye in the holy catholic and apostolic faith professed by the whole Church before the disunion of East and West, more particularly in the communion of the Church of England, as it stands distinguished from all Papal and Puritan innovations, and as it adheres to the doctrine of the Cross." Protestantism Following the doctrine of sola scriptura, Protestants believe that their traditions of faith, practice and interpretations carry forward what the scriptures teach, and so tradition is not a source of authority in itself. Their traditions derive authority from the Bible, and are therefore always open to reevaluation. This openness to doctrinal revision has extended in Liberal Protestant traditions even to the reevaluation of the doctrine of Scripture upon which the Reformation was founded, and members of these traditions may even question whether the Bible is infallible in doctrine, inerrant in historical and other factual statements, and whether it has uniquely divine authority. The adjustments made by modern Protestants to their doctrine of scripture vary widely. American evangelical and fundamentalist Protestantism Within the US, the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978) articulates evangelical views on this issue. Paragraph four of its summary states: "Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives." American mainline and liberal Protestantism Mainline American Protestant denominations, including the United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church USA, The Episcopal Church, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, do not teach the doctrine of inerrancy as set forth in the Chicago Statement. All of these churches have more ancient doctrinal statements asserting the authority of scripture, but may interpret these statements in such a way as to allow for a very broad range of teaching—from evangelicalism to skepticism. It is not an impediment to ordination in these denominations to teach that the scriptures contain errors, or that the authors follow a more or less unenlightened ethics that, however appropriate it may have seemed in the authors' time, moderns would be very wrong to follow blindly. For example, ordination of women is universally accepted in the mainline churches, abortion is condemned as a grievous social tragedy but not always a personal sin or a crime against an unborn person, and homosexuality is sometimes recognized as a genetic propensity or morally neutral preference that should be neither encouraged nor condemned. In North America, the most contentious of these issues among these churches at the present time is how far the ordination of gay men and lesbians should be accepted. Officials of the Presbyterian Church USA report: "We acknowledge the role of scriptural authority in the Presbyterian Church, but Presbyterians generally do not believe in biblical inerrancy. Presbyterians do not insist that every detail of chronology or sequence or prescientific description in scripture be true in literal form. Our confessions do teach biblical infallibility. Infallibility affirms the entire truthfulness of scripture without depending on every exact detail." Those who hold a more liberal view of the Bible as a human witness to the glory of God, the work of fallible humans who wrote from a limited experience unusual only for the insight they have gained through their inspired struggle to know God in the midst of a troubled world. Therefore, they tend not to accept such doctrines as inerrancy. These churches also tend to retain the social activism of their evangelical forebears of the 19th century, placing particular emphasis on those teachings of scripture that teach compassion for the poor and concern for social justice. The message of personal salvation is, generally speaking, of the good that comes to oneself and the world through following the New Testament's Golden Rule admonition to love others without hypocrisy or prejudice. Toward these ends, the "spirit" of the New Testament, more than the letter, is infallible and authoritative. There are some movements that believe the Bible contains the teachings of Jesus but who reject the churches that were formed following its publication. These people believe all individuals can communicate directly with God and therefore do not need guidance or doctrines from a church. These people are known as Christian anarchists. Messianic Judaism Messianic Judaism generally holds the same view of New Testament authority as evangelical Protestants. According to the view of some Messianic Jewish congregations, Jesus did not annul the Torah, but that its interpretation is revised and ultimately explained through the Apostolic Scriptures. Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses accept the New Testament as divinely inspired Scripture, and as infallible in every detail, with equal authority as the Hebrew Scriptures. They view it as the written revelation and good news of the Messiah, the ransom sacrifice of Jesus, and the Kingdom of God, explaining and expounding the Hebrew Bible, not replacing but vitally supplementing it. They also view the New Testament as the primary instruction guide for Christian living, and church discipline. They generally call the New Testament the "Christian Greek Scriptures", and see only the "covenants" as "old" or "new", but not any part of the actual Scriptures themselves. United Pentecostals Oneness Pentecostalism subscribes to the common Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura. They view the Bible as the inspired Word of God, and as absolutely inerrant in its contents (though not necessarily in every translation). They regard the New Testament as perfect and inerrant in every way, revealing the Lord Jesus Christ in the Flesh, and his Atonement, and which also explains and illuminates the Old Testament perfectly, and is part of the Bible canon, not because church councils or decrees claimed it so, but by witness of the Holy Spirit. Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church holds the New Testament as the inspired Word of God, with God influencing the "thoughts" of the Apostles in the writing, not necessarily every word though. The first fundamental belief of the Seventh-Day Adventist church stated that "The Holy Scriptures are the infallible revelation of [God's] will." Adventist theologians generally reject the "verbal inspiration" position on Scripture held by many conservative evangelical Christians. They believe instead that God inspired the thoughts of the biblical authors and apostles, and that the writers then expressed these thoughts in their own words. This view is popularly known as "thought inspiration", and most Adventist members hold to that view. According to Ed Christian, former JATS editor, "few if any ATS members believe in verbal inerrancy". Regarding the teachings of the New Testament compared to the Old, and the application in the New Covenant, Adventists have traditionally taught that the Decalogue is part of the moral law of God, which was not abrogated by the ministry and death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the fourth commandment concerning the Sabbath is as applicable to Christian believers as the other nine. Adventists have often taught a distinction between "moral law" and "ceremonial law". According to Adventist beliefs, the moral law continues into the "New Testament era", but the ceremonial law was done away with by Jesus. How the Mosaic Law should be applied came up at Adventist conferences in the past, and Adventist theologians such as A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner looked at the problem addressed by Paul in Galatians as not the ceremonial law, but rather the wrong use of the law (legalism). They were opposed by Uriah Smith and George Butler at the 1888 Conference. Smith in particular thought the Galatians issue had been settled by Ellen White already, yet in 1890 she claimed that justification by faith is "the third angel's message in verity." White interpreted Colossians 2:14 as saying that the ceremonial law was nailed to the cross. Latter-day Saints Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) believe that the New Testament, as part of the Christian biblical canon, is accurate "as far as it is translated correctly". They believe the Bible as originally revealed is the word of God, but that the processes of transcription and translation have introduced errors into the texts as currently available, and therefore they cannot be regarded as completely inerrant. In addition to the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are considered part of their scriptural canon. In the liturgy Despite the wide variety among Christian liturgies, texts from the New Testament play a role in almost all forms of Christian worship. In addition to some language derived from the New Testament in the liturgy itself (e.g., the Trisagion may be based on Apocalypse 4:8, and the beginning of the "Hymn of Praise" draws upon Luke 2:14), the reading of extended passages from the New Testament is a practice common to almost all Christian worship, liturgical or not. These readings are most often part of an established lectionary (i.e., selected texts to be read at church services on specific days), and (together with an Old Testament reading and a Psalm) include a non-gospel reading from the New Testament and culminate with a Gospel reading. No readings from the Book of Revelation are included in the standard lectionary of the Eastern Orthodox churches. Central to the Christian liturgy is the celebration of the Eucharist or "Holy Communion". The Words of Institution that begin this rite are drawn directly from 1 Corinthians 11:23–26. In addition, the communal recitation of the Lord's Prayer (in the form found in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9–13) is also a standard feature of Christian worship. In the arts Most of the influence of the New Testament upon the arts has come from the Gospels and the Book of Revelation. Literary expansion of the Nativity of Jesus found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke began already in the 2nd century, and the portrayal of the Nativity has continued in various art forms to this day. The earliest Christian art would often depict scenes from the New Testament such as the raising of Lazarus, the baptism of Jesus or the motif of the Good Shepherd. Biblical paraphrases and poetic renditions of stories from the life of Christ (e.g., the Heliand) became popular in the Middle Ages, as did the portrayal of the arrest, trial and execution of Jesus in Passion plays. Indeed, the Passion became a central theme in Christian art and music. The ministry and Passion of Jesus, as portrayed in one or more of the New Testament Gospels, has also been a theme in film, almost since the inception of the medium (e.g., La Passion, France, 1903). See also Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews Catalogue of Vices and Virtues Chronology of Jesus Earlier Epistle to the Ephesians Non-canonical books referenced in the New Testament Historical background of the New Testament Life of Jesus in the New Testament List of Gospels Novum Testamentum Graece Notes References Citations Bibliography Further reading Bultmann, Rudolf (1951–1955). Theology of the New Testament, English translation, 2 volumes. New York: Scribner. von Campenhausen, Hans (1972). The Formation of the Christian Bible, English translation. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. Clark, Gordon (1990). "Logical Criticisms of Textual Criticism", The Trinity Foundation: Jefferson, Maryland Conzelmann, Hans; Lindemann, Andreas (1999). Interpreting the New Testament: An Introduction to the Principles and Methods of New Testament Exegesis, English translation. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson. Dormeyer, Detlev (1998). The New Testament among the Writings of Antiquity, English translation. Sheffield. Duling, Dennis C.; Perrin, Norman (1993). The New Testament: Proclamation and Parenesis, Myth and History, 3rd edition. New York: Harcourt Brace. Ehrman, Bart D. (2011). The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 5th edition. New York: Oxford University Press. Goodspeed, Edgar J. (1937). An Introduction to the New Testament. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Levine, Amy-Jill; Brettler, Marc Z. (2011). The Jewish Annotated New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Koester, Helmut (1995 and 2000). Introduction to the New Testament, 2nd edition, 2 volumes. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. Kümmel, Werner Georg (1996). Introduction to the New Testament, revised and enlarged English translation. Nashville: Abingdon Press. Mack, Burton L. (1995). Who Wrote the New Testament?. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. Neill, Stephen; Wright, Tom (1988). The Interpretation of the New Testament, 1861–1986, new edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Thielman, Frank. Theology of the New Testament: a Canonical and Synthetic Approach, Zondervan, 2005. Wills, Garry, "A Wild and Indecent Book" (review of David Bentley Hart, The New Testament: A Translation, Yale University Press, 577 pp.), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXV, no. 2 (8 February 2018), pp. 34–35. Discusses some pitfalls in interpreting and translating the New Testament. Zahn, Theodor (1910). Introduction to the New Testament, English translation, 3 volumes. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. External links General references New Testament Gateway Annotated guide to academic New Testament Web resources including not only other Web sites, but articles and course materials Jewish Studies for Christians An Online Study Group exploring the Jewish setting of the early Jesus movement. (An Israeli blog led by Dr. Eliyahu Lizorkin-Eyzenberg). "Introduction to New Testament History and Literature" course materials "Open Yale course" taught at Yale University by Dale B. Martin New Testament Reading Room: Extensive on-line New Testament resources (including reference works, commentaries, translations, atlases, language tools, and works on New Testament theology), Tyndale Seminary Biblicalstudies.org.uk New Testament pages Bibliographies on the New Testament and its individual books Christianity.com Bible Study Tools For-profit, conservative religious site with links to translations, as well as to mostly out-dated and non-critical commentaries, concordances, and other reference works Pastoral articles on the New Testament for ministerial training Wisconsin | the relationship both to broader "pagan" society, to Judaism, and to other Christians. Epistle to the Romans First Epistle to the Corinthians Second Epistle to the Corinthians Epistle to the Galatians Epistle to the Ephesians* Epistle to the Philippians Epistle to the Colossians* First Epistle to the Thessalonians Second Epistle to the Thessalonians* [Disputed letters are marked with an asterisk (*).] Pauline letters to persons The last four Pauline letters in the New Testament are addressed to individual persons. They include the following: First Epistle to Timothy* Second Epistle to Timothy* Epistle to Titus* Epistle to Philemon [Disputed letters are marked with an asterisk (*).] All of the above except for Philemon are known as the pastoral epistles. They are addressed to individuals charged with pastoral oversight of churches and discuss issues of Christian living, doctrine and leadership. They often address different concerns to those of the preceding epistles. These letters are believed by many to be pseudepigraphic. Some scholars (e.g., Bill Mounce, Ben Witherington) will argue that the letters are genuinely Pauline, or at least written under Paul's supervision. Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews addresses a Jewish audience who had come to believe that Jesus was the anointed one (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ—transliterated in English as "Moshiach", or "Messiah"; Greek: Χριστός—transliterated in English as "Christos", for "Christ") who was predicted in the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures. The author discusses the superiority of the new covenant and the ministry of Jesus, to the Mosaic covenant and urges the readers in the practical implications of this conviction through the end of the epistle. The book has been widely accepted by the Christian church as inspired by God and thus authoritative, despite the acknowledgment of uncertainties about who its human author was. Regarding authorship, although the Epistle to the Hebrews does not internally claim to have been written by the Apostle Paul, some similarities in wordings to some of the Pauline Epistles have been noted and inferred. In antiquity, some began to ascribe it to Paul in an attempt to provide the anonymous work an explicit apostolic pedigree. In the 4th century, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo supported Paul's authorship. The Church largely agreed to include Hebrews as the fourteenth letter of Paul, and affirmed this authorship until the Reformation. The letter to the Hebrews had difficulty in being accepted as part of the Christian canon because of its anonymity. As early as the 3rd century, Origen wrote of the letter, "Men of old have handed it down as Paul's, but who wrote the Epistle God only knows." Contemporary scholars often reject Pauline authorship for the epistle to the Hebrews, based on its distinctive style and theology, which are considered to set it apart from Paul's writings. Catholic epistles The Catholic epistles (or "general epistles") consist of both letters and treatises in the form of letters written to the church at large. The term "catholic" (Greek: καθολική, katholikē), used to describe these letters in the oldest manuscripts containing them, here simply means "general" or "universal". The authorship of a number of these is disputed. Epistle of James, written by an author named "James", often identified with James, the brother of Jesus. First Epistle of Peter, ascribed to the Apostle Peter. Second Epistle of Peter, ascribed to the Apostle Peter, though widely considered not to have been written by him. First Epistle of John, ascribed to John the Apostle. Second Epistle of John, ascribed to John the Apostle. Third Epistle of John, ascribed to John the Apostle. Epistle of Jude, written under the name of Jude, the brother of Jesus and James. Book of Revelation The final book of the New Testament is the Book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse of John. In the New Testament canon, it is considered prophetical or apocalyptic literature. Its authorship has been attributed either to John the Apostle (in which case it is often thought that John the Apostle is John the Evangelist, i.e. author of the Gospel of John) or to another John designated "John of Patmos" after the island where the text says the revelation was received (1:9). Some ascribe the writership date as AD, and others at around 68 AD. The work opens with letters to seven local congregations of Asia Minor and thereafter takes the form of an apocalypse, a "revealing" of divine prophecy and mysteries, a literary genre popular in ancient Judaism and Christianity. New Testament canons Table notes Book order The order in which the books of the New Testament appear differs between some collections and ecclesiastical traditions. In the Latin West, prior to the Vulgate (an early 5th-century Latin version of the Bible), the four Gospels were arranged in the following order: Matthew, John, Luke, and Mark. The Syriac Peshitta places the major Catholic epistles (James, 1 Peter, and 1 John) immediately after Acts and before the Pauline epistles. The order of an early edition of the letters of Paul is based on the size of the letters: longest to shortest, though keeping 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians together. The Pastoral epistles were apparently not part of the Corpus Paulinum in which this order originated and were later inserted after 2 Thessalonians and before Philemon. Hebrews was variously incorporated into the Corpus Paulinum either after 2 Thessalonians, after Philemon (i.e. at the very end), or after Romans. Luther's canon, found in the 16th-century Luther Bible, continues to place Hebrews, James, Jude, and the Apocalypse (Revelation) last. This reflects the thoughts of the Reformer Martin Luther on the canonicity of these books. Theme The principal point of the New Testament is that Christ's death on the cross is God's means of reconciling an immoral and alienated humanity to himself. Dr. Ian Howard Marshall, an expert on New Testament Exegesis, argued that the principal message of the New Testament is the restoring of relations with God. According to Marshall, such magnificent themes like the inauguration of God's Kingdom or the establishment of a new covenant are subservient to the more important objective of humanity's reconciliation with God. In this context “reconciliation” is synonymous with atonement (“at-one-ment”). Christ's death serves to make humans one with God, not in a metaphysical way, but in a relational way of being reconciled to God. Apocrypha The books that eventually found a permanent place in the New Testament were not the only works of Christian literature produced in the earliest Christian centuries. The long process of canonization began early, sometimes with tacit reception of traditional texts, sometimes with explicit selection or rejection of particular texts as either acceptable or unacceptable for use in a given context (e.g., not all texts that were acceptable for private use were considered appropriate for use in the liturgy). Over the course of history, those works of early Christian literature that survived but that did not become part of the New Testament have been variously grouped by theologians and scholars. Drawing upon, though redefining, an older term used in early Christianity and among Protestants when referring to those books found in the Christian Old Testament although not in the Hebrew Bible, modern scholars began to refer to these works of early Christian literature not included in the New Testament as "apocryphal", by which was meant non-canonical. Collected editions of these works were then referred to as the "New Testament apocrypha". Typically excluded from such published collections are the following groups of works: The Apostolic Fathers, the 2nd-century Christian apologists, the Alexandrians, Tertullian, Methodius of Olympus, Novatian, Cyprian, martyrdoms, and the Desert Fathers. Almost all other Christian literature from the period, and sometimes including works composed well into Late Antiquity, are relegated to the so-called New Testament apocrypha. Although not considered to be inspired by God, these "apocryphal" works were produced in the same ancient context and often using the same language as those books that would eventually form the New Testament. Some of these later works are dependent (either directly or indirectly) upon books that would later come to be in the New Testament or upon the ideas expressed in them. There is even an example of a pseudepigraphical letter composed under the guise of a presumably lost letter of the Apostle Paul, the Epistle to the Laodiceans. Authors The books of the New Testament were all or nearly all written by Jewish Christians—that is, Jewish disciples of Christ, who lived in the Roman Empire, and under Roman occupation. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, is frequently thought of as an exception; scholars are divided as to whether Luke was a Gentile or a Hellenistic Jew. A few scholars identify the author of the Gospel of Mark as probably a Gentile, and similarly for the Gospel of Matthew, though most assert Jewish-Christian authorship. Gospels Authorship of the Gospels remains divided among both evangelical and critical scholars. The names of each Gospel stems from church tradition, and yet the authors of the Gospels do not identify themselves in their respective texts. Further, none of the authors of the Gospels were eyewitnesses or even explicitly claimed to be eyewitnesses. Bart D. Ehrman of the University of North Carolina has argued for a scholarly consensus that many New Testament books were not written by the individuals whose names are attached to them. He further argues that names were not ascribed to the gospels until around 185 AD. Other scholars concur. Many scholars believe that none of the gospels were written in the region of Palestine. Christian tradition identifies John the Apostle with John the Evangelist, the supposed author of the Gospel of John. Traditionalists tend to support the idea that the writer of the Gospel of John himself claimed to be an eyewitness in their commentaries of John 21:24 and therefore the gospel was written by an eyewitness. This idea is rejected by the majority of modern scholars. Most scholars hold to the two-source hypothesis, which posits that the Gospel of Mark was the first gospel to be written. On this view, the authors of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke used as sources the Gospel of Mark and a hypothetical Q document to write their individual gospel accounts. These three gospels are called the Synoptic Gospels, because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes in exactly the same wording. Scholars agree that the Gospel of John was written last, by using a different tradition and body of testimony. In addition, most scholars agree that the author of Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Scholars hold that these books constituted two-halves of a single work, Luke–Acts. All four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are anonymous works. The Gospel of John claims to be based on eyewitness testimony from the Disciple whom Jesus loved, but never names this character. Acts The same author appears to have written the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, and most refer to them as the Lucan texts. The most direct evidence comes from the prefaces of each book; both were addressed to Theophilus, and the preface to the Acts of the Apostles references "my former book" about the ministry of Jesus. Furthermore, there are linguistic and theological similarities between the two works, suggesting that they have a common author. Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles are the thirteen books in the New Testament traditionally attributed to Paul of Tarsus. Seven letters are generally classified as "undisputed", expressing contemporary scholarly near consensus that they are the work of Paul: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Philemon. Six additional letters bearing Paul's name do not currently enjoy the same academic consensus: Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. The anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews is, despite unlikely Pauline authorship, often functionally grouped with these thirteen to form a corpus of fourteen "Pauline" epistles. While many scholars uphold the traditional view, some question whether the first three, called the "Deutero-Pauline Epistles", are authentic letters of Paul. As for the latter three, the "Pastoral epistles", some scholars uphold the traditional view of these as the genuine writings of the Apostle Paul; most regard them as pseudepigrapha. One might refer to the Epistle to the Laodiceans and the Third Epistle to the Corinthians as examples of works identified as pseudonymous. Since the early centuries of the church, there has been debate concerning the authorship of the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews, and contemporary scholars generally reject Pauline authorship. The epistles all share common themes, emphasis, vocabulary and style; they exhibit a uniformity of doctrine concerning the Mosaic Law, Jesus, faith, and various other issues. All of these letters easily fit into the chronology of Paul's journeys depicted in Acts of the Apostles. Other epistles The author of the Epistle of James identifies himself in the opening verse as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ". From the middle of the 3rd century, patristic authors cited the Epistle as written by James the Just. Ancient and modern scholars have always been divided on the issue of authorship. Many consider the epistle to be written in the late 1st or early 2nd centuries. The author of the First Epistle of Peter identifies himself in the opening verse as "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ", and the view that the epistle was written by St. Peter is attested to by a number of Church Fathers: Irenaeus (140–203), Tertullian (150–222), Clement of Alexandria (155–215) and Origen of Alexandria (185–253). Unlike The Second Epistle of Peter, the authorship of which was debated in antiquity, there was little debate about Peter's authorship of this first epistle until the 18th century. Although 2 Peter internally purports to be a work of the apostle, many biblical scholars have concluded that Peter is not the author. For an early date and (usually) for a defense of the Apostle Peter's authorship see Kruger, Zahn, Spitta, Bigg, and Green. The Epistle of Jude title is written as follows: "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James". The debate has continued over the author's identity as the apostle, the brother of Jesus, both, or neither. Johannine works The Gospel of John, the three Johannine epistles, and the Book of Revelation, exhibit marked similarities, although more so between the gospel and the epistles (especially the gospel and 1 John) than between those and Revelation. Most scholars therefore treat the five as a single corpus of Johannine literature, albeit not from the same author. The gospel went through two or three "editions" before reaching its current form around AD 90–110. It speaks of an unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved" as the source of its traditions, but does not say specifically that he is its author; Christian tradition identifies this disciple as the apostle John, but while this idea still has supporters, for a variety of reasons the majority of modern scholars have abandoned it or hold it only tenuously. It is significantly different from the synoptic gospels, with major variations in material, theological emphasis, chronology, and literary style, sometimes amounting to contradictions. The author of the Book of Revelation identifies himself several times as "John". and states that he was on Patmos when he received his first vision. As a result, the author is sometimes referred to as John of Patmos. The author has traditionally been identified with John the Apostle to whom the Gospel and the epistles of John were attributed. It was believed that he was exiled to the island of Patmos during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, and there wrote Revelation. Justin Martyr (c. 100–165 AD) who was acquainted with Polycarp, who had been mentored by John, makes a possible allusion to this book, and credits John as the source. Irenaeus (c. 115–202) assumes it as a conceded point. According to the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, modern scholars are divided between the apostolic view and several alternative hypotheses put forth in the last hundred years or so. Ben Witherington points out that linguistic evidence makes it unlikely that the books were written by the same person. Dating the New Testament External evidence The earliest manuscripts of New Testament books date from the late second to early third centuries (although see Papyrus 52 for a possible exception). These manuscripts place a clear upper limit on the dating of New Testament texts. Explicit references to NT books in extra-biblical documents can push this upper limit down a bit further. Irenaeus of Lyon names and quotes from most of the books in the New Testament in his book Against Heresies, written around 180 AD. The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, written some time between 110 and Polycarp's death in 155–167 AD, quotes or alludes to most New Testament texts. Ignatius of Antioch wrote letters referencing much of the New Testament. He lived from about 35 AD to 107 AD and is rumored to have been a disciple of the Apostle John. His writings reference the Gospels of John, Matthew, and Luke, as well as Peter, James, and Paul's Epistles. His writing is usually attributed to the end of his lifetime, which places the Gospels as first century writings. Internal evidence Literary analysis of the New Testament texts themselves can be used to date many of the books of the New Testament to the mid-to-late first century. The earliest works of the New Testament are the letters of the Apostle Paul. It can be determined that 1 Thessalonians is likely the earliest of these letters, written around 52 AD. Language The major languages spoken by both Jews and Greeks in the Holy Land at the time of Jesus were Aramaic and Koine Greek, and also a colloquial dialect of Mishnaic Hebrew. It is generally agreed by most scholars that the historical Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic, perhaps also some Hebrew and Koine Greek. The majority view is that all of the books that would eventually form the New Testament were written in the Koine Greek language. As Christianity spread, these books were later translated into other languages, most notably, Latin, Syriac, and Egyptian Coptic. Some of the Church Fathers imply or claim that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic, and then soon after was written in Koine Greek. Nevertheless, some scholars believe the Gospel of Matthew known today was composed in Greek and is neither directly dependent upon nor a translation of a text in a Semitic language. Style The style of Koine Greek in which the New Testament is written differs from the general Koine Greek used by Greek writers of the same era, a difference that some scholars have explained by the fact that the authors of the New Testament, nearly all Jews and deeply familiar with the Septuagint, wrote in a Jewish-Greek dialect strongly influenced by Aramaic and Hebrew (see Jewish Koine Greek, related to the Greek of the Septuagint). But other scholars note that this view is arrived at by comparing the linguistic style of the New Testament to the preserved writings of the literary men of the era, who imitated the style of the great Attic texts and as a result did not reflect the everyday spoken language, so that that this difference in style could be explained by the New Testament being written, unlike other preserved literary material of the era, in the Koine Greek spoken in every day life, in order to appeal to the common people, a style which has also been found in contemporary non-Jewish texts such as private letters, receipts and petitions discovered in Egypt (where the dry air has preserved these documents which, as everyday material not deemed of literary importance, had not been copied by subsequent generations). Development of the New Testament canon The process of canonization of the New Testament was complex and lengthy. In the initial centuries of early Christianity, there were many books widely considered by the church to be inspired, but there was no single formally recognized New Testament canon. The process was characterized by a compilation of books that apostolic tradition considered authoritative in worship and teaching, relevant to the historical situations in which they lived, and consonant with the Old Testament. Writings attributed to the apostles circulated among the earliest Christian communities and the Pauline epistles were circulating, perhaps in collected forms, by the end of the 1st century AD. One of the earliest attempts at solidifying a canon was made by Marcion, AD, who accepted only a modified version of Luke (the Gospel of Marcion) and ten of Paul's letters, while rejecting the Old Testament entirely. His canon was largely rejected by other groups of Christians, notably the proto-orthodox Christians, as was his theology, Marcionism. Adolf von Harnack, John Knox, and David Trobisch, among other scholars, have argued that the church formulated its New Testament canon partially in response to the challenge posed by Marcion. Polycarp, Irenaeus and Tertullian held the epistles of Paul to be divinely inspired "scripture." Other books were held in high esteem but were gradually relegated to the status of New Testament apocrypha. Justin Martyr, in the mid 2nd century, mentions "memoirs of the apostles" as being read on Sunday alongside the "writings of the prophets". The Muratorian fragment, dated at between 170 and as late as the end of the 4th century (according to the Anchor Bible Dictionary), may be the earliest known New Testament canon attributed to mainstream Christianity. It is similar, but not identical, to the modern New Testament canon. The oldest clear endorsement of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John being the only legitimate gospels was written AD. A four gospel canon (the Tetramorph) was asserted by Irenaeus, who refers to it directly in his polemic Against Heresies: The books considered to be authoritative by Irenaeus included the four gospels and many of the letters of Paul, although, based on the arguments Irenaeus made in support of only four authentic gospels, some interpreters deduce that the fourfold Gospel must have still been a novelty in Irenaeus's time. Origen (3rd century) By the early 200s, Origen may have been using the same twenty-seven books as in the Catholic New Testament canon, though there were still disputes over the canonicity of the Letter to the Hebrews, Epistle of James, II Peter, II John and III John and the Book of Revelation, known as the Antilegomena. Likewise, the Muratorian fragment is evidence that, perhaps as early as 200, there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to the twenty-seven book NT canon, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings are claimed to have been accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 3rd century. Origen was largely responsible for the collection of usage information regarding the texts that became the New Testament. The information used to create the late-4th-century Easter Letter, which declared accepted Christian writings, was probably based on the Ecclesiastical History (HE) of Eusebius of Caesarea, wherein he uses the information passed on to him by Origen to create both his list at HE 3:25 and Origen's list at HE 6:25. Eusebius got his information about what texts were then accepted and what were then disputed, by the third-century churches throughout the known world, a great deal of which Origen knew of firsthand from his extensive travels, from the library and writings of Origen. In fact, Origen would have possibly included in his list of "inspired writings" other texts kept out by the likes of Eusebius—including the Epistle of Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermas, and 1 Clement. Notwithstanding these facts, "Origen is not the originator of the idea of biblical canon, but he certainly gives the philosophical and literary-interpretative underpinnings for the whole notion." Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History Eusebius, , gave a detailed list of New Testament writings in his Ecclesiastical History Book 3, Chapter XXV: "1... First then must be put the holy quaternion of the gospels; following them the Acts of the Apostles... the epistles of Paul... the epistle of John... the epistle of Peter... After them is to be placed, if it really seem proper, the Book of Revelation, concerning which we shall give the different opinions at the proper time. These then belong among the accepted writings." "3 Among the disputed writings, which are nevertheless recognized by many, are extant the so-called epistle of James and that of Jude, also the second epistle of Peter, and those that are called the second and third of John, whether they belong to the evangelist or to another person of the same name. Among the rejected [Kirsopp Lake translation: "not genuine"] writings must be reckoned also the Acts of Paul, and the so-called Shepherd, and the Apocalypse of Peter, and in addition to these the extant epistle of Barnabas, and the so-called Teachings of the Apostles; and besides, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if it seem proper, which some, as I said, reject, but which others class with the accepted books. And among these some have placed also the Gospel according to the Hebrews... And all these may be reckoned among the disputed books." "6... such books as the Gospels of Peter, of Thomas, of Matthias, or of any others besides them, and the Acts of Andrew and John and the other apostles... they clearly show themselves to be the fictions of heretics. Wherefore they are not to be placed even among the rejected writings, but are all of them to be cast aside as absurd and impious." The Book of Revelation is counted as both accepted (Kirsopp Lake translation: "recognized") and disputed, which has caused some confusion over what exactly Eusebius meant by doing so. From other writings of the church fathers, it was disputed with several canon lists rejecting its canonicity. EH 3.3.5 adds further detail on Paul: "Paul's fourteen epistles are well known and undisputed. It is not indeed right to overlook the fact that some have rejected the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying that it is disputed by the church of Rome, on the ground that it was not written by Paul." EH 4.29.6 mentions the Diatessaron: "But their original founder, Tatian, formed a certain combination and collection of the gospels, I know not how, to which he gave the title Diatessaron, and which is still in the hands of some. But they say that he ventured to paraphrase certain words of the apostle Paul, in order to improve their style." 4th century and later In his Easter letter of 367, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, gave a list of the books that would become the twenty-seven-book NT canon, and he used the word "canonized" (kanonizomena) in regards to them. The first council that accepted the present canon of the New Testament may have been the Synod of Hippo Regius in North Africa (393 AD). The acts of this council are lost. A brief summary of the acts was read at and accepted by the Council of Carthage (397) and the Council of Carthage (419). These councils were under the authority of St. Augustine, who regarded the canon as already closed. Pope Damasus I's Council of Rome in 382, if the Decretum Gelasianum is correctly associated with it, issued a biblical canon identical to that mentioned above, or, if not, the list is at least a 6th-century compilation. Likewise, Damasus' commissioning of the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible, c. 383, was instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West. In c. 405, Pope Innocent I sent a list of the sacred books to a Gallic bishop, Exsuperius of Toulouse. Christian scholars assert that, when these bishops and councils spoke on the matter, they were not defining something new but instead "were ratifying what had already become the mind of the Church." The New Testament canon as it is now was first listed by St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in 367, in a letter written to his churches in Egypt, Festal Letter 39. Also cited is the Council of Rome, but not without controversy. That canon gained wider and wider recognition until it was accepted at the Third Council of Carthage in 397 and 419. The Book of Revelation was not added till the Council of Carthage (419). Even this council did not settle the matter. Certain books, referred to as Antilegomena, continued to be questioned, especially James and Revelation. Even as late as the 16th century, the Reformer Martin Luther questioned (but in the end did not reject) the Epistle of James, the Epistle of Jude, the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation. To this day, German-language Luther Bibles are printed with these four books at the end of the canon, rather than in their traditional order as in other editions of the Bible. In light of this questioning of the canon of Scripture by Protestants in the 16th century, the (Roman Catholic) Council of Trent reaffirmed the traditional western canon (i.e., the canon accepted at the 4th-century Council of Rome and Council of Carthage), thus making the Canon of Trent and the Vulgate Bible dogma in the Catholic Church. Later, Pope Pius XI on 2 June 1927 decreed the Comma Johanneum was open to dispute and Pope Pius XII on 3 September 1943 issued the encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu, which allowed translations based on other versions than just the Latin Vulgate, notably in English the New American Bible. Thus, some claim that, from the 4th century, there existed unanimity in the West concerning the New Testament canon (as it is today), and that, by the 5th century, the Eastern Church, with a few exceptions, had come to accept the Book of Revelation and thus had come into harmony on the matter of the canon. Nonetheless, full dogmatic articulations of the canon were not made until the Canon of Trent of 1546 for Roman Catholicism, the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 for the Church of England, the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647 for Calvinism, and the Synod of Jerusalem of 1672 for the Greek Orthodox. On the question of NT Canon formation generally, New Testament scholar Lee Martin McDonald has written that: According to the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the Canon of the New Testament: "The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council." In 331, Constantine I commissioned Eusebius to deliver fifty Bibles for the Church of Constantinople. Athanasius (Apol. Const. 4) recorded Alexandrian scribes around 340 preparing Bibles for Constans. Little else is known, though there is plenty of speculation. For example, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists, and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus may be examples of these Bibles. Together with the Peshitta and Codex Alexandrinus, these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles. There is no evidence among the canons of the First Council of Nicaea of any determination on the canon. Early manuscripts Like other literature from antiquity, the text of the New Testament was (prior to the advent of the printing press) preserved and transmitted in manuscripts. Manuscripts containing at least a part of the New Testament number in the thousands. The earliest of these (like manuscripts containing other literature) are often very fragmentarily preserved. Some of these fragments have even been thought to date as early as the 2nd century (i.e., Papyrus 90, Papyrus 98, Papyrus 104, and famously Rylands Library Papyrus P52, though the early date of the latter has recently been called into question). For each subsequent century, more and more manuscripts survive that contain a portion or all of the books that were held to be part of the New Testament at that time (for example, the New Testament of the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus, once a complete Bible, contains the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas), though occasionally these manuscripts contain other works as well (e.g., Papyrus 72 and the Crosby-Schøyen Codex). The date when a manuscript was written does not necessarily reflect the date of the form of text it contains. That is, later manuscripts can, and occasionally do, contain older forms of text or older readings. Some of the more important manuscripts containing an early text of books of the New Testament are: The Chester Beatty Papyri (Greek; the New Testament portions of which were copied in the 3rd century) The Bodmer Papyri (Greek and Coptic; the New Testament portions of which were copied in the 3rd and 4th centuries) Codex Bobiensis (Latin; copied in the 4th century, but containing at least a 3rd-century form of text) Uncial 0171 (Greek; copied in the late-third or early 4th century) Syriac Sinaiticus (Syriac; copied in the 4th century) Schøyen Manuscript 2560 (Coptic; copied in the 4th century) Codex Vaticanus (Greek; copied in the 4th century) Codex Sinaiticus (Greek; copied in the 4th century) Codex Vercellensis (Latin; copied in the 4th century) Curetonian Gospels (Syriac; copied in the 5th century) Garima Gospels ( Ge'ez language, produced in the 5th through 6th century) Textual variation Textual criticism deals with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts. Ancient scribes made errors or alterations (such as including non-authentic additions). The New Testament has been preserved in more than 5,800 Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages including Syriac, Slavic, Ethiopic and Armenian. Even if the original Greek versions were lost, the entire New Testament could still be assembled from the translations. In addition, there are so many quotes from the New Testament in early church documents and commentaries that the entire New Testament could also be assembled from these alone. Not all biblical manuscripts come from orthodox Christian writers. For example, the Gnostic writings of Valentinus come from the 2nd century AD, and these Christians were regarded as heretics by the mainstream church. The sheer number of witnesses presents unique difficulties, but it also gives scholars a better idea |
parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS consists of the brain, brainstem and spinal cord. The PNS consists mainly of nerves, which are enclosed bundles of the long fibers or axons, that connect the CNS to all remaining body parts. Nerves that transmit signals from the CNS are called motor or efferent nerves, while those nerves that transmit information from the body to the CNS are called sensory or afferent. Spinal nerves serve both functions and are called mixed nerves. The PNS is divided into three separate subsystems, the somatic, autonomic, and enteric nervous systems. Somatic nerves mediate voluntary movement. The autonomic nervous system is further subdivided into the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system is activated in cases of emergencies to mobilize energy, while the parasympathetic nervous system is activated when organisms are in a relaxed state. The enteric nervous system functions to control the gastrointestinal system. Both autonomic and enteric nervous systems function involuntarily. Nerves that exit from the cranium are called cranial nerves while those exiting from the spinal cord are called spinal nerves. Clinical significance Cancer can spread by invading the spaces around nerves. This is particularly common in head and neck cancer, prostate cancer and colorectal cancer. Nerves can be damaged by physical injury as well conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive strain injury. Autoimmune diseases such as Guillain–Barré syndrome, neurodegenerative diseases, polyneuropathy, infection, neuritis, diabetes, or failure of the blood vessels surrounding the nerve all cause nerve damage, which can vary in severity. Multiple sclerosis is a disease associated with extensive nerve damage. It occurs when the macrophages of an individual's own immune system damage the myelin sheaths that insulate the axon of the nerve. A pinched nerve occurs when pressure is placed on a nerve, usually from swelling due to an injury, or pregnancy and can result in pain, weakness, numbness or paralysis, an example being carpal tunnel syndrome. Symptoms can be felt in areas far from the actual site of damage, a phenomenon called referred pain. Referred pain can happen when the damage causes altered signalling to other areas. Neurologists usually diagnose disorders of the nerves by a physical examination, including the testing of reflexes, walking and other directed movements, muscle weakness, proprioception, and the sense of touch. This initial exam can be followed with tests such as nerve conduction study, electromyography (EMG), and computed tomography (CT). Other animals A neuron is called identified if it has properties that distinguish it from every other neuron in the same animal—properties such as location, neurotransmitter, gene expression pattern, and connectivity—and if every individual organism belonging to the same species has exactly one neuron with the same set of properties. In vertebrate nervous systems, very few neurons are "identified" in this sense. Researchers believe humans have none—but in simpler nervous systems, some or all neurons may be thus unique. In vertebrates, the best known identified neurons are the gigantic Mauthner cells of fish. Every fish has two Mauthner cells, located in the bottom part of the brainstem, one on the left side and one on the right. Each Mauthner cell has an axon that crosses over, innervating (stimulating) neurons at the same brain level and then travelling down through the spinal cord, making numerous connections as it goes. The synapses generated by a Mauthner cell are so powerful that a single action potential gives rise to a major behavioral response: within milliseconds the fish curves its body into a C-shape, then straightens, thereby propelling itself rapidly forward. Functionally this is a fast escape response, triggered most easily by a strong sound wave or pressure wave impinging on the lateral line organ of the fish. Mauthner cells are not the only identified neurons in fish—there are about 20 more types, including pairs of "Mauthner cell analogs" in each spinal segmental nucleus. Although a Mauthner cell is capable of bringing about an escape response all by itself, in the context of ordinary behavior other types of cells usually contribute to shaping the amplitude and direction of the response. Mauthner cells have been described as command neurons. A command neuron is a special type of identified neuron, defined as a neuron that is capable of driving a specific behavior all by itself. Such neurons appear most commonly in the fast escape systems of various species—the squid giant axon and squid giant synapse, used for pioneering experiments in neurophysiology because of their enormous size, both participate in the fast escape circuit of the squid. The concept of a command neuron has, however, become controversial, because of studies showing that some neurons that initially appeared to fit the description were really only capable of evoking a response in a limited set of circumstances. In organisms of radial symmetry, nerve nets serve for the nervous system. There is no brain or centralised head region, and instead there are interconnected neurons spread out in nerve nets. These are found in Cnidaria, Ctenophora and Echinodermata. History Herophilos 335–280 BC, described the optic nerve and the oculomotor nerve for sight and eye movement. Analysis of the nerves in the cranium allowed him to | the neurons of a nerve have fairly high energy requirements. Within the endoneurium, the individual nerve fibres are surrounded by a low-protein liquid called endoneurial fluid. This acts in a similar way to the cerebrospinal fluid in the central nervous system and constitutes a blood-nerve barrier similar to the blood-brain barrier. Molecules are thereby prevented from crossing the blood into the endoneurial fluid. During the development of nerve edema from nerve irritation (or injury), the amount of endoneurial fluid may increase at the site of irritation. This increase in fluid can be visualized using magnetic resonance neurography, and thus MR neurography can identify nerve irritation and/or injury. Categories Nerves are categorized into three groups based on the direction that signals are conducted: Afferent nerves conduct signals from sensory neurons to the central nervous system, for example from the mechanoreceptors in skin. Efferent nerves conduct signals from the central nervous system along motor neurons to their target muscles and glands. Mixed nerves contain both afferent and efferent axons, and thus conduct both incoming sensory information and outgoing muscle commands in the same bundle. All spinal nerves are mixed nerves, and some of the cranial nerves are also mixed nerves. Nerves can be categorized into two groups based on where they connect to the central nervous system: Spinal nerves innervate (distribute to/stimulate) much of the body, and connect through the vertebral column to the spinal cord and thus to the central nervous system. They are given letter-number designations according to the vertebra through which they connect to the spinal column. Cranial nerves innervate parts of the head, and connect directly to the brain (especially to the brainstem). They are typically assigned Roman numerals from 1 to 12, although cranial nerve zero is sometimes included. In addition, cranial nerves have descriptive names. Terminology Specific terms are used to describe nerves and their actions. A nerve that supplies information to the brain from an area of the body, or controls an action of the body is said to "innervate" that section of the body or organ. Other terms relate to whether the nerve affects the same side ("ipsilateral") or opposite side ("contralateral") of the body, to the part of the brain that supplies it. Development Nerve growth normally ends in adolescence, but can be re-stimulated with a molecular mechanism known as "Notch signaling". Regeneration If the axons of a neuron are damaged, as long as the cell body of the neuron is not damaged, the axons can regenerate and remake the synaptic connections with neurons with the help of guidepost cells. This is also referred to as neuroregeneration. The nerve begins the process by destroying the nerve distal to the site of injury allowing Schwann cells, basal lamina, and the neurilemma near the injury to begin producing a regeneration tube. Nerve growth factors are produced causing many nerve sprouts to bud. When one of the growth processes finds the regeneration tube, it begins to grow rapidly towards its original destination guided the entire time by the regeneration tube. Nerve regeneration is very slow and can take up to several months to complete. While this process does repair some nerves, there will still be some functional deficit as the repairs are not perfect. Function A nerve conveys information in the form of electrochemical impulses (as nerve impulses known as action potentials) carried by the individual neurons that make up the nerve. These impulses are extremely fast, with some myelinated neurons conducting at speeds up to 120 m/s. The impulses travel from one neuron to another by crossing a synapse, where the message is converted from electrical to chemical and then back to electrical. Nerves can be categorized into two groups based on function: An afferent nerve fiber conducts sensory information from a sensory neuron to the central nervous system, where the information is then processed. Bundles of fibres or axons, in the peripheral nervous system are called nerves, and bundles of afferent fibers are known as sensory nerves. An efferent nerve fiber conducts signals from a motor neuron in the central nervous system to muscles. Bundles of these fibres are known as efferent nerves. Nervous system The nervous system is the part of an animal that coordinates its actions by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. In vertebrates it consists of two main parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS consists of the brain, brainstem |
closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions that are called in question." In England the more recent case of Caparo Industries Plc v Dickman [1990] introduced a 'threefold test' for a duty of care. Harm must be (1) reasonably foreseeable (2) there must be a relationship of proximity between the plaintiff and defendant and (3) it must be 'fair, just and reasonable' to impose liability. However, these act as guidelines for the courts in establishing a duty of care; much of the principle is still at the discretion of judges. In Australia, Donoghue v Stevenson was used as a persuasive precedent in the case of Grant v Australian Knitting Mills (AKR) (1936). This was a landmark case in the development of negligence law in Australia. Whether a duty of care is owed for psychiatric, as opposed to physical, harm was discussed in the Australian case of Tame v State of New South Wales; Annetts v Australian Stations Pty Ltd (2002). Determining a duty for mental harm has now been subsumed into the Civil Liability Act 2002 in New South Wales. The application of Part 3 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) was demonstrated in Wicks v SRA (NSW); Sheehan v SRA (NSW). Breach of duty Once it is established that the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff/claimant, the matter of whether or not that duty was breached must be settled. The test is both subjective and objective. The defendant who knowingly (subjective, which is totally based on observation and personal prejudice or view) exposes the plaintiff/claimant to a substantial risk of loss, breaches that duty. The defendant who fails to realize the substantial risk of loss to the plaintiff/claimant, which any reasonable person [objective, Which is totally based on ground facts and reality without any personal prejudice or point of view.] in the same situation would clearly have realized, also breaches that duty. However, whether the test is objective or subjective may depend upon the particular case involved. There is a reduced threshold for the standard of care owed by children. In the Australian case of McHale v Watson, McHale, a 9-year-old girl was blinded in one eye after being hit by the ricochet of a sharp metal rod thrown by a 12-year-old boy, Watson. The defendant child was held not to have the level of care to the standard of an adult, but of a 12-year-old child with similar experience and intelligence. Kitto J explained that a child's lack of foresight is a characteristic they share with others at that stage of development. The same principle was demonstrated to exist in English law in Mullin v Richards. Certain jurisdictions, also provide for breaches where professionals, such as doctors, fail to warn of risks associated with medical treatments or procedures. Doctors owe both objective and subjective duties to warn; and breach of either is sufficient to satisfy this element in a court of law. For example, the Civil Liability Act in Queensland outlines a statutory test incorporating both objective and subjective elements. For example, an obstetrician who fails to warn a mother of complications arising from childbirth may be held to have breached their professional duty of care. In Donoghue v Stevenson, Lord Macmillan declared that "the categories of negligence are never closed"; and in Dorset Yacht v Home Office it was held that the government had no immunity from suit when they negligently failed to prevent the escape of juvenile offenders who subsequently vandalise a boatyard. In other words, all members of society have a duty to exercise reasonable care toward others and their property. In Bolton v. Stone (1951), the House of Lords held that a defendant was not negligent if the damage to the plaintiff were not a reasonably foreseeable consequence of his conduct. In the case, a Miss Stone was struck on the head by a cricket ball while standing outside a cricket ground. Finding that no batsman would normally be able hit a cricket ball far enough to reach a person standing as far away as was Miss Stone, the court held her claim would fail because the danger was not reasonably or sufficiently foreseeable. As stated in the opinion, 'reasonable risk' cannot be judged with the benefit of hindsight. In Roe v Minister of Health, Lord Denning said the past should not be viewed through rose coloured spectacles, finding no negligence on the part of medical professionals accused of using contaminated medical jars, since contemporary standards would have indicated only a low possibility of medical jar contamination. United States v. Carroll Towing Co. 159 F.2d 169 (2d. Cir. 1947) For the rule in the U.S., see: Calculus of negligence Intention and/or malice Further establishment of conditions of intention or malice where applicable may apply in cases of gross negligence. Causation In order for liability to result from a negligent act or omission, it is necessary to prove not only that the injury was caused by that negligence, but also that there is a legally sufficient connection between the act and the negligence. Factual causation (actual cause) For a defendant to be held liable, it must be shown that the particular acts or omissions were the cause of the loss or damage sustained. Although the notion sounds simple, the causation between one's breach of duty and the harm that results to another can at times be very complicated. The basic test is to ask whether the injury would have occurred 'but for', or without, the accused party's breach of the duty owed to the injured party. In Australia, the High Court has held that the 'but for' test is not the exclusive test of causation because it cannot address a situation where there is more than one cause of damage. When 'but for' test is not satisfied and the case is an exceptional one, a commonsense test ('Whether and Why' test) will be applied Even more precisely, if a breaching party materially increases the risk of harm to another, then the breaching party can be sued to the value of harm that he caused. Asbestos litigations which have been ongoing for decades revolve around the issue of causation. Interwoven with the simple idea of a party causing harm to another are issues on insurance bills and compensations, which sometimes drove compensating companies out of business. Legal causation (proximate cause) Sometimes factual causation is distinguished from 'legal causation' to avert the danger of defendants being exposed to, in the words of Cardozo, J., "liability in an indeterminate amount for an indeterminate time to an indeterminate class." It is said a new question arises of how remote a consequence a person's harm is from another's negligence. We say that one's negligence is 'too remote' (in England) or not a 'proximate cause' (in the U.S.) of another's harm if one would 'never' reasonably foresee it happening. Note that a 'proximate cause' in U.S. terminology (to do with the chain of events between the action and the injury) should not be confused with the 'proximity test' under the English duty of care (to do with closeness of relationship). The idea of legal causation is that if no one can foresee something bad happening, and therefore take care to avoid it, how could anyone be responsible? For instance, in Palsgraf v. Long Island Rail Road Co. the judge decided that the defendant, a railway, was not liable for an injury suffered by a distant bystander. The plaintiff, Palsgraf, was hit by coin-operated scale which toppled because of fireworks explosion that fell on her as she waited on a train platform. The scales fell because of a far-away commotion but it was not clear that what type of commotion caused the scale to fall, either it was the explosion's effect or the confused movement of the terrified people. A train conductor had run to help a man into a departing train. The man was carrying a package as he jogged to jump in the train door. The package had fireworks in it. The conductor mishandled the passenger or his package, causing the package to fall. The fireworks slipped and exploded on the ground causing shockwaves to travel through the platform, which became the cause of commotion on platform, and as a consequence, the scales fell. Because Palsgraf was hurt by the falling scales, she sued the train company who employed the conductor for negligence. The defendant train company argued it should not be liable as a matter of law, because despite the fact that they employed the employee, who was negligent, his negligence was too remote from the plaintiff's injury. On appeal, the majority of the court agreed, with four judges adopting the reasons, written by Judge Cardozo, that the defendant owed no duty of care to the plaintiff, because a duty was owed only to foreseeable plaintiffs. Three judges dissented, arguing, as written by Judge Andrews, that the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff, regardless of foreseeability, because all men owe one another a duty not | for emotional or non-pecuniary losses on the condition that If the plaintiff can prove pecuniary loss, then he can also obtain damages for non-pecuniary injuries, such as emotional distress. The requirement of pecuniary loss can be shown in a number of ways. A plaintiff who is physically injured by allegedly negligent conduct may show that he had to pay a medical bill. If his property is damaged, he could show the income lost because he could not use it, the cost to repair it, although he could only recover for one of these things. The damage may be physical, purely economic, both physical and economic (loss of earnings following a personal injury,) or reputational (in a defamation case). In English law, the right to claim for purely economic loss is limited to a number of 'special' and clearly defined circumstances, often related to the nature of the duty to the plaintiff as between clients and lawyers, financial advisers, and other professions where money is central to the consultative services. Emotional distress has been recognized as an actionable tort. Generally, emotional distress damages had to be parasitic. That is, the plaintiff could recover for emotional distress caused by injury, but only if it accompanied a physical or pecuniary injury. A claimant who has suffered only emotional distress and no pecuniary loss would not recover for negligence. However, courts have recently allowed recovery for a plaintiff to recover for purely emotional distress under certain circumstances. The state courts of California allowed recovery for emotional distress aloneeven in the absence of any physical injury, when the defendant physically injures a relative of the plaintiff, and the plaintiff witnesses it. The eggshell skull rule is a legal doctrine upheld in some tort law systems, which holds that a tortfeasor is liable for the full extent of damage caused, even where the extent of the damage is due to the unforeseen frailty of the claimant. The eggshell skull rule was recently maintained in Australia in the case of Kavanagh v Akhtar. Special Doctrines Res ipsa loquitor. This is Latin for "the thing speaks for itself." To prove negligence under this doctrine the plaintiff must prove (1) the incident does not usually happen without negligence, (2) the object that caused the harm was under the defendant's control and (3) the plaintiff did not contribute to the cause. Negligence per se comes down to whether or not a party violated a standard in law meant to protect the public such as a building code or speed limit. Damages Damages place a monetary value on the harm done, following the principle of restitutio in integrum (Latin for "restoration to the original condition"). Thus, for most purposes connected with the quantification of damages, the degree of culpability in the breach of the duty of care is irrelevant. Once the breach of the duty is established, the only requirement is to compensate the victim. One of the main tests that is posed when deliberating whether a claimant is entitled to compensation for a tort, is the "reasonable person". The test is self-explanatory: would a reasonable person (as determined by a judge or jury), under the given circumstances, have done what the defendant did to cause the injury in question; or, in other words, would a reasonable person, acting reasonably, have engaged in similar conduct when compared to the one whose actions caused the injury in question? Simple as the "reasonable person" test sounds, it is very complicated. It is a risky test because it involves the opinion of either the judge or the jury that can be based on limited facts. However, as vague as the "reasonable person" test seems, it is extremely important in deciding whether or not a plaintiff is entitled to compensation for a negligence tort. Damages are compensatory in nature. Compensatory damages addresses a plaintiff/claimant's losses (in cases involving physical or mental injury the amount awarded also compensates for pain and suffering). The award should make the plaintiff whole, sufficient to put the plaintiff back in the position he or she was before Defendant's negligent act. Anything more would unlawfully permit a plaintiff to profit from the tort. There are also two other general principles relating to damages. Firstly, the award of damages should take place in the form of a single lump sum payment. Therefore, a defendant should not be required to make periodic payments (however some statutes give exceptions for this). Secondly, the Court is not concerned with how the plaintiff uses the award of damages. For example, if a plaintiff is awarded $100,000 for physical harm, the plaintiff is not required to spend this money on medical bills to restore them to their original position - they can spend this money any way they want. Types of damage Special damages - quantifiable dollar losses suffered from the date of defendant's negligent act (the tort) up to a specified time (proven at trial). Special damage examples include lost wages, medical bills, and damage to property such as one's car. General damages - these are damages that are not quantified in monetary terms (e.g., there's no invoice or receipt as there would be to prove special damages). A general damage example is an amount for the pain and suffering one experiences from a car collision. Lastly, where the plaintiff proves only minimal loss or damage, or the court or jury is unable to quantify the losses, the court or jury may award nominal damages. Punitive damages - Punitive damages are to punish a defendant, rather than to compensate plaintiffs, in negligence cases. In most jurisdictions punitive damages are recoverable in a negligence action, but only if the plaintiff shows that the defendant’s conduct was more than ordinary negligence (i.e., wanton and willful or reckless). Aggravated damages - In contrast to exemplary damages, compensation are given to the plaintiff when the harm is aggravated by the defendant's conduct. For example, the manner of this wrongful act increased the injury by subjecting the plaintiff to humiliation, insult. Worldwide India With regard to negligence, Indian jurisprudence follows the approach stated in Ratanlal & Dhirajlal: The Law of Torts, laying down three elements: A duty of care (i.e. a legal duty to exercise "ordinary care and skill") A violation of the appropriate standard of care Causation (i.e. the violation resulted in injury to the plaintiff's person or property) The Indian approach to professional negligence requires that any skilled task requires a skilled professional. Such a professional would be expected to be exercising his skill with reasonable competence. Professionals may be held liable for negligence on one of two findings: They were not possessed of the requisite skill which he professed to have possessed. They did not exercise, with reasonable competence in the given case, the skill which he did possess. The standard to be applied for determining whether or not either of the two findings can be made is whether a competent person exercising ordinary skill in that profession would possess or exercise in a similar manner the skill in question. Consequently, it is not necessary for every professional to possess the highest level of expertise in that branch which he practices. Professional opinion is generally accepted, but courts may rule otherwise if they feel that the opinion is "not reasonable or responsible". United States The United States generally recognizes four elements to a negligence |
bend region, with abundant resources including plants for grazing and fish. Like in the Fertile Crescent, many food crops were domesticated in the Niger River region, including yams, African rice (Oryza glaberrima), and pearl millet. The Sahara aridification may have triggered, or at least accelerated, these domestications. Agriculture, as well as fishing and animal husbandry, led to the rise of settlements like Djenné-Djenno in the Inner Delta, now a World Heritage Site. The region of the Niger bend, in the Sahel, was a key origin and destination for trans-Saharan trade, fueling the wealth of great empires such as the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires. Major trading ports along the river, including Timbuktu and Gao, became centers of learning and culture. Trade to the Niger bend region also brought Islam to the region in approximately the 14th century CE. Much of the northern Niger basin remains Muslim today, although the southern reaches of the river tend to be Christian. Classical writings on the interior of the Sahara begins with Ptolemy, who mentions two rivers in the desert: the "Gir" (Γειρ) and farther south, the "Nigir" (Νιγειρ). The first has been since identified as the Wadi Ghir on the north western edge of the Tuat, along the borders of modern Morocco and Algeria. This would likely have been as far as Ptolemy would have had consistent records. The Ni-Ger was likely speculation, although the name stuck as that of a river south of the Mediterranean's "known world". Suetonius reports Romans traveling to the "Ger", although in reporting any river's name derived from a Berber language, in which "gher" means "watercourse", confusion could easily arise. Pliny connected these two rivers as one long watercourse which flowed (via lakes and underground sections) into the Nile, a notion which persisted in the Arab and European worlds – and further added the Senegal River as the "Ger" – until the 19th century. While the true course of the Niger was presumably known to locals, it was a mystery to the outside world until the late 18th century. The connection to the Nile River was made not simply because this was then known as the great river of "Aethiopia" (by which all lands south of the desert were called by Classical writers), but because the Nile like the Niger flooded every summer. Through the descriptions of Leo Africanus and even Ibn Battuta – despite his visit to the river – the myth connecting the Niger to the Nile persisted. Many European expeditions to plot the river were unsuccessful. In 1788 the African Association was formed in England to promote the exploration of Africa in the hopes of locating the Niger, and in June 1796 the Scottish explorer Mungo Park was the first European to lay eyes on the middle portion of the river since antiquity (and perhaps ever). He wrote an account in 1799, Travels in the Interior of Africa. Park proposed a theory that the Niger and Congo were the same river. Although the Niger Delta would seem like an obvious candidate, it was a maze of streams and swamps that did not look like the head of a great river. He died in 1806 on a second expedition attempting to prove the Niger-Congo connection. The theory became the leading one in Europe. Several failed expeditions followed; however the mystery of the Niger would not be solved for another 25 years, in 1830, when Richard Lander and his brother became the first Europeans to follow the course of the Niger to the ocean. In 1946, three Frenchmen, Jean Sauvy, Pierre Ponty and movie maker Jean Rouch, former civil servants in the African French colonies, set out to travel the entire length of the river, as no one else seemed to have done previously. They travelled from the beginning of the river near Kissidougou in Guinea, walking at first till a raft could be used, then changing to various local crafts as the river broadened and changed. Two of them reached the ocean on March 25, 1947, with Pierre Ponty having left the expedition at Niamey, somewhat past the halfway mark. They carried a 16mm movie camera, the resulting footage giving Jean Rouch his first two ethnographic documentaries: "Au pays des mages noirs", and "La chasse à l’hippopotame". A camera was used to illustrate Jean Rouch's subsequent book "Le Niger En Pirogue" (Fernand Nathan, 1954), as well as Jean Sauvy's “Descente du Niger” (L'Harmattan 2001). A typewriter was brought as well, on which Pierre Ponty produced newspaper articles he mailed out whenever possible. Management and development The water in the Niger River basin is partially regulated through dams. In Mali the Sélingué Dam on the Sankarani River is mainly used for hydropower but also permits irrigation. Two diversion dams, one | between Ségou and Timbuktu to seepage and evaporation. All the water from the Bani River, which flows into the Delta at Mopti, does not compensate for the 'losses'. The average 'loss' is estimated at 31 km3/year but varies considerably between years. The river is then joined by various tributaries but also loses more water to evaporation. The quantity of water entering Nigeria measured in Yola was estimated at 25 km3/year before the 1980s and at 13.5 km3/year during the 1980s. The most important tributary is the Benue River which merges with the Niger at Lokoja in Nigeria. The total volume of tributaries in Nigeria is six times higher than the inflow into Nigeria, with a flow near the mouth of the river standing at 177.0 km3/year before the 1980s and 147.3 km3/year during the 1980s. Course The Niger takes one of the most unusual routes of any major river, a boomerang shape that baffled geographers for two centuries. Its source (Tembakounda) is 240 km (150 mi) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, but the river runs directly away from the sea into the Sahara Desert, then takes a sharp right turn near the ancient city of Timbuktu (Tombouctou) and heads southeast to the Gulf of Guinea. This strange geography apparently came about because the Niger River is two ancient rivers joined together. The upper Niger, from the source west of Timbuktu to the bend in the current river near Timbuktu, once emptied into a now dry lake to the east northeast of Timbuktu, while the lower Niger started to the south of Timbuktu and flowed south into the Gulf of Guinea. Over time upstream erosion by the lower Niger resulted in stream capture of the upper Niger by the lower Niger. The northern part of the river, known as the Niger bend, is an important area because it is the major river and source of water in that part of the Sahara. This made it the focal point of trade across the western Sahara and the centre of the Sahelian kingdoms of Mali and Gao. The surrounding Niger River Basin is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the Sudan province, which in turn is part of the larger African massive physiographic division. History At the end of the African humid period around 5,500 years before present, the modern Sahara Desert, once a savanna, underwent desertification. As plant species sharply declined, humans migrated to the fertile Niger River bend region, with abundant resources including plants for grazing and fish. Like in the Fertile Crescent, many food crops were domesticated in the Niger River region, including yams, African rice (Oryza glaberrima), and pearl millet. The Sahara aridification may have triggered, or at least accelerated, these domestications. Agriculture, as well as fishing and animal husbandry, led to the rise of settlements like Djenné-Djenno in the Inner Delta, now a World Heritage Site. The region of the Niger bend, in the Sahel, was a key origin and destination for trans-Saharan trade, fueling the wealth of great empires such as the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires. Major trading ports along the river, including Timbuktu and Gao, became centers of learning and culture. Trade to the Niger bend region also brought Islam to the region in approximately the 14th century CE. Much of the northern Niger basin remains Muslim today, although the southern reaches of the river tend to be Christian. Classical writings on the interior of the Sahara begins with Ptolemy, who mentions two rivers in the desert: the "Gir" (Γειρ) and farther south, the "Nigir" (Νιγειρ). The first has been since identified as the Wadi Ghir on the north western edge of the Tuat, along the borders of modern Morocco and Algeria. This would likely have been as far as Ptolemy would have had consistent records. The Ni-Ger was likely speculation, although the name stuck as that of a river south of the Mediterranean's "known world". Suetonius reports Romans traveling to the "Ger", although in reporting any river's name derived from a Berber language, in which "gher" means "watercourse", confusion could easily arise. Pliny connected these two rivers as one long watercourse which flowed (via lakes and underground sections) into the Nile, a notion which persisted in the Arab and European worlds – and further added the Senegal River as the "Ger" – until the 19th century. While the true course of the Niger was presumably known to locals, it was a mystery to the outside world until the late 18th century. The connection to the Nile River was made not simply because this was then known as the great river of "Aethiopia" (by which all lands south of the desert were called by Classical writers), but because the Nile like the Niger flooded every summer. Through |
These theories reject the dichotomy of mind and matter, believing the fundamental nature of reality to be neither mental nor physical; in other words it is "neutral". Relations to other theories Physicalists believe reality is fundamentally material, idealists believe reality is fundamentally mental, dualists believe reality consists of both fundamentally mental and fundamentally physical elements, and neutral monists believe reality consists of elements that are neither fundamentally physical nor mental. Monism Neutral monism largely overlaps with dual-aspect theory. However, it shares little in common with other forms of monism, such as idealism and physicalism. Dualism Neutral monism is similar to dualism in that both take reality to have both mental and physical properties irreducible to one another. Unlike dualism however, neutral monism does not take these properties to be fundamental or separate from one another from any meaningful sense. Dualism takes the mind to supervene on matter, or - though this is less common - for matter to supervene on the mind. Neutral monism, in contrast, take both mind and matter to supervene on a neutral third substance. According to Baruch Spinoza, the mind and the body are dual aspects of Nature or God, which he identified as the third substance. While schematic differences and neutral monism are quite stark, contemporary conceptions of the theories overlap in certain key areas. For instance, Chalmers (1996) maintains that the difference between neutral monism and his preferred property dualism can, at times, be mostly semantic. Panpsychism Panpsychism is a class of theories that believe consciousness is ubiquitous. John Searle distinguished it from neutral monism as well as property dualism, which he identified as a form of dualism. However, some neutral monist theories are panpsychist and some panpsychist theories are neutral monist. However, the two don't always overlap. For instance, Russellian monism is not panpsychism in response to the combination problem. Conversely, some versions of property dualism are panpsychist, but not neutral monistic. History Antecedents Baruch Spinoza and David Hume provided accounts of reality that may be interpreted as neutral monism. Spinoza's metaphysics in Ethics argues for a monistic worldview, as well as a neutral one where body and mind are the same. H.H. Price argues that Hume's empiricism introduces a "neutral monist theory of sensation" as both "matter and mind are constructed out of sense-data". In the late 19th century, physicist Ernst Mach theorized that physical entities are nothing apart from their perceived mental properties. Mach ultimately surmises that "both object and ego are provisional fictions of the same kind". Early 20th century William James propounded the notion of radical empiricism to advance neutral monism in his essay "Does Consciousness Exist?" in 1904 (reprinted in Essays in Radical Empiricism in 1912). William James was one of the earliest philosophers to fully articulate a complete neutral monist view of the world. He did so largely in reaction to neo-Kantianism, which was prevalent at the time. A convert of James, Bertrand Russell advocated for neutral monism, coining the term itself. Russell expressed interest in neutral monism early on his career, and officially endorsed the view from 1919 onward. He has hailed the ontology as the "supreme maxim in scientific philosophising". Russell's conception of neutral monism went through a number of iterations throughout his career. Russell's personal brand of neutral can be referred to as Russell's neutral monism or Russellian monism. It is compatible with logical atomism which was identified as Russel's earlier philosophy until he changed it into "neutral monism". His position was contentious among his contemporaries; G.E Moore maintained that Russell's philosophy was flawed due to a misinterpretation of facts (e.g. the concept of acquaintance). Neutral monism about the mind–body relationship is described by historian C. D. Broad in The Mind and Its Place in Nature. Broad's list of possible views about the mind-body problem, which became known simply as "Broad's famous list of 1925" (see chapter XIV of Broad's book) states the basis of what this theory had been and was to become. Whately Carington in his book Matter, Mind, and Meaning (1949) advocated a form of neutral | well as property dualism, which he identified as a form of dualism. However, some neutral monist theories are panpsychist and some panpsychist theories are neutral monist. However, the two don't always overlap. For instance, Russellian monism is not panpsychism in response to the combination problem. Conversely, some versions of property dualism are panpsychist, but not neutral monistic. History Antecedents Baruch Spinoza and David Hume provided accounts of reality that may be interpreted as neutral monism. Spinoza's metaphysics in Ethics argues for a monistic worldview, as well as a neutral one where body and mind are the same. H.H. Price argues that Hume's empiricism introduces a "neutral monist theory of sensation" as both "matter and mind are constructed out of sense-data". In the late 19th century, physicist Ernst Mach theorized that physical entities are nothing apart from their perceived mental properties. Mach ultimately surmises that "both object and ego are provisional fictions of the same kind". Early 20th century William James propounded the notion of radical empiricism to advance neutral monism in his essay "Does Consciousness Exist?" in 1904 (reprinted in Essays in Radical Empiricism in 1912). William James was one of the earliest philosophers to fully articulate a complete neutral monist view of the world. He did so largely in reaction to neo-Kantianism, which was prevalent at the time. A convert of James, Bertrand Russell advocated for neutral monism, coining the term itself. Russell expressed interest in neutral monism early on his career, and officially endorsed the view from 1919 onward. He has hailed the ontology as the "supreme maxim in scientific philosophising". Russell's conception of neutral monism went through a number of iterations throughout his career. Russell's personal brand of neutral can be referred to as Russell's neutral monism or Russellian monism. It is compatible with logical atomism which was identified as Russel's earlier philosophy until he changed it into "neutral monism". His position was contentious among his contemporaries; G.E Moore maintained that Russell's philosophy was flawed due to a misinterpretation of facts (e.g. the concept of acquaintance). Neutral monism about the mind–body relationship is described by historian C. D. Broad in The Mind and Its Place in Nature. Broad's list of possible views about the mind-body problem, which became known simply as "Broad's famous list of 1925" (see chapter XIV of Broad's book) states the basis of what this theory had been and was to become. Whately Carington in his book Matter, Mind, and Meaning (1949) advocated a form of neutral monism. He held that mind and matter both consist of the same kind of components known as "cognita" or sense data. Russian psychologist Boris Sidis also appears to have adhered to some form of neutral monism. Present David Chalmers has been known to express sympathy toward neutral monism. In The Conscious Mind (1996) he concludes that facts about consciousness are "further facts about our world" and that there ought to be more to reality than just the physical. He then goes on to engage with a Platonic rendition of neutral monism that holds information as fundamental. Though Chalmers believes neutral monism and panpsychism ought to be taken seriously, he considers the combination problem to be point of concern. He considers Russell's solution of "protophenominal properties" to be ad hoc, and thinks such speculation undercuts the parsimony that made neutral monism initially appealing. According to Stephen Stich and Ted Warfield, neutral monism has not been a popular view in philosophy as it is difficult to develop or understand the nature of the neutral elements. Nevertheless, a Machian version of the view has been defended by Jonathan Westphal in The Mind-Body Problem, 2016. Arguments in favour Russell was attracted to neutral monism due to its parsimony. In his view, neutral monism offered an "immense simplification" for metaphysics. The upshot of this is that neutral monism provides a solution to the hard problem of consciousness. Annaka Harris formulated the hard problem as "how experience arises out of non-sentient matter"; the neutral monist solves the problem by arguing that if matter is neutral and contains some level of sentience, then one has perceptual contact with the world without needing to explain how experience mysteriously arises from physical matter. An account for how this works relies on creating a distinction between extrinsic properties and intrinsic properties. Extrinsic properties are properties that exist by virtue of how they interact the world and are outwardly observable, such as structures and form. Intrinsic properties are properties exist by virtue of the way they are and are not necessarily outwardly observable. Astrophysicist Arthur Eddington notes that physics can only provide metrical indicators but tells us nothing about the intrinsic nature of things. In other words, most of the positive claims in science are related to the extrinsic properties of reality; that is, with their relationships. However, just because the intrinsic properties of matter are unknown does not mean they do not exist, and in fact may be |
short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in Lovecraft's "The Nameless City". Among other things, the work contains an account of the Old Ones, their history, and the means for summoning them. Other authors such as August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith also cited the in their works. Lovecraft approved of other writers building on his work, believing such common allusions built up "a background of evil verisimilitude." Many readers have believed it to be a real work, with booksellers and librarians receiving many requests for it; pranksters have listed it in rare book catalogues, and a student smuggled a card for it into the card catalog of the Yale University Library. Capitalizing on the notoriety of the fictional volume, real-life publishers have printed many books entitled since Lovecraft's death. Origin How Lovecraft conceived the name is not clear—Lovecraft said that the title came to him in a dream. Although some have suggested that Lovecraft was influenced primarily by Robert W. Chambers' collection of short stories The King in Yellow, which centers on a mysterious and disturbing play in book form, Lovecraft is not believed to have read that work until 1927. Donald R. Burleson has argued that the idea for the book was derived from Nathaniel Hawthorne, though Lovecraft himself noted that "mouldy hidden manuscripts" were one of the stock features of Gothic literature. Lovecraft wrote that the title, as translated from the Greek language, meant "an image of the law of the dead", compounded respectively from "dead", "law", and "image". Robert M. Price notes that the title has been variously translated by others as "Book of the names of the dead", "Book of the laws of the dead", "Book of dead names" and "Knower of the laws of the dead". S. T. Joshi states that Lovecraft's own etymology is "almost entirely unsound. The last portion of it is particularly erroneous, since is nothing more than a neuter adjectival suffix and has nothing to do with (image)." Joshi translates the title as "Book considering (or classifying) the dead." Lovecraft was often asked about the veracity of the , and always answered that it was completely his invention. In a letter to Willis Conover, Lovecraft elaborated upon his typical answer: Now about the "terrible and forbidden books”—I am forced to say that most of them are purely imaginary. There never was any Abdul Alhazred or , for I invented these names myself. Robert Bloch devised the idea of Ludvig Prinn and his De Vermis Mysteriis, while the Book of Eibon is an invention of Clark Ashton Smith's. Robert E. Howard is responsible for Friedrich von Junzt and his Unaussprechlichen Kulten.... As for seriously-written books on dark, occult, and supernatural themes—in all truth they don’t amount to much. That is why it’s more fun to invent mythical works like the and Book of Eibon. Reinforcing the book's fictionalization, the name of the book's supposed author, Abdul Alhazred, is not even a grammatically correct Arabic name. What is transliterated as "Abdul" in English is actually a noun in the nominative form ʿabdu (, "servant") and the definite article al- () and amounts to "servant of the" with the article actually being part of the second noun in the construct, which in this case is supposed to be "Alhazred" (traditional Arabic names do not follow the modern first name-surname format). But "Alhazred", even if considered as a corruption of al-ḥaḍrāt (, "the presences") though it seems unlikely, itself is a definite noun (i.e., a noun prefixed by the definite article) and thus "Abdul Alhazred" could not possibly be a real Arabic name. Lovecraft first used the name "Abdul Alhazred" as a pseudonym he gave himself as a five-year-old, and very likely mistook "Abdul" to be a first name while inventing "Alhazred" as an Arabic-sounding surname. Fictional history In 1927, Lovecraft wrote a brief pseudo-history of the Necronomicon. It was published in 1938, after his death, as "History of the Necronomicon". According to this account, the book was originally called , an Arabic word that Lovecraft defined as "that nocturnal sound (made by insects) supposed to be the howling of demons", drawing on a footnote by Rev. Samuel Henley in Henley's translation of Vathek. Henley, commenting upon a passage which he translated as "those nocturnal insects which presage evil", alluded to the diabolic legend of Beelzebub, "Lord of the Flies" and to Psalm 91:5, which in some 16th century English Bibles (such as Myles Coverdale's 1535 translation) describes "bugges by night" where later translations render "terror by night". One Arabic/English dictionary translates () as "whistling (of the wind); weird sound or noise". Gabriel Oussani defined it as "the eerie sound of the jinn in the wilderness". The tradition of () is linked to the phenomenon of "singing sand". In the "History", Alhazred is said to have been a "half-crazed Arab" who worshipped the Lovecraftian entities Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu in the early 700s CE. He is described as being from Sanaá in Yemen. He visited the ruins of Babylon, the "subterranean secrets" of Memphis and the Empty Quarter of Arabia. In his last years, he lived in Damascus, where he wrote before his sudden and mysterious death in 738, which, according to Ibn Khallikan, happened when he was "seized by an invisible monster in broad daylight and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses". In subsequent years, Lovecraft wrote, the "gained considerable, though surreptitious circulation amongst the philosophers of the age." In 950, it was translated into Greek and given the title by Theodorus Philetas, a fictional scholar from Constantinople. This version "impelled certain experimenters to terrible attempts" before being "suppressed and burnt" in 1050 by Patriarch Michael (a historical figure who died in 1059). After this attempted suppression, the work was "only heard of furtively" until it was translated from Greek into Latin by Olaus Wormius. (Lovecraft gives the date of this edition as 1228, though the real-life Danish scholar Olaus Wormius lived from 1588 to 1624.) Both the Latin and Greek text, the "History" relates, were banned by Pope Gregory IX in 1232, though Latin editions were apparently published in 15th century Germany and 17th century Spain. A Greek edition was printed in Italy in the first half of the 16th century. The Elizabethan magician John Dee (1527 – c. 1609) allegedly translated the book—presumably into English—but Lovecraft wrote that this version was never printed and only fragments survive. (The connection between Dee and the was suggested by Lovecraft's friend Frank Belknap Long.) According to Lovecraft, the Arabic version of had already disappeared by the time the Greek version was banned in 1050, though he cites "a vague account of a secret copy appearing in San Francisco during the current [20th] century" that "later perished in fire". The Greek version, he writes, has not been reported "since the burning of a certain Salem man's library in 1692" (an apparent reference to the Salem witch trials). (In the story "The Diary of Alonzo Typer", the character Alonzo Typer finds a Greek copy.) According to "History of the " the very act of studying the text is inherently dangerous, as those who attempt to master its arcane knowledge generally meet terrible ends. Appearance and contents The Necronomicon is mentioned in a number of Lovecraft's short stories and in his novellas At the Mountains of Madness and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. However, despite frequent references to the book, Lovecraft was very sparing of details about its appearance and contents. He once wrote that "if anyone were to try to write the Necronomicon, it would disappoint all those who have shuddered at cryptic references to it." In "The Nameless City" (1921), a rhyming couplet that appears at two points in the story is ascribed to Abdul Alhazred: That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death | his own inherited, but defective, Dee edition. The Necronomicon passage in question states: Nor is it to be thought...that man is either the oldest or the last of earth's masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They had trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread. By Their smell can men sometimes know Them near, but of Their semblance can no man know, saving only in the features of those They have begotten on mankind; and of those are there many sorts, differing in likeness from man's truest eidolon to that shape without sight or substance which is Them. They walk unseen and foul in lonely places where the Words have been spoken and the Rites howled through at their Seasons. The wind gibbers with Their voices, and the earth mutters with Their consciousness. They bend the forest and crush the city, yet may not forest or city behold the hand that smites. Kadath in the cold waste hath known Them, and what man knows Kadath? The ice desert of the South and the sunken isles of Ocean hold stones whereon Their seal is engraven, but who hath seen the deep frozen city or the sealed tower long garlanded with seaweed and barnacles? Great Cthulhu is Their cousin, yet can he spy Them only dimly. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! As a foulness shall ye know Them. Their hand is at your throats, yet ye see Them not; and Their habitation is even one with your guarded threshold. Yog-Sothoth is the key to the gate, whereby the spheres meet. Man rules now where They ruled once; They shall soon rule where man rules now. After summer is winter, after winter summer. They wait patient and potent, for here shall They reign again. The Necronomicons appearance and physical dimensions are not clearly stated in Lovecraft's work. Other than the obvious black letter editions, it is commonly portrayed as bound in leather of various types and having metal clasps. Moreover, editions are sometimes disguised. In The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, for example, John Merrit pulls down a book labelled Qanoon-e-Islam from Joseph Curwen’s bookshelf and discovers to his disquiet that it is actually the Necronomicon. Many commercially available versions of the book fail to include any of the contents that Lovecraft describes. The Simon Necronomicon in particular has been criticized for this. Locations According to Lovecraft's "History of the Necronomicon", copies of the original Necronomicon were held by only five institutions worldwide: The British Museum The Bibliothèque nationale de France Widener Library of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts The University of Buenos Aires The library of the fictional Miskatonic University in the also fictitious Arkham, Massachusetts The Miskatonic University also holds the Latin translation by Olaus Wormius, printed in Spain in the 17th century. Other copies, Lovecraft wrote, were kept by private individuals. Joseph Curwen, as noted, had a copy in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (1941). A version is held in Kingsport in "The Festival" (1925). The provenance of the copy read by the narrator of "The Nameless City" is unknown; a version is read by the protagonist in "The Hound" (1924). Hoaxes and alleged translations Although Lovecraft insisted that the book was pure invention (and other writers invented passages from the book for their own works), there are accounts of some people actually believing the Necronomicon to be a real book. Lovecraft himself sometimes received letters from fans inquiring about the Necronomicons authenticity. Pranksters occasionally listed the Necronomicon for sale in book store newsletters or inserted phony entries for the book in library card catalogues (where it may be checked out to one 'A. Alhazred', ostensibly the book's author and original owner). The Vatican also receives requests for this book from those who believe the Vatican Library holds a copy. Similarly, the university library of Tromsø, Norway, lists a translated version of the Necronomicon, attributed to Petrus de Dacia and published in 1994, although the document is listed as "unavailable". In 1973, Owlswick Press issued an edition of the Necronomicon written in an indecipherable, apparently fictional language known as "Duriac". This was a limited edition of 348. The book contains a brief introduction by L. Sprague de Camp. The line between fact and fiction was further blurred in the late 1970s when a book purporting to be a translation of "the real" Necronomicon was published. This book, by the pseudonymous "Simon," had little connection to the fictional Lovecraft Mythos but instead was based on Sumerian mythology. It was later dubbed the "Simon Necronomicon". Going into trade paperback in 1980 it has never been out of print and has sold 800,000 copies by 2006 making it the most popular Necronomicon to date. Despite its contents, the book's marketing focused heavily on the Lovecraft connection and made sensational claims for the book's magical power. The blurb states it was "potentially, the most dangerous Black Book known to the Western World". Three additional volumes have since been published — The Necronomicon Spellbook, a book of pathworkings with the 50 names of Marduk; Dead Names: The Dark History of the Necronomicon, a history of the book itself and of the late 1970s New York occult scene; and The Gates of the Necronomicon, instructions on pathworking with the Simon Necronomicon. A hoax version of the Necronomicon, edited by George Hay, appeared in 1978 and included an introduction by the paranormal researcher and writer Colin Wilson. David Langford described how the book was prepared from a computer analysis of a discovered "cipher text" by Dr. John Dee. The resulting "translation" was in fact written by occultist Robert Turner, but it was far truer to the Lovecraftian version than the Simon text and even incorporated quotations from Lovecraft's stories in its passages. Wilson also wrote a story, "The Return of the Lloigor", in which the Voynich manuscript turns out to be a copy of the Necronomicon. With the success of the Simon Necronomicon the controversy surrounding the actual existence of the Necronomicon was such that a detailed book, The Necronomicon Files, was published in 1998 attempting to prove once and for all the book was pure fiction. It covered the well-known Necronomicons in depth, especially the Simon one, along with a number of more obscure ones. It was reprinted and expanded in 2003. In 2004, Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred, by Canadian occultist Donald Tyson, was published by Llewellyn Worldwide. The Tyson Necronomicon is generally thought to be closer to Lovecraft's vision than other published versions. Donald Tyson has clearly stated that the Necronomicon is fictional, but that has not prevented his book from |
company. In 2012, Stephenson launched a Kickstarter campaign for CLANG, a realistic sword-fighting fantasy game. The concept was to use motion control to provide an immersive experience. The campaign's funding goal of $500,000 was reached by the target date of July 9, 2012 on Kickstarter, but funding options remained open and the project continued to accept contributions on its official site. The project ran out of money in September 2013. This, and the circumstances around it, angered some backers with some threatening a class action lawsuit. The CLANG project ended in September 2014 without being completed. Stephenson took part of the responsibility for the project's failure, stating, "I probably focused too much on historical accuracy and not enough on making it sufficiently fun to attract additional investment". In 2014, Stephenson was hired as Chief Futurist by the Florida-based augmented reality company Magic Leap. Stephenson left the company in April 2020 as part of a layoff. In June 2021, Stephenson and colleagues Sean Stewart and Austin Grossman released New Found Land: The Long Haul, an Audible audio drama based on the intellectual property they developed at Magic Leap. Influence Stephenson's writing is influential in technology circles. Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, John Carmack, and Peter Thiel are all fans of his work. In Snow Crash Stephenson coined the term Metaverse and popularized the term avatar in a computing context. The Metaverse inspired the inventors of Google Earth and Snow Crash was required reading on the Xbox development team under Microsoft executive J Allard. According to academic Paul Youngquist, Snow Crash also dealt the cyberpunk genre a "killer blow". According to Publishers Weekly, Cryptonomicon is "often credited with sketching the basis for cryptocurrency." Bibliography Novels The Big U (1984) Zodiac (1988) Snow Crash (1992) – British Science Fiction Association Award nominee, 1993; Clarke Award nominee, 1994 Interface (1994) with J. Frederick George, as "Stephen Bury" The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (1995) – Hugo and Locus SF Awards winner, 1996; Nebula, Campbell and Clarke Awards nominee, 1996 The Cobweb (1996) with J. Frederick George, as "Stephen Bury" Cryptonomicon (1999) – Locus SF Award winner, 2000; Hugo and Clarke Awards nominee, 2000; 2013 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award Quicksilver (2003), volume I: The Baroque Cycle – Clarke Award winner, 2004; Locus SF Award nominee, 2004 The Confusion (2004), volume II: The Baroque Cycle – Locus SF Award winner, 2005 The System of the World (2004), volume III: The Baroque Cycle – Locus SF Award winner, 2005; Prometheus Award winner, 2005; Clarke Award nominee, 2005 Anathem (2008) – Locus SF Award winner, 2009; British Science Fiction Association Award nominee, 2008; Hugo and Clarke Awards nominee, 2009 The Mongoliad (2010–2012) Reamde (2011) Seveneves (2015) Hugo Award for Best Novel nominee The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (2017) with Nicole Galland Fall; or, Dodge in Hell (2019) New Found Land: The Long Haul (2021) with Austin Grossman and Sean Stewart. Audible Original audiobook. Termination Shock (2021) Short fiction "Spew" (1994), in Hackers (1996) "The Great Simoleon Caper" (1995), TIME "Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of Tribes of the Pacific Coast" in Full Spectrum 5 (1995) "Jipi and the Paranoid Chip" (1997), Forbes "Crunch" (1997), in Disco | while his paternal grandfather was a physics professor. His mother worked in a biochemistry laboratory, and her father was a biochemistry professor. Stephenson's family moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1960 and then in 1966 to Ames, Iowa. He graduated from Ames High School in 1977. Stephenson studied at Boston University, first specializing in physics, then switching to geography after he found that it would allow him to spend more time on the university mainframe. He graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in geography and a minor in physics. Since 1984, Stephenson has lived mostly in the Pacific Northwest and currently lives in Seattle with his family. Writing Stephenson's first novel, The Big U, published in 1984, is a satirical take on life at American Megaversity, a vast, bland, and alienating research university beset by chaotic riots. His next novel, Zodiac (1988), is a thriller following a radical environmentalist in his struggle against corporate polluters. Neither novel attracted much critical attention on first publication, but showcased concerns that Stephenson would further develop in his later work. Stephenson's breakthrough came in 1992 with Snow Crash, a cyberpunk or post-cyberpunk novel fusing memetics, computer viruses, and other high-tech themes with Sumerian mythology, along with a sociological extrapolation of extreme laissez-faire capitalism and collectivism. Stephenson at this time would later be described by Mike Godwin as "a slight, unassuming grad-student type whose soft-spoken demeanor gave no obvious indication that he had written the manic apotheosis of cyberpunk science fiction." In 1994, Stephenson joined with his uncle, J. Frederick George, to publish a political thriller, Interface, under the pen name "Stephen Bury"; they followed this in 1996 with The Cobweb. Stephenson's next solo novel, published in 1995, was The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. The plot involves a weapon implanted in a character's skull, near-limitless replicators for everything from mattresses to foods, smartpaper, and air and blood-sanitizing nanobots. It is set in a grim future world of limited resources populated by hard-edged survivalists. This was followed by Cryptonomicon in 1999, a novel including concepts ranging from Alan Turing's research into codebreaking and cryptography during the Second World War, to a modern attempt to set up a data haven. In 2013, Cryptonomicon won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. The Baroque Cycle is a series of historical novels set in the 17th and 18th centuries, and is in some respects a prequel to Cryptonomicon. It was originally published in three volumes of two or three books each – Quicksilver (2003), The Confusion, (2004) and The System of the World (2004) – but was subsequently republished as eight separate books: Quicksilver, King of the Vagabonds, Odalisque, Bonanza, Juncto, Solomon's Gold, Currency, and System of the World. (The titles and exact breakdown vary in different markets.) The System of the World won the Prometheus Award in 2005. Following this, Stephenson wrote Anathem (2008), a long and detailed novel of speculative fiction. It is set in an Earthlike world, deals with metaphysics, and refers heavily to Ancient Greek philosophy. Anathem won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2009. In May 2010, the Subutai Corporation, of which Stephenson was named chairman, announced the production of an experimental multimedia fiction project called The Mongoliad, which centered upon a narrative written by Stephenson and other speculative fiction authors. Stephenson's novel REAMDE was released on September 20, 2011. The title is a play on the common filename README. This thriller, set in the present, centers around a group of MMORPG developers caught in the middle of Chinese cyber-criminals, Islamic terrorists, and Russian mafia. On August 7, 2012, Stephenson released a collection of essays and other previously published fiction entitled Some Remarks: Essays and Other Writing. This collection also includes a new essay and a short story created specifically for this volume. In late 2013, Stephenson stated that he was working on a multi-volume work of historical novels that would "have a lot to do with scientific and technological themes and how those interact with the characters and civilisation during a particular span of history". He expected the first two volumes to be released in mid-to-late 2014. However, at about the same time, he shifted his attention to a science fiction novel, Seveneves, which was completed about a year later and was published in May 2015. On June 8, 2016, plans were announced to adapt Seveneves for the screen. In May 2016, as part of a video discussion with Bill Gates, Stephenson revealed that he had just submitted the manuscript for a new historical novel—"a time travel |
of Machiavelli's work, he often states that the ruler must adopt unsavory policies for the sake of the continuance of his regime. A related and more controversial proposal often made is that he described how to do things in politics in a way which seemed neutral concerning who used the advice—tyrants or good rulers. That Machiavelli strove for realism is not doubted, but for four centuries scholars have debated how best to describe his morality. The Prince made the word Machiavellian a byword for deceit, despotism, and political manipulation. Leo Strauss declared himself inclined toward the traditional view that Machiavelli was self-consciously a "teacher of evil," since he counsels the princes to avoid the values of justice, mercy, temperance, wisdom, and love of their people in preference to the use of cruelty, violence, fear, and deception. Strauss takes up this opinion because he asserted that failure to accept the traditional opinion misses the "intrepidity of his thought" and "the graceful subtlety of his speech." Italian anti-fascist philosopher Benedetto Croce (1925) concludes Machiavelli is simply a "realist" or "pragmatist" who accurately states that moral values in reality do not greatly affect the decisions that political leaders make. German philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1946) held that Machiavelli simply adopts the stance of a political scientist—a Galileo of politics—in distinguishing between the "facts" of political life and the "values" of moral judgment. On the other hand, Walter Russell Mead has argued that The Princes advice presupposes the importance of ideas like legitimacy in making changes to the political system. Fortune Machiavelli is generally seen as being critical of Christianity as it existed in his time, specifically its effect upon politics, and also everyday life. In his opinion, Christianity, along with the teleological Aristotelianism that the church had come to accept, allowed practical decisions to be guided too much by imaginary ideals and encouraged people to lazily leave events up to providence or, as he would put it, chance, luck or fortune. While Christianity sees modesty as a virtue and pride as sinful, Machiavelli took a more classical position, seeing ambition, spiritedness, and the pursuit of glory as good and natural things, and part of the virtue and prudence that good princes should have. Therefore, while it was traditional to say that leaders should have virtues, especially prudence, Machiavelli's use of the words virtù and prudenza was unusual for his time, implying a spirited and immodest ambition. Mansfield describes his usage of virtu as a "compromise with evil". Famously, Machiavelli argued that virtue and prudence can help a man control more of his future, in the place of allowing fortune to do so. has argued that this same approach can be found in Machiavelli's approach to love and desire, as seen in his comedies and correspondence. Najemy shows how Machiavelli's friend Vettori argued against Machiavelli and cited a more traditional understanding of fortune. On the other hand, humanism in Machiavelli's time meant that classical pre-Christian ideas about virtue and prudence, including the possibility of trying to control one's future, were not unique to him. But humanists did not go so far as to promote the extra glory of deliberately aiming to establish a new state, in defiance of traditions and laws. While Machiavelli's approach had classical precedents, it has been argued that it did more than just bring back old ideas and that Machiavelli was not a typical humanist. argues that the way Machiavelli combines classical ideas is new. While Xenophon and Plato also described realistic politics and were closer to Machiavelli than Aristotle was, they, like Aristotle, also saw philosophy as something higher than politics. Machiavelli was apparently a materialist who objected to explanations involving formal and final causation, or teleology. Machiavelli's promotion of ambition among leaders while denying any higher standard meant that he encouraged risk-taking, and innovation, most famously the founding of new modes and orders. His advice to princes was therefore certainly not limited to discussing how to maintain a state. It has been argued that Machiavelli's promotion of innovation led directly to the argument for progress as an aim of politics and civilization. But while a belief that humanity can control its own future, control nature, and "progress" has been long-lasting, Machiavelli's followers, starting with his own friend Guicciardini, have tended to prefer peaceful progress through economic development, and not warlike progress. As Harvey wrote: "In attempting other, more regular and scientific modes of overcoming fortune, Machiavelli's successors formalized and emasculated his notion of virtue." Machiavelli however, along with some of his classical predecessors, saw ambition and spiritedness, and therefore war, as inevitable and part of human nature. Strauss concludes his 1958 book Thoughts on Machiavelli by proposing that this promotion of progress leads directly to the modern arms race. Strauss argued that the unavoidable nature of such arms races, which have existed before modern times and led to the collapse of peaceful civilizations, provides us with both an explanation of what is most truly dangerous in Machiavelli's innovations, but also the way in which the aims of his amoral innovation can be understood. Religion Machiavelli shows repeatedly that he saw religion as man-made, and that the value of religion lies in its contribution to social order and the rules of morality must be dispensed with if security requires it. In The Prince, the Discourses and in the Life of Castruccio Castracani he describes "prophets", as he calls them, like Moses, Romulus, Cyrus the Great and Theseus (he treated pagan and Christian patriarchs in the same way) as the greatest of new princes, the glorious and brutal founders of the most novel innovations in politics, and men whom Machiavelli assures us have always used a large amount of armed force and murder against their own people. He estimated that these sects last from 1,666 to 3,000 years each time, which, as pointed out by Leo Strauss, would mean that Christianity became due to start finishing about 150 years after Machiavelli. Machiavelli's concern with Christianity as a sect was that it makes men weak and inactive, delivering politics into the hands of cruel and wicked men without a fight. While fear of God can be replaced by fear of the prince, if there is a strong enough prince, Machiavelli felt that having a religion is in any case especially essential to keeping a republic in order. For Machiavelli, a truly great prince can never be conventionally religious himself, but he should make his people religious if he can. According to he was not the first person to ever explain religion in this way, but his description of religion was novel because of the way he integrated this into his general account of princes. Machiavelli's judgment that governments need religion for practical political reasons was widespread among modern proponents of republics until approximately the time of the French Revolution. This therefore represents a point of disagreement between himself and late modernity. Positive side to factional and individual vice Despite the classical precedents, which Machiavelli was not the only one to promote in his time, Machiavelli's realism and willingness to argue that good ends justify bad things, is seen as a critical stimulus towards some of the most important theories of modern politics. Firstly, particularly in the Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli is unusual in the positive side he sometimes seems to describe in factionalism in republics. For example, quite early in the Discourses, (in Book I, chapter 4), a chapter title announces that the disunion of the plebs and senate in Rome "kept Rome free". That a community has different components whose interests must be balanced in any good regime is an idea with classical precedents, but Machiavelli's particularly extreme presentation is seen as a critical step towards the later political ideas of both a division of powers or checks and balances, ideas which lay behind the US constitution, as well as many other modern state constitutions. Similarly, the modern economic argument for capitalism, and most modern forms of economics, was often stated in the form of "public virtue from private vices." Also in this case, even though there are classical precedents, Machiavelli's insistence on being both realistic and ambitious, not only admitting that vice exists but being willing to risk encouraging it, is a critical step on the path to this insight. Mansfield however argues that Machiavelli's own aims have not been shared by those he influenced. Machiavelli argued against seeing mere peace and economic growth as worthy aims on their own, if they would lead to what Mansfield calls the "taming of the prince." Influence To quote Robert Bireley: Machiavelli's ideas had a profound impact on political leaders throughout the modern west, helped by the new technology of the printing press. During the first generations after Machiavelli, his main influence was in non-republican governments. Pole reported that The Prince was spoken of highly by Thomas Cromwell in England and had influenced Henry VIII in his turn towards Protestantism, and in his tactics, for example during the Pilgrimage of Grace. A copy was also possessed by the Catholic king and emperor Charles V. In France, after an initially mixed reaction, Machiavelli came to be associated with Catherine de' Medici and the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. As reports, in the 16th century, Catholic writers "associated Machiavelli with the Protestants, whereas Protestant authors saw him as Italian and Catholic". In fact, he was apparently influencing both Catholic and Protestant kings. One of the most important early works dedicated to criticism of Machiavelli, especially The Prince, was that of the Huguenot, Innocent Gentillet, whose work commonly referred to as Discourse against Machiavelli or Anti Machiavel was published in Geneva in 1576. He accused Machiavelli of being an atheist and accused politicians of his time by saying that his works were the "Koran of the courtiers", that "he is of no reputation in the court of France which hath not Machiavel's writings at the fingers ends". Another theme of Gentillet was more in the spirit of Machiavelli himself: he questioned the effectiveness of immoral strategies (just as Machiavelli had himself done, despite also explaining how they could sometimes work). This became the theme of much future political discourse in Europe during the 17th century. This includes the Catholic Counter Reformation writers summarised by Bireley: Giovanni Botero, Justus Lipsius, Carlo Scribani, Adam Contzen, Pedro de Ribadeneira, and Diego de Saavedra Fajardo. These authors criticized Machiavelli, but also followed him in many ways. They accepted the need for a prince to be concerned with reputation, and even a need for cunning and deceit, but compared to Machiavelli, and like later modernist writers, they emphasized economic progress much more than the riskier ventures of war. These authors tended to cite Tacitus as their source for realist political advice, rather than Machiavelli, and this pretense came to be known as "Tacitism". "Black tacitism" was in support of princely rule, but "red tacitism" arguing the case for republics, more in the original spirit of Machiavelli himself, became increasingly important. Modern materialist philosophy developed in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, starting in the generations after Machiavelli. This philosophy tended to be republican, but as with the Catholic authors, Machiavelli's realism and encouragement of using innovation to try to control one's own fortune were more accepted than his emphasis upon war and factional violence. Not only was innovative economics and politics a result, but also modern science, leading some commentators to say that the 18th century Enlightenment involved a "humanitarian" moderating of Machiavellianism. The importance of Machiavelli's influence is notable in many important figures in this endeavor, for example Bodin, Francis Bacon, Algernon Sidney, Harrington, John Milton, Spinoza, Rousseau, Hume, Edward Gibbon, and Adam Smith. Although he was not always mentioned by name as an inspiration, due to his controversy, he is also thought to have been an influence for other major philosophers, such as Montaigne, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke and Montesquieu. Although Jean-Jacques Rousseau is associated with very different political ideas he was also influenced by him, although he viewed Machiavelli's work as a satirical piece in which Machiavelli exposes the faults of a one-man rule rather than exalting amorality. In the seventeenth century it was in England that Machiavelli's ideas were most substantially developed and adapted, and that republicanism came once more to life; and out of seventeenth-century English republicanism there were to emerge in the next century not only a theme of English political and historical reflection—of the writings of the Bolingbroke circle and of Gibbon and of early parliamentary radicals—but a stimulus to the Enlightenment in Scotland, on the Continent, and in America. Scholars have argued that Machiavelli was a major indirect and direct influence upon the political thinking of the Founding Fathers of the United States due to his overwhelming favoritism of republicanism and the republican type of government. According to John McCormick, it is still very much debatable whether or not Machiavelli was "an advisor of tyranny or partisan of liberty." Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson followed Machiavelli's republicanism when they opposed what they saw as the emerging aristocracy that they feared Alexander Hamilton was creating with the Federalist Party. Hamilton learned from Machiavelli about the importance of foreign policy for domestic policy, but may have broken from him regarding how rapacious a republic needed to be in order to survive. George Washington was less influenced by Machiavelli. The Founding Father who perhaps most studied and valued Machiavelli as a political philosopher was John Adams, who profusely commented on the Italian's thought in his work, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America. In this work, John Adams praised Machiavelli, with Algernon Sidney and Montesquieu, as a philosophic defender of mixed government. For Adams, Machiavelli restored empirical reason to politics, while his analysis of factions was commendable. Adams likewise agreed with the Florentine that human nature was immutable and driven by passions. He also accepted Machiavelli's belief that all societies were subject to cyclical periods of growth and decay. For Adams, Machiavelli lacked only a clear understanding of the institutions necessary for good government. 20th century The 20th-century Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci drew great inspiration from Machiavelli's writings on ethics, morals, and how they relate to the State and revolution in his writings on Passive Revolution, and how a society can be manipulated by controlling popular notions of morality. Joseph Stalin read The Prince and annotated his own copy. In the 20th century there was also renewed interest in Machiavelli's play La Mandragola (1518), which received numerous stagings, including several in New York, at the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1976 and the Riverside Shakespeare Company in 1979, as a musical comedy by Peer Raben in Munich's antiteater in 1971, and at London's National Theatre in 1984. "Machiavellian" Machiavelli is most famous for a short political treatise, The Prince, written in 1513 but not published until 1532, five years after his death. Although he privately circulated The Prince among friends, the only theoretical work to be printed in his lifetime was The Art of War, which was about military science. Since the 16th century, generations of politicians remain attracted and repelled by its neutral acceptance, and also positive encouragement, of the amorality of powerful men, described especially in The Prince but also in his other works. His works are sometimes even said to have contributed to the modern negative connotations of the words politics and politician, and | be) a match for such a great name" or "There is no praise equal to so great a name.") Major works The Prince Machiavelli's best-known book Il Principe contains several maxims concerning politics. Instead of the more traditional target audience of a hereditary prince, it concentrates on the possibility of a "new prince". To retain power, the hereditary prince must carefully balance the interests of a variety of institutions to which the people are accustomed. By contrast, a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling: He must first stabilise his newfound power in order to build an enduring political structure. Machiavelli suggests that the social benefits of stability and security can be achieved in the face of moral corruption. Machiavelli believed that public and private morality had to be understood as two different things in order to rule well. As a result, a ruler must be concerned not only with reputation, but also must be positively willing to act unscrupulously at the right times. Machiavelli believed that, for a ruler, it was better to be widely feared than to be greatly loved; a loved ruler retains authority by obligation, while a feared leader rules by fear of punishment. As a political theorist, Machiavelli emphasized the "necessity" for the methodical exercise of brute force or deceit, including extermination of entire noble families, to head off any chance of a challenge to the prince's authority. Scholars often note that Machiavelli glorifies instrumentality in state building, an approach embodied by the saying, often attributed to interpretations of The Prince, "The ends justify the means". Fraud and deceit are held by Machiavelli as necessary for a prince to use. Violence may be necessary for the successful stabilization of power and introduction of new political institutions. Force may be used to eliminate political rivals, to destroy resistant populations, and to purge the community of other men strong enough of a character to rule, who will inevitably attempt to replace the ruler. Machiavelli has become infamous for such political advice, ensuring that he would be remembered in history through the adjective, "Machiavellian". Due to the treatise's controversial analysis on politics, the Catholic Church banned The Prince, putting it on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Humanists also viewed the book negatively, including Erasmus of Rotterdam. As a treatise, its primary intellectual contribution to the history of political thought is the fundamental break between political realism and political idealism, due to it being a manual on acquiring and keeping political power. In contrast with Plato and Aristotle, Machiavelli insisted that an imaginary ideal society is not a model by which a prince should orient himself. Concerning the differences and similarities in Machiavelli's advice to ruthless and tyrannical princes in The Prince and his more republican exhortations in Discourses on Livy, few assert that The Prince, although written as advice for a monarchical prince, contains arguments for the superiority of republican regimes, similar to those found in the Discourses. In the 18th century, the work was even called a satire, for example by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Scholars such as Leo Strauss and Harvey Mansfield have stated that sections of The Prince and his other works have deliberately esoteric statements throughout them. However, Mansfield states that this is the result of Machiavelli's seeing grave and serious things as humorous because they are "manipulable by men", and sees them as grave because they "answer human necessities". Another interpretation is that of Antonio Gramsci, who argued that Machiavelli's audience for this work was not even the ruling class, but the common people, because rulers already knew these methods through their education. Discourses on Livy The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius, written around 1517, published in 1531, often referred to simply as the Discourses or Discorsi, is nominally a discussion regarding the classical history of early Ancient Rome, although it strays very far from this subject matter and also uses contemporary political examples to illustrate points. Machiavelli presents it as a series of lessons on how a republic should be started and structured. It is a much larger work than The Prince, and while it more openly explains the advantages of republics, it also contains many similar themes from his other works. For example, Machiavelli has noted that to save a republic from corruption, it is necessary to return it to a "kingly state" using violent means. He excuses Romulus for murdering his brother Remus and co-ruler Titus Tatius to gain absolute power for himself in that he established a "civil way of life". Commentators disagree about how much the two works agree with each other, as Machiavelli frequently refers to leaders of republics as "princes". Machiavelli even sometimes acts as an advisor to tyrants. Other scholars have pointed out the aggrandizing and imperialistic features of Machiavelli's republic. Nevertheless, it became one of the central texts of modern republicanism, and has often been argued to be a more comprehensive work than The Prince. Originality Commentators have taken very different approaches to Machiavelli and not always agreed. Major discussion has tended to be about two issues: first, how unified and philosophical his work is, and second, concerning how innovative or traditional it is. Coherence There is some disagreement concerning how best to describe the unifying themes, if there are any, that can be found in Machiavelli's works, especially in the two major political works, The Prince and Discourses. Some commentators have described him as inconsistent, and perhaps as not even putting a high priority in consistency. Others such as Hans Baron have argued that his ideas must have changed dramatically over time. Some have argued that his conclusions are best understood as a product of his times, experiences and education. Others, such as Leo Strauss and Harvey Mansfield, have argued strongly that there is a very strong and deliberate consistency and distinctness, even arguing that this extends to all of Machiavelli's works including his comedies and letters. Influences Commentators such as Leo Strauss have gone so far as to name Machiavelli as the deliberate originator of modernity itself. Others have argued that Machiavelli is only a particularly interesting example of trends which were happening around him. In any case Machiavelli presented himself at various times as someone reminding Italians of the old virtues of the Romans and Greeks, and other times as someone promoting a completely new approach to politics. That Machiavelli had a wide range of influences is in itself not controversial. Their relative importance is however a subject of on-going discussion. It is possible to summarize some of the main influences emphasized by different commentators. I. The Mirror of Princes genre summarized the similarities between The Prince and the genre it obviously imitates, the so-called "Mirror of Princes" style. This was a classically influenced genre, with models at least as far back as Xenophon and Isocrates. While Gilbert emphasized the similarities, however, he agreed with all other commentators that Machiavelli was particularly novel in the way he used this genre, even when compared to his contemporaries such as Baldassare Castiglione and Erasmus. One of the major innovations Gilbert noted was that Machiavelli focused upon the "deliberate purpose of dealing with a new ruler who will need to establish himself in defiance of custom". Normally, these types of works were addressed only to hereditary princes. (Xenophon is also an exception in this regard.) II. Classical republicanism Commentators such as Quentin Skinner and J.G.A. Pocock, in the so-called "Cambridge School" of interpretation, have asserted that some of the republican themes in Machiavelli's political works, particularly the Discourses on Livy, can be found in medieval Italian literature which was influenced by classical authors such as Sallust. III. Classical political philosophy: Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle The Socratic school of classical political philosophy, especially Aristotle, had become a major influence upon European political thinking in the late Middle Ages. It existed both in the Catholicised form presented by Thomas Aquinas, and in the more controversial "Averroist" form of authors like Marsilius of Padua. Machiavelli was critical of Catholic political thinking and may have been influenced by Averroism. But he rarely cites Plato and Aristotle, and most likely did not approve of them. Leo Strauss argued that the strong influence of Xenophon, a student of Socrates more known as an historian, rhetorician and soldier, was a major source of Socratic ideas for Machiavelli, sometimes not in line with Aristotle. While interest in Plato was increasing in Florence during Machiavelli's lifetime, Machiavelli does not show particular interest in him, but was indirectly influenced by his readings of authors such as Polybius, Plutarch and Cicero. The major difference between Machiavelli and the Socratics, according to Strauss, is Machiavelli's materialism, and therefore his rejection of both a teleological view of nature and of the view that philosophy is higher than politics. With their teleological understanding of things, Socratics argued that by nature, everything that acts, acts towards some end, as if nature desired them, but Machiavelli claimed that such things happen by blind chance or human action. IV. Classical materialism Strauss argued that Machiavelli may have seen himself as influenced by some ideas from classical materialists such as Democritus, Epicurus and Lucretius. Strauss however sees this also as a sign of major innovation in Machiavelli, because classical materialists did not share the Socratic regard for political life, while Machiavelli clearly did. V. Thucydides Some scholars note the similarity between Machiavelli and the Greek historian Thucydides, since both emphasized power politics. Strauss argued that Machiavelli may indeed have been influenced by pre-Socratic philosophers, but he felt it was a new combination: ...contemporary readers are reminded by Machiavelli's teaching of Thucydides; they find in both authors the same "realism," i.e., the same denial of the power of the gods or of justice and the same sensitivity to harsh necessity and elusive chance. Yet Thucydides never calls in question the intrinsic superiority of nobility to baseness, a superiority that shines forth particularly when the noble is destroyed by the base. Therefore Thucydides' History arouses in the reader a sadness which is never aroused by Machiavelli's books. In Machiavelli we find comedies, parodies, and satires but nothing reminding of tragedy. One half of humanity remains outside of his thought. There is no tragedy in Machiavelli because he has no sense of the sacredness of "the common." — Beliefs Amongst commentators, there are a few consistently made proposals concerning what was most new in Machiavelli's work. Empiricism and realism versus idealism Machiavelli is sometimes seen as the prototype of a modern empirical scientist, building generalizations from experience and historical facts, and emphasizing the uselessness of theorizing with the imagination. Machiavelli felt that his early schooling along the lines of a traditional classical education was essentially useless for the purpose of understanding politics. Nevertheless, he advocated intensive study of the past, particularly regarding the founding of a city, which he felt was a key to understanding its later development. Moreover, he studied the way people lived and aimed to inform leaders how they should rule and even how they themselves should live. Machiavelli denies the classical opinion that living virtuously always leads to happiness. For example, Machiavelli viewed misery as "one of the vices that enables a prince to rule." Machiavelli stated that "it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved." In much of Machiavelli's work, he often states that the ruler must adopt unsavory policies for the sake of the continuance of his regime. A related and more controversial proposal often made is that he described how to do things in politics in a way which seemed neutral concerning who used the advice—tyrants or good rulers. That Machiavelli strove for realism is not doubted, but for four centuries scholars have debated how best to describe his morality. The Prince made the word Machiavellian a byword for deceit, despotism, and political manipulation. Leo Strauss declared himself inclined toward the traditional view that Machiavelli was self-consciously a "teacher of evil," since he counsels the princes to avoid the values of justice, mercy, temperance, wisdom, and love of their people in preference to the use of cruelty, violence, fear, and deception. Strauss takes up this opinion because he asserted that failure to accept the traditional opinion misses the "intrepidity of his thought" and "the graceful subtlety of his speech." Italian anti-fascist philosopher Benedetto Croce (1925) concludes Machiavelli is simply a "realist" or "pragmatist" who accurately states that moral values in reality do not greatly affect the decisions that political leaders make. German philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1946) held that Machiavelli simply adopts the stance of a political scientist—a Galileo of politics—in distinguishing between the "facts" of political life and the "values" of moral judgment. On the other hand, Walter Russell Mead has argued that The Princes advice presupposes the importance of ideas like legitimacy in making changes to the political system. Fortune Machiavelli is generally seen as being critical of Christianity as it existed in his time, specifically its effect upon politics, and also everyday life. In his opinion, Christianity, along with the teleological Aristotelianism that the church had come to accept, allowed practical decisions to be guided too much by imaginary ideals and encouraged people to lazily leave events up to providence or, as he would put it, chance, luck or fortune. While Christianity sees modesty as a virtue and pride as sinful, Machiavelli took a more classical position, seeing ambition, spiritedness, and the pursuit of glory as good and natural things, and part of the virtue and prudence that good princes should have. Therefore, while it was traditional to say that leaders should have virtues, especially prudence, Machiavelli's use of the words virtù and prudenza was unusual for his time, implying a spirited and immodest ambition. Mansfield describes his usage of virtu as a "compromise with evil". Famously, Machiavelli argued that virtue and prudence can help a man control more of his future, in the place of allowing fortune to do so. has argued that this same approach can be found in Machiavelli's approach to love and desire, as seen in his comedies and correspondence. Najemy shows how Machiavelli's friend Vettori argued against Machiavelli and cited a more traditional understanding of fortune. On the other hand, humanism in Machiavelli's time meant that classical pre-Christian ideas about virtue and prudence, including the possibility of trying to control one's future, were not unique to him. But humanists did not go so far as to promote the extra glory of deliberately aiming to establish a new state, in defiance of traditions and laws. While Machiavelli's approach had classical precedents, it has been argued that it did more than just bring back old ideas and that Machiavelli was not a typical humanist. argues that the way Machiavelli combines classical ideas is new. While Xenophon and Plato also described realistic politics and were closer to Machiavelli than Aristotle was, they, like Aristotle, also saw philosophy as something higher than politics. Machiavelli was apparently a materialist who objected to explanations involving formal and final causation, or teleology. Machiavelli's promotion of ambition among leaders while denying any higher standard meant that he encouraged risk-taking, and innovation, most famously the founding of new modes and orders. His advice to princes was therefore certainly not limited to discussing how to maintain a state. It has been argued that Machiavelli's promotion of innovation led directly to the argument for progress as an aim of politics and civilization. But while a belief that humanity can control its own future, control nature, and "progress" has been long-lasting, Machiavelli's followers, starting with his own friend Guicciardini, have tended to prefer peaceful progress through economic development, and not warlike progress. As Harvey wrote: "In attempting other, more regular and scientific modes of overcoming fortune, Machiavelli's successors formalized and emasculated his notion of virtue." Machiavelli however, along with some of his classical predecessors, saw ambition and spiritedness, and therefore war, as inevitable and part of human nature. Strauss concludes his 1958 book Thoughts on Machiavelli by proposing that this promotion of progress leads directly to the modern arms race. Strauss argued that the unavoidable nature of such arms races, which have existed before modern times and led to the collapse of peaceful civilizations, provides us with both an explanation of what is most truly dangerous in Machiavelli's innovations, but also the way in which the aims of his amoral innovation can be understood. Religion Machiavelli shows repeatedly that he saw religion as man-made, and that the value of religion lies in its contribution to social order and the rules of morality must be dispensed with if security requires it. In The Prince, the Discourses and in the Life of Castruccio Castracani he describes "prophets", as he calls them, like Moses, Romulus, Cyrus the Great and Theseus (he treated pagan and Christian patriarchs in the same way) as the greatest of new princes, the glorious and brutal founders of the most novel innovations in politics, and men whom Machiavelli assures us have always used a large amount of armed force and murder against their own people. He estimated that these sects last from 1,666 to 3,000 years each time, which, as pointed out by Leo Strauss, would mean that Christianity became due to start finishing about 150 years after Machiavelli. Machiavelli's concern with Christianity as a sect was that it makes men weak and inactive, delivering politics into the hands of cruel and wicked men without a fight. While fear of God can be replaced by fear of the prince, if there is a strong enough prince, Machiavelli felt that having a religion is in any case especially essential to keeping a republic in order. For Machiavelli, a truly great prince can never be conventionally religious himself, but he should make his people religious if he can. According to he was not the first person to ever explain religion in this way, but his description of religion was novel because of the way he integrated this into his general account of princes. Machiavelli's judgment that governments need religion for practical political reasons was widespread among modern proponents of republics until approximately the time of the French Revolution. This therefore represents a point of disagreement between himself and late modernity. Positive side to factional and individual vice Despite the classical precedents, which Machiavelli was not the only one to promote in his time, Machiavelli's realism and willingness to argue that good ends justify bad things, is seen as a critical stimulus towards some of the most important theories of modern politics. Firstly, particularly in the Discourses on Livy, Machiavelli is unusual in the positive side he sometimes seems to describe in factionalism in republics. For example, quite early in the Discourses, (in Book I, chapter 4), a chapter title announces that the disunion of the plebs and senate in Rome "kept Rome free". That a community has different components whose interests must be balanced in any good regime is an idea with classical precedents, but Machiavelli's particularly extreme presentation is seen as a critical step towards the later political ideas of both a division of powers or checks and balances, ideas which lay behind the US constitution, as well as many other modern state constitutions. Similarly, the modern economic argument for capitalism, and most modern forms of economics, was often stated in the form of "public virtue from private vices." Also in this case, even though there are classical precedents, Machiavelli's insistence on being both realistic and ambitious, not only admitting that vice exists but being willing to risk encouraging it, is a critical step on the path to this insight. Mansfield however argues that Machiavelli's own aims have not been shared by those he influenced. Machiavelli argued against seeing mere peace and economic growth as worthy aims on their own, if they would lead to what Mansfield calls the "taming of the prince." Influence To quote Robert Bireley: Machiavelli's ideas had a profound impact on political leaders throughout the modern west, helped by the new technology of the printing press. During the first generations after Machiavelli, his main influence was in non-republican governments. Pole reported that The Prince was spoken of highly by Thomas Cromwell in England and had influenced Henry VIII in his turn towards Protestantism, and in his tactics, for example during the Pilgrimage of Grace. A copy was also possessed by the Catholic king and emperor Charles V. In France, after an initially mixed reaction, Machiavelli came to be associated with Catherine de' Medici and the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. As reports, in the 16th century, Catholic writers "associated Machiavelli with the Protestants, whereas Protestant authors saw him as Italian and Catholic". In fact, he was apparently influencing both Catholic and Protestant kings. One of the most important early works dedicated to criticism of Machiavelli, especially The Prince, was that of the Huguenot, Innocent Gentillet, whose work commonly referred to as Discourse against Machiavelli or Anti Machiavel was published in Geneva in 1576. He accused Machiavelli of being an atheist and accused politicians of his time by saying that his works were the "Koran of the courtiers", that "he is of no reputation in the court of France which hath not Machiavel's writings at the fingers ends". Another theme of Gentillet was more in the spirit of Machiavelli himself: he questioned the effectiveness of immoral strategies (just as Machiavelli had himself done, despite also explaining how they could sometimes work). This became the theme of much future political discourse in Europe during the 17th century. This includes the Catholic Counter Reformation writers summarised by Bireley: Giovanni Botero, Justus Lipsius, Carlo Scribani, Adam Contzen, Pedro de Ribadeneira, and Diego de Saavedra Fajardo. These authors criticized Machiavelli, but also followed him in many ways. They accepted the need for a prince to be concerned with reputation, and even a need for cunning and deceit, but compared to Machiavelli, and like later modernist writers, they emphasized economic progress much more than the riskier ventures of war. These authors tended to cite Tacitus as their source for realist political advice, rather than Machiavelli, and this pretense came to be known as "Tacitism". "Black tacitism" was in support of princely rule, but "red tacitism" arguing the case for republics, more in the original spirit of Machiavelli himself, became increasingly important. Modern materialist philosophy developed in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, starting in the generations after Machiavelli. This philosophy tended to be republican, but as with the Catholic authors, Machiavelli's realism and encouragement of using innovation to try to control one's own fortune were more accepted than his emphasis upon war and factional violence. Not only was innovative economics and politics a result, but also modern science, leading some commentators to say that the 18th century Enlightenment involved a "humanitarian" moderating of Machiavellianism. The importance of Machiavelli's influence is notable in many important figures in this endeavor, for example Bodin, Francis Bacon, Algernon Sidney, Harrington, John Milton, Spinoza, Rousseau, Hume, Edward Gibbon, and Adam Smith. Although he was not always mentioned by name as an inspiration, due to his controversy, he is also thought to have been an influence for other major philosophers, such as Montaigne, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke and Montesquieu. Although Jean-Jacques Rousseau is associated with very different political ideas he was also influenced by him, although he viewed Machiavelli's work as a satirical piece in which Machiavelli exposes the faults of a one-man rule rather than exalting amorality. In the seventeenth century it was in England that Machiavelli's ideas were most substantially developed and adapted, and that republicanism came once more to life; and out of seventeenth-century English republicanism there were to emerge in the next century not only a theme of English political and historical reflection—of the writings of the Bolingbroke circle and of Gibbon and of early parliamentary radicals—but a stimulus to the Enlightenment in Scotland, on the Continent, and in America. Scholars have argued that Machiavelli was a major indirect and direct influence upon the political thinking of the Founding Fathers of the United States due to his overwhelming favoritism of republicanism and the republican type of government. According to John McCormick, it is still very much debatable whether or not Machiavelli was "an advisor of tyranny or partisan of liberty." Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson followed Machiavelli's republicanism when they opposed what they saw as the emerging aristocracy that they feared Alexander Hamilton was creating with the Federalist Party. Hamilton learned from Machiavelli about the importance of foreign policy for domestic policy, but may have broken from him regarding how rapacious a republic needed to be in order to survive. George Washington was less influenced by Machiavelli. The Founding Father who perhaps most studied and valued Machiavelli as a political philosopher was John Adams, who profusely commented on the Italian's thought in his work, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America. In this work, John Adams praised Machiavelli, with Algernon Sidney and Montesquieu, as a philosophic defender of mixed government. For Adams, Machiavelli restored empirical reason to politics, while his analysis of factions was commendable. Adams likewise agreed with the Florentine that human nature was immutable and driven by passions. He also accepted Machiavelli's belief that all societies were subject to cyclical periods of growth and decay. For Adams, Machiavelli lacked only a clear understanding of the institutions necessary for good government. 20th century The 20th-century Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci drew great inspiration from Machiavelli's writings on ethics, morals, and how they relate to the State and revolution in his writings on Passive Revolution, and how a society can be manipulated by controlling popular notions of morality. Joseph Stalin read The Prince and annotated his own copy. In the 20th century there was also renewed interest in Machiavelli's play La Mandragola (1518), which received numerous stagings, including several in New York, at the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1976 and the Riverside |
(United States) First Friday: November 5 Arbor Day (Samoa) First Saturday: November 6 Children's Day (South Africa) Health Day (Turkmenistan) National Bison Day (United States) Second Sunday: November 14 Father's Day (Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) Grandparents Day (South Sudan) National Day of the Pupusa (El Salvador) Remembrance Sunday (United Kingdom, Commonwealth) Week of November 8: November 7–13 National Radiologic Technology Week (United States) Week of November 11: November 7–13 Celebrate Freedom Week (Oklahoma, United States) Second Monday: November 8 Barack Obama Day (Perry County, Alabama, United States) Heir to the Throne's Birthday (Tuvalu) 'Second Saturday: November 13 National Tree Planting Day (Luxembourg) Third Sunday: November 21 World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (United Nations observance) Third week: November 14–20 Geography Awareness Week Third Monday: November 15 Revolution Day (Mexico) Weekdays of the third week: November 15–19 Anti-Bullying Week (United Kingdom) Wednesday of the third week: November 17 GIS Day Third Thursday: November 18 Great American Smokeout (United States) World Philosophy Day (United Nations) Third Friday: November 19 International Stand Up to Bullying Day Third Friday until the next Monday: November 19–22 El Buen Fin (Mexico) Saturday before Fourth Thursday: November 20 National Adoption Day (United States) National Survivors of Suicide Day (United States) Last Week: November 21–27 AIDS Awareness Week (Canada) Day before fourth Thursday: November 25 Blackout Wednesday (United States) Last Wednesday: November 24 Thanksgiving (Norfolk Island, Australia) Fourth Thursday: November 25 Thanksgiving (United States) Day after fourth Thursday: November 26 Black Friday (United States) Buy Nothing Day (United States) Fur Free Friday (International observance) National Day of Listening (United States) Native American Heritage Day (United States) Sinkie Day (United States) Fourth Saturday: November 27 Holodomor Memorial Day (Canada, Ukraine) Saturday after Thanksgiving: November 27 Small Business Saturday (United States) Fourth Sunday: November 28 National Grandparents Day (Singapore) Last Sunday: November 28 Harvest Festival (Turkmenistan) Monday after fourth Thursday in November: November 29 Cyber Monday Fixed observances November 1 All Saints' Day (Catholicism) Day of the Dead, first day: Day of the Innocents (Haiti, Mexico) Andhra Pradesh Formation Day (Andhra Pradesh, India) Anniversary of the Revolution (Algeria) Calan Gaeaf, celebrations start at sunset of October 31. (Wales) Chavang Kut (Mizo people of Northeast India, Bangladesh, Burma) Coronation of the fifth Druk Gyalpo (Bhutan) Haryana Foundation Day (Haryana, India) Independence Day (Antigua and Barbuda) International Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Awareness Day Karnataka Foundation Day (Karnataka, India) Kerala Foundation Day (Kerala, India) Liberty Day (United States Virgin Islands) National Awakening Day (Bulgaria) Samhain in the Northern Hemisphere and Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere, celebrations start at sunset of October 31 (Neopagan Wheel of the Year) Self-Defense Forces Commemoration Day (Japan) World Vegan Day November 2 All Souls' Day (Roman Catholic Church and Anglican Communion) Coronation of Haile Selassie (Rastafari) Day of the Dead, second day (Mexico) Dziady (Belarus) Indian Arrival Day (Mauritius) International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (United Nations) Statehood Day (North Dakota and South Dakota, United States) November 3 Culture Day (Japan) Independence Day (Dominica) Independence Day (Micronesia) Independence Day (Panama) Independence Day of Cuenca (Ecuador) Victory Day (Maldives) November 4 Community Service Day (Dominica) Flag Day (Panama) National Tonga Day (Tonga) National Unity and Armed Forces Day (Italy) Unity Day (Russia) Yitzhak Rabin Memorial (Israel, unofficial, but widely commemorated) November 5 Bank Transfer Day (United States) Colón Day (Panama) Guy Fawkes Night (United Kingdom, New Zealand and Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada), and its related observances: West Country Carnival (English West Country) Kanakadasa Jayanthi (Karnataka, India) National Love Your Red Hair Day (Ireland) November 6 Arbor Day (Republic of Congo) Constitution Day (Dominican Republic) Finnish Swedish Heritage Day (Finland) Green March (Morocco) Gustavus Adolphus Day (Sweden) International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict Malaria Day in the Americas November 7 Commemoration Day (Tunisia) Hungarian Opera Day (Hungary) National Day (Northern Catalonia, France) October Revolution Day (Belarus, Transnistria) Tokhu Emong (Lotha Naga people of India) Birthday of Radman, the King of Serbia November 8 Intersex Day of Remembrance Statehood Day, Montana, United States November 9 Independence Day (Cambodia) November 10 National Heroes Day (Indonesia) Commemoration of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Turkey) World Keratoconus Day November 11 Independence Day (Angola, Poland) Veterans Day (United States) Remembrance Day (Canada) | November 13 and Brumalia celebrations began on November 24. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. November was referred to as Blōtmōnaþ by the Anglo-Saxons. Brumaire and Frimaire were the months on which November fell in the French Republican calendar. Astronomy November meteor showers include the Andromedids, which occurs from September 25 to December 6 and generally peak around November 9–14, the Leonids, which occurs from November 15–20, the Alpha Monocerotids, which occurs from November 15–25 with the peak on November 21–22, the Northern Taurids, which occurs from October 20 to December 10, and the Southern Taurids, which occurs from September 10 – November 20, and the Phoenicids; which occur from November 29 to December 9 with the peak occurring on December 5–6. The Orionids, which occurs in late October, sometimes lasts into November. Astrology The Western zodiac signs for November are Scorpio (October 23 – November 21) and Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21). November symbols November's birthstone is the topaz (particularly, yellow) which symbolizes friendship and the citrine. Its birth flower is the chrysanthemum. November observances This list does not necessarily imply either official status or general observance. Non-Gregorian observances: 2020 dates (All Baha'i, Islamic, and Jewish observances begin at the sundown prior to the date listed, and end at sundown of the date in question unless otherwise noted.) List of observances set by the Bahá'í calendar List of observances set by the Chinese calendar List of observances set by the Hebrew calendar List of observances set by the Islamic calendar List of observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar Month-long observances In Catholic tradition, November is the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Academic Writing Month Annual Family Reunion Planning Month Lung Cancer Awareness Month Movember National Novel Writing Month Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month (United Kingdom) Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month Stomach Cancer Awareness Month United States Native American Heritage Month COPD Awareness Month Epilepsy Awareness Month Military Family Month National Adoption Month National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month National Blog Posting Month National Critical Infrastructure Protection Month National Entrepreneurship Month National Family Caregivers Month National Bone Marrow Donor Awareness Month National Diabetes Month National Homeless Youth Month National Hospice Month National Impaired Driving Prevention Month National Pomegranate Month Prematurity Awareness Month Movable observances, 2021 dates Mitzvah Day International: November 15 See also Movable Western Christian observances See also Movable Eastern Christian observances First Sunday: November 7 Daylight saving time ends (United States and Canada) First Monday: November 1 Recreation Day holiday (Northern Tasmania) Tuesday after the first Monday: November 2 Election Day (United States) First Wednesday: November 3 National Eating Healthy Day (United States) First Thursday: November 4 International Stout Day Thanksgiving (Liberia) National Men Make Dinner Day (United States) First Friday: November 5 Arbor Day (Samoa) First Saturday: November 6 Children's Day (South Africa) Health |
Ritchie, Maryland detected purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early-warning radars, the alert is cancelled. 1985 – Garry Kasparov, 22, of the Soviet Union becomes the youngest World Chess Champion by beating fellow Soviet Anatoly Karpov. 1989 – Cold War: Fall of the Berlin Wall: East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to travel to West Berlin. 1993 – Stari Most, the "old bridge" in the Bosnian city of Mostar, built in 1566, collapses after several days of bombing by Croat forces during the Croat–Bosniak War. 1994 – The chemical element darmstadtium is discovered. 1998 – A U.S. federal judge, in the largest civil settlement in American history, orders 37 U.S. brokerage houses to pay US$1.03 billion to cheated NASDAQ investors to compensate for price fixing. 1998 – Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offences. 1999 – TAESA Flight 725 crashes after takeoff from Uruapan International Airport in Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico, killing all 18 people on board. 2000 – Uttarakhand officially becomes the 27th state of India, formed from thirteen districts of northwestern Uttar Pradesh. 2004 – Firefox 1.0 is released. 2005 – The Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 2005 – Suicide bombers attack three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing at least 60 people. 2012 – A train carrying liquid fuel crashes and bursts into flames in northern Myanmar, killing 27 people and injuring 80 others. 2012 – At least 27 people are killed and dozens are wounded in conflicts between inmates and guards at Welikada prison in Colombo. 2019 – Kartarpur Corridor was started by India and Pakistan. 2020 – Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: an armistice agreement was signed between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia that ended the war. Births Pre-1600 955 – Gyeongjong, Korean king (d. 981) 1383 – Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara (d. 1441) 1389 – Isabella of Valois, queen consort of England (d. 1409) 1414 – Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1486) 1455 – Johann V of Nassau-Vianden-Dietz, Dutch count (d. 1516) 1467 – Charles II, Duke of Guelders, count of Zutphen from 1492 (d. 1538) 1467 – Philippa of Guelders, twin sister of Charles II, Dutch duchess consort (d. 1547) 1522 – Martin Chemnitz, German astrologer and theologian (d. 1586) 1535 – Nanda Bayin, king of Burma (d. 1600) 1580 – Johannes Narssius, Dutch physician and poet (d. 1637) 1601–1900 1606 – Hermann Conring, German philosopher and educator (d. 1681) 1664 – Johann Speth, German organist and composer (d. 1719) 1664 – Henry Wharton, English librarian and author (d. 1695) 1683 – George II of Great Britain (d. 1760) 1697 – Claudio Casciolini, Italian singer and composer (d. 1760) 1719 – Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani, Italian priest, theoretician, and academic (d. 1796) 1721 – Mark Akenside, English physician and poet (d. 1770) 1723 – Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (d. 1787) 1731 – Benjamin Banneker, American farmer, surveyor, and author (d. 1806) 1732 – Jeanne Julie Éléonore de Lespinasse, French businesswoman and author (d. 1776) 1773 – Thomasine Christine Gyllembourg-Ehrensvärd, Danish author (d. 1856) 1799 – Gustav, Prince of Vasa (d. 1877) 1801 – Gail Borden, American surveyor and publisher, invented condensed milk (d. 1874) 1802 – Elijah Parish Lovejoy, American minister, journalist, and activist (d. 1837) 1810 – Bernhard von Langenbeck, German general, surgeon, and academic (d. 1887) 1818 – Ivan Turgenev, Russian author and playwright (d. 1883) 1825 – A. P. Hill, American general (d. 1865) 1829 – Peter Lumsden, English general (d. 1918) 1832 – Émile Gaboriau, French author and journalist (d. 1873) 1840 – Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Quebec (d. 1898) 1841 – Edward VII of the United Kingdom (d. 1910) 1850 – Louis Lewin, German pharmacologist and academic (d. 1929) 1853 – Stanford White, American architect and partner, co-founded McKim, Mead & White (d. 1906) 1854 – Maud Howe Elliott, American activist and author (d. 1948) 1862 – Gigo Gabashvili, Georgian painter and educator (d. 1936) 1869 – Marie Dressler, Canadian-American actress and singer (d. 1934) 1871 – Florence R. Sabin, American medical scientist (d. 1953) 1872 – Bohdan Lepky, Ukrainian author and poet (d. 1941) 1873 – Otfrid Foerster, German neurologist and surgeon (d. 1941) 1874 – Albert Francis Blakeslee, American botanist and academic (d. 1954) 1877 – Enrico De Nicola, Italian journalist, lawyer, and politician, 1st President of the Italian Republic (d. 1959) 1877 – Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistani philosopher, poet, and politician (d. 1938) 1878 – Ahn Changho, Korean activist and politician (d. 1938) 1879 – Jenő Bory, Hungarian architect and sculptor (d. 1959) 1879 – Milan Šufflay, Croatian historian and politician (d. 1931) 1880 – Giles Gilbert Scott, English architect, designed the red telephone box (d. 1960) 1883 – Edna May Oliver, American actress (d. 1942) 1885 – Theodor Kaluza, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1954) 1885 – Velimir Khlebnikov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1922) 1885 – Aureliano Pertile, Italian tenor and educator (d. 1952) 1885 – Hermann Weyl, German mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (d. 1955) 1886 – Ed Wynn, American actor (d. 1966) 1888 – Jean Monnet, French economist and diplomat (d. 1979) 1891 – Louisa E. Rhine, American botanist and parapsychologist (d. 1983) 1894 – Mae Marsh, American actress (d. 1968) 1894 – Dietrich von Choltitz, General of the German Army during World War II (d. 1966) 1897 – Harvey Hendrick, American baseball player (d. 1941) 1897 – Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978) 1900 – Oskar Loorits, Estonian author and academic (d. 1961) 1901–present 1902 – Anthony Asquith, English director and screenwriter (d. 1968) 1904 – Viktor Brack, German SS officer (d. 1948) 1904 – Heiti Talvik, Estonian poet (d. 1947) 1905 – Erika Mann, German-Swiss actress and author (d. 1969) 1906 – Arthur Rudolph, German scientist and engineer (d. 1996) 1913 – Paulene Myers, American actress (d. 1996) 1914 – Thomas Berry, American priest, historian, and theologian (d. 2009) 1914 – Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-American actress and inventor (d. 2000) 1915 – André François, Romanian-French illustrator, painter, and sculptor (d. 2005) 1915 – Sargent Shriver, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 21st United States Ambassador to France (d. 2011) 1916 – Martha Settle Putney, American lieutenant, historian, and educator (d. 2008) 1918 – Spiro Agnew, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 39th Vice President of the United States (d. 1996) 1918 – Florence Chadwick, American swimmer (d. 1995) 1918 – Thomas Ferebee, American colonel (d. 2000) 1918 – Choi Hong Hi, South Korean general and martial artist, co-founded taekwondo (d. 2002) 1919 – Eva Todor, Brazilian actress (d. 2017) 1920 – Byron De La Beckwith, American assassin of Medgar Evers (d. 2001) 1920 – Philip G. Hodge, American engineer and academic (d. 2014) 1921 – Pierrette Alarie, Canadian soprano and actress (d. 2011) 1921 – Viktor Chukarin, Ukrainian gymnast and coach (d. 1984) 1922 – Dorothy Dandridge, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1965) 1922 – Raymond Devos, Belgian-French comedian and clown (d. 2006) 1922 – Imre Lakatos, Hungarian mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1974) 1923 – Alice Coachman, American high jumper (d. 2014) 1923 – Elizabeth Hawley, American-Nepali journalist and historian (d. 2018) 1923 – James Schuyler, American poet and author (d. 1991) 1924 – Robert Frank, Swiss-American photographer and director (d. 2019) 1925 – Alistair Horne, English-American journalist, historian, and author (d. 2017) 1926 – Vicente Aranda, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015) 1926 – Luis Miguel Dominguín, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1996) 1928 – Anne Sexton, American poet and academic (d. 1974) 1929 – Marc Favreau, Canadian actor and poet (d. 2005) 1929 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016) 1931 – Whitey Herzog, American baseball player and manager 1931 – George Witt, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013) 1931 – Valery Shumakov, Russian surgeon and transplantologist (d. 2008) 1933 – Ed Corney, American professional bodybuilder (d. 2019) 1933 – Jim Perry, American game show host (d. 2015) 1934 – Ingvar Carlsson, Swedish economist and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Sweden 1934 – Ronald Harwood, South African author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2020) 1934 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist (d. 1996) 1935 – Bob Gibson, American baseball player and coach (d. 2020) 1935 – David Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale, English businessman and politician 1936 – Bob Graham, American lawyer and politician, 38th Governor of Florida 1936 – Mikhail Tal, Latvian-Russian chess player and author (d. 1992) 1936 – Mary Travers, American singer-songwriter (d. 2009) 1937 – Roger McGough, English author, poet, and playwright 1937 – Donald Trelford, English journalist and academic 1937 – Clyde Wells, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Newfoundland 1938 – Ti-Grace Atkinson, American author and critic 1939 – Paul Cameron, American psychologist and academic 1939 – Bryan Davies, Baron Davies of Oldham, English academic and politician 1941 – David Constant, English cricketer and umpire 1941 – Tom Fogerty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1990) 1941 – John Singleton, Australian businessman 1942 – Victor Blank, English businessman and philanthropist 1942 – Tom Weiskopf, American golfer and sportscaster 1944 – Chitresh Das, Indian dancer and choreographer (d. 2015) 1944 – Phil May, English singer-songwriter (d. 2020) 1945 – Moeletsi Mbeki, South African economist and academic 1945 – Charlie Robinson, American actor (d. 2021) 1946 – Benny Mardones, American singer-songwriter (d. 2020) 1946 – Marina Warner, English author and academic 1947 – Robert David Hall, American actor, singer, and pianist 1948 – Bille August, Danish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter 1948 – Joe Bouchard, American bass player and songwriter 1948 – Jane Humphries, English economist, historian, and academic 1948 – Michel Pagliaro, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1948 – Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazilian footballer and manager 1950 – Parekura Horomia, New Zealand politician, 40th Minister of Māori Affairs (d. 2013) 1951 – Lou Ferrigno, American bodybuilder and actor 1952 – Sherrod Brown, American academic and politician 1952 – Gladys Requena, Venezuelan politician 1952 – Jim Riggleman, American baseball player, coach, and manager 1953 – Gaétan Hart, Canadian boxer 1954 – Aed Carabao, Thai singer-songwriter and guitarist 1955 – Fernando Meirelles, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter 1955 – Bob Nault, Canadian lawyer and politician 1959 – Thomas Quasthoff, German opera singer 1960 – Andreas Brehme, German footballer and manager 1960 – Demetra Plakas, American drummer 1960 – Sarah Franklin, American-English anthropologist and academic 1961 – Jill Dando, English journalist (d. 1999) 1964 – Robert Duncan McNeill, American actor, director, and producer 1965 – Daphne Guinness, English-Irish model and actress 1965 – Andrei Lapushkin, Russian footballer 1965 – Bryn Terfel, Welsh opera singer 1967 – Ricky Otto, English footballer 1968 – Nazzareno Carusi, Italian pianist and educator 1968 – Colin Hay, English political scientist, author, and academic 1969 – Sandra Denton, Jamaican-American rapper and actress 1969 – Ramona Milano, Canadian actress 1969 – Roxanne Shanté, American rapper 1969 – Allison Wolfe, American singer-songwriter 1970 – Nelson Diebel, American swimmer and coach 1970 – Domino, American DJ and producer 1970 – Guido Görtzen, Dutch volleyball player 1970 – Bill Guerin, American ice hockey player and coach 1970 – Chris Jericho, American-Canadian wrestler 1970 – Scarface, American rapper and producer 1970 – Susan Tedeschi, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1971 – David Duval, American golfer and sportscaster 1971 – Sabri Lamouchi, French footballer and manager 1972 – Eric Dane, American actor 1972 – Naomi Shindō, Japanese voice actress and singer 1972 – Corin | and playwright 1937 – Donald Trelford, English journalist and academic 1937 – Clyde Wells, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Newfoundland 1938 – Ti-Grace Atkinson, American author and critic 1939 – Paul Cameron, American psychologist and academic 1939 – Bryan Davies, Baron Davies of Oldham, English academic and politician 1941 – David Constant, English cricketer and umpire 1941 – Tom Fogerty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1990) 1941 – John Singleton, Australian businessman 1942 – Victor Blank, English businessman and philanthropist 1942 – Tom Weiskopf, American golfer and sportscaster 1944 – Chitresh Das, Indian dancer and choreographer (d. 2015) 1944 – Phil May, English singer-songwriter (d. 2020) 1945 – Moeletsi Mbeki, South African economist and academic 1945 – Charlie Robinson, American actor (d. 2021) 1946 – Benny Mardones, American singer-songwriter (d. 2020) 1946 – Marina Warner, English author and academic 1947 – Robert David Hall, American actor, singer, and pianist 1948 – Bille August, Danish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter 1948 – Joe Bouchard, American bass player and songwriter 1948 – Jane Humphries, English economist, historian, and academic 1948 – Michel Pagliaro, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1948 – Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazilian footballer and manager 1950 – Parekura Horomia, New Zealand politician, 40th Minister of Māori Affairs (d. 2013) 1951 – Lou Ferrigno, American bodybuilder and actor 1952 – Sherrod Brown, American academic and politician 1952 – Gladys Requena, Venezuelan politician 1952 – Jim Riggleman, American baseball player, coach, and manager 1953 – Gaétan Hart, Canadian boxer 1954 – Aed Carabao, Thai singer-songwriter and guitarist 1955 – Fernando Meirelles, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter 1955 – Bob Nault, Canadian lawyer and politician 1959 – Thomas Quasthoff, German opera singer 1960 – Andreas Brehme, German footballer and manager 1960 – Demetra Plakas, American drummer 1960 – Sarah Franklin, American-English anthropologist and academic 1961 – Jill Dando, English journalist (d. 1999) 1964 – Robert Duncan McNeill, American actor, director, and producer 1965 – Daphne Guinness, English-Irish model and actress 1965 – Andrei Lapushkin, Russian footballer 1965 – Bryn Terfel, Welsh opera singer 1967 – Ricky Otto, English footballer 1968 – Nazzareno Carusi, Italian pianist and educator 1968 – Colin Hay, English political scientist, author, and academic 1969 – Sandra Denton, Jamaican-American rapper and actress 1969 – Ramona Milano, Canadian actress 1969 – Roxanne Shanté, American rapper 1969 – Allison Wolfe, American singer-songwriter 1970 – Nelson Diebel, American swimmer and coach 1970 – Domino, American DJ and producer 1970 – Guido Görtzen, Dutch volleyball player 1970 – Bill Guerin, American ice hockey player and coach 1970 – Chris Jericho, American-Canadian wrestler 1970 – Scarface, American rapper and producer 1970 – Susan Tedeschi, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1971 – David Duval, American golfer and sportscaster 1971 – Sabri Lamouchi, French footballer and manager 1972 – Eric Dane, American actor 1972 – Naomi Shindō, Japanese voice actress and singer 1972 – Corin Tucker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1973 – Alyson Court, Canadian actress and producer 1973 – Nick Lachey, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor 1973 – Gabrielle Miller, Canadian actress and director 1973 – Zisis Vryzas, Greek footballer and coach 1974 – Alessandro Del Piero, Italian footballer 1974 – Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Italian actress 1975 – Gareth Malone, English singer and conductor 1975 – Mathew Sinclair, New Zealand cricketer 1976 – Tochiazuma Daisuke, Japanese sumo wrestler 1977 – Chris Morgan, English footballer and manager 1977 – Omar Trujillo, Mexican footballer 1978 – Steven López, American martial artist 1978 – Even Ormestad, Norwegian bass player and producer 1978 – Sisqó, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor 1979 – Dave Bush, American baseball player 1979 – Caroline Flack, English television presenter, radio presenter, and model (d. 2020) 1979 – Adam Dunn, American baseball player 1979 – Martin Taylor, English footballer 1980 – James Harper, English footballer 1980 – Vanessa Lachey, Filipino-American television host and actress 1980 – Dominique Maltais, Canadian snowboarder 1981 – Eyedea, American rapper and producer (d. 2010) 1981 – Kane Waselenchuk, Canadian racquetball player 1981 – Jobi McAnuff, Jamaican footballer 1982 – Boaz Myhill, American-Welsh footballer 1982 – Jana Pittman, Australian hurdler 1983 – Rob Elloway, German rugby player 1983 – Ted Potter Jr., American golfer 1983 – Michael Turner, English footballer 1984 – Delta Goodrem, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress 1984 – Seven, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor 1985 – Bakary Soumaré, Malian footballer 1986 – Carl Gunnarsson, Swedish ice hockey player 1987 – Raul Must, Estonian badminton player 1988 – Nikki Blonsky, American actress, singer, and dancer 1988 – Lio Tipton (credited as Analeigh Tipton until 2021), American model and actress 1989 – Baptiste Giabiconi, French model and singer 1990 – Nosa Igiebor, Nigerian footballer 1993 – Pete Dunne, English wrestler and promoter 1996 – Momo Hirai, Japanese dancer and singer, member of Twice Deaths Pre-1600 959 – Constantine VII, Byzantine emperor (b. 905) 1034 – Oldřich, Duke of Bohemia (b. c. 975) 1187 – Emperor Gaozong of Song (b. 1107) 1208 – Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon (b. 1154) 1261 – Sanchia of Provence, queen consort of Germany 1286 – Roger Northwode, English statesman (b. 1230) 1312 – Otto III, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1261) 1321 – Walter Langton, bishop of Lichfield and treasurer of England (b. 1243) 1456 – Ulrich II, Count of Celje (b. 1406) 1492 – Jami, Persian poet (b. 1414) 1596 – George Peele, English translator, poet, and dramatist (b. 1556) 1601–1900 1623 – William Camden, English historian and topographer (b. 1551) 1641 – Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria (b. 1610) 1677 – Aert van der Neer, Dutch painter (b. 1603) 1766 – Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer and diplomat (b. 1692) 1770 – John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll, Scottish general and politician (b. 1693) 1778 – Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1720) 1801 – Carl Stamitz, German-Czech violinist and composer (b. 1745) 1848 – Robert Blum, German poet and politician (b. 1810) 1854 – Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, wife/widow of Alexander Hamilton and co-founder of the first private orphanage in New York (b. 1757) 1880 – Edwin Drake, American businessman (b. 1819) 1901–present 1906 – Dorothea Beale, English suffragist, educational reformer and author (b. 1831) 1911 – Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (b. 1853) 1917 – Harry Trott, Australian cricketer (b. 1866) 1918 – Guillaume Apollinaire, Italian-French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1880) 1918 – Peter Lumsden, English general (b. 1829) 1919 – Eduard Müller, Swiss lawyer and politician, 26th President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1848) 1924 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American historian and politician (b. 1850) 1932 – Nadezhda Alliluyeva, second wife of Joseph Stalin (b. 1901) 1937 – Ramsay MacDonald, Scottish journalist and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1866) 1938 – Vasily Blyukher, Russian marshal (b. 1889) 1940 – Stephen Alencastre, Portuguese-American bishop (b. 1876) 1940 – Neville Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1869) 1942 – Charles Courtney Curran, American painter (b. 1861) 1942 – Edna May Oliver, American actress (b. 1883) 1944 – Frank Marshall, American chess player and theoretician (b. 1877) 1951 – Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-American pianist and composer (b. 1887) 1952 – Philip Murray, Scottish-American labor leader (b. 1886) 1952 – Chaim Weizmann, Belarusian-Israeli chemist, academic, and politician, 1st President of Israel (b. 1874) 1953 – Louise DeKoven Bowen, American philanthropist and activist (b. 1859) 1953 – Ibn Saud, Saudi Arabian king (b. 1880) 1953 – Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and author (b. 1914) 1956 – Aino Kallas, Finnish-Estonian author (b. 1878) 1957 – Peter O'Connor, Irish long jumper (b. 1872) 1958 – Dorothy Canfield Fisher, American educational reformer, social activist and author (b. 1879) 1962 – Dhondo Keshav Karve, Indian activist and academic (b. 1858) 1968 – Jan Johansson, Swedish pianist (b. 1931) 1970 – Charles de Gaulle, French general and politician, 18th President of France (b. 1890) 1971 – Maude Fealy, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1883) 1972 – Victor Adamson; American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1890) 1976 – Armas Taipale, Finnish discus thrower and shot putter (b. 1890) 1977 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1898) 1985 – Marie-Georges Pascal, French actress (b. 1946) 1988 – David Bauer, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and priest (b. 1924) 1988 – John N. Mitchell, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 67th United States Attorney General (b. 1913) 1988 – Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter (b. 1920) 1989 – Bill Neilson, Australian politician, 34th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1925) 1991 – Yves Montand, Italian-French actor (b. 1921) 1992 – Charles Fraser-Smith, English missionary and author (b. 1904) 1992 – William Hillcourt, Danish-American scout leader and author (b. 1900) 1992 – T. Sivasithamparam, Sri Lankan politician (b. 1926) 1993 – Ross Andru, American illustrator (b. 1925) 1996 – Joe Ghiz, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 27th Premier of Prince Edward Island (b. 1945) 1997 – Carl Gustav Hempel, German philosopher from the Vienna and the Berlin Circle (b. 1905) 1997 – Helenio Herrera, Argentinian-Italian footballer and manager (b. 1910) 1999 – Mabel King, American actress and singer (b. 1932) 2000 – Sherwood Johnston, American race car driver (b. 1927) 2000 – Eric Morley, English television host, founded Miss World (b. 1918) 2001 – Niels Jannasch, Canadian historian and curator (b. 1924) 2001 – Giovanni Leone, Italian lawyer and politician, 6th President of Italy (b. 1908) 2002 – William Schutz, American psychologist and academic (b. 1925) 2003 – Art Carney, American actor and comedian (b. 1918) 2003 – Gordon Onslow Ford, English-American painter (b. 1912) 2003 – Binod Bihari Verma, Indian physician and author (b. 1937) 2004 – Iris Chang, American historian, journalist, and author (b. 1968) 2004 – Emlyn Hughes, English footballer and manager (b. 1947) 2004 – Stieg Larsson, Swedish journalist and author (b. 1954) 2005 – K. R. Narayanan, Indian journalist and politician, 10th President of India (b. 1921) 2006 – Ed Bradley, American journalist (b. 1941) 2006 – Ellen Willis, American journalist and activist (b. 1941) 2006 – Markus Wolf, German intelligence officer (b. 1923) 2008 – Hans Freeman, Australian bioinorganic chemist and protein crystallographer (b. 1929) 2008 – Huda bin Abdul Haq, Indonesian terrorist (b. 1960) 2008 – Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, Indonesian terrorist (b. 1962) 2008 – Miriam Makeba, South African singer and activist (b. 1932) 2012 – Milan Čič, Slovak lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic (b. 1932) 2012 – Joseph D. Early, American soldier and politician (b. 1933) 2012 – Sergey Nikolsky, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1905) 2012 – James L. Stone, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1922) 2013 – Savaş Ay, Turkish journalist (b. 1954) 2013 – Helen Eadie, Scottish politician (b. 1947) 2013 – Grethe Rytter Hasle, Norwegian biologist and academic (b. 1920) 2013 – Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, American saxophonist (b. 1936) 2013 – Steve Prescott, English rugby player (b. 1973) 2013 – Emile Zuckerkandl, Austrian-American biologist and academic (b. 1922) 2014 – Rubén Alvarez, Argentinian golfer (b. 1961) 2014 – Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani, Qatari prince (b. 1966) 2014 – R. A. Montgomery, American author and publisher (b. 1936) 2014 – Myles Munroe, Bahamian pastor and author (b. 1954) 2014 – Orlando Thomas, American football player (b. 1972) 2014 – Joe Walsh, Irish politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (b. 1943) 2015 – Carol Doda, American actress and dancer (b. 1937) 2015 – Ernst Fuchs, Austrian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (b. 1930) 2015 – Tommy Hanson, American baseball player (b. 1986) 2015 – Byron Krieger, American fencer (b. 1920) 2015 – Andy White, Scottish drummer (b. 1930) 2016 – Greg Ballard, American basketball player and coach (b. 1955) 2017 – Chuck Mosley, American singer songwriter (b. 1959) 2017 – Shyla Stylez, Canadian pornographic actress (b. 1982) 2021 – Max Cleland, American politician (b. 1942) Holidays and observances Birthday of Muhammad Iqbal (Pakistan) Christian feast day: Benignus of Armagh Dedication of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, Cathedral of the Pope (memorial feast day) Margery Kempe (Church of England) Martin Chemnitz (Lutheran) Nectarios of Aegina Theodore of Amasea (Roman Catholic Church) Virgin of Almudena (Madrid) Vitonus November 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Day of the Skulls or (Bolivia) Flag Day (Azerbaijan) Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Cambodia from France in 1953. Inventors' Day (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) Uttarakhand Day (Uttarakhand, India) World Freedom |
1885 – George S. Patton, American general (d. 1945) 1887 – Roland Young, English-American actor (d. 1953) 1888 – Abul Kalam Azad, Indian activist, scholar, and politician, Indian Minister of Education (d. 1958) 1888 – J. B. Kripalani, Indian lawyer and politician (d.1982) 1891 – Rabbit Maranville, American baseball player and manager (d. 1954) 1891 – Grunya Sukhareva, Ukrainian-Russian psychiatrist and university lecturer (d. 1981) 1894 – Beverly Bayne, American actress (d. 1982) 1895 – Wealthy Babcock, American mathematician and academic (d. 1990) 1896 – Shirley Graham Du Bois, American author, playwright, composer, and activist (d. 1977) 1896 – Carlos Eduardo Castañeda, Mexican-American historian (d. 1958) 1898 – René Clair, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1981) 1899 – Pat O'Brien, American actor (d. 1983) 1900 – Maria Babanova, Russian stage and film actress (d. 1983) 1901–present 1901 – Sam Spiegel, American film producer (d. 1985) 1901 – F. Van Wyck Mason, American historian and author (d. 1978) 1904 – Alger Hiss, American lawyer and convicted spy (d. 1996) 1904 – J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician and academic (d. 1960) 1906 – Brother Theodore, German-American monologuist and comedian (d. 2001) 1907 – Orestis Laskos, Greek director, screenwriter, and poet (d. 1992) 1909 – Robert Ryan, American actor (d. 1973) 1909 – Piero Scotti, Italian race car driver (d. 1976) 1911 – Roberto Matta, Chilean-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 2002) 1912 – Thomas C. Mann, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to El Salvador (d. 1999) 1914 – James Gilbert Baker, American astronomer, optician, and academic (d. 2005) 1914 – Taslim Olawale Elias, Nigerian academic and jurist, 2nd Chief Justice of Nigeria (d. 1991) 1914 – Howard Fast, American novelist and screenwriter (d. 2003) 1914 – Henry Wade, American soldier and lawyer (d. 2001) 1914 – Daisy Bates, American activist who played a leading role in the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957 (d. 1999) 1915 – William Proxmire, American soldier, journalist, and politician (d. 2005) 1915 – Anna Schwartz, American economist and author (d. 2012) 1916 – Robert Carr, English engineer and politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 2012) 1918 – Stubby Kaye, American entertainer (d. 1997) 1919 – Kalle Päätalo, Finnish soldier and author (d. 2000) 1920 – Roy Jenkins, British politician, President of the European Commission (d. 2003) 1920 – Walter Krupinski, German captain and pilot (d. 2000) 1921 – Terrel Bell, American sergeant, academic, and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Education (d. 1996) 1922 – Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2007) 1925 – John Guillermin, English-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015) 1925 – June Whitfield, English actress (d. 2018) 1925 – Jonathan Winters, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013) 1926 – Harry Lumley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1998) 1926 – Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian race car driver (d. 2016) 1927 – Mose Allison, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016) 1927 – Martin Špegelj, Croatian general and politician, 2nd Croatian Minister of Defence (d. 2014) 1928 – Ernestine Anderson, American singer (d. 2016) 1928 – Carlos Fuentes, Mexican novelist and essayist (d. 2012) 1929 – LaVern Baker, American singer (d. 1997) 1929 – Hans Magnus Enzensberger, German author and poet 1929 – Martin Jacomb, English lawyer, businessman, and academic 1930 – Hugh Everett III, American physicist and mathematician (d. 1982) 1930 – Vernon Handley, English conductor (d. 2008) 1930 – Mildred Dresselhaus, American physicist and academic (d. 2017) 1932 – Germano Mosconi, Italian journalist (d. 2012) 1933 – Martino Finotto, Italian race car driver (d. 2014) 1933 – Peter B. Lewis, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013) 1935 – Bibi Andersson, Swedish actress (d. 2019) 1936 – Jack Keller, American songwriter and producer (d. 2005) 1937 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian race car driver (d. 2001) 1937 – Stephen Lewis, Canadian politician and diplomat, 14th Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations 1937 – Alicia Ostriker, American poet and scholar 1939 – Denise Alexander, American actress 1940 – Barbara Boxer, American journalist and politician 1940 – Dennis Coffey, American guitarist 1942 – Jonathan Fenby, English journalist and businessman 1942 – Roy Fredericks, Guyanese-American cricketer and politician (d. 2000) 1942 – K. Connie Kang, Korean American journalist and author (d. 2019) 1942 – Diane Wolkstein, American author and radio host (d. 2013) 1943 – Doug Frost, Australian swim coach 1945 – Chris Dreja, English guitarist and songwriter 1945 – Vince Martell, American singer and guitarist 1945 – Daniel Ortega, Nicaraguan politician, President of Nicaragua 1946 – Al Holbert, American race car driver (d. 1988) 1948 – Andrzej Czok, Polish mountaineer (d. 1986) 1948 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (d. 2005) 1948 – Robert John "Mutt" Lange, British-South African record producer and songwriter 1949 – Ismail Petra of Kelantan, former Sultan of Kelantan (d. 2019) 1949 – Kathy Postlewait, American golfer 1950 – Mircea Dinescu, Romanian journalist and poet 1950 – Jim Peterik, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1951 – Kim Peek, American megasavant (d. 2009) 1951 – Marc Summers, American television host and producer 1951 – Fuzzy Zoeller, American golfer 1953 – Marshall Crenshaw, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1953 – Andy Partridge, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer 1954 – Steve Brain, English rugby player 1954 – Mary Gaitskill, American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. 1954 – Roger Slifer, American author, illustrator, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2015) 1955 – Dave Alvin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1955 – Jigme Singye Wangchuk, King of Bhutan 1955 – Teri York, Canadian diver 1956 – Ian Craig Marsh, English guitarist 1956 – Talat Aziz, Ghazal singer 1958 – Luz Casal, Spanish singer-songwriter and actress 1958 – Kazimieras Černis, Lithuanian astronomer and astrophysicist 1958 – Carlos Lacámara, Cuban-American actor and playwright 1958 – Kathy Lette, Australian-English author 1959 – Lee Haney, American bodybuilder 1959 – Richard Rowe, English jockey and trainer 1959 – Christian Schwarzenegger, Swiss criminologist and academic 1959 – Carl Williams, American boxer (d. 2013) 1960 – Colin Harvey, English author and critic (d. 2011) 1960 – Chuck Hernandez, American baseball player and coach 1960 – Paquito Ochoa, Jr., Filipino lawyer and politician, 37th Executive Secretary of the Philippines 1960 – Cristina Odone, Kenyan-Italian journalist and author 1960 – Peter Parros, American actor, producer, and screenwriter 1960 – Stanley Tucci, American actor and director 1961 – Yuri Milner, Russian-born entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist 1962 – Mario Fenech, Maltese-Australian rugby league player and sportscaster 1962 – Georgios Mitsibonas, Greek footballer (d. 1997) 1962 – Demi Moore, American actress, director, and producer 1962 – James Morrison, Australian trumpet player and composer 1963 – Billy Gunn, American wrestler and actor 1964 – Margarete Bagshaw, American painter and potter (d. 2015) 1964 – Calista Flockhart, American actress 1964 – Philip McKeon, American actor (d. 2019) 1965 – Max Mutchnick, American screenwriter and producer 1965 – Kim Stockwood, Canadian singer-songwriter 1966 – Benedicta Boccoli, Italian model and actress 1966 – Vince Colosimo, Australian actor 1966 – Alison Doody, Irish model and actress 1967 – Gil de Ferran, Brazilian race car driver 1967 – David Doak, Northern Irish video game designer 1967 – Frank John Hughes, American actor, producer, and screenwriter 1968 – David L. Cook, American singer-songwriter and comedian 1968 – Diego Fuser, Italian footballer and manager 1971 – David DeLuise, American actor and director 1971 – Tomas Pačėsas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach 1972 – Adam Beach, Canadian actor 1973 – Jason White, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1974 – Jon B., American singer-songwriter and producer 1974 – Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor and producer 1974 – Static Major, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2008) 1974 – Wajahatullah Wasti, Pakistani cricketer 1975 – Daisuke Ohata, Japanese rugby player 1976 – Jason Grilli, American baseball player 1976 – Jesse F. Keeler, Canadian bass player 1977 – Ben Hollioake, Australian-English cricketer (d. 2002) 1977 – Jill Vedder, American philanthropist, activist and fashion model 1977 – Maniche, Portuguese footballer and manager 1977 – Marsha Mehran, Iranian-American author (d. 2014) 1978 – Lou Vincent, New Zealand cricketer 1980 – Willie Parker, American football player and coach 1980 – Edmoore Takaendesa, Zimbabwean-German rugby player 1982 – Gonzalo Canale, Argentinian-Italian rugby player 1982 – Jeremy Williams, English model, actor, and poet 1983 – Arouna Koné, Ivorian footballer 1983 – Philipp Lahm, German footballer 1983 – Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Japanese voice actor and singer 1984 – Stephen Hunt, English footballer 1984 – Birkir Már Sævarsson, Icelandic footballer 1985 – Osvaldo Alonso, Cuban footballer 1985 – Austin Collie, American football player 1985 – Tiidrek Nurme, Estonian runner 1985 – Jessica Sierra, American singer 1985 – Robin Uthappa, Indian cricketer 1986 – François Trinh-Duc, French rugby player 1986 – Jon Batiste, American singer and pianist 1986 – Mark Sanchez, American football player 1986 – Victor Cruz, American football player 1987 – Vinny Guadagnino, American actor 1987 – Chanelle Hayes, English model and singer 1988 – David Depetris, Argentinian-Slovak footballer 1988 – Mikako Komatsu, Japanese voice actress and singer 1988 – Kyle Naughton, English footballer 1989 – Nick Blackman, English-Israeli footballer 1989 – Adam Rippon, American figure skater 1989 | recently returned former Augustus of the West, in an attempt to end the civil wars of the Tetrarchy. 1028 – Constantine VIII died, ending his uninterrupted reign as emperor or co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire of 66 years. 1100 – Henry I of England marries Matilda of Scotland, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and a direct descendant of the Saxon king Edmund Ironside; Matilda is crowned in the same day. 1215 – The Fourth Council of the Lateran meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are, by that doctrine, said to transform into the body and blood of Christ. 1500 – Treaty of Granada: Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon agree to divide the Kingdom of Naples between them. 1572 – Tycho Brahe observes the supernova SN 1572. 1601–1900 1620 – The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. 1634 – Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery. 1673 – Second Battle of Khotyn in Ukraine: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieski defeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets made by Kazimierz Siemienowicz are successfully used. 1675 – Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x). 1724 – Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London. 1750 – Riots break out in Lhasa after the murder of the Tibetan regent. 1750 – The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the first college fraternity. 1778 – Cherry Valley massacre: Loyalists and Seneca Indian forces attack a fort and village in eastern New York during the American Revolutionary War, killing more than forty civilians and soldiers. 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Dürenstein: Eight thousand French troops attempt to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force. 1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Crysler's Farm: British and Canadian forces defeat a larger American force, causing the Americans to abandon their Saint Lawrence campaign. 1831 – In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising. 1839 – The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia. 1865 – Treaty of Sinchula is signed whereby Bhutan cedes the areas east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company. 1869 – The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act is enacted in Australia, giving the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live, and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generations. 1880 – Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol. 1887 – August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer and George Engel are executed as a result of the Haymarket affair. 1889 – The State of Washington is admitted as the 42nd state of the United States.. 1901–present 1911 – Many cities in the Midwestern United States break their record highs and lows on the same day as a strong cold front rolls through. 1918 – World War I: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car in the forest of Compiègne. 1918 – Józef Piłsudski assumes supreme military power in Poland – symbolic first day of Polish independence. 1918 – Emperor Charles I of Austria relinquishes power. 1919 – The Industrial Workers of the World attack an Armistice Day parade in Centralia, Washington, ultimately resulting in the deaths of five people. 1919 – Latvian forces defeat the West Russian Volunteer Army at Riga in the Latvian War of Independence. 1921 – The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by US President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery. 1923 – Adolf Hitler was arrested in Munich for high treason for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch. 1926 – The United States Numbered Highway System is established. 1930 – Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator. 1934 – The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia is opened. 1940 – World War II: In the Battle of Taranto, the Royal Navy launches the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history. 1940 – World War II: The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis captures top secret British mail from the Automedon, and sends it to Japan. 1942 – World War II: France's zone libre is occupied by German forces in Case Anton. 1960 – A military coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam is crushed. 1961 – Thirteen Italian Air Force servicemen, deployed to the Congo as a part of the UN peacekeeping force, are massacred by a mob in Kindu. 1962 – Kuwait's National Assembly ratifies the Constitution of Kuwait. 1965 – Southern Rhodesia's Prime Minister Ian Smith unilaterally declares the colony independent as the unrecognised state of Rhodesia. 1965 – United Airlines Flight 227 crashes at Salt Lake City International Airport, killing 43. 1966 – NASA launches Gemini 12. 1967 – Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to "new left" antiwar activist Tom Hayden. 1968 – Vietnam War: Operation Commando Hunt initiated. The goal is to interdict men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh trail, through Laos into South Vietnam. 1972 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization: The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam. 1975 – Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam, appoints Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister and announces a general election to be held in early December. 1975 – Independence of Angola. 1977 – A munitions explosion at a train station in Iri, South Korea kills at least 56 people. 1981 – Antigua and Barbuda joins the United Nations. 1992 – The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests. 1993 – A sculpture honoring women who served in the Vietnam War is dedicated at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. 1999 – The House of Lords Act is given Royal Assent, restricting membership of the British House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage. 2000 – Kaprun disaster: One hundred fifty-five skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria. 2001 – Journalists Pierre Billaud, Johanne Sutton and Volker Handloik are killed in Afghanistan during an attack on the convoy they are traveling in. 2002 – A Fokker F27 Friendship operating as Laoag International Airlines Flight 585 crashes into Manila Bay shortly after takeoff from Ninoy Aquino International Airport, killing 19 people. 2004 – New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington. 2004 – The Palestine Liberation Organization confirms the death of Yasser Arafat from unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas is elected chairman of the PLO minutes later. 2006 – Queen Elizabeth II unveils the New Zealand War Memorial in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army. 2011 – A helicopter crash just outside Mexico City kills seven, including Francisco Blake Mora the Secretary of the Interior of Mexico. 2012 – A strong earthquake with the magnitude 6.8 hits northern Burma, killing at least 26 people. 2014 – Fifty-eight people are killed in a bus crash in the Sukkur District in southern Pakistan's Sindh province. 2020 – Typhoon Vamco makes landfall in Luzon and several offshore islands. The storm caused the worst floods in the region since Typhoon Ketsana in 2009 and killed 67 people. Births Pre-1600 1050 – Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1106) 1154 – Sancho I of Portugal (d. 1212) 1155 – Alfonso VIII of Castile (d. 1214) 1220 – Alphonse, Count of Poitiers (d. 1271) 1430 – Jošt of Rožmberk, Bishop of Breslau (d. 1467) 1441 – Charlotte of Savoy, French queen (d. 1483) 1449 – Catherine of Poděbrady, Hungarian queen (d. 1464) 1491 – Martin Bucer, German Protestant reformer (d. 1551) 1493 – Paracelsus, Swiss-German physician, botanist, astrologer, and occultist (d. 1541) 1512 – Marcin Kromer, Prince-Bishop of Warmia (d. 1589) 1569 – Martin Ruland the Younger, German physician and chemist (d. 1611) 1579 – Frans Snyders, Flemish painter (d. 1657) 1599 – Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg (d. 1655) 1599 – Ottavio Piccolomini, Austrian-Italian field marshal (d. 1656) 1601–1900 1633 – George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1695) 1668 – Johann Albert Fabricius, German author and scholar (d. 1736) 1696 – Andrea Zani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1757) 1743 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish botanist, entomologist, and psychologist (d. 1828) 1748 – Charles IV of Spain (d. 1819) 1768 – Sikandar Jah, (d. 1829) 3rd Nizam of Hyderabad State 1791 – Josef Munzinger, Swiss lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1855) 1821 – Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and philosopher (d. 1881) 1836 – Thomas Bailey Aldrich, American poet and author (d. 1907) 1852 – |
Montholon-Sémonville, French politician and diplomat, French ambassador to the United States (d. 1886) 1820 – Rachel Brooks Gleason, fourth woman to earn a medical degree in the United States (d. 1905) 1823 – James Service, Scottish-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Victoria (d. 1899) 1833 – Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge (d. 1897) 1843 – Cornelius Vanderbilt II, American businessman (d. 1899) 1845 – Frederic Crowninshield, American artist and author (d. 1918) 1853 – Frank Dicksee, English painter and illustrator (d. 1928) 1857 – Charles Scott Sherrington, English physiologist, bacteriologist, and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1952) 1859 – William Bliss Baker, American painter (d. 1886) 1865 – Janez Evangelist Krek, Slovene priest, journalist, and politician (d. 1917) 1867 – Charles Koechlin, French composer and educator (d. 1950) 1870 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish academic and politician, 7th President of Finland (d. 1956) 1871 – Giovanni Giorgi, Italian physicist and engineer (d. 1950) 1874 – Charles A. Beard, American historian, author, and educator, co-founded The New School (d. 1948) 1874 – Chaim Weizmann, Belarusian-Israeli chemist and politician, 1st President of Israel (d. 1952) 1875 – Julius Lenhart, Austrian gymnast (d. 1962) 1877 – Katharine Anthony, American biographer (d. 1965) 1878 – Jatindramohan Bagchi, Indian poet and critic (d. 1948) 1878 – Charles Dvorak, American pole vaulter and coach (d. 1969) 1885 – Daniel Mendaille, French actor (d. 1963) 1885 – Liviu Rebreanu, Romanian author and playwright (d. 1944) 1887 – Masaharu Homma, Japanese general (d. 1946) 1888 – Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian activist and politician, 1st Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 1956) 1894 – Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese businessman, founded Panasonic (d. 1989) 1894 – Katherine Milhous, American author and illustrator (d. 1977) 1894 – Amphilochius of Pochayiv, Ukrainian monk and saint (d. 1971) 1898 – Fredric Warburg, English author and publisher (d. 1981) 1900 – Jovette Bernier, Canadian journalist, author, and radio show host (d. 1981) 1901–present 1901 – Ted Husing, American sportscaster (d. 1962) 1903 – Lars Onsager, Norwegian-American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976) 1905 – Astrid Allwyn, American actress (d. 1978) 1907 – Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Indian poet and author (d. 2003) 1907 – L. Sprague de Camp, American historian and author (d. 2000) 1909 – James Agee, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (d. 1955) 1909 – Anatoly Maltsev, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1967) 1911 – Fe del Mundo, Filipino pediatrician and educator (d. 2011) 1911 – David Merrick, American director and producer (d. 2000) 1912 – Connie Sawyer, American actress (d. 2018) 1916 – Chick Hearn, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2002) 1917 – Buffalo Bob Smith, American actor and television host (d. 1998) 1918 – Stephen Elliott, American actor (d. 2005) 1920 – Abe Lenstra, Dutch footballer (d. 1985) 1920 – Buster Merryfield, English actor (d. 1999) 1920 – Cal Worthington, Automobile dealer and television personality (d. 2013) 1921 – Dora Dougherty Strother, American pilot and academic (d. 2013) 1921 – Alexander Dubček, Slovak soldier and politician (d. 1992) 1922 – Hall Bartlett, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993) 1922 – Nicholas Magallanes, American principal dancer and charter member of the New York City Ballet (d. 1977) 1923 – J. Ernest Wilkins Jr., American nuclear scientist, mechanical engineer and mathematician (d. 2011) 1925 – John Maddox, Welsh chemist, physicist, and journalist (d. 2009) 1925 – Marshall Thompson, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1992) 1925 – Derroll Adams, American folk singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2000) 1925 – Ernie Wise, English actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1999) 1926 – Chae Myung-shin, South Korean general (d. 2013) 1927 – Carlos José Castilho, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 1987) 1927 – William E. Simon, American soldier and politician, 63rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 2000) 1928 – Alekos Alexandrakis, Greek actor and director (d. 2005) 1928 – Josh Kirby, English painter and illustrator (d. 2001) 1930 – Joe DeNardo, American meteorologist (d. 2018) 1930 – Dick Poole, Australian rugby league player and coach 1930 – Rex Shelley, Singaporean engineer and author (d. 2009) 1930 – Alan Simpson, English screenwriter and producer (d. 2017) 1932 – Benigno Aquino Jr., Filipino journalist and politician (d. 1983) 1933 – Jacques Godbout, Canadian journalist, author, director, and screenwriter 1933 – Gordon S. Wood, American historian and academic 1934 – Ammo Baba, Iraqi footballer and manager (d. 2009) 1934 – Al Jackson, Jr., American drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 1975) 1934 – Gilbert Strang, American mathematician and academic 1935 – Les Blank, American director and producer (d. 2013) 1935 – Daniel Charles, French musicologist and philosopher (d. 2008) 1935 – Willie Pastrano, American boxer (d. 1997) 1937 – Gail Sheehy, American journalist and author 1938 – John Ashworth, English biologist and academic 1938 – Apolo Nsibambi, Ugandan academic and politician, Prime Minister of Uganda (d. 2019) 1939 – Dave Giusti, American baseball player and manager 1939 – Laurent-Désiré Kabila, Congolese politician, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d. 2001) 1940 – Bruce Lee, American-Chinese actor, martial artist, and screenwriter (d. 1973) 1941 – Aimé Jacquet, French footballer, coach, and manager 1941 – Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998) 1941 – Louis van Dijk, Dutch pianist 1942 – Henry Carr, American football player and sprinter (d. 2015) 1942 – Marilyn Hacker, American poet and critic 1942 – Jimi Hendrix, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1970) 1943 – Nicole Brossard, Canadian author and poet 1943 – Jil Sander, German fashion designer 1944 – Mickey Leland, American activist and politician (d. 1989) 1945 – James Avery, American actor (d. 2013) 1945 – Phil Bloom, Dutch model and actress 1945 – Randy Brecker, American trumpeter and flugelhornist 1945 – Alain de Cadenet, English race car driver 1945 – Benigno Fitial, Mariana Islander businessman and politician, 7th Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands 1945 – Simon Townsend, Australian journalist and television host 1946 – Richard Codey, American politician, 53rd Governor of New Jersey 1946 – Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, Ethiopian-Djiboutian lawyer and politician, President of Djibouti 1947 – Don Adams, American basketball player (d. 2013) 1947 – Neil Rosenshein, American tenor and actor 1949 – Masanori Sekiya, Japanese race car driver 1950 – Gavyn Davies, English journalist and businessman 1951 – Kathryn Bigelow, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1951 – Vera Fischer, Brazilian actress, winner from Miss Brasil 1969 contest 1951 – Gunnar Graps, Estonian singer and guitarist (d. 2004) 1952 – Sheila Copps, Canadian journalist and politician, 6th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada 1952 – Bappi Lahiri, Indian singer-songwriter and producer 1952 – Jim Wetherbee, American captain, engineer, and astronaut 1953 – Curtis Armstrong, American actor, singer, and producer 1953 – Steve Bannon, American media executive and political figure 1953 – Boris Grebenshchikov, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1953 – Tarmo Kõuts, Estonian admiral and politician 1953 – Lyle Mays, American keyboardist and composer (d. 2020) 1953 – Richard Stone, American composer (d. 2001) 1954 – Arthur Smith, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter 1955 – Pierre Mondou, Canadian ice hockey player 1955 – Bill Nye, American engineer, educator, and television host 1956 – William Fichtner, American actor 1956 – John McCarthy, English journalist and author 1956 – Nazrin Shah of Perak, Sultan of Perak 1957 – Kenny Acheson, Northern Irish race car driver 1957 – Frank Boeijen, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist 1957 – Caroline Kennedy, American lawyer and diplomat, 29th United States Ambassador to Japan 1957 – Callie Khouri, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1957 – Michael A. Stackpole, American game designer and author 1957 – Edda Heiðrún Backman, Icelandic actress, singer, director and artist (d. 2016) 1958 – Tetsuya Komuro, Japanese singer-songwriter, and producer 1958 – Mike Scioscia, American baseball player and manager 1959 – Charlie Burchill, Scottish guitarist and songwriter 1959 – Viktoria Mullova, Russian violinist 1960 – Kevin Henkes, American author and illustrator 1960 – Ken O'Brien, American football player and coach 1960 – Tim Pawlenty, American lawyer and politician, 39th Governor of Minnesota 1960 – Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukrainian economist and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Ukraine 1960 – Gianni Vernetti, Italian lawyer and politician 1961 – Samantha Bond, English actress 1961 – Steve Oedekerk, American actor, director, and screenwriter 1962 – Charlie Benante, American drummer and songwriter 1962 – Mike Bordin, American drummer 1962 – Davey Boy Smith, English-Canadian wrestler (d. 2002) 1963 – Fisher Stevens, American actor, director, and producer 1964 – Robin Givens, American actress 1964 – Roberto Mancini, Italian footballer and manager 1964 – Hisayuki Sasaki, Japanese golfer (d. 2013) 1965 – Danielle Ammaccapane, American golfer 1966 – Andy Merrill, American television writer, producer and voice actor 1968 – Michael Vartan, French-American actor 1968 – Al Barrow, English bass guitarist 1969 – Ruth George, English politician 1969 – Damian Hinds, English politician 1969 – Myles Kennedy, American singer-songwriter 1971 – Kirk Acevedo, American actor 1971 – Larry Allen, American football player 1971 – Iván Rodríguez, Puerto Rican-American baseball player 1971 – Nick Van Exel, American basketball player and coach 1972 – Shane Salerno, American screenwriter and producer 1973 – Sharlto Copley, South African actor 1973 – | – Dave Giusti, American baseball player and manager 1939 – Laurent-Désiré Kabila, Congolese politician, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d. 2001) 1940 – Bruce Lee, American-Chinese actor, martial artist, and screenwriter (d. 1973) 1941 – Aimé Jacquet, French footballer, coach, and manager 1941 – Eddie Rabbitt, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998) 1941 – Louis van Dijk, Dutch pianist 1942 – Henry Carr, American football player and sprinter (d. 2015) 1942 – Marilyn Hacker, American poet and critic 1942 – Jimi Hendrix, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1970) 1943 – Nicole Brossard, Canadian author and poet 1943 – Jil Sander, German fashion designer 1944 – Mickey Leland, American activist and politician (d. 1989) 1945 – James Avery, American actor (d. 2013) 1945 – Phil Bloom, Dutch model and actress 1945 – Randy Brecker, American trumpeter and flugelhornist 1945 – Alain de Cadenet, English race car driver 1945 – Benigno Fitial, Mariana Islander businessman and politician, 7th Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands 1945 – Simon Townsend, Australian journalist and television host 1946 – Richard Codey, American politician, 53rd Governor of New Jersey 1946 – Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, Ethiopian-Djiboutian lawyer and politician, President of Djibouti 1947 – Don Adams, American basketball player (d. 2013) 1947 – Neil Rosenshein, American tenor and actor 1949 – Masanori Sekiya, Japanese race car driver 1950 – Gavyn Davies, English journalist and businessman 1951 – Kathryn Bigelow, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1951 – Vera Fischer, Brazilian actress, winner from Miss Brasil 1969 contest 1951 – Gunnar Graps, Estonian singer and guitarist (d. 2004) 1952 – Sheila Copps, Canadian journalist and politician, 6th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada 1952 – Bappi Lahiri, Indian singer-songwriter and producer 1952 – Jim Wetherbee, American captain, engineer, and astronaut 1953 – Curtis Armstrong, American actor, singer, and producer 1953 – Steve Bannon, American media executive and political figure 1953 – Boris Grebenshchikov, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1953 – Tarmo Kõuts, Estonian admiral and politician 1953 – Lyle Mays, American keyboardist and composer (d. 2020) 1953 – Richard Stone, American composer (d. 2001) 1954 – Arthur Smith, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter 1955 – Pierre Mondou, Canadian ice hockey player 1955 – Bill Nye, American engineer, educator, and television host 1956 – William Fichtner, American actor 1956 – John McCarthy, English journalist and author 1956 – Nazrin Shah of Perak, Sultan of Perak 1957 – Kenny Acheson, Northern Irish race car driver 1957 – Frank Boeijen, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist 1957 – Caroline Kennedy, American lawyer and diplomat, 29th United States Ambassador to Japan 1957 – Callie Khouri, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1957 – Michael A. Stackpole, American game designer and author 1957 – Edda Heiðrún Backman, Icelandic actress, singer, director and artist (d. 2016) 1958 – Tetsuya Komuro, Japanese singer-songwriter, and producer 1958 – Mike Scioscia, American baseball player and manager 1959 – Charlie Burchill, Scottish guitarist and songwriter 1959 – Viktoria Mullova, Russian violinist 1960 – Kevin Henkes, American author and illustrator 1960 – Ken O'Brien, American football player and coach 1960 – Tim Pawlenty, American lawyer and politician, 39th Governor of Minnesota 1960 – Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukrainian economist and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Ukraine 1960 – Gianni Vernetti, Italian lawyer and politician 1961 – Samantha Bond, English actress 1961 – Steve Oedekerk, American actor, director, and screenwriter 1962 – Charlie Benante, American drummer and songwriter 1962 – Mike Bordin, American drummer 1962 – Davey Boy Smith, English-Canadian wrestler (d. 2002) 1963 – Fisher Stevens, American actor, director, and producer 1964 – Robin Givens, American actress 1964 – Roberto Mancini, Italian footballer and manager 1964 – Hisayuki Sasaki, Japanese golfer (d. 2013) 1965 – Danielle Ammaccapane, American golfer 1966 – Andy Merrill, American television writer, producer and voice actor 1968 – Michael Vartan, French-American actor 1968 – Al Barrow, English bass guitarist 1969 – Ruth George, English politician 1969 – Damian Hinds, English politician 1969 – Myles Kennedy, American singer-songwriter 1971 – Kirk Acevedo, American actor 1971 – Larry Allen, American football player 1971 – Iván Rodríguez, Puerto Rican-American baseball player 1971 – Nick Van Exel, American basketball player and coach 1972 – Shane Salerno, American screenwriter and producer 1973 – Sharlto Copley, South African actor 1973 – Samantha Harris, American model and television host 1973 – Evan Karagias, American wrestler and actor 1973 – Jin Katagiri, Japanese comedian, actor, sculptor, and potter 1973 – Twista, American rapper and producer 1974 – Wendy Houvenaghel, Northern Irish racing cyclist 1974 – Alec Newman, Scottish actor 1975 – Bad Azz, American rapper (d. 2019) 1975 – Martín Gramática, Argentinian-American football player 1975 – Rain Vessenberg, Estonian footballer 1976 – Jean Grae, South African-American rapper and producer 1976 – Chad Kilger, Canadian ice hockey player and firefighter 1976 – Jaleel White, American actor and screenwriter 1977 – Willie Bloomquist, American baseball player 1977 – Bendor Grosvenor, British art historian 1978 – Eszter Molnár, Hungarian tennis player 1978 – Jimmy Rollins, American baseball player 1978 – Mike Skinner, English rapper and producer 1978 – Radek Štěpánek, Czech tennis player 1979 – Ricky Carmichael, American motocross racer 1979 – Hilary Hahn, American violinist 1979 – Teemu Tainio, Finnish footballer 1980 – Jackie Greene, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1980 – Veronika Portsmuth, Estonian singer and conductor 1980 – Michael Yardy, English cricketer 1981 – Bruno Alves, Portuguese footballer 1981 – Ryan Jimmo, Canadian mixed martial artist (d. 2016) 1981 – Matthew Taylor, English footballer 1982 – David Bellion, French footballer 1982 – Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Russian footballer 1982 – Tommy Robinson, English activist, co-founded the English Defence League 1983 – Professor Green, English rapper 1983 – Donta Smith, American-Venezuelan basketball player 1984 – Izumi Kitta, Japanese voice actress and singer 1984 – Domata Peko, American football player 1984 – Leslie Dewan, American entrepreneur 1985 – Park Soo-jin, South Korean singer 1985 – Alison Pill, Canadian actress 1985 – Thilo Versick, German footballer 1986 – Suresh Kumar Raina, Indian cricketer 1986 – Steven Silva, American-Filipino footballer 1986 – Xavi Torres, Spanish footballer 1986 – Oritsé Williams, English singer-songwriter, producer, and dancer 1989 – Michael Floyd, American football player 1989 – Freddie Sears, English footballer 1990 – Josh Dubovie, English singer 1992 – Ala Boratyn, Polish singer-songwriter 1992 – Park Chanyeol, South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, actor and model 1995 – Suliasi Vunivalu, Fijian rugby league player 1996 – Mike Williams, Dutch DJ and record producer 1996 – Andy Truong, Australian fashion designer 2001 – Zoe Colletti, American actress Deaths Pre-1600 8 BC – Horace, Roman soldier and poet (b. 65 BC) 395 – Rufinus, Roman politician (b. 335) 450 – Galla Placidia, Roman Empress (b. 392) 511 – Clovis I, king of the Franks 602 – Maurice, Byzantine emperor (b. 539) 639 – Acarius, bishop of Doornik and Noyon 1198 – Constance, Queen of Sicily (b. 1154) 1252 – Blanche of Castile (b. 1188) 1346 – Saint Gregory of Sinai (b. c. 1260) 1382 – Philip van Artevelde, Flemish patriot (b. 1340) 1474 – Guillaume Dufay, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1397) 1570 – Jacopo Sansovino, Italian sculptor and architect (b. 1486) 1592 – Nakagawa Hidemasa, Japanese commander (b. 1568) 1601–1900 1620 – Francis, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin, Bishop of Cammin (b. 1577) 1632 – John Eliot, English politician (b. 1592) 1703 – Henry Winstanley, English painter and engineer (b. 1644) 1754 – Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (b. 1667) 1811 – Andrew Meikle, Scottish engineer, designed the threshing machine (b. 1719) 1819 – Gustavus Conyngham, Irish-born American merchant sea captain, an officer in the Continental Navy and a privateer. 1830 – André Parmentier, Belgian-American architect (b. 1780) 1852 – Ada Lovelace, English mathematician and computer scientist (b. 1815) 1875 – Richard Christopher Carrington, English astronomer and educator (b. 1826) 1881 – Theobald Boehm, German flute player and composer (b. 1794) 1884 – Fanny Elssler, Austrian ballerina (b. 1810) 1890 – Mahatma Phule, Indian Activist (b. 1827) 1895 – Alexandre Dumas, fils, French novelist and playwright (b. 1824) 1899 – Constant Fornerod, Swiss academic and politician, 10th President of the Swiss Council of States (b. 1819) 1901–present 1901 – Clement Studebaker, American businessman, co-founded Studebaker (b. 1831) 1908 – Jean Albert Gaudry, French geologist and palaeontologist (b. 1827) 1916 – Emile Verhaeren, Belgian poet and playwright (b. 1855) 1919 – Manuel Espinosa Batista, Panamanian pharmacist and politician (b. 1857) 1920 – Alexius Meinong, Ukrainian-Austrian philosopher and author (b. 1853) 1921 – Douglas Cameron, Canadian contractor and politician, 8th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (b. 1854) 1921 – Mary Grant Roberts, Australian zoo owner (b. 1841) 1930 – Simon Kahquados, Potawatomi political activist (b. 1851) 1931 – Lya De Putti, Slovak-American actress (b. 1899) 1934 – Baby Face Nelson, American criminal (b. 1908) 1936 – Basil Zaharoff, Greek-French businessman and philanthropist (b. 1849) 1940 – Nicolae Iorga, Romanian historian and politician, 34th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1871) 1943 – Ivo Lola Ribar, Croatian soldier and politician (b. 1916) 1944 – Leonid Mandelstam, Russian physicist and academic (b. 1879) 1953 – Eugene O'Neill, American playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888) 1955 – Arthur Honegger, French-Swiss composer and academic (b. 1892) 1958 – Georgi Damyanov, Bulgarian politician, Head of State of Bulgaria (b. 1892) 1958 – Artur Rodziński, Polish-American conductor (b. 1892) 1960 – Frederick Fane, Irish-English cricketer (b. 1875) 1960 – Dirk Jan de Geer, Dutch lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1870) 1962 – August Lass, Estonian footballer (b. 1903) 1967 – Léon M'ba, Gabonese politician, 1st President of Gabon (b. 1902) 1969 – May Gibbs, English Australian children's author, illustrator, and cartoonist, (b. 1877) 1970 – Helene Madison, American swimmer and nurse (b. 1913) 1973 – Frank Christian, American trumpet player (b. 1887) 1975 – Alberto Massimino, Italian automotive engineer (b. 1895) 1975 – Ross McWhirter, English author and activist, co-founded the Guinness Book of |
1872 – Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women are arrested for voting illegally in the United States presidential election of 1872. 1883 – American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times. 1901–present 1901 – Britain and the United States sign the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, which nullifies the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty and withdraws British objections to an American-controlled canal in Panama. 1903 – The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone. 1905 – Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway. 1909 – Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya. 1910 – In their campaign for women's voting rights, hundreds of suffragettes march to the British Parliament in London. Several are beaten by police, newspaper attention embarrasses the authorities, and the march is dubbed Black Friday. 1916 – World War I: First Battle of the Somme: In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916. 1918 – Latvia declares its independence from Russia. 1928 – Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday. 1929 – Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on the Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula. 1940 – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous Italian invasion of Greece. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Berlin: Four hundred and forty Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew. 1944 – The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba. 1947 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand. 1949 – The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria. 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam. 1963 – The first push-button telephone goes into service. 1970 – U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government. 1971 – Oman declares its independence from United Kingdom. 1978 – The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States. 1978 – In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier. 1987 – King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras. 1988 – War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers. 1991 – Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland. 1991 – After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces. 1993 – In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is approved by the House of Representatives. 1993 – In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution, expanding voting rights and ending white minority rule. 1996 – A fire occurs on a train traveling through the Channel Tunnel from France to England causing several injuries and damaging approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) of tunnel. 1999 – At Texas A&M University, the Aggie Bonfire collapses killing 12 students and injuring 27 others. 2002 – Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq. 2003 – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4–3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state legislature 180days to change the law making Massachusetts the first state in the United States to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples. 2012 – Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria becomes the 118th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. 2013 – NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars. 2020 – The Utah monolith, built sometime in 2016 is discovered by state biologists of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Births Pre-1600 701 – Itzam K'an Ahk II, Mayan ruler (d. 757) 709 – Emperor Kōnin of Japan (d. 782) 1522 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont (d. 1568) 1571 – Hippolytus Guarinonius, Italian physician and polymath (d. 1654) 1576 – Philipp Ludwig II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (d. 1612) 1601–1900 1630 – Eleonora Gonzaga, Italian wife of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1686) 1647 – Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and author (d. 1706) 1727 – Philibert Commerson, French physician and explorer (d. 1773) 1736 – Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, German harpsichord player and composer (d. 1800) 1756 – Thomas Burgess, English bishop and philosopher (d. 1837) 1772 – Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (d. 1806) 1774 – Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1837) 1785 – David Wilkie, Scottish painter and academic (d. 1841) 1787 – Louis Daguerre, French physicist and photographer, developed the daguerreotype (d. 1851) 1804 – Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora, Italian general and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1878) 1810 – Asa Gray, American botanist and academic (d. 1888) 1832 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish geologist and explorer (d. 1901) 1833 – James Patterson, English-Australian politician, 17th Premier of Victoria (d. 1895) 1836 – W. S. Gilbert, English playwright, poet, and illustrator (d. 1911) 1839 – August Kundt, German physicist and educator (d. 1894) 1856 – Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (d. 1929) 1860 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist, composer, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (d. 1941) 1861 – Dorothy Dix, American journalist and author (d. 1951) 1866 – Henry Daglish, Australian politician, 6th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1920) 1874 – Clarence Day, American author and poet (d. 1935) 1876 – Victor Hémery, French racing driver (d. 1950) 1880 – Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Central Sofia Market Hall (d. 1952) 1882 – Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian-American soprano (d. 1963) 1882 – Wyndham Lewis, English painter and critic (d. 1957) 1882 – Jacques Maritain, French philosopher and author (d. 1973) 1882 – Frances Gertrude McGill, pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist (d. 1959) 1883 – Carl Vinson, American judge and politician (d. 1981) 1886 – Ferenc Münnich, Hungarian soldier and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1967) 1888 – Frances Marion, American screenwriter, novelist and journalist (d. 1973) 1889 – Stanislav Kosior, Polish-Russian politician (d. 1939) 1891 – Gio Ponti, Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, and publisher.(d. 1979) 1897 – Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974) 1899 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American violinist and conductor (d. 1985) 1899 – Howard Thurman, American author, philosopher and civil rights activist (d. 1981) 1901–present 1901 – George Gallup, American statistician and academic (d. 1984) 1901 – V. Shantaram, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984) 1901 – Craig Wood, American golfer (d. 1968) 1902 – Franklin Adreon, American film and television director (d. 1979) 1904 – Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1983) 1904 – Masao Koga, Japanese composer and guitarist (d. 1978) 1906 – Sait Faik Abasıyanık, Turkish author and poet (d. 1954) 1906 – Alec Issigonis, Greek-English car designer, designed the mini car (d. 1988) 1906 – Klaus Mann, German-American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1949) 1906 – George Wald, American neurobiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997) 1907 – Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (d. 1998) 1907 – Compay Segundo, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003) 1908 – Imogene Coca, American actress, comedian, and singer (d. 2001) 1909 – Johnny Mercer, American singer-songwriter and producer, co-founded Capitol Records (d. 1976) 1911 – Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and author (d. 2000) 1912 – Vic Hey, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1995) 1912 – Hilda Nickson, English author (d. 1977) 1913 – Endre Rozsda, Hungarian-French painter and illustrator (d. 1999) 1914 – Haguroyama Masaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 36th Yokozuna (d. 1969) 1915 – Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2004) 1917 – Pedro | The old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated by Pope Sylvester I. 401 – The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy. 1095 – The Council of Clermont begins: called by Pope Urban II, it led to the First Crusade to the Holy Land. 1105 – Maginulfo is elected the Antipope as Sylvester IV. 1210 – Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV. 1282 – Pope Martin IV excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon. 1302 – Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Unam sanctam, claiming spiritual supremacy for the papacy. 1421 – A dike in the Grote Hollandse Waard in the Netherlands breaks, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people. This event will be known as St Elizabeth's flood. 1493 – Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico. 1494 – French King Charles VIII occupies Florence, Italy. 1601–1900 1601 – Tiryaki Hasan Pasha, an Ottoman provincial governor, routs the Habsburg forces commanded by Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria during the Siege of Nagykanizsa. 1626 – The new St Peter's Basilica is consecrated. 1730 – The future Frederick the Great of Prussia is granted a pardon by his father and is released from confinement. 1760 – The rebuilt debtors' prison, at the Castellania in Valletta, receives the first prisoners. 1803 – The Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere. 1809 – In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal. 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Krasnoi ends in French defeat, but Marshal of France Michel Ney's leadership leads to him becoming known as "the bravest of the brave". 1863 – King Christian IX of Denmark signs the November constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This is seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and leads to the German–Danish war of 1864. 1872 – Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women are arrested for voting illegally in the United States presidential election of 1872. 1883 – American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times. 1901–present 1901 – Britain and the United States sign the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, which nullifies the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty and withdraws British objections to an American-controlled canal in Panama. 1903 – The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone. 1905 – Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway. 1909 – Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya. 1910 – In their campaign for women's voting rights, hundreds of suffragettes march to the British Parliament in London. Several are beaten by police, newspaper attention embarrasses the authorities, and the march is dubbed Black Friday. 1916 – World War I: First Battle of the Somme: In France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916. 1918 – Latvia declares its independence from Russia. 1928 – Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday. 1929 – Grand Banks earthquake: Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on the Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula. 1940 – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous Italian invasion of Greece. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Berlin: Four hundred and forty Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew. 1944 – The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba. 1947 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand. 1949 – The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria. 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam. 1963 – The first push-button telephone goes into service. 1970 – U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government. 1971 – Oman declares its independence from United Kingdom. 1978 – The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States. 1978 – In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier. 1987 – King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras. 1988 – War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers. 1991 – Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland. 1991 – After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces. 1993 – In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is approved by the House of Representatives. 1993 – In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution, expanding voting rights and ending white minority rule. 1996 – A fire occurs on a train traveling through the Channel Tunnel from France to England causing several injuries and damaging approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) of tunnel. 1999 – At Texas A&M University, the Aggie Bonfire collapses killing 12 students and injuring 27 others. 2002 – Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq. 2003 – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4–3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state legislature 180days to change the law making Massachusetts the first state in the United States to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples. 2012 – Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria becomes the 118th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. 2013 – NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars. 2020 – The Utah monolith, built sometime in 2016 is discovered by state biologists of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Births Pre-1600 701 – Itzam K'an Ahk II, Mayan ruler (d. 757) 709 – Emperor Kōnin of Japan (d. 782) 1522 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont (d. 1568) 1571 – Hippolytus Guarinonius, Italian physician and polymath (d. 1654) 1576 – Philipp Ludwig II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (d. 1612) 1601–1900 1630 – Eleonora Gonzaga, Italian wife of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1686) 1647 – Pierre Bayle, French philosopher and author (d. 1706) 1727 – Philibert Commerson, French physician and explorer (d. 1773) 1736 – Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, German harpsichord player and composer (d. 1800) 1756 – Thomas Burgess, English bishop and philosopher (d. 1837) 1772 – Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (d. 1806) 1774 – Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1837) 1785 – David Wilkie, Scottish painter and academic (d. 1841) 1787 – Louis Daguerre, French physicist and photographer, developed the daguerreotype (d. 1851) 1804 – Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora, Italian general and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1878) 1810 – Asa Gray, American botanist and academic (d. 1888) 1832 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish geologist and explorer (d. 1901) 1833 – James Patterson, English-Australian politician, 17th Premier of Victoria (d. 1895) 1836 – W. S. Gilbert, English playwright, poet, and illustrator (d. 1911) 1839 – August Kundt, German physicist and educator (d. 1894) 1856 – Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (d. 1929) 1860 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist, composer, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (d. 1941) 1861 – Dorothy Dix, American journalist and author (d. 1951) 1866 – Henry Daglish, Australian politician, 6th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1920) 1874 – Clarence Day, American author and poet (d. 1935) 1876 – Victor Hémery, French racing driver (d. 1950) 1880 – Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Central Sofia Market Hall (d. 1952) 1882 – Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian-American soprano (d. 1963) 1882 – Wyndham Lewis, English painter and critic (d. 1957) 1882 – Jacques Maritain, French philosopher and author (d. 1973) 1882 – Frances Gertrude McGill, pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist (d. 1959) 1883 – Carl Vinson, American judge and politician (d. 1981) 1886 – Ferenc Münnich, Hungarian soldier and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1967) 1888 – Frances Marion, American screenwriter, novelist and journalist (d. 1973) 1889 – Stanislav Kosior, Polish-Russian politician (d. 1939) 1891 – Gio Ponti, Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, and publisher.(d. 1979) 1897 – Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974) 1899 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American violinist and conductor (d. 1985) 1899 – Howard Thurman, American author, philosopher and civil rights activist (d. 1981) 1901–present 1901 – George Gallup, American statistician and academic (d. 1984) 1901 – V. Shantaram, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1984) 1901 – Craig Wood, American golfer (d. 1968) 1902 – Franklin Adreon, American film and television director (d. 1979) 1904 – Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1983) 1904 – Masao Koga, Japanese composer and guitarist (d. 1978) 1906 – Sait Faik Abasıyanık, Turkish author and poet (d. 1954) 1906 – Alec Issigonis, Greek-English car designer, designed the mini car (d. 1988) 1906 – Klaus Mann, German-American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1949) 1906 – George Wald, American neurobiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997) 1907 – Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (d. 1998) 1907 – Compay Segundo, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003) 1908 – Imogene Coca, American actress, comedian, and singer (d. 2001) 1909 – Johnny Mercer, American singer-songwriter and producer, co-founded Capitol Records (d. 1976) 1911 – Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and author (d. 2000) 1912 – Vic Hey, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1995) 1912 – Hilda Nickson, English author (d. 1977) 1913 – Endre Rozsda, Hungarian-French painter and illustrator (d. 1999) 1914 – Haguroyama Masaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 36th Yokozuna (d. 1969) 1915 – |
as Alec Douglas-Home), to bring him to the Commons Smoking Room to socialise with colleagues ended in embarrassing silence. Chamberlain compensated for these shortcomings by devising the most sophisticated press management system employed by a prime minister up to that time, with officials at Number 10, led by his chief of press George Steward, convincing members of the press that they were colleagues sharing power and insider knowledge, and should espouse the government line. Domestic policy Chamberlain saw his elevation to the premiership as the final glory in a career as a domestic reformer, not realising that he would be remembered for foreign policy decisions. One reason he sought the settlement of European issues was the hope it would allow him to concentrate on domestic affairs. Soon after attaining the premiership, Chamberlain obtained passage of the Factories Act 1937. This Act was aimed at bettering working conditions in factories, and placed limits on the working hours of women and children. In 1938, Parliament enacted the Coal Act 1938, which allowed for nationalisation of coal deposits. Another major law passed that year was the Holidays with Pay Act 1938. Though the Act only recommended that employers give workers a week off with pay, it led to a great expansion of holiday camps and other leisure accommodation for the working classes. The Housing Act 1938 provided subsidies aimed at encouraging slum clearance and maintained rent control. Chamberlain's plans for the reform of local government were shelved because of the outbreak of war in 1939. Likewise, the raising of the school-leaving age to 15, scheduled for implementation on 1 September 1939, did not go into effect. Relations with Ireland Relations between the United Kingdom and the Irish Free State had been strained since the 1932 appointment of Éamon de Valera as President of the Executive Council. The Anglo-Irish Trade War, sparked by the withholding of money that Ireland had agreed to pay the United Kingdom, had caused economic losses on both sides, and the two nations were anxious for a settlement. The de Valera government also sought to sever the remaining ties between Ireland and the UK, such as ending the King's status as Irish Head of State. As Chancellor, Chamberlain had taken a hard-line stance against concessions to the Irish, but as premier sought a settlement with Ireland, being persuaded that the strained ties were affecting relations with other Dominions. Talks had been suspended under Baldwin in 1936 but resumed in November 1937. De Valera sought not only to alter the constitutional status of Ireland, but to overturn other aspects of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, most notably the issue of partition, as well as obtaining full control of the three "Treaty Ports" which had remained in British control. Britain, on the other hand, wished to retain the Treaty Ports, at least in time of war, and to obtain the money that Ireland had agreed to pay. The Irish proved very tough negotiators, so much so that Chamberlain complained that one of de Valera's offers had "presented United Kingdom ministers with a three-leafed shamrock, none of the leaves of which had any advantages for the UK." With the talks facing deadlock, Chamberlain made the Irish a final offer in March 1938 which acceded to many Irish positions, though he was confident that he had "only given up the small things," and the agreements were signed on 25 April 1938. The issue of partition was not resolved, but the Irish agreed to pay £10 million to the British. There was no provision in the treaties for British access to the Treaty Ports in time of war, but Chamberlain accepted de Valera's oral assurance that in the event of war the British would have access. Conservative backbencher Winston Churchill attacked the agreements in Parliament for surrendering the Treaty Ports, which he described as the "sentinel towers of the Western Approaches". When war came, de Valera denied Britain access to the Treaty Ports under Irish neutrality. Churchill railed against these treaties in The Gathering Storm, stating that he "never saw the House of Commons more completely misled" and that "members were made to feel very differently about it when our existence hung in the balance during the Battle of the Atlantic." Chamberlain believed that the Treaty Ports were unusable if Ireland was hostile, and deemed their loss worthwhile to assure friendly relations with Dublin. European policy Early days (May 1937 – March 1938) Chamberlain sought to conciliate Germany and make the Nazi state a partner in a stable Europe. He believed Germany could be satisfied by the restoration of some of its colonies, and during the Rhineland crisis of March 1936 he had stated that "if we were in sight of an all-round settlement the British government ought to consider the question" of restoration of colonies. The new prime minister's attempts to secure such a settlement were frustrated because Germany was in no hurry to talk to Britain. Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath was supposed to visit Britain in July 1937 but cancelled his visit. Lord Halifax, the Lord President of the Council, visited Germany privately in November and met Hitler and other German officials. Both Chamberlain and British Ambassador to Germany Nevile Henderson pronounced the visit a success. Foreign Office officials complained that the Halifax visit made it appear Britain was too eager for talks, and the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, felt that he had been bypassed. Chamberlain also bypassed Eden while the latter was on holiday by opening direct talks with Italy, an international pariah for its invasion and conquest of Ethiopia. At a Cabinet meeting on 8 September 1937, Chamberlain indicated that he saw "the lessening of the tension between this country and Italy as a very valuable contribution toward the pacification and appeasement of Europe" which would "weaken the Rome–Berlin axis." Chamberlain also set up a private line of communication with the Italian "Duce" Benito Mussolini through the Italian Ambassador, Count Dino Grandi. In February 1938, Hitler began to press the Austrian government to accept "Anschluß," or union between Germany and Austria. Chamberlain believed that it was essential to cement relations with Italy in the hope that an Anglo–Italian alliance would forestall Hitler from imposing his rule over Austria. Eden believed that Chamberlain was being too hasty in talking with Italy and holding out the prospect of de jure recognition of Italy's conquest of Ethiopia. Chamberlain concluded that Eden would have to accept his policy or resign. The Cabinet heard both men out but unanimously decided for Chamberlain, and despite efforts by other Cabinet members to prevent it, Eden resigned from office. In later years, Eden tried to portray his resignation as a stand against appeasement (Churchill described him in The Second World War as "one strong young figure standing up against long, dismal, drawling tides of drift and surrender") but many ministers and MPs believed there was no issue at stake worth resignation. Chamberlain appointed Lord Halifax as Foreign Secretary in Eden's place. Road to Munich (March 1938 – September 1938) In March 1938 Austria became a part of Germany in the Anschluss. Though the beleaguered Austrians requested help from Britain, none was forthcoming. Britain did send Berlin a strong note of protest. In addressing the Cabinet shortly after German forces crossed the border, Chamberlain placed blame on both Germany and Austria. Chamberlain noted, On 14 March, the day after the Anschluss, Chamberlain addressed the House of Commons and strongly condemned the methods used by the Germans in the takeover of Austria. Chamberlain's address met with the approval of the House. With Austria absorbed by Germany, attention turned to Hitler's obvious next target, the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. With three million ethnic Germans, the Sudetenland represented the largest German population outside the "Reich" and Hitler began to call for the union of the region with Germany. Britain had no military obligations toward Czechoslovakia, but France and Czechoslovakia had a mutual assistance pact and both the French and Czechoslovaks also had an alliance with the Soviet Union. After the fall of Austria, the Cabinet's Foreign Policy Committee considered seeking a "grand alliance" to thwart Germany or, alternatively, an assurance to France of assistance if the French went to war. Instead, the committee chose to advocate that Czechoslovakia be urged to make the best terms it could with Germany. The full Cabinet agreed with the committee's recommendation, influenced by a report from the chiefs of staff stating that there was little that Britain could do to help the Czechs in the event of a German invasion. Chamberlain reported to an amenable House that he was unwilling to limit his government's discretion by giving commitments. Britain and Italy signed an agreement on 16 April 1938. In exchange for de jure recognition of Italy's Ethiopian conquest, Italy agreed to withdraw some Italian "volunteers" from the Nationalist (pro-Franco) side of the Spanish Civil War. By this point, the Nationalists strongly had the upper hand in that conflict, and they completed their victory the following year. Later that month, the new French prime minister, Édouard Daladier, came to London for talks with Chamberlain, and agreed to follow the British position on Czechoslovakia. In May, Czech border guards shot two Sudeten German farmers who were trying to cross the border from Germany into Czechoslovakia without stopping for border controls. This incident caused unrest among the Sudeten Germans, and Germany was then said to be moving troops to the border. In response to the report, Prague moved troops to the German border. Halifax sent a note to Germany warning that if France intervened in the crisis on Czechoslovakia's behalf, Britain might support France. Tensions appeared to calm, and Chamberlain and Halifax were applauded for their "masterly" handling of the crisis. Though it was not known at the time, it later became clear that Germany had had no plans for a May invasion of Czechoslovakia. Nonetheless, the Chamberlain government received strong and almost unanimous support from the British press. Negotiations between the Czech government and the Sudeten Germans dragged on through mid-1938. They achieved little result; Sudeten leader Konrad Henlein was under private instructions from Hitler not to reach an agreement. On 3 August, Walter Runciman (by now Lord Runciman) travelled to Prague as a mediator sent by the British government. Over the next two weeks, Runciman met separately with Henlein, Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš, and other leaders, but made no progress. On 30 August. Chamberlain met his Cabinet and Ambassador Henderson and secured their backing—with only First Lord of the Admiralty Duff Cooper dissenting against Chamberlain's policy to pressure Czechoslovakia into making concessions, on the ground that Britain was then in no position to back up any threat to go to war. Chamberlain realised that Hitler would likely signal his intentions in his 12 September speech at the annual Nuremberg Rally, and so he discussed with his advisors how to respond if war seemed likely. In consultation with his close advisor Sir Horace Wilson, Chamberlain set out "Plan Z". If war seemed inevitable, Chamberlain would fly to Germany to negotiate directly with Hitler. September 1938: Munich Preliminary meetings Lord Runciman continued his work, attempting to pressure the Czechoslovak government into concessions. On 7 September there was an altercation involving Sudeten members of the Czechoslovak parliament in the North Moravian city of Ostrava (Mährisch-Ostrau in German). The Germans made considerable propaganda out of the incident, though the Prague government tried to conciliate them by dismissing Czech police who had been involved. As the tempest grew, Runciman concluded that there was no point in attempting further negotiations until after Hitler's speech. The mission never resumed. There was tremendous tension in the final days before Hitler's speech on the last day of the Rally, as Britain, France, and Czechoslovakia all partially mobilised their troops. Thousands gathered outside 10 Downing Street on the night of the speech. At last Hitler addressed his wildly enthusiastic followers: The following morning, 13 September, Chamberlain and the Cabinet were informed by Secret Service sources that all German embassies had been told that Germany would invade Czechoslovakia on 25 September. Convinced that the French would not fight (Daladier was privately proposing a three-Power summit to settle the Sudeten question), Chamberlain decided to implement "Plan Z" and sent a message to Hitler that he was willing to come to Germany to negotiate. Hitler accepted and Chamberlain flew to Germany on the morning of 15 September; this was the first time, excepting a short jaunt at an industrial fair, that Chamberlain had ever flown. Chamberlain flew to Munich and then travelled by rail to Hitler's retreat at Berchtesgaden. The face to face meeting lasted about three hours. Hitler demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland, and through questioning him, Chamberlain was able to obtain assurances that Hitler had no designs on the remainder of Czechoslovakia or on the areas in Eastern Europe which had German minorities. After the meeting Chamberlain returned to London, believing that he had obtained a breathing space during which agreement could be reached and the peace preserved. Under the proposals made at Berchtesgaden the Sudetenland would be annexed by Germany if a plebiscite in the Sudetenland favoured it. Czechoslovakia would receive international guarantees of its independence which would replace existing treaty obligations—principally the French pledge to the Czechoslovaks. The French agreed to the requirements. Under considerable pressure the Czechoslovaks also agreed, causing the Czechoslovak government to fall. Chamberlain flew back to Germany, meeting Hitler in Bad Godesberg on 22 September. Hitler brushed aside the proposals of the previous meeting, saying "that won't do any more". Hitler demanded immediate occupation of the Sudetenland and that Polish and Hungarian territorial claims on Czechoslovakia be addressed. Chamberlain objected strenuously, telling Hitler that he had worked to bring the French and Czechoslovaks into line with Germany's demands, so much so that he had been accused of giving in to dictators and had been booed on his departure that morning. Hitler was unmoved. That evening, Chamberlain told Lord Halifax that the "meeting with Herr Hitler had been most unsatisfactory". The following day, Hitler kept Chamberlain waiting until mid-afternoon, when he sent a five-page letter, in German, outlining the demands he had made orally the previous day. Chamberlain replied by offering to act as an intermediary with the Czechoslovaks, and suggested that Hitler put his demands in a memorandum which could be circulated to the French and Czechoslovaks. The leaders met again late on the evening of 23 September—a meeting which stretched into the early morning hours. Hitler demanded that fleeing Czechs in the zones to be occupied take nothing with them. He extended his deadline for occupation of the Sudetenland to 1 October—the date he had long before secretly set for the invasion of Czechoslovakia. The meeting ended amicably, with Chamberlain confiding to Hitler his hopes they would be able to work out other problems in Europe in the same spirit. Hitler hinted that the Sudetenland fulfilled his territorial ambitions in Europe. Chamberlain flew back to London, saying "It is up to the Czechs now." Munich conference Hitler's proposals met with resistance not only from the French and Czechoslovaks, but also from some members of Chamberlain's cabinet. With no agreement in sight, war seemed inevitable. Chamberlain issued a press statement calling on Germany to abandon the threat of force in exchange for British help in obtaining the concessions it sought. On the evening of 27 September, Chamberlain addressed the nation by radio, and after thanking those who wrote to him, stated: On 28 September, Chamberlain called on Hitler to invite him to Germany again to seek a solution through a summit involving the British, French, Germans, and Italians. Hitler replied favourably, and word of this response came to Chamberlain as he was winding up a speech in the House of Commons which sat in gloomy anticipation of war. Chamberlain informed the House of this in his speech. The response was a passionate demonstration, with members cheering Chamberlain wildly. Even diplomats in the galleries applauded. Lord Dunglass later commented, "There were a lot of appeasers in Parliament that day." On the morning of 29 September Chamberlain left Heston Aerodrome (to the east of today's Heathrow Airport) for his third and final visit to Germany. On arrival in Munich the British delegation was taken directly to the Führerbau, where Daladier, Mussolini, and Hitler soon arrived. The four leaders and their translators held an informal meeting; Hitler said that he intended to invade Czechoslovakia on 1 October. Mussolini distributed a proposal similar to Hitler's Bad Godesberg terms. In reality, the proposal had been drafted by German officials and transmitted to Rome the previous day. The four leaders debated the draft and Chamberlain raised the question of compensation for the Czechoslovak government and citizens, but Hitler refused to consider this. The leaders were joined by advisors after lunch, and hours were spent on long discussions of each clause of the "Italian" draft agreement. Late that evening the British and French left for their hotels, saying that they had to seek advice from their respective capitals. Meanwhile, the Germans and Italians enjoyed the feast which Hitler had intended for all the participants. During this break, Chamberlain advisor Sir Horace Wilson met with the Czechoslovaks; he informed them of the draft agreement and asked which districts were particularly important to them. The conference resumed at about 10 pm and was mostly in the hands of a small drafting committee. At 1:30 am the Munich Agreement was ready for signing, though the signing ceremony was delayed when Hitler discovered that the ornate inkwell on his desk was empty. Chamberlain and Daladier returned to their hotel and informed the Czechoslovaks of the agreement. The two prime ministers urged quick acceptance by the Czechoslovaks of the agreement, since the evacuation by the Czechs was to begin the following day. At 12:30 pm the Czechoslovak government in Prague objected to the decision but agreed to its terms. Aftermath and reception Before leaving the "Führerbau," Chamberlain requested a private conference with Hitler. Hitler agreed, and the two met at Hitler's apartment in the city later that morning. Chamberlain urged restraint in the implementation of the agreement and requested that the Germans not bomb Prague if the Czechs resisted, to which Hitler seemed agreeable. Chamberlain took from his pocket a paper headed "Anglo–German Agreement", which contained three paragraphs, including a statement that the two nations considered the Munich Agreement "symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war again." According to Chamberlain, Hitler interjected "Ja! Ja!" ("Yes! Yes!"). The two men signed the paper then and there. When, later that day, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop remonstrated with Hitler for signing it, the Führer replied, "Oh, don't take it so seriously. That piece of paper is of no further significance whatever." Chamberlain, on the other hand, patted his breast pocket when he returned to his hotel for lunch and said, "I've got it!" Word leaked of the outcome of the meetings before Chamberlain's return, causing delight among many in London but gloom for Churchill and his supporters. Chamberlain returned to London in triumph. Large crowds mobbed Heston, where he was met by the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Clarendon, who gave him a letter from King George VI assuring him of the Empire's lasting gratitude and urging him to come straight to Buckingham Palace to report. The streets were so packed with cheering people that it took Chamberlain an hour and a half to journey the nine miles (14 km) from Heston to the Palace. After reporting to the King, Chamberlain and his wife appeared on the Palace balcony with the King and Queen. He then went to Downing Street; both the street and the front hall of Number 10 were packed. As he headed upstairs to address the crowd from a first-floor window, someone called to him, "Neville, go up to the window and say 'peace for our time'." Chamberlain turned around and responded, "No, I don't do that sort of thing." Nevertheless, in his statement to the crowd, Chamberlain recalled the words of his predecessor, Benjamin Disraeli, upon the latter's return from the Congress of Berlin: King George issued a statement to his people, "After the magnificent efforts of the Prime Minister in the cause of peace it is my fervent hope that a new era of friendship and prosperity may be dawning among the peoples of the world." When the King met Duff Cooper, who resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty over the Munich Agreement, he told Cooper that he respected people who had the courage of their convictions, but could not agree with him. He wrote to his mother, Queen Mary, that "the Prime Minister was delighted with the results of his mission, as are we | to be integrated with the intent of co-ordinating the passage of legislation through the current Parliament, the term of which was to expire in November 1940. At the time of his appointment, Chamberlain's personality was not well known to the public, though he had made annual budget broadcasts for six years. According to Chamberlain biographer Robert Self, these appeared relaxed and modern, showing an ability to speak directly to the camera. Chamberlain had few friends among his parliamentary colleagues; an attempt by his parliamentary private secretary, Lord Dunglass (later prime minister himself as Alec Douglas-Home), to bring him to the Commons Smoking Room to socialise with colleagues ended in embarrassing silence. Chamberlain compensated for these shortcomings by devising the most sophisticated press management system employed by a prime minister up to that time, with officials at Number 10, led by his chief of press George Steward, convincing members of the press that they were colleagues sharing power and insider knowledge, and should espouse the government line. Domestic policy Chamberlain saw his elevation to the premiership as the final glory in a career as a domestic reformer, not realising that he would be remembered for foreign policy decisions. One reason he sought the settlement of European issues was the hope it would allow him to concentrate on domestic affairs. Soon after attaining the premiership, Chamberlain obtained passage of the Factories Act 1937. This Act was aimed at bettering working conditions in factories, and placed limits on the working hours of women and children. In 1938, Parliament enacted the Coal Act 1938, which allowed for nationalisation of coal deposits. Another major law passed that year was the Holidays with Pay Act 1938. Though the Act only recommended that employers give workers a week off with pay, it led to a great expansion of holiday camps and other leisure accommodation for the working classes. The Housing Act 1938 provided subsidies aimed at encouraging slum clearance and maintained rent control. Chamberlain's plans for the reform of local government were shelved because of the outbreak of war in 1939. Likewise, the raising of the school-leaving age to 15, scheduled for implementation on 1 September 1939, did not go into effect. Relations with Ireland Relations between the United Kingdom and the Irish Free State had been strained since the 1932 appointment of Éamon de Valera as President of the Executive Council. The Anglo-Irish Trade War, sparked by the withholding of money that Ireland had agreed to pay the United Kingdom, had caused economic losses on both sides, and the two nations were anxious for a settlement. The de Valera government also sought to sever the remaining ties between Ireland and the UK, such as ending the King's status as Irish Head of State. As Chancellor, Chamberlain had taken a hard-line stance against concessions to the Irish, but as premier sought a settlement with Ireland, being persuaded that the strained ties were affecting relations with other Dominions. Talks had been suspended under Baldwin in 1936 but resumed in November 1937. De Valera sought not only to alter the constitutional status of Ireland, but to overturn other aspects of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, most notably the issue of partition, as well as obtaining full control of the three "Treaty Ports" which had remained in British control. Britain, on the other hand, wished to retain the Treaty Ports, at least in time of war, and to obtain the money that Ireland had agreed to pay. The Irish proved very tough negotiators, so much so that Chamberlain complained that one of de Valera's offers had "presented United Kingdom ministers with a three-leafed shamrock, none of the leaves of which had any advantages for the UK." With the talks facing deadlock, Chamberlain made the Irish a final offer in March 1938 which acceded to many Irish positions, though he was confident that he had "only given up the small things," and the agreements were signed on 25 April 1938. The issue of partition was not resolved, but the Irish agreed to pay £10 million to the British. There was no provision in the treaties for British access to the Treaty Ports in time of war, but Chamberlain accepted de Valera's oral assurance that in the event of war the British would have access. Conservative backbencher Winston Churchill attacked the agreements in Parliament for surrendering the Treaty Ports, which he described as the "sentinel towers of the Western Approaches". When war came, de Valera denied Britain access to the Treaty Ports under Irish neutrality. Churchill railed against these treaties in The Gathering Storm, stating that he "never saw the House of Commons more completely misled" and that "members were made to feel very differently about it when our existence hung in the balance during the Battle of the Atlantic." Chamberlain believed that the Treaty Ports were unusable if Ireland was hostile, and deemed their loss worthwhile to assure friendly relations with Dublin. European policy Early days (May 1937 – March 1938) Chamberlain sought to conciliate Germany and make the Nazi state a partner in a stable Europe. He believed Germany could be satisfied by the restoration of some of its colonies, and during the Rhineland crisis of March 1936 he had stated that "if we were in sight of an all-round settlement the British government ought to consider the question" of restoration of colonies. The new prime minister's attempts to secure such a settlement were frustrated because Germany was in no hurry to talk to Britain. Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath was supposed to visit Britain in July 1937 but cancelled his visit. Lord Halifax, the Lord President of the Council, visited Germany privately in November and met Hitler and other German officials. Both Chamberlain and British Ambassador to Germany Nevile Henderson pronounced the visit a success. Foreign Office officials complained that the Halifax visit made it appear Britain was too eager for talks, and the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, felt that he had been bypassed. Chamberlain also bypassed Eden while the latter was on holiday by opening direct talks with Italy, an international pariah for its invasion and conquest of Ethiopia. At a Cabinet meeting on 8 September 1937, Chamberlain indicated that he saw "the lessening of the tension between this country and Italy as a very valuable contribution toward the pacification and appeasement of Europe" which would "weaken the Rome–Berlin axis." Chamberlain also set up a private line of communication with the Italian "Duce" Benito Mussolini through the Italian Ambassador, Count Dino Grandi. In February 1938, Hitler began to press the Austrian government to accept "Anschluß," or union between Germany and Austria. Chamberlain believed that it was essential to cement relations with Italy in the hope that an Anglo–Italian alliance would forestall Hitler from imposing his rule over Austria. Eden believed that Chamberlain was being too hasty in talking with Italy and holding out the prospect of de jure recognition of Italy's conquest of Ethiopia. Chamberlain concluded that Eden would have to accept his policy or resign. The Cabinet heard both men out but unanimously decided for Chamberlain, and despite efforts by other Cabinet members to prevent it, Eden resigned from office. In later years, Eden tried to portray his resignation as a stand against appeasement (Churchill described him in The Second World War as "one strong young figure standing up against long, dismal, drawling tides of drift and surrender") but many ministers and MPs believed there was no issue at stake worth resignation. Chamberlain appointed Lord Halifax as Foreign Secretary in Eden's place. Road to Munich (March 1938 – September 1938) In March 1938 Austria became a part of Germany in the Anschluss. Though the beleaguered Austrians requested help from Britain, none was forthcoming. Britain did send Berlin a strong note of protest. In addressing the Cabinet shortly after German forces crossed the border, Chamberlain placed blame on both Germany and Austria. Chamberlain noted, On 14 March, the day after the Anschluss, Chamberlain addressed the House of Commons and strongly condemned the methods used by the Germans in the takeover of Austria. Chamberlain's address met with the approval of the House. With Austria absorbed by Germany, attention turned to Hitler's obvious next target, the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. With three million ethnic Germans, the Sudetenland represented the largest German population outside the "Reich" and Hitler began to call for the union of the region with Germany. Britain had no military obligations toward Czechoslovakia, but France and Czechoslovakia had a mutual assistance pact and both the French and Czechoslovaks also had an alliance with the Soviet Union. After the fall of Austria, the Cabinet's Foreign Policy Committee considered seeking a "grand alliance" to thwart Germany or, alternatively, an assurance to France of assistance if the French went to war. Instead, the committee chose to advocate that Czechoslovakia be urged to make the best terms it could with Germany. The full Cabinet agreed with the committee's recommendation, influenced by a report from the chiefs of staff stating that there was little that Britain could do to help the Czechs in the event of a German invasion. Chamberlain reported to an amenable House that he was unwilling to limit his government's discretion by giving commitments. Britain and Italy signed an agreement on 16 April 1938. In exchange for de jure recognition of Italy's Ethiopian conquest, Italy agreed to withdraw some Italian "volunteers" from the Nationalist (pro-Franco) side of the Spanish Civil War. By this point, the Nationalists strongly had the upper hand in that conflict, and they completed their victory the following year. Later that month, the new French prime minister, Édouard Daladier, came to London for talks with Chamberlain, and agreed to follow the British position on Czechoslovakia. In May, Czech border guards shot two Sudeten German farmers who were trying to cross the border from Germany into Czechoslovakia without stopping for border controls. This incident caused unrest among the Sudeten Germans, and Germany was then said to be moving troops to the border. In response to the report, Prague moved troops to the German border. Halifax sent a note to Germany warning that if France intervened in the crisis on Czechoslovakia's behalf, Britain might support France. Tensions appeared to calm, and Chamberlain and Halifax were applauded for their "masterly" handling of the crisis. Though it was not known at the time, it later became clear that Germany had had no plans for a May invasion of Czechoslovakia. Nonetheless, the Chamberlain government received strong and almost unanimous support from the British press. Negotiations between the Czech government and the Sudeten Germans dragged on through mid-1938. They achieved little result; Sudeten leader Konrad Henlein was under private instructions from Hitler not to reach an agreement. On 3 August, Walter Runciman (by now Lord Runciman) travelled to Prague as a mediator sent by the British government. Over the next two weeks, Runciman met separately with Henlein, Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš, and other leaders, but made no progress. On 30 August. Chamberlain met his Cabinet and Ambassador Henderson and secured their backing—with only First Lord of the Admiralty Duff Cooper dissenting against Chamberlain's policy to pressure Czechoslovakia into making concessions, on the ground that Britain was then in no position to back up any threat to go to war. Chamberlain realised that Hitler would likely signal his intentions in his 12 September speech at the annual Nuremberg Rally, and so he discussed with his advisors how to respond if war seemed likely. In consultation with his close advisor Sir Horace Wilson, Chamberlain set out "Plan Z". If war seemed inevitable, Chamberlain would fly to Germany to negotiate directly with Hitler. September 1938: Munich Preliminary meetings Lord Runciman continued his work, attempting to pressure the Czechoslovak government into concessions. On 7 September there was an altercation involving Sudeten members of the Czechoslovak parliament in the North Moravian city of Ostrava (Mährisch-Ostrau in German). The Germans made considerable propaganda out of the incident, though the Prague government tried to conciliate them by dismissing Czech police who had been involved. As the tempest grew, Runciman concluded that there was no point in attempting further negotiations until after Hitler's speech. The mission never resumed. There was tremendous tension in the final days before Hitler's speech on the last day of the Rally, as Britain, France, and Czechoslovakia all partially mobilised their troops. Thousands gathered outside 10 Downing Street on the night of the speech. At last Hitler addressed his wildly enthusiastic followers: The following morning, 13 September, Chamberlain and the Cabinet were informed by Secret Service sources that all German embassies had been told that Germany would invade Czechoslovakia on 25 September. Convinced that the French would not fight (Daladier was privately proposing a three-Power summit to settle the Sudeten question), Chamberlain decided to implement "Plan Z" and sent a message to Hitler that he was willing to come to Germany to negotiate. Hitler accepted and Chamberlain flew to Germany on the morning of 15 September; this was the first time, excepting a short jaunt at an industrial fair, that Chamberlain had ever flown. Chamberlain flew to Munich and then travelled by rail to Hitler's retreat at Berchtesgaden. The face to face meeting lasted about three hours. Hitler demanded the annexation of the Sudetenland, and through questioning him, Chamberlain was able to obtain assurances that Hitler had no designs on the remainder of Czechoslovakia or on the areas in Eastern Europe which had German minorities. After the meeting Chamberlain returned to London, believing that he had obtained a breathing space during which agreement could be reached and the peace preserved. Under the proposals made at Berchtesgaden the Sudetenland would be annexed by Germany if a plebiscite in the Sudetenland favoured it. Czechoslovakia would receive international guarantees of its independence which would replace existing treaty obligations—principally the French pledge to the Czechoslovaks. The French agreed to the requirements. Under considerable pressure the Czechoslovaks also agreed, causing the Czechoslovak government to fall. Chamberlain flew back to Germany, meeting Hitler in Bad Godesberg on 22 September. Hitler brushed aside the proposals of the previous meeting, saying "that won't do any more". Hitler demanded immediate occupation of the Sudetenland and that Polish and Hungarian territorial claims on Czechoslovakia be addressed. Chamberlain objected strenuously, telling Hitler that he had worked to bring the French and Czechoslovaks into line with Germany's demands, so much so that he had been accused of giving in to dictators and had been booed on his departure that morning. Hitler was unmoved. That evening, Chamberlain told Lord Halifax that the "meeting with Herr Hitler had been most unsatisfactory". The following day, Hitler kept Chamberlain waiting until mid-afternoon, when he sent a five-page letter, in German, outlining the demands he had made orally the previous day. Chamberlain replied by offering to act as an intermediary with the Czechoslovaks, and suggested that Hitler put his demands in a memorandum which could be circulated to the French and Czechoslovaks. The leaders met again late on the evening of 23 September—a meeting which stretched into the early morning hours. Hitler demanded that fleeing Czechs in the zones to be occupied take nothing with them. He extended his deadline for occupation of the Sudetenland to 1 October—the date he had long before secretly set for the invasion of Czechoslovakia. The meeting ended amicably, with Chamberlain confiding to Hitler his hopes they would be able to work out other problems in Europe in the same spirit. Hitler hinted that the Sudetenland fulfilled his territorial ambitions in Europe. Chamberlain flew back to London, saying "It is up to the Czechs now." Munich conference Hitler's proposals met with resistance not only from the French and Czechoslovaks, but also from some members of Chamberlain's cabinet. With no agreement in sight, war seemed inevitable. Chamberlain issued a press statement calling on Germany to abandon the threat of force in exchange for British help in obtaining the concessions it sought. On the evening of 27 September, Chamberlain addressed the nation by radio, and after thanking those who wrote to him, stated: On 28 September, Chamberlain called on Hitler to invite him to Germany again to seek a solution through a summit involving the British, French, Germans, and Italians. Hitler replied favourably, and word of this response came to Chamberlain as he was winding up a speech in the House of Commons which sat in gloomy anticipation of war. Chamberlain informed the House of this in his speech. The response was a passionate demonstration, with members cheering Chamberlain wildly. Even diplomats in the galleries applauded. Lord Dunglass later commented, "There were a lot of appeasers in Parliament that day." On the morning of 29 September Chamberlain left Heston Aerodrome (to the east of today's Heathrow Airport) for his third and final visit to Germany. On arrival in Munich the British delegation was taken directly to the Führerbau, where Daladier, Mussolini, and Hitler soon arrived. The four leaders and their translators held an informal meeting; Hitler said that he intended to invade Czechoslovakia on 1 October. Mussolini distributed a proposal similar to Hitler's Bad Godesberg terms. In reality, the proposal had been drafted by German officials and transmitted to Rome the previous day. The four leaders debated the draft and Chamberlain raised the question of compensation for the Czechoslovak government and citizens, but Hitler refused to consider this. The leaders were joined by advisors after lunch, and hours were spent on long discussions of each clause of the "Italian" draft agreement. Late that evening the British and French left for their hotels, saying that they had to seek advice from their respective capitals. Meanwhile, the Germans and Italians enjoyed the feast which Hitler had intended for all the participants. During this break, Chamberlain advisor Sir Horace Wilson met with the Czechoslovaks; he informed them of the draft agreement and asked which districts were particularly important to them. The conference resumed at about 10 pm and was mostly in the hands of a small drafting committee. At 1:30 am the Munich Agreement was ready for signing, though the signing ceremony was delayed when Hitler discovered that the ornate inkwell on his desk was empty. Chamberlain and Daladier returned to their hotel and informed the Czechoslovaks of the agreement. The two prime ministers urged quick acceptance by the Czechoslovaks of the agreement, since the evacuation by the Czechs was to begin the following day. At 12:30 pm the Czechoslovak government in Prague objected to the decision but agreed to its terms. Aftermath and reception Before leaving the "Führerbau," Chamberlain requested a private conference with Hitler. Hitler agreed, and the two met at Hitler's apartment in the city later that morning. Chamberlain urged restraint in the implementation of the agreement and requested that the Germans not bomb Prague if the Czechs resisted, to which Hitler seemed agreeable. Chamberlain took from his pocket a paper headed "Anglo–German Agreement", which contained three paragraphs, including a statement that the two nations considered the Munich Agreement "symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war again." According to Chamberlain, Hitler interjected "Ja! Ja!" ("Yes! Yes!"). The two men signed the paper then and there. When, later that day, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop remonstrated with Hitler for signing it, the Führer replied, "Oh, don't take it so seriously. That piece of paper is of no further significance whatever." Chamberlain, on the other hand, patted his breast pocket when he returned to his hotel for lunch and said, "I've got it!" Word leaked of the outcome of the meetings before Chamberlain's return, causing delight among many in London but gloom for Churchill and his supporters. Chamberlain returned to London in triumph. Large crowds mobbed Heston, where he was met by the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Clarendon, who gave him a letter from King George VI assuring him of the Empire's lasting gratitude and urging him to come straight to Buckingham Palace to report. The streets were so packed with cheering people that it took Chamberlain an hour and a half to journey the nine miles (14 km) from Heston to the Palace. After reporting to the King, Chamberlain and his wife appeared on the Palace balcony with the King and Queen. He then went to Downing Street; both the street and the front hall of Number 10 were packed. As he headed upstairs to address the crowd from a first-floor window, someone called to him, "Neville, go up to the window and say 'peace for our time'." Chamberlain turned around and responded, "No, I don't do that sort of thing." Nevertheless, in his statement to the crowd, Chamberlain recalled the words of his predecessor, Benjamin Disraeli, upon the latter's return from the Congress of Berlin: King George issued a statement to his people, "After the magnificent efforts of the Prime Minister in the cause of peace it is my fervent hope that a new era of friendship and prosperity may be dawning among the peoples of the world." When the King met Duff Cooper, who resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty over the Munich Agreement, he told Cooper that he respected people who had the courage of their convictions, but could not agree with him. He wrote to his mother, Queen Mary, that "the Prime Minister was delighted with the results of his mission, as are we all." She responded to her son with anger against those who spoke against Chamberlain: "He brought home peace, why can't they be grateful?" Most newspapers supported Chamberlain uncritically, and he received thousands of gifts, from a silver dinner service to many of his trademark umbrellas. The Commons discussed the Munich Agreement on 3 October. Though Cooper opened by setting forth the reasons for his resignation and Churchill spoke harshly against the pact, no Conservative voted against the government. Only between 20 and 30 abstained, including Churchill, Eden, Cooper, and Harold Macmillan. Path to war (October 1938 – August 1939) In the aftermath of Munich, Chamberlain continued to pursue a course of cautious rearmament. He told the Cabinet in early October 1938, "[I]t would be madness for the country to stop rearming until we were convinced that other countries would act in the same way. For the time being, therefore, we should relax no particle of effort until our deficiencies had been made good." Later in October, he resisted calls to put industry on a war footing, convinced that such an action would show Hitler that Chamberlain had decided to abandon Munich. Chamberlain hoped that the understanding he had signed with Hitler at Munich would lead toward a general settlement of European disputes, but Hitler expressed no public interest in following up on the accord. Having considered a general election immediately following Munich, Chamberlain instead reshuffled his Cabinet. By the end of the year, public concerns caused Chamberlain to conclude that "to get rid of this uneasy and disgruntled House of Commons by a General Election" would be "suicidal". Despite Hitler's relative quietness as the "Reich" absorbed the Sudetenland, foreign policy concerns continued to preoccupy Chamberlain. He made trips to Paris and Rome, hoping to persuade the French to hasten their rearmament and Mussolini to be a positive influence on Hitler. Several of his Cabinet members, led by Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax, began to draw away from the appeasement policy. Halifax was by now convinced that Munich, though "better than a European war," had been "a horrid business and humiliating". Public revulsion over the pogrom of Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938 made any attempt at a "rapprochement" with Hitler unacceptable, though Chamberlain did not abandon his hopes. Still hoping for reconciliation with Germany, Chamberlain made a major speech in Birmingham on 28 January 1939, in which he expressed his desire for international peace, and had an advance copy sent to Hitler at Berchtesgaden. Hitler seemed to respond; in his "Reichstag" speech on 30 January 1939, he stated that he wanted a "long peace". Chamberlain was confident that improvements in British defence since Munich would bring the dictator to the bargaining table. This belief was reinforced by a German official's conciliatory speech welcoming Ambassador Henderson back to Berlin after an absence for medical treatment in Britain. Chamberlain responded with a speech in Blackburn on 22 February hoping that the nations would resolve their differences through trade, and was gratified when his comments were printed in German newspapers. With matters appearing to improve, Chamberlain's rule over the House of Commons was firm and he was convinced the government would "romp home" in a late 1939 election. On 15 March 1939, Germany invaded the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia, including Prague. Though Chamberlain's initial parliamentary response was, according to biographer Nick Smart, "feeble," within 48 hours he had spoken more forcefully against the German aggression. In another Birmingham speech, on 17 March, Chamberlain warned that Hitler was attempting to "dominate the world by force" and that "no greater mistake could be made than to suppose that because it believes war to be a senseless and cruel thing the nation has so lost its fibre that it will not take part to the utmost of its power in resisting such a challenge if it were ever made." The Prime Minister questioned whether the invasion of Czechoslovakia was "the end of an old adventure, or the beginning of a new" and whether it was "a step in the direction of an attempt to dominate the world by force." Colonial Secretary Malcolm MacDonald said, "whereas the Prime Minister was once a strong advocate of peace, he has now definitely swung around to the war point of view." This speech was met with widespread approval in Britain and recruitment for the armed services increased considerably. Chamberlain set out to build an interlocking series of defence pacts among the remaining European countries as a means of deterring Hitler from war. He sought an agreement among Britain, France, the USSR, and Poland, whereby the first three would go to the assistance of Poland if her independence were threatened, but Polish mistrust of the Soviet Union caused those negotiations to fail. Instead, on 31 March 1939, Chamberlain informed an approving House of Commons of British and French guarantees that they would lend Poland all possible aid in the event of any action which threatened Polish independence. In the ensuing debate, Eden stated that the nation was now united behind the government. Even Churchill and Lloyd George praised Chamberlain's government for issuing the guarantee to Poland. The Prime Minister took other steps to deter Hitler from aggression. He doubled the size of the Territorial Army, created a Ministry of Supply to expedite the provision of equipment to the armed forces, and instituted peacetime conscription. The Italian invasion of Albania on 7 April 1939 led to guarantees being given to Greece and Romania. On 17 June 1939, Handley Page received an order for 200 Hampden twin-engined medium bombers, and by 3 September 1939, the chain of radar stations girding the British coast was fully operational. Chamberlain was reluctant to seek a military alliance with the Soviet Union; he distrusted Joseph Stalin ideologically and felt that there was little to gain, given the recent massive purges in the Red Army. Much of his Cabinet favoured such an alliance, and when Poland withdrew her objection to an Anglo–Soviet alliance, Chamberlain had little choice but to proceed. The talks with Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, to which Britain sent only a low-level delegation, dragged on over several months and eventually foundered on 14 August 1939 when Poland and Romania refused to allow Soviet troops to be stationed on their territories. A week after the failure of these talks, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, committing the countries to non-aggression toward each other. A secret agreement divided up Poland in the event of war. Chamberlain had disregarded rumours of a Soviet–German "rapprochement" and was dismissive of the publicly announced pact, stating that it in no way affected British obligations toward Poland. On 23 August 1939, Chamberlain had Henderson deliver a letter to Hitler telling him that Britain was fully prepared to comply with its obligations to Poland. Hitler instructed his generals to prepare for an invasion of Poland, telling them, "Our enemies are small worms. I saw them at Munich." War leader (1939–1940) Declaration of war Germany invaded Poland in the early morning of 1 September 1939. The British Cabinet met late that morning and issued a warning to Germany that unless it withdrew from Polish territory the UK would carry out its obligations to Poland. When the House of Commons met at 6:00 pm, Chamberlain and Labour deputy leader Arthur Greenwood (deputising for the sick Clement Attlee) entered the chamber to loud cheers. Chamberlain spoke emotionally, laying the blame for the conflict on Hitler. No formal declaration of war was immediately made. French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet stated that France could do nothing until its parliament met on the evening of 2 September. Bonnet was trying to rally support for a Munich-style summit proposed by the Italians to be held on 5 September. The British Cabinet demanded that Hitler be given an ultimatum at once, and if troops were not withdrawn by the end of 2 September, that war be declared forthwith. Chamberlain and Halifax were convinced by Bonnet's pleas from Paris that France needed more time for mobilisation and evacuation, and postponed the expiry of the ultimatum (which had in fact not yet been served). Chamberlain's lengthy statement to the House of Commons made no mention of an ultimatum, and the House received it badly. When Greenwood rose to "speak for the working classes," Conservative backbencher and former First Lord of the Admiralty Leo Amery shouted, "Speak for England, Arthur!" implying that the Prime Minister was not doing so. Chamberlain replied that telephone difficulties were making it hard to communicate with Paris and tried to dispel fears that the French were weakening. He had little success; too many members knew of Bonnet's efforts. National Labour MP and diarist Harold Nicolson later wrote, "In those few minutes he flung away his reputation." The seeming delay gave rise to fears that Chamberlain would again seek a settlement with Hitler. Chamberlain's last peacetime Cabinet met at 11:30 that night, with a thunderstorm raging outside, and determined that the ultimatum would be presented in Berlin at nine o'clock the following morning—to expire two hours later, before the House of Commons convened at noon. At 11:15 am, 3 September 1939, Chamberlain addressed the nation by radio, stating that the United Kingdom was at war with Germany: That afternoon Chamberlain addressed the House of Commons' first Sunday session in over 120 years. He spoke to a quiet House in a statement which even opponents termed "restrained and therefore effective": "Phoney War" Chamberlain instituted a War Cabinet and invited the Labour and Liberal parties to join his government, but they declined. He restored Churchill to the Cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty, with a seat in the War Cabinet. Chamberlain also gave Eden a government post (Dominions Secretary) but not a seat in the small War Cabinet. The new First Lord proved to be a difficult Cabinet colleague, deluging the Prime Minister with a sea of lengthy memos. Chamberlain castigated Churchill for sending so many memos, as the two met in War Cabinet every day. Chamberlain suspected, correctly as it proved after the war, that "these letters are for the purpose of quotation in the Book that he will write hereafter." Chamberlain was also able to deter some of Churchill's more extreme plans, such as Operation Catherine, which would have sent three heavily armoured battleships into the Baltic Sea with an aircraft carrier and other support vessels as a means of stopping shipments of iron ore to Germany. With the naval war the only significant front involving the British in the early months of the conflict, the First Lord's obvious desire to wage a ruthless, victorious war established him as a leader-in-waiting in the public consciousness and among parliamentary colleagues. With little land action in the west, the initial months of the war were dubbed the "Bore War", later renamed the "Phoney War" by journalists. Chamberlain, in common with most Allied officials and generals, |
one of the most influential Spanish poetry collections of the twentieth century. It is cited as an inspiration by American Beat writers such as Allen Ginsberg. A fictionalized version of Parra appeared in Alejandro Jodorowsky's autobiographical film Endless Poetry (2016). Death Parra died on 23 January 2018, at 7:00 am, in La Reina in Santiago de Chile, at the age of 103. Awards Parra was proposed on four occasions for the Nobel Prize in Literature. On 1 December 2011, Parra won the Spanish Ministry of Culture's Cervantes Prize, the most important literary prize in the Spanish-speaking world. On 7 June 2012, he won the Pablo Neruda Ibero-American Poetry Award. List of works Cancionero sin nombre (Songbook without a Name), 1937. Poemas y antipoemas (Poems and Antipoems), 1954; Nascimento, 1956; Cátedra, 2005, La cueca larga (The Long Cueca), 1958 Versos de salón (Parlor Verses), 1962 Manifiesto (Manifesto), 1963 Canciones rusas (Russian Songs), 1967 Obra gruesa (Thick Works), 1969 Los profesores (The Teachers), 1971 Artefactos (Artifacts), 1972 Sermones y prédicas del Cristo de Elqui (Sermons and Teachings of the Christ of Elquí), 1977 Nuevos sermones y prédicas del Cristo de Elqui (New Sermons and Teachings of the Christ of Elquí), 1979 El anti-Lázaro (The Anti-Lazarus), 1981 Plaza Sésamo (Sesame Street), 1981 Poema y antipoema de Eduardo Frei (Poem and Antipoem of Eduardo Frei), 1982 Cachureos, ecopoemas, guatapiques, últimas prédicas, 1983 Chistes parRa desorientar a la policía (Jokes to Confuse the Police), 1983 Coplas de Navidad (Christmas Couplets), 1983 Poesía política (Political Poetry), 1983 Hojas de Parra (Grape Leaves / Pages of Parra (Spanish pun)), 1985 Nicanor Parra: biografía emotiva (Nicanor Parra: Emotional Biography), Ediciones Rumbos, 1988 Poemas para combatir la calvicie (Poems to Combat Baldness), 1993 Páginas en blanco (White Pages), 2001 Lear, Rey & Mendigo (Lear, King & Beggar), 2004 Obras completas I & algo + (Complete Works I and Something More), 2006 Discursos de Sobremesa (After Dinner Declarations), 2006 Obras Completas II & algo + (Complete Works II and Something More), 2011 | 1954; Nascimento, 1956; Cátedra, 2005, La cueca larga (The Long Cueca), 1958 Versos de salón (Parlor Verses), 1962 Manifiesto (Manifesto), 1963 Canciones rusas (Russian Songs), 1967 Obra gruesa (Thick Works), 1969 Los profesores (The Teachers), 1971 Artefactos (Artifacts), 1972 Sermones y prédicas del Cristo de Elqui (Sermons and Teachings of the Christ of Elquí), 1977 Nuevos sermones y prédicas del Cristo de Elqui (New Sermons and Teachings of the Christ of Elquí), 1979 El anti-Lázaro (The Anti-Lazarus), 1981 Plaza Sésamo (Sesame Street), 1981 Poema y antipoema de Eduardo Frei (Poem and Antipoem of Eduardo Frei), 1982 Cachureos, ecopoemas, guatapiques, últimas prédicas, 1983 Chistes parRa desorientar a la policía (Jokes to Confuse the Police), 1983 Coplas de Navidad (Christmas Couplets), 1983 Poesía política (Political Poetry), 1983 Hojas de Parra (Grape Leaves / Pages of Parra (Spanish pun)), 1985 Nicanor Parra: biografía emotiva (Nicanor Parra: Emotional Biography), Ediciones Rumbos, 1988 Poemas para combatir la calvicie (Poems to Combat Baldness), 1993 Páginas en blanco (White Pages), 2001 Lear, Rey & Mendigo (Lear, King & Beggar), 2004 Obras completas I & algo + (Complete Works I and Something More), 2006 Discursos de Sobremesa (After Dinner Declarations), 2006 Obras Completas II & algo + (Complete Works II and Something More), 2011 Así habló Parra en El Mercurio, entrevistas dadas al diario chileno entre 1968 y 2007 (Thus Spoke Parra in El Mercurio, Interviews Given to the |
Friendly Ghost on The New Casper Cartoon Show, Gumby on The Gumby Show, Sweet Polly Purebred on Underdog, and Davey on Davey and Goliath. Early life MacMillan was born on September 15, 1921, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and began her career there as a stage actress. It was in Vancouver that she met, worked with and married her producer/manager husband Thor Arngrim. In 1954, MacMillan, her husband and his business partner Stuart Baker, set out for Toronto where she began landing work voicing children's roles for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Career After she and her husband moved to New York, MacMillan lent her voice talents to numerous roles; as "Casper the Friendly Ghost" on The New Casper Cartoon Show, as "Gumby" on The Gumby Show, as "Sweet Polly Purebred" in the Underdog cartoons, and as "Davey" on Seasons 4-5 of the claymation series Davey and Goliath among others. In addition to these roles, MacMillan also voiced the roles of John-John and Caroline Kennedy in the world record setting The First Family album of 1962. In addition to her voice roles, MacMillan also appeared as an on-screen actress in various television and films roles. Her on-screen work included guest-starring roles on such television shows as Columbo, She's the Sheriff, Webster and Thirtysomething. During this time, she also appeared in feature films, including Nightmare on the 13th Floor, Big Business, Love at Stake, Dangerous | on Davey and Goliath. Early life MacMillan was born on September 15, 1921, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and began her career there as a stage actress. It was in Vancouver that she met, worked with and married her producer/manager husband Thor Arngrim. In 1954, MacMillan, her husband and his business partner Stuart Baker, set out for Toronto where she began landing work voicing children's roles for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Career After she and her husband moved to New York, MacMillan lent her voice talents to numerous roles; as "Casper the Friendly Ghost" on The New Casper Cartoon Show, as "Gumby" on The Gumby Show, as "Sweet Polly Purebred" in the Underdog cartoons, and as "Davey" on Seasons 4-5 of the claymation series Davey and Goliath among others. In addition to these roles, MacMillan also voiced the roles of John-John and Caroline Kennedy in the world record setting The First Family album of 1962. In addition to her voice roles, MacMillan also appeared as an on-screen actress in various television and films roles. Her on-screen work included guest-starring roles on such television shows as Columbo, She's the Sheriff, Webster and Thirtysomething. During this time, she also appeared in feature films, including Nightmare on the 13th Floor, Big Business, Love |
World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions, complained about the prize's honouring of Nevanlinna, as he was a supporter of Hitler and had acted as a representative for the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Soifer discussed Nevanlinna's wartime activities in a 2015 book, and forwarded his personal and his organization’s requests to the Executive Committee of IMU to change the Prize's name. In July 2018, the 18th General Assembly of the IMU decided to remove the name of Rolf Nevanlinna from the prize. It was later announced that the prize would be named the IMU Abacus Medal. Laureates See also Turing Award Gödel Prize Abel Prize Fields Medal Gauss Prize Chern Medal Schock Prize Wolf Prize List of computer science awards List of mathematics awards Notes External links Rolf Nevanlinna Prizes – Official site | computing and numerical analysis. Computational aspects of optimization and control theory. Computer algebra. The prize was established in 1981 by the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union and named for the Finnish mathematician Rolf Nevanlinna. It consists of a gold medal and cash prize. The prize is targeted at younger theoretical computer scientists, and only those younger than 40 on January 1 of the award year are eligible. It is awarded along with other IMU prizes including the Fields Medal. Naming The prize was named to honour the Finnish mathematician Rolf Nevanlinna who had died a year before the prize's creation in 1981. The medal features a profile of Nevanlinna, the text "Rolf Nevanlinna Prize", and very small characters "RH 83" on |
riots erupt. 1987 – British Rail Class 43 (HST) hits the record speed of 238 km/h for rail vehicles with on-board fuel to generate electricity for traction motors. 1993 – The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union. 2000 – Chhattisgarh officially becomes the 26th state of India, formed from sixteen districts of eastern Madhya Pradesh. 2000 – The Republic of Serbia and Montenegro joins the United Nations. 2001 – Turkey, Australia, and Canada agree to commit troops to the invasion of Afghanistan. 2011 – Mario Draghi succeeds Jean-Claude Trichet and becomes the third president of the European Central Bank. 2012 – A fuel tank truck crashes and explodes in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, killing 26 people and injuring 135. Births Pre-1600 846 – Louis the Stammerer, Frankish king (d. 879) 1339 – Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (d. 1365) 1351 – Leopold III, Duke of Austria (d. 1386) 1419 – Albert II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen (d. 1485) 1498 – Giovanni Ricci, Italian cardinal (d. 1574) 1499 – Rodrigo of Aragon, Italian noble (d. 1512) 1522 – Andrew Corbet, English landowner and politician (d. 1578) 1526 – Catherine Jagiellon, queen of John III of Sweden (d. 1583) 1527 – William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham, English noble and politician (d. 1597) 1530 – Étienne de La Boétie, French philosopher and judge (d. 1563) 1539 – Pierre Pithou, French lawyer and scholar (d. 1596) 1550 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabruck and Paderborn (d. 1585) 1567 – Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, 1st Count of Gondomar, Spanish academic and diplomat (d. 1626) 1585 – Jan Brożek, Polish mathematician, physician, and astronomer (d. 1652) 1596 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter (d. 1669) 1601–1900 1607 – Georg Philipp Harsdörffer, German poet and translator (d. 1658) 1609 – Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England (d. 1676) 1611 – François-Marie, comte de Broglie, Italian-French commander (d. 1656) 1625 – Oliver Plunkett, Irish archbishop and saint (d. 1681) 1636 – Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic (d. 1711) 1643 – John Strype, English priest, historian, and author (d. 1737) 1661 – Florent Carton Dancourt, French actor and playwright (d. 1725) 1666 – James Sherard, English botanist and curator (d. 1738) 1720 – Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte, French admiral (d. 1791) 1727 – Ivan Shuvalov, Russian art collector and philanthropist (d. 1797) 1752 – Józef Zajączek, Polish general, politician (d. 1826) 1757 – Antonio Canova, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1822) 1762 – Spencer Perceval, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1812) 1769 – Garlieb Merkel, German author and activist (d. 1850) 1778 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (d. 1837) 1782 – F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1859) 1808 – John Taylor, English-American religious leader, 3rd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1887) 1831 – Harry Atkinson, English-New Zealand politician, 10th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1892) 1838 – 11th Dalai Lama (d. 1856) 1839 – Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 227th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1919) 1847 – Emma Albani, Canadian-English soprano and actress (d. 1930) 1847 – Hiệp Hòa, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1883) 1848 – Caroline Still Anderson, American physician, educator and abolitionist (d. 1919) 1849 – William Merritt Chase, American painter and educator (d. 1916) 1859 – Charles Brantley Aycock, American educator, lawyer, and politician, 50th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1912) 1862 – Johan Wagenaar, Dutch organist and composer (d. 1941) 1864 – Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1918) 1871 – Stephen Crane, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (d. 1900) 1872 – Louis Dewis, Belgian-French painter (d. 1946) 1877 – Roger Quilter, English composer (d. 1953) 1878 – Konrad Mägi, Estonian painter and educator (d. 1925) 1878 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentinian academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959) 1880 – Sholem Asch, Polish-American author and playwright (d. 1957) 1880 – Grantland Rice, American journalist and poet (d. 1954) 1880 – Alfred Wegener, German meteorologist and geophysicist (d. 1930) 1881 – Perikles Ioannidis, Greek admiral (d. 1965) 1886 – Hermann Broch, Austrian-American author and poet (d. 1951) 1886 – Sakutarō Hagiwara, Japanese poet and critic (d. 1942) 1887 – L.S. Lowry, English painter and illustrator (d. 1976) 1888 – George Kenner, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1971) 1888 – Michał Sopoćko, Polish cleric and academic (d. 1975) 1889 – Hannah Höch, German painter and photographer (d. 1978) 1889 – Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982) 1896 – Edmund Blunden, English author, poet, and critic (d. 1974) 1898 – Arthur Legat, Belgian race car driver (d. 1960) 1898 – Sippie Wallace, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1986) 1901–present 1902 – Nordahl Grieg, Norwegian journalist, author, poet, and playwright (d. 1943) 1902 – Eugen Jochum, German conductor (d. 1987) 1903 – Max Adrian, Irish-born British actor (d. 1973) 1903 – Edward Greeves, Jr., Australian footballer (d. 1963) 1904 – Laura LaPlante, American silent film actress (d. 1996) 1905 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian-French painter and educator (d. 1960) 1906 – Johnny Indrisano, American boxer (d. 1968) 1907 – Maxie Rosenbloom, American boxer (d. 1976) 1909 – Hans Mork, South African-Australian rugby league player (d. 1960) 1911 – Mingun Sayadaw, Burmese monk and scholar (d. 1993) 1911 – Henri Troyat, French historian and author (d. 2007) 1912 – Gunther Plaut, German-Canadian rabbi and author (d. 2012) 1914 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Romanian-American rabbi (d. 2006) 1915 – Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, American painter, poet, and educator, co-founded the DuSable Museum of African American History (d. 2010) 1917 – Zenna Henderson, American author (d.1983) 1917 – Clarence E. Miller, American engineer and politician (d. 2011) 1918 – Ken Miles, English-American race car driver (d. 1966) 1919 – Hermann Bondi, English-Austrian mathematician and cosmologist (d. 2005) 1920 – James J. Kilpatrick, American journalist and author (d. 2010) 1920 – Ted Lowe, English sportscaster (d. 2011) 1921 – John W. Peterson, American pilot and songwriter (d. 2006) 1921 – Harald Quandt, German businessman (d. 1967) 1922 – George S. Irving, American actor (d. 2016) 1923 – Victoria de los Ángeles, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 2005) 1923 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (d. 2001) 1923 – Menachem Elon, German-Israeli academic and jurist (d. 2013) 1923 – Carlos Páez Vilaró, Uruguayan painter and sculptor (d. 2014) 1924 – Süleyman Demirel, Turkish engineer and politician, 9th President of Turkey (d. 2015) 1924 – Jean-Luc Pépin, Canadian academic and politician, 19th Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 1995) 1926 – Stephen Antonakos, Greek-American sculptor (d. 2013) 1926 – Betsy Palmer, American actress and game show panelist (d. 2015) 1927 – Vic Power, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach (d. 2005) 1927 – Marcel Ophüls, German documentary filmmaker 1928 – James Bradford, American weightlifter (d. 2013) 1929 – Nicholas Mavroules, American lawyer and politician (d. 2003) 1930 – A. R. Gurney, American playwright and author (d. 2017) 1930 – Russ Kemmerer, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014) 1931 – Yossef Gutfreund, Israeli wrestler and coach (d. 1972) 1931 – Shunsuke Kikuchi, Japanese composer (d. 2021) 1931 – Arne Pedersen, Norwegian footballer and manager (d. 2013) 1932 – Al Arbour, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015) 1932 – Francis Arinze, Nigerian cardinal 1933 – Antoine Kohn, Luxembourgian footballer and manager (d. 2012) 1934 – Umberto Agnelli, Swiss-Italian businessman and politician (d. 2004) 1934 – Gillian Knight, English soprano and actress 1934 – William Mathias, Welsh pianist and composer (d. 1992) 1935 – Gary Player, South African golfer and sportscaster 1935 – Edward Said, Palestinian-American theorist, author, and academic (d. 2003) 1936 – Katsuhisa Hattori, Japanese composer and conductor (d. 2020) 1936 – Shizuka Kamei, Japanese lawyer and politician 1937 – Bill Anderson, American country music singer-songwriter 1938 – Nicholasa Mohr, Puerto Rican American Nuyorican writer 1940 – Roger Kellaway, American pianist and composer 1940 – Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, Indian lawyer and jurist, 35th Chief Justice of India 1940 – Bruce Grocott, Baron Grocott, English academic and politician 1940 – Barry Sadler, American sergeant, author, actor, and singer-songwriter (d. 1989) 1941 – Alfio Basile, Argentinian footballer and manager 1941 – Robert Foxworth, American actor and director 1941 – John Pullin, English rugby player 1942 – Larry Flynt, American publisher, founded Larry Flynt Publications (d. 2021) 1942 – Ralph Klein, Canadian journalist and politician, 12th Premier of Alberta (d. 2013) 1942 – Marcia Wallace, American actress and comedian (d. 2013) 1943 – Salvatore Adamo, Italian-Belgian singer-songwriter 1943 – Jacques Attali, French economist and civil servant 1944 – Kinky Friedman, American singer-songwriter and author 1944 – Bobby Heenan, American wrestler, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2017) 1944 – Oscar Temaru, French-Polynesian soldier and politician, President of French Polynesia 1944 – Rafic Hariri, Lebanese businessman and politician 60th Prime Minister of Lebanon (d. 2005) 1945 – Narendra Dabholkar, Indian author and activist, founded Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (d. 2013) 1945 – John Williamson, Australian singer-songwriter 1946 – Ric Grech, British rock musician (d. 1990) 1946 – Yuko Shimizu, Japanese graphic designer, created Hello Kitty 1947 – Nick Owen, English journalist 1947 – Jim Steinman, American songwriter and producer (d. 2021) 1948 – Phil Myre, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1948 – Amani Abeid Karume, Zanzibar accountant and politician, 6th President of Zanzibar 1948 – Bill Woodrow, English sculptor and academic 1949 – David Foster, Canadian singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer 1949 – Michael D. Griffin, American physicist and engineer 1949 – Belita Moreno, American actress and acting coach 1950 – Mitch Kapor, American computer programmer and businessman, founded Lotus Software and Electronic Frontier Foundation 1950 – Robert B. Laughlin, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1950 – Dan Peek, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2011) 1951 – Ronald Bell, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and producer (d. 2020) 1951 – Fabrice Luchini, French actor and screenwriter 1951 – Craig Serjeant, Australian cricketer and chemist 1953 – Jan Davis, American engineer and astronaut 1953 – Paul Wellings, English ecologist and academic 1955 – Beth Leavel, American actress and singer 1955 – Mike Mendoza, English radio host and politician 1957 – Lyle Lovett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1957 – Murray Pierce, New Zealand rugby player 1958 – Mark Austin, English journalist 1958 – Robert Hart, English singer-songwriter 1959 – Susanna Clarke, English author and educator 1960 – Tim Cook, American businessman and engineer, current CEO of Apple Inc. 1960 – Fernando Valenzuela, Mexican baseball player, coach, and sportscaster 1961 – Louise Boije af Gennäs, Swedish author and screenwriter 1961 – Anne Donovan, American basketball player and coach (d. 2018) 1961 – Calvin Johnson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1961 – Heng Swee Keat, Singaporean politician 1962 – Sharron Davies, English swimmer 1962 – Magne Furuholmen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1962 – Anthony Kiedis, American singer-songwriter 1963 – Nita Ambani, Indian businesswoman 1963 – Mark Hughes, Welsh footballer and manager 1963 – Big Kenny, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1964 – Sophie B. Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1965 – Michael Daley, Australian politician 1965 – Patrik Ringborg, Swedish conductor 1966 – Willie D, American rapper and entrepreneur 1966 – Mary Hansen, Australian singer and musician (d. 2002) 1966 – Gary Howell, American businessman and politician 1966 – Jeremy Hunt, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Health 1966 – Ashab Uddin, Indian-Bengali politician 1967 – Tina Arena, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress 1967 – Carla van de Puttelaar, Dutch photographer 1969 – Gary Alexander, American basketball player 1969 – Tie Domi, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster 1970 – Sherwin Campbell, Barbadian cricketer 1972 – Toni Collette, Australian actress | (d. 2005) 1923 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (d. 2001) 1923 – Menachem Elon, German-Israeli academic and jurist (d. 2013) 1923 – Carlos Páez Vilaró, Uruguayan painter and sculptor (d. 2014) 1924 – Süleyman Demirel, Turkish engineer and politician, 9th President of Turkey (d. 2015) 1924 – Jean-Luc Pépin, Canadian academic and politician, 19th Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 1995) 1926 – Stephen Antonakos, Greek-American sculptor (d. 2013) 1926 – Betsy Palmer, American actress and game show panelist (d. 2015) 1927 – Vic Power, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach (d. 2005) 1927 – Marcel Ophüls, German documentary filmmaker 1928 – James Bradford, American weightlifter (d. 2013) 1929 – Nicholas Mavroules, American lawyer and politician (d. 2003) 1930 – A. R. Gurney, American playwright and author (d. 2017) 1930 – Russ Kemmerer, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014) 1931 – Yossef Gutfreund, Israeli wrestler and coach (d. 1972) 1931 – Shunsuke Kikuchi, Japanese composer (d. 2021) 1931 – Arne Pedersen, Norwegian footballer and manager (d. 2013) 1932 – Al Arbour, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015) 1932 – Francis Arinze, Nigerian cardinal 1933 – Antoine Kohn, Luxembourgian footballer and manager (d. 2012) 1934 – Umberto Agnelli, Swiss-Italian businessman and politician (d. 2004) 1934 – Gillian Knight, English soprano and actress 1934 – William Mathias, Welsh pianist and composer (d. 1992) 1935 – Gary Player, South African golfer and sportscaster 1935 – Edward Said, Palestinian-American theorist, author, and academic (d. 2003) 1936 – Katsuhisa Hattori, Japanese composer and conductor (d. 2020) 1936 – Shizuka Kamei, Japanese lawyer and politician 1937 – Bill Anderson, American country music singer-songwriter 1938 – Nicholasa Mohr, Puerto Rican American Nuyorican writer 1940 – Roger Kellaway, American pianist and composer 1940 – Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, Indian lawyer and jurist, 35th Chief Justice of India 1940 – Bruce Grocott, Baron Grocott, English academic and politician 1940 – Barry Sadler, American sergeant, author, actor, and singer-songwriter (d. 1989) 1941 – Alfio Basile, Argentinian footballer and manager 1941 – Robert Foxworth, American actor and director 1941 – John Pullin, English rugby player 1942 – Larry Flynt, American publisher, founded Larry Flynt Publications (d. 2021) 1942 – Ralph Klein, Canadian journalist and politician, 12th Premier of Alberta (d. 2013) 1942 – Marcia Wallace, American actress and comedian (d. 2013) 1943 – Salvatore Adamo, Italian-Belgian singer-songwriter 1943 – Jacques Attali, French economist and civil servant 1944 – Kinky Friedman, American singer-songwriter and author 1944 – Bobby Heenan, American wrestler, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2017) 1944 – Oscar Temaru, French-Polynesian soldier and politician, President of French Polynesia 1944 – Rafic Hariri, Lebanese businessman and politician 60th Prime Minister of Lebanon (d. 2005) 1945 – Narendra Dabholkar, Indian author and activist, founded Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (d. 2013) 1945 – John Williamson, Australian singer-songwriter 1946 – Ric Grech, British rock musician (d. 1990) 1946 – Yuko Shimizu, Japanese graphic designer, created Hello Kitty 1947 – Nick Owen, English journalist 1947 – Jim Steinman, American songwriter and producer (d. 2021) 1948 – Phil Myre, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1948 – Amani Abeid Karume, Zanzibar accountant and politician, 6th President of Zanzibar 1948 – Bill Woodrow, English sculptor and academic 1949 – David Foster, Canadian singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer 1949 – Michael D. Griffin, American physicist and engineer 1949 – Belita Moreno, American actress and acting coach 1950 – Mitch Kapor, American computer programmer and businessman, founded Lotus Software and Electronic Frontier Foundation 1950 – Robert B. Laughlin, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1950 – Dan Peek, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2011) 1951 – Ronald Bell, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and producer (d. 2020) 1951 – Fabrice Luchini, French actor and screenwriter 1951 – Craig Serjeant, Australian cricketer and chemist 1953 – Jan Davis, American engineer and astronaut 1953 – Paul Wellings, English ecologist and academic 1955 – Beth Leavel, American actress and singer 1955 – Mike Mendoza, English radio host and politician 1957 – Lyle Lovett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1957 – Murray Pierce, New Zealand rugby player 1958 – Mark Austin, English journalist 1958 – Robert Hart, English singer-songwriter 1959 – Susanna Clarke, English author and educator 1960 – Tim Cook, American businessman and engineer, current CEO of Apple Inc. 1960 – Fernando Valenzuela, Mexican baseball player, coach, and sportscaster 1961 – Louise Boije af Gennäs, Swedish author and screenwriter 1961 – Anne Donovan, American basketball player and coach (d. 2018) 1961 – Calvin Johnson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1961 – Heng Swee Keat, Singaporean politician 1962 – Sharron Davies, English swimmer 1962 – Magne Furuholmen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1962 – Anthony Kiedis, American singer-songwriter 1963 – Nita Ambani, Indian businesswoman 1963 – Mark Hughes, Welsh footballer and manager 1963 – Big Kenny, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1964 – Sophie B. Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1965 – Michael Daley, Australian politician 1965 – Patrik Ringborg, Swedish conductor 1966 – Willie D, American rapper and entrepreneur 1966 – Mary Hansen, Australian singer and musician (d. 2002) 1966 – Gary Howell, American businessman and politician 1966 – Jeremy Hunt, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Health 1966 – Ashab Uddin, Indian-Bengali politician 1967 – Tina Arena, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress 1967 – Carla van de Puttelaar, Dutch photographer 1969 – Gary Alexander, American basketball player 1969 – Tie Domi, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster 1970 – Sherwin Campbell, Barbadian cricketer 1972 – Toni Collette, Australian actress 1972 – Paul Dickov, Scottish footballer and manager 1972 – Jenny McCarthy, American actress and model 1973 – Geoff Horsfield, English footballer and manager 1973 – Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Indian model and actress 1974 – V. V. S. Laxman, Indian cricketer 1975 – Bo Bice, American singer and musician 1975 – Keryn Jordan, South African footballer (d. 2013) 1975 – Megan Wing, Canadian figure skater and coach 1976 – Sergei Artyukhin, Russian-Belarusian wrestler (d. 2012) 1978 – Danny Koevermans, Dutch footballer and manager 1978 – Helen Czerski, English physicist and oceanographer 1979 – Milan Dudić, Serbian footballer 1979 – Alex Prager, American photographer and director 1980 – Bilgin Defterli, Turkish footballer 1982 – Bradley Orr, English footballer 1982 – Warren Spragg, English-Italian rugby player 1983 – Matt Moulson, Canadian ice hockey player 1983 – Yuko Ogura, Japanese model and singer 1983 – Jon Wilkin, English rugby player 1984 – Miloš Krasić, Serbian footballer 1986 – Penn Badgley, American actor and television personality 1986 – Ksenija Balta, Estonian high jumper, sprinter, and heptathlete 1987 – Ileana D'Cruz, Indian film actress 1988 – Masahiro Tanaka, Japanese baseball player 1991 – Reece Brown, English footballer 1991 – Jiang Yuyuan, Chinese gymnast 1994 – James Ward-Prowse, English footballer 1995 – Margarita Mamun, Russian gymnast 1996 – Yoo Jeongyeon, South Korean singer Deaths Pre-1600 934 – Beornstan of Winchester, English bishop 970 – Boso of Merseburg, German bishop 1038 – Herman I, Margrave of Meissen (b. c. 980) 1296 – Guillaume Durand, French bishop and theologian (b. 1230) 1319 – Uguccione della Faggiuola, Italian condottieri (b. c. 1250) 1324 – John de Halton, Bishop of Carlisle 1391 – Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy (b. 1360) 1399 – John IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1339) 1406 – Joanna, Duchess of Brabant (b. 1322) 1423 – Nicholas Eudaimonoioannes, Byzantine diplomat (probable date) 1461 – David of Trebizond (b. 1408) 1496 – Filippo Buonaccorsi (Filip Callimachus), Italian humanist writer (b. 1437) 1546 – Giulio Romano, Italian painter and architect (b. 1499) 1588 – Jean Daurat, French poet and scholar (b. 1508) 1596 – Pierre Pithou, French lawyer and scholar (b. 1539) 1601–1900 1629 – Hendrick ter Brugghen, Dutch painter (b. 1588) 1642 – Jean Nicolet, French-Canadian explorer (b. 1598) 1676 – Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1589) 1678 – William Coddington, American judge and politician, 1st Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1601) 1700 – Charles II of Spain (b. 1661) 1814 – Alexander Samoylov, Russian general and politician, Russian Minister of Justice (b. 1744) 1888 – Nikolay Przhevalsky, Russian geographer and explorer (b. 1838) 1894 – Alexander III of Russia (b. 1845) 1901–present 1903 – Theodor Mommsen, German archaeologist, journalist, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1817) 1907 – Alfred Jarry, French author and playwright (b. 1873) 1925 – Max Linder, French actor, director, screenwriter, producer and comedian (b. 1883) 1938 – Charles Weeghman, American businessman (b. 1874) 1942 – Hugo Distler, German organist, composer, and conductor (b. 1908) 1952 – Dixie Lee, American singer (b. 1911) 1955 – Dale Carnegie, American author and |
1601–1900 1675 – Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow leads a colonial militia against the Narragansett during King Philip's War. 1795 – The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created. 1868 – Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally. 1889 – North Dakota and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states. 1899 – The Boers begin their 118-day siege of British-held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War. 1901–present 1912 – Bulgaria defeats the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lule Burgas, the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War, which opens her way to Constantinople. 1914 – World War I: The Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles are subsequently closed. 1917 – The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities". 1917 – The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of preparation and carrying out the Russian Revolution, holds its first meeting. 1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the 1920 United States presidential election. 1936 – The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, "high-definition" (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day. 1940 – World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians. 1947 – In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules (also known as the "Spruce Goose"), the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built. 1949 – The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ends with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia. 1951 – Six thousand British troops arrive in Suez after the Egyptian government abrogates the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936. 1951 – Canada in the Korean War: A platoon of The Royal Canadian Regiment defends a vital area against a full battalion of Chinese troops in the Battle of the Song-gok Spur. The engagement lasts into the early hours the next day. 1956 – Hungarian Revolution: Imre Nagy requests UN aid for Hungary. Nikita Khrushchev meets with leaders of other Communist countries to seek their advice on the situation in Hungary, selecting János Kádár as the country's next leader on the advice of Josip Broz Tito. 1956 – Suez Crisis: Israel occupies the Gaza Strip. 1959 – Quiz show scandals: Twenty-One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance. 1959 – The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway. 1960 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, the Lady Chatterley's Lover case. 1963 – South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup. 1964 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal. 1965 – Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war. 1966 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States. 1967 – Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war. 1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 1984 – Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962. 1986 – Lebanon hostage crisis: U.S. hostage David Jacobsen is released in Beirut after 17 months in captivity. 1988 – The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT. 1990 – British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television plc merge to form BSkyB as a result of massive losses. 1999 – 1999 Honolulu shootings: In the worst mass murder in the history of Hawaii, a gunman shoots at eight people in his workplace, killing seven. 2000 – Expedition 1 arrived at the International Space Station for the first long-duration stay onboard. From this day to present, a continuous human presence in space on the station remains uninterrupted. 2008 – Lewis Hamilton secured his maiden Formula One Drivers' Championship Title by one point ahead of Felipe Massa at the Brazilian Grand Prix, after a pass for fifth place against the Toyota of Timo Glock on the final lap of the race. 2013 – Two skydiving planes collide in mid-air over northwestern Wisconsin; all of the skydivers as well as two pilots survived the collision. 2016 – The Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series, ending the longest Major League Baseball championship drought at 108 years. Births Pre-1600 682 – Umar II, Arabian caliph (d. 720) 971 – Mahmud of Ghazni (d. 1030) 1154 – Constance, Queen of Sicily, wife of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1198) 1235 – Henry of Almain, King of the Romans (d. 1271) 1418 – Gaspare Nadi, Italian builder and writer (d. 1504) 1428 – Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine (d. 1483) 1470 – Edward V of England (d. 1483) 1475 – Anne of York, seventh child of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville (d. 1511) 1549 – Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1580) 1553 – Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (d. 1633) 1601–1900 1636 – Edward Colston, English merchant and politician (d. 1721) 1649 – Esmé Stewart, 2nd Duke of Richmond (d. 1660) 1692 – Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer and diplomat (d. 1766) 1696 – Conrad Weiser, American soldier, monk, and judge (d. 1760) 1699 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter and educator (d. 1779) 1709 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (d. 1759) 1734 – Daniel Boone, American hunter and explorer (d. 1820) 1739 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1799) 1741 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch lawyer and politician (d. 1784) 1754 – Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny, French general (d. 1794) 1755 – Marie Antoinette, Austrian-French queen consort of Louis XVI of France (d. 1793) 1766 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (d. 1858) 1777 – Fortunat Alojzy Gonzaga Żółkowski, Polish actor and translator (d. 1822) 1795 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849) 1799 – John Light Atlee, American physician and surgeon (d. 1885) 1799 – Titian Peale, American entomologist and photographer (d. 1885) 1808 – Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French author and critic (d. 1889) 1815 – George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1864) | their 118-day siege of British-held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War. 1901–present 1912 – Bulgaria defeats the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lule Burgas, the bloodiest battle of the First Balkan War, which opens her way to Constantinople. 1914 – World War I: The Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire and the Dardanelles are subsequently closed. 1917 – The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities". 1917 – The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in charge of preparation and carrying out the Russian Revolution, holds its first meeting. 1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the 1920 United States presidential election. 1936 – The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, "high-definition" (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day. 1940 – World War II: First day of Battle of Elaia–Kalamas between the Greeks and the Italians. 1947 – In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Hughes H-4 Hercules (also known as the "Spruce Goose"), the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built. 1949 – The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ends with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia. 1951 – Six thousand British troops arrive in Suez after the Egyptian government abrogates the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936. 1951 – Canada in the Korean War: A platoon of The Royal Canadian Regiment defends a vital area against a full battalion of Chinese troops in the Battle of the Song-gok Spur. The engagement lasts into the early hours the next day. 1956 – Hungarian Revolution: Imre Nagy requests UN aid for Hungary. Nikita Khrushchev meets with leaders of other Communist countries to seek their advice on the situation in Hungary, selecting János Kádár as the country's next leader on the advice of Josip Broz Tito. 1956 – Suez Crisis: Israel occupies the Gaza Strip. 1959 – Quiz show scandals: Twenty-One game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance. 1959 – The first section of the M1 motorway, the first inter-urban motorway in the United Kingdom, is opened between the present junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 motorway and M45 motorway. 1960 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, the Lady Chatterley's Lover case. 1963 – South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup. 1964 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother Faisal. 1965 – Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Quaker, sets himself on fire in front of the river entrance to the Pentagon to protest the use of napalm in the Vietnam war. 1966 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States. 1967 – Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war. 1983 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 1984 – Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962. 1986 – Lebanon hostage crisis: U.S. hostage David Jacobsen is released in Beirut after 17 months in captivity. 1988 – The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT. 1990 – British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television plc merge to form BSkyB as a result of massive losses. 1999 – 1999 Honolulu shootings: In the worst mass murder in the history of Hawaii, a gunman shoots at eight people in his workplace, killing seven. 2000 – Expedition 1 arrived at the International Space Station for the first long-duration stay onboard. From this day to present, a continuous human presence in space on the station remains uninterrupted. 2008 – Lewis Hamilton secured his maiden Formula One Drivers' Championship Title by one point ahead of Felipe Massa at the Brazilian Grand Prix, after a pass for fifth place against the Toyota of Timo Glock on the final lap of the race. 2013 – Two skydiving planes collide in mid-air over northwestern Wisconsin; all of the skydivers as well as two pilots survived the collision. 2016 – The Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series, ending the longest Major League Baseball championship drought at 108 years. Births Pre-1600 682 – Umar II, Arabian caliph (d. 720) 971 – Mahmud of Ghazni (d. 1030) 1154 – Constance, Queen of Sicily, wife of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1198) 1235 – Henry of Almain, King of the Romans (d. 1271) 1418 – Gaspare Nadi, Italian builder and writer (d. 1504) 1428 – Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine (d. 1483) 1470 – Edward V of England (d. 1483) 1475 – Anne of York, seventh child of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville (d. 1511) 1549 – Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1580) 1553 – Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (d. 1633) 1601–1900 1636 – Edward Colston, English merchant and politician (d. 1721) 1649 – Esmé Stewart, 2nd Duke of Richmond (d. 1660) 1692 – Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer and diplomat (d. 1766) 1696 – Conrad Weiser, American soldier, monk, and judge (d. 1760) 1699 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter and educator (d. 1779) 1709 – Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (d. 1759) 1734 – Daniel Boone, American hunter and explorer (d. 1820) 1739 – Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1799) 1741 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch lawyer and politician (d. 1784) 1754 – Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny, French general (d. 1794) 1755 – Marie Antoinette, Austrian-French queen consort of Louis XVI of France (d. 1793) 1766 – Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (d. 1858) 1777 – Fortunat Alojzy Gonzaga Żółkowski, Polish actor and translator (d. 1822) 1795 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849) 1799 – John Light Atlee, American physician and surgeon (d. 1885) 1799 – Titian Peale, American entomologist and photographer (d. 1885) 1808 – Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French author and critic (d. 1889) 1815 – George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1864) 1821 – George Bowen, Irish-English diplomat, 5th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1899) 1833 – Mahendralal Sarkar, Indian physician and academic (d. 1904) 1837 – Émile Bayard, French illustrator and painter (d. 1891) 1844 – Mehmed V, Ottoman sultan (d. 1918) 1844 – John J. Loud, American inventor (d. 1916) 1847 – Georges Sorel, French philosopher and author (d. 1922) 1855 – Henrik Schück, Swedish historian, author, and academic (d. 1947) 1865 – Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th President of the United States (d. 1923) 1877 – Joseph De Piro, Maltese priest and missionary (d. 1933) 1877 – Aga Khan III, Indian 48th Shia Imam (d. 1957) 1877 – Victor Trumper, Australian cricketer (d. 1915) 1878 – Ōkido Moriemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 23rd Yokozuna (d. 1930) 1879 – Marion Jones Farquhar, American tennis player and violinist (d. 1965) 1883 – Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, Canadian cardinal (d. 1947) 1885 – Harlow Shapley, American astronomer and academic (d. 1972) 1886 – Dhirendranath Datta, Pakistani lawyer and politician (d. 1971) 1890 – Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 30th Yokozuna (d. 1933) 1890 – Moa Martinson, Swedish author (d. 1964) 1891 – David Townsend, American art director and set decorator (d. 1935) 1892 – Alice Brady, American actress (d. 1939) 1893 – Battista Farina, Italian businessman, founded the Pininfarina Company (d. 1966) 1894 – Alexander Lippisch, German-American aerodynamicist and engineer (d. 1976) 1899 – Peter Aufschnaiter, Austrian mountaineer, geographer, and cartographer (d. 1973) 1901–present 1901 – James Dunn, American actor (d. 1967) 1903 – Travis Jackson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1987) 1905 – Isobel Andrews, New Zealand writer (d. 1990) 1905 – Georges Schehadé, Lebanese poet and playwright (d. 1989) 1906 – Daniil Andreyev, Russian poet and mystic (d. 1959) 1906 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1976) 1908 – Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (d. 1983) 1908 – Bunny Berigan, American trumpet player (d. 1942) 1910 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian lawyer and politician, Egyptian Minister of Interior (d. 1999) 1911 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996) 1911 – Raphael M. Robinson, American mathematician, philosopher, and theorist (d. 1995) 1913 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (d. 1994) 1914 – Johnny Vander Meer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1997) 1914 – Ray Walston, American actor (d. 2001) 1915 – Sidney Luft, American film producer (d. 2005) 1917 – Ann Rutherford, American actress (d. 2012) 1918 – Alexander Vraciu, American commander and pilot of Romanian descent (d. 2015) 1919 – Warren Stevens, American actor (d. 2012) 1920 – Bill Mazer, Ukrainian-American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2013) 1921 – Shepard |
all even orders, but are nonzero for odd orders. For any non-negative integer The last formula is valid also for any non-integer When the mean the plain and absolute moments can be expressed in terms of confluent hypergeometric functions and These expressions remain valid even if is not an integer. See also generalized Hermite polynomials. If the random variable is Normally distributed with mean and finite non-zero variance , then for the expected value of the reciprocal for the absolute value of is The expectation of conditioned on the event that lies in an interval is given by where and respectively are the density and the cumulative distribution function of . For this is known as the inverse Mills ratio. Note that above, density of is used instead of standard normal density as in inverse Mills ratio, so here we have instead of . Fourier transform and characteristic function The Fourier transform of a normal density with mean and standard deviation is where is the imaginary unit. If the mean , the first factor is 1, and the Fourier transform is, apart from a constant factor, a normal density on the frequency domain, with mean 0 and standard deviation . In particular, the standard normal distribution is an eigenfunction of the Fourier transform. In probability theory, the Fourier transform of the probability distribution of a real-valued random variable is closely connected to the characteristic function of that variable, which is defined as the expected value of , as a function of the real variable (the frequency parameter of the Fourier transform). This definition can be analytically extended to a complex-value variable . The relation between both is: Moment and cumulant generating functions The moment generating function of a real random variable is the expected value of , as a function of the real parameter . For a normal distribution with density , mean and deviation , the moment generating function exists and is equal to The cumulant generating function is the logarithm of the moment generating function, namely Since this is a quadratic polynomial in , only the first two cumulants are nonzero, namely the mean and the variance . Stein operator and class Within Stein's method the Stein operator and class of a random variable are and the class of all absolutely continuous functions . Zero-variance limit In the limit when tends to zero, the probability density eventually tends to zero at any , but grows without limit if , while its integral remains equal to 1. Therefore, the normal distribution cannot be defined as an ordinary function when . However, one can define the normal distribution with zero variance as a generalized function; specifically, as Dirac's "delta function" translated by the mean , that is Its CDF is then the Heaviside step function translated by the mean , namely Maximum entropy Of all probability distributions over the reals with a specified mean and variance , the normal distribution is the one with maximum entropy. If is a continuous random variable with probability density , then the entropy of is defined as where is understood to be zero whenever . This functional can be maximized, subject to the constraints that the distribution is properly normalized and has a specified variance, by using variational calculus. A function with two Lagrange multipliers is defined: where is, for now, regarded as some density function with mean and standard deviation . At maximum entropy, a small variation about will produce a variation about which is equal to 0: Since this must hold for any small , the term in brackets must be zero, and solving for yields: Using the constraint equations to solve for and yields the density of the normal distribution: The entropy of a normal distribution is equal to Other properties Related distributions Central limit theorem The central limit theorem states that under certain (fairly common) conditions, the sum of many random variables will have an approximately normal distribution. More specifically, where are independent and identically distributed random variables with the same arbitrary distribution, zero mean, and variance and is their mean scaled by Then, as increases, the probability distribution of will tend to the normal distribution with zero mean and variance . The theorem can be extended to variables that are not independent and/or not identically distributed if certain constraints are placed on the degree of dependence and the moments of the distributions. Many test statistics, scores, and estimators encountered in practice contain sums of certain random variables in them, and even more estimators can be represented as sums of random variables through the use of influence functions. The central limit theorem implies that those statistical parameters will have asymptotically normal distributions. The central limit theorem also implies that certain distributions can be approximated by the normal distribution, for example: The binomial distribution is approximately normal with mean and variance for large and for not too close to 0 or 1. The Poisson distribution with parameter is approximately normal with mean and variance , for large values of . The chi-squared distribution is approximately normal with mean and variance , for large . The Student's t-distribution is approximately normal with mean 0 and variance 1 when is large. Whether these approximations are sufficiently accurate depends on the purpose for which they are needed, and the rate of convergence to the normal distribution. It is typically the case that such approximations are less accurate in the tails of the distribution. A general upper bound for the approximation error in the central limit theorem is given by the Berry–Esseen theorem, improvements of the approximation are given by the Edgeworth expansions. This theorem can also be used to justify modeling the sum of many uniform noise sources as gaussian noise. See AWGN. Operations and functions of normal variables The probability density, cumulative distribution, and inverse cumulative distribution of any function of one or more independent or correlated normal variables can be computed with the numerical method of ray-tracing (Matlab code). In the following sections we look at some special cases. Operations on a single normal variable If is distributed normally with mean and variance , then , for any real numbers and , is also normally distributed, with mean and standard deviation . That is, the family of normal distributions is closed under linear transformations. The exponential of is distributed log-normally: . The absolute value of has folded normal distribution: . If this is known as the half-normal distribution. The absolute value of normalized residuals, |X − μ|/σ, has chi distribution with one degree of freedom: |X − μ|/σ ~ . The square of X/σ has the noncentral chi-squared distribution with one degree of freedom: . If , the distribution is called simply chi-squared. The log likelihood of a normal variable is simply the log of its probability density function: Since this is a scaled and shifted square of a standard normal variable, it is distributed as a scaled and shifted chi-squared variable. The distribution of the variable X restricted to an interval [a, b] is called the truncated normal distribution. (X − μ)−2 has a Lévy distribution with location 0 and scale σ−2. Operations on two independent normal variables If and are two independent normal random variables, with means , and standard deviations , , then their sum will also be normally distributed,[proof] with mean and variance . In particular, if and are independent normal deviates with zero mean and variance , then and are also independent and normally distributed, with zero mean and variance . This is a special case of the polarization identity. If , are two independent normal deviates with mean and deviation , and , are arbitrary real numbers, then the variable is also normally distributed with mean and deviation . It follows that the normal distribution is stable (with exponent ). Operations on two independent standard normal variables If and are two independent standard normal random variables with mean 0 and variance 1, then Their sum and difference is distributed normally with mean zero and variance two: . Their product follows the Product distribution with density function where is the modified Bessel function of the second kind. This distribution is symmetric around zero, unbounded at , and has the characteristic function . Their ratio follows the standard Cauchy distribution: . Their Euclidean norm has the Rayleigh distribution. Operations on multiple independent normal variables Any linear combination of independent normal deviates is a normal deviate. If are independent standard normal random variables, then the sum of their squares has the chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom If are independent normally distributed random variables with means and variances , then their sample mean is independent from the sample standard deviation, which can be demonstrated using Basu's theorem or Cochran's theorem. The ratio of these two quantities will have the Student's t-distribution with degrees of freedom: If , are independent standard normal random variables, then the ratio of their normalized sums of squares will have the with degrees of freedom: Operations on multiple correlated normal variables A quadratic form of a normal vector, i.e. a quadratic function of multiple independent or correlated normal variables, is a generalized chi-square variable. Operations on the density function The split normal distribution is most directly defined in terms of joining scaled sections of the density functions of different normal distributions and rescaling the density to integrate to one. The truncated normal distribution results from rescaling a section of a single density function. Infinite divisibility and Cramér's theorem For any positive integer , any normal distribution with mean and variance is the distribution of the sum of independent normal deviates, each with mean and variance . This property is called infinite divisibility. Conversely, if and are independent random variables and their sum has a normal distribution, then both and must be normal deviates. This result is known as Cramér's decomposition theorem, and is equivalent to saying that the convolution of two distributions is normal if and only if both are normal. Cramér's theorem implies that a linear combination of independent non-Gaussian variables will never have an exactly normal distribution, although it may approach it arbitrarily closely. Bernstein's theorem Bernstein's theorem states that if and are independent and and are also independent, then both X and Y must necessarily have normal distributions. More generally, if are independent random variables, then two distinct linear combinations and will be independent if and only if all are normal and , where denotes the variance of . Extensions The notion of normal distribution, being one of the most important distributions in probability theory, has been extended far beyond the standard framework of the univariate (that is one-dimensional) case (Case 1). All these extensions are also called normal or Gaussian laws, so a certain ambiguity in names exists. The multivariate normal distribution describes the Gaussian law in the k-dimensional Euclidean space. A vector is multivariate-normally distributed if any linear combination of its components has a (univariate) normal distribution. The variance of X is a k×k symmetric positive-definite matrix V. The multivariate normal distribution is a special case of the elliptical distributions. As such, its iso-density loci in the k = 2 case are ellipses and in the case of arbitrary k are ellipsoids. Rectified Gaussian distribution a rectified version of normal distribution with all the negative elements reset to 0 Complex normal distribution deals with the complex normal vectors. A complex vector is said to be normal if both its real and imaginary components jointly possess a 2k-dimensional multivariate normal distribution. The variance-covariance structure of X is described by two matrices: the variance matrix Γ, and the relation matrix C. Matrix normal distribution describes the case of normally distributed matrices. Gaussian processes are the normally distributed stochastic processes. These can be viewed as elements of some infinite-dimensional Hilbert space H, and thus are the analogues of multivariate normal vectors for the case . A random element is said to be normal if for any constant the scalar product has a (univariate) normal distribution. The variance structure of such Gaussian random element can be described in terms of the linear covariance . Several Gaussian processes became popular enough to have their own names: Brownian motion, Brownian bridge, Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process. Gaussian q-distribution is an abstract mathematical construction that represents a "q-analogue" of the normal distribution. the q-Gaussian is an analogue of the Gaussian distribution, in the sense that it maximises the Tsallis entropy, and is one type of Tsallis distribution. Note that this distribution is different from the Gaussian q-distribution above. A random variable X has a two-piece normal distribution if it has a distribution where μ is the mean and σ1 and σ2 are the standard deviations of the distribution to the left and right of the mean respectively. The mean, variance and third central moment of this distribution have been determined where E(X), V(X) and T(X) are the mean, variance, and third central moment respectively. One of the main practical uses of the Gaussian law is to model the empirical distributions of many different random variables encountered in practice. In such case a possible extension would be a richer family of distributions, having more than two parameters and therefore being able to fit the empirical distribution more accurately. The examples of such extensions are: Pearson distribution — a four-parameter family of probability distributions that extend the normal law to include different skewness and kurtosis values. The generalized normal distribution, also known as the exponential power distribution, allows for distribution tails with thicker or thinner asymptotic behaviors. Statistical inference Estimation of parameters It is often the case that we do not know the parameters of the normal distribution, but instead want to estimate them. That is, having a sample from a normal population we would like to learn the approximate values of parameters and . The standard approach to this problem is the maximum likelihood method, which requires maximization of the log-likelihood function: Taking derivatives with respect to and and solving the resulting system of first order conditions yields the maximum likelihood estimates: Sample mean Estimator is called the sample mean, since it is the arithmetic mean of all observations. The statistic is complete and sufficient for , and therefore by the Lehmann–Scheffé theorem, is the uniformly minimum variance unbiased (UMVU) estimator. In finite samples it is distributed normally: The variance of this estimator is equal to the μμ-element of the inverse Fisher information matrix . This implies that the estimator is finite-sample efficient. Of practical importance is the fact that the standard error of is proportional to , that is, if one wishes to decrease the standard error by a factor of 10, one must increase the number of points in the sample by a factor of 100. This fact is widely used in determining sample sizes for opinion polls and the number of trials in Monte Carlo simulations. From the standpoint of the asymptotic theory, is consistent, that is, it converges in probability to as . The estimator is also asymptotically normal, which is a simple corollary of the fact that it is normal in finite samples: Sample variance The estimator is called the sample variance, since it is the variance of the sample (). In practice, another estimator is often used instead of the . This other estimator is denoted , and is also called the sample variance, which represents a certain ambiguity in terminology; its square root is called the sample standard deviation. The estimator differs from by having instead of n in the denominator (the so-called Bessel's correction): The difference between and becomes negligibly small for large ns. In finite samples however, the motivation behind the use of is that it is an unbiased estimator of the underlying parameter , whereas is biased. Also, by the Lehmann–Scheffé theorem the estimator is uniformly minimum variance unbiased (UMVU), which makes it the "best" estimator among all unbiased ones. However it can be shown that the biased estimator is "better" than the in terms of the mean squared error (MSE) criterion. | must be normal deviates. This result is known as Cramér's decomposition theorem, and is equivalent to saying that the convolution of two distributions is normal if and only if both are normal. Cramér's theorem implies that a linear combination of independent non-Gaussian variables will never have an exactly normal distribution, although it may approach it arbitrarily closely. Bernstein's theorem Bernstein's theorem states that if and are independent and and are also independent, then both X and Y must necessarily have normal distributions. More generally, if are independent random variables, then two distinct linear combinations and will be independent if and only if all are normal and , where denotes the variance of . Extensions The notion of normal distribution, being one of the most important distributions in probability theory, has been extended far beyond the standard framework of the univariate (that is one-dimensional) case (Case 1). All these extensions are also called normal or Gaussian laws, so a certain ambiguity in names exists. The multivariate normal distribution describes the Gaussian law in the k-dimensional Euclidean space. A vector is multivariate-normally distributed if any linear combination of its components has a (univariate) normal distribution. The variance of X is a k×k symmetric positive-definite matrix V. The multivariate normal distribution is a special case of the elliptical distributions. As such, its iso-density loci in the k = 2 case are ellipses and in the case of arbitrary k are ellipsoids. Rectified Gaussian distribution a rectified version of normal distribution with all the negative elements reset to 0 Complex normal distribution deals with the complex normal vectors. A complex vector is said to be normal if both its real and imaginary components jointly possess a 2k-dimensional multivariate normal distribution. The variance-covariance structure of X is described by two matrices: the variance matrix Γ, and the relation matrix C. Matrix normal distribution describes the case of normally distributed matrices. Gaussian processes are the normally distributed stochastic processes. These can be viewed as elements of some infinite-dimensional Hilbert space H, and thus are the analogues of multivariate normal vectors for the case . A random element is said to be normal if for any constant the scalar product has a (univariate) normal distribution. The variance structure of such Gaussian random element can be described in terms of the linear covariance . Several Gaussian processes became popular enough to have their own names: Brownian motion, Brownian bridge, Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process. Gaussian q-distribution is an abstract mathematical construction that represents a "q-analogue" of the normal distribution. the q-Gaussian is an analogue of the Gaussian distribution, in the sense that it maximises the Tsallis entropy, and is one type of Tsallis distribution. Note that this distribution is different from the Gaussian q-distribution above. A random variable X has a two-piece normal distribution if it has a distribution where μ is the mean and σ1 and σ2 are the standard deviations of the distribution to the left and right of the mean respectively. The mean, variance and third central moment of this distribution have been determined where E(X), V(X) and T(X) are the mean, variance, and third central moment respectively. One of the main practical uses of the Gaussian law is to model the empirical distributions of many different random variables encountered in practice. In such case a possible extension would be a richer family of distributions, having more than two parameters and therefore being able to fit the empirical distribution more accurately. The examples of such extensions are: Pearson distribution — a four-parameter family of probability distributions that extend the normal law to include different skewness and kurtosis values. The generalized normal distribution, also known as the exponential power distribution, allows for distribution tails with thicker or thinner asymptotic behaviors. Statistical inference Estimation of parameters It is often the case that we do not know the parameters of the normal distribution, but instead want to estimate them. That is, having a sample from a normal population we would like to learn the approximate values of parameters and . The standard approach to this problem is the maximum likelihood method, which requires maximization of the log-likelihood function: Taking derivatives with respect to and and solving the resulting system of first order conditions yields the maximum likelihood estimates: Sample mean Estimator is called the sample mean, since it is the arithmetic mean of all observations. The statistic is complete and sufficient for , and therefore by the Lehmann–Scheffé theorem, is the uniformly minimum variance unbiased (UMVU) estimator. In finite samples it is distributed normally: The variance of this estimator is equal to the μμ-element of the inverse Fisher information matrix . This implies that the estimator is finite-sample efficient. Of practical importance is the fact that the standard error of is proportional to , that is, if one wishes to decrease the standard error by a factor of 10, one must increase the number of points in the sample by a factor of 100. This fact is widely used in determining sample sizes for opinion polls and the number of trials in Monte Carlo simulations. From the standpoint of the asymptotic theory, is consistent, that is, it converges in probability to as . The estimator is also asymptotically normal, which is a simple corollary of the fact that it is normal in finite samples: Sample variance The estimator is called the sample variance, since it is the variance of the sample (). In practice, another estimator is often used instead of the . This other estimator is denoted , and is also called the sample variance, which represents a certain ambiguity in terminology; its square root is called the sample standard deviation. The estimator differs from by having instead of n in the denominator (the so-called Bessel's correction): The difference between and becomes negligibly small for large ns. In finite samples however, the motivation behind the use of is that it is an unbiased estimator of the underlying parameter , whereas is biased. Also, by the Lehmann–Scheffé theorem the estimator is uniformly minimum variance unbiased (UMVU), which makes it the "best" estimator among all unbiased ones. However it can be shown that the biased estimator is "better" than the in terms of the mean squared error (MSE) criterion. In finite samples both and have scaled chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom: The first of these expressions shows that the variance of is equal to , which is slightly greater than the σσ-element of the inverse Fisher information matrix . Thus, is not an efficient estimator for , and moreover, since is UMVU, we can conclude that the finite-sample efficient estimator for does not exist. Applying the asymptotic theory, both estimators and are consistent, that is they converge in probability to as the sample size . The two estimators are also both asymptotically normal: In particular, both estimators are asymptotically efficient for . Confidence intervals By Cochran's theorem, for normal distributions the sample mean and the sample variance s2 are independent, which means there can be no gain in considering their joint distribution. There is also a converse theorem: if in a sample the sample mean and sample variance are independent, then the sample must have come from the normal distribution. The independence between and s can be employed to construct the so-called t-statistic: This quantity t has the Student's t-distribution with degrees of freedom, and it is an ancillary statistic (independent of the value of the parameters). Inverting the distribution of this t-statistics will allow us to construct the confidence interval for μ; similarly, inverting the χ2 distribution of the statistic s2 will give us the confidence interval for σ2: where tk,p and are the pth quantiles of the t- and χ2-distributions respectively. These confidence intervals are of the confidence level , meaning that the true values μ and σ2 fall outside of these intervals with probability (or significance level) α. In practice people usually take , resulting in the 95% confidence intervals. Approximate formulas can be derived from the asymptotic distributions of and s2: The approximate formulas become valid for large values of n, and are more convenient for the manual calculation since the standard normal quantiles zα/2 do not depend on n. In particular, the most popular value of , results in . Normality tests Normality tests assess the likelihood that the given data set {x1, ..., xn} comes from a normal distribution. Typically the null hypothesis H0 is that the observations are distributed normally with unspecified mean μ and variance σ2, versus the alternative Ha that the distribution is arbitrary. Many tests (over 40) have been devised for this problem, the more prominent of them are outlined below: Diagnostic plots are more intuitively appealing but subjective at the same time, as they rely on informal human judgement to accept or reject the null hypothesis. Q–Q plot, also known as normal probability plot or rankit plot—is a plot of the sorted values from the data set against the expected values of the corresponding quantiles from the standard normal distribution. That is, it's a plot of point of the form (Φ−1(pk), x(k)), where plotting points pk are equal to pk = (k − α)/(n + 1 − 2α) and α is an adjustment constant, which can be anything between 0 and 1. If the null hypothesis is true, the plotted points should approximately lie on a straight line. P–P plot – similar to the Q–Q plot, but used much less frequently. This method consists of plotting the points (Φ(z(k)), pk), where . For normally distributed data this plot should lie on a 45° line between (0, 0) and (1, 1). Goodness-of-fit tests: Moment-based tests: D'Agostino's K-squared test Jarque–Bera test Shapiro-Wilk test: This is based on the fact that the line in the Q–Q plot has the slope of σ. The test compares the least squares estimate of that slope with the value of the sample variance, and rejects the null hypothesis if these two quantities differ significantly. Tests based on the empirical distribution function: Anderson–Darling test Lilliefors test (an adaptation of the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test) Bayesian analysis of the normal distribution Bayesian analysis of normally distributed data is complicated by the many different possibilities that may be considered: Either the mean, or the variance, or neither, may be considered a fixed quantity. When the variance is unknown, analysis may be done directly in terms of the variance, or in terms of the precision, the reciprocal of the variance. The reason for expressing the formulas in terms of precision is that the analysis of most cases is simplified. Both univariate and multivariate cases need to be considered. Either conjugate or improper prior distributions may be placed on the unknown variables. An additional set of cases occurs in Bayesian linear regression, where in the basic model the data is assumed to be normally distributed, and normal priors are placed on the regression coefficients. The resulting analysis is similar to the basic cases of independent identically distributed data. The formulas for the non-linear-regression cases are summarized in the conjugate prior article. Sum of two quadratics Scalar form The following auxiliary formula is useful for simplifying the posterior update equations, which otherwise become fairly tedious. This equation rewrites the sum of two quadratics in x by expanding the squares, grouping the terms in x, and completing the square. Note the following about the complex constant factors attached to some of the terms: The factor has the form of a weighted average of y and z. This shows that this factor can be thought of as resulting from a situation where the reciprocals of quantities a and b add directly, so to combine a and b themselves, it's necessary to reciprocate, add, and reciprocate the result again to get back into the original units. This is exactly the sort of operation performed by the harmonic mean, so it is not surprising that is one-half the harmonic mean of a and b. Vector form A similar formula can be written for the sum of two vector quadratics: If x, y, z are vectors of length k, and A and B are symmetric, invertible matrices of size , then where Note that the form x′ A x is called a quadratic form and is a scalar: In other words, it sums up all possible combinations of products of pairs of elements from x, with a separate coefficient for each. In addition, since , only the sum matters for any off-diagonal elements of A, and there is no loss of generality in assuming that A is symmetric. Furthermore, if A is symmetric, then the form Sum of differences from the mean Another useful formula is as follows: where With known variance For a set of i.i.d. normally distributed data points X of size n where each individual point x follows with known variance σ2, the conjugate prior distribution is also normally distributed. This can be shown more easily by rewriting the variance as the precision, i.e. using τ = 1/σ2. Then if and we proceed as follows. First, the likelihood function is (using the formula above for the sum of differences from the mean): Then, we proceed as follows: In the above derivation, we used the formula above for the sum of two quadratics and eliminated all constant factors not involving μ. The result is the kernel of a normal distribution, with mean and precision , i.e. This can be written as a set of Bayesian update equations for the posterior parameters in terms of the prior parameters: That is, to combine n data points with total precision of nτ (or equivalently, total variance of n/σ2) and mean of values , derive a new total precision simply by adding the total precision of the data to the prior total precision, and form a new mean through a precision-weighted average, i.e. a weighted average of the data mean and the prior mean, each weighted by the associated total precision. This makes logical sense if the precision is thought of as indicating the certainty of the observations: In the distribution of the posterior mean, each of the input components is weighted by its certainty, and the certainty of this distribution is the sum of the individual certainties. (For the intuition of this, compare the expression "the whole is (or is not) greater than the sum of its parts". In addition, consider that the knowledge of the posterior comes from a combination of the knowledge of the prior and likelihood, so it makes sense that we are more certain of it than of either of its components.) The above formula reveals why it is more convenient to do Bayesian analysis of conjugate priors for the normal distribution in terms of the precision. The posterior precision is simply the sum of the prior and likelihood precisions, and the posterior mean is computed through a precision-weighted average, as described above. The same formulas can be written in terms of variance by reciprocating all the precisions, yielding the more ugly formulas With known mean For a set of i.i.d. normally distributed data points X of size n where each individual point x follows with known mean μ, the conjugate prior of the variance has an inverse gamma distribution or a scaled inverse chi-squared distribution. The two are equivalent except for having different parameterizations. Although the inverse gamma is more commonly used, we use the scaled inverse chi-squared for the sake of convenience. The prior for σ2 is as follows: The likelihood function from above, written in terms of the variance, is: where Then: The above is also a scaled inverse chi-squared distribution where or equivalently Reparameterizing in terms of an inverse gamma distribution, the result is: With unknown mean and unknown variance For a set of i.i.d. normally distributed data points X of size n where each individual point x follows with unknown mean μ and unknown variance σ2, a combined (multivariate) conjugate prior is placed over the mean and variance, consisting of a normal-inverse-gamma distribution. Logically, this originates as follows: From the analysis of the case with unknown mean but known variance, we see that the update equations involve sufficient statistics computed from the data consisting of the mean of the data points and the total variance of the data points, computed in turn from the known variance divided by the number of data points. From the analysis of the case with unknown variance but known mean, we see that the update equations involve sufficient statistics over the data consisting of the number of data points and sum of squared deviations. Keep in mind that the posterior update values serve as the prior distribution when further data is handled. Thus, we should logically think of our priors in terms of the sufficient statistics just described, with the same semantics kept in mind as much as possible. To handle the case where both mean and variance are unknown, we could place independent priors over the mean and variance, with fixed estimates of the average mean, total variance, number of data points used to compute the variance prior, and sum of squared deviations. Note however that in reality, the total variance of the mean depends on the unknown variance, and the sum of squared deviations that goes into the variance prior (appears to) depend on the unknown mean. In practice, the latter dependence is relatively unimportant: Shifting the actual mean shifts the generated points by an equal amount, and on average the squared deviations will remain the same. This is not the case, however, with the total variance of the mean: As the unknown variance increases, the total variance of the mean will increase proportionately, and we would like to capture this dependence. This suggests that we create a conditional prior of the mean on the unknown variance, with a hyperparameter specifying the mean of the pseudo-observations associated with the prior, and another parameter specifying the number of pseudo-observations. This number serves as a scaling parameter on the variance, making it possible to control the overall variance of the mean relative to the actual variance parameter. The prior for the variance also has two hyperparameters, one specifying the sum of squared deviations of the pseudo-observations associated with the prior, and another specifying once again the number of pseudo-observations. Note that each of the priors has a hyperparameter specifying the number of pseudo-observations, and in each case this controls the relative variance of that prior. These are given as two separate hyperparameters so that the variance (aka the confidence) of the two priors can be controlled separately. This leads immediately to the normal-inverse-gamma distribution, which is the product of the two distributions just defined, with conjugate priors used (an inverse gamma distribution over the variance, and a normal distribution over the mean, conditional on the variance) and with the same four parameters just defined. The priors are normally defined as follows: The update equations can be derived, and look as follows: The respective numbers of pseudo-observations add the number of actual observations to them. The new mean hyperparameter is once again a weighted average, this time weighted by the relative numbers of observations. Finally, the update for is similar to the case with known mean, but in this case the sum of squared deviations is taken with respect to the observed data mean rather than the true mean, and as a result a new "interaction term" needs to be added to take care of the additional error source stemming from the deviation between prior and data mean. The prior distributions are Therefore, the joint prior is The likelihood function from the section above with known variance is: Writing it in terms of variance rather than precision, we get: where Therefore, the posterior is (dropping the hyperparameters as conditioning factors): In other words, the posterior distribution has the form of a product of a normal distribution over p(μ | σ2) times an inverse gamma distribution over p(σ2), with parameters that are the same as the update equations above. Occurrence and applications The occurrence of normal distribution in practical problems can be loosely classified into four categories: Exactly normal distributions; Approximately normal laws, for example when such approximation is justified by the central limit theorem; and Distributions modeled as normal – the normal distribution being the distribution with maximum entropy for a given mean and variance. Regression problems – the normal distribution being found after systematic effects have been modeled sufficiently well. Exact normality Certain quantities in physics are distributed normally, as was first demonstrated by James Clerk Maxwell. Examples of such quantities are: Probability density function of a ground state in a quantum harmonic oscillator. The position of a particle that experiences diffusion. If initially the particle is located at a specific point (that is its probability distribution is the Dirac delta function), then after time t its location is described by a normal distribution with variance t, which satisfies the diffusion equation . If the initial location is given by a certain density function , then the density at time t is the convolution of g and the normal PDF. Approximate normality Approximately normal distributions occur in many situations, as explained by the central limit theorem. When the outcome is produced by many small effects acting additively and independently, its distribution will be close to normal. The normal approximation will not be valid if the effects act multiplicatively (instead of additively), or if there is a single external influence that has a considerably larger magnitude than the rest of the effects. In counting problems, where the central limit theorem includes a discrete-to-continuum approximation and where infinitely divisible and decomposable distributions are involved, such as Binomial random variables, associated with binary response variables; Poisson random variables, associated with rare events; Thermal radiation has a Bose–Einstein distribution on very short time scales, and a normal distribution on longer timescales due to the central limit theorem. Assumed normality There are statistical methods to empirically test that assumption; see the above Normality tests section. In biology, the logarithm of various variables tend to have a normal distribution, that is, they tend to have a log-normal distribution (after separation on male/female subpopulations), with examples including: Measures of size of living tissue (length, height, skin area, weight); The length of inert appendages (hair, claws, nails, teeth) of biological specimens, in the direction of growth; presumably the thickness of tree bark also falls under this category; Certain physiological measurements, such as blood pressure of adult humans. In finance, in particular the Black–Scholes model, changes in the logarithm of exchange rates, price indices, and stock market indices are assumed normal (these variables behave like compound interest, not like simple interest, and so are multiplicative). Some mathematicians such as Benoit Mandelbrot have argued that log-Levy distributions, which possesses heavy tails would be a more appropriate model, in particular for the analysis for stock market crashes. The use of the assumption of normal distribution occurring in financial models has also been criticized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his works. Measurement errors in physical experiments are often modeled by a normal distribution. This use of a normal distribution does not imply that one is assuming the measurement errors are normally distributed, rather using the normal distribution produces the most conservative predictions possible given only knowledge about the mean and variance of the errors. In standardized testing, results can be made to have a normal distribution by either selecting the number and difficulty of questions (as in the IQ test) or transforming the raw test scores into "output" scores by fitting them to the normal distribution. For example, the SAT's traditional range of 200–800 is based on a normal distribution with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100. Many scores are derived from the |
Autopoiesis only applies to networks of processes that reproduce themselves, but communications are reproduced by humans. For this reason, the analogy from biology to sociology does not, in this case, hold. On the other hand, Luhmann explicitly stressed that he does not refer to a "society without humans", but to the fact that communication is autopoietic. Communication is made possible by human bodies and consciousness, but this does not make communication operationally open. To "participate" in communication, one must be able to render one's thoughts and perceptions into elements of communication. This can only ever occur as a communicative operation (thoughts and perceptions cannot be directly transmitted) and must therefore satisfy internal system conditions that are specific to communication: intelligibility, reaching an addressee and gaining acceptance. Luhmann likens the operation of autopoiesis (the filtering and processing of information from the environment) to a program, making a series of logical distinctions (in German, Unterscheidungen). Here, Luhmann refers to the British mathematician G. Spencer-Brown's logic of distinctions that Maturana and Varela had earlier identified as a model for the functioning of any cognitive process. The supreme criterion guiding the "self-creation" of any given system is a defining binary code. This binary code is not to be confused with a computer's operation: Luhmann (following Spencer-Brown and Gregory Bateson) assumes that auto-referential systems are continuously confronted with the dilemma of disintegration/continuation. This dilemma is framed with an ever-changing set of available choices; every one of those potential choices can be the system's selection or not (a binary state, selected/rejected). The influence of Spencer-Brown's book, Laws of Form, on Luhmann can hardly be overestimated. Although Luhmann first developed his understanding of social systems theory under Parsons' influence, he soon moved away from the Parsonian concept. The most important difference is that Parsons framed systems as forms of action, in accordance with the AGIL paradigm. Parsons' systems theory treats systems as operationally open, and interactive through an input and output schema. Influenced by second-order cybernetics, Luhmann instead treats systems as autopoietic and operationally closed. Systems must continually construct themselves and their perspective of reality through processing the distinction between system and environment, and self-reproduce themselves as the product of their own elements. Social systems are defined by Luhmann not as action but as recursive communication. Modern society is defined as a world system consisting of the sum total of all communication happening at once, and individual function systems (such as the economy, politics, science, love, art, the media, etc.) are described as social subsystems which have "outdifferentiated" from the social system and achieved their own operational closure and autopoiesis. Another difference is that Parsons asks how certain subsystems contribute to the functioning of overall society. Luhmann starts with the differentiation of the systems themselves out of a nondescript environment. While he does observe how certain systems fulfill functions that contribute to "society" as a whole, he dispenses with the assumption of a priori cultural or normative consensus or "complimentary purpose" which was common to Durkheim and Parsons' conceptualization of a social function. For Luhmann, functional differentiation is a consequence of selective pressure under temporalized complexity, and it occurs as function systems independently establish their own ecological niches by performing a function. Functions are therefore not the coordinated components of the organic social whole, but rather contingent and selective responses to reference problems which obey no higher principle of order and could have been responded to in other ways. Finally, the systems' autopoietic closure is another fundamental difference from Parsons' concept. Each system works strictly according to its very own code and can observe other systems only by applying its code to their operations. For example, the code of the economy involves the application of the distinction between payment and non-payment. Other system operations appear within the economic field of references only insofar as this economic code can be applied to them. Hence, a political decision becomes an economic operation when it is observed as a government spending money or not. Likewise, a legal judgement may also be an economic operation when settlement of a contractual dispute obliges one party to pay for the goods or services they had acquired. The codes of the economy, politics and law operate autonomously, but their "interpenetration" is evident when observing "events" which simultaneously involve the participation of more than one system. One seemingly peculiar, but within the overall framework strictly logical, axiom of Luhmann's theory is the human being's position outside, yet in contact with, any social system, initially developed by Parsons. Consisting of "pure communicative actions" (a reference to Jürgen Habermas) any social system requires human consciousnesses (personal or psychical systems) as an obviously necessary, but nevertheless environmental resource. In Luhmann's terms, human beings are neither part of society nor of any specific systems, just as they are not part of a conversation. People make conversation possible. Luhmann himself once said concisely that he was "not interested in people". That is not to say that people were not a matter for Luhmann, but rather alluding to the scope of the theory where, the communicative behavior of people is constituted (but not defined) by the dynamics of the social system, and society is constituted (but not defined) by the communicative behavior of people: society is people's environment, and people are society's environment. Thus, sociology can explain how persons can change society; the influence of the environment (humans as they communicate/but more aptly that which constrains and makes possible) on the system (the society), the so-called "structural coupling". In fact Luhmann himself replied to the relevant criticism by stating that "In fact the theory of autopoietic systems could bear the title Taking Individuals Seriously, certainly more seriously than our humanistic tradition" (Niklas Luhmann, Operational Closure and Structural Coupling: The Differentiation of the Legal System, Cardozo Law Review, vol. 13: 1422). Luhmann was devoted to the ideal of non-normative science introduced to sociology in the early 20th century by Max Weber and later re-defined and defended against its critics by Karl Popper. However, in an academic environment that never strictly separated descriptive and normative theories of society, Luhmann's sociology has widely attracted criticism from various intellectuals, including Jürgen Habermas. Luhmann's reception Luhmann's systems theory is not without its critics; his definitions of "autopoietic" and "social system" differ from others. At the same time his theory is being applied or used worldwide by sociologists and other scholars. It is often used in analyses dealing with corporate social responsibility, organisational legitimacy, governance structures as well as with sociology of law and of course general sociology. His systems theory has also been used to study media discourse of various energy technologies throughout the US, including smart grids, carbon capture and storage, and wind energy. His approach has attracted criticism from those who argue that Luhmann has at no point demonstrated the operational closure of social systems, or in fact that autopoietic social systems actually exist. He has instead taken this as a premise or presupposition, resulting in the logical need to exclude humans from social systems, which prevents the social systems view from accounting for the individual behavior, action, motives, or indeed existence of any individual person. Note-taking system (Zettelkasten) Luhmann was famous for his extensive use of the | Parsons' theory, developing a rival approach of his own. Leaving the civil service in 1962, he lectured at the national Deutsche Hochschule für Verwaltungswissenschaften (University for Administrative Sciences) in Speyer, Germany. In 1965, he was offered a position at the Sozialforschungsstelle (Social Research Centre) of the University of Münster, led by Helmut Schelsky. 1965/66 he studied one semester of sociology at the University of Münster. Two earlier books were retroactively accepted as a PhD thesis and habilitation at the University of Münster in 1966, qualifying him for a university professorship. In 1968/1969, he briefly served as a lecturer at Theodor Adorno's former chair at the University of Frankfurt and then was appointed full professor of sociology at the newly founded University of Bielefeld, Germany (until 1993). He continued to publish after his retirement, when he finally found the time to complete his magnum opus, Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft (literally, "The Society of Society"), which was published in 1997, and has been translated into English as Theory of Society (volume I in 2012 and volume II in 2013). This work describes segmented societies where territory is a dividing line. Works Luhmann wrote prolifically, with more than 70 books and nearly 400 scholarly articles published on a variety of subjects, including law, economy, politics, art, religion, ecology, mass media, and love. While his theories have yet to make a major mark in American sociology, his theory is currently well known and popular in German sociology, and has also been rather intensively received in Japan and Eastern Europe, including Russia. His relatively low profile elsewhere is partly due to the fact that translating his work is a difficult task, since his writing presents a challenge even to readers of German, including many sociologists. (p. xxvii Social Systems 1995) Much of Luhmann's work directly deals with the operations of the legal system and his autopoietic theory of law is regarded as one of the more influential contributions to the sociology of law and socio-legal studies. Luhmann is probably best known to North Americans for his debate with the critical theorist Jürgen Habermas over the potential of social systems theory. Like his erstwhile mentor Talcott Parsons, Luhmann is an advocate of "grand theory", although neither in the sense of philosophical foundationalism nor in the sense of "meta-narrative" as often invoked in the critical works of post-modernist writers. Rather, Luhmann's work tracks closer to complexity theory broadly speaking, in that it aims to address any aspect of social life within a universal theoretical framework — as the diversity of subjects he wrote on indicates. Luhmann's theory is sometimes dismissed as highly abstract and complex, particularly within the Anglophone world, whereas his work has had a more lasting influence on scholars from German-speaking countries, Scandinavia and Italy. Luhmann himself described his theory as "labyrinthine" or "non-linear" and claimed he was deliberately keeping his prose enigmatic to prevent it from being understood "too quickly", which would only produce simplistic misunderstandings. Systems theory Luhmann's systems theory focuses on three topics, which are interconnected in his entire work. Systems theory as societal theory Communication theory and Evolution theory The core element of Luhmann's theory pivots around the problem of the contingency of meaning and thereby it becomes a theory of communication. Social systems are systems of communication, and society is the most encompassing social system. Being the social system that comprises all (and only) communication, today's society is a world society. A system is defined by a boundary between itself and its environment, dividing it from an infinitely complex, or (colloquially) chaotic, exterior. The interior of the system is thus a zone of reduced complexity: Communication within a system operates by selecting only a limited amount of all information available outside. This process is also called "reduction of complexity". The criterion according to which information is selected and processed is meaning (in German, Sinn). Meaning being thereby referral from one set of potential space to another set of potential space. Both social systems and psychic systems (see below for an explanation of this distinction) operate by processing meaning. Furthermore, each system has a distinctive identity that is constantly reproduced in its communication and depends on what is considered meaningful and what is not. If a system fails to maintain that identity, it ceases to exist as a system and dissolves back into the environment it emerged from. Luhmann called this process of reproduction from elements previously filtered from an over-complex environment autopoiesis (pronounced "auto-poy-E-sis"; literally: self-creation), using a term coined in cognitive biology by Chilean thinkers Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela. Social systems are operationally closed in that while they use and rely on resources from their environment, those resources do not become part of the systems' operation. Both thought and digestion are important preconditions for communication, but neither appears in communication as such. Maturana, however, argued very vocally that this appropriation of autopoietic theory was conceptually unsound, as it presupposes the autonomy of communications from actual persons. That is, by describing social systems as operationally closed networks of communications, Luhmann (according to Maturana) ignores the fact that communications presuppose human communicators. Autopoiesis only applies to networks of processes that reproduce themselves, but communications are reproduced by humans. For this reason, the analogy from biology to sociology does not, in this case, hold. On the other hand, Luhmann explicitly stressed that he does not refer to a "society without humans", but to the fact that communication is autopoietic. Communication is made possible by human bodies and consciousness, but this does not make communication operationally open. To "participate" in communication, one must be able to render one's thoughts and perceptions into elements of communication. This can only ever occur as a communicative operation (thoughts and perceptions cannot be directly transmitted) and must therefore satisfy internal system conditions that are specific to communication: intelligibility, reaching an addressee and gaining acceptance. Luhmann likens the operation of autopoiesis (the filtering and processing of information from the environment) to a program, making a series of logical distinctions (in German, Unterscheidungen). Here, Luhmann refers to the British mathematician G. Spencer-Brown's logic of distinctions that Maturana and Varela had earlier identified as a model for the functioning of any cognitive process. The supreme criterion guiding the "self-creation" of any given system is a defining binary code. This binary code is not to be confused with a computer's operation: Luhmann (following Spencer-Brown and Gregory Bateson) assumes that auto-referential systems are continuously confronted with the dilemma of disintegration/continuation. This dilemma is framed with an ever-changing set of available choices; every one of those potential choices can be the system's selection or not (a binary state, selected/rejected). The influence of Spencer-Brown's book, Laws of Form, on Luhmann can hardly be overestimated. Although Luhmann first developed his understanding of social systems theory under Parsons' influence, he soon moved away from the Parsonian concept. The most important difference is that Parsons framed systems as forms of action, in accordance with the AGIL paradigm. Parsons' systems theory treats systems as operationally open, and interactive through an input and output schema. Influenced by second-order cybernetics, Luhmann instead treats systems as autopoietic and operationally closed. Systems must continually construct themselves and their perspective of reality through processing the distinction between system and environment, and self-reproduce themselves as the product of their own elements. Social systems are defined by Luhmann not as action but as recursive communication. Modern society is defined as a world system consisting of the sum total of all communication happening at once, and individual function systems (such as the economy, politics, science, love, art, the media, etc.) are described as social subsystems which have "outdifferentiated" from the social system and achieved their own operational closure and autopoiesis. Another difference is that Parsons asks how certain subsystems contribute to the functioning of overall society. Luhmann starts with the differentiation of the systems themselves out of a nondescript environment. While he does observe how certain systems fulfill functions that contribute to "society" as a whole, he dispenses with the assumption of a priori cultural or normative consensus or "complimentary purpose" which was common to Durkheim and Parsons' conceptualization of a social function. For Luhmann, functional differentiation is a consequence of selective pressure under temporalized complexity, and it occurs as function systems independently establish their own ecological niches by performing a function. Functions are therefore not the coordinated components of the organic social whole, but rather contingent and selective responses to reference problems which obey no higher principle of order and could have been responded to in other ways. Finally, the systems' autopoietic closure is another fundamental difference from Parsons' concept. Each system works strictly according to its very own code and can observe other systems only by applying its code to their operations. For example, the code of the economy involves the application of the distinction between payment and non-payment. Other system operations appear within the economic field of references only insofar as this economic code can be applied to them. Hence, a political decision becomes an economic operation when it is observed as a government spending money or not. Likewise, a legal judgement may also be an economic operation when settlement of a contractual dispute obliges one party to pay for the goods or services they had acquired. The codes of the economy, politics and law operate autonomously, but their "interpenetration" is evident when observing "events" which simultaneously involve the participation of more than one system. One seemingly peculiar, but within the overall framework strictly logical, axiom of Luhmann's theory is the human being's position outside, yet in contact with, any social system, initially developed by Parsons. Consisting of "pure communicative actions" (a reference to Jürgen Habermas) any social system requires human consciousnesses (personal or psychical systems) as an obviously necessary, but nevertheless environmental resource. In Luhmann's terms, human beings are neither part of society |
Middle Eastern/South Asian focus. At the time, TGU had a top 40 hit, "Templehead", and Atlas became their lead singer / belly dancer. Additionally in 1991, Atlas collaborated with Bauhaus/Love and Rockets/Tones on Tail guitarist and vocalist Daniel Ash on his debut solo album Coming Down. She contributed extensive vocal work as well as keyboards and bass guitar. Solo career Most of Atlas' earlier albums were produced by Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee from Transglobal Underground. Diaspora (1995), Halim (1997) (in honour of Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez), Gedida (1998) and Ayeshteni (2001). Atlas has always spoken her mind about the way both she and Transglobal Underground were seen by the UK press back in the late '90s/early 2000s. "Someone from the New Musical Express rang us about a feature we're to do with them and said 'We don't want it to be about the multi-cultural angle'. In other words that fad is over. And I'm personally insulted... what other angle is there for us?! I get sick of it all." In 1999, Atlas collaborated with David Arnold on the song "One Brief Moment". The single featured a cover version of the theme song from the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Two years earlier, Atlas had collaborated with Arnold on the album Shaken and Stirred, recording the song "From Russia with Love" for the eponymous film (originally performed by Matt Monro). Also in 1999, she collaborated with Jean-Michel Jarre for the track "C'est La Vie" on his album Métamorphoses. The track was released as a single. In 2003, Atlas provided vocals for the Kolo folk dance song "'Ajde Jano" on Nigel Kennedy and Kroke's album, East Meets East. In 2005, Atlas contributed the song "Just Like A Dream" (from Something Dangerous) to the charity album Voyces United for UNHCR. Her music has been used in a number of soundtracks. Her song "Kidda" was featured on the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack and in the 2005 video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories on Radio del Mundo. In 2003, her voice is heard in Hulk in the song "Captured". Additionally, her song "Bathaddak" is one of the songs included in the 2007 Xbox 360 exclusive video game Project Gotham Racing 4. Her cover of I Put a Spell On You was used in the 2002 film Divine Intervention by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman. Atlas was originally billed to star in and provide the soundtrack to the film Whatever Lola Wants, directed by Nabil Ayouch. However, shooting delays caused Atlas to only be involved in the film's soundtrack. Her song "Gafsa" (Halim, 1997) was used as the main soundtrack during the Korean film Bin-Jip (also known as 3-Iron) (2004) by Kim Ki-Duk. She participated in the piece "Light of Life (Ibelin Reprise)" for the soundtrack of Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. In 2007, Atlas collaborated with Belinda Carlisle for Belinda's seventh album Voila. She contributed additional vocals on songs "Ma Jeunesse Fout Le Camp," "La Vie En Rose", "Bonnie et Clyde" and "Des Ronds Dans L'Eau." Voila was released via Rykodisc in the U.K. on 5 February 2007 and in the U.S. the following day. The 2007 film Brick Lane features four songs with vocals by Atlas, "Adam's Lullaby", "Running Through the Night", "Love Blossoms" and "Rite of Passage". On 23 May 2008 Atlas released a new album, Ana Hina, which was well received by critics. In 2008, two of Atlas' songs, "Kidda" and "Ghanwa Bossanova", were used in Shamim Sarif's romantic comedy about two women, I Can't | "Des Ronds Dans L'Eau." Voila was released via Rykodisc in the U.K. on 5 February 2007 and in the U.S. the following day. The 2007 film Brick Lane features four songs with vocals by Atlas, "Adam's Lullaby", "Running Through the Night", "Love Blossoms" and "Rite of Passage". On 23 May 2008 Atlas released a new album, Ana Hina, which was well received by critics. In 2008, two of Atlas' songs, "Kidda" and "Ghanwa Bossanova", were used in Shamim Sarif's romantic comedy about two women, I Can't Think Straight. In 2008, she sang lead in the song "Habibe" from Peter Gabriel's long-awaited album and project, Big Blue Ball. On 20 September 2010 Atlas released Mounqaliba. Co-produced by Samy Bishai, it explored classical instrumentation, jazz and traditional Arabic styles and was inspired by the poems of Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. She is also composing the music for Francoise Charpat's upcoming film. In May 2013, Natacha Atlas released Expressions: Live in Toulouse, an album which showcased her expressive voice using largely orchestral arrangements augmented by Middle Eastern percussion. Atlas has recently moved into the jazz genre with Myriad Road (2015) and Strange Days (2019). Personal life In 1999, Atlas married Syrian kanun player Abdullah Chhadeh. The couple divorced in 2005. , Atlas was in a relationship with British Egyptian violinist Samy Bishai, who produced her 2010 release Mounqaliba. The couple divide their time between London and France. Atlas has said in the past that she is "technically Muslim" and that she identifies with Sufism. She also stated that her father has some Sephardic Jewish ancestry. Atlas said more recently, "These days I prefer to say that I'm Anglo-Middle Eastern and leave the religion out of it." She is, however, open to other forms of spirituality because "it's important to be tolerant". In 2001, she was appointed by Mary Robinson as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Conference Against Racism. Robinson chose Atlas because "she embodies the message that there is a strength in diversity. That our differences – be they ethnic, racial or religious – are a source of riches to be embraced rather than feared". She was a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Conference Against Racism. Atlas is a proponent of The Zeitgeist Movement. She included clips from Zeitgeist: Addendum in her 2010 album Mounqaliba. Political views on Israel In a joint interview with the Israeli singer Yasmin Levy, Atlas noted the risk of the collaboration because feelings of anti-Zionism across the Arab world can spill over into anti-Semitism “Some Arabic artists wouldn't even consider working with anyone Jewish.” Of her experience of working with Levy, Atlas said: “We spent a lot of time in this little room, just talking and drinking wine”, recalls Natacha, “and it was like I’d known her all my life. I’d missed that female Middle Eastern company, as most of the Middle Eastern people I know here are men.” In March 2011, Atlas announced that she |
during other events of royal importance. Some states use their royal anthem as the national anthem, such as the state anthem of Jordan. There are multiple claimants to the position of oldest national anthem. Among the national anthems, the first to be composed was the Dutch national anthem, the "Wilhelmus", which was written between 1568 and 1572. This has both Dutch and English language versions and is unusual in being an acrostic in both languages. The Japanese anthem, "Kimigayo", employs the oldest lyrics of any national anthem, taking its words from the "Kokin Wakashū", which was first published in 905, yet these words were not set to music until 1880. The first anthem to be officially adopted as such was the Spanish anthem "La Marcha Real", in 1770; its origins remain unclear; it is suggested that it has 16th century Venetian origins, or even that it was composed by king Frederick the Great himself; it is also one of the few national anthems that has never had official lyrics. Anthems became increasingly popular among European states in the 18th century. For example, the British national anthem "God Save the Queen" was first performed as "God Save the King" in 1745. The French anthem "La Marseillaise" was written half a century later in 1792, and adopted in 1795. National anthems are usually written in the most common language of the state, whether de facto or official. States with multiple national languages may offer several versions of their anthem. For instance, Switzerland's national anthem has | states use their royal anthem as the national anthem, such as the state anthem of Jordan. There are multiple claimants to the position of oldest national anthem. Among the national anthems, the first to be composed was the Dutch national anthem, the "Wilhelmus", which was written between 1568 and 1572. This has both Dutch and English language versions and is unusual in being an acrostic in both languages. The Japanese anthem, "Kimigayo", employs the oldest lyrics of any national anthem, taking its words from the "Kokin Wakashū", which was first published in 905, yet these words were not set to music until 1880. The first anthem to be officially adopted as such was the Spanish anthem "La Marcha Real", in 1770; its origins remain unclear; it is suggested that it has 16th century Venetian origins, or even that it was composed by king Frederick the Great himself; it is also one of the few national anthems that has never had official lyrics. Anthems became increasingly popular among European states in the 18th century. For example, the British national anthem "God Save the Queen" was first performed as "God Save the King" in 1745. The French anthem "La Marseillaise" was written half a century later in 1792, and adopted in 1795. National anthems are usually written in the most common language of the state, whether de facto or official. States with multiple national languages may offer several versions of their anthem. For instance, Switzerland's national anthem has different lyrics |
rarer. In early 1891, George Westinghouse explained his financial difficulties to Tesla in stark terms, saying that, if he did not meet the demands of his lenders, he would no longer be in control of Westinghouse Electric and Tesla would have to "deal with the bankers" to try to collect future royalties. The advantages of having Westinghouse continue to champion the motor probably seemed obvious to Tesla and he agreed to release the company from the royalty payment clause in the contract. Six years later Westinghouse purchased Tesla's patent for a lump sum payment of $216,000 as part of a patent-sharing agreement signed with General Electric (a company created from the 1892 merger of Edison and Thomson-Houston). New York laboratories The money Tesla made from licensing his AC patents made him independently wealthy and gave him the time and funds to pursue his own interests. In 1889, Tesla moved out of the Liberty Street shop Peck and Brown had rented and for the next dozen years working out of a series of workshop/laboratory spaces in Manhattan. These included a lab at 175 Grand Street (1889–1892), the fourth floor of 33–35 South Fifth Avenue (1892–1895), and sixth and seventh floors of 46 & 48 East Houston Street (1895–1902). Tesla and his hired staff conducted some of his most significant work in these workshops. Tesla coil In the summer of 1889, Tesla traveled to the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris and learned of Heinrich Hertz's 1886–1888 experiments that proved the existence of electromagnetic radiation, including radio waves. Tesla found this new discovery "refreshing" and decided to explore it more fully. In repeating, and then expanding on, these experiments, Tesla tried powering a Ruhmkorff coil with a high speed alternator he had been developing as part of an improved arc lighting system but found that the high-frequency current overheated the iron core and melted the insulation between the primary and secondary windings in the coil. To fix this problem Tesla came up with his "oscillating transformer", with an air gap instead of insulating material between the primary and secondary windings and an iron core that could be moved to different positions in or out of the coil. Later called the Tesla coil, it would be used to produce high-voltage, low-current, high frequency alternating-current electricity. He would use this resonant transformer circuit in his later wireless power work. Citizenship On 30 July 1891, aged 35, Tesla became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In the same year, he patented his Tesla coil. Wireless lighting After 1890, Tesla experimented with transmitting power by inductive and capacitive coupling using high AC voltages generated with his Tesla coil. He attempted to develop a wireless lighting system based on near-field inductive and capacitive coupling and conducted a series of public demonstrations where he lit Geissler tubes and even incandescent light bulbs from across a stage. He spent most of the decade working on variations of this new form of lighting with the help of various investors but none of the ventures succeeded in making a commercial product out of his findings. In 1893 at St. Louis, Missouri, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the National Electric Light Association, Tesla told onlookers that he was sure a system like his could eventually conduct "intelligible signals or perhaps even power to any distance without the use of wires" by conducting it through the Earth. Tesla served as a vice-president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers from 1892 to 1894, the forerunner of the modern-day IEEE (along with the Institute of Radio Engineers). Polyphase system and the Columbian Exposition By the beginning of 1893, Westinghouse engineer Charles F. Scott and then Benjamin G. Lamme had made progress on an efficient version of Tesla's induction motor. Lamme found a way to make the polyphase system it would need compatible with older single-phase AC and DC systems by developing a rotary converter. Westinghouse Electric now had a way to provide electricity to all potential customers and started branding their polyphase AC system as the "Tesla Polyphase System". They believed that Tesla's patents gave them patent priority over other polyphase AC systems. Westinghouse Electric asked Tesla to participate in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago where the company had a large space in the "Electricity Building" devoted to electrical exhibits. Westinghouse Electric won the bid to light the Exposition with alternating current and it was a key event in the history of AC power, as the company demonstrated to the American public the safety, reliability, and efficiency of an alternating current system that was polyphase and could also supply the other AC and DC exhibits at the fair. A special exhibit space was set up to display various forms and models of Tesla's induction motor. The rotating magnetic field that drove them was explained through a series of demonstrations including an Egg of Columbus that used the two-phase coil found in an induction motor to spin a copper egg making it stand on end. Tesla visited the fair for a week during its six-month run to attend the International Electrical Congress and put on a series of demonstrations at the Westinghouse exhibit. A specially darkened room had been set up where Tesla showed his wireless lighting system, using a demonstration he had previously performed throughout America and Europe; these included using high-voltage, high-frequency alternating current to light wireless gas-discharge lamps. An observer noted: Steam-powered oscillating generator During his presentation at the International Electrical Congress in the Columbian Exposition Agriculture Hall, Tesla introduced his steam powered reciprocating electricity generator that he patented that year, something he thought was a better way to generate alternating current. Steam was forced into the oscillator and rushed out through a series of ports, pushing a piston up and down that was attached to an armature. The magnetic armature vibrated up and down at high speed, producing an alternating magnetic field. This induced alternating electric current in the wire coils located adjacent. It did away with the complicated parts of a steam engine/generator, but never caught on as a feasible engineering solution to generate electricity. Consulting on Niagara In 1893, Edward Dean Adams, who headed up the Niagara Falls Cataract Construction Company, sought Tesla's opinion on what system would be best to transmit power generated at the falls. Over several years, there had been a series of proposals and open competitions on how best to use power generated by the falls. Among the systems proposed by several US and European companies were two-phase and three-phase AC, high-voltage DC, and compressed air. Adams asked Tesla for information about the current state of all the competing systems. Tesla advised Adams that a two-phased system would be the most reliable and that there was a Westinghouse system to light incandescent bulbs using two-phase alternating current. The company awarded a contract to Westinghouse Electric for building a two-phase AC generating system at the Niagara Falls, based on Tesla's advice and Westinghouse's demonstration at the Columbian Exposition that they could build a complete AC system. At the same time, a further contract was awarded to General Electric to build the AC distribution system. The Nikola Tesla Company In 1895, Edward Dean Adams, impressed with what he saw when he toured Tesla's lab, agreed to help found the Nikola Tesla Company, set up to fund, develop, and market a variety of previous Tesla patents and inventions as well as new ones. Alfred Brown signed on, bringing along patents developed under Peck and Brown. The board was filled out with William Birch Rankine and Charles F. Coaney. It found few investors; the mid-1890s was a tough time financially, and the wireless lighting and oscillators patents it was set up to market never panned out. The company handled Tesla's patents for decades to come. Lab fire In the early morning hours of 13 March 1895, the South Fifth Avenue building that housed Tesla's lab caught fire. It started in the basement of the building and was so intense Tesla's 4th-floor lab burned and collapsed into the second floor. The fire not only set back Tesla's ongoing projects, but it also destroyed a collection of early notes and research material, models, and demonstration pieces, including many that had been exhibited at the 1893 Worlds Colombian Exposition. Tesla told The New York Times "I am in too much grief to talk. What can I say?" After the fire Tesla moved to 46 & 48 East Houston Street and rebuilt his lab on the 6th and 7th floors. X-ray experimentation Starting in 1894, Tesla began investigating what he referred to as radiant energy of "invisible" kinds after he had noticed damaged film in his laboratory in previous experiments (later identified as "Roentgen rays" or "X-Rays"). His early experiments were with Crookes tubes, a cold cathode electrical discharge tube. Tesla may have inadvertently captured an X-ray image—predating, by a few weeks, Wilhelm Röntgen's December 1895 announcement of the discovery of X-rays—when he tried to photograph Mark Twain illuminated by a Geissler tube, an earlier type of gas discharge tube. The only thing captured in the image was the metal locking screw on the camera lens. In March 1896, after hearing of Röntgen's discovery of X-ray and X-ray imaging (radiography), Tesla proceeded to do his own experiments in X-ray imaging, developing a high energy single terminal vacuum tube of his own design that had no target electrode and that worked from the output of the Tesla Coil (the modern term for the phenomenon produced by this device is bremsstrahlung or braking radiation). In his research, Tesla devised several experimental setups to produce X-rays. Tesla held that, with his circuits, the "instrument will ... enable one to generate Roentgen rays of much greater power than obtainable with ordinary apparatus". Tesla noted the hazards of working with his circuit and single-node X-ray-producing devices. In his many notes on the early investigation of this phenomenon, he attributed the skin damage to various causes. He believed early on that damage to the skin was not caused by the Roentgen rays, but by the ozone generated in contact with the skin, and to a lesser extent, by nitrous acid. Tesla incorrectly believed that X-rays were longitudinal waves, such as those produced in waves in plasmas. These plasma waves can occur in force-free magnetic fields. On 11 July 1934, the New York Herald Tribune published an article on Tesla, in which he recalled an event that occasionally took place while experimenting with his single-electrode vacuum tubes. A minute particle would break off the cathode, pass out of the tube, and physically strike him: Tesla said he could feel a sharp stinging pain where it entered his body, and again at the place where it passed out. In comparing these particles with the bits of metal projected by his "electric gun," Tesla said, "The particles in the beam of force ... will travel much faster than such particles ... and they will travel in concentrations". Radio remote control In 1898, Tesla demonstrated a boat that used a coherer-based radio control—which he dubbed "telautomaton"—to the public during an electrical exhibition at Madison Square Garden. Tesla tried to sell his idea to the US military as a type of radio-controlled torpedo, but they showed little interest. Remote radio control remained a novelty until World War I and afterward, when a number of countries used it in military programs. Tesla took the opportunity to further demonstrate "Teleautomatics" in an address to a meeting of the Commercial Club in Chicago, while he was travelling to Colorado Springs, on 13 May 1899. Wireless power From the 1890s through 1906, Tesla spent a great deal of his time and fortune on a series of projects trying to develop the transmission of electrical power without wires. It was an expansion of his idea of using coils to transmit power that he had been demonstrating in wireless lighting. He saw this as not only a way to transmit large amounts of power around the world but also, as he had pointed out in his earlier lectures, a way to transmit worldwide communications. At the time Tesla was formulating his ideas, there was no feasible way to wirelessly transmit communication signals over long distances, let alone large amounts of power. Tesla had studied radio waves early on, and came to the conclusion that part of the existing study on them, by Hertz, was incorrect. Also, this new form of radiation was widely considered at the time to be a short-distance phenomenon that seemed to die out in less than a mile. Tesla noted that, even if theories on radio waves were true, they were totally worthless for his intended purposes since this form of "invisible light" would diminish over a distance just like any other radiation and would travel in straight lines right out into space, becoming "hopelessly lost". By the mid-1890s, Tesla was working on the idea that he might be able to conduct electricity long distance through the Earth or the atmosphere, and began working on experiments to test this idea including setting up a large resonance transformer magnifying transmitter in his East Houston Street lab. Seeming to borrow from a common idea at the time that the Earth's atmosphere was conductive, he proposed a system composed of balloons suspending, transmitting, and receiving, electrodes in the air above in altitude, where he thought the lower pressure would allow him to send high voltages (millions of volts) long distances. Colorado Springs To further study the conductive nature of low-pressure air, Tesla set up an experimental station at high altitude in Colorado Springs during 1899. There he could safely operate much larger coils than in the cramped confines of his New York lab, and an associate had made an arrangement for the El Paso Power Company to supply alternating current free of charge. To fund his experiments, he convinced John Jacob Astor IV to invest $100,000 ($ in today's dollars) to become a majority shareholder in the Nikola Tesla Company. Astor thought he was primarily investing in the new wireless lighting system. Instead, Tesla used the money to fund his Colorado Springs experiments. Upon his arrival, he told reporters that he planned to conduct wireless telegraphy experiments, transmitting signals from Pikes Peak to Paris. There, he conducted experiments with a large coil operating in the megavolts range, producing artificial lightning (and thunder) consisting of millions of volts and discharges of up to in length, and, at one point, inadvertently burned out the generator in El Paso, causing a power outage. The observations he made of the electronic noise of lightning strikes led him to (incorrectly) conclude that he could use the entire globe of the Earth to conduct electrical energy. During his time at his laboratory, Tesla observed unusual signals from his receiver which he speculated to be communications from another planet. He mentioned them in a letter to a reporter in December 1899 and to the Red Cross Society in December 1900. Reporters treated it as a sensational story and jumped to the conclusion Tesla was hearing signals from Mars. He expanded on the signals he heard in a 9 February 1901 Collier's Weekly article entitled "Talking With Planets", where he said it had not been immediately apparent to him that he was hearing "intelligently controlled signals" and that the signals could have come from Mars, Venus, or other planets. It has been hypothesized that he may have intercepted Guglielmo Marconi's European experiments in July 1899—Marconi may have transmitted the letter S (dot/dot/dot) in a naval demonstration, the same three impulses that Tesla hinted at hearing in Colorado—or signals from another experimenter in wireless transmission. Tesla had an agreement with the editor of The Century Magazine to produce an article on his findings. The magazine sent a photographer to Colorado to photograph the work being done there. The article, titled "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy", appeared in the June 1900 edition of the magazine. He explained the superiority of the wireless system he envisioned but the article was more of a lengthy philosophical treatise than an understandable scientific description of his work, illustrated with what were to become iconic images of Tesla and his Colorado Springs experiments. Wardenclyffe Tesla made the rounds in New York trying to find investors for what he thought would be a viable system of wireless transmission, wining and dining them at the Waldorf-Astoria's Palm Garden (the hotel where he was living at the time), The Players Club, and Delmonico's. In March 1901, he obtained $150,000 ($ in today's dollars) from J. P. Morgan in return for a 51% share of any generated wireless patents, and began planning the Wardenclyffe Tower facility to be built in Shoreham, New York, east of the city on the North Shore of Long Island. By July 1901, Tesla had expanded his plans to build a more powerful transmitter to leap ahead of Marconi's radio-based system, which Tesla thought was a copy of his own. He approached Morgan to ask for more money to build the larger system, but Morgan refused to supply any further funds. In December 1901, Marconi successfully transmitted the letter S from England to Newfoundland, defeating Tesla in the race to be first to complete such a transmission. A month after Marconi's success, Tesla tried to get Morgan to back an even larger plan to transmit messages and power by controlling "vibrations throughout the globe". Over the next five years, Tesla wrote more than 50 letters to Morgan, pleading for and demanding additional funding to complete the construction of Wardenclyffe. Tesla continued the project for another nine months into 1902. The tower was erected to its full height of . In June 1902, Tesla moved his lab operations from Houston Street to Wardenclyffe. Investors on Wall Street were putting their money into Marconi's system, and some in the press began turning against Tesla's project, claiming it was a hoax. The project came to a halt in 1905, and in 1906, the financial problems and other events may have led to what Tesla biographer Marc J. Seifer suspects was a nervous breakdown on Tesla's part. Tesla mortgaged the Wardenclyffe property to cover his debts at the Waldorf-Astoria, which eventually amounted to $20,000 ($ in today's dollars). He lost the property in foreclosure in 1915, and in 1917 the Tower was demolished by the new owner to make the land a more viable real estate asset. Later years After Wardenclyffe closed, Tesla continued to write to Morgan; after "the great man" died, Tesla wrote to Morgan's son Jack, trying to get further funding for the project. In 1906, Tesla opened offices at 165 Broadway in Manhattan, trying to raise further funds by developing and marketing his patents. He went on to have offices at the Metropolitan Life Tower from 1910 to 1914; rented for a few months at the Woolworth Building, moving out because he could not afford the rent; and then to office space at 8 West 40th Street from 1915 to 1925. After moving to 8 West 40th Street, he was effectively bankrupt. Most of his patents had run out and he was having trouble with the new inventions he was trying to develop. Bladeless turbine On his 50th birthday, in 1906, Tesla demonstrated a 16,000 rpm bladeless turbine. During 1910–1911, at the Waterside Power Station in New York, several of his bladeless turbine engines were tested at 100–5,000 hp. Tesla worked with several companies including from 1919 to 1922 in Milwaukee, for Allis-Chalmers. He spent most of his time trying to perfect the Tesla turbine with Hans Dahlstrand, the head engineer at the company, but engineering difficulties meant it was never made into a practical device. Tesla did license the idea to a precision instrument company and it found use in the form of luxury car speedometers and other instruments. Wireless lawsuits When World War I broke out, the British cut the transatlantic telegraph cable linking the US to Germany in order to control the flow of information between the two countries. They also tried to shut off German wireless communication to and from the US by having the US Marconi Company sue the German radio company Telefunken for patent infringement. Telefunken brought in the physicists Jonathan Zenneck and Karl Ferdinand Braun for their defense, and hired Tesla as a witness for two years for $1,000 a month. The case stalled and then went moot when the US entered the war against Germany in 1917. In 1915, Tesla attempted to sue the Marconi Company for infringement of his wireless tuning patents. Marconi's initial radio patent had been awarded in the US in 1897, but his 1900 patent submission covering improvements to radio transmission had been rejected several times, before it was finally approved in 1904, on the grounds that it infringed on other existing patents including two 1897 Tesla wireless power tuning patents. Tesla's 1915 case went nowhere, but in a related case, where the Marconi Company tried to sue the US government over WWI patent infringements, a Supreme Court of the United States 1943 decision restored the prior patents of Oliver Lodge, John Stone, and Tesla. The court declared that their decision had no bearing on Marconi's claim as the first to achieve radio transmission, just that since Marconi's claim to certain patented improvements were questionable, the company could not claim infringement on those same patents. Nobel Prize rumors On 6 November 1915, a Reuters news agency report from London had the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla; however, on 15 November, a Reuters story from Stockholm stated the prize that year was being awarded to William Henry Bragg and Lawrence Bragg "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays". There were unsubstantiated rumors at the time that either Tesla or Edison had refused the prize. The Nobel Foundation said, "Any rumor that a person has not been given a Nobel Prize because he has made known his intention to refuse the reward is ridiculous"; a recipient could decline a Nobel Prize only after he is announced a winner. There have been subsequent claims by Tesla biographers that Edison and Tesla were the original recipients and that neither was given the award because of their animosity toward each other; that each sought to minimize the other's achievements and right to win the award; that both refused ever to accept the award if the other received it first; that both rejected any possibility of sharing it; and even that a wealthy Edison refused it to keep Tesla from getting the $20,000 prize money. In the years after these rumors, neither Tesla nor Edison won the prize (although Edison received one of 38 possible bids in 1915 and Tesla received one of 38 possible bids in 1937). Other ideas, awards, and patents Tesla won numerous medals and awards over this time. They include: Grand Officer of the Order of St. Sava (Serbia, 1892) Elliott Cresson Medal (Franklin Institute, USA, 1894) Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I (Montenegro, 1895) AIEE Edison Medal (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, USA, 1917) Grand Cross of the Order of St. Sava (Yugoslavia, 1926) Cross Cross of the Order of the Yugoslav Crown (Yugoslavia, 1931) John Scott Medal (Franklin Institute & Philadelphia City Council, USA, 1934) Order of the White Eagle( Yugoslavia, 1936) Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion (Czechoslovakia, 1937) Medal of the University of Paris (Paris, France, 1937) The Medal of the University St. Clement of Ochrida (Sofia, Bulgaria, 1939) Tesla attempted to market several devices based on the production of ozone. These included his 1900 Tesla Ozone Company selling an 1896 patented device based on his Tesla Coil, used to bubble ozone through different types of oils to make a therapeutic gel. He also tried to develop a variation of this a few years later as a room sanitizer for hospitals. Tesla theorized that the application of electricity to the brain enhanced intelligence. In 1912, he crafted "a plan to make dull students bright by saturating them unconsciously with electricity," wiring the walls of a schoolroom and, "saturating [the schoolroom] with infinitesimal electric waves vibrating at high frequency. The whole room will thus, Mr. Tesla claims, be converted into a health-giving and stimulating electromagnetic field or 'bath.'" The plan was, at least provisionally, approved by then superintendent of New York City schools, William H. Maxwell. Before World War I, Tesla sought overseas investors. After the war started, Tesla lost the funding he was receiving from his patents in European countries. In the August 1917 edition of the magazine Electrical Experimenter, Tesla postulated that electricity could be used to locate submarines via using the reflection of an "electric ray" of "tremendous frequency," with the signal being viewed on a fluorescent screen (a system that has been noted to have a superficial resemblance to modern radar). Tesla was incorrect in his assumption that high-frequency radio waves would penetrate water. Émile Girardeau, who helped develop France's first radar system in the 1930s, noted in 1953 that Tesla's general speculation that a very strong high-frequency signal would be needed was correct. Girardeau said, "(Tesla) was prophesying or dreaming, since he had at his disposal no means of carrying them out, but one must add that if he was dreaming, at least he was dreaming correctly". In 1928, Tesla received his last patent, , for a biplane design capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), which "gradually tilted through manipulation of the elevator devices" in flight until it was flying like a conventional plane. Tesla thought the plane would sell for less than $1,000. Although the aircraft has been described as impractical, it has early resemblances to the V-22 Osprey used by the US military. At this point Tesla closed his remaining office located at 350 Madison Ave, having moved there two years earlier. Living circumstances Tesla lived at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City from 1900 and ran up a large bill. He moved to the St. Regis Hotel in 1922 and followed a pattern from then on of moving to a different hotel every few years and leaving unpaid bills behind. Tesla walked to the park every day to feed the pigeons. He began feeding them at the window of his hotel room and nursed injured birds back to health. He said that he had been visited by a certain injured white pigeon daily. He spent over $2,000 to care for the bird, including a device he built to support her comfortably while her broken wing and leg healed. Tesla stated: Tesla's unpaid bills, as well as complaints about the mess made by pigeons, led to his eviction from St. Regis in 1923. He was also forced to leave the Hotel Pennsylvania in 1930 and the Hotel Governor Clinton in 1934. At one point he also took rooms at the Hotel Marguery. Tesla moved to the Hotel New Yorker in 1934. At this time Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company began paying him $125 per month in addition to paying his rent. Accounts of how this came about vary. Several sources claim that Westinghouse was concerned, or possibly warned, about potential bad publicity arising from the impoverished conditions in which their former star inventor was living. The payment has been described as being couched as a "consulting fee" to get around Tesla's aversion to accepting charity. Tesla biographer Marc Seifer described the Westinghouse payments as a type of "unspecified settlement". In any case, Westinghouse provided the funds for Tesla for the rest of his life. Birthday press conferences In 1931, a young journalist whom Tesla befriended, Kenneth M. Swezey, organized a celebration for the inventor's 75th birthday. Tesla received congratulatory letters from more than 70 pioneers in science and engineering, including Albert Einstein, and he was also featured on the cover of Time magazine. The cover caption "All the world's his power house" noted his contribution to electrical power generation. The party went so well that Tesla made it an annual event, an occasion where he would put out a large spread of food and drink—featuring dishes of his own creation. He invited the press in order to see his inventions and hear stories about his past exploits, views on current events, and sometimes baffling claims. At the 1932 party, Tesla claimed he had invented a motor that would run on cosmic rays. In 1933 at age 77, Tesla told reporters at the event that, after 35 years of work, he was on the verge of producing proof of a new form of energy. He claimed it was a theory of energy that was "violently opposed" to Einsteinian physics and could be tapped with an apparatus that would be cheap to run and last 500 years. He also told reporters he was working on a way to transmit individualized private radio wavelengths, working on breakthroughs in metallurgy, and developing a way to photograph the retina to record thought. At the 1934 occasion, Tesla told reporters he had designed a superweapon he claimed would end all war. He called it "teleforce", but was usually referred to as his death ray. Tesla described it as a defensive weapon that would be put up along the border of a country and be used against attacking ground-based infantry or aircraft. Tesla never revealed detailed plans of how the weapon worked during his lifetime but, in 1984, they surfaced at the Nikola Tesla Museum archive in Belgrade. The treatise, The New Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-dispersive Energy through the Natural Media, described an open-ended vacuum tube with a gas jet seal that allows particles to exit, a method of charging slugs of tungsten or mercury to millions of volts, and directing them in streams (through electrostatic repulsion). Tesla tried to interest the US War Department, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia in the device. In 1935 at his 79th birthday party, Tesla covered many topics. He claimed to have discovered the cosmic ray in 1896 and invented a way to produce direct current by induction, and made many claims about his mechanical oscillator. Describing the device (which he expected would earn him $100 million within two years) he told reporters that a version of his oscillator had caused an earthquake in his 46 East Houston Street lab and neighboring streets in Lower Manhattan in 1898. He went on to tell reporters his oscillator could destroy the Empire State Building with 5 lbs of air pressure. He also explained a new technique he developed using his oscillators he called "Telegeodynamics", using it to transmit vibrations into the ground that he claimed would work over any distance to be used for communication or locating underground mineral deposits. In his 1937 Grand Ballroom of Hotel New Yorker event, Tesla received the Order of the White Lion from the Czechoslovak ambassador and a medal from the Yugoslav ambassador. On questions concerning the death ray, Tesla stated, "But it is not an experiment ... I have built, demonstrated and used it. Only a little time will pass before I can give it to the world." Death In the fall of 1937 at the age of 81, after midnight one night, Tesla left the Hotel New Yorker to make his regular commute to the cathedral and library to feed the pigeons. While crossing a street a couple of blocks from the hotel, Tesla was unable to dodge a moving taxicab and was thrown to the ground. His back was severely wrenched and three of his ribs were broken in the accident. The full extent of his injuries was never known; Tesla refused to consult a doctor, an almost lifelong custom, and never fully recovered. On 7 January 1943, at the age of 86, Tesla died alone in Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker. His body was later found by maid Alice Monaghan after she had entered Tesla's room, ignoring the "do not disturb" sign that Tesla had placed on his door two days earlier. Assistant medical examiner H.W. Wembley examined the body and ruled that the cause of death had been coronary thrombosis. Two days later the Federal Bureau of Investigation ordered the Alien Property Custodian to seize Tesla's belongings. John G. Trump, a professor at M.I.T. and a well-known electrical engineer serving as a technical aide to the National Defense Research Committee, was called in to analyze the Tesla items, which were being held in custody. After a three-day investigation, Trump's report concluded that there was nothing which would constitute a hazard in unfriendly hands, stating: In a box purported to contain a part of Tesla's "death ray", Trump found a 45-year-old multidecade resistance box. On 10 January 1943, New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia read a eulogy written by Slovene-American author Louis Adamic live over the WNYC radio while violin pieces "Ave Maria" and "Tamo daleko" were played in the background. On 12 January, two thousand people attended a state funeral for Tesla at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan. After the funeral, Tesla's body was taken to the Ferncliff Cemetery in Ardsley, New York, where it was later cremated. The following day, a second service was conducted by prominent priests in the Trinity Chapel (today's Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sava) in New York City. Estate In 1952, following pressure from Tesla's nephew, Sava Kosanović, Tesla's entire estate was shipped to Belgrade in 80 trunks marked N.T. In 1957, Kosanović's secretary Charlotte Muzar transported Tesla's ashes from the United States to Belgrade. The ashes are displayed in a gold-plated sphere on a marble pedestal in the Nikola Tesla Museum. Patents Tesla obtained around 300 patents worldwide for his inventions. Some of Tesla's patents are not accounted for, and various sources have discovered some that have lain hidden in patent archives. There are a minimum of 278 known patents issued to Tesla in 26 countries. Many of Tesla's patents were in the United States, Britain, and Canada, but many other patents were approved in countries around the globe. Many inventions developed by Tesla were not put into patent protection. Personal life and character Appearance Tesla was tall and weighed , with almost no weight variance from 1888 to about 1926. His appearance was described by newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane as "almost the tallest, almost the thinnest and certainly the most serious man who goes to Delmonico's regularly". He was an elegant, stylish figure in New York City, meticulous in his grooming, clothing, and regimented in his daily activities, an appearance he maintained so as to further his business relationships. He was also described as having light eyes, "very big hands", and "remarkably big" thumbs. Eidetic memory Tesla read many works, memorizing complete books, and supposedly possessed a photographic memory. He was a polyglot, speaking eight languages: Serbo-Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Latin. Tesla related in his autobiography that he experienced detailed moments of inspiration. During his early life, Tesla was repeatedly stricken with illness. He suffered a peculiar affliction in which | ⅓ to Peck and Brown, and ⅓ to fund development. They set up a laboratory for Tesla at 89 Liberty Street in Manhattan, where he worked on improving and developing new types of electric motors, generators, and other devices. In 1887, Tesla developed an induction motor that ran on alternating current (AC), a power system format that was rapidly expanding in Europe and the United States because of its advantages in long-distance, high-voltage transmission. The motor used polyphase current, which generated a rotating magnetic field to turn the motor (a principle that Tesla claimed to have conceived in 1882). This innovative electric motor, patented in May 1888, was a simple self-starting design that did not need a commutator, thus avoiding sparking and the high maintenance of constantly servicing and replacing mechanical brushes. Along with getting the motor patented, Peck and Brown arranged to get the motor publicized, starting with independent testing to verify it was a functional improvement, followed by press releases sent to technical publications for articles to run concurrently with the issue of the patent. Physicist William Arnold Anthony (who tested the motor) and Electrical World magazine editor Thomas Commerford Martin arranged for Tesla to demonstrate his AC motor on 16 May 1888 at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Engineers working for the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company reported to George Westinghouse that Tesla had a viable AC motor and related power system—something Westinghouse needed for the alternating current system he was already marketing. Westinghouse looked into getting a patent on a similar commutator-less, rotating magnetic field-based induction motor developed in 1885 and presented in a paper in March 1888 by Italian physicist Galileo Ferraris, but decided that Tesla's patent would probably control the market. In July 1888, Brown and Peck negotiated a licensing deal with George Westinghouse for Tesla's polyphase induction motor and transformer designs for $60,000 in cash and stock and a royalty of $2.50 per AC horsepower produced by each motor. Westinghouse also hired Tesla for one year for the large fee of $2,000 ($ in today's dollars) per month to be a consultant at the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company's Pittsburgh labs. During that year, Tesla worked in Pittsburgh, helping to create an alternating current system to power the city's streetcars. He found it a frustrating period because of conflicts with the other Westinghouse engineers over how best to implement AC power. Between them, they settled on a 60-cycle AC system that Tesla proposed (to match the working frequency of Tesla's motor), but they soon found that it would not work for streetcars, since Tesla's induction motor could run only at a constant speed. They ended up using a DC traction motor instead. Market turmoil Tesla's demonstration of his induction motor and Westinghouse's subsequent licensing of the patent, both in 1888, came at the time of extreme competition between electric companies. The three big firms, Westinghouse, Edison, and Thomson-Houston, were trying to grow in a capital-intensive business while financially undercutting each other. There was even a "war of currents" propaganda campaign going on with Edison Electric trying to claim their direct current system was better and safer than the Westinghouse alternating current system. Competing in this market meant Westinghouse would not have the cash or engineering resources to develop Tesla's motor and the related polyphase system right away. Two years after signing the Tesla contract, Westinghouse Electric was in trouble. The near collapse of Barings Bank in London triggered the financial panic of 1890, causing investors to call in their loans to Westinghouse Electric. The sudden cash shortage forced the company to refinance its debts. The new lenders demanded that Westinghouse cut back on what looked like excessive spending on acquisition of other companies, research, and patents, including the per motor royalty in the Tesla contract. At that point, the Tesla induction motor had been unsuccessful and was stuck in development. Westinghouse was paying a $15,000-a-year guaranteed royalty even though operating examples of the motor were rare and polyphase power systems needed to run it was even rarer. In early 1891, George Westinghouse explained his financial difficulties to Tesla in stark terms, saying that, if he did not meet the demands of his lenders, he would no longer be in control of Westinghouse Electric and Tesla would have to "deal with the bankers" to try to collect future royalties. The advantages of having Westinghouse continue to champion the motor probably seemed obvious to Tesla and he agreed to release the company from the royalty payment clause in the contract. Six years later Westinghouse purchased Tesla's patent for a lump sum payment of $216,000 as part of a patent-sharing agreement signed with General Electric (a company created from the 1892 merger of Edison and Thomson-Houston). New York laboratories The money Tesla made from licensing his AC patents made him independently wealthy and gave him the time and funds to pursue his own interests. In 1889, Tesla moved out of the Liberty Street shop Peck and Brown had rented and for the next dozen years working out of a series of workshop/laboratory spaces in Manhattan. These included a lab at 175 Grand Street (1889–1892), the fourth floor of 33–35 South Fifth Avenue (1892–1895), and sixth and seventh floors of 46 & 48 East Houston Street (1895–1902). Tesla and his hired staff conducted some of his most significant work in these workshops. Tesla coil In the summer of 1889, Tesla traveled to the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris and learned of Heinrich Hertz's 1886–1888 experiments that proved the existence of electromagnetic radiation, including radio waves. Tesla found this new discovery "refreshing" and decided to explore it more fully. In repeating, and then expanding on, these experiments, Tesla tried powering a Ruhmkorff coil with a high speed alternator he had been developing as part of an improved arc lighting system but found that the high-frequency current overheated the iron core and melted the insulation between the primary and secondary windings in the coil. To fix this problem Tesla came up with his "oscillating transformer", with an air gap instead of insulating material between the primary and secondary windings and an iron core that could be moved to different positions in or out of the coil. Later called the Tesla coil, it would be used to produce high-voltage, low-current, high frequency alternating-current electricity. He would use this resonant transformer circuit in his later wireless power work. Citizenship On 30 July 1891, aged 35, Tesla became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In the same year, he patented his Tesla coil. Wireless lighting After 1890, Tesla experimented with transmitting power by inductive and capacitive coupling using high AC voltages generated with his Tesla coil. He attempted to develop a wireless lighting system based on near-field inductive and capacitive coupling and conducted a series of public demonstrations where he lit Geissler tubes and even incandescent light bulbs from across a stage. He spent most of the decade working on variations of this new form of lighting with the help of various investors but none of the ventures succeeded in making a commercial product out of his findings. In 1893 at St. Louis, Missouri, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the National Electric Light Association, Tesla told onlookers that he was sure a system like his could eventually conduct "intelligible signals or perhaps even power to any distance without the use of wires" by conducting it through the Earth. Tesla served as a vice-president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers from 1892 to 1894, the forerunner of the modern-day IEEE (along with the Institute of Radio Engineers). Polyphase system and the Columbian Exposition By the beginning of 1893, Westinghouse engineer Charles F. Scott and then Benjamin G. Lamme had made progress on an efficient version of Tesla's induction motor. Lamme found a way to make the polyphase system it would need compatible with older single-phase AC and DC systems by developing a rotary converter. Westinghouse Electric now had a way to provide electricity to all potential customers and started branding their polyphase AC system as the "Tesla Polyphase System". They believed that Tesla's patents gave them patent priority over other polyphase AC systems. Westinghouse Electric asked Tesla to participate in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago where the company had a large space in the "Electricity Building" devoted to electrical exhibits. Westinghouse Electric won the bid to light the Exposition with alternating current and it was a key event in the history of AC power, as the company demonstrated to the American public the safety, reliability, and efficiency of an alternating current system that was polyphase and could also supply the other AC and DC exhibits at the fair. A special exhibit space was set up to display various forms and models of Tesla's induction motor. The rotating magnetic field that drove them was explained through a series of demonstrations including an Egg of Columbus that used the two-phase coil found in an induction motor to spin a copper egg making it stand on end. Tesla visited the fair for a week during its six-month run to attend the International Electrical Congress and put on a series of demonstrations at the Westinghouse exhibit. A specially darkened room had been set up where Tesla showed his wireless lighting system, using a demonstration he had previously performed throughout America and Europe; these included using high-voltage, high-frequency alternating current to light wireless gas-discharge lamps. An observer noted: Steam-powered oscillating generator During his presentation at the International Electrical Congress in the Columbian Exposition Agriculture Hall, Tesla introduced his steam powered reciprocating electricity generator that he patented that year, something he thought was a better way to generate alternating current. Steam was forced into the oscillator and rushed out through a series of ports, pushing a piston up and down that was attached to an armature. The magnetic armature vibrated up and down at high speed, producing an alternating magnetic field. This induced alternating electric current in the wire coils located adjacent. It did away with the complicated parts of a steam engine/generator, but never caught on as a feasible engineering solution to generate electricity. Consulting on Niagara In 1893, Edward Dean Adams, who headed up the Niagara Falls Cataract Construction Company, sought Tesla's opinion on what system would be best to transmit power generated at the falls. Over several years, there had been a series of proposals and open competitions on how best to use power generated by the falls. Among the systems proposed by several US and European companies were two-phase and three-phase AC, high-voltage DC, and compressed air. Adams asked Tesla for information about the current state of all the competing systems. Tesla advised Adams that a two-phased system would be the most reliable and that there was a Westinghouse system to light incandescent bulbs using two-phase alternating current. The company awarded a contract to Westinghouse Electric for building a two-phase AC generating system at the Niagara Falls, based on Tesla's advice and Westinghouse's demonstration at the Columbian Exposition that they could build a complete AC system. At the same time, a further contract was awarded to General Electric to build the AC distribution system. The Nikola Tesla Company In 1895, Edward Dean Adams, impressed with what he saw when he toured Tesla's lab, agreed to help found the Nikola Tesla Company, set up to fund, develop, and market a variety of previous Tesla patents and inventions as well as new ones. Alfred Brown signed on, bringing along patents developed under Peck and Brown. The board was filled out with William Birch Rankine and Charles F. Coaney. It found few investors; the mid-1890s was a tough time financially, and the wireless lighting and oscillators patents it was set up to market never panned out. The company handled Tesla's patents for decades to come. Lab fire In the early morning hours of 13 March 1895, the South Fifth Avenue building that housed Tesla's lab caught fire. It started in the basement of the building and was so intense Tesla's 4th-floor lab burned and collapsed into the second floor. The fire not only set back Tesla's ongoing projects, but it also destroyed a collection of early notes and research material, models, and demonstration pieces, including many that had been exhibited at the 1893 Worlds Colombian Exposition. Tesla told The New York Times "I am in too much grief to talk. What can I say?" After the fire Tesla moved to 46 & 48 East Houston Street and rebuilt his lab on the 6th and 7th floors. X-ray experimentation Starting in 1894, Tesla began investigating what he referred to as radiant energy of "invisible" kinds after he had noticed damaged film in his laboratory in previous experiments (later identified as "Roentgen rays" or "X-Rays"). His early experiments were with Crookes tubes, a cold cathode electrical discharge tube. Tesla may have inadvertently captured an X-ray image—predating, by a few weeks, Wilhelm Röntgen's December 1895 announcement of the discovery of X-rays—when he tried to photograph Mark Twain illuminated by a Geissler tube, an earlier type of gas discharge tube. The only thing captured in the image was the metal locking screw on the camera lens. In March 1896, after hearing of Röntgen's discovery of X-ray and X-ray imaging (radiography), Tesla proceeded to do his own experiments in X-ray imaging, developing a high energy single terminal vacuum tube of his own design that had no target electrode and that worked from the output of the Tesla Coil (the modern term for the phenomenon produced by this device is bremsstrahlung or braking radiation). In his research, Tesla devised several experimental setups to produce X-rays. Tesla held that, with his circuits, the "instrument will ... enable one to generate Roentgen rays of much greater power than obtainable with ordinary apparatus". Tesla noted the hazards of working with his circuit and single-node X-ray-producing devices. In his many notes on the early investigation of this phenomenon, he attributed the skin damage to various causes. He believed early on that damage to the skin was not caused by the Roentgen rays, but by the ozone generated in contact with the skin, and to a lesser extent, by nitrous acid. Tesla incorrectly believed that X-rays were longitudinal waves, such as those produced in waves in plasmas. These plasma waves can occur in force-free magnetic fields. On 11 July 1934, the New York Herald Tribune published an article on Tesla, in which he recalled an event that occasionally took place while experimenting with his single-electrode vacuum tubes. A minute particle would break off the cathode, pass out of the tube, and physically strike him: Tesla said he could feel a sharp stinging pain where it entered his body, and again at the place where it passed out. In comparing these particles with the bits of metal projected by his "electric gun," Tesla said, "The particles in the beam of force ... will travel much faster than such particles ... and they will travel in concentrations". Radio remote control In 1898, Tesla demonstrated a boat that used a coherer-based radio control—which he dubbed "telautomaton"—to the public during an electrical exhibition at Madison Square Garden. Tesla tried to sell his idea to the US military as a type of radio-controlled torpedo, but they showed little interest. Remote radio control remained a novelty until World War I and afterward, when a number of countries used it in military programs. Tesla took the opportunity to further demonstrate "Teleautomatics" in an address to a meeting of the Commercial Club in Chicago, while he was travelling to Colorado Springs, on 13 May 1899. Wireless power From the 1890s through 1906, Tesla spent a great deal of his time and fortune on a series of projects trying to develop the transmission of electrical power without wires. It was an expansion of his idea of using coils to transmit power that he had been demonstrating in wireless lighting. He saw this as not only a way to transmit large amounts of power around the world but also, as he had pointed out in his earlier lectures, a way to transmit worldwide communications. At the time Tesla was formulating his ideas, there was no feasible way to wirelessly transmit communication signals over long distances, let alone large amounts of power. Tesla had studied radio waves early on, and came to the conclusion that part of the existing study on them, by Hertz, was incorrect. Also, this new form of radiation was widely considered at the time to be a short-distance phenomenon that seemed to die out in less than a mile. Tesla noted that, even if theories on radio waves were true, they were totally worthless for his intended purposes since this form of "invisible light" would diminish over a distance just like any other radiation and would travel in straight lines right out into space, becoming "hopelessly lost". By the mid-1890s, Tesla was working on the idea that he might be able to conduct electricity long distance through the Earth or the atmosphere, and began working on experiments to test this idea including setting up a large resonance transformer magnifying transmitter in his East Houston Street lab. Seeming to borrow from a common idea at the time that the Earth's atmosphere was conductive, he proposed a system composed of balloons suspending, transmitting, and receiving, electrodes in the air above in altitude, where he thought the lower pressure would allow him to send high voltages (millions of volts) long distances. Colorado Springs To further study the conductive nature of low-pressure air, Tesla set up an experimental station at high altitude in Colorado Springs during 1899. There he could safely operate much larger coils than in the cramped confines of his New York lab, and an associate had made an arrangement for the El Paso Power Company to supply alternating current free of charge. To fund his experiments, he convinced John Jacob Astor IV to invest $100,000 ($ in today's dollars) to become a majority shareholder in the Nikola Tesla Company. Astor thought he was primarily investing in the new wireless lighting system. Instead, Tesla used the money to fund his Colorado Springs experiments. Upon his arrival, he told reporters that he planned to conduct wireless telegraphy experiments, transmitting signals from Pikes Peak to Paris. There, he conducted experiments with a large coil operating in the megavolts range, producing artificial lightning (and thunder) consisting of millions of volts and discharges of up to in length, and, at one point, inadvertently burned out the generator in El Paso, causing a power outage. The observations he made of the electronic noise of lightning strikes led him to (incorrectly) conclude that he could use the entire globe of the Earth to conduct electrical energy. During his time at his laboratory, Tesla observed unusual signals from his receiver which he speculated to be communications from another planet. He mentioned them in a letter to a reporter in December 1899 and to the Red Cross Society in |
means that is not a ring; instead it is a semiring (also known as a rig). If the natural numbers are taken as "excluding 0", and "starting at 1", the definitions of + and × are as above, except that they begin with and . Order In this section, juxtaposed variables such as indicate the product , and the standard order of operations is assumed. A total order on the natural numbers is defined by letting if and only if there exists another natural number where . This order is compatible with the arithmetical operations in the following sense: if , and are natural numbers and , then and . An important property of the natural numbers is that they are well-ordered: every non-empty set of natural numbers has a least element. The rank among well-ordered sets is expressed by an ordinal number; for the natural numbers, this is denoted as (omega). Division In this section, juxtaposed variables such as indicate the product , and the standard order of operations is assumed. While it is in general not possible to divide one natural number by another and get a natural number as result, the procedure of division with remainder or Euclidean division is available as a substitute: for any two natural numbers and with there are natural numbers and such that The number is called the quotient and is called the remainder of the division of by . The numbers and are uniquely determined by and . This Euclidean division is key to the several other properties (divisibility), algorithms (such as the Euclidean algorithm), and ideas in number theory. Algebraic properties satisfied by the natural numbers The addition (+) and multiplication (×) operations on natural numbers as defined above have several algebraic properties: Closure under addition and multiplication: for all natural numbers and , both and are natural numbers. Associativity: for all natural numbers , , and , and . Commutativity: for all natural numbers and , and . Existence of identity elements: for every natural number a, and . Distributivity of multiplication over addition for all natural numbers , , and , . No nonzero zero divisors: if and are natural numbers such that , then or (or both). Infinity The set of natural numbers is an infinite set. By definition, this kind of infinity is called countable infinity. All sets that can be put into a bijective relation to the natural numbers are said to have this kind of infinity. This is also expressed by saying that the cardinal number of the set is aleph-nought (). Generalizations Two important generalizations of natural numbers arise from the two uses of counting and ordering: cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers. A natural number can be used to express the size of a finite set; more precisely, a cardinal number is a measure for the size of a set, which is even suitable for infinite sets. This concept of "size" relies on maps between sets, such that two sets have the same size, exactly if there exists a bijection between them. The set of natural numbers itself, and any bijective image of it, is said to be countably infinite and to have cardinality aleph-null (). Natural numbers are also used as linguistic ordinal numbers: "first", "second", "third", and so forth. This way they can be assigned to the elements of a totally ordered finite set, and also to the elements of any well-ordered countably infinite set. This assignment can be generalized to general well-orderings with a cardinality beyond countability, to yield the ordinal numbers. An ordinal number may also be used to describe the notion of "size" for a well-ordered set, in a sense different from cardinality: if there is an order isomorphism (more than a bijection!) between two well-ordered sets, they have the same ordinal number. The first ordinal number that is not a natural number is expressed as ; this is also the ordinal number of the set of natural numbers itself. The least ordinal of cardinality (that is, the initial ordinal of ) is but many well-ordered sets with cardinal number have an ordinal number greater than . For finite well-ordered sets, there is a one-to-one correspondence between ordinal and cardinal numbers; therefore they can both be expressed by the same natural number, the number of elements of the set. This number can also be used to describe the position of an element in a larger finite, or an infinite, sequence. A countable non-standard model of arithmetic satisfying the Peano Arithmetic (that is, the first-order Peano axioms) was developed by Skolem in 1933. The hypernatural numbers are an uncountable model that can be constructed from the ordinary natural numbers via the ultrapower construction. | the case under consideration. This can be done by explanation in prose, by explicitly writing down the set, or by qualifying the generic identifier with a super- or subscript, for example, like this: Naturals without zero: Naturals with zero: Alternatively, since the natural numbers naturally form a subset of the integers (often they may be referred to as the positive, or the non-negative integers, respectively. To be unambiguous about whether 0 is included or not, sometimes a subscript (or superscript) "0" is added in the former case, and a superscript "" is added in the latter case: Properties Addition Given the set of natural numbers and the successor function sending each natural number to the next one, one can define addition of natural numbers recursively by setting and for all , . Then is a commutative monoid with identity element 0. It is a free monoid on one generator. This commutative monoid satisfies the cancellation property, so it can be embedded in a group. The smallest group containing the natural numbers is the integers. If 1 is defined as , then . That is, is simply the successor of . Multiplication Analogously, given that addition has been defined, a multiplication operator can be defined via and . This turns into a free commutative monoid with identity element 1; a generator set for this monoid is the set of prime numbers. Relationship between addition and multiplication Addition and multiplication are compatible, which is expressed in the distribution law: . These properties of addition and multiplication make the natural numbers an instance of a commutative semiring. Semirings are an algebraic generalization of the natural numbers where multiplication is not necessarily commutative. The lack of additive inverses, which is equivalent to the fact that is not closed under subtraction (that is, subtracting one natural from another does not always result in another natural), means that is not a ring; instead it is a semiring (also known as a rig). If the natural numbers are taken as "excluding 0", and "starting at 1", the definitions of + and × are as above, except that they begin with and . Order In this section, juxtaposed variables such as indicate the product , and the standard order of operations is assumed. A total order on the natural numbers is defined by letting if and only if there exists another natural number where . This order is compatible with the arithmetical operations in the following sense: if , and are natural numbers and , then and . An important property of the natural numbers is that they are well-ordered: every non-empty set of natural numbers has a least element. The rank among well-ordered sets is expressed by an ordinal number; for the natural numbers, this is denoted as (omega). Division In this section, juxtaposed variables such as indicate the product , and the standard order of operations is assumed. While it is in general not possible to divide one natural number by another and get a natural number as result, the procedure of division with remainder or Euclidean division is available as a substitute: for any two natural numbers and with there are natural numbers and such that The number is called the quotient and is called the remainder of the division of by . The numbers and are uniquely determined by and . This Euclidean division is key to the several other properties (divisibility), algorithms (such as the Euclidean algorithm), and ideas in number theory. Algebraic properties satisfied by the natural numbers The addition (+) and multiplication (×) operations on natural numbers as defined above have several algebraic properties: Closure under addition and multiplication: for all natural numbers and , both and are natural numbers. Associativity: for all natural numbers , , and , and . Commutativity: for all natural numbers and , and . Existence of identity elements: for every natural number a, and . Distributivity of multiplication over addition for all natural numbers , , and , . No nonzero zero divisors: if and are natural numbers such that , then or (or both). Infinity The set of natural numbers is an infinite set. By definition, this kind of infinity is called countable infinity. All sets that can be put into a bijective relation to the natural numbers are said to have this kind of infinity. This is also expressed by saying that the cardinal number of the set is aleph-nought (). Generalizations Two important generalizations of natural numbers arise from the two uses of counting and ordering: cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers. A natural number can be used to express the size of a finite set; more precisely, a cardinal number is a measure for the size of a set, which is even suitable for infinite sets. This concept of "size" relies on maps between sets, such that two sets have the same size, exactly if there exists a bijection between them. The set of natural numbers itself, and any bijective image of it, is said to be countably infinite and to have cardinality aleph-null (). Natural numbers are also used as linguistic ordinal numbers: "first", "second", "third", and so forth. This way they can be assigned to the elements of a totally ordered finite set, and also to the elements of any well-ordered countably infinite set. This assignment can be generalized to general well-orderings with a cardinality beyond countability, to yield the ordinal numbers. An ordinal number may also be used to describe the notion of "size" for a well-ordered set, in a sense different from cardinality: if there is an order isomorphism (more than a bijection!) between two well-ordered sets, they have the same ordinal number. The first ordinal number that is not a natural number is expressed as ; this is also the ordinal number of the set of natural numbers itself. The least ordinal of cardinality (that is, the initial ordinal of ) is but many well-ordered sets with cardinal number have an ordinal number greater than . For finite well-ordered sets, there is a one-to-one correspondence between ordinal and cardinal numbers; therefore they can both be expressed by the same natural number, the number of elements of the set. This number can also be used to describe the position of an element in a larger finite, or an infinite, sequence. A countable non-standard model of arithmetic satisfying the Peano Arithmetic (that is, the first-order Peano axioms) was developed by Skolem in 1933. The hypernatural numbers are an uncountable model that can be constructed from the ordinary natural numbers via the ultrapower construction. Georges Reeb used to claim provocatively that The naïve integers don't fill up . Other generalizations are discussed in the article on numbers. Formal definitions Peano axioms Many properties of the natural numbers can be derived from the five Peano axioms: 0 is a natural number. Every natural number has a successor which is also a natural number. 0 is not the successor of any natural number. If the successor of equals the successor of , then equals . The axiom of |
as to prevent ambiguity. The natural logarithm of is the power to which would have to be raised to equal . For example, is , because . The natural logarithm of itself, , is , because , while the natural logarithm of is , since . The natural logarithm can be defined for any positive real number as the area under the curve from to (with the area being negative when ). The simplicity of this definition, which is matched in many other formulas involving the natural logarithm, leads to the term "natural". The definition of the natural logarithm can then be extended to give logarithm values for negative numbers and for all non-zero complex numbers, although this leads to a multi-valued function: see Complex logarithm for more. The natural logarithm function, if considered as a real-valued function of a real variable, is the inverse function of the exponential function, leading to the identities: Like all logarithms, the natural logarithm maps multiplication of positive numbers into addition: Logarithms can be defined for any positive base other than 1, not only . However, logarithms in other bases differ only by a constant multiplier from the natural logarithm, and can be defined in terms of the latter. For instance, the base-2 logarithm (also called the binary logarithm) is equal to the natural logarithm divided by , the natural logarithm of 2, or equivalently, multiplied by . Logarithms are useful for solving equations in which the unknown appears as the exponent of some other quantity. For example, logarithms are used to solve for the half-life, decay constant, or unknown time in exponential decay problems. They are important in many branches of mathematics and scientific disciplines, and are used to solve problems involving compound interest. History The concept of the natural logarithm was worked out by Gregoire de Saint-Vincent and Alphonse Antonio de Sarasa before 1649. Their work involved quadrature of the hyperbola with equation , by determination of the area of hyperbolic sectors. Their solution generated the requisite "hyperbolic logarithm" function, which had the properties now associated with the natural logarithm. An early mention of the natural logarithm was by Nicholas Mercator in his work Logarithmotechnia, published in 1668, although the mathematics teacher John Speidell had already compiled a table of what in fact were effectively natural logarithms in 1619. It has been said that Speidell's logarithms were to the base , but this is not entirely true due to complications with the values being expressed as integers. Notational conventions The notations and both refer unambiguously to the natural logarithm of , and without an explicit base may also refer to the natural logarithm. This usage is common in mathematics, along with some scientific contexts as well as in many programming languages. In some other contexts such as chemistry, however, can be used to denote the common (base 10) logarithm. It may also refer to the binary (base 2) logarithm in the context of computer science, particularly in the context of time complexity. Definitions The natural logarithm can be defined in several equivalent ways. Inverse of exponential The most general definition is as the inverse function of , so that . Because is positive and invertible for any real input , this definition of is well defined for any positive x. For the complex numbers, is not invertible, so is a multivalued function. In order to make a proper, single-output function, we therefore need to restrict it to a particular principal branch, often denoted by . As the inverse function of , can be defined by inverting the usual definition of : Doing so yields: This definition therefore derives its own principle branch from the principal branch of nth roots. Integral Definition The natural logarithm of a positive, real number may be defined as the area under the graph of the hyperbola with equation between and . This is the integral If is less than , then this area is considered to be negative. This function is a logarithm because it satisfies the fundamental multiplicative property of a logarithm: This can be demonstrated by splitting the integral that defines into two parts, and then making the variable substitution (so ) in the second part, as follows: In elementary terms, this is simply scaling by in the horizontal direction and by in the vertical direction. Area does not change under this transformation, but the region between and is reconfigured. Because the function is equal to the function , the resulting area is precisely . The number can then be defined to be the unique real number such that . Properties The statement is true for , and we now show that for all , which completes the proof by the fundamental theorem of calculus. Hence, we want to show that (Note that we have not yet proved that this statement is true.) If this is true, then by multiplying the middle statement by the positive quantity and subtracting we would obtain This statement is trivially true for since the left hand side is negative or zero. For it is still true since both factors on the left are less than 1 (recall that ). Thus this last statement is true and by repeating our steps in reverse order we find that for all . This completes the proof. An alternate proof is to observe that under the given conditions. This can be proved, e.g., by the norm inequalities. Taking logarithms and using completes the proof. Derivative The derivative of the natural logarithm as a real-valued function on the positive reals is given by How to establish this derivative of the natural logarithm depends on how it is defined firsthand. | any positive real number as the area under the curve from to (with the area being negative when ). The simplicity of this definition, which is matched in many other formulas involving the natural logarithm, leads to the term "natural". The definition of the natural logarithm can then be extended to give logarithm values for negative numbers and for all non-zero complex numbers, although this leads to a multi-valued function: see Complex logarithm for more. The natural logarithm function, if considered as a real-valued function of a real variable, is the inverse function of the exponential function, leading to the identities: Like all logarithms, the natural logarithm maps multiplication of positive numbers into addition: Logarithms can be defined for any positive base other than 1, not only . However, logarithms in other bases differ only by a constant multiplier from the natural logarithm, and can be defined in terms of the latter. For instance, the base-2 logarithm (also called the binary logarithm) is equal to the natural logarithm divided by , the natural logarithm of 2, or equivalently, multiplied by . Logarithms are useful for solving equations in which the unknown appears as the exponent of some other quantity. For example, logarithms are used to solve for the half-life, decay constant, or unknown time in exponential decay problems. They are important in many branches of mathematics and scientific disciplines, and are used to solve problems involving compound interest. History The concept of the natural logarithm was worked out by Gregoire de Saint-Vincent and Alphonse Antonio de Sarasa before 1649. Their work involved quadrature of the hyperbola with equation , by determination of the area of hyperbolic sectors. Their solution generated the requisite "hyperbolic logarithm" function, which had the properties now associated with the natural logarithm. An early mention of the natural logarithm was by Nicholas Mercator in his work Logarithmotechnia, published in 1668, although the mathematics teacher John Speidell had already compiled a table of what in fact were effectively natural logarithms in 1619. It has been said that Speidell's logarithms were to the base , but this is not entirely true due to complications with the values being expressed as integers. Notational conventions The notations and both refer unambiguously to the natural logarithm of , and without an explicit base may also refer to the natural logarithm. This usage is common in mathematics, along with some scientific contexts as well as in many programming languages. In some other contexts such as chemistry, however, can be used to denote the common (base 10) logarithm. It may also refer to the binary (base 2) logarithm in the context of computer science, particularly in the context of time complexity. Definitions The natural logarithm can be defined in several equivalent ways. Inverse of exponential The most general definition is as the inverse function of , so that . Because is positive and invertible for any real input , this definition of is well defined for any positive x. For the complex numbers, is not invertible, so is a multivalued function. In order to make a proper, single-output function, we therefore need to restrict it to a particular principal branch, often denoted by . As the inverse function of , can be defined by inverting the usual definition of : Doing so yields: This definition therefore derives its own principle branch from the principal branch of nth roots. Integral Definition The natural logarithm of a positive, real number may be defined as the area under the graph of the hyperbola with equation between and . This is the integral If is less than , then this area is considered to be negative. This function is a logarithm because it satisfies the fundamental multiplicative property of a logarithm: This can be demonstrated by splitting the integral that defines into two parts, and then making the variable substitution (so ) in the second part, as follows: In elementary terms, this is simply scaling by in the horizontal direction and by in the vertical direction. Area does not change under this transformation, but the region between and is reconfigured. Because the function is equal to the function , the resulting area is precisely . The number can then be defined to be the unique real number such that . Properties The |
Homo habilis) appeared in Africa near the end of the period. In response to the cooler, seasonal climate, tropical plant species gave way to deciduous ones and grasslands replaced many forests. Grasses therefore greatly diversified, and herbivorous mammals evolved alongside it, creating the many grazing animals of today such as horses, antelope, and bison. Eucalyptus fossil leaves occur in the Miocene of New Zealand, where the genus is not native today, but have been introduced from Australia. Disagreements The Neogene traditionally ended at the end of the Pliocene Epoch, just before the older definition of the beginning of the Quaternary Period; many time scales show this division. However, there was a movement amongst geologists (particularly marine geologists) to also include ongoing geological time (Quaternary) in the Neogene, while others (particularly terrestrial geologists) insist the Quaternary to be a separate period of distinctly different record. The somewhat confusing terminology and disagreement amongst geologists on where to draw what hierarchical boundaries is due to the comparatively fine divisibility of time units as time approaches the present, and due to geological preservation that causes the youngest sedimentary geological record to be preserved over a much larger area and to reflect many more environments than the older geological record. By dividing the Cenozoic Era into three (arguably two) periods (Paleogene, Neogene, Quaternary) instead of seven epochs, the periods are more closely comparable to the duration of | hominins, the ancestors of humans may have appeared in southern Europe and migrated into Africa. The first humans (belonging to the species Homo habilis) appeared in Africa near the end of the period. In response to the cooler, seasonal climate, tropical plant species gave way to deciduous ones and grasslands replaced many forests. Grasses therefore greatly diversified, and herbivorous mammals evolved alongside it, creating the many grazing animals of today such as horses, antelope, and bison. Eucalyptus fossil leaves occur in the Miocene of New Zealand, where the genus is not native today, but have been introduced from Australia. Disagreements The Neogene traditionally ended at the end of the Pliocene Epoch, just before the older definition of the beginning of the Quaternary Period; many time scales show this division. However, there was a movement amongst geologists (particularly marine geologists) to also include ongoing geological time (Quaternary) in the Neogene, while others (particularly terrestrial geologists) insist the Quaternary to be a separate period of distinctly different record. The somewhat confusing terminology and disagreement amongst geologists on where to draw what hierarchical boundaries is due to the comparatively fine divisibility of time units as time approaches the present, and due to geological preservation that causes the youngest sedimentary geological record to be preserved over a much larger area and to reflect many more environments than the older geological record. By dividing the Cenozoic Era into three (arguably two) periods (Paleogene, Neogene, Quaternary) instead of seven epochs, the periods are more closely comparable to the duration of periods in the Mesozoic and Paleozoic |
page (known as an eschatocol) to a document in order to make it valid for use overseas.In the case of some documents which are to be used in some foreign countries it may also be necessary to obtain another certificate known either as an "authentication" or an "apostille" (see above) (depending on the relevant foreign country) from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. a notary identifies themselves on documents by the use of their individual seal. Such seals have historical origins and are regarded by most other countries as of great importance for establishing the authenticity of a document. Their principal duties include: attestation of documents and certification of their due execution for use internationally preparation and certification of powers of attorney, wills, deeds, contracts and other legal documents for use internationally administering of oaths for use internationally witnessing affidavits, statutory declarations and other documents for use internationally certification of copy documents for use internationally exemplification of official documents for use internationally noting and protesting of bills of exchange (which is rarely performed) preparation of ships' protests providing certificates as to Australian law and legal practice for use internationally It is usual for Australian notaries to use an embossed seal with a red wafer, and now some notaries also use an inked stamp replicating the seal. It is also common for the seal or stamp to include the notary's chosen logo or symbol. In South Australia and Scotland, it is acceptable for a notary to use the letters "NP" after their name. Thus a South Australian notary may have "John Smith LLB NP" or similar on his business card or letterhead. Australian notaries do not hold "commissions" which can expire. Generally, once appointed they are authorized to act as a notary for life and can only be "struck off" the Roll of Notaries for proven misconduct. In certain states, for example, New South Wales and Victoria, they cease to be qualified to continue as a notary once they cease to hold a practicing certificate as a legal practitioner. Even judges, who do not hold practicing certificates, are not eligible to continue to practice as notaries. Notaries in some states of Australia are regulated by legislation. In New South Wales the Public Notaries Act 1997 applies and in Victoria the Public Notaries Act 2001 applies. There are also Notary Societies throughout Australia and the societies keep a searchable list of their members. In New South Wales, The Society of Notaries of New South Wales Inc.; in Queensland The Society of Notaries Queensland Inc.; in South Australia the Notaries' Society of South Australia Inc. and in Victoria, The Society of Notaries of Victoria Inc.. Notaries collecting information for the purposes of verification of the signature of the deponent might retain the details of documents which identify the deponent, and this information is subject to the Privacy Act 1988. A notary must protect the personal information the notary holds from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. All Australian jurisdictions also have justices of the peace (JP) or commissioners for affidavits and other unqualified persons who are qualified to take affidavits or statutory declarations and to certify documents. However they can only do so if the relevant affidavit, statutory declaration or copy document is to be used only in Australia and not in a foreign country, with the possible exception of a few Commonwealth countries not including the United Kingdom or New Zealand except for very limited purposes. Justices of the peace (JPs) are (usually) laypersons who have minimal, if any, training (depending on the jurisdiction) but are of proven good character. Therefore, a US notary resembles an Australian JP rather than an Australian notary. Canada Canadian notaries public (except in the Province of British Columbia and Quebec) are very much like their American counterparts, generally restricted to administering oaths, witnessing signatures on affidavits and statutory declarations, providing acknowledgements, certifying true copies, and so forth. British Columbia In British Columbia, a notary public is more like a British or Australian notary. Notaries are appointed for life by the Supreme Court of British Columbia and as a self-regulating profession, the Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia is the regulatory body overseeing and setting standards to maintain public confidence. A BC notary is also a commissioner for taking affidavits for British Columbia, by reason of office. Furthermore, BC notaries exercise far greater power, able to dispense legal advice and draft public instruments including: Notarization – notarizations/attestations of signatures, affidavits, statutory declarations, certified true copies, letters of invitation for foreign travel, authorization of minor child travel, execution/authentications of international documents, passport application documentation, proof of identity for travel purposes Real estate law – home purchase/sale; business purchase/sale; mortgages and refinancing; residential, commercial, & manufactures home transfer of title; restrictive covenants & builder's liens Wills & estate planning – preparation and searches of last wills and testaments, advance directives, representation agreements & power of attorney Contract law – preparation of contracts and agreements, commercial lease and assignments easements and right of way insurance loss declarations marine bills of sale & mortgages marine protestations personal property security agreements purchaser's side for foreclosures subdivisions & statutory building schemes zoning applications Nova Scotia In Nova Scotia a person may be a notary public, a commissioner of oaths, or both. A notary public and a commissioner of oaths are regulated by the provincial Notaries and Commissioners Act. Individuals hold a commission granted to them by the Minister of Justice. Under the Act a notary public in has the "power of drawing, passing, keeping and issuing all deeds and contracts, charter-parties and other mercantile transactions in this Province, and also of attesting all commercial instruments brought before him for public protestation, and otherwise of acting as is usual in the office of notary, and may demand, receive and have all the rights, profits and emoluments rightfully appertaining and belonging to the said calling of notary during pleasure." Under the Act a commissioner of oaths is "authorized to administer oaths and take and receive affidavits, declarations and affirmations within the Province in and concerning any cause, matter or thing, depending or to be had in the Supreme Court, or any other court in the Province." Every barrister of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia is a commissioner of oaths but must receive an additional commission to act as a notary public. "A Commissioner of Oaths is deemed to be an officer of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. Commissioners take declarations concerning any matter to come before a court in the Province.". Additionally, individuals with other specific qualifications, such as being a current Member of the Legislative Assembly, commissioned officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or Canadian Forces make act as if explicitly being a commissioner of oaths. Quebec In Quebec, civil-law notaries (notaires) are full lawyers licensed to practice notarial law and regulated by the Chamber of Notaries of Quebec. Quebec notaries draft and prepare major legal instruments (notarial acts), provide complex legal advice, represent clients (out of court) and make appearances on their behalf, act as arbitrator, mediator, or conciliator, and even act as a court commissioner in non-contentious matters. To become a notary in Quebec, a candidate must hold a bachelor's degree in civil law and a one-year Master's in notarial law and serve a traineeship (stage) before being admitted to practice. The concept of notaries public in Quebec does not exist. Instead, the province has Commissioners of Oaths (Commissaires à l'assermentation) who may administer oaths in Québec (and outside of Québec, if authorized) for a procedure or a document intended for Québec (or Federal matters). A Quebec commissioner for oaths can not certify documents or attest that a copy of a document is in accordance to the original; only a notaire can do it. India The central government appoints notaries for the whole or any part of the country. State governments, too, appoint notaries for the whole or any part of the states. On an application being made, any person who had been practicing as a Lawyer for at least ten years is eligible to be appointed a notary. The applicant, if not a legal practitioner, should be a member of the Indian Legal Service or have held an office under the central or state government, requiring special knowledge of law, after enrollment as an advocate or held an office in the department of Judge, Advocate-General or in the armed forces. Iran Notary public is a trained lawyer that should pass some special examinations to be able to open their office and start their work. Persian meaning of this word is means head of the office and their assistant called . Both these persons should have bachelor's degree in law or master's degree in civil-law. Ireland There is archival evidence showing that public notaries, acting pursuant to papal and imperial authority, practised in Ireland in the 13th century, and it is reasonable to assume that notaries functioned here before that time. In Ireland, public notaries were at various times appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Armagh. The position remained so until the Reformation. After the Reformation, persons appointed to the office of public notary either in Great Britain or Ireland received the faculty by royal authority, and appointments under faculty from the Pope and the emperor ceased. In 1871, under the Matrimonial Causes and Marriage Law (Ireland) Amendment 1870, the jurisdiction previously exercised by the Archbishop of Armagh in the appointment of notaries was vested in and became exercisable by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. In 1920, the power to appoint notaries public was transferred to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The position in Ireland changed once again in 1924 following the establishment of the Irish Free State. Under the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 the jurisdiction over notaries public was transferred to the Chief Justice of the Irish Free State. In 1961, under the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act of that year, and the power to appoint notaries public became exercisable by the Chief Justice. This remains the position in Ireland, where notaries are appointed on petition to the Supreme Court, after passing prescribed examinations. The governing body is the Faculty of Notaries Public in Ireland. The vast majority of notaries in Ireland are also solicitors. A non-solicitor, who was successful in the examinations as set by the governing body, applied in the standard way to the Chief Justice to be appointed a notary public. The Chief Justice heard the adjourned application on 3 March 2009 and appointed the non-solicitor as a notary on 18 July 2011. In Ireland notaries public cannot agree on a standard fee due to competition law. In practice the price per signature appears to be €100. A cheaper alternative is to visit a commissioner for oaths who will charge less per signature, but that is only possible where whoever is to receive a document will recognize the signature of a commissioner for oaths. Malaysia A notary public is a lawyer authorized by the Attorney General. The fees are regulated by the Notary Public (Fees) Rules 1954. A commissioner for oaths is a person appointed by the Chief Justice under section 11 of Court of Judicature Act 1964, and Commissioners for Oaths Rules 1993. New Zealand A notary public in New Zealand is a lawyer authorised by the Archbishop of Canterbury in England to officially witness signatures on legal documents, collect sworn statements, administer oaths and certify the authenticity of legal documents usually for use overseas. The Master of the Faculties appoints notaries in the exercise of the general authorities granted by s 3 of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 and Public Notaries Act 1833. Recommendations are made by the New Zealand Society of Notaries, which normally requires and applicant to have 10 years' experience post admission as a lawyer and 5 years as a Law Firm Partner or equivalent. Sri Lanka Notaries in Sri Lanka are more akin to civil law notaries, their main functions are conveyancing, drafting of legal instruments, etc. They are appointed under the Notaries Ordinance No 1 of 1907.<ref>&path=5</ref> They must pass exam held by the Ministry of Justice and apprentice under senior notary for a period of two years. Alternatively, attorneys at law who pass the conveyancing exam are also admitted as a notary public under warrant of the Minister. The Minister of Justice may appoint any attorney at law as a commissioner for oaths, authorized to certify and authenticate the affidavit/documents and any such other certificates that are submitted by the general public with the intention of certifying by the commissioner for oath. United Kingdom England and Wales After the passage of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533, which was a direct result of the Reformation in England, all notary appointments were issued directly through the Court of Faculties. The Court of Faculties is attached to the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In England and Wales there are two main classes of notaries – general notaries and scrivener notaries. Their functions are almost identical. All notaries, like solicitors, barristers, legal executives, costs lawyers and licensed conveyancers, are also commissioners for oaths. They also acquire the same powers as solicitors and other law practitioners, with the exception of the right to represent others before the courts (unless also members of the bar or admitted as a solicitor) once they are commissioned notaries. In practice almost all English notaries, and all Scottish ones, are also solicitors, and usually practise as solicitors. Commissioners of oaths are able to undertake the bulk of routine domestic attestation work within the UK. Many documents, including signatures for normal property transactions, do not need professional attestation of signature at all, a lay witness being sufficient. In practice the need for notaries in purely English legal matters is very small; for example they are not involved in normal property transactions. Since a great many solicitors also perform the function of commissioners for oaths and can witness routine declarations etc. (all are qualified to do so, but not all offer the service), most work performed by notaries relates to international matters in some way. They witness or authenticate documents to be used abroad. Many English notaries have strong foreign language skills and often a foreign legal qualification. The work of notaries and solicitors in England is separate although most notaries are solicitors. The Notaries Society gives the number of notaries in England and Wales as "about 1,000," all but seventy of whom are solicitors. Scrivener notaries get their name from the Scriveners' Company. Until 1999, when they lost this monopoly, they were the only notaries permitted to practise in the City of London. They used not to have to first qualify as solicitors, but they had knowledge of foreign laws and languages. Currently to qualify as a notary public in England and Wales it is necessary to have earned a law degree or qualified as a solicitor or barrister in the past five years, and then to take a two-year distance-learning course styled the Postgraduate Diploma in Notarial Practice. At the same time, any applicant must also gain practical experience. The few who go on to become scrivener notaries require further study of two foreign languages and foreign law and a two-year mentorship under an active Scrivener notary. The other notaries in England are either ecclesiastical notaries whose functions are limited to the affairs of the Church of England or other qualified persons who are not trained as solicitors or barristers but satisfy the Master of the Faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury that they possess an adequate understanding of the law. Both the latter two categories are required to pass examinations set by the Master of Faculties. The regulation of notaries was modernised by section 57 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. Notarial services generally include: attesting the signature and execution of documents authenticating the execution of documents authenticating the contents of documents administration of oaths and declarations drawing up or noting (and extending) protests of happenings to ships, crews and cargoes presenting bills of exchange for acceptance and payment, noting and protesting bills in cases of dishonour and preparing acts of honour attending upon the drawing up of bonds drawing mercantile documents, deeds, sales or purchases of property, and wills in English and (via translation), in foreign languages for use in Britain, the Commonwealth and other foreign countries providing documents to deal with the administration of the estate of people who are abroad, or own property abroad authenticating personal documents and information for immigration or emigration purposes, or to apply to marry, divorce, adopt children or to work abroad verification of translations from foreign languages to English and vice versa taking evidence in England and Wales as a commissioner for oaths for foreign courts provision of notarial copies preparing and witnessing powers of attorney, corporate records, contracts for use in Britain or overseas authenticating company and business documents and transactions international Internet domain name transfers Scotland Notaries public have existed in Scotland since the 13th century and developed as a distinct element of the Scottish legal profession. Those who wish to practice as a notary must petition the Court of Session. This petition is usually presented at the same time as a petition to practice as a solicitor, but can sometimes be earlier or later. However, to qualify, a notary must hold a current Practising Certificate from the Law Society of Scotland, a new requirement from 2007, before which all Scottish solicitors were automatically notaries. Whilst notaries in Scotland are always solicitors, the profession remains separate in that there are additional rules and regulations governing notaries | may vary widely from state to state and in most cases bars a notary from acting outside their home state unless they also have a commission there as well. Likewise, as a public official, notaries generally must perform legal acts to any requesting party: in other words, notaries, being public officers, cannot turn down a request except in limited circumstances, such as failure to pay (if charging a fee), suspected fraud or coercion, etc. In 32 states, the main requirements to earn a commission are to fill out a form and pay a fee; further, many states have restrictions concerning notaries with criminal histories and thus require a comprehensive criminal background check (at the proposed notary’s own cost), including at renewal. However, the requirements vary from state to state. Notaries in 18 states and the District of Columbia are required to take a course, pass an exam, or both. The education or exam requirements in Delaware and Kansas only apply to notaries who will perform electronic notarizations. A notary is almost always permitted to notarize a document anywhere in the state where their commission is issued even though commissions are typically issued to the county where the notary resides (not works). However, notaries are typically prohibited via their home state’s (and often a “foreign” state’s) laws from performing acts outside of the state(s) where commissioned. That said, notaries can typically perform acts for out-of-state visitors, as long as the notary is within their own state’s boundaries. Additionally, some states simply issue a commission "at large" meaning no indication is made as to from what county the person's commission was issued, but some states do require the notary include the county of issue of their commission as part of the jurat/notarial acts, or where seals are required, to indicate the county of issue of their commission on the seal. Merely because a state requires indicating the county where the commission was issued does not necessarily mean that the notary is restricted to notarizing documents in that county, although some states may impose this as a requirement. Some states (Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, among others) allow a notary who is commissioned in a state bordering that state to also act as a notary in the state if the other allows the same. Thus, someone who was commissioned in Montana could notarize documents in Wyoming and North Dakota, and a notary commissioned in Wyoming could notarize documents in Montana. A notary from Wyoming could not notarize documents while in North Dakota (or the inverse) unless they had a commission from North Dakota or a state bordering North Dakota that also allowed North Dakota notaries to practice in that state as well. Notaries in the United States are much less closely regulated than notaries in most other common-law countries, typically because U.S. notaries have little legal authority. In the United States, a lay notary may not offer legal advice or prepare documents–except in Louisiana and Puerto Rico–and in most cases cannot recommend how a person should sign a document or what type of notarial act is necessary. There are some exceptions; for example, Florida notaries may take affidavits, draft inventories of safe deposit boxes, draft protests for payment of dishonored checks and promissory notes, and solemnize marriages. In most states, a notary can also certify or attest a copy or facsimile. Otherwise, such certification must be provided by the appropriate regulatory body: for instance, a birth certificate must often be certified by the state (or local) department of vital statistics or health. Best practices suggest that notaries should not perform acts related to certified copies of official documents. The most common notarial acts in the United States are the taking of acknowledgements and jurats (which include either an oath or attestation). Many professions may require a person to double as a notary public. For example, clerks of court and U.S. court reporters are often notaries because this enables them to swear in witnesses (deponents) when they are taking depositions. Furthermore, many secretaries, bankers, and some lawyers are commonly notaries public. Despite their limited role, some American notaries may also perform a number of far-ranging acts not generally found anywhere else. Depending on the jurisdiction, they may: take depositions (in OH, a notary can issue a legal warrant to appear for an individual who refuses to be deposed), certify any and all petitions (ME), witness third-party absentee ballots (ME), provide no-impediment marriage licenses, solemnize civil marriages (ME, FL, SC), witness the opening of a safe deposit box or safe and take an official inventory of its contents, take a renunciation of dower or inheritance (SC), and related tasks. Acknowledgment "An acknowledgment is a formal [oral] declaration before an authorized public officer, such as a judge or notary. It is made by a person executing [signing, marking] an instrument who states that it was their free act and deed." That is, the person signed it without undue influence and for the purposes detailed in it. It does not testify to the truth of the matter(s) asserted within the document. A certificate of acknowledgment is a written statement signed (and in some jurisdictions, sealed) by the notary or other authorized official. This certificate serves to prove that the acknowledgment occurred. The form of the certificate varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but will be similar to the following: Before me, the undersigned authority, on this __ day of ___, 20__ personally appeared _ [signer(s)], to me well known to be the person who executed the foregoing instrument or provided satisfactory identification, and he/she acknowledged before me that he/she executed the same as his/her voluntary act and deed. Oath, affirmation, and jurat A jurat is the official written statement by a notary public. It indicates that the notary both administered and witnessed an oath or affirmation for an oath of office or on an affidavit. That is, the signer(s) has [verbally] sworn to or affirmed the truth of information contained in a document, under penalty of perjury, whether that document is a lengthy deposition or a simple statement on an application form. The simplest form of jurat and the oath or affirmation administered by a notary are: Jurat: "Sworn before me this ___ day of , 20__ by _ [oath-taker(s) and signer(s)]" Oath [also the typical portion read aloud by the notary for a jurat, prior to signing]: "Do you solemnly swear that the contents of this affidavit subscribed by you are correct and true?" [Verbal response; not written for oaths of office; signed after swearing “yes” for a jurat] Affirmation (to those who oppose swearing to God [i.e., opposed to an oath, as in a jurat]): "Do you solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm that the statements made by you are true and correct?" The notarial certificate would thus read: “Affirmed before me this ___ day of , 20__ by _ [affirming party(ies) and signer(s)]" Venue In the U.S., notarial acts normally include what is called a venue or caption, that is, an official listing of the place where a notarization occurred, usually in the form of the state and county and with the abbreviation "ss." (for Latin scilicet, "to wit") normally referred to as a "subscript", often in these forms: The venue is usually set forth at the beginning of the instrument or at the top of the notary's certificate. If at the head of the document, it is usually referred to as a caption. In times gone by, the notary would indicate the street address at which the ceremony was performed, and this practice, though unusual today, is occasionally encountered. Venue is used contemporarily because it limits fraud by identifying where the act took place, and it further facilitates finding the notary to examine his/her journal. Records The laws throughout the United States vary on the requirement for a notary to keep and maintain records. Some states require records, some suggest or encourage records, or do not require or recommend records at all. States California The California Secretary of State, Notary Public & Special Filings Section, is responsible for appointing and commissioning qualified persons as notaries public for four-year terms. Prior to sitting for the notary exam, one must complete a mandatory six-hour course of study. This required course of study is conducted either in an online, home study, or in-person format via an approved notary education vendor. Both prospective notaries as well as current notaries seeking reappointment must undergo an "expanded" FBI and California Department of Justice background check. Various statutes, rules, and regulations govern notaries public. California law sets maximum, but not minimum, fees for services related to notarial acts (e.g., per signature: acknowledgment $15, jurat $15, certified power of attorney $15, et cetera) A finger print (typically the right thumb) may be required in the notary journal based on the transaction in question (e.g., deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust affecting real property, power of attorney document, et cetera). Documents with blank spaces cannot be notarized (a further anti-fraud measure). California explicitly prohibits notaries public from using literal foreign language translation of their title. The use of a notary seal is required. Colorado Notarial acts performed in Colorado are governed under the Notaries Public Act, 12-55-101, et seq. Pursuant to the Act, notaries are appointed by the Secretary of State for a term not to exceed four years. Notaries may apply for appointment or reappointment online at the Secretary of State's website. A notary may apply for reappointment to the notary office 90 days before their commission expires. Since May 2010, all new notaries and expired notaries are required to take an approved training course and pass an examination to ensure minimal competence of the Notaries Public Act. A course of instruction approved by the Secretary of State may be administered by approved vendors and shall bear an emblem with a certification number assigned by the Secretary of State's office. An approved course of instruction covers relevant provisions of the Colorado Notaries Public Act, the Model Notary Act, and widely accepted best practices. In addition to courses offered by approved vendors, the Secretary of State offers free certification courses at the Secretary of State's office. To sign up for a free course, visit the notary public training page at the following link. A third party seeking to verify the status of a Colorado notary may do so by visiting the Secretary of State's website at the following link. Constituents seeking an apostille or certificate of magistracy are requested to complete the form found on the following page before sending in their documents or presenting at the Secretary of State's office. Florida Florida notaries public are appointed by the governor to serve a four-year term. New applicants and commissioned notaries public must be bona fide residents of the State of Florida, and first time applicants must complete a mandatory three-hour education course administered by an approved educator. Florida state law also requires that a notary public post bond in the amount of $7,500.00. A bond is required in order to compensate an individual harmed as a result of a breach of duty by the notary. Applications are submitted and processed through an authorized bonding agency. Florida is one of three states (Maine and South Carolina are the others) where a notary public can solemnize the rites of matrimony (perform a marriage ceremony). The Florida Department of State appoints civil law notaries, also called "Florida International Notaries", who must be Florida attorneys who have practiced law for five or more years. Applicants must attend a seminar and pass an exam administered by the Florida Department of State or any private vendor approved by the department. Such civil law notaries are appointed for life and may perform all of the acts of a notary public in addition to preparing authentic acts. Illinois Notaries public in Illinois are appointed by the Secretary of State for a four-year term. Also, residents of a state bordering Illinois (Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin) who work or have a place of business in Illinois can be appointed for a one-year term. Notaries must be United States citizens (though the requirement that a notary public must be a United States citizen is unconstitutional; see Bernal v. Fainter), or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence; be able to read and write the English language; be residents of (or employed within) the State of Illinois for at least 30 days; be at least 18 years old; not be convicted of a felony; and not had a notary commission revoked or suspended during the past 10 years. An applicant for the notary public commission must also post a $5,000 bond, usually with an insurance company and pay an application fee of $10. The application is usually accompanied with an oath of office. If the Secretary of State's office approves the application, the Secretary of State then sends the commission to the clerk of the county where the applicant resides. If the applicant records the commission with the county clerk, they then receive the commission. Illinois law prohibits notaries from using the literal Spanish translation in their title and requires them to use a rubber stamp seal for their notarizations. The notary public can then perform their duties anywhere in the state, as long as the notary resides (or works or does business) in the county where they were appointed. Kentucky A notary public in Kentucky is appointed by either the secretary of state or the governor to administer oaths and take proof of execution and acknowledgements of instruments. Notaries public fulfill their duties to deter fraud and ensure proper execution. There are two separate types of notaries public that are commissioned in Kentucky. They are notary public: state at large and notary public: special commission. They have two distinct sets of duties and two different routes of commissioning. For both types of commissions, applicants must be eighteen (18) years of age, of good moral character (not a convicted felon) and capable of discharging the duties imposed upon him/her by law. In addition, the application must be approved by one of the following officials in the county of application: a circuit judge, the circuit court clerk, the county judge/executive, the county clerk, a county magistrate or member of the Kentucky General Assembly. The term of office for both types of notary public is four years. A notary public: state at large is either a resident or non-resident of Kentucky who is commissioned to perform notarial acts anywhere within the physical borders of the Commonwealth of Kentucky that may be recorded either in-state or in another state. In order to become a notary public: state at large, the applicant must be a resident of the county or be principally employed in the county from which where the application is made. A completed application is sent to the Secretary of State's office with the required fee. Once the application is approved by the Secretary of State, the commission is sent to the county clerk in the county of application and a notice of appointment is sent to the applicant. The applicant will have thirty days to go to the county clerk's office where they will be required to 1.) Post either a surety or property bond (bonding requirements and amounts vary by county) 2.) Take the Oath/Affirmation of Office and 3.) File and record the commission with the county clerk. A notary public: special commission is either a resident or non-resident of Kentucky who is commissioned to perform notarial acts either inside or outside the borders of the Commonwealth on documents that must be recorded in Kentucky. The main difference in the appointment process is that, unlike a notary public: state at large, a notary public: special commission is not required to post bond before taking the oath/affirmation nor are they required to be a resident or employed in Kentucky. In addition, where a notary public: state at large is commissioned directly by the secretary of state, a notary public: special commission is appointed by the governor on the recommendation of the secretary of state. It is permitted to hold a commission as both a notary public: state at large and a notary public: special commission, however separate applications and filing fees are required. A Kentucky notary public is not required to use a seal or stamp and a notarization with just the signature of the notary is considered to be valid. It is, however, recommended that a seal or stamp be used as they may be required on documents recorded or used in another state. If a seal or stamp is used, it is required to have the name of the notary as listed on their commission as well as their full title of office (notary public: state at large or notary public: special commission). A notary journal is also recommended but not required (except in the case of recording protests, which must be recorded in a well-bound and indexed journal). Louisiana Louisiana notaries public are commissioned by the governor with the advice and consent of the state Senate. They are the only U.S. notaries to be appointed for life. The Louisiana notary public is a civil law notary with broad powers, as authorized by law, usually reserved for the American-style combination "barrister/solicitor" lawyers and other legally authorized practitioners in other states. A commissioned notary in Louisiana is a civil law notary that can perform/prepare many civil law notarial acts usually associated with attorneys and other legally authorized practitioners in other states, except represent another person or entity before a court of law for a fee (unless they are also admitted to the bar). Notaries are not allowed to give "legal" advice, but they are allowed to give "notarial" advice – i.e., explain or recommend what documents are needed or required to perform a certain act – and do all things necessary or incidental to the performance of their civil law notarial duties. They can prepare any document a civil law notary can prepare (to include inventories, appraisements, partitions, wills, protests, matrimonial contracts, conveyances, and, generally, all contracts and instruments in writing) and, if ordered or requested to by a judge, prepare certain notarial legal documents, in accordance with law, to be returned and filed with that court of law. Maine Maine notaries public are appointed by the secretary of state to serve a |
is the regional headquarters of several international companies and organisations. In 2007, General Electric, Young & Rubicam, Google, Coca-Cola, IBM Services, and Cisco Systems relocated their African headquarters to the city. The United Nations Office at Nairobi hosts UN Environment and UN-Habitat headquarters. Several of Africa's largest companies are headquartered in Nairobi. Safaricom, the largest company in Kenya by assets and profitability is headquartered in Nairobi, KenGen, which is the largest African stock outside South Africa, is based in the city. Kenya Airways, Africa's fourth largest airline, uses Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as a hub. Nairobi has not been left behind by the FinTech phenomenon that has taken over worldwide. It has produced a couple of tech firms like Craft Silicon, Kangai Technologies, and Jambo Pay which have been in the forefront of technology, innovation and cloud based computing services. Their products are widely used and have considerable market share presence within Kenya and outside its borders. Goods manufactured in Nairobi include clothing, textiles, building materials, processed foods, beverages, and cigarettes. Several foreign companies have factories based in and around the city. These include Goodyear, General Motors, Toyota Motors, and Coca-Cola. Nairobi has a large tourist industry, being both a tourist destination and a transport hub. Central business district and skyline Nairobi has grown around its central business district. This takes a rectangular shape, around the Uhuru Highway, Haille Selassie Avenue, Moi Avenue, and University Way. It features many of Nairobi's important buildings, including the City Hall and Parliament Building. The city square is also located within the perimeter. Most of the skyscrapers in this region are the headquarters of businesses and corporations, such as I&M and the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The United States Embassy bombing took place in this district, prompting the building of a new embassy building in the suburbs. In 2011, the city was considered to have about 4 million residents. A large beautification project took place in the Central Business District, as the city prepared to host the 2006 Afri-Cities summit. Iconic buildings such as the Kenyatta International Conference Centre had their exteriors cleaned and repainted. Nairobi downtown area or central business district is bordered to the southwest by Uhuru Park and Central Park. The Mombasa to Kampala railway runs to the southeast of the district. Upper Hill Two areas outside the Central Business District that are seeing growth in companies and office space are Upper Hill, which is located, approximately from the Central Business District and Westlands, about the same distance from the city centre. Companies that have moved from the Central Business District to Upper Hill include Citibank, and in 2007 Coca-Cola began construction of their East and Central African headquarters in Upper Hill, cementing the district as the preferred location for office space in Nairobi. The largest office development in this area is UAP Tower, completed in 2015 and officially opened for business on 4 July 2016. It is a 33-storey tower 163 meters high. The World Bank and International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) are also located in Upper Hill at the Delta Center, Menegai Road. Earlier on, they were located in the Hill Park Building and CBA Building respectively (both also in Upper Hill), and prior to that in View Park towers in the Central Business District. To accommodate the large demand for floor space in Nairobi, various commercial projects are being constructed. New business parks are being built in the city, including the flagship Nairobi Business Park. Construction boom and real estate development projects Nairobi is undergoing a construction boom. Major real estate projects and skyscrapers are coming up in the city. Among them are:The pinnacle twin towers which will tower at 314 m, Britam Tower (200 m), Avic International Africa headquarters (176 m), Prism tower (140 m), Pan Africa insurance towers, Pallazzo offices, and many other projects. Shopping malls are also being constructed like the recently completed Garden city Mall, Centum's Two rivers Mall, The Hub in Karen, Karen waterfront, Thika Greens, and the recently reconstructed Westgate Mall. High-class residential apartments for living are coming up like Le Mac towers, a residential tower in Westlands Nairobi with 23 floors. Avic International is also putting up a total of four residential apartments on Waiyaki way: a 28-level tower, two 24-level towers, and a 25-level tower. Hotel towers are also being erected in the city. Avic International is putting up a 30-level hotel tower of 141 m in the Westlands. The hotel tower will be operated by Marriot group. Jabavu limited is constructing a 35 floor hotel tower in Upper Hill which will be high over 140 metres in the city skyline. Arcon Group Africa has also announced plans to erect a skyscraper in Upper hill which will have 66 floors and tower over 290 metres, further cementing Upper hill as the preferred metropolis for multinational corporations launching their operations in the Kenyan capital. Also see List of tallest buildings in Kenya Demographics Population of Nairobi between 1906 and 2019 Nairobi has experienced one of the highest growth rates of any city in Africa. Since its foundation in 1899, Nairobi has grown to become the second largest city in the African Great Lakes, despite being one of youngest cities in the region. The growth rate of Nairobi is 4.1% a year. It is estimated that Nairobi's population will reach 5 million in 2025. These data fit remarkably closely (r^2 = 0.9994) to a logistic curve with t(0) = 1900, P(0)=8500, r = 0.059 and K = 8,000,000. This suggests a 2011 growth rate of 3.5% (the CIA estimate of 4.5% cited above would have been true in 2005). According to this curve, the population of the city will be below 4 million in 2015, and will reach 5 million in 2025. Given this high population growth, owing itself both to urban migration and high birth rates, the economy has yet to catch up. Unemployment is estimated at 40% within the city, mainly in the high-density, low income areas of the city which can make them seem even denser than the higher-income neighborhoods. Parks Nairobi has numerous recreational green areas. Nairobi National Park, located in the Southern side of the city, is an important attraction. Other parks and protected forests include Uhuru Park, Central Park, John Michuki Park, Nairobi Arboretum, City Park, Uhuru Gardens, Jeevanjee Gardens, Karura Forest, Ngong forest, and Ololua forest. Culture Kenya National Theatre, and the Kenya National Archives. Art galleries in Nairobi include the Rahimtulla Museum of Modern Art (Ramoma), the Mizizi Arts Centre, and the Nairobi National Museum. There is also the Karen Blixen Museum and the Nairobi National Museum. There is Kuona Art Center for visual artists in Nairobi. By the mid twentieth century, many foreigners settled in Nairobi from other parts of the British Empire, primarily India and parts of (present-day) Pakistan. These immigrants were workers who arrived to construct the Kampala – Mombasa railway, settling in Nairobi after its completion, and also merchants from Gujarat. Nairobi also has established communities from Somalia and Sudan. Nairobi has two informal nicknames. The first is "The Green City in the Sun", which is derived from the city's foliage and warm climate. The second is the "Safari Capital of the World", which is used due to Nairobi's prominence as a hub for safari tourism. Literature and film Kwani? is Kenya's first literary journal and was established by writers living in Nairobi. Nairobi's publishing houses have also produced the works of some of Kenya's authors, including Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Meja Mwangi who were part of post-colonial writing. Many film makers also practice their craft out of Nairobi. Film-making is still young in the country, but people like producer Njeri Karago and director Judy Kibinge are paving the way for others. Perhaps the most famous book and film set in Nairobi is Out of Africa. The book was written by Karen Blixen, whose pseudonym was Isak Dinesen, and it is her account of living in Kenya. Karen Blixen lived in the Nairobi area from 1917 to 1931. The neighbourhood in which she lived, Karen, is named after her. In 1985, Out of Africa was made into a film, directed by Sydney Pollack. The film won 28 awards, including seven Academy Awards. The popularity of the film prompted the opening of Nairobi's Karen Blixen Museum. Nairobi is also the setting of many of the novels of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya's foremost writer. Nairobi has been the set of several other American and British films. The most recent of these was The Constant Gardener (2005), a large part of which was filmed in the city. The story revolves around a British diplomat in Nairobi whose wife is murdered in northern Kenya. Much of the filming was in the Kibera slum. Among the latest Kenyan actors in Hollywood who identify with Nairobi is Lupita Nyong'o. Lupita received an Oscar award for best supporting actress in her role as Patsy in the film 12 Years a Slave during the 86th Academy Awards at the Dolby theatre in Los Angeles. Lupita is the daughter of Kenyan politician Peter Anyang' Nyong'o. Most new Hollywood films are nowadays screened at Nairobi's cinemas. Up until the early 1990s, there were only a few film theatres and the repertoire was limited. There are also two drive-in cinemas in Nairobi. In 2015 and 2016, Nairobi was the focus point for the American television series Sense8 which shot its first and second seasons partly in the city. The TV series has high reviews in The Internet Movie Database (IMDB). In 2015 Nairobi was also featured in the British thriller film Eye in the Sky, which is a story about a lieutenant general and a colonel who faced political opposition after ordering a drone missile strike to take out a group of suicide bombers in Nairobi. In 2017, the name "Nairobi" was taken as a code-name by a female main character in the famous Spanish TV series Money Heist. Food In Nairobi, there are a range of restaurants. Besides being home to nyama choma which is a local term used to refer to roasted meat, there are American fast food restaurants such as KFC, Subway, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, Hardee's and Burger King, and the longer established South African chains, Galittos, Steers, PizzaMojo, and Spur Steak Ranches. Coffee houses, doubling up as restaurants and mostly frequented by the upper middle classes, such as Artcaffe Nairobi Java House and Dormans, have become increasingly popular in recent days. Traditional food joints such as the popular K'osewe's in the city centre and Amaica, which specialize in African delicacies, are also widespread. The Kenchic franchise which specialized in old-school chicken and chips meals was also popular, particularly among the lower classes and students, with restaurants all over the city and its suburbs. However, as of February 2016, Kenchic stopped operating its eatery business. Upscale restaurants often specialize in specific cuisines such as Italian, Lebanese, Ethiopian, and French, but are more likely to be found in five star hotels and the wealthier suburbs in the West and South of the city. Nairobi has an annual restaurant week (NRW) at the beginning of the year, January–February. Nairobi's restaurants offer dining packages at reduced prices. NRW is managed by Eatout Kenya which is an online platform that lists and reviews restaurants in Nairobi, and provides a platform for Kenyan foodies to congregate and share. Music Nairobi is the centre of Kenya's music scene. Benga is a Kenyan genre which was developed in Nairobi. The style is a fusion of jazz and Luo music forms. Mugithi is another popular genre in Kenya, with its origins in the central parts of the country. A majority of music videos of leading local musicians are also filmed in the city. In the 1970s, Nairobi became the prominent centre for music in the African Great Lakes. During this period, Nairobi was established as a hub of soukous music. This genre was originally developed in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. After the political climate in the region deteriorated, many Congolese artists relocated to Nairobi. Artists such as Orchestra Super Mazembe moved from Congo to Nairobi and found great success. Virgin records became aware of the popularity of the genre and signed recording contracts with several soukous artists. More recently, Nairobi has become the centre of the Kenyan hip hop scene, with Kalamashaka, Gidi Gidi Majimaji being the pioneers of urban music in Kenya. The genre has become very popular amongst local youth, and domestic musicians have become some of the most popular in the region. Successful artists based in Nairobi include Jua Cali, Nonini, Camp Mulla, Juliani, Eric Wainaina, Suzanna Owinyo and Nameless. Popular record labels include Ogopa DJs, Grand Pa Records, Main Switch, Red Black and Green Republik, Calif Records and Bornblack Music Group. Many foreign musicians who tour Africa perform in Nairobi. Bob Marley's first-ever visit to Africa started in Nairobi. Acts that have performed in Nairobi include Lost Boyz, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy, Akon, Eve, T.O.K, Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, Alaine, Konshens, Ja Rule, and Morgan Heritage, and Cabo Snoop. Other international musicians who have performed in Nairobi include the rocking show by Don Carlos, Demarco, Busy Signal, Mr. Vegas and the Elephant man crew. Nairobi, including the coastal towns of Mombasa and Diani, have recently become the centre of EDM in Kenya, producing DJs as well as producers like Jack Rooster, Euggy, DJ Fita, Noise on Demand, DJ Vidza, DJ Coco EM. Prominent international composers and DJs have also toured in Nairobi, including Diplo, Major Lazer, Kyau & Albert, Solarity, Ronski Speed, and Boom Jinx. Many nightclubs in and around the city have witnessed a growth in the population that exclusively listen to Electronic Dance Music, especially amongst the younger generations. These youth also support many local EDM producers and DJs, such as Jahawi, Mikhail Kuzi, Barney Barrow, Jack Rooster, HennessyLive, Trancephilic5 As well as up and comers such as L.A Dave, Eric K, Raj El Rey, Tom Parker and more. Gospel music is also very popular in Nairobi just as in the rest of Kenya, with gospel artistes having a great impact in the mostly Christian city. Artistes such as Esther Wahome, Eunice Njeri, Daddy Owen, Emmy Kosgei and the late Angela Chibalonza, among others, have a great pull over the general population while others like MOG, Juliani, Ecko dyda, DK Kwenye Beat have great influence over the younger generation. Their concerts are also very popular and they have as much influence as the great secular artistes. The most popular are Groove tours, TSO (Totally Sold Out) new year concerts. Musical group Sauti Sol performed for U.S. President Barack Obama when he was in the city for the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Sport Nairobi is the African Great Lakes region's sporting centre. The premier sports facility in Nairobi and generally in Kenya is the Moi International Sports Centre in the suburb of Kasarani. The complex was completed in 1987, and was used to host the 1987 All Africa Games. The complex comprises a 60,000 seater stadium, the second largest in the African Great Lakes (after Tanzania's new national stadium), a 5,000 seater gymnasium, and a 2,000 seater aquatics centre. The Nyayo National Stadium is Nairobi's second largest stadium renowned for hosting global rugby event under the "Safaricom Sevens." Completed in 1983, the stadium has a capacity of 30,000. This stadium is primarily used for football. The facility is located close to the Central Business District, which makes it a convenient location for political gatherings. Nairobi City Stadium is the city's first stadium, and used for club football. Nairobi Gymkhana is the home of the Kenyan cricket team, and was a venue for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Notable annual events staged in Nairobi include Safari Rally , Safari Sevens rugby union tournament, and Nairobi Marathon. Football is the most popular sport in the city by viewership and participation. This is highlighted by the number of football clubs in the city, including Kenyan Premier League sides Gor Mahia, A.F.C. Leopards, Tusker and Mathare United. There are six golf courses within a 20 km radius of Nairobi. The oldest 18-hole golf course in the city is the Royal Nairobi Golf Club. It was established in 1906 by the British, just seven years after the city was founded. Other notable golf clubs include the Windsor Country Club, Karen Country Club, and Muthaiga Golf Club. The Kenya Open golf tournament, which is part of the European Tour, takes place in Nairobi. The Ngong Racecourse in Nairobi is the centre of horse racing in Kenya. Rugby is also a popular sport in Nairobi with 8 of the 12 top flight clubs based here. Basketball is also a popular sport played in the city's srimary, Secondary and college leagues. Many of the city's urban youth are basketball fans and watch the American NBA. Places of worship The places of worship are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi (Catholic Church), Anglican Church | real estate development projects Nairobi is undergoing a construction boom. Major real estate projects and skyscrapers are coming up in the city. Among them are:The pinnacle twin towers which will tower at 314 m, Britam Tower (200 m), Avic International Africa headquarters (176 m), Prism tower (140 m), Pan Africa insurance towers, Pallazzo offices, and many other projects. Shopping malls are also being constructed like the recently completed Garden city Mall, Centum's Two rivers Mall, The Hub in Karen, Karen waterfront, Thika Greens, and the recently reconstructed Westgate Mall. High-class residential apartments for living are coming up like Le Mac towers, a residential tower in Westlands Nairobi with 23 floors. Avic International is also putting up a total of four residential apartments on Waiyaki way: a 28-level tower, two 24-level towers, and a 25-level tower. Hotel towers are also being erected in the city. Avic International is putting up a 30-level hotel tower of 141 m in the Westlands. The hotel tower will be operated by Marriot group. Jabavu limited is constructing a 35 floor hotel tower in Upper Hill which will be high over 140 metres in the city skyline. Arcon Group Africa has also announced plans to erect a skyscraper in Upper hill which will have 66 floors and tower over 290 metres, further cementing Upper hill as the preferred metropolis for multinational corporations launching their operations in the Kenyan capital. Also see List of tallest buildings in Kenya Demographics Population of Nairobi between 1906 and 2019 Nairobi has experienced one of the highest growth rates of any city in Africa. Since its foundation in 1899, Nairobi has grown to become the second largest city in the African Great Lakes, despite being one of youngest cities in the region. The growth rate of Nairobi is 4.1% a year. It is estimated that Nairobi's population will reach 5 million in 2025. These data fit remarkably closely (r^2 = 0.9994) to a logistic curve with t(0) = 1900, P(0)=8500, r = 0.059 and K = 8,000,000. This suggests a 2011 growth rate of 3.5% (the CIA estimate of 4.5% cited above would have been true in 2005). According to this curve, the population of the city will be below 4 million in 2015, and will reach 5 million in 2025. Given this high population growth, owing itself both to urban migration and high birth rates, the economy has yet to catch up. Unemployment is estimated at 40% within the city, mainly in the high-density, low income areas of the city which can make them seem even denser than the higher-income neighborhoods. Parks Nairobi has numerous recreational green areas. Nairobi National Park, located in the Southern side of the city, is an important attraction. Other parks and protected forests include Uhuru Park, Central Park, John Michuki Park, Nairobi Arboretum, City Park, Uhuru Gardens, Jeevanjee Gardens, Karura Forest, Ngong forest, and Ololua forest. Culture Kenya National Theatre, and the Kenya National Archives. Art galleries in Nairobi include the Rahimtulla Museum of Modern Art (Ramoma), the Mizizi Arts Centre, and the Nairobi National Museum. There is also the Karen Blixen Museum and the Nairobi National Museum. There is Kuona Art Center for visual artists in Nairobi. By the mid twentieth century, many foreigners settled in Nairobi from other parts of the British Empire, primarily India and parts of (present-day) Pakistan. These immigrants were workers who arrived to construct the Kampala – Mombasa railway, settling in Nairobi after its completion, and also merchants from Gujarat. Nairobi also has established communities from Somalia and Sudan. Nairobi has two informal nicknames. The first is "The Green City in the Sun", which is derived from the city's foliage and warm climate. The second is the "Safari Capital of the World", which is used due to Nairobi's prominence as a hub for safari tourism. Literature and film Kwani? is Kenya's first literary journal and was established by writers living in Nairobi. Nairobi's publishing houses have also produced the works of some of Kenya's authors, including Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Meja Mwangi who were part of post-colonial writing. Many film makers also practice their craft out of Nairobi. Film-making is still young in the country, but people like producer Njeri Karago and director Judy Kibinge are paving the way for others. Perhaps the most famous book and film set in Nairobi is Out of Africa. The book was written by Karen Blixen, whose pseudonym was Isak Dinesen, and it is her account of living in Kenya. Karen Blixen lived in the Nairobi area from 1917 to 1931. The neighbourhood in which she lived, Karen, is named after her. In 1985, Out of Africa was made into a film, directed by Sydney Pollack. The film won 28 awards, including seven Academy Awards. The popularity of the film prompted the opening of Nairobi's Karen Blixen Museum. Nairobi is also the setting of many of the novels of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya's foremost writer. Nairobi has been the set of several other American and British films. The most recent of these was The Constant Gardener (2005), a large part of which was filmed in the city. The story revolves around a British diplomat in Nairobi whose wife is murdered in northern Kenya. Much of the filming was in the Kibera slum. Among the latest Kenyan actors in Hollywood who identify with Nairobi is Lupita Nyong'o. Lupita received an Oscar award for best supporting actress in her role as Patsy in the film 12 Years a Slave during the 86th Academy Awards at the Dolby theatre in Los Angeles. Lupita is the daughter of Kenyan politician Peter Anyang' Nyong'o. Most new Hollywood films are nowadays screened at Nairobi's cinemas. Up until the early 1990s, there were only a few film theatres and the repertoire was limited. There are also two drive-in cinemas in Nairobi. In 2015 and 2016, Nairobi was the focus point for the American television series Sense8 which shot its first and second seasons partly in the city. The TV series has high reviews in The Internet Movie Database (IMDB). In 2015 Nairobi was also featured in the British thriller film Eye in the Sky, which is a story about a lieutenant general and a colonel who faced political opposition after ordering a drone missile strike to take out a group of suicide bombers in Nairobi. In 2017, the name "Nairobi" was taken as a code-name by a female main character in the famous Spanish TV series Money Heist. Food In Nairobi, there are a range of restaurants. Besides being home to nyama choma which is a local term used to refer to roasted meat, there are American fast food restaurants such as KFC, Subway, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, Hardee's and Burger King, and the longer established South African chains, Galittos, Steers, PizzaMojo, and Spur Steak Ranches. Coffee houses, doubling up as restaurants and mostly frequented by the upper middle classes, such as Artcaffe Nairobi Java House and Dormans, have become increasingly popular in recent days. Traditional food joints such as the popular K'osewe's in the city centre and Amaica, which specialize in African delicacies, are also widespread. The Kenchic franchise which specialized in old-school chicken and chips meals was also popular, particularly among the lower classes and students, with restaurants all over the city and its suburbs. However, as of February 2016, Kenchic stopped operating its eatery business. Upscale restaurants often specialize in specific cuisines such as Italian, Lebanese, Ethiopian, and French, but are more likely to be found in five star hotels and the wealthier suburbs in the West and South of the city. Nairobi has an annual restaurant week (NRW) at the beginning of the year, January–February. Nairobi's restaurants offer dining packages at reduced prices. NRW is managed by Eatout Kenya which is an online platform that lists and reviews restaurants in Nairobi, and provides a platform for Kenyan foodies to congregate and share. Music Nairobi is the centre of Kenya's music scene. Benga is a Kenyan genre which was developed in Nairobi. The style is a fusion of jazz and Luo music forms. Mugithi is another popular genre in Kenya, with its origins in the central parts of the country. A majority of music videos of leading local musicians are also filmed in the city. In the 1970s, Nairobi became the prominent centre for music in the African Great Lakes. During this period, Nairobi was established as a hub of soukous music. This genre was originally developed in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. After the political climate in the region deteriorated, many Congolese artists relocated to Nairobi. Artists such as Orchestra Super Mazembe moved from Congo to Nairobi and found great success. Virgin records became aware of the popularity of the genre and signed recording contracts with several soukous artists. More recently, Nairobi has become the centre of the Kenyan hip hop scene, with Kalamashaka, Gidi Gidi Majimaji being the pioneers of urban music in Kenya. The genre has become very popular amongst local youth, and domestic musicians have become some of the most popular in the region. Successful artists based in Nairobi include Jua Cali, Nonini, Camp Mulla, Juliani, Eric Wainaina, Suzanna Owinyo and Nameless. Popular record labels include Ogopa DJs, Grand Pa Records, Main Switch, Red Black and Green Republik, Calif Records and Bornblack Music Group. Many foreign musicians who tour Africa perform in Nairobi. Bob Marley's first-ever visit to Africa started in Nairobi. Acts that have performed in Nairobi include Lost Boyz, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy, Akon, Eve, T.O.K, Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, Alaine, Konshens, Ja Rule, and Morgan Heritage, and Cabo Snoop. Other international musicians who have performed in Nairobi include the rocking show by Don Carlos, Demarco, Busy Signal, Mr. Vegas and the Elephant man crew. Nairobi, including the coastal towns of Mombasa and Diani, have recently become the centre of EDM in Kenya, producing DJs as well as producers like Jack Rooster, Euggy, DJ Fita, Noise on Demand, DJ Vidza, DJ Coco EM. Prominent international composers and DJs have also toured in Nairobi, including Diplo, Major Lazer, Kyau & Albert, Solarity, Ronski Speed, and Boom Jinx. Many nightclubs in and around the city have witnessed a growth in the population that exclusively listen to Electronic Dance Music, especially amongst the younger generations. These youth also support many local EDM producers and DJs, such as Jahawi, Mikhail Kuzi, Barney Barrow, Jack Rooster, HennessyLive, Trancephilic5 As well as up and comers such as L.A Dave, Eric K, Raj El Rey, Tom Parker and more. Gospel music is also very popular in Nairobi just as in the rest of Kenya, with gospel artistes having a great impact in the mostly Christian city. Artistes such as Esther Wahome, Eunice Njeri, Daddy Owen, Emmy Kosgei and the late Angela Chibalonza, among others, have a great pull over the general population while others like MOG, Juliani, Ecko dyda, DK Kwenye Beat have great influence over the younger generation. Their concerts are also very popular and they have as much influence as the great secular artistes. The most popular are Groove tours, TSO (Totally Sold Out) new year concerts. Musical group Sauti Sol performed for U.S. President Barack Obama when he was in the city for the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Sport Nairobi is the African Great Lakes region's sporting centre. The premier sports facility in Nairobi and generally in Kenya is the Moi International Sports Centre in the suburb of Kasarani. The complex was completed in 1987, and was used to host the 1987 All Africa Games. The complex comprises a 60,000 seater stadium, the second largest in the African Great Lakes (after Tanzania's new national stadium), a 5,000 seater gymnasium, and a 2,000 seater aquatics centre. The Nyayo National Stadium is Nairobi's second largest stadium renowned for hosting global rugby event under the "Safaricom Sevens." Completed in 1983, the stadium has a capacity of 30,000. This stadium is primarily used for football. The facility is located close to the Central Business District, which makes it a convenient location for political gatherings. Nairobi City Stadium is the city's first stadium, and used for club football. Nairobi Gymkhana is the home of the Kenyan cricket team, and was a venue for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Notable annual events staged in Nairobi include Safari Rally , Safari Sevens rugby union tournament, and Nairobi Marathon. Football is the most popular sport in the city by viewership and participation. This is highlighted by the number of football clubs in the city, including Kenyan Premier League sides Gor Mahia, A.F.C. Leopards, Tusker and Mathare United. There are six golf courses within a 20 km radius of Nairobi. The oldest 18-hole golf course in the city is the Royal Nairobi Golf Club. It was established in 1906 by the British, just seven years after the city was founded. Other notable golf clubs include the Windsor Country Club, Karen Country Club, and Muthaiga Golf Club. The Kenya Open golf tournament, which is part of the European Tour, takes place in Nairobi. The Ngong Racecourse in Nairobi is the centre of horse racing in Kenya. Rugby is also a popular sport in Nairobi with 8 of the 12 top flight clubs based here. Basketball is also a popular sport played in the city's srimary, Secondary and college leagues. Many of the city's urban youth are basketball fans and watch the American NBA. Places of worship The places of worship are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi (Catholic Church), Anglican Church of Kenya (Anglican Communion), Presbyterian Church of East Africa (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Baptist Convention of Kenya (Baptist World Alliance), and Assemblies of God. There are also Muslim mosques including Jamia Mosque. Education The majority of schools follow either the Kenyan Curriculum or the British Curriculum. There is also International School of Kenya and Rosslyn Academy, both of which follow the North American Curriculum, Swedish school in N'gong, and the German school in Gigiri. Higher education Nairobi is home to several Universities and Colleges. The University of Nairobi is the largest and oldest university in Kenya. It was established in 1956, as part of the University of East Africa, but became an independent university in 1970. The university has approximately 84,000 students. South Eastern Kenya University located in Kitui County is a fully fledged University and is the successor to the South Eastern University College (SEUCO) which was a Constituent College of the University of Nairobi. Kenyatta University is situated from Nairobi on the Nairobi road Thika dual carriageway on of land. The university was chartered in 1985, offering mainly education-related courses, but has since diversified, offering medicine, environmental studies, engineering, law, business, statistics, agriculture, and economics. It has a student body of about 32,000, the bulk of whom (17,000) are in the main (Kahawa Sukari) campus. It is one of the fastest-growing public universities. Strathmore University started in 1961 as an Advanced Level (UK) Sixth Form College offering Science and Arts subjects. The college started to admit accountancy students in March 1966, and thus became a university. In January 1993, Strathmore College merged with Kianda College and moved to Ole Sangale Road, Madaraka Estate, Nairobi. United States International University – Nairobi was originally a branch of the United States International University, but became a fully autonomous university in 2005. It was first established in 1969. The university has accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, in the US, and the Government of Kenya. It is located in a quiet west side location of Roysambu area north-central Nairobi opposite the Safari Park Hotel. In 2005, The Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi was upgraded to a health sciences teaching hospital, providing post graduate education in medicine and surgery including nursing education, henceforth renamed the Aga Khan University Hospital. The Catholic University of Eastern Africa located in Langata suburb, obtained its "Letter of Interim Authority" in 1989. Following negotiations between the Authority of the Graduate School of Theology and the Commission for Higher Education (CHIEA), the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences was established three years later, culminating in the granting of the Civil Charter to CHIEA on 3 November 1992. The Technical University of Kenya (formerly Kenya Polytechnic) is the only Technical University in the country. Established in 1961 as the Kenya Technical Institute, the university was chartered by Mwai Kibaki in 2013 to become an independent institution of higher learning (It was previously a constituent college of the University of Nairobi). It offers highly technical degree courses in three faculties: Engineering and Built Environment, Applied Sciences and Technologies, and Social Sciences and Technologies. KCA University (formerly the Kenya College of Accountancy), located in Ruaraka. The Presbyterian University of East Africa (PUEA) is also another Institution of higher learning that is located in the town. It has several campuses around the town. Pan African Christian University is located along Lumumba Drive, Roysambu. East Africa Institute of Certified Studies (well known as ICS College) is located at Stanbank House with branches in Mombasa and Kisumu. Compugoal College Pioneer International University in Ngara. Riara University on Mbagathi road. Umma University is the first Islamic Institution of higher education in Kenya. The main campus is located in Kajiado County. Other branches are located in Thika-Makongeni off Garissa road and Nairobi's Central Business District at Jamia Towers. Multimedia University of Kenya Numerous other universities have also opened satellite campuses in Nairobi. The Railways Training Institute established in 1956, is also a notable institution of higher learning with a campus in Nairobi. Infrastructure Transport Major plans are being implemented in the need to decongest the city's traffic and the completion of Thika Road has given the city a much needed face-lift attributed to road's enhancement of global standards. Several projects have been completed (Syokimau Rail Station, the Eastern and Northern Bypasses) while numerous other projects are still underway. The country's head of state announced (when he opened Syokimau Rail Service) that Kenya was collaborating with other countries in the region to develop railway infrastructure to improve regional connectivity under the ambitious LAPPSET project which is the single largest and most expensive in the continent. Kenya signed a bilateral agreement with Uganda to facilitate joint development of the Mombasa-Malaba-Kampala standard gauge railway. A branch line will also be extended to Kisumu. Similarly, Kenya signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Ethiopia for the development of Lamu-Addis Ababa standard gauge railway. Under the Lamu-South Sudan and Ethiopia Transport Corridor Project, the development of a railway component is among the priority projects. The development of these critical transport facilities will, besides reducing transport costs due to faster movement of goods and people within the region, also increase trade, improve the socio-economic welfare of Northern Kenya and boost the country's potential in attracting investments from all over the world. The first phase of the standard gauge railway project was launched on 31 May 2017 by the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta in a ceremony that saw thousands of Kenyans ride on the inaugural trip free of charge. The two passenger locomotives christened Madaraka Express operate daily trips between Nairobi and Mombasa. Airports Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the largest airport in Kenya. Domestic travelers made up 40% of overall passengers in 2016. An increase of 32% in 5 yrs since 2012. JKIA had more than 7 million passengers going through it in 2016. In February 2017, JKIA received a Category One Status from the FAA boosting the airport's status as a Regional Aviation hub. Wilson Airport is a general-aviation airport handling smaller aircraft, mostly propeller-driven. In July 2016, construction of a new air traffic control Tower commenced at a cost of KES 163 million (approximately US$1.63 million). Moi Air Base is a military airport. In its earlier years, it was utilised as a landing strip in the pre-jet airline era. It was mostly used as a British passenger and mail route from Southampton to Cape Town in the 1930s & 1940s. This route was served by flying boats between Britain and Kisumu and then by land-based aircraft on the routes to the south. Matatu Matatus are the most common form of public transport in Nairobi. Matatu, which literally translates to "three cents for a ride" (nowadays much more) are privately owned minibuses, and the most popular form of local transport. They generally seat fourteen to thirty three. Matatus operate within Nairobi, its environs and suburbs and from Nairobi to other towns around the country. The matatu's route is imprinted along a yellow stripe on the side of the bus, and matatus plying specific routes have specific route numbers. However, in November 2014 President Uhuru Kenyatta lifted the ban on the yellow stripe and allowed matatus to maintain the colourful graphics in an effort to support the youth in creating employment. Matatus in Nairobi were easily distinguishable by their extravagant paint schemes, as owners would paint their matatu with various colourful decorations, such as their favourite football team or hip hop artist. They are notorious for their poor safety records, which are a result of overcrowding and reckless driving. Due to the intense competition between matatus, many are equipped with powerful sound systems and television screens to attract more customers. However, in 2004, a law was passed requiring all matatus to include seat belts and speed governors and to be painted with a yellow stripe. At first, this caused a furore amongst Matatu operators, but they were pressured by government and the public to make the changes. Matatus are now limited to . Buses Buses are increasingly becoming common in the city with some even going to the extents of installing complimentary WiFi systems in partnership with the leading mobile service provider. There are four major bus companies operating the city routes and are the traditional Kenya Bus Service (KBS), and newer private operators Citi Hoppa, Compliant MOA and Double M. The Citi Hoppa buses are distinguishable by their green livery, the Double M buses are painted purple, Compliant MOA by their distinctively screaming names and mix of white, blue colours while the KBS buses are painted blue. Companies such as Easy Coach, Crown Bus, Coast Bus, Modern Coast, Eldoret Express, Chania, the Guardian Angel, Spanish and Mash Poa run scheduled buses and luxury coaches to other cities and towns. A Bus rapid transit will commence operating with 100 high capacity buses along Thika Road in July 2022 between Kasarani and the Kenyatta National Hospital. After the pilot, Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (Namata) will implement another 300 buses as the first phase that will expand the BRT line to run from Ruiru to Kenyatta National Hospital. A second phase will later extend the line to run between Kenol in Murang'a County to Ongata Rongai in Kajiado County. Trains Nairobi was founded as a railway town, and the main headquarters of Kenya Railways (KR) is still situated at Nairobi railway station, which is located near the city centre. The line runs through Nairobi, from Mombasa to Kampala. Its main use is freight traffic connecting Nairobi to Mombasa and Kisumu. A number of morning and evening commuter trains connect the centre with the suburbs, but the city has no proper light rail, tramway, or rapid transit lines. A proposal has been passed for the construction of a commuter rail line. The country's third president since independence, President Mwai Kibaki on Tuesday, 13 November 2012 launched the Syokimau Rail Service marking a major milestone in the history of railway development in the country. The opening of the station marked another milestone in efforts to realise various projects envisaged under the Vision 2030 Economic Blueprint. The new station has a train that ferries passengers from Syokimau to the city centre cutting travel time by half. Opening of the station marks the completion of the first phase of the Sh24b Nairobi Commuter Rail Network that is geared at easing traffic congestion in Nairobi, blamed for huge economic losses. Other modern stations include Imara Daima Railway Station and Makadara Railway Station. The new Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway connects the port city of Mombasa and Nairobi. The new railway line has virtually replaced the old metre-gauge railway. The Nairobi Terminus is located at Syokimau, some 20 km from the city centre. Passengers travelling from Mombasa are transferred the short distance into the CBD with the metre-gauge trains. Roads Nairobi is served by highways that link Mombasa to Kampala in Uganda and Arusha in Tanzania. These are earmarked to ease the daily motor traffic within and surrounding the metro area. However, driving in Nairobi is chaotic. Most of the roads are tarmacked and there are signs showing directions to certain neighbourhoods. The city is connected to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by the Mombasa Highway, which |
2n-th power of ten. Fractional numerals This is a table of English names for non-negative rational numbers less than or equal to 1. It also lists alternative names, but there is no widespread convention for the names of extremely small positive numbers. Keep in mind that rational numbers like 0.12 can be represented in infinitely many ways, e.g. zero-point-one-two (0.12), twelve percent (12%), three twenty-fifths (), nine seventy-fifths (), six fiftieths (), twelve hundredths (), twenty-four two-hundredths (), etc. Other specific quantity terms Various terms have arisen to describe commonly used measured quantities. Unit: 1 Pair: 2 (the base of the binary numeral system) Leash: 3 (the base of the trinary numeral system) Dozen: 12 (the base of the duodecimal numeral system) Baker's dozen: 13 Score: 20 (the base of the vigesimal numeral system) Shock: 60 (the base of the sexagesimal numeral system) Gross: 144 (= 122) Great gross: 1728 (= 123) Basis of counting system Not all peoples count, at least not verbally. Specifically, there is not much need for counting among hunter-gatherers who do not engage in commerce. Many languages around the world have no numerals above two to four (if they're actually numerals at all, and not some other part of speech)—or at least did not before contact with the colonial societies—and speakers of these languages may have no tradition of using the numerals they did have for counting. Indeed, several languages from the Amazon have been independently reported to have no specific number words other than 'one'. These include Nadëb, pre-contact Mocoví and Pilagá, Culina and pre-contact Jarawara, Jabutí, Canela-Krahô, Botocudo (Krenák), Chiquitano, the Campa languages, Arabela, and Achuar. Some languages of Australia, such as Warlpiri, do not have words for quantities above two, as did many Khoisan languages at the time of European contact. Such languages do not have a word class of 'numeral'. Most languages with both numerals and counting use base 8, 10, 12, or 20. Base 10 appears to come from counting one's fingers, base 20 from the fingers and toes, base 8 from counting the spaces between the fingers (attested in California), and base 12 from counting the knuckles (3 each for the four fingers). No base Many languages of Melanesia have (or once had) counting systems based on parts of the body which do not have a numeric base; there are (or were) no numerals, but rather nouns for relevant parts of the body—or simply pointing to the relevant spots—were used for quantities. For example, 1–4 may be the fingers, 5 'thumb', 6 'wrist', 7 'elbow', 8 'shoulder', etc., across the body and down the other arm, so that the opposite little finger represents a number between 17 (Torres Islands) to 23 (Eleman). For numbers beyond this, the torso, legs and toes may be used, or one might count back up the other arm and back down the first, depending on the people. 2: binary Binary systems are base 2, often using zeros and ones. With only two symbols binary is useful for logical systems like computers. 3: ternary Base 3 counting has practical usage in some analog logic, in baseball scoring and in self–similar mathematical structures. 4: quaternary Some Austronesian and Melanesian ethnic groups, some Sulawesi and some Papua New Guineans, count with the base number four, using the term asu and aso, the word for dog, as the ubiquitous village dog has four legs. This is argued by anthropologists to be also based on early humans noting the human and animal shared body feature of two arms and two legs as well as its ease in simple arithmetic and counting. As an example of the system's ease a realistic scenario could include a farmer returning from the market with fifty asu heads of pig (200), less 30 asu (120) of pig bartered for 10 asu (40) of goats noting his new pig count total as twenty asu: 80 pigs remaining. The system has a correlation to the dozen counting system and is still in common use in these areas as a natural and easy method of simple arithmetic. 5: quinary Quinary systems are based on the number 5. It is almost certain the quinary system developed from counting by fingers (five fingers per hand). An example are the Epi languages of Vanuatu, where 5 is luna 'hand', 10 lua-luna 'two hand', 15 tolu-luna 'three hand', etc. 11 is then lua-luna tai 'two-hand one', and 17 tolu-luna lua 'three-hand two'. 5 is a common auxiliary base, or sub-base, where 6 is 'five and one', 7 'five and two', etc. Aztec was a vigesimal (base-20) system with sub-base 5. 6: senary The Morehead-Maro languages of Southern New Guinea are examples of the rare base 6 system with monomorphemic words running up to 66. Examples are Kanum and Kómnzo. The Sko languages on the North Coast of New Guinea follow a base-24 system with a sub-base of 6. 7: septenary Septenary systems are very rare, | However, by now most such languages have borrowed the numeral system or part of the numeral system of a national or colonial language, though in a few cases (such as Guarani), a numeral system has been invented internally rather than borrowed. Other languages had an indigenous system but borrowed a second set of numerals anyway. An example is Japanese, which uses either native or Chinese-derived numerals depending on what is being counted. In many languages, such as Chinese, numerals require the use of numeral classifiers. Many sign languages, such as ASL, incorporate numerals. Larger numerals English has derived numerals for multiples of its base (fifty, sixty, etc.), and some languages have simplex numerals for these, or even for numbers between the multiples of its base. Balinese, for example, currently has a decimal system, with words for 10, 100, and 1000, but has additional simplex numerals for 25 (with a second word for 25 only found in a compound for 75), 35, 45, 50, 150, 175, 200 (with a second found in a compound for 1200), 400, 900, and 1600. In Hindustani, the numerals between 10 and 100 have developed to the extent that they need to be learned independently. In many languages, numerals up to the base are a distinct part of speech, while the words for powers of the base belong to one of the other word classes. In English, these higher words are hundred 102, thousand 103, million 106, and higher powers of a thousand (short scale) or of a million (long scale—see names of large numbers). These words cannot modify a noun without being preceded by an article or numeral (*hundred dogs played in the park), and so are nouns. In East Asia, the higher units are hundred, thousand, myriad 104, and powers of myriad. In India, they are hundred, thousand, lakh 105, crore 107, and so on. The Mesoamerican system, still used to some extent in Mayan languages, was based on powers of 20: bak’ 400 (202), pik 8000 (203), kalab 160,000 (204), etc. Numerals of cardinal numbers The cardinal numbers have numerals. In the following tables, [and] indicates that the word and is used in some dialects (such as British English), and omitted in other dialects (such as American English). This table demonstrates the standard English construction of some cardinal numbers. (See next table for names of larger cardinals.) English names for powers of 10 This table compares the English names of cardinal numbers according to various American, British, and Continental European conventions. See English numerals or names of large numbers for more information on naming numbers. There is no consistent and widely accepted way to extend cardinals beyond centillion (centilliard). Myriad, Octad, and -yllion systems The following table details the myriad, octad, Chinese myriad, Chinese long and -yllion names for powers of 10. There is also a Knuth-proposed system notation of numbers, named the -yllion system. In this system, a new word is invented for every 2n-th power of ten. Fractional numerals This is a table of English names for non-negative rational numbers less than or equal to 1. It also lists alternative names, but there is no widespread convention for the names of extremely small positive numbers. Keep in mind that rational numbers like 0.12 can be represented in infinitely many ways, e.g. zero-point-one-two (0.12), twelve percent (12%), three twenty-fifths (), nine seventy-fifths (), six fiftieths (), twelve hundredths (), twenty-four two-hundredths (), etc. Other specific quantity terms Various terms have arisen to describe commonly used measured quantities. Unit: 1 Pair: 2 (the base of the binary numeral system) Leash: 3 (the base of the trinary numeral system) Dozen: 12 (the base of the duodecimal numeral system) Baker's dozen: 13 Score: 20 (the base of the vigesimal numeral system) Shock: 60 (the base of the sexagesimal numeral system) Gross: 144 (= 122) Great gross: 1728 (= 123) Basis of counting system Not all peoples count, at least not verbally. Specifically, there is not much need for counting among hunter-gatherers who do not engage in commerce. Many languages around the world have no numerals above two to four (if they're actually numerals at all, and not some other part of speech)—or at least did not before contact with the colonial societies—and speakers of these languages may have no tradition of using the numerals they did have for counting. Indeed, several languages from the Amazon have been independently reported to have no specific number words other than 'one'. These include Nadëb, pre-contact Mocoví and Pilagá, Culina and pre-contact Jarawara, Jabutí, Canela-Krahô, Botocudo (Krenák), Chiquitano, the Campa languages, Arabela, and Achuar. Some languages of Australia, such as Warlpiri, do not have words for quantities above two, as did many Khoisan languages at the time of European contact. Such languages do not have a word class of 'numeral'. Most languages with both numerals and counting use base 8, 10, 12, or 20. Base 10 appears to come from counting one's fingers, base 20 from the fingers and toes, base 8 from counting the spaces between the fingers (attested in California), and base 12 from counting the knuckles (3 each for the four fingers). No base Many languages of Melanesia have (or once had) counting systems based on parts of the body which do not have a numeric base; there are (or were) no numerals, but rather nouns for relevant parts of the body—or simply pointing to the relevant spots—were used for quantities. For example, 1–4 may be the fingers, 5 'thumb', 6 'wrist', 7 'elbow', 8 'shoulder', etc., across the body and down the other arm, so that the opposite little finger represents a number between 17 (Torres Islands) to 23 (Eleman). For numbers beyond this, the torso, legs and toes may be used, or one might count back up the other arm and back down the first, depending on the people. 2: binary Binary systems are base 2, often using zeros and ones. With only two symbols binary is useful for logical systems like computers. 3: ternary Base 3 counting has practical usage in some analog logic, in baseball scoring and in self–similar mathematical structures. 4: quaternary Some Austronesian and Melanesian ethnic groups, some Sulawesi and some Papua New Guineans, count with the base number four, using the term asu and aso, the word for dog, as the ubiquitous village dog has four legs. This is argued by anthropologists to be also based on early humans noting the |
Dirac particles. It is possible to test this property experimentally. For example, if neutrinos are indeed Majorana particles, then lepton-number violating processes such as neutrinoless double beta decay would be allowed, while they would not if neutrinos are Dirac particles. Several experiments have been and are being conducted to search for this process, e.g. GERDA, EXO, SNO+, and CUORE. The cosmic neutrino background is also a probe of whether neutrinos are Majorana particles, since there should be a different number of cosmic neutrinos detected in either the Dirac or Majorana case. Nuclear reactions Neutrinos can interact with a nucleus, changing it to another nucleus. This process is used in radiochemical neutrino detectors. In this case, the energy levels and spin states within the target nucleus have to be taken into account to estimate the probability for an interaction. In general the interaction probability increases with the number of neutrons and protons within a nucleus. It is very hard to uniquely identify neutrino interactions among the natural background of radioactivity. For this reason, in early experiments a special reaction channel was chosen to facilitate the identification: the interaction of an antineutrino with one of the hydrogen nuclei in the water molecules. A hydrogen nucleus is a single proton, so simultaneous nuclear interactions, which would occur within a heavier nucleus, don't need to be considered for the detection experiment. Within a cubic metre of water placed right outside a nuclear reactor, only relatively few such interactions can be recorded, but the setup is now used for measuring the reactor's plutonium production rate. Induced fission Very much like neutrons do in nuclear reactors, neutrinos can induce fission reactions within heavy nuclei. So far, this reaction has not been measured in a laboratory, but is predicted to happen within stars and supernovae. The process affects the abundance of isotopes seen in the universe. Neutrino fission of deuterium nuclei has been observed in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, which uses a heavy water detector. Types There are three known types (flavors) of neutrinos: electron neutrino , muon neutrino , and tau neutrino , named after their partner leptons in the Standard Model (see table at right). The current best measurement of the number of neutrino types comes from observing the decay of the boson. This particle can decay into any light neutrino and its antineutrino, and the more available types of light neutrinos, the shorter the lifetime of the boson. Measurements of the lifetime have shown that three light neutrino flavors couple to the . The correspondence between the six quarks in the Standard Model and the six leptons, among them the three neutrinos, suggests to physicists' intuition that there should be exactly three types of neutrino. Research There are several active research areas involving the neutrino. Some are concerned with testing predictions of neutrino behavior. Other research is focused on measurement of unknown properties of neutrinos; there is special interest in experiments that determine their masses and rates of CP violation, which cannot be predicted from current theory. Detectors near artificial neutrino sources International scientific collaborations install large neutrino detectors near nuclear reactors or in neutrino beams from particle accelerators to better constrain the neutrino masses and the values for the magnitude and rates of oscillations between neutrino flavors. These experiments are thereby searching for the existence of CP violation in the neutrino sector; that is, whether or not the laws of physics treat neutrinos and antineutrinos differently. The KATRIN experiment in Germany began to acquire data in June 2018 to determine the value of the mass of the electron neutrino, with other approaches to this problem in the planning stages. Gravitational effects Despite their tiny masses, neutrinos are so numerous that their gravitational force can influence other matter in the universe. The three known neutrino flavors are the only established elementary particle candidates for dark matter, specifically hot dark matter, although the conventional neutrinos seem to be essentially ruled out as substantial proportion of dark matter based on observations of the cosmic microwave background. It still seems plausible that heavier, sterile neutrinos might compose warm dark matter, if they exist. Sterile neutrino searches Other efforts search for evidence of a sterile neutrino – a fourth neutrino flavor that does not interact with matter like the three known neutrino flavors. The possibility of sterile neutrinos is unaffected by the Z boson decay measurements described above: If their mass is greater than half the Z boson's mass, they could not be a decay product. Therefore, heavy sterile neutrinos would have a mass of at least 45.6 GeV. The existence of such particles is in fact hinted by experimental data from the LSND experiment. On the other hand, the currently running MiniBooNE experiment suggested that sterile neutrinos are not required to explain the experimental data, although the latest research into this area is on-going and anomalies in the MiniBooNE data may allow for exotic neutrino types, including sterile neutrinos. A recent re-analysis of reference electron spectra data from the Institut Laue-Langevin has also hinted at a fourth, sterile neutrino. According to an analysis published in 2010, data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe of the cosmic background radiation is compatible with either three or four types of neutrinos. Neutrinoless double-beta decay searches Another hypothesis concerns "neutrinoless double-beta decay", which, if it exists, would violate lepton number conservation. Searches for this mechanism are underway but have not yet found evidence for it. If they were to, then what are now called antineutrinos could not be true antiparticles. Cosmic ray neutrinos Cosmic ray neutrino experiments detect neutrinos from space to study both the nature of neutrinos and the cosmic sources producing them. Speed Before neutrinos were found to oscillate, they were generally assumed to be massless, propagating at the speed of light (). According to the theory of special relativity, the question of neutrino velocity is closely related to their mass: If neutrinos are massless, they must travel at the speed of light, and if they have mass they cannot reach the speed of light. Due to their tiny mass, the predicted speed is extremely close to the speed of light in all experiments, and current detectors are not sensitive to the expected difference. Also, there are some Lorentz-violating variants of quantum gravity which might allow faster-than-light neutrinos. A comprehensive framework for Lorentz violations is the Standard-Model Extension (SME). The first measurements of neutrino speed were made in the early 1980s using pulsed pion beams (produced by pulsed proton beams hitting a target). The pions decayed producing neutrinos, and the neutrino interactions observed within a time window in a detector at a distance were consistent with the speed of light. This measurement was repeated in 2007 using the MINOS detectors, which found the speed of neutrinos to be, at the 99% confidence level, in the range between and . The central value of is higher than the speed of light but, with uncertainty taken into account, is also consistent with a velocity of exactly or slightly less. This measurement set an upper bound on the mass of the muon neutrino at with 99% confidence. After the detectors for the project were upgraded in 2012, MINOS refined their initial result and found agreement with the speed of light, with the difference in the arrival time of neutrinos and light of −0.0006% (±0.0012%). A similar observation was made, on a much larger scale, with supernova 1987A (SN 1987A). Antineutrinos with an energy of 10 MeV from the supernova were detected within a time window that was consistent with the speed of light for the neutrinos. So far, all measurements of neutrino speed have been consistent with the speed of light. Superluminal neutrino glitch In September 2011, the OPERA collaboration released calculations showing velocities of 17 GeV and 28 GeV neutrinos exceeding the speed of light in their experiments. In November 2011, OPERA repeated its experiment with changes so that the speed could be determined individually for each detected neutrino. The results showed the same faster-than-light speed. In February 2012, reports came out that the results may have been caused by a loose fiber optic cable attached to one of the atomic clocks which measured the departure and arrival times of the neutrinos. An independent recreation of the experiment in the same laboratory by ICARUS found no discernible difference between the speed of a neutrino and the speed of light. In June 2012, CERN announced that new measurements conducted by all four Gran Sasso experiments (OPERA, ICARUS, Borexino and LVD) found agreement between the speed of light and the speed of neutrinos, finally refuting the initial OPERA claim. Mass The Standard Model of particle physics assumed that neutrinos are massless. The experimentally established phenomenon of neutrino oscillation, which mixes neutrino flavour states with neutrino mass states (analogously to CKM mixing), requires neutrinos to have nonzero masses. Massive neutrinos were originally conceived by Bruno Pontecorvo in the 1950s. Enhancing the basic framework to accommodate their mass is straightforward by adding a right-handed Lagrangian. Providing for neutrino mass can be done in two ways, and some proposals use both: If, like other fundamental Standard Model particles, mass is generated by the Dirac mechanism, then the framework would require an SU(2) singlet. This particle would have the Yukawa interactions with the neutral component of the Higgs doublet, but otherwise would have no interactions with Standard Model particles, so is called a "sterile" neutrino. Or, mass can be generated by the Majorana mechanism, which would require the neutrino and antineutrino to be the same particle. The strongest upper limit on the masses of neutrinos comes from cosmology: the Big Bang model predicts that there is a fixed ratio between the number of neutrinos and the number of photons in the cosmic microwave background. If the total energy of all three types of neutrinos exceeded an average of per neutrino, there would be so much mass in the universe that it would collapse. This limit can be circumvented by assuming that the neutrino is unstable, but there are limits within the Standard Model that make this difficult. A much more stringent constraint comes from a careful analysis of cosmological data, such as the cosmic microwave background radiation, galaxy surveys, and the Lyman-alpha forest. These indicate that the summed masses of the three neutrinos must be less than . The Nobel prize in Physics 2015 was awarded to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald for their experimental discovery of neutrino oscillations, which demonstrates that neutrinos have mass. In 1998, research results at the Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector determined that neutrinos can oscillate from one flavor to another, which requires that they must have a nonzero mass. While this shows that neutrinos have mass, the absolute neutrino mass scale is still not known. This is because neutrino oscillations are sensitive only to the difference in the squares of the masses. As of 2020, the best-fit value of the difference of the squares of the masses of mass eigenstates 1 and 2 is , while for eigenstates 2 and 3 it is . Since is the difference of two squared masses, at least one of them must have a value which is at least the square root of this value. Thus, there exists at least one neutrino mass eigenstate with a mass of at least . In 2009, lensing data of a galaxy cluster were analyzed to predict a neutrino mass of about . This surprisingly high value requires that the three neutrino masses be nearly equal, with neutrino oscillations on the order of milli-electron-volts. In 2016 this was updated to a mass of . It predicts 3 sterile neutrinos of the same mass, stems with the Planck dark matter fraction and the non-observation of neutrinoless double beta decay. The masses lie below the Mainz-Troitsk upper bound of for the electron antineutrino. The latter is being tested since June 2018 in the KATRIN experiment, that searches for a mass between and . A number of efforts are under way to directly determine the absolute neutrino mass scale in laboratory experiments. The methods applied involve nuclear beta decay (KATRIN and MARE). The February 2022 upper limit is mν < 0.8 eV c–2 at 90% CL in combination with a previous campaign by KATRIN from 2019. On 31 May 2010, OPERA researchers observed the first tau neutrino candidate event in a muon neutrino beam, the first time this transformation in neutrinos had been observed, providing further evidence that they have mass. The strongest general bounds on the neutrino mass currently come from cosmology. In 2018 the Planck collaboration published an upper limit of , which was derived by combining their CMB total intensity, polarization and gravitational lensing observations with Baryon-Acoustic oscillation measurements from galaxy surveys and supernova measurements from Pantheon.. A 2021 reanalysis that adds redshift space distortion measurements from the SDSS-IV eBOSS survey gets an even tighter upper limit of .. However, several ground-based telescopes with similarly sized error bars as Planck prefer higher values for the neutrino mass sum, indicating some tension in the data sets.. If the neutrino is a Majorana particle, the mass may be calculated by finding the half-life of neutrinoless double-beta decay of certain nuclei. The current lowest upper limit on the Majorana mass of the neutrino has been set by KamLAND-Zen: 0.060–0.161 eV. Size Since the neutrino is an elementary particle it does not have a size in the same sense as everyday objects: Like all other Standard Model fundamental particles, neutrinos are point-like, with neither width nor volume. Consequences of having a conventional "size" are absent: There is no minimum distance between them, and neutrinos cannot be condensed into a separate uniform substance that occupies a finite volume. In one sense, particles with mass have a wavelength (the Compton wavelength) which is useful for estimating their cross-sections for collisions. The smaller a particle's mass, the larger its Compton wavelength. Based on the upper limit of given above, the "matter wave" of a neutrino would be on the order of at least or longer, comparable to the wavelengths of ultraviolet light at the shortest UV wavelength(s) (UVC). This extremely long wavelength (for a particle with mass) leads physicists to suspect that even though neutrinos follow Fermi statistics, that their behavior may be much like a wave, making them seem Bosonic, and thus placing them near the border between particles (fermions) and waves (bosons). Chirality Experimental results show that within the margin of error, all produced and observed neutrinos have left-handed helicities (spins antiparallel to momenta), and all antineutrinos have right-handed helicities. In the massless limit, that means that only one of two possible chiralities is observed for either particle. These are the only chiralities included in the Standard Model of particle interactions. It is possible that their counterparts (right-handed neutrinos and left-handed antineutrinos) simply do not exist. If they do exist, their properties are substantially different from observable neutrinos and antineutrinos. It is theorized that they are either very heavy (on the order of GUT scale—see Seesaw mechanism), do not participate in weak interaction (so-called sterile neutrinos), or both. The existence of nonzero neutrino masses somewhat complicates the situation. Neutrinos are produced in weak interactions as chirality eigenstates. Chirality of a massive particle is not a constant of motion; helicity is, but the chirality operator does not share eigenstates with the helicity operator. Free neutrinos propagate as mixtures of left- and right-handed helicity states, with mixing amplitudes on the order of . This does not significantly affect the experiments, because neutrinos involved are nearly always ultrarelativistic, and thus mixing amplitudes are vanishingly small. Effectively, they travel so quickly and time passes so slowly in their rest-frames that they do not have enough time to change over any observable path. For example, most solar neutrinos have energies on the order of –, so the fraction of neutrinos with "wrong" helicity among them cannot exceed . GSI anomaly An unexpected series of experimental results for the rate of decay of heavy highly charged radioactive ions circulating in a storage ring has provoked theoretical activity in an effort to find a convincing explanation. The observed phenomenon is known as the GSI anomaly, as the storage ring is a facility at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt Germany. The rates of weak decay of two radioactive species with half lives of about 40 seconds and 200 seconds were found to have a significant oscillatory modulation, with a period of about 7 seconds. As the decay process produces an electron neutrino, some of the suggested explanations for the observed oscillation rate propose new or altered neutrino properties. Ideas related to flavour oscillation met with skepticism. A later proposal is based on differences between neutrino mass eigenstates. Sources Artificial Reactor neutrinos Nuclear reactors are the major source of human-generated neutrinos. The | neutrinos can oscillate from one flavor to another, which requires that they must have a nonzero mass. While this shows that neutrinos have mass, the absolute neutrino mass scale is still not known. This is because neutrino oscillations are sensitive only to the difference in the squares of the masses. As of 2020, the best-fit value of the difference of the squares of the masses of mass eigenstates 1 and 2 is , while for eigenstates 2 and 3 it is . Since is the difference of two squared masses, at least one of them must have a value which is at least the square root of this value. Thus, there exists at least one neutrino mass eigenstate with a mass of at least . In 2009, lensing data of a galaxy cluster were analyzed to predict a neutrino mass of about . This surprisingly high value requires that the three neutrino masses be nearly equal, with neutrino oscillations on the order of milli-electron-volts. In 2016 this was updated to a mass of . It predicts 3 sterile neutrinos of the same mass, stems with the Planck dark matter fraction and the non-observation of neutrinoless double beta decay. The masses lie below the Mainz-Troitsk upper bound of for the electron antineutrino. The latter is being tested since June 2018 in the KATRIN experiment, that searches for a mass between and . A number of efforts are under way to directly determine the absolute neutrino mass scale in laboratory experiments. The methods applied involve nuclear beta decay (KATRIN and MARE). The February 2022 upper limit is mν < 0.8 eV c–2 at 90% CL in combination with a previous campaign by KATRIN from 2019. On 31 May 2010, OPERA researchers observed the first tau neutrino candidate event in a muon neutrino beam, the first time this transformation in neutrinos had been observed, providing further evidence that they have mass. The strongest general bounds on the neutrino mass currently come from cosmology. In 2018 the Planck collaboration published an upper limit of , which was derived by combining their CMB total intensity, polarization and gravitational lensing observations with Baryon-Acoustic oscillation measurements from galaxy surveys and supernova measurements from Pantheon.. A 2021 reanalysis that adds redshift space distortion measurements from the SDSS-IV eBOSS survey gets an even tighter upper limit of .. However, several ground-based telescopes with similarly sized error bars as Planck prefer higher values for the neutrino mass sum, indicating some tension in the data sets.. If the neutrino is a Majorana particle, the mass may be calculated by finding the half-life of neutrinoless double-beta decay of certain nuclei. The current lowest upper limit on the Majorana mass of the neutrino has been set by KamLAND-Zen: 0.060–0.161 eV. Size Since the neutrino is an elementary particle it does not have a size in the same sense as everyday objects: Like all other Standard Model fundamental particles, neutrinos are point-like, with neither width nor volume. Consequences of having a conventional "size" are absent: There is no minimum distance between them, and neutrinos cannot be condensed into a separate uniform substance that occupies a finite volume. In one sense, particles with mass have a wavelength (the Compton wavelength) which is useful for estimating their cross-sections for collisions. The smaller a particle's mass, the larger its Compton wavelength. Based on the upper limit of given above, the "matter wave" of a neutrino would be on the order of at least or longer, comparable to the wavelengths of ultraviolet light at the shortest UV wavelength(s) (UVC). This extremely long wavelength (for a particle with mass) leads physicists to suspect that even though neutrinos follow Fermi statistics, that their behavior may be much like a wave, making them seem Bosonic, and thus placing them near the border between particles (fermions) and waves (bosons). Chirality Experimental results show that within the margin of error, all produced and observed neutrinos have left-handed helicities (spins antiparallel to momenta), and all antineutrinos have right-handed helicities. In the massless limit, that means that only one of two possible chiralities is observed for either particle. These are the only chiralities included in the Standard Model of particle interactions. It is possible that their counterparts (right-handed neutrinos and left-handed antineutrinos) simply do not exist. If they do exist, their properties are substantially different from observable neutrinos and antineutrinos. It is theorized that they are either very heavy (on the order of GUT scale—see Seesaw mechanism), do not participate in weak interaction (so-called sterile neutrinos), or both. The existence of nonzero neutrino masses somewhat complicates the situation. Neutrinos are produced in weak interactions as chirality eigenstates. Chirality of a massive particle is not a constant of motion; helicity is, but the chirality operator does not share eigenstates with the helicity operator. Free neutrinos propagate as mixtures of left- and right-handed helicity states, with mixing amplitudes on the order of . This does not significantly affect the experiments, because neutrinos involved are nearly always ultrarelativistic, and thus mixing amplitudes are vanishingly small. Effectively, they travel so quickly and time passes so slowly in their rest-frames that they do not have enough time to change over any observable path. For example, most solar neutrinos have energies on the order of –, so the fraction of neutrinos with "wrong" helicity among them cannot exceed . GSI anomaly An unexpected series of experimental results for the rate of decay of heavy highly charged radioactive ions circulating in a storage ring has provoked theoretical activity in an effort to find a convincing explanation. The observed phenomenon is known as the GSI anomaly, as the storage ring is a facility at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt Germany. The rates of weak decay of two radioactive species with half lives of about 40 seconds and 200 seconds were found to have a significant oscillatory modulation, with a period of about 7 seconds. As the decay process produces an electron neutrino, some of the suggested explanations for the observed oscillation rate propose new or altered neutrino properties. Ideas related to flavour oscillation met with skepticism. A later proposal is based on differences between neutrino mass eigenstates. Sources Artificial Reactor neutrinos Nuclear reactors are the major source of human-generated neutrinos. The majority of energy in a nuclear reactor is generated by fission (the four main fissile isotopes in nuclear reactors are , , and ), the resultant neutron-rich daughter nuclides rapidly undergo additional beta decays, each converting one neutron to a proton and an electron and releasing an electron antineutrino Including these subsequent decays, the average nuclear fission releases about of energy, of which roughly 95.5% remains in the core as heat, and roughly 4.5% (or about ) is radiated away as antineutrinos. For a typical nuclear reactor with a thermal power of , the total power production from fissioning atoms is actually , of which is radiated away as antineutrino radiation and never appears in the engineering. This is to say, of fission energy is lost from this reactor and does not appear as heat available to run turbines, since antineutrinos penetrate all building materials practically without interaction. The antineutrino energy spectrum depends on the degree to which the fuel is burned (plutonium-239 fission antineutrinos on average have slightly more energy than those from uranium-235 fission), but in general, the detectable antineutrinos from fission have a peak energy between about 3.5 and , with a maximum energy of about . There is no established experimental method to measure the flux of low-energy antineutrinos. Only antineutrinos with an energy above threshold of can trigger inverse beta decay and thus be unambiguously identified (see below). An estimated 3% of all antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor carry an energy above that threshold. Thus, an average nuclear power plant may generate over antineutrinos per second above the threshold, but also a much larger number ( this number) below the energy threshold; these lower-energy antineutrinos are invisible to present detector technology. Accelerator neutrinos Some particle accelerators have been used to make neutrino beams. The technique is to collide protons with a fixed target, producing charged pions or kaons. These unstable particles are then magnetically focused into a long tunnel where they decay while in flight. Because of the relativistic boost of the decaying particle, the neutrinos are produced as a beam rather than isotropically. Efforts to design an accelerator facility where neutrinos are produced through muon decays are ongoing. Such a setup is generally known as a "neutrino factory". Nuclear weapons Nuclear weapons also produce very large quantities of neutrinos. Fred Reines and Clyde Cowan considered the detection of neutrinos from a bomb prior to their search for reactor neutrinos; a fission reactor was recommended as a better alternative by Los Alamos physics division leader J.M.B. Kellogg. Fission weapons produce antineutrinos (from the fission process), and fusion weapons produce both neutrinos (from the fusion process) and antineutrinos (from the initiating fission explosion). Geologic Neutrinos are produced together with the natural background radiation. In particular, the decay chains of and isotopes, as well as, include beta decays which emit antineutrinos. These so-called geoneutrinos can provide valuable information on the Earth's interior. A first indication for geoneutrinos was found by the KamLAND experiment in 2005, updated results have been presented by KamLAND, and Borexino. The main background in the geoneutrino measurements are the antineutrinos coming from reactors. Atmospheric Atmospheric neutrinos result from the interaction of cosmic rays with atomic nuclei in the Earth's atmosphere, creating showers of particles, many of which are unstable and produce neutrinos when they decay. A collaboration of particle physicists from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (India), Osaka City University (Japan) and Durham University (UK) recorded the first cosmic ray neutrino interaction in an underground laboratory in Kolar Gold Fields in India in 1965. Solar Solar neutrinos originate from the nuclear fusion powering the Sun and other stars. The details of the operation of the Sun are explained by the Standard Solar Model. In short: when four protons fuse to become one helium nucleus, two of them have to convert into neutrons, and each such conversion releases one electron neutrino. The Sun sends enormous numbers of neutrinos in all directions. Each second, about 65 billion () solar neutrinos pass through every square centimeter on the part of the Earth orthogonal to the direction of the Sun. Since neutrinos are insignificantly absorbed by the mass of the Earth, the surface area on the side of the Earth opposite the Sun receives about the same number of neutrinos as the side facing the Sun. Supernovae Colgate & White (1966) calculated that neutrinos carry away most of the gravitational energy released during the collapse of massive stars, events now categorized as Type Ib and Ic and Type II supernovae. When such stars collapse, matter densities at the core become so high () that the degeneracy of electrons is not enough to prevent protons and electrons from combining to form a neutron and an electron neutrino. Mann (1997) found a second and more profuse neutrino source is the thermal energy (100 billion kelvins) of the newly formed neutron core, which is dissipated via the formation of neutrino–antineutrino pairs of all flavors. Colgate and White's theory of supernova neutrino production was confirmed in 1987, when neutrinos from Supernova 1987A were detected. The water-based detectors Kamiokande II and IMB detected 11 and 8 antineutrinos (lepton number = −1) of thermal origin, respectively, while the scintillator-based Baksan detector found 5 neutrinos (lepton number = +1) of either thermal or electron-capture origin, in a burst less than 13 seconds long. The neutrino signal from the supernova arrived at Earth several hours before the arrival of the first electromagnetic radiation, as expected from the evident fact that the latter emerges along with the shock wave. The exceptionally feeble interaction with normal matter allowed the neutrinos to pass through the churning mass of the exploding star, while the electromagnetic photons were slowed. Because neutrinos interact so little with matter, it is thought that a supernova's neutrino emissions carry information about the innermost regions of the explosion. Much of the visible light comes from the decay of radioactive elements produced by the supernova shock wave, and even light from the explosion itself is scattered by dense and turbulent gases, and thus delayed. The neutrino burst is expected to reach Earth before any electromagnetic waves, including visible light, gamma rays, or radio waves. The exact time delay of the electromagnetic waves' arrivals depends on the velocity of the shock wave and on the thickness of the outer layer of the star. For a Type II supernova, astronomers expect the neutrino flood to be released seconds after the stellar core collapse, while the first electromagnetic signal may emerge hours later, after the explosion shock wave has had time to reach the surface of the star. The Supernova Early Warning System project uses a network of neutrino detectors to monitor the sky for candidate supernova events; the neutrino signal will provide a useful advance warning of a star exploding in the Milky Way. Although neutrinos pass through the outer gases of a supernova without scattering, they provide information about the deeper supernova core with evidence that here, even neutrinos scatter to a significant extent. In a supernova core the densities are those of a neutron star (which is expected to be formed in this type of supernova), becoming large enough to influence the duration of the neutrino signal by delaying some neutrinos. The 13 second-long neutrino signal from SN 1987A lasted far longer than it would take for unimpeded neutrinos to cross through the neutrino-generating core of a supernova, expected to be only 3200 kilometers in diameter for SN 1987A. The number of neutrinos counted was also consistent with a total neutrino energy of , which was estimated to be nearly all of the total energy of the supernova. For an average supernova, approximately 1057 (an octodecillion) neutrinos are released, but the actual number detected at a terrestrial detector will be far smaller, at the level of where is the mass of the detector (with e.g. Super Kamiokande having a mass of 50 kton) and is the distance to the supernova. Hence in practice it will only be possible to detect neutrino bursts from supernovae within or nearby the Milky Way (our own galaxy). In addition to the detection of neutrinos from individual supernovae, it should also be possible to detect the diffuse supernova neutrino background, which originates from all supernovae in the Universe. Supernova remnants The energy of supernova neutrinos ranges from a few to several tens of MeV. The sites where cosmic rays are accelerated are expected to produce neutrinos that are at least one million times more energetic, produced from turbulent gaseous environments left over by supernova explosions: Supernova remnants. The origin of the cosmic rays was attributed to supernovas by Baade and Zwicky; this hypothesis was refined by Ginzburg and Syrovatsky who attributed the origin to supernova remnants, and supported their claim by the crucial remark, that the cosmic ray losses of the Milky Way is compensated, if the efficiency of acceleration in supernova remnants is about 10 percent. Ginzburg and Syrovatskii's hypothesis is supported by the specific mechanism of "shock wave acceleration" happening in supernova remnants, which is consistent with the original theoretical picture drawn by Enrico Fermi, and is receiving support from observational data. The very high-energy neutrinos are still to be seen, but this branch of neutrino astronomy is just in its infancy. The main existing or forthcoming experiments that aim at observing very-high-energy neutrinos from our galaxy are Baikal, AMANDA, IceCube, ANTARES, NEMO and Nestor. Related information is provided by very-high-energy gamma ray observatories, such as VERITAS, HESS and MAGIC. Indeed, the collisions of |
drew additional wide-scale attention to the prospects of atomic control of matter. In the 1980s, two major breakthroughs sparked the growth of nanotechnology in the modern era. First, the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1981 which provided unprecedented visualization of individual atoms and bonds, and was successfully used to manipulate individual atoms in 1989. The microscope's developers Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer at IBM Zurich Research Laboratory received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. Binnig, Quate and Gerber also invented the analogous atomic force microscope that year. Second, fullerenes were discovered in 1985 by Harry Kroto, Richard Smalley, and Robert Curl, who together won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. C60 was not initially described as nanotechnology; the term was used regarding subsequent work with related carbon nanotubes (sometimes called graphene tubes or Bucky tubes) which suggested potential applications for nanoscale electronics and devices. The discovery of carbon nanotubes is largely attributed to Sumio Iijima of NEC in 1991, for which Iijima won the inaugural 2008 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience. A nanolayer-base metal–semiconductor junction (M–S junction) transistor was initially proposed by A. Rose in 1960, and fabricated by L. Geppert, Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng in 1962. Decades later, advances in multi-gate technology enabled the scaling of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) devices down to nano-scale levels smaller than 20 nm gate length, starting with the FinFET (fin field-effect transistor), a three-dimensional, non-planar, double-gate MOSFET. At UC Berkeley, a team of researchers including Digh Hisamoto, Chenming Hu, Tsu-Jae King Liu, Jeffrey Bokor and others fabricated FinFET devices down to a 17nm process in 1998, then 15nm in 2001, and then 10nm in 2002. In the early 2000s, the field garnered increased scientific, political, and commercial attention that led to both controversy and progress. Controversies emerged regarding the definitions and potential implications of nanotechnologies, exemplified by the Royal Society's report on nanotechnology. Challenges were raised regarding the feasibility of applications envisioned by advocates of molecular nanotechnology, which culminated in a public debate between Drexler and Smalley in 2001 and 2003. Meanwhile, commercialization of products based on advancements in nanoscale technologies began emerging. These products are limited to bulk applications of nanomaterials and do not involve atomic control of matter. Some examples include the Silver Nano platform for using silver nanoparticles as an antibacterial agent, nanoparticle-based transparent sunscreens, carbon fiber strengthening using silica nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes for stain-resistant textiles. Governments moved to promote and fund research into nanotechnology, such as in the U.S. with the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which formalized a size-based definition of nanotechnology and established funding for research on the nanoscale, and in Europe via the European Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. By the mid-2000s new and serious scientific attention began to flourish. Projects emerged to produce nanotechnology roadmaps which center on atomically precise manipulation of matter and discuss existing and projected capabilities, goals, and applications. In 2006, a team of Korean researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the National Nano Fab Center developed a 3 nm MOSFET, the world's smallest nanoelectronic device. It was based on gate-all-around (GAA) FinFET technology. Over sixty countries created nanotechnology research and development (R&D) government programs between 2001 and 2004. Government funding was exceeded by corporate spending on nanotechnology R&D, with most of the funding coming from corporations based in the United States, Japan and Germany. The top five organizations that filed the most intellectual patents on nanotechnology R&D between 1970 and 2011 were Samsung Electronics (2,578 first patents), Nippon Steel (1,490 first patents), IBM (1,360 first patents), Toshiba (1,298 first patents) and Canon (1,162 first patents). The top five organizations that published the most scientific papers on nanotechnology research between 1970 and 2012 were the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, University of Tokyo and Osaka University. Fundamental concepts Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, nanotechnology refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high-performance products. One nanometer (nm) is one billionth, or 10−9, of a meter. By comparison, typical carbon-carbon bond lengths, or the spacing between these atoms in a molecule, are in the range , and a DNA double-helix has a diameter around 2 nm. On the other hand, the smallest cellular life-forms, the bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma, are around 200 nm in length. By convention, nanotechnology is taken as the scale range following the definition used by the National Nanotechnology Initiative in the US. The lower limit is set by the size of atoms (hydrogen has the smallest atoms, which are approximately a quarter of a nm kinetic diameter) since nanotechnology must build its devices from atoms and molecules. The upper limit is more or less arbitrary but is around the size below which the phenomena not observed in larger structures start to become apparent and can be made use of in the nano device. These new phenomena make nanotechnology distinct from devices which are merely miniaturised versions of an equivalent macroscopic device; such devices are on a larger scale and come under the description of microtechnology. To put that scale in another context, the comparative size of a nanometer to a meter is the same as that of a marble to the size of the earth. Or another way of putting it: a nanometer is the amount an average man's beard grows in the time it takes him to raise the razor to his face. Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology. In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from molecular components which assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular recognition. In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control. Areas of physics such as nanoelectronics, nanomechanics, nanophotonics and nanoionics have evolved during the last few decades to provide a basic scientific foundation of nanotechnology. Larger to smaller: a materials perspective Several phenomena become pronounced as the size of the system decreases. These include statistical mechanical effects, as well as quantum mechanical effects, for example the "quantum size effect" where the electronic properties of solids are altered with great reductions in particle size. This effect does not come into play by going from macro to micro dimensions. However, quantum effects can become significant when the nanometer size range is reached, typically at distances of 100 nanometers or less, the so-called quantum realm. Additionally, a number of physical (mechanical, electrical, optical, etc.) properties change when compared to macroscopic systems. One example is the increase in surface area to volume ratio altering mechanical, thermal and catalytic properties of materials. Diffusion and reactions at nanoscale, nanostructures materials and nanodevices with fast ion transport are generally referred to nanoionics. Mechanical properties of nanosystems are of interest in the nanomechanics research. The catalytic activity of nanomaterials also opens potential risks in their interaction with biomaterials. Materials reduced to the nanoscale can show different properties compared to what they exhibit on a macroscale, enabling unique applications. For instance, opaque substances can become transparent (copper); stable materials can turn combustible (aluminium); insoluble materials may become soluble (gold). A material such as gold, which is chemically inert at normal scales, can serve as a potent chemical catalyst at nanoscales. Much of the fascination with nanotechnology stems from these quantum and surface phenomena that matter exhibits at the nanoscale. Simple to complex: a molecular perspective Modern synthetic chemistry has reached the point where it is possible to prepare small molecules to almost any structure. These methods are used today to manufacture a wide variety of useful chemicals such as pharmaceuticals or commercial polymers. This ability raises the question of extending this kind of control to the next-larger level, seeking methods to assemble these single molecules into supramolecular assemblies consisting of many molecules arranged in a well defined manner. These approaches utilize the concepts of molecular self-assembly and/or supramolecular chemistry to automatically arrange themselves into some useful conformation through a bottom-up approach. The concept of molecular recognition is especially important: molecules can be designed so that a specific configuration or arrangement is favored due to non-covalent intermolecular forces. The Watson–Crick basepairing rules are a direct result of this, as is the specificity of an enzyme being targeted to a single substrate, or the specific folding of the protein itself. Thus, two or more components can be designed to be complementary and mutually attractive so that they make a more complex and useful whole. Such bottom-up approaches should be capable of producing devices in parallel and be much cheaper than top-down methods, but could potentially be overwhelmed as the size and complexity of the desired assembly increases. Most useful structures require complex and thermodynamically unlikely arrangements of atoms. Nevertheless, there are many examples of self-assembly based on molecular recognition in biology, most notably Watson–Crick basepairing and enzyme-substrate interactions. The challenge for nanotechnology is whether these principles can be used to engineer new constructs in addition to natural ones. Molecular nanotechnology: a long-term view Molecular nanotechnology, sometimes called molecular manufacturing, describes engineered nanosystems (nanoscale machines) operating on the molecular scale. Molecular nanotechnology is especially associated with the molecular assembler, a machine that can produce a desired structure or device atom-by-atom using the principles of mechanosynthesis. Manufacturing in the context of productive nanosystems is not related to, and should be clearly distinguished from, the conventional technologies used to manufacture nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and nanoparticles. When the term "nanotechnology" was independently coined and popularized by Eric Drexler (who at the time was unaware of an earlier usage by Norio Taniguchi) it referred to a future manufacturing technology based on molecular machine systems. The premise was that molecular-scale biological analogies of traditional machine components demonstrated molecular machines were possible: by the countless examples found in biology, it is known that sophisticated, stochastically optimized biological machines can be produced. It is hoped that developments in nanotechnology will make possible their construction by some other means, perhaps using biomimetic principles. However, Drexler and other researchers have proposed that advanced nanotechnology, although perhaps initially implemented by biomimetic means, ultimately could be based on mechanical engineering principles, namely, a manufacturing technology based on the mechanical functionality of these components (such as gears, bearings, motors, and structural members) that would enable programmable, positional assembly to atomic specification. The physics and engineering performance of exemplar designs were analyzed in Drexler's book Nanosystems. In general it is very difficult to assemble devices on the atomic scale, as one has to position atoms on other atoms of comparable size and stickiness. Another view, put forth by Carlo Montemagno, is that future nanosystems will be hybrids of silicon technology and biological molecular machines. Richard Smalley argued that mechanosynthesis are impossible due to the difficulties in mechanically manipulating individual molecules. This led to an exchange of letters in the ACS publication Chemical & Engineering News in 2003. Though biology clearly demonstrates that molecular machine systems are possible, non-biological molecular machines are today only in their infancy. Leaders in research on non-biological molecular machines are Dr. Alex Zettl and his colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories and UC Berkeley. They have constructed at least three distinct molecular devices | nucleic acids. Approaches from the field of "classical" chemical synthesis (Inorganic and organic synthesis) also aim at designing molecules with well-defined shape (e.g. bis-peptides). More generally, molecular self-assembly seeks to use concepts of supramolecular chemistry, and molecular recognition in particular, to cause single-molecule components to automatically arrange themselves into some useful conformation. Atomic force microscope tips can be used as a nanoscale "write head" to deposit a chemical upon a surface in a desired pattern in a process called dip pen nanolithography. This technique fits into the larger subfield of nanolithography. Molecular Beam Epitaxy allows for bottom up assemblies of materials, most notably semiconductor materials commonly used in chip and computing applications, stacks, gating, and nanowire lasers. Top-down approaches These seek to create smaller devices by using larger ones to direct their assembly. Many technologies that descended from conventional solid-state silicon methods for fabricating microprocessors are now capable of creating features smaller than 100 nm, falling under the definition of nanotechnology. Giant magnetoresistance-based hard drives already on the market fit this description, as do atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques. Peter Grünberg and Albert Fert received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2007 for their discovery of Giant magnetoresistance and contributions to the field of spintronics. Solid-state techniques can also be used to create devices known as nanoelectromechanical systems or NEMS, which are related to microelectromechanical systems or MEMS. Focused ion beams can directly remove material, or even deposit material when suitable precursor gasses are applied at the same time. For example, this technique is used routinely to create sub-100 nm sections of material for analysis in Transmission electron microscopy. Atomic force microscope tips can be used as a nanoscale "write head" to deposit a resist, which is then followed by an etching process to remove material in a top-down method. Functional approaches These seek to develop components of a desired functionality without regard to how they might be assembled. Magnetic assembly for the synthesis of anisotropic superparamagnetic materials such as recently presented magnetic nano chains. Molecular scale electronics seeks to develop molecules with useful electronic properties. These could then be used as single-molecule components in a nanoelectronic device. For an example see rotaxane. Synthetic chemical methods can also be used to create synthetic molecular motors, such as in a so-called nanocar. Biomimetic approaches Bionics or biomimicry seeks to apply biological methods and systems found in nature, to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. Biomineralization is one example of the systems studied. Bionanotechnology is the use of biomolecules for applications in nanotechnology, including use of viruses and lipid assemblies. Nanocellulose is a potential bulk-scale application. Speculative These subfields seek to anticipate what inventions nanotechnology might yield, or attempt to propose an agenda along which inquiry might progress. These often take a big-picture view of nanotechnology, with more emphasis on its societal implications than the details of how such inventions could actually be created. Molecular nanotechnology is a proposed approach which involves manipulating single molecules in finely controlled, deterministic ways. This is more theoretical than the other subfields, and many of its proposed techniques are beyond current capabilities. Nanorobotics centers on self-sufficient machines of some functionality operating at the nanoscale. There are hopes for applying nanorobots in medicine. Nevertheless, progress on innovative materials and methodologies has been demonstrated with some patents granted about new nanomanufacturing devices for future commercial applications, which also progressively helps in the development towards nanorobots with the use of embedded nanobioelectronics concepts. Productive nanosystems are "systems of nanosystems" which will be complex nanosystems that produce atomically precise parts for other nanosystems, not necessarily using novel nanoscale-emergent properties, but well-understood fundamentals of manufacturing. Because of the discrete (i.e. atomic) nature of matter and the possibility of exponential growth, this stage is seen as the basis of another industrial revolution. Mihail Roco, one of the architects of the USA's National Nanotechnology Initiative, has proposed four states of nanotechnology that seem to parallel the technical progress of the Industrial Revolution, progressing from passive nanostructures to active nanodevices to complex nanomachines and ultimately to productive nanosystems. Programmable matter seeks to design materials whose properties can be easily, reversibly and externally controlled though a fusion of information science and materials science. Due to the popularity and media exposure of the term nanotechnology, the words picotechnology and femtotechnology have been coined in analogy to it, although these are only used rarely and informally. Dimensionality in nanomaterials Nanomaterials can be classified in 0D, 1D, 2D and 3D nanomaterials. The dimensionality play a major role in determining the characteristic of nanomaterials including physical, chemical and biological characteristics. With the decrease in dimensionality, an increase in surface-to-volume ratio is observed. This indicate that smaller dimensional nanomaterials have higher surface area compared to 3D nanomaterials. Recently, two dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are extensively investigated for electronic, biomedical, drug delivery and biosensor applications. Tools and techniques There are several important modern developments. The atomic force microscope (AFM) and the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) are two early versions of scanning probes that launched nanotechnology. There are other types of scanning probe microscopy. Although conceptually similar to the scanning confocal microscope developed by Marvin Minsky in 1961 and the scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) developed by Calvin Quate and coworkers in the 1970s, newer scanning probe microscopes have much higher resolution, since they are not limited by the wavelength of sound or light. The tip of a scanning probe can also be used to manipulate nanostructures (a process called positional assembly). Feature-oriented scanning methodology may be a promising way to implement these nanomanipulations in automatic mode. However, this is still a slow process because of low scanning velocity of the microscope. Various techniques of nanolithography such as optical lithography, X-ray lithography, dip pen nanolithography, electron beam lithography or nanoimprint lithography were also developed. Lithography is a top-down fabrication technique where a bulk material is reduced in size to nanoscale pattern. Another group of nanotechnological techniques include those used for fabrication of nanotubes and nanowires, those used in semiconductor fabrication such as deep ultraviolet lithography, electron beam lithography, focused ion beam machining, nanoimprint lithography, atomic layer deposition, and molecular vapor deposition, and further including molecular self-assembly techniques such as those employing di-block copolymers. The precursors of these techniques preceded the nanotech era, and are extensions in the development of scientific advancements rather than techniques which were devised with the sole purpose of creating nanotechnology and which were results of nanotechnology research. The top-down approach anticipates nanodevices that must be built piece by piece in stages, much as manufactured items are made. Scanning probe microscopy is an important technique both for characterization and synthesis of nanomaterials. Atomic force microscopes and scanning tunneling microscopes can be used to look at surfaces and to move atoms around. By designing different tips for these microscopes, they can be used for carving out structures on surfaces and to help guide self-assembling structures. By using, for example, feature-oriented scanning approach, atoms or molecules can be moved around on a surface with scanning probe microscopy techniques. At present, it is expensive and time-consuming for mass production but very suitable for laboratory experimentation. In contrast, bottom-up techniques build or grow larger structures atom by atom or molecule by molecule. These techniques include chemical synthesis, self-assembly and positional assembly. Dual polarisation interferometry is one tool suitable for characterisation of self assembled thin films. Another variation of the bottom-up approach is molecular beam epitaxy or MBE. Researchers at Bell Telephone Laboratories like John R. Arthur. Alfred Y. Cho, and Art C. Gossard developed and implemented MBE as a research tool in the late 1960s and 1970s. Samples made by MBE were key to the discovery of the fractional quantum Hall effect for which the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded. MBE allows scientists to lay down atomically precise layers of atoms and, in the process, build up complex structures. Important for research on semiconductors, MBE is also widely used to make samples and devices for the newly emerging field of spintronics. However, new therapeutic products, based on responsive nanomaterials, such as the ultradeformable, stress-sensitive Transfersome vesicles, are under development and already approved for human use in some countries. Research and development Because of the variety of potential applications (including industrial and military), governments have invested billions of dollars in nanotechnology research. Prior to 2012, the USA invested $3.7 billion using its National Nanotechnology Initiative, the European Union invested $1.2 billion, and Japan invested $750 million. Over sixty countries created nanotechnology research and development (R&D) programs between 2001 and 2004. In 2012, the US and EU each invested on nanotechnology research, followed by Japan with . Global investment reached in 2012. Government funding was exceeded by corporate R&D spending on nanotechnology research, which was in 2012. The largest corporate R&D spenders were from the US, Japan and Germany which accounted for a combined . Applications As of August 21, 2008, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies estimates that over 800 manufacturer-identified nanotech products are publicly available, with new ones hitting the market at a pace of 3–4 per week. The project lists all of the products in a publicly accessible online database. Most applications are limited to the use of "first generation" passive nanomaterials which includes titanium dioxide in sunscreen, cosmetics, surface coatings, and some food products; Carbon allotropes used to produce gecko tape; silver in food packaging, clothing, disinfectants and household appliances; zinc oxide in sunscreens and cosmetics, surface coatings, paints and outdoor furniture varnishes; and cerium oxide as a fuel catalyst. Further applications allow tennis balls to last longer, golf balls to fly straighter, and even bowling balls to become more durable and have a harder surface. Trousers and socks have been infused with nanotechnology so that they will last longer and keep people cool in the summer. Bandages are being infused with silver nanoparticles to heal cuts faster. Video game consoles and personal computers may become cheaper, faster, and contain more memory thanks to nanotechnology. Also, to build structures for on chip computing with light, for example on chip optical quantum information processing, and picosecond transmission of information. Nanotechnology may have the ability to make existing medical applications cheaper and easier to use in places like the general practitioner's office and at home. Cars are being manufactured with nanomaterials so they may need fewer metals and less fuel to operate in the future. Scientists are now turning to nanotechnology in an attempt to develop diesel engines with cleaner exhaust fumes. Platinum is currently used as the diesel engine catalyst in these engines. The catalyst is what cleans the exhaust fume particles. First a reduction catalyst is employed to take nitrogen atoms from NOx molecules in order to free oxygen. Next the oxidation catalyst oxidizes the hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide to form carbon dioxide and water. Platinum is used in both the reduction and the oxidation catalysts. Using platinum though, is inefficient in that it is expensive and unsustainable. Danish company InnovationsFonden invested DKK 15 million in a search for new catalyst substitutes using nanotechnology. The goal of the project, launched in the autumn of 2014, is to maximize surface area and minimize the amount of material required. Objects tend to minimize their surface energy; two drops of water, for example, will join to form one drop and decrease surface area. If the catalyst's surface area that is exposed to the exhaust fumes is maximized, efficiency of the catalyst is maximized. The team working on this project aims to create nanoparticles that will not merge. Every time the surface is optimized, material is saved. Thus, creating these nanoparticles will increase the effectiveness of the resulting diesel engine catalyst—in turn leading to cleaner exhaust fumes—and will decrease cost. If successful, the team hopes to reduce platinum use by 25%. Nanotechnology also has a prominent role in the fast developing field of Tissue Engineering. When designing scaffolds, researchers attempt to mimic the nanoscale features of a cell's microenvironment to direct its differentiation down a suitable lineage. For example, when creating scaffolds to support the growth of bone, researchers may mimic osteoclast resorption pits. Researchers have successfully used DNA origami-based nanobots capable of carrying out logic functions to achieve targeted drug delivery in cockroaches. It is said that the computational power of these nanobots can be scaled up to that of a Commodore 64. Nanoelectronics Commercial nanoelectronic semiconductor device fabrication began in the 2010s. In 2013, SK Hynix began commercial mass-production of a 16nm process, TSMC began production of a 16nm FinFET process, and Samsung Electronics began production of a 10nm process. TSMC began production of a 7 nm process in 2017, and Samsung began production of a 5 nm process in 2018. In 2019, |
by arrangements of ASCII or Extended ASCII glyphs, "DEC graphics", or "IBM graphics" mode. In addition to the environment, the interface also displays character and situational information. A detailed example: You see here a silver ring. ------------ ##....._.....| |...........# ------ #...........| |....| --------------- ###------------ |...(| |..%...........|########## ###-@...| |...%...........### # ## |....| +.......<......| ### ### |..!.| --------------- # # ------ ### ### # # ---.----- ### |.......| # |........#### |.......| |.......| --------- Hacker the Conjurer St:11 Dx:13 Co:12 In:11 Wi:18 Ch:11 Neutral Dlvl:3 $:120 HP:39(41) Pw:36(36) AC:6 Exp:5 T:1073 The player (the '@' sign, a wizard in this case) has entered the level via the stairs (the '<' sign) and killed a few monsters, leaving their corpses (the '%' signs) behind. Exploring, the player has uncovered three rooms joined by corridors (the '#' signs): one with an altar (the '_' sign), another empty, and the final one (that the player is currently in) containing a potion (the '!' sign) and chest (the '(' sign). The player has just moved onto a square containing a silver ring. Parts of the level are still unexplored (probably accessible through the door to the west (the '+' sign)) and the player has yet to find the downstairs (a '>' sign) to the next level. Apart from the original termcap interface shown above, there are other interfaces that replace standard screen representations with two-dimensional images, or tiles, collectively known as "tiles mode". Graphic interfaces of this kind have been successfully implemented on the Amiga, the X Window System, the Microsoft Windows GUI, the Qt toolkit, and the GNOME libraries. Enhanced graphical options also exist, such as the isometric perspective of Falcon's Eye and Vulture's Eye, or the three-dimensional rendering that noegnud offers. Vulture's Eye is a fork of the now defunct Falcon's Eye project. Vulture's Eye adds additional graphics, sounds, bug fixes and performance enhancements and is under active development in an open collaborative environment. History and development NetHack is a software derivative of Hack, which itself was inspired by Rogue. Hack was created by students Jay Fenlason, Kenny Woodland, Mike Thome, and Jonathan Payne at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School as part of a computer class, after seeing and playing Rogue at the University of California Berkeley computer labs. The group had tried to get the source code of Rogue from Glenn Wichman and Michael Toy to build upon, but Wichman and Toy had refused, forcing the students to build the dungeon-creation routines on their own. As such, the game was named Hack in part for the hack-and-slash gameplay and that the code to generate the dungeons was considered a programming hack. After their classes ended, the students' work on the program also ended, though they had a working game. Fenlason provided the source code to a local USENIX conference, and eventually it was uploaded to USENET newsgroups. The code drew the attention of many players who started working to modify and improve the game as well as port it to other computer systems. Hack did not have any formal maintainer and while one person was generally recognized to hold the main code to the current version of Hack, many software forks emerged from the unorganized development of the game. Eventually, Mike Stephenson took on the role as maintainer of the Hack source code. At this point, he decided to create a new fork of the game, bringing in novel ideas from Izchak Miller, a philosophy professor at University of Pennsylvania, and Janet Walz, another computer hacker. They called themselves the DevTeam and renamed their branch NetHack since their collaboration work was done over the Internet. They expanded the bestiary and other objects in the game, and drew from other sources outside of the high fantasy setting, such as from Discworld with the introduction of the tourist character class. Knowing of the multiple forks of Hack that existed, the DevTeam established a principle that while the game was open source and anyone could create a fork as a new project, only a few select members in the DevTeam could make modifications to the main source repository of the game, so that players could be assured that the DevTeam's release was the legitimate version of NetHack. Release history The DevTeam's first release of NetHack was on 28 July 1987. The core DevTeam had expanded with the release of NetHack 3.0 in July 1989. By that point, they had established a tight-lipped culture, revealing little, if anything, between releases. Owing to the ever-increasing depth and complexity found in each release, the development team enjoys a near-mythical status among fans. This perceived omniscience is captured in the initialism TDTTOE, "The DevTeam Thinks of Everything", in that many of the possible emergent gameplay elements that could occur due to the behavior of the complex game systems had already been programmed in by the DevTeam. Since version 3.0, the DevTeam has typically kept to minor bug fix updates, represented by a change in the third version number (e.g. v3.0.1 over v3.0.0), and only releases major updates (v3.1.0 over v3.0.0) when significant new features are added to the game, including support for new platforms. Many of those from the community that helped with the ports to other systems were subsequently invited to be part of the DevTeam as the team's needs grew, with Stephenson remaining the key member currently. Updates to the game were generally regular from | optional graphical tilesets), and permadeath, forcing the player to restart anew should their character die. While Rogue, Hack and other earlier roguelikes stayed true to a high fantasy setting, NetHack introduced humorous and anachronistic elements over time, including popular cultural reference to works such as Discworld and Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is identified as one of the "major roguelikes" by John Harris. Comparing it with Rogue, Engadgets Justin Olivetti wrote that it took its exploration aspect and "made it far richer with an encyclopedia of objects, a larger vocabulary, a wealth of pop culture mentions, and a puzzler's attitude." In 2000, Salon described it as "one of the finest gaming experiences the computing world has to offer". Gameplay Before starting a game, players choose their character's race, role, sex, and alignment, or allow the game to assign the attributes randomly. There are traditional fantasy roles such as knight, wizard, rogue, and priest; but there are also unusual roles, including archaeologist, tourist, and caveman. The player character's role and alignment dictate which deity the character serves in the game, "how other monsters react toward you", as well as character skills and attributes. After the player character is created, the main objective is introduced. To win the game, the player must retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, found at the lowest level of the dungeon, and offer it to their deity. Successful completion of this task rewards the player with the gift of immortality, and the player is said to "ascend", attaining the status of demigod. Along the path to the amulet, a number of sub-quests must be completed, including one class-specific quest. The player's character is, unless they opt not to be, accompanied by a pet animal, typically a kitten or little dog, although knights begin with a saddled pony. Pets grow from fighting, and they can be changed by various means. Most of the other monsters may also be tamed using magic or food. Dungeon levels NetHack'''s dungeon spans about fifty primary levels, most of which are procedurally generated when the player character enters them for the first time. A typical level contains a way "up" and "down" to other levels. These may be stairways, ladders, trapdoors, etc. Levels also contain several "rooms" joined by corridors. These rooms are randomly generated rectangles (as opposed to the linear corridors) and may contain features such as altars, shops, fountains, traps, thrones, pools of water, and sinks based on the randomly generated features of the room. Some specific levels follow one of many fixed designs or contain fixed elements. Later versions of the game added special branches of dungeon levels. These are optional routes that may feature more challenging monsters but can reward more desirable treasure to complete the main dungeon. Levels, once generated, remained persistent, in contrast to games that followed Moria-style of level generation. Items and toolsNetHack features a variety of items: weapons (melee or ranged), armor to protect the player, scrolls and spellbooks to read, potions to quaff, wands, rings, amulets, and an assortment of tools, such as keys and lamps.NetHack's identification of items is almost identical to Rogue's. For example, a newly discovered potion may be referred to as a "pink potion" with no other clues as to its identity. Players can perform a variety of actions and tricks to deduce, or at least narrow down, the identity of the potion. The most obvious is the somewhat risky tactic of simply drinking it. All items of a certain type will have the same description. For instance, all "scrolls of enchant weapon" may be labeled "TEMOV", and once one has been identified, all "scrolls of enchant weapon" found later will be labeled unambiguously as such. Starting a new game will scramble the items descriptions again, so the "silver ring" that is a "ring of levitation" in one game might be a "ring of hunger" in another. Blessings and curses As in many other roguelike games, all items in NetHack are either "blessed", "uncursed", or "cursed". The majority of items are found uncursed, but the blessed or cursed status of an item is unknown until it is identified or detected through other means. Generally, a blessed item will be more powerful than an uncursed item, and a cursed item will be less powerful, with the added disadvantage that once it has been equipped by the player, it cannot be easily unequipped. Where an object would bestow an effect upon the character, a curse will generally make the effect harmful, or increase the amount of harm done. However, there are very specific exceptions. For example, drinking a cursed "potion of gain level" will make the character literally rise through the ceiling to the level above, instead of gaining an experience level. Character death As in other roguelike games, NetHack features permadeath: expired characters cannot be revived. Although NetHack can be completed without any artificial limitations, experienced players can attempt "conducts" for an additional challenge. These are voluntary restrictions on actions taken, such as using no wishes, following a vegetarian or vegan diet, or even killing no monsters. While conducts are generally tracked by the game and are displayed at death or ascension, unofficial conducts are practiced within the community. When a player dies, the cause of death and score is created and added to the list where the player's character is ranked against other previous characters. The prompt "Do you want your possessions identified?" is given by default at the end of any game, allowing the player to learn any unknown properties of the items in their inventory at death. The player's attributes (such as resistances, luck, and others), conduct (usually self-imposed challenges, such as playing as an atheist or a vegetarian), and a tally of creatures killed, may also be displayed. The game sporadically saves a level on which a character has died and then integrates that level into a later game. This is done via "bones files", which are saved on the computer hosting the game. A player using a publicly hosted copy of the game can thus encounter the remains and possessions of many other players, although many of these possessions may have become cursed. Because of the numerous ways that a player-character could die between a combination of their own actions as well as from reactions from the game's interacting systems, players frequently refer to untimely deaths as "Yet Another Stupid Death" (YASD). Such deaths are considered part of learning to play NetHack as to avoid conditions where the same death may happen again.NetHack does allow players to save the game so that one does not have to complete the game in one session, but on opening a new game, the previous save file is subsequently wiped as to enforce the permadeath option. One option some players use is to make a backup copy of the save game file before playing a game, and, should their character die, restoring from the copied version, a practice known as "save scumming". Additionally, players can also manipulate the "bones files" in a manner not intended by the developers. While these help the player |
of nylon stockings and other lingerie stopped, and most manufactured nylon was used to make parachutes and tents for World War II. Although nylon stockings already made before the war could be purchased, they were generally sold on the black market for as high as $20. Once the war ended, the return of nylon was awaited with great anticipation. Although DuPont projected yearly production of 360 million pairs of stockings, there were delays in converting back to consumer rather than wartime production. In 1946, the demand for nylon stockings could not be satisfied, which led to the Nylon riots. In one instance, an estimated 40,000 people lined up in Pittsburgh to buy 13,000 pairs of nylons. In the meantime, women cut up nylon tents and parachutes left from the war in order to make blouses and wedding dresses. Between the end of the war and 1952, production of stockings and lingerie used 80% of the world's nylon. DuPont put focus on catering to the civilian demand, and continually expanded its production. Introduction of nylon blends As pure nylon hosiery was sold in a wider market, problems became apparent. Nylon stockings were found to be fragile, in the sense that the thread often tended to unravel lengthwise, creating 'runs'. People also reported that pure nylon textiles could be uncomfortable due to nylon's lack of absorbency. Moisture stayed inside the fabric near the skin under hot or moist conditions instead of being "wicked" away. Nylon fabric could also be itchy, and tended to cling and sometimes spark as a result of static electrical charge built up by friction. Also, under some conditions stockings could decompose turning back into nylon's original components of air, coal, and water. Scientists explained this as a result of air pollution, attributing it to London smog in 1952, as well as poor air quality in New York and Los Angeles. The solution found to problems with pure nylon fabric was to blend nylon with other existing fibers or polymers such as cotton, polyester, and spandex. This led to the development of a wide array of blended fabrics. The new nylon blends retained the desirable properties of nylon (elasticity, durability, ability to be dyed) and kept clothes prices low and affordable. As of 1950, the New York Quartermaster Procurement Agency (NYQMPA), which developed and tested textiles for the army and navy, had committed to developing a wool-nylon blend. They were not the only ones to introduce blends of both natural and synthetic fibers. America's Textile Reporter referred to 1951 as the "Year of the blending of the fibers". Fabric blends included mixes like "Bunara" (wool-rabbit-nylon) and "Casmet" (wool-nylon-fur). In Britain in November 1951, the inaugural address of the 198th session of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce focused on the blending of textiles. DuPont's Fabric Development Department cleverly targeted French fashion designers, supplying them with fabric samples. In 1955, designers such as Coco Chanel, Jean Patou, and Christian Dior showed gowns created with DuPont fibers, and fashion photographer Horst P. Horst was hired to document their use of DuPont fabrics. American Fabrics credited blends with providing "creative possibilities and new ideas for fashions which had been hitherto undreamed of." Origin of the name DuPont went through an extensive process to generate names for its new product. In 1940, John W. Eckelberry of DuPont stated that the letters "nyl" were arbitrary, and the "on" was copied from the suffixes of other fibers such as cotton and rayon. A later publication by DuPont (Context, vol. 7, no. 2, 1978) explained that the name was originally intended to be "No-Run" ("run" meaning "unravel"), but was modified to avoid making such an unjustified claim. Since the products were not really run-proof, the vowels were swapped to produce "nuron", which was changed to "nilon" "to make it sound less like a nerve tonic". For clarity in pronunciation, the "i" was changed to "y". A persistent urban legend exists that the name is derived from "New York" and "London"; however, no organisation in London was ever involved in the research and production of nylon. Longer-term popularity In spite of oil shortages in the 1970s, consumption of nylon textiles continued to grow by 7.5% per year between the 1960s and 1980s. Overall production of synthetic fibers, however, dropped from 63% of the worlds textile production in 1965, to 45% of the world's textile production in early 1970s. The appeal of "new" technologies wore off, and nylon fabric "was going out of style in the 1970s". Also, consumers became concerned about environmental costs throughout the production cycle: obtaining the raw materials (oil), energy use during production, waste produced during creation of the fiber, and eventual waste disposal of materials that were not biodegradable. Synthetic fibers have not dominated the market since the 1950s and 1960s. , the worldwide production of nylon is estimated at 8.9 million tons. As one of the largest engineering polymer families, the global demand of nylon resins and compounds was valued at roughly US$20.5 billion in 2013. The market is expected to reach US$30 billion by 2020 by following an average annual growth of 5.5%. Although pure nylon has many flaws and is now rarely used, its derivatives have greatly influenced and contributed to society. From scientific discoveries relating to the production of plastics and polymerization, to economic impact during the depression and the changing of women's fashion, nylon was a revolutionary product. The Lunar Flag Assembly, the first flag planted on the moon in a symbolic gesture of celebration, was made of nylon. The flag itself cost $5.50, but had to have a specially designed flagpole with a horizontal bar so that it would appear to "fly". One historian describes nylon as "an object of desire", comparing the invention to Coca-Cola in the eyes of 20th century consumers. Chemistry Nylons are condensation polymers or copolymers, formed by reacting difunctional monomers containing equal parts of amine and carboxylic acid, so that amides are formed at both ends of each monomer in a process analogous to polypeptide biopolymers. Most nylons are made from the reaction of a dicarboxylic acid with a diamine (e.g. PA66) or a lactam or amino acid with itself (e.g. PA6). In the first case, the "repeating unit" consists of one of each monomer, so that they alternate in the chain, similar to the so-called ABAB structure of polyesters and polyurethanes. Since each monomer in this copolymer has the same reactive group on both ends, the direction of the amide bond reverses between each monomer, unlike natural polyamide proteins, which have overall directionality: C terminal → N terminal. In the second case (so called AA), the repeating unit corresponds to the single monomer. Nomenclature In common usage, the prefix "PA" (polyamide) or the name "Nylon" are used interchangeably and are equivalent in meaning. The nomenclature used for nylon polymers was devised during the synthesis of the first simple aliphatic nylons and uses numbers to describe the number of carbons in each monomer unit, including the carbon(s) of the carboxylic acid(s). Subsequent use of cyclic and aromatic monomers required the use of letters or sets of letters. One number after "PA" or "Nylon" indicates a homopolymer which is monadic or based on one amino acid (minus H2O) as monomer: PA 6 or Nylon 6: [NH−(CH2)5−CO]n made from ε-caprolactam. Two numbers or sets of letters indicate a dyadic homopolymer formed from two monomers: one diamine and one dicarboxylic acid. The first number indicates the number of carbons in the diamine. The two numbers should be separated by a comma for clarity, but the comma is often omitted. PA or Nylon 6,10 (or 610): [NH−(CH2)6−NH−CO−(CH2)8−CO]n made from hexamethylenediamine and sebacic acid; For copolymers the comonomers or pairs of comonomers are separated by slashes: PA 6/66: [NH−(CH2)6−NH−CO−(CH2)4−CO]n−[NH−(CH2)5−CO]m made from caprolactam, hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid; PA 66/610: [NH−(CH2)6−NH−CO−(CH2)4−CO]n−[NH−(CH2)6−NH−CO−(CH2)8−CO]m made from hexamethylenediamine, adipic acid and sebacic acid. The term polyphthalamide (abbreviated to PPA) is used when 60% or more moles of the carboxylic acid portion of the repeating unit in the polymer chain is composed of a combination of terephthalic acid (TPA) and isophthalic acid (IPA). Types of nylon Nylon 66 Wallace Carothers at DuPont patented nylon 66 using amides. In the case of nylons that involve reaction of a diamine and a dicarboxylic acid, it is difficult to get the proportions exactly correct, and deviations can lead to chain termination at molecular weights less than a desirable 10,000 daltons (u). To overcome this problem, a crystalline, solid "nylon salt" can be formed at room temperature, using an exact 1:1 ratio of the acid and the base to neutralize each other. The salt is crystallized to purify it and obtain the desired precise stoichiometry. Heated to 285 °C (545 °F), the salt reacts to form nylon polymer with the production of water. Nylon 6 The synthetic route using lactams (cyclic amides) was developed by Paul Schlack at IG Farben, leading to nylon 6, or polycaprolactam — formed by a ring-opening polymerization. The peptide bond within the caprolactam is broken with the exposed active groups on each side being incorporated into two new bonds as the monomer becomes part of the polymer backbone. The 428 °F (220 °C) melting point of nylon 6 is lower than the 509 °F (265 °C) melting point of nylon 66. Nylon 510 Nylon 510, made from pentamethylene diamine and sebacic acid, was included in the Carothers patent to nylon 66 and has superior properties, but is more expensive to make. In keeping | In 1941, a second plant was opened in Martinsville, Virginia due to the success of the fabric. While nylon was marketed as the durable and indestructible material of the people, it was sold at almost twice the price of silk stockings ($4.27 per pound of nylon versus $2.79 per pound of silk). Sales of nylon stockings were strong in part due to changes in women's fashion. As Lauren Olds explains: "by 1939 [hemlines] had inched back up to the knee, closing the decade just as it started off". The shorter skirts were accompanied by a demand for stockings that offered fuller coverage without the use of garters to hold them up. However, as of February 11, 1942, nylon production was redirected from being a consumer material to one used by the military. DuPont's production of nylon stockings and other lingerie stopped, and most manufactured nylon was used to make parachutes and tents for World War II. Although nylon stockings already made before the war could be purchased, they were generally sold on the black market for as high as $20. Once the war ended, the return of nylon was awaited with great anticipation. Although DuPont projected yearly production of 360 million pairs of stockings, there were delays in converting back to consumer rather than wartime production. In 1946, the demand for nylon stockings could not be satisfied, which led to the Nylon riots. In one instance, an estimated 40,000 people lined up in Pittsburgh to buy 13,000 pairs of nylons. In the meantime, women cut up nylon tents and parachutes left from the war in order to make blouses and wedding dresses. Between the end of the war and 1952, production of stockings and lingerie used 80% of the world's nylon. DuPont put focus on catering to the civilian demand, and continually expanded its production. Introduction of nylon blends As pure nylon hosiery was sold in a wider market, problems became apparent. Nylon stockings were found to be fragile, in the sense that the thread often tended to unravel lengthwise, creating 'runs'. People also reported that pure nylon textiles could be uncomfortable due to nylon's lack of absorbency. Moisture stayed inside the fabric near the skin under hot or moist conditions instead of being "wicked" away. Nylon fabric could also be itchy, and tended to cling and sometimes spark as a result of static electrical charge built up by friction. Also, under some conditions stockings could decompose turning back into nylon's original components of air, coal, and water. Scientists explained this as a result of air pollution, attributing it to London smog in 1952, as well as poor air quality in New York and Los Angeles. The solution found to problems with pure nylon fabric was to blend nylon with other existing fibers or polymers such as cotton, polyester, and spandex. This led to the development of a wide array of blended fabrics. The new nylon blends retained the desirable properties of nylon (elasticity, durability, ability to be dyed) and kept clothes prices low and affordable. As of 1950, the New York Quartermaster Procurement Agency (NYQMPA), which developed and tested textiles for the army and navy, had committed to developing a wool-nylon blend. They were not the only ones to introduce blends of both natural and synthetic fibers. America's Textile Reporter referred to 1951 as the "Year of the blending of the fibers". Fabric blends included mixes like "Bunara" (wool-rabbit-nylon) and "Casmet" (wool-nylon-fur). In Britain in November 1951, the inaugural address of the 198th session of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce focused on the blending of textiles. DuPont's Fabric Development Department cleverly targeted French fashion designers, supplying them with fabric samples. In 1955, designers such as Coco Chanel, Jean Patou, and Christian Dior showed gowns created with DuPont fibers, and fashion photographer Horst P. Horst was hired to document their use of DuPont fabrics. American Fabrics credited blends with providing "creative possibilities and new ideas for fashions which had been hitherto undreamed of." Origin of the name DuPont went through an extensive process to generate names for its new product. In 1940, John W. Eckelberry of DuPont stated that the letters "nyl" were arbitrary, and the "on" was copied from the suffixes of other fibers such as cotton and rayon. A later publication by DuPont (Context, vol. 7, no. 2, 1978) explained that the name was originally intended to be "No-Run" ("run" meaning "unravel"), but was modified to avoid making such an unjustified claim. Since the products were not really run-proof, the vowels were swapped to produce "nuron", which was changed to "nilon" "to make it sound less like a nerve tonic". For clarity in pronunciation, the "i" was changed to "y". A persistent urban legend exists that the name is derived from "New York" and "London"; however, no organisation in London was ever involved in the research and production of nylon. Longer-term popularity In spite of oil shortages in the 1970s, consumption of nylon textiles continued to grow by 7.5% per year between the 1960s and 1980s. Overall production of synthetic fibers, however, dropped from 63% of the worlds textile production in 1965, to 45% of the world's textile production in early 1970s. The appeal of "new" technologies wore off, and nylon fabric "was going out of style in the 1970s". Also, consumers became concerned about environmental costs throughout the production cycle: obtaining the raw materials (oil), energy use during production, waste produced during creation of the fiber, and eventual waste disposal of materials that were not biodegradable. Synthetic fibers have not dominated the market since the 1950s and 1960s. , the worldwide production of nylon is estimated at 8.9 million tons. As one of the largest engineering polymer families, the global demand of nylon resins and compounds was valued at roughly US$20.5 billion in 2013. The market is expected to reach US$30 billion by 2020 by following an average annual growth of 5.5%. Although pure nylon has many flaws and is now rarely used, its derivatives have greatly influenced and contributed to society. From scientific discoveries relating to the production of plastics and polymerization, to economic impact during the depression and the changing of women's fashion, nylon was a revolutionary product. The Lunar Flag Assembly, the first flag planted on the moon in a symbolic gesture of celebration, was made of nylon. The flag itself cost $5.50, but had to have a specially designed flagpole with a horizontal bar so that it would appear to "fly". One historian describes nylon as "an object of desire", comparing the invention to Coca-Cola in the eyes of 20th century consumers. Chemistry Nylons are condensation polymers or copolymers, formed by reacting difunctional monomers containing equal parts of amine and carboxylic acid, so that amides are formed at both ends of each monomer in a process analogous to polypeptide biopolymers. Most nylons are made from the reaction of a dicarboxylic acid with a diamine (e.g. PA66) or a lactam or amino acid with itself (e.g. PA6). In the first case, the "repeating unit" consists of one of each monomer, so that they alternate in the chain, similar to the so-called ABAB structure of polyesters and polyurethanes. Since each monomer in this copolymer has the same reactive group on both ends, the direction of the amide bond reverses between each monomer, unlike natural polyamide proteins, which have overall directionality: C terminal → N terminal. In the second case (so called AA), the repeating unit corresponds to the single monomer. Nomenclature In common usage, the prefix "PA" (polyamide) or the name "Nylon" are used interchangeably and are equivalent in meaning. The nomenclature used for nylon polymers was devised during the synthesis of the first simple aliphatic nylons and uses numbers to describe the number of carbons in each monomer unit, including the carbon(s) of the carboxylic acid(s). Subsequent use of cyclic and aromatic monomers required the use of letters or sets of letters. One number after "PA" or "Nylon" indicates a homopolymer which is monadic or based on one amino acid (minus H2O) as monomer: PA 6 or Nylon 6: [NH−(CH2)5−CO]n made from ε-caprolactam. Two numbers or sets of letters indicate a dyadic homopolymer formed from two monomers: one diamine and one dicarboxylic acid. The first number indicates the number of carbons in the diamine. The two numbers should be separated by a comma for clarity, but the comma is often omitted. PA or Nylon 6,10 (or 610): [NH−(CH2)6−NH−CO−(CH2)8−CO]n made from hexamethylenediamine and sebacic acid; For copolymers the comonomers or pairs of comonomers are separated by slashes: PA 6/66: [NH−(CH2)6−NH−CO−(CH2)4−CO]n−[NH−(CH2)5−CO]m made from caprolactam, hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid; PA 66/610: [NH−(CH2)6−NH−CO−(CH2)4−CO]n−[NH−(CH2)6−NH−CO−(CH2)8−CO]m made from hexamethylenediamine, adipic acid and sebacic acid. The term polyphthalamide (abbreviated to PPA) is used when 60% or more moles of the carboxylic acid portion of the repeating unit in the polymer chain is composed of a combination of terephthalic acid (TPA) and isophthalic acid (IPA). Types of nylon Nylon 66 Wallace Carothers at DuPont patented nylon 66 using amides. In the case of nylons that involve reaction of a diamine and a dicarboxylic acid, it is difficult to get the proportions exactly correct, and deviations can lead to chain termination at molecular weights less than a desirable 10,000 daltons (u). To overcome this problem, a crystalline, solid "nylon salt" can be formed at room temperature, using an exact 1:1 ratio of the acid and the base to neutralize each other. The salt is crystallized to purify it and obtain the desired precise stoichiometry. Heated to 285 °C (545 °F), the salt reacts to form nylon polymer with the production of water. Nylon 6 The synthetic route using lactams (cyclic amides) was developed by Paul Schlack at IG Farben, leading to nylon 6, or polycaprolactam — formed by a ring-opening polymerization. The peptide bond within the caprolactam is broken with the exposed active groups on each side being incorporated into two new bonds as the monomer becomes part of the polymer backbone. The 428 °F (220 °C) melting point of nylon 6 is lower than the 509 °F (265 °C) melting point of nylon 66. Nylon 510 Nylon 510, made from pentamethylene diamine and sebacic acid, was included in the Carothers patent to nylon 66 and has superior properties, but is more expensive to make. In keeping with this naming convention, "nylon 6,12" or "PA 612" is a copolymer of a 6C diamine and a 12C diacid. Similarly for PA 510 PA 611; PA 1012, etc. Other nylons include copolymerized dicarboxylic acid/diamine products that are not based upon the monomers listed above. For example, some fully aromatic nylons (known as "aramids") are polymerized with the addition of diacids like terephthalic acid (→ Kevlar, Twaron) or isophthalic acid (→ Nomex), more commonly associated with polyesters. There are copolymers of PA 66/6; copolymers of PA 66/6/12; and others. In general linear polymers are the most useful, but it is possible to introduce branches in nylon by the condensation of dicarboxylic acids with polyamines having three or more amino groups. The general reaction is: Two molecules of water are given off and the nylon is formed. Its properties are determined by the R and R' groups in the monomers. In nylon 6,6, R = 4C and R' = 6C alkanes, |
the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucleus may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Astronomy Active galactic nucleus in astronomy Comet nucleus, the solid, central part of a comet Biology Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucleus (neuroanatomy), a cluster of cell bodies of neurons in the central nervous system Nucleus that forms in the eye in nuclear sclerosis (early cataracts) Nucleus, a scientific journal concerned with the cell nucleus; published by | central part of a comet Biology Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucleus (neuroanatomy), a cluster of cell bodies of neurons in the central nervous system Nucleus that forms in the eye in nuclear sclerosis (early cataracts) Nucleus, a scientific journal concerned with the cell nucleus; published by Taylor & Francis Nucleus, a small colony of honeybees, induced to raise a new queen by the beekeeper Computer systems Nucleus (operating system), sometimes a synonym for kernel Nucleus CMS, a weblog system Nucleus RTOS, a real-time operating system (RTOS) Nucleus, part of an operating system loaded by an Initial Program Load or boot loader Mathematics Nucleus (algebra), the elements of a ring that associate with all others Nucleus (order theory), a mathematical term Other sciences Nucleus (syllable), in linguistics, the central part of a syllable Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom Condensation nucleus, |
buck teeth, severe acne and pants worn high at the waist. Following suit of popular use in emoticons, Unicode released in 2015 its "Nerd Face" character, featuring some of those stereotypes: 🤓 (code point U+1F913). In the media, many nerds are males, portrayed as being physically unfit, either overweight or skinny due to lack of physical exercise. It has been suggested by some, such as linguist Mary Bucholtz, that being a nerd may be a state of being "hyperwhite" and rejecting African-American culture and slang that "cool" white children use. However, after the Revenge of the Nerds movie franchise (with multicultural nerds), and the introduction of the Steve Urkel character on the television series Family Matters, nerds have been seen in all races and colors as well as more recently being a frequent young East Asian or Indian male stereotype in North America. Portrayal of "nerd girls", in films such as She's Out of Control, Welcome to the Dollhouse and She's All That depicts that smart but nerdy women might suffer later in life if they do not focus on improving their physical attractiveness. In the United States, a 2010 study published in the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication indicated that Asian Americans are perceived as most likely to be nerds, followed by White Americans, while non-White Hispanics and Black Americans were perceived as least likely to be nerds. These stereotypes stem from concepts of Orientalism and Primitivism, as discussed in Ron Eglash's essay "Race, Sex, and Nerds: From Black Geeks to Asian American Hipsters". Some of the stereotypical behaviors associated with the "nerd" stereotype have correlations with the traits of Asperger's Syndrome or other autism-spectrum conditions. Pride The rise of Silicon Valley and the American computer industry at large has allowed many so-called "nerdy people" to accumulate large fortunes and influence media culture. Many stereotypically nerdy interests, such as superhero, fantasy and science fiction works, are now international popular culture hits. Some measures of nerdiness are now allegedly considered desirable, as, to some, it suggests a person who is intelligent, respectful, interesting, and able to earn a large salary. Stereotypical nerd qualities are evolving, going from awkwardness and social ostracism to an allegedly more widespread acceptance and sometimes even celebration of their differences. Johannes Grenzfurthner, researcher, self-proclaimed nerd and director of nerd documentary Traceroute, reflects on the emergence of nerds and nerd culture: In the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds, Robert Carradine worked to embody the nerd stereotype; in doing so, he helped create a definitive image of nerds. Additionally, the storyline presaged, and may have helped inspire, the "nerd pride" that emerged in the late 1990s. American Splendor regular Toby Radloff claims this was the movie that inspired him to become "The Genuine Nerd from Cleveland, Ohio." In the American Splendor film, Toby's friend, American Splendor author Harvey Pekar, was less receptive to the movie, believing it to be hopelessly idealistic, explaining that Toby, an adult low income file clerk, had nothing in common with the middle class kids in the film who would eventually attain college degrees, success, and cease being perceived as nerds. Many, however, seem to share Radloff's view, as "nerd pride" has become more widespread in the years since. MIT professor Gerald Sussman, for example, seeks to instill pride in nerds: Bullying Individuals who are labeled as "nerds" are often the target of bullying due to a range | young East Asian or Indian male stereotype in North America. Portrayal of "nerd girls", in films such as She's Out of Control, Welcome to the Dollhouse and She's All That depicts that smart but nerdy women might suffer later in life if they do not focus on improving their physical attractiveness. In the United States, a 2010 study published in the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication indicated that Asian Americans are perceived as most likely to be nerds, followed by White Americans, while non-White Hispanics and Black Americans were perceived as least likely to be nerds. These stereotypes stem from concepts of Orientalism and Primitivism, as discussed in Ron Eglash's essay "Race, Sex, and Nerds: From Black Geeks to Asian American Hipsters". Some of the stereotypical behaviors associated with the "nerd" stereotype have correlations with the traits of Asperger's Syndrome or other autism-spectrum conditions. Pride The rise of Silicon Valley and the American computer industry at large has allowed many so-called "nerdy people" to accumulate large fortunes and influence media culture. Many stereotypically nerdy interests, such as superhero, fantasy and science fiction works, are now international popular culture hits. Some measures of nerdiness are now allegedly considered desirable, as, to some, it suggests a person who is intelligent, respectful, interesting, and able to earn a large salary. Stereotypical nerd qualities are evolving, going from awkwardness and social ostracism to an allegedly more widespread acceptance and sometimes even celebration of their differences. Johannes Grenzfurthner, researcher, self-proclaimed nerd and director of nerd documentary Traceroute, reflects on the emergence of nerds and nerd culture: In the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds, Robert Carradine worked to embody the nerd stereotype; in doing so, he helped create a definitive image of nerds. Additionally, the storyline presaged, and may have helped inspire, the "nerd pride" that emerged in the late 1990s. American Splendor regular Toby Radloff claims this was the movie that inspired him to become "The Genuine Nerd from Cleveland, Ohio." In the American Splendor film, Toby's friend, American Splendor author Harvey Pekar, was less receptive to the movie, believing it to be hopelessly idealistic, explaining that Toby, an adult low income file clerk, had nothing in common with the middle class kids in the film who would eventually attain college degrees, success, and cease being perceived as nerds. Many, however, seem to share Radloff's view, as "nerd pride" has become more widespread in the years since. MIT professor Gerald Sussman, for example, seeks to instill pride in nerds: Bullying Individuals who are labeled as "nerds" are often the target of bullying due to a range of reasons that may include physical appearance or social background. Paul Graham has suggested that the reason nerds are frequently singled out for bullying is their indifference to popularity or social context, in the face of a youth culture that views popularity as paramount. However, research findings suggest that bullies are often as socially inept as their academically better-performing victims, and that popularity fails to confer protection from bullying. Other commentators have pointed out that pervasive harassment of intellectually-oriented youth began only in the mid-twentieth century and some have suggested that its cause involves jealousy over future employment opportunities and |
naturally occurring DNA molecules are double-stranded and RNA molecules are single-stranded. There are numerous exceptions, however—some viruses have genomes made of double-stranded RNA and other viruses have single-stranded DNA genomes, and, in some circumstances, nucleic acid structures with three or four strands can form. Nucleic acids are linear polymers (chains) of nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of three components: a purine or pyrimidine nucleobase (sometimes termed nitrogenous base or simply base), a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group which makes the molecule acidic. The substructure consisting of a nucleobase plus sugar is termed a nucleoside. Nucleic acid types differ in the structure of the sugar in their nucleotides–DNA contains 2'-deoxyribose while RNA contains ribose (where the only difference is the presence of a hydroxyl group). Also, the nucleobases found in the two nucleic acid types are different: adenine, cytosine, and guanine are found in both RNA and DNA, while thymine occurs in DNA and uracil occurs in RNA. The sugars and phosphates in nucleic acids are connected to each other in an alternating chain (sugar-phosphate backbone) through phosphodiester linkages. In conventional nomenclature, the carbons to which the phosphate groups attach are the 3'-end and the 5'-end carbons of the sugar. This gives nucleic acids directionality, and the ends of nucleic acid molecules are referred to as 5'-end and 3'-end. The nucleobases are joined to the sugars via an N-glycosidic linkage involving a nucleobase ring nitrogen (N-1 for pyrimidines and N-9 for purines) and the 1' carbon of the pentose sugar ring. Non-standard nucleosides are also found in both RNA and DNA and usually arise from modification of the standard nucleosides within the DNA molecule or the primary (initial) RNA transcript. Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules contain a particularly large number of modified nucleosides. Topology Double-stranded nucleic acids are made up of complementary sequences, in which extensive Watson-Crick base pairing results in a highly repeated and quite uniform Nucleic acid double-helical three-dimensional structure. In contrast, single-stranded RNA and DNA molecules are not constrained to a regular double helix, and can adopt highly complex three-dimensional structures that are based on short stretches of intramolecular base-paired sequences including both Watson-Crick and noncanonical base pairs, and a wide range of complex tertiary interactions. Nucleic acid molecules are usually unbranched and may occur as linear and circular molecules. For example, bacterial chromosomes, plasmids, mitochondrial DNA, and chloroplast DNA are usually circular double-stranded DNA molecules, while chromosomes of the eukaryotic nucleus are usually linear double-stranded DNA molecules. Most RNA molecules are linear, single-stranded molecules, but both circular and branched molecules can result from RNA splicing reactions. The total amount of pyrimidines in a double-stranded DNA molecule is equal to the total amount of purines. The diameter of the helix is about 20Å. Sequences One DNA or RNA molecule differs from another primarily in the sequence of nucleotides. Nucleotide sequences are of great importance in biology since they carry the ultimate instructions that encode all biological molecules, molecular assemblies, subcellular and cellular structures, organs, and organisms, and directly enable cognition, memory, and behavior (see Genetics). Enormous efforts have gone into the development of experimental methods to determine the nucleotide sequence of biological DNA and RNA molecules, and today hundreds of millions of nucleotides are sequenced daily at genome centers and smaller laboratories worldwide. In addition to maintaining the GenBank nucleic acid sequence database, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) provides analysis and retrieval resources for the data in GenBank and other biological data made available through the NCBI web site. Types Deoxyribonucleic acid Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid containing the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. The DNA segments carrying | non-living). All living cells contain both DNA and RNA (except some cells such as mature red blood cells), while viruses contain either DNA or RNA, but usually not both. The basic component of biological nucleic acids is the nucleotide, each of which contains a pentose sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), a phosphate group, and a nucleobase. Nucleic acids are also generated within the laboratory, through the use of enzymes (DNA and RNA polymerases) and by solid-phase chemical synthesis. The chemical methods also enable the generation of altered nucleic acids that are not found in nature, for example peptide nucleic acids. Molecular composition and size Nucleic acids are generally very large molecules. Indeed, DNA molecules are probably the largest individual molecules known. Well-studied biological nucleic acid molecules range in size from 21 nucleotides (small interfering RNA) to large chromosomes (human chromosome 1 is a single molecule that contains 247 million base pairs). In most cases, naturally occurring DNA molecules are double-stranded and RNA molecules are single-stranded. There are numerous exceptions, however—some viruses have genomes made of double-stranded RNA and other viruses have single-stranded DNA genomes, and, in some circumstances, nucleic acid structures with three or four strands can form. Nucleic acids are linear polymers (chains) of nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of three components: a purine or pyrimidine nucleobase (sometimes termed nitrogenous base or simply base), a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group which makes the molecule acidic. The substructure consisting of a nucleobase plus sugar is termed a nucleoside. Nucleic acid types differ in the structure of the sugar in their nucleotides–DNA contains 2'-deoxyribose while RNA contains ribose (where the only difference is the presence of a hydroxyl group). Also, the nucleobases found in the two nucleic acid types are different: adenine, cytosine, and guanine are found in both RNA and DNA, while thymine occurs in DNA and uracil occurs in RNA. The sugars and phosphates in nucleic acids are connected to each other in an alternating chain (sugar-phosphate backbone) through phosphodiester linkages. In conventional nomenclature, the carbons to which the phosphate groups attach are the 3'-end and the 5'-end carbons of the sugar. This gives nucleic acids directionality, and the ends of nucleic acid molecules are referred to as 5'-end and 3'-end. The nucleobases are joined to the sugars via an N-glycosidic linkage involving a nucleobase ring nitrogen (N-1 for pyrimidines and N-9 for purines) and the 1' carbon of the pentose sugar ring. Non-standard nucleosides are also found in both RNA and DNA and usually arise from modification of the standard nucleosides within the DNA molecule or the primary (initial) RNA transcript. Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules contain a particularly large number of modified nucleosides. Topology Double-stranded nucleic acids are made up of complementary sequences, in which extensive Watson-Crick base pairing results in a highly repeated and quite uniform Nucleic acid double-helical three-dimensional structure. In contrast, single-stranded RNA and DNA molecules are not constrained to a regular double helix, and can adopt highly complex three-dimensional structures that are based on short stretches of intramolecular base-paired sequences including both Watson-Crick and noncanonical base pairs, and a wide range of complex tertiary interactions. Nucleic acid molecules are usually unbranched and may occur as linear and circular molecules. For example, bacterial chromosomes, plasmids, mitochondrial DNA, and chloroplast DNA are usually circular double-stranded DNA molecules, while chromosomes of the eukaryotic nucleus are usually linear double-stranded DNA molecules. Most RNA molecules are linear, single-stranded molecules, but both circular and branched molecules can result from RNA splicing reactions. The total amount of pyrimidines in a double-stranded DNA molecule is equal to the total amount of purines. The diameter of the helix is about 20Å. Sequences One DNA or RNA molecule differs from another primarily in the sequence of nucleotides. Nucleotide sequences are of great importance in biology since they carry the ultimate instructions that encode all biological molecules, molecular assemblies, subcellular and cellular structures, organs, and organisms, and directly enable cognition, memory, and behavior (see Genetics). Enormous efforts have gone into the development of experimental methods to determine the nucleotide sequence of biological DNA and RNA molecules, and today hundreds of millions of nucleotides are sequenced daily at genome centers and smaller laboratories worldwide. In addition to maintaining the |
environments as large deposits, particularly of nitratine, a major source of sodium nitrate. Nitrates are produced by a number of species of nitrifying bacteria in the natural environment using ammonia or urea as a source of nitrogen and oxygen as a source of free energy. Nitrate compounds for gunpowder were historically produced, in the absence of mineral nitrate sources, by means of various fermentation processes using urine and dung. Lightning strikes in earth's nitrogen- and oxygen-rich atmosphere produce a mixture of oxides of nitrogen, which form nitrous ions and nitrate ions, which are washed from the atmosphere by rain or in occult deposition. Nitrates are produced industrially from nitric acid. Uses Nitrates are mainly produced for use as fertilizers in agriculture because of their high solubility and biodegradability. The main nitrate fertilizers are ammonium, sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium salts. Several million kilograms are produced annually for this purpose. The second major application of nitrates is as oxidizing agents, most notably in explosives where the rapid oxidation of carbon compounds liberates large volumes of gases (see gunpowder for an example). Sodium nitrate is used to remove air bubbles from molten glass and some ceramics. Mixtures of the molten salt are used to harden some metals. Nitrate was also used as a film stock through nitrocellulose. Due to its high combustibility, the studios swapped to acetate safety film in 1950. Detection Almost all methods for detection of nitrate rely on its conversion to nitrite followed by nitrite-specific tests. The reduction of nitrate to nitrite is effected by copper-cadmium material. The sample is introduced with a flow injection analyzer, and the resulting nitrite-containing effluent is then combined with a reagent for colorimetric or electrochemical detection. The most popular of these assays is the Griess test, whereby nitrite is converted to a deeply colored azo dye suited for UV-vis spectroscopic analysis. The method exploits the reactivity of nitrous acid derived from acidification of nitrite. Nitrous acid selectively reacts with aromatic amines to give diazonium salts, which in turn couple with a second reagent to give the azo dye. The detection limit is 0.02 to 2 μM. Such methods have been highly adapted to biological samples. Safety The acute toxicity of nitrate is low. "Substantial disagreement" exists about the long-term risks of nitrate exposure. The two areas of possible concern are that (i) nitrate could be a precursor to nitrite in the lower gut, and nitrite is a precursor to nitrosamines, which are implicated in carcinogenesis, and (ii) nitrate is implicated in methemoglobinemia, a disorder of hemoglobin in red blood cells. Methemoglobinemia Nitrates do not affect infants and pregnant women. Blue baby syndrome is caused by a number of other factors such as gastric upset, such as diarrheal infection, protein intolerance, heavy metal toxicity etc., with nitrates playing a minor role. Drinking water standards Through the Safe Drinking Water Act, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has set a maximum contaminant level | and other vegetables. Drinking water is also a dietary source. Dietary nitrate supplementation delivers positive results when testing endurance exercise performance. Ingestion of large doses of nitrate either in the form of pure sodium nitrate or beetroot juice in young healthy individuals rapidly increases plasma nitrate concentration by a factor of 2 to 3, and this elevated nitrate concentration can be maintained for at least 2 weeks. Increased plasma nitrate stimulates the production of nitric oxide, NO. Nitric oxide is an important physiological signaling molecule that is used in, among other things, regulation of muscle blood flow and mitochondrial respiration. Cured meats Nitrite consumption is primarily determined by the amount of processed meats eaten, and the concentration of nitrates in these meats. Although nitrites are the nitrogen compound chiefly used in meat curing, nitrates are used as well. Nitrates lead to the formation of nitrosamines. The production of carcinogenic nitrosamines may be inhibited by the use of the antioxidants vitamin C and the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E during curing. Anti-hypertensive diets, such as the DASH diet, typically contain high levels of nitrates, which are first reduced to nitrite in the saliva, as detected in saliva testing, prior to forming nitric oxide. Occurrence and production Nitrate salts are found naturally on earth in arid environments as large deposits, particularly of nitratine, a major source of sodium nitrate. Nitrates are produced by a number of species of nitrifying bacteria in the natural environment using ammonia or urea as a source of nitrogen and oxygen as a source of free energy. Nitrate compounds for gunpowder were historically produced, in the absence of mineral nitrate sources, by means of various fermentation processes using urine and dung. Lightning strikes in earth's nitrogen- and oxygen-rich atmosphere produce a mixture of oxides of nitrogen, which form nitrous ions and nitrate ions, which are washed from the atmosphere by rain or in occult deposition. Nitrates are produced industrially from nitric acid. Uses |
name Nike, daughter of Shahrbaraz Arts, entertainment, and media Nike Award, a Polish language literature prize Nike of Samothrace, an ancient statue of the goddess Nike Nike of Callimachus, an ancient statue of the goddess Nike "Nikes" (song), by Frank Ocean from the album Blonde (2016) Military Project Nike, a US Army missile project MIM-14 Nike-Hercules, a solid fuel propelled surface-to-air missile Nike (rocket stage) Various US sounding rockets named after the upper stage used, including: Nike Apache Nike-Asp Nike-Cajun Nike-Deacon Nike Hawk Nike Hydac Nike Iroquois Nike Javelin Nike Malemute | Ocean from the album Blonde (2016) Military Project Nike, a US Army missile project MIM-14 Nike-Hercules, a solid fuel propelled surface-to-air missile Nike (rocket stage) Various US sounding rockets named after the upper stage used, including: Nike Apache Nike-Asp Nike-Cajun Nike-Deacon Nike Hawk Nike Hydac Nike Iroquois Nike Javelin Nike Malemute Nike Nike Nike Orion Nike Recruit Nike T40 T55 Nike Tomahawk Nike Viper Operation |
was damage from Hurricane Irma. Geography The formation of the island began in mid-Pliocene times, approximately 3.45 million years ago. Nine distinct eruptive centres from different geological ages, ranging from mid-Pliocene to Pleistocene, have contributed to the formation. No single model of the island's geological evolution can, therefore, be ascertained. Nevis Peak ( high) is the dormant remnant of one of these ancient stratovolcanoes. The last activity took place about 100,000 years ago, but active fumaroles and hot springs are still found on the island, the most recent formed in 1953. The composite cone of Nevis volcano has two overlapping summit craters that are partially filled by a lava dome, created in recent, pre-Columbian time. Pyroclastic flows and mudflows were deposited on the lower slopes of the cone simultaneously. Nevis Peak is located on the outer crater rim. Four other lava domes were constructed on the flanks of the volcano, one on the northeast flank (Madden's Mount), one on the eastern flank (Butlers Mountain), one on the northwest coast (Mount Lily) and one on the south coast (Saddle Hill, with a height of ). The southernmost point on the island is Dogwood Point which is also the southernmost point of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. During the last ice age, when the sea level was 60 m lower, the three islands of Saint Kitts, Nevis and Sint Eustatius (also known as Statia) were connected as one island. Saba, however, is separated from these three by a deeper channel. There are visible wave-breaking reefs along the northern and eastern shorelines. To the south and west, the reefs are located in deeper water and are suitable for scuba diving. The most developed beach on Nevis is the Pinney's Beach, on the western or Caribbean coast. There are sheltered swimming beaches in Oualie Bay and Cades Bay. The eastern coast of the island faces into the Atlantic Ocean and can have strong surf in parts of the shore which are unprotected by fringing coral reefs. The colour of the sand on the beaches of Nevis is variable: on a lot of the bigger beaches the sand is a yellow-grey in colour, but some beaches on the southern coast have darker, reddish, or even black sand. Under a microscope it becomes clear that Nevis sand is a mixture of tiny fragments of coral, many foraminifera, and small crystals of the various mineral constituents of the volcanic rock of which the island is made. Geology Seven volcanic centers make up Nevis. These include Round Hill (3.43 Ma), Cades Bay (3.22 Ma), Hurricane Hill (2.7 Ma), Saddle Hill (1.8 Ma), Butlers Mountain (1.1 Ma), Red Cliff and Nevis Peak (0.98 Ma). These are mainly andesite and dacite lava domes, with associated block and ash flows, plus lahars. Nevis Peak has the highest elevation, at 984 m. Cades Bay and Farm Estate Soufriere are noted areas of hydrothermal activity. Water has been piped since 1911 from a spring called the "Source", located up the mountain, to storage tanks at Rawlins Village, and since 1912, to Butler's Village. Additional drinking water comes from Nelson's Spring near Cotton Ground and Bath Spring. Groundwater has been extracted since the 1990s, and mixed with the Source water. Colonial deforestation During the 17th and 18th centuries, massive deforestation was undertaken by the planters as the land was initially cleared for sugar cultivation. This intense land exploitation by the sugar and cotton industry lasted almost 300 years, and greatly changed the island's ecosystem. In some places along the windswept southeast or "Windward" coast of the island, the landscape is radically altered compared with how it used to be in pre-colonial times. Due to extreme land erosion, the topsoil was swept away, and in some places at the coast, sheer cliffs as high as have developed. Thick forest once covered the eastern coastal plain, where the Amerindians built their first settlements during the Aceramic period, complementing the ecosystem surrounding the coral reef just offshore. It was the easy access to fresh water on the island and the rich food source represented by the ocean life sheltered by the reef that made it feasible for the Amerindians to settle this area around 600 BC. With the loss of the natural vegetation, the balance in runoff nutrients to the reef was disturbed, eventually causing as much as 80 percent of the large eastern fringing reef to become inactive. As the reef broke apart, it, in turn, provided less protection for the coastline. During times of maximum cultivation, sugar cane fields stretched from the coastline of Nevis up to an altitude at which the mountain slopes were too steep and rocky to farm. Nonetheless, once the sugar industry was finally abandoned, vegetation on the leeward side of the island regrew reasonably well, as scrub and secondary forest. Water resources Nevis has several natural freshwater springs (including Nelson's Spring). The island also has numerous non-potable volcanic hot springs, including most notably the Bath Spring near Bath village, just south of the capital Charlestown. After heavy rains, powerful rivers of rainwater pour down the numerous ravines (known as ghauts). When the water reaches the coastline, the corresponding coastal ponds, both freshwater and brackish, fill to capacity and beyond, spilling over into the sea. With modern development, the existing freshwater springs are no longer enough to supply water to the whole island. The water supply now comes mostly from Government wells. The major source of potable water for the island is groundwater, obtained from 14 active wells. Water is pumped from the wells, stored and allowed to flow by gravity to the various locations. Climate The climate is tropical with little variation, tempered all year round (but particularly from December through February) by the steady north-easterly winds, called the trade winds. There is a slightly hotter and somewhat rainier season from May to November. Nevis lies within the track area of tropical storms and occasional hurricanes. These storms can develop between August and October. This time of year has the heaviest rainfalls. Economy The official currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar (EC$), which is shared by eight other territories in the region. The European Commission's Delegation in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean estimates the annual per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Nevis to be about 10 percent higher than on St. Kitts. Tourism The major source of revenue for Nevis today is tourism. During the 2003–2004 season, approximately 40,000 tourists visited the island. A five-star hotel (The Four Seasons Resort Nevis, West Indies), four exclusive restored plantation inns, and several smaller hotels including Oualie Beach Resort are currently in operation. Larger developments along the west coast have recently been approved and are in the process of being developed. Offshore banking The introduction of secrecy legislation has made offshore financial services a rapidly growing economic sector in Nevis. Incorporation of companies, international insurance and reinsurance, as well as several international banks, trust companies, asset management firms, have created a boost in the economy. During 2005, the Nevis Island Treasury collected $94.6 million in annual revenue, compared to $59.8 million during 2001. In 1998, 17,500 international banking companies were registered in Nevis. Registration and annual filing fees paid in 1999 by these entities amounted to over 10 percent of Nevis' revenues. The offshore financial industry gained importance during the financial disaster of 1999 when Hurricane Lenny damaged the major resort on the island, causing the hotel to be closed down for a year and 400 of the 700 employees to be laid off. In 2000, the Financial Action Task Force, part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), issued a blacklist of 35 nations which were said to be non-cooperative in the campaign against tax evasion and money laundering. The list included the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Politics The political structure for the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is based on the Westminster Parliamentary system, but it is a unique structure in that Nevis has its own unicameral legislature, consisting of Her Majesty's representative (the Deputy Governor General) and members of the Nevis Island Assembly. Nevis has considerable autonomy in its legislative branch. The constitution actually empowers the Nevis Island Legislature to make laws that cannot be abrogated by the National Assembly. Nevis has a constitutionally protected right to secede from the federation, should a two-thirds majority of the island's population vote for independence in a local referendum. Section 113.(1) of the constitution states: "The Nevis Island Legislature may provide that the island of Nevis shall cease to be federated with the island of Saint Christopher and accordingly that this Constitution shall no longer have effect in the island of Nevis." Nevis has its own premier and its own government, the Nevis Island Administration. It collects its own taxes and has a separate budget, with a current account surplus. According to a statement released by the Nevis Ministry of Finance in 2005, Nevis had one of the highest growth rates in gross national product and per capita income in the Caribbean at that point. Elections Nevis elections are scheduled every five years. The Nevis elections of 2013, called on 23 January 2013, was won by the party in opposition, the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), led by Vance Amory. The CCM won three of the five seats in the Nevis Island Assembly, while the incumbent party, the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), won two. In the federal elections of 2010, the CCM won two of the three Nevis assigned Federal seats, while the NRP won one. Of the eight Saint Kitts assigned federal seats, the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party won six and the People's Action Movement (PAM) two. Movement for constitutional reform Joseph Parry, leader of the opposition, has indicated that he favours constitutional reform over secession for Nevis. His party, the NRP, has historically been the strongest and most ardent proponent for Nevis independence; the party came to power with secession as the main campaign issue. In 1975, the NRP manifesto declared that: "The Nevis Reformation Party will strive at all costs to gain secession for Nevis from St. Kitts – a privilege enjoyed by the island of Nevis prior to 1882." A cursory proposal for constitutional reform was presented by the NRP in 1999, but the issue was not prominent in the 2006 election campaign and it appears a detailed proposal has yet to be worked out and agreed upon within the party. In Handbook of Federal Countries published by Forum of Federations, the authors consider the constitution problematic because it does not "specifically outline" the federal financial arrangements or the means by which the central government and Nevis Island Administration can raise revenue: "In terms of the NIA, the constitution only states (in s. 108(1)) that 'all revenues...raised or received by the Administration...shall be paid into and form a fund styled the Nevis Island Consolidated Fund.' [...] Section 110(1) states that the proceeds of all 'takes' collected in St. Kitts and Nevis under any law are to be shared between the federal government and the Nevis Island Administration based on population. The share going to the NIA, however, is subject to deductions (s. 110(2)), such as the cost of common services and debt charges, as determined by the Governor-General (s.110(3)) on the advice of the Prime Minister who can also take advice from the Premier of Nevis (s.110(4))." According to a 1995 report by the Commonwealth Observer Group of the Commonwealth Secretariat, "the federal government is also the local government of St Kitts and this has resulted in a perception among the political parties in Nevis that the interests of the people of Nevis are being neglected by the federal government which is more concerned with the administration of St Kitts than with the federal administration." Secession movement Simeon Daniel, Nevis' first Premier and former leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) and Vance Amory, Premier and leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), made sovereign independence for Nevis from the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis part of their parties' agenda. Since independence from the United Kingdom in 1983, the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have been involved in several conflicts over the interpretation of the new constitution which came into effect at independence. During an interview on Voice of America in March 1998, repeated in a government-issued press release headlined "PM Douglas Maintains 1983 Constitution is Flawed", Prime Minister Denzil Douglas called the constitution a "recipe for disaster and disharmony among the people of both islands". A crisis developed in 1984 when the People's Action Movement (PAM) won a majority in the Federal elections and temporarily ceased honouring the Federal Government's financial obligations to Nevis. Consequently, cheques issued by the Nevis Administration were not honoured by the Bank, public servants in Nevis were not paid on time and the Nevis Island Administration experienced difficulties in meeting its financial obligations. There is also substantial support in Nevis for British Overseas Territory status similar to Anguilla's, which was formerly the third of the tri-state Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla colony. Legislative motivation for secession In 1996, four new bills were introduced in the National Assembly in Saint Kitts, one of which made provisions to have revenue derived from activities in Nevis paid directly to the treasury in Saint Kitts instead of to the treasury in Nevis. Another bill, The Financial Services Committee Act, contained provisions that all investments in Saint Kitts and Nevis would require approval by an investment committee in Saint Kitts. This was controversial, because ever since 1983 the Nevis Island Administration had approved all investments for Nevis, on the basis that the constitution vests legislative authority for industries, trades and businesses and economic development in Nevis to the Nevis Island Administration. All three representatives from Nevis, including the leader of the opposition in the Nevis Island Assembly, objected to the introduction of these bills into the National Assembly in Saint Kitts, arguing that the bills would affect the ability of Nevis to develop its offshore financial services sector and that the bills would be detrimental to the Nevis economy. All the representatives in opposition in the National Assembly shared the conviction that the bills if passed into law, would be unconstitutional and undermine the constitutional and legislative authority of the Nevis Island Administration, as well as result in the destruction of the economy of Nevis. The constitutional crisis initially developed when the newly appointed Attorney General refused to grant permission for the Nevis Island Administration to assert its legal right in the Courts. After a decision of the High Court in favour of the Nevis Island Administration, the Prime Minister gave newspaper interviews stating that he "refused to accept the decision of the High Court". Due to the deteriorating relationship between the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government, a Constitutional Committee was appointed in April 1996 to advise on whether or not the present constitutional arrangement between the islands should continue. The committee recommended constitutional reform and the establishment of an island administration for Saint Kitts, separate from the Federal Government. The Federal Government in Saint Kitts fills both functions today and Saint Kitts does not have an equivalent to the Nevis Island Administration. Disagreements between the political parties in Nevis and between the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have prevented the recommendations by the electoral committee from being implemented. The problematic political arrangement between the two islands, therefore, continues to date. Nevis has continued developing its own legislation, such as The Nevis International Insurance Ordinance and the Nevis International Mutual Funds Ordinance of 2004, but calls for secession are often based on concerns that the legislative authority of the Nevis Island Administration might be challenged again in the future. Fiscal motivation for secession The issues of political dissension between Saint Kitts and Nevis are often centred around perceptions of imbalance in the economic structure. As noted by many scholars, Nevisians have often referred to a structural imbalance in Saint Kitts' favour in how funds are distributed between the two islands and this issue has made the movement for Nevis secession a constant presence in the island's political arena, with many articles appearing in the local press expressing concerns such as those compiled by Everton Powell in "What Motivates Our Call for Independence": Many of the businesses that operate in Nevis are headquartered in Saint Kitts and pay the corporate taxes to Saint Kitts, despite the fact that profits for those businesses are derived from Nevis. The vast majority of Nevisians and residents of Nevis depart the Federation from Saint Kitts. This meant that departure taxes are paid in Saint Kitts. The bulk of cargo destined for Nevis enters the Federation through Saint Kitts. Custom duties are therefore paid in Saint Kitts. The largest expenditure for Nevis, approximately 29 percent of the Nevis Island Administration's recurrent budget, is education and health services, but the Nevis Island Legislature has no power to legislate over these two areas. Police, defense and coast guard are a federal responsibility. Charlestown Police Station, which served as the Headquarters for police officers in Nevis, was destroyed by fire in December 1991. Police officers | cotton industry lasted almost 300 years, and greatly changed the island's ecosystem. In some places along the windswept southeast or "Windward" coast of the island, the landscape is radically altered compared with how it used to be in pre-colonial times. Due to extreme land erosion, the topsoil was swept away, and in some places at the coast, sheer cliffs as high as have developed. Thick forest once covered the eastern coastal plain, where the Amerindians built their first settlements during the Aceramic period, complementing the ecosystem surrounding the coral reef just offshore. It was the easy access to fresh water on the island and the rich food source represented by the ocean life sheltered by the reef that made it feasible for the Amerindians to settle this area around 600 BC. With the loss of the natural vegetation, the balance in runoff nutrients to the reef was disturbed, eventually causing as much as 80 percent of the large eastern fringing reef to become inactive. As the reef broke apart, it, in turn, provided less protection for the coastline. During times of maximum cultivation, sugar cane fields stretched from the coastline of Nevis up to an altitude at which the mountain slopes were too steep and rocky to farm. Nonetheless, once the sugar industry was finally abandoned, vegetation on the leeward side of the island regrew reasonably well, as scrub and secondary forest. Water resources Nevis has several natural freshwater springs (including Nelson's Spring). The island also has numerous non-potable volcanic hot springs, including most notably the Bath Spring near Bath village, just south of the capital Charlestown. After heavy rains, powerful rivers of rainwater pour down the numerous ravines (known as ghauts). When the water reaches the coastline, the corresponding coastal ponds, both freshwater and brackish, fill to capacity and beyond, spilling over into the sea. With modern development, the existing freshwater springs are no longer enough to supply water to the whole island. The water supply now comes mostly from Government wells. The major source of potable water for the island is groundwater, obtained from 14 active wells. Water is pumped from the wells, stored and allowed to flow by gravity to the various locations. Climate The climate is tropical with little variation, tempered all year round (but particularly from December through February) by the steady north-easterly winds, called the trade winds. There is a slightly hotter and somewhat rainier season from May to November. Nevis lies within the track area of tropical storms and occasional hurricanes. These storms can develop between August and October. This time of year has the heaviest rainfalls. Economy The official currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar (EC$), which is shared by eight other territories in the region. The European Commission's Delegation in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean estimates the annual per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Nevis to be about 10 percent higher than on St. Kitts. Tourism The major source of revenue for Nevis today is tourism. During the 2003–2004 season, approximately 40,000 tourists visited the island. A five-star hotel (The Four Seasons Resort Nevis, West Indies), four exclusive restored plantation inns, and several smaller hotels including Oualie Beach Resort are currently in operation. Larger developments along the west coast have recently been approved and are in the process of being developed. Offshore banking The introduction of secrecy legislation has made offshore financial services a rapidly growing economic sector in Nevis. Incorporation of companies, international insurance and reinsurance, as well as several international banks, trust companies, asset management firms, have created a boost in the economy. During 2005, the Nevis Island Treasury collected $94.6 million in annual revenue, compared to $59.8 million during 2001. In 1998, 17,500 international banking companies were registered in Nevis. Registration and annual filing fees paid in 1999 by these entities amounted to over 10 percent of Nevis' revenues. The offshore financial industry gained importance during the financial disaster of 1999 when Hurricane Lenny damaged the major resort on the island, causing the hotel to be closed down for a year and 400 of the 700 employees to be laid off. In 2000, the Financial Action Task Force, part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), issued a blacklist of 35 nations which were said to be non-cooperative in the campaign against tax evasion and money laundering. The list included the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Politics The political structure for the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is based on the Westminster Parliamentary system, but it is a unique structure in that Nevis has its own unicameral legislature, consisting of Her Majesty's representative (the Deputy Governor General) and members of the Nevis Island Assembly. Nevis has considerable autonomy in its legislative branch. The constitution actually empowers the Nevis Island Legislature to make laws that cannot be abrogated by the National Assembly. Nevis has a constitutionally protected right to secede from the federation, should a two-thirds majority of the island's population vote for independence in a local referendum. Section 113.(1) of the constitution states: "The Nevis Island Legislature may provide that the island of Nevis shall cease to be federated with the island of Saint Christopher and accordingly that this Constitution shall no longer have effect in the island of Nevis." Nevis has its own premier and its own government, the Nevis Island Administration. It collects its own taxes and has a separate budget, with a current account surplus. According to a statement released by the Nevis Ministry of Finance in 2005, Nevis had one of the highest growth rates in gross national product and per capita income in the Caribbean at that point. Elections Nevis elections are scheduled every five years. The Nevis elections of 2013, called on 23 January 2013, was won by the party in opposition, the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), led by Vance Amory. The CCM won three of the five seats in the Nevis Island Assembly, while the incumbent party, the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), won two. In the federal elections of 2010, the CCM won two of the three Nevis assigned Federal seats, while the NRP won one. Of the eight Saint Kitts assigned federal seats, the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party won six and the People's Action Movement (PAM) two. Movement for constitutional reform Joseph Parry, leader of the opposition, has indicated that he favours constitutional reform over secession for Nevis. His party, the NRP, has historically been the strongest and most ardent proponent for Nevis independence; the party came to power with secession as the main campaign issue. In 1975, the NRP manifesto declared that: "The Nevis Reformation Party will strive at all costs to gain secession for Nevis from St. Kitts – a privilege enjoyed by the island of Nevis prior to 1882." A cursory proposal for constitutional reform was presented by the NRP in 1999, but the issue was not prominent in the 2006 election campaign and it appears a detailed proposal has yet to be worked out and agreed upon within the party. In Handbook of Federal Countries published by Forum of Federations, the authors consider the constitution problematic because it does not "specifically outline" the federal financial arrangements or the means by which the central government and Nevis Island Administration can raise revenue: "In terms of the NIA, the constitution only states (in s. 108(1)) that 'all revenues...raised or received by the Administration...shall be paid into and form a fund styled the Nevis Island Consolidated Fund.' [...] Section 110(1) states that the proceeds of all 'takes' collected in St. Kitts and Nevis under any law are to be shared between the federal government and the Nevis Island Administration based on population. The share going to the NIA, however, is subject to deductions (s. 110(2)), such as the cost of common services and debt charges, as determined by the Governor-General (s.110(3)) on the advice of the Prime Minister who can also take advice from the Premier of Nevis (s.110(4))." According to a 1995 report by the Commonwealth Observer Group of the Commonwealth Secretariat, "the federal government is also the local government of St Kitts and this has resulted in a perception among the political parties in Nevis that the interests of the people of Nevis are being neglected by the federal government which is more concerned with the administration of St Kitts than with the federal administration." Secession movement Simeon Daniel, Nevis' first Premier and former leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) and Vance Amory, Premier and leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), made sovereign independence for Nevis from the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis part of their parties' agenda. Since independence from the United Kingdom in 1983, the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have been involved in several conflicts over the interpretation of the new constitution which came into effect at independence. During an interview on Voice of America in March 1998, repeated in a government-issued press release headlined "PM Douglas Maintains 1983 Constitution is Flawed", Prime Minister Denzil Douglas called the constitution a "recipe for disaster and disharmony among the people of both islands". A crisis developed in 1984 when the People's Action Movement (PAM) won a majority in the Federal elections and temporarily ceased honouring the Federal Government's financial obligations to Nevis. Consequently, cheques issued by the Nevis Administration were not honoured by the Bank, public servants in Nevis were not paid on time and the Nevis Island Administration experienced difficulties in meeting its financial obligations. There is also substantial support in Nevis for British Overseas Territory status similar to Anguilla's, which was formerly the third of the tri-state Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla colony. Legislative motivation for secession In 1996, four new bills were introduced in the National Assembly in Saint Kitts, one of which made provisions to have revenue derived from activities in Nevis paid directly to the treasury in Saint Kitts instead of to the treasury in Nevis. Another bill, The Financial Services Committee Act, contained provisions that all investments in Saint Kitts and Nevis would require approval by an investment committee in Saint Kitts. This was controversial, because ever since 1983 the Nevis Island Administration had approved all investments for Nevis, on the basis that the constitution vests legislative authority for industries, trades and businesses and economic development in Nevis to the Nevis Island Administration. All three representatives from Nevis, including the leader of the opposition in the Nevis Island Assembly, objected to the introduction of these bills into the National Assembly in Saint Kitts, arguing that the bills would affect the ability of Nevis to develop its offshore financial services sector and that the bills would be detrimental to the Nevis economy. All the representatives in opposition in the National Assembly shared the conviction that the bills if passed into law, would be unconstitutional and undermine the constitutional and legislative authority of the Nevis Island Administration, as well as result in the destruction of the economy of Nevis. The constitutional crisis initially developed when the newly appointed Attorney General refused to grant permission for the Nevis Island Administration to assert its legal right in the Courts. After a decision of the High Court in favour of the Nevis Island Administration, the Prime Minister gave newspaper interviews stating that he "refused to accept the decision of the High Court". Due to the deteriorating relationship between the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government, a Constitutional Committee was appointed in April 1996 to advise on whether or not the present constitutional arrangement between the islands should continue. The committee recommended constitutional reform and the establishment of an island administration for Saint Kitts, separate from the Federal Government. The Federal Government in Saint Kitts fills both functions today and Saint Kitts does not have an equivalent to the Nevis Island Administration. Disagreements between the political parties in Nevis and between the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have prevented the recommendations by the electoral committee from being implemented. The problematic political arrangement between the two islands, therefore, continues to date. Nevis has continued developing its own legislation, such as The Nevis International Insurance Ordinance and the Nevis International Mutual Funds Ordinance of 2004, but calls for secession are often based on concerns that the legislative authority of the Nevis Island Administration might be challenged again in the future. Fiscal motivation for secession The issues of political dissension between Saint Kitts and Nevis are often centred around perceptions of imbalance in the economic structure. As noted by many scholars, Nevisians have often referred to a structural imbalance in Saint Kitts' favour in how funds are distributed between the two islands and this issue has made the movement for Nevis secession a constant presence in the island's political arena, with many articles appearing in the local press expressing concerns such as those compiled by Everton Powell in "What Motivates Our Call for Independence": Many of the businesses that operate in Nevis are headquartered in Saint Kitts and pay the corporate taxes to Saint Kitts, despite the fact that profits for those businesses are derived from Nevis. The vast majority of Nevisians and residents of Nevis depart the Federation from Saint Kitts. This meant that departure taxes are paid in Saint Kitts. The bulk of cargo destined for Nevis enters the Federation through Saint Kitts. Custom duties are therefore paid in Saint Kitts. The largest expenditure for Nevis, approximately 29 percent of the Nevis Island Administration's recurrent budget, is education and health services, but the Nevis Island Legislature has no power to legislate over these two areas. Police, defense and coast guard are a federal responsibility. Charlestown Police Station, which served as the Headquarters for police officers in Nevis, was destroyed by fire in December 1991. Police officers initially had to operate out of the ruin, until the Nevis Island Administration managed to raise the resources to re-house the police. Nevis experiences an economic disadvantage because of preferential treatment by the federal government for development of Saint Kitts. The division of foreign aid and various forms of international assistance toward development and infrastructure are especially contentious issues. Lists showing the disparities in sharing have been compiled by Dr. Everson Hull, a former Economics professor of Howard University, and are available online. 1998 referendum A referendum on secession from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis was held in 1998. Although 62% voted in favor of a secession, a two-thirds majority would have been necessary for the referendum to succeed. Government The island of Nevis is divided into five administrative subdivisions called parishes, each of which has an elected representative in the Nevis Island Assembly. The division of this almost round island into parishes was done in a circular sector pattern, so each parish is shaped like a pie slice, reaching from the highest point of Nevis Peak down to the coastline. The parishes have double names, for example Saint George Gingerland. The first part of the name is the name of the patron saint of the parish church, and the second part of the name is the traditional common name of the parish. Often the parishes are referred to simply by their common names. The religious part of a parish name is sometimes written or pronounced in the possessive: Saint George's Gingerland. The five parishes of Nevis are: Saint George Gingerland Saint James Windward Saint John Figtree Saint Paul Charlestown Saint Thomas Lowland Culture Culturama, the annual cultural festival of Nevis, is celebrated during the Emancipation Day weekend, the first week of August. The festivities include many traditional folk dances, such as the masquerade, the Moko jumbies on stilts, Cowboys and Indians, and Plait the Ribbon, a May pole dance. The celebration was given a more organised form in 1974, including a Miss Culture Show and a Calypso Competition, as well as drama performances, old fashion Troupes (including Johnny Walkers, Giant and Spear, Bulls, Red Cross and Blue Ribbon), arts and crafts exhibitions and recipe competitions. According to the Nevis Department of Culture, the aim is to protect and encourage indigenous folklore, in order to make sure that the uniquely Caribbean culture can "reassert itself and flourish". Language The official language is English, yet Saint Kitts Creole (known on the island as 'Nevisian' or 'Nevis creole') is also widely spoken. The local creole is actually more widely spoken on Nevis than on the neighbouring island. Music, theatre and dance Nevisian culture has since the 17th century incorporated African, European and East Indian cultural elements, creating a distinct Afro-Caribbean culture. Several historical anthropologists have done field research Nevis and in Nevisian migrant communities in order to trace the creation and constitution of a Nevisian cultural community. Karen Fog Olwig published her research about Nevis in 1993, writing that the areas where the Afro-Caribbean traditions were especially strong and flourishing relate to kinship and subsistence farming. However, she adds, Afro-Caribbean cultural impulses were not recognised or valued in the colonial society and were therefore often expressed through Euro-Caribbean cultural forms. Examples of European forms appropriated to express Afro-Caribbean culture are the Nevisian and Kittitian Tea Meetings and Christmas Sports. According to anthropologist Roger D. Abrahams, these traditional performance art forms are "Nevisian approximation of British performance codes, techniques, and patterns". He writes that the Tea Meetings were staged as theatrical "battles between decorum and chaos", decorum represented by the ceremony chairmen and chaos the hecklers in the audience, with a diplomatic King or a Queen presiding over the battle to ensure fairness. The Christmas Sports included a form of comedy and satire based on local events and gossip. They were historically an important part of the Christmas celebrations in Nevis, performed on Christmas Eve by small troupes consisting of five or six men accompanied by string bands from different parts of the island. One of the men in the troupe was dressed as a woman, playing all the female parts in the dramatisations. The troupes moved from yard to yard to perform their skits, using props, face paint and costumes to play the roles of well-known personalities in the community. Examples of gossip about undesired behaviour that could surface in the skits for comic effect were querulous neighbours, adulterous affairs, planters mistreating workers, domestic disputes or abuse, crooked politicians and any form of stealing or cheating experienced in the society. Even though no names were mentioned in these skits, the audience would usually be able to guess who the heckling message in the troupe's dramatised portrayals was aimed at, as it was played out right on the person's own front yard. The acts thus functioned as social and moral commentaries on current events and behaviours in Nevisian society. This particular form is called "Bazzarding" by many locals. Abrahams theorises that Christmas Sports are rooted in the pre-emancipation Christmas and New Year holiday celebrations, when the enslaved population had several days off. American folklorist and musicologist Alan Lomax visited Nevis in 1962 in order to conduct long-term research into the black folk |
audiobook recording of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse was released through Audible. Kidman starred as an unstable mother in Park Chan-wook's Stoker (2013), to a positive response and a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In April 2013, she was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In 2014, Kidman starred as the titular character in the biographical film Grace of Monaco, which chronicles the 1962 crisis in which Charles de Gaulle blockaded the tiny principality, angered by Monaco's status as a tax haven for wealthy French subjects and Kelly's contemplative Hollywood return to star in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie. Opening out of competition at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, the film received largely negative reviews. Kidman also starred in two films with Colin Firth that year, the first being the British-Australian historical drama The Railway Man, in which Kidman played an officer's wife. Katherine Monk of the Montreal Gazette said of Kidman's performance, "It's a truly masterful piece of acting that transcends Teplitzky's store-bought framing, but it's Kidman who delivers the biggest surprise: For the first time since her eyebrows turned into solid marble arches, the Australian Oscar winner is truly terrific". Her second film with Firth was the British thriller film Before I Go To Sleep, portraying a car crash survivor with brain damage. Also in 2014, she appeared in the live-action animated comedy film Paddington as the film's main antagonist. In 2015, Kidman starred in the drama Strangerland, which opened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and the Jason Bateman-directed The Family Fang, produced by Kidman's production company, Blossom Films, which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. In her other 2015 film release, the biographical drama Queen of the Desert, she portrayed writer, traveller, political officer, administrator and archaeologist Gertrude Bell. That same year, she played a district attorney, opposite Julia Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor, in the little-seen film Secret in Their Eyes, a remake of the 2009 Argentine film of the same name, both based on the novel La pregunta de sus ojos by author Eduardo Sacheri. After more than 15 years, Kidman returned to the West End in the UK premiere of Photograph 51 at the Noël Coward Theatre. She starred as British scientist Rosalind Franklin, working for the discovery of the structure of DNA, in the production from 5 September to 21 November 2015, directed by Michael Grandage. The production was met with considerable praise from critics, particularly for Kidman, and her return to the West End was hailed a success. For her performance, she won an Evening Standard Theatre Award and received a second Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress. Lion, Big Little Lies and continued acclaim (2016–present) In 2016's Lion, Kidman portrayed Sue, the adoptive mother of Saroo Brierley, an Indian boy who was separated from his birth family, a role she felt connected to as she herself is the mother of adopted children. She received positive reviews for her performance, in addition to her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, her fourth nomination overall, and her eleventh Golden Globe Award nomination, among several others. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times thought that "Kidman gives a powerful and moving performance as Saroo's adoptive mother, who loves her son with every molecule of her being, but comes to understand his quest. It's as good as anything she's done in the last decade." Budgeted at US$12 million, Lion earned over US$140 million globally. She also gave a voice-over performance for the English version of the animated film The Guardian Brothers. In 2017, Kidman returned to television for Big Little Lies, a drama series based on Liane Moriarty's novel of the same name, which premiered on HBO. She also served as executive producer alongside her co-star, Reese Witherspoon, and the show's director, Jean-Marc Vallée. She played Celeste Wright, a former lawyer and housewife, who conceals an abusive relationship with her husband, played by Alexander Skarsgård. Matthew Jacobs of The Huffington Post considered that she "delivered a career-defining performance", while Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote that "Kidman belongs in the pantheon of great actresses". She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her performance, as well as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series as a producer. She also received a Critics' Choice Television Award, Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award. Kidman next played Martha Farnsworth, the headmistress of an all-girls school during the American Civil War, in Sofia Coppola's drama The Beguiled, a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, competing for the Palme d'Or. Both films were adaptations of a novel by Thomas P. Cullinan. The film was an arthouse success, and Katie Walsh of the Tribune News Service found Kidman "particularly, unsurprisingly excellent in her performance as the steely Miss Martha. She is controlled and in control, unflappable. Her genteel manners and femininity co-exist easily with her toughness." Kidman had two other films premiere at the festival: the science-fiction romantic comedy How to Talk to Girls at Parties, reuniting her with director John Cameron Mitchell, and the psychological thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, which also competed for the Palme d'Or. Also in 2017, Kidman played supporting roles in the BBC Two television series Top of the Lake: China Girl and in the comedy-drama The Upside, a remake of the 2011 French comedy The Intouchables, starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart. In 2018, Kidman starred in two dramasDestroyer and Boy Erased. In the former, she played a detective troubled by a case for two decades. Peter Debruge of Variety and Brooke Marine of W both found her "unrecognizable" in the role and Debruge added that "she disappears into an entirely new skin, rearranging her insides to fit the character's tough hide", whereas Marine highlighted Kidman's method acting. The latter film is based on Garrard Conley's Boy Erased: A Memoir, and features Russell Crowe and Kidman as socially conservative parents who send their son (played by Lucas Hedges) to a gay conversion program. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair credited all three performers for "elevating the fairly standard-issue material to poignant highs". That same year, Kidman played Queen Atlanna, the mother of the title character, in the DC Extended Universe superhero film Aquaman. Also in 2018, Nicole was interviewed for BAFTA A Life in Pictures, where she reflected on her extensive film career. Forbes ranked her as the fourth highest-paid actress in the world in 2019, with an annual income of $34 million. She took on the supporting part of a rich socialite in John Crowley's drama The Goldfinch, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Donna Tartt, starring Ansel Elgort. Although it was poorly received, Owen Gleiberman commended Kidman for playing her part with "elegant affection". She next co-starred alongside Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie in the drama Bombshell, a film depicting the scandal concerning the sexual harassment accusations against former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, in which she portrayed journalist Gretchen Carlson. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times opined that despite lesser screen time than her two co-protagonists, Kidman successfully made Carlson "ever-so-slightly ridiculous, adding a sharp sliver of comedy that underscores how self-serving and futile her rebellious gestures at the network are". For her performance, Kidman received another nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2020, Kidman played Grace Fraser, a successful New York therapist, in the HBO psychological thriller miniseries The Undoing, based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Kidman served as executive producer alongside the show's director, Susanne Bier, and David E. Kelley, who previously adapted and produced Big Little Lies. For her performance, Kidman received additional Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Kidman's only film release of 2020 was the musical comedy film The Prom, based on the Broadway musical of the same name, starring alongside Meryl Streep, James Corden and Keegan-Michael Key. In 2021, Kidman starred in and executive produced the Hulu miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty. She also starred as actress-comedian Lucille Ball alongside Javier Bardem as Ball's husband, Desi Arnaz, in the biographical drama film Being the Ricardos, directed by Aaron Sorkin. Despite unfavourable reactions in response to her casting as Ball, her portrayal was met with critical acclaim. She subsequently won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her performance, in addition to receiving nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, as well as her fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, her fifth overall. Upcoming projects Kidman will next star alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Björk in the thriller film The Northman, directed by Robert Eggers. She will also reprise her role of Queen Atlanna in the sequel to the 2018 superhero film Aquaman, titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. She will be starring and serving as executive producer on four upcoming television series: the drama miniseries Expats, which is currently in production, the thriller miniseries Pretty Things, based on the upcoming novel of the same name by Janelle Brown, the anthology series Roar, based on Cecelia Ahern's 2018 book of short stories, and the family-drama series Things I Know To Be True, based on the Australian play of the same name. Unlike her other television projects, Things I Know To Be True is envisioned as an ongoing series with multiple seasons rather than a miniseries. Reception and legacy Kidman is often regarded to be among the finest actresses of her generation. She has been noted for seeking erratic roles in risky projects helmed by auteurs, as well as for her versatile performances and expansive range of material, having appeared in a variety of eclectic films from several genres throughout her extensive career spanning over nearly four decades. Vanity Fair stated that, despite struggling with her personal life being publicly scrutinised by the media during the early years of her career, "[Kidman] has shown herself to be a major talent, a remarkable actress who can get in there with the best of them, go toe-to-toe, and come out with her credibility intact. What's more, she's proved herself to be a star with a capital S, the one-in-a-generation kind who, like Elizabeth Taylor, is bigger than the Hollywood system, and is also unafraid to be human and real, which only makes her more popular." According to The New York Times, "the plucky, disciplined indomitability she brings to her performances, even more than the artistry she displays within them, may be the secret of her appeal, the source of her bond with the audience." Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker commented how "in each role, there is something waxen and watchful and self-possessed about Kidman, so that, even when she's smiling, she never seems liberated. While other actors specialize in transparency, Kidman has a different gift: she can wear a mask and simultaneously let you feel what it's like to hide behind it." In 2004 and 2018, Time magazine named Kidman one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual Time 100 list. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her fifth on its list of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century up to that point. Kidman is known to use method acting for many of her roles. It has been noted that she often times transforms herself physically, mentally and emotionally in order to resemble her characters, to the point where it has affected her health. Mark Caro from the Los Angeles Times stated that "to Nicole Kidman, acting isn't a mere technical feat; it's the art of transformation. To hear her tell it, the change can be as dramatic as a caterpillar-into-butterfly metamorphosis. She'll be working and working to get under the skin of a character." W Magazine described her as a "cipher", and pointed out how "she gets under her character's skin so thoroughly, it's nearly impossible to distinguish the actress from the role. It's why she has become so synonymous with a few key roles [...] and why those films are so defined by Kidman's presence in them." Critics have also commented on her acting style and approach to roles. Sharon Marie Carnicke, a professor of critical studies and acting at the USC School of Dramatic Arts, mentioned that "Kidman's [acting] choices are believable and natural as reactions to the specific circumstances in her world" and described her work as "kinetic". Dennis Bingham, a professor of English and director of film studies at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, stated that "Kidman acts always a step or two outside the character, telegraphing her reactions, elongating the time she takes to articulate her decisions and conclusions. Even her emotional responses are presented as signs." Pam Cook, a professor of film at the University of Southampton, suggests in her biography of Kidman that "her emphasis on artifice and technique points to a conception of screen acting that looks to cinematic expression rather than to the actor's body and intentions for the realisation of character." Mary Luckhurst, a professor and head of the University of Bristol School of Arts with credentials in theatre and performance, stated how "she has strategically pursued a high-risk mutability and versatility, and regularly traverses between naturalist and non-naturalist roles and artforms." She continues saying that "she can continually test her own emotional limits, physical skills, politics, values and frames of reference" and mentions how "her conception of character acting involves metamorphosing gradually into something that she feels is so 'other' that she frequently speaks of losing herself or getting lost in the role, and her preparedness to challenge herself in this respect has continually surprised other actors, directors and producers." Kidman has also been described as a fashion icon. The chartreuse Dior gown she wore to the 1997 Academy Awards is regarded as one of the greatest dresses in Oscar history and has been credited with changing red carpet fashion forever. Vogue described how "from her embroidered chartreuse John Galliano for Christian Dior gown in 1997, at the side of then-husband Tom Cruise, to that impeccable red Balenciaga moment at the 2007 Oscars, to the unforgettable Calvin Klein ballerina dress she wore to the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, the Australian native has mastered the art of red carpet dressing, always piquing our [interest] and taking risks while never overdoing it." Insider stated that "over the years, Kidman has experimented with all sorts of trends, including bold colors, statement jewelry, and everything in between, making herself one of the most iconic celebrities when it comes to her fashion choices." In 2003, she received the Fashion Icon Award, which was awarded to her by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Regarding her bestowal, Peter Arnold, executive director of the CFDA, said in a statement, "Nicole Kidman's style, both on and off the screen, has had an undeniable impact on fashion. As an actress, she has developed her many memorable characters with an innate understanding of the artistry of clothes. At the same time, she has elegantly established her personal style and own iconic presence worldwide." Personal life Relationships and family Kidman has been married twice: first to actor Tom Cruise, and later to country singer Keith Urban. Kidman met Cruise in 1989 while working on the set of Days of Thunder, a film in which they both starred, and they married on Christmas Eve of 1990. While married, the former couple adopted a daughter, Isabella Jane Cruise (born 1992), and a son, Connor Antony Cruise (born 1995). On 5 February 2001, the couple's spokesperson announced their separation. Cruise filed for divorce two days later, and their marriage was dissolved later that year, with Cruise citing irreconcilable differences. In a 2007 interview with Marie Claire, Kidman noted the incorrect reporting of an ectopic pregnancy early in her marriage. "It was wrongly reported as miscarriage by everyone who picked up the story. So it's huge news, and it didn't happen." In the June 2006 issue of Ladies' Home Journal, Kidman revealed that she still loved Cruise despite their divorce: "He was huge; still | confidence throughout the film [...] Kidman seems to specialize in 'ice queen' characters, but with Satine, she allows herself to thaw, just a bit." Subsequently, Kidman received her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, among several other awards and nominations, including her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Kidman also starred in Alejandro Amenábar's horror film The Others (2001) as Grace Stewart, a mother living in the Channel Islands during World War II who suspects her house is haunted. Grossing over US$210 million worldwide, the film also earned several Goya Award nominations, including a Best Actress nomination for Kidman. She received her second BAFTA Award and fifth Golden Globe Award nominations. Roger Ebert commented that "Alejandro Amenábar has the patience to create a languorous, dreamy atmosphere, and Nicole Kidman succeeds in convincing us that she is a normal person in a disturbing situation, and not just a standard-issue horror movie hysteric." In 2002, Kidman garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry's The Hours, co-starring alongside Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Kidman famously wore prosthetics, which were applied to her nose, in order to portray the author during 1920s England, making her look almost unrecognisable. The film was a critical success, earning several awards and nominations, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The New York Times wrote that "Ms. Kidman, in a performance of astounding bravery, evokes the savage inner war waged by a brilliant mind against a system of faulty wiring that transmits a searing, crazy static into her brain". Kidman won numerous critic and industry awards for her performance, including her first BAFTA Award, third Golden Globe Award, and the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first Australian to win the award. During her Oscar's acceptance speech, she referenced the Iraq War which was occurring at the time when speaking about the importance of art saying, "Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil? Because art is important. And because you believe in what you do and you want to honour that, and it is a tradition that needs to be upheld." Also in 2002, Kidman was named the World's Most Beautiful Person by People magazine. Following her Oscar win, Kidman appeared in three very different films in 2003. The first of those, a leading role in director Lars von Trier's Dogville, was an experimental film set on a bare soundstage. Though the film divided critics in the United States, Kidman still earned praise for her performance. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone stated, "Kidman gives the most emotionally bruising performance of her career in Dogville, a movie that never met a cliche it didn't stomp on." The second film was an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain, opposite Anthony Hopkins. Her third film that year was Anthony Minghella's war drama Cold Mountain, where she starred opposite Jude Law and Renée Zellweger, playing Southerner Ada Monroe, a woman who falls in love with Law's character and become separated by the Civil War. Regarding her performance, Time magazine wrote, "Kidman takes strength from Ada's plight and grows steadily, literally luminous. Her sculptural pallor gives way to warm radiance in the firelight". The film garnered several awards and nominations, most notably for the performances of the cast, with Kidman receiving her sixth Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress. Established actress (2004–2009) In 2004, Kidman starred in the film Birth, which sparked controversy over a scene in which she shares a bath with her co-star Cameron Bright, then aged ten. During a press conference at the 61st Venice International Film Festival, Kidman addressed the controversy saying, "It wasn't that I wanted to make a film where I kiss a 10-year-old boy. I wanted to make a film where you understand love". She received her seventh Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama. That same year, she appeared as a successful producer in the black comedy science-fiction film The Stepford Wives, a remake of the 1975 film of the same name, directed by Frank Oz. In 2005, Kidman appeared opposite Sean Penn in the Sydney Pollack thriller The Interpreter, playing UN translator Silvia Broome, and with Will Ferrell in the romantic comedy Bewitched, based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name. While neither film fared well in the United States, both were international successes. For the latter film, Kidman and Ferrell earned the Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple. In conjunction with her success within the film industry, Kidman became the face of the Chanel No. 5 perfume brand. She starred in a campaign of television and print ads with Rodrigo Santoro, directed by Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann, to promote the fragrance during the holiday seasons of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. The three-minute commercial produced for Chanel No. 5 made Kidman the record holder for the most money paid per minute to an actor after she reportedly earned US$12 million for the three-minute advert. During this time, Kidman was also featured as the 45th Most Powerful Celebrity on the 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 List. She made a reported US$14.5 million in 2004–2005. On People magazine's list of 2005's highest-paid actresses, Kidman came in second behind Julia Roberts, with a US$16–17 million per-film price tag. In 2006, Kidman portrayed photographer Diane Arbus in the biographical film Fur opposite Robert Downey Jr., and lent her voice to the animated film Happy Feet, which grossed over US$384 million worldwide. In 2007, she starred in the science-fiction film The Invasion directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, a remake of the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and starred opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black in Noah Baumbach's comedy-drama Margot at the Wedding, which earned her a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy. She also starred in the fantasy-adventure, The Golden Compass (2007), playing the villainous Marisa Coulter. In 2008, she reunited with Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann for the Australian period film Australia, set in the remote Northern Territory during the Japanese attack on Darwin during World War II, starring opposite Hugh Jackman as an Englishwoman feeling overwhelmed by the continent. The acting was praised and the film was a box office success worldwide. In 2009, Kidman appeared in the Rob Marshall musical Nine, portraying the Federico Fellini-like character's muse, Claudia Jenssen, alongside an ensemble cast consisting of Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson and Sophia Loren. Kidman, whose screen time was brief in comparison to the other actresses, performed the musical number "Unusual Way" alongside Day-Lewis. The film received several Golden Globe Award and Academy Award nominations, with Kidman earning her fourth Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, as part of the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture award. Biographical and independent films (2010–2015) In 2010, Kidman produced and starred in the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole, alongside Aaron Eckhart, for which she vacated her role in the Woody Allen picture You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. Her portrayal as a grieving mother in the film earned her critical acclaim, and received nominations for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. She also subsequently lent her voice to a promotional video that Australia used to support its bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In 2011, she starred alongside Nicolas Cage in director Joel Schumacher's action-thriller Trespass, with the stars playing a married couple taken hostage, and appeared with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston in Dennis Dugan's romantic comedy Just Go with It, as a trophy wife. In 2012, Kidman and Clive Owen starred in the HBO film Hemingway & Gellhorn, which depicted the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn. In Lee Daniels' adaptation of the Pete Dexter novel, The Paperboy (2012), she portrayed death row groupie Charlotte Bless. The film competed at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, and Kidman's performance garnered nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award and the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, in addition to her second Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, her tenth nomination overall. In 2012, Kidman's audiobook recording of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse was released through Audible. Kidman starred as an unstable mother in Park Chan-wook's Stoker (2013), to a positive response and a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In April 2013, she was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In 2014, Kidman starred as the titular character in the biographical film Grace of Monaco, which chronicles the 1962 crisis in which Charles de Gaulle blockaded the tiny principality, angered by Monaco's status as a tax haven for wealthy French subjects and Kelly's contemplative Hollywood return to star in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie. Opening out of competition at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, the film received largely negative reviews. Kidman also starred in two films with Colin Firth that year, the first being the British-Australian historical drama The Railway Man, in which Kidman played an officer's wife. Katherine Monk of the Montreal Gazette said of Kidman's performance, "It's a truly masterful piece of acting that transcends Teplitzky's store-bought framing, but it's Kidman who delivers the biggest surprise: For the first time since her eyebrows turned into solid marble arches, the Australian Oscar winner is truly terrific". Her second film with Firth was the British thriller film Before I Go To Sleep, portraying a car crash survivor with brain damage. Also in 2014, she appeared in the live-action animated comedy film Paddington as the film's main antagonist. In 2015, Kidman starred in the drama Strangerland, which opened at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and the Jason Bateman-directed The Family Fang, produced by Kidman's production company, Blossom Films, which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. In her other 2015 film release, the biographical drama Queen of the Desert, she portrayed writer, traveller, political officer, administrator and archaeologist Gertrude Bell. That same year, she played a district attorney, opposite Julia Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor, in the little-seen film Secret in Their Eyes, a remake of the 2009 Argentine film of the same name, both based on the novel La pregunta de sus ojos by author Eduardo Sacheri. After more than 15 years, Kidman returned to the West End in the UK premiere of Photograph 51 at the Noël Coward Theatre. She starred as British scientist Rosalind Franklin, working for the discovery of the structure of DNA, in the production from 5 September to 21 November 2015, directed by Michael Grandage. The production was met with considerable praise from critics, particularly for Kidman, and her return to the West End was hailed a success. For her performance, she won an Evening Standard Theatre Award and received a second Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress. Lion, Big Little Lies and continued acclaim (2016–present) In 2016's Lion, Kidman portrayed Sue, the adoptive mother of Saroo Brierley, an Indian boy who was separated from his birth family, a role she felt connected to as she herself is the mother of adopted children. She received positive reviews for her performance, in addition to her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, her fourth nomination overall, and her eleventh Golden Globe Award nomination, among several others. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times thought that "Kidman gives a powerful and moving performance as Saroo's adoptive mother, who loves her son with every molecule of her being, but comes to understand his quest. It's as good as anything she's done in the last decade." Budgeted at US$12 million, Lion earned over US$140 million globally. She also gave a voice-over performance for the English version of the animated film The Guardian Brothers. In 2017, Kidman returned to television for Big Little Lies, a drama series based on Liane Moriarty's novel of the same name, which premiered on HBO. She also served as executive producer alongside her co-star, Reese Witherspoon, and the show's director, Jean-Marc Vallée. She played Celeste Wright, a former lawyer and housewife, who conceals an abusive relationship with her husband, played by Alexander Skarsgård. Matthew Jacobs of The Huffington Post considered that she "delivered a career-defining performance", while Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote that "Kidman belongs in the pantheon of great actresses". She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her performance, as well as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series as a producer. She also received a Critics' Choice Television Award, Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award. Kidman next played Martha Farnsworth, the headmistress of an all-girls school during the American Civil War, in Sofia Coppola's drama The Beguiled, a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, competing for the Palme d'Or. Both films were adaptations of a novel by Thomas P. Cullinan. The film was an arthouse success, and Katie Walsh of the Tribune News Service found Kidman "particularly, unsurprisingly excellent in her performance as the steely Miss Martha. She is controlled and in control, unflappable. Her genteel manners and femininity co-exist easily with her toughness." Kidman had two other films premiere at the festival: the science-fiction romantic comedy How to Talk to Girls at Parties, reuniting her with director John Cameron Mitchell, and the psychological thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, which also competed for the Palme d'Or. Also in 2017, Kidman played supporting roles in the BBC Two television series Top of the Lake: China Girl and in the comedy-drama The Upside, a remake of the 2011 French comedy The Intouchables, starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart. In 2018, Kidman starred in two dramasDestroyer and Boy Erased. In the former, she played a detective troubled by a case for two decades. Peter Debruge of Variety and Brooke Marine of W both found her "unrecognizable" in the role and Debruge added that "she disappears into an entirely new skin, rearranging her insides to fit the character's tough hide", whereas Marine highlighted Kidman's method acting. The latter film is based on Garrard Conley's Boy Erased: A Memoir, and features Russell Crowe and Kidman as socially conservative parents who send their son (played by Lucas Hedges) to a gay conversion program. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair credited all three performers for "elevating the fairly standard-issue material to poignant highs". That same year, Kidman played Queen Atlanna, the mother of the title character, in the DC Extended Universe superhero film Aquaman. Also in 2018, Nicole was interviewed for BAFTA A Life in Pictures, where she reflected on her extensive film career. Forbes ranked her as the fourth highest-paid actress in the world in 2019, with an annual income of $34 million. She took on the supporting part of a rich socialite in John Crowley's drama The Goldfinch, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Donna Tartt, starring Ansel Elgort. Although it was poorly received, Owen Gleiberman commended Kidman for playing her part with "elegant affection". She next co-starred alongside Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie in the drama Bombshell, a film depicting the scandal concerning the sexual harassment accusations against former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, in which she portrayed journalist Gretchen Carlson. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times opined that despite lesser screen time than her two co-protagonists, Kidman successfully made Carlson "ever-so-slightly ridiculous, adding a sharp sliver of comedy that underscores how self-serving and futile her rebellious gestures at the network are". For her performance, Kidman received another nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2020, Kidman played Grace Fraser, a successful New York therapist, in the HBO psychological thriller miniseries The Undoing, based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Kidman served as executive producer alongside the show's director, Susanne Bier, and David E. Kelley, who previously adapted and produced Big Little Lies. For her performance, Kidman received additional Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Kidman's only film release of 2020 was the musical comedy film The Prom, based on the Broadway musical of the same name, starring alongside Meryl Streep, James Corden and Keegan-Michael Key. In 2021, Kidman starred in and executive produced the Hulu miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers, based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty. She also starred as actress-comedian Lucille Ball alongside Javier Bardem as Ball's husband, Desi Arnaz, in the biographical drama film Being the Ricardos, directed by Aaron Sorkin. Despite unfavourable reactions in response to her casting as Ball, her portrayal was met with critical acclaim. She subsequently won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her performance, in addition to receiving nominations for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, as well as her fourth Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, her fifth overall. Upcoming projects Kidman will next star alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Björk in the thriller film The Northman, directed by Robert Eggers. She will also reprise her role of Queen Atlanna in the sequel to the 2018 superhero film Aquaman, titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. She will be starring and serving as executive producer on four upcoming television series: the drama miniseries Expats, which is currently in production, the thriller miniseries Pretty Things, based on the upcoming novel of the same name by Janelle Brown, the anthology series Roar, based on Cecelia Ahern's 2018 book of short stories, and the family-drama series Things I Know To Be True, based on the Australian play of the same name. Unlike her other television projects, Things I Know To Be True is envisioned as an ongoing series with multiple seasons rather than a miniseries. Reception and legacy Kidman is often regarded to be among the finest actresses of her generation. She has been noted for seeking erratic roles in risky projects helmed by auteurs, as well as for her versatile performances and expansive range of material, having appeared in a variety of eclectic films from several genres throughout her extensive career spanning over nearly four decades. Vanity Fair stated that, despite struggling with her personal life being publicly scrutinised by the media during the early years of her career, "[Kidman] has shown herself to be a major talent, a remarkable actress who can get in there with the best of them, go toe-to-toe, and come out with her credibility intact. What's more, she's proved herself to be a star with a capital S, the one-in-a-generation kind who, like Elizabeth Taylor, is bigger than the Hollywood system, and is also unafraid to be human and real, which only makes her more popular." According to The New York Times, "the plucky, disciplined indomitability she brings to her performances, even more than the artistry she displays within them, may be the secret of her appeal, the source of her bond with the audience." Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker commented how "in each role, there is something waxen and watchful and self-possessed about Kidman, so that, even when she's smiling, she never seems liberated. While other actors specialize in transparency, Kidman has a different gift: she can wear a mask and simultaneously let you feel what it's like to hide behind it." In 2004 and 2018, Time magazine named Kidman one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual Time 100 list. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her fifth on its list of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century up to that point. Kidman is known to use method acting for many of her roles. It has been noted that she often times transforms herself physically, mentally and emotionally in order to resemble her characters, to the point where it has affected her health. Mark Caro from the Los Angeles Times stated that "to Nicole Kidman, acting isn't a mere technical feat; it's the art of transformation. To hear her tell it, the change can be as dramatic as a caterpillar-into-butterfly metamorphosis. She'll be working and working to get under the skin of a character." W Magazine described her as a "cipher", and pointed out how "she gets under her character's skin so thoroughly, it's nearly impossible to |
multifunctional: GART (reactions 2, 3, and 5) PAICS (reactions 6, and 7) ATIC (reactions 9, and 10) The pathway starts with the formation of PRPP. PRPS1 is the enzyme that activates R5P, which is formed primarily by the pentose phosphate pathway, to PRPP by reacting it with ATP. The reaction is unusual in that a pyrophosphoryl group is directly transferred from ATP to C1 of R5P and that the product has the α configuration about C1. This reaction is also shared with the pathways for the synthesis of Trp, His, and the pyrimidine nucleotides. Being on a major metabolic crossroad and requiring much energy, this reaction is highly regulated. In the first reaction unique to purine nucleotide biosynthesis, PPAT catalyzes the displacement of PRPP's pyrophosphate group (PPi) by an amide nitrogen donated from either glutamine (N), glycine (N&C), aspartate (N), folic acid (C1), or CO2. This is the committed step in purine synthesis. The reaction occurs with the inversion of configuration about ribose C1, thereby forming β-5-phosphorybosylamine (5-PRA) and establishing the anomeric form of the future nucleotide. Next, a glycine is incorporated fueled by ATP hydrolysis, and the carboxyl group forms an amine bond to the NH2 previously introduced. A one-carbon unit from folic acid coenzyme N10-formyl-THF is then added to the amino group of the substituted glycine followed by the closure of the imidazole ring. Next, a second NH2 group is transferred from glutamine to the first carbon of the glycine unit. A carboxylation of the second carbon of the glycin unit is concomitantly added. This new carbon is modified by the addition of a third NH2 unit, this time transferred from an aspartate residue. Finally, a second one-carbon unit from formyl-THF is added to the nitrogen group and the ring is covalently closed to form the common purine precursor inosine monophosphate (IMP). Inosine monophosphate is converted to adenosine monophosphate in two steps. First, GTP hydrolysis fuels the addition of aspartate to IMP by adenylosuccinate synthase, substituting the carbonyl oxygen for a nitrogen and forming the intermediate adenylosuccinate. Fumarate is then cleaved off forming adenosine monophosphate. This step is catalyzed by adenylosuccinate lyase. Inosine monophosphate is converted to guanosine monophosphate by the oxidation of IMP forming xanthylate, followed by the insertion of an amino group at C2. NAD+ is the electron acceptor in the oxidation reaction. The amide group transfer from glutamine is fueled by ATP hydrolysis. Pyrimidine and purine degradation In humans, pyrimidine rings (C, T, U) can be degraded completely to CO2 and NH3 (urea excretion). That having been said, purine rings (G, A) cannot. Instead, they are degraded to the metabolically inert uric acid which is then excreted from the body. Uric acid is formed when GMP is split into the base guanine and ribose. Guanine is deaminated to xanthine which in turn is oxidized to uric acid. This last reaction is irreversible. Similarly, uric acid can be formed when AMP is deaminated to IMP from which the ribose unit is removed to form hypoxanthine. Hypoxanthine is oxidized to xanthine and finally to uric acid. Instead of uric acid secretion, guanine and IMP can be used for recycling purposes and nucleic acid synthesis in the presence of PRPP and aspartate (NH3 donor). Prebiotic synthesis of nucleotides Theories about how life arose require knowledge of chemical pathways that permit formation of life’s key building blocks under plausible prebiotic conditions. The RNA world hypothesis holds that in the primordial soup there existed free-floating ribonucleotides, the fundamental molecules that combine in series to form RNA. Complex molecules like RNA must have arisen form small molecules whose reactivity was governed by physico-chemical processes. RNA is composed of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides, both of which are necessary for reliable information transfer, and thus Darwinian evolution. Becker et al. showed how pyrimidine nucleosides can be synthesized from small molecules and ribose, driven solely by wet-dry cycles. Purine nucleosides can be synthesized by a similar pathway. 5’-mono- and di-phosphates also form selectively from phosphate-containing minerals, allowing concurrent formation of polyribonucleotides with both the purine and pyrimidine bases. Thus a reaction network towards the purine and pyrimidine RNA building blocks can be established starting from simple atmospheric or volcanic molecules. Unnatural base pair (UBP) An unnatural base pair (UBP) is a designed subunit (or nucleobase) of DNA which is created in a laboratory and does not occur in nature. Examples include d5SICS and dNaM. These artificial nucleotides bearing hydrophobic nucleobases, feature two fused aromatic rings that form a (d5SICS–dNaM) complex or base pair in DNA. E. coli have been induced to replicate a plasmid containing UBPs through multiple generations. This is the | shared with the pathways for the synthesis of Trp, His, and the pyrimidine nucleotides. Being on a major metabolic crossroad and requiring much energy, this reaction is highly regulated. In the first reaction unique to purine nucleotide biosynthesis, PPAT catalyzes the displacement of PRPP's pyrophosphate group (PPi) by an amide nitrogen donated from either glutamine (N), glycine (N&C), aspartate (N), folic acid (C1), or CO2. This is the committed step in purine synthesis. The reaction occurs with the inversion of configuration about ribose C1, thereby forming β-5-phosphorybosylamine (5-PRA) and establishing the anomeric form of the future nucleotide. Next, a glycine is incorporated fueled by ATP hydrolysis, and the carboxyl group forms an amine bond to the NH2 previously introduced. A one-carbon unit from folic acid coenzyme N10-formyl-THF is then added to the amino group of the substituted glycine followed by the closure of the imidazole ring. Next, a second NH2 group is transferred from glutamine to the first carbon of the glycine unit. A carboxylation of the second carbon of the glycin unit is concomitantly added. This new carbon is modified by the addition of a third NH2 unit, this time transferred from an aspartate residue. Finally, a second one-carbon unit from formyl-THF is added to the nitrogen group and the ring is covalently closed to form the common purine precursor inosine monophosphate (IMP). Inosine monophosphate is converted to adenosine monophosphate in two steps. First, GTP hydrolysis fuels the addition of aspartate to IMP by adenylosuccinate synthase, substituting the carbonyl oxygen for a nitrogen and forming the intermediate adenylosuccinate. Fumarate is then cleaved off forming adenosine monophosphate. This step is catalyzed by adenylosuccinate lyase. Inosine monophosphate is converted to guanosine monophosphate by the oxidation of IMP forming xanthylate, followed by the insertion of an amino group at C2. NAD+ is the electron acceptor in the oxidation reaction. The amide group transfer from glutamine is fueled by ATP hydrolysis. Pyrimidine and purine degradation In humans, pyrimidine rings (C, T, U) can be degraded completely to CO2 and NH3 (urea excretion). That having been said, purine rings (G, A) cannot. Instead, they are degraded to the metabolically inert uric acid which is then excreted from the body. Uric acid is formed when GMP is split into the base guanine and ribose. Guanine is deaminated to xanthine which in turn is oxidized to uric acid. This last reaction is irreversible. Similarly, uric acid can be formed when AMP is deaminated to IMP from which the ribose unit is removed to form hypoxanthine. Hypoxanthine is oxidized to xanthine and finally to uric acid. Instead of uric acid secretion, guanine and IMP can be used for recycling purposes and nucleic acid synthesis in the presence of PRPP and aspartate (NH3 donor). Prebiotic synthesis of nucleotides Theories about how life arose require knowledge of chemical pathways that permit formation of life’s key building blocks under plausible prebiotic conditions. The RNA world hypothesis holds that in the primordial soup there existed free-floating ribonucleotides, the fundamental molecules that combine in series to form RNA. Complex molecules like RNA must have arisen form small molecules whose reactivity was governed by physico-chemical processes. RNA is composed of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides, both of which are necessary for reliable information transfer, and thus Darwinian evolution. Becker et al. showed how pyrimidine nucleosides can be synthesized from small molecules and ribose, driven solely by wet-dry cycles. Purine nucleosides can be synthesized by a similar pathway. 5’-mono- and di-phosphates also form selectively from phosphate-containing minerals, allowing concurrent formation of polyribonucleotides with both the purine and pyrimidine bases. Thus a reaction network towards the purine and pyrimidine RNA building blocks can be established starting from simple atmospheric or volcanic molecules. Unnatural base pair (UBP) An unnatural base pair (UBP) is a designed subunit (or nucleobase) of DNA which is created in a laboratory and does not occur in nature. Examples include d5SICS and dNaM. These artificial nucleotides bearing hydrophobic nucleobases, feature two fused aromatic rings that form a (d5SICS–dNaM) complex or base pair in DNA. E. coli have been induced to replicate a plasmid containing UBPs through multiple generations. This is the first known example of a living organism passing along an expanded genetic code to subsequent generations. Medical applications of synthetic nucleotides Several nucleotide derivatives have been used as antivirals against hepatitis and HIV. Tenofovir disoproxil, Tenofovir alafenamide and Sofosbuvir are examples of NRTI used against hepatitis. Whereas certain drugs like Mericitabine, Lamivudine, Entecavir and Telbivudine for example are nucleosides, but they are metabolized into their bioactive nucleotide forms through phosphorylation. Length unit Nucleotide (abbreviated "nt") is a common unit of length for single-stranded nucleic acids, similar to how base pair is a unit of length for double-stranded nucleic acids. Abbreviation codes for degenerate bases The IUPAC has designated the symbols for nucleotides. Apart from the five (A, G, C, T/U) bases, often degenerate bases are used especially for designing PCR primers. These nucleotide codes are listed here. Some primer sequences may also include the character "I", which codes for the non-standard nucleotide inosine. Inosine occurs in tRNAs and will pair with adenine, cytosine, or thymine. This character does not appear in the following table, however, because it does not represent a degeneracy. While inosine can serve a similar function as the degeneracy "D", it is an actual nucleotide, rather than a representation of a mix of nucleotides that covers each possible pairing needed. See also Biology Chromosome Gene Genetics References Further reading Freisinger, E., & Sigel, R. K. (2007). From nucleotides to ribozymes—a comparison of their metal ion |
Riemann sum, because displacement is the integral of velocity. Ill-conditioned problem: Take the function . Note that f(1.1) = 10 and f(1.001) = 1000: a change in x of less than 0.1 turns into a change in f(x) of nearly 1000. Evaluating f(x) near x = 1 is an ill-conditioned problem. Well-conditioned problem: By contrast, evaluating the same function near x = 10 is a well-conditioned problem. For instance, f(10) = 1/9 ≈ 0.111 and f(11) = 0.1: a modest change in x leads to a modest change in f(x). Direct methods compute the solution to a problem in a finite number of steps. These methods would give the precise answer if they were performed in infinite precision arithmetic. Examples include Gaussian elimination, the QR factorization method for solving systems of linear equations, and the simplex method of linear programming. In practice, finite precision is used and the result is an approximation of the true solution (assuming stability). In contrast to direct methods, iterative methods are not expected to terminate in a finite number of steps. Starting from an initial guess, iterative methods form successive approximations that converge to the exact solution only in the limit. A convergence test, often involving the residual, is specified in order to decide when a sufficiently accurate solution has (hopefully) been found. Even using infinite precision arithmetic these methods would not reach the solution within a finite number of steps (in general). Examples include Newton's method, the bisection method, and Jacobi iteration. In computational matrix algebra, iterative methods are generally needed for large problems. Iterative methods are more common than direct methods in numerical analysis. Some methods are direct in principle but are usually used as though they were not, e.g. GMRES and the conjugate gradient method. For these methods the number of steps needed to obtain the exact solution is so large that an approximation is accepted in the same manner as for an iterative method. Discretization Furthermore, continuous problems must sometimes be replaced by a discrete problem whose solution is known to approximate that of the continuous problem; this process is called 'discretization'. For example, the solution of a differential equation is a function. This function must be represented by a finite amount of data, for instance by its value at a finite number of points at its domain, even though this domain is a continuum. Generation and propagation of errors The study of errors forms an important part of numerical analysis. There are several ways in which error can be introduced in the solution of the problem. Round-off Round-off errors arise because it is impossible to represent all real numbers exactly on a machine with finite memory (which is what all practical digital computers are). Truncation and discretization error Truncation errors are committed when an iterative method is terminated or a mathematical procedure is approximated and the approximate solution differs from the exact solution. Similarly, discretization induces a discretization error because the solution of the discrete problem does not coincide with the solution of the continuous problem. In the example above to compute the solution of , after ten iterations, the calculated root is roughly 1.99. Therefore, the truncation error is roughly 0.01. Once an error is generated, it propagates through the calculation. For example, the operation + on a computer is inexact. A calculation of the type is even more inexact. A truncation error is created when a mathematical procedure is approximated. To integrate a function exactly, an infinite sum of regions must be found, but numerically only a finite sum of regions can be found, and hence the approximation of the exact solution. Similarly, to differentiate a function, the differential element approaches zero, but numerically only a nonzero value of the differential element can be chosen. Numerical stability and well-posed problems Numerical stability is a notion in numerical analysis. An algorithm is called 'numerically stable' if an error, whatever its cause, does not grow to be much larger during the calculation. This happens if the problem is 'well-conditioned', meaning that the solution changes by only a small amount if the problem data are changed by a small amount. To the contrary, if a problem is 'ill-conditioned', then any small error in the data will grow to be a large error. Both the original problem and the algorithm used to solve that problem can be 'well-conditioned' or 'ill-conditioned', and any combination is possible. So an algorithm that solves a well-conditioned problem may be either numerically stable or numerically unstable. An art of numerical analysis is to find a stable algorithm for solving a well-posed mathematical problem. For instance, computing the square root of 2 (which is roughly 1.41421) is a well-posed problem. Many algorithms solve this problem by starting with an initial approximation x0 to , for instance x0 = 1.4, and then computing improved guesses x1, x2, etc. One such method is the famous Babylonian method, which is given by xk+1 = xk/2 + 1/xk. Another method, called 'method X', is given by xk+1 = (xk2 − 2)2 + xk. A few iterations of each scheme are calculated in table form below, with initial guesses x0 = 1.4 and x0 = 1.42. Observe that the Babylonian method converges quickly regardless of the initial guess, whereas Method X converges extremely slowly with initial guess x0 = 1.4 and diverges for initial guess x0 = 1.42. Hence, the Babylonian method is numerically stable, while Method X is numerically unstable. Numerical stability is affected by the number of the significant digits the machine keeps. If a machine is used that keeps only the four most significant decimal digits, a good example on loss of significance can be given by the two equivalent functions and Comparing the results of and by comparing the two results above, it is clear that loss of significance (caused here by catastrophic cancellation from subtracting approximations to the nearby numbers and , despite the subtraction being computed exactly) has a huge effect on the results, even though both functions are equivalent, as shown below The desired value, computed using infinite precision, is 11.174755... The example is a modification of one taken from Mathew; Numerical methods using MATLAB, 3rd ed. Areas of study The field of numerical analysis includes many sub-disciplines. Some of the major ones are: Computing values of functions One of the simplest problems is the evaluation of a function at a given point. The most straightforward approach, of just plugging in the number in the formula is sometimes not very efficient. For polynomials, a better approach is using the Horner scheme, since it reduces the necessary number of multiplications and additions. Generally, it is important to estimate and control round-off errors arising from the use of floating point arithmetic. Interpolation, extrapolation, and regression Interpolation solves the following problem: given the value of some unknown function at a number of points, what value does that function have at some other point between the given points? Extrapolation is very similar to interpolation, except that now the value of the unknown function at a point which is outside the given points must be found. Regression is also similar, but it takes into account that the data is imprecise. Given some points, and a measurement of the value of some function at these points (with an error), the unknown function can be found. The least squares-method is one way to achieve this. Solving equations and systems of equations Another fundamental problem is computing the solution of some given equation. Two cases are commonly distinguished, depending on whether the equation is linear or not. For instance, the equation is linear while is not. Much effort has been put in the development of methods for solving systems of linear equations. Standard direct methods, i.e., methods that use some matrix decomposition are Gaussian elimination, LU decomposition, Cholesky decomposition for symmetric (or hermitian) and positive-definite matrix, and QR decomposition for non-square matrices. Iterative methods such as the Jacobi method, Gauss–Seidel method, successive over-relaxation and conjugate gradient method are usually preferred for large systems. General iterative methods can be developed using a matrix splitting. Root-finding algorithms are used to solve nonlinear equations (they are so named since a root of a function is an argument for which the function yields zero). If the function is differentiable and the derivative is known, then Newton's method is a popular choice. Linearization is another technique for solving nonlinear equations. Solving eigenvalue or singular value problems Several important problems can be phrased in terms of eigenvalue decompositions or singular value decompositions. For instance, the spectral image compression algorithm is based on the singular value decomposition. The corresponding tool in statistics is called principal component analysis. Optimization Optimization problems ask for the point at which a given function is maximized (or minimized). Often, the point also has to satisfy some constraints. The field of optimization is further split in | within a finite number of steps (in general). Examples include Newton's method, the bisection method, and Jacobi iteration. In computational matrix algebra, iterative methods are generally needed for large problems. Iterative methods are more common than direct methods in numerical analysis. Some methods are direct in principle but are usually used as though they were not, e.g. GMRES and the conjugate gradient method. For these methods the number of steps needed to obtain the exact solution is so large that an approximation is accepted in the same manner as for an iterative method. Discretization Furthermore, continuous problems must sometimes be replaced by a discrete problem whose solution is known to approximate that of the continuous problem; this process is called 'discretization'. For example, the solution of a differential equation is a function. This function must be represented by a finite amount of data, for instance by its value at a finite number of points at its domain, even though this domain is a continuum. Generation and propagation of errors The study of errors forms an important part of numerical analysis. There are several ways in which error can be introduced in the solution of the problem. Round-off Round-off errors arise because it is impossible to represent all real numbers exactly on a machine with finite memory (which is what all practical digital computers are). Truncation and discretization error Truncation errors are committed when an iterative method is terminated or a mathematical procedure is approximated and the approximate solution differs from the exact solution. Similarly, discretization induces a discretization error because the solution of the discrete problem does not coincide with the solution of the continuous problem. In the example above to compute the solution of , after ten iterations, the calculated root is roughly 1.99. Therefore, the truncation error is roughly 0.01. Once an error is generated, it propagates through the calculation. For example, the operation + on a computer is inexact. A calculation of the type is even more inexact. A truncation error is created when a mathematical procedure is approximated. To integrate a function exactly, an infinite sum of regions must be found, but numerically only a finite sum of regions can be found, and hence the approximation of the exact solution. Similarly, to differentiate a function, the differential element approaches zero, but numerically only a nonzero value of the differential element can be chosen. Numerical stability and well-posed problems Numerical stability is a notion in numerical analysis. An algorithm is called 'numerically stable' if an error, whatever its cause, does not grow to be much larger during the calculation. This happens if the problem is 'well-conditioned', meaning that the solution changes by only a small amount if the problem data are changed by a small amount. To the contrary, if a problem is 'ill-conditioned', then any small error in the data will grow to be a large error. Both the original problem and the algorithm used to solve that problem can be 'well-conditioned' or 'ill-conditioned', and any combination is possible. So an algorithm that solves a well-conditioned problem may be either numerically stable or numerically unstable. An art of numerical analysis is to find a stable algorithm for solving a well-posed mathematical problem. For instance, computing the square root of 2 (which is roughly 1.41421) is a well-posed problem. Many algorithms solve this problem by starting with an initial approximation x0 to , for instance x0 = 1.4, and then computing improved guesses x1, x2, etc. One such method is the famous Babylonian method, which is given by xk+1 = xk/2 + 1/xk. Another method, called 'method X', is given by xk+1 = (xk2 − 2)2 + xk. A few iterations of each scheme are calculated in table form below, with initial guesses x0 = 1.4 and x0 = 1.42. Observe that the Babylonian method converges quickly regardless of the initial guess, whereas Method X converges extremely slowly with initial guess x0 = 1.4 and diverges for initial guess x0 = 1.42. Hence, the Babylonian method is numerically stable, while Method X is numerically unstable. Numerical stability is affected by the number of the significant digits the machine keeps. If a machine is used that keeps only the four most significant decimal digits, a good example on loss of significance can be given by the two equivalent functions and Comparing the results of and by comparing the two results above, it is clear that loss of significance (caused here by catastrophic cancellation from subtracting approximations to the nearby numbers and , despite the subtraction being computed exactly) has a huge effect on the results, even though both functions are equivalent, as shown below The desired value, computed using infinite precision, is 11.174755... The example is a modification of one taken from Mathew; Numerical methods using MATLAB, 3rd ed. Areas of study The field of numerical analysis includes many sub-disciplines. Some of the major ones are: Computing values of functions One of the simplest problems is the evaluation of a function at a given point. The most straightforward approach, of just plugging in |
through evolution as a consequence of this growth in complexity/consciousness. The noosphere is therefore as much part of nature as the barysphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. As a result, Teilhard sees the "social phenomenon [as] the culmination of and not the attenuation of the biological phenomenon." These social phenomena are part of the noosphere and include, for example, legal, educational, religious, research, industrial and technological systems. In this sense, the noosphere emerges through and is constituted by the interaction of human minds. The noosphere thus grows in step with the organization of the human mass in relation to itself as it populates the earth. Teilhard argued the noosphere evolves towards ever greater personalisation, individuation and unification of its elements. He saw the Christian notion of love as being the principal driver of "noogenesis", the evolution of mind. Evolution would culminate in the Omega Point—an apex of thought/consciousness—which he identified with the eschatological return of Christ. One of the original aspects of the noosphere concept deals with evolution. Henri Bergson, with his L'évolution créatrice (1907), was one of the first to propose evolution is "creative" and cannot necessarily be explained solely by Darwinian natural selection. L'évolution créatrice is upheld, according to Bergson, by a constant vital force which animates life and fundamentally connects mind and body, an idea opposing the dualism of René Descartes. In 1923, C. Lloyd Morgan took this work further, elaborating on an "emergent evolution" which could explain increasing complexity (including the evolution of mind). Morgan found many of the most interesting changes in living things have been largely discontinuous with past evolution. Therefore, these living things did not necessarily evolve through a gradual process of natural selection. Rather, he posited, the process of evolution experiences jumps in complexity (such as the emergence of a self-reflective universe, or noosphere), in a sort of qualitative punctuated equilibrium. Finally, the complexification of human cultures, particularly language, facilitated a quickening of evolution in which cultural evolution occurs more rapidly than biological evolution. Recent understanding of human ecosystems and of human impact on the biosphere have led to a link between the notion of sustainability with the "co-evolution" and harmonization of cultural and biological evolution. See also Notes References Deleuze, Gilles and Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus, Continuum, 2004, p. 77. Hödl, Elisabeth, "Die Noosphäre als Bezugsrahmen für das Recht" ("The noosphere as a framework for the conception of law") in: Schweighofer/Kummer/Hötzendorfer (ed.): Transformation juristischer Sprachen, Tagungsband des 15. Internationalen Rechtsinformatik Symposions, 2012, pp. 639–648. Oliver Krüger: | Both conceptions of the noosphere share the common thesis that together human reason and the scientific thought has created, and will continue to create, the next evolutionary geological layer. This geological layer is part of the evolutionary chain. Second generation authors, predominantly of Russian origin, have further developed the Vernadskian concept, creating the related concepts: noocenosis and noocenology. Founding authors The term noosphere was first used in the publications of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin in 1922 in his Cosmogenesis. Vernadsky was most likely introduced to the term by a common acquaintance, Édouard Le Roy, during a stay in Paris. Some sources claim Édouard Le Roy actually first proposed the term. Vernadsky himself wrote that he was first introduced to the concept by Le Roy in his 1927 lectures at the College of France, and that Le Roy had emphasized a mutual exploration of the concept with Teilhard de Chardin. According to Vernadsky's own letters, he took Le Roy's ideas on the noosphere from Le Roy's article "Les origines humaines et l’evolution de l’intelligence", part III: "La noosphere et l’hominisation", before reworking the concept within his own field, biogeochemistry. The historian Bailes concludes that Vernadsky and Teilhard de Chardin were mutual influences on each other, as Teilhard de Chardin also attended the Vernadsky's lectures on biogeochemistry, before creating the concept of the noosphere. An account stated that Le Roy and Teilhard were not aware of the concept of biosphere in their noosphere concept and that it was Vernadsky who introduced them to this notion, which gave their conceptualization a grounding on natural sciences. Both Teilhard de Chardin and Vernadsky base their conceptions of the noosphere on the term 'biosphere', developed by Edward Suess in 1875. Despite the differing backgrounds, approaches and focuses of Teilhard and Vernadsky, they have a few fundamental themes in common. Both scientists overstepped the boundaries of natural science and attempted to create all-embracing theoretical constructions founded in philosophy, social sciences and authorized interpretations of the evolutionary theory. Moreover, both thinkers were convinced of the teleological character of evolution. They also argued that human activity becomes a geological power and that the manner by which it is directed can influence the environment. There are, however, fundamental differences in the two conceptions. Concept In the theory of Vernadsky, the noosphere is the third in a succession of phases of development of the Earth, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological |
from Como, whom he met in Milan in 1813. The two gave concerts together throughout Italy. They had a son, Achille Ciro Alessandro, born on 23 July 1825 in Palermo and baptized at San Bartolomeo's. They never legalized their union and it ended around April 1828 in Vienna. Paganini brought Achille on his European tours, and Achille later accompanied his father until the latter's death. He was instrumental in dealing with his father's burial, years after his death. Throughout his career, Paganini also became close friends with composers Gioachino Rossini and Hector Berlioz. Rossini and Paganini met in Bologna in the summer of 1818. In January 1821, on his return from Naples, Paganini met Rossini again in Rome, just in time to become the substitute conductor for Rossini's opera Matilde di Shabran, upon the sudden death of the original conductor. Paganini's efforts earned great gratitude from Rossini. Paganini met Berlioz in Paris, and was a frequent correspondent as a penfriend. He commissioned a piece from the composer, but was not satisfied with the resultant four-movement piece for orchestra and viola obbligato, Harold en Italie. He never performed it, and instead it was premiered a year later by violist Christian Urhan. He did, however, write his own Sonata per Gran Viola Op. 35 (with orchestra or guitar accompaniment). Despite his alleged lack of interest in Harold, Paganini often referred to Berlioz as the resurrection of Beethoven and, towards the end of his life, he gave large sums to the composer. They shared an active interest in the guitar, which they both played and used in compositions. Paganini gave Berlioz a guitar, which they both signed on its sound box. Playing style Instruments Paganini was in possession of a number of fine stringed instruments. More legendary than these were the circumstances under which he obtained (and lost) some of them. While Paganini was still a teenager in Livorno, a wealthy businessman named Livron lent him a violin, made by the master luthier Giuseppe Guarneri, for a concert. Livron was so impressed with Paganini's playing that he refused to take it back. This particular violin came to be known as Il Cannone Guarnerius ("The Cannon of Guarnieri") because of its powerful voice and resonance. On a later occasion in Parma, he won another valuable violin (also by Guarneri) after a difficult sight-reading challenge from a man named Pasini. Other instruments associated with Paganini include the Antonio Amati 1600, the Nicolò Amati 1657, the Paganini-Desaint 1680 Stradivari, the Guarneri-filius Andrea 1706, the Le Brun 1712 Stradivari, the Vuillaume c. 1720 Bergonzi, the Hubay 1726 Stradivari, and the Comte Cozio di Salabue 1727 violins; the Countess of Flanders 1582 da Salò-di Bertolotti, and the Mendelssohn 1731 Stradivari violas; the Piatti 1700 Goffriller, the Stanlein 1707 Stradivari, and the Ladenburg 1736 Stradivari cellos; and the Grobert of Mirecourt 1820 (guitar). Four of these instruments were played by the Tokyo String Quartet. Of his guitars, there is little evidence remaining of his various choices of instrument. The aforementioned guitar that he gave to Berlioz is a French instrument made by one Grobert of Mirecourt. The luthier made his instrument in the style of René Lacôte, a more well-known Paris-based guitar-maker. It is preserved and on display in the Musée de la Musique in Paris. Of the guitars he owned through his life, there was an instrument by Gennaro Fabricatore that he had refused to sell even in his periods of financial stress, and was among the instruments in his possession at the time of his death. There is an unsubstantiated rumour that he also played Stauffer guitars; he may certainly have come across these in his meetings with Giuliani in Vienna. Violin technique The Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis once referred to Paganini as a phenomenon rather than a development. Though some of the techniques frequently employed by Paganini were already present, most accomplished violinists of the time focused on intonation and bowing techniques. Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713) was considered a pioneer in transforming the violin from an ensemble instrument to a solo instrument. Other notable violinists included Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) and Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770), who, in their compositions, reflected the increasing technical and musical demands on the violinist. Although the role of the violin in music drastically changed through this period, progress in violin technique was steady but slow. Techniques requiring agility of the fingers and the bow were still considered unorthodox and discouraged by the established community of violinists. Much of Paganini's playing (and his violin composition) was influenced by two violinists, Pietro Locatelli (1693–1746) and August Duranowski (Auguste Frédéric Durand) (1770–1834). During Paganini's study in Parma, he came across the 24 Caprices of Locatelli (entitled L'arte di nuova modulazione – Capricci enigmatici or The art of the new style – the enigmatic caprices). Published in the 1730s, they were shunned by the musical authorities for their technical innovations, and were forgotten by the musical community at large. Around the same time, Durand, a former student of Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755–1824), became a celebrated violinist. He was renowned for his use of harmonics, both natural and artificial (which had previously not been attempted in performance), and the left hand pizzicato in his performance. Paganini was impressed by Durand's innovations and showmanship, which later also became the hallmarks of the young violin virtuoso. Paganini was instrumental in the revival and popularization of these violinistic techniques, which are now incorporated into regular compositions. Another aspect of Paganini's violin techniques concerned his flexibility. He had exceptionally long fingers and was capable of playing three octaves across four strings in a hand span, an extraordinary feat even by today's standards. His seemingly unnatural ability may have been a result of Marfan syndrome. Compositions Paganini composed his own works to play exclusively in his concerts, all of which profoundly influenced the evolution of violin technique. His 24 Caprices were likely composed between 1805 and 1809, while he was in the service of the Baciocchi court. Also during this period, he composed the majority of the solo pieces, duo-sonatas, trios, and quartets for the guitar, either as a solo instrument or with strings. These chamber works may have been inspired by the publication, in Lucca, of the guitar quintets of Boccherini. Many of his variations, including Le Streghe, The Carnival of Venice, and Nel cor più non-mi sento, were composed, or at least first performed, before his European concert tour. His six violin concertos were written between 1817 and 1830. Generally speaking, Paganini's compositions were technically imaginative, and the timbre of the instrument was greatly expanded as a result of these works. Sounds of different musical instruments and animals were often imitated. One such composition was titled Il Fandango Spanolo (The Spanish Dance), which featured a series of humorous imitations of farm animals. Even more outrageous was a solo piece Duetto Amoroso, in which the sighs and groans of lovers were intimately depicted on the violin. There survives a manuscript of the Duetto, which has been recorded. The existence of the Fandango is known only through concert posters. Eugène Ysaÿe criticized Paganini's works for lacking characteristics of true polyphonism. Yehudi Menuhin, on the other hand, suggested that this might have been the result of Paganini's reliance on the guitar (in lieu of the piano) as an aid in composition. The orchestral parts for his concertos were often polite, unadventurous, and clearly supportive of the soloist. In this, his style is consistent with that of other Italian composers such as Giovanni Paisiello, Gioachino Rossini, and Gaetano Donizetti, who were influenced by the guitar-song milieu of Naples during this period. Paganini's "La Campanella" and the A minor Caprice (No. 24) have inspired many composers, including Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Boris Blacher, Andrew Lloyd Webber, George Rochberg, and Witold Lutosławski, all of whom wrote variations on these works. Legacy and influence Inspired works Notable works inspired by compositions of Paganini include: Jason Becker – Caprice No. 5 Mike Campese – "Paganini", arrangement of Caprice No. 16 and various works. Julián Carrillo – "6 Sonatas dedicadas a Paganini" for solo violin. Alfredo Casella – | friends with composers Gioachino Rossini and Hector Berlioz. Rossini and Paganini met in Bologna in the summer of 1818. In January 1821, on his return from Naples, Paganini met Rossini again in Rome, just in time to become the substitute conductor for Rossini's opera Matilde di Shabran, upon the sudden death of the original conductor. Paganini's efforts earned great gratitude from Rossini. Paganini met Berlioz in Paris, and was a frequent correspondent as a penfriend. He commissioned a piece from the composer, but was not satisfied with the resultant four-movement piece for orchestra and viola obbligato, Harold en Italie. He never performed it, and instead it was premiered a year later by violist Christian Urhan. He did, however, write his own Sonata per Gran Viola Op. 35 (with orchestra or guitar accompaniment). Despite his alleged lack of interest in Harold, Paganini often referred to Berlioz as the resurrection of Beethoven and, towards the end of his life, he gave large sums to the composer. They shared an active interest in the guitar, which they both played and used in compositions. Paganini gave Berlioz a guitar, which they both signed on its sound box. Playing style Instruments Paganini was in possession of a number of fine stringed instruments. More legendary than these were the circumstances under which he obtained (and lost) some of them. While Paganini was still a teenager in Livorno, a wealthy businessman named Livron lent him a violin, made by the master luthier Giuseppe Guarneri, for a concert. Livron was so impressed with Paganini's playing that he refused to take it back. This particular violin came to be known as Il Cannone Guarnerius ("The Cannon of Guarnieri") because of its powerful voice and resonance. On a later occasion in Parma, he won another valuable violin (also by Guarneri) after a difficult sight-reading challenge from a man named Pasini. Other instruments associated with Paganini include the Antonio Amati 1600, the Nicolò Amati 1657, the Paganini-Desaint 1680 Stradivari, the Guarneri-filius Andrea 1706, the Le Brun 1712 Stradivari, the Vuillaume c. 1720 Bergonzi, the Hubay 1726 Stradivari, and the Comte Cozio di Salabue 1727 violins; the Countess of Flanders 1582 da Salò-di Bertolotti, and the Mendelssohn 1731 Stradivari violas; the Piatti 1700 Goffriller, the Stanlein 1707 Stradivari, and the Ladenburg 1736 Stradivari cellos; and the Grobert of Mirecourt 1820 (guitar). Four of these instruments were played by the Tokyo String Quartet. Of his guitars, there is little evidence remaining of his various choices of instrument. The aforementioned guitar that he gave to Berlioz is a French instrument made by one Grobert of Mirecourt. The luthier made his instrument in the style of René Lacôte, a more well-known Paris-based guitar-maker. It is preserved and on display in the Musée de la Musique in Paris. Of the guitars he owned through his life, there was an instrument by Gennaro Fabricatore that he had refused to sell even in his periods of financial stress, and was among the instruments in his possession at the time of his death. There is an unsubstantiated rumour that he also played Stauffer guitars; he may certainly have come across these in his meetings with Giuliani in Vienna. Violin technique The Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis once referred to Paganini as a phenomenon rather than a development. Though some of the techniques frequently employed by Paganini were already present, most accomplished violinists of the time focused on intonation and bowing techniques. Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713) was considered a pioneer in transforming the violin from an ensemble instrument to a solo instrument. Other notable violinists included Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) and Giuseppe Tartini (1692–1770), who, in their compositions, reflected the increasing technical and musical demands on the violinist. Although the role of the violin in music drastically changed through this period, progress in violin technique was steady but slow. Techniques requiring agility of the fingers and the bow were still considered unorthodox and discouraged by the established community of violinists. Much of Paganini's playing (and his violin composition) was influenced by two violinists, Pietro Locatelli (1693–1746) and August Duranowski (Auguste Frédéric Durand) (1770–1834). During Paganini's study in Parma, he came across the 24 Caprices of Locatelli (entitled L'arte di nuova modulazione – Capricci enigmatici or The art of the new style – the enigmatic caprices). Published in the 1730s, they were shunned by the musical authorities for their technical innovations, and were forgotten by the musical community at large. Around the same time, Durand, a former student of Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755–1824), became a celebrated violinist. He was renowned for his use of harmonics, both natural and artificial (which had previously not been attempted in performance), and the left hand pizzicato in his performance. Paganini was impressed by Durand's innovations and showmanship, which later also became the hallmarks of the young violin virtuoso. Paganini was instrumental in the revival and popularization of these violinistic techniques, which are now incorporated into regular compositions. Another aspect of Paganini's violin techniques concerned his flexibility. He had exceptionally long fingers and was capable of playing three octaves across four strings in a hand span, an extraordinary feat even by today's standards. His seemingly unnatural ability may have been a result of Marfan syndrome. Compositions Paganini composed his own works to play exclusively in his concerts, all of which profoundly influenced the evolution of violin technique. His 24 Caprices were likely composed between 1805 and 1809, while he was in the service of the Baciocchi court. Also during this period, he composed the majority of the solo pieces, duo-sonatas, trios, and quartets for the guitar, either as a solo instrument or with strings. These chamber works may have been inspired by the publication, in Lucca, of the guitar quintets of Boccherini. Many of his variations, including Le Streghe, The Carnival of Venice, and Nel cor più non-mi sento, were composed, or at least first performed, before his European concert tour. His six violin concertos were written between 1817 and 1830. Generally speaking, Paganini's compositions were technically imaginative, and the timbre of the instrument was greatly expanded as a result of these works. Sounds of different musical instruments and animals were often imitated. One such composition was titled Il Fandango Spanolo (The Spanish Dance), which featured a series of humorous imitations of farm animals. Even more outrageous was a solo piece Duetto Amoroso, in which the sighs and groans of lovers were intimately depicted on the violin. There survives a manuscript of the Duetto, which has been recorded. The existence of the Fandango is known only through concert posters. Eugène Ysaÿe criticized Paganini's works for lacking characteristics of true polyphonism. Yehudi Menuhin, on the other hand, suggested that this might have been the result of Paganini's reliance on the guitar (in lieu of the piano) as an aid in composition. The orchestral parts for his concertos were often polite, unadventurous, and clearly supportive of the soloist. In this, his style is consistent with that of other Italian composers such as Giovanni Paisiello, Gioachino Rossini, and Gaetano Donizetti, who were influenced by the guitar-song milieu of Naples during this period. Paganini's "La Campanella" and the A minor Caprice (No. 24) have inspired many composers, including Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Boris Blacher, Andrew Lloyd Webber, George Rochberg, and Witold Lutosławski, all of whom wrote variations on these works. Legacy and influence Inspired works Notable works inspired by compositions of Paganini include: Jason Becker – Caprice No. 5 Mike Campese – "Paganini", arrangement of Caprice No. 16 and various works. Julián Carrillo – "6 Sonatas dedicadas a Paganini" for solo violin. Alfredo Casella – Paganiniana Op. 65 (1942) Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco – Capriccio Diabolico for classical guitar is a homage to Paganini, and quotes "La campanella" Frédéric Chopin – Souvenir de Paganini for solo piano (1829; published posthumously) Ivry Gitlis – Cadenza for the 1st movement of Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2 Op. 7 "La Campanella" (1967) Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Fantasia for piano in C major "Souvenir de Paganini", WoO 8, S. 190. Fritz Kreisler – Paganini Concerto in D major (recomposed paraphrase of the first movement of the Op. 6 Concerto) for violin and orchestra Franz Lehár – Paganini, a fictionalized operetta about Paganini (1925) Franz Liszt – Six Grandes Études de Paganini, S. 141 for solo piano (1851) (virtuoso arrangements of 5 caprices, including the 24th, and La Campanella from Violin Concerto No. 2) Yngwie Malmsteen – Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 4 is used in the opening of "Far Beyond the Sun" in Trial by Fire. Caprice No. 24 was used as a part of the solo in the song "Prophet of Doom" from the album War to End All Wars. Nathan Milstein – Paganiniana, a set of variations based on the theme from Paganini's 24th Caprice in which the variations are based on motifs from other caprices Cesare Pugni – "Le Carnaval de Venise" pas de deux (aka "Satanella" pas de deux). Based on airs from Paganini's Il carnevale di Venezia, op. 10. Originally choreographed by Marius Petipa as a concert piece for himself and the ballerina Amalia Ferraris. First performed at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre of Saint Petersburg on . The pas de deux was later added to the ballet Satanella in 1866 where it acquired its more well-known title, the "Satanella" pas de deux. George Rochberg – Caprice Variations (1970), 50 variations for solo violin Michael Romeo – "Concerto in B Minor" is an adaptation of Allegro Maestoso (first movement) of Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 7. Uli Jon Roth – "Scherzo alla Paganini" and "Paganini Paraphrase" Robert Schumann – Studies after Caprices by Paganini, Op. 3 (1832; piano); 6 Concert Studies on Caprices by Paganini, Op. 10 (1833, piano). A movement from his piano work Carnaval (Op. 9) is named for Paganini. Johann Sedlatzek (19th-century Polish flautist known as "The Paganini of the Flute") – "Souvenir à Paganini" Grand Variations on "The Carnival of Venice" Marilyn Shrude – Renewing the Myth for alto saxophone and piano Steve Vai – "Eugene's Trick Bag" from the movie Crossroads. Based on Caprice Nr. 5 Philip Wilby – Paganini Variations for both wind band and brass band August Wilhelmj – Paganini Concerto in D major (recomposed paraphrase of the first movement of the Op. 6 Concerto) for violin and orchestra Eugène Ysaÿe – Paganini Variations for violin and piano The Caprice No. 24 in A minor, Op. 1, (Tema con variazioni) has been the basis of works by many other composers. Notable examples include Brahms's Variations on a Theme of Paganini and Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Memorials The Paganini Competition (Premio Paganini) is an international violin competition created in 1954 in his home city of Genoa and named in his honour. In 1972 the State of Italy purchased a large collection of Niccolò Paganini manuscripts from the W. Heyer Library of Cologne. They are housed at the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome. In 1982 the city of Genoa commissioned a thematic catalogue of music by Paganini, edited by Maria Rosa Moretti and Anna Sorrento, hence the abbreviation "MS" assigned to his catalogued works. A minor planet 2859 Paganini discovered in 1978 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Chernykh is named after him. Fiorini daguerreotype Although no photographs of Paganini are known to exist, in 1900 Italian violin maker Giuseppe Fiorini forged the now famous fake daguerreotype of the celebrated violinist. So well in fact, that even the great classical author and conversationalist Arthur M. Abell was led to believe it to be true, reprinting the image in the 22 January 1901 |
along the coast of Northwestern Europe. Other branches include the Irminger Current and the Norwegian Current. Driven by the global thermohaline circulation, the North Atlantic Current is part of the wind-driven Gulf Stream, which goes further east and north from the North American coast across the Atlantic and into the Arctic Ocean. The North Atlantic Current, together with the Gulf Stream, have a long-lived reputation for having a considerable warming influence on European climate. However, the principal cause for differences in winter climate between North America and Europe seems to be winds rather than ocean currents (although the currents do exert influence at very high latitudes by preventing the formation of sea ice). See also North Atlantic Oscillation Ocean gyre Physical oceanography References Notes Sources External links "The North Atlantic Current". Elizabeth Rowe, Arthur J. Mariano, Edward H. Ryan, The Cooperative Institute for Marine | It then splits into a colder northeastern branch and a warmer eastern branch. As the warmer branch turns southward, most of the subtropical component of the Gulf Stream is diverted southward, and as a consequence, the North Atlantic is mostly supplied by subpolar waters, including a contribution from the Labrador Current recirculated into the NAC at 45°N. West of Continental Europe, it splits into two major branches. One branch goes southeast, becoming the Canary Current as it passes northwest Africa and turns southwest. The other major branch continues north along the coast of Northwestern Europe. Other branches include the Irminger Current and the Norwegian Current. Driven by the global thermohaline circulation, the North Atlantic Current is part of the wind-driven Gulf Stream, which goes further east and north from the North American coast across the Atlantic and into the Arctic Ocean. The North Atlantic |
the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone, entraining with LSW. This water is less dense than (DSOW) and lays above it as it flows cyclonically in the Irminger Basin. DSOW is the coldest, densest, and freshest water mass of NADW. DSOW formed behind the ridge flows over the Denmark Strait at a depth of 600m. The most significant water mass contributing to DSOW is Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW). Winter cooling and convection allow AIW to sink and pool behind the Denmark Strait. Upper AIW has a high amount of anthropogenic tracers due its exposure to the atmosphere. AIW's tritium and CFC signature is observed in DSOW at the base of the Greenland continental slope. This also showed that the DSOW flowing 450 km to the south was no older than 2 years. Both the DSOW and ISOW flow around the Irminger Basin and Labrador Sea in a deep boundary current. Leaving the Greenland Sea with 2.5 Sv its flow increases to 10 Sv south of Greenland. It is cold and relatively fresh, flowing below 3500 m in the DWBC and spreading inward the deep Atlantic basins. Spreading pathways The southward spread of NADW along the Deep Western Boundary current (DWBC) can be traced by its high oxygen content, high CFCs, and density. ULSW is the major source of upper NADW. ULSW advects southward from the Labrador Sea in small eddies that mix into the DWBC. A CFC maxima associated with ULSW has been observed along 24°N in the DWBC at 1500 m. Some of the upper ULSW recirculates into the Gulf Stream, while some remains in the DWBC. High CFCs in the subtropics indicate recirculation in the subtropics. ULSW that remains in the DWBC dilutes as it moves equatorward. Deep convection in the Labrador Sea during the late 1980s and early 1990s resulted in CLSW with a lower CFC concentration due to downward mixing. Convection allowed the CFCs to penetrate further downward to 2000m. These minimum could be tracked, and were first observed in the subtropics in the early 1990s. ISOW and DSOW flow around the Irminger Basin and DSOW entering the DWBC. These are the two lower portions of the NADW. Another CFC maximum is seen at 3500 m in the subtropics from the DSOW contribution to NADW. Some of the NADW recirculates with the northern gyre. To the south of the gyre NADW flows under the Gulf Stream where it continues along the DWBC until it reaches another gyre in the subtropics. Lower North Atlantic Deep Water (LNADW), originating in the Greenland and Norwegian seas, brings high salinity, oxygen, and freon concentrations towards to the Romanche Trench, an equatorial fracture zone in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). Found at depths around , LNADW flow east through the trench over AABW, the trench being the only opening in the MAR where inter-basin exchange is possible for these two water masses. | water of the eastern North Atlantic, and flows to the western North Atlantic through the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone, entraining with LSW. This water is less dense than (DSOW) and lays above it as it flows cyclonically in the Irminger Basin. DSOW is the coldest, densest, and freshest water mass of NADW. DSOW formed behind the ridge flows over the Denmark Strait at a depth of 600m. The most significant water mass contributing to DSOW is Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW). Winter cooling and convection allow AIW to sink and pool behind the Denmark Strait. Upper AIW has a high amount of anthropogenic tracers due its exposure to the atmosphere. AIW's tritium and CFC signature is observed in DSOW at the base of the Greenland continental slope. This also showed that the DSOW flowing 450 km to the south was no older than 2 years. Both the DSOW and ISOW flow around the Irminger Basin and Labrador Sea in a deep boundary current. Leaving the Greenland Sea with 2.5 Sv its flow increases to 10 Sv south of Greenland. It is cold and relatively fresh, flowing below 3500 m in the DWBC and spreading inward the deep Atlantic basins. Spreading pathways The southward spread of NADW along the Deep Western Boundary current (DWBC) can be traced by its high oxygen content, high CFCs, and density. ULSW is the major source of upper NADW. ULSW advects southward from the Labrador Sea in small eddies that mix into the DWBC. A CFC maxima associated with ULSW has been observed along 24°N in the DWBC at 1500 m. Some of the upper ULSW recirculates into the Gulf Stream, while some remains in the DWBC. High CFCs in the subtropics indicate recirculation in the subtropics. ULSW that remains in the DWBC dilutes as it moves equatorward. Deep convection in the Labrador Sea during the late 1980s and early 1990s resulted in CLSW with a lower CFC concentration due to downward mixing. Convection allowed the CFCs to penetrate further downward to 2000m. These minimum could be tracked, and were first observed in the subtropics in the early 1990s. ISOW and DSOW flow around the Irminger Basin and DSOW entering the DWBC. These are the two lower portions of the NADW. Another CFC maximum is seen at 3500 m in the subtropics from the DSOW contribution to NADW. Some of the NADW recirculates with the northern gyre. To the south of the gyre NADW flows under the Gulf Stream where it continues along the DWBC until it reaches another gyre in the subtropics. Lower North Atlantic Deep Water (LNADW), originating in the Greenland and Norwegian seas, brings high salinity, oxygen, and freon concentrations towards to the Romanche Trench, an equatorial fracture zone in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). Found at depths around , LNADW flow east through the trench over AABW, the trench being the only opening in the MAR where inter-basin exchange is possible for these two water masses. Variability It is believed that North Atlantic Deep Water formation has been dramatically reduced at times during the past (such as during the Younger Dryas or during Heinrich events), and that this might correlate with a decrease in the strength of the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic drift, in turn cooling the climate of northwestern Europe. There is concern that global warming might cause this to happen again. It is also hypothesized that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), NADW was replaced with an analogous watermass that occupied a shallower depth |
and distribution can be augmented by nanoparticles, the dangers of nanotoxicity become an important next step in further understanding of their medical uses. The toxicity of nanoparticles varies, depending on size, shape, and material. These factors also affect the build-up and organ damage that may occur. Nanoparticles are made to be long-lasting, but this causes them to be trapped within organs, specifically the liver and spleen, as they cannot be broken down or excreted. This build-up of non-biodegradable material has been observed to cause organ damage and inflammation in mice. Magnetic targeted delivery of magnetic nanoparticles to the tumor site under the influence of inhomogeneous stationary magnetic fields may lead to enhanced tumor growth. In order to circumvent the pro-tumorigenic effects, alternating electromagnetic fields should be used. Nanoparticles are under research for their potential to decrease antibiotic resistance or for various antimicrobial uses. Nanoparticles might also be used to circumvent multidrug resistance (MDR) mechanisms. Systems under research Advances in lipid nanotechnology were instrumental in engineering medical nanodevices and novel drug delivery systems, as well as in developing sensing applications. Another system for microRNA delivery under preliminary research is nanoparticles formed by the self-assembly of two different microRNAs deregulated in cancer. One potential application is based on small electromechanical systems, such as nanoelectromechanical systems being investigated for the active release of drugs and sensors for possible cancer treatment with iron nanoparticles or gold shells. Applications Some nanotechnology-based drugs that are commercially available or in human clinical trials include: Abraxane, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat breast cancer, non-small- cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and pancreatic cancer, is the nanoparticle albumin bound paclitaxel. Doxil was originally approved by the FDA for the use on HIV-related Kaposi's sarcoma. It is now being used to also treat ovarian cancer and multiple myeloma. The drug is encased in liposomes, which helps to extend the life of the drug that is being distributed. Liposomes are self-assembling, spherical, closed colloidal structures that are composed of lipid bilayers that surround an aqueous space. The liposomes also help to increase the functionality and it helps to decrease the damage that the drug does to the heart muscles specifically. Onivyde, liposome encapsulated irinotecan to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer, was approved by FDA in October 2015. Rapamune is a nanocrystal-based drug that was approved by the FDA in 2000 to prevent organ rejection after transplantation. The nanocrystal components allow for increased drug solubility and dissolution rate, leading to improved absorption and high bioavailability. Cabenuva is approved by FDA as cabotegravir extended-release injectable nano-suspension, plus rilpivirine extended-release injectable nano-suspension. It is indicated as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults to replace the current antiretroviral regimen in those who are virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA less than 50 copies per mL) on a stable antiretroviral regimen with no history of treatment failure and with no known or suspected resistance to either cabotegravir or rilpivirine. This is the first FDA-approved injectable, complete regimen for HIV-1 infected adults that is administered once a month. Imaging In vivo imaging is another area where tools and devices are being developed. Using nanoparticle contrast agents, images such as ultrasound and MRI have a favorable distribution and improved contrast. In cardiovascular imaging, nanoparticles have potential to aid visualization of blood pooling, ischemia, angiogenesis, atherosclerosis, and focal areas where inflammation is present. The small size of nanoparticles endows them with properties that can be very useful in oncology, particularly in imaging. Quantum dots (nanoparticles with quantum confinement properties, such as size-tunable light emission), when used in conjunction with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), can produce exceptional images of tumor sites. Nanoparticles of cadmium selenide (quantum dots) glow when exposed to ultraviolet light. When injected, they seep into cancer tumors. The surgeon can see the glowing tumor, and use it as a guide for more accurate tumor removal. These nanoparticles are much brighter than organic dyes and only need one light source for excitation. This means that the use of fluorescent quantum dots could produce a higher contrast image and at a lower cost than today's organic dyes used as contrast media. The downside, however, is that quantum dots are usually made of quite toxic elements, but this concern may be addressed by use of fluorescent dopants. Tracking movement can help determine how well drugs are being distributed or how substances are metabolized. It is difficult to track a small group of cells throughout the body, so scientists used to dye the cells. These dyes needed to be excited by light of a certain wavelength in order for them to light up. While different color dyes absorb different frequencies of light, there was a need for as many light sources as cells. A way around this problem is with luminescent tags. These tags are quantum dots attached to proteins that penetrate cell membranes. The dots can be random in size, can be made of bio-inert material, and they demonstrate the nanoscale property that color is size-dependent. As a result, sizes are selected so that the frequency of light used to make a group of quantum dots fluoresce is an even multiple of the frequency required to make another group incandesce. Then both groups can be lit with a single light source. They have also found a way to insert nanoparticles into the affected parts of the body so that those parts of the body will glow showing the tumor growth or shrinkage or also organ trouble. Sensing Nanotechnology-on-a-chip is one more dimension of lab-on-a-chip technology. Magnetic nanoparticles, bound to a suitable antibody, are used to label specific molecules, structures or microorganisms. In particular silica nanoparticles are inert from the photophysical point of view and might accumulate a large number of dye(s) within the nanoparticle shell. Gold nanoparticles tagged with short segments of DNA can be used for detection of genetic sequence in a sample. Multicolor optical coding for biological assays has been achieved by embedding different-sized quantum dots into polymeric microbeads. Nanopore technology for analysis of nucleic acids converts strings of nucleotides directly into electronic signatures. Sensor test chips containing thousands of nanowires, able to detect proteins and other biomarkers left behind by cancer cells, could enable the detection and diagnosis of cancer in the early stages from a few drops of a patient's blood. Nanotechnology is helping to advance the use of arthroscopes, which are pencil-sized devices that are used in surgeries with lights and cameras so surgeons can do the surgeries with smaller incisions. The smaller the incisions the faster the healing time which is better for the patients. It is also helping to find a way to make an arthroscope smaller than a strand of hair. Research on nanoelectronics-based cancer diagnostics could lead to tests that can be done in pharmacies. The results promise to be highly accurate and the product promises to be inexpensive. They could take a very small amount of blood and detect cancer anywhere in the body in about five minutes, with a sensitivity that is a thousand times better a conventional laboratory test. These devices are built with nanowires to detect cancer proteins; each nanowire detector is primed to be sensitive to a different cancer marker. The biggest advantage of the nanowire detectors is that they could test for anywhere from ten to one hundred similar medical conditions without adding cost to the testing device. Nanotechnology has also helped to personalize oncology for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. It is now able to be tailored to each individual's tumor for better performance. They have found ways that they will be able to target a specific part of the body that is being affected by cancer. Sepsis treatment In contrast to dialysis, which works on the principle of the size related diffusion of solutes and ultrafiltration of fluid across a semi-permeable membrane, the purification with nanoparticles allows specific targeting of substances. Additionally larger compounds which are commonly not dialyzable can be removed. The purification process is based on functionalized iron oxide or carbon coated metal nanoparticles with ferromagnetic or superparamagnetic properties. Binding agents such as proteins, antibiotics, or synthetic ligands | assays has been achieved by embedding different-sized quantum dots into polymeric microbeads. Nanopore technology for analysis of nucleic acids converts strings of nucleotides directly into electronic signatures. Sensor test chips containing thousands of nanowires, able to detect proteins and other biomarkers left behind by cancer cells, could enable the detection and diagnosis of cancer in the early stages from a few drops of a patient's blood. Nanotechnology is helping to advance the use of arthroscopes, which are pencil-sized devices that are used in surgeries with lights and cameras so surgeons can do the surgeries with smaller incisions. The smaller the incisions the faster the healing time which is better for the patients. It is also helping to find a way to make an arthroscope smaller than a strand of hair. Research on nanoelectronics-based cancer diagnostics could lead to tests that can be done in pharmacies. The results promise to be highly accurate and the product promises to be inexpensive. They could take a very small amount of blood and detect cancer anywhere in the body in about five minutes, with a sensitivity that is a thousand times better a conventional laboratory test. These devices are built with nanowires to detect cancer proteins; each nanowire detector is primed to be sensitive to a different cancer marker. The biggest advantage of the nanowire detectors is that they could test for anywhere from ten to one hundred similar medical conditions without adding cost to the testing device. Nanotechnology has also helped to personalize oncology for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. It is now able to be tailored to each individual's tumor for better performance. They have found ways that they will be able to target a specific part of the body that is being affected by cancer. Sepsis treatment In contrast to dialysis, which works on the principle of the size related diffusion of solutes and ultrafiltration of fluid across a semi-permeable membrane, the purification with nanoparticles allows specific targeting of substances. Additionally larger compounds which are commonly not dialyzable can be removed. The purification process is based on functionalized iron oxide or carbon coated metal nanoparticles with ferromagnetic or superparamagnetic properties. Binding agents such as proteins, antibiotics, or synthetic ligands are covalently linked to the particle surface. These binding agents are able to interact with target species forming an agglomerate. Applying an external magnetic field gradient allows exerting a force on the nanoparticles. Hence the particles can be separated from the bulk fluid, thereby cleaning it from the contaminants. The small size (< 100 nm) and large surface area of functionalized nanomagnets leads to advantageous properties compared to hemoperfusion, which is a clinically used technique for the purification of blood and is based on surface adsorption. These advantages are high loading and accessible for binding agents, high selectivity towards the target compound, fast diffusion, small hydrodynamic resistance, and low dosage. Tissue engineering Nanotechnology may be used as part of tissue engineering to help reproduce or repair or reshape damaged tissue using suitable nanomaterial-based scaffolds and growth factors. Tissue engineering if successful may replace conventional treatments like organ transplants or artificial implants. Nanoparticles such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, molybdenum disulfide and tungsten disulfide are being used as reinforcing agents to fabricate mechanically strong biodegradable polymeric nanocomposites for bone tissue engineering applications. The addition of these nanoparticles in the polymer matrix at low concentrations (~0.2 weight %) leads to significant improvements in the compressive and flexural mechanical properties of polymeric nanocomposites. Potentially, these nanocomposites may be used as a novel, mechanically strong, light weight composite as bone implants. For example, a flesh welder was demonstrated to fuse two pieces of chicken meat into a single piece using a suspension of gold-coated nanoshells activated by an infrared laser. This could be used to weld arteries during surgery. Another example is nanonephrology, the use of nanomedicine on the kidney. Medical devices Neuro-electronic interfacing is a visionary goal dealing with the construction of nanodevices that will permit computers to be joined and linked to the nervous system. This idea requires the building of a molecular structure that will permit control and detection of nerve impulses by an external computer. A refuelable strategy implies energy is refilled continuously or periodically with external sonic, chemical, tethered, magnetic, or biological electrical sources, while a non-refuelable strategy implies that all power is drawn from internal energy storage which would stop when all energy is drained. A nanoscale enzymatic biofuel cell for self-powered nanodevices have been developed that uses glucose from biofluids including human blood and watermelons. One limitation to this innovation is the fact that electrical interference or leakage or overheating from power consumption is possible. The wiring of the structure is extremely difficult because they must be positioned precisely in the nervous system. The structures that will provide the interface must also be compatible with the body's immune system. Cell repair machines Molecular nanotechnology is a speculative subfield of nanotechnology regarding the possibility of engineering molecular assemblers, machines which could re-order matter at a molecular or atomic scale. Nanomedicine would make use of these nanorobots, introduced into the body, to repair or detect damages and infections. Molecular nanotechnology is highly theoretical, seeking to anticipate what inventions nanotechnology might yield and to propose an agenda for future inquiry. The proposed elements of molecular nanotechnology, |
resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance Protein nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Proton nuclear magnetic resonance Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance Magnetic resonance imaging, using NMR for non-invasive imaging Surface nuclear magnetic resonance, geophysical technique based on NMR | also refer to: Applications of nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance Protein nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Proton nuclear magnetic resonance Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance Magnetic resonance imaging, using NMR for non-invasive imaging Surface nuclear magnetic resonance, geophysical technique |
role in the definition of the Lebesgue integral: if functions and are equal except on a null set, then is integrable if and only if is, and their integrals are equal. This motivates the formal definition of spaces as sets of equivalence classes of functions which differ only on null sets. A measure in which all subsets of null sets are measurable is complete. Any non-complete measure can be completed to form a complete measure by asserting that subsets of null sets have measure zero. Lebesgue measure is an example of a complete measure; in some constructions, it is defined as the completion of a non-complete Borel measure. A subset of the Cantor set which is not Borel measurable The Borel measure is not complete. One simple construction is to start with the standard Cantor set , which is closed hence Borel measurable, and which has measure zero, and to find a subset of which is not Borel measurable. (Since the Lebesgue measure is complete, this is of course Lebesgue measurable.) First, we have to know that every set of positive measure contains a nonmeasurable subset. Let be the Cantor function, a continuous function which is locally constant on , and monotonically increasing on [0, 1], with and . Obviously, is countable, since it contains one point per component of . Hence has measure zero, so has measure one. We need a strictly monotonic function, so consider . Since is strictly monotonic and continuous, it is a homeomorphism. Furthermore, has measure one. Let be non-measurable, and let . Because is injective, we have that , and so is a null set. However, if it were Borel measurable, then would also be Borel measurable (here we use the fact that the preimage of a Borel set by a continuous function is measurable; is the preimage of F through the continuous function .) Therefore, is a null, but non-Borel measurable set. Haar null In a separable Banach space , the group operation moves any subset to the translates for any . When there is a probability measure on the σ-algebra of Borel subsets of , such that for all , , then is a Haar null set. The term refers to the null invariance of the measures of translates, associating it with the complete invariance found with Haar measure. Some algebraic properties of topological groups have been related to the size of subsets and Haar null sets. Haar null sets have been used in Polish groups to show that when is not a meagre set then contains an open neighborhood of the identity element. This property is named | For example, any non-empty countable set of real numbers has Lebesgue measure zero and therefore is null. More generally, on a given measure space a null set is a set such that . Example Every finite or countably infinite subset of the real numbers is a null set. For example, the set of natural numbers and the set of rational numbers are both countably infinite and therefore are null sets when considered as subsets of the real numbers. The Cantor set is an example of an uncountable null set. Definition Suppose is a subset of the real line such that where the are intervals and is the length of , then is a null set, also known as a set of zero-content. In terminology of mathematical analysis, this definition requires that there be a sequence of open covers of for which the limit of the lengths of the covers is zero. Properties The empty set is always a null set. More generally, any countable union of null sets is null. Any measurable subset of a null set is itself a null set. Together, these facts show that the m-null sets of X form a sigma-ideal on X. Similarly, the measurable m-null sets form a sigma-ideal of the sigma-algebra of measurable sets. Thus, null sets may be interpreted as negligible sets, defining a notion of almost everywhere. Lebesgue measure The Lebesgue measure is the standard way of assigning a length, area or volume to subsets of Euclidean space. A subset N of has null Lebesgue measure and is considered to be a null set in if and only if: Given any positive number ε, there is a sequence of intervals in such that N is contained in the union of the and the total length of the union is less than ε. This condition can be generalised to , using n-cubes instead of intervals. In fact, the idea can be made to make sense on any Riemannian manifold, even if there is no Lebesgue measure there. For instance: With respect to , all singleton sets are null, and therefore all countable sets are null. In particular, the set Q of rational numbers is a null set, despite being dense in . The standard construction of the Cantor set is an example of a null uncountable set in ; however other constructions are possible which assign the Cantor set any measure whatsoever. All the subsets of whose dimension is smaller than n have null Lebesgue measure in . For instance straight lines or circles are null sets in . Sard's lemma: the set of critical values of a smooth function has measure zero. If λ is Lebesgue measure for and π is Lebesgue measure for , then the |
(d. 1966) 1901–present 1904 – Albert Ross Tilley, Canadian captain and surgeon (d. 1988) 1908 – Libertad Lamarque, Argentinian actress and singer (d. 2000) 1910 – Larry Siemering, American football player and coach (d. 2009) 1911 – Kirby Grant, American actor (d. 1985) 1911 – Joe Medwick, American baseball player and manager (d. 1975) 1912 – Bernard Delfgaauw, Dutch philosopher and academic (d. 1993) 1912 – Garson Kanin, American director and screenwriter (d. 1999) 1912 – Joan Sanderson, English actress (d. 1992) 1912 – Charles Schneeman, American soldier and illustrator (d. 1972) 1912 – Teddy Wilson, American pianist and educator (d. 1986) 1913 – Howard Duff, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1990) 1913 – Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish-American actress (d. 2005) 1914 – Lynn Chadwick, English sculptor (d. 2003) 1914 – Bessie Blount Griffin, American physical therapist, inventor and forensic scientist (d. 2009) 1916 – Forrest J Ackerman, American soldier and author (d. 2008) 1917 – Shabtai Rosenne, English-Israeli academic, jurist, and diplomat (d. 2010) 1919 – David Kossoff, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005) 1921 – John Lindsay, American lawyer and politician, 103rd Mayor of New York City (d. 2000) 1922 – Claus Moser, Baron Moser, German-English statistician and academic (d. 2015) 1924 – Eileen Barton, American singer (d. 2006) 1924 – Lorne Munroe, Canadian-American cellist and educator (d. 2020) 1925 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American publisher and author, founded the National Review (d. 2008) 1925 – Simon van der Meer, Dutch-Swiss physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011) 1926 – Tsung-Dao Lee, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1927 – Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian-French author and playwright (d. 2003) 1927 – Alfredo Kraus, Spanish tenor (d. 1999) 1927 – Kevin Skinner, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2014) 1929 – Franciszek Kokot, Polish nephrologist and endocrinologist (d. 2021) 1929 – George Moscone, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1978) 1930 – Ken Barrington, English cricketer (d. 1981) 1930 – Bob Friend, American baseball player and politician (d. 2019) 1931 – Tommy Allsup, American guitarist (d. 2017) 1931 – Arthur Chaskalson, South African lawyer and judge, 18th Chief Justice of South Africa (d. 2012) 1932 – Claudio Naranjo, Chilean psychiatrist (d. 2019) 1932 – Fred Titmus, English cricketer and coach (d. 2011) 1933 – John Sheridan, English rugby player and coach (d. 2012) 1934 – Alfred Schnittke, German-Russian journalist and composer (d. 1998) 1935 – Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahraini politician, Prime Minister of Bahrain (d. 2020) 1935 – Ron Dellums, American soldier and politician, 48th Mayor of Oakland (d. 2018) 1935 – Mordicai Gerstein, American author, illustrator, and director (d. 2019) 1938 – Willy Claes, Belgian conductor and politician, 8th Secretary General of NATO 1938 – Oscar Robertson, American basketball player and sportscaster 1938 – Charles Starkweather, American spree killer (d. 1959) 1940 – Marshall Berman, American philosopher and Marxist humanist writer (d. 2013) 1940 – Paul Tagliabue, American lawyer and businessman, 5th Commissioner of the National Football League 1940 – Eric Wilson, Canadian author and educator 1941 – Pete Best, Indian-English drummer and songwriter 1941 – Donald "Duck" Dunn, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2012) 1941 – Wayne Jackson, American trumpeter (d. 2016) 1942 – Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian and actor 1942 – Marlin Fitzwater, American soldier and journalist, 17th White House Press Secretary 1942 – Jean Ping, Gabonese politician and diplomat 1942 – Andrew Stunell, English minister and politician 1943 – Dave Bing, American basketball player and politician, 70th Mayor of Detroit 1943 – Richard Tee, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 1993) 1943 – Robin Williamson, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist 1943 – Margaret E. M. Tolbert, American chemist and academic 1944 – Bev Bevan, English drummer 1944 – Candy Darling, American model and actress (d. 1974) 1944 – Ibrahim Gambari, Nigerian academic and diplomat, 9th Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1944 – Dan Glickman, American businessman and politician, 26th United States Secretary of Agriculture 1945 – Nuruddin Farah, Somali novelist 1945 – Lee Michaels, American singer-songwriter and musician 1946 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (d. 1989) 1946 – Tony Clarkin, English guitarist and songwriter 1946 – Penny Jordan, English author (d. 2011) 1947 – Dwight Schultz, American actor 1947 – Dave Sinclair, English keyboard player 1948 – Spider Robinson, American-Canadian author and critic 1948 – Rudy Tomjanovich, American basketball player and coach 1948 – Steve Yeager, American baseball player and coach 1949 – Shane Bourne, Australian comedian, actor, and television host 1949 – Ewen Cameron, Baron Cameron of Dillington, English politician 1949 – Sally Davies, English hematologist and academic 1950 – Bob Burns, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2015) 1950 – Stanley Livingston, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1951 – Mimis Androulakis, Greek author and politician 1951 – Chet Edwards, American businessman and politician 1951 – Margaret Mountford, Northern Irish-British lawyer and businesswoman 1951 – Graham Price, Egyptian-Welsh rugby player 1952 – Parveen Shakir, Pakistani Urdu poet (d. 1994) 1952 – Rachel Chagall, American actress 1952 – Norbert Haug, German journalist and businessman 1952 – Thierry Lhermitte, French actor, producer, and screenwriter 1952 – Jim Sheridan, Scottish politician 1952 – Ken Wilson, Australian rugby league player 1954 – Emir Kusturica, Serbian actor, director, and screenwriter 1954 – Margaret Wetherell, English psychologist and academic 1954 – Clem Burke, American drummer 1955 – Ian Botham, English cricketer, footballer, and sportscaster 1955 – Scott Hoch, American golfer 1955 – Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Swedish politician, Swedish Minister for Culture 1955 – Najib Mikati, Lebanese businessman and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Lebanon 1955 – Takashi Yuasa, Japanese lawyer and author 1956 – Ruben Santiago-Hudson, American actor, playwright, and director 1957 – Denise Crosby, American actress and producer 1957 – Edward Stourton, English journalist and author 1958 – Roy Aitken, Scottish footballer and manager 1958 – Margaret Curran, Scottish academic and politician 1958 – Nick Knight, British photographer 1959 – Todd Brooker, Canadian skier and sportscaster 1960 – Edgar Meyer, American bassist and composer 1961 – Carlos Carnero, Spanish lawyer and politician 1961 – Arundhati Roy, Indian writer and activist, recipient of Booker Prize 1962 – John Kovalic, English author and illustrator 1962 – John Squire, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1962 – Paul Thorburn, German-Welsh rugby player and manager 1962 – Ioannis Topalidis, Greek footballer and manager 1962 – Tracey Wickham, Australian swimmer 1963 – Neale Cooper, Scottish footballer (d. 2018) 1964 – Garret Dillahunt, American actor 1964 – Brad Sherwood, American actor and game show host 1965 – Shirley Henderson, Scottish actress 1966 – Russell Watson, English tenor and actor 1967 – Henrik Brockmann, Danish singer-songwriter 1967 – Cal Eldred, American baseball player and sportscaster | the most deaths in a single event in U.S. police history until the September 11 attacks in 2001. 1922 – Nine Irish Republican Army members are executed by an Irish Free State firing squad. Among them is author Erskine Childers, who had been arrested for illegally carrying a revolver. 1929 – The Finnish far-right Lapua Movement officially begins when a group of mainly the former White Guard members, led by Vihtori Kosola, interrupted communism occasion at the Workers' House in Lapua, Finland. 1932 – In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens. 1935 – The Senegalese Socialist Party holds its second congress. 1940 – World War II: The First Slovak Republic becomes a signatory to the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers. 1941 – World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French Forces. 1943 – World War II: At the battle of Makin the is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks, killing 650 men. 1944 – World War II: The 73rd Bombardment Wing launches the first attack on Tokyo from the Northern Mariana Islands. 1962 – Cold War: The West Berlin branch of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany forms a separate party, the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin. 1962 – The influential British satirical television programme That Was the Week That Was is first broadcast. 1963 – Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President John F. Kennedy, is killed by Jack Ruby. 1965 – Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seizes power in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and becomes President; he rules the country (which he renames Zaire in 1971) for over 30 years, until being overthrown by rebels in 1997. 1966 – Bulgarian TABSO Flight 101 crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board. 1969 – Apollo program: The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to land on the Moon. 1971 – During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found. 1973 – A national speed limit is imposed on the Autobahn in Germany because of the 1973 oil crisis. The speed limit lasts only four months. 1974 – Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed "Lucy" (after The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"), in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression. 1976 – The Çaldıran–Muradiye earthquake in eastern Turkey kills between 4,000 and 5,000 people. 1989 – After a week of mass protests against the Communist regime known as the Velvet Revolution, Miloš Jakeš and the entire Politburo of the Czechoslovak Communist Party resign from office. This brings an effective end to Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. 1992 – China Southern Airlines Flight 3943 crashes on approach to Guilin Qifengling Airport in Guilin, China, killing all 141 people on board. 2012 – A fire at a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, kills at least 112 people. 2013 – Iran signs an interim agreement with the P5+1 countries, limiting its nuclear program in exchange for reduced sanctions. 2015 – A Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet is shot down by the Turkish Air Force over the Syria–Turkey border, killing one of the two pilots; a Russian marine is also killed during a subsequent rescue effort. 2015 – A terrorist attack on a hotel in Al-Arish, Egypt, kills at least seven people and injures 12 others. 2015 – An explosion on a bus carrying Tunisian Presidential Guard personnel in Tunisia's capital Tunis leaves at least 14 people dead. 2016 – The government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army sign a revised peace deal, bringing an end to the country's more than 50-year-long civil war. Births Pre-1600 1273 – Alphonso, Earl of Chester (d. 1284) 1394 – Charles, Duke of Orléans (d. 1465) 1427 – John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (d. 1473) 1472 – Pietro Torrigiano, Italian sculptor (d. 1528) 1583 – Juan Martínez de Jáuregui y Aguilar, Spanish poet and painter (d. 1641) 1583 – Philip Massinger, English dramatist (d. 1640) 1594 – Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire (d. 1651) 1601–1900 1603 – John, Count of Nassau-Idstein (1629–1677) (d. 1677) 1615 – Philip William, Elector Palatine (d. 1690) 1630 – Étienne Baluze, French scholar and academic (d. 1718) 1632 – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher and scholar (d. 1677) 1655 – Charles XI of Sweden (d. 1697) 1690 – Charles Theodore Pachelbel, German organist and composer (d. 1750) 1712 – Charles-Michel de l'Épée, French priest and educator (d. 1789) 1712 – Ali II ibn Hussein, Tunisian ruler (d. 1782) 1713 – Junípero Serra, Spanish priest and missionary (d. 1784) 1713 – Laurence Sterne, Irish novelist and clergyman (d. 1768) 1724 – Maria Amalia of Saxony (d. 1760) 1729 – Alexander Suvorov, Russian field marshal (d. 1800) 1745 – Maria Luisa of Spain (d. 1792) 1774 – Thomas Dick, Scottish minister, author, and educator (d. 1857) 1784 – Zachary Taylor, American general and politician, 12th President of the United States (d. 1850) 1801 – Ludwig Bechstein, German author and poet (d. 1860) 1806 – William Webb Ellis, English priest, created Rugby football (d. 1872) 1811 – Ulrich Ochsenbein, Swiss lawyer and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (d. 1890) 1812 – Xavier Hommaire de Hell, French geographer and engineer (d. 1848) 1826 – Carlo Collodi, Italian journalist and author (d. 1890) 1840 – John Alfred Brashear, American scientist, telescope maker and educator (d. 1920) 1849 – Frances Hodgson Burnett, English-American novelist and playwright (d. 1924) 1851 – John Indermaur, British lawyer (d. 1925) 1857 – Miklós Kovács, Hungarian-Slovene poet and songwriter (d. 1937) 1859 – Cass Gilbert, American architect, designed the United States Supreme Court Building and Woolworth Building (d. 1934) 1864 – Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French painter and illustrator (d. 1901) 1868 – Scott Joplin, American pianist and composer (d. 1917) 1869 – Óscar Carmona, Portuguese field marshal and politician, 11th President of Portugal (d. 1951) 1873 – Julius Martov, Russian politician (d. 1923) 1873 – Herbert Roper Barrett, English tennis player (d. 1943) 1874 – Charles William Miller, Brazilian footballer and referee (d. 1953) 1876 – Walter Burley Griffin, American architect and urban planner, designed Canberra (d. 1937) 1877 – Alben W. Barkley, American lawyer and politician, 35th Vice President of the United States (d. 1956) 1877 – Kavasji Jamshedji Petigara, Indian police officer (d. 1941) 1879 – Wylie Cameron Grant, American tennis player (d. 1968) 1881 – Al Christie, Canadian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1951) 1882 – Nikolai Janson, Russian politician (d. 1938) 1884 – Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Ukrainian-Israeli historian and politician, 2nd President of Israel (d. 1963) 1885 – Theodor Altermann, Estonian actor, director, and producer (d. 1915) 1885 – Christian Wirth, German SS officer (d. 1944) 1886 – Margaret Caroline Anderson, American publisher, founded The Little Review (d. 1973) 1887 – Raoul Paoli, French boxer and rower (d. 1960) 1887 – Erich von Manstein, German field marshal (d. 1973) 1888 – Dale Carnegie, American author and educator (d. 1955) 1888 – Fredrick Willius, American cardiologist and author (d. 1972) 1891 – Vasil Gendov, Bulgarian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1970) 1893 – Charles F. Hurley, American soldier and politician, 54th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1946) 1894 – Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer and businessman (d. 1978) 1895 – Esther Applin, American geologist and paleontologist (d. 1972) 1897 – Lucky Luciano, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1962) 1897 – Dorothy Shepherd-Barron, English tennis player (d. 1953) 1899 – Ward Morehouse, American author, playwright, and critic (d. 1966) 1901–present 1904 – Albert Ross Tilley, Canadian captain and surgeon (d. 1988) 1908 – Libertad Lamarque, Argentinian actress and singer (d. 2000) 1910 – Larry Siemering, American football player and coach (d. 2009) 1911 – Kirby Grant, American actor (d. 1985) 1911 – Joe Medwick, American baseball player and manager (d. 1975) 1912 – Bernard Delfgaauw, Dutch philosopher and academic (d. 1993) 1912 – Garson Kanin, American director and screenwriter (d. 1999) 1912 – Joan Sanderson, English actress (d. 1992) 1912 – Charles Schneeman, American soldier and illustrator (d. 1972) 1912 – Teddy Wilson, American pianist and educator (d. 1986) 1913 – Howard Duff, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1990) 1913 – Geraldine Fitzgerald, Irish-American actress (d. 2005) 1914 – Lynn Chadwick, English sculptor (d. 2003) 1914 – Bessie Blount Griffin, American physical therapist, inventor and forensic scientist (d. 2009) 1916 – Forrest J Ackerman, American soldier and author (d. 2008) 1917 – Shabtai Rosenne, English-Israeli academic, jurist, and diplomat (d. 2010) 1919 – David Kossoff, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005) 1921 – John Lindsay, American lawyer and politician, 103rd Mayor of New York City (d. 2000) 1922 – Claus Moser, Baron Moser, German-English statistician and academic (d. 2015) 1924 – Eileen Barton, American singer (d. 2006) 1924 – Lorne Munroe, Canadian-American cellist and educator (d. 2020) 1925 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American publisher and author, founded the National Review (d. 2008) 1925 – Simon van der Meer, Dutch-Swiss physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011) 1926 – Tsung-Dao Lee, Chinese-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1927 – Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivorian-French author and playwright (d. 2003) 1927 – Alfredo Kraus, Spanish tenor (d. 1999) 1927 – Kevin Skinner, New Zealand rugby player (d. 2014) 1929 – Franciszek Kokot, Polish nephrologist and endocrinologist (d. 2021) 1929 – George Moscone, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1978) 1930 – Ken Barrington, English cricketer (d. 1981) 1930 – Bob Friend, American baseball player and politician (d. 2019) 1931 – Tommy Allsup, American guitarist (d. 2017) 1931 – Arthur Chaskalson, South African lawyer and judge, 18th Chief Justice of South Africa (d. 2012) 1932 – Claudio Naranjo, Chilean psychiatrist (d. 2019) 1932 – Fred Titmus, English cricketer and coach (d. 2011) 1933 – John Sheridan, English rugby player and coach (d. 2012) 1934 – Alfred Schnittke, German-Russian journalist and composer (d. 1998) 1935 – Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahraini politician, Prime Minister of Bahrain (d. 2020) 1935 – Ron Dellums, American soldier and politician, 48th Mayor of Oakland (d. 2018) 1935 – Mordicai Gerstein, American author, illustrator, and director (d. 2019) 1938 – Willy Claes, Belgian conductor and politician, 8th Secretary General of NATO 1938 – Oscar Robertson, American basketball player and sportscaster 1938 – Charles Starkweather, American spree killer (d. 1959) 1940 – Marshall Berman, American philosopher and Marxist humanist writer (d. 2013) 1940 – Paul Tagliabue, American lawyer and businessman, 5th Commissioner of the National Football League 1940 – Eric Wilson, Canadian author and educator 1941 – Pete Best, Indian-English drummer and songwriter 1941 – Donald "Duck" Dunn, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2012) 1941 – Wayne Jackson, American trumpeter (d. 2016) 1942 – Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian and actor 1942 – Marlin Fitzwater, American soldier and journalist, 17th White House Press Secretary 1942 – Jean Ping, Gabonese politician and diplomat 1942 – Andrew Stunell, English minister and politician 1943 – Dave Bing, American basketball player and politician, 70th Mayor of Detroit 1943 – Richard Tee, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 1993) 1943 – Robin Williamson, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist 1943 – Margaret E. M. Tolbert, American chemist and academic 1944 – Bev Bevan, English drummer 1944 – Candy Darling, American model and actress (d. 1974) 1944 – Ibrahim Gambari, Nigerian academic and diplomat, 9th Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1944 – Dan Glickman, American businessman and politician, 26th United States Secretary of Agriculture 1945 – Nuruddin Farah, Somali novelist 1945 – Lee Michaels, American singer-songwriter and musician 1946 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (d. 1989) 1946 – Tony Clarkin, English guitarist and songwriter 1946 – Penny Jordan, English author (d. 2011) 1947 – Dwight Schultz, American actor 1947 – Dave Sinclair, English keyboard player 1948 – Spider Robinson, American-Canadian author and critic 1948 – Rudy Tomjanovich, American basketball player and coach 1948 – Steve Yeager, American baseball player and coach 1949 – Shane Bourne, Australian comedian, actor, and television host 1949 – Ewen Cameron, Baron Cameron of Dillington, English politician 1949 – Sally Davies, English hematologist and academic 1950 – Bob Burns, American drummer and songwriter (d. 2015) 1950 – Stanley Livingston, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1951 – Mimis Androulakis, Greek author and politician 1951 – Chet Edwards, American businessman and politician 1951 – Margaret Mountford, Northern Irish-British lawyer and businesswoman 1951 – Graham Price, Egyptian-Welsh rugby player 1952 – Parveen Shakir, Pakistani Urdu poet (d. 1994) 1952 – Rachel Chagall, American actress 1952 – Norbert Haug, German journalist and businessman 1952 – Thierry Lhermitte, French actor, producer, and screenwriter 1952 – Jim Sheridan, Scottish politician 1952 – Ken Wilson, Australian rugby league player 1954 – Emir Kusturica, Serbian actor, director, and screenwriter 1954 – Margaret Wetherell, English psychologist and academic 1954 |
known as recurrent networks. Hyperparameter A hyperparameter is a constant parameter whose value is set before the learning process begins. The values of parameters are derived via learning. Examples of hyperparameters include learning rate, the number of hidden layers and batch size. The values of some hyperparameters can be dependent on those of other hyperparameters. For example, the size of some layers can depend on the overall number of layers. Learning Learning is the adaptation of the network to better handle a task by considering sample observations. Learning involves adjusting the weights (and optional thresholds) of the network to improve the accuracy of the result. This is done by minimizing the observed errors. Learning is complete when examining additional observations does not usefully reduce the error rate. Even after learning, the error rate typically does not reach 0. If after learning, the error rate is too high, the network typically must be redesigned. Practically this is done by defining a cost function that is evaluated periodically during learning. As long as its output continues to decline, learning continues. The cost is frequently defined as a statistic whose value can only be approximated. The outputs are actually numbers, so when the error is low, the difference between the output (almost certainly a cat) and the correct answer (cat) is small. Learning attempts to reduce the total of the differences across the observations. Most learning models can be viewed as a straightforward application of optimization theory and statistical estimation. Learning rate The learning rate defines the size of the corrective steps that the model takes to adjust for errors in each observation. A high learning rate shortens the training time, but with lower ultimate accuracy, while a lower learning rate takes longer, but with the potential for greater accuracy. Optimizations such as Quickprop are primarily aimed at speeding up error minimization, while other improvements mainly try to increase reliability. In order to avoid oscillation inside the network such as alternating connection weights, and to improve the rate of convergence, refinements use an adaptive learning rate that increases or decreases as appropriate. The concept of momentum allows the balance between the gradient and the previous change to be weighted such that the weight adjustment depends to some degree on the previous change. A momentum close to 0 emphasizes the gradient, while a value close to 1 emphasizes the last change. Cost function While it is possible to define a cost function ad hoc, frequently the choice is determined by the function's desirable properties (such as convexity) or because it arises from the model (e.g. in a probabilistic model the model's posterior probability can be used as an inverse cost). Backpropagation Backpropagation is a method used to adjust the connection weights to compensate for each error found during learning. The error amount is effectively divided among the connections. Technically, backprop calculates the gradient (the derivative) of the cost function associated with a given state with respect to the weights. The weight updates can be done via stochastic gradient descent or other methods, such as Extreme Learning Machines, "No-prop" networks, training without backtracking, "weightless" networks, and non-connectionist neural networks. Learning paradigms The three major learning paradigms are supervised learning, unsupervised learning and reinforcement learning. They each correspond to a particular learning task Supervised learning Supervised learning uses a set of paired inputs and desired outputs. The learning task is to produce the desired output for each input. In this case the cost function is related to eliminating incorrect deductions. A commonly used cost is the mean-squared error, which tries to minimize the average squared error between the network's output and the desired output. Tasks suited for supervised learning are pattern recognition (also known as classification) and regression (also known as function approximation). Supervised learning is also applicable to sequential data (e.g., for hand writing, speech and gesture recognition). This can be thought of as learning with a "teacher", in the form of a function that provides continuous feedback on the quality of solutions obtained thus far. Unsupervised learning In unsupervised learning, input data is given along with the cost function, some function of the data and the network's output. The cost function is dependent on the task (the model domain) and any a priori assumptions (the implicit properties of the model, its parameters and the observed variables). As a trivial example, consider the model where is a constant and the cost . Minimizing this cost produces a value of that is equal to the mean of the data. The cost function can be much more complicated. Its form depends on the application: for example, in compression it could be related to the mutual information between and , whereas in statistical modeling, it could be related to the posterior probability of the model given the data (note that in both of those examples those quantities would be maximized rather than minimized). Tasks that fall within the paradigm of unsupervised learning are in general estimation problems; the applications include clustering, the estimation of statistical distributions, compression and filtering. Reinforcement learning In applications such as playing video games, an actor takes a string of actions, receiving a generally unpredictable response from the environment after each one. The goal is to win the game, i.e., generate the most positive (lowest cost) responses. In reinforcement learning, the aim is to weight the network (devise a policy) to perform actions that minimize long-term (expected cumulative) cost. At each point in time the agent performs an action and the environment generates an observation and an instantaneous cost, according to some (usually unknown) rules. The rules and the long-term cost usually only can be estimated. At any juncture, the agent decides whether to explore new actions to uncover their costs or to exploit prior learning to proceed more quickly. Formally the environment is modeled as a Markov decision process (MDP) with states and actions . Because the state transitions are not known, probability distributions are used instead: the instantaneous cost distribution , the observation distribution and the transition distribution , while a policy is defined as the conditional distribution over actions given the observations. Taken together, the two define a Markov chain (MC). The aim is to discover the lowest-cost MC. ANNs serve as the learning component in such applications. Dynamic programming coupled with ANNs (giving neurodynamic programming) has been applied to problems such as those involved in vehicle routing, video games, natural resource management and medicine because of ANNs ability to mitigate losses of accuracy even when reducing the discretization grid density for numerically approximating the solution of control problems. Tasks that fall within the paradigm of reinforcement learning are control problems, games and other sequential decision making tasks. Self-learning Self-learning in neural networks was introduced in 1982 along with a neural network capable of self-learning named Crossbar Adaptive Array (CAA). It is a system with only one input, situation s, and only one output, action (or behavior) a. It has neither external advice input nor external reinforcement input from the environment. The CAA computes, in a crossbar fashion, both decisions about actions and emotions (feelings) about encountered situations. The system is driven by the interaction between cognition and emotion. Given the memory matrix, W =||w(a,s)||, the crossbar self-learning algorithm in each iteration performs the following computation: In situation s perform action a; Receive consequence situation s'; Compute emotion of being in consequence situation v(s'); Update crossbar memory w'(a,s) = w(a,s) + v(s'). The backpropagated value (secondary reinforcement) is the emotion toward the consequence situation. The CAA exists in two environments, one is behavioral environment where it behaves, and the other is genetic environment, where from it initially and only once receives initial emotions about to be encountered situations in the behavioral environment. Having received the genome vector (species vector) from the genetic environment, the CAA will learn a goal-seeking behavior, in the behavioral environment that contains both desirable and undesirable situations. Neuroevolution Neuroevolution can create neural network topologies and weights using evolutionary computation. It is competitive with sophisticated gradient descent approaches. One advantage of neuroevolution is that it may be less prone to get caught in "dead ends". Stochastic neural network Stochastic neural networks originating from Sherrington–Kirkpatrick models are a type of artificial neural network built by introducing random variations into the network, either by giving the network's artificial neurons stochastic transfer functions, or by giving them stochastic weights. This makes them useful tools for optimization problems, since the random fluctuations help the network escape from local minima. Other In a Bayesian framework, a distribution over the set of allowed models is chosen to minimize the cost. Evolutionary methods, gene expression programming, simulated annealing, expectation-maximization, non-parametric methods and particle swarm optimization are other learning algorithms. Convergent recursion is a learning algorithm for cerebellar model articulation controller (CMAC) neural networks.Ting Qin, et al. "Continuous CMAC-QRLS and its systolic array." Neural Processing Letters 22.1 (2005): 1–16. Modes Two modes of learning are available: stochastic and batch. In stochastic learning, each input creates a weight adjustment. In batch learning weights are adjusted based on a batch of inputs, accumulating errors over the batch. Stochastic learning introduces "noise" into the process, using the local gradient calculated from one data point; this reduces the chance of the network getting stuck in local minima. However, batch learning typically yields a faster, more stable descent to a local minimum, since each update is performed in the direction of the batch's average error. A common compromise is to use "mini-batches", small batches with samples in each batch selected stochastically from the entire data set. Types ANNs have evolved into a broad family of techniques that have advanced the state of the art across multiple domains. The simplest types have one or more static components, including number of units, number of layers, unit weights and topology. Dynamic types allow one or more of these to evolve via learning. The latter are much more complicated, but can shorten learning periods and produce better results. Some types allow/require learning to be "supervised" by the operator, while others operate independently. Some types operate purely in hardware, while others are purely software and run on general purpose computers. Some of the main breakthroughs include: convolutional neural networks that have proven particularly successful in processing visual and other two-dimensional data;Yann LeCun (2016). Slides on Deep Learning Online long short-term memory avoid the vanishing gradient problem and can handle signals that have a mix of low and high frequency components aiding large-vocabulary speech recognition, text-to-speech synthesis, and photo-real talking heads; competitive networks such as generative adversarial networks in which multiple networks (of varying structure) compete with each other, on tasks such as winning a game or on deceiving the opponent about the authenticity of an input. Network design Neural architecture search (NAS) uses machine learning to automate ANN design. Various approaches to NAS have designed networks that compare well with hand-designed systems. The basic search algorithm is to propose a candidate model, evaluate it against a dataset and use the results as feedback to teach the NAS network. Available systems include AutoML and AutoKeras. Design issues include deciding the number, type and connectedness of network layers, as well as the size of each and the connection type (full, pooling, ...). Hyperparameters must also be defined as part of the design (they are not learned), governing matters such as how many neurons are in each layer, learning rate, step, stride, depth, receptive field and padding (for CNNs), etc. Use Using Artificial neural networks requires an understanding of their characteristics. Choice of model: This depends on the data representation and the application. Overly complex models are slow learning. Learning algorithm: Numerous trade-offs exist between learning algorithms. Almost any algorithm will work well with the correct hyperparameters for training on a particular data set. However, selecting and tuning an algorithm for training on unseen data requires significant experimentation. Robustness: If the model, cost function and learning algorithm are selected appropriately, the resulting ANN can become robust. ANN capabilities fall within the following broad categories: Function approximation, or regression analysis, including time series prediction, fitness approximation and modeling. Classification, including pattern and sequence recognition, novelty detection and sequential decision making. Data processing, including filtering, clustering, blind source separation and compression. Robotics, including | significant experimentation. Robustness: If the model, cost function and learning algorithm are selected appropriately, the resulting ANN can become robust. ANN capabilities fall within the following broad categories: Function approximation, or regression analysis, including time series prediction, fitness approximation and modeling. Classification, including pattern and sequence recognition, novelty detection and sequential decision making. Data processing, including filtering, clustering, blind source separation and compression. Robotics, including directing manipulators and prostheses. Applications Because of their ability to reproduce and model nonlinear processes, artificial neural networks have found applications in many disciplines. Application areas include system identification and control (vehicle control, trajectory prediction, process control, natural resource management), quantum chemistry, general game playing, pattern recognition (radar systems, face identification, signal classification, 3D reconstruction, object recognition and more), sensor data analysis, sequence recognition (gesture, speech, handwritten and printed text recognition), medical diagnosis, finance (e.g. automated trading systems), data mining, visualization, machine translation, social network filtering and e-mail spam filtering. ANNs have been used to diagnose several types of cancers and to distinguish highly invasive cancer cell lines from less invasive lines using only cell shape information. ANNs have been used to accelerate reliability analysis of infrastructures subject to natural disasters and to predict foundation settlements. ANNs have also been used for building black-box models in geoscience: hydrology, ocean modelling and coastal engineering, and geomorphology. ANNs have been employed in cybersecurity, with the objective to discriminate between legitimate activities and malicious ones. For example, machine learning has been used for classifying Android malware, for identifying domains belonging to threat actors and for detecting URLs posing a security risk. Research is underway on ANN systems designed for penetration testing, for detecting botnets, credit cards frauds and network intrusions. ANNs have been proposed as a tool to solve partial differential equations in physics and simulate the properties of many-body open quantum systems. In brain research ANNs have studied short-term behavior of individual neurons, the dynamics of neural circuitry arise from interactions between individual neurons and how behavior can arise from abstract neural modules that represent complete subsystems. Studies considered long-and short-term plasticity of neural systems and their relation to learning and memory from the individual neuron to the system level. Theoretical properties Computational power The multilayer perceptron is a universal function approximator, as proven by the universal approximation theorem. However, the proof is not constructive regarding the number of neurons required, the network topology, the weights and the learning parameters. A specific recurrent architecture with rational-valued weights (as opposed to full precision real number-valued weights) has the power of a universal Turing machine, using a finite number of neurons and standard linear connections. Further, the use of irrational values for weights results in a machine with super-Turing power. Capacity A model's "capacity" property corresponds to its ability to model any given function. It is related to the amount of information that can be stored in the network and to the notion of complexity. Two notions of capacity are known by the community. The information capacity and the VC Dimension. The information capacity of a perceptron is intensively discussed in Sir David MacKay's book which summarizes work by Thomas Cover. The capacity of a network of standard neurons (not convolutional) can be derived by four rules that derive from understanding a neuron as an electrical element. The information capacity captures the functions modelable by the network given any data as input. The second notion, is the VC dimension. VC Dimension uses the principles of measure theory and finds the maximum capacity under the best possible circumstances. This is, given input data in a specific form. As noted in, the VC Dimension for arbitrary inputs is half the information capacity of a Perceptron. The VC Dimension for arbitrary points is sometimes referred to as Memory Capacity. Convergence Models may not consistently converge on a single solution, firstly because local minima may exist, depending on the cost function and the model. Secondly, the optimization method used might not guarantee to converge when it begins far from any local minimum. Thirdly, for sufficiently large data or parameters, some methods become impractical. The convergence behavior of certain types of ANN architectures are more understood than others. When the width of network approaches to infinity, the ANN is well described by its first order Taylor expansion throughout training, and so inherits the convergence behavior of affine models., Neural Tangent Kernel: Convergence and Generalization in Neural Networks. Another example is when parameters are small, it is observed that ANNs often fits target functions from low to high frequencies. This behavior is referred to as the spectral bias, or frequency principle, of neural networks., On the Spectral Bias of Neural Networks., Theory of the Frequency Principle for General Deep Neural Networks. This phenomenon is the opposite to the behavior of some well studied iterative numerical schemes such as Jacobi method. Deeper neural networks have been observed to be more biased towards low frequency functions. Generalization and statistics Applications whose goal is to create a system that generalizes well to unseen examples, face the possibility of over-training. This arises in convoluted or over-specified systems when the network capacity significantly exceeds the needed free parameters. Two approaches address over-training. The first is to use cross-validation and similar techniques to check for the presence of over-training and to select hyperparameters to minimize the generalization error. The second is to use some form of regularization''. This concept emerges in a probabilistic (Bayesian) framework, where regularization can be performed by selecting a larger prior probability over simpler models; but also in statistical learning theory, where the goal is to minimize over two quantities: the 'empirical risk' and the 'structural risk', which roughly corresponds to the error over the training set and the predicted error in unseen data due to overfitting. Supervised neural networks that use a mean squared error (MSE) cost function can use formal statistical methods to determine the confidence of the trained model. The MSE on a validation set can be used as an estimate for variance. This value can then be used to calculate the confidence interval of network output, assuming a normal distribution. A confidence analysis made this way is statistically valid as long as the output probability distribution stays the same and the network is not modified. By assigning a softmax activation function, a generalization of the logistic function, on the output layer of the neural network (or a softmax component in a component-based network) for categorical target variables, the outputs can be interpreted as posterior probabilities. This is useful in classification as it gives a certainty measure on classifications. The softmax activation function is: Criticism Training A common criticism of neural networks, particularly in robotics, is that they require too much training for real-world operation. Potential solutions include randomly shuffling training examples, by using a numerical optimization algorithm that does not take too large steps when changing the network connections following an example, grouping examples in so-called mini-batches and/or introducing a recursive least squares algorithm for CMAC. Theory A fundamental objection is that ANNs do not sufficiently reflect neuronal function. Backpropagation is a critical step, although no such mechanism exists in biological neural networks. How information is coded by real neurons is not known. Sensor neurons fire action potentials more frequently with sensor activation and muscle cells pull more strongly when their associated motor neurons receive action potentials more frequently. Other than the case of relaying information from a sensor neuron to a motor neuron, almost nothing of the principles of how information is handled by biological neural networks is known. A central claim of ANNs is that they embody new and powerful general principles for processing information. These principles are ill-defined. It is often claimed that they are emergent from the network itself. This allows simple statistical association (the basic function of artificial neural networks) to be described as learning or recognition. |
by the root. In the leaves, stomata open to take in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. The carbon dioxide molecules are used as the carbon source in photosynthesis. Although nitrogen is plentiful in the Earth's atmosphere, very few plants can use this directly. Most plants, therefore, require nitrogen compounds to be present in the soil in which they grow. This is made possible by the fact that largely inert atmospheric nitrogen is changed in a nitrogen fixation process to biologically usable forms in the soil by bacteria. Plant nutrition is a difficult subject to understand completely, partially because of the variation between different plants and even between different species or individuals of a given clone. Elements present at low levels may cause deficiency symptoms, and toxicity is possible at levels that are too high. Furthermore, deficiency of one element may present as symptoms of toxicity from another element and vice versa. See also Auxology Exercise Nutrition psychology Physical fitness References Bibliography Curley, S., and Mark (1990). The Natural Guide to Good Health, Lafayette, Louisiana, Supreme Publishing External links Diet, Nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases by a Joint WHO/FAO Expert consultation | proportions vary for their particular foods. Many herbivores rely on bacterial fermentation to create digestible nutrients from indigestible plant cellulose, while obligate carnivores must eat animal meats to obtain certain vitamins or nutrients their bodies cannot otherwise synthesize. Animals generally have a higher requirement of energy in comparison to plants. Plant nutrition Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements that are necessary for plant growth. There are several principles that apply to plant nutrition. Some elements are directly involved in plant metabolism. However, this principle does not account for the so-called beneficial elements, whose presence, while not required, has clear positive effects on plant growth. A nutrient that can limit plant growth according to Liebig's law of the minimum is considered an essential plant nutrient if the plant cannot complete its full life cycle without it. There are 16 essential plant soil nutrients, besides the three major elemental nutrients carbon and oxygen that are obtained by photosynthetic plants from carbon dioxide in the air, and hydrogen, which is obtained from water. Plants uptake essential elements from the soil through their roots and from the air (consisting of mainly nitrogen and oxygen) through their leaves. Green plants obtain their carbohydrate supply from the carbon dioxide in the air by the process of photosynthesis. Carbon and oxygen are absorbed from the air, while other nutrients are absorbed from the soil. Nutrient uptake in the soil is achieved by cation exchange, wherein root hairs pump hydrogen ions (H+) into the soil through proton pumps. These hydrogen ions displace cations attached to negatively charged soil particles so that the cations are available for uptake by the root. In the leaves, stomata open to take in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. The carbon dioxide molecules are used as the carbon source in photosynthesis. Although nitrogen is plentiful in the Earth's atmosphere, very few plants can use this directly. Most plants, therefore, require nitrogen compounds to be present in the soil in which they grow. This is made possible by the fact that largely inert atmospheric nitrogen is changed in a nitrogen fixation process to biologically usable forms in the soil by bacteria. Plant nutrition is a difficult subject to understand completely, partially because of the variation between different plants and even between different species or individuals of |
Gowan, Scottish-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player 1956 – Richard Kind, American actor 1956 – Ron Randall, American author and illustrator 1957 – Donny Deutsch, American businessman and television host 1957 – Alan Stern, American engineer and planetary scientist 1958 – Horse, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist 1958 – Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress 1958 – Lee Guetterman, American baseball player 1958 – Ibrahim Ismail of Johor, Sultan of Johor 1958 – Chic McSherry, Scottish musician, businessman and writer 1958 – Jason Ringenberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1959 – Eddie Frierson, American actor 1959 – Frank McAvennie, Scottish footballer 1959 – Fabio Parra, Colombian cyclist 1959 – Lenore Zann, Australian-Canadian actress, singer, and politician 1960 – Jim Bob, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1960 – Leos Carax, French actor, director, and screenwriter 1961 – Mariel Hemingway, American actress 1961 – Stephen Hough, English-Australian pianist and composer 1961 – Randal L. 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Simon, American author and screenwriter 1945 – Elaine Weyuker, American computer scientist, engineer, and academic 1945 – Kari Tapio, Finnish singer (d. 2010) 1946 – Aston Barrett, Jamaican bass player and songwriter 1947 – Sandy Alderson, American businessman and academic 1947 – Rod Price, English guitarist and songwriter (d. 2005) 1947 – Nevio Scala, Italian footballer and manager 1947 – Salt Walther, American race car driver (d. 2012) 1947 – Valerie Wilson Wesley, American journalist and author 1948 – Radomir Antić, Serbian footballer and manager (d. 2020) 1948 – Stewart Guthrie, New Zealand police officer (d. 1990) 1948 – Saroj Khan, Indian dance choreographer, known as "The Mother of Dance/Choreography in India" (d. 2020) 1949 – Richard Carmona, American physician and politician, 17th Surgeon General of the United States 1949 – David Pietrusza, American author and historian 1950 – Lyman Bostock, American baseball player (d. 1978) 1950 – Jim Jefferies, Scottish footballer and manager 1950 – Paloma San Basilio, Spanish singer-songwriter and producer 1950 – Art Sullivan, Belgian singer (d. 2019) 1950 – Steven Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor 1950 – Tina Weymouth, American singer-songwriter and bass player 1951 – Kent Nagano, American conductor, director, and manager 1952 – Nicholas Suntzeff, American astronomer and cosmologist 1953 – Wayne Larkins, English cricketer and footballer 1954 – Denise Epoté, Cameroonian journalist at the head of the Africa management of TV5 Monde 1954 – Paolo Gentiloni, Italian politician, 57th Prime Minister of Italy 1954 – Carol Tomcala, Australian sports shooter 1955 – George Alagiah, British journalist 1955 – James Edwards, American basketball player 1956 – Lawrence Gowan, Scottish-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player 1956 – Richard Kind, American actor 1956 – Ron Randall, American author and illustrator 1957 – Donny Deutsch, American businessman and television host 1957 – Alan Stern, American engineer and planetary scientist 1958 – Horse, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist 1958 – Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress 1958 – Lee Guetterman, American baseball player 1958 – Ibrahim Ismail of Johor, Sultan of Johor 1958 – Chic McSherry, Scottish musician, businessman and writer 1958 – Jason Ringenberg, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1959 – Eddie Frierson, American actor 1959 – Frank McAvennie, Scottish footballer 1959 – Fabio Parra, Colombian cyclist 1959 – Lenore Zann, Australian-Canadian actress, singer, and politician 1960 – Jim Bob, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1960 – Leos Carax, French actor, director, and screenwriter 1961 – Mariel Hemingway, American actress 1961 – Stephen Hough, English-Australian pianist and composer 1961 – Randal L. Schwartz, American computer programmer and author 1962 – Sumi Jo, South Korean soprano 1962 – Victor Pelevin, Russian engineer and author 1962 – Rezauddin Stalin, Bangladeshi poet and educator 1963 – Hugh Millen, American football player and sportscaster 1963 – Tony Mowbray, English footballer and manager 1963 – Kennedy Pola, Samoan-American football player and coach 1963 – Brian Robbins, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1963 – Corinne Russell, English model, actress, and dancer 1964 – Robbie Slater, English-Australian footballer and sportscaster 1965 – Valeriya Gansvind, Estonian chess player 1965 – Olga Kisseleva, Russian artist 1965 – Jörg Jung, German footballer and manager 1965 – Mads Mikkelsen, Danish actor 1965 – Kristin Minter, American actress 1965 – Sen Dog, Cuban-American rapper and musician 1966 – Ed Ferrara, American wrestler and manager 1966 – Mark Pritchard, English lawyer and politician 1966 – Richard Stanley, South African director, producer, and screenwriter 1967 – Boris Becker, German-Swiss tennis player and coach 1967 – Tom Elliott, Australian investment banker 1967 – Quint Kessenich, American lacrosse player and sportscaster 1967 – Mark Ruffalo, American actor and activist 1967 – Bart Veldkamp, Dutch-Belgian speed skater, coach, and sportscaster 1968 – Sidse Babett Knudsen, Danish actress 1968 – Rasmus Lerdorf, Greenlandic-Canadian computer scientist and programmer, created PHP 1968 – Sarah MacDonald, |
Wilson's theorem. Western Europe in the Middle Ages Other than a treatise on squares in arithmetic progression by Fibonacci—who traveled and studied in north Africa and Constantinople—no number theory to speak of was done in western Europe during the Middle Ages. Matters started to change in Europe in the late Renaissance, thanks to a renewed study of the works of Greek antiquity. A catalyst was the textual emendation and translation into Latin of Diophantus' Arithmetica. Early modern number theory Fermat Pierre de Fermat (1607–1665) never published his writings; in particular, his work on number theory is contained almost entirely in letters to mathematicians and in private marginal notes. In his notes and letters, he scarcely wrote any proofs - he had no models in the area. Over his lifetime, Fermat made the following contributions to the field: One of Fermat's first interests was perfect numbers (which appear in Euclid, Elements IX) and amicable numbers; these topics led him to work on integer divisors, which were from the beginning among the subjects of the correspondence (1636 onwards) that put him in touch with the mathematical community of the day. In 1638, Fermat claimed, without proof, that all whole numbers can be expressed as the sum of four squares or fewer. Fermat's little theorem (1640): if a is not divisible by a prime p, then If a and b are coprime, then is not divisible by any prime congruent to −1 modulo 4; and every prime congruent to 1 modulo 4 can be written in the form . These two statements also date from 1640; in 1659, Fermat stated to Huygens that he had proven the latter statement by the method of infinite descent. In 1657, Fermat posed the problem of solving as a challenge to English mathematicians. The problem was solved in a few months by Wallis and Brouncker. Fermat considered their solution valid, but pointed out they had provided an algorithm without a proof (as had Jayadeva and Bhaskara, though Fermat wasn't aware of this). He stated that a proof could be found by infinite descent. Fermat stated and proved (by infinite descent) in the appendix to Observations on Diophantus (Obs. XLV) that has no non-trivial solutions in the integers. Fermat also mentioned to his correspondents that has no non-trivial solutions, and that this could also be proven by infinite descent. The first known proof is due to Euler (1753; indeed by infinite descent). Fermat claimed (Fermat's Last Theorem) to have shown there are no solutions to for all ; this claim appears in his annotations in the margins of his copy of Diophantus. Euler The interest of Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) in number theory was first spurred in 1729, when a friend of his, the amateur Goldbach, pointed him towards some of Fermat's work on the subject. This has been called the "rebirth" of modern number theory, after Fermat's relative lack of success in getting his contemporaries' attention for the subject. Euler's work on number theory includes the following: Proofs for Fermat's statements. This includes Fermat's little theorem (generalised by Euler to non-prime moduli); the fact that if and only if ; initial work towards a proof that every integer is the sum of four squares (the first complete proof is by Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1770), soon improved by Euler himself); the lack of non-zero integer solutions to (implying the case n=4 of Fermat's last theorem, the case n=3 of which Euler also proved by a related method). Pell's equation, first misnamed by Euler. He wrote on the link between continued fractions and Pell's equation. First steps towards analytic number theory. In his work of sums of four squares, partitions, pentagonal numbers, and the distribution of prime numbers, Euler pioneered the use of what can be seen as analysis (in particular, infinite series) in number theory. Since he lived before the development of complex analysis, most of his work is restricted to the formal manipulation of power series. He did, however, do some very notable (though not fully rigorous) early work on what would later be called the Riemann zeta function. Quadratic forms. Following Fermat's lead, Euler did further research on the question of which primes can be expressed in the form , some of it prefiguring quadratic reciprocity. Diophantine equations. Euler worked on some Diophantine equations of genus 0 and 1. In particular, he studied Diophantus's work; he tried to systematise it, but the time was not yet ripe for such an endeavour—algebraic geometry was still in its infancy. He did notice there was a connection between Diophantine problems and elliptic integrals, whose study he had himself initiated. Lagrange, Legendre, and Gauss Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736–1813) was the first to give full proofs of some of Fermat's and Euler's work and observations—for instance, the four-square theorem and the basic theory of the misnamed "Pell's equation" (for which an algorithmic solution was found by Fermat and his contemporaries, and also by Jayadeva and Bhaskara II before them.) He also studied quadratic forms in full generality (as opposed to )—defining their equivalence relation, showing how to put them in reduced form, etc. Adrien-Marie Legendre (1752–1833) was the first to state the law of quadratic reciprocity. He also conjectured what amounts to the prime number theorem and Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic progressions. He gave a full treatment of the equation and worked on quadratic forms along the lines later developed fully by Gauss. In his old age, he was the first to prove Fermat's Last Theorem for (completing work by Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, and crediting both him and Sophie Germain). In his Disquisitiones Arithmeticae (1798), Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) proved the law of quadratic reciprocity and developed the theory of quadratic forms (in particular, defining their composition). He also introduced some basic notation (congruences) and devoted a section to computational matters, including primality tests. The last section of the Disquisitiones established a link between roots of unity and number theory: The theory of the division of the circle...which is treated in sec. 7 does not belong by itself to arithmetic, but its principles can only be drawn from higher arithmetic. In this way, Gauss arguably made a first foray towards both Évariste Galois's work and algebraic number theory. Maturity and division into subfields Starting early in the nineteenth century, the following developments gradually took place: The rise to self-consciousness of number theory (or higher arithmetic) as a field of study. The development of much of modern mathematics necessary for basic modern number theory: complex analysis, group theory, Galois theory—accompanied by greater rigor in analysis and abstraction in algebra. The rough subdivision of number theory into its modern subfields—in particular, analytic and algebraic number theory. Algebraic number theory may be said to start with the study of reciprocity and cyclotomy, but truly came into its own with the development of abstract algebra and early ideal theory and valuation theory; see below. A conventional starting point for analytic number theory is Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic progressions (1837), whose proof introduced L-functions and involved some asymptotic analysis and a limiting process on a real variable. The first use of analytic ideas in number theory actually goes back to Euler (1730s), who used formal power series and non-rigorous (or implicit) limiting arguments. The use of complex analysis in number theory comes later: the work of Bernhard Riemann (1859) on the zeta function is the canonical starting point; Jacobi's four-square theorem (1839), which predates it, belongs to an initially different strand that has by now taken a leading role in analytic number theory (modular forms). The history of each subfield is briefly addressed in its own section below; see the main article of each subfield for fuller treatments. Many of the most interesting questions in each area remain open and are being actively worked on. Main subdivisions Elementary number theory The term elementary generally denotes a method that does not use complex analysis. For example, the prime number theorem was first proven using complex analysis in 1896, but an elementary proof was found only in 1949 by Erdős and Selberg. The term is somewhat ambiguous: for example, proofs based on complex Tauberian theorems (for example, Wiener–Ikehara) are often seen as quite enlightening but not elementary, in spite of using Fourier analysis, rather than complex analysis as such. Here as elsewhere, an elementary proof may be longer and more difficult for most readers than a non-elementary one. Number theory has the reputation of being a field many of whose results can be stated to the layperson. At the same time, the proofs of these results are not particularly accessible, in part because the range of tools they use is, if anything, unusually broad within mathematics. Analytic number theory Analytic number theory may be defined in terms of its tools, as the study of the integers by means of tools from real and complex analysis; or in terms of its concerns, as the study within number theory of estimates on size and density, as opposed to identities. Some subjects generally considered to be part of analytic number theory, for example, sieve theory, are better covered by the second rather than the first definition: some of sieve theory, for instance, uses little analysis, yet it does belong to analytic number theory. The following are examples of problems in analytic number theory: the prime number theorem, the Goldbach conjecture (or the twin prime conjecture, or the Hardy–Littlewood conjectures), the Waring | philosophy of Plato closely followed the teachings of the Pythagoreans, and Cicero repeats this claim: Platonem ferunt didicisse Pythagorea omnia ("They say Plato learned all things Pythagorean"). Plato had a keen interest in mathematics, and distinguished clearly between arithmetic and calculation. (By arithmetic he meant, in part, theorising on number, rather than what arithmetic or number theory have come to mean.) It is through one of Plato's dialogues—namely, Theaetetus—that we know that Theodorus had proven that are irrational. Theaetetus was, like Plato, a disciple of Theodorus's; he worked on distinguishing different kinds of incommensurables, and was thus arguably a pioneer in the study of number systems. (Book X of Euclid's Elements is described by Pappus as being largely based on Theaetetus's work.) Euclid devoted part of his Elements to prime numbers and divisibility, topics that belong unambiguously to number theory and are basic to it (Books VII to IX of Euclid's Elements). In particular, he gave an algorithm for computing the greatest common divisor of two numbers (the Euclidean algorithm; Elements, Prop. VII.2) and the first known proof of the infinitude of primes (Elements, Prop. IX.20). In 1773, Lessing published an epigram he had found in a manuscript during his work as a librarian; it claimed to be a letter sent by Archimedes to Eratosthenes. The epigram proposed what has become known as Archimedes's cattle problem; its solution (absent from the manuscript) requires solving an indeterminate quadratic equation (which reduces to what would later be misnamed Pell's equation). As far as we know, such equations were first successfully treated by the Indian school. It is not known whether Archimedes himself had a method of solution. Diophantus Very little is known about Diophantus of Alexandria; he probably lived in the third century AD, that is, about five hundred years after Euclid. Six out of the thirteen books of Diophantus's Arithmetica survive in the original Greek and four more survive in an Arabic translation. The Arithmetica is a collection of worked-out problems where the task is invariably to find rational solutions to a system of polynomial equations, usually of the form or . Thus, nowadays, we speak of Diophantine equations when we speak of polynomial equations to which rational or integer solutions must be found. One may say that Diophantus was studying rational points, that is, points whose coordinates are rational—on curves and algebraic varieties; however, unlike the Greeks of the Classical period, who did what we would now call basic algebra in geometrical terms, Diophantus did what we would now call basic algebraic geometry in purely algebraic terms. In modern language, what Diophantus did was to find rational parametrizations of varieties; that is, given an equation of the form (say) , his aim was to find (in essence) three rational functions such that, for all values of and , setting for gives a solution to Diophantus also studied the equations of some non-rational curves, for which no rational parametrisation is possible. He managed to find some rational points on these curves (elliptic curves, as it happens, in what seems to be their first known occurrence) by means of what amounts to a tangent construction: translated into coordinate geometry (which did not exist in Diophantus's time), his method would be visualised as drawing a tangent to a curve at a known rational point, and then finding the other point of intersection of the tangent with the curve; that other point is a new rational point. (Diophantus also resorted to what could be called a special case of a secant construction.) While Diophantus was concerned largely with rational solutions, he assumed some results on integer numbers, in particular that every integer is the sum of four squares (though he never stated as much explicitly). Āryabhaṭa, Brahmagupta, Bhāskara While Greek astronomy probably influenced Indian learning, to the point of introducing trigonometry, it seems to be the case that Indian mathematics is otherwise an indigenous tradition; in particular, there is no evidence that Euclid's Elements reached India before the 18th century. Āryabhaṭa (476–550 AD) showed that pairs of simultaneous congruences , could be solved by a method he called kuṭṭaka, or pulveriser; this is a procedure close to (a generalisation of) the Euclidean algorithm, which was probably discovered independently in India. Āryabhaṭa seems to have had in mind applications to astronomical calculations. Brahmagupta (628 AD) started the systematic study of indefinite quadratic equations—in particular, the misnamed Pell equation, in which Archimedes may have first been interested, and which did not start to be solved in the West until the time of Fermat and Euler. Later Sanskrit authors would follow, using Brahmagupta's technical terminology. A general procedure (the chakravala, or "cyclic method") for solving Pell's equation was finally found by Jayadeva (cited in the eleventh century; his work is otherwise lost); the earliest surviving exposition appears in Bhāskara II's Bīja-gaṇita (twelfth century). Indian mathematics remained largely unknown in Europe until the late eighteenth century; Brahmagupta and Bhāskara's work was translated into English in 1817 by Henry Colebrooke. Arithmetic in the Islamic golden age In the early ninth century, the caliph Al-Ma'mun ordered translations of many Greek mathematical works and at least one Sanskrit work (the Sindhind, which may or may not be Brahmagupta's Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta). Diophantus's main work, the Arithmetica, was translated into Arabic by Qusta ibn Luqa (820–912). Part of the treatise al-Fakhri (by al-Karajī, 953 – ca. 1029) builds on it to some extent. According to Rashed Roshdi, Al-Karajī's contemporary Ibn al-Haytham knew what would later be called Wilson's theorem. Western Europe in the Middle Ages Other than a treatise on squares in arithmetic progression by Fibonacci—who traveled and studied in north Africa and Constantinople—no number theory to speak of was done in western Europe during the Middle Ages. Matters started to change in Europe in the late Renaissance, thanks to a renewed study of the works of Greek antiquity. A catalyst was the textual emendation and translation into Latin of Diophantus' Arithmetica. Early modern number theory Fermat Pierre de Fermat (1607–1665) never published his writings; in particular, his work on number theory is contained almost entirely in letters to mathematicians and in private marginal notes. In his notes and letters, he scarcely wrote any proofs - he had no models in the area. Over his lifetime, Fermat made the following contributions to the field: One of Fermat's first interests was perfect numbers (which appear in Euclid, Elements IX) and amicable numbers; these topics led him to work on integer divisors, which were from the beginning among the subjects of the correspondence (1636 onwards) that put him in touch with the mathematical community of the day. In 1638, Fermat claimed, without proof, that all whole numbers can be expressed as the sum of four squares or fewer. Fermat's little theorem (1640): if a is not divisible by a prime p, then If a and b are coprime, then is not divisible by any prime congruent to −1 modulo 4; and every prime congruent to 1 modulo 4 can be written in the form . These two statements also date from 1640; in 1659, Fermat stated to Huygens that he had proven the latter statement by the method of infinite descent. In 1657, Fermat posed the problem of solving as a challenge to English mathematicians. The problem was solved in a few months by Wallis and Brouncker. Fermat considered their solution valid, but pointed out they had provided an algorithm without a proof (as had Jayadeva and Bhaskara, though Fermat wasn't aware of this). He stated that a proof could be found by infinite descent. Fermat stated and proved (by infinite descent) in the appendix to Observations on Diophantus (Obs. XLV) that has no non-trivial solutions in the integers. Fermat also mentioned to his correspondents that has no non-trivial solutions, and that this could also be proven by infinite descent. The first known proof is due to Euler (1753; indeed by infinite descent). Fermat claimed (Fermat's Last Theorem) to have shown there are no solutions to for all ; this claim appears in his annotations in the margins of his copy of Diophantus. Euler The interest of Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) in number theory was first spurred in 1729, when a friend of his, the amateur Goldbach, pointed him towards some of Fermat's work on the subject. This has been called the "rebirth" of modern number theory, after Fermat's relative lack of success in getting his contemporaries' attention for the subject. Euler's work on number theory includes the following: Proofs for Fermat's statements. This includes Fermat's little theorem (generalised by Euler to non-prime moduli); the fact that if and only if ; initial work towards a proof that every integer is the sum of four squares (the first complete proof is by Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1770), soon improved by Euler himself); the lack of non-zero integer solutions to (implying the case n=4 of Fermat's last theorem, the case n=3 of which Euler also proved by a related method). Pell's equation, first misnamed by Euler. He wrote on the link between continued fractions and Pell's equation. First steps towards analytic number theory. In his work of sums of four squares, partitions, pentagonal numbers, and the distribution of prime numbers, Euler pioneered the use of what can be seen as analysis (in particular, infinite series) in number theory. Since he lived before the development of complex analysis, most of his work is restricted to the formal manipulation of power series. He did, however, do some very notable (though not fully rigorous) early work on what would later be called the Riemann zeta function. Quadratic forms. Following Fermat's lead, Euler did further research on the question of which primes can be expressed in the form , some of it prefiguring quadratic reciprocity. Diophantine equations. Euler worked on some Diophantine equations of genus 0 and 1. In particular, he studied Diophantus's work; he tried to systematise it, but the time was not yet ripe for such an endeavour—algebraic geometry was still in its infancy. He did notice there was a connection between Diophantine problems and elliptic integrals, whose study he had himself initiated. Lagrange, Legendre, and Gauss Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736–1813) was the first to give full proofs of some of Fermat's and Euler's work and observations—for instance, the four-square theorem and the basic theory of the misnamed "Pell's equation" (for which an algorithmic solution was found by Fermat and his contemporaries, and also by Jayadeva and Bhaskara II before them.) He also studied quadratic forms in full generality (as opposed to )—defining their equivalence relation, showing how to put them in reduced form, etc. Adrien-Marie Legendre (1752–1833) was the first to state the law of quadratic reciprocity. He also conjectured what amounts to the prime number theorem and Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic progressions. He gave a full treatment of the equation and worked on quadratic forms along the lines later developed fully by Gauss. In his old age, he was the first to prove Fermat's Last Theorem for (completing work by Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, and crediting both him and Sophie Germain). In his Disquisitiones Arithmeticae (1798), Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) proved the law of quadratic reciprocity and developed the theory of quadratic forms (in particular, defining their composition). He also introduced some basic notation (congruences) and devoted a section to computational matters, including primality tests. The last section of the Disquisitiones established a link between roots of unity and number theory: The theory of the division of the circle...which is treated in sec. 7 does not belong by itself to arithmetic, but its principles can only be drawn from higher arithmetic. In this way, Gauss arguably made a first foray towards both Évariste Galois's work and algebraic number theory. Maturity and division into subfields Starting early in the nineteenth century, the following developments gradually took place: The rise to self-consciousness of number theory (or higher arithmetic) as a field of study. The development of much of modern mathematics necessary for basic modern number theory: complex analysis, group theory, Galois theory—accompanied by greater rigor in analysis and abstraction in algebra. The rough subdivision of number theory into its modern subfields—in particular, analytic and algebraic number theory. Algebraic number theory may be said to start with the study of reciprocity and cyclotomy, but truly came into its own with the development of abstract algebra and early ideal theory and valuation theory; see below. A conventional starting point for analytic number theory is Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic progressions (1837), whose proof introduced L-functions and involved some asymptotic analysis and a limiting process on a real variable. The first use of analytic ideas in number theory actually goes back to Euler (1730s), who used formal power series and non-rigorous (or implicit) limiting arguments. The use of complex analysis in number theory comes later: the work of Bernhard Riemann (1859) on the zeta function is the canonical starting point; Jacobi's four-square theorem (1839), which predates it, belongs to an initially different strand that has by now taken a leading role in analytic number theory (modular forms). The history of each subfield is briefly addressed in its own section below; see the main article of each subfield for fuller treatments. Many of the most interesting questions in each area remain open and are being actively worked on. Main subdivisions Elementary number theory The term elementary generally denotes a method that does not use complex analysis. For example, the prime number theorem was first proven using complex analysis in 1896, but an elementary proof was found only in 1949 by Erdős and Selberg. The term is somewhat ambiguous: for example, proofs based on complex Tauberian theorems (for example, Wiener–Ikehara) are often seen as quite enlightening but not elementary, in spite of using Fourier analysis, rather than complex analysis as such. Here as elsewhere, an elementary proof may be longer and more difficult for most readers than a non-elementary one. Number theory has the reputation of being a field many of whose results can be stated to the layperson. At the same time, the proofs of these results are not particularly accessible, in part because the range of tools they use is, if anything, unusually broad within mathematics. Analytic number theory Analytic number theory may be defined in terms of its tools, as the study of the integers by means |
wave that propagates through the explosive medium at 30 times the speed of sound as a near-instantaneous pressure-induced decomposition of the fuel into a white-hot gas. Detonation of nitroglycerin generates gases that would occupy more than 1,200 times the original volume at ordinary room temperature and pressure. The heat liberated raises the temperature to about . This is entirely different from deflagration, which depends solely upon available fuel regardless of pressure or shock. The decomposition results in much higher ratio of energy to gas moles released compared to other explosives, making it one of the hottest detonating high explosives. Manufacturing Nitroglycerin can be produced by acid-catalyzed nitration of glycerol (glycerin). The industrial manufacturing process often reacts glycerol with a nearly 1:1 mixture of concentrated sulfuric acid and concentrated nitric acid. This can be produced by mixing white fuming nitric acid—a quite expensive pure nitric acid in which the oxides of nitrogen have been removed, as opposed to red fuming nitric acid, which contains nitrogen oxides—and concentrated sulfuric acid. More often, this mixture is attained by the cheaper method of mixing fuming sulfuric acid, also known as oleum—sulfuric acid containing excess sulfur trioxide—and azeotropic nitric acid (consisting of about 70% nitric acid, with the rest being water). The sulfuric acid produces protonated nitric acid species, which are attacked by glycerol's nucleophilic oxygen atoms. The nitro group is thus added as an ester C−O−NO2 and water is produced. This is different from an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction in which nitronium ions are the electrophile. The addition of glycerol results in an exothermic reaction (i.e., heat is produced), as usual for mixed-acid nitrations. If the mixture becomes too hot, it results in a runaway reaction, a state of accelerated nitration accompanied by the destructive oxidation of organic materials by the hot nitric acid and the release of poisonous nitrogen dioxide gas at high risk of an explosion. Thus, the glycerin mixture is added slowly to the reaction vessel containing the mixed acid (not acid to glycerin). The nitrator is cooled with cold water or some other coolant mixture and maintained throughout the glycerin addition at about , hot enough for esterification to occur at a fast rate but cold enough to avoid runaway reaction. The nitrator vessel, often constructed of iron or lead and generally stirred with compressed air, has an emergency trap door at its base, which hangs over a large pool of very cold water and into which the whole reaction mixture (called the charge) can be dumped to prevent an explosion, a process referred to as drowning. If the temperature of the charge exceeds about (actual value varying by country) or brown fumes are seen in the nitrator's vent, then it is immediately drowned. Use as an explosive and a propellant The main use of nitroglycerin, by tonnage, is in explosives such as dynamite and in propellants. Nitroglycerin is an oily liquid that may explode when subjected to heat, shock, or flame. Alfred Nobel developed the use of nitroglycerin as a blasting explosive by mixing nitroglycerin with inert absorbents, particularly "Kieselguhr", or diatomaceous earth. He named this explosive dynamite and patented it in 1867. It was supplied ready for use in the form of sticks, individually wrapped in greased waterproof paper. Dynamite and similar explosives were widely adopted for civil engineering tasks, such as in drilling highway and railroad tunnels, for mining, for clearing farmland of stumps, in quarrying, and in demolition work. Likewise, military engineers have used dynamite for construction and demolition work. Nitroglycerin was also used as an ingredient in military propellants for use in firearms. Nitroglycerin has been used in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing, a process used to recover oil and gas from shale formations. The technique involves displacing and detonating nitroglycerin in natural or hydraulically induced fracture systems, or displacing and detonating nitroglycerin in hydraulically induced fractures followed by wellbore shots using pelletized TNT. Nitroglycerin has an advantage over some other high explosives that on detonation it produces practically no visible smoke. Therefore, it is useful as an ingredient in the formulation of various kinds of smokeless powder. Its sensitivity has limited the usefulness of nitroglycerin as a military explosive, and less sensitive explosives such as TNT, RDX, and HMX have largely replaced it in munitions. It remains important in military engineering, and combat engineers still use dynamite. Alfred Nobel then developed ballistite, by combining nitroglycerin and guncotton. He patented it in 1887. Ballistite was adopted by a number of European governments, as a military propellant. Italy was the first to adopt it. The British government and the Commonwealth governments adopted cordite instead, which had been developed by Sir Frederick Abel and Sir James Dewar of the United Kingdom in 1889. The original Cordite Mk I consisted of 58% nitroglycerin, 37% guncotton, and 5.0% petroleum jelly. Ballistite and cordite were both manufactured in the forms of "cords". Smokeless powders were originally developed using nitrocellulose as the sole explosive ingredient. Therefore, they were known as single-base propellants. A range of smokeless powders that contains both nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, known as double-base propellants, were also developed. Smokeless powders were originally supplied only for military use, but they were also soon developed for civilian use and were quickly adopted for sports. Some are known as sporting powders. Triple-base propellants contain nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and nitroguanidine, but are reserved mainly for extremely high-caliber ammunition rounds such as those used in tank cannons and naval artillery. Blasting gelatin, also known as gelignite, was invented by Nobel in 1875, using nitroglycerin, wood pulp, and sodium or potassium nitrate. This was an early, low-cost, flexible explosive. Medical use Nitroglycerin belongs to a group of drugs called nitrates, which includes many other nitrates like isosorbide dinitrate (Isordil) and isosorbide mononitrate (Imdur, Ismo, Monoket). These agents all exert their effect by being converted to nitric oxide in the body by mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), and nitric oxide is a potent natural vasodilator. In medicine, nitroglycerin is probably most commonly prescribed for angina pectoris, a painful symptom of ischemic heart disease caused by inadequate flow of blood and oxygen to the heart and as a potent antihypertensive agent. Nitroglycerin corrects the imbalance between the flow of oxygen and blood to the heart and the heart’s energy demand. There are plenty of formulations on the market at different doses. At low doses, nitroglycerin dilates veins more than arteries, thereby reducing preload (volume of blood in the heart after filling); this is thought to be its primary mechanism of action. By decreasing preload, the heart has less blood to pump, which decreases oxygen requirement since the heart does not have to work as hard. Additionally, having a smaller preload reduces the ventricular transmural pressure (pressure exerted on the walls of the heart), which decreases the compression of heart arteries to allow more blood to flow through the heart. At higher doses, it also dilates arteries, thereby reducing afterload (decreasing the pressure against which the heart must pump). An improved ratio of myocardial oxygen demand to supply leads to the following therapeutic effects during episodes of angina pectoris: subsiding of chest pain, decrease of blood pressure, increase of heart rate, and orthostatic hypotension. Patients experiencing angina when doing certain physical activities can often prevent symptoms by taking nitroglycerin 5 to 10 minutes before the activity. Overdoses may generate methemoglobinemia. Nitroglycerin is available in tablets, ointment, solution for intravenous use, transdermal patches, or sprays administered sublingually. Some forms of nitroglycerin last much longer in the body than others. Nitroglycerin as well as the onset and duration of action of each form is different. The sublingual or tablet spray of nitroglycerin has a two minute onset and twenty five minute duration of action. The oral formulation of nitroglycerin has a thirty five minute onset and a duration of action of 4-8 hours. The transdermal patch has an onset of thirty minutes and a duration of action | spelling nitroglycerine) also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating glycerol with white fuming nitric acid under conditions appropriate to the formation of the nitric acid ester. Chemically, the substance is an organic nitrate compound rather than a nitro compound, but the traditional name is retained. Invented in 1847 by Ascanio Sobrero, nitroglycerin has been used ever since as an active ingredient in the manufacture of explosives, namely dynamite, and as such it is employed in the construction, demolition, and mining industries. Since the 1880s, it has been used by the military as an active ingredient and gelatinizer for nitrocellulose in some solid propellants such as cordite and ballistite. It is a major component in double-based smokeless propellants used by reloaders. Combined with nitrocellulose, hundreds of powder combinations are used by rifle, pistol, and shotgun reloaders. Nitroglycerin has been used for over 130 years in medicine as a potent vasodilator (dilation of the vascular system) to treat heart conditions, such as angina pectoris and chronic heart failure. Though it was previously known that these beneficial effects are due to nitroglycerin being converted to nitric oxide, a potent venodilator, the enzyme for this conversion was only discovered to be mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) in 2002. Nitroglycerin is available in sublingual tablets, sprays, ointments, and patches. History Nitroglycerin was the first practical explosive produced that was stronger than black powder. It was first synthesized by the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1847, working under Théophile-Jules Pelouze at the University of Turin. Sobrero initially called his discovery pyroglycerine and warned vigorously against its use as an explosive. Nitroglycerin was later adopted as a commercially useful explosive by Alfred Nobel, who experimented with safer ways to handle the dangerous compound after his younger brother, Emil Oskar Nobel, and several factory workers were killed in an explosion at the Nobels' armaments factory in 1864 in Heleneborg, Sweden. One year later, Nobel founded Alfred Nobel and Company in Germany and built an isolated factory in the Krümmel hills of Geesthacht near Hamburg. This business exported a liquid combination of nitroglycerin and gunpowder called "Blasting Oil", but this was extremely unstable and difficult to handle, as evidenced in numerous catastrophes. The buildings of the Krümmel factory were destroyed twice. In April 1866, three crates of nitroglycerin were shipped to California for the Central Pacific Railroad, which planned to experiment with it as a blasting explosive to expedite the construction of the Summit Tunnel through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. One of the crates exploded, destroying a Wells Fargo company office in San Francisco and killing 15 people. This led to a complete ban on the transportation of liquid nitroglycerin in California. The on-site manufacture of nitroglycerin was thus required for the remaining hard-rock drilling and blasting required for the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in North America. In June 1869, two one-ton wagons loaded with nitroglycerin, then known locally as Powder-Oil, exploded in the road at the North Wales village of Cwm-y-glo. The explosion led to the loss of six lives, many injuries and much damage to the village. Little trace was found of the two horses. The UK Government was so alarmed at the damage caused and what could have happened in a city location (these two tons were part of a larger load coming from Germany via Liverpool) that they soon passed The Nitro-Glycerine Act of 1869. Liquid nitroglycerin was widely banned elsewhere, as well, and these legal restrictions led to Alfred Nobel and his company's developing dynamite in 1867. This was made by mixing nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth ("Kieselguhr" in German) found in the Krümmel hills. Similar mixtures, such as "dualine" (1867), "lithofracteur" (1869), and "gelignite" (1875), were formed by mixing nitroglycerin with other inert absorbents, and many combinations were tried by other companies in attempts to get around Nobel's tightly held patents for dynamite. Dynamite mixtures containing nitrocellulose, which increases the viscosity of the mix, are commonly known as "gelatins". Following the discovery that amyl nitrite helped alleviate chest pain, the physician William Murrell experimented with the use of nitroglycerin to alleviate angina pectoris and to reduce the blood pressure. He began treating his patients with small diluted doses of nitroglycerin in 1878, and this treatment was soon adopted into widespread use after Murrell published his results in the journal The Lancet in 1879. A few months before his death in 1896, Alfred Nobel was prescribed nitroglycerin for this heart condition, writing to a friend: "Isn't it the irony of fate that I have been prescribed nitro-glycerin, to be taken internally! They call it Trinitrin, so as not to scare the chemist and the public." The medical establishment also used the name "glyceryl trinitrate" for the same reason. Wartime production rates Large quantities of nitroglycerin were manufactured during World War I and World War II for use as military propellants and in military engineering work. During World War I, HM Factory, Gretna, the largest propellant factory in the United Kingdom, produced about 800 tonnes of cordite RDB per week. This amount required at least 336 tonnes of nitroglycerin per week (assuming no losses in production). The Royal Navy had its own factory at the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, in Dorset, England. A large cordite factory was also built in Canada during World War I. The Canadian Explosives Limited cordite factory at Nobel, Ontario, was designed to produce of cordite per month, requiring about 286 tonnes of nitroglycerin per month. Instability and desensitization In its undiluted form, nitroglycerin is a contact explosive, with physical shock causing it to explode. If it has not been adequately purified during manufacture it can degrade over time to even more unstable forms. This makes |
end of World War II, the carrier had become the dominant force of naval warfare. World War II also saw the United States become by far the largest Naval power in the world. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the United States Navy possessed over 70% of the world's total numbers and total tonnage of naval vessels of 1,000 tons or greater. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, the United States Navy would maintain a tonnage greater than that of the next 17 largest navies combined. During the Cold War, the Soviet Navy became a significant armed force, with large numbers of large, heavily armed ballistic missile submarines and extensive use of heavy, long-ranged antisurface missiles to counter the numerous United States carrier battle groups. Only two nations, the United States and France, presently operate CATOBAR carriers of any size, while Russia, China and India operate sizeable STOBAR carriers (although all three are originally of Russian design). The United Kingdom is also operating two carriers, which are the largest STOVL vessels in service, and India is currently building one aircraft carrier, , and considering another. France is also looking at a new carrier, probably using a CATOBAR system and possibly based on the British Queen Elizabeth design. Operations A navy typically operates from one or more naval bases. The base is a port that is specialized in naval operations, and often includes housing, a munitions depot, docks for the vessels, and various repair facilities. During times of war temporary bases may be constructed in closer proximity to strategic locations, as it is advantageous in terms of patrols and station-keeping. Nations with historically strong naval forces have found it advantageous to obtain basing rights in other countries in areas of strategic interest. Navy ships can operate independently or with a group, which may be a small squadron of comparable ships, or a larger naval fleet of various specialized ships. The commander of a fleet travels in the flagship, which is usually the most powerful vessel in the group. Before radio was invented, commands from the flagship were communicated by means of flags. At night signal lamps could be used for a similar purpose. Later these were replaced by the radio transmitter, or the flashing light when radio silence was needed. A "blue water navy" is designed to operate far from the coastal waters of its home nation. These are ships capable of maintaining station for long periods of time in deep ocean, and will have a long logistical tail for their support. Many are also nuclear powered to save having to refuel. By contrast a "brown water navy" operates in the coastal periphery and along inland waterways, where larger ocean-going naval vessels can not readily enter. Regional powers may maintain a "green water navy" as a means of localized force projection. Blue water fleets may require specialized vessels, such as minesweepers, when operating in the littoral regions along the coast. Traditions A basic tradition is that all ships commissioned in a navy are referred to as ships rather than vessels, with the exception of destroyers and submarines, which are known as boats. The prefix on a ship's name indicates that it is a commissioned ship. An important tradition on board naval vessels of some nations has been the ship's bell. This was historically used to mark the passage of time, as warning devices in heavy fog, and for alarms and ceremonies. The ship's captain, and more senior officers are "piped" aboard the ship using a Boatswain's call. In the United States, the First Navy Jack is a flag that has the words, "Don't Tread on Me" on the flag. By English tradition, ships have been referred to as a "she". However, it was long considered bad luck to permit women to sail on board naval vessels. To do so would invite a terrible storm that would wreck the ship. The only women that were welcomed on board were figureheads mounted on the prow of the ship. Firing a cannon salute partially disarms the ship, so firing a cannon for no combat reason showed respect and trust. As the tradition evolved, the number of cannon fired became an indication of the rank of the official being saluted. Naval organization Ships Historically, navy ships were primarily intended for warfare. They were designed to withstand damage and to inflict the same, but only carried munitions and supplies for the voyage (rather than merchant cargo). Often, other ships which were not built specifically for warfare, such as the galleon or the armed merchant ships in World War II, did carry armaments. In more recent times, navy ships have become more specialized and have included supply ships, troop transports, repair ships, oil tankers and other logistics support ships as well as combat ships. Modern navy combat ships are generally divided into seven main categories: aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, submarines, and amphibious assault ships. There are also support and auxiliary ships, including the oiler, minesweeper, patrol boat, hydrographic and oceanographic survey ship and tender. During the age of sail, the ship categories were divided into the ship of the line, frigate, and sloop-of-war. Naval ship names are typically prefixed by an abbreviation indicating the national navy in which they serve. For a list of the prefixes used with ship names (HMS, USS, LÉ, etc.) see ship prefix. Today ships are significantly faster than in years past, thanks to much improved propulsion systems. Also, the efficiency of the engines has improved, in terms of fuel, and of how many sailors it takes to operate them. In World War II, ships needed to refuel very often. However, today ships can go on very long journeys without refueling. Also, in World War II, the engine room needed about a dozen sailors to work the many engines, however, today, only about 4–5 are needed (depending on the class of the ship). Today, naval strike groups on longer missions are always followed by a range of support and replenishment ships supplying them with anything from fuel and munitions, to medical treatment and postal services. This allows strike groups and combat ships to remain at sea for several months at a time. Boats The term "boat" refers to small craft limited in their use by size and usually not capable of making lengthy independent voyages at sea. The old navy adage to differentiate between ships and boats is that boats are capable of being carried by ships. (Submarines by this rule are ships rather than boats, but are customarily referred to as boats reflecting their previous smaller size.) Navies use many types of boat, ranging from dinghies to landing craft. They are powered by either diesel engines, out-board gasoline engines, or waterjets. Most boats are built of aluminum, fiberglass, or steel. Rigid-hulled inflatable boats are also used. Patrol boats are used for patrols of coastal areas, lakes and large rivers. Landing craft are designed to carry troops, vehicles, or cargo from ship to shore under combat conditions, to unload, to withdraw from the beach, and to return to the ship. They are rugged, with powerful engines, and usually armed. There are many types in today's navies including hovercraft. They will typically have a power-operated bow ramp, a cargo well and after structures that house engine rooms, pilot houses, and stowage compartments. These boats are sometimes carried by larger ships. Special operations craft are high-speed craft used for insertion and extraction of special forces personnel and some may be transportable (and deployed) by air. Boats used in non-combat roles include lifeboats, mail boats, line handling boats, buoy boats, aircraft rescue boats, torpedo retrievers, explosive ordnance disposal craft, utility boats, dive boats, targets, and work boats. Boats are also used for survey work, tending divers, and minesweeping operations. Boats for carrying cargo and personnel are sometimes known as launches, gigs, barges or shore party boats. Units Naval forces are typically arranged into units based on the number of ships included, a single ship being the smallest operational unit. Ships may be combined into squadrons or flotillas, which may be formed into fleets. The largest unit size may be the whole Navy or Admiralty. A task force can be assembled using ships from different fleets for an operational task. Personnel Despite their acceptance in many areas of naval service, female sailors were not permitted to serve on board U.S. submarines until the U.S. Navy lifted the ban in April 2010. The major reasons historically cited by the U.S. Navy were the extended duty tours and close conditions which afford almost no privacy. The United Kingdom's Royal Navy has had similar restrictions. Australia, Canada, Norway, and Spain previously opened submarine service to women sailors. Ranks A navy will typically have two sets of ranks, one for enlisted personnel and one for officers. Typical ranks for commissioned officers include the following, in ascending order (Commonwealth ranks are listed first on each line; USA ranks are listed second in those instances where they differ from Commonwealth ranks): Midshipman / Ensign / Corvette Lieutenant Sub Lieutenant / Lieutenant Junior Grade / Frigate Lieutenant Lieutenant (Commonwealth & USA)/ Ship-of-the-Line Lieutenant / Captain Lieutenant Lieutenant Commander (Commonwealth & USA)/ Corvette Captain Commander (Commonwealth & USA)/ Frigate Captain Captain (Commonwealth & USA)/ Ship-of-the-Line Captain Commodore / Flotilla Admiral (in USA only: Rear Admiral (lower half)) Rear Admiral (in USA only: Rear Admiral (upper half)) Vice Admiral (Commonwealth & USA) Admiral (Commonwealth & USA) Admiral of the Fleet (Commonwealth) / Fleet Admiral (USA) / Grand Admiral "Flag officers" include any rank that includes the word "admiral" (or commodore in services other than the US Navy), and are generally in command of a battle group, strike group or similar flotilla of ships, rather than a single ship or aspect of a ship. However, commodores can also be temporary or honorary positions. For example, during World War II, a Navy captain was assigned duty as a convoy commodore, which meant that he was still a captain, but in charge of all the merchant vessels in the convoy. The most senior rank employed by a navy will tend to vary depending on the size of the navy and whether it is wartime or peacetime, for example, few people have ever held the rank of Fleet Admiral in the U.S. Navy, the chief of the Royal Australian Navy holds the rank of Vice Admiral, and the chief of the | did carry armaments. In more recent times, navy ships have become more specialized and have included supply ships, troop transports, repair ships, oil tankers and other logistics support ships as well as combat ships. Modern navy combat ships are generally divided into seven main categories: aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, submarines, and amphibious assault ships. There are also support and auxiliary ships, including the oiler, minesweeper, patrol boat, hydrographic and oceanographic survey ship and tender. During the age of sail, the ship categories were divided into the ship of the line, frigate, and sloop-of-war. Naval ship names are typically prefixed by an abbreviation indicating the national navy in which they serve. For a list of the prefixes used with ship names (HMS, USS, LÉ, etc.) see ship prefix. Today ships are significantly faster than in years past, thanks to much improved propulsion systems. Also, the efficiency of the engines has improved, in terms of fuel, and of how many sailors it takes to operate them. In World War II, ships needed to refuel very often. However, today ships can go on very long journeys without refueling. Also, in World War II, the engine room needed about a dozen sailors to work the many engines, however, today, only about 4–5 are needed (depending on the class of the ship). Today, naval strike groups on longer missions are always followed by a range of support and replenishment ships supplying them with anything from fuel and munitions, to medical treatment and postal services. This allows strike groups and combat ships to remain at sea for several months at a time. Boats The term "boat" refers to small craft limited in their use by size and usually not capable of making lengthy independent voyages at sea. The old navy adage to differentiate between ships and boats is that boats are capable of being carried by ships. (Submarines by this rule are ships rather than boats, but are customarily referred to as boats reflecting their previous smaller size.) Navies use many types of boat, ranging from dinghies to landing craft. They are powered by either diesel engines, out-board gasoline engines, or waterjets. Most boats are built of aluminum, fiberglass, or steel. Rigid-hulled inflatable boats are also used. Patrol boats are used for patrols of coastal areas, lakes and large rivers. Landing craft are designed to carry troops, vehicles, or cargo from ship to shore under combat conditions, to unload, to withdraw from the beach, and to return to the ship. They are rugged, with powerful engines, and usually armed. There are many types in today's navies including hovercraft. They will typically have a power-operated bow ramp, a cargo well and after structures that house engine rooms, pilot houses, and stowage compartments. These boats are sometimes carried by larger ships. Special operations craft are high-speed craft used for insertion and extraction of special forces personnel and some may be transportable (and deployed) by air. Boats used in non-combat roles include lifeboats, mail boats, line handling boats, buoy boats, aircraft rescue boats, torpedo retrievers, explosive ordnance disposal craft, utility boats, dive boats, targets, and work boats. Boats are also used for survey work, tending divers, and minesweeping operations. Boats for carrying cargo and personnel are sometimes known as launches, gigs, barges or shore party boats. Units Naval forces are typically arranged into units based on the number of ships included, a single ship being the smallest operational unit. Ships may be combined into squadrons or flotillas, which may be formed into fleets. The largest unit size may be the whole Navy or Admiralty. A task force can be assembled using ships from different fleets for an operational task. Personnel Despite their acceptance in many areas of naval service, female sailors were not permitted to serve on board U.S. submarines until the U.S. Navy lifted the ban in April 2010. The major reasons historically cited by the U.S. Navy were the extended duty tours and close conditions which afford almost no privacy. The United Kingdom's Royal Navy has had similar restrictions. Australia, Canada, Norway, and Spain previously opened submarine service to women sailors. Ranks A navy will typically have two sets of ranks, one for enlisted personnel and one for officers. Typical ranks for commissioned officers include the following, in ascending order (Commonwealth ranks are listed first on each line; USA ranks are listed second in those instances where they differ from Commonwealth ranks): Midshipman / Ensign / Corvette Lieutenant Sub Lieutenant / Lieutenant Junior Grade / Frigate Lieutenant Lieutenant (Commonwealth & USA)/ Ship-of-the-Line Lieutenant / Captain Lieutenant Lieutenant Commander (Commonwealth & USA)/ Corvette Captain Commander (Commonwealth & USA)/ Frigate Captain Captain (Commonwealth & USA)/ Ship-of-the-Line Captain Commodore / Flotilla Admiral (in USA only: Rear Admiral (lower half)) Rear Admiral (in USA only: Rear Admiral (upper half)) Vice Admiral (Commonwealth & USA) Admiral (Commonwealth & USA) Admiral of the Fleet (Commonwealth) / Fleet Admiral (USA) / Grand Admiral "Flag officers" include any rank that includes the word "admiral" (or commodore in services other than the US Navy), and are generally in command of a battle group, strike group or similar flotilla of ships, rather than a single ship or aspect of a ship. However, commodores can also be temporary or honorary positions. For example, during World War II, a Navy captain was assigned duty as a convoy commodore, which meant that he was still a captain, but in charge of all the merchant vessels in the convoy. The most senior rank employed by a navy will tend to vary depending on the size of the navy and whether it is wartime or peacetime, for example, few people have ever held the rank of Fleet Admiral in the U.S. Navy, the chief of the Royal Australian Navy holds the rank of Vice Admiral, and the chief of the Irish Naval Service holds the rank of Commodore. Naval infantry Naval infantry, commonly known as marines, are a category of infantry that form part of a state's naval forces and perform roles on land and at sea, including amphibious operations, as well as other, naval roles. They also perform other tasks, including land warfare, separate from naval operations. During the era of the Roman empire, naval forces included marine legionaries for maritime boarding actions. These were troops primarily trained in land warfare, and did not need to be skilled at handling a ship. Much later during the age of sail, a component of marines served a similar role, being ship-borne soldiers who were used either during boarding actions, as sharp-shooters, or in raids along shorelines. The Spanish Infantería de Marina was formed in 1537, making it the oldest, current marine force in the world. The British Royal Marines combine being both a ship-based force and also being specially trained in commando-style operations and tactics, operating in some cases separately from the rest of the Royal Navy. The Royal Marines also have their own special forces unit. In the majority of countries, the marine force is an integral part of the navy but there are variations such as the French Troupes de marine which is actually part of the French Army. The United States Marine Corps is a separate armed service within the United States Department of the Navy, with its own leadership structure. Naval aviation Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. In World War I several navies used floatplanes and flying boats - mainly for scouting. By World War II, aircraft carriers could carry bomber aircraft capable of attacking naval and land targets, as well as fighter aircraft for defence. Since World War II helicopters have been embarked on smaller ships in roles such as anti-submarine warfare and transport. Some navies have also operated land-based aircraft in roles such as maritime patrol and training. Naval aviation forces primarily perform naval roles at sea. However, they are also used in a variety of other roles. Further reading Non-fiction: Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft and Systems - Naval Institute Press. Published annually. Comprehensive. Braudel, Fernand, The Mediterranean in the Ancient World Corbett, Sir Julian, Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, 1911. Hughes, Jr., Wayne P., Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat, 1999, Naval Institute Press, Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery. New York: Scribner, 1976. Mahan, Alfred Thayer, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, 1918, Little Brown, Boston. Marder, Arthur. The Anatomy of British Seapower. New York: Octagon Books, 1940. Marder, Arthur. "The Influence of History on Sea Power: The Royal Navy and the Lessons of 1914-1918," Pacific Historical Review. November, 1972. Richmond, Herbert. National Policy and National Strength and other Essays. London: Longman, Green and Co., 1928. Sprout, Harold and Margaret Sprout. Toward a New Order of Sea Power: American Naval Policy ... 1918-1922. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1940. Starr, Chester G., The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History, 1989, Oxford University Press, Tangredi, Sam, "Globalization and Maritime Power", 2002 - National Defense University, Trafalgar 200 Through the Lens, Wombacher, Joerg and Joerg Felfe. (2012) United We Are Strong: An Investigation into Sense of Community among Navy Crews, Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 38, No. 4 Woolley, Peter J. "The Role of Strategy in Great Power Decline," Naval War College Review. Vol. XLIX, no. 1 (1996). Fiction: Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester Richard Bolitho series by Alexander Kent (Pseudonym of Douglas Reeman) Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October, Red Storm Rising See also Blue-water navy List of naval battles List of navies Number of warships in service worldwide List of submarine classes in service List of naval ship classes in service List of auxiliary ship classes in service Modern naval tactics Naval fleet Naval warfare Navies of landlocked countries Marines Notes References External links Naval Technology - News, projects, images |
is a consequence of Riesz's lemma. (In fact, a more general result is true: a topological vector space is locally compact if and only if it is finite-dimensional. The point here is that we don't assume the topology comes from a norm.) The topology of a seminormed vector space has many nice properties. Given a neighbourhood system around 0 we can construct all other neighbourhood systems as with Moreover, there exists a neighbourhood basis for the origin consisting of absorbing and convex sets. As this property is very useful in functional analysis, generalizations of normed vector spaces with this property are studied under the name locally convex spaces. A norm (or seminorm) on a topological vector space is continuous if and only if the topology that induces on is coarser than (meaning, ), which happens if and only if there exists some open ball in (such as maybe for example) that is open in (said different, such that ). Normable spaces A topological vector space is called normable if there exists a norm on such that the canonical metric induces the topology on The following theorem is due to Kolmogorov: Kolmogorov's normability criterion: A Hausdorff topological vector space is normable if and only if there exists a convex, von Neumann bounded neighborhood of A product of a family of normable spaces is normable if and only if only finitely many of the spaces are non-trivial (that is, ). Furthermore, the quotient of a normable space by a closed vector subspace is normable, and if in addition 's topology is given by a norm then the map given by is a well defined norm on that induces the quotient topology on If is a Hausdorff locally convex topological vector space then the following are equivalent: is normable. has a bounded neighborhood of the origin. the strong dual space of is normable. the strong dual space of is metrizable. Furthermore, is finite dimensional if and only if is normable (here denotes endowed with the weak-* topology). The topology of the Fréchet space as defined in the article on spaces of test functions and distributions, is defined by a countable family of norms but it is a normable space because there does not exist any norm on such that the topology that this norm induces is equal to Even if a metrizable topological vector space has a topology that is defined by a family of norms, then it may nevertheless still fail to be normable space (meaning that its topology can not be defined by any norm). An example of such a space is the Fréchet space whose definition can be found in the article on spaces of test functions and distributions, because its topology is defined by a countable family of norms but it is a normable space because there does not exist any norm on such that the topology this norm induces is equal to In fact, the topology of a locally convex space can be a defined by a family of on if and only if there exists continuous norm on Linear maps and dual spaces The most important maps between two normed vector spaces are the continuous linear maps. Together with these maps, normed vector spaces form a category. The norm is a continuous function on its vector space. All linear maps between finite dimensional vector spaces are also continuous. An isometry between two normed vector spaces is a linear map which preserves the norm (meaning for all vectors ). Isometries are always continuous and injective. A surjective isometry between the normed vector spaces and is called an isometric isomorphism, and and are called isometrically isomorphic. Isometrically isomorphic normed vector spaces are identical for all practical purposes. When speaking of normed vector spaces, we augment the notion of dual space to take the norm into account. The dual of a normed vector space is the space of all continuous linear maps from to the base field (the complexes or the reals) — such linear maps are called "functionals". The norm of a functional is defined as the supremum of where | a normed vector space, the norm induces a metric (a notion of distance) and therefore a topology on This metric is defined in the natural way: the distance between two vectors and is given by This topology is precisely the weakest topology which makes continuous and which is compatible with the linear structure of in the following sense: The vector addition is jointly continuous with respect to this topology. This follows directly from the triangle inequality. The scalar multiplication where is the underlying scalar field of is jointly continuous. This follows from the triangle inequality and homogeneity of the norm. Similarly, for any seminormed vector space we can define the distance between two vectors and as This turns the seminormed space into a pseudometric space (notice this is weaker than a metric) and allows the definition of notions such as continuity and convergence. To put it more abstractly every seminormed vector space is a topological vector space and thus carries a topological structure which is induced by the semi-norm. Of special interest are complete normed spaces, which are known as . Every normed vector space sits as a dense subspace inside some Banach space; this Banach space is essentially uniquely defined by and is called the of Two norms on the same vector space are called if they define the same topology. On a finite-dimensional vector space, all norms are equivalent but this is not true for infinite dimensional vector spaces. All norms on a finite-dimensional vector space are equivalent from a topological viewpoint as they induce the same topology (although the resulting metric spaces need not be the same). And since any Euclidean space is complete, we can thus conclude that all finite-dimensional normed vector spaces are Banach spaces. A normed vector space is locally compact if and only if the unit ball is compact, which is the case if and only if is finite-dimensional; this is a consequence of Riesz's lemma. (In fact, a more general result is true: a topological vector space is locally compact if and only if it is finite-dimensional. The point here is that we don't assume the topology comes from a norm.) The topology of a seminormed vector space has many nice properties. Given a neighbourhood system around 0 we can construct all other neighbourhood systems as with Moreover, there exists a neighbourhood basis for the origin consisting of absorbing and convex sets. As this property is very useful in functional analysis, generalizations of normed vector spaces with this property are studied under the name locally convex spaces. A norm (or seminorm) on a topological vector space is continuous if and only if the topology that induces on is coarser than (meaning, ), which happens if and only if there exists some open ball in (such as maybe for example) that is open in (said different, such that ). Normable spaces A topological vector space is called normable if there exists a norm on such that the canonical metric induces the topology on The following theorem is due to Kolmogorov: Kolmogorov's normability criterion: A Hausdorff topological vector space is normable if and only if there exists a convex, von Neumann bounded neighborhood of A product of a family of normable spaces is normable if and only if only finitely many of the spaces are non-trivial (that is, ). Furthermore, the quotient of a normable space by a closed vector subspace is normable, and if in addition 's topology is given by a norm then the map given by is a well defined norm on that induces the quotient topology on If is a Hausdorff locally convex topological vector space then the following are equivalent: is normable. has a bounded neighborhood of the origin. the strong dual space of is normable. the strong dual space of is metrizable. Furthermore, is finite dimensional if and only if is normable (here denotes endowed |
this name because it was adopted at the Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in 381 as a modification of the original Nicene Creed of 325. In that light, it also came to be very commonly known simply as the "Nicene Creed". It is the only authoritative ecumenical statement of the Christian faith accepted by the Catholic Church (with the addition of the Filioque), the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East, much of Protestantism including the Anglican communion. (The Apostles' and Athanasian creeds are not as widely accepted.) It differs in a number of respects, both by addition and omission, from the creed adopted at the First Council of Nicaea. The most notable difference is the additional section:"And [we believe] in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver-of-Life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. And [we believe] in one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, [and] we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."Since the end of the 19th century, scholars have questioned the traditional explanation of the origin of this creed, which has been passed down in the name of the council, whose official acts have been lost over time. A local council of Constantinople in 382 and the Third Ecumenical Council (Council of Ephesus of 431) made no mention of it, with the latter affirming the 325 creed of Nicaea as a valid statement of the faith and using it to denounce Nestorianism. Though some scholarship claims that hints of the later creed's existence are discernible in some writings, no extant document gives its text or makes explicit mention of it earlier than the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451. Many of the bishops of the 451 council themselves had never heard of it and initially greeted it skeptically, but it was then produced from the episcopal archives of Constantinople, and the council accepted it "not as supplying any omission but as an authentic interpretation of the faith of Nicaea". In spite of the questions raised, it is considered most likely that this creed was in fact adopted at the 381 Second Ecumenical Council. On the basis of evidence both internal and external to the text, it has been argued that this creed originated not as an editing of the original Creed proposed at Nicaea in 325, but as an independent creed (probably an older baptismal creed) modified to make it more like the Nicene Creed. Some scholars have argued that the creed may have been presented at Chalcedon as "a precedent for drawing up new creeds and definitions to supplement the Creed of Nicaea, as a way of getting round the ban on new creeds in Canon 7 of Ephesus". It is generally agreed that the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is not simply an expansion of the Creed of Nicaea, and was probably based on another traditional creed independent of the one from Nicaea. The Third Ecumenical Council (Ephesus) reaffirmed the original 325 version of the Nicene Creed and declared that "it is unlawful for any man to bring forward, or to write, or to compose a different () faith as a rival to that established by the holy Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost in Nicaea" (i.e., the 325 creed). The word is more accurately translated as used by the council to mean "different", "contradictory", rather than "another". This statement has been interpreted as a prohibition against changing this creed or composing others, but not all accept this interpretation. This question is connected with the controversy whether a creed proclaimed by an ecumenical council is definitive in excluding not only excisions from its text but also additions to it. In one respect, the Eastern Orthodox Church's received text of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed differs from the earliest text, which is included in the acts of the Council of Chalcedon of 451: The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the singular forms of verbs such as "I believe", in place of the plural form ("we believe") used by the council. Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches use exactly the same form of the creed, since the Catholic Church teaches that it is wrong to add "and the Son" to the Greek verb "", though correct to add it to the Latin "qui procedit", which does not have precisely the same meaning. The form generally used in Western churches does add "and the Son" and also the phrase "God from God", which is found in the original 325 Creed. Comparison between creed of 325 and creed of 381 The following table, which indicates by [square brackets] the portions of the 325 text that were omitted or moved in 381, and uses italics to indicate what phrases, absent in the 325 text, were added in 381, juxtaposes the earlier (AD 325) and later (AD 381) forms of this creed in the English translation given in Philip Schaff's compilation The Creeds of Christendom (1877). Filioque controversy In the late 6th century, some Latin-speaking churches added the word Filioque ("and the Son") to the description of the procession of the Holy Spirit, in what many Eastern Orthodox Christians have at a later stage argued is a violation of Canon VII of the Third Ecumenical Council, since the words were not included in the text by either the Council of Nicaea or that of Constantinople. This was incorporated into the liturgical practice of Rome in 1014. Filioque eventually became one of the main causes for the East-West Schism in 1054, and the failures of the repeated union attempts. The Vatican stated in 1995 that, while the words καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ("and the Son") would indeed be heretical if used with the Greek verb ἐκπορεύομαι (from ἐκ, "out of" and πορεύομαι "(I) come or go")—which is one of the terms used by St. Gregory of Nazianzus and the one adopted by the Council of Constantinople—the word Filioque is not heretical when associated with the Latin verb procedo and the related word processio. Whereas the verb ἐκπορεύομαι in Gregory and other Fathers necessarily means "to originate from a cause or principle," the Latin term procedo (from pro, "forward;" and cedo, "to go") has no such connotation and simply denotes the communication of the Divine Essence or Substance. In this sense, processio is similar in meaning to the Greek term προϊέναι, used by the Fathers from Alexandria (especially Cyril of Alexandria) as well as others. Partly due to the influence of the Latin translations of the New Testament (especially of John 15:26), the term ἐκπορευόμενον (the present participle of ἐκπορεύομαι) in the creed was translated into Latin as procedentem. In time, the Latin version of the creed came to be interpreted in the West in the | the "Almighty," and Jesus Christ as "the Son of God", as "begotten of ... the essence of the Father," and therefore as "consubstantial with the Father," meaning, "of the same substance" as the Father; "very God of very God." The Creed of 325 does mention the Holy Spirit but not as "God" or as "consubstantial with the Father." The 381 revision of the creed at Constantinople, which is often referred to as the Nicene Creed, speaks of the Holy Spirit as worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. The Athanasian Creed, formulated about a century later, which was not the product of any known church council and not used in Eastern Christianity, describes in much greater detail the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The earlier Apostles' Creed, apparently formulated before the Arian controversy arose in the fourth century, does not describe the Son or the Holy Spirit as "God" or as "consubstantial with the Father." Original Nicene Creed of 325 The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea, which opened on 19 June 325. The text ends with anathemas against Arian propositions, and these are preceded by the words: "We believe in the Holy Spirit" which terminates the statements of belief. F. J. A. Hort and Adolf von Harnack argued that the Nicene creed was the local creed of Caesarea (an important center of Early Christianity) recited in the council by Eusebius of Caesarea. Their case relied largely on a very specific interpretation of Eusebius' own account of the council's proceedings. More recent scholarship has not been convinced by their arguments. The large number of secondary divergences from the text of the creed quoted by Eusebius make it unlikely that it was used as a starting point by those who drafted the conciliar creed. Their initial text was probably a local creed from a Syro–Palestinian source into which they awkwardly inserted phrases to define the Nicene theology. The Eusebian Creed may thus have been either a second or one of many nominations for the Nicene Creed. The 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia says that, soon after the Council of Nicaea, the church composed new formulae of faith, most of them variations of the Nicene Symbol, to meet new phases of Arianism, of which there were at least four before the Council of Sardica (341), at which a new form was presented and inserted in its acts, although the council did not accept it. Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed What is known as the "Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed" or the "Nicene–Constantinopolitan Creed", received this name because it was adopted at the Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in 381 as a modification of the original Nicene Creed of 325. In that light, it also came to be very commonly known simply as the "Nicene Creed". It is the only authoritative ecumenical statement of the Christian faith accepted by the Catholic Church (with the addition of the Filioque), the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Church of the East, much of Protestantism including the Anglican communion. (The Apostles' and Athanasian creeds are not as widely accepted.) It differs in a number of respects, both by addition and omission, from the creed adopted at the First Council of Nicaea. The most notable difference is the additional section:"And [we believe] in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver-of-Life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. And [we believe] in one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, [and] we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."Since the end of the 19th century, scholars have questioned the traditional explanation of the origin of this creed, which has been passed down in the name of the council, whose official acts have been lost over time. A local council of Constantinople in 382 and the Third Ecumenical Council (Council of Ephesus of 431) made no mention of it, with the latter affirming the 325 creed of Nicaea as a valid statement of the faith and using it to denounce Nestorianism. Though some scholarship claims that hints of the later creed's existence are discernible in some writings, no extant document gives its text or makes explicit mention of it earlier than the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451. Many of the bishops of the 451 council themselves had never heard of it and initially greeted it skeptically, but it was then produced from the episcopal archives of Constantinople, and the council accepted it "not as supplying any omission but as an authentic interpretation of the faith of Nicaea". In spite of the questions raised, it is considered most likely that this creed was in fact adopted at the 381 Second Ecumenical Council. On the basis of evidence both internal and external to the text, it has been argued that this creed originated not as an editing of the original Creed proposed at Nicaea in 325, but as an independent creed (probably an older baptismal creed) modified to make it more like the Nicene Creed. Some scholars have argued that the creed may have been presented at Chalcedon as "a precedent for drawing up new creeds and definitions to supplement the Creed of Nicaea, as a way of getting round the ban on new creeds in Canon 7 of Ephesus". It is generally agreed that the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is not simply an expansion of the Creed of Nicaea, and was probably based on another traditional creed independent of the one from Nicaea. The Third Ecumenical Council (Ephesus) reaffirmed the original 325 version of the Nicene Creed and declared that "it is unlawful for any man to bring forward, or to write, or to compose a different () faith as a rival to that established by the holy Fathers assembled with the Holy Ghost in Nicaea" (i.e., the 325 creed). The word is more accurately translated as used by the council to mean "different", "contradictory", rather than "another". This statement has been interpreted as a prohibition against changing this creed or composing others, but not all accept this interpretation. This question is connected with the controversy whether a creed proclaimed by an ecumenical council is definitive in excluding not only excisions from its text but also additions to it. In one respect, the Eastern Orthodox Church's received text of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed differs from the earliest text, which is included in the acts of the Council of Chalcedon of 451: The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the singular forms of verbs such as "I believe", in place of the plural form ("we believe") used by the council. Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches use exactly the same form of the creed, since the Catholic Church teaches that it is wrong to add "and the Son" to the Greek verb "", though correct to add it to the Latin "qui procedit", which does not have precisely the same meaning. The form generally used in Western churches does add "and the Son" and also the phrase "God from God", which is found in the original 325 Creed. Comparison between creed of 325 and creed of 381 The following table, which indicates by [square brackets] the portions of the 325 text that were omitted or moved in 381, and uses italics to indicate what phrases, absent in the 325 text, were added in 381, juxtaposes the earlier (AD 325) and later (AD 381) forms of this creed in the English translation given in Philip Schaff's compilation The Creeds of Christendom (1877). Filioque controversy In the late 6th century, some Latin-speaking churches added the word Filioque ("and the Son") to the description of the procession of the Holy Spirit, in what many Eastern Orthodox Christians have at a later stage argued is a violation of Canon VII of the Third Ecumenical Council, since the words were not included in the text by either the Council of Nicaea or that of Constantinople. This was incorporated into the liturgical practice of Rome in 1014. Filioque eventually became one of the main causes for the East-West Schism in 1054, and the failures of the repeated union attempts. The Vatican stated in 1995 that, while the words καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ("and the Son") would indeed be heretical if used with the Greek verb ἐκπορεύομαι (from ἐκ, "out of" and πορεύομαι "(I) come or go")—which is one of the terms used by St. Gregory of Nazianzus and the one adopted by the Council of Constantinople—the word Filioque is not heretical when associated with the Latin verb procedo and the related word processio. Whereas the verb ἐκπορεύομαι in Gregory and other Fathers necessarily means "to originate from a cause or principle," the Latin term procedo (from pro, "forward;" and cedo, "to go") has no such connotation and simply denotes the communication of the Divine Essence or Substance. In this sense, processio is similar in meaning to the Greek term προϊέναι, used by the Fathers from Alexandria (especially Cyril of Alexandria) as well as others. Partly due to the influence of the Latin translations of the New Testament (especially of John 15:26), the term ἐκπορευόμενον (the present participle of ἐκπορεύομαι) in the creed was translated into Latin as procedentem. In time, the Latin version of the creed came to be interpreted in the West in the light |
Nuclear fusion in stars An important fusion process is the stellar nucleosynthesis that powers stars, including the Sun. In the 20th century, it was recognized that the energy released from nuclear fusion reactions accounts for the longevity of stellar heat and light. The fusion of nuclei in a star, starting from its initial hydrogen and helium abundance, provides that energy and synthesizes new nuclei. Different reaction chains are involved, depending on the mass of the star (and therefore the pressure and temperature in its core). Around 1920, Arthur Eddington anticipated the discovery and mechanism of nuclear fusion processes in stars, in his paper The Internal Constitution of the Stars. At that time, the source of stellar energy was a complete mystery; Eddington correctly speculated that the source was fusion of hydrogen into helium, liberating enormous energy according to Einstein's equation . This was a particularly remarkable development since at that time fusion and thermonuclear energy had not yet been discovered, nor even that stars are largely composed of hydrogen (see metallicity). Eddington's paper reasoned that: The leading theory of stellar energy, the contraction hypothesis, should cause stars' rotation to visibly speed up due to conservation of angular momentum. But observations of Cepheid variable stars showed this was not happening. The only other known plausible source of energy was conversion of matter to energy; Einstein had shown some years earlier that a small amount of matter was equivalent to a large amount of energy. Francis Aston had also recently shown that the mass of a helium atom was about 0.8% less than the mass of the four hydrogen atoms which would, combined, form a helium atom (according to the then-prevailing theory of atomic structure which held atomic weight to be the distinguishing property between elements; work by Henry Moseley and Antonius van den Broek would later show that nucleic charge was the distinguishing property and that a helium nucleus, therefore, consisted of two hydrogen nuclei plus additional mass). This suggested that if such a combination could happen, it would release considerable energy as a byproduct. If a star contained just 5% of fusible hydrogen, it would suffice to explain how stars got their energy. (We now know that most 'ordinary' stars contain far more than 5% hydrogen.) Further elements might also be fused, and other scientists had speculated that stars were the "crucible" in which light elements combined to create heavy elements, but without more accurate measurements of their atomic masses nothing more could be said at the time. All of these speculations were proven correct in the following decades. The primary source of solar energy, and that of similar size stars, is the fusion of hydrogen to form helium (the proton–proton chain reaction), which occurs at a solar-core temperature of 14 million kelvin. The net result is the fusion of four protons into one alpha particle, with the release of two positrons and two neutrinos (which changes two of the protons into neutrons), and energy. In heavier stars, the CNO cycle and other processes are more important. As a star uses up a substantial fraction of its hydrogen, it begins to synthesize heavier elements. The heaviest elements are synthesized by fusion that occurs when a more massive star undergoes a violent supernova at the end of its life, a process known as supernova nucleosynthesis. Requirements A substantial energy barrier of electrostatic forces must be overcome before fusion can occur. At large distances, two naked nuclei repel one another because of the repulsive electrostatic force between their positively charged protons. If two nuclei can be brought close enough together, however, the electrostatic repulsion can be overcome by the quantum effect in which nuclei can tunnel through coulomb forces. When a nucleon such as a proton or neutron is added to a nucleus, the nuclear force attracts it to all the other nucleons of the nucleus (if the atom is small enough), but primarily to its immediate neighbors due to the short range of the force. The nucleons in the interior of a nucleus have more neighboring nucleons than those on the surface. Since smaller nuclei have a larger surface-area-to-volume ratio, the binding energy per nucleon due to the nuclear force generally increases with the size of the nucleus but approaches a limiting value corresponding to that of a nucleus with a diameter of about four nucleons. It is important to keep in mind that nucleons are quantum objects. So, for example, since two neutrons in a nucleus are identical to each other, the goal of distinguishing one from the other, such as which one is in the interior and which is on the surface, is in fact meaningless, and the inclusion of quantum mechanics is therefore necessary for proper calculations. The electrostatic force, on the other hand, is an inverse-square force, so a proton added to a nucleus will feel an electrostatic repulsion from all the other protons in the nucleus. The electrostatic energy per nucleon due to the electrostatic force thus increases without limit as nuclei atomic number grows. The net result of the opposing electrostatic and strong nuclear forces is that the binding energy per nucleon generally increases with increasing size, up to the elements iron and nickel, and then decreases for heavier nuclei. Eventually, the binding energy becomes negative and very heavy nuclei (all with more than 208 nucleons, corresponding to a diameter of about 6 nucleons) are not stable. The four most tightly bound nuclei, in decreasing order of binding energy per nucleon, are , , , and . Even though the nickel isotope, , is more stable, the iron isotope is an order of magnitude more common. This is due to the fact that there is no easy way for stars to create through the alpha process. An exception to this general trend is the helium-4 nucleus, whose binding energy is higher than that of lithium, the next heavier element. This is because protons and neutrons are fermions, which according to the Pauli exclusion principle cannot exist in the same nucleus in exactly the same state. Each proton or neutron's energy state in a nucleus can accommodate both a spin up particle and a spin down particle. Helium-4 has an anomalously large binding energy because its nucleus consists of two protons and two neutrons (it is a doubly magic nucleus), so all four of its nucleons can be in the ground state. Any additional nucleons would have to go into higher energy states. Indeed, the helium-4 nucleus is so tightly bound that it is commonly treated as a single quantum mechanical particle in nuclear physics, namely, the alpha particle. The situation is similar if two nuclei are brought together. As they approach each other, all the protons in one nucleus repel all the protons in the other. Not until the two nuclei actually come close enough for long enough so the strong nuclear force can take over (by way of tunneling) is the repulsive electrostatic force overcome. Consequently, even when the final energy state is lower, there is a large energy barrier that must first be overcome. It is called the Coulomb barrier. The Coulomb barrier is smallest for isotopes of hydrogen, as their nuclei contain only a single positive charge. A diproton is not stable, so neutrons must also be involved, ideally in such a way that a helium nucleus, with its extremely tight binding, is one of the products. Using deuterium–tritium fuel, the resulting energy barrier is about 0.1 MeV. In comparison, the energy needed to remove an electron from hydrogen is 13.6 eV. The (intermediate) result of the fusion is an unstable 5He nucleus, which immediately ejects a neutron with 14.1 MeV. The recoil energy of the remaining 4He nucleus is 3.5 MeV, so the total energy liberated is 17.6 MeV. This is many times more than what was needed to overcome the energy barrier. The reaction cross section (σ) is a measure of the probability of a fusion reaction as a function of the relative velocity of the two reactant nuclei. If the reactants have a distribution of velocities, e.g. a thermal distribution, then it is useful to perform an average over the distributions of the product of cross-section and velocity. This average is called the 'reactivity', denoted . The reaction rate (fusions per volume per time) is times the product of the reactant number densities: If a species of nuclei is reacting with a nucleus like itself, such as the DD reaction, then the product must be replaced by . increases from virtually zero at room temperatures up to meaningful magnitudes at temperatures of 10–100 keV. At these temperatures, well above typical ionization energies (13.6 eV in the hydrogen case), the fusion reactants exist in a plasma state. The significance of as a function of temperature in a device with a particular energy confinement time is found by considering the Lawson criterion. This is an extremely challenging barrier to overcome on Earth, which explains why fusion research has taken many years to reach the current advanced technical state. Artificial fusion Thermonuclear fusion If matter is sufficiently heated (hence being plasma) and confined, fusion reactions may occur due to collisions with extreme thermal kinetic energies of the particles. Thermonuclear weapons produce what amounts to an uncontrolled release of fusion energy. Controlled thermonuclear fusion concepts use magnetic fields to confine the plasma. Inertial confinement fusion Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a method aimed at releasing fusion energy by heating and compressing a fuel target, typically a pellet containing deuterium and tritium. Inertial electrostatic confinement Inertial electrostatic confinement is a set of devices that use an electric field to heat ions to fusion conditions. The most well known is the fusor. Starting in 1999, a number of amateurs have been able to do amateur fusion using these homemade devices. Other IEC devices include: the Polywell, MIX POPS and Marble concepts. Beam-beam or beam-target fusion Accelerator-based light-ion fusion is a technique using particle accelerators to achieve particle kinetic energies sufficient to induce light-ion fusion reactions. Accelerating light ions is relatively easy, and can be done in an efficient manner—requiring only a vacuum tube, a pair of electrodes, and a high-voltage transformer; fusion can be observed with as little as 10 kV between the electrodes. The system can be arranged to accelerate ions into a static fuel-infused target, known as beam-target fusion, or by accelerating two streams of ions towards each other, beam-beam fusion. The key problem with accelerator-based fusion (and with cold targets in general) is that fusion cross sections are many orders of magnitude lower than Coulomb interaction cross-sections. Therefore, the vast majority of ions expend their energy emitting bremsstrahlung radiation and the ionization of atoms of the target. Devices referred to as sealed-tube neutron generators are particularly relevant to this discussion. These small devices are miniature particle accelerators filled with deuterium and tritium gas in an arrangement that allows ions of those nuclei to be accelerated against hydride targets, also containing deuterium and tritium, where fusion takes place, releasing a flux of neutrons. Hundreds of neutron generators are produced annually for use in the petroleum industry where they are used in measurement equipment for locating and mapping oil reserves. A number of attempts to recirculate the ions that "miss" collisions have been made over the years. One of the better-known attempts in the 1970s was Migma, which used a unique particle storage ring to capture ions into circular orbits and return them to the reaction area. Theoretical calculations made during funding reviews pointed out that the system would have significant difficulty scaling up to contain enough fusion fuel to be relevant as a power source. In the 1990s, a new arrangement using a field-reverse configuration (FRC) as the storage system was proposed by Norman Rostoker and continues to be studied by TAE Technologies . A closely related approach is to merge two FRC's rotating in opposite directions, which is being actively studied by Helion Energy. Because these approaches all have ion energies well beyond the Coulomb barrier, they often suggest the use of alternative fuel cycles like p-11B that are too difficult to attempt using conventional approaches. Muon-catalyzed fusion Muon-catalyzed fusion is a fusion process that occurs at ordinary temperatures. It was studied in detail by Steven Jones in the early 1980s. Net energy production from this reaction has been unsuccessful because of the high energy required to create muons, their short 2.2 µs half-life, and the high chance that a muon will bind to the new alpha particle and thus stop catalyzing fusion. Other principles Some other confinement principles have been investigated. Antimatter-initialized fusion uses small amounts of antimatter to trigger a tiny fusion explosion. This has been studied primarily in the context of making nuclear pulse propulsion, and pure fusion bombs feasible. This is not near becoming a practical power source, due to the cost of manufacturing antimatter alone. Pyroelectric fusion was reported in April 2005 by a team at UCLA. The scientists used a pyroelectric crystal heated from −34 to 7 °C (−29 to 45 °F), combined with a tungsten needle to produce an electric field of about 25 gigavolts per meter to ionize and accelerate deuterium nuclei into an erbium deuteride target. At the estimated energy levels, the D-D fusion reaction may occur, producing helium-3 and a 2.45 MeV neutron. Although it makes a useful neutron generator, the apparatus is not intended for power generation since it requires far more energy than it produces. Hybrid nuclear fusion-fission (hybrid nuclear power) is a proposed means of generating power by use of a combination of nuclear fusion and fission processes. The concept dates to the 1950s, and was briefly advocated by Hans Bethe during the 1970s, but largely remained unexplored until a revival of interest in 2009, due to the delays in the realization of pure fusion. Project PACER, carried out at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the mid-1970s, explored the possibility of a fusion power system that would involve exploding small hydrogen bombs (fusion bombs) inside an underground cavity. As an energy source, the system is the only fusion power system that could be demonstrated to work using existing technology. However it would also require a large, continuous supply of nuclear bombs, making the economics of such a system rather questionable. Bubble fusion also called sonofusion was a proposed mechanism for achieving fusion via sonic cavitation which rose to prominence in the early 2000s. Subsequent attempts at replication failed and the principal investigator, Rusi Taleyarkhan, was judged guilty of research misconduct in 2008. Important reactions Stellar reaction chains At the temperatures and densities in stellar cores, the rates of fusion reactions are notoriously slow. For example, at solar core temperature (T ≈ 15 MK) and density (160 g/cm3), the energy release rate is only 276 μW/cm3—about a quarter of the volumetric rate at which a resting human body generates heat. Thus, reproduction of stellar core conditions in a lab for nuclear fusion power production is completely impractical. Because nuclear reaction rates depend on density as well as temperature and most fusion schemes operate at relatively low densities, those methods are strongly dependent on higher temperatures. The fusion rate as a function of temperature (exp(−E/kT)), leads to the need to achieve temperatures in terrestrial reactors 10–100 times higher than in stellar interiors: T ≈ 0.1–1.0×109 K. Criteria and candidates for terrestrial reactions In artificial fusion, the primary fuel is not constrained to be protons and higher temperatures can be used, so reactions with larger cross-sections are chosen. Another concern is the production of neutrons, which activate the reactor structure radiologically, but also have the advantages of allowing volumetric extraction of the fusion energy and tritium breeding. Reactions that release no neutrons are referred to as aneutronic. To be a useful energy source, a fusion reaction must satisfy several criteria. It must: Be exothermic This limits the reactants to the low Z (number of protons) side of the curve of binding energy. It also makes helium the most common product because of its extraordinarily tight binding, although and also show up. Involve low atomic number (Z) nuclei This is because the electrostatic repulsion that must be overcome before the nuclei are close enough to fuse is directly related to the number of protons it contains | generally increases with the size of the nucleus but approaches a limiting value corresponding to that of a nucleus with a diameter of about four nucleons. It is important to keep in mind that nucleons are quantum objects. So, for example, since two neutrons in a nucleus are identical to each other, the goal of distinguishing one from the other, such as which one is in the interior and which is on the surface, is in fact meaningless, and the inclusion of quantum mechanics is therefore necessary for proper calculations. The electrostatic force, on the other hand, is an inverse-square force, so a proton added to a nucleus will feel an electrostatic repulsion from all the other protons in the nucleus. The electrostatic energy per nucleon due to the electrostatic force thus increases without limit as nuclei atomic number grows. The net result of the opposing electrostatic and strong nuclear forces is that the binding energy per nucleon generally increases with increasing size, up to the elements iron and nickel, and then decreases for heavier nuclei. Eventually, the binding energy becomes negative and very heavy nuclei (all with more than 208 nucleons, corresponding to a diameter of about 6 nucleons) are not stable. The four most tightly bound nuclei, in decreasing order of binding energy per nucleon, are , , , and . Even though the nickel isotope, , is more stable, the iron isotope is an order of magnitude more common. This is due to the fact that there is no easy way for stars to create through the alpha process. An exception to this general trend is the helium-4 nucleus, whose binding energy is higher than that of lithium, the next heavier element. This is because protons and neutrons are fermions, which according to the Pauli exclusion principle cannot exist in the same nucleus in exactly the same state. Each proton or neutron's energy state in a nucleus can accommodate both a spin up particle and a spin down particle. Helium-4 has an anomalously large binding energy because its nucleus consists of two protons and two neutrons (it is a doubly magic nucleus), so all four of its nucleons can be in the ground state. Any additional nucleons would have to go into higher energy states. Indeed, the helium-4 nucleus is so tightly bound that it is commonly treated as a single quantum mechanical particle in nuclear physics, namely, the alpha particle. The situation is similar if two nuclei are brought together. As they approach each other, all the protons in one nucleus repel all the protons in the other. Not until the two nuclei actually come close enough for long enough so the strong nuclear force can take over (by way of tunneling) is the repulsive electrostatic force overcome. Consequently, even when the final energy state is lower, there is a large energy barrier that must first be overcome. It is called the Coulomb barrier. The Coulomb barrier is smallest for isotopes of hydrogen, as their nuclei contain only a single positive charge. A diproton is not stable, so neutrons must also be involved, ideally in such a way that a helium nucleus, with its extremely tight binding, is one of the products. Using deuterium–tritium fuel, the resulting energy barrier is about 0.1 MeV. In comparison, the energy needed to remove an electron from hydrogen is 13.6 eV. The (intermediate) result of the fusion is an unstable 5He nucleus, which immediately ejects a neutron with 14.1 MeV. The recoil energy of the remaining 4He nucleus is 3.5 MeV, so the total energy liberated is 17.6 MeV. This is many times more than what was needed to overcome the energy barrier. The reaction cross section (σ) is a measure of the probability of a fusion reaction as a function of the relative velocity of the two reactant nuclei. If the reactants have a distribution of velocities, e.g. a thermal distribution, then it is useful to perform an average over the distributions of the product of cross-section and velocity. This average is called the 'reactivity', denoted . The reaction rate (fusions per volume per time) is times the product of the reactant number densities: If a species of nuclei is reacting with a nucleus like itself, such as the DD reaction, then the product must be replaced by . increases from virtually zero at room temperatures up to meaningful magnitudes at temperatures of 10–100 keV. At these temperatures, well above typical ionization energies (13.6 eV in the hydrogen case), the fusion reactants exist in a plasma state. The significance of as a function of temperature in a device with a particular energy confinement time is found by considering the Lawson criterion. This is an extremely challenging barrier to overcome on Earth, which explains why fusion research has taken many years to reach the current advanced technical state. Artificial fusion Thermonuclear fusion If matter is sufficiently heated (hence being plasma) and confined, fusion reactions may occur due to collisions with extreme thermal kinetic energies of the particles. Thermonuclear weapons produce what amounts to an uncontrolled release of fusion energy. Controlled thermonuclear fusion concepts use magnetic fields to confine the plasma. Inertial confinement fusion Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a method aimed at releasing fusion energy by heating and compressing a fuel target, typically a pellet containing deuterium and tritium. Inertial electrostatic confinement Inertial electrostatic confinement is a set of devices that use an electric field to heat ions to fusion conditions. The most well known is the fusor. Starting in 1999, a number of amateurs have been able to do amateur fusion using these homemade devices. Other IEC devices include: the Polywell, MIX POPS and Marble concepts. Beam-beam or beam-target fusion Accelerator-based light-ion fusion is a technique using particle accelerators to achieve particle kinetic energies sufficient to induce light-ion fusion reactions. Accelerating light ions is relatively easy, and can be done in an efficient manner—requiring only a vacuum tube, a pair of electrodes, and a high-voltage transformer; fusion can be observed with as little as 10 kV between the electrodes. The system can be arranged to accelerate ions into a static fuel-infused target, known as beam-target fusion, or by accelerating two streams of ions towards each other, beam-beam fusion. The key problem with accelerator-based fusion (and with cold targets in general) is that fusion cross sections are many orders of magnitude lower than Coulomb interaction cross-sections. Therefore, the vast majority of ions expend their energy emitting bremsstrahlung radiation and the ionization of atoms of the target. Devices referred to as sealed-tube neutron generators are particularly relevant to this discussion. These small devices are miniature particle accelerators filled with deuterium and tritium gas in an arrangement that allows ions of those nuclei to be accelerated against hydride targets, also containing deuterium and tritium, where fusion takes place, releasing a flux of neutrons. Hundreds of neutron generators are produced annually for use in the petroleum industry where they are used in measurement equipment for locating and mapping oil reserves. A number of attempts to recirculate the ions that "miss" collisions have been made over the years. One of the better-known attempts in the 1970s was Migma, which used a unique particle storage ring to capture ions into circular orbits and return them to the reaction area. Theoretical calculations made during funding reviews pointed out that the system would have significant difficulty scaling up to contain enough fusion fuel to be relevant as a power source. In the 1990s, a new arrangement using a field-reverse configuration (FRC) as the storage system was proposed by Norman Rostoker and continues to be studied by TAE Technologies . A closely related approach is to merge two FRC's rotating in opposite directions, which is being actively studied by Helion Energy. Because these approaches all have ion energies well beyond the Coulomb barrier, they often suggest the use of alternative fuel cycles like p-11B that are too difficult to attempt using conventional approaches. Muon-catalyzed fusion Muon-catalyzed fusion is a fusion process that occurs at ordinary temperatures. It was studied in detail by Steven Jones in the early 1980s. Net energy production from this reaction has been unsuccessful because of the high energy required to create muons, their short 2.2 µs half-life, and the high chance that a muon will bind to the new alpha particle and thus stop catalyzing fusion. Other principles Some other confinement principles have been investigated. Antimatter-initialized fusion uses small amounts of antimatter to trigger a tiny fusion explosion. This has been studied primarily in the context of making nuclear pulse propulsion, and pure fusion bombs feasible. This is not near becoming a practical power source, due to the cost of manufacturing antimatter alone. Pyroelectric fusion was reported in April 2005 by a team at UCLA. The scientists used a pyroelectric crystal heated from −34 to 7 °C (−29 to 45 °F), combined with a tungsten needle to produce an electric field of about 25 gigavolts per meter to ionize and accelerate deuterium nuclei into an erbium deuteride target. At the estimated energy levels, the D-D fusion reaction may occur, producing helium-3 and a 2.45 MeV neutron. Although it makes a useful neutron generator, the apparatus is not intended for power generation since it requires far more energy than it produces. Hybrid nuclear fusion-fission (hybrid nuclear power) is a proposed means of generating power by use of a combination of nuclear fusion and fission processes. The concept dates to the 1950s, and was briefly advocated by Hans Bethe during the 1970s, but largely remained unexplored until a revival of interest in 2009, due to the delays in the realization of pure fusion. Project PACER, carried out at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the mid-1970s, explored the possibility of a fusion power system that would involve exploding small hydrogen bombs (fusion bombs) inside an underground cavity. As an energy source, the system is the only fusion power system that could be demonstrated to work using existing technology. However it would also require a large, continuous supply of nuclear bombs, making the economics of such a system rather questionable. Bubble fusion also called sonofusion was a proposed mechanism for achieving fusion via sonic cavitation which rose to prominence in the early 2000s. Subsequent attempts at replication failed and the principal investigator, Rusi Taleyarkhan, was judged guilty of research misconduct in 2008. Important reactions Stellar reaction chains At the temperatures and densities in stellar cores, the rates of fusion reactions are notoriously slow. For example, at solar core temperature (T ≈ 15 MK) and density (160 g/cm3), the energy release rate is only 276 μW/cm3—about a quarter of the volumetric rate at which a resting human body generates heat. Thus, reproduction of stellar core conditions in a lab for nuclear fusion power production is completely impractical. Because nuclear reaction rates depend on density as well as temperature and most fusion schemes operate at relatively low densities, those methods are strongly dependent on higher temperatures. The fusion rate as a function of temperature (exp(−E/kT)), leads to the need to achieve temperatures in terrestrial reactors 10–100 times higher than in stellar interiors: T ≈ 0.1–1.0×109 K. Criteria and candidates for terrestrial reactions In artificial fusion, the primary fuel is not constrained to be protons and higher temperatures can be used, so reactions with larger cross-sections are chosen. Another concern is the production of neutrons, which activate the reactor structure radiologically, but also have the advantages of allowing volumetric extraction of the fusion energy and tritium breeding. Reactions that release no neutrons are referred to as aneutronic. To be a useful energy source, a fusion reaction must satisfy several criteria. It must: Be exothermic This limits the reactants to the low Z (number of protons) side of the curve of binding energy. It also makes helium the most common product because of its extraordinarily tight binding, although and also show up. Involve low atomic number (Z) nuclei This is because the electrostatic repulsion that must be overcome before the nuclei are close enough to fuse is directly related to the number of protons it contains - its atomic number. Have two reactants At anything less than stellar densities, three-body collisions are too improbable. In inertial confinement, both stellar densities and temperatures are exceeded to compensate for the shortcomings of the third parameter of the Lawson criterion, ICF's very short confinement time. Have two or more products This allows simultaneous conservation of energy and momentum without relying on the electromagnetic force. Conserve both protons and neutrons The cross sections for the weak interaction are too small. Few reactions meet these criteria. The following are those with the largest cross sections: :{| border="0" |- style="height:2em;" |(1) || ||+ || ||→ || ||( |||||) ||+ ||n0 ||( |||||) |- style="height:2em;" |(2i) || ||+ || ||→ || ||( |||||) ||+ ||p+ ||( |||||) || || || || || || 50% |- style="height:2em;" |(2ii) || || || ||→ || ||( |||||) ||+ ||n0 ||( |||||) || || || || || || 50% |- style="height:2em;" |(3) || ||+ || ||→ || ||( |||||) ||+ ||p+ ||( |||||) |- style="height:2em;" |(4) || ||+ || ||→ || || || || ||+ ||2 n0 || || || || || ||+ ||| |- style="height:2em;" |(5) || ||+ || ||→ || || || || ||+ ||2 p+ || || || || || ||+ ||| |- style="height:2em;" |(6i) || ||+ || ||→ || || || || ||+ ||p+ ||+ ||n0 || || || ||+ ||||| || 57% |- style="height:2em;" |(6ii) || || || ||→ || ||( |||||) ||+ || ||( |||||) || || || || || || 43% |- style="height:2em;" |(7i) || ||+ || ||→ ||2 ||+ ||| |- style="height:2em;" |(7ii) || || || ||→ || ||+ || || ||+ ||n0 || || || || || ||+ ||| |- style="height:2em;" |(7iii) || || || ||→ || ||+ ||p+ || || || || || || || || ||+ ||| |- style="height:2em;" |(7iv) || || || ||→ || ||+ ||n0 || || || || || || || || ||+ ||| |- style="height:2em;" |(8) ||p+ ||+ || ||→ || ||( |||||) ||+ || ||( |||||) |- style="height:2em;" |(9) || ||+ || ||→ ||2 ||+ ||p+ || || || || || || || || ||+ ||| |- style="height:2em;" |(10) ||p+ ||+ || ||→ ||3 || || || || || || || || || || ||+ ||| |} For reactions with two products, the energy is divided between them in inverse proportion to their masses, as shown. In most reactions with three products, the distribution of energy varies. For reactions that can result in more than one set of products, the branching ratios are given. Some reaction candidates can be eliminated at once. The D-6Li reaction has no advantage compared to p+- because it is roughly as difficult to burn but produces substantially more neutrons through - side reactions. There is also a p+- reaction, but the cross section is far too low, except possibly when Ti > 1 MeV, but at such high temperatures an endothermic, direct neutron-producing reaction also becomes very significant. Finally there is also a p+- reaction, which is not only difficult to burn, but can be easily induced to split into two alpha particles and a neutron. In addition to the fusion reactions, the following reactions with neutrons are important in order to "breed" tritium in "dry" fusion bombs and some proposed fusion reactors: :{| border="0" |- style="height:2em;" |n0 ||+ || ||→ || ||+ || + 4.784 MeV |- style="height:2em;" |
November 2, 2015, that 9 percent of National Geographic's 2,000 employees, approximately 180 people, would be laid off, constituting the biggest staff reduction in the Society's history. Later, The Walt Disney Company assumed 21CF's share in National Geographic Partners, following the completion of Disney's acquisition of most of 21CF assets on March 20, 2019. Activities Support for research and projects The Society has helped sponsor many expeditions and research projects over the years. Awards Hubbard Medal The Hubbard Medal is awarded by the National Geographic Society for distinction in exploration, discovery, and research. The medal is named for Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first National Geographic Society president. The Hubbard Medal has been presented 44 times , the most recent award going to Peter H. Raven. Alexander Graham Bell Medal The National Geographic Society also awards, rarely, the Alexander Graham Bell Medal, for exceptional contributions to geographic research. The award is named after Alexander Graham Bell, scientist, inventor of the telephone and the second president of the NGS. Up to mid-2011, the medal has been twice presented: 1980: Bradford Washburn and wife Barbara Washburn 2010: Roger Tomlinson and Jack Dangermond National Geographic Museum The Society operates the National Geographic Museum, located at 1145 17th Street, NW (17th and M), in Washington, D.C. The museum features changing exhibitions featuring the work of National Geographic explorers, photographers, and scientists. There are also changing exhibits related to natural history, culture, history or society. Permanent exhibits include artifacts like the camera Robert Peary used at the North Pole and pottery that Jacques Cousteau recovered from a shipwreck. Commercial ventures National Geographic Partners, a for-profit joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a 73% stake) and the Society (which owns 27%), was established in 2015 to handle commercial activities of the Society, including television channels worldwide (which were already co-owned by the Society and Fox) and magazine publications. The Walt Disney Company assumed 21CF's share of National Geographic Partners in March 2019. Most of National Geographic Partners' businesses predate the establishment in 2015, and even the launch of National Geographic Channel in Asia and Europe by the original News Corporation (of which 21st Century Fox is one of the successors) in the late 1990s. The society formed in October 2007 National Geographic Entertainment division to include Cinema Ventures, Feature Films, Kids Entertainment, Home Entertainment and Music & Radio divisions. Music and Radio division president David Beal was appointed head of Nat Geo Entertainment. Publications National Geographic The National Geographic Magazine, later shortened to National Geographic, published its first issue in October 1888, nine months after the Society was founded, as the Society's official journal, a benefit for joining the tax-exempt National Geographic Society. Starting with the February 1910 (Vol XXI, No. 2) issue, the magazine began using its now famous trademarked yellow border around the edge of its covers. There are 12 monthly issues of National Geographic per year. The magazine contains articles about geography, popular science, world history, culture, current events and photography of places and things all over the world and universe. National Geographic magazine is currently published in 40 local-language editions in many countries around the world. Combined English and other language circulation is around 6.8 million monthly, with some 60 million readers. Other publications In addition to its flagship magazine, the Society publishes several other periodicals: National Geographic Explorer: Classroom magazine. The National Geographic School Bulletin was launched in 1919 and was replaced by the children's magazine National Geographic World in 1975. NG World was separated into the current National Geographic Explorer and National Geographic Kids in 2001. National Geographic History: Launched in Spring 2015. National Geographic Kids: A version of National Geographic Magazine for children, launched in 1975 under the name National Geographic World. It has a U.S. circulation of over 1.5 million. There are also currently 18 local-language editions of NG Kids, with another half million in circulation. An Arabic edition of the children's magazine was launched in Egypt in early 2007, and more than 42,000 copies are distributed to all the public schools in Egypt, in addition to another 15,000 single-copy sales. More recently, an Albanian and Polish edition were launched. National Geographic Little Kids: For younger children aged 3–6 National Geographic Traveler: Launched in 1984. There are 18 local-language editions of NG Traveler. The Society also ran an online daily news outlet called National Geographic News. Additionally, the Society publishes atlases, books, and maps. It previously published and co-published other magazines, including National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Research (a scientific journal), and others, and continues to publish special issues of various magazines. The Society published a series of books about natural remedies and medicinal herbs. Titles include Guide to Medicinal Herbs, Complete Guide to Natural Home Remedies, Nature's Best Remedies, Healing Remedies, and Natural Home Remedies. The books make claims to describe, among other things, plants, herbs, and essential oils purported to help treat diseases and ailments. While giving some appropriate warnings about such concerns as anecdotal evidence and side effects are given, the books have been criticized from a medical perspective for a number of reasons. These include making recommendations that lack scientific evidence, inconsistent claims from one book to the next as well as internal contradictions, and failure to mention effective and safe alternatives. The journal Skeptical Inquirer devoted thirty-four pages in 2019 discussing these books. Experts such as Harriet Hall, Joe Nickell, Cees Renckens and Barry Kosmin addressed each subject in the series of books. Summing up the series, Hall wrote in a review of the series that, "The author Nancy J. Hajeski is a fiction and nonfiction writer with no medical or scientific credentials. The forward is by Tieraona Low Dog, MD, an integrative medicine specialist. ... which is a marketing term designed to infiltrate quackery into science-based medicine." Films and television National Geographic Films National Geographic Films was a wholly owned taxable subsidiary of the National Geographic Society. National Geographic Films appointed Adam Leipzig as president in 2004. The society formed in October 2007 National Geographic Entertainment division to include Cinema Ventures and Feature Films. In 2008, the film division and Imagenation formed a $100 million fund to develop, produce, finance and acquire over five years 10-15 films. The first film the fund invested in was The Way Back. Leipzig left the company in January 2010. On March 15, 2010, former Miramax president Daniel Battsek started as National Geographic Films president. Basttsek ended up also over seeing Nat Geo Cinema Ventures distribution and big screen production before he left in 2012 becoming president of Cohen Media Group. Films it has produced include: K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), a feature film, submarine thriller based on the diary of a Russian submarine commander, starring Harrison Ford. March of the Penguins (2005) grossed more than $125 million worldwide, distributed by National Geographic Films and Warner Independent God Grew Tired of Us (2006) Arctic Tale (2007), a feature film documenting the story of two families of walrus and polar bears, narrated by Queen Latifah. Sea Monsters (2007), inspired by a National Geographic Magazine article, is a 3-D large format and reality film, with a musical score by Peter Gabriel. The Way Back (2010) Imagenation Amreeka City of Life and Death Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West, a co-production for HBO by National Geographic Films, Edward Norton, and Brad Pitt, is a 10-hour mini-series of Steven Ambrose's award-winning book. The Wildest Dream Blue Man Group: Mind Blast Restrepo (July 2, 2010) Outpost Films Production; domestic | succeeded him in 1897. In 1899, Bell's son-in-law Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor was named the first full-time editor of National Geographic magazine and served the organization for fifty-five years (until 1954), and members of the Grosvenor family have played important roles in the organization since. Bell and Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor devised the successful marketing notion of Society membership and the first major use of photographs to tell stories in magazines. The chairman of the National Geographic Society currently is Jean Case. Michael Ulica is president. Jill Tiefenthaler is the chief executive officer. The editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine is Susan Goldberg. Gilbert Melville Grosvenor, a former chairman, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 for his leadership in geography education. In 2004, the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., was one of the first buildings to receive a "Green" certification from Global Green USA. The National Geographic received the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in October 2006 in Oviedo, Spain. National Geographic Expeditions was launched in 1999 to fulfill one of its mission and for the proceeds to go towards its mission. In 2006, the society purchased Hampton-Brown, an English-as-a-second-language educational material publisher, using a good part of its endowments. However, the publisher did not generate much profits. By 2009, the society's endowments were about $200 million. National Geographic Ventures, its commercial arm, launched a music division, National Geographic Music and Radio, in 2007. The society formed in October 2007 National Geographic Entertainment division to include its entertainment units. In 2013 the society was investigated for possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act relating to their close association with an Egyptian government official responsible for antiquities. On September 9, 2015, the Society announced that it would re-organize its media properties and publications into a new company known as National Geographic Partners, which would be majority-owned by 21st Century Fox (21CF) with a 73% stake. This new, for-profit corporation, would own National Geographic and other magazines, as well as its affiliated television networks—most of which were already owned in joint ventures with 21CF. As a consequence, the Society and 21st Century Fox announced on November 2, 2015, that 9 percent of National Geographic's 2,000 employees, approximately 180 people, would be laid off, constituting the biggest staff reduction in the Society's history. Later, The Walt Disney Company assumed 21CF's share in National Geographic Partners, following the completion of Disney's acquisition of most of 21CF assets on March 20, 2019. Activities Support for research and projects The Society has helped sponsor many expeditions and research projects over the years. Awards Hubbard Medal The Hubbard Medal is awarded by the National Geographic Society for distinction in exploration, discovery, and research. The medal is named for Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first National Geographic Society president. The Hubbard Medal has been presented 44 times , the most recent award going to Peter H. Raven. Alexander Graham Bell Medal The National Geographic Society also awards, rarely, the Alexander Graham Bell Medal, for exceptional contributions to geographic research. The award is named after Alexander Graham Bell, scientist, inventor of the telephone and the second president of the NGS. Up to mid-2011, the medal has been twice presented: 1980: Bradford Washburn and wife Barbara Washburn 2010: Roger Tomlinson and Jack Dangermond National Geographic Museum The Society operates the National Geographic Museum, located at 1145 17th Street, NW (17th and M), in Washington, D.C. The museum features changing exhibitions featuring the work of National Geographic explorers, photographers, and scientists. There are also changing exhibits related to natural history, culture, history or society. Permanent exhibits include artifacts like the camera Robert Peary used at the North Pole and pottery that Jacques Cousteau recovered from a shipwreck. Commercial ventures National Geographic Partners, a for-profit joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a 73% stake) and the Society (which owns 27%), was established in 2015 to handle commercial activities of the Society, including television channels worldwide (which were already co-owned by the Society and Fox) and magazine publications. The Walt Disney Company assumed 21CF's share of National Geographic Partners in March 2019. Most of National Geographic Partners' businesses predate the establishment in 2015, and even the launch of National Geographic Channel in Asia and Europe by the original News Corporation (of which 21st Century Fox is one of the successors) in the late 1990s. The society formed in October 2007 National Geographic Entertainment division to include Cinema Ventures, Feature Films, Kids Entertainment, Home Entertainment and Music & Radio divisions. Music and Radio division president David Beal was appointed head of Nat Geo Entertainment. Publications National Geographic The National Geographic Magazine, later shortened to National Geographic, published its first issue in October 1888, nine months after the Society was founded, as the Society's official journal, a benefit for joining the tax-exempt National Geographic Society. Starting |
he was married to their sister Guðrún, Atli would soon be killed by her. In Guðrúnarkviða II, the Norns actively enter the series of events by informing Atli in a dream that his wife would kill him. The description of the dream begins with this stanza: Guðrúnarhvöt After having killed both her husband Atli and their sons, Guðrún blames the Norns for her misfortunes, as in Guðrúnarhvöt, where Guðrún talks of trying to escaping the wrath of the norns by trying to kill herself: Hamðismál Guðrúnarhvöt deals with how Guðrún incited her sons to avenge the cruel death of their sister Svanhild. In Hamðismál, her sons' expedition to the Gothic king Ermanaric to exact vengeance is fateful. Knowing that he is about to die at the hands of the Goths, her son Sörli talks of the cruelty of the norns: Sigrdrífumál Since the norns were beings of ultimate power who were working in the dark, it should be no surprise that they could be referred to in charms, as they are by Sigrdrífa in Sigrdrífumál: Prose Edda In the part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda which is called Gylfaginning, Gylfi, the king of Sweden, has arrived at Valhalla calling himself Gangleri. There, he receives an education in Norse mythology from what is Odin in the shape of three men. They explain to Gylfi that there are three main norns, but also many others of various races, æsir, elves and dwarves: A hall stands there, fair, under the ash by the well, and out of that hall come three maids, who are called thus: Urdr, Verdandi, Skuld; these maids determine the period of men's lives: we call them Norns; but there are many norns: those who come to each child that is born, to appoint his life; these are of the race of the gods, but the second are of the Elf-people, and the third are of the kindred of the dwarves, as it is said here: Most sundered in birth I say the Norns are; They claim no common kin: Some are of Æsir-kin, some are of Elf-kind, Some are Dvalinn's daughters. Then said Gangleri: "If the Norns determine the weirds of men, then they apportion exceeding unevenly, seeing that some have a pleasant and luxurious life, but others have little worldly goods or fame; some have long life, others short." Hárr said: "Good norns and of honorable race appoint good life; but those men that suffer evil fortunes are governed by evil norns." The three main norns take water out of the well of Urd and water Yggdrasil: It is further said that these Norns who dwell by the Well of Urdr take water of the well every day, and with it that clay which lies about the well, and sprinkle it over the Ash, to the end that its limbs shall not wither nor rot; for that water is so holy that all things which come there into the well become as white as the film which lies within the egg-shell,--as is here said: I know an Ash standing called Yggdrasill, A high tree sprinkled with snow-white clay; Thence come the dews in the dale that fall-- It stands ever green above Urdr's Well. That dew which falls from it onto the earth is called by men honey-dew, and thereon are bees nourished. Two fowls are fed in Urdr's Well: they are called Swans, and from those fowls has come the race of birds which is so called." Snorri furthermore informs the reader that the youngest norn, Skuld, is in effect also a valkyrie, taking part in the selection of warriors from the slain: These are called Valkyrs: them Odin sends to every battle; they determine men's feyness and award victory. Gudr and Róta and the youngest Norn, she who is called Skuld, ride ever to take the slain and decide fights. Legendary sagas Some of the legendary sagas also contain references to the norns. The Hervarar saga contains a poem named Hlöðskviða, where the Gothic king Angantýr defeats a Hunnish invasion led by his Hunnish half-brother Hlöðr. Knowing that his sister, the shieldmaiden Hervör, is one of the casualties, Angantýr looks at his dead brother and laments the cruelty of the norns: In younger legendary sagas, such as Norna-Gests þáttr and Hrólfs saga kraka, the norns appear to have been synonymous with völvas (witches, female shamans). In Norna-Gests þáttr, where they arrive at the birth of the hero to shape his destiny, the norns are not described as weaving the web of fate, instead Norna appears to be interchangeable and possibly a synonym of vala (völva). One of the last legendary sagas to be written down, the Hrólfs saga kraka talks of the norns simply as evil witches. When the evil half-elven princess Skuld assembles her army to attack Hrólfr Kraki, it contains in addition to undead warriors, elves and norns. Runic inscription N 351 M The belief in the norns as bringers of both gain and loss would last beyond Christianization, as testifies the runic inscription N 351 M from the Borgund stave church: Þórir carved these runes on the eve of Olaus-mass, when he travelled past here. The norns did both good and evil, great toil ... they created for me. Franks Casket Three women carved on the right panel of Franks Casket, an Anglo-Saxon whalebone chest from the eighth century, have been identified by some scholars as being three norns. Theories A number of theories have been proposed regarding the norns. Matres and Matrones The Germanic Matres and Matrones, female deities venerated in North-West Europe from the 1st to the 5th century AD depicted on votive objects and altars almost entirely in groups of three from the first to the fifth century AD have been proposed as connected with the later Germanic dísir, valkyries, and norns, potentially stemming from them. Three norns Theories have been proposed that there is no foundation in Norse mythology for the notion that the three main norns should each be associated exclusively with the past, the present, and the future; rather, all three represent destiny as it is twined with the flow of time. Moreover, theories have been proposed that the idea that there are three main norns may be due to a late influence from Greek and Roman mythology, where there are also spinning fate goddesses (Moirai and Parcae). In popular culture The Norns are the main characters of the popular anime Ah! My Goddess. Verðandi (here named Belldandy because of Japanese transliteration) is the female protagonist of the series. Her older sister Urðr (Urd) and her younger sister Skuld are important supporting characters in the story. Amon Amarth wrote a Death Metal album named Fate of Norns containing the title track "Fate of Norns" released in 2004. Jack and Annie meet the Norns on one of their missions in Magic Tree House. Norns are present in Philip K. Dick's "Galactic Pot-Healer", as entities keeping a book where the future is already written. In Neil Gaiman's "American Gods", Norns are shown as three women (one very tall, one average height, the last a dwarf) who assist Shadow in his vigil for Wednesday (Odin) on the ash tree, | three norns are in some way connected with the past, present and future respectively, but it has been disputed that their names really imply a temporal distinction and it has been emphasised that the words do not in themselves denote chronological periods in Old Norse. Relation to other Germanic female deities There is no clear distinction between norns, fylgjas, hamingjas and valkyries, nor with the generic term dísir. Moreover, artistic license permitted such terms to be used for mortal women in Old Norse poetry. To quote Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál on the various names used for women: Woman is also metaphorically called by the names of the Asynjur or the Valkyrs or Norns or women of supernatural kind. These unclear distinctions among norns and other Germanic female deities are discussed in Bek-Pedersen's book Norns in Old Norse Mythology. Attestations There are a number of surviving Old Norse sources that relate to the norns. The most important sources are the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. The latter contains pagan poetry where the norns are frequently referred to, while the former contains, in addition to pagan poetry, retellings, descriptions and commentaries by the 12th and 13th century Icelandic chieftain and scholar Snorri Sturluson. Skaldic poetry A skaldic reference to the norns appears in Hvini's poem in Ynglingatal 24 found in Ynglingasaga 47, where King Halfdan is put to rest by his men at Borró. This reference brings in the phrase "norna dómr" which means "judgment of the nornir". In most cases, when the norns pass judgment, it means death to those who have been judged - in this case, Halfdan. Along with being associated with being bringers of death, Bek-Pedersen suggests that this phrase brings in a quasi-legal aspect to the nature of the norns. This legal association is employed quite frequently within skaldic and eddic sources. This phrase can also be seen as a threat, as death is the final and inevitable decision that the norns can make with regard to human life. Poetic Edda The Poetic Edda is valuable in representing older material in poetry from which Snorri tapped information in the Prose Edda. Like Gylfaginning, the Poetic Edda mentions the existence of many lesser norns beside the three main norns. Moreover, it also agrees with Gylfaginning by telling that they were of several races and that the dwarven norns were the daughters of Dvalin. It also suggests that the three main norns were giantesses (female Jotuns). Fáfnismál contains a discussion between the hero Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir who is dying from a mortal wound from Sigurd. The hero asks Fafnir of many things, among them the nature of the norns. Fafnir explains that they are many and from several races: It appears from Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál that the three main norns were not originally goddesses but giants (Jotuns), and that their arrival ended the early days of bliss for the gods, but that they come for the good of humankind. Völuspá relates that three giants of huge might are reported to have arrived to the gods from Jotunheim: Vafþrúðnismál probably refers to the norns when it talks of maiden giants who arrive to protect the people of earth as protective spirits (hamingjas): The Völuspá contains the names of the three main Norns referring to them as maidens like Vafþrúðnismál probably does: Helgakviða Hundingsbana I The norns visited each newly born child to allot his or her future, and in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, the hero Helgi Hundingsbane has just been born and norns arrive at the homestead: Helgakviða Hundingsbana II In Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, Helgi Hundingsbane blames the norns for the fact that he had to kill Sigrún's father Högni and brother Bragi in order to wed her: Reginsmál Like Snorri Sturluson stated in Gylfaginning, people's fate depended on the benevolence or the malevolence of particular norns. In Reginsmál, the water dwelling dwarf Andvari blames his plight on an evil norn, presumably one of the daughters of Dvalin: Sigurðarkviða hin skamma Another instance of Norns being blamed for an undesirable situation appears in Sigurðarkviða hin skamma, where the valkyrie Brynhild blames malevolent norns for her long yearning for the embrace of Sigurd: Guðrúnarkviða II Brynhild's solution was to have Gunnarr and his brothers, the lords of the Burgundians, kill Sigurd and afterwards to commit suicide in order to join Sigurd in the afterlife. Her brother Atli (Attila the Hun) avenged her death by killing the lords of the Burgundians, but since he was married to their sister Guðrún, Atli would soon be killed by her. In Guðrúnarkviða II, the Norns actively enter the series of events by informing Atli in a dream that his wife would kill him. The description of the dream begins with this stanza: Guðrúnarhvöt After having killed both her husband Atli and their sons, Guðrún blames the Norns for her misfortunes, as in Guðrúnarhvöt, where Guðrún talks of trying to escaping the wrath of the norns by trying to kill herself: Hamðismál Guðrúnarhvöt deals with how Guðrún incited her sons to avenge the cruel death of their sister Svanhild. In Hamðismál, her sons' expedition to the Gothic king Ermanaric to exact vengeance is fateful. Knowing that he is about to die at the hands of the Goths, her son Sörli talks of the cruelty of the norns: Sigrdrífumál Since the norns were beings of ultimate power who were working in the dark, it should be no surprise that they could be referred to in charms, as they are by Sigrdrífa in Sigrdrífumál: Prose Edda In the part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda which is called Gylfaginning, Gylfi, the king of Sweden, has arrived at Valhalla calling himself Gangleri. There, he receives an education in Norse mythology from what is Odin in the shape of three men. They explain to Gylfi that there are three main norns, but also many others of various races, æsir, elves and dwarves: A hall stands there, fair, under the ash by the well, and out of that hall come three maids, who are called thus: Urdr, Verdandi, Skuld; these maids determine the period of men's lives: we call them Norns; but there are many norns: those who come to each child that is born, to appoint his life; these are of the race of the gods, but the second are of the Elf-people, and the third are of the kindred of the dwarves, as it is said here: Most sundered in birth I say the Norns are; They claim no common kin: Some are of Æsir-kin, some are of Elf-kind, Some are Dvalinn's daughters. Then |
location which sometimes overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name Niflheimr appears only in two extant sources: Gylfaginning and the much-debated Hrafnagaldr Óðins. Niflheim was primarily a realm of primordial ice and cold with the frozen rivers of Élivágar and the well of Hvergelmir, from which come all the rivers. According to Gylfaginning, Niflheim was the second of the two primordial realms to emanate out of Ginnungagap, the other one being Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began when its waters mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to form a "creating steam". Later, it became the abode of the tyrant Chärls, Hel, a goddess daughter of Loki, and the afterlife for her subjects, those who did not die a heroic or notable death. Etymology Nifl ("mist"; whence the Icelandic nifl) is a cognate to the Old English nifol ("dark, gloomy"), (Middle) Dutch nevel, Old High German nebul ("fog") and Ancient Greek νεφέλη, , ("cloud"). Gylfaginning In Gylfaginning by | extant sources: Gylfaginning and the much-debated Hrafnagaldr Óðins. Niflheim was primarily a realm of primordial ice and cold with the frozen rivers of Élivágar and the well of Hvergelmir, from which come all the rivers. According to Gylfaginning, Niflheim was the second of the two primordial realms to emanate out of Ginnungagap, the other one being Muspelheim, the realm of fire. Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began when its waters mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to form a "creating steam". Later, it became the abode of the tyrant Chärls, Hel, a goddess daughter of Loki, and the afterlife for her subjects, those who did not die a heroic or notable death. Etymology Nifl ("mist"; whence the Icelandic nifl) is a cognate to the Old English nifol ("dark, gloomy"), (Middle) Dutch nevel, Old High German nebul ("fog") and Ancient Greek νεφέλη, , ("cloud"). Gylfaginning In Gylfaginning by Snorri |
god of the moon in Sumerian mythology, also called Suen Nanna (Norse deity), goddess associated with the god Baldr in Norse mythology Nana Buluku, Fon/Dahomey androgynous deity creator of the universe People Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir (born 1989), Icelandic singer Nanna Egedius (1913–1986), Norwegian figure skater Nanna Hoffman (1846–1920), Swedish entrepreneur Nanna Lüders Jensen (born | Norwegian actress Bob Nanna (born 1975), American singer and guitarist Science 1203 Nanna, an asteroid Nanna (moth), a genus of moth Nanna (fly), a genus of fly Other uses Nanna (serial), a Telugu television serial Nanna (album), a 2015 album by Xavier Rudd and the United Nations Nanna, North 24 Parganas, an outgrowth of Kanchrapara, |
market in the United States to trade online, using the slogan "the stock market for the next hundred years". The Nasdaq Stock Market attracted many companies during the dot-com bubble. Its main index is the NASDAQ Composite, which has been published since its inception. The QQQ exchange-traded fund tracks the large-cap NASDAQ-100 index, which was introduced in 1985 alongside the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index, which tracks the largest 100 companies in terms of market capitalization. 2000–present On March 10, 2000, the NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaked at 5,132.52, but fell to 3,227 by April 17, and, in the following 30 months, fell 78% from its peak. In a series of sales in 2000 and 2001, FINRA sold its stake in the Nasdaq. On July 2, 2002, Nasdaq Inc. became a public company via an initial public offering. In 2006, the status of the Nasdaq Stock Market was changed from a stock market to a licensed national securities exchange. In 2007, it merged with OMX, a leading exchange operator in the Nordic countries, expanded its global footprint, and changed its name to the NASDAQ OMX Group. To qualify for listing on the exchange, a company must be registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), must have at least three market makers (financial firms that act as brokers or dealers for specific securities) and must meet minimum requirements for assets, capital, public shares, and shareholders. In February 2011, in the wake of an announced merger of NYSE Euronext with Deutsche Börse, speculation developed that NASDAQ OMX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) could mount a counter-bid of their own for NYSE. NASDAQ OMX could be looking to acquire the American exchange's cash equities business, ICE the derivatives business. At the time, "NYSE Euronext's market value was $9.75 billion. Nasdaq was valued at $5.78 billion, while ICE was valued at $9.45 billion." Late in the month, Nasdaq was reported to be considering asking either ICE or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to join in what would probably have to be, if it proceeded, an $11–12 billion counterbid. In December 2005, NASDAQ acquired Instinet for $1.9 billion, retaining the Inet ECN and subsequently selling the agency brokerage business to Silver Lake Partners and Instinet management. The European Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (EASDAQ) was founded as a European equivalent to the Nasdaq Stock Market. It was purchased by NASDAQ in 2001 and became NASDAQ Europe. In 2003, operations were shut down as a result of the burst of the dot-com bubble. In 2007, NASDAQ Europe was revived first as Equiduct and was acquired by Börse Berlin later that year. On June 18, 2012, Nasdaq OMX became a founding member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). In November 2016, chief operating officer Adena Friedman was promoted to chief executive officer, becoming the first woman to run a major exchange in the U.S. In 2016, Nasdaq earned $272 million in listings-related revenues. In October 2018, the SEC ruled that the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq did not justify the continued price increases when selling market data. In December 2020, NASDAQ announced that it would strip its indexes of four Chinese companies in response to Executive Order 13959. Quote availability Nasdaq quotes are available at three levels: Level 1 shows the highest bid and lowest ask—inside quote. Level 2 shows all public quotes of market makers together with | by NASDAQ in 2001 and became NASDAQ Europe. In 2003, operations were shut down as a result of the burst of the dot-com bubble. In 2007, NASDAQ Europe was revived first as Equiduct and was acquired by Börse Berlin later that year. On June 18, 2012, Nasdaq OMX became a founding member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). In November 2016, chief operating officer Adena Friedman was promoted to chief executive officer, becoming the first woman to run a major exchange in the U.S. In 2016, Nasdaq earned $272 million in listings-related revenues. In October 2018, the SEC ruled that the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq did not justify the continued price increases when selling market data. In December 2020, NASDAQ announced that it would strip its indexes of four Chinese companies in response to Executive Order 13959. Quote availability Nasdaq quotes are available at three levels: Level 1 shows the highest bid and lowest ask—inside quote. Level 2 shows all public quotes of market makers together with information of market dealers wishing to buy or sell stock and recently executed orders. Level 3 is used by the market makers and allows them to enter their quotes and execute orders. Trading schedule The Nasdaq Stock Market sessions, with times in the Eastern Time Zone are: 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.: extended-hours trading session (premarket) 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.: normal trading session 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.: extended-hours trading session (postmarket) The Nasdaq Stock Market averages about 253 trading days per year. Market tiers The Nasdaq Stock Market has three different market tiers: Capital Market (NASDAQ-CM small cap) is an equity market for companies that have relatively small levels of market capitalization. Listing requirements for such "small cap" companies are less stringent than for other Nasdaq markets that list larger companies with significantly higher market capitalization. Global Market (NASDAQ-GM mid cap) is made up of stocks that represent the Nasdaq Global Market. The Global Market consists of 1,450 stocks that meet Nasdaq's strict financial and liquidity requirements, and corporate governance standards. The Global Market is less exclusive than the Global Select Market. Global Select Market (NASDAQ-GS large cap) is a market capitalization-weighted index made up of US-based and international stocks |
NYSE averages about 253 trading days per year. Trading The New York Stock Exchange (sometimes referred to as "The Big Board") provides a means for buyers and sellers to trade shares of stock in companies registered for public trading. The NYSE is open for trading Monday through Friday from 9:30 am – 4:00 pm ET, with the exception of holidays declared by the Exchange in advance. The NYSE trades in a continuous auction format, where traders can execute stock transactions on behalf of investors. They will gather around the appropriate post where a specialist broker, who is employed by a NYSE member firm (that is, he/she is not an employee of the New York Stock Exchange), acts as an auctioneer in an open outcry auction market environment to bring buyers and sellers together and to manage the actual auction. They do on occasion (approximately 10% of the time) facilitate the trades by committing their own capital and as a matter of course disseminate information to the crowd that helps to bring buyers and sellers together. The auction process moved toward automation in 1995 through the use of wireless handheld computers (HHC). The system enabled traders to receive and execute orders electronically via wireless transmission. On September 25, 1995, NYSE member Michael Einersen, who designed and developed this system, executed 1000 shares of IBM through this HHC ending a 203-year process of paper transactions and ushering in an era of automated trading. Electronic As of January 24, 2007, all NYSE stocks can be traded via its electronic hybrid market (except for a small group of very high-priced stocks). Customers can now send orders for immediate electronic execution, or route orders to the floor for trade in the auction market. In the first three months of 2007, in excess of 82% of all order volume was delivered to the floor electronically. NYSE works with US regulators such as the SEC and CFTC to coordinate risk management measures in the electronic trading environment through the implementation of mechanisms like circuit breakers and liquidity replenishment points. Until 2005, the right to directly trade shares on the exchange was conferred upon owners of the 1,366 "seats". The term comes from the fact that up until the 1870s NYSE members sat in chairs to trade. In 1868, the number of seats was fixed at 533, and this number was increased several times over the years. In 1953, the number of seats was set at 1,366. These seats were a sought-after commodity as they conferred the ability to directly trade stock on the NYSE, and seat holders were commonly referred to as members of the NYSE. The Barnes family is the only known lineage to have five generations of NYSE members: Winthrop H. Barnes (admitted 1894), Richard W.P. Barnes (admitted 1926), Richard S. Barnes (admitted 1951), Robert H. Barnes (admitted 1972), Derek J. Barnes (admitted 2003). Seat prices varied widely over the years, generally falling during recessions and rising during economic expansions. The most expensive inflation-adjusted seat was sold in 1929 for $625,000, which, today, would be over six million dollars. In recent times, seats have sold for as high as $4 million in the late 1990s and as low as $1 million in 2001. In 2005, seat prices shot up to $3.25 million as the exchange entered into an agreement to merge with Archipelago and became a for-profit, publicly traded company. Seat owners received $500,000 in cash per seat and 77,000 shares of the newly formed corporation. The NYSE now sells one-year licenses to trade directly on the exchange. Licenses for floor trading are available for $40,000 and a license for bond trading is available for as little as $1,000 as of 2010. Neither are resell-able, but may be transferable during a change of ownership of a corporation holding a trading license. Following the Black Monday market crash in 1987, NYSE imposed trading curbs to reduce market volatility and massive panic sell-offs. Following the 2011 rule change, at the start of each trading day, the NYSE sets three circuit breaker levels at levels of 7% (Level 1), 13% (Level 2), and 20% (Level 3) of the average closing price of the S&P 500 for the preceding trading day. Level 1 and Level 2 declines result in a 15-minute trading halt unless they occur after 3:25 pm, when no trading halts apply. A Level 3 decline results in trading being suspended for the remainder of the day. (The biggest one-day decline in the S&P 500 since 1987 was the 11.98% drop on March 16, 2020.) NYSE Composite Index In the mid-1960s, the NYSE Composite Index (NYSE: NYA) was created, with a base value of 50 points equal to the 1965 yearly close. This was done to reflect the value of all stocks trading at the exchange instead of just the 30 stocks included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. To raise the profile of the composite index, in 2003, the NYSE set its new base value of 5,000 points equal to the 2002 yearly close. Its close at the end of 2013 was 10,400.32. Timeline In 1792, NYSE acquires its first traded securities. In 1817, the constitution of the New York Stock and Exchange Board is adopted. It had also been established by the New York brokers as a formal organization. In 1863, the name changed to the New York Stock Exchange. In 1865, the New York Gold Exchange was acquired by the NYSE. In 1867, stock tickers were first introduced. In 1885, the 400 NYSE members in the Consolidated Stock Exchange withdraw from Consolidated over disagreements on exchange trade areas. In 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is first published in The Wall Street Journal. In 1903, the NYSE moves into new quarters at 18 Broad Street. In 1906, the DJIA exceeds 100 on January 12. In 1907, Panic of 1907. In 1909, trading in bonds begins. In 1915, basis of quoting and trading in stocks changes from percent of par value to dollars. In 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street outside the NYSE building. Thirty-eight killed and hundreds injured. In 1923, Poor's Publishing introduced their "Composite Index", today referred to as the S&P 500, which tracked a small number of companies on the NYSE. In 1929, the central quote system was established; Black Thursday, October 24 and Black Tuesday, October 29 signal the end of the Roaring Twenties bull market. In 1938, NYSE names its first president. In 1943, the trading floor is opened to women while men were serving in WWII. In 1949, the third longest (eight-year) bull market begins. In 1954, the DJIA surpasses its 1929 peak in inflation-adjusted dollars. In 1956, the DJIA closes above 500 for the first time on March 12. In 1957, after Poor's Publishing merged with the Standard Statistics Bureau, the Standard & Poors composite index grew to track 500 companies on the NYSE, becoming known as the S&P 500. In 1966, NYSE begins a composite index of all listed common stocks. This is referred to as the "Common Stock Index" and is transmitted daily. The starting point of the index is 50. It is later renamed the NYSE Composite Index. In 1967, Muriel Siebert becomes the first female member of the New York Stock Exchange. In 1967, protesters led by Abbie Hoffman throw mostly fake dollar bills at traders from gallery, leading to the installation of bullet-proof glass. In 1970, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation was established. In 1971, NYSE incorporated and recognized as Not-for-Profit organization. In 1971, the NASDAQ was founded and competes with the NYSE as the world's first electronic stock market. To date, the NASDAQ is the second-largest exchange in the world by market capitalization, behind only the NYSE. In 1972, the DJIA closes above 1,000 for the first time on November 14. In 1977, foreign brokers are admitted to NYSE. In 1980, the New York Futures Exchange was established. In 1987, Black Monday, October 19, sees the second-largest one-day DJIA percentage drop (22.6%, or 508 points) in history. In 1987, membership in the NYSE reaches a record price of $1.5 million. In 1989, On September 14, seven members of ACT-UP, The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, entered the NYSE and protested by chaining themselves to the balcony overlooking the trading floor and unfurling a banner, "SELL WELCOME," in reference to drug manufacturer Burroughs Wellcome. Following the protest, Burroughs Wellcome reduced the price of AZT (a drug used by people with living with HIV and AIDS) by over 30%. In 1990, the longest (ten-year) bull market begins. In 1991, the DJIA exceeds 3,000. In 1995, the DJIA exceeds 5,000. In 1996, real-time ticker introduced. In 1997, on October 27, a sell-off in Asia's stock markets hurts the U.S. markets as well; DJIA sees the largest one-day point drop of 554 (or 7.18%) in history. In 1999, the DJIA exceeds 10,000 on March 29. In 2000, the DJIA peaks at 11,722.98 on January 14; first NYSE global index is launched under the ticker NYIID. In 2001, trading in fractions () ends, replaced by decimals (increments of $0.01, see Decimalization); September 11 attacks occur causing NYSE to close for four sessions. In 2003, NYSE Composite Index relaunched and value set equal to 5,000 points. In 2006, NYSE and ArcaEx merge, creating NYSE Arca and forming the publicly owned, for-profit NYSE Group, Inc.; in turn, NYSE Group merges with Euronext, creating the first trans-Atlantic stock exchange group; DJIA tops 12,000 on October 19. In 2007, US President George W. Bush shows up unannounced to the Floor about an hour and a half before a Federal Open Market Committee interest-rate decision on January 31; NYSE announces its merger with the American Stock Exchange; NYSE Composite closes above 10,000 on June 1; DJIA exceeds 14,000 on July 19 and closes at a peak of 14,164.53 on October 9. In 2008, | 1865, the New York Gold Exchange was acquired by the NYSE. In 1867, stock tickers were first introduced. In 1885, the 400 NYSE members in the Consolidated Stock Exchange withdraw from Consolidated over disagreements on exchange trade areas. In 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is first published in The Wall Street Journal. In 1903, the NYSE moves into new quarters at 18 Broad Street. In 1906, the DJIA exceeds 100 on January 12. In 1907, Panic of 1907. In 1909, trading in bonds begins. In 1915, basis of quoting and trading in stocks changes from percent of par value to dollars. In 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street outside the NYSE building. Thirty-eight killed and hundreds injured. In 1923, Poor's Publishing introduced their "Composite Index", today referred to as the S&P 500, which tracked a small number of companies on the NYSE. In 1929, the central quote system was established; Black Thursday, October 24 and Black Tuesday, October 29 signal the end of the Roaring Twenties bull market. In 1938, NYSE names its first president. In 1943, the trading floor is opened to women while men were serving in WWII. In 1949, the third longest (eight-year) bull market begins. In 1954, the DJIA surpasses its 1929 peak in inflation-adjusted dollars. In 1956, the DJIA closes above 500 for the first time on March 12. In 1957, after Poor's Publishing merged with the Standard Statistics Bureau, the Standard & Poors composite index grew to track 500 companies on the NYSE, becoming known as the S&P 500. In 1966, NYSE begins a composite index of all listed common stocks. This is referred to as the "Common Stock Index" and is transmitted daily. The starting point of the index is 50. It is later renamed the NYSE Composite Index. In 1967, Muriel Siebert becomes the first female member of the New York Stock Exchange. In 1967, protesters led by Abbie Hoffman throw mostly fake dollar bills at traders from gallery, leading to the installation of bullet-proof glass. In 1970, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation was established. In 1971, NYSE incorporated and recognized as Not-for-Profit organization. In 1971, the NASDAQ was founded and competes with the NYSE as the world's first electronic stock market. To date, the NASDAQ is the second-largest exchange in the world by market capitalization, behind only the NYSE. In 1972, the DJIA closes above 1,000 for the first time on November 14. In 1977, foreign brokers are admitted to NYSE. In 1980, the New York Futures Exchange was established. In 1987, Black Monday, October 19, sees the second-largest one-day DJIA percentage drop (22.6%, or 508 points) in history. In 1987, membership in the NYSE reaches a record price of $1.5 million. In 1989, On September 14, seven members of ACT-UP, The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, entered the NYSE and protested by chaining themselves to the balcony overlooking the trading floor and unfurling a banner, "SELL WELCOME," in reference to drug manufacturer Burroughs Wellcome. Following the protest, Burroughs Wellcome reduced the price of AZT (a drug used by people with living with HIV and AIDS) by over 30%. In 1990, the longest (ten-year) bull market begins. In 1991, the DJIA exceeds 3,000. In 1995, the DJIA exceeds 5,000. In 1996, real-time ticker introduced. In 1997, on October 27, a sell-off in Asia's stock markets hurts the U.S. markets as well; DJIA sees the largest one-day point drop of 554 (or 7.18%) in history. In 1999, the DJIA exceeds 10,000 on March 29. In 2000, the DJIA peaks at 11,722.98 on January 14; first NYSE global index is launched under the ticker NYIID. In 2001, trading in fractions () ends, replaced by decimals (increments of $0.01, see Decimalization); September 11 attacks occur causing NYSE to close for four sessions. In 2003, NYSE Composite Index relaunched and value set equal to 5,000 points. In 2006, NYSE and ArcaEx merge, creating NYSE Arca and forming the publicly owned, for-profit NYSE Group, Inc.; in turn, NYSE Group merges with Euronext, creating the first trans-Atlantic stock exchange group; DJIA tops 12,000 on October 19. In 2007, US President George W. Bush shows up unannounced to the Floor about an hour and a half before a Federal Open Market Committee interest-rate decision on January 31; NYSE announces its merger with the American Stock Exchange; NYSE Composite closes above 10,000 on June 1; DJIA exceeds 14,000 on July 19 and closes at a peak of 14,164.53 on October 9. In 2008, the DJIA loses more than 500 points on September 15 amid fears of bank failures, resulting in a permanent prohibition of naked short selling and a three-week temporary ban on all short selling of financial stocks; in spite of this, record volatility continues for the next two months, culminating at -year market lows. In 2009, the second longest and current bull market begins on March 9 after the DJIA closes at 6,547.05 reaching a 12-year low; DJIA returns to 10,015.86 on October 14. In 2013, the DJIA closes above 2007 highs on March 5; DJIA closes above 16,500 to end the year. In 2014, the DJIA closes above 17,000 on July 3 and above 18,000 on December 23. In 2015, the DJIA achieved an all-time high of 18,351.36 on May 19. In 2015, the DJIA dropped over 1,000 points to 15,370.33 soon after open on August 24, 2015, before bouncing back and closing at 15,795.72, a drop of over 669 points. In 2016, the DJIA hits an all-time high of 18,873.6. In 2017, the DJIA reaches 20,000 for the first time (on January 25). In 2018, the DJIA reaches 25,000 for the first time (on January 4). On February 5, the DJIA dropped 1,175 points, making it the largest point drop in history. In 2020, the NYSE temporarily transitioned to electronic trading due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Merger, acquisition, and control In October 2008, NYSE Euronext completed acquisition of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) for $260 million in stock. On February 15, 2011, NYSE and Deutsche Börse announced their merger to form a new company, as yet unnamed, wherein Deutsche Börse shareholders would have 60% ownership of the new entity, and NYSE Euronext shareholders would have 40%. On February 1, 2012, the European Commission blocked the merger of NYSE with Deutsche Börse, after commissioner Joaquín Almunia stated that the merger "would have led to a near-monopoly in European financial derivatives worldwide". Instead, Deutsche Börse and NYSE would have to sell either their Eurex derivatives or LIFFE shares in order to not create a monopoly. On February 2, 2012, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse agreed to scrap the merger. In April 2011, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), an American futures exchange, and NASDAQ OMX Group had together made an unsolicited proposal to buy NYSE Euronext for approximately , a deal in which NASDAQ would have taken control of the stock exchanges. NYSE Euronext rejected this offer twice, but it was finally terminated after the United States Department of Justice indicated their intention to block the deal due to antitrust concerns. In December 2012, ICE had proposed to buy NYSE Euronext in a stock swap with a valuation of $8 billion. NYSE Euronext shareholders would receive either $33.12 in cash, or $11.27 in cash and approximately a sixth of a share of ICE. Jeffrey Sprecher, the chairman and CEO of ICE, will retain those positions, but four members of the NYSE board of directors will be added to the ICE board. Opening and closing bells The NYSE's opening and closing bells mark the beginning and the end of each trading day. The opening bell is rung at 9:30 am ET to mark the start of the day's trading session. At 4 pm ET the closing bell is rung and trading for the day stops. There are bells located in each of the four main sections of the NYSE that all ring at the same time once a button is pressed. There are three buttons that control the bells, located on the control panel behind the podium which overlooks the trading floor. The main bell, which is rung at the beginning and end of the trading day, is controlled by a green button. The second button, colored orange, activates a single-stroke bell that is used to signal a moment of silence. A third, red button controls a backup bell which is used in case the main bell fails to ring. History The signal to start and |
metal oxides or chlorides. These nanoparticles give the glass its vibrant colors. 9th-17th Centuries: A sparkling layer on the outside of ceramics was used containing silver, copper, or other metallic nanoparticles. 13th-18th Centuries: "Damascus" saber blades were crafted using techniques that resulted in nanotubes and cementite nanowires. 1950: Victor La Mer and Robert Dinegar created a process that was used to create specialized papers, paints, and thin films on an industrial level by growing monodisperse colloidal materials. 1959: Richard Feynman gave the first lecture on molecular technology and engineering or just nanoengineering. 1981: Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer invented the first atomic level microscope called a scanning tunneling microscope that allowed scientists to see individual atoms 1991: The carbon nanotube was discovered by Sumio Iijima which became important due to their strength, and electrical and thermal conductivity 2004: SUNY Albany started the first college program that focused on nanoengineering in the United States. It was called the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering 2009-2010: Robotic nanoscale assembly devices were created by Nadrian Seeman and his colleagues. These devices would be used to create 3D DNA structures using DNA crystals Degree programs The first nanoengineering program was started at the University of Toronto within the Engineering Science program as one | the practice of engineering on the nanoscale. It derives its name from the nanometre, a unit of measurement equalling one billionth of a meter. Nanoengineering is largely a synonym for nanotechnology, but emphasizes the engineering rather than the pure science aspects of the field. History 4th Century Rome: The Lycurgus Cup was crafted using dichroic glass which is a product of nanoengineering 6th-15th Centuries: Stained glass windows were created in European cathedrals which contained nanoparticles of gold chloride or other metal oxides or chlorides. These nanoparticles give the glass its vibrant colors. 9th-17th Centuries: A sparkling layer on the outside of ceramics was used containing silver, copper, or other metallic nanoparticles. 13th-18th Centuries: "Damascus" saber blades were crafted using techniques that resulted in nanotubes and cementite nanowires. 1950: Victor La Mer and Robert Dinegar created a process that was used to create specialized papers, paints, and thin films on an industrial level by growing monodisperse colloidal materials. 1959: Richard Feynman gave the first lecture on molecular technology and engineering or just nanoengineering. 1981: Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer invented the first atomic level microscope called a scanning tunneling microscope that allowed scientists to see individual atoms 1991: The carbon nanotube was discovered by Sumio Iijima which became important due to their strength, and electrical and thermal conductivity 2004: SUNY Albany started |
contains many more problems, the hardest of which are called NP-complete problems. An algorithm solving such a problem in polynomial time is also able to solve any other NP problem in polynomial time. The most important P versus NP (“P = NP?”) problem, asks whether polynomial time algorithms exist for solving NP-complete, and by corollary, all NP problems. It is widely believed that this is not the case. The complexity class NP is related to the complexity class co-NP for which the answer "no" can be verified in polynomial time. Whether or not NP = co-NP is another outstanding question in complexity theory. Formal definition The complexity class NP can be defined in terms of NTIME as follows: where is the set of decision problems that can be solved by a nondeterministic Turing machine in time. Alternatively, NP can be defined using deterministic Turing machines as verifiers. A language L is in NP if and only if there exist polynomials p and q, and a deterministic Turing machine M, such that For all x and y, the machine M runs in time p(|x|) on input For all x in L, there exists a string y of length q(|x|) such that For all x not in L and all strings y of length q(|x|), Background Many computer science problems are contained in NP, like decision versions of many search and optimization problems. Verifier-based definition In order to explain the verifier-based definition of NP, consider the subset sum problem: Assume that we are given some integers, {−7, −3, −2, 5, 8}, and we wish to know whether some of these integers sum up to zero. Here, the answer is "yes", since the integers {−3, −2, 5} corresponds to the sum The task of deciding whether such a subset with zero sum exists is called the subset sum problem. To answer if some of the integers add to zero we can create an algorithm which obtains all the possible subsets. As the number of integers that we feed into the algorithm becomes larger, both the number of subsets and the computation time grows exponentially. But notice that if we are given a particular subset we can efficiently verify whether the subset sum is zero, by summing the integers of the subset. If the sum is zero, that subset is a proof or witness for the answer is "yes". An algorithm that verifies whether a given subset has sum zero is a verifier. Clearly, summing the integers of a subset can be done in polynomial time and the subset sum problem is therefore in NP. The above example can be generalized for any decision problem. Given any instance I of problem and witness W, if there exists a verifier V so that given the ordered pair (I, W) as input, V returns "yes" in polynomial time if the witness proves that the answer is "yes" or "no" in polynomial time otherwise, then is in NP. The "no"-answer version of this problem is stated as: "given a finite set of integers, does every non-empty subset have a nonzero sum?". The verifier-based definition of NP does not require an efficient verifier for the "no"-answers. The class of problems with such verifiers for the "no"-answers is called co-NP. In fact, it is an open question whether all problems in NP also have verifiers for the "no"-answers and thus are in co-NP. In some literature the verifier is called the "certifier" and the witness the "certificate". Machine-definition Equivalent to the verifier-based definition is the following characterization: NP is the class of decision problems solvable by a nondeterministic Turing machine that runs in polynomial time. That is to say, a decision problem is in NP whenever is recognized by some polynomial-time nondeterministic Turing machine with an existential acceptance condition, meaning that if and only if some computation path of leads to an accepting state. This definition is equivalent to the verifier-based definition because a nondeterministic Turing machine could solve an NP problem in polynomial time by nondeterministically selecting a certificate and running the verifier on the certificate. Similarly, if such a machine exists, then a polynomial time verifier can naturally be constructed from it. In this light, we can define co-NP dually as the class of decision problems recognizable by polynomial-time nondeterministic Turing machines with an existential rejection condition. Since an existential rejection condition is exactly the same thing as a universal acceptance condition, we can understand the NP vs. co-NP question as asking whether the existential and universal acceptance conditions have the same expressive power for the class of polynomial-time nondeterministic Turing machines. Properties NP is closed under union, intersection, concatenation, Kleene star and reversal. It is not known whether NP is closed under complement (this question is the so-called "NP versus co-NP" question) Why some NP problems are hard to solve Because of the many important problems in this class, there have been extensive efforts to find polynomial-time algorithms for problems in NP. However, there remain a large number of problems in NP that defy such attempts, seeming to require super-polynomial time. Whether these problems are not decidable in polynomial time is one of the greatest open questions in computer science (see P versus NP ("P=NP") problem for an in-depth discussion). An important notion in this context is the set of NP-complete decision problems, which is a subset of NP and might be informally described as the "hardest" problems in NP. If there is a polynomial-time algorithm for even one of them, then there is a polynomial-time algorithm for all the problems in NP. Because of this, and because dedicated research has failed to find a polynomial algorithm for any NP-complete problem, once a problem has been proven to be NP-complete this is widely regarded as a sign that a polynomial algorithm for this problem is unlikely to exist. However, in practical uses, instead of spending computational resources looking for an optimal solution, a good enough (but potentially suboptimal) solution may often be found in polynomial time. Also, the real life | and the witness the "certificate". Machine-definition Equivalent to the verifier-based definition is the following characterization: NP is the class of decision problems solvable by a nondeterministic Turing machine that runs in polynomial time. That is to say, a decision problem is in NP whenever is recognized by some polynomial-time nondeterministic Turing machine with an existential acceptance condition, meaning that if and only if some computation path of leads to an accepting state. This definition is equivalent to the verifier-based definition because a nondeterministic Turing machine could solve an NP problem in polynomial time by nondeterministically selecting a certificate and running the verifier on the certificate. Similarly, if such a machine exists, then a polynomial time verifier can naturally be constructed from it. In this light, we can define co-NP dually as the class of decision problems recognizable by polynomial-time nondeterministic Turing machines with an existential rejection condition. Since an existential rejection condition is exactly the same thing as a universal acceptance condition, we can understand the NP vs. co-NP question as asking whether the existential and universal acceptance conditions have the same expressive power for the class of polynomial-time nondeterministic Turing machines. Properties NP is closed under union, intersection, concatenation, Kleene star and reversal. It is not known whether NP is closed under complement (this question is the so-called "NP versus co-NP" question) Why some NP problems are hard to solve Because of the many important problems in this class, there have been extensive efforts to find polynomial-time algorithms for problems in NP. However, there remain a large number of problems in NP that defy such attempts, seeming to require super-polynomial time. Whether these problems are not decidable in polynomial time is one of the greatest open questions in computer science (see P versus NP ("P=NP") problem for an in-depth discussion). An important notion in this context is the set of NP-complete decision problems, which is a subset of NP and might be informally described as the "hardest" problems in NP. If there is a polynomial-time algorithm for even one of them, then there is a polynomial-time algorithm for all the problems in NP. Because of this, and because dedicated research has failed to find a polynomial algorithm for any NP-complete problem, once a problem has been proven to be NP-complete this is widely regarded as a sign that a polynomial algorithm for this problem is unlikely to exist. However, in practical uses, instead of spending computational resources looking for an optimal solution, a good enough (but potentially suboptimal) solution may often be found in polynomial time. Also, the real life applications of some problems are easier than their theoretical equivalents. Equivalence of definitions The two definitions of NP as the class of problems solvable by a nondeterministic Turing machine (TM) in polynomial time and the class of problems verifiable by a deterministic Turing machine in polynomial time are equivalent. The proof is described by many textbooks, for example, Sipser's Introduction to the Theory of Computation, section 7.3. To show this, first, suppose we have a deterministic verifier. A non-deterministic machine can simply nondeterministically run the verifier on all possible proof strings (this requires only polynomially many steps because it can nondeterministically choose the next character in the proof string in each step, and the length of the proof string must be polynomially bounded). If any proof is valid, some path will accept; if no proof is valid, the string is not in the language and it will reject. Conversely, suppose we have a non-deterministic TM called A accepting a given language L. At each of its polynomially many steps, the machine's computation tree branches in at most a finite number of directions. There must be at least one accepting path, and the string describing this path is the proof supplied to the verifier. The verifier can then deterministically simulate A, following only the accepting path, and verifying that it accepts at the end. If A rejects the input, there is no accepting path, and the verifier will always reject. Relationship to other classes NP contains all problems in P, since one can verify any instance of the problem by simply ignoring the proof and solving it. NP is contained in PSPACE—to show this, it suffices to construct a PSPACE machine that loops over all proof strings and feeds each one to a polynomial-time verifier. Since a polynomial-time machine can only read polynomially many bits, it cannot use more than polynomial space, nor can it read a proof string occupying more than polynomial space (so we do not have to consider proofs longer than this). NP is also contained in EXPTIME, since the same algorithm operates in exponential time. co-NP contains those problems which have a simple proof for no instances, sometimes called counterexamples. For example, primality testing trivially lies in co-NP, since one can refute the primality of an integer by merely supplying a nontrivial factor. NP and co-NP together form the first level in the polynomial hierarchy, higher only than P. NP is defined using only deterministic machines. If we permit the verifier to be probabilistic (this however, is not necessarily a BPP machine), we get the class MA solvable using an Arthur–Merlin protocol with no communication from Arthur to Merlin. NP is a class of decision problems; the analogous class of function problems is FNP. The only known strict inclusions came from the time hierarchy theorem and the space hierarchy theorem, and respectively they are and . Other characterizations In terms of descriptive complexity theory, NP corresponds precisely to the set of languages definable by existential second-order logic (Fagin's theorem). NP can be seen as a very simple type of interactive proof system, where the prover comes up with the proof certificate and the verifier is a deterministic polynomial-time machine that checks it. It is complete because the right proof string will make it accept if there is one, and it is sound because the verifier cannot accept if there is no acceptable proof string. A major result of complexity theory is that NP can be characterized as the problems solvable by probabilistically checkable proofs where the verifier uses O(log n) random bits and examines only a constant number of bits of the proof string (the class PCP(log n, 1)). More informally, this means that the NP |
of 1763 in the Thirteen Colonies. 1780 – French-American forces under Colonel LaBalme are defeated by Miami Chief Little Turtle. 1811 – Salvadoran priest José Matías Delgado rings the bells of La Merced church in San Salvador, calling for insurrection and launching the 1811 Independence Movement. 1828 – Greek War of Independence: The French Morea expedition to recapture Morea (now the Peloponnese) ends when the last Ottoman forces depart the peninsula. 1831 – Nat Turner, American slave leader, is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in Virginia. 1862 – American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln removes George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac. 1862 – American Indian Wars: In Minnesota, 303 Dakota warriors are found guilty of rape and murder of whites and are sentenced to death. Thirty-eight are ultimately hanged and the others reprieved. 1872 – Women's suffrage in the United States: In defiance of the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time, and is later fined $100. 1895 – George B. Selden is granted the first U.S. patent for an automobile. 1898 – Negrese nationalists revolt against Spanish rule and establish the short-lived Republic of Negros. 1901–present 1911 – After declaring war on the Ottoman Empire on September 29, 1911, Italy annexes Tripoli and Cyrenaica. 1912 – Woodrow Wilson is elected the 28th President of the United States, defeating incumbent William Howard Taft. 1913 – King Otto of Bavaria is deposed by his cousin, Prince Regent Ludwig, who assumes the title Ludwig III. 1914 – World War I: France and the British Empire declare war on the Ottoman Empire. 1916 – The Kingdom of Poland is proclaimed by the Act of 5th November of the emperors of Germany and Austria-Hungary. 1916 – The Everett massacre takes place in Everett, Washington as political differences lead to a shoot-out between the Industrial Workers of the World organizers and local police. 1917 – Lenin calls for the October Revolution. 1917 – Tikhon is elected the Patriarch of Moscow and of the Russian Orthodox Church. 1925 – Secret agent Sidney Reilly, the first "super-spy" of the 20th century, is executed by the OGPU, the secret police of the Soviet Union. 1940 – World War II: The British armed merchant cruiser is sunk by the German pocket battleship . 1940 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is the first and only President of the United States to be elected to a third term. 1943 – World War II: Bombing of the Vatican. 1950 – Korean War: British and Australian forces from the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade successfully halted the advancing Chinese 117th Division during the Battle of Pakchon. 1955 – After being destroyed in World War II, the rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio. 1956 – Suez Crisis: British and French paratroopers land in Egypt after a week-long bombing campaign. 1968 – Richard Nixon is elected as 37th President of the United States. 1970 – The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam reports the lowest weekly American soldier death toll in five years (24). 1983 – The Byford Dolphin diving bell accident kills five and leaves one severely injured. 1986 – , and visit Qingdao, China; the first US naval visit to China since 1949. 1990 – Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Kach movement, is shot dead after a speech at a New York City hotel. 1995 – André Dallaire attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada. He is thwarted when the Prime Minister's wife locks the door. 1996 – Pakistani President Farooq Leghari dismisses the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and dissolves the National Assembly. 1996 – Bill Clinton is reelected President of the United States. 2006 – Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for their roles in the 1982 massacre of 148 Shia Muslims. 2007 – China's first lunar satellite, Chang'e 1, goes into orbit around the Moon. 2007 – The Android mobile operating system is unveiled by Google. 2009 – U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan murders 13 and wounds 32 at Fort Hood, Texas in the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. military installation. 2013 – India launches the Mars Orbiter Mission, its first interplanetary probe. 2015 – An iron ore tailings dam bursts in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, flooding a valley, causing mudslides in the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues and causing at least 17 deaths and two missing. 2015 – Rona Ambrose takes over after Stephen Harper as the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. 2017 – Devin Patrick Kelley kills 26 and injures 22 in a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Births Pre-1600 1271 – Ghazan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate (d. 1304) 1436 – Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Tankerville, Earl of Tankerville, 1450–1460 (d. 1466) 1494 – Hans Sachs, German poet and playwright (d. 1576) 1549 – Philippe de Mornay, French theologian and author (d. 1623) 1592 – Charles Chauncy, English-American pastor, theologian, and academic (d. 1672) 1601–1900 1607 – Anna Maria van Schurman, Dutch painter (d. 1678) 1613 – Isaac de Benserade, French poet and educator (d. 1691) 1615 – Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1648) 1666 – Attilio Ariosti, Italian viola player and composer (d. 1729) 1667 – Christoph Ludwig Agricola, German painter (d. 1719) 1688 – Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1757) 1701 – Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter and educator (d. 1785) 1705 – Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, French violinist and composer (d. 1770) 1715 – John Brown, English author and playwright (d. 1766) 1722 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English lieutenant and politician (d. 1798) 1739 – Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton, Scottish composer and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire (d. 1819) 1742 – Richard Cosway, English painter (d. 1821) 1789 – William Bland, Australian surgeon and politician (d. 1868) 1818 – Benjamin Butler, American general, lawyer, and politician, 33rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1893) 1835 – Moritz Szeps, Ukrainian-Austrian journalist and publisher (d. 1902) 1846 – Duncan Gordon Boyes, English soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (d. 1869) 1850 – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American author and poet (d. 1919) 1851 – Charles Dupuy, French academic and politician, 60th Prime Minister of France (d. 1923) 1854 – Alphonse Desjardins, Canadian journalist and businessman, co-founded Desjardins Group (d. 1920) 1854 – Paul Sabatier, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941) 1855 – Eugene V. Debs, American union leader and politician (d. 1926) 1855 – Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist and climatologist (d. 1913) 1857 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, author, reformer, and educator (d. 1944) 1870 – Chittaranjan Das, Indian lawyer and politician (d. 1925) 1873 – Edwin Flack, Australian tennis player and runner (d. 1935) 1879 – Otto Wahle, Austrian-American swimmer and coach (d. 1963) 1881 – George A. Malcolm, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1961) 1883 – P Moe Nin, Burmese author and translator (d. 1940) 1884 – James Elroy Flecker, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1915) 1885 – Will Durant, American historian and philosopher (d. 1981) 1886 – Sadae Inoue, Japanese general (d. 1961) 1887 – Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-American pianist and educator (d. 1961) 1890 – Jan Zrzavý, Czech painter and illustrator (d. 1977) 1892 – J. B. S. Haldane, English-Indian geneticist and biologist (d. 1964) 1892 – John Alcock, captain in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (d. 1919) 1893 – Raymond Loewy, French-American engineer and designer (d. 1986) 1894 – Beardsley Ruml, American economist and statistician (d. 1960) 1895 – Walter Gieseking, French-German pianist and composer (d. 1956) 1895 – Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1956) 1899 – Margaret Atwood Judson, American historian and author (d. 1991) 1900 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (d. 1991) 1900 – Ethelwynn Trewavas, British ichthyologist, over a dozen fish species | a speech at a New York City hotel. 1995 – André Dallaire attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada. He is thwarted when the Prime Minister's wife locks the door. 1996 – Pakistani President Farooq Leghari dismisses the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and dissolves the National Assembly. 1996 – Bill Clinton is reelected President of the United States. 2006 – Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for their roles in the 1982 massacre of 148 Shia Muslims. 2007 – China's first lunar satellite, Chang'e 1, goes into orbit around the Moon. 2007 – The Android mobile operating system is unveiled by Google. 2009 – U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan murders 13 and wounds 32 at Fort Hood, Texas in the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. military installation. 2013 – India launches the Mars Orbiter Mission, its first interplanetary probe. 2015 – An iron ore tailings dam bursts in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, flooding a valley, causing mudslides in the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues and causing at least 17 deaths and two missing. 2015 – Rona Ambrose takes over after Stephen Harper as the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. 2017 – Devin Patrick Kelley kills 26 and injures 22 in a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Births Pre-1600 1271 – Ghazan, Mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate (d. 1304) 1436 – Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Tankerville, Earl of Tankerville, 1450–1460 (d. 1466) 1494 – Hans Sachs, German poet and playwright (d. 1576) 1549 – Philippe de Mornay, French theologian and author (d. 1623) 1592 – Charles Chauncy, English-American pastor, theologian, and academic (d. 1672) 1601–1900 1607 – Anna Maria van Schurman, Dutch painter (d. 1678) 1613 – Isaac de Benserade, French poet and educator (d. 1691) 1615 – Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1648) 1666 – Attilio Ariosti, Italian viola player and composer (d. 1729) 1667 – Christoph Ludwig Agricola, German painter (d. 1719) 1688 – Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1757) 1701 – Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter and educator (d. 1785) 1705 – Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, French violinist and composer (d. 1770) 1715 – John Brown, English author and playwright (d. 1766) 1722 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English lieutenant and politician (d. 1798) 1739 – Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton, Scottish composer and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire (d. 1819) 1742 – Richard Cosway, English painter (d. 1821) 1789 – William Bland, Australian surgeon and politician (d. 1868) 1818 – Benjamin Butler, American general, lawyer, and politician, 33rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1893) 1835 – Moritz Szeps, Ukrainian-Austrian journalist and publisher (d. 1902) 1846 – Duncan Gordon Boyes, English soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (d. 1869) 1850 – Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American author and poet (d. 1919) 1851 – Charles Dupuy, French academic and politician, 60th Prime Minister of France (d. 1923) 1854 – Alphonse Desjardins, Canadian journalist and businessman, co-founded Desjardins Group (d. 1920) 1854 – Paul Sabatier, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941) 1855 – Eugene V. Debs, American union leader and politician (d. 1926) 1855 – Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist and climatologist (d. 1913) 1857 – Ida Tarbell, American journalist, author, reformer, and educator (d. 1944) 1870 – Chittaranjan Das, Indian lawyer and politician (d. 1925) 1873 – Edwin Flack, Australian tennis player and runner (d. 1935) 1879 – Otto Wahle, Austrian-American swimmer and coach (d. 1963) 1881 – George A. Malcolm, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1961) 1883 – P Moe Nin, Burmese author and translator (d. 1940) 1884 – James Elroy Flecker, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1915) 1885 – Will Durant, American historian and philosopher (d. 1981) 1886 – Sadae Inoue, Japanese general (d. 1961) 1887 – Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-American pianist and educator (d. 1961) 1890 – Jan Zrzavý, Czech painter and illustrator (d. 1977) 1892 – J. B. S. Haldane, English-Indian geneticist and biologist (d. 1964) 1892 – John Alcock, captain in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (d. 1919) 1893 – Raymond Loewy, French-American engineer and designer (d. 1986) 1894 – Beardsley Ruml, American economist and statistician (d. 1960) 1895 – Walter Gieseking, French-German pianist and composer (d. 1956) 1895 – Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1956) 1899 – Margaret Atwood Judson, American historian and author (d. 1991) 1900 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (d. 1991) 1900 – Ethelwynn Trewavas, British ichthyologist, over a dozen fish species named in her honor (d. 1993) 1901–present 1901 – Etta Moten Barnett, American actress and singer (d. 2004) 1901 – Martin Dies, Jr., American lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1972) 1901 – Eddie Paynter, English cricketer (d. 1979) 1904 – Cooney Weiland, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1985) 1905 – Joel McCrea, American actor (d. 1990) 1905 – Louis Rosier, French race car driver (d. 1956) 1905 – Sajjad Zaheer, Indian author and poet (d. 1973) 1906 – Endre Kabos, Hungarian fencer (d. 1944) 1906 – Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer and academic (d. 2004) 1910 – John Hackett, Australian-English general and academic (d. 1997) 1911 – Marie Osborne Yeats, American actress and costume designer (d. 2010) 1911 – Roy Rogers, American singer, guitarist, and actor (d. 1998) 1912 – W. Allen Wallis, American economist and statistician (d. 1998) 1913 – Guy Green, English-American director, screenwriter, and cinematographer (d. 2005) 1913 – Vivien Leigh, Indian-British actress (d. 1967) 1913 – John McGiver, American actor (d. 1975) 1914 – Alton Tobey, American painter and illustrator (d. 2005) 1917 – Jacqueline Auriol, French pilot (d. 2000) 1917 – Banarsi Das Gupta, Indian activist and politician, 4th Chief Minister of Haryana (d. 2007) 1917 – James Lawton Collins Jr., American brigadier general (d. 2002) 1917 – Giuseppe Salvioli, Italian football player 1919 – Hasan Askari, Pakistani linguist, scholar, and critic (d. 1978) 1919 – Myron Floren, American accordion player and pianist (d. 2005) 1920 – Tommy Godwin, American-English cyclist and coach (d. 2012) 1920 – Douglass North, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015) 1921 – Georges Cziffra, Hungarian pianist and composer (d. 1994) 1921 – Fawzia Fuad of Egypt (d. 2013) 1922 – Violet Barclay, American illustrator (d. 2010) 1922 – Yitzchok Scheiner, American-Israeli rabbi (d. 2021) 1922 – Cecil H. Underwood, American educator and politician, 25th and 32nd Governor of West Virginia (d. 2008) 1923 – Rudolf Augstein, German soldier and journalist, co-founded Der Spiegel (d. 2002) 1926 – John Berger, English author, poet, painter, and critic (d. 2017) 1927 – Hirotugu Akaike, Japanese statistician (d. 2009) 1930 – Wim Bleijenberg, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2016) 1930 – Hans Mommsen, German historian and academic (d. 2015) 1931 – Leonard Herzenberg, American immunologist, geneticist, and academic (d. 2013) 1931 – Gil Hill, American actor, police officer and politician (d. 2016) 1931 – Harold McNair, Jamaican-English saxophonist and flute player (d. 1971) 1931 – Ike Turner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer (d. 2007) 1931 – Diane Pearson, British book editor and novelist (d. 2017) 1932 – Algirdas Lauritėnas, Lithuanian basketball player (d. 2001) 1933 – Herb Edelman, American actor (d. 1996) 1934 – Jeb Stuart Magruder, American minister and civil servant (d. 2014) 1935 – Lester Piggott, English jockey and trainer 1935 – Christopher Wood, English author and screenwriter (d. 2015) 1936 – Michael Dertouzos, Greek-American computer scientist and academic (d. 2001) 1936 – Uwe Seeler, German footballer and actor 1936 – Billy Sherrill, American record producer, songwriter, and arranger (d. 2015) 1937 – Chan Sek Keong, Singaporean lawyer, judge, and politician, 3rd Chief Justice of Singapore 1937 – Harris Yulin, American actor 1938 – Joe Dassin, American-French singer-songwriter (d. 1980) 1938 – César Luis Menotti, Argentinian footballer and manager 1938 – Jim Steranko, American author and illustrator 1939 – Lobsang Tenzin, Tibetan religious leader 1940 – Ted Kulongoski, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 36th Governor of Oregon 1940 – Elke Sommer, German actress 1941 – Art Garfunkel, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1941 – Yoshiyuki Tomino, Japanese animator, director, and screenwriter 1942 – Pierangelo Bertoli, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002) 1943 – Friedman Paul Erhardt, German-American chef and author (d. 2007) 1943 – Percy Hobson, Australian high jumper 1943 – Sam Shepard, American playwright and actor (d. 2017) 1945 – Peter Pace, American general 1945 – Aleka Papariga, Greek accountant and politician 1945 – Svetlana Tširkova-Lozovaja, Russian fencer and coach 1946 – Gram Parsons, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1973) 1946 – Ken Whaley, Austrian-English bass player and songwriter (d. 2013) 1947 – Quint Davis, American director and producer 1947 – Rubén Juárez, Argentinian singer-songwriter and bandoneon player (d. 2010) 1947 – Peter Noone, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1948 – Bob Barr, American lawyer and politician 1948 – Peter Hammill, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1948 – Bernard-Henri Lévy, French philosopher and author 1948 – William Daniel Phillips, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1949 – Armin Shimerman, American actor 1949 – Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984) 1950 – Thorbjørn Jagland, Norwegian politician, 25th Prime Minister of Norway 1950 – James Kennedy, American psychologist and author 1952 – Oleh Blokhin, Ukrainian footballer and manager 1952 – Brian Muehl, American puppeteer 1952 – Vandana Shiva, Indian philosopher and author 1952 – Bill Walton, American basketball player and sportscaster 1953 – Florentino Floro, Filipino lawyer and judge 1953 – Joyce Maynard, American journalist, author, and academic 1954 – Alejandro Sabella, Argentine footballer and manager (d. 2020) 1954 – Jeffrey Sachs, American economist and academic 1955 – Bernard Chazelle, French computer scientist and academic 1955 – Kris Jenner, American talent manager and businesswoman 1955 – Karan Thapar, Indian journalist and author 1956 – Jeff Watson, American guitarist and songwriter 1956 – John Harwood, American journalist 1956 – Lavrentis Machairitsas, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist 1956 – Michael Sorridimi, Australian rugby league player 1956 – Rob Fisher, English keyboard player and songwriter (d. 1999) 1957 |
and elite intellectual culture that seeks to control them. By the 1980s, Chomsky's students had become prominent linguists who, in turn, expanded and revised his linguistic theories. In the 1990s, Chomsky embraced political activism to a greater degree than before. Retaining his commitment to the cause of East Timorese independence, in 1995 he visited Australia to talk on the issue at the behest of the East Timorese Relief Association and the National Council for East Timorese Resistance. The lectures he gave on the subject were published as Powers and Prospects in 1996. As a result of the international publicity Chomsky generated, his biographer Wolfgang Sperlich opined that he did more to aid the cause of East Timorese independence than anyone but the investigative journalist John Pilger. After East Timor attained independence from Indonesia in 1999, the Australian-led International Force for East Timor arrived as a peacekeeping force; Chomsky was critical of this, believing it was designed to secure Australian access to East Timor's oil and gas reserves under the Timor Gap Treaty. Iraq war criticism and retirement from MIT: 2001–2017 After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Chomsky was widely interviewed; Seven Stories Press collated and published these interviews that October. Chomsky argued that the ensuing War on Terror was not a new development but a continuation of U.S. foreign policy and concomitant rhetoric since at least the Reagan era. He gave the D.T. Lakdawala Memorial Lecture in New Delhi in 2001, and in 2003 visited Cuba at the invitation of the Latin American Association of Social Scientists. Chomsky's 2003 Hegemony or Survival articulated what he called the United States' "imperial grand strategy" and critiqued the Iraq War and other aspects of the War on Terror. Chomsky toured internationally with greater regularity during this period. Chomsky retired from MIT in 2002, but continued to conduct research and seminars on campus as an emeritus. That same year he visited Turkey to attend the trial of a publisher who had been accused of treason for printing one of Chomsky's books; Chomsky insisted on being a co-defendant and amid international media attention the Security Courts dropped the charge on the first day. During that trip Chomsky visited Kurdish areas of Turkey and spoke out in favor of the Kurds' human rights. A supporter of the World Social Forum, he attended its conferences in Brazil in both 2002 and 2003, also attending the Forum event in India. Chomsky supported the Occupy movement, delivering talks at encampments and producing two works that chronicled its influence: Occupy (2012), a pamphlet, and Occupy: Reflections on Class War, Rebellion and Solidarity (2013). He attributed Occupy's growth to a perception that the Democratic Party had abandoned the interests of the white working class. In March 2014, Chomsky joined the advisory council of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, an organization that advocates the global abolition of nuclear weapons, as a senior fellow. The 2015 documentary Requiem for the American Dream summarizes his views on capitalism and economic inequality through a "75-minute teach-in". University of Arizona: 2017–present In 2017, Chomsky taught a short-term politics course at the University of Arizona in Tucson and was later hired as a part-time professor in the linguistics department there, with his duties including teaching and public seminars. His salary is covered by philanthropic donations. Chomsky signed the Declaration on the Common Language of the Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and Montenegrins in 2018. Linguistic theory The basis of Chomsky's linguistic theory lies in biolinguistics, the linguistic school that holds that the principles underpinning the structure of language are biologically preset in the human mind and hence genetically inherited. He argues that all humans share the same underlying linguistic structure, irrespective of sociocultural differences. In adopting this position Chomsky rejects the radical behaviorist psychology of B. F. Skinner, who viewed behavior (including talking and thinking) as a completely learned product of the interactions between organisms and their environments. Accordingly, Chomsky argues that language is a unique evolutionary development of the human species and distinguished from modes of communication used by any other animal species. Chomsky's nativist, internalist view of language is consistent with the philosophical school of "rationalism" and contrasts with the anti-nativist, externalist view of language consistent with the philosophical school of "empiricism", which contends that all knowledge, including language, comes from external stimuli. Universal grammar Since the 1960s Chomsky has maintained that syntactic knowledge is at least partially inborn, implying that children need only learn certain language-specific features of their native languages. He bases his argument on observations about human language acquisition and describes a "poverty of the stimulus": an enormous gap between the linguistic stimuli to which children are exposed and the rich linguistic competence they attain. For example, although children are exposed to only a very small and finite subset of the allowable syntactic variants within their first language, they somehow acquire the highly organized and systematic ability to understand and produce an infinite number of sentences, including ones that have never before been uttered, in that language. To explain this, Chomsky reasoned that the primary linguistic data must be supplemented by an innate linguistic capacity. Furthermore, while a human baby and a kitten are both capable of inductive reasoning, if they are exposed to exactly the same linguistic data, the human will always acquire the ability to understand and produce language, while the kitten will never acquire either ability. Chomsky referred to this difference in capacity as the language acquisition device, and suggested that linguists needed to determine both what that device is and what constraints it imposes on the range of possible human languages. The universal features that result from these constraints would constitute "universal grammar". Multiple scholars have challenged universal grammar on the grounds of the evolutionary infeasibility of its genetic basis for language, the lack of universal characteristics between languages, and the unproven link between innate/universal structures and the structures of specific languages. Scholar Michael Tomasello has challenged Chomsky's theory of innate syntactic knowledge as based on theory and not behavioral observation. Although it was influential from 1960s through 1990s, Chomsky's nativist theory was ultimately rejected by the mainstream child language acquisition research community owing to its inconsistency with research evidence. It was also argued by linguists including Robert Freidin, Geoffrey Sampson, Geoffrey K. Pullum and Barbara Scholz that Chomsky's linguistic evidence for it had been false. Transformational-generative grammar Transformational-generative grammar is a broad theory used to model, encode, and deduce a native speaker's linguistic capabilities. These models, or "formal grammars", show the abstract structures of a specific language as they may relate to structures in other languages. Chomsky developed transformational grammar in the mid-1950s, whereupon it became the dominant syntactic theory in linguistics for two decades. "Transformations" refers to syntactic relationships within language, e.g., being able to infer that the subject between two sentences is the same person. Chomsky's theory posits that language consists of both deep structures and surface structures: Outward-facing surface structures relate phonetic rules into sound, while inward-facing deep structures relate words and conceptual meaning. Transformational-generative grammar uses mathematical notation to express the rules that govern the connection between meaning and sound (deep and surface structures, respectively). By this theory, linguistic principles can mathematically generate potential sentence structures in a language. It is a common conception that Chomsky invented transformational-generative grammar, but his actual contribution to it was considered modest at the time when Chomsky first published his theory. In his 1955 dissertation and his 1957 textbook Syntactic Structures, he presented recent developments in the analysis formulated by Zellig Harris, who was Chomsky's PhD supervisor, and by Charles F. Hockett. Their method is derived from the work of the Danish structural linguist Louis Hjelmslev, who introduced algorithmic grammar to general linguistics. Based on this rule-based notation of grammars, Chomsky grouped logically possible phrase-structure grammar types into a series of four nested subsets and increasingly complex types, together known as the Chomsky hierarchy. This classification remains relevant to formal language theory and theoretical computer science, especially programming language theory, compiler construction, and automata theory. Following transformational grammar's heyday through the mid-1970s, a derivative government and binding theory became a dominant research framework through the early 1990s, remaining an influential theory, when linguists turned to a "minimalist" approach to grammar. This research focused on the principles and parameters framework, which explained children's ability to learn any language by filling open parameters (a set of universal grammar principles) that adapt as the child encounters linguistic data. The minimalist program, initiated by Chomsky, asks which minimal principles and parameters theory fits most elegantly, naturally, and simply. In an attempt to simplify language into a system that relates meaning and sound using the minimum possible faculties, Chomsky dispenses with concepts such as "deep structure" and "surface structure" and instead emphasizes the plasticity of the brain's neural circuits, with which come an infinite number of concepts, or "logical forms". When exposed to linguistic data, a hearer-speaker's brain proceeds to associate sound and meaning, and the rules of grammar we observe are in fact only the consequences, or side effects, of the way language works. Thus, while much of Chomsky's prior research focused on the rules of language, he now focuses on the mechanisms the brain uses to generate these rules and regulate speech. Political views Chomsky is a prominent political dissident. His political views have changed little since his childhood, when he was influenced by the emphasis on political activism that was ingrained in Jewish working-class tradition. He usually identifies as an anarcho-syndicalist or a libertarian socialist. He views these positions not as precise political theories but as ideals that he thinks best meet human needs: liberty, community, and freedom of association. Unlike some other socialists, such as Marxists, Chomsky believes that politics lies outside the remit of science, but he still roots his ideas about an ideal society in empirical data and empirically justified theories. In Chomsky's view, the truth about political realities is systematically distorted or suppressed by an elite corporatocracy, which uses corporate media, advertising, and think tanks to promote its own propaganda. His work seeks to reveal such manipulations and the truth they obscure. Chomsky believes this web of falsehood can be broken by "common sense", critical thinking, and understanding the roles of self-interest and self-deception, and that intellectuals abdicate their moral responsibility to tell the truth about the world in fear of losing prestige and funding. He argues that, as such an intellectual, it is his duty to use his social privilege, resources, and training to aid popular democracy movements in their struggles. Although he has joined protest marches and organized activist groups, Chomsky's primary political outlets are education and publication. He offers a wide range of political writings as well as free lessons and lectures to encourage wider political consciousness. He is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World international union. United States foreign policy Chomsky has been a prominent critic of American imperialism and believes that World War II is the only justified war the U.S. has fought in his lifetime. He believes that the basic principle of the foreign policy of the United States is the establishment of "open societies" that are economically and politically controlled by the United States and where U.S.-based businesses can prosper. He argues that the U.S. seeks to suppress any movements within these countries that are not compliant with U.S. interests and to ensure that U.S.-friendly governments are placed in power. When discussing current events, he emphasizes their place within a wider historical perspective. He believes that official, sanctioned historical accounts of U.S. and British extraterritorial operations have consistently whitewashed these nations' actions in order to present them as having benevolent motives in either spreading democracy or, in older instances, spreading Christianity; criticizing these accounts, he seeks to correct them. Prominent examples he regularly cites are the actions of the British Empire in India and Africa and the actions of the U.S. in Vietnam, the Philippines, Latin America, and the Middle East. Chomsky's political work has centered heavily on criticizing the actions of the United States. He has said he focuses on the U.S. because the country has militarily and economically dominated the world during his lifetime and because its liberal democratic electoral system allows the citizenry to influence government policy. His hope is that, by spreading awareness of the impact U.S. foreign policies have on the populations affected by them, he can sway the populations of the U.S. and other countries into opposing the policies. He urges people to criticize their governments' motivations, decisions, and actions, to accept responsibility for their own thoughts and actions, and to apply the same standards to others as to themselves. Chomsky has been critical of U.S. involvement in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, arguing that it has consistently blocked a peaceful settlement. Chomsky also criticizes the U.S.'s close ties with Saudi Arabia and involvement in Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, highlighting that Saudi Arabia has "one of the most grotesque human rights records in the world". Capitalism and socialism In his youth, Chomsky developed a dislike of capitalism and the pursuit of material wealth. At the same time, he developed a disdain for authoritarian socialism, as represented by the Marxist–Leninist policies of the Soviet Union. Rather than accepting the common view among U.S. economists that a spectrum exists between total state ownership of the economy and total private ownership, he instead suggests that a spectrum should be understood between total democratic control of the economy and total autocratic control (whether state or private). He argues that Western capitalist countries are not really democratic, because, in his view, a truly democratic society is one in which all persons have a say in public economic policy. He has stated his opposition to ruling elites, among them institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and GATT (precursor to the WTO). Chomsky highlights that, since the 1970s, the U.S. has become increasingly economically unequal as a result of the repeal of various financial regulations and the rescinding of the Bretton Woods financial control agreement. He characterizes the U.S. as a de facto one-party state, viewing both the Republican Party and Democratic Party as manifestations of a single "Business Party" controlled by corporate and financial interests. Chomsky highlights that, within Western capitalist liberal democracies, at least 80% of the population has no control over economic decisions, which are instead in the hands of a management class and ultimately controlled by a small, wealthy elite. Noting the entrenchment of such an economic system, Chomsky believes that change is possible through the organized cooperation of large numbers of people who understand the problem and know how they want to reorganize the economy more equitably. Acknowledging that corporate domination of media and government stifles any significant change to this system, he sees reason for optimism in historical examples such as the social rejection of slavery as immoral, the advances in women's rights, and the forcing of government to justify invasions. He views violent revolution to overthrow a government as a last resort to be avoided if possible, citing the example of historical revolutions where the population's welfare has worsened as a result of upheaval. Chomsky sees libertarian socialist and anarcho-syndicalist ideas as the descendants of the classical liberal ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, arguing that his ideological position revolves around "nourishing the libertarian and creative character of the human being". He envisions an anarcho-syndicalist future with direct worker control of the means of production and government by workers' councils, who would select temporary and revocable representatives to meet together at general assemblies. The point of this self-governance is to make each citizen, in Thomas Jefferson's words, "a direct participator in the government of affairs." He believes that there will be no need for political parties. By controlling their productive life, he believes that individuals can gain job satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment and purpose. He argues that unpleasant and unpopular jobs could be fully automated, carried out by workers who are specially remunerated, or shared among everyone. Israeli–Palestinian conflict Chomsky has written prolifically on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, aiming to raise public awareness of it. He has long endorsed a left binationalist program in Israel and Palestine, seeking to create a democratic state in the Levant that is home to both Jews and Arabs. He has called the adoption of the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine "a very bad decision." Nevertheless, given the realpolitik of the situation, he has also considered a two-state solution on the condition that the nation-states exist on equal terms. Chomsky was denied entry to the West Bank in 2010 because of his criticisms of Israel. He had been invited to deliver a lecture at Bir Zeit University and was to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman later said that Chomsky was denied entry by mistake. News media and propaganda Chomsky's political writings have largely focused on ideology, social and political power, the media, and state policy. One of his best-known works, Manufacturing Consent, dissects the media's role in reinforcing and acquiescing to state policies across the political spectrum while marginalizing contrary perspectives. Chomsky asserts that this version of censorship, by government-guided "free market" forces, is subtler and harder to undermine than was the equivalent propaganda system in the Soviet Union. As he argues, the mainstream press is corporate-owned and thus reflects corporate priorities and interests. Acknowledging that many American journalists are dedicated and well-meaning, he argues that the mass media's choices of topics and issues, the unquestioned premises on which that coverage rests, and the range of opinions expressed are all constrained to reinforce the state's ideology: although mass media will criticize individual politicians and political parties, it will not undermine the wider state-corporate nexus of which it is a part. As evidence, he highlights that the U.S. mass media does not employ any socialist journalists or political commentators. He also points to examples of important news stories that the U.S. mainstream media has ignored because reporting on them would reflect badly upon the country, including the murder of Black Panther Fred Hampton with possible FBI involvement, the massacres in Nicaragua perpetrated by U.S.-funded Contras, and the constant reporting on Israeli deaths without equivalent coverage of the far larger number of Palestinian deaths in that conflict. To remedy this situation, Chomsky calls for grassroots democratic control and involvement of the media. Chomsky considers most conspiracy theories fruitless, distracting substitutes for thinking about policy formation in an institutional framework, where individual manipulation is secondary to broader social imperatives. While not dismissing them outright, he considers them unproductive to challenging power in a substantial way. In response to the labeling of his own ideas as a conspiracy theory, Chomsky has said that it is very rational for the media to manipulate information in order to sell it, like any other business. He asks whether General Motors would be accused of conspiracy if it deliberately selected what it used or discarded to sell its product. Other disciplines Chomsky has also been active in a number of philosophical fields, including philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science. In these fields he is credited with ushering in the "cognitive revolution", a significant paradigm shift that rejected logical positivism, the prevailing philosophical methodology of the time, and reframed how philosophers think about language and the mind. Chomsky views the cognitive revolution as rooted in 17th-century rationalist ideals. His position—the idea that the mind contains inherent structures to understand language, perception, and thought—has more in common with rationalism (Enlightenment and Cartesian) than behaviorism. He named one of his key works Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought (1966). This sparked criticism from historians and philosophers who disagreed with Chomsky's interpretations of classical sources and use of philosophical terminology. In the philosophy of language, Chomsky is particularly known for his criticisms of the notion of reference and meaning in human language and his perspective on the nature and function of mental representations. Chomsky's famous 1971 debate on human nature with the French philosopher Michel Foucault was symbolic in positioning Chomsky as the prototypical analytic philosopher against Foucault, a stalwart of the continental tradition. It showed what appeared to be irreconcilable differences between two moral and intellectual luminaries of the 20th century. Foucault's position was that of critique, that human nature could not be conceived in terms foreign to present understanding, while Chomsky held that human nature contained universalities such as a common standard of moral justice as deduced through reason based on what rationally serves human necessity. Chomsky criticized postmodernism and French philosophy generally, arguing that the obscure language of postmodern, leftist philosophers gives little aid to the working classes. He has also debated analytic philosophers, including Tyler Burge, Donald Davidson, Michael Dummett, Saul Kripke, Thomas Nagel, Hilary Putnam, Willard Van Orman Quine, and John Searle. Chomsky's contributions span intellectual and world history, including the history of philosophy. Irony is a recurring characteristic of his writing, as he often implies that his readers know better, which can make them more engaged in the veracity of his claims. Personal life Chomsky endeavors to separate his family life, linguistic scholarship, and political activism from each other. An intensely private person, he is uninterested in appearances and the fame his work has brought him. He also has little interest in modern art and music. McGilvray suggests that Chomsky was never motivated by a desire for fame, but impelled to tell what he perceived as the truth and a | In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. Chomsky began teaching at the University of Arizona in 2017. One of the most cited scholars alive, Chomsky has influenced a broad array of academic fields. He is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. In addition to his continued scholarship, he remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, neoliberalism and contemporary state capitalism, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mainstream news media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Life Childhood: 1928–1945 Avram Noam Chomsky was born on December 7, 1928, in the East Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents, Ze'ev "William" Chomsky and Elsie Simonofsky, were Jewish immigrants. William had fled the Russian Empire in 1913 to escape conscription and worked in Baltimore sweatshops and Hebrew elementary schools before attending university. After moving to Philadelphia, William became principal of the Congregation Mikveh Israel religious school and joined the Gratz College faculty. He placed great emphasis on educating people so that they would be "well integrated, free and independent in their thinking, concerned about improving and enhancing the world, and eager to participate in making life more meaningful and worthwhile for all", a mission that shaped and was subsequently adopted by his son. Elsie was a teacher and activist born in Belarus. They met at Mikveh Israel, where they both worked. Noam (b. 1928) was the Chomskys' first child. His younger brother, David Eli Chomsky (1934–2021), was born five years later, and worked as a cardiologist in Philadelphia. The brothers were close, though David was more easygoing while Noam could be very competitive. Chomsky and his brother were raised Jewish, being taught Hebrew and regularly involved with discussing the political theories of Zionism; the family was particularly influenced by the Left Zionist writings of Ahad Ha'am. Chomsky faced antisemitism as a child, particularly from Philadelphia's Irish and German communities. Chomsky attended the independent, Deweyite Oak Lane Country Day School and Philadelphia's Central High School, where he excelled academically and joined various clubs and societies, but was troubled by the school's hierarchical and regimented teaching methods. He also attended Hebrew High School at Gratz College, where his father taught. Chomsky has described his parents as "normal Roosevelt Democrats" with center-left politics, but relatives involved in the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union exposed him to socialism and far-left politics. He was substantially influenced by his uncle and the Jewish leftists who frequented his New York City newspaper stand to debate current affairs. Chomsky himself often visited left-wing and anarchist bookstores when visiting his uncle in the city, voraciously reading political literature. He wrote his first article at age 10 on the spread of fascism following the fall of Barcelona (Feb. 1939) during the Spanish Civil War and, from the age of 12 or 13, identified with anarchist politics, as well as the "anti-Bolshevik Left." He later described his discovery of anarchism as "a lucky accident" that made him critical of Stalinism and other forms of Marxism–Leninism. University: 1945–1955 In 1945, aged 16, Chomsky began a general program of study at the University of Pennsylvania, where he explored philosophy, logic, and languages and developed a primary interest in learning Arabic. Living at home, he funded his undergraduate degree by teaching Hebrew. Frustrated with his experiences at the university, he considered dropping out and moving to a kibbutz in Mandatory Palestine, but his intellectual curiosity was reawakened through conversations with the Russian-born linguist Zellig Harris, whom he first met in a political circle in 1947. Harris introduced Chomsky to the field of theoretical linguistics and convinced him to major in the subject. Chomsky's BA honors thesis, "Morphophonemics of Modern Hebrew", applied Harris's methods to the language. Chomsky revised this thesis for his MA, which he received from the University of Pennsylvania in 1951; it was subsequently published as a book. He also developed his interest in philosophy while at university, in particular under the tutelage of Nelson Goodman. From 1951 to 1955 Chomsky was a member of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University, where he undertook research on what became his doctoral dissertation. Having been encouraged by Goodman to apply, Chomsky was attracted to Harvard in part because the philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine was based there. Both Quine and a visiting philosopher, J. L. Austin of the University of Oxford, strongly influenced Chomsky. In 1952 Chomsky published his first academic article, Systems of Syntactic Analysis, which appeared not in a journal of linguistics but in The Journal of Symbolic Logic. Highly critical of the established behaviorist currents in linguistics, in 1954 he presented his ideas at lectures at the University of Chicago and Yale University. He had not been registered as a student at Pennsylvania for four years, but in 1955 he submitted a thesis setting out his ideas on transformational grammar; he was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree for it, and it was privately distributed among specialists on microfilm before being published in 1975 as part of The Logical Structure of Linguistic Theory. Harvard professor George Armitage Miller was impressed by Chomsky's thesis and collaborated with him on several technical papers in mathematical linguistics. Chomsky's doctorate exempted him from compulsory military service, which was otherwise due to begin in 1955. In 1947 Chomsky began a romantic relationship with Carol Doris Schatz, whom he had known since early childhood. They married in 1949. After Chomsky was made a Fellow at Harvard, the couple moved to the Allston area of Boston and remained there until 1965, when they relocated to the suburb of Lexington. In 1953 the couple took a Harvard travel grant to Europe, from the United Kingdom through France, Switzerland into Italy, and Israel, where they lived in Hashomer Hatzair's HaZore'a kibbutz. Despite enjoying himself, Chomsky was appalled by the country's Jewish nationalism, anti-Arab racism and, within the kibbutz's leftist community, pro-Stalinism. On visits to New York City, Chomsky continued to frequent the office of the Yiddish anarchist journal Fraye Arbeter Shtime and became enamored with the ideas of Rudolf Rocker, a contributor whose work introduced Chomsky to the link between anarchism and classical liberalism. Chomsky also read other political thinkers: the anarchists Mikhail Bakunin and Diego Abad de Santillán, democratic socialists George Orwell, Bertrand Russell, and Dwight Macdonald, and works by Marxists Karl Liebknecht, Karl Korsch, and Rosa Luxemburg. His readings convinced him of the desirability of an anarcho-syndicalist society, and he became fascinated by the anarcho-syndicalist communes set up during the Spanish Civil War, as documented in Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (1938). He read the leftist journal Politics, which furthered his interest in anarchism, and the council communist periodical Living Marxism, though he rejected the orthodoxy of its editor, Paul Mattick. He was also interested in the Marlenite ideas of the Leninist League of the United States, an anti-Stalinist Marxist–Leninist group, impressed by its characterization of World War II as a "phony war" instigated by both Western capitalists and the Soviet Union. He "never really believed the thesis, but... found it intriguing enough to try to figure out what they were talking about." Early career: 1955–1966 Chomsky befriended two linguists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Morris Halle and Roman Jakobson, the latter of whom secured him an assistant professor position there in 1955. At MIT, Chomsky spent half his time on a mechanical translation project and half teaching a course on linguistics and philosophy. He described MIT as "a pretty free and open place, open to experimentation and without rigid requirements. It was just perfect for someone of my idiosyncratic interests and work." In 1957 MIT promoted him to the position of associate professor, and from 1957 to 1958 he was also employed by Columbia University as a visiting professor. The Chomskys had their first child that same year, a daughter named Aviva. He also published his first book on linguistics, Syntactic Structures, a work that radically opposed the dominant Harris–Bloomfield trend in the field. Responses to Chomsky's ideas ranged from indifference to hostility, and his work proved divisive and caused "significant upheaval" in the discipline. The linguist John Lyons later asserted that Syntactic Structures "revolutionized the scientific study of language". From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1959, Chomsky published a review of B. F. Skinner's 1957 book Verbal Behavior in the academic journal Language, in which he argued against Skinner's view of language as learned behavior. The review argued that Skinner ignored the role of human creativity in linguistics and helped to establish Chomsky as an intellectual. With Halle, Chomsky proceeded to found MIT's graduate program in linguistics. In 1961 he was awarded tenure, becoming a full professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. Chomsky went on to be appointed plenary speaker at the Ninth International Congress of Linguists, held in 1962 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which established him as the de facto spokesperson of American linguistics. Between 1963 and 1965 he consulted on a military-sponsored project "to establish natural language as an operational language for command and control"; Barbara Partee, a collaborator on this project and then-student of Chomsky, has said this research was justified to the military on the basis that "in the event of a nuclear war, the generals would be underground with some computers trying to manage things, and that it would probably be easier to teach computers to understand English than to teach the generals to program." Chomsky continued to publish his linguistic ideas throughout the decade, including in Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965), Topics in the Theory of Generative Grammar (1966), and Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought (1966). Along with Halle, he also edited the Studies in Language series of books for Harper and Row. As he began to accrue significant academic recognition and honors for his work, Chomsky lectured at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1966. His Beckman lectures at Berkeley were assembled and published as Language and Mind in 1968. Despite his growing stature, an intellectual falling-out between Chomsky and some of his early colleagues and doctoral students—including Paul Postal, John "Haj" Ross, George Lakoff, and James D. McCawley—triggered a series of academic debates that came to be known as the "Linguistics Wars", although they revolved largely around philosophical issues rather than linguistics proper. Chomsky has been open about his employer at this time, saying MIT "was a Pentagon-based university. And I was at a military-funded lab." He has said he gave "a good bit of thought" to resigning from MIT during the Vietnam War. There has since been a wide-ranging debate about what effects Chomsky's employment at MIT had on his political and linguistic ideas. Anti-war activism and dissent: 1967–1975 Chomsky joined protests against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in 1962, speaking on the subject at small gatherings in churches and homes. His 1967 critique of U.S. involvement, "The Responsibility of Intellectuals", among other contributions to The New York Review of Books, debuted Chomsky as a public dissident. This essay and other political articles were collected and published in 1969 as part of Chomsky's first political book, American Power and the New Mandarins. He followed this with further political books, including At War with Asia (1970), The Backroom Boys (1973), For Reasons of State (1973), and Peace in the Middle East? (1974), published by Pantheon Books. These publications led to Chomsky's association with the American New Left movement, though he thought little of prominent New Left intellectuals Herbert Marcuse and Erich Fromm and preferred the company of activists to that of intellectuals. Chomsky remained largely ignored by the mainstream press throughout this period. He also became involved in left-wing activism. Chomsky refused to pay half his taxes, publicly supported students who refused the draft, and was arrested while participating an anti-war teach-in outside the Pentagon. During this time, Chomsky co-founded the anti-war collective RESIST with Mitchell Goodman, Denise Levertov, William Sloane Coffin, and Dwight Macdonald. Although he questioned the objectives of the 1968 student protests, Chomsky gave many lectures to student activist groups and, with his colleague Louis Kampf, ran undergraduate courses on politics at MIT independently of the conservative-dominated political science department. When student activists campaigned to stop weapons and counterinsurgency research at MIT, Chomsky was sympathetic but felt that the research should remain under MIT's oversight and limited to systems of deterrence and defense. In 1970 he visited southeast Asia to lecture at Vietnam's Hanoi University of Science and Technology and toured war refugee camps in Laos. In 1973 he helped lead a committee commemorating the 50th anniversary of the War Resisters League. Because of his anti-war activism, Chomsky was arrested on multiple occasions and included on President Richard Nixon's master list of political opponents. Chomsky was aware of the potential repercussions of his civil disobedience and his wife began studying for her own doctorate in linguistics to support the family in the event of Chomsky's imprisonment or joblessness. Chomsky's scientific reputation insulated him from administrative action based on his beliefs. His work in linguistics continued to gain international recognition as he received multiple honorary doctorates. He delivered public lectures at the University of Cambridge, Columbia University (Woodbridge Lectures), and Stanford University. His appearance in a 1971 debate with French continental philosopher Michel Foucault positioned Chomsky as a symbolic figurehead of analytic philosophy. He continued to publish extensively on linguistics, producing Studies on Semantics in Generative Grammar (1972), an enlarged edition of Language and Mind (1972), and Reflections on Language (1975). In 1974 Chomsky became a corresponding fellow of the British Academy. Edward S. Herman and the Faurisson affair: 1976–1980 In the late 1970s and 1980s, Chomsky's linguistic publications expanded and clarified his earlier work, addressing his critics and updating his grammatical theory. His political talks often generated considerable controversy, particularly when he criticized the Israeli government and military. In the early 1970s Chomsky began collaborating with Edward S. Herman, who had also published critiques of the U.S. war in Vietnam. Together they wrote Counter-Revolutionary Violence: Bloodbaths in Fact & Propaganda, a book that criticized U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia and the mainstream media's failure to cover it. Warner Modular published it in 1973, but its parent company disapproved of the book's contents and ordered all copies destroyed. While mainstream publishing options proved elusive, Chomsky found support from Michael Albert's South End Press, an activist-oriented publishing company. In 1979, South End published Chomsky and Herman's revised Counter-Revolutionary Violence as the two-volume The Political Economy of Human Rights, which compares U.S. media reactions to the Cambodian genocide and the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. It argues that because Indonesia was a U.S. ally, U.S. media ignored the East Timorese situation while focusing on events in Cambodia, a U.S. enemy. Chomsky's response included two testimonials before the United Nations' Special Committee on Decolonization, successful encouragement for American media to cover the occupation, and meetings with refugees in Lisbon. The Marxist academic Steven Lukes publicly accused Chomsky of betraying his anarchist ideals and acting as an apologist for Cambodian leader Pol Pot. Herman said that the controversy "imposed a serious personal cost" on Chomsky, Chomsky said that "conformist intellectuals of East or West" deal with dissident opinion by trying "to overwhelm it with a flood of lies". He regarded the personal criticism as less important than the evidence that "mainstream intelligentsia suppressed or justified the crimes of their own states". Chomsky had long publicly criticized Nazism, and totalitarianism more generally, but his commitment to freedom of speech led him to defend the right of French historian Robert Faurisson to advocate a position widely characterized as Holocaust denial. Without Chomsky's knowledge, his plea for Faurisson's freedom of speech was published as the preface to the latter's 1980 book . Chomsky was widely condemned for defending Faurisson, and France's mainstream press accused Chomsky of being a Holocaust denier himself, refusing to publish his rebuttals to their accusations. Critiquing Chomsky's position, sociologist Werner Cohn later published an analysis of the affair titled Partners in Hate: Noam Chomsky and the Holocaust Deniers. The Faurisson affair had a lasting, damaging effect on Chomsky's career, especially in France. Critique of propaganda and international affairs: 1980–2001 In 1985, during the Nicaraguan Contra War—in which the U.S. supported the contra militia against the Sandinista government—Chomsky traveled to Managua to meet with workers' organizations and refugees of the conflict, giving public lectures on politics and linguistics. Many of these lectures were published in 1987 as On Power and Ideology: The Managua Lectures. In 1983 he published The Fateful Triangle, which argued that the U.S. had continually used the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for its own ends. In 1988, Chomsky visited the Palestinian territories to witness the impact of Israeli occupation. Chomsky and Herman's Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988) outlines their propaganda model for understanding mainstream media. Even in countries without official censorship, they argued, the news is censored through five filters that greatly influence both what and how news is presented. The book was inspired by Alex Carey and adapted into a 1992 film. In 1989, Chomsky published Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies, in which he suggests that a worthwhile democracy requires that its citizens undertake intellectual self-defense against the media and elite intellectual culture that seeks to control them. By the 1980s, Chomsky's students had become prominent linguists who, in turn, expanded and revised his linguistic theories. In the |
average is / [sum, tally] average Arr |7. Computing a factorial fact is recur [ 0 =, 1 first, pass, product, -1 +] fact 4 |24 Reversing an array rev is reshape [ shape, across [pass, pass, converse append ] ] rev [1, 2, 3, 4] |4 3 2 1 Generating primes Contrast with APL primes is sublist [ each (2 = sum eachright (0 = mod) [pass,count]), pass ] rest count primes 10 |2 3 5 7 Explanation Checking the divisibility of A by B is_divisible is 0 = mod [A,B] Defining is_prime filter is_prime is 2 = sum eachright is_divisible [pass,count] Count generates an array [1..N] and pass is N (identity operation). eachright applies is_divisible (pass, element) in each element of count-generated array. Thus this transforms the count-generated array into an array where numbers that can divide N are replaced by '1' and others by '0'. Hence if the number N is prime, sum [transformed array] must be 2 (itself and 1). Now all that remains is to generate another array using count N, and filter all that are not prime. primes is sublist [each is_prime, pass] rest count QuickSort link joins its argument arrays sublist [A,B] returns a list of items of B chosen according to the list of booleans given in A, selecting those items of B where the corresponding item of A is true. In a Fork [A,B,C] X the first A is a predicate, and if A(X) is true, then B(X) is returned else C(X) is returned. Pass is an identity operation for arrays. quicksort is fork [ >= [1 first,tally], pass, link [ quicksort sublist [ < [pass, first], pass ], sublist [ match [pass,first],pass ], quicksort sublist [ > [pass,first], pass ] ] ] Using it: quicksort [5, 8, | of functional model, and modified the Array Theory in the Version 6. Only Version 6 is available now. Nial defines all its data types as nested rectangular arrays. ints, booleans, chars etc. are considered as a solitary array or an array containing a single member. Arrays themselves can contain other arrays to form arbitrarily deep structures. Nial also provides Records. They are defined as non-homogenous array structure. Functions in Nial are called Operations. From Nial manual: "An operation is a functional object that is given an argument array and returns a result array. The process of executing an operation by giving it an argument value is called an operation call or an operation application." Application of operations Nial like other APL-derived languages allows the unification of binary operators and operations. Thus the below notations have the same meaning. Note: sum is same as + Binary operation: 2 + 3 2 sum 3 Array notation: + [2,3] sum [2,3] Strand notation: + 2 3 sum 2 3 Grouped notation: + (2 3) sum (2 3) Nial also uses transformers which are higher order functions. They use the argument operation to construct a new modified operation. twice is transformer f (f f) twice rest [4, 5, 6, 7, 8] |6 7 8 Atlas An atlas in Nial is an operation made up of an array of component operations. When an atlas is applied to a value, each element of the atlas is applied in turn to the value to provide an result. This is used to provide point free (without-variables) style of definitions. It is also used by the transformers. In the below examples 'inner [+,*]' the list '[+,*]' is an atlas. Examples Creating arrays count 6 |1 2 3 4 5 6 Arrays can also be literal Arr := [5, 6, 7, 8, 9] |5 6 7 8 9 Shape gives the array dimensions and reshape can be used to reshape the dimensions. shape Arr |5 a := 2 3 reshape Arr # reshape is a binary operation with two arguments. It can also be written in prefix as # a := reshape [[2,3], Arr] |5 6 7 |8 9 5 b := 3 2 reshape Arr |5 6 |7 8 |9 5 inner[+,*] b |130 113 |148 145 Computing an average Definitions are of the form '<name> is <expression>' average is / [sum, tally] |
Jabal al-Ṭārif near Nag Hammadi in 1945. The city was the site of the Nag Hammadi Massacre in January 2010, in which eight Coptic Christians were shot dead by three men. In total, nineteen Coptic Christians were attacked. Economy Sugar and aluminium are produced in Nag Hammadi. The Nag Hammadi Sugar factory was built in 1895-1897 by French contractors Cail and Fives. It is still in operation in 2018. Egyptalum is the largest aluminium producer in the Middle East. Wood particleboard is manufactured from sugar cane bagasse. See | Egypt beginning in 1882. Nag Hammadi is about west of ancient Chenoboskion () The "Nag Hammadi Library", an important collection of 2nd-century Gnostic texts, was found at Jabal al-Ṭārif near Nag Hammadi in 1945. The city was the site of the Nag Hammadi Massacre in January 2010, in which eight Coptic Christians were shot dead by three men. In total, nineteen Coptic Christians were attacked. Economy Sugar and aluminium are produced |
most famous single result is the first complete proof demonstrating the impossibility of solving the general quintic equation in radicals. This question was one of the outstanding open problems of his day, and had been unresolved for over 250 years. He was also an innovator in the field of elliptic functions, discoverer of Abelian functions. He made his discoveries while living in poverty and died at the age of 26 from tuberculosis. Most of his work was done in six or seven years of his working life. Regarding Abel, the French mathematician Charles Hermite said: "Abel has left mathematicians enough to keep them busy for five hundred years." Another French mathematician, Adrien-Marie Legendre, said: "quelle tête celle du jeune Norvégien!" ("what a head the young Norwegian has!"). The Abel Prize in mathematics, originally proposed in 1899 to complement the Nobel Prizes, is named in his honour. Life Early life Niels Henrik Abel was born in Nedstrand, Norway, as the second child of the pastor Søren Georg Abel and Anne Marie Simonsen. When Niels Henrik Abel was born, the family was living at a rectory on Finnøy. Much suggests that Niels Henrik was born in the neighboring parish, as his parents were guests of the bailiff in Nedstrand in July / August of his year of birth.{{NoteTag|Niels Henrik was born premature and, according to oral tradition, a newly born child had to be washed in red wine and wrapped in cotton cloth in order to survive. Niels Henrik's father baptised him, and wrote in the parish register: "6 September 1802 baptized in Finnøy church the pastor Søren G. Abel and Ane Marie Simonsen's child, Niels Henrik, born 5 August" – (Norwegian: September 6te 1802 døbt i Findøe Kirke Sognepræsten Søren G. Abel og Ane Marie Simonsens Barn Niels Henrik, fød den 5te August.")Morten Kiærulf was appointed pastor for Nedstrand in 1829. He wrote in a letter in 1880 to professor Bjerknes in Valle, that he was told by locals that one of Abel's sons was born at former bailiff Marstrand's house in Nedstrand.<ref>Myhre, Sigmar: Ætt og heim 2009, chapter 6, Niels Henrik Abel – fødestaden. .</ref>}} Niels Henrik Abel's father, Søren Georg Abel, had a degree in theology and philosophy and served as pastor at Finnøy. Søren's father, Niels's grandfather, Hans Mathias Abel, was also a pastor, at Gjerstad Church near the town of Risør. Søren had spent his childhood at Gjerstad, and had also served as chaplain there; and after his father's death in 1804, Søren was appointed pastor at Gjerstad and the family moved there. The Abel family originated in Schleswig and came to Norway in the 17th century. Anne Marie Simonsen was from Risør; her father, Niels Henrik Saxild Simonsen, was a tradesman and merchant ship-owner, and said to be the richest person in Risør. Anne Marie had grown up with two stepmothers, in relatively luxurious surroundings. At Gjerstad rectory, she enjoyed arranging balls and social gatherings. Much suggests she was early on an alcoholic and took little interest in the upbringing of the children. Niels Henrik and his brothers were given their schooling by their father, with handwritten books to read. An addition table in a book of mathematics reads: 1+0=0. Cathedral School and Royal Frederick University With Norwegian independence and the first election held in Norway, in 1814, Søren Abel was elected as a representative to the Storting. Meetings of the Storting were held until 1866 in the main hall of the Cathedral School in Christiania (now known as Oslo). Almost certainly, this is how he came into contact with the school, and he decided that his eldest son, Hans Mathias, should start there the following year. However, when the time for his departure approached, Hans was so saddened and depressed over having to leave home that his father did not dare send him away. He decided to send Niels instead. In 1815, Niels Abel entered the Cathedral School at the age of 13. His elder brother Hans joined him there a year later. They shared rooms and had classes together. Hans got better grades than Niels; however, a new mathematics teacher, Bernt Michael Holmboe, was appointed in 1818. He gave the students mathematical tasks to do at home. He saw Niels Henrik's talent in mathematics, and encouraged him to study the subject to an advanced level. He even gave Niels private lessons after school. In 1818, Søren Abel had a public theological argument with the theologian Stener Johannes Stenersen regarding his catechism from 1806. The argument was well covered in the press. Søren was given the nickname "Abel Treating" (Norwegian: "Abel Spandabel"). Niels' reaction to the quarrel was said to have been "excessive gaiety". At the same time, Søren also almost faced impeachment after insulting Carsten Anker, the host of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly; and in September 1818 he returned to Gjerstad with his political career in ruins. He began drinking heavily and died only two years later, in 1820, aged 48. Bernt Michael Holmboe supported Niels Henrik Abel with a scholarship to remain at the school and raised money from his friends to enable him to study at the Royal Frederick University. When Abel entered the university in 1821, he was already the most knowledgeable mathematician in Norway. Holmboe had nothing more he could teach him and Abel had studied all the latest mathematical literature in the university library. During that time, Abel started working on the quintic equation in radicals. Mathematicians had been looking for a solution to this problem for over 250 years. In 1821, Abel thought he had found the solution. The two professors of mathematics in Christiania, Søren Rasmussen and Christopher Hansteen, found no errors in Abel's formulas, and sent the work on to the leading mathematician in the Nordic countries, Carl Ferdinand Degen in Copenhagen. He too found no faults but still doubted that the solution, which so many outstanding mathematicians had sought for so long, could really have been found by an unknown student in far-off Christiania. Degen noted, however, Abel's unusually sharp mind, and believed that such a talented young man should not waste | the university to publish it. However, the work was lost while being reviewed, never to be found thereafter. In mid-1823, Professor Rasmussen gave Abel a gift of 100 speciedaler so he could travel to Copenhagen and visit Ferdinand Degen and other mathematicians there. While in Copenhagen, Abel did some work on Fermat's Last Theorem. Abel's uncle, Peder Mandrup Tuxen, lived at the naval base in Christianshavn, Copenhagen, and at a ball there Niels Abel met Christine Kemp, his future fiancée. In 1824, Christine moved to Son, Norway to work as a governess and the couple got engaged over Christmas. After returning from Copenhagen, Abel applied for a government scholarship in order to visit top mathematicians in Germany and France, but he was instead granted 200 speciedaler yearly for two years, to stay in Christiania and study German and French. In the next two years, he was promised a scholarship of 600 speciedaler yearly and he would then be permitted to travel abroad. While studying these languages, Abel published his first notable work in 1824, Mémoire sur les équations algébriques où on démontre l'impossibilité de la résolution de l'équation générale du cinquième degré (Memoir on algebraic equations, in which the impossibility of solving the general equation of the fifth degree is proven). For, in 1823, Abel had at last proved the impossibility of solving the quintic equation in radicals (now referred to as the Abel–Ruffini theorem). However, this paper was in an abstruse and difficult form, in part because he had restricted himself to only six pages in order to save money on printing. A more detailed proof was published in 1826 in the first volume of Crelle's Journal. In 1825, Abel wrote a personal letter to King Carl Johan of Norway/Sweden requesting permission to travel abroad. He was granted this permission, and in September 1825 he left Christiania together with four friends from university (Christian P.B Boeck, Balthazar M. Keilhau, Nicolay B. Møller and Otto Tank). These four friends of Abel were traveling to Berlin and to the Alps to study geology. Abel wanted to follow them to Copenhagen and from there make his way to Göttingen. The terms for his scholarship stipulated that he was to visit Gauss in Göttingen and then continue to Paris. However, when he got as far as Copenhagen, he changed his plans. He wanted to follow his friends to Berlin instead, intending to visit Göttingen and Paris afterwards. On the way, he visited the astronomer Heinrich Christian Schumacher in Altona, now a district of Hamburg. He then spent four months in Berlin, where he became well acquainted with August Leopold Crelle, who was then about to publish his mathematical journal, Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik. This project was warmly encouraged by Abel, who contributed much to the success of the venture. Abel contributed seven articles to it in its first year. From Berlin Abel also followed his friends to the Alps. He went to Leipzig and Freiberg to visit Georg Amadeus Carl Friedrich Naumann and his brother the mathematician August Naumann. In Freiberg Abel did research in the theory of functions, particularly, elliptic, hyperelliptic, and a new class now known as abelian functions. From Freiberg they went on to Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Trieste, Venice, Verona, Bolzano, Innsbruck, Luzern and Basel. From July 1826 Abel traveled on his own from Basel to Paris. Abel had sent most of his work to Berlin to be published in Crelle's Journal, but he had saved what he regarded as his most important work for the French Academy of Sciences, a theorem on addition of algebraic differentials. With the help of a painter, Johan Gørbitz, he found an apartment in Paris and continued his work on the theorem. He finished in October 1826 and submitted it to the academy. It was to be reviewed by Augustin-Louis Cauchy. Abel's work was scarcely known in Paris, and his modesty restrained him from proclaiming his research. The theorem was put aside and forgotten until his death. Abel's limited finances finally compelled him to abandon his tour in January 1827. He returned to Berlin, and was offered a position as editor of Crelle's Journal, but opted out. By May 1827 he was back in Norway. His tour abroad was viewed as a failure. He had not visited Gauss in Göttingen and he had not published anything in Paris. His scholarship was therefore not renewed and he had to take up a private loan in Norges Bank of 200 spesidaler. He never repaid this loan. He also started tutoring. He continued to send most of his work to Crelle's Journal. But in mid-1828 he published, in rivalry with Carl Jacobi, an important work on elliptic functions in Astronomische Nachrichten in Altona. Death While in Paris, Abel contracted tuberculosis. At Christmas 1828, he traveled by sled to Froland, Norway, to visit his fiancée. He became seriously ill on the journey. Although a temporary improvement allowed the couple to enjoy the holiday together, he died relatively soon after on 6 April 1829, just two days before a letter arrived from August Crelle. Crelle had been searching for a new job for Abel in Berlin and had actually managed to have him appointed as a Professor at the University of Berlin. |
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L. M. Barreto, Brazilian cryptographer and academic 1965 – Paul Weitz, American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and playwright 1966 – Shmuley Boteach, American rabbi and author 1966 – Gail Devers, American sprinter and hurdler 1966 – Rocco DiSpirito, American chef and author 1966 – Kakhaber Kacharava, Georgian footballer and manager 1966 – Jason Scott Lee, American actor and martial artist 1967 – Yaroslav Blanter, Russian physicist 1967 – Randi Kaye, American journalist 1969 – Philippe Adams, Belgian race car driver 1969 – Erika Alexander, American actress and screenwriter 1969 – Ertuğrul Sağlam, Turkish footballer and coach 1969 – Richard Virenque, Moroccan-French cyclist and sportscaster 1971 – Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur, American author and activist 1971 – Justin Chancellor, English bass player 1971 – Jeremy McGrath, American motorcycle racer 1971 – Alice Peacock, American singer-songwriter 1971 – Tony Rich, American R&B singer-songwriter and musician 1972 – Sandrine Holt, English-American model and actress 1973 – Billy Currington, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1973 – Savion Glover, American dancer and choreographer 1975 – Toby Bailey, American basketball player and agent 1975 – Sushmita Sen, Indian actress, model and Miss Universe 1994 1976 – Jack Dorsey, American businessman, co-founded Twitter 1976 – Robin Dunne, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter 1976 – Jun Shibata, Japanese singer-songwriter 1976 – Petr Sýkora, Czech ice hockey player 1976 – Stylianos Venetidis, Greek footballer and manager 1977 – Kerri Strug, American gymnast and runner 1978 – Dries Buytaert, Belgian computer programmer 1978 – Matt Dusk, Canadian singer 1978 – Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová, Czech discus thrower and shot putter 1979 – Keith Buckley, American singer-songwriter 1979 – Mahé Drysdale, New Zealand rower 1979 – John-Ford Griffin, American baseball player 1979 – Ryan Howard, American baseball player 1979 – Larry Johnson, American football player 1979 – Leam Richardson, English footballer and manager 1980 – Courtney Anderson, American football player 1980 – Otis Grigsby, American football player 1980 – Vladimir Radmanović, Serbian basketball player 1981 – Marcus Banks, American basketball player 1981 – André Lotterer, German race car driver 1981 – Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, Argentine rugby player 1981 – DJ Tukutz, South Korean DJ, producer, and songwriter 1981 – Mark Wallace, Welsh-English cricketer 1983 – Chandra Crawford, Canadian skier 1983 – Adam Driver, American actor 1983 – Daria Werbowy, Polish-Canadian model 1984 – Dawid Kucharski, Polish footballer 1984 – Brittany Maynard, American activist (d. 2014) 1985 – Chris Eagles, English footballer 1985 – Alex Mack, American football player 1986 – Sam Betty, English rugby player 1986 – Jeannie Ortega, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress 1986 – Michael Saunders, Canadian baseball player 1986 – Jessicah Schipper, Australian swimmer 1986 – Milan Smiljanić, Serbian footballer 1987 – Sílvia Soler Espinosa, Spanish tennis player 1988 – Timo Eichfuss, Estonian basketball player 1988 – Patrick Kane, American ice hockey player 1989 – John McCarthy, Australian footballer (d. 2012) 1989 – Roman Sergeevich Trofimov, Russian ski jumper 1989 – Tyga, American rapper 1990 – Marquise Goodwin, American football player 1990 – John Moore, American ice hockey player 1990 – Benedikt Schmid, German footballer 1991 – Marina Marković, Serbian basketball player 1991 – Fabien Antunes, French footballer 1992 – Cameron Bancroft, Australian cricketer 1993 – Kerim Frei, Austrian footballer 1993 – Suso, Spanish footballer 1994 – Ibrahima Mbaye, Senegalese footballer 1995 – Vanessa Axente, Hungarian model 1997 – Kotonowaka Masahiro, Japanese sumo wrestler 1997 – The McCaughey septuplets 1999 – Evgenia Medvedeva, Russian figure skater Deaths Pre-1600 496 – Pope Gelasius I 498 – Pope Anastasius II 930 – Yan Keqiu, Chinese chief strategist 1034 – Theodoric II, Margrave of Lower Lusatia (b. c. 990) 1092 – Malik-Shah I, Seljuk Sultan 1288 – Rudolf I, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1230) 1298 – Mechtilde, Saxon saint (b. c. 1240) 1350 – Raoul II of Brienne, Count of Eu 1481 – Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (b. 1472) 1557 – Bona Sforza, Italian wife of Sigismund I the Old (b. 1494) 1577 – Matsunaga Hisahide, Japanese daimyō (b. 1510) 1581 – Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich of Russia (b. 1554) 1601–1900 1630 – Johann Hermann Schein, German singer and composer (b. 1586) 1649 – Caspar Schoppe, German scholar and author (b. 1576) 1665 – Nicolas Poussin, French-Italian painter (b. 1594) 1672 – John Wilkins, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1614) 1679 – Roger Conant, Massachusetts governor (b. 1592) 1692 – Thomas Shadwell, English poet and playwright (b. 1642) 1703 – Man in the Iron Mask, French prisoner 1723 – Antoine Nompar de Caumont, French courtier and soldier (b. 1632) 1772 – William Nelson, American politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1711) 1773 – James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, Irish soldier and politician (b. 1722) 1785 – Bernard de Bury, French harpsichord player and composer (b. 1720) 1798 – Wolfe Tone, Irish general (b. 1763) 1804 – Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi, Italian composer (b. 1728) 1810 – Jean-Georges Noverre, French dancer and choreographer (b. 1725) 1822 – Johann Georg Tralles, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1763) 1828 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1797) 1831 – Titumir, Bengali revolutionary (b. 1782) 1850 – Richard Mentor Johnson, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 9th Vice President of the United States (b. 1780) 1868 – Ivane Andronikashvili, Georgian general (b. 1798) 1883 – Carl Wilhelm Siemens, German-English engineer (b. 1823) 1887 – Emma Lazarus, American poet (b. 1849) 1897 – William Seymour Tyler, American historian and academic (b. 1810) 1901–present 1910 – Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig, German chemist (b. 1835) 1915 – Joe Hill, Swedish-born American labor activist (b. 1879) 1918 – Joseph F. Smith, American religious leader, 6th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1838) 1924 – Thomas H. Ince, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1882) 1928 – Jeanne Bérangère, French actress (b. 1864) 1931 – Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet and translator (b. 1897) 1938 – Lev Shestov, Ukrainian-Russian philosopher and theologian (b. 1866) 1942 – Bruno Schulz, Polish painter and critic (b. 1892) 1943 – Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 29th Yokozuna (b. 1895) 1949 – James Ensor, Belgian painter (b. 1860) 1950 – Aage Redal, Danish actor (b. 1891) 1954 – Walter Bartley Wilson, English footballer and manager (b. 1870) 1955 – Marquis James, American journalist and author (b. 1891) 1956 – Francis L. Sullivan, English-American actor (b. 1903) 1959 – Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (b. 1892) 1960 – Phyllis Haver, American actress (b. 1899) 1962 – Grigol Robakidze, Georgian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1882) 1963 – Carmen Boni, Italian-French actress (b. 1901) 1963 – Henry B. Richardson, American archer (b. 1889) 1967 – Charles J. Watters, American priest and soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1927) 1968 – May Hollinworth, Australian theatre producer and director (b. 1895) 1970 – Lewis Sargent, American actor (b. 1903) 1974 – George Brunies, American trombonist (b. 1902) 1974 – Louise Fitzhugh, American author and illustrator (b. 1928) 1975 – Roger D. Branigin, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Governor of Indiana (b. 1902) 1975 – Rudolf Kinau, Low German writer (b. 1887) 1975 – Elizabeth Taylor (novelist), English novelist, (b. 1912) 1976 – Basil Spence, Indian-Scottish architect and academic, designed the Coventry Cathedral (b. 1907) 1983 – Tom Evans, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947) 1985 – Stepin Fetchit, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1907) 1985 – Juan Arvizu, Mexican lyric opera tenor and bolero vocalist (b. 1900) 1988 – Christina Onassis, American-Greek businesswoman (b. 1950) 1988 – Peggy Parish, American author (b. 1927) 1989 – Grant Adcox, American race car driver (b. 1950) 1990 – Sun Li-jen, Chinese general and politician (b. 1900) 1991 – Reggie Nalder, Austrian-American actor (b. 1907) 1992 – Bobby | (d. 1669) 1601–1900 1617 – Eustache Le Sueur, French painter and educator (d. 1655) 1700 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French priest and physicist (d. 1770) 1711 – Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian physicist, chemist, astronomer, and geographer (d. 1765) 1722 – Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (d. 1809) 1722 – Benjamin Chew, American lawyer and judge (d. 1810) 1752 – George Rogers Clark, American general (d. 1818) 1765 – Filippo Castagna, Maltese politician (d. 1830) 1770 – Bertel Thorvaldsen, Danish sculptor and academic (d. 1844) 1802 – Solomon Foot, American lawyer and politician (d. 1866) 1805 – Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and engineer, developed the Suez Canal (d. 1894) 1808 – Janez Bleiweis, Slovenian journalist, physician, and politician (d. 1881) 1812 – Karl Schwarz, German theologian and politician (d. 1885) 1828 – Rani Lakshmibai, Indian queen (d. 1858) 1831 – James A. Garfield, American general, lawyer, and politician, 20th President of the United States (d. 1881) 1833 – Wilhelm Dilthey, German psychologist, sociologist, and historian (d. 1911) 1834 – Georg Hermann Quincke, German physicist and academic (d. 1924) 1843 – Richard Avenarius, German-Swiss philosopher and academic (d. 1896) 1843 – C. X. Larrabee, American businessman (d. 1914) 1845 – Agnes Giberne, Indian-English astronomer and author (d. 1939) 1859 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer, conductor, and educator (d. 1935) 1862 – Billy Sunday, American baseball player and evangelist (d. 1935) 1873 – Elizabeth McCombs, the first woman elected to the Parliament of New Zealand (d. 1935) 1875 – Mikhail Kalinin, Russian civil servant and politician, 1st Head of State of The Soviet Union (d. 1946) 1876 – Tatyana Afanasyeva, Russian-Dutch mathematician and theorist (d. 1964) 1877 – Giuseppe Volpi, Italian businessman and politician, founded the Venice Film Festival (d. 1947) 1883 – Ned Sparks, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1957) 1887 – James B. Sumner, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955) 1888 – José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban-American chess player and theologian (d. 1942) 1889 – Clifton Webb, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1966) 1892 – Thomas Clay, English footballer and coach (d. 1949) 1892 – Huw T. Edwards, Welsh poet and politician (d. 1970) 1893 – René Voisin, French trumpet player (d. 1952) 1894 – Américo Tomás, Portuguese admiral and politician, 14th President of Portugal (d. 1987) 1895 – Louise Dahl-Wolfe, American photographer (d. 1989) 1895 – Evert van Linge, Dutch footballer and architect (d. 1964) 1897 – Quentin Roosevelt, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1918) 1898 – Klement Jug, Slovenian philosopher and mountaineer (d. 1924) 1898 – Arthur R. von Hippel, German-American physicist and academic (d. 2003) 1899 – Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, Iranian religious leader and scholar (d. 1992) 1899 – Allen Tate, American poet and critic (d. 1979) 1900 – Bunny Ahearne, Irish-English ice hockey player and manager (d. 1985) 1900 – Mikhail Lavrentyev, Russian mathematician and hydrodynamicist (d. 1980) 1900 – Anna Seghers, German author and politician (d. 1983) 1901–present 1901 – Nina Bari, Russian mathematician (d. 1961) 1904 – Nathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr., American murderer (d. 1971) 1905 – Eleanor Audley, American actress (d. 1991) 1905 – Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist, composer and bandleader (d. 1956) 1906 – Franz Schädle, German SS officer (d. 1945) 1907 – Jack Schaefer, American author (d. 1991) 1907 – Hans Liska, Austrian-German artist (d. 1983) 1909 – Peter Drucker, Austrian-American theorist, educator, and author (d. 2005). 1909 – Carlos López Moctezuma, Mexican actor (d. 1980). 1910 – Adrian Conan Doyle, English race car driver, author, and explorer (d. 1970) 1912 – Bernard Joseph McLaughlin, American bishop (d. 2015) 1912 – George Emil Palade, Romanian-American biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008) 1912 – Robert Simpson, American meteorologist and author (d. 2014) 1915 – Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., American pharmacologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974) 1917 – Indira Gandhi, Indian politician, Prime Minister of India (d. 1984) 1919 – Gillo Pontecorvo, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2006) 1919 – Alan Young, English-Canadian actor, singer, and director (d. 2016) 1919 – Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican nationalist (d. 2010) 1920 – Gene Tierney, American actress and singer (d. 1991) 1921 – Roy Campanella, American baseball player and coach (d. 1993) 1921 – Peter Ruckman, American pastor and educator (d. 2016) 1922 – Salil Chowdhury, Indian director, playwright, and composer (d. 1995) 1922 – Yuri Knorozov, Ukrainian-Russian linguist, epigrapher, and ethnographer (d. 1999) 1922 – Rajko Mitić, Serbian footballer and coach (d. 2008) 1923 – Louis D. Rubin, Jr., American author, critic, and academic (d. 2013) 1924 – Jane Freilicher, American painter and poet (d. 2014) 1924 – William Russell, English actor 1924 – Knut Steen, Norwegian-Italian sculptor (d. 2011) 1924 – Margaret Turner-Warwick, English physician and academic (d. 2017) 1925 – Zygmunt Bauman, Polish-English sociologist, historian, and academic (d. 2017) 1926 – Jeane Kirkpatrick, American academic and diplomat, 16th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2006) 1926 – Pino Rauti, Italian journalist and politician (d. 2012) 1926 – Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright and screenwriter (d. 2011) 1928 – Dara Singh, Indian wrestler, actor, and politician (d. 2012) 1929 – Norman Cantor, Canadian-American historian and scholar (d. 2004) 1930 – Kurt Nielsen, Danish tennis player, referee, and sportscaster (d. 2011) 1932 – Eleanor F. Helin, American astronomer (d. 2009) 1933 – Larry King, American journalist and talk show host (d. 2021) 1933 – Jerry Sheindlin, American judge and author 1934 – Kurt Hamrin, Swedish footballer and scout 1934 – Valentin Ivanov, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2011) 1934 – David Lloyd-Jones, English conductor 1935 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and scholar (d. 1990) 1935 – Jack Welch, American engineer, businessman, and author (d. 2020) 1936 – Dick Cavett, American actor and talk show host 1936 – Ray Collins, American singer (d. 2012) 1936 – Yuan T. Lee, Taiwanese-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1937 – Penelope Leach, English psychologist and author 1938 – Len Killeen, South African rugby league player (d. 2011) 1938 – Frank Misson, Australian cricketer 1938 – Ted Turner, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Turner Broadcasting System 1939 – Emil Constantinescu, Romanian academic and politician, 3rd President of Romania 1939 – Tom Harkin, American lawyer and politician 1939 – Jane Mansbridge, American political scientist and academic 1939 – Warren "Pete" Moore, American singer-songwriter and record producer (d. 2017) 1939 – Richard Zare, American chemist and academic 1940 – Gary Gruber, author and expert on test-prep 1941 – Denny Doherty, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2007) 1941 – Dan Haggerty, American actor and producer (d. 2016) 1941 – Tommy Thompson, American captain and politician, 19th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services 1942 – Roland Clift, English engineer and academic 1942 – Larry Gilbert, American golfer (d. 1998) 1942 – Calvin Klein, American fashion designer, founded Calvin Klein Inc. 1942 – Sharon Olds, American poet and academic 1943 – Fred Lipsius, American saxophonist and educator 1943 – Aurelio Monteagudo, Cuban-American baseball player and manager (d. 1990) 1944 – Agnes Baltsa, Greek soprano and actress 1944 – Dennis Hull, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster 1945 – Hans Monderman, Dutch engineer (d. 2008) 1945 – Bobby Tolan, American baseball player and manager 1947 – Bob Boone, American baseball player and manager 1947 – Anfinn Kallsberg, Faroese politician, 10th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands 1947 – Lamar S. Smith, American lawyer and politician 1949 – Raymond Blanc, French chef and author 1949 – Ahmad Rashād, American football player and sportscaster 1950 – Peter Biyiasas, Greek-Canadian chess player 1951 – Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain 1953 – Robert Beltran, American actor 1953 – Tom Villard, American actor (d. 1994) 1954 – Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egyptian field marshal and politician, 6th President of Egypt 1954 – Réjean Lemelin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1954 – Kathleen Quinlan, American actress 1955 – Sam Hamm, American screenwriter and producer 1956 – Peter Carter, English diplomat, British Ambassador to Estonia (d. 2014) 1956 – Eileen Collins, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut 1956 – Ann Curry, Guamanian-American journalist 1956 – Glynnis O'Connor, American actress 1956 – Sergiy Vilkomir, Ukrainian-born computer scientist (d. 2020) 1957 – Ofra |
physicist (d. 1962) 1873 – Georges Caussade, French composer (d. 1936) 1873 – Daniel Gregory Mason, American composer and music critic (d. 1953) 1874 – James Michael Curley, American lawyer, politician, 53rd Governor of Massachusetts, and criminal (d. 1958) 1875 – Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg, German diplomat (d. 1944) 1876 – Rudolf Koch, German designer (d. 1934) 1877 – Herbert Pitman, English sailor (d. 1961) 1880 – Walter Brack, German swimmer (d. 1919) 1881 – Irakli Tsereteli, Georgian politician (d. 1959) 1882 – Ernestas Galvanauskas, Lithuanian engineer and politician (d. 1967) 1883 – Edwin August, American actor and director (d. 1964) 1883 – Tony Gaudio, Italian American cinematographer (d. 1951) 1884 – Norman Thomas, American minister and politician (d. 1968) 1885 – George Holley, English footballer (d. 1942) 1885 – Kaarlo Vasama, Finnish gymnast (d. 1926) 1886 – Robert Hunter, American golfer (d. 1971) 1886 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian-German ethologist and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982) 1886 – Alexandre Stavisky, French financier and embezzler (d. 1934) 1887 – Jean Ducret, French footballer 1888 – Dennis Fenton, American sports shooter (d. 1954) 1889 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer and cosmologist (d. 1953) 1890 – Robert Armstrong, American actor (d. 1973) 1890 – Harald Madsen, Danish actor (d. 1949) 1890 – Lauri Tanner, Finnish gymnast (d. 1950) 1891 – Reginald Denny, English actor (d. 1967) 1892 – James Collip, Canadian biochemist and academic, co-discovered insulin (d. 1965) 1893 – André Bloch, French mathematician (d. 1948) 1893 – Grace Darmond, Canadian-American actress (d. 1963) 1894 – Johann Nikuradse, Georgian-born German engineer and physicist (d. 1979) 1895 – Pierre Cot, French politician (d. 1977) 1896 – Chiyono Hasegawa, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2011) 1896 – Carl Mayer, Austrian-Jewish screenplay writer (d. 1944) 1897 – Germaine Krull, German photographer and political activist (d. 1985) 1898 – Richmond Landon, American high jumper (d. 1971) 1898 – Adrian Piotrovsky, Russian dramaturge (d. 1937) 1899 – Alicja Kotowska, Polish nun (d. 1939) 1900 – Florieda Batson, American Olympic hurdler (d. 1996) 1900 – Helen Bradley, English painter (d. 1979) 1900 – Chester Gould, American cartoonist and author, created Dick Tracy (d. 1985) 1901–present 1901 – José Leandro Andrade, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1957) 1902 – Gianpiero Combi, Italian footballer (d. 1956) 1902 – Erik Eriksen, Danish politician (d. 1972) 1902 – Heini Meng, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 1982) 1902 – Jean Painlevé, French photographer and filmmaker (d. 1989) 1902 – Philipp Schmitt, German officer of the Schutzstaffel (d. 1950) 1903 – Alexandra Danilova, Russian-American ballerina and choreographer (d. 1997) 1903 – Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani historian and educator (d. 1981) 1904 – Arnold Gartmann, Swiss bobsledder (d. 1980) 1905 – Minoo Masani, Indian lawyer and politician (d. 1998) 1906 – Vera Tanner, English swimmer (d. 1971) 1907 – Fran Allison, American entertainer (d. 1989) 1907 – Mihai Beniuc, Romanian writer (d. 1988) 1907 – Henri-Georges Clouzot, French film director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1977) 1907 – Anni Rehborn, German swimmer (d. 1987) 1908 – Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine, the youngest son of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse (d. 1968) 1908 – Alistair Cooke, British-American journalist and author (d. 2004) 1908 – Jenő Vincze, Hungarian footballer (d. 1988) 1909 – John Berger, Swiss cross-country skier (d. 2002) 1909 – Vicente Feola, Brazilian football manager and coach (d. 1975) 1909 – Piero Gherardi, Italian costume and set designer (d. 1971) 1909 – Samand Siabandov, Soviet Red Army writer (d. 1989) 1910 – Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch mathematician, pilot, and academic (d. 1944) 1910 – Pauli Murray, American civil rights activist, women's rights activist, lawyer, Episcopal priest, and author (d. 1985) 1911 – Eduard Kainberger, Austrian footballer (d. 1974) 1911 – David Seymour, Polish photographer (d. 1956) 1911 – Jean Shiley, American high jumper (d. 1998) 1911 – Rupert Weinstabl, Austrian sprint canoeist (d. 1953) 1911 – Paul Zielinski, German footballer (d. 1966) 1912 – Enrique Garcia, Argentine footballer (d. 1969) 1912 – Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary (d. 2011) 1913 – Franz Berghammer, Austrian field handballer (d. 1944) 1913 – Charles Berlitz, American linguist (d. 2003) 1913 – Charles Bettelheim, French Marxian economist and historian (d. 2006) 1913 – Judy Canova, American actress and comedian (d. 1983) 1913 – Kostas Choumis, Greek footballer (d. 1981) 1913 – Russell Rouse, American screenwriter, director and producer (d. 1987) 1913 – Libertas Schulze-Boysen, German opponent of the Nazis (d. 1942) 1913 – Yakov Zak, Soviet pianist (d. 1976) 1914 – Emilio Pucci, Italian fashion designer and politician (d. 1992) 1914 – Kurt Lundqvist, Swedish high jumper (d. 1976) 1915 – Kon Ichikawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008) 1915 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese politician (d. 1989) 1916 – Charles E. Osgood, American psychologist (d. 1991) 1916 – Michael J. Ingelido, American general (d. 2015) 1916 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (d. 2008) 1916 – Donald T. Campbell, American social scientist (d. 1996) 1917 – Robert Byrd, American lawyer and politician (d. 2010) 1917 – Leonard Jimmie Savage, American mathematician (d. 1971) 1917 – Erich Leo Lehmann, American statistician (d. 2009) 1917 – Bobby Locke, South African golfer (d. 1987) 1918 – Corita Kent, American nun, illustrator, and educator (d. 1986) 1918 – Dora Ratjen, German high jumper (d. 2008) 1919 – Alan Brown, English race car driver (d. 2004) 1919 – Phyllis Thaxter, American actress (d. 2012) 1920 – Douglas Dick, American actor and psychologist (d. 2015) 1921 – Jim Garrison, American lawyer and judge (d. 1992) 1923 – Gunnar Åkerlund, Swedish sprint canoer (d. 2006) 1923 – Danny Dayton, American actor and director (d. 1999) 1923 – Tonino Delli Colli, Italian cinematographer (d. 2005) 1923 – Nadine Gordimer, South African novelist, short story writer, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014) 1924 – Karen Harup, Danish swimmer (d. 2009) 1924 – Timothy Evans, (d. 1950) 1924 – Benoit Mandelbrot, Polish-American mathematician and economist (d. 2010) 1924 – Michael Riffaterre, French literary critic and theorist (d. 2006) 1924 – Henk Vredeling, Dutch agronomist and politician, Dutch Minister of Defence (d. 2007) 1925 – June Christy, American singer (d. 1990) 1925 – Robert F. Kennedy, US Navy officer, lawyer, and politician, 64th United States Attorney General (d. 1968) 1925 – Maya Plisetskaya, Russian-Lithuanian ballerina, choreographer, actress, and director (d. 2015) 1926 – John Gardner, English soldier and author (d. 2007) 1926 – Tôn Thất Đính, Vietnamese general (d. 2013) 1926 – Édouard Leclerc, French businessman and entrepreneur (d. 2012) 1926 – Miroslav Tichý, Czech photographer (d. 2011) 1927 – Vakhtang Balavadze, Georgian wrestler (d. 2018) 1927 – Ed Freeman, American soldier and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2008) 1927 – Estelle Parsons, American actress and director 1927 – Wolfgang Schreyer, German writer (d. 2017) 1927 – Mikhail Ulyanov, Soviet and Russian actor (d. 2007) 1928 – Aleksey Batalov, Russian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2017) 1928 – Franklin Cover, American actor (d. 2006) 1928 – Pedro Ferrándiz, Spanish basketball coach 1928 – John Disley, Welsh athlete (d. 2016) 1928 – Pete Rademacher, American boxer 1928 – Genrikh Sapgir, Russian writer (d. 1999) 1929 – Jerry Hardin, American actor 1929 – Raymond Lefèvre, French composer (d. 2008) 1929 – Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, Colombian footballer 1929 – Ron Willey, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2004) 1930 – Christine Arnothy, French writer (d. 2015) 1930 – Aarón Hernán, Mexican actor 1930 – Bernard Horsfall, English-Scottish actor (d. 2013) 1930 – Choe Yong-rim, North Korean Premier 1931 – Wayne Moore, American swimmer (d. 2015) 1932 – Richard Dawson, English-American actor and game show host (d. 2012) 1932 – Yorozuya Kinnosuke, Japanese kabuki actor (d. 1997) 1932 – Sándor Mátrai, Hungarian footballer (d. 2002) 1932 – Paulo Valentim, Brazilian footballer (d. 1984) 1932 – Colville Young, Governor-General of Belize 1934 – Paco Ibáñez, Spanish singer and musician 1934 – Lev Polugaevsky, Soviet Chess Grandmaster (d. 1995) 1935 – Leo Falcam, Micronesian politician and 5th President of Micronesia (d. 2018) 1935 – Imre Makovecz, Hungarian architect (d. 2011) 1936 – Hans van Abeelen, Dutch geneticist (d. 1998) 1936 – Don DeLillo, American novelist, essayist, and playwright 1936 – Luciano Fabro, Italian sculptor and artist (d. 2007) 1936 – Charles R. Larson, American admiral (d. 2014) 1937 – René Kollo, German tenor 1937 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist and educator (d. 2005) 1937 – Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish skier (d. 2013) 1937 – Bruno Mealli, Italian cyclist 1937 – Viktoriya Tokareva, Russian author and screenwriter 1938 – Colin Fox, Canadian actor 1939 – Jerry Colangelo, American businessman 1939 – Copi, Argentine writer and artist (d. 1987) 1939 – Dick Smothers, American actor and comedian 1939 – Jan Szczepański, Polish boxer (d. 2017) 1940 – Wendy Doniger, American indologist 1940 – Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014) 1940 – Ediz Hun, Turkish actor and politician 1940 – Arieh Warshel, Israeli-American biochemist and biophysicist 1941 – Oliver Sipple, U.S. Marine and Vietnam War veteran (d. 1989) 1941 – Dr. John, American singer and songwriter (d. 2019) 1942 – Joe Biden, American politician, 46th President of the United States 1942 – Bob Einstein, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019) 1942 – Norman Greenbaum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1942 – Meredith Monk, American composer and choreographer 1942 – Paulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Mosul (d. 2008) 1943 – David Douglas-Home, British businessman and politician 1943 – Veronica Hamel, American actress and model 1943 – Ivan Hrdlička, Czechoslovakian footballer 1943 – Suze Rotolo, American artist 1944 – Louie Dampier, American basketball player and coach 1944 – Wayne Maki, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1974) 1944 – Anthea Stewart, Zimbabwean field hockey player 1945 – Deborah Eisenberg, American writer, actress and teacher 1946 – Duane Allman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1971) 1946 – Algimantas Butnorius, Lithuanian chess Grandmaster (d. 2017) 1946 – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow 1946 – Samuel E. Wright, American actor, voice actor and singer (d. 2021) 1947 – Nurlan Balgimbayev, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (d. 2015) 1947 – Eli Ben Rimoz, Israeli footballer 1947 – Joe Walsh, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor 1948 – John R. Bolton, American lawyer and diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations 1948 – Park Chul-soo, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013) 1948 – Barbara Hendricks, American-Swedish soprano and actress 1948 – Richard Masur, American actor and director 1948 – Gunnar Nilsson, Swedish race car driver (d. 1978) 1948 – Kenjiro Shinozuka, Japanese race car driver 1949 – Jeff Dowd, American film producer and activist 1949 – Thelma Drake, American politician 1949 – Ulf Lundell, Swedish writer and composer 1949 – Juha Mieto, | of Burgundy, and Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans, agree to a truce, but Burgundy would kill Orléans three days later. 1441 – The Peace of Cremona ends the war between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan, after the victorious Venetian enterprise of military engineering of the Galeas per montes. 1601–1900 1695 – Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, is executed by the forces of Portuguese bandeirante Domingos Jorge Velho. 1739 – Start of the Battle of Porto Bello between British and Spanish forces during the War of Jenkins' Ear. 1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at the Palisades and then attack Fort Lee. The Continental Army starts to retreat across New Jersey. 1789 – New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights. 1805 – Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, premieres in Vienna. 1815 – The Second Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1790 extent, imposing large indemnities, and prolonging the occupation by Allied troops for several more years. 1820 – An 80-ton sperm whale attacks and sinks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) from the western coast of South America. (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick was in part inspired by this incident.) 1845 – Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata: Battle of Vuelta de Obligado. 1861 – American Civil War: A secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government. 1873 – Garnier Expedition: French forces under Lieutenant Francis Garnier captured Hanoi from the Vietnamese. 1900 – The French actress Sarah Bernhardt receives the press at the Savoy Hotel in New York at the outset of her first visit since 1896. She talked about her impending tour with a troupe of more than 50 performers and her plans to play the title role in Hamlet. 1901–present 1910 – Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosí, denouncing Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution. 1917 – World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins: British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back. 1936 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange, is killed by a republican execution squad. 1940 – World War II: Hungary becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins: United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns. 1945 – Nuremberg trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg. 1947 – The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London. 1959 – The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is adopted by the United Nations. 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation. 1968 – A total of 78 miners are killed in an explosion at the Consolidated Coal Company's No. 9 mine in Farmington, West Virginia in the Farmington Mine disaster. 1969 – Vietnam War: The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. 1969 – Occupation of Alcatraz: Native American activists seize control of Alcatraz Island until being ousted by the U.S. Government on June 11, 1971. 1974 – The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T Corporation. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System. 1974 – The first fatal crash of a Boeing 747 occurs when Lufthansa Flight 540 crashes while attempting to takeoff from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 59 out of the 157 people on board. 1977 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement. 1979 – Grand Mosque seizure: About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take about 6000 hostages. The Saudi government receives help from Pakistani special forces to put down the uprising. 1980 – Lake Peigneur in Louisiana drains into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe had been drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole. 1985 – Microsoft Windows 1.0, the first graphical personal computer operating environment developed by Microsoft, is released. 1989 – Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia, swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million. 1990 – Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific serial killers, is arrested; he eventually confesses to 56 killings. 1991 – An Azerbaijani MI-8 helicopter carrying 19 peacekeeping mission team with officials and journalists from Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is shot down by Armenian military forces in Khojavend District of Azerbaijan. 1992 – In England, a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage. 1993 – Savings and loan crisis: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating. 1993 – Macedonia's deadliest aviation disaster occurs when Avioimpex Flight 110, a Yakovlev Yak-42 crashes near Ohrid killing all 116 people on board. 1994 – The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war. (Localized fighting resumes the next year.) 1996 – A fire breaks out in an office building in Hong Kong, killing 41 people and injuring 81. 1998 – A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. 1998 – The first space station module component, Zarya, for the International Space Station is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 2003 – After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate. 2015 – Following a hostage siege, at least 19 people are killed in Bamako, Mali. Births Pre-1600 270 – Maximinus II, Roman emperor (d. 313) 939 – Emperor Taizong of Song (d. 997) 1545 – Ernst Ludwig, Duke of Pomerania (d. 1592) 1601–1900 1602 – Otto von Guericke, German physicist and politician (d. 1686) 1603 – Fasilides, Ethiopian emperor (d. 1667) 1620 – Avvakum, Russian priest and saint (d. 1682) 1625 – Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (d. 1654) 1629 – Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (d. 1698) 1660 – Daniel Ernst Jablonski, Czech-German theologian and reformer (d. 1741) 1688 – Gyeongjong of Joseon, 20th king of the Joseon Dynasty (d. 1724) 1715 – Pierre Charles Le Monnier, French astronomer (d. 1799) 1726 – Oliver Wolcott, American politician (d. 1797) 1733 – Philip Schuyler, American general and senator (d. 1804) 1737 – José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez, Spanish-Mexican scientist and cartographer (d. 1799) 1739 – Jean-François de La Harpe, French writer and literary critic (d. 1803) 1748 – Jean-François de Bourgoing, French diplomat, writer and translator (d. 1811) 1750 – Tipu Sultan, Indian ruler (d. 1799) 1752 – Thomas Chatterton, English poet (d. 1770) 1753 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, 1st Prince of Wagram (d. 1815) 1755 – Stanisław Kostka Potocki, Polish noble, politician and writer (d. 1821) 1761 – Pope Pius VIII (d. 1830) 1776 – Ignaz Schuppanzigh, Austrian violinist (d. 1830) 1781 – Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German captain and jurist (d. 1854) 1781 – Bartolomeo Pinelli, Italian illustrator and engraver (d. 1835) 1782 – Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os, Dutch painter (d. 1861) 1783 – Georgios Sinas, Greek entrepreneur and banker (d. 1856) 1784 – Marianne von Willemer, Austrian actress and dancer (d. 1860) 1787 – Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse, German firearms inventor and manufacturer (d. 1867) 1788 – Félix Varela, Cuban-born Roman Catholic priest (d. 1853) 1794 – Eduard Rüppell, German naturalist and explorer (d. 1884) 1801 – Mungo Ponton, Scottish inventor (d. 1880) 1808 – Albert Kazimirski de Biberstein, French orientalist (d. 1887) 1813 – Franz Miklosich, Slovenian linguist and philologist (d. 1891) 1830 – Mikhail Dragomirov, Russian general (1905) 1834 – Franjo Kuhač, Croatian conductor and composer (d. 1911) 1841 – Victor D'Hondt, Belgian mathematician, lawyer, and jurist (d. 1901) 1841 – François Denys Légitime, Haitian general (d. 1935) 1841 – Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1919) 1850 – Joseph Samuel Bloch, Austrian rabbi and deputy (d. 1923) 1850 – Charlotte Garrigue, wife of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 1851 – Mikhail Albov, Russian writer (d. 1911) 1851 – John Merle Coulter, American botanist (d. 1928) 1851 – Margherita of Savoy, Italian Queen consort (d. 1926) 1853 – Oskar Potiorek, Austro-Hungarian Army officer (d. 1933) 1855 – Josiah Royce, American philosopher (d. 1916) 1857 – Helena Westermarck, Finnish artist and writer (d. 1938) 1858 – Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish author and educator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940) 1860 – José Figueroa Alcorta, President of Argentina, (d. 1931) 1861 – Camillo Laurenti, Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (d. 1938) 1862 – Georges Palante, French philosopher and sociologist (d. 1925) 1862 – Edvard Westermarck, Finnish philosopher and sociologist (d. 1939) 1864 – Percy Cox, British Indian Army officer (d. 1937) 1866 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American lawyer and judge (d. 1944) 1866 – Maria Letizia Bonaparte, daughter of Prince Napoléon Bonaparte (d. 1926) 1867 – Patrick Joseph Hayes, American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (d. 1938) 1867 – Gustav Giemsa, German chemist and bacteriologist (d. 1948) 1869 – Zinaida Gippius, Russian writer and editor (d. 1945) 1869 – Josaphata Hordashevska, Ukrainian Greek-Catholic nun (d. 1919) 1871 – William Heard Kilpatrick, American pedagogue (d. 1965) 1871 – Augusto Weberbauer, German naturalist (d. 1948) 1873 – Ramón Castillo, Argentine politician (d. 1944) 1873 – William Coblentz, American physicist (d. 1962) 1873 – Georges Caussade, French composer (d. 1936) 1873 – Daniel Gregory Mason, American composer and music critic (d. 1953) 1874 – James Michael Curley, American lawyer, politician, 53rd Governor of Massachusetts, and criminal (d. 1958) 1875 – Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg, German diplomat (d. 1944) 1876 – Rudolf Koch, German designer (d. 1934) 1877 – Herbert Pitman, English sailor (d. 1961) 1880 – Walter Brack, German swimmer (d. 1919) 1881 – Irakli Tsereteli, Georgian politician (d. 1959) 1882 – Ernestas Galvanauskas, Lithuanian engineer and politician (d. 1967) 1883 – Edwin August, American actor and director (d. 1964) 1883 – Tony Gaudio, Italian American cinematographer (d. 1951) 1884 – Norman Thomas, American minister and politician (d. 1968) 1885 – George Holley, English footballer (d. 1942) 1885 – Kaarlo Vasama, Finnish gymnast (d. 1926) 1886 – Robert Hunter, American golfer (d. 1971) 1886 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian-German ethologist and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982) 1886 – Alexandre Stavisky, French financier and embezzler (d. 1934) 1887 – Jean Ducret, French footballer 1888 – Dennis Fenton, American sports shooter (d. 1954) 1889 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer and cosmologist (d. 1953) 1890 – Robert Armstrong, American actor (d. 1973) 1890 – Harald Madsen, Danish actor (d. 1949) 1890 – Lauri Tanner, Finnish gymnast (d. 1950) 1891 – Reginald Denny, English actor (d. 1967) 1892 – James Collip, Canadian biochemist and academic, co-discovered insulin (d. 1965) 1893 – André Bloch, French mathematician (d. 1948) 1893 – Grace Darmond, Canadian-American actress (d. 1963) 1894 – Johann Nikuradse, Georgian-born German engineer and physicist (d. 1979) 1895 – Pierre Cot, French politician (d. 1977) 1896 – Chiyono Hasegawa, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2011) 1896 – Carl Mayer, Austrian-Jewish screenplay writer (d. 1944) 1897 – Germaine Krull, German photographer and political activist (d. 1985) 1898 – Richmond Landon, American high jumper (d. 1971) 1898 – Adrian Piotrovsky, Russian dramaturge (d. 1937) 1899 – Alicja Kotowska, Polish nun (d. 1939) 1900 – Florieda Batson, American Olympic hurdler (d. 1996) 1900 – Helen Bradley, English painter (d. 1979) 1900 – Chester Gould, American cartoonist and author, created Dick Tracy (d. 1985) 1901–present 1901 – José Leandro Andrade, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1957) 1902 – Gianpiero Combi, Italian footballer (d. 1956) 1902 – Erik Eriksen, Danish politician (d. 1972) 1902 – Heini Meng, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 1982) 1902 – Jean Painlevé, French photographer and filmmaker (d. 1989) 1902 – Philipp Schmitt, German officer of the Schutzstaffel (d. 1950) 1903 – Alexandra Danilova, Russian-American ballerina and choreographer (d. 1997) 1903 – Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani historian and educator (d. 1981) 1904 – Arnold Gartmann, Swiss bobsledder (d. 1980) 1905 – Minoo Masani, Indian lawyer and politician (d. 1998) 1906 – Vera Tanner, English swimmer (d. 1971) 1907 – Fran Allison, American entertainer (d. 1989) 1907 – Mihai Beniuc, Romanian writer (d. 1988) 1907 – Henri-Georges Clouzot, French film director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1977) 1907 – Anni Rehborn, German swimmer (d. 1987) 1908 – Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine, the youngest son of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse (d. 1968) 1908 – Alistair Cooke, British-American journalist and author (d. 2004) 1908 – Jenő Vincze, Hungarian footballer (d. 1988) 1909 – John Berger, Swiss cross-country skier (d. 2002) 1909 – Vicente Feola, Brazilian football manager and coach (d. 1975) 1909 – Piero Gherardi, Italian costume and set designer (d. 1971) 1909 – Samand Siabandov, Soviet Red Army writer (d. 1989) 1910 – Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch mathematician, pilot, and academic (d. 1944) 1910 – Pauli Murray, American civil rights activist, women's rights activist, lawyer, Episcopal priest, and author (d. 1985) 1911 – Eduard Kainberger, Austrian footballer (d. 1974) 1911 – David Seymour, Polish photographer (d. 1956) 1911 – Jean Shiley, American high jumper (d. 1998) 1911 – Rupert Weinstabl, Austrian sprint canoeist (d. 1953) 1911 – Paul Zielinski, German footballer (d. 1966) 1912 – Enrique Garcia, Argentine footballer (d. 1969) 1912 – Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary (d. 2011) 1913 – Franz Berghammer, Austrian field handballer (d. 1944) 1913 – Charles Berlitz, American linguist (d. 2003) 1913 – Charles Bettelheim, French Marxian economist and historian (d. 2006) 1913 – Judy Canova, American actress and comedian (d. 1983) 1913 – Kostas Choumis, Greek footballer (d. 1981) 1913 – Russell Rouse, American screenwriter, director and producer (d. 1987) 1913 – Libertas Schulze-Boysen, German opponent of the Nazis (d. 1942) 1913 – Yakov Zak, Soviet pianist (d. 1976) 1914 – Emilio Pucci, Italian fashion designer and politician (d. 1992) 1914 – Kurt Lundqvist, Swedish high jumper (d. 1976) 1915 – Kon Ichikawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008) 1915 – Hu Yaobang, Chinese politician (d. 1989) 1916 – Charles E. Osgood, American psychologist (d. 1991) 1916 – Michael J. Ingelido, American general (d. 2015) 1916 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (d. 2008) 1916 – Donald T. Campbell, American social scientist (d. 1996) 1917 – Robert Byrd, American lawyer and politician (d. 2010) 1917 – Leonard Jimmie Savage, American mathematician (d. 1971) 1917 – Erich Leo Lehmann, American statistician (d. 2009) 1917 – Bobby Locke, South African golfer (d. 1987) 1918 – Corita Kent, American nun, illustrator, and educator (d. 1986) 1918 – Dora Ratjen, German high jumper (d. 2008) 1919 – Alan Brown, English race car driver (d. 2004) 1919 – Phyllis Thaxter, American actress (d. 2012) 1920 – Douglas Dick, American actor and psychologist (d. 2015) 1921 – Jim Garrison, American lawyer and judge (d. 1992) 1923 – Gunnar Åkerlund, Swedish sprint canoer (d. 2006) 1923 – Danny Dayton, American actor and director (d. 1999) 1923 – Tonino Delli Colli, Italian cinematographer (d. 2005) 1923 – Nadine Gordimer, South African novelist, short story writer, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2014) 1924 – Karen Harup, Danish swimmer (d. 2009) 1924 – Timothy Evans, (d. 1950) 1924 – Benoit Mandelbrot, Polish-American mathematician and economist (d. 2010) 1924 – Michael Riffaterre, French literary critic and theorist (d. 2006) 1924 – Henk Vredeling, Dutch agronomist and politician, Dutch Minister of Defence (d. 2007) 1925 – June Christy, American singer (d. 1990) 1925 – Robert F. Kennedy, US Navy officer, lawyer, and politician, 64th United States Attorney General (d. 1968) 1925 – Maya Plisetskaya, Russian-Lithuanian ballerina, choreographer, actress, and director (d. 2015) 1926 – John Gardner, English soldier and author (d. 2007) 1926 – Tôn Thất Đính, Vietnamese general (d. 2013) 1926 – Édouard Leclerc, French businessman and entrepreneur (d. 2012) 1926 – Miroslav Tichý, Czech photographer (d. 2011) 1927 – Vakhtang Balavadze, Georgian wrestler (d. 2018) 1927 – Ed Freeman, American soldier and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2008) 1927 – Estelle Parsons, American actress and director 1927 – Wolfgang Schreyer, German writer (d. 2017) 1927 – Mikhail Ulyanov, Soviet and Russian actor (d. 2007) 1928 – Aleksey Batalov, Russian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2017) 1928 – Franklin Cover, American actor (d. 2006) 1928 – Pedro Ferrándiz, Spanish basketball coach 1928 – John Disley, Welsh athlete (d. 2016) 1928 – Pete Rademacher, American boxer 1928 – Genrikh Sapgir, Russian writer (d. 1999) 1929 – Jerry Hardin, American actor 1929 – Raymond Lefèvre, French composer (d. 2008) 1929 – Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, Colombian footballer 1929 – Ron Willey, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2004) 1930 – Christine Arnothy, French writer (d. 2015) 1930 – Aarón Hernán, Mexican actor 1930 – Bernard Horsfall, English-Scottish actor (d. 2013) 1930 – Choe Yong-rim, North Korean Premier 1931 – Wayne Moore, American swimmer (d. 2015) 1932 – Richard Dawson, English-American actor and game show host (d. 2012) 1932 – Yorozuya Kinnosuke, Japanese kabuki actor (d. 1997) 1932 – Sándor Mátrai, Hungarian footballer (d. 2002) 1932 – Paulo Valentim, Brazilian footballer (d. 1984) 1932 – Colville Young, Governor-General of Belize 1934 – Paco Ibáñez, Spanish singer and musician 1934 – Lev Polugaevsky, Soviet Chess Grandmaster (d. 1995) 1935 – Leo Falcam, Micronesian politician and 5th President of Micronesia (d. 2018) 1935 – Imre Makovecz, Hungarian architect (d. 2011) 1936 – Hans van Abeelen, Dutch geneticist (d. 1998) 1936 – Don DeLillo, American novelist, essayist, and playwright 1936 – Luciano Fabro, Italian sculptor and artist (d. 2007) 1936 – Charles R. Larson, American admiral (d. 2014) 1937 – René Kollo, German tenor 1937 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist and educator (d. 2005) 1937 – Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish skier (d. 2013) 1937 – Bruno Mealli, Italian cyclist 1937 – Viktoriya Tokareva, Russian author and screenwriter 1938 – Colin Fox, Canadian actor 1939 – Jerry Colangelo, American businessman 1939 – Copi, Argentine writer and artist (d. 1987) 1939 – Dick Smothers, American actor and comedian 1939 – Jan Szczepański, Polish boxer (d. 2017) 1940 – Wendy Doniger, American indologist 1940 – Helma Sanders-Brahms, German director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014) 1940 – Ediz Hun, Turkish actor and politician 1940 – Arieh Warshel, Israeli-American biochemist and biophysicist 1941 – Oliver Sipple, U.S. Marine and Vietnam War veteran (d. 1989) 1941 – Dr. John, American singer and songwriter (d. 2019) 1942 – Joe Biden, American politician, 46th President of the United States 1942 – Bob Einstein, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019) 1942 – Norman Greenbaum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1942 – Meredith Monk, American composer and choreographer 1942 – Paulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Mosul (d. 2008) 1943 – David Douglas-Home, |
(d. 2011) 1931 – Revaz Dogonadze, Georgian chemist and physicist (d. 1985) 1931 – Stanley Kalms, Baron Kalms, English businessman 1931 – Malcolm Williamson, Australian pianist and composer (d. 2003) 1932 – Beryl Bainbridge, English author and screenwriter (d. 2010) 1932 – Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Danish composer (d. 2016) 1933 – Henry Hartsfield, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2014) 1933 – Etta Zuber Falconer, American educator and mathematician (d. 2002) 1933 – Jean Shepard, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2016) 1934 – Laurence Luckinbill, American actor, director, and playwright 1934 – Peter Philpott, Australian cricketer (d. 2021) 1936 – Victor Chang, Chinese-Australian surgeon (d. 1991) 1937 – Ingrid Pitt, Polish-English actress (d. 2010) 1937 – Marlo Thomas, American actress, producer, and activist 1939 – R. Budd Dwyer, American educator and politician, 30th Treasurer of Pennsylvania (d. 1987) 1940 – Freddy Beras-Goico, Dominican comedian and television host (d. 2010) 1940 – Richard Marcinko, American commander and author 1940 – Natalia Makarova, Russian ballerina, choreographer, and actress 1941 – Juliet Mills, English-American actress 1941 – David Porter, American songwriter, musician, and producer 1942 – Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German educator and politician 1943 – Phil Bredesen, American businessman and politician, 48th Governor of Tennessee 1943 – Jacques Laffite, French race car driver 1944 – Dick Durbin, American lawyer and politician 1944 – Earl Monroe, American basketball player 1944 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014) 1945 – Goldie Hawn, American actress, singer, and producer 1948 – Michel Suleiman, Lebanese general and politician, 16th President of Lebanon 1948 – George Zimmer, American businessman, founded Men's Wearhouse 1948 – Lonnie Jordan, American singer-songwriter 1948 – Alphonse Mouzon, American jazz drummer (d. 2016) 1950 – Gary Pihl, American guitarist Boston 1950 – Hisham Barakat, Egyptian lawyer and judge (d. 2015) 1950 – Livingston Taylor, American singer-songwriter and musician 1952 – Mervyn Davies, Baron Davies of Abersoch, Welsh banker and politician 1952 – Janne Kristiansen, Norwegian lawyer and jurist 1952 – Lorna Luft, American actress and singer 1953 – Tina Brown, English-American journalist and author 1954 – Fiona Pitt-Kethley, English journalist, author, and poet 1955 – Peter Koppes, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1955 – Cedric Maxwell, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster 1955 – Glenn Ridge, Australian radio and television host and producer 1956 – Cherry Jones, American actress 1959 – Sergei Ratnikov, Estonian footballer and manager 1960 – Mark Bailey, English rugby player, author, and educator 1960 – Brian McNamara, American actor, director, and producer 1960 – Brian Ritchie, American bass player and songwriter 1961 – João Domingos Pinto, Portuguese footballer and manager 1962 – Steven Curtis Chapman, American Christian music singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, actor, author, and social activist 1962 – Alan Smith, English football player 1963 – Dave Molyneux, Manx motorcycle racer 1963 – Nicollette Sheridan, English actress 1964 – Shane Douglas, American wrestler and manager 1964 – Liza Tarbuck, English actress, television & radio presenter 1964 – Charles Dunstone, English businessman, co-founded Carphone Warehouse 1964 – Olden Polynice, Haitian-American basketball player and coach 1964 – Stefan Sonnenfeld, American businessman, co-founded Company 3 1965 – Björk, Icelandic singer-songwriter 1965 – Reggie Lewis, American basketball player (d. 1993) 1966 – Troy Aikman, American football player and sportscaster 1966 – Evgeny Bareev, Russian chess player and coach 1966 – Thanasis Kolitsidakis, Greek footballer 1967 – Ken Block, American race car driver 1967 – Tripp Cromer, American baseball player 1967 – Toshihiko Koga, Japanese martial artist 1967 – Amanda Lepore, American model and singer 1968 – Andrew Caddick, New Zealand-English cricketer 1968 – Alex James, English singer-songwriter, bass player 1968 – Antonio Tarver, American boxer, sportscaster, and actor 1969 – Ken Griffey Jr., American baseball player and actor 1970 – Karen Davila, Filipino journalist 1970 – Justin Langer, Australian cricketer and coach 1971 – Michael Strahan, American football player, actor, and talk show host 1972 – Rich Johnston, English author and critic 1972 – Rain Phoenix, American actress and singer 1972 – Darrell Cavens, Canadian co-founder and former CEO of e-commerce company Zulily 1976 – Mihaela Botezan, Romanian long-distance runner 1976 – Saleem Elahi, Pakistani cricketer 1976 – Martin Meichelbeck, German footballer 1976 – Daniel Whiston, English figure skater 1976 – Michael Wilson, Australian footballer 1977 – Michael Batiste, American former professional basketball player 1977 – Yolande James, Canadian lawyer and politician 1977 – Jonas Jennings, American football player 1978 – Daniel Bradshaw, Australian footballer 1978 – Lucía Jiménez, Spanish actress and singer 1979 – Vincenzo Iaquinta, Italian footballer 1979 – Stromile Swift, American basketball player 1979 – Alex Tanguay, Canadian ice hockey player 1980 – Hank Blalock, American baseball player 1980 – Alec Brownstein, American author and director 1980 – Leonardo González, Costa Rican footballer 1981 – Wesley Britt, American football player 1981 – Ainārs Kovals, Latvian javelin thrower 1981 – Jonny Magallón, Mexican footballer 1982 – Ioana Ciolacu, Romanian fashion designer 1982 – Georgios Kalogiannidis, Greek archer 1983 – Jamie Langley, English rugby player 1984 – Álvaro Bautista, Spanish motorcycle racer 1984 – Jena Malone, American actress and singer 1985 – Carly Rae Jepsen, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress 1985 – Jesús Navas, Spanish footballer 1985 – Nicola Silvestri, Italian footballer 1986 – Colleen Ballinger, American youtube personality, comedian, actress, and singer 1986 – Ben Bishop, American ice hockey player 1986 – Kristof Goddaert, Belgian cyclist (d. 2014) 1987 – Stefan Glarner, Swiss footballer 1987 – Eesha Karavade, Indian chess player 1988 – Len Väljas, Canadian skier 1988 – Preston Zimmerman, American soccer player 1989 – Will Buckley, English footballer 1989 – Dárvin Chávez, Mexican footballer 1990 – Dani King, English cyclist 1990 – Georgie Twigg, English field hockey player 1991 – Almaz Ayana, Ethiopian sprinter 1991 – Lewis Dunk, English footballer 1991 – Peni Terepo, New Zealand rugby league player 1994 – Saúl Ñíguez, Spanish footballer 1997 – Reo Hatate, Japanese footballer 1999 – Jaelin Howell, American soccer player Deaths Pre-1600 615 – Columbanus, Irish missionary and saint (b. 543) 933 – Al-Tahawi, Arab imam and scholar (b. 853) 1011 – Reizei, emperor of Japan (b. 950) 1136 – William de Corbeil, English archbishop (b. 1070) 1150 – García Ramírez of Navarre (b. 1112) 1325 – Yury of Moscow, Prince of Moscow and Vladimir 1361 – Philip I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1346) 1555 – Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist, philologist, and scholar (b. 1490) 1566 – Annibale Caro, Italian poet and author (b. 1507) 1579 – Thomas Gresham, English merchant and financier (b. 1519) 1601–1900 1639 – Henry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire (b. 1583) 1652 – Jan Brożek, Polish mathematician, physician, and astronomer (b. 1585) 1695 – Henry Purcell, English organist and composer (b. 1659) 1710 – Bernardo Pasquini, Italian organist and composer (b. 1637) 1775 – John Hill, English botanist and author (b. 1719) 1782 – Jacques de Vaucanson, French engineer (b. 1709) 1811 – Heinrich von Kleist, German poet and author (b. 1777) 1844 – Ivan Krylov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1769) 1859 – Yoshida Shōin, Japanese academic and politician (b. 1830) 1861 – Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire, French priest and activist (b. 1802) 1870 – Karel Jaromír Erben, Czech historian and poet (b. 1811) 1874 – Marià Fortuny, Spanish painter (b. 1838) 1881 – Ami Boué, German-Austrian geologist and ethnographer (b. 1794) 1899 – Garret Hobart, American lawyer and politician, 24th Vice President of the United States (b. 1844) 1901–present 1907 – Harry Boyle, Australian cricketer (b. 1847) 1907 – Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (b. 1876) 1908 – Carl Friedrich Schmidt, German-Russian geologist and botanist (b. 1832) 1909 – Peder Severin Krøyer, Norwegian-Danish painter (b. 1851) 1916 – Franz Joseph I of Austria (b. 1830) 1922 – Ricardo Flores Magón, Mexican journalist and activist (b. 1874) 1926 – Edward Cummins, American golfer (b. 1886) 1928 – Heinrich XXVII, Prince Reuss Younger Line (b. 1858) 1934 – John Scaddan, Australian politician, 10th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1876) 1938 – Leopold Godowsky, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1870) 1941 – Henrietta Vinton Davis, American actress and playwright (b. 1860) 1942 – Count Leopold Berchtold, Austrian-Hungarian politician, Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary (b. 1863) 1942 – J. B. M. Hertzog, South African general and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1866) 1943 – Winifred Carney, Irish suffragist, trade unionist, and Irish republican (b. 1887) 1945 – Robert Benchley, American humorist, newspaper columnist, and actor (b. 1889) 1945 – Al Davis, American boxer (b. 1920) 1945 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (b. 1873) 1945 – Alexander Patch, American general (b. 1889) 1947 – William McCormack, Australian politician, 22nd Premier of Queensland (b. 1879) 1953 – Felice Bonetto, Italian race car driver (b. 1903) 1953 – António Cabreira, Portuguese polygraph (b. 1868) 1953 – Larry Shields, American clarinet player and composer (b. 1893) 1957 – Francis Burton Harrison, American general and politician, 6th Governor-General of the Philippines (b. 1873) 1958 – Mel Ott, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1909) 1959 – Max Baer, American boxer, referee, and actor (b. 1909) 1962 – Frank Amyot, Canadian canoeist (b. 1904) 1963 – Artur Lemba, Estonian composer and educator (b. 1885) 1963 – Robert Stroud, American ornithologist and author (b. 1890) 1964 – Catherine Bauer Wurster, American architect and public housing advocate (b. 1905) 1967 – C. M. Eddy, Jr., American author (b. 1896) 1970 – Newsy Lalonde, Canadian lacrosse and ice hockey player (b. 1887) 1970 – C. V. Raman, Indian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888) 1973 – Thomas Pelly, American lawyer and politician (b. 1902) 1974 – John B. Gambling, American radio host (b. 1897) 1974 – Frank Martin, Swiss-Dutch pianist and composer (b. 1890) 1975 – Gunnar Gunnarsson, Icelandic author (b. 1889) 1980 – Sara García, Mexican actress (b. 1895) 1981 – Harry von Zell, American actor and comedian (b. 1906) 1982 – John Hargrave, English activist and author (b. 1894) 1984 – Ben Wilson, American basketball player (b. 1967) 1986 – Jerry Colonna, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1904) 1988 – Carl Hubbell, American baseball player and scout (b. 1903) 1989 – Harvey Hart, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1928) 1989 – Margot Zemach, American author and illustrator (b. 1931) 1990 – Dean Hart, Canadian wrestler and referee (b. 1954) 1991 – Sonny Werblin, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1907) 1992 – Kaysone Phomvihane, Laotian soldier and politician, 2nd President of Laos (b. 1920) 1992 – Ricky Williams, American singer-songwriter and drummer (b. 1956) 1993 – Bill Bixby, American actor (b. 1934) 1994 – Willem Jacob Luyten, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (b. 1899) 1995 – Peter Grant, English actor and manager (b. 1935) 1995 – Noel Jones, Indian-English diplomat, British ambassador to Kazakhstan (b. 1940) 1996 – Bernard Rose, English organist and composer (b 1916) 1996 – Abdus Salam, Pakistani-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926) 1999 – Quentin Crisp, English actor, author, and illustrator (b. 1908) 2000 – Ernest Lluch, Spanish economist and politician (b. 1937) 2002 – Hadda Brooks, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1916) 2005 – Alfred Anderson, Scottish soldier (b. 1896) 2005 – Hugh Sidey, American journalist and academic (b. 1927) 2006 – Hassan Gouled Aptidon, Somalian-Djiboutian politician, 1st President of Djibouti (b. 1916) 2006 – Pierre Amine Gemayel, Lebanese lawyer and politician (b. 1972) 2007 – Fernando Fernán Gómez, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1921) 2007 – Tom Johnson, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1928) 2007 – Noel McGregor, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1931) 2009 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1926) 2010 – Norris Church Mailer, American author (b. 1949) 2010 – David Nolan, American activist and politician (b. 1943) 2010 – Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, American painter and author, co-founded the DuSable Museum of African American History (b. 1917) 2011 – Anne McCaffrey, American science fiction and fantasy author (b. 1926) 2012 – Emily Squires, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1941) 2012 – Austin Peralta, American pianist (b. 1990) 2013 – John Egerton, American journalist and author (b. 1935) 2013 – Fred Kavli, Norwegian-American businessman and philanthropist, founded The Kavli Foundation (b. 1927) 2013 – Dimitri Mihalas, American astronomer and author (b. 1939) 2013 – Vern Mikkelsen, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928) 2013 – Bernard Parmegiani, French composer (b. 1927) 2013 – Tôn Thất Đính, Vietnamese general (b. 1926) 2013 – Maurice Vachon, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1929) 2014 – John H. Land, American soldier and politician (b. 1920) 2014 – Robert Richardson, English general (b. 1929) 2015 – Gil Cardinal, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1950) 2015 – Ameen Faheem, Indian-Pakistani poet and politician (b. 1939) 2015 – Bob Foster, American boxer and police officer (b. 1938) 2015 – Anthony Read, English screenwriter and producer (b. 1935) 2015 – Joseph Silverstein, American violinist and conductor (b. 1932) 2016 – Hassan Sadpara, Pakistani mountaineer and adventurer (b. 1963) 2017 – David Cassidy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950) 2021 – Lou Cutell, American actor (b. 1930) Holidays and observances Air Assault Forces Day (Ukraine) Armed Forces Day (Bangladesh) Armed Forces Day (Greece) Christian feast days: Amelberga of Susteren Digain Maurus of Parentium Pope Gelasius I Franciszka Siedliska Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Rufus of Rome | a bomb is thrown onto a bus in Tel Aviv. 2013 – Fifty-four people are killed when the roof of a shopping center collapses in Riga, Latvia. 2013 – Massive protests start in Ukraine after President Viktor Yanukovych suspended signing the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement. 2014 – A stampede in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe caused by the police firing tear gas kills at least eleven people and injures 40 others. 2015 – The government of Belgium imposes a security lockdown on Brussels, including the closure of shops, schools, and public transportation, due to potential terrorist attacks. 2017 – Robert Mugabe formally resigns as President of Zimbabwe, after thirty-seven years in office. 2019 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. 2019 – Tesla launches the SUV Cybertruck. A gaffe occurs during the launch event when its "unbreakable" windows shatter during demonstration. 2021 – An SUV plows through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six and injuring 62. Births Pre-1600 1495 – John Bale, English bishop and historian (d. 1563) 1567 – Anne de Xainctonge, French saint, founded the Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin (d. 1621) 1601–1900 1631 – Catharina Questiers, Dutch poet (d. 1669) 1692 – Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, Italian poet and academic (d. 1768) 1694 – Voltaire, French historian, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1778) 1718 – Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, German composer, critic, and theorist (d. 1795) 1729 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and politician, 6th Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1795) 1760 – Joseph Plumb Martin, American sergeant (d. 1850) 1768 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German theologian, philosopher, and scholar (d. 1834) 1785 – William Beaumont, American surgeon, "Father of Gastric Physiology" (d. 1853) 1787 – Samuel Cunard, Canadian businessman, founded the Cunard Line (d. 1865) 1811 – Ludwik Gorzkowski, Polish politician, physicist, and revolutionary activist (d. 1857) 1818 – Lewis H. Morgan, American lawyer, anthropologist, and theorist (d. 1881) 1834 – Hetty Green, American businesswoman and financier (d. 1916) 1840 – Victoria, Princess Royal of England (d. 1901) 1851 – Désiré-Joseph Mercier, Belgian cardinal and theologian (d. 1926) 1852 – Francisco Tárrega, Spanish guitarist and composer (d. 1909) 1853 – Hussein Kamel of Egypt (d. 1917) 1854 – Pope Benedict XV (d. 1922) 1866 – Sigbjørn Obstfelder, Norwegian poet and author (d. 1900) 1866 – Konishiki Yasokichi I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 17th Yokozuna (d. 1914) 1870 – Alexander Berkman, Lithuanian-American activist and author (d. 1936) 1870 – Joe Darling, Australian cricketer and politician (d. 1946) 1870 – Stanley Jackson, English cricketer and politician (d. 1947) 1876 – Olav Duun, Norwegian author and educator (d. 1939) 1877 – Sigfrid Karg-Elert, German composer and educator (d. 1933) 1878 – Gustav Radbruch, German lawyer and politician, German Minister of Justice (d. 1949) 1886 – Harold Nicolson, English author and politician (d. 1968) 1894 – Cecil M. Harden, American politician (d. 1984) 1897 – Mollie Steimer, Russian-American activist (d. 1980) 1898 – René Magritte, Belgian painter (d. 1967) 1899 – Jobyna Ralston, American actress (d. 1967) 1899 – Harekrushna Mahatab, Indian journalist and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Odisha (d. 1987) 1901–present 1902 – Foster Hewitt, Canadian sportscaster (d. 1985) 1902 – Mikhail Suslov, Russian soldier, economist, and politician (d. 1982) 1903 – Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991) 1904 – Coleman Hawkins, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1969) 1905 – Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer (d. 2006) 1907 – Buck Ram, American songwriter and music producer (d. 1991) 1908 – Leo Politi, Italian-American author and illustrator (d. 1996) 1908 – Elizabeth George Speare, American author and educator (d. 1994) 1912 – Eleanor Powell, American actress and dancer (d. 1982) 1913 – John Boulting, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1985) 1913 – Roy Boulting, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001) 1913 – Gunnar Kangro, Estonian mathematician, author, and academic (d. 1975) 1914 – Nusret Fişek, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of Health (d. 1990) 1914 – Henri Laborit, French physician and philosopher (d. 1995) 1915 – Norm Smith, Australian footballer and coach (d. 1973) 1916 – Sid Luckman, American football player and soldier (d. 1998) 1917 – Chung Il-kwon, Korean politician, diplomat, and soldier (d.1994) 1919 – Paul Bogart, American director and producer (d. 2012) 1920 – Ralph Meeker, American actor (d. 1988) 1920 – Stan Musial, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013) 1921 – Donald Sheldon, American pilot (d. 1975) 1922 – Abe Lemons, American basketball player and coach (d. 2002) 1924 – Joseph Campanella, American actor (d. 2018) 1924 – Milka Planinc, Yugoslav politician, 28th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 2010) 1924 – Christopher Tolkien, English author and academic (d. 2020) 1925 – Veljko Kadijević, Croatian general and politician, 5th Federal Secretary of People's Defence (d. 2014) 1926 – William Wakefield Baum, American cardinal (d. 2015) 1926 – Matti Ranin, Finnish actor (d. 2013) 1927 – Georgia Frontiere, American businesswoman (d. 2008) 1929 – Marilyn French, American author and academic (d. 2009) 1929 – Laurier LaPierre, Canadian historian, journalist, and politician (d. 2012) 1930 – Marjan Rožanc, Slovenian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1990) 1931 – Lewis Binford, American archaeologist and academic (d. 2011) 1931 – Revaz Dogonadze, Georgian chemist and physicist (d. 1985) 1931 – Stanley Kalms, Baron Kalms, English businessman 1931 – Malcolm Williamson, Australian pianist and composer (d. 2003) 1932 – Beryl Bainbridge, English author and screenwriter (d. 2010) 1932 – Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Danish composer (d. 2016) 1933 – Henry Hartsfield, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2014) 1933 – Etta Zuber Falconer, American educator and mathematician (d. 2002) 1933 – Jean Shepard, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 2016) 1934 – Laurence Luckinbill, American actor, director, and playwright 1934 – Peter Philpott, Australian cricketer (d. 2021) 1936 – Victor Chang, Chinese-Australian surgeon (d. 1991) 1937 – Ingrid Pitt, Polish-English actress (d. 2010) 1937 – Marlo Thomas, American actress, producer, and activist 1939 – R. Budd Dwyer, American educator and politician, 30th Treasurer of Pennsylvania (d. 1987) 1940 – Freddy Beras-Goico, Dominican comedian and television host (d. 2010) 1940 – Richard Marcinko, American commander and author 1940 – Natalia Makarova, Russian ballerina, choreographer, and actress 1941 – Juliet Mills, English-American actress 1941 – David Porter, American songwriter, musician, and producer 1942 – Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German educator and politician 1943 – Phil Bredesen, American businessman and politician, 48th Governor of Tennessee 1943 – Jacques Laffite, French race car driver 1944 – Dick Durbin, American lawyer and politician 1944 – Earl Monroe, American basketball player 1944 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014) 1945 – Goldie Hawn, American actress, singer, and producer 1948 – Michel Suleiman, Lebanese general and politician, 16th President of Lebanon 1948 – George Zimmer, American businessman, founded Men's Wearhouse 1948 – Lonnie Jordan, American singer-songwriter 1948 – Alphonse Mouzon, American jazz drummer (d. 2016) 1950 – Gary Pihl, American guitarist Boston 1950 – Hisham Barakat, Egyptian lawyer and judge (d. 2015) 1950 – Livingston Taylor, American singer-songwriter and musician 1952 – Mervyn Davies, Baron Davies of Abersoch, Welsh banker and politician 1952 – Janne Kristiansen, Norwegian lawyer and jurist 1952 – Lorna Luft, American actress and singer 1953 – Tina Brown, English-American journalist and author 1954 – Fiona Pitt-Kethley, English journalist, author, and poet 1955 – Peter Koppes, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1955 – Cedric Maxwell, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster 1955 – Glenn Ridge, Australian radio and television host and producer 1956 – Cherry Jones, American actress 1959 – Sergei Ratnikov, Estonian footballer and manager 1960 – Mark Bailey, English rugby player, author, and educator 1960 – Brian McNamara, American actor, director, and producer 1960 – Brian Ritchie, American bass player and songwriter 1961 – João Domingos Pinto, Portuguese footballer and manager 1962 – Steven Curtis Chapman, American Christian music singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, actor, author, and social activist 1962 – Alan Smith, English football player 1963 – Dave Molyneux, Manx motorcycle racer 1963 – Nicollette Sheridan, English actress 1964 – Shane Douglas, American wrestler and manager 1964 – Liza Tarbuck, English actress, television & radio presenter 1964 – Charles Dunstone, English businessman, co-founded Carphone Warehouse 1964 – Olden Polynice, Haitian-American basketball player and coach 1964 – Stefan Sonnenfeld, American businessman, co-founded Company 3 1965 – Björk, Icelandic singer-songwriter 1965 – Reggie Lewis, American basketball player (d. 1993) 1966 – Troy Aikman, American football player and sportscaster 1966 – Evgeny Bareev, Russian chess player and coach 1966 – Thanasis Kolitsidakis, Greek footballer 1967 – Ken Block, American race car driver 1967 – Tripp Cromer, American baseball player 1967 – Toshihiko Koga, Japanese martial artist 1967 – Amanda Lepore, American model and singer 1968 – Andrew Caddick, New Zealand-English cricketer 1968 – Alex James, English singer-songwriter, bass player 1968 – Antonio Tarver, American boxer, sportscaster, and actor 1969 – Ken Griffey Jr., American baseball player and actor 1970 – Karen Davila, Filipino journalist 1970 – Justin Langer, Australian cricketer and coach 1971 – Michael Strahan, American football player, actor, and talk show host 1972 – Rich Johnston, English author and critic 1972 – Rain Phoenix, American actress and singer 1972 – Darrell Cavens, Canadian co-founder and former CEO of e-commerce company Zulily 1976 – Mihaela Botezan, Romanian long-distance runner 1976 – Saleem Elahi, Pakistani cricketer 1976 – Martin Meichelbeck, German footballer 1976 – Daniel Whiston, English figure skater 1976 – Michael Wilson, Australian footballer 1977 – Michael Batiste, American former professional basketball player 1977 – Yolande James, Canadian lawyer and politician 1977 – Jonas Jennings, American football player 1978 – Daniel Bradshaw, Australian footballer 1978 – Lucía Jiménez, Spanish actress and singer 1979 – Vincenzo Iaquinta, Italian footballer 1979 – Stromile Swift, American basketball player 1979 – Alex Tanguay, Canadian ice hockey player 1980 – Hank Blalock, American baseball player 1980 – Alec Brownstein, American author and director 1980 – Leonardo González, Costa Rican footballer 1981 – Wesley Britt, American football player 1981 – Ainārs Kovals, Latvian javelin thrower 1981 – Jonny Magallón, Mexican footballer 1982 – Ioana Ciolacu, Romanian fashion designer 1982 – Georgios Kalogiannidis, Greek archer 1983 – Jamie Langley, English rugby player 1984 – Álvaro Bautista, Spanish motorcycle racer 1984 – Jena Malone, American actress and singer 1985 – Carly Rae Jepsen, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress 1985 – Jesús Navas, Spanish footballer 1985 – Nicola Silvestri, Italian footballer 1986 – Colleen Ballinger, American youtube personality, comedian, actress, and singer 1986 – Ben Bishop, American ice hockey player 1986 – Kristof Goddaert, Belgian cyclist (d. 2014) 1987 – Stefan Glarner, Swiss footballer 1987 – Eesha Karavade, Indian chess player 1988 – Len Väljas, Canadian skier 1988 – Preston Zimmerman, American soccer player 1989 – Will Buckley, English footballer 1989 – Dárvin Chávez, Mexican footballer 1990 – Dani King, English cyclist 1990 – Georgie Twigg, English field hockey player 1991 – Almaz Ayana, Ethiopian sprinter 1991 – Lewis Dunk, English footballer 1991 – Peni Terepo, New Zealand rugby league player 1994 – Saúl Ñíguez, Spanish footballer 1997 – Reo Hatate, Japanese footballer 1999 – Jaelin Howell, |
English footballer and sportscaster 1960 – Michael O'Connor, Australian rugby player 1960 – Bob Tewksbury, American baseball player and coach 1961 – Innocent Egbunike, Nigerian sprinter and coach 1961 – Ian Morris, Trinidadian footballer and sprinter 1962 – Jimmy Del Ray, American wrestler and manager (d. 2014) 1962 – Bo Jackson, American football and baseball player 1962 – Daniel Keys Moran, American computer programmer and author 1964 – Jushin Thunder Liger, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist 1965 – Aldair, Brazilian footballer 1965 – Fumihito, Prince Akishino, Japanese royal (younger brother of Emperor Naruhito and first in line to the Chrysanthemum throne) 1965 – David Laws, English banker and politician, Chief Secretary to the Treasury 1965 – Ben Stiller, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter 1966 – Nigel Adams, English businessman and politician 1966 – David Berkoff, American swimmer 1966 – David Nicholls, English author and screenwriter 1966 – Mika Salo, Finnish racing driver 1966 – John Bishop, English comedian presenter and actor 1967 – Joseph Corré, English fashion designer and businessman, co-founded Agent Provocateur 1967 – Rajiv Dixit, Indian author and activist (d. 2010) 1967 – Richard Harry, Australian rugby player 1968 – Des'ree, English R&B singer-songwriter 1968 – Laurent Jalabert, French cyclist and sportscaster 1969 – Marc Forster, German-Swiss director, producer, and screenwriter 1969 – Marc Goossens, Belgian racing driver 1969 – Chris Weitz, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1970 – Phil Babb, English footballer and manager 1970 – Walter Emanuel Jones, American actor and dancer 1971 – Ray Durham, American baseball player 1972 – Christophe Beck, Canadian television and film score composer and conductor 1972 – Dan Jarvis, English soldier and politician 1972 – Stanislav Kitto, Estonian footballer 1972 – Abel Xavier, Portuguese footballer and manager 1973 – Christian Cage, Canadian wrestler, actor, and podcaster 1975 – Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013) 1975 – Ben Thatcher, English footballer 1976 – Marta Burgay, Italian astronomer 1976 – Marco Castro, Peruvian-American director and cinematographer 1976 – Josh Lewsey, English rugby player 1976 – Paul Nuttall, British politician 1977 – Richard Elias Anderson, Canadian basketball player and coach 1977 – Steve Aoki, American DJ and producer, founded Dim Mak Records 1977 – Iván Guerrero, Honduran footballer and manager 1977 – Kazumi Saito, Japanese baseball player and coach 1977 – Olivier Schoenfelder, French ice dancer and coach 1978 – Clay Aiken, American singer 1978 – Benjamin Lense, German footballer 1979 – Chris Atkinson, Australian racing driver 1979 – Andrés Nocioni, Argentinian basketball player 1980 – Cem Adrian, Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and director 1980 – Jamie Ashdown, English footballer 1981 – Rich Harden, Canadian baseball player 1982 – Elisha Cuthbert, Canadian actress 1982 – Tony Giarratano, American baseball player 1982 – Jason Pominville, Canadian ice hockey player 1983 – Adrian Cristea, Romanian footballer 1983 – Vladislav Polyakov, Kazakhstani swimmer 1984 – Nigel de Jong, Dutch footballer 1984 – Alan Hutton, Scottish footballer 1984 – Olga Rypakova, Kazakhstani triple jumper 1984 – Francisco Sandaza, Spanish footballer 1985 – Kaley Cuoco, American actress 1985 – Hikari Mitsushima, Japanese actress and singer 1985 – Chrissy Teigen, American model 1986 – Jordan Farmar, American basketball player 1986 – Evgenia Linetskaya, Israeli tennis player 1987 – Vasilisa Bardina, Russian tennis player 1987 – Naomi Knight, American wrestler, model, and dancer 1987 – Dougie Poynter, English singer-songwriter and bass player 1988 – Phillip Hughes, Australian cricketer (d. 2014) 1988 – Vitaliy Polyanskyi, Ukrainian footballer 1988 – Tomi Saarelma, Finnish footballer 1989 – Vladimír Weiss, Slovak footballer 1990 – Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player 1990 – Antoine N'Gossan, Ivorian footballer 1991 – Agnatius Paasi, Tongan rugby league player 1994 – Sofia Araújo, Portuguese tennis player Deaths Pre-1600 1016 – Edmund Ironside, English king (b. 993) 1204 – Emeric, King of Hungary 1276 – Kanezawa Sanetoki, Japanese member of the Hōjō clan (b. 1224) 1283 – John of Vercelli, Master General of the Dominican Order (b. c. 1205) 1378 – Andrew Stratford, English verderer and landowner 1525 – Guillaume Crétin, French poet (b. c. 1460) 1526 – Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Italian captain (b. 1498) 1580 – Richard Farrant, English playwright and composer (b. 1530) 1600 – Nanda Bayin, Burmese king (b. 1535) 1601–1900 1603 – William Gilbert, English scientist (b. 1544) 1623 – Thomas Weelkes, English organist and composer (b. 1576) 1647 – Bonaventura Cavalieri, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1598) 1647 – Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter (b. 1582) 1654 – John Selden, English jurist and scholar (b. 1584) 1675 – Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, English lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1605) 1694 – Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist (b. 1628) 1703 – Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (b. 1672) 1718 – Charles XII of Sweden (b. 1682) 1760 – Friederike Caroline Neuber, German actress (b. 1697) 1761 – John Dollond, English optician and astronomer (b. 1706) 1765 – George Glas, Scottish merchant and explorer (b. 1725) 1863 – Kamehameha IV, Hawaiian King (b. 1834) 1864 – Patrick Cleburne, Irish-American general (b. 1828) 1873 – Alexander Berry, Scottish-Welsh surgeon, merchant, and explorer (b. 1781) 1892 – Dimitrios Valvis, Greek judge and politician, 69th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1814) 1900 – Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, novelist, and poet (b. 1854) 1901–present 1901 – Edward John Eyre, English explorer and politician, Governor of Jamaica (b. 1815) 1907 – Ludwig Levy, German architect (b. 1854) 1908 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (b. 1855) 1920 – Vladimir May-Mayevsky, Russian general (b. 1867) 1923 – John Maclean, Scottish educator and revolutionary socialist activist (b. 1879) 1930 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (b. 1851) 1930 – Mary Harris Jones, American Labor organizer (b. 1837) 1931 – Henry Walters, American art collector and philanthropist (b. 1848) 1933 – Arthur Currie, Canadian general (b. 1875) 1934 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (b. 1908) 1935 – Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet, philosopher, and critic (b. 1888) 1942 – Anthony M. Rud, American journalist and author (b. 1893) 1943 – Etty Hillesum, Dutch author (b. 1914) 1944 – Paul Masson, French cyclist (b. 1876) 1949 – Frank Cooper, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Queensland (b. 1872) 1953 – Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (b. 1879) 1954 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor and composer (b. 1886) 1955 – Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, Croatian composer and educator (b. 1896) 1958 – Hubert Wilkins, Australian pilot, ornithologist, geographer, and explorer (b. 1888) 1966 – Salah Suheimat, Jordanian lawyer and politician (b. 1914) 1967 – Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet and author (b. 1904) 1972 – Compton Mackenzie, English-Scottish actor, author, and academic (b. 1883) 1977 – Terence Rattigan, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1911) 1979 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (b.1891) 1979 – Zeppo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1901) 1987 – Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and author (b. 1913) 1988 – Pannonica de Koenigswarter, English-American singer-songwriter (b. 1913) 1989 – Ahmadou Ahidjo, Cameroonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Cameroon (b. 1924) 1989 – Alfred Herrhausen, German banker (b. 1930) 1990 – Fritz Eichenberg, German-American illustrator and arts educator (b. 1901) 1992 – Peter Blume, American painter and sculptor (b. 1906) 1993 – David Houston, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938) 1994 – Guy Debord, French theorist and author (b. 1931) 1994 – Lionel Stander, American actor (b. 1908) 1996 – Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (b. 1932) 1997 – Kathy Acker, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1947) 1998 – Janet Lewis, American novelist and poet (b. 1899) 1998 – Margaret Walker, American author and poet (b. 1915) 1999 – Charlie Byrd, American guitarist (b. 1925) 2000 – Eloise Jarvis McGraw, American author (b. 1915) 2000 – Scott Smith, Canadian bass player (b. 1955) 2003 – Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (b. 1906) 2004 – Pierre Berton, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1920) 2004 – Seungsahn, South Korean spiritual leader, founded the Kwan Um School of Zen (b. 1927) 2005 – Jean Parker, American actress (b. 1915) 2006 – Elhadi Adam, Sudanese poet and songwriter (b. 1927) 2006 – Rafael Buenaventura, Filipino banker (b. 1938) 2006 – Shirley Walker, American composer and conductor (b. 1945) 2007 – Engin Arık, Turkish physicist and academic (b. 1948) 2007 – Evel Knievel, American motorcycle rider and stuntman (b. 1938) 2008 – Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer and producer (b. 1958) 2010 – Rajiv Dixit, Indian author and activist (b. | director, producer, and production designer 1937 – Tom Simpson, English cyclist (d. 1967) 1937 – Adeline Yen Mah, Chinese-American physician and author 1938 – Jean Eustache, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1981) 1938 – John M. Goldman, English haematologist and oncologist (d. 2013) 1940 – Kevin Phillips, American journalist and author 1940 – Dan Tieman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2012) 1941 – Phil Willis, Baron Willis of Knaresborough, English politician 1943 – Norma Alarcón, American author and professor 1943 – Terrence Malick, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1943 – Sokratis Kosmidis, Greek lawyer and politician 1944 – George Graham, Scottish footballer and manager 1945 – Hilary Armstrong, Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1945 – Roger Glover, Welsh bass player, songwriter, and producer 1945 – John R. Powers, American author and playwright (d. 2013) 1946 – George Duffield, English jockey and trainer 1947 – Sergio Badilla Castillo, Chilean-Swedish poet and translator 1947 – David Mamet, American playwright, screenwriter, and director 1949 – Jimmy London, Jamaican singer-songwriter 1949 – Matthew Festing, 79th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta 1950 – Patricia Ann Tracey, American Naval Vice Admiral 1950 – Paul Westphal, American basketball player and coach (d. 2021) 1951 – Daniel Petrie, Jr., American director, producer, and screenwriter 1952 – Semyon Bychkov, Russian-American conductor 1952 – Mandy Patinkin, American actor and singer 1953 – Shuggie Otis, American singer-songwriter and musician 1953 – June Pointer, American singer and actress (d. 2006) 1953 – David Sancious, American rock and jazz keyboard player and guitarist 1954 – Wayne Bartholomew, Australian surfer 1954 – Lawrence Summers, American economist and academic 1955 – Michael Beschloss, American historian and author 1955 – Richard Burr, American businessman, academic, and politician 1955 – Kevin Conroy, American actor 1955 – Andy Gray, Scottish footballer and sportscaster 1955 – Billy Idol, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor 1957 – John Ashton, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer 1957 – Richard Barbieri, English keyboard player and songwriter 1957 – Joël Champetier, Canadian author and screenwriter (d. 2015) 1957 – Thomas McElwee Irish Republican, died on hunger strike (d. 1981) 1957 – Patrick McLoughlin, English miner and politician, Secretary of State for Transport 1957 – Colin Mochrie, Scottish-Canadian comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter 1957 – Margaret Spellings, American educator and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Education 1958 – Stacey Q, American pop singer-songwriter, dancer and actress 1959 – Cherie Currie, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress 1959 – George Faber, British television producer 1959 – Lorraine Kelly, Scottish journalist and actress 1959 – Hugo Swire, English soldier and politician, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs 1960 – Bill Halter, American scholar, activist, and politician, 14th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas 1960 – Rich Fields, American radio personality and announcer 1960 – Gary Lineker, English footballer and sportscaster 1960 – Michael O'Connor, Australian rugby player 1960 – Bob Tewksbury, American baseball player and coach 1961 – Innocent Egbunike, Nigerian sprinter and coach 1961 – Ian Morris, Trinidadian footballer and sprinter 1962 – Jimmy Del Ray, American wrestler and manager (d. 2014) 1962 – Bo Jackson, American football and baseball player 1962 – Daniel Keys Moran, American computer programmer and author 1964 – Jushin Thunder Liger, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist 1965 – Aldair, Brazilian footballer 1965 – Fumihito, Prince Akishino, Japanese royal (younger brother of Emperor Naruhito and first in line to the Chrysanthemum throne) 1965 – David Laws, English banker and politician, Chief Secretary to the Treasury 1965 – Ben Stiller, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter 1966 – Nigel Adams, English businessman and politician 1966 – David Berkoff, American swimmer 1966 – David Nicholls, English author and screenwriter 1966 – Mika Salo, Finnish racing driver 1966 – John Bishop, English comedian presenter and actor 1967 – Joseph Corré, English fashion designer and businessman, co-founded Agent Provocateur 1967 – Rajiv Dixit, Indian author and activist (d. 2010) 1967 – Richard Harry, Australian rugby player 1968 – Des'ree, English R&B singer-songwriter 1968 – Laurent Jalabert, French cyclist and sportscaster 1969 – Marc Forster, German-Swiss director, producer, and screenwriter 1969 – Marc Goossens, Belgian racing driver 1969 – Chris Weitz, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1970 – Phil Babb, English footballer and manager 1970 – Walter Emanuel Jones, American actor and dancer 1971 – Ray Durham, American baseball player 1972 – Christophe Beck, Canadian television and film score composer and conductor 1972 – Dan Jarvis, English soldier and politician 1972 – Stanislav Kitto, Estonian footballer 1972 – Abel Xavier, Portuguese footballer and manager 1973 – Christian Cage, Canadian wrestler, actor, and podcaster 1975 – Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013) 1975 – Ben Thatcher, English footballer 1976 – Marta Burgay, Italian astronomer 1976 – Marco Castro, Peruvian-American director and cinematographer 1976 – Josh Lewsey, English rugby player 1976 – Paul Nuttall, British politician 1977 – Richard Elias Anderson, Canadian basketball player and coach 1977 – Steve Aoki, American DJ and producer, founded Dim Mak Records 1977 – Iván Guerrero, Honduran footballer and manager 1977 – Kazumi Saito, Japanese baseball player and coach 1977 – Olivier Schoenfelder, French ice dancer and coach 1978 – Clay Aiken, American singer 1978 – Benjamin Lense, German footballer 1979 – Chris Atkinson, Australian racing driver 1979 – Andrés Nocioni, Argentinian basketball player 1980 – Cem Adrian, Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and director 1980 – Jamie Ashdown, English footballer 1981 – Rich Harden, Canadian baseball player 1982 – Elisha Cuthbert, Canadian actress 1982 – Tony Giarratano, American baseball player 1982 – Jason Pominville, Canadian ice hockey player 1983 – Adrian Cristea, Romanian footballer 1983 – Vladislav Polyakov, Kazakhstani swimmer 1984 – Nigel de Jong, Dutch footballer 1984 – Alan Hutton, Scottish footballer 1984 – Olga Rypakova, Kazakhstani triple jumper 1984 – Francisco Sandaza, Spanish footballer 1985 – Kaley Cuoco, American actress 1985 – Hikari Mitsushima, Japanese actress and singer 1985 – Chrissy Teigen, American model 1986 – Jordan Farmar, American basketball player 1986 – Evgenia Linetskaya, Israeli tennis player 1987 – Vasilisa Bardina, Russian tennis player 1987 – Naomi Knight, American wrestler, model, and dancer 1987 – Dougie Poynter, English singer-songwriter and bass player 1988 – Phillip Hughes, Australian cricketer (d. 2014) 1988 – Vitaliy Polyanskyi, Ukrainian footballer 1988 – Tomi Saarelma, Finnish footballer 1989 – Vladimír Weiss, Slovak footballer 1990 – Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player 1990 – Antoine N'Gossan, Ivorian footballer 1991 – Agnatius Paasi, Tongan rugby league player 1994 – Sofia Araújo, Portuguese tennis player Deaths Pre-1600 1016 – Edmund Ironside, English king (b. 993) 1204 – Emeric, King of Hungary 1276 – Kanezawa Sanetoki, Japanese member of the Hōjō clan (b. 1224) 1283 – John of Vercelli, Master General of the Dominican Order (b. c. 1205) 1378 – Andrew Stratford, English verderer and landowner 1525 – Guillaume Crétin, French poet (b. c. 1460) 1526 – Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Italian captain (b. 1498) 1580 – Richard Farrant, English playwright and composer (b. 1530) 1600 – Nanda Bayin, Burmese king (b. 1535) 1601–1900 1603 – William Gilbert, English scientist (b. 1544) 1623 – Thomas Weelkes, English organist and composer (b. 1576) 1647 – Bonaventura Cavalieri, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1598) 1647 – Giovanni Lanfranco, Italian painter (b. 1582) 1654 – John Selden, English jurist and scholar (b. 1584) 1675 – Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, English lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1605) 1694 – Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist (b. 1628) 1703 – Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (b. 1672) 1718 – Charles XII of Sweden (b. 1682) 1760 – Friederike Caroline Neuber, German actress (b. 1697) 1761 – John Dollond, English optician and astronomer (b. 1706) 1765 – George Glas, Scottish merchant and explorer (b. 1725) 1863 – Kamehameha IV, Hawaiian King (b. 1834) 1864 – Patrick Cleburne, Irish-American general (b. 1828) 1873 – Alexander Berry, Scottish-Welsh surgeon, merchant, and explorer (b. 1781) 1892 – Dimitrios Valvis, Greek judge and politician, 69th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1814) 1900 – Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, novelist, and poet (b. 1854) 1901–present 1901 – Edward John Eyre, English explorer and politician, Governor of Jamaica (b. 1815) 1907 – Ludwig Levy, German architect (b. 1854) 1908 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (b. 1855) 1920 – Vladimir May-Mayevsky, Russian general (b. 1867) 1923 – John Maclean, Scottish educator and revolutionary socialist activist (b. 1879) 1930 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (b. 1851) 1930 – Mary Harris Jones, American Labor organizer (b. 1837) 1931 – Henry Walters, American art collector and philanthropist (b. 1848) 1933 – Arthur Currie, Canadian general (b. 1875) 1934 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (b. 1908) 1935 – Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet, philosopher, and critic (b. 1888) 1942 – Anthony M. Rud, American journalist and author (b. 1893) 1943 – Etty Hillesum, Dutch author (b. 1914) 1944 – Paul Masson, French cyclist (b. 1876) 1949 – Frank Cooper, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Queensland (b. 1872) 1953 – Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (b. 1879) 1954 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor and composer (b. 1886) 1955 – Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, Croatian composer and educator (b. 1896) 1958 – Hubert Wilkins, Australian pilot, ornithologist, geographer, and explorer (b. 1888) 1966 – Salah Suheimat, Jordanian lawyer and politician (b. 1914) 1967 – Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet and author (b. 1904) 1972 – Compton Mackenzie, English-Scottish actor, author, and academic (b. 1883) 1977 – Terence Rattigan, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1911) 1979 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (b.1891) 1979 – Zeppo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1901) 1987 – Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and author (b. 1913) 1988 – Pannonica de Koenigswarter, English-American singer-songwriter (b. 1913) 1989 – Ahmadou Ahidjo, Cameroonian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Cameroon (b. 1924) 1989 – Alfred Herrhausen, German banker (b. 1930) 1990 – Fritz Eichenberg, German-American illustrator and arts educator (b. 1901) 1992 – Peter Blume, American painter and sculptor (b. 1906) |
coach, and sportscaster (d. 2021) 1941 – Roberto Rodríguez, Venezuelan baseball player and coach (d. 2012) 1942 – Michael Craze, British actor (d. 1998) 1942 – Ann Dunham, American anthropologist and academic (d. 1995) 1942 – Maggie Thompson, American author and critic 1942 – John Grillo, English actor and playwright 1943 – Janet Holmes à Court, Australian businesswoman and philanthropist 1943 – Bobbi Martin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000) 1943 – Sue Miller, American novelist and short story writer 1944 – Felix Cavaliere, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer 1945 – Csaba Pléh, Hungarian psychologist and linguist 1946 – Brian Cadd, Australian singer-songwriter, keyboard player and producer 1946 – Suzy Chaffee, American skier 1946 – Silvio Rodríguez, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist 1947 – Petra Kelly, German activist and politician (d. 1992) 1947 – Ronnie Montrose, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2012) 1948 – Yōichi Masuzoe, Japanese politician 1949 – Yvon Labre, Canadian ice hockey player 1949 – Jerry Lawler, American wrestler and sportscaster 1949 – Dutch Mantel, American wrestler and manager 1949 – Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2016) 1949 – Steve Smith, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014) 1950 – Kevin O'Donnell, Jr., American author (d. 2012) 1951 – Carl Finch, American polka musician, songwriter, and record producer 1951 – Barry Goudreau, American guitarist and songwriter 1951 – Roger Troutman, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1999) 1951 – Don Walker, Australian singer-songwriter and pianist 1952 – Jeff Fahey, American actor and producer 1952 – Dusty Hare, English rugby player and cricketer 1953 – Jackie French, Australian author 1953 – Vlado Kreslin, Slovenian singer-songwriter 1953 – Huub Stevens, Dutch footballer and manager 1954 – Joel Coen, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1954 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby player and coach (d. 2006) 1955 – Howie Mandel, Canadian comedian, actor, and television host 1956 – Hinton Battle, German-American actor, dancer, and choreographer 1956 – Yvonne Fovargue, English lawyer and politician 1956 – Eric Laakso, American football player (d. 2010) 1956 – Katrin Saks, Estonian lawyer and politician 1957 – Jennifer Batten, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer 1957 – Janet Napolitano, American lawyer, academic, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Homeland Security 1957 – Matthew Rubel, American businessman 1957 – Mario Salieri, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter 1958 – Michael Dempsey, Zimbabwean-English bass player 1958 – John Dramani Mahama, Ghanaian historian and politician, 4th President of Ghana 1959 – Richard Borcherds, South African-English mathematician and academic 1959 – Neal Broten, American ice hockey player 1959 – Rich Camarillo, American football player and coach 1959 – Rahm Emanuel, American businessman and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago 1960 – Marco Bucci, Italian discus thrower (d. 2013) 1960 – Howard Johnson, American baseball player, coach, and manager 1960 – Cathy Moriarty, American actress 1962 – Ronny Jordan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2014) 1962 – Andrew McCarthy, American actor and director 1962 – Michael Veitch, Australian comedian and actor 1963 – Will Downing, American singer-songwriter and producer 1963 – Lalit Modi, Indian businessman 1964 – Don Cheadle, American actor and producer 1964 – Ken Monkou, Surinamese-Dutch footballer 1965 – Lauren Child, English author 1965 – Ellen Cleghorne, American comedian and actress 1965 – Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese poet and pianist (d. 1992) 1968 – Hayabusa, Japanese wrestler (d. 2016) 1968 – Jonathan Knight, American singer-songwriter and dancer 1969 – Kasey Keller, American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster 1969 – Mariano Rivera, Panamanian-American baseball player 1969 – Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dutch footballer 1969 – Tomas Brolin, Swedish footballer 1970 – Larry Joe Campbell, American actor and director 1970 – Mark Pembridge, Welsh footballer and coach 1970 – Ryu Seung-ryong, South Korean actor 1971 – Brad May, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster 1972 – Willie Bain, Scottish academic and politician 1972 – Brian Baumgartner, American actor and producer 1972 – Jamal Mashburn, American basketball player and sportscaster 1972 – Roger Shah, German electronic music producer 1972 – Minoru Tanaka, Japanese wrestler and boxer 1973 – Ryan Giggs, Welsh footballer and manager 1973 – Sarah Jones, American actress and playwright 1974 – Pavol Demitra, Slovak ice hockey player (d. 2011) 1975 – Andreas Ioannides, Cypriot footballer 1976 – Chris Akins, American football player 1976 – Chadwick Boseman, American actor and playwright (d. 2020) 1976 – Lindsay Benko, American swimmer 1976 – Anna Faris, American actress 1976 – Michalis Kakiouzis, Greek basketball player 1977 – Eddie Howe, English footballer and manager 1977 – Younis Khan, Pakistani cricketer 1977 – Maria Petrova, Russian figure skater 1978 – Alessandro Fei, Italian volleyball player 1978 – Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, Greek footballer 1979 – Adam Barrett, English footballer 1979 – Francis Beltrán, Dominican baseball player 1979 – The Game, American rapper 1979 – Neal Horgan, American-Irish footballer 1980 – P. J. Fleck, American football player and coach 1980 – Janina Gavankar, American actress and singer 1980 – Jason Griffith, American voice actor and actor 1980 – Chun Jung-myung, South Korean actor 1980 – Ilias Kasidiaris, Greek soldier and politician 1981 – Fawad Khan, Pakistani actor, model and singer 1983 – Tanner Glass, Canadian ice hockey player 1983 – Jennifer Oeser, German heptathlete 1983 – Aylin Tezel, German actress 1984 – Ji Hyun-woo, South Korean actor and guitarist 1984 – Katlego Mphela, South African footballer 1985 – Evangelia Aravani, Greek model 1985 – Shannon Brown, American basketball player 1987 – Stephen O'Halloran, Irish footballer 1987 – Sandro Wagner, German footballer 1988 – Dana Brooke, American wrestler and bodybuilder 1988 – Lee Hyun-ho, South Korean footballer 1988 – Russell Wilson, American football player 1990 – Sheldon Richardson, American football player 1991 – Terunofuji Haruo, Mongolian sumo wrestler 1993 – Stefon Diggs, American football player 1994 – Shaun Lane, Australian rugby league player 1995 – Karl Lawton, Australian rugby league player 1995 – Siobhan-Marie O'Connor, English swimmer 1995 – Yūka Sugai, Japanese idol 1997 – Ye Qiuyu, Chinese tennis player Deaths Pre-1600 521 – Jacob of Serugh, Syrian poet and theologian (b. 451) 524 – Ahkal Mo' Naab' I, ruler of Palenque (b. 465) 561 – Chlothar I, Frankish king (b. 497) 835 – Muhammad al-Jawad, the ninth of the Twelve Imams (b. 811) 997 – Seongjong, Korean king (b. 961) 999 – Li Chun'an, Chinese merchant (b. 921) 1253 – Otto II, duke of Bavaria (b. 1206) 1268 – Clement IV, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1190) 1314 – Philip IV, king of France (b. 1268) 1330 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1287) 1342 – Michael of Cesena, Italian general, priest, and theologian (b. 1270) 1378 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1316) 1396 – Robert Ferrers, 3rd Baron Ferrers of Wemme, English nobleman (b. 1373) 1463 – Marie of Anjou, queen and wife of Charles VII of France (b. 1404) 1530 – Thomas Wolsey, English cardinal and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1473) 1544 – Jungjong of Joseon, Korean king (b. 1488) 1577 – Cuthbert Mayne, English priest (b. 1543) 1590 – Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin, German philologist and poet (b. 1547) 1594 – Alonso de Ercilla, Spanish soldier and poet (b. 1533) 1601–1900 1626 – Ernst von Mansfeld, German commander (b. 1580) 1628 – John Felton, English soldier and assassin of the Duke of Buckingham (b. c. 1595) 1632 – Frederick V, Elector Palatine (b. 1596) 1643 – William Cartwright, English priest and playwright (b. 1611) 1643 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian priest and composer (b. 1567) 1646 – Laurentius Paulinus Gothus, Swedish astronomer and theologian (b. 1565) 1661 – Brian Walton, English bishop and scholar (b. 1600) 1695 – James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Court of Session (b. 1619) 1699 – Patrick Gordon, Scottish-Russian general (b. 1635) 1759 – Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (b. 1687) 1780 – Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress, wife of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1717) 1797 – Samuel Langdon, American pastor, theologian, and academic (b. 1723) 1830 – John Maurice Hauke, Polish general (b. 1775) 1846 – Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1778) 1847 – Marcus Whitman, American physician and missionary (b. 1802) 1872 – Mary Somerville, Scottish-Italian astronomer, mathematician, and author (b. 1780) 1883 – Hiệp Hòa, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1847) 1894 – Juan N. Méndez, Mexican general and interim president, 1876-1877 (b. 1820) 1901–present 1918 – Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, Brazilian prince (b. 1881) 1924 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer and educator (b. 1858) 1927 – George Giffen, Australian cricketer (b. 1859) 1932 – Abdullah Cevdet, Kurdish-Turkish physician and academic (b. 1869) 1939 – Philipp Scheidemann, German lawyer and politician, 10th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1865) 1941 – Frank Waller, American sprinter and hurdler (b. 1884) 1942 – Boyd Wagner, American colonel and pilot (b. 1916) 1946 | Byrd leads the first expedition to fly over the South Pole. 1943 – World War II: The second session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ), held to determine the post-war ordering of the country, concludes in Jajce (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina). 1944 – World War II: Albania is liberated by the Partisans. 1945 – The Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia is declared. 1947 – Partition Plan: The United Nations General Assembly approves a plan for the partition of Palestine. 1947 – First Indochina War: French forces carry out a massacre at Mỹ Trạch, Vietnam. 1952 – Korean War: U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills a campaign promise by traveling to Korea to find out what can be done to end the conflict. 1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission: Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space. The spacecraft orbits the Earth twice and splashes down off the coast of Puerto Rico. 1963 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 1963 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crashes shortly after takeoff from Montreal-Dorval International Airport, killing all 118 people on board. 1963 – "I Want to Hold Your Hand", recorded on October 17, 1963, is released by the Beatles in the United Kingdom. 1967 – Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation. 1972 – Atari releases Pong, the first commercially successful video game. 1986 – The Surinamese military attacks the village of Moiwana during the Suriname Guerrilla War, killing at least 39 civilians, mostly women and children. 1987 – North Korean agents plant a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858, which kills all 115 passengers and crew. 2007 – The Armed Forces of the Philippines lay siege to the Peninsula Manila after soldiers led by Senator Antonio Trillanes stage a mutiny. 2009 – Maurice Clemmons shoots and kills four police officers inside a coffee shop in Lakewood, Washington. Births Pre-1600 826 – William of Septimania, Frankish nobleman (d. 850) 968 – Kazan, Emperor of Japan (d. 1008) 1310 – John de Mowbray, 3rd Baron Mowbray, English Baron (d. 1361) 1329 – John I, Duke of Lower Bavaria (d. 1340) 1338 – Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Belgian-English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1368) 1422 – Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont, English Baron (d. 1460) 1427 – Zhengtong, emperor of the Ming Dynasty (d. 1464) 1463 – Andrea della Valle, Italian cardinal (d. 1534) 1484 – Joachim Vadian, Swiss physician, scholar, and politician (d. 1551) 1528 – Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, English politician (d. 1592) 1601–1900 1627 – John Ray, English biologist and botanist (d. 1705) 1690 – Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (d. 1747) 1705 – Michael Christian Festing, English violinist and composer (d. 1752) 1752 – Jemima Wilkinson, American evangelist (d. 1819) 1762 – Pierre André Latreille, French zoologist (d. 1833) 1781 – Andrés Bello, Venezuelan poet and philosopher (d. 1865) 1797 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (d. 1848) 1798 – Alexander Brullov, Russian painter and architect, designed the Pulkovo Observatory (d. 1877) 1799 – Amos Bronson Alcott, American philosopher and academic (d. 1888) 1802 – Wilhelm Hauff, German poet and author (d. 1827) 1803 – Christian Doppler, Austrian mathematician and physicist (d. 1853) 1803 – Gottfried Semper, German architect and academic, designed the Semper Opera House (d. 1879) 1816 – Morrison Waite, American jurist and politician, 7th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1888) 1817 – William Ellery Channing, American poet and author (d. 1901) 1818 – George Brown, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 10th Premier of West Canada (d. 1880) 1823 – La Fayette Grover, American lawyer and politician, 4th Governor of Oregon (d. 1911) 1825 – Jean-Martin Charcot, French neurologist and psychologist (d. 1893) 1827 – William Crichton, Scottish engineer and shipbuilder (d. 1889) 1831 – Frederick Townsend Ward, American sailor and soldier (d. 1862) 1832 – Louisa May Alcott, American novelist and poet (d. 1888) 1835 – Empress Dowager Cixi of China (d. 1908) 1843 – Gertrude Jekyll, British horticulturist and writer (d. 1932) 1849 – John Ambrose Fleming, English physicist and engineer (d. 1945) 1856 – Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German lawyer and politician, 5th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1921) 1857 – Theodor Escherich, German-Austrian pediatrician and academic (d. 1911) 1861 – Spyridon Samaras, Greek playwright and composer (d. 1917) 1873 – Suzan Rose Benedict, American mathematician and academic (d. 1942) 1874 – Francis Dodd, Welsh-English painter and academic (d. 1949) 1874 – Egas Moniz, Portuguese physician and neurologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955) 1876 – Nellie Tayloe Ross, American educator and politician, 14th Governor of Wyoming (d. 1977) 1878 – John Derbyshire, English swimmer and water polo player (d. 1938) 1879 – Jacob Gade, Danish violinist and composer (d. 1963) 1881 – Artur Phleps, Romanian-German general (d. 1944) 1881 – Abdülhalik Renda, Turkish civil servant and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of National Defence (d. 1957) 1882 – Henri Fabre, French pilot and engineer (d. 1984) 1888 – Joe Slater, Australian footballer and captain (d. 1917) 1891 – Julius Raab, Austrian engineer and politician, 19th Chancellor of Austria (d. 1964) 1895 – Busby Berkeley, American director and choreographer (d. 1976) 1895 – William Tubman, Liberian lawyer and politician, 19th President of Liberia (d. 1971) 1898 – C. S. Lewis, British novelist, poet, and critic (d. 1963) 1899 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian Minister of Interior (d. 1988) 1899 – Emma Morano, Italian supercentenarian, oldest Italian person ever (d. 2017) 1900 – Mildred Gillars, American broadcaster, employed by Nazi Germany to disseminate propaganda during WWII (d. 1988) 1901–present 1901 – Mildred Harris, American actress (d. 1944) 1904 – Margaret Barr, Australian choreographer and teacher of dance-drama (d. 1991) 1905 – Marcel Lefebvre, French-Swiss archbishop and theologian (d. 1991) 1906 – Barbara C. Freeman, English writer and poet (b. 1999) 1908 – Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., American pastor and politician (d. 1972) 1908 – Afet İnan, Turkish historian and sociologist (d. 1985) 1910 – Elizabeth Choy, Malaysian-Singaporean educator and politician (d. 2006) 1910 – Antanas Škėma, Lithuanian actor and director (d. 1961) 1915 – Ludu Daw Amar, Burmese journalist and author (d. 2008) 1915 – Billy Strayhorn, American pianist and composer (d. 1967) 1916 – Fran Ryan, American actress and comedian (d. 2000) 1917 – Pierre Gaspard-Huit, French director and screenwriter (d. 2017) 1917 – Merle Travis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1983) 1918 – Madeleine L'Engle, American author and poet (d. 2007) 1919 – Joe Weider, Canadian-American bodybuilder and publisher, co-founded the IFBB (d. 2013) 1920 – Yegor Ligachyov, Russian engineer and politician (d. 2021) 1920 – Joseph Shivers, American chemist and academic, developed spandex (d. 2014) 1921 – Jackie Stallone, American astrologer and a promoter of women's wrestling (d. 2020) 1922 – Michael Howard, English-American historian, author, and academic (d. 2019) 1923 – Chuck Daigh, American race car driver (b. 2008) 1924 – Charles E. Mower, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1944) 1925 – Minnie Miñoso, Cuban-American baseball player and coach (d. 2015) 1926 – Beji Caid Essebsi, Tunisian lawyer and politician, President of Tunisia (d. 2019) 1927 – Vin Scully, American sportscaster and game show host 1928 – Tahir Salahov, Azerbaijani painter and educator (d. 2021) 1928 – Paul Simon, American soldier and politician, 39th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois (d. 2003) 1928 – Ernie Vossler, American golfer (d. 2013) 1929 – Derek Jameson, English journalist and radio host (d. 2012) 1929 – Woo Yong-gak, North Korean soldier (d. 2012) 1930 – Shirley Porter, English politician, Lord Mayor of Westminster 1930 – Vladimir Šenauer, Croatian footballer (d. 2013) 1930 – Alan Lee Williams, English academic and politician 1931 – Shintaro Katsu, Japanese actor, singer, director, and producer (d. 1997) 1931 – André Noyelle, Belgian cyclist (d. 2003) 1932 – Ed Bickert, Canadian jazz guitarist (d. 2019) 1932 – Jacques Chirac, French soldier and politician, 22nd President of France (d. 2019) 1932 – John Gary, American singer and television host (d. 1998) 1932 – Fernando Guillén, Spanish actor (d. 2013) 1932 – Marc Vaux, English painter 1933 – John Mayall, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1933 – James Rosenquist, American painter and illustrator (d. 2017) 1934 – Willie Morris, American writer (d. 1999) 1935 – Diane Ladd, American actress 1935 – Thomas J. O'Brien, American bishop (d. 2018) 1937 – Jan Mangerud, Norwegian geologist and academic 1938 – Kashiwado Tsuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 47th Yokozuna (d. 1996) 1939 – Peter Bergman, American comedian, actor and screenwriter (d. 2012) 1939 – Meco, American record producer and musician 1940 – Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Cuban-Spanish economist and journalist (d. 2013) 1940 – Chuck Mangione, American horn player and composer 1940 – Janet Smith, English lawyer and judge 1940 – Henry T. Yang, Taiwanese/Chinese-American engineer and academic 1941 – Bill Freehan, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2021) 1941 – Roberto Rodríguez, Venezuelan baseball player and coach (d. 2012) 1942 – Michael Craze, British actor (d. 1998) 1942 – Ann Dunham, American anthropologist and academic (d. 1995) 1942 – Maggie Thompson, American author and critic 1942 – John Grillo, English actor and playwright 1943 – Janet Holmes à Court, Australian businesswoman and philanthropist 1943 – Bobbi Martin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2000) 1943 – Sue Miller, American novelist and short story writer 1944 – Felix Cavaliere, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer 1945 – Csaba Pléh, Hungarian psychologist and linguist 1946 – Brian Cadd, Australian singer-songwriter, keyboard player and producer 1946 – Suzy Chaffee, American skier 1946 – Silvio Rodríguez, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist 1947 – Petra Kelly, German activist and politician (d. 1992) 1947 – Ronnie Montrose, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2012) 1948 – Yōichi Masuzoe, Japanese politician 1949 – Yvon Labre, Canadian ice hockey player 1949 – Jerry Lawler, American wrestler and sportscaster 1949 – Dutch Mantel, American wrestler and manager 1949 – Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2016) 1949 – Steve Smith, American lawyer and politician (d. 2014) 1950 – Kevin O'Donnell, Jr., American author (d. 2012) 1951 – Carl Finch, American polka musician, songwriter, and record producer 1951 – Barry Goudreau, American guitarist and songwriter 1951 – Roger Troutman, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1999) 1951 – Don Walker, Australian singer-songwriter and pianist 1952 – Jeff Fahey, American actor and producer 1952 – Dusty Hare, English rugby player and cricketer 1953 – Jackie French, Australian author 1953 – Vlado Kreslin, Slovenian singer-songwriter 1953 – Huub Stevens, Dutch footballer and manager 1954 – Joel Coen, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1954 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby player and coach (d. 2006) 1955 – Howie Mandel, Canadian comedian, actor, and television host 1956 – Hinton Battle, German-American actor, dancer, and choreographer 1956 – Yvonne Fovargue, English lawyer and politician 1956 – Eric Laakso, American football player (d. 2010) 1956 – Katrin Saks, Estonian lawyer and politician 1957 – Jennifer Batten, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer 1957 – Janet Napolitano, American lawyer, academic, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Homeland Security 1957 – Matthew Rubel, American businessman 1957 – Mario Salieri, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter 1958 – Michael Dempsey, Zimbabwean-English bass |
– Bulgarian victory in the Serbo-Bulgarian War preserves the Unification of Bulgaria. 1893 – Women's suffrage in New Zealand concludes with the 1893 New Zealand general election. 1895 – The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago's Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours. 1899 – The Second Boer War: A British column is engaged by Boer forces at the Battle of Modder River; although the Boers withdraw, the British suffer heavy casualties. 1901–present 1905 – Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland. 1908 – A mine explosion in Marianna, Pennsylvania, kills 154 men, leaving only one survivor. 1912 – Albania declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire. 1914 – World War I: Following a war-induced closure in July, the New York Stock Exchange re-opens for bond trading. 1917 – The Estonian Provincial Assembly declares itself the sovereign power of Estonia. 1918 – The Soviet Forces moved against Estonia when the 6th Red Rifle Division struck the border town of Narva, which marked the beginning of the Estonian War of Independence. 1919 – Lady Astor is elected as a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. (Countess Markievicz, the first to be elected, refused to sit.) 1920 – FIDAC (The Interallied Federation of War Veterans Organisations), the first international organization of war veterans is established in Paris, France. 1920 – Irish War of Independence: Kilmichael Ambush: The Irish Republican Army ambush a convoy of British Auxiliaries and kill seventeen. 1925 – The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee, as the WSM Barn Dance. 1942 – In Boston, Massachusetts, a fire in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub kills 492 people. 1943 – World War II: Tehran Conference: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran, to discuss war strategy. 1958 – Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community. 1958 – First successful flight of SM-65 Atlas; the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. 1960 – Mauritania becomes independent of France. 1964 – Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars. 1964 – Vietnam War: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam. 1965 – Vietnam War: In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippine President-elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam. 1966 – Michel Micombero overthrows the monarchy of Burundi and makes himself the first president. 1967 – The first pulsar (PSR B1919+21, in the constellation of Vulpecula) is discovered by two astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish. 1971 – Fred Quilt, a leader of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation suffers severe abdominal injuries allegedly caused by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers; he dies two days later. 1971 – Wasfi al-Tal, Prime Minister of Jordan, is assassinated by the Black September unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization. 1972 – Last executions in Paris: Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems are guillotined at La Santé Prison. 1975 – East Timor declares its independence from Portugal. 1979 – Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10 sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board. 1980 – Iran–Iraq War: Operation Morvarid: The bulk of the Iraqi Navy is destroyed by the Iranian Navy in the Persian Gulf. (Commemorated in Iran as Navy Day.) 1987 – South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on board. 1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution: In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power. 1990 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigns as leader of the Conservative Party and, therefore, as Prime Minister. She is succeeded in both positions by John Major. 1991 – South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia. 2002 – Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya; their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582 with surface-to-air missiles. 2010 – Sun Way Flight 4112 crashes after takeoff from Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12 people. 2014 – Gunmen set off three bombs at the central mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Kano killing at least 120 people. 2016 – A chartered Avro RJ85 plane carrying at least 77 people, including the Chapecoense football team, crashes near Medellín, Colombia. 2020 – Over seven hundred civilians are massacred by the Ethiopian National Defense Force and Eritrean Army in Aksum, Ethiopia. Births Pre-1600 1118 – Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1180) 1293 – Yesün Temür, Chinese emperor (d. 1328) 1470 – Wen Zhengming, artist during the Ming dynasty (d. 1559) 1489 – Margaret Tudor, Queen of James IV of Scotland, daughter of Henry VII of England (d. 1541) 1570 – James Whitelocke, English judge and politician, Chief Justice of Chester (d. 1632) 1592 – Hong Taiji, Emperor of China (d. 1643) 1598 – Hans Nansen, Danish lawyer and politician (d. 1667) 1601–1900 1628 – John Bunyan, English preacher, theologian, and author (d. 1688) 1631 – Abraham Brueghel, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1690) 1632 – Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-French composer and manager (d. 1687) 1640 – Willem de Vlamingh, Flemish captain and explorer (d. 1698) 1661 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English soldier and politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (d. 1723) 1681 – Jean Cavalier, French rebel leader (d. 1740) 1682 – Betty Parris, woman from Salem in Massachusetts who accused others of being witches (d. 1760) 1694 – Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (d. 1728) 1700 – Nathaniel Bliss, English astronomer and mathematician (d. 1764) 1700 – Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (d. 1770) 1757 – William Blake, English poet and painter (d. 1827) 1760 – Maria Teresa Poniatowska, Polish noblewoman (d. 1834) 1772 – Luke Howard, English chemist and meteorologist (d. 1864) 1774 – Maria Antonia of Parma (d. 1841) 1785 – Victor de Broglie, French lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of France (d. 1870) 1792 – Victor Cousin, French philosopher and academic (d. 1867) 1793 – Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, Swedish poet, composer, and critic (d. 1866) 1804 – William Weston, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Tasmania (d. 1888) 1805 – John Lloyd Stephens, American archaeologist and explorer (d. 1852) 1810 – William Froude, English engineer and architect (d. 1879) 1820 – Friedrich Engels, German-English philosopher, economist, and journalist (d. 1895) 1829 – Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1894) 1837 – John Wesley Hyatt, American engineer (d. 1920) 1853 – Helen Magill White, American academic (d. 1944) 1857 – Alfonso XII of Spain (d. 1885) 1861 – Adina Emilia De Zavala, American teacher, historian and preservationist of Texas history (d. 1955) 1864 – James Allen, English author and poet (d. 1912) 1864 – Lindley Miller Garrison, American lawyer and politician, 46th United States Secretary of War (d. 1932) 1866 – Henry Bacon, American architect, designed the Lincoln Memorial (d. 1924) 1876 – Bert Vogler, South African cricketer (d. 1946) 1880 – Alexander Blok, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1921) 1881 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian author, playwright, and journalist (d. 1942) 1887 – Ernst Röhm, German soldier and politician (d. 1934) 1891 – Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino journalist, jurist, and politician (d. 1949) 1891 – Mabel Alvarez, American painter (d. 1985) 1894 – Brooks Atkinson, American theatre critic (d. 1984) 1894 – Henry Hazlitt, American economist and philosopher (d. 1993) 1895 – José Iturbi, Spanish pianist and conductor (d. 1980) 1896 – Dawn Powell, American author and playwright (d. 1965) 1896 – Lilia Skala, Austrian-American actress (d. 1994) 1898 – İhap Hulusi Görey, Turkish graphic artist (d. 1986) 1900 – Mary Bothwell, Canadian classical vocalist and painter (d. 1985) 1901–present 1903 – Gladys O'Connor, English-Canadian actress (d. 2012) 1904 – James Eastland, American planter and politician (d. 1986) 1904 – Nancy Mitford, English journalist and author (d. 1973) 1906 – Henry Picard, American golfer (d. 1997) 1907 – Rose Bampton, American soprano and educator (d. 2007) 1907 – Alberto Moravia, Italian journalist and author (d. 1990) 1908 – Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Nigerian educator and politician, 3rd Governor of Ondo State (d. 1997) 1908 – Claude Lévi-Strauss, Belgian-French anthropologist and ethnologist (d. 2009) 1910 – Elsie Quarterman, American ecologist and academic (d. 2014) 1911 – Václav Renč, Czech poet and playwright (d. 1973) 1912 – Morris Louis, American painter (d. 1962) 1913 – Cliff | 1971 – Fred Quilt, a leader of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation suffers severe abdominal injuries allegedly caused by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers; he dies two days later. 1971 – Wasfi al-Tal, Prime Minister of Jordan, is assassinated by the Black September unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization. 1972 – Last executions in Paris: Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems are guillotined at La Santé Prison. 1975 – East Timor declares its independence from Portugal. 1979 – Air New Zealand Flight 901, a DC-10 sightseeing flight over Antarctica, crashes into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board. 1980 – Iran–Iraq War: Operation Morvarid: The bulk of the Iraqi Navy is destroyed by the Iranian Navy in the Persian Gulf. (Commemorated in Iran as Navy Day.) 1987 – South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing all 159 people on board. 1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution: In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power. 1990 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigns as leader of the Conservative Party and, therefore, as Prime Minister. She is succeeded in both positions by John Major. 1991 – South Ossetia declares independence from Georgia. 2002 – Suicide bombers blow up an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya; their colleagues fail in their attempt to bring down Arkia Israel Airlines Flight 582 with surface-to-air missiles. 2010 – Sun Way Flight 4112 crashes after takeoff from Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 12 people. 2014 – Gunmen set off three bombs at the central mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Kano killing at least 120 people. 2016 – A chartered Avro RJ85 plane carrying at least 77 people, including the Chapecoense football team, crashes near Medellín, Colombia. 2020 – Over seven hundred civilians are massacred by the Ethiopian National Defense Force and Eritrean Army in Aksum, Ethiopia. Births Pre-1600 1118 – Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1180) 1293 – Yesün Temür, Chinese emperor (d. 1328) 1470 – Wen Zhengming, artist during the Ming dynasty (d. 1559) 1489 – Margaret Tudor, Queen of James IV of Scotland, daughter of Henry VII of England (d. 1541) 1570 – James Whitelocke, English judge and politician, Chief Justice of Chester (d. 1632) 1592 – Hong Taiji, Emperor of China (d. 1643) 1598 – Hans Nansen, Danish lawyer and politician (d. 1667) 1601–1900 1628 – John Bunyan, English preacher, theologian, and author (d. 1688) 1631 – Abraham Brueghel, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1690) 1632 – Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-French composer and manager (d. 1687) 1640 – Willem de Vlamingh, Flemish captain and explorer (d. 1698) 1661 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English soldier and politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (d. 1723) 1681 – Jean Cavalier, French rebel leader (d. 1740) 1682 – Betty Parris, woman from Salem in Massachusetts who accused others of being witches (d. 1760) 1694 – Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (d. 1728) 1700 – Nathaniel Bliss, English astronomer and mathematician (d. 1764) 1700 – Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (d. 1770) 1757 – William Blake, English poet and painter (d. 1827) 1760 – Maria Teresa Poniatowska, Polish noblewoman (d. 1834) 1772 – Luke Howard, English chemist and meteorologist (d. 1864) 1774 – Maria Antonia of Parma (d. 1841) 1785 – Victor de Broglie, French lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of France (d. 1870) 1792 – Victor Cousin, French philosopher and academic (d. 1867) 1793 – Carl Jonas Love Almqvist, Swedish poet, composer, and critic (d. 1866) 1804 – William Weston, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Tasmania (d. 1888) 1805 – John Lloyd Stephens, American archaeologist and explorer (d. 1852) 1810 – William Froude, English engineer and architect (d. 1879) 1820 – Friedrich Engels, German-English philosopher, economist, and journalist (d. 1895) 1829 – Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1894) 1837 – John Wesley Hyatt, American engineer (d. 1920) 1853 – Helen Magill White, American academic (d. 1944) 1857 – Alfonso XII of Spain (d. 1885) 1861 – Adina Emilia De Zavala, American teacher, historian and preservationist of Texas history (d. 1955) 1864 – James Allen, English author and poet (d. 1912) 1864 – Lindley Miller Garrison, American lawyer and politician, 46th United States Secretary of War (d. 1932) 1866 – Henry Bacon, American architect, designed the Lincoln Memorial (d. 1924) 1876 – Bert Vogler, South African cricketer (d. 1946) 1880 – Alexander Blok, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1921) 1881 – Stefan Zweig, Austrian author, playwright, and journalist (d. 1942) 1887 – Ernst Röhm, German soldier and politician (d. 1934) 1891 – Gregorio Perfecto, Filipino journalist, jurist, and politician (d. 1949) 1891 – Mabel Alvarez, American painter (d. 1985) 1894 – Brooks Atkinson, American theatre critic (d. 1984) 1894 – Henry Hazlitt, American economist and philosopher (d. 1993) 1895 – José Iturbi, Spanish pianist and conductor (d. 1980) 1896 – Dawn Powell, American author and playwright (d. 1965) 1896 – Lilia Skala, Austrian-American actress (d. 1994) 1898 – İhap Hulusi Görey, Turkish graphic artist (d. 1986) 1900 – Mary Bothwell, Canadian classical vocalist and painter (d. 1985) 1901–present 1903 – Gladys O'Connor, English-Canadian actress (d. 2012) 1904 – James Eastland, American planter and politician (d. 1986) 1904 – Nancy Mitford, English journalist and author (d. 1973) 1906 – Henry Picard, American golfer (d. 1997) 1907 – Rose Bampton, American soprano and educator (d. 2007) 1907 – Alberto Moravia, Italian journalist and author (d. 1990) 1908 – Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Nigerian educator and politician, 3rd Governor of Ondo State (d. 1997) 1908 – Claude Lévi-Strauss, Belgian-French anthropologist and ethnologist (d. 2009) 1910 – Elsie Quarterman, American ecologist and academic (d. 2014) 1911 – Václav Renč, Czech poet and playwright (d. 1973) 1912 – Morris Louis, American painter (d. 1962) 1913 – Cliff Addison, English chemist and academic (d. 1994) 1915 – Evald Okas, Estonian painter and academic (d. 2011) 1915 – Yves Thériault, Canadian author (d. 1983) 1916 – Lilian, Princess of Réthy (d. 2002) 1916 – Ramón José Velásquez, Venezuelan journalist, lawyer, and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2014) 1919 – Keith Miller, Australian cricketer, footballer, and pilot (d. 2004) 1923 – Helen Delich Bentley, American politician (d. 2016) 1923 – Gloria Grahame, American actress (d. 1981) 1924 – Dennis Brutus, South African journalist, poet, and academic (d. 2009) 1924 – Johanna Döbereiner, Czech-Brazilian agronomist and academic (d. 2000) 1925 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1978) 1925 – Gigi Gryce, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1983) 1927 – Abdul Halim of Kedah, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2017) 1928 – Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist and academic (d. 1980) 1928 – Piet Steenbergen, Dutch footballer and manager (d. 2010) 1929 – Berry Gordy, Jr., American songwriter and producer, founded Motown Records 1930 – A.L. "Doodle" Owens, American country music songwriter and singer (d. 1999) 1932 – Gato Barbieri, Argentinian saxophonist and composer (d. 2016) 1932 – Terence Frisby, English author and playwright 1933 – Joe Knollenberg, American soldier and politician 1933 – Hope Lange, American actress (d. 2003) 1935 – Frik du Preez, South African rugby player 1935 – Randolph Stow, Australian-English author and poet (d. 2010) 1936 – Gary Hart, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland 1938 – Peter Dimond, Australian rugby league player (d. 2021) 1940 – Bruce Channel, American singer-songwriter 1941 – Laura Antonelli, Italian actress (d. 2015) 1942 – Paul Warfield, American football player and sportscaster 1943 – R. B. Greaves, Guyanese-American singer-songwriter (d. 2012) 1943 – Randy Newman, American singer-songwriter, composer, and pianist 1944 – Rita Mae Brown, American novelist, poet, and screenwriter 1945 – Franklin Drilon, Filipino lawyer and politician, 22nd President of the Senate of the Philippines 1946 – Joe Dante, American director and producer 1947 – Michel Berger, French singer-songwriter (d. 1992) 1947 – Maria Farantouri, Greek singer and politician 1947 – Gladys Kokorwe, Botswana politician and Speaker of The National Assembly 1948 – Beeb Birtles, Dutch-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1948 – Mick Channon, English footballer and horse trainer 1948 – Agnieszka Holland, Polish film and television director and screenwriter 1948 – Alan Lightman, American physicist, novelist, and academician 1948 – Dick Morris, American political consultant, journalist, and author 1949 – Alexander Godunov, Russian-American actor and dancer (d. 1995) 1949 – Paul Shaffer, Canadian-American singer, keyboard player, and bandleader 1950 – Ed Harris, American actor and producer 1950 – Russell Alan Hulse, American physicist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate 1951 – Barbara Morgan, American educator and astronaut 1952 – S. Epatha Merkerson, American actress 1953 – Alistair Darling, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1953 – Helen De Michiel, American director and producer 1953 – Sixto Lezcano, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach 1953 – Gordon Marsden, English journalist and politician 1954 – Necip Hablemitoğlu, Turkish historian and academic (d. 2002) 1955 – Alessandro Altobelli, Italian footballer and sportscaster 1955 – Adem Jashari, Kosovan commander (d. 1998) 1956 – Fiona Armstrong, English-Scottish journalist and author 1956 – David Van Day, English singer 1957 – Peeter Järvelaid, Estonian historian and scholar 1958 – Kriss Akabusi, English sprinter and hurdler 1958 – Dave Righetti, American baseball player and coach 1959 – Nancy Charest, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2014) 1959 – Judd Nelson, American actor and screenwriter 1959 – Stephen Roche, Irish cyclist and sportscaster 1960 – Jorge Domecq, Spanish lawyer and diplomat 1960 – John Galliano, Gibraltar-born British fashion designer 1960 – Andy Ritchie, English footballer and manager 1960 – Kenny Wharton, English footballer and coach 1961 – Martin Clunes, English actor, singer, and director 1961 – Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican director, producer, and screenwriter 1962 – Matt Cameron, American drummer and songwriter 1962 – Juan Carlos Rosero, Ecuadorian cyclist (d. 2013) 1962 – Jon Stewart, American comedian, actor, and television host 1963 – Armando Iannucci, Scottish comedian, actor, director, and producer 1963 – Andrew Jones, English politician 1963 – Johnny Newman, American basketball player 1963 – Walt Weiss, American baseball player and manager 1964 – Michael Bennet, Indian-American lawyer and politician 1964 – John Burkett, American baseball player and bowler 1964 – Roy Tarpley, American basketball player (d. 2015) 1964 – Sian Williams, English-Welsh journalist 1965 – Erwin Mortier, Belgian author and poet 1965 – Matt Williams, American baseball player and manager 1967 – Chris Heaton-Harris, English businessman and politician 1967 – Anna Nicole Smith, American model, actress, and television personality (d. 2007) 1967 – José del Solar, Peruvian footballer and manager 1967 – Stephnie Weir, American actress and comedian 1968 – Darren Bett, English journalist 1969 – Nick Knight, English cricketer and sportscaster 1969 – Petr Kouba, Czech footballer 1969 – Robb Nen, American baseball player and manager 1969 – Valeri Nikitin, Estonian wrestler 1969 – Sonia O'Sullivan, Irish athlete 1970 – Álex López Morón, Spanish tennis player 1970 – Richard Osman, English television host, director, and producer 1972 – Paulo Figueiredo, Angolan footballer 1972 – Anastasia Kelesidou, German-Greek discus thrower 1972 – Jesper Strömblad, Swedish guitarist and songwriter 1973 – Jade Puget, American guitarist and producer 1974 – apl.de.ap, Filipino-American singer and rapper 1974 – András Tölcséres, Hungarian footballer and manager 1975 – Bakarhythm, Japanese comedian, actor, playwright, and composer 1975 – Eka Kurniawan, Indonesian journalist and author 1975 – Park Sung-bae, South Korean footballer 1975 – Takashi Shimoda, Japanese footballer 1975 – Sigurd Wongraven, Norwegian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1976 – Ryan Kwanten, Australian actor 1977 – Marlon Broomes, English footballer 1977 – Fabio Grosso, Italian footballer |
tsunami all along the Indonesian coast. 1839 – A cyclone slams into south-eastern India, with high winds and a storm surge destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave swept inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths resulted from the disaster. 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge: At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg. 1864 – American Civil War: A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan starts fires in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City. 1874 – The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873. 1876 – American Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack the sleeping village of Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife at the headwaters of the Powder River. 1901–present 1905 – Prince Carl of Denmark arrives in Norway to become King Haakon VII of Norway. 1908 – A fire breaks out on as it leaves Malta's Grand Harbour, resulting in the ship's grounding and the deaths of at least 118 people. 1915 – Albert Einstein presents the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences. 1917 – World War I: German forces defeat Portuguese army of about 1,200 at Negomano on the border of modern-day Mozambique and Tanzania. 1918 – Vojvodina, formerly Austro-Hungarian crown land, proclaims its secession from Austria-Hungary to join the Kingdom of Serbia. 1926 – The deadliest November tornado outbreak in U.S. history kills 76 people and injures more than 400. 1936 – In Berlin, Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, agreeing to consult on measures "to safeguard their common interests" in the case of an unprovoked attack by the Soviet Union against either nation. The pact is renewed on the same day five years later with additional signatories. 1941 – is sunk by a German torpedo during World War II. 1943 – World War II: Statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina is re-established at the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1947 – Red Scare: The "Hollywood Ten" are blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios. 1947 – New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom. 1950 – The Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 impacts 22 American states, killing 353 people, injuring over 160, and causing US$66.7 million in damages (1950 dollars). 1952 – Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End after a premiere in Nottingham, UK. It will become the longest continuously-running play in history. 1952 – Korean War: After 42 days of fighting, the Battle of Triangle Hill ends in a Chinese victory. American and South Korean units abandon their attempt to capture the "Iron Triangle". 1958 – French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community. 1960 – The Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic are assassinated. 1963 – State funeral of John F. Kennedy; after lying in state at the United States Capitol, a Requiem Mass takes place at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and the President is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 1968 – The Old Student House in Helsinki, Finland is occupied by a large group of University of Helsinki students. 1970 – In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic seppuku after an unsuccessful coup attempt. 1973 – Georgios Papadopoulos, head of the military Regime of the Colonels in Greece, is ousted in a hardliners' coup led by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis. 1975 – Suriname gains independence from the Netherlands. 1977 – Former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., is found guilty by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and is sentenced to death by firing squad. He is later assassinated in 1983. 1981 – Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 1984 – Thirty-six top musicians gather in a Notting Hill studio and record Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. 1986 – Iran–Contra affair: U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. 1986 – The King Fahd Causeway is officially opened in the Persian Gulf. 1987 – Typhoon Nina pummels the Philippines with category 5 winds of and a surge that destroys entire villages. At least 1,036 deaths are attributed to the storm. 1992 – The Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia votes to split the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with effect from January 1, 1993. 1999 – A five-year-old Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez, is rescued by fishermen while floating in an inner tube off the Florida coast. 2000 – The 2000 Baku earthquake, with a Richter magnitude of 7.0, leaves 26 people dead in Baku, Azerbaijan, and becomes the strongest earthquake in the region in 158 years. 2008 – Cyclone Nisha strikes northern Sri Lanka, killing 15 people and displacing 90,000 others while dealing the region the highest rainfall in nine decades. 2009 – Jeddah floods: Freak rains swamp the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during an ongoing Hajj pilgrimage. Three thousand cars are swept away and 122 people perish in the torrents, with 350 others missing. Births Pre-1600 902 – Emperor Taizong of Liao (d. 947) 1075 – Emperor Taizong of Jin (d. 1135) 1454 – Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus (d. 1510) 1467 – Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre, Knight of Henry VIII of England (d. 1525) 1493 – Osanna of Cattaro, Dominican visionary and anchoress (d. 1565) 1562 – Lope de Vega, Spanish playwright and poet (d. 1635) 1566 – John Heminges, English actor (d. 1630) 1577 – Piet Pieterszoon Hein, Dutch admiral (d. 1629) 1587 – Sir Gervase Clifton, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1666) 1601–1900 1609 – Henrietta Maria of France (d. 1669) 1638 – Catherine of Braganza (d. 1705) 1666 – Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri, Italian violin maker (d. 1740) 1703 – Jean-François Séguier, French astronomer and botanist (d. 1784) 1752 – Johann Friedrich Reichardt, German composer and critic (d. 1814) 1753 – Robert Townsend, American spy (d. 1838) 1758 – John Armstrong, Jr., American general and politician, 7th United States Secretary of War (d. 1843) 1778 – Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, English author and activist (d. 1856) 1787 – Franz Xaver Gruber, Austrian organist and | and author 1941 – Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, Pakistani spiritual leader and author 1942 – Bob Lind, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1942 – Mimis Papaioannou, Greek footballer and manager 1943 – Jerry Portnoy, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player 1944 – Ben Stein, American actor, television personality, game show host, lawyer, and author 1944 – Michael Kijana Wamalwa, Kenyan lawyer and politician, 8th Vice President of Kenya (d. 2003) 1945 – Gail Collins, American journalist and author 1945 – Patrick Nagel, American painter and illustrator (d. 1984) 1945 – George Webster, American football player (d. 2007) 1946 – Marc Brown, American author and illustrator 1946 – Mike Doyle, English footballer (d. 2011) 1947 – Jonathan Kaplan, French-American director and producer 1947 – John Larroquette, American actor 1948 – Jacques Dupuis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Deputy Premier of Quebec 1948 – Lars Eighner, American author 1949 – Kerry O'Keeffe, Australian cricketer and sportscaster 1950 – Chris Claremont, English-American author 1950 – Giorgio Faletti, Italian author, screenwriter, and actor (d. 2014) 1950 – Alexis Wright, Australian author 1951 – Bucky Dent, American baseball player and manager 1951 – Charlaine Harris, American author and poet 1951 – Bill Morrissey, American singer-songwriter (d. 2011) 1951 – Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Spanish author and journalist 1951 – Johnny Rep, Dutch footballer and manager 1952 – Crescent Dragonwagon, American author and educator 1952 – John Lynch, American businessman and politician, 80th Governor of New Hampshire 1952 – Gabriele Oriali, Italian footballer and manager 1953 – Graham Eadie, Australian rugby league player and coach 1953 – Mark Frost, American author, screenwriter, and producer 1953 – Jeffrey Skilling, American businessman 1955 – Don Hahn, American director and producer 1955 – Kurt Niedermayer, German footballer and manager 1955 – Connie Palmen, Dutch author 1955 – Bruno Tonioli, Italian dancer and choreographer 1957 – Bob Ehrlich, American lawyer and politician, 60th Governor of Maryland 1958 – Naomi Oreskes, American historian of science 1959 – Charles Kennedy, Scottish journalist and politician (d. 2015) 1959 – Steve Rothery, English guitarist and songwriter 1960 – Amy Grant, American singer-songwriter 1960 – John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer, journalist, and publisher (d. 1999) 1961 – Paul Comstive, English footballer (d. 2013) 1962 – Gilbert Delorme, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1962 – Hironobu Sakaguchi, Japanese videogame designer 1962 – Jimon Terakado, Japanese comedian and actor 1963 – Kevin Chamberlin, American actor and director 1963 – Holly Cole, Canadian singer and actress 1963 – Chip Kelly, American football player and coach 1964 – Mark Lanegan, American singer-songwriter 1965 – Cris Carter, American football player, coach, and sportscaster 1966 – Stacy Lattisaw, American R&B singer 1967 – Anthony Nesty, Surinamese swimmer 1967 – Gregg Turkington, Australian comedian and singer 1968 – Jill Hennessy, Canadian actress and singer 1971 – Magnus Arvedson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach 1971 – Göksel Demirpençe, Turkish singer-songwriter 1972 – Deepa Marathe, Indian cricketer 1973 – Steven de Jongh, Dutch cyclist 1973 – Octavio Dotel, Dominican baseball player 1973 – Erick Strickland, American basketball player 1973 – Eddie Steeples, American actor, producer, and screenwriter 1974 – Kenneth Mitchell, Canadian actor 1975 – Abdelkader Benali, Moroccan-Dutch journalist and author 1976 – Clint Mathis, American soccer player and coach 1976 – Donovan McNabb, American football player and sportscaster 1976 – Olena Vitrychenko, Ukrainian gymnast and coach 1977 – Guillermo Cañas, Argentinian tennis player 1977 – Marcus Marshall, Australian raing driver 1978 – Ringo Sheena, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer 1979 – Michael Lehan, American football player 1980 – John-Michael Liles, American ice hockey player 1980 – Josh Mathews, American wrestler and sportscaster 1980 – Aaron Mokoena, South African footballer 1980 – Alviro Petersen, South African cricketer 1980 – Nick Swisher, American baseball player 1980 – Steffen Thier, German rugby player 1981 – Xabi Alonso, Spanish footballer 1981 – Lee Bum-ho, South Korean baseball player 1981 – Barbara Pierce Bush, American activist 1981 – Jenna Bush Hager, American journalist 1981 – Jared Jeffries, American basketball player 1981 – Chevon Troutman, American basketball player 1982 – Mitchell Claydon, Australian-English cricketer 1983 – Jhulan Goswami, Indian cricketer 1984 – Peter Siddle, Australian cricketer 1985 – Remona Fransen, Dutch pentathlete 1988 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (d. 2010) 1988 – Jay Spearing, English footballer 1989 – Tom Dice, Belgian singer-songwriter 1990 – Everton Heleno dos Santos, Brazilian footballer 1991 – Philipp Grubauer, German ice hockey player 1992 – Ana Bogdan, Romanian tennis player 1993 – Danny Kent, English motorcycle racer Deaths Pre-1600 311 – Pope Peter I of Alexandria 734 – Bilge Khagan, Turkic emperor (b. 683) 1034 – Malcolm II of Scotland (b. 954) 1120 – William Adelin, son of Henry I of England (sinking of the White Ship) (b. 1103) 1185 – Pope Lucius III (b. 1097) 1326 – Prince Koreyasu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1264) 1374 – Philip II, Prince of Taranto (b. 1329) 1456 – Jacques Cœur, French merchant and banker (b. 1395) 1560 – Andrea Doria, Italian admiral (b. 1466) 1565 – Hu Zongxian, Chinese general (b. 1512) 1601–1900 1626 – Edward Alleyn, English actor, founded Dulwich College (b. 1566) 1694 – Ismaël Bullialdus, French astronomer and mathematician (b. 1605) 1700 – Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American lawyer and politician, 10th Mayor of New York City (b. 1643) 1748 – Isaac Watts, English hymnwriter and theologian (b. 1674) 1755 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German violinist and composer (b. 1687) 1785 – Richard Glover, English poet and politician (b. 1712) 1865 – Heinrich Barth, German explorer and scholar (b. 1821) 1884 – Hermann Kolbe, German chemist and academic (b. 1818) 1885 – Thomas A. Hendricks, American lawyer and politician, 21st Vice President of the United States (b. 1819) 1885 – Alfonso XII of Spain (b. 1857) 1901–present 1909 – Edward P. Allen, American lawyer and politician (b. 1839) 1920 – Gaston Chevrolet, French-American racing driver and businessman (b. 1892) 1934 – N. E. Brown, English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents (b. 1849) 1944 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American lawyer and judge (b. 1866) 1948 – Kanbun Uechi, Japanese martial artist, founded Uechi-ryū (b. 1877) 1949 – Bill Robinson, American actor and dancer (b. 1878) 1950 – Mao Anying, Chinese general (b. 1922) 1950 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1873) 1950 – Gustaf John Ramstedt, Finnish linguist and diplomat (b. 1873) 1956 – Alexander Dovzhenko, Ukrainian-Russian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1894) 1957 – Prince George of Greece and Denmark (b. 1869) 1959 – Gérard Philipe, French actor (b. 1922) 1961 – Hubert Van Innis, Belgian archer (b. 1866) 1963 – Alexander Marinesko, Russian lieutenant (b. 1913) 1965 – Myra Hess, English pianist and educator (b. 1890) 1968 – Upton Sinclair, American novelist, critic, and essayist (b. 1878) 1968 – Paul Siple, American geographer and explorer (b. 1908) 1970 – Yukio Mishima, Japanese author, actor, and director (b. 1925) 1972 – Henri Coandă, Romanian engineer, designed the Coandă-1910 (b. 1886) 1973 – Laurence Harvey, Lithuania-born English actor (b. 1928) 1974 – Nick Drake, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948) 1974 – U Thant, Burmese lawyer and diplomat, 3rd Secretary-General of the United Nations (b. 1909) 1980 – Herbert Flam, American tennis player (b. 1928) 1981 – Jack Albertson, American actor and singer (b. 1907) 1983 – Saleem Raza (Pakistani singer), Pakistani Christian playback singer (b. 1932) 1984 – Yashwantrao Chavan, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th Deputy Prime Minister of India (b. 1913) 1985 – Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic (b. 1905) 1985 – Franz Hildebrandt, German pastor and theologian (b. 1909) 1987 – Harold Washington, American lawyer and politician, 51st Mayor of Chicago (b. 1922) 1989 – Alva R. Fitch, American general (b. 1907) 1990 – Merab Mamardashvili, Georgian philosopher and academic (b. 1930) 1991 – Eleanor Audley, American actress and voice artist (b. 1905) 1995 – Léon Zitrone, Russian-French journalist (b. 1914) 1997 – Hastings Banda, Malawian physician and politician, 1st President of Malawi (b. 1898) 1998 – Nelson Goodman, American philosopher and academic (b. 1906) 1998 – Flip Wilson, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1933) 1999 – Valentín Campa, Mexican union leader and politician (b. 1904) 2000 – Hugh Alexander, American baseball player and scout (b. 1917) 2002 – Karel Reisz, Czech-English director and producer (b. 1926) 2004 – Ed Paschke, American painter and academic (b. 1939) 2005 – George Best, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1946) 2005 – Richard Burns, English rally driver (b. 1971) 2006 – Luciano Bottaro, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1931) 2006 – Valentín Elizalde, Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1979) 2006 – Phyllis Fraser, American actress and publisher, co-founded Beginner Books (b. 1916) 2006 – Kenneth M. Taylor, American lieutenant and pilot (b. 1919) 2007 – Peter Lipton, American philosopher and academic (b. 1954) 2010 – Alfred Balk, American journalist and author (b. 1930) 2010 – Peter Christopherson, English keyboard player, songwriter, and director (b. 1955) 2010 – C. Scott Littleton, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1933) 2010 – Bernard Matthews, English businessman, founded Bernard Matthews Farms (b. 1930) 2011 – Vasily Alekseyev, Russian weightlifter and coach (b. 1942) 2011 – Coco Robicheaux, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947) 2012 – Lars Hörmander, Swedish mathematician and educator (b. 1931) 2012 – Dave Sexton, English footballer and manager (b. 1930) 2012 – Dinah Sheridan, English actress (b. 1920) 2012 – Jim Temp, American football player and businessman (b. 1933) 2013 – Lou Brissie, American baseball player (b. 1924) 2013 – Ricardo Fort, Argentinian businessman (b. 1968) 2013 – Bill Foulkes, English footballer and manager (b. 1932) 2013 – Chico Hamilton, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1921) 2013 – Egon Lánský, Czech journalist and politician (b. 1934) 2013 – Al Plastino, American author and illustrator (b. 1921) 2014 – Irvin J. Borowsky, American publisher and philanthropist (b. 1924) 2014 – Sitara Devi, Indian dancer, and choreographer (b. 1920) 2014 – Petr Hapka, Czech composer and conductor |
service, docks in Dubai. 2011 – NATO attack in Pakistan: NATO forces in Afghanistan attack a Pakistani check post in a friendly fire incident, killing 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others. 2011 – The Mars Science Laboratory launches to Mars with the Curiosity Rover. 2018 – The robotic probe Insight lands on Elysium Planitia, Mars. 2019 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes western Albania leaving at least 52 people dead and over 1000 injured. This was the world's deadliest earthquake of 2019, and the deadliest to strike the country in 99 years. 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization identifies the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Births Pre-1600 907 – Rudesind, Galician bishop (d. 977) 1288 – Go-Daigo, Japanese emperor (d. 1339) 1401 – Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset (d. 1418) 1436 – Catherine of Portugal (d. 1463) 1466 – Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, English noble (d. 1506) 1518 – Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora, Catholic cardinal (d. 1564) 1534 – Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley (d. 1613) 1552 – Seonjo of Joseon, King of Joseon (d. 1608) 1594 – James Ware, Irish genealogist (d. 1666) 1601–1900 1604 – Johannes Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1673) 1607 – John Harvard, English minister and philanthropist (d. 1638) 1609 – Henry Dunster, English-American clergyman and academic (d. 1659) 1657 – William Derham, English minister and philosopher (d. 1735) 1678 – Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist and astronomer (d. 1771) 1703 – Theophilus Cibber, English actor and playwright (d. 1758) 1727 – Artemas Ward, American general and politician (d. 1800) 1731 – William Cowper, English poet and hymnwriter (d. 1800) 1792 – Sarah Moore Grimké, American author and activist (d. 1873) 1811 – Zeng Guofan, Chinese general and politician, Viceroy of Liangjiang (d. 1872) 1817 – Charles Adolphe Wurtz, Alsatian-French chemist (d. 1884) 1827 – Ellen G. White, American religious leader and author, co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church (d. 1915) 1828 – Robert Battey, American surgeon and academic (d. 1895) 1828 – René Goblet, French journalist and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of France (d. 1905) 1832 – Rudolph Koenig, German-French physicist and academic (d. 1901) 1832 – Mary Edwards Walker, American surgeon and activist, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1919) 1837 – Thomas Playford II, English-Australian politician, 17th Premier of South Australia (d. 1915) 1853 – Bat Masterson, American police officer and journalist (d. 1921) 1857 – Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist and author (d. 1913) 1858 – Katharine Drexel, American nun and saint (d. 1955) 1864 – Edward Higgins, English 3rd General of the Salvation Army (d. 1947) 1869 – Maud of Wales (d. 1938) 1870 – Sir Hari Singh Gour, founder and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sagar (d. 1949) 1873 – Fred Herd, Scottish golfer (d. 1954) 1876 – Willis Carrier, American engineer, invented air conditioning (d. 1950) 1878 – Major Taylor, American cyclist (d. 1932) 1885 – Heinrich Brüning, German lieutenant, economist, and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1970) 1888 – Ford Beebe, American director and screenwriter (d. 1978) 1889 – Albert Dieudonné, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1976) 1891 – Scott Bradley, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1977) 1894 – James Charles McGuigan, Canadian cardinal (d. 1974) 1894 – Norbert Wiener, American-Swedish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1964) 1895 – Bill W., American activist, co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous (d. 1971) 1898 – Karl Ziegler, German chemist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973) 1899 – Richard Hauptmann, German-American murderer (d. 1936) 1900 – Anna Maurizio, Swiss biologist, known for her study of bees (d. 1993) 1901–present 1901 – William Sterling Parsons, American admiral (d. 1953) 1902 – Maurice McDonald, American businessman, co-founded McDonald's (d. 1971) 1903 – Alice Herz-Sommer, Czech-English pianist and educator (d. 2014) 1904 – Armand Frappier, Canadian physician and microbiologist (d. 1991) 1904 – K. D. Sethna, Indian poet, scholar, writer, philosopher, and cultural critic (d. 2011) 1905 – Bob Johnson, American baseball player (d. 1982) 1907 – Ruth Patrick, American botanist (d. 2013) 1908 – Charles Forte, Baron Forte, Italian-Scottish businessman, founded Forte Group (d. 2007) 1908 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player and manager (d. 1989) 1909 – Fritz Buchloh, German footballer and manager (d. 1998) 1909 – Frances Dee, American actress and singer (d. 2004) 1909 – Eugène Ionesco, Romanian-French playwright and critic (d. 1994) 1910 – Cyril Cusack, South African-born Irish actor (d. 1993) 1911 – Samuel Reshevsky, Polish-American chess player and author (d. 1992) 1912 – Eric Sevareid, American journalist (d. 1992) 1915 – Inge King, German-born Australian sculptor (d. 2016) 1915 – Earl Wild, American pianist and composer (d. 2010) 1917 – Nesuhi Ertegun, Turkish-American record producer (d. 1989) 1918 – Patricio Aylwin, Chilean lawyer and politician, 31st President of Chile (d. 2016) 1919 – Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish soldier and politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (d. 2010) 1919 – Frederik Pohl, American journalist and author (d. 2013) 1919 – Ram Sharan Sharma, Indian historian and academic (d. 2011) 1920 – Daniel Petrie, Canadian-American director and producer (d. 2004) 1921 – Verghese Kurien, Indian engineer and businessman, founded Amul (d. 2012) 1922 – Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (d. 2000) 1923 – V. K. Murthy, Indian cinematographer (d. 2014) 1924 – Jasu Patel, Indian cricketer (d. 1992) 1924 – George Segal, American painter and sculptor (d. 2000) 1925 – Eugene Istomin, American pianist (d. 2003) 1925 – Gregorio Conrado Álvarez, Uruguayan dictator (d. 2016) 1926 – Rabi Ray, Indian activist and politician, 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 2017) 1927 – Ernie Coombs, American-Canadian television host (d. 2001) 1928 – Nishida Tatsuo, Japanese linguist and academic (d. 2012) 1929 – Slavko Avsenik, Slovenian singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 2015) 1929 – Betta St. John, American actress, singer and dancer 1930 – Berthold Leibinger, German engineer and philanthropist, founded Berthold Leibinger Stiftung (d. 2018) 1931 – Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentinian painter, sculptor, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate 1931 – Adrianus Johannes Simonis, Dutch cardinal 1933 – Robert Goulet, American-Canadian singer and actor (d. 2007) 1933 – Richard Holloway, Scottish bishop and radio host 1933 – Stanley Long, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012) 1933 – Jamshid Mashayekhi, Iranian actor (d. 2019) 1933 – Tony Verna, American director and producer, invented instant replay (d. 2015) 1934 – Cengiz Bektaş, Turkish architect, engineer, and journalist 1934 – Jerry Jameson, American director and producer 1935 – Marian Mercer, American actress and singer (d. 2011) 1936 – Margaret Boden, English computer scientist and psychologist 1937 – Bob Babbitt, American bass player (d. 2012) 1937 – John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 2019) 1937 – Boris Yegorov, Russian physician and astronaut (d. 1994) 1938 – Porter Goss, American soldier and politician, 19th Director of the CIA 1938 – Rodney Jory, Australian physicist and academic 1938 – Rich Little, Canadian-American comedian, actor, and singer 1939 – Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysian civil servant and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia 1939 – Wayland Flowers, American actor and puppeteer (d. 1988) 1939 – John Gummer, English politician, Secretary of State for the Environment 1939 – Grey Ruthven, 2nd Earl of Gowrie, Irish-Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1939 – Art Themen, English saxophonist and surgeon 1939 – Tina Turner, American-Swiss singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress 1940 – Enrico Bombieri, Italian mathematician and academic 1940 – Davey Graham, English guitarist and songwriter (d. 2008) 1940 – Kotozakura Masakatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 53rd Yokozuna (d. 2007) 1940 – Quentin Skinner, English historian, author, and academic 1941 – Susanne Marsee, American mezzo-soprano 1942 – Maki Carrousel, Japanese actor 1942 – Olivia Cole, American actress (d. 2018) 1942 – Đặng Thùy Trâm, Vietnamese physician and author (d. 1970) 1943 – Paul Burnett, English radio host 1943 – Bruce Paltrow, American director and producer (d. 2002) 1943 – Marilynne Robinson, American novelist and essayist 1943 – Dale Sommers, American radio host (d. 2012) 1944 – Jean Terrell, American singer 1944 – Joyce Quin, Baroness Quin, English academic and politician, Minister of State for Europe 1945 – Daniel Davis, American actor 1945 – John McVie, English-American bass player 1945 – Jim Mullen, Scottish guitarist 1945 – Michael Omartian, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer 1945 – Björn von Sydow, Swedish academic and politician, 27th Swedish Minister for Defence 1946 – Raymond Louis Kennedy, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and producer (d. 2014) 1946 – Art Shell, American football player and coach 1946 – Itamar Singer, Romanian-Israeli historian and author (d. 2012) 1947 – Roger Wehrli, American football player 1948 – Elizabeth Blackburn, Australian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1948 – Claes Elfsberg, Swedish journalist 1948 – Marianne Muellerleile, American actress 1948 – Galina Prozumenshchikova, Ukrainian-Russian swimmer and journalist (d. 2015) 1948 – Peter Wheeler, English rugby player 1949 – Mari Alkatiri, East Timorese geographer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of East Timor 1949 – Shlomo Artzi, Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist 1949 – Martin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1949 – Vincent A. Mahler, American political scientist and academic 1949 – Ivan Patzaichin, Romanian canoe world and Olympic champion (d. 2021) 1951 – Ilona Staller, Hungarian-Italian porn actress, singer, and politician 1951 – Sulejman Tihić, Bosnian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 2014) 1952 – Elsa Salazar Cade, Mexican-American science teacher and entomologist 1952 – Julien Temple, English director, producer, and screenwriter 1952 – Wendy Turnbull, Australian tennis player 1953 – Hilary Benn, English politician, Secretary of State for International Development 1953 – Shelley Moore Capito, American politician 1953 – Harry Carson, American football player 1953 – Jacki MacDonald, Australian television host and actress 1953 – Desiré Wilson, South African race car driver 1954 – Roz Chast, American cartoonist 1954 – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (d. 2009) 1955 – Jelko Kacin, Slovenian politician and a former Member of the European Parliament 1955 – Gisela Stuart, German-English academic and politician 1956 – Dale Jarrett, American race car driver and sportscaster 1956 – Don Lake, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter 1956 – Keith Vaz, Indian-English lawyer and politician, Minister of State for Europe 1957 – Félix González-Torres, Cuban-American sculptor (d. 1996) 1958 – Michael Skinner, English rugby player 1959 – Dai Davies Welsh politician and independent Member of Parliament (MP) 1959 – Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, American author and academic 1959 – Jerry Schemmel, American sportscaster 1960 – Chuck Eddy, American journalist 1960 – Harold Reynolds, American baseball player and sportscaster 1961 – Karan Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria, Indian-English businessman, co-founded Cobra Beer 1961 – Tom Carroll, Australian surfer 1961 – Ivory, American wrestler and trainer 1962 – Fernando Bandeirinha, Portuguese footballer and manager 1962 – Chuck Finley, American baseball player 1963 – Mario Elie, American basketball player and coach 1963 – Matt Frei, German-English journalist and author 1963 – Joe Lydon, English rugby player and coach 1964 – Vreni Schneider, Swiss skier 1965 – Scott Adsit, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1965 – Des Walker, English footballer 1966 – Garcelle Beauvais, Haitian-American actress and singer 1966 – Fahed Dermech, Tunisian footballer 1967 – Ridley Jacobs, Antiguan cricketer 1968 – Edna Campbell, American basketball player, sportscaster, and nurse 1968 – Haluk Levent, Turkish singer 1969 – Shawn Kemp, American basketball player 1969 – Kara Walker, American painter and illustrator 1970 – John Amaechi, American-English basketball player and sportscaster 1970 – Dave Hughes, Australian comedian and radio host 1971 – Vicki Pettersson, American author 1971 – Winky Wright, American boxer and actor 1972 – Chris Osgood, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster 1972 – Arjun Rampal, Indian actor and producer 1973 – Peter Facinelli, American actor, director, and producer 1974 – Line Horntveth, Norwegian tuba player, composer, and producer 1974 – Roman Šebrle, Czech decathlete and high jumper 1975 – DJ Khaled, American rapper and producer 1975 – Patrice Lauzon, Canadian figure skater 1976 – Andreas Augustsson, Swedish footballer 1976 – Maven Huffman, American wrestler 1976 – Brian Schneider, American baseball player and manager 1977 – Ivan Basso, Italian cyclist 1977 – Paris Lenon, American football player 1977 – Campbell Walsh, Scottish canoe racer 1978 – Jun Fukuyama, Japanese voice actor and singer 1980 – Satoshi Ohno, Japanese singer 1980 – Jackie Trail, American tennis player 1981 – Stephan Andersen, Danish footballer 1981 – Natasha Bedingfield, English singer-songwriter and producer 1981 – Natalie Gauci, Australian singer and pianist 1981 – Gina Kingsbury, Canadian ice hockey player 1981 – Jon Ryan, Canadian football player 1982 – Keith Ballard, American ice hockey player 1983 – Chris Hughes, American publisher and businessman, co-founded Facebook 1983 – Emiri Katō, Japanese voice actress and singer 1984 – Antonio Puerta, Spanish footballer (d. 2007) 1985 – Matt Carpenter, American baseball player 1986 – Konstadinos Filippidis, Greek pole vaulter 1986 – Bauke Mollema, Dutch cyclist 1986 – Alberto Sgarbi, Italian rugby player 1987 – Kat DeLuna, American singer, songwriter and dancer 1987 – Georgios Tzavellas, Greek footballer 1988 – Blake Harnage, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1988 – Yumi Kobayashi, Japanese model | critic (d. 2011) 1905 – Bob Johnson, American baseball player (d. 1982) 1907 – Ruth Patrick, American botanist (d. 2013) 1908 – Charles Forte, Baron Forte, Italian-Scottish businessman, founded Forte Group (d. 2007) 1908 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player and manager (d. 1989) 1909 – Fritz Buchloh, German footballer and manager (d. 1998) 1909 – Frances Dee, American actress and singer (d. 2004) 1909 – Eugène Ionesco, Romanian-French playwright and critic (d. 1994) 1910 – Cyril Cusack, South African-born Irish actor (d. 1993) 1911 – Samuel Reshevsky, Polish-American chess player and author (d. 1992) 1912 – Eric Sevareid, American journalist (d. 1992) 1915 – Inge King, German-born Australian sculptor (d. 2016) 1915 – Earl Wild, American pianist and composer (d. 2010) 1917 – Nesuhi Ertegun, Turkish-American record producer (d. 1989) 1918 – Patricio Aylwin, Chilean lawyer and politician, 31st President of Chile (d. 2016) 1919 – Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish soldier and politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (d. 2010) 1919 – Frederik Pohl, American journalist and author (d. 2013) 1919 – Ram Sharan Sharma, Indian historian and academic (d. 2011) 1920 – Daniel Petrie, Canadian-American director and producer (d. 2004) 1921 – Verghese Kurien, Indian engineer and businessman, founded Amul (d. 2012) 1922 – Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist, created Peanuts (d. 2000) 1923 – V. K. Murthy, Indian cinematographer (d. 2014) 1924 – Jasu Patel, Indian cricketer (d. 1992) 1924 – George Segal, American painter and sculptor (d. 2000) 1925 – Eugene Istomin, American pianist (d. 2003) 1925 – Gregorio Conrado Álvarez, Uruguayan dictator (d. 2016) 1926 – Rabi Ray, Indian activist and politician, 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 2017) 1927 – Ernie Coombs, American-Canadian television host (d. 2001) 1928 – Nishida Tatsuo, Japanese linguist and academic (d. 2012) 1929 – Slavko Avsenik, Slovenian singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 2015) 1929 – Betta St. John, American actress, singer and dancer 1930 – Berthold Leibinger, German engineer and philanthropist, founded Berthold Leibinger Stiftung (d. 2018) 1931 – Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentinian painter, sculptor, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate 1931 – Adrianus Johannes Simonis, Dutch cardinal 1933 – Robert Goulet, American-Canadian singer and actor (d. 2007) 1933 – Richard Holloway, Scottish bishop and radio host 1933 – Stanley Long, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012) 1933 – Jamshid Mashayekhi, Iranian actor (d. 2019) 1933 – Tony Verna, American director and producer, invented instant replay (d. 2015) 1934 – Cengiz Bektaş, Turkish architect, engineer, and journalist 1934 – Jerry Jameson, American director and producer 1935 – Marian Mercer, American actress and singer (d. 2011) 1936 – Margaret Boden, English computer scientist and psychologist 1937 – Bob Babbitt, American bass player (d. 2012) 1937 – John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 2019) 1937 – Boris Yegorov, Russian physician and astronaut (d. 1994) 1938 – Porter Goss, American soldier and politician, 19th Director of the CIA 1938 – Rodney Jory, Australian physicist and academic 1938 – Rich Little, Canadian-American comedian, actor, and singer 1939 – Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysian civil servant and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia 1939 – Wayland Flowers, American actor and puppeteer (d. 1988) 1939 – John Gummer, English politician, Secretary of State for the Environment 1939 – Grey Ruthven, 2nd Earl of Gowrie, Irish-Scottish politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1939 – Art Themen, English saxophonist and surgeon 1939 – Tina Turner, American-Swiss singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress 1940 – Enrico Bombieri, Italian mathematician and academic 1940 – Davey Graham, English guitarist and songwriter (d. 2008) 1940 – Kotozakura Masakatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 53rd Yokozuna (d. 2007) 1940 – Quentin Skinner, English historian, author, and academic 1941 – Susanne Marsee, American mezzo-soprano 1942 – Maki Carrousel, Japanese actor 1942 – Olivia Cole, American actress (d. 2018) 1942 – Đặng Thùy Trâm, Vietnamese physician and author (d. 1970) 1943 – Paul Burnett, English radio host 1943 – Bruce Paltrow, American director and producer (d. 2002) 1943 – Marilynne Robinson, American novelist and essayist 1943 – Dale Sommers, American radio host (d. 2012) 1944 – Jean Terrell, American singer 1944 – Joyce Quin, Baroness Quin, English academic and politician, Minister of State for Europe 1945 – Daniel Davis, American actor 1945 – John McVie, English-American bass player 1945 – Jim Mullen, Scottish guitarist 1945 – Michael Omartian, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer 1945 – Björn von Sydow, Swedish academic and politician, 27th Swedish Minister for Defence 1946 – Raymond Louis Kennedy, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and producer (d. 2014) 1946 – Art Shell, American football player and coach 1946 – Itamar Singer, Romanian-Israeli historian and author (d. 2012) 1947 – Roger Wehrli, American football player 1948 – Elizabeth Blackburn, Australian-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1948 – Claes Elfsberg, Swedish journalist 1948 – Marianne Muellerleile, American actress 1948 – Galina Prozumenshchikova, Ukrainian-Russian swimmer and journalist (d. 2015) 1948 – Peter Wheeler, English rugby player 1949 – Mari Alkatiri, East Timorese geographer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of East Timor 1949 – Shlomo Artzi, Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist 1949 – Martin Lee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist 1949 – Vincent A. Mahler, American political scientist and academic 1949 – Ivan Patzaichin, Romanian canoe world and Olympic champion (d. 2021) 1951 – Ilona Staller, Hungarian-Italian porn actress, singer, and politician 1951 – Sulejman Tihić, Bosnian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 2014) 1952 – Elsa Salazar Cade, Mexican-American science teacher and entomologist 1952 – Julien Temple, English director, producer, and screenwriter 1952 – Wendy Turnbull, Australian tennis player 1953 – Hilary Benn, English politician, Secretary of State for International Development 1953 – Shelley Moore Capito, American politician 1953 – Harry Carson, American football player 1953 – Jacki MacDonald, Australian television host and actress 1953 – Desiré Wilson, South African race car driver 1954 – Roz Chast, American cartoonist 1954 – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (d. 2009) 1955 – Jelko Kacin, Slovenian politician and a former Member of the European Parliament 1955 – Gisela Stuart, German-English academic and politician 1956 – Dale Jarrett, American race car driver and sportscaster 1956 – Don Lake, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter 1956 – Keith Vaz, Indian-English lawyer and politician, Minister of State for Europe 1957 – Félix González-Torres, Cuban-American sculptor (d. 1996) 1958 – Michael Skinner, English rugby player 1959 – Dai Davies Welsh politician and independent Member of Parliament (MP) 1959 – Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, American author and academic 1959 – Jerry Schemmel, American sportscaster 1960 – Chuck Eddy, American journalist 1960 – Harold Reynolds, American baseball player and sportscaster 1961 – Karan Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria, Indian-English businessman, co-founded Cobra Beer 1961 – Tom Carroll, Australian surfer 1961 – Ivory, American wrestler and trainer 1962 – Fernando Bandeirinha, Portuguese footballer and manager 1962 – Chuck Finley, American baseball player 1963 – Mario Elie, American basketball player and coach 1963 – Matt Frei, German-English journalist and author 1963 – Joe Lydon, English rugby player and coach 1964 – Vreni Schneider, Swiss skier 1965 – Scott Adsit, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1965 – Des Walker, English footballer 1966 – Garcelle Beauvais, Haitian-American actress and singer 1966 – Fahed Dermech, Tunisian footballer 1967 – Ridley Jacobs, Antiguan cricketer 1968 – Edna Campbell, American basketball player, sportscaster, and nurse 1968 – Haluk Levent, Turkish singer 1969 – Shawn Kemp, American basketball player 1969 – Kara Walker, American painter and illustrator 1970 – John Amaechi, American-English basketball player and sportscaster 1970 – Dave Hughes, Australian comedian and radio host 1971 – Vicki Pettersson, American author 1971 – Winky Wright, American boxer and actor 1972 – Chris Osgood, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster 1972 – Arjun Rampal, Indian actor and producer 1973 – Peter Facinelli, American actor, director, and producer 1974 – Line Horntveth, Norwegian tuba player, composer, and producer 1974 – Roman Šebrle, Czech decathlete and high jumper 1975 – DJ Khaled, American rapper and producer 1975 – Patrice Lauzon, Canadian figure skater 1976 – Andreas Augustsson, Swedish footballer 1976 – Maven Huffman, American wrestler 1976 – Brian Schneider, American baseball player and manager 1977 – Ivan Basso, Italian cyclist 1977 – Paris Lenon, American football player 1977 – Campbell Walsh, Scottish canoe racer 1978 – Jun Fukuyama, Japanese voice actor and singer 1980 – Satoshi Ohno, Japanese singer 1980 – Jackie Trail, American tennis player 1981 – Stephan Andersen, Danish footballer 1981 – Natasha Bedingfield, English singer-songwriter and producer 1981 – Natalie Gauci, Australian singer and pianist 1981 – Gina Kingsbury, Canadian ice hockey player 1981 – Jon Ryan, Canadian football player 1982 – Keith Ballard, American ice hockey player 1983 – Chris Hughes, American publisher and businessman, co-founded Facebook 1983 – Emiri Katō, Japanese voice actress and singer 1984 – Antonio Puerta, Spanish footballer (d. 2007) 1985 – Matt Carpenter, American baseball player 1986 – Konstadinos Filippidis, Greek pole vaulter 1986 – Bauke Mollema, Dutch cyclist 1986 – Alberto Sgarbi, Italian rugby player 1987 – Kat DeLuna, American singer, songwriter and dancer 1987 – Georgios Tzavellas, Greek footballer 1988 – Blake Harnage, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1988 – Yumi Kobayashi, Japanese model and actress 1989 – Junior Stanislas, English footballer 1989 – Angeline Quinto, Filipina singer and actress 1990 – Avery Bradley, American basketball player 1990 – Chip, English rapper 1990 – Rita Ora, Kosovan-English singer-songwriter and actress 1990 – Danny Welbeck, English footballer 1991 – Manolo Gabbiadini, Italian footballer 1995 – James Guy, English swimmer 1997 – Aaron Wan-Bissaka, English footballer 1999 – Olivia O'Brien, American singer-songwriter Deaths Pre-1600 399 – Siricius, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 334) 946 – Li Congyan, Chinese general (b. 898) 975 – Conrad of Constance, German bishop and saint (b.c. 900) 1014 – Swanehilde of Saxony, margravine of Meissen 1236 – Al-Aziz Muhammad ibn Ghazi, Ayyubid |
to the chapter, by the Prince-elector of Saxony and Luther. His position was a painful one, and he longed to get back to Magdeburg, but was persuaded by Luther to stay. After Luther's death (1546) and the Battle of Mühlberg (1547) he had to yield to his rival, Julius von Pflug, and retire to the protection of the young duke of Weimar. Here he took part in founding Jena University (1558); opposed the "Augsburg Interim" (1548); superintended the publication of the Jena edition of Luther's works; and debated on the freedom of the will, original sin, and, more noticeably, on the Christian value of good works, in regard to which he held that they were not only useless, but prejudicial in the matter of man's salvation. He urged the separation of the High Lutheran party from Melanchthon (1557), got the Saxon dukes to oppose the Frankfurt Recess (1558) and continued to fight for the purity of Lutheran doctrine. He died at Eisenach in 1565, and was buried in the church of St. Georg there, where his effigy shows a well-knit frame and sharp-cut features. Assessment He was a man of strong will, of great aptitude for controversy, and considerable learning, and thus exercised a decided influence on the Reformation. Many letters and other short productions of his pen are extant in manuscript, especially five thick volumes of Amsdorfiana, in the Weimar library. They are a valuable source for our knowledge of Luther. A small sect, which adopted his opinion on good works, | Naumburg (1542–1546), he became the first Lutheran bishop in the Holy Roman Empire. Biography He was born in Torgau, on the Elbe. He was educated at Leipzig, and then at Wittenberg, where he was one of the first who matriculated (1502) in the recently founded university. He soon obtained various academic honours, and became professor of theology in 1511. Like Andreas Karlstadt, he was at first a leading exponent of the older type of scholastic theology, but under the influence of Luther abandoned his Aristotelian positions for a theology based on the Augustinian doctrine of grace. Throughout his life he remained one of Luther's most determined supporters; he was with him at the Leipzig conference (1519), and the Diet of Worms (1521); and was privy to the secret of his Wartburg seclusion. He assisted the first efforts of the Reformation at Magdeburg (1524), at Goslar (1531) and at Einbeck (1534); took an active part in the debates at Schmalkalden (1537), where he defended the use of the sacrament by the unbelieving; and (1539) spoke out strongly against the bigamy of the Landgrave of Hesse. After the death of Philip of the Palatinate, bishop of Naumburg-Zeitz, he was installed there on 20 January 1542, though in opposition to the chapter, by the Prince-elector of Saxony and Luther. His position was a painful one, and he longed to get back to Magdeburg, but was persuaded by Luther to stay. After Luther's death (1546) and the Battle of Mühlberg (1547) he had to yield to his rival, Julius von Pflug, and retire to the protection of the young duke of Weimar. Here he took part in founding Jena University (1558); opposed the "Augsburg Interim" |
Civil and Political Rights (art. 24(3)) Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) (art. 6(g) and (h)) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 15) National law Nationals normally have the right to enter or return to the country they belong to. Passports are issued to nationals of a state, rather than only to citizens, because passport is a travel document used to enter the country. However, nationals may not have the right of abode (the right to live permanently) in the countries that granted them passports. Nationality versus citizenship Conceptually, citizenship is focused on the internal political life of the state and nationality is a matter of international law. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to nationality. As such nationality in international law can be called and understood as citizenship, or more generally as subject or belonging to a sovereign state, and not as ethnicity. This notwithstanding, around 10 million people are stateless. In the modern era, the concept of full citizenship encompasses not only active political rights, but full civil rights and social rights. Nationality is a necessary but not sufficient condition to exercise full political rights within a state or other polity. Nationality is required for full citizenship. Historically, the most significant difference between a national and a citizen is that the citizen has the right to vote for elected officials, and the right to be elected. This distinction between full citizenship and other, lesser relationships goes back to antiquity. Until the 19th and 20th centuries, it was typical for only a certain percentage of people who belonged to the state to be considered as full citizens. In the past, a number of people were excluded from citizenship on the basis of sex, socioeconomic class, ethnicity, religion, and other factors. However, they held a legal relationship with their government akin to the modern concept of nationality. Nationality in context United States nationality law defines some persons born in some of the U.S. outlying possessions as U.S. nationals but not citizens. British nationality law defines six classes of British national, among which "British citizen" is one class (having the right of abode in the United Kingdom, along with some "British subjects"). Similarly, in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, the status of national without household registration applies to people who have the Republic of China nationality, but do not have an automatic entitlement to enter or reside in the Taiwan Area, and do not qualify for civic rights and duties there. Under the nationality laws of Mexico, Colombia, and some other Latin American countries, nationals do not become citizens until they turn the age of majority. List of nationalities which do not have full citizenship rights Even if the nationality law classifies people with the same nationality on paper (de jure), the right conferred can be different according to the place of birth or residence, creating different de facto classes of nationality, sometimes with different passports as well. For example, although Chinese nationality law operates uniformly in China, including Hong Kong and Macau SARs, with all Chinese nationals classified the same under the nationality law, in reality local laws, in mainland and also in the SARs, govern the right of Chinese nationals in their respective territories which give vastly different rights, including different passports, to Chinese nationals according to their birthplace or residence place, effectively making a distinction between Chinese national of mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau, both domestically and internationally. The United Kingdom had a similar distinction as well before 1983, where all nationals with a connection to the UK or one of the colonies, were classified as Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies, but their rights where different depending on the connection under different laws, which was formalised into different classes of nationalities under the British Nationality Act 1981. Nationality versus ethnicity Nationality is sometimes used simply as an alternative word for ethnicity or national origin, just as some people assume that citizenship and nationality are identical. In some countries, the cognate word for nationality in local language may be understood as a synonym of ethnicity or as an identifier of cultural and family-based self-determination, rather than on relations with a state or current government. For example, some Kurds say that they have Kurdish nationality, even though there is no Kurdish sovereign state at this time in history. In the context of former Soviet Union and former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, "nationality" is often used as translation of the Russian nacional'nost' and Serbo-Croatian narodnost, which were the terms used in those countries for ethnic groups and local affiliations within the member states of the federation. In the Soviet Union, more than 100 such groups were formally recognized. Membership in these groups was identified on Soviet internal passports, and recorded in censuses in both the USSR and Yugoslavia. In the early years of the Soviet Union's existence, ethnicity was usually determined by the person's native language, and sometimes through religion or cultural factors, such as clothing. Children born after the revolution were categorized according to their parents' recorded ethnicities. Many of these ethnic groups are still recognized by modern Russia and other countries. Similarly, the term nationalities of China refers to ethnic and cultural groups in China. Spain is one nation, made | (art. 24(3)) Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) (art. 6(g) and (h)) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 15) National law Nationals normally have the right to enter or return to the country they belong to. Passports are issued to nationals of a state, rather than only to citizens, because passport is a travel document used to enter the country. However, nationals may not have the right of abode (the right to live permanently) in the countries that granted them passports. Nationality versus citizenship Conceptually, citizenship is focused on the internal political life of the state and nationality is a matter of international law. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to nationality. As such nationality in international law can be called and understood as citizenship, or more generally as subject or belonging to a sovereign state, and not as ethnicity. This notwithstanding, around 10 million people are stateless. In the modern era, the concept of full citizenship encompasses not only active political rights, but full civil rights and social rights. Nationality is a necessary but not sufficient condition to exercise full political rights within a state or other polity. Nationality is required for full citizenship. Historically, the most significant difference between a national and a citizen is that the citizen has the right to vote for elected officials, and the right to be elected. This distinction between full citizenship and other, lesser relationships goes back to antiquity. Until the 19th and 20th centuries, it was typical for only a certain percentage of people who belonged to the state to be considered as full citizens. In the past, a number of people were excluded from citizenship on the basis of sex, socioeconomic class, ethnicity, religion, and other factors. However, they held a legal relationship with their government akin to the modern concept of nationality. Nationality in context United States nationality law defines some persons born in some of the U.S. outlying possessions as U.S. nationals but not citizens. British nationality law defines six classes of British national, among which "British citizen" is one class (having the right of abode in the United Kingdom, along with some "British subjects"). Similarly, in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, the status of national without household registration applies to people who have the Republic of China nationality, but do not have an automatic entitlement to enter or reside in the Taiwan Area, and do not qualify for civic rights and duties there. Under the nationality laws of Mexico, Colombia, and some other Latin American countries, nationals do not become citizens until they turn the age of majority. List of nationalities which do not have full citizenship rights Even if the nationality law classifies people with the same nationality on paper (de jure), the right conferred can be different according to the place of birth or residence, creating different de facto classes of nationality, sometimes with different passports as well. For example, although Chinese nationality law operates uniformly in China, including Hong Kong and Macau SARs, with all Chinese nationals classified the same under the nationality law, in reality local laws, in mainland and also in the SARs, govern the right of Chinese nationals in their respective territories which give vastly different rights, including different passports, to Chinese nationals according to their birthplace or residence place, effectively making a distinction between Chinese national of mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau, both domestically and internationally. The United Kingdom had a similar distinction as well before 1983, where all nationals with a connection to the UK or one of the colonies, were classified as Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies, but their rights where different depending on the connection under different laws, which was formalised into different classes of nationalities under the British Nationality Act 1981. Nationality versus ethnicity Nationality is sometimes used simply as an alternative word for ethnicity or national origin, just as some people assume that citizenship and nationality are identical. In some countries, the cognate word for nationality in local language may be |
god of the sea who was supplanted by Poseidon when Zeus overthrew Cronus. The earliest poet to link Nereus with the labours of Heracles was Pherekydes, according to a scholion on Apollonius of Rhodes. During the course of the 5th century BC, Nereus was gradually replaced by Triton, who does not appear in Homer, in the imagery of the struggle between Heracles and the sea-god who had to be restrained in order to deliver his information that was employed by the vase-painters, independent of any literary testimony. In a late appearance, according to a fragmentary papyrus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climacteric battle of Issus (333 BC), and resorted to prayers, "calling on Thetis, Nereus and the Nereids, nymphs of the sea, | fragmentary papyrus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climacteric battle of Issus (333 BC), and resorted to prayers, "calling on Thetis, Nereus and the Nereids, nymphs of the sea, and invoking Poseidon the sea-god, for whom he ordered a four-horse chariot to be cast into the waves." Nereus was known for his truthfulness and virtue: The Attic vase-painters showed the draped torso of Nereus issuing from a long coiling scaly fishlike tail. Bearded Nereus generally wields a staff of authority. He was also shown in scenes depicting the flight of the Nereides as Peleus wrestled their sister Thetis. In Aelian's natural history, written in the early third century, Nereus was also the father of a watery consort of Aphrodite and lover of Poseidon named Nerites who was transformed into "a shellfish with a spiral shell, small in size but of surpassing beauty." Nereus was father to Thetis, one of the Nereids, who in turn was mother to the great |
in Antarctica. Notes References Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Gaius Julius Hyginus, Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at theio.com. Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon. Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. . Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. Online version at the theoi.com Kerényi, Carl, The Gods of the Greeks, Thames and Hudson, London, 1951. Lucian of Samosata, Dialogues of the Sea Gods translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905. Online version at theoi.com Luciani Samosatensis, Opera. Vol I. Karl Jacobitz. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1896. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More | the planet Neptune, is named after the Nereids, as is Nereid Lake in Antarctica. Notes References Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Gaius Julius Hyginus, Astronomica from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volume 286. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. Online version at theio.com. Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Argonauticon. Otto Kramer. Leipzig. Teubner. 1913. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. . Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. The Hymns of Orpheus. Translated by Taylor, Thomas (1792). University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. Online version at the theoi.com Kerényi, Carl, The Gods of the Greeks, Thames and Hudson, London, 1951. Lucian of Samosata, Dialogues of the Sea Gods translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1905. Online version at theoi.com Luciani Samosatensis, Opera. Vol I. Karl Jacobitz. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1896. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics of Vergil. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. External links Nereids in classical literature and art Nereid and Triton Mosaic from Ephesus Terrace Home -2 3D stereoview of Nereid and Triton relief from Temple of Apollo in Didim Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 600 images of Nereids and other |
Houses Film Nemesis (1920 film), Italian silent film Nemesis (1992 film), U.S.-American science fiction film Nemesis (2010 film), German film Nemesis (2020 film), Swiss documentary Nemesis (2021 film), British thriller Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), the 10th Star Trek movie Games Nemesis (draughts player), a checkers engine Gradius (video game), a 1985 arcade game known outside Japan as Nemesis Nemesis (Game Boy), a 1990 Game Boy game, part of the Gradius series Nemesis, a story arc and 2000 expansion set of the fantasy collectible card game, Magic: The Gathering Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, a 1999 video game by Capcom Zork Nemesis, a 1996 PC based adventure game Nemesis, a 2018 semi-cooperative board game by Adam Kwapiński Nemesis, a villain faction or one of the aliases of its leader, Gerhardt Eisenstadt, in the MMORPG, City of Heroes and its sequels, expansions and various revivals. Literature Nemesis (Angel novel), a 2004 novel based on the Angel series Nemesis (Asimov novel), a 1989 science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov Nemesis (Christie novel), a 1971 detective novel by Agatha Christie Nemesis (Davis novel), a 2010 historical crime novel by Lindsey Davis Nemesis (Momen play), a 1944 play by Nurul Momen Nemesis (Nesbø novel), a 2002 crime novel in the Harry Hole series Nemesis (Nobel play), an 1896 play by Alfred Nobel Nemesis (Roth novel), a 2010 dramatic novel by Philip Roth "Exile of the Eons", a 1950 Arthur C. Clarke science fiction short story, later called "Nemesis" Nemesis Saga (Robinson novels), since 2012 a series of novels and graphic novels by Jeremy Robinson Nemesis, a 1989 fantasy novel in the Indigo series by Louise Cooper Nemesis, a 2004 fantasy series by Wolfgang Hohlbein Nemesis, a 1989 horror novel by Shaun Hutson "Nemesis'", a poem by H. P. Lovecraft in | as Nemesis Nemesis (Game Boy), a 1990 Game Boy game, part of the Gradius series Nemesis, a story arc and 2000 expansion set of the fantasy collectible card game, Magic: The Gathering Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, a 1999 video game by Capcom Zork Nemesis, a 1996 PC based adventure game Nemesis, a 2018 semi-cooperative board game by Adam Kwapiński Nemesis, a villain faction or one of the aliases of its leader, Gerhardt Eisenstadt, in the MMORPG, City of Heroes and its sequels, expansions and various revivals. Literature Nemesis (Angel novel), a 2004 novel based on the Angel series Nemesis (Asimov novel), a 1989 science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov Nemesis (Christie novel), a 1971 detective novel by Agatha Christie Nemesis (Davis novel), a 2010 historical crime novel by Lindsey Davis Nemesis (Momen play), a 1944 play by Nurul Momen Nemesis (Nesbø novel), a 2002 crime novel in the Harry Hole series Nemesis (Nobel play), an 1896 play by Alfred Nobel Nemesis (Roth novel), a 2010 dramatic novel by Philip Roth "Exile of the Eons", a 1950 Arthur C. Clarke science fiction short story, later called "Nemesis" Nemesis Saga (Robinson novels), since 2012 a series of novels and graphic novels by Jeremy Robinson Nemesis, a 1989 fantasy novel in the Indigo series by Louise Cooper Nemesis, a 2004 fantasy series by Wolfgang Hohlbein Nemesis, a 1989 horror novel by Shaun Hutson "Nemesis'", a poem by H. P. Lovecraft in Collected Poems Nemesis, a 1998 science fiction thriller by Bill Napier Nemesis, by James Swallow, Book 13 in the Horus Heresy book series Nemesis, a 2000 Magic: The Gathering novel by Paul B. Thompson Music Groups and labels Nemesis (Bangladeshi band), a Bangladeshi alternative rock band Nemesis (duo), a pop music duo made up of twin brothers Jacob and Joshua Miller Nemesis (electronic music band), a Finnish music group Nemesis (rap crew), a rap crew from Dallas, Texas Nemesis (South Korean band), a South Korean rock band Albums and EPs Nemesis (Grip Inc. album) Nemesis (Stratovarius album), 2013 Nemesis (Two Steps from Hell album), 2007 Nemesis (EP), |
Nereid's rotation could be either in the state of forced precession or even chaotic rotation (like Hyperion) due to its highly elliptical orbit. In 2016, extended observations with the Kepler space telescope showed only low-amplitude variations (0.033 magnitudes). Thermal modeling based on infrared observations from the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes suggest that Nereid is only moderately elongated with an aspect ratio of 1.3:1, which disfavors forced precession of the rotation. The thermal model also indicates that the surface roughness of Nereid is very high, likely similar to the Saturnian moon Hyperion. Spectrally, Nereid appears neutral in colour and water ice has been detected on its surface. Its spectrum appears to be intermediate between Uranus's moons Titania and Umbriel, which suggests that Nereid's surface is composed of a mixture of water ice and some spectrally neutral material. The spectrum is markedly different from minor planets of the outer solar system, centaurs Pholus, Chiron and Chariklo, suggesting that Nereid formed around Neptune rather than being a captured body. Halimede, which displays a similar gray neutral colour, may be a fragment of Nereid that was broken off during | is named after the Nereids, sea-nymphs of Greek mythology and attendants of the god Neptune. It was the second and last moon of Neptune to be discovered before the arrival of Voyager 2 (not counting a single observation of an occultation by Larissa in 1981). Physical characteristics Nereid is third-largest of Neptune's satellites, and has a mean radius of about . It is rather large for an irregular satellite. The shape of Nereid is unknown. Since 1987 some photometric observations of Nereid have detected large (by ~1 of magnitude) variations of its brightness, which can happen over years and months, but sometimes even over a few days. They persist even after a correction for distance and phase effects. On the other hand, not all astronomers who have observed Nereid have noticed such variations. This means that they may be quite chaotic. To date there is no credible explanation of the variations, but, if they exist, they are likely related to the rotation of Nereid. Nereid's rotation could be either in the state of forced precession or even chaotic rotation (like Hyperion) due to its highly elliptical orbit. In 2016, extended observations with the Kepler space telescope showed only low-amplitude variations (0.033 magnitudes). Thermal modeling based on infrared observations from the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes suggest that Nereid is only moderately elongated with an aspect ratio of 1.3:1, which disfavors forced precession of the rotation. The thermal model also indicates that the surface roughness of Nereid is very high, likely similar to the Saturnian moon Hyperion. Spectrally, Nereid appears neutral in colour and water ice has been detected on its surface. Its spectrum appears to be intermediate between Uranus's moons Titania and Umbriel, which suggests that Nereid's surface is composed of a mixture of water ice and some spectrally neutral material. The spectrum is markedly different from minor planets of the outer solar system, centaurs |
school systems. School leagues and domestic competitions emerged during the first half of the 20th century, and in 1924 the first national governing body was established in New Zealand. International competition was initially hampered by a lack of funds and varying rules in different countries. Australia hosted New Zealand in the first international game of netball in Melbourne on 20 August 1938; Australia won 40–11. Efforts began in 1957 to standardise netball rules globally: by 1960 international playing rules had been standardised, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball, later the International Netball Federation (INF), was formed to administer the sport worldwide. Representatives from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the West Indies were part of a 1960 meeting in Sri Lanka that standardised the rules for the game. The game spread to other African countries in the 1970s. South Africa was prohibited from competing internationally from 1969 to 1994 due to apartheid. In the United States, Netball's popularity also increased during the 1970s, particularly in the New York area, and the United States of America Netball Association was created in 1992. The game also became popular in the Pacific Island nations of the Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa during the 1970s. Netball Singapore was created in 1962, and the Malaysian Netball Association was created in 1978. In Australia, the term women's basketball was used to refer to both netball and basketball. During the 1950s and 1960s, a movement arose to change the Australian name of the game from women's basketball to netball in order to avoid confusion between the two sports. The Australian Basketball Union offered to pay the costs involved to alter the name, but the netball organisation rejected the change. In 1970, the Council of the All Australia Netball Association officially changed the name to "netball" in Australia. In 1963, the first international tournament was held in Eastbourne, England. Originally called the World Tournament, it later became known as the World Netball Championships. Following the first tournament, one of the organisers, Miss R. Harris, declared, The World Netball Championships have been held every four years since then. The World Youth Netball Championships started in Canberra in 1988, and have been held roughly every four years since. In 1995, the International Olympic Committee recognized the International Federation of Netball Associations. Three years later netball debuted at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Other international competitions also emerged in the late 20th century, including the Nations Cup and the Asian Netball Championship. Gender Men's netball teams exist in some areas but attract less attention from sponsors and spectators. Men's netball started to become popular in Australia during the 1980s, and the first men's championship was held in 1985. In 2004, New Zealand and Fiji sent teams to compete in the Australian Mixed and Men's National Championships. By 2006, mixed netball teams in Australia had as many male participants as rugby union. Other countries with men's national teams include Canada, Fiji, Jamaica, Kenya, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. Unlike women's netball at elite and national levels, men's and mixed gender teams are largely self-funded. An all-transgender netball team from Indonesia competed at the 1994 Gay Games in New York City. The team had been the Indonesian national champions. At the 2000 Gay Games VI in Sydney, netball and volleyball were the two sports with the highest rates of transgender athletes participating. There were eight teams of indigenous players, with seven identifying as transgender. They came from places like Palm Island in northern Queensland, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea. Teams with transgender players were allowed to participate in several divisions including men's, mixed and transgender; they were not allowed to compete against the cisgender women's teams. Description and rules The objective of a game is to score more goals than the opposition. Goals are scored when a team member positioned in the attacking shooting circle shoots the ball through the goal ring. The goal rings are in diameter and sit atop -high goal posts that have no backboards. A -radius semi-circular "shooting circle" is an area at each end of the court. The goal posts are located within the shooting circle. Each team defends one shooting circle and attacks the other. The netball court is long, wide, and divided lengthwise into thirds. The ball is usually made of leather or rubber, measures in circumference (~ in diameter), and weighs . A normal game consists of four 15-minute quarters and can be played outdoors or in a covered stadium. Each team is allowed seven players on the court. Each player is assigned a specific position, which limits their movement to a certain area of the court. A "bib" worn by each player contains a one- or two-letter abbreviation indicating this position. Only two positions are permitted in the attacking shooting circle, and can therefore shoot for a goal. Similarly, only two positions are permitted in the defensive shooting circle; they try to prevent the opposition from shooting goals. Other players are restricted to two-thirds of the court, with the exception of the centre, who may move anywhere on the court except for a shooting circle. At the beginning of every quarter and after a goal has been scored, play starts with a player in the centre position passing the ball from the centre of the court. These "centre passes" alternate between the teams, regardless of which team scored the last goal. When the umpire blows the whistle to restart play, four players from each team can move into the centre third to receive the pass. The centre pass must be caught or touched in the centre third. The ball is then moved up and down the court through passing and must be touched by a player in each adjacent third of the court. Players can hold the ball for only three seconds at any time. It must be released before the foot | women's basketball was used to refer to both netball and basketball. During the 1950s and 1960s, a movement arose to change the Australian name of the game from women's basketball to netball in order to avoid confusion between the two sports. The Australian Basketball Union offered to pay the costs involved to alter the name, but the netball organisation rejected the change. In 1970, the Council of the All Australia Netball Association officially changed the name to "netball" in Australia. In 1963, the first international tournament was held in Eastbourne, England. Originally called the World Tournament, it later became known as the World Netball Championships. Following the first tournament, one of the organisers, Miss R. Harris, declared, The World Netball Championships have been held every four years since then. The World Youth Netball Championships started in Canberra in 1988, and have been held roughly every four years since. In 1995, the International Olympic Committee recognized the International Federation of Netball Associations. Three years later netball debuted at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Other international competitions also emerged in the late 20th century, including the Nations Cup and the Asian Netball Championship. Gender Men's netball teams exist in some areas but attract less attention from sponsors and spectators. Men's netball started to become popular in Australia during the 1980s, and the first men's championship was held in 1985. In 2004, New Zealand and Fiji sent teams to compete in the Australian Mixed and Men's National Championships. By 2006, mixed netball teams in Australia had as many male participants as rugby union. Other countries with men's national teams include Canada, Fiji, Jamaica, Kenya, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. Unlike women's netball at elite and national levels, men's and mixed gender teams are largely self-funded. An all-transgender netball team from Indonesia competed at the 1994 Gay Games in New York City. The team had been the Indonesian national champions. At the 2000 Gay Games VI in Sydney, netball and volleyball were the two sports with the highest rates of transgender athletes participating. There were eight teams of indigenous players, with seven identifying as transgender. They came from places like Palm Island in northern Queensland, Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea. Teams with transgender players were allowed to participate in several divisions including men's, mixed and transgender; they were not allowed to compete against the cisgender women's teams. Description and rules The objective of a game is to score more goals than the opposition. Goals are scored when a team member positioned in the attacking shooting circle shoots the ball through the goal ring. The goal rings are in diameter and sit atop -high goal posts that have no backboards. A -radius semi-circular "shooting circle" is an area at each end of the court. The goal posts are located within the shooting circle. Each team defends one shooting circle and attacks the other. The netball court is long, wide, and divided lengthwise into thirds. The ball is usually made of leather or rubber, measures in circumference (~ in diameter), and weighs . A normal game consists of four 15-minute quarters and can be played outdoors or in a covered stadium. Each team is allowed seven players on the court. Each player is assigned a specific position, which limits their movement to a certain area of the court. A "bib" worn by each player contains a one- or two-letter abbreviation indicating this position. Only two positions are permitted in the attacking shooting circle, and can therefore shoot for a goal. Similarly, only two positions are permitted in the defensive shooting circle; they try to prevent the opposition from shooting goals. Other players are restricted to two-thirds of the court, with the exception of the centre, who may move anywhere on the court except for a shooting circle. At the beginning of every quarter and after a goal has been scored, play starts with a player in the centre position passing the ball from the centre of the court. These "centre passes" alternate between the teams, regardless of which team scored the last goal. When the umpire blows the whistle to restart play, four players from each team can move into the centre third to receive the pass. The centre pass must be caught or touched in the centre third. The ball is then moved up and down the court through passing and must be touched by a player in each adjacent third of the court. Players can hold the ball for only three seconds at any time. It must be released before the foot they were standing on when they caught it touches the ground again. Contact between players is only permitted if it does not impede an opponent or the general play. When defending a pass or shot players must be at least away from the player with the ball. If illegal contact is made, the player who contacted cannot participate in play until the player taking the penalty has passed or shot the ball. If the ball is held in two hands and either dropped or a shot at goal is missed, the same player cannot be the first to touch it unless it first rebounds off the goal. Variants Indoor netball Indoor netball is a variation of netball, played exclusively indoors, in which the playing court is often surrounded on each side and overhead by a net. The net prevents the ball from leaving the court, permitting faster play by reducing playing stoppages. Different forms of indoor netball exist. In a seven-per-side version called "action netball", seven players per team play with rules similar to netball. However, a game is split into 15-minute halves with a three-minute break in between. This version is played in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England. A six-per-side version of the sport is also played in New Zealand. Two Centres per team can play in the whole court except the shooting circles; the remaining attacking and defending players are each restricted to one half of the court, including the shooting circles. The attacking and Centre players may shoot from outside the shooting circle for a two-point goal. A five-per-side game is also common in indoor netball. Players can move throughout the court, with the exception of the shooting circles, which are restricted to certain attacking or defending players. Fast5 Fast5 (originally called Fastnet) is a variation on the rules of netball designed to make games faster and more television-friendly. The World Netball Series promotes it to raise the sport's profile and attract more spectators and greater sponsorship. The game is much shorter, with each quarter lasting only six minutes and only a two-minute break between quarters. The coaches can give instructions from the sideline during play, and unlimited substitutions are allowed. Like six-per-side indoor netball, attacking players may shoot two-point goals from outside the shooting circle. Each team can separately nominate one "power play" quarter, in which each goal scored by that team is worth double points and the centre pass is taken by the team that conceded the goal. For children Netball has been adapted in several ways to meet children's needs. The rules for children are similar to those for adults, but various aspects of the game (such as the length of each quarter, goal height, and ball size) are modified. Fun Net is a version of netball developed by Netball Australia for five- to seven-year-olds. It aims to improve basic netball skills |
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